CC Pre-Authorization for bar tabs

[coffee4]

Where is this at in the beta process? Its one of my restaurant's priorities and is frequently brought up by both staff and customers.

[#2]

Hi @sadmonkeytx I can see why Pre-Auth would help out a lot in that situation!

Since you're using Square for Restaurants, you'll want to request access to the Square for Restaurants Next Gen Beta Community Group - The Beta folks overseeing that program will review your account and enable in a few batches every week.  That Beta Community is also a great place to share feedback or ask questions with fellow testers!

Pre-Auth with Square for Restaurants is still a closed Beta with a few limitations and requirements to participate, so you won't see the option to enable it until your account has been enrolled.

Once you're enrolled in the Beta test, you'll see the option for Pre-Authorization on the Dashboard under your Service Settings, and can create a new device profile where you'll be able to toggle on Pre-Authorization for that individual device.

Andy
Beta Specialist

[AndySQ · Accepted solution]

Andy from the Beta Team here!

Currently the only ongoing Beta Test that allows for access to Pre-Authorizations is for Square for Restaurants:

Square for Restaurants Next Generation - An ongoing closed beta for Square for Restaurants that includes Pre-Authorization and several other features.  This will go into Open Beta by the end of April, but if you're interested in using Pre-Authorization with Square for Restaurants, you can request to join here in the Beta Community:
https://www.sellercommunity.com/t5/Next-Generation-Square-for/cmp-p/grouphub%3ABarTabs

Earlier this year, we were also testing Pre-Authorizations on Square Point of Sale, but that Beta and access to the feature have been discontinued at this time.

Updated 7/1/2024 to reflect changes in Beta feature availability.

[Gold]

HI, hopefully these Square Support pages will help.

https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/7680-self-serve-ordering-open-tabs-with-square-online

https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5337-use-open-tickets-with-square

https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/6108-open-tickets-best-practices

[BeerStreetSouth]

Please, please enable preauthorization. 

[MayaP]

Hi @BeerStreetSouth  - I see this is your first post in the Seller Community so I'd like to officially welcome you! 🎉👏

Our team is currently testing a beta for bar tabs beta, I do not have an eta on when this will be released as we are still testing this. But it is something our team is seriously considering. 

Thank you so much for hanging in there while we work on this! 

[lanternbrewing]

Please offer this soon - we've been waiting for years and its becoming a big issue for us as customers absolutely expect it - every other system offers it

[PeytonDC]

I own 2 bars. I started one with square and another with Focus. A year ago I moved the one on Square to Toast and I just signed the other one up for Toast a month ago. I am now close to signing a lease for a 3rd location- This location will act more like a corner market that also has on-premise alcohol consumption and as much as I want to use Square, the bar aspect of the project is making me go back to Toast. If Square had Pre-Auth it would be a no-brainer for me, but since it doesn't it's not even a POS I consider. 

I only happened on this forum because I was trying to figure out if Square had added pre-auth yet to its impressive system, but it hasn't. I'm still about 5 or 6 months away from making a final decision so if Square adds pre-auth between now and then I'm sold. Otherwise it's back to Toast. Here's hoping. 

[creeksideknox]

Has the KDS feature for Authorizations been added to the beta?

[MayaP]

Hey there @creeksideknox @lanternbrewing thank you for reaching out and checking on this. 

This feature is still currently being tested. If anything changes on this we will let you know. 

[Sjminiboss]

Is there a way for us to sign up to be a beta tester for this feature?

[JJ_]

Hello @Sjminiboss  

If you're interested in joining this Beta, we will need you to reach out to our Square for Restaurants team. They can be reached at 855-700-6000 between 6 am - 6 pm Pacific Time Monday-Friday. They will be able to qualify you and make sure that this beta is a good fit for your business.

[leejoramo]

We are seriously looking at Toast for this reason alone. We're losing quite a bit of money on the open tickets, but there isn't another way to go about it without holding physical credit cards and that doesn't work if people have the info on their phone or watch.

We have a coffeehouse/bar that is counter service and it really is too much to ask our busy staff to watch every open ticket from walking out the door during a rush.

[eod]

We are also looking to switch POS to toast specifically for this reason. So much fraud, people do not want to give their cc's and then sometimes they forget them.
This should be a top priority for the beta team. 

[eod]

Any updates on when this feature will be available? We will be switching POS to toast if there is not a specific time frame.

[sayra]

Hello, @eod. 

Thank you for reaching out. We're excited to inform you that this new feature will be launching in just a few days. As of now, the planned launch date is November 13th in the US. This innovative addition aims to enhance customer experiences significantly. It also offers financial protection to sellers by temporarily holding funds on a customer's card, minimizing the risks associated with fraud and losses. For businesses like bars and breweries, this feature enables sellers to open a tab with the customer's card and process the payment only when the tab is closed, streamlining the payment process. 

We truly appreciate your patience and time while our engineers worked on this. Please be on the lookout for an official Community Post regarding this launch and more details. 

Have a wonderful day! 

[wobile]

Where is the launch? I'm not seeing anything. We are trying to launch at our bar but not possible without pre auth for bar tabs. 

[_Violet]

Hi, @wobile 👋 Violet here, following up for Sayra.

We don't have an exact date just yet, but we plan to release this feature in Q1 of 2024

[Getonthebus]

We just joined in on the beta testing for Pre-Authorizing cards for bar tabs as we too had been holding cards like we were riding in the 90's. If this wasn't going to work for us - we were jumping ship to Toast. Our first weekend and my bartenders rocked it out of the park. Not one issue! Be patient kids or join the beta. They are pretty darn close to this being a done deal. 

[d20tavern]

We are considering jumping on the beta test for Pre-Auth, but square lists Close of Day as one of the features not available while testing pre-auth. This is a concern for us. Has this been an issue for your bar? 

[spencermj2]

Any update on the release for this? Just switched from toast to square because I was sick of toast's customer service. Just now finding out that pre-auth isn't an option, and I'm super surprised, seems like a very basic feature to be missing from such a large company. How do I sign up for the beta? 

[RobynR]

Hey @spencermj2,

Thank you for joining Square, and I am happy to welcome you to the Seller Community.

You can sign up for the Beta group here.

Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions. 

[SwanDriveIn]

Hi!  Can you please tell me, are they enabling this for Square For Restaurants, or only Point Of Sale?  Thank you!