Beating a Dead Horse but it needs to be: Preauthorization

[FarmAndBar]

We need to be able to preauthorize credit cards when running a tab. Period.  We really enjoyed the low buy in and easy menu development and a couple of the other features, but a bar/restaurant needs to be able to run a tab and preauthorize a credit card.  I've gone back and looked at conversations about it and it appears that this has been a CONSTANT request by users that has gone ignored.

I'd like to know why it isn't available.

[#2]

So sorry for the confusion here, @Amanda_Bierock @FarmAndBar and others!

Pre-Authorization recently became available to all users of Square for Restaurants (Free, Premium, and Plus), and you should be able to turn in on by following the instructions in this support article, via the Dashboard and device settings.

Enable and Configure Pre-Authorization Bar Tabs

If you are using Square for Restaurants and aren't able to enable Pre-Auth by following these steps, please reach out to our support team for assistance.

For businesses that use Square Point of Sale, there is not currently a way to access Pre-Authorization.  While we did run a Beta test last year for Pre-Authorization on Point of Sale, it has been discontinued and Square for Restaurants is the only application that currently supports this functionality.

The team developing Pre-Authorization decided last summer to focus their efforts on Pre-Auth within Square for Restaurants and discontinued the Beta and development of Pre-Auth for Point of Sale.

Some testers who participated in the Point of Sale Beta we ran last year may still have access via their open tickets settings on individual devices (like @ryanwanner) but accounts that were not enrolled in that Beta feature last summer can no longer be added.

@nika I hope this context is helpful when these questions come up - it can be confusing because at times we had a POS Beta on the way.  It's understandable when it's been a request for so long 🙂

Andy
Beta Specialist

[#3]

Hello all! We are so excited to let the community know that this feature is now available for Square for Restaurants! For more information on enabling and configuring preauthorization for bar tabs, check out this help article. Respond here if you have any questions, and thanks for your patience while our team built this out. We appreciate you!

️ Kristen
Square Community Manager
Product Engagement

[#4]

Pre-Authorization for Bar Tabs Update ⭐
Hi everyone - I'm Hadley, from the F&B product team. First of all, thank you SO MUCH for continuing to share all the feedback here over the years, we know how important the Bar Tabs feature is. For anyone who is not aware, this feature is currently in beta in the US for Square for Restaurants POS. 

➡️ You can join the beta community here and our beta team will enable feature to your account. You can find the support article for getting set up on RST POS here. 

As a reminder, when a feature is in beta, there is still some engineering work happening to iron out the smaller bugs and optimizing the experience for our sellers and their customers. If you choose to participate in the beta testing, please share any feedback (good or bad 😄) to our beta team at [email protected] so we can learn how it is working for you and your staff.  

Thank you!

[excelsiorbrew]

I run a taproom and we are now experiencing the same thing. Guest needs their card from us to use at our food truck. 

[JBBBQ]

Agreed, we are going to have to look into another POS as well.  We HAVE to have a way to open tabs for customers.  We are losing money by not having this option.  Can we at least find out if this is being considered?  

[Amanda_Bierock]

I have no idea if anyone at Square is actually going to read this. Or if they do it will make any difference, as it looks like pre-authorizing cards has been a request without resolution going on 3 years. But I am seriously considering changing POS/card processing providers if this isn't available soon. I own a bar/restaurant and this is causing major issues. We have had several instances of cards left behind and even worse, a couple instances of the wrong card going back to the wrong person. This costs us money (time spent rectifying the situation, providing discounts/refunds for mixups, etc.) and more importantly diminishes our reputation. I was considering making the move to paying more for Square Restaurants thinking surely that option would include pre-authorization of credit cards but nope, it doesn't. I have overall been pretty happy with Square, but this issue is going to be a deal breaker for me.

[Amanda_Bierock]

It has been over a year since this post...what is the status? If the answer is this is never coming, I would like to know that now.

[Amanda_Bierock]

I have been using Square at our bar/restaurant for almost a year. The lack of pre-authorization capability is extremely frustrating and I am looking into switching to another company because of it. Otherwise, Square has been great.

[Amanda_Bierock]

This would be great if I ran an online business. But if this is something anyone can do via Square API why can't Square incorporate this into their applications?

[BBs]

Was the functionality ever added to place an authorized hold on a credit/debit card for equipment rentals?

[Amanda_Bierock]

Nope

[agapejava]

Any news on this Square?  Clearly been an open issue for some time.  Toast does this seemlessly.  

[kellyj]

@agapejava

This does remain a feature request at this time.