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Use Your Allow List with Risk Manager

Allow List in Risk Manager is a feature that gives you more control and flexibility over the types of payments that can be processed at your business. 

Adding a payment card to your Allow List lets that payment card process a transaction at any of your business locations. A card on your Allow List will override any attempted declines by your Risk Manager rules and settings, your Block List, as well as any Square standard payment protections.

Note: If the card-issuing bank has declined a payment, it will not go through, even if the card is on your Allow List.

Why would I add a card to my Allow List?

Allow List is a very powerful tool in Risk Manager because it can override several payment protections that are in place. Before adding a payment card to your Allow List, you want to be sure that it is a trusted card. You can do this by making sure that: 

  • You know the customer who the card belongs to; and

  • You’ve been in contact with and trust the customer.

You can also add a payment card to your Allow List for a temporary time period, and then remove it afterward. Risk Manager will not notify customers when they have been added or removed from your Allow List, but it is always visible in your Risk Manager Allow List page.

Add a card to your Allow List

There are three ways to add a card to your Allow List. You can do so from your Risk Manager navigation by clicking through to your Alerts table, Allow List table or Blocked payments.

From Alerts

  1. Navigate to Reporting > Risk Manager > Alerts from your online Square Dashboard.

  2. Click on an alert that is associated with the card you would like to add.

  3. Click Select action on the bottom of the page.

  4. Select Add to Allow List.


    Allow List 2 - Dashboard - CA

  5. Select a reason that you are adding the card to the list, and click Add to list.


    Allow List 3 - Dashboard - CA

From Allow List

  1. Navigate to Reporting > Risk Manager> Allow List in your online Square Dashboard

  2. Click on the button Add to list.

  3. Search using the last 4 card digits or a customer note.


    Allow List 4 - Dashboard - CA

  4. Select a reason that you are adding the card to the list, and click Add to list.

From Blocked payments

  1. Navigate to Reporting > Risk Manager > Blocked Payments from your online Square Dashboard.

  2. Click the three dots on the right-hand side of your selected transaction to add that card to your Allow List.

  3. Select Add to Allow List.

  4. Select a reason that you are adding the card to the list, and click Add to list.

Remove a card from Allow List

You can remove a card from your Allow List at any time and for any reason. Risk Manager will not inform the customer when this occurs. When a card is removed from your Allow List, it will be able to process transactions normally. The card can be declined due to your rules, your Block List, Square standard payment protections or if the issuing bank declines.

Here is how to remove a card from your Allow List:

  1. Navigate to Reporting > Risk Manager > Blocked Payments from your online Square Dashboard.

  2. Click the three dots on the right-hand side of the allowed item.

  3. Select “Remove from Allow List.”

  4. Use the drop-down menu to select a reason to remove the card.

  5. Click Remove.

Allow List 7 - Dashboard - CA

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