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.

[Twpchair · Accepted solution]

Congratulations! I am sorry it's lower than expected but you are correct about daily swiping vs not. That's one of the metrics. I'm retail furniture and I process daily. If 90.00 or 900.00 a swipe is a swipe and they each add up at the end of the day. Hopefully, the next offer will go up! I don't know if the algorithm picks up how your business processes I hope it will or maybe that's something that should be addressed to square. You are not alone and a big market for venues and events. The same goes for contractors who send out invoices and how fast the customer pays. Congratulations on at least getting one and thanks for the update and details about it.

[Twpchair · Accepted solution]

Hello, I apologize I've tried 3-4 to reply, and the boom screen locks up, then under maintenance. Not a good few days on here! When I get to your percentage especially, if I run a sale Thurs-Sun and do 10% off storewide, I use Facebook and Google for this. They are powered tools and are free. I take loads of pictures and post a few times a day with sneak peeks of new arrivals, older furniture, floor models, etc, with further markdown. Our business neighbors have a doughnut and bakery store. I usually get 20-25.00 worth of baked goods and now I would do hot cider and coffee. They or we give each other deals. I post the events that going on. Coloring contest for the kids, pumpkin coloring contest. A gift certificate live drawing on Saturday. All week prior I posted daily on both and boosted some of the posts for 9.95 for 5 days usually in a 100-mile radius and these women came. Last Saturday we tripled to very close to 4x our busiest day. I spent roughly 60-75.00 dollars. It jumps you up and in sales and this is just imo that boost kicks in something in the algorithm again imo. I went back and looked and 85% of my offers were Saturday night usually 7-10 pm after I updated. Thurs is another day again I have done Monday -Wed early bird specials and it kicks it in. I'm retail furniture and it is a little easier to do sales and deals than other industries. Just don't forget the power of free advertising for myself 95% of my first customers are women and then they bring in their spouses. Good luck, I hope you have received a loan offer by now! Hopefully, all the bugs will be worked out.

[Twpchair · Accepted solution]

Oh, yes! You do not need to meet your 60 days or whatever your minimum payment is. I have many times after I my minimum payment was meet and only paid a couple more days received an offer. After 12 years you kinda pick up the big do’s and don’t. I meet my minimum amount way ahead of time but definitely meet that! If not that means their last offer was too big for you to handle. 2. Try not to do too many, especially in a 4 mth-6 mths span of multiple refunds, and disputes. We have a zero return policy and our furniture already has a warranty and the rest we take care of in house. Those disputes and refunds trigger a person to physically do it and investigate why, who, and what type of thing and then back and forth with card company. The rest are important to stay green but I have been offered loans when one of metrics said needs works. So have many others. But definitely, if you have a slower period or a week or 2 of cash and checks. Just watch one or two big transitions will eat that up. I'm retail furniture so I see a week of cash or checks and then boom all cards. Keep swiping away what line of business are you in? Whenever I run a good 3-day sale on Thurs -Sat. And if I am around 70%ish. Usually, Saturday night it triggers an offer. Just lucky, coincidence? I don't know 100% not with an algorithm but I can pay down over 20% of a loan in 3 days it's triggering something to look at. I have done it before at 13% of my loan paid off and nope not happening. But in the 70s I have had it more often than not. But, like I said it is not a guarantee and honestly nothing is without a human connection. All POS systems use an algorithm type system that picks off or triggers something to look at it. 

[Lynix123 · Accepted solution]

Thank you for being here and answering everybody’s question. 
We got an offer at 95% yesterday but it’s only 20%of my current loan. Do you know anybody did not accepted loan and got another loan offer. How long it takes to update to another offer. 
It’s our busiest season. I generate $5-10k everyday till Christmas. I hoping that will trigger bigger loan if I wait. Thank you again 

[Twpchair]

Congratulations!!!! And yes, thank you so much it does help others waiting!

[PFS36]

So, we did more processing this week than the last month and we updated today at 4pm cst ..... big ol Needs work in red. We jumped to 92% today and had a great weekend so far. This makes absolutely no sense.  I think the algorithm is drunk and we're thinking about leaving Square.  All the people that are paid off and waiting is bad enough,  but to just throw a Needs work in our mix is really frustrating.  You reach out to these people and all you get is the same generic response.  

[Tyconcrete]

I feel you .asked them to escalate it never heard back called and same crap 💩 😒 from them it's bs .they are making a killing off us from the fee's and processing fess loan f ees .but oh well at least I will have less than 10k after tonight  🙃 😅  on a 77k loan so .I pay it off I won't need it from them 

[PFS36]

We have 14xx.xx left on a 15500.00 loan. I'm just trying to figure out how a great weekend of processing puts us in needs work. 

