Software solution

Square Payments

One payment setup for counter sales, mobile work, online orders, and remote billing

Square Payments gives a U.S. business one account for accepting card-present, online, phone, invoice, ACH, wallet, and eligible Afterpay payments. A neighborhood bakery can take a tap at the register and send a payment link for a custom cake; a contractor can key a deposit through Virtual Terminal; a food truck can use a reader or compatible phone at the window.

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Built for your day-to-day

How it fits your business

Square Point of Sale software is available on the Free plan, while paid Square plans can reduce some published card rates and add industry features. You can start without buying hardware, then add a reader, Terminal, Register, or another supported device as checkout needs grow. Processing, identity verification, bank-linking, device, and account-review conditions still apply.

Key capabilities

What you can do

Take payment where the sale happens
Use Square hardware at a counter, a reader or compatible phone on the move, online checkout and payment links, invoices, or browser-based Virtual Terminal for phone and remote orders. The same Square account keeps payments, customers, items, and reporting connected.
Support the payment methods customers actually use
Square documents Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, and UnionPay cards, plus contactless wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. Eligible sellers can also offer Afterpay; invoices and APIs can accept ACH, while cash and checks can be recorded without a Square processing fee.
Start lean and add equipment later
No hardware purchase is required: Square lists invoices, payment links, Virtual Terminal, and Tap to Pay as no-hardware options. When a staffed checkout needs a purpose-built device, the U.S. shop lists Square Reader, Square Terminal, and Square Register as compatible Square choices.
Keep controls and reporting in one dashboard
Square describes built-in dispute management, fraud prevention, end-to-end encryption, PCI-compliance support, refunds, item libraries, customer records, and sales reporting. That gives an owner a practical trail from an order or invoice to its payment and transfer.
Choose a plan around volume and workflow
Square Free has no monthly subscription cost and charges when a payment is taken. Square Plus and Premium add advanced features and lower published card-present or online rates; Square says businesses processing over $250,000 per year can ask about custom pricing, processing fees, hardware discounts, and implementation support.

Explore the details

Product details

Plans, published rates, and the cost trade-off

For the current U.S. Free, Plus, and Premium plans, Square publishes card-present rates of 2.6% + $0.15, 2.5% + $0.15, and 2.4% + $0.15 per transaction, respectively. Online or invoice card payments are 3.3% + $0.30 on Free and 2.9% + $0.30 on Plus or Premium. Manual entry or card-on-file payments are 3.5% + $0.15 across those plans. ACH via invoice is 1% with a $1 minimum; Free has no stated cap, while Plus and Premium show a $10 cap. ACH via API is 1% with a $1 minimum and $5 cap. Afterpay is 6% + $0.30. International cards add 1.5% to the applicable base rate. Square says rates can vary by plan or custom agreement, so a buyer should confirm the rate shown in Dashboard before publishing a fee comparison.

Eligibility, setup, and U.S. operating boundaries

Only an account owner can create a Square account. Square's U.S. setup guide says the seller must choose a business structure, provide personal identity information required by federal and banking rules, and link a verified bank account before the first transfer. The accepted-cards guide says the seller must be located in the country where the account was activated; a U.S. account processes in U.S. currency and cannot be changed to another country. Square's U.S. help page lists card acceptance in the United States and several other supported countries, but this record is limited to the U.S. offering.

Hardware and device compatibility

The U.S. shop lists Square Reader for contactless and chip (2nd generation) at $59.00, Square Terminal at $299.00, and Square Register (2nd generation) at $899.00; these are one-time hardware prices before applicable tax and optional accessories, not processing fees. Square's compatibility page identifies Register and Terminal as standalone devices, while the current contactless reader requires iOS 17.1+ or Android 7.0+. Tap to Pay on Android generally requires Android 9+ with NFC, but Square directs sellers to its compatibility checker because individual models can differ. Offline mode is limited: Square says stored offline payments must reconnect within 24 hours, and the feature is not supported on Square Reader for contactless and chip (1st generation, v1 and v2).

