New Square Loan in 2024

[SPPhotography1]

I’m at a bit of a loss for what else I need to do to be offered a new Square Loan at this point. I’ve been with Square for over 10 years, had 7 loans now that I’ve have paid back early every single time. Metrics are all in green, record sales year. In 2023, record numbers across the board, no refunds, no complaints or issues of any kind in our entire history. Current loan is 80% paid off, but no new offer in site. This is the kind of stuff that causes businesses to find someone else to process through! Please help! I’m sure I’ll get the same old excuses that you guys send to everyone about looking at every aspect of the business. But there isn’t a single aspect that isn’t way up. I’m not sure if there is a new process they are using now, or if there is some kind of issue with my banking or something else I’m not thinking about or aware of. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, because I could really use some new capital to start the year off with and reinvest into my business!

[Paulynne]

I hope you understand how your words really help and provide mental support to everyone. I pray you are doing great and get the things you need as well. 

[Twpchair]

Thank you so much 💓 this is a hard board for me to help on because I know people want answers and why they haven't received a new loan. Believe me if I knew you would all know. We're not babies. we're all adults here and just want some transparency on what is going on. If they've changed how or when you could receive one, just let people know, and they can pursue different avenues and go from there. Good luck to you and everyone waiting for an offer. Hopefully, it kicks in fast and often. 

[PFS36]

It could be the opposite of reviews.. let's say you will see more bad reviews on a product than good reviews,  since the people that have nothing bad to say about the product because they're out using and enjoying the product.  Maybe the ones getting the offers aren't on here because they got the money and they're last concern is coming here to give an update.  I know the ones that said that they got an offer, have disappeared and we haven't heard anything else from them. Just my .02 ... praying we hear some great news asap.

[Twpchair]

You are 💯 correct! Not everyone posts on here, and the ones that do are looking for advice or to see what percentage everyone is at. I try hard to ask them to please let us know when you received one and what percentage they were at and all say definitely will and then gone until the next time they are looking for one. 

[PFS36]

It actually helps others when the people that get the offer come back and let everyone know.  It's helps to see what the trend is.

[Twpchair]

It does a lot! Even though we are different and unique from each other, it at least helps get a rough idea. 4/5 years ago, I could almost pinpoint when an offer would come in for me. At 70-75 %, unfortunately, not anymore. My last one was 81/84%. We had a 3 day sale, and I think that kicked in. We were extremely busy! I updated around 2 pm. on Saturday at 81%, and when we closed, it was 84% and around 7pm Saturday night. I received an offer in early March, and the one prior was 91% 

[PFS36]

And to top it all off, our vent hood just went out, so these loans really help small businesses.  Hopefully it's not too expensive,  but we're meeting the repair guys today after lunch. Hopefully someone from Square reads these threads and see how much of a good impact they have on the small businesses. 

[Twpchair]

Ughhhhh,  nothing like a double whammy! Hopefully, that's not too much to fix. I know that just at our Chamber of Commerce meetings, our local restaurants are just making ends meet. They aren't raking in made money. I had on my phone they post, I believe 5yrs ago vs today the cost of hamburger, buns, and even the container for take outs is 4-5x higher. Most normal people who go to the grocery store should see you are feeling hard, too. We still do our every Friday fish dinner and pizzas, of course. I can't tell you the last time I've even been to a fast food business, nor do I care too. I shop local and eat local. Good luck with everything going on! 

[PFS36]

It's almost like society is OK with with every business having to increase prices due to inflation,  but it's a big bad thing when a restaurant does it.  It's a double standard for sure. You have to pay employees more and food costs are astronomical.  That's why these little loans help. And thank for all the insight, positivity and help.

