thread Re: Square Magstripe Reader Swipe Not Working in Payments Troubleshooting

Square Magstripe Reader Swipe Not Working

KeepMeInStitche — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 19:04:40 GMT

Craft show in 4 days: I have a gen 1 magstripe reader for my iPhone and I can't get the swipe to work. It is snapped in tight, I have swiped left to right, then tried right to left. I even tried another cc. My bank has been verified.

When I type in the amount to test it and go to Review Sale, and Charge This Amount, I only have the option to Tap to Pay (which works, but I am worried not all customers have that ability on their card).

If I try to type in the card info manually it asks for a Eir Code. What is that? I know the service charge would be more to do it manually.

How can I get the swipe to work?! Thank you, thank you.

The title of this thread has been edited from the original by a Community Moderator to help with searching threads.

Re: Magstripe reader

RobynR — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 15:50:15 GMT

Hey @KeepMeInStitche,

Welcome to the Community!

Square is supported on most popular Apple iOS and Google Android devices running the latest software versions.

If you're able to process Tap to Pay but not use the Square Reader, let’s first confirm your device's compatibility here.

If your device is compatible, please make sure you’ve set up your Square Magstripe Reader correctly by allowing the Square POS app access to your device’s microphone and location.

If you’re still having trouble, here are some basic troubleshooting steps that often resolve issues.

This should help get you started! For your second question regarding the EIR code, could you provide a screenshot? That way, we can see what’s happening when you try to manually enter payments.

Let us know how it goes, and we’re here to help!

Re: Magstripe reader

KeepMeInStitche — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 16:18:13 GMT

Re: Square Magstripe Reader Swipe Not Working

RobynR — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 21:16:45 GMT

@KeepMeInStitche Thank you for the screenshot. Can you confirm what country you're writing in from?

Re: Square Magstripe Reader Swipe Not Working

KeepMeInStitche — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 21:49:11 GMT

USA, not Ireland. My location is listed correctly. It confused me.

Re: Square Magstripe Reader Swipe Not Working

RobynR — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 18:33:39 GMT

@KeepMeInStitche Thank you for confirming. I have escalated this to our Advanced Support team for further assistance. I will update you as soon as I have more information. In the meantime, please check if entering the zip code of the car in the "EIR code" field processes the payment.

Re: Square Magstripe Reader Swipe Not Working

KeepMeInStitche — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 20:30:20 GMT

I just got Square fo my C-USB on my iPhone, so I’m good. I used my husband’s old phone at the craft show last weekend successfully. I’d still like to know what that EIR code is though in case I need to enter something manually. Thanks for escalating it.

Re: Square Magstripe Reader Swipe Not Working

RobynR — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 22:48:21 GMT

@KeepMeInStitche Thanks for the additional details!

In Ireland, the EIR code functions similarly to a postal or ZIP code. This is why I requested you try to enter the EIR code in the ZIP code field to see if it’s accepted and asked to confirm the country you were writing in from.

Our Advanced Support team also has a few questions to help us troubleshoot further:

Could you confirm that you’re not using a VPN on the network your device is connected to?
Would you be able to connect your device to a different network to see if that resolves the issue?
Lastly, you mentioned it worked on your husband's old phone. Do you see the option to enter the EIR code manually if you sign into a different device?

Let us know what you find, and we’ll be here to help!