thread Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card. in Hardware Setup & Troubleshooting

My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

Awesomedetailer — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 12:24:48 GMT

The bulk of our customers use Canadian Debit Cards , with chip. Most dont have the tap option. The Square reader wont allow chip payments on these debit cards. Is there a fix in the works for this issue? Thank you !

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

VanKalkerFarms — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 01:09:35 GMT

currently, only interac debit is accepted via tap in Canada. other forms aren't currently supported.

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

eclipsvianet — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 02:25:32 GMT

Same for me. Unfortunately, it looks like I will have to find another payment company, because that is also my primary method of payment. I don't want to force people to use credit cards, (also more expensive for me) and many of my services are over $100, so even if they have tap (contactless) enabled on their card, they couldn't check out with Square.

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

MKM — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 04:16:09 GMT

This is also causing me some serious headaches as many of my customers' debit cards do not currently have tap capabilities. I am without a phone line for my business and rely on Square heavily. I sincerely hope that this is something that they are working on.

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

Chad — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 21:51:13 GMT

Hello @Awesomedetailer, @eclipsvianet, and @MKM!

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble this has caused for you and your customers. We are working to bring chip and PIN debit transactions to all of our Canadian Sellers, but I don't have a timeline I can share for when it will be available. Once it is available we will make an announcement on the Seller Community!

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

Kat_Lohman — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 22:16:32 GMT

Has chip insert become an option for debit interac cards? I am having the same issue where I cannot process a debit card payment by chip insert. It says "cancel payment and tap card. Return to checkout to tap card if it supports contactless payments or try to use a different payment method". When I try to tap it says "unknown card brand. Please use a different card". Did I do something wrong in the set up where I need to add all the different brands of debit cards?

Kat

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

VanKalkerFarms — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 22:24:40 GMT

you can't dip a debit card and take payment via chip. currently, only Interac debit is accepted via tap, other debit cards aren't accepted yet. What is the card you are trying to tap? does the customer have Interac Flash tap enabled?

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

eclipsvianet — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 14:40:23 GMT

Hi Kat No, you didn't do anything wrong. I keep hoping that if those of us needing to have CHIP and PIN for debit for our businesses speak up enough, Square will put the technology into place for us. Being able to only tap a debit card is extremely limiting for Canadians, as there is $100 limit on tap. That means that we either need a different POS provider, or have to force people to use a credit card (if they have one). Many of my clients have started e-Transfering money to me, but that can be difficult for some people. I have also found that many people have not activated flash technology on their card, for concern that someone may try to gain access with an unauthorized reader, (or in case they lose their card) so essentially they can't use debit at all. We depend on CHIP and PIN for debit in Canada. I hope Square pays attention.

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

CactiKai — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 05:25:18 GMT

I agree with the need for sellers to be able to take debit (chip and PIN) payments in Canada. Interac Email Transfers have limitations too as it can take time to get confirmation that the money is sent. My experience is that even with auto-accept enabled, it takes an EMT 10 minutes to reach me. That's too long. As well, EMTs have a minimum $10 requirement.

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

simontune — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 23:22:59 GMT

It's a serious headache for all Canadian businesses. I hope you guys will find a fix soon because otherwise, I'll change my POS for another company that does allow it.

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

thegolfden — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 22:59:28 GMT

Really Square? I don’t remember seeing anywhere on your information when I was looking for a provider that you don’t accept Canadian debit cards with chip/swipe options only. It’s ridiculous that you have not implemented this function already for Canadian vendors. Get with the program! You’re hurting our businesses. This means I have to get another POS provider for that purpose only? I paid big bucks for the hardware and if I don’t use is it’s a waste of money for my business.

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

Tom — Sat, 08 Dec 2018 02:27:31 GMT

Hey @thegolfden, I'm really sorry for the confusion. We are working to expand payment options in Canada, though I don't have access to a specific timeline for the rollout. For more information, have a look here: Interac FAQs. We'll be sure to update our Support Center and circle back to this post as soon as more options become available.

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

rusticsoap — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 22:02:32 GMT

I agree 100% - this is a HUGE headache for us Canadian Retailers! Come on Square you can do better, or you're going to lose alot of business up here!

I just changed over to Square a couple of weeks ago (I also didn't see any reference to $100 tap/debit limit when I was ordering the hardware), and am having serious regrets - I might go back to my old processor 😞 as my customers are used to paying debit over $100 with no problems. I was excited to have "new technology" - tap, Apple Pay, etc...but this seems more archaic than my old system.

I'm unsure what to do here - wish Square would give us a timeframe...if we knew chip insert was on its way I could maybe hold out.

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

Zot — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 18:53:40 GMT

Do you know approximately date? I hope you guys will find a fix soon because otherwise, I'll change my POS for another company that does allow it.

thanks

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

omarafoodshali — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 19:18:10 GMT

Checking in to find out if there is an ETA for debit chip transactions yet. This feature is so important for both of my businesses that run on square.

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

nika — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 21:38:48 GMT

Thanks for checking in @Zot and @omarafoodshali. Unfortunately I don't have any updates I can share as far as a launch goes. But we will absolutely share updates when we know more. Thanks again!

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

Joe — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 14:02:36 GMT

Hi there, @rusticsoap! We hope you are doing well.

Wanted to reach out with some good news in regards to your post back in January. As of this week, I am happy to report that we're able to offer full Interac acceptance in Canada! This means that you can now accept chip and PIN payments using the Contactless & Chip Card reader 👏More info on Debit & Pin availability here.

Thanks so much for your patience while we brought this feature to fruition! We appreciate you being a part of the Square Community.

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

rusticsoap — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 05:02:05 GMT

Great news indeed! Is there still a maximum dollar amount? Is it still $100?
Thanks!!

Re: My Square chip doesn't read Canadian debit card.

ashc — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 13:37:12 GMT

@rusticsoap No $100 limit anymore! You can check the link above for more details about this change as well. 😊