New Square Loan in 2024

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I’m at a bit of a loss for what else I need to do to be offered a new Square Loan at this point. I’ve been with Square for over 10 years, had 7 loans now that I’ve have paid back early every single time. Metrics are all in green, record sales year. In 2023, record numbers across the board, no refunds, no complaints or issues of any kind in our entire history. Current loan is 80% paid off, but no new offer in site. This is the kind of stuff that causes businesses to find someone else to process through! Please help! I’m sure I’ll get the same old excuses that you guys send to everyone about looking at every aspect of the business. But there isn’t a single aspect that isn’t way up. I’m not sure if there is a new process they are using now, or if there is some kind of issue with my banking or something else I’m not thinking about or aware of. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, because I could really use some new capital to start the year off with and reinvest into my business!

[Stacelyn24 · Accepted solution]

I'm really sorry to hear about your frustration with the loan offers. I understand how important it is to feel valued, especially as a loyal customer. Let me try to address your concerns and provide some clarity.

Loan Offers and Qualification Parameters

Square’s loan offers are based on a variety of factors, and while past trends have shown offers at certain thresholds, the exact parameters can change over time and are not always disclosed in detail. Here are a few points to consider:

• Dynamic Criteria: Square uses a complex set of algorithms that take into account not just the repayment percentage but also your recent sales history, account health, and overall business performance.
• Market Conditions: External market conditions and internal policy changes can also impact when and how loan offers are extended.

Value Beyond Transaction Fees

I understand that a 3% card transaction fee can seem high compared to other providers, but Square offers several features and benefits that help justify this cost:

• Integrated Ecosystem: Square provides a comprehensive suite of tools that work seamlessly together, from point-of-sale systems to online stores, invoicing, and inventory management.
• Ease of Use: The user-friendly interface and intuitive design make managing your business simpler and more efficient, saving you time and reducing the need for extensive training.
• Reliable Support: Square offers robust customer support and resources to help you resolve issues quickly and keep your business running smoothly.
• Secure Transactions: Advanced security measures protect your business and customers from fraud and data breaches.
• Analytics and Reporting: Detailed analytics and reporting tools help you understand your business performance and make informed decisions.

I understand the disappointment regarding the loan offer, please know that Square regularly reviews its criteria and your status. I recommend reaching out to Square’s customer support for a more personalized review of your account and to express your concerns directly.

[TheRealChipA · Accepted solution]

Good news, bad news, eh @cmeshine.  There are a number of reasons that COULD be part of why your new offer was lower.

1. Square might be slowing down on how much loan exposure they want to have on their balance sheet.  They are, after all, a publicly traded company that has to answer to their shareholders and investors.
2. If our sales are flat or at least not growing at a good rate to cover inflation and higher interest, then Square’s algorithm understands that inflation is eating into our available cash to pay bills, etc.  Flat sales (or very slowly growing sales) are always red flags to lenders, Square or not.
3. Sometimes how long it takes us to pay off our current loans can be a factor.  Let’s say that previous loans were paid off with automatic payments in 8-10 months in the past.  But for this current loan it took us 12-15 months.  That tells Square that our card processing volume can’t keep you with higher loan amounts.  Yes, they give us 18 months to fully pay a loan, but they obviously prefer that we pay them off closer to the 12 month mark.
4. If our cash/card ratio drastically changes, and cash spikes or is consistently higher than historical for our business, that is another red flag.  Since Square must only consider card volume when calculating repayment rates this can become a problem.

Of course, I’m not saying that any of these contributed to your lower offer.  I’m just throwing out a few reasons why this CAN happen.

[Jjpainting]

Oh okay. Thanks a lot for that information.  Not sure how I missed it. 

But yeah, I’ve been with square since October of 2022, and have had only two refunds. One in December of last year and one in march of this year.  Being that both have during my current loan (which is my 4th loan), I wasn’t sure if it was going to have an effect. 

