Leaving Square, Card Data?

[louisdi]

I currently process with two processors, one of which is Square.  I've decided to consolidate my accounts with a new processor and want to move stored data that I have to my new processor.  My other current processor has been cooperative, providing a PGP encrypted card data to my new processor (who is PCI-DSS Level 1).  Square on the other hand acts like they've never heard of such a thing.

Can anyone confirm that there's no way to get card data out of Square (directly to a new, PCI-DSS L1 provider)?

Thank you.

[AshleyK]

Hi @louisdi and welcome to the Seller Community! There is no way to transfer card data out of Square. You are correct in that assumption. 🙂

[Kevin212]

I don't believe this. As OP said, every other processor offers this for migration. I don't believe it is not possible. I have heard of people being able to do this through the right support at Square. I haven't heard back from anyone in 2 days though so I'm starting to worry we are going to lose our Square data when we migrate if they have no way of doing a secure transfer. Please advise. 

[louisdi]

Wow, that's pretty terrible and quite literally every other provider on the planet allows for this including Stripe who even provides standard documentation on their site about how to do it.  I guess as a merchant you really don't any of your own data with Square.  Big thumbs down and 100% certainty I won't be putting another transaction through Square.

[Donnie-M]

@louisdi @Kevin212 This may not really be the answer you are looking for but I think it will explain why you can't download the credit card data.  

1.  You can download your customer list/info by going to your online dashboard -->Customers --->export to csv.  This way you can maintain your contact lists.

2.  Square is the merchant of record for transactions and acts more like a payment facilitator.  In a nutshell, all payments are with square and they facilitate you getting paid.

Stripe on the other hand is more of an independent sales organization and they resell payment processing for someone else like wells fargo etc. under their brand.  Think of it like someone like boost mobile reselling verizon or at&t cell service.

This is why even when a customer has shopped with a different square merchant, when they shop with you you instantly gain access to their profile.  You don't get access till they transact business with you, but you get fully filled out profiles alot of times with e-mail and phone availability.

Unfortunately, this is why you can't get credit card data exported.  This doesn't mean it is a bad thing, it is just stripe and square are not apples to apples.  The end result is the same but the way they get there is not.  I can lose weight by counting calories or by having a gastric bypass.  Looks the same on the outside but not the same.

In your situation, stripe will seem superior; however, for me personally, Square offers a seamless integrated experience across my in person point of sale, mobile ordering, online sales, CRM, and back of house kitchen operations.  Stripe can't do any of that for me.

I hope this information is useful for you.

Donnie-M

[louisdi]

I understand the difference between the two, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is a policy decision, and nothing more, on the part of Square.  

Not to worry though, I'm not using Stripe either.  I've found another provider that can do everything both Square and Stripe can, and at a cost about 30% less than what I was paying Square and should I ever decide to leave them, my new provider can make a request and my customer card data will be transferred to any PCI DSS Level 1 certified provider of my choosing. 

[Kevin212]

Seriously? This is absurd.