Square has built its reputation around providing easy to setup and predictable fixed rate costs. You may be considering Square because of the allure of simple pricing. In fact, up until last year, Square's processing fees were a flat 2.75% per swiped transaction (really simple and easy to understand!).
However, there are challenges that you should consider when looking into using Square as your credit card processor.
#1 No longer a flat 2.75% fee
Late last year Square updated its pricing. Let's take a look at Square's updated fees (available via squareup.com):
For swiped transactions, the fee is now 2.6% plus $0.10 per transaction. This type of fee is typically good for merchants having smaller transactions (e.g., merchants taking in less than $10,000 per month). However, as a merchant's average transaction increases, the more money the merchant pays out.
The Square hardware can also cost a merchant money. Here is a breakdown of the prices of the hardware a merchant would be looking into (a merchant receives the first magstripe reader free):
Additional magstripe reader: $10
Contactless and chip card reader: $49
Square Stand for iPad for contactless and chip: $199
Square Terminal: $299
Square Register: $799
#2 Lack of Training/Customer Support
Merchants love the idea of technology helping to grow their business and cut costs. However, after unpacking the equipment, setting it up, and starting to accept transactions, has Square really helped to cut costs?
Square does not have a well-established training program to take merchants to the next level. More specifically, Square does not come with the support and training to help merchants truly understand and implement the Square system.
Additionally, existing merchants will need to jump through some hoops to get customer support on the phone such as completing an online form, receiving a unique customer code, and then calling the customer support number.
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