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.

[DCC2]

Had a big week leading up to the 4th and went from 84%-96% and got an offer today. Last loan came at 86% in december, before that my previous couple had come in around 75% and 1 in the 60's

[Twpchair]

Congratulations! Thank you for the update! It has been trending higher to paid off!

[Toripori]

I’m UK based and actually made a formal complaint regarding the factors page and the fact that when I asked where my factors dashboard had gone to I got the scripted response that I wasn’t currently eligible for a loan. I got mad as that wasn’t the question I’d asked and I was fed up with the lack of care square has for its customers that it doesn’t even take time to understand a question and reply properly. A week later I was told that the factors dashboard will only show again when I’m close to an offer and that my complaint was not upheld! I’m so close to leaving Square, I have my sumup account ready to go, the loans whilst I really need one to expand in to events this year are not worth the disregard I’ve been shown. Fully paid on first loan sine 04/17 up on my last year when first offer was made. 

[Twpchair]

I'm so sorry to hear this. It's hard to get past the generic scripts and get someone to understand your not asking about your loan but your metrics which I believe we were told this is a tool to gage your business and what we needed to work on to be eligible for a loan. So that doesn't make sense that it will only update when you are eligible? It should update and work every day! Is your call center in the UK or USA? Not saying one is better than the other but I do know when I had an issue before I every said the dreaded word loan I said I believe I need tech support! She then asked me about it and yes, she transferred me to tech support. How can you get picked up by the algorithm if you haven't been updating at all? You can't and probably wouldn't without anything changing. You need tech support to look into it.  Good luck I wish you the best from Michigan!

[Toripori]

Hi Michigan!

as I elevated it to a complaint tech was contacted who confirmed that not seeing my factors in the loans dashboard is correct and I won’t see them until nearer the time I’m eligible. So I guess right now I’m not eligible! my factors have come and gone since December when I was around 60%. I’ve never been more frustrated with them! I believe ours is UK based as my replies always come during our opening hours. Also to contact by phone is almost impossible always via an email sadly.

[Toripori]

I also can’t see any time stamps as to when my account was last looked at seems to be a US option only

[Jjpainting]

I’m in Michigan and there’s a time stamp under the eligibility factors when you click on the area where it says your business isn’t qualified for a loan. Mine updates daily except when I go without card payments. Like mine didn’t update for a week cause I was out of work due to injury and had zero payments come in in 10 days. But the day after I started back up, daily updates time stamped 

[Healthyketo]

Super slow this holiday weekend so I’m sure there’s no offer in sight for me this weekend. I wish the algorithm was more transparent. Still everything on green. Hoping for the best! 

[goldslinger]

I just got an offer right around 83%. It’s about 3k less than the last so im considering declining. Makes no sense. I’m a two person business that has already cleared over 100k this year. No chargebacks. Nothing negative. So frustrating. Has anyone declined and then been offered more layer? 

[Jjpainting]

Well at least you got one.  I just had a really busy 4 days (I’m just a one man owned company, , but have a few part timers that work for me.  I went from around 79 or 80% paid off up to 86% paid off from the first through fifth of this month. I’m cleared $107k ($78k in credit card processing). 

im sure that if you decline and wait until you have like a super super busy week, a better offer will come along. 

quick question, did your offer come as soon as your account was updated with that time stamp?  Just curious is all.  I’m on my 4th loan, and never paid attention to that. 

[goldslinger]

I believe so, yes. Because I usually am evaluated between 2-4:30 and that’s when I saw it. No email, either. Had to check my dashboard. 

[Jjpainting]

Gotcha. Thanks. I haven’t been updated yet so crossing my fingers as my sales we up 300% this past week. And yeah, the only time I’ve gotten an email for a loan was the very original first one. 

[goldslinger]

Oh wow, I’d think you’d get one soon especially with an increase that large. We have had a couple really awesome weeks and accepted walk-ins yesterday to boost sales. I think it worked. But today has been busy with appointments too. How long until these offers expire? Or should I decline??? I could just cry because we needed the anticipated larger amount. 

[thehealingplant]

We have never declined an offer however it seems that when people decline them or miss them there is no exact timing for when you may get another offer (similar to a normal situation.) Obviously the only issue with this is if you need the help now or are able to wait for it.

Even if we got offered a slightly lower offer than our last we would have no choice but to accept as we're hitting a really hard season of the year and need to market to keep up with the larger companies around us who can spend endless money marketing.

Obviously do what's best for you and your business. Just consider how it could or could not affect your business and it's needs.

Wishing you all the best and continuing to send good vibes for offers for those in need (including ourselves.)

[Jjpainting]

Yeah what I said was just a guess that maybe a larger offer would come if you wait for another one and you have some amazing sales in a week. But you’re really rolling the dice. Do you mind me asking what your last loan was and how much your processed over the past 12 months. My last one (4th one, was $14,700 and came when my 3rd one was 66% paid off on November.27th which was only a $8350 loan).  When I got my last loan, I did $120k in processing over the previous year.  Now I’m at $149k over the previous year. So I would think my next offer will be larger as well but who really knows.  But I’d take $3000 less right now. That would still give me $9000 (I owe pretty much just the loan fee right now of $2300 or so). 

[goldslinger]

So we opened doors January 6th. We are piercing and fine jewelry. Our first loan was about $8k, paid that in about a month and some change. second was 14k on March 6th and we are 83% paid off. Todays offer was $11,500. Our sales have increased from 11,k in April to almost 20k the past two months. I’m at 14k for July already so I anticipate an even better end of month. Knock on wood. 

[Jjpainting]

So our current loans were the same pretty much. My slow months are January and February where I only did a combined $10k in card sales but $20k total sales. But then in march I get swamped and did almost $25k in card sales.  From march through October I average about 15k. June was a bad one at only $6500 but that was cause I was out of work for over two weeks with a broken rib. I’ve already beat last months card sales in only 5 days. So I truly thought that hitting those numbers and hitting the 86% mark was going to trigger one today. I had a large sale last night, which still is in the pending phase on the loan sheet. I wonder if pending loan payments from sales don’t get counted for loan offers. That sale was at 630pm yesterday. Shocked it’s still pending 

[Jjpainting]

Well I just looked. I did about $7k during the past week when my average is like $2800. So maybe not 200-300% but still a big week. Mine updated 20 min ago and no luck. I also had a $4k sale and wanted it to be paid by card. But the customer insisted Zelle.  I knew if I also had that sale card processed making it a $11k week, I probably would definitely have gotten an offer this week. Oh well. Got a couple more large sales coming up in the following few days. So we shall see. What hurt me is that between June 22nd through June 30th, I had no one pay me by card. Sorry for rambling.  lol.

[Ann14]

I just received an offer just now thank god 😭🙌🏼🙌🏼 it was 12,000 less then last loan ..this is my 5th loan if approved  my last offer was 52,000 . 

[Healthyketo]

Congrats! I’m so happy to hear people receiving offers today! Hopefully I’ll be next! Had you been updated already or did it show up when updated? 

[Ann14]

It updated around 2:55 pm so after I checked my dash board and it was there ..no email