Can a US account process payments in Canada?

[FloridaSunshine]

I signed up for Square quite a few years ago and received the card reader then but I've never used it. I'm traveling to Canada and would like to be able to use Square for product sales. Will the reader work with the chip cards? Thanks!

[Sean · Accepted solution]

@FloridaSunshine - Welcome to the Seller Community. To get going, you can swipe chip cards using our magstripe reader, but it does open you up to some liability. You can read more about the liability shift here. 

As for the second part of the question, this is where we may run into issues. Square merchants are only authorized to process payments within their country of activation. Since you have a US account, you wouldn't be able to process payments in Canada. You could manually enter the payments when you return, but then there is the risk of the card being declined (just not Interac debit cards, as they're not accepted). 

Hope this helps! 

[Sean · Accepted solution]

@FloridaSunshine - Welcome to the Seller Community. To get going, you can swipe chip cards using our magstripe reader, but it does open you up to some liability. You can read more about the liability shift here. 

As for the second part of the question, this is where we may run into issues. Square merchants are only authorized to process payments within their country of activation. Since you have a US account, you wouldn't be able to process payments in Canada. You could manually enter the payments when you return, but then there is the risk of the card being declined (just not Interac debit cards, as they're not accepted). 

Hope this helps! 

[brinkdescon]

So If I can not process a Candian Card or just not while on a Canadian network. For example I am selling something for $20 US to a canadian customer. If I am in the states it is fine but if I am across the boarder it will not work?

[EJ_]

@brinkdescon That's correct, you can accept international cards, including Canadian cards, but you'll need to be located in the country that your account was activated in to do so. 

[jasonfreshly]

I have a follow up to this - so what if you are a US business and running payments from US clients while out of the country.  I was in Canada and experienced this problem while trying to take payment from a client who I work with in the US.

Are you saying there's no way for me to do US transactions (US business paying me a US merchant) while out of the country?

[Tom]

Thanks for checking in, @jasonfreshly. You're correct. At this time, card payments attempted with the Square app while traveling or residing abroad can’t be processed — even if you activated your account in the US and you're accepting a payment from a US client.

Hope this helps clear things up a bit more — please let us know if you have any other questions about this.

[martin1234]

Tom, 

Is Square working toward be able to bill US clients while being physically located in Canada.  I have a business in the US but live in Canada 6 months of the year. Will I ever be able to use square in order to bill my regular clients in the US?

[Tom]

Hey @martin1234 — welcome to the seller community and thanks for pointing this out

I went to check on this and we don't have a specific timeline available for when a cross-border card payment option would be available. You can still record payments with the Point of Sale app for record keeping.

Rest assured that I'll be sharing your post with our Product Liaison team and point out how this would help streamline your operations in two countries.

Appreciate your patience as we're tracking this request — let us know if you have any other questions!

[NW]

So just to be clear we are in the US so does that mean that we cannot take CC from Canada?  

[EJ_]

Hi @NW

Welcome to the Seller Community 🙌🏼

The original post was in regards to a US Square Seller traveling to Canada for business being able to take payments across the border in a different country than where the Square account was created. 

This isn't something you're able to do at this time. 

You can still accept international cards for payment, so feel free to accept those Canada cards (just make sure you're located in the same country that you activated your Square account in). 

[GlobalImmersion]

Hello, 

Thanks for this thread. I understand that if you activated your account in the US, you cannot accept payments in International companies. 

My questions is, can you somehow create a new account with the same reader to work in Canada and link it to a US bank account? If so, is there a way we can set this up in the states? 

Thank you for your time.

[puka]

Hi @GlobalImmersion - You're only able to open an account within the country that you are physically located in so you wouldn't be able to open an account in Canada if you are located in the US. This also applies to the hardware as it will only function in the country that your account was activated in. Lastly, Canadian Square accounts require that you connect a Canadian bank account.

Hope that clarifies things for you!

[AHigherQuality]

This is quite confusing lol...may I ask why is it set up that way?

[AHigherQuality]

I completely understand this question lol but I guess cause it's GPS tracked...idk...I must say this process I honestly don't understand if international processing is allowed what does it matter if you're in the US or Canada?

[mnn-to]

Not sure if it will work, but you could try using the online virtual terminal to process the payment.

[JustinC]

@mnn-to Unfortunately not. Payments cannot be processed while traveling - whether through the POS app or Virtual Terminal. 

[1234567abc]

had an account in florida. now live in canada, but it will not recognise my identity

[justine]

I'm a Canadian based in Canada with a music project that crosses borders (performs in both countries and sells merch in both countries). I'd like to be able to use a square for merch activities in both Canada and the USA. My reading of things is I need two separate squares. Is that right? Can I register for a US square from Canada if I have a USD account in Canada? THANKS

[VanKalkerFarms · Accepted solution]

you would need a Square USA account for when you are within the 50 united states as Square uses GPS to determine location.

you would need a Square Canada account when you are in Canada as Square uses GPS to determine location.

You will have to have a reader from each country as they are region specific.  when you cross simply sign out and sign in with the appropriate account for where you are.

[justine]

Can I have a USD account, even though my credit union is based in Canada? I do have a USD account with this credit union. I also have a CDN account with the same Canada-based credit union.

[justine]

I'm just unclear HOW I set up these two different accounts (US and Canada).

I've got an email into Customer Service and still no reply. I "get" that I "can" do it, it's just HOW that is evading me. I've tried to sign up with two different emails (one for USA and one for Canada) but I didn't complete the process because I was waiting for instructions from Square. When I didn't hear anything from them, I tried to at least sign up in Canada but the system keeps redirecting me to use the email I initially started the USA registration with. And there's no deviating from the system's process. I'm very confused and hope someone from Square or maybe one of the more expereienced users can help me.

NOT having telephone customer service is a pity.

HOW do I set up a Canadian and a US square account if I am based in Canada and only have a Canadian bank account. Is it possible? Do I use two different email adresses for the two accounts?