Square Brings Offline Payments to All Hardware Devices, Around the Globe

Offline payments, Square’s no-connection-required solution to deliver continuous commerce connectivity, is now available to Square sellers using every hardware device, and in every country. Whether in a remote location or facing a technology disruption, now nearly every Square seller can continue to operate business-as-usual and keep sales flowing.

Square has offered offline payments for 10 years, first bringing “Offline Mode” technology to the original Square Reader for magstripe in 2014. In early 2022, offline functionality expanded to Square Register and Square Terminal, Square’s proprietary end-to-end integrated devices, which provided offline coverage to about half of Square’s global seller population. Now, offline payments are available across the entire Square hardware lineup – expanding to Square Stand and Square Reader for contactless and chip – enabling nearly 90% of hardware sellers to take offline payments.

While offline payments improves Square’s reliability in the rare event when Square experiences a service disruption, it also gives sellers continuity when they choose to conduct business outside of a mobile coverage area; face a technical issue on their side, such as a disruption with their internet provider; or during a card network outage. Sellers can activate offline payments anytime in their Square settings, or in the moment when their Square point of sale detects a connectivity issue, and have 24 hours to reconnect to the internet to upload and process payments. Transaction limits are fully customizable, putting sellers in control. Offline transactions are processed seamlessly; once a seller is back online, Square automatically uploads and processes all offline sales.

While a banner in the point of sale will notify sellers when they’re taking offline payments, for consumers, the experience is frictionless, hidden, and doesn’t change their purchase experience. Generally, a buyer won’t be aware their seller is offline and can continue to use their tender type of choice, including mobile wallets in the US.

“Our recent investments in offline payments are part of our commitment to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement,” said Cyndy Lobb, Head of Trust Platform at Square. “No technology company can guarantee 100% uptime – though we will always strive for it. What is in our control is how we communicate with and prioritize the needs of our sellers during an incident to minimize impact and preserve trust. Square has made these investments because reliability matters deeply to us, just as it does to the businesses of all sizes who partner with us to power their operations.”

Square continues to invest in platform resilience and reliability, improving both its technology and communications infrastructure to prevent disruptions and improve information sharing, so sellers can get quick answers about the source of a problem. Other recent reliability improvements from Square include:

• In-product alerts in Square software now notify sellers real-time when a Square service disruption occurs – and when it is resolved – giving sellers an opportunity to enable offline payments, if not already enabled.
• Sellers can also sign up through Square Dashboard to receive real-time emails and texts about service disruptions, including those that don’t impact the payment experience.
• The redesigned IsSquareUp.com incident hub provides clearer information and regular updates about service disruptions to sellers.

To learn more about offline payments, please visit https://square.com/go/offline-payments-guide.