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Does Square accept Canadian Debit cards?

I would like this question answered before applying for a Square.

 

It would save a lot of time if Square had a customer service number for potential clients to call and get their questions answered.

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Hi there, @WestsideYYC and @sqruserincanada! I hope this message finds you both well.

 

Wanted to reach out with some good news. I am happy to report that we're able to offer full Interac acceptance in Canada! This means that you can now accept chip and PIN payments using the Contactless & Chip Card reader or the Square Terminal. 👏More info on Debit & Pin availability is available here and you can visit our Support Centre to learn more accepting Interac debit cards cards

 

Thanks so much for your patience while we brought this feature to fruition! We appreciate you being a part of the Square Community. 

 

This post was updated in October 2020.

Joe
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Happy to follow up! Currently, we're not able to accept Canadian-issued debit or Interac cards for swiped or manually entered payments in Canada. However, if you’re using Square Invoices, your customers can pay with Visa co-branded debit cards and credit cards.

 

If you use another payment processor to accept debit payments, you’re able to track your debit payments through Square Register by selecting Other and then Debit/Credit as your payment type. Keep in mind that this feature is for tracking purposes only.

 

This is a very popular request from our sellers in Canada, and definitely something that is top of mind for us! I'll be sure to update this thread if anything changes.

 

PS) If my answer solved your problem, would you mind marking it as "Best Answer"? That'll help the rest of the community find what they're looking for. If not, just write back, and I'll continue to help. Thanks!


Sean
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Product Manager | Square, Inc.
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I really really wish you could get through the "red tape" or whatever it is needs to be done to accept debit cards. I personally don't want another machine/program just for debit. I totally love Square Register and 2 years later, still no debit cards, YET, i get the updates all the time and see Australia has debit!!

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@dakota - I totally understand your frustration, this is something that has been a top feature request from our Canadian sellers. This is definitely not something we're brushing off - it's top of mind for us. I'll be sure to update you if anything changes! 


Sean
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Product Manager | Square, Inc.
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Cheers Sean. Yes I called about 18 months ago maybe less and was told it was something that was at the top of the list. Thanks!! 🙂

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I am also thinking of leaving Square for not having a Debit payment option. Just lost another customer because he wanted to pay with a Debit card and Square can not process Debit payments!

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yes I am upset as I think Australia just joined Square and they have CC and debit

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I have went to  squareup.com/au to checked on dakota's  claim that if Australia has both debit and credit processing.

In fact they have both and not only that , they have

"Accept every way your customers want to pay.

Square lets you accept tap-and-go cards and devices and take chip cards, whether you’re on the move or at your counter."

 

We in Canada only have credit card processing with swipe or manual typed in.

 

Why would a small country such as Australia and which is smaller than Canada have the most up dated technology and Canada is slowly left behind?

 

Square Up Canada needs to catch up with the times. Business is evolving very faster. If you do not fill a need for us - small businesses, we will take our businesses some where else.

 

I have been a loyal user for Square Up in Canada for many years . We used in our two retail locations.

 

I am stunned as more and more customers demanded to use the debit card systems to pay for their purchases in Canada over credit cards. I have guessed with the high interest rates that these credit cards charges for the late payments, it is not worth paying for by credit card if you forgot to pay it on time.

 

I am losing a huge portion of sales because Square Up Canada can not process debit card transactions.  I am relying on one credit card processing from SquareUp Canada.  I am now even looking at alternatives to use. As a small business, I need all the sales to survive. I am already looking at other alternatives besides Squareup.

Some of your competitors are beanstream.com and dreampayment.com . Both of these alternatives are Canada based and can processes both credit card and debit payment. They even have Visa Tap and Master Card Tap.

 

One of the reasons that SquareUp Canada is ignoring Debit payment processing is because some debit card companies charges at least $0.10 to$0.25 per transaction. That is a lot lesser than charging a whopping a per transaction swipe fee, or 3.5 percent plus $0.15 for each manually entered transaction by Squareup Canada. They make a lot lesser under the debit card processing system and that is why some debit card and credit processing companies are selling their devices a lot morer or the monthly fees are more expensive. However, if you weigh in on all the sales you have lost because you can not process debit card payments, that device is worth getting.

 

Once I invested in one of your competitor's debit and credit card devices, I am not going back to Square Up.

It been a pleasure of using the SquareUp card reader but times have changed and we are moving ahead to other alternatives.

 

 

 

 

 

 
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I completely get the frustration here, @j2ledflashlight, and understand that you need to do what’s best for your business, first and foremost.

 

It’s unfortunately a topic that I and the other admins here won’t be able to shed much light upon; either Square’s business decisions or a guess as to when these features will be available to you. Without a proper announcement, I can't speculate as major updates such as these are always very subject to change.

 

For what it’s worth I’ve shared your post with our team, as it’s certainly a valid criticism. I appreciate you taking the time to write this up; we’ll update this thread first thing should anything change in the future.