[Tyconcrete]

I stopped trying to figure it out .my 6th loan and never late never charge back always paid way earlier  them needed  and 86% all came in well below 80% but can't wait to finish paying g them off .and be done go to a small credit union. Be better off .and there's no customer service at all it's a joke we have to reach out to one a other  to get answers  .

[PFS36]

I wonder if anyone has gotten an offer with a Needs work in their metrics.

[Paulynne]

yes, someone a few pages back did. 

[PFS36]

Thank you 😊 I thought everyone had gotten loans and disappeared 🤣

[Twpchair]

No, I think their in mourning phase right now ughhhhh! I'm hoping with the Feds indicated they are not going to raise the interest rate again and the market holding steady lenders will start loosening up! Good luck and I've been watching and waiting for you to post I just got it! 

[PFS36]

Aww thank you 😊.  I'm team KETO, and all the others that have been paid off and gotten nothing.  Funny how some of the politicians are like stick it to the wealthy,  but they're very wealthy lol

[Twpchair]

Yes, I believe a couple of weeks ago someone posted 2 things needed work and I don't recall which ones but they got an offer.

[PFS36]

Good morning! Thank you 😊 that gives me hope. Ha, I just figured out that when you tap or dip a card, you get charged 75 cents. I'm still learning this thing and we've used it a while,  now.

[jackiebee12]

I am at 96% paid off on my 8th loan and have $1200 left of $29,200. I am now working with a local bank. I really can't keep waiting. I have repairs that need to be done and really in need of some working capital for some equipment. 

I have a restaurant so I don't think I have a ton of options if I were to change processors. I tried clover already and was not a fan. Toast left a terrible taste in my mouth and I wrote them a long QC email. My old college roomate now works for Toast and said all of operations totally failed me on my account. I have a Chase card reader as a back up for when we do festivals but I don't know if it's worth using them full time. 

[Twpchair]

Good luck with both Square and your local bank. No matter what, I did the same a few years back and got a line of credit from my credit union. That's my emergency only, and it sounds like you need equipment to keep going. I'm not telling you what or who to use for your business, but I've been jumping on other pos sites and reviews, even reddit, and it's all of them saying the exact same thing. Lending in general has tightened up. A few good things happened that will hopefully open things up. The Feds are hinting that they aren't going to raise rates. The market has mellowed out and maintained. All lenders want to hear that. Hopefully, they start to push out some loans! Good luck to you with both! I hope you get everything fixed and back at it full force!

[Twpchair]

I use my small local credit union to. A few years back, I got a line of credit, and I use it for emergencies only. They are so easy to work with. But I stay with Square. It's the easiest pos for me and my employees. Everything links great with my spreadsheets. The loans are a plus, and unfortunately,  it's not just square. All pos lenders are holding tight. But it is looking better with the Feds not raising rates. The market is staying steady. Hopefully,  things will pick up and loans going out quickly. Good luck to you on both with the credit union and square.

[Jjpainting]

How were your sales prior to the weekend?  Not sure if this helps at all, but my processing volume/frequency jumps back and forth at least a couple times a month from good to needs work and then back to good. For me it’s mainly cause being a painter, I only average around 15 card payments a month, so I only need a couple of my customers to choose to not pay by card to make this happen. Then once it goes to needs work, I’ll only need one large transaction and I’ll know I’ll be green again, but it takes a day or two for it to go back to green. All I’m saying is that you just may need to wait till today for it to turn back to “good”

[PFS36]

Good morning! Our sales were great last weekend, too. Although this month has been a majority of cash, I'm at 8500 on cards. I think the system is flawed because we're only open Thursday through Saturday and it has me processing cards on Wednesday and Sunday.  I don't know what's going on with it.

[Twpchair]

Right now, I'm ok with metrics, but in the winter close 2 days, and I noticed after the 1st day closed that I was about 1 day behind on my metrics as well. I was one who received an offer with metrics, not all green. Daily card volume was red, and I still received it. I believe after a bit of no cards Mon and Tues on a regular basis it must pick that off. I saw last week 1 got an offer and a response why the drop in sales for 2 days. They said they are closed those days and funds available in 15 minutes they said

[PFS36]

Although an offer would help cushion our new opening,  I guess we're just going to chip away at it out of pocket. We're waiting on our Health Inspection and ready to open.  If Square would just reads these posts, they could understand their customer base a little better. 

[Twpchair]

I see others post the same thing 🤔 is it just the same thing over and over that says need works? I haven't seen anything in the back that said working on metrics and fixed type thing? The best luck most people say is at the very bottom when you scroll down it has that smile face or frown and say, "Did this help you? And they hit the frown and you can leave a comment and just about all of them said some called them in 1-2 days and asked what was problem and told them all my metrics are way off according to my sales. The next day, all back to green. It's worth a shot. 

[PFS36]

I've sent in a few happy and frowns but no change.  Makes me feel like customers aren't really appreciated,  ya know.