[Twpchair]

I understand, and unfortunately, there are some people who will never get it or understand it. They just want to moan their 5.00 burger is now 8.00 or 9.00 dollars! I used to take it to my heart and unfortunately, now we can't please everyone all the time. If they don't like it, stay home and make your burger  and don't forget all the toppings and sauces. Because in the end you didn't save much and you had to cook it. You will never please that person. But your loyal customers get it and understand it. All we can do right now is do our best and keep those doors open. Good luck I know it's getting old hearing that every day but we're right here with ya!

[GlitzyCow]

Square should honestly pay you for as much as you post here. You are way more helpful than their own team. 

[Twpchair]

Thank you, really, but honestly, after your year-long ordeal, you need on the payroll for a year! I'm glad it's done with, and hopefully, no issues going forward! As you see from last summer, how it dried up until about late August and September, and then the loans started rolling out daily. Hopefully, they kick in soon. I've never seen this many paid off completely, and no offer yet?

[Twpchair]

You go! And don't stop at a generic answer and ask nicely for a personal rep to look into your account.  You got this and keep pushing forward! Loyalty means 💯 to me, and I'm sure you! Don't stop till you get a real person! Do not ever forget WE are the backbone of the economy! Without you and me and the millions, either there is no US!!! We provided, we employ what keeps the world going around. Unfortunately,  we have to realize that square is worldwide and doing loans daily at a highest rate. Right now, keep pushing and swiping and it will get to you and me! I ❤️ wish you all the best! I hope 🙏 I wake up tomorrow and half of you are founded! 

[PFS36]

I got a somewhat generic response.  She said that since I have a loan that's not completely paid off (85% and all in green.  175000 in processing) , that I'm not eligible.  They just throw out answers with no rhyme or reason. 

[Twpchair]

I really don't know honestly, and I am groups that are behind the scenes, and they don't know either. I watch the trends, and it's a higher percentage of 90s to completely pay off.  A small few have been 80s, but that's handfuls that at least that post here.  We have to remember a million use square world round and a small percentage post here. The most I see personally are the USA 🇺🇸 and 🇬🇧 and Canada 🇨🇦 I wish more would respond but that's what I see. It is trending higher since 2016 and unfortunately 😔 we have to dig deep and hold strong!

[Twpchair]

Yes, it is not easy getting past that script response and to an actual loan representative. Also, last week, we had 3 people post, and 2 were in the 80s and 1. Believe if I remember correctly was 77% paid off. If they would let me in that loan department just for a couple of days, I could speed things up a bit! 😆 🤣 😂 

[ls725]

I’ve reached a breaking point with Square. The Square POS system doesn’t offer much benefit other than the loans, and the transaction fees are outrageous, ranging from 2.6% to 3.1%+ on some days. Additionally, I’m calling out TWPCHAIR, who seems to be an undercover Square representative, trying to control the situation by empathizing with everyone here while acting like a business owner. No real business owner has the time to troll a forum as much as TWPCHAIR does.

I’ve been getting calls from some Indian call centers offering rates as low as 1%, with some cards even lower at 0.8%. There’s no reason to keep paying Square these excessive processing fees when all they offer is a sub-par POS system that requires additional subscriptions for features that should be included in the basic package. Some businesses are paying over $1,000 a month just in processing fees. It’s simply outrageous.

That said, I’ll probably continue using Square because I’m a bit goofy and love the instant access to the money. That’s one thing, apart from the loans, that I believe sets Square apart from the rest. However, the sub-par loan offers or no loan offers at all are just outrageous and a huge slap in the face to Square’s loyal customers. Not only that, but the lack of transparency regarding when and how the loan triggers is frustrating nonetheless and makes for a terrible business model. It creates a wormhole of complaints and saturates their call center, requiring them to spend even more money on customer support and service.

[Jjpainting]

I have researched many card processors, and yes of course there are many with lower processing fees over square.  There’s a couple that only charge a flat fee of around 8 cents or so per swipe, plus whatever the interchange rate is for the card being used. Debit cards are usually under 1%, so that .8% is them probably talking about debit card transactions. Credit cards vary between 1.5-2.5% depending on if it’s visa/mastercard/discover/amex, which card it is (usually based off of rewards) and if it’s swiped or keyed in. I have never found a company that charges a flat fee of 1% no matter what since a processing site like square pays up to 2.5% on certain cards. So it is not like square is profiting on all processing fees. Any merchant card processor like square, has to at least charge whatever the interchange rate is, which I believe the highest ones are around 2.59% with certain credit cards.

