Please explain Instant Profiles

[4CFC]

We keep finding duplicate customer records in our customer database. It now appears to be due to the Instant Profiles misfeature. Here's how it appears to work.

When we start a new transaction at the POS register, the first thing we do is add a customer to the transaction. Typically, this will be an existing customer. We then complete the transaction, and the customer pays.

If the customer pays with a credit card that Square has never seen, it will automatically create a NEW Instant Profile for the name on the card. And we end up with duplicate customer records.

In other words, Square ignores the fact that we added an existing customer record to the transaction and just creates the duplicate. That creates problems for us - special discounts, for example - and creates more work to clean up Square's mess.

I would appreciate someone at Square explaining whether I have incorrectly described Instant Profiles and why the described behavior is considered useful.

[frances_a]

Hello @4CFC

Instant Profiles are customer profiles that are automatically created following a transaction. If a customer’s name is collected from their payment card and a matching profile doesn’t already exist within your directory, Square will create an Instant Profile. Future purchases made with that card will update the customer’s profile with new transaction details and other activities with your business.

We believe this feature is useful because it allows sellers to track the activity of customers that wouldn't have been captured in their Customer Directory otherwise. Although the creation of duplicate profiles is possible, we try to minimize it by ensuring the name on the card used to pay for a transaction is not already in your Customer Directory. 

If you would like to prevent transactions from creating Instant Profiles, you may elect to turn this feature on or off at any time.

To toggle Instant Profiles On or Off from your Dashboard:

1. Log in to your online Square Dashboard.
2. Select Customers > Settings > Instant Profiles.
3. Toggle Enable Instant Profiles off or on.

To toggle Instant Profiles On or Off from the Square app:

1. Tap the menu icon from the navigation bar.
2. Tap Settings > Checkout > Customer Management.
3. Toggle Enable Instant Profiles off or on.

Thank you ✨

[4CFC]

Hello @frances_a

Thanks for your reply. You confirmed most of what I understood about Instant Profiles, but you didn't address the key point. That is, why is any customer profile already added to the transaction overridden by an Instant Profile? I don't see any utility in that. On the contrary, it causes multiple problems as I mentioned in my original message.

I would like someone to explain why it makes any sense to override the customer profile that was explicitly added to the transaction by the cashier.

Aside from that, I don't find any setting for disabling Instant Profiles on my dashboard. My only options under Customers > Settings are: Configure Profiles; Feedback; Email Collection; and Card on File. Configure Profiles allows configuration of text fields. