Offline payment processing lets you take card payments anywhere, anytime, even if there’s no Wi-Fi. With offline payments, you can take secure, offline credit card transactions that are automatically processed when you have connectivity again. There’s no additional cost to use the feature and all offline credit card transactions are charged at our standard rate of 2.5% per tap, insert or swipe.
When would you need offline credit card processing?
Offline payment processing is great to have up your sleeve in places where there is no internet connection — think outdoor festivals, markets and events in remote places. It’s also great for mobile businesses such as tow trucks, locksmiths and plumbers.
How to accept offline credit card transactions:
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Download Square Point of Sale, our point-of-sale app and set up your account. The POS software is free and works on both Apple and Android devices.
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Log in to your Square account on the Point of Sale app and tap the Menu icon.
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Tap Settings, then Offline Payments.
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Toggle Allow Offline Payments on.
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Review the info and then tap Allow Offline Payments.
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To set a limit for offline credit card processing, enter an amount next to Per Transaction Limit. The default amount is $100 and the maximum is $50,000 per offline credit card transaction.
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Once you’ve enabled Offline Payments, if you lose connectivity, you’ll see a red banner in your Point of Sale app, which means it has automatically switched to Offline Payments.
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When you’re ready to make a credit card sale, swipe the card through Square Stand.
Who can benefit from offline payment processing?
Offline credit card processing is ideal for festivals, open-air fundraisers, onsite ticket sales and other situations when you’re in a remote location without connectivity, or the network goes down from overuse. It’s also a lifesaver when the Wi-Fi goes down in your brick-and-mortar store. With Offline Payments, you can still keep your business up and running.
Important things to remember with offline credit card processing
When you take offline credit card transactions, you take on the risk of any expired, declined or disputed payments. Basically, Square Point of Sale can’t talk with the banks during offline payment processing, so when you use Offline Payments, you’re responsible if any cards are declined. While offline payments are automatically processed when your device has connectivity again, it’s also important to note that transactions expire if they’re not processed within 72 hours.
If no payment goes through, Square doesn’t charge a transaction fee, but you would unfortunately be out of pocket for the cost of goods or services you sold and didn’t receive funds for. And, unfortunately, Square isn’t able to contact customers on your behalf or supply their contact info if an offline credit card transaction is declined. So, to reduce risk for offline payment processing, we recommend you:
- Check the name and expiration date on cards to make sure they’re valid.
- Set a per-transaction limit.
Lastly, it’s good to keep in mind that offline credit card transactions can’t be cancelled while they’re pending. Instead you need to connect to the internet, allow the pending payment to complete and then issue a refund.
Offline credit card processing PCI compliance
Some sellers are concerned about whether card data is safe during offline payment processing. Rest assured, whether you’re taking payments normally or you’re processing an offline credit card transaction, Square always encrypts and protects the card information.
Square Reader and Square Stand encrypt cardholder data at the moment of swipe. During offline credit card processing, Square Point of Sale further encrypts cardholder and transaction info so it can’t be decrypted until it reaches our environment. These offline credit card transactions are transmitted for authorization and securely deleted as soon as the mobile device is back online. Also, Square never displays full card numbers or security codes to sellers in any form, whether you’re online or not.