Strange issue with payment received from customer (unknown payment method)

[osacomp1983]

I use Square Invoices quite often to bill my customers and have never run across this issue before. I emailed my customer an invoice and received notice that the invoice was paid via Discover card. Customer called me immediately stating she got the email, clicked Pay Invoice and was taken to a screen that stated the invoice was paid with Discover card ending in ####. She does not have a Discover card so this was immediately concerning to her. I reviewed her computer to ensure no previous payment methods were saved in web browser, etc. She has since submitted payment again with her own payment method and I refunded this other transaction to Discover card.

Has anyone seen anything like this? It occurred today around 10:15 AM EST on 5/30/2024. I called Square customer service but got no explanation. It was stated that the Discover card was a gift card, though I'm not aware of any Discover branded gift cards anyway (?)

[ryanwanner]

Hello @osacomp1983 !

When your customer paid the invoice, do you know if she used Google Pay or Apple Pay? If she did, everything is fine. Both of those Pay systems create one time credit card numbers for their payments. It's all linked on the back end so the card number itself isn't really needed. This is a security measure put in place by Apple and Google.

As long as you're seeing the payment and she's seeing the purchase, everything is fine.

[osacomp1983]

The customer didn't use Google Pay or Apple Pay. I actually checked their Google account for any stored payment methods and they don't have an Apple iPhone so it wasn't Apple Pay. They stated they don't even have a Discover credit card which is what caused the confusion for her initially. I ended up refunding the first transaction and they paid again with the credit card they wanted to use. According to the customer, they clicked Pay Invoice and it redirected them to a page that stated "Thank you for your payment" and I was also notified of the payment showing the Discover Card. 

If a customer chooses to save a credit card on file with Square - does this store across multiple sellers using the Square network? For example: if a customer chooses to save their credit card with me and they get an invoice in the future from another business who also uses Square, will that saved credit card carry over across multiple businesses who all use Square?

[ryanwanner]

@osacomp1983  Okay that's odd that it showed as a discover card then. That's something I'd definitely call into support for just to make sure there isn't anything shady happening.

As for your second question, yes, card information is linked to the customer name, but it's a little more convoluted than that. If a customer swipes a card at a Square seller and signs up for loyalty or gets an electronic receipt, that card number will be linked to the customer's information. Other sellers will not be able to see their information until the customer interacts with them. Example:  a customer visits your business, uses a card for payment, and asks for a digital receipt. That same customer comes to my store and uses the same card. Their email or phone number will show on the digital receipt screen because Square has that info from your store's transaction.

Customers have the ability to restrict data by using the "Manage Preferences" link at the bottom of their digital receipts.

[osacomp1983]

One of the thoughts I had on how this happened was that customer previously used this Discover card with another Square seller and saved the card and it offered that card as an option today when making the payment. Customer states they had a Discover card for short period of time and canceled it and claims they never used it with a Square seller. I did call customer support but they were just as confused as I was. I sent an email as well as I sometimes get better support via email vs. phone so we will see what they say. I appreciate you taking the time to reply!

[Lovewell]

@osacomp1983 I think you handled the situation perfectly! This is a very odd situation indeed and hopefully someone can find a simple explanation. We never want any of our customers feeling uncomfortable using the processing system we use. 

[osacomp1983]

Thank you - it was a very odd situation. This was a first time customer but thankfully they handled it well. I tried to figure out what happened but nothing at all made sense. Since I provide IT services I was able to easily check their computer to see if any previous credit cards were saved or any "user error" occurred but I could find nothing that would have caused this. I was convinced that an old Discover card was saved either in Chrome, Edge or tied to Google account. Nothing anywhere. I even checked Microsoft account and no payment method there either. If I figure out what might have happened I will post back here. If anyone else has experienced this I would love to hear about it!

[HollywoodPhoto]

This is happening to me right now with a client. Client said she might have paid with PayPal on her phone. I think that’s got something to do with that. I have issued a refund ( to the discover card) because client was originally wanting to pay with business card but instead paid with her chase visa. Now waiting to see what happens