[Ann14]

I’m currently sitting at 82 % today updates around 3pm and nothing yet 

[Jjpainting]

I’m at exactly 82% myself but no update yesterday. My last update was on June 24th.  But I know they only update if you have card sales. And before yesterday, my last card was processed on the 24th. But I think I had 3 sales yesterday paid for my card, and that made me go from 78-82% paid off. That’s what sucks being a business that only averages a few card transactions per week, there are times where I go a week with my customers insisting on paying another way, usually Zelle. I tried to get those few customers to pay by card, which would have been another $8000 in sales and brought me to 90%. But I can’t help that. My loan will be paid off in about a month though, so I’m hoping I’ll get an offer well before then. 

[Ann14]

oh i understand what you mean when they ask for cash app and zelle for payment method . A few are still waitjng and they are paid off .hope we get an offer soon 🙏🏽

[thehealingplant]

Well, sadly even after an extremely strong weekend we are still sitting without an offer. Genuinely praying that we get reassessed and offered so we can start pouring some funds into marketing. It's getting real rough to compete with multi location businesses who have endless cash to pour in.

[Healthyketo]

I know exactly how you feel. We had a Good Friday and an even better Saturday paid our loan off on Friday and thought for sure an offer would come in by now but nope. Need one bad to, I have an opportunity to lease a small coffee shop and sell twice as much as I do now but desperately need an offer. These square loans are so convenient to pay back with daily sales I love it. Hopefully soon. I’ll be praying for you to! 

[thehealingplant]

Wishing you the absolute best! Hopefully it comes!

[Twpchair]

Still hoping for you! Please I think I told you before keep checking the loan section and not just waiting for an email ok. My last 2 was there! I took one and denied the other and then the emails kicked in. I don't believe they have stopped that but it just faster in your dashboards before the emails get sent out is all. Good luck and fingers crossed! Growing is a great thing and like you said not cheap! 

[Healthyketo]

Thank you! 

[Twpchair]

I know exactly what you mean! Advertising is huge for people to see whether it's a billboard which we have but expensive as heck! It has paid for itself in the long run but ours here want atleast a 6mths lease or year lease and that hurts all at once. Banners above our business isn't free either. A couple years ago I accepted a loan and 💯 went into Advertising. I am very fortunate I bank with a small town Credit union and I have a line a credit for emergency or find a great deal on inventory. I know bigger banks aren't as easy to work with or your days back and forth with documents but ours thank goodness a couple of hours start to finish and done. Good luck and show those big corps who the boss is!!! I shop small and local only! 

[thehealingplant]

Thank you friend. We definitely feel the same way about supporting local! We certainly might have to look into the possibility of that or another processor as it seems like there is a lot more movement with some others. However, we really want to maintain loyalty to Square if at all possible and not just play the "grass is greener" game. Since we all know how that can end haha.

[B-dot]

Thoughts on this scenario (asking for a "friend"):

Last loan of $49,000 (plus fees) is about 87-88% paid off, with about $8500 remaining.

Sales up 45% since loan started.

NEW OFFER comes in for $10,000!!!

Plus fees of $850.  They automatically add the existing loan to be paid out, so the overall deposit would be about a thousand bucks. 

Keeping in mind, 8.5% fee was originally paid on the original loan.

There have been six previous loans and the offers always for higher than the previous except for the last one.

Is that not just a total rip off in the end??  Who in the right mind would take that kind of a loan offer to begin with?

I guess my question is why would anybody consider taking a loan for as much as their current balance only is?  Why even make that offer?

I myself I'm at 83% with about 7,900 owing.  If I get an offer like that, I would probably quit using square altogether.

[GlitzyCow]

It honestly to me sounds similar to what happened on my last one before I went through a year of chaos. All my loans went up then I started processing for a business that wanted to use a card and my sales went up like 60%. I thought the loan would be bigger then they sent me one that was 2/3 of the previous and within two weeks of accepting they put a limit on that customer. Then they asked for statements etc on my account. If I were to venture to guess they are fixing to send an information request on the business to verify income and customers. 

