Live Q&A: Ask us anything about verifying your identity for your Square account!

[tranguyen]

Hello Seller Community!

To allow your business to accept card payments, Square is required to perform a series of checks to verify your identity and your business. As your business evolves, we also need to stay up to date to provide you the best financial services. We strive to make it fast and easy while fulfilling our regulatory and payment network obligations.

With that, we want to hear from you:

• What do you think of our payment onboarding experience?
• What suggestions would you give to improve the experience?

On Monday, April 24, we'll welcome @laylaliang and @lanj from the Trusted Identity team for a question & answer session! Their team is eager to learn about how they can help you get started quickly as well as answer any questions you may have.

To participate in this discussion, post your questions and feedback below in advance, and be on the lookout for a "Best Answer" summary post that covers the main takeaways from this discussion. We look forward to hearing from you.

We're unable to share account-specific details within our online forums, though information on your experience will be helpful as we continue to make improvements. For account questions, please contact the Customer Success team directly.

[Callmeagua21]

what can I do if Square cannot verify my identity, tho I already provided my Medicare details and all its still wont accept the information I have provided. 

[lamichhane_p]

I would suggest creating a new account with a different email.

[laylaliang]

Hi @Callmeagua21,

Sorry that this is not working out for you. Though you cannot process card payments at this time, you can still use other Square products such as Square Point of Sale to help you run your business.

[Hotsoup]

I have never experienced such poor customer service and a seen a brand with such disappointing policies.  Tried to verify my identity with all of my forms of identification and ended up getting banned from ever accepting card payments.  Pretty disappointing and a massive waste of money. 

[laylaliang]

Sorry this did not work out for you. Though you cannot process card payments at this time, you can still use other Square products such as Square Point of Sale to help you run your business.

[ROLC]

I was referred to Square by a friend.  We only want to use square to accept payments/ donations for our non profit church.  I wasted hours of time attempting to complete the process and was told unable to verify identity...I spoke with a representative who told me she could not give me any info on why and said I may need to choose another provider. I spoke with Experian who could not explain and checked credit wirthy...all info went through showing credit rating of 875.  You are loosing tons of potential customers and need to revise your system.  I could never recommend Square.

[laylaliang]

Hi @ROLC,

We are constantly working on improving our identity verification systems, for example, by introducing more seller-friendly verification methods during onboarding. Sorry that this is not working out for you. Though you cannot process card payments at this time, you can still use other Square products such as Square Point of Sale to help you run your business.

[Vacantminds1]

I had spent my own money buying a square reader for my small business and have never had so much trouble trying to set it up, after many failed attempts of trying to verify my identity (which all government info was correct) i had to make another account and start again to only have the same issues. My mothers id was the only thing that worked which im so relieved as eftpos is a necessity for my small business, in future please verify identity by using actual australian government info and not credit scores as some young business owners have no record. 

[laylaliang]

Hi @Vacantminds1,

Unfortunately we are not able to discuss our identity verification data source, but we are very glad that your business is up and running!

[Vacantminds1]

Please use a better system to verify identity 

[laylaliang]

We are constantly working on improving our identity verification systems, for example, by introducing more seller-friendly verification methods during onboarding. Meanwhile, if you come across any issues, please contact our Customer Success team.

[BrunoDM]

Tried to verify my identity and failed twice. I already gave up.

[laylaliang]

Sorry that this is not working out for you. Though you cannot process card payments at this time, you can still use other Square products such as Square Point of Sale to help you run your business.

[moeouji]

Disappointing and frustrating. Unable to verify my identity after countless attempts because they claim they could not get any Government documentation of me, received automatic messages/replies from Square advising me to contact Equifax and Experian when I have done both. If Equifax was able to get my documents done immediately (and showed my credit score), I suggest Square rethink and reevaluate its system. Terrible service. Would not recommend it.

[laylaliang]

Hi @moeouji,

We are constantly working on improving our identity verification systems, for example, by introducing more seller-friendly verification methods during onboarding. Sorry that this is not working out for you. Though you cannot process card payments at this time, you can still use other Square products such as Square Point of Sale to help you run your business.

[SoSoBad]

I bought a Square reader for a not for profit.  Had it set up and working Aug 2022 then went to use it for an event in March and was told I had no account. Tried to reactivate the account and was told I needed a suite of new verification documents including passport of Committee chairperson.  I have attempted contact on multiple occasions requesting someone to help me but Square just ignore me.  The account was established and the reader was functioning perfectly and paying into our bank account last year but now it is useless. Still no one at Square has bothered to contact me to fix what is clearly a mistake at their end.  Why do I need to chase committee members for ID and re-verify an account that was already working?  Worst customer service I have ever come across.  Completely unaccountable and uncontactable. 

[laylaliang]

Hi @SoSoBad,

It appears that your account is under review and an information request was sent for additional information. As a business entity, we must verify your business, the owner, and any beneficial owners to abide by regulation.  

Square periodically sends information requests when we need more information on your account. This is industry practice subject to regulatory and payment partner requirements. To keep buyers and sellers safe, this sometimes results in transactions being temporarily suspended until the review process is complete.

You can continue accepting payments during the review process, but depending on the type of review, you may not be able to initiate or receive transfers to your linked account until the review is complete. Once we have the information we need, the review process will take 1 to 2 business days. You’ll receive an email and a text message when it’s complete.

If your transfers are suspended, we may have noticed some unusual activity on your Square account. Our system periodically reviews your transactions to keep your account safe from scams and fraud. We’ve found that some businesses sell products or services that are more prone to fraud or to receiving payment disputes from their customers. This may not necessarily be the reason your transfers are suspended, but our policy is to make sure your business is protected when our system notices something out of the ordinary.

You can read more about our information requests here: Information Requests FAQ.

[SoSoBad]

The account is under review because the day before our last function I went to prepare the terminal and I could not get it work. I was directed to the website, where, rather than recognise me as an existing customer, I was directed back through the registration process.  I thought maybe it would get the terminal working in time for the function so I answered all of the questions. Only when I got to the end of that was I told everything needed to "verified" and it could take up to 20 days.  The Association had been using the terminal for almost 12 months already so this made no sense to me.  Needless to say we couldn't use the terminal at the next day's function. All I want is for the account to be restored.  I should not have to go chasing Committee members for ID documents and be providing copies of documents to Square that it has previously received when the account has been in place for 12 months already. Is this going to happen every time we don't use the terminal for a few months but then when we get it out to use for an event I will keep being told I am no longer a registered account?  It is just nuts. 

[SJS20]

I only just bought the square and done a test receipt, I will only use the square occasionally, I am not too sure what else you expect from me in order to use the square, what more I.d do you need and why.

[laylaliang]

Hi @SJS20,

It seems your account is activated for payment and you are good to go! Square may ask you to provide additional information to ensure that your account remains safe and secure. Please refer to this link for additional details: Information Requests FAQ.