A Change to our Tap, Dip, and Swipe Rate

[Caty]

Hi Seller Community,

Caty here, writing with an important update on Square’s standard card present processing rate (e.g.: swipe/ dip/ tap transactions.)

This morning we began notifying existing sellers that we’ve changed the standard 2.75% processing rate for tapped, dipped, and swiped transactions to 2.6% + 10¢ per card present transaction. For existing sellers — which many of you are — this change will come into effect on November 1, 2019. 

This rate change does not affect the existing processing rate for card not present (manually keyed-in-payments), Card on File/ Virtual Terminal payments, payments taken with Square Register or Square Terminal, payments taken with Square for Retail or Square for Restaurants, or any customers under an existing custom pricing agreement. Additionally, all sellers will still enjoy the following benefits: 

• One rate for all major cards
• No startup fees, statement fees, refund fees, PCI-compliance fees, chargeback fees, or business card fees
• End-to-end encrypted payments
• 24/7 fraud prevention
• Payment dispute management
• Fast deposits, and real-time access to your funds with Square Card

Why are we making this change?

Since our inception we’ve been committed to building accessible, easy to use tools designed to help sellers of all sizes start and grow their businesses. Like any company, we regularly review the market forces and revisit our decisions to ensure we’re best positioned going forward.

The payments landscape has changed significantly since we were first founded, and the flat 2.75% rate simply doesn’t cover all the costs that it used to. Square pays a combination of fixed and variable fees to both banks and card networks on each payment we process. Adding the 10¢ fee helps offset these costs, and is also what enabled us to reduce the variable rate to 2.6% per card-present transaction.

How might this impact you?

As mentioned, this rate change impacts anyone who is currently using our standard, 2.75% processing rate when accepting card present transactions through Square Point of Sale. No other rates are changing, including those currently using custom pricing, or paying 2.6% + 10¢ for card present transactions (e.g.: Square Register or Square Terminal.)

If you’re using the standard 2.75%, our team has worked hard to build a detailed calculator that estimates the differences in fees you might pay based on last year’s card present payment history. Keep in mind, this tool uses historical sales data to estimate what your fees might look like under the new, card-present processing rate. Your actual fees may vary depending on a variety of factors, including: ticket size, number of transactions processed, seasonality, and any growth your business may experience in the future.

Please log into Dashboard to check it out, and don’t forget to read our Pricing FAQ as well.

Final Thoughts

For some sellers, this change will be welcomed. For others, we know it will take more getting used to. We worked diligently to ensure we were able to make the best decision possible for all involved. If you choose to comment on this thread to express your feedback, please keep our Community Guidelines in mind. 

On behalf of all of us at Square, we deeply and sincerely appreciate the opportunity to help you run your business, and we look forward to working with you to grow into the future.

With gratitude,

Caty

Global Head of Scalable Customer Success

Square

[#2]

Hi Seller Community,

Caty here, writing with an important update on Square’s standard card present processing rate (e.g.: swipe/ dip/ tap transactions.)

This morning we began notifying existing sellers that we’ve changed the standard 2.75% processing rate for tapped, dipped, and swiped transactions to 2.6% + 10¢ per card present transaction. For existing sellers — which many of you are — this change will come into effect on November 1, 2019. 

This rate change does not affect the existing processing rate for card not present (manually keyed-in-payments), Card on File/ Virtual Terminal payments, payments taken with Square Register or Square Terminal, payments taken with Square for Retail or Square for Restaurants, or any customers under an existing custom pricing agreement. Additionally, all sellers will still enjoy the following benefits: 

• One rate for all major cards
• No startup fees, statement fees, refund fees, PCI-compliance fees, chargeback fees, or business card fees
• End-to-end encrypted payments
• 24/7 fraud prevention
• Payment dispute management
• Fast deposits, and real-time access to your funds with Square Card

Why are we making this change?

Since our inception we’ve been committed to building accessible, easy to use tools designed to help sellers of all sizes start and grow their businesses. Like any company, we regularly review the market forces and revisit our decisions to ensure we’re best positioned going forward.

The payments landscape has changed significantly since we were first founded, and the flat 2.75% rate simply doesn’t cover all the costs that it used to. Square pays a combination of fixed and variable fees to both banks and card networks on each payment we process. Adding the 10¢ fee helps offset these costs, and is also what enabled us to reduce the variable rate to 2.6% per card-present transaction.

How might this impact you?

As mentioned, this rate change impacts anyone who is currently using our standard, 2.75% processing rate when accepting card present transactions through Square Point of Sale. No other rates are changing, including those currently using custom pricing, or paying 2.6% + 10¢ for card present transactions (e.g.: Square Register or Square Terminal.)

If you’re using the standard 2.75%, our team has worked hard to build a detailed calculator that estimates the differences in fees you might pay based on last year’s card present payment history. Keep in mind, this tool uses historical sales data to estimate what your fees might look like under the new, card-present processing rate. Your actual fees may vary depending on a variety of factors, including: ticket size, number of transactions processed, seasonality, and any growth your business may experience in the future.

Please log into Dashboard to check it out, and don’t forget to read our Pricing FAQ as well.

Final Thoughts

For some sellers, this change will be welcomed. For others, we know it will take more getting used to. We worked diligently to ensure we were able to make the best decision possible for all involved. If you choose to comment on this thread to express your feedback, please keep our Community Guidelines in mind. 

