Swipe Card Payments With The Square Reader

Accept payments with Square Reader for magstripeIn this articleAbout Square Reader for magstripeBefore you beginSwipe paymentsMore payment typesRelated articles Who is this article for? Account owners or team members with the checkout permission to take payments. Set permissions in Square Dashboard.

About Square Reader for magstripe

Square’s card reader works with the Square Point of Sale app to accept swipe payments on your smartphone or tablet. There are three versions of the Square Reader for magstripe, one for a headset jack, one for a Lightning connector, and one for a USB-C connector, giving you and your business a wide range of compatibility options.

Before you begin

• Open the Square app and firmly plug the card reader into the device’s headset jack or Lightning connector until you hear a click. You may need to remove your device case or cover to fully connect the reader. Learn how to Set up Square Reader for magstripe.

• You pay a standard fee per transaction when you accept a magstripe card payment. Learn about Square processing fees.  

• Square Reader for magstripe is compatible with the latest version of the Square POS app on any supported device. Square Reader for magstripe is not compatible with any other Square POS apps.

• Square works with any US-issued and most internationally-issued payment cards, and also supports mobile wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. Learn more about how to Accept payment cards with Square.

Swipe payments

To accept payments:

1. Sign in to your Square account on your compatible device with the email address and password associated with your account.

2. From the Square app, add items to the current sale. Tap on the item to add a description, create modifications, change the quantity and apply tax. When you’re done, tap the X icon or Save. If you’re using a supported barcode scanner, you can scan an item’s barcode with a SKU saved to your Item Library.

3. Tap Charge to prepare for payment. If you’re using a mobile device, or your tablet is being used in portrait mode (vertically), tap Review sale > Charge.

4. Swipe the card smoothly and quickly through the reader with the magnetic strip facing the thick side of the reader. 

5. If the customer wants a digital receipt, they can enter their phone number or email address on the confirmation screen. After a payment completes, the final screen will read All Done.

6. To cancel the payment before it’s been processed, tap the X icon or the back arrow to return to the previous screen.

More payment types

In addition to payment cards, you can take payments in a number of other ways, including card on file, house accounts, QR codes, cash, and more. Learn how to Customize payment types with Square Point of Sale and Accept cash and checks with Square.

Related articles

• Process offline payments with Square

• Troubleshoot connection on Square Reader for magstripe

• Process split payments

• Accept payments with Square Terminal

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