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!

[Dragonfl]

I run a short term rental business with overnight stays as well as short term event rentals. We have been charging a event deposit and have had numerous guests cancel after hearing their deposit would take up to 14 days to be returned. 

If there are legal issues or other reasons why this hasn’t been added please let us know. Refundable deposits or pre authorizations are standard business practises and should be available. 

[CoyoteStation]

Seriously Square Team. We have been with you for over 3 years. It appears this question regarding security deposits was requested several years before we became customers of yours. Surely in that time frame your team could have figured it out by now. 

it is obviously a popular function that needs to be added. 

Coyote Station. 

[TheEpicWPB]

What utter rubbish! We’ve been hearing that “Well submit it” from Square support team members for YEARS. We need to have the process. How many more requests do you need to “get” that you pick up business from hotels, equipment rentals, spas, etc.? 

[Allanco]

Don't hold your breath.

I run a studio rental business and have been waiting for deposits for 5+ years. For some reason the square team never has any info or insight to why this hasn't been added or why there is no plans to add it. Deposits are key for a number of diffrent businesses, includjng any type of rental, use of property or use of expensive equipment, deposits are key but have been all but ignored.

The best I ever get is, "we'll let our team know about your interest in this feature but as of yet there are no plans to currently add it."

Why!? We want to know why. It has been over half a decade, WHY don't you have any plans to add a feature that stripe and others have had since the getgo?

As both a business owner and investor in square, this has me scratching my head and overall fairly disappointed in squares ability to ignore this request despite the amount of users expressing who have clearly expressed interest in it.

[Allanco]

Reposting my replay from another thread:

I run a studio rental business and have been waiting for deposits for 5+ years. For some reason the square team never has any info or insight to why this hasn't been added or why there is no plans to add it. Deposits are key for a number of diffrent businesses, includjng any type of rental, use of property or use of expensive equipment, deposits are key but have been all but ignored.

The best I ever get is, "we'll let our team know about your interest in this feature but as of yet there are no plans to currently add it."

Why!? We want to know why. It has been over half a decade, WHY don't you have any plans to add a feature that stripe and others have had since the getgo?

As both a business owner and investor in square, this has me scratching my head and overall fairly disappointed in squares ability to ignore this request despite the amount of users expressing who have clearly expressed interest in it.

[Jackgsd]

We are looking at opening a fluff and fold laundry service in puerto Vallarta Mexico.  We would pick up the laundry, clean it and return it to the customer back to their hotel.  We will be charging by the weight and would have no idea of their weight until after we picked up the laundry.  Is there a way to collect the credit card info when they place a pick up order but not charge them until after we have received the laundry and weighed it.  How would this be done?  What is the fee to do this.  Our average charge would be less then $10 each transaction. 

[AshleyK]

Hey! I've merged your post with an existing thread. The ability to pre authorize a credit card is currently a feature request with Square, but I would also like to state that we do not accept credit cards in Mexico, so you would not be able to use our services internationally. 

[GreySoul]

@Sean
@Spenser
@Chad
@Joe
@Kelly
@EJ_
@Kpay
@Helen
@Tom
@kellyj
@ashc
@katieand
@JustinC
@Caty

Tagging every mod that's paid lip service to this thread for over 4 years, maybe it fell off your plate along the way and you've forgotten about it?

The ability to pre-auth cards is VITAL right now as many of us have switched to online order fulfilment that may have added delivery and/or shipping costs, or just aren't able to physically hold on to a card during the transaction as you'd often have in a bar setting.  In my case I sell items by weight, and when fulfilling an order in person it's no big deal - I weight their items, and then charge their card.  Using the online store, I cannot provide an accurate net weight on a per item basis, so I can't use the online store, I have to have customers email me, I then weight their order, and then send them an invoice. It's not convenient for my customers, and severly impacts my conversion rate on visitors to my online store which is in "online price list" (no sales) mode. 

I've stuck with square for YEARS, waiting for sales by weight, and now I finally have that but the other half of the system is missing. Pre-auth is so so very important. 

I know a lot of community mods may not have direct channels to the dev team, but I know a few of you I tagged DO. Please, please, let me keep using Square now that I've invested time into my online store and inventory. 

[longtab]

When will we be able to open a tab with saved cc'd info?  I see others have been asking for this for years, so there certainly is demand.  Virtually every other system out there offers this as standard.  It a real pain to have to hold on to a customer's credit card or make sure no one walks out without paying (where we all lose money).  

[AFH]

Is there any updated feature to allow for refundable deposits to be collected via Square?  We rent event space and collect refundable security deposits separate from rental fees.  We would greatly like to eliminate the bookkeeping tasks of processing refunds for these deposits when they are returned.