90% of my card payments are keyed in by my customers via the invoice I send them, leaving me paying the highest fees all around 3%. During the 12 months I’ve paid around $5000 in fees, but when I’m writing up a quote for a customer, especially larger quotes ($3,000-15,000), and I know that it’s going to be paid by the customer manuallly keying in their card, I’ll pass that 3% to them by just adding it in varies lines of the quote. I won’t directly tell them or put that they are paying it, I simply estimate the job 3% extra. So in the end, probably 75% of my fees are actually paid by my customer, but still it’s painful to see my reports and $5 in fees over the past year, even though I didn’t technically pay for them myself.  

I wish square would charge a lower fee for when a customer uses a debit card. That’s where they are making a lot of money being that they are only paying less than 1% of that processing fee to the card company themselves. 

I love square the most, cause when a customer pays by card, I have access to that money within 5-10 minutes, where many card processors has a 1-2 day wait.  That for me sets them apart as well as their overall ease of use of their apps. I like how they are set up. I have never used their POS system though.  All my work is through invoicing only, being I sell services and customers are usually not present when I do a quote as they are usually at vacant homes that are being sold or rented. 

As far as their loan algorithm goes, from what I have read on the few that does do loans like square (stripe, clover) they are all kinda the same. Those have the same complaints we have on our forum.  From reading about loans through processors though, I’ve found comments stating PayPal is a bit more reliable, but this was a while back so I could be wrong. 

[Twpchair]

My killers in retail furniture are American Express and Discover. Especially if they buy a 20.00 item and I think without looking it's 3.86 and the other is 3.68 or close to the upper 3-4% and that's using pos or register. I won't key it in.  Customer orders or dining sets are different but it still adds up. I guess I'm like you if it's not broken don't fix it! I swipe the card and the money is there in a couple of minutes after 5 pm. Short day today I don't usually work Sunday but I have to till noon and then home for the Lions game!

[Jjpainting]

For me it doesn’t matter what time of day an invoice is paid. Regardless, it’s in my account in 5-10 minutes, my square checking that is.  But then again, I only process about 155 payments a year on average by card (roughly $160k)  which is about 75% of all sales.  It’s rare for me processing two payments in a day.  Completely different industry though.   

But having the money instantly is huge, cause once in a while a job of mine requires thousands of dollars in materials and is needed. 

[Twpchair]

That's awesome though! I don't know how the algorithm picks off people like you. I honestly can't imagine being worldwide and having millions of users a person is sitting there oh they are seasonal or open only on the weekends. I would assume just imo that it picks off your trends. Just a guess? I am not a computer or technology person at all. I have 4 full-time employees and 2 part-time who do that. Then myself and my husband. We are the only retail store in our town and being right at the US 27 and 10 interchange is great for us! They get off the 2nd exit or Hamburger Hill and boom there we are. I go in at 4/5 am and leave at about 2 pm or so and my husband does from 9 am ish till 5 pm. The employees are always 9-5 pm and the other 2 im extremely flexible if they are done or want to finish up at home no biggie im so happy to just have them. Trying to find a body with a heartbeat that shows up and doesn't want 30.00 an hour is about as hard as figuring out how this algorithm works! With the economy and my location, I took a chance on 75% of the store, and the rest I did in booths of gently used furniture and decor, and it's booming! Not everyone can afford a new dining set or living room furniture but they will spend 75.00 and buy a ton of decor. That's what I have been pushing on our Facebook page and the 2ne best move I've made! Roll with it and go for it you don't know if you don't try. I think I asked you before do you just do exterior painting or interior as well?