Beating a Dead Horse but it needs to be: Preauthorization

[FarmAndBar]

We need to be able to preauthorize credit cards when running a tab. Period.  We really enjoyed the low buy in and easy menu development and a couple of the other features, but a bar/restaurant needs to be able to run a tab and preauthorize a credit card.  I've gone back and looked at conversations about it and it appears that this has been a CONSTANT request by users that has gone ignored.

I'd like to know why it isn't available.

[#2]

So sorry for the confusion here, @Amanda_Bierock @FarmAndBar and others!

Pre-Authorization recently became available to all users of Square for Restaurants (Free, Premium, and Plus), and you should be able to turn in on by following the instructions in this support article, via the Dashboard and device settings.

Enable and Configure Pre-Authorization Bar Tabs

If you are using Square for Restaurants and aren't able to enable Pre-Auth by following these steps, please reach out to our support team for assistance.

For businesses that use Square Point of Sale, there is not currently a way to access Pre-Authorization.  While we did run a Beta test last year for Pre-Authorization on Point of Sale, it has been discontinued and Square for Restaurants is the only application that currently supports this functionality.

The team developing Pre-Authorization decided last summer to focus their efforts on Pre-Auth within Square for Restaurants and discontinued the Beta and development of Pre-Auth for Point of Sale.

Some testers who participated in the Point of Sale Beta we ran last year may still have access via their open tickets settings on individual devices (like @ryanwanner) but accounts that were not enrolled in that Beta feature last summer can no longer be added.

@nika I hope this context is helpful when these questions come up - it can be confusing because at times we had a POS Beta on the way.  It's understandable when it's been a request for so long 🙂

Andy
Beta Specialist

[#3]

Hello all! We are so excited to let the community know that this feature is now available for Square for Restaurants! For more information on enabling and configuring preauthorization for bar tabs, check out this help article. Respond here if you have any questions, and thanks for your patience while our team built this out. We appreciate you!

️ Kristen
Square Community Manager
Product Engagement

[#4]

Pre-Authorization for Bar Tabs Update ⭐
Hi everyone - I'm Hadley, from the F&B product team. First of all, thank you SO MUCH for continuing to share all the feedback here over the years, we know how important the Bar Tabs feature is. For anyone who is not aware, this feature is currently in beta in the US for Square for Restaurants POS. 

➡️ You can join the beta community here and our beta team will enable feature to your account. You can find the support article for getting set up on RST POS here. 

As a reminder, when a feature is in beta, there is still some engineering work happening to iron out the smaller bugs and optimizing the experience for our sellers and their customers. If you choose to participate in the beta testing, please share any feedback (good or bad 😄) to our beta team at betafeedback@squareup.com so we can learn how it is working for you and your staff.  

Thank you!

[aeronaut]

I would point people on this thread over to a related one, How can I pre authorize a card? that has 7 pages of people asking for pre-auth over the past 2 years. Pre-auth is the mechanism by which cards would be authorized when the tab is opened, and then saved to be later closed out without needing the card back (as in our feature request here!).

[jmack056]

Come on Square, people have been BEGGING for this for 2 years! There is a ton of customers who want this! This feature would save businesses a lot of money and headache! And before someone replies to me telling me "You can use the customer card on file system" please just don't. It is not the same, and it is not free.

[Tom]

Hey @jmack056, thanks for reaching out in this thread. I went to check for any updates on this, but I'm not able to access and share a timeline with more specifics. Sorry for the frustration - I realize this request have been ongoing for a long time. I'll be surfacing your post with our Payments Team. They will circle back as soon as any developments come to light.

[BrandoPoz]

This reply was created from merging an existing thread: “Need to get a tips on full amount of sale option when deposit was made on previous date in cash”. The original author has been notified via email.

My business collects deposits in cash and online weeks before the sale. When the customer comes in for service there is no way to enter the deposit amount and the balance amount  together to get tipped on the full sale. Any word on if this is coming to Square soon?

[Chad]

Hello @BrandoPoz! 

This is an interesting feature request that we're already tracking! I went ahead and merged your thread with an existing one and made sure to track your comment. If you have any other questions please let me know! 

[plant6provision]

Please, we need this function!!!!

[wcoastbo]

Add me to the list that needs a pre-authorization function. Since the demise of Spinlister my regular rentees want to keep coming back to rent my bikes. Until this function is available I'll have to use another platform. 

[Parkerwayne30]

This functionality has been a request by many bars/restaurants for years. The only response anyone ever gets is "we understand how this would help, but this is not a priority". 

How long does a feature need to be requested before it becomes a priority? Thank you for your years of "empathetic feelings" but your actual apathy on this issue speaks volumes. Obviously, if Square doesn't really care that they are missing out on a huge industry because it won't/can't implement this feature, there's not really much your users can do besides change to a different POS. Which is what my business will be doing soon.

It's unfortunate, because I really like Square.

[jmack056]

There are so many other POS systems out there, most of which have this critical feature! I really have liked square as well, but this is ridiculous. This isn't a "new" thing, Square. Come on.

[SHEMP]

Our business has boat rentals and we want to be able to take a damage deposit on credit cards from customers.

Is this possible using square?