[Twpchair]

For the most part, I've seen multiple posts of the new loan the same as the previous offer or lower than the last. Since last June when I really started to pay attention I have seen very few or at least people that post here say "hey my offer doubled or triple " most say I don't get it my income and business has more than doubled. I don't think much of this is due to us individually, but their new statement posted above finally has in what I thought was the bigger factor. The economy on its own and the overall impact of the economy. Some states are doing much better than saying my state, Michigan. On the whole, though, and we tend to forget about the rest of the world that uses square. Until this picks up and the lending  market on the whole picks up I don't see to many saying "hey my offer just tripled" if you're new to square and it's your 2nd or 3rd loan and you went from 1k-3k yeah, I could see that. Unfortunately, like us, who have had 40-75k offers in the past of higher. I think most are reporting that it was 10-20k lower. Again, this is just, imo I don't work for square I just been paying attention and watching the trend, is all. Good luck to everyone waiting! Ps I'm so glad you are up and running and finally got a personal middleman. Mine from tech support to terminal crashed during a late Friday and Saturday holiday weekend got me a new one and delivered on Saturday afternoon. They really are a great help. It sounds like you have a good one and a fighter. 

[Jjpainting]

I have been with square since October 2022 only. Got my first loan last April. Aside from my first one, my loans have typically been around 11% of my yearly processing volume. Which I really don’t understand being that they say it’s an 18 month payback. My current loan is only $14,700 with a payback rate of 17.25%. Using my current processing volume for 18 months at 17.25%, i could pay for a loan up to $37,500 (number including what the fee would be). 

it seems to me, reading these posts, most people get around 2-3 loans per year. My current loan will end up taking me 8 months to pay off in total (if I don’t get an offer sooner that is).  But December, January and February are my slower months and only paid back around 10% of it during those months. Paid off almost 75% during the past 4 months. Sorry I’m rambling, but it would just be nice to actually get a much larger loan that would still only take 18 months to pay off. The larger the loan, the larger the expansion of my business. 

[Knight87]

Dude you said you would quit square in December last year, what happened to chase? I saw you wrote you took a new loan 2 weeks ago. Friendly advice, in your case square does not make any sense. If you are processing 1 mil a year, traditional bank would offer you way more capital but you need to have a history with any bank. Here at square, high % of us don't go over 100k a year and loans are 10-20k, with fees around 1k. I notices squre is veru cautios about high loan amounts. What other bank will offer you a loan witn flat fee instead APR,and no credit check, none, that is why we love square loan. 

[Twpchair]

Agree to stay with Square, but those numbers, your bank, or credit union would be your best bet. Besides the loan part since 2012, I only had one issue, and the gentleman who helped me was not getting off the phone until my deposit went through. After 2 hrs, I had nothing to do with Square, but my credit union was doing an update 🙃 🙂 I swipe those cards, and it's in my bank. That is what matters to me! I average 187k 250k a year. I'm the type if ain't broke don't fix it. 

[Twpchair]

No, if you are processing that amount and your end return is roughly 1k that's a no brainer. With those numbers I am staying with square 💯 but your local bank or credit union would be your best option. 

[thehealingplant]

One thing we're a little concerned about is we notice that our customer mix is incorrect. It's showing a lot more returning customers than we actually had last month. In fact it's only showing 8 new customers when it's more than seven times that. Hopefully that won't affect our eligibility (still shows green on dashboard.)

[Twpchair]

Have you tried to reach out to customer service and make sure in your first sentence put technical support issues? I will go back and look and see if I still have tech support number. Sometimes if you don't I'm afraid you might get that good Ole script response. Are you or do you process cards daily? If so and it's still not right that needs to update so the algorithm picks that up. It's in the green section that a good healthy mixture of new and return customers. If it's not picking that up correctly your green section for it might be green today but turn into needs work. When you update daily it should show that properly. 

[thehealingplant]

Yeah I will call them but it's definitely an issue where it's not correct for sure. Even though I see people on our scheduling labeled as new customers they're popping up later as "returning." It makes no sense tbh.

But it is showing everything green in customer mix on the dashboard