thread Why do some cards work and others don't on chip/tap or swipe? in Payments Troubleshooting

Why do some cards work and others don't on chip/tap or swipe?

kcrate — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 17:40:19 GMT

I've used the square many times now and I have had the chip reader randomly choose which visa/master card or debit works with it.

Does any one know why this is? All the cards are labelled with accepted with visa or mastercard and all have been chip enabled.

Also, when this happens is there an alternative way to take payment? I have lost some sales because the chip reader was unpredictable in choosing which cards it accepts.

Re: Why do some cards work and others don't on chip/tap or swipe?

VanKalkerFarms — Fri, 07 Dec 2018 13:31:19 GMT

typically this only happens when the chip is damaged and can't be read. after 3 attempts to read the chip, the Square app will then ask you to either swipe it or manually enter the card to finish the transaction.

Re: Why do some cards work and others don't on chip/tap or swipe?

Helen — Fri, 07 Dec 2018 16:43:03 GMT

Hey @kcrate, Helen here from the Community team.

I just wanted to add that in Canada the only debit cards you can accept are cards with Interac Flash enabled, and you must use the tap function of reader to accept those payments and there is a $100 per transaction limit for these payments. It's not possible to insert or swipe or tap a chip debit card. There's more information about accepting Interac Flash debit cards in our Support Center.

I hope this helps but if you have any other questions let us know!