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Thank you for taking the time to both look into this and get back to me. I know it is a problem that is out of your hands. Thank you for passing this message along to your team. I will keep my fingers crossed that this problem can get worked out sooner then later. Have an awesome day.

Kim

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I am a coffee shop owner and a lot of customers use the debit/interac cards that are not swappable.  Since the last posting, this feature is still not available.   Any update please?

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no update yet. I have seen a lot of tech updates in the industry and other providers moving their tech forward but still the only options for using chip and pin DEBIT cards for non tap transactions is to go with something wired or wifi. Moneris has a really good option. We have their IWL255 terminal cause we are a popup and that allows us to connect anywhere we get a cell signal. Their less expensive option is the IPP320 which requires a wifi connection. The IPP320 integrates with eCommerce platforms but the IWL255 does not. Both of them allow you to process transactions that require the customer to insert the card and enter a PIN.

 

TO BE CLEAR: inserting the card and entering a PIN is the only functionality Square is missing. With both pieces of their reader, you can swipe, tap, and even insert credit cards to enter a PIN. It is only Canadian debit cards whose PIN requires a special pad and that only for transactions over $100. For a coffee shop, it sounds strange that you wouldn't be able to operate with the Square devices but that's just my opinion.

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Hey @peterkt!

 

I hope this reply finds you well! I'm reaching out to let you know Interac chip and PIN is finally here. For more details, have a look at this post

 

Thanks! 

️ Isabelle | she/her
Seller Community & Super Seller Program Manager | Square, Inc.
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@LauraBotsford You can accept it on a debit card :). I would check out the post in Isabelle's comment for more details. I have it here again as well: https://squ.re/ChipandPin

AshleyK
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I dont believe that you guys are unable to get the technology updated in canada vs aus or u.s. Be honest, the debit machienes we have to use here are owned by the banks yea? So they just straight up wont let you process their cards cause if they do let you they stand to loose billions of dollars that they are making by charging everyone on thier own machiens for the set up, monthly fee, charge per transaction and the charge per transaction that the card owner already has to cover. Thats four charges in one. 

 

Is that the reason its still two years later, hell its been 4 years now I've been using square and keep hearing "we are working on it!" Is it now a legal battle to allow you to process debit cards? Cause I would be on your side, as a debit card owner I think its completely against my interest that I cannot use my debit card with square readers. If they are holding you back from doing that then they are screwing me over in the process. And as a business owner that uses square its friggin killing me to constantly tell people I cannot accept debit.

 

When are you guys going to give a straight answer about why you really cannot accept debit and what is really taking so long to get it sorted? 

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I was a happy Dream Payment customer until they closed up shop. I could take any firm of payment, including debit chip and PIN with no issue, and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg for fees. When they went out of business, they recommended that we go to a Square, and for the most part, it's was a good move. As always, I still need chip and PIN for debit, but I believe they're working on it. I'm just  tired of having to keep learning my way around new processing systems, so I'm hoping they will get the technology in place before I'm forced to move to another processing company  

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Thanks for sharing  your thoughts @eclipsvianet

 

Hopefully we can get this rolled out for everyone sooner rather than later, as we know how important this is to our Canadian sellers. 

 

Keep an eye out for updates. 

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April 2019.  Hmmm.  Still no debit unless tap (under  $100).  This is a bad oversight.   .y transactions are never under $100.  Clients cannot use debit cards.

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 It is not an oversight. It is the security protocol and Canada is the only one that uses it. The only way to gain access to a Canadian bank account for a transaction over $100 is to insert the chip into a chip reader and enter the PIN. Square has no way to bypass the issue without manufacturing a device that does the exact same thing Moneris and Ingenico terminals do. If they do that, their costs go up and therefore do do hours. It also means our hardware isn’t so slim and easy to pack. The only thing this means is if your transactions are regularly over $100 and paid on debit, Square isn’t right for you, as in the case of my family’s high end fashion company. Square is genuinely trying to solve this. You can bet they would like the revenue from that market, but right now, it’s not an option. It’s the way it is. The cost of doing business. 

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This reply created from merging an existing thread: "Square not accepting tapless debit and tap debit for over $100 is very disappointing." The author has been notified via email.

 

Its close to a month I switched to square from Elavon, Everything is good but restrictions regarding debit cards are very disappointing because at the end of the day you want the payment system to work when customers are ready to pay.

 

Is there any solution for tapless debit and $100 limits on debit

 

Thanks

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Hi there, @NAIF - I hope you are doing so well!

 

Wanted to reach out with some good news in regards to your post back in April. As of this week, I am happy to report that we're able to offer full Interac acceptance in Canada! This means that you can now accept chip and PIN payments using the Contactless & Chip Card reader 👏More info on Debit & Pin availability here. 

 

Thanks so much for your patience while we brought this feature to fruition! We appreciate you being a part of the Square Community. 

Joe
Community Moderator, Square
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