Help with split transaction where prepaid card with unknown balance is used

[DistrictArts]

Our community sells Gift Cards at the town visitor center.  (These are really like prepaid Visa cards but they call them Gift Cards.)  How do I do a split transaction (on Register) for a charge that is more than the unknown balance on the Gift Card.  For example, suppose I sell a $100 item.  I want to run the Gift Card first.  Let's say its balance is $60 but I don't know that.  How do I split the $100 into the $60 on the GC and then dip a CC for the remaining $40?

[JustinC]

Hey @DistrictArts - Currently there's not a way for Square's system to intuitively know the balance of a Gift Card for a split payment. Your customer will need to check their account to make sure there's enough money before swiping. 

Here's more info on accepting split payments .  

[DistrictArts]

Thanks for the input.  Square support also got back to me and confirmed that Square can't "read" the remaining balance on a prepaid card.  They suggested "trial and error" (i.e., pit n the max amount and see if it will process.  If not, put in the max minus 5$ and see if that works, etc)!!!

I think it's probably safe to say that most people don't know their remaining balance, unless the card is "full".)  I'd rather not take prepaid cards than make the customer wait while I try to guess the balance.  Other processors have this worked out; I'm surprise Square has not.

[tdgjrb]

Has there been any change in how this works since the last message 4 years ago?

With the POS system I switched from, when a debit or credit card had an insufficient balance to cover a transaction, the system would offer to allow a charge up to the available balance and then take the remainder with another payment form.

I believe the credit card issues support a "partial payment" or similar flag to enable this capability.

While this is generally useful for all card types, it is a critical feature for a prepaid/gift Visa or Mastercard as customers often do not know their remaining balance.

If this capability is not implemented, I will submit a feature request if one does not already exist.

Thanks

[JJ_]

Thanks so much for this Request @tdgjrb. In order to appropriately send these to our product teams we’d love it if you'd submit this request on our Ideate page for Square Retail. Our team monitors these boards and we triage them to measure needs. You can search the boards to see if this has been requested before and add your use case if so!

[JJ_]

Thank you so much for the correction was just working on a KDS case and that slipped. Thank you for submitting that. 

[tdgjrb]

Hi @JJ_ 

I created this feature request on the Square for Retail Ideate page.

This seems like a better fit than Square KDS, but maybe I'm wrong.

Is there a way to link feature requests to multiple Ideate pages?

I would love for this request to get in front of someone who is actually able to do it. I do not think it should be that involved to implement.

Thanks!