On behalf of all of us at Square, we deeply and sincerely appreciate the opportunity to help you run your business, and we look forward to working with you to grow into the future.

With gratitude,

Caty

Global Head of Scalable Customer Success

Square

[KB4Sweets]

@Helen We are afraid that this will cause our growing business to seek alternate payment solutions.  Feel free to reach out if you have a solution to this cost increase as our sales and card processing volume have been steadily increasing since we started using Square 7 years ago. 

[Helen]

I understand @KB4Sweets. I've started an email case for you with our CS team who can take a closer look for you. I've also asked them to include your customer code so you can call if you'd like to.

[Youngbloodcoffe]

Helen,

Can someone contact me. This is unacceptable for my business and we will be switching if you don’t have a better resolution.

[Helen]

@Youngbloodcoffee I've opened an email case for you with our team and they'll reach out to you directly. 

[RandiJ42]

Will you be switching back to ShopKeep? We're also looking to switch after this increase. 

[kristylam59]

This is terrible!! i have been using square for many years, paying hundreds of dollars of fees every month! now you expect me to pay 40% more? Shame on your corporate greed to squeeze small business owners like that, you lose a loyal customer! time to look for other alternative!

Just now i have a quick search on google, i already found out Clover has lower fees at 2.3% + 10cents per transaction! 

[RandiJ42]

We will be looking into Clover as well, thank you for the tip!

[kristylam59]

just a little update, looks like Paypal POS has a solution for us, with flat fee 2.7% only, no per transaction fees, even lower than what we are paying right now to Square! Bam! i am leaving square if they insist the raise. 

[cmusicshop]

@kristylam59 Been there, done that.  Their POS is not very good last I checked (admittedly it was a while) but I switched to Square over the better POS/feature set.  But hey, maybe it will work better for you.

[kristylam59]

just paypal alone might not be enough for someone like me who use other features a lot such as sales report, loyalty program, marketing program, payroll..etc, but paypal partnered with other POS softwares such as VEND, LAVU, TOUCHPOINT....which did the same thing as square, ( i won't go into details here because my last message was blocked as "scam" because i talked too much about other alternative! ) Anyway, my point is do some research guys, square don't care about small business like us, why stick around a company like that?

[cmusicshop]

I'll be honest, I don't know much about those other services so take my post with a grain of salt.  I will say I don't know that Paypal will 'care' anymore about small business than anyone else but competition is healthy!

[RoasterChica]

@kristylam59  With all due respect, you are saving 1.5 cents on a $5 transaction and with Clover you’ll spend a minimum of $29/mo on subscription fees. Plus new  equipment costs. And possibly application and setup fees.  Just make sure you get the full picture. 

[BRkbay]

What do we get for the additional $3,000 a year you will charge us?  It is preposterous to think your community will pay these additional fees without searching alternatives.  I could see an increase if we were getting something tangible but as it is stated this is to just line your corporate pockets.  Very Shameful!

[Helen]

@BRkbay I'm very sorry that this caught you off guard. I've sent you a private message so we can take a closer look at how this change affects you. Please look for a notification from the profile section (top right of your screen).

[chstewart101]

Exactly.  We are over double, nearly triple, your $3,000 as an immediate impact on us due to our large volume, low transaction size! Not a good idea Square!

[Lee70]

So I started with Square 8 years ago. They now raise the employee fee from 5 a person to 35, now this fee increase. Looks like I will be searching elsewhere, they don’t want small business anymore. 

[mhugil]

So let's see if I have this correct from your website.  Because my men in the field take customer credit cards via their phones (androids) you will still be giving us the 2.75% + 15 cents.. The only way to get this new 2.6 + 10c is to use a register or terminal which is crazy for our business. (contractor) So instead of helping a small company, we are being squeezed yet again. And it states on this page that if I manually put the customer's card myself on my phone with square app in the office you are charging me 3.5% + 15c.   How nice of you. 50% is done this way because the customer can't always be at the site so they give us their card and I do this on my android in the office.

This fit our business model when we moved to square 13 + years ago from the bank. It no longer does. If I stay with you I have to increase my prices and screw my people to afford you. 

[dripespressobar]

Hi Caty!

It seems your new pricing agreement really screws the small business owner!  Paying an extra 40% -- about $3,000 per year to my coffee shop is a big hit.  Now I get to start my search for a new company who values small business!

Not happy.

[mat]

@Caty @Helen Are you doing anything to make up for the almost $4,000 extra a year you plan on charging me? You raised the employee management to a flat fee which completely screws over the people that only had a few users (I had 1 which means the rate went up 7x). We already pay a premium for gift cards because you refer to allow non-Square cards. What’s the benefits to staying with Square anymore?

[joshuamoffit]

There is certainly no additional benefit that small businesses will be receiving for their additional $2-4,000 / year they'll be paying.  Terrible business decision on the part of Square.  We'll be looking for another POS and I'll be selling my Square Stock - no future for this company.  

[Simplysusanne]

I too will have to start looking for a new point of service plan. I'm a very small shop, a little over a $100k a year, so I'm sure Square doesn't care about losing me. But it's a shame that this is what they've done to their small businesses.