Meaningful limitations to explain before adoption

The lowest published rate is not universal: keyed/card-on-file, online, ACH, Afterpay, international-card, EBT, gift-card-load, and Bitcoin transactions have distinct qualifications or prices. Afterpay requires eligibility and has its own fixed rate. Offline acceptance places payment risk on the seller if a payment expires, declines, or is disputed. Government or military card approval is not guaranteed by Square, HSA/FSA acceptance is limited to licensed health-care providers and pharmacies, and the help page says daycare and childcare services cannot accept HSA/FSA cards through Square. Hardware is country-certified, so U.S.-intended hardware should not be treated as globally interchangeable.

Plan details

Pricing, fees & eligibility

Explore pricing

Square Free has $0 monthly subscription cost; paid Square Plus and Premium plans exist, but the current official page did not expose a stable monthly dollar amount in the retrieved U.S. page. Processing depends on plan and payment type. Hardware prices below are one-time U.S. shop prices for representative devices.

Upfront hardware (USD)$59

Monthly software (USD)$0

Fees & eligibility

Requirements

A Square account owner must create the account and complete business-structure and personal identity verification.
A verified bank account must be linked before the first transfer.
The seller must process payments in the country where the Square account was activated; this record covers the U.S. offering.
Hardware is optional. Compatible phones/tablets or Square standalone hardware are required for the corresponding in-person workflow.
Tap to Pay on Android requires a compatible NFC-enabled Android device; check Square's model-level compatibility tool.
Afterpay, EBT, HSA/FSA, custom rates, and some alternative payment methods have additional eligibility or business-category conditions.

Published rates and hardware availability are time-sensitive; confirm the seller's actual Dashboard pricing and U.S. Shop cart before launch.

Square Plus and Premium monthly subscription dollar amounts were not stable in the retrieved official U.S. page, so this record does not invent them.

Financing shown on hardware pages is not the cash price: monthly installments require sign-in, qualification, credit approval, and may be unavailable in AL, DE, MS, MO, NH, and TN; taxes and shipping can apply.

Square's published processing fee is deducted from the transaction total, including tax and tip, and applies to nonprofits as well as other businesses.

Offline payments can expire or be declined if the device does not reconnect within 24 hours; the seller bears responsibility for expired, declined, or disputed offline payments.

No cash-discounting or dual-pricing program terms are inferred here. Any Square-related cash-discounting offer requires the supplied agreement and administrator confirmation; do not represent an assumed 4% program or savings claim.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Can I use Square Payments without buying a card reader?

Yes. Square says hardware is not required for invoices, payment links, Virtual Terminal, Tap to Pay on iPhone, or Tap to Pay on Android. For phone-based contactless acceptance, the device and operating-system compatibility requirements still apply.

What is the standard U.S. Square Payments rate?

There is no single rate for every transaction. On the Free plan, Square currently publishes 2.6% + $0.15 for card-present tap, dip, or swipe; 3.3% + $0.30 for online or invoice card payments; and 3.5% + $0.15 for manual entry or card on file. Plus and Premium reduce some card-present and online rates, while ACH, Afterpay, international cards, EBT, and custom agreements follow separate rules.

What does a U.S. business need before taking its first payment?

The account owner must create the account, choose the business structure, provide identity and business information for required verification, and link a verified bank account before the first transfer. The business must use the account in the country where it was activated.

Sources & product information

Information as of 2026-10-27. Product details date: 2026-10-27.

Ready when you are

Talk through the options for your business.

Contact Sales Create Free Account

One payment setup for counter sales, mobile work, online orders, and remote billing

How it fits your business

What you can do

Take payment where the sale happens

Support the payment methods customers actually use

Start lean and add equipment later

Keep controls and reporting in one dashboard

Choose a plan around volume and workflow

Product details

Plans, published rates, and the cost trade-off

Eligibility, setup, and U.S. operating boundaries

Hardware and device compatibility

Meaningful limitations to explain before adoption

Pricing, fees & eligibility

Fees & eligibility

Requirements

Frequently asked questions

Explore related solutions

Recommended hardware

Square Reader for contactless and chip

Square Reader for magstripe

Square Terminal

Square Register (2nd generation)

Square Handheld

Square Stand

Related software

Square Point of Sale

Square Invoices

Square Payment Links

Square Virtual Terminal

Square Dashboard & Reporting

Square Payment Risk Manager

Square Instant Transfers

Square Online Ordering

Afterpay — Buy Now, Pay Later

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Talk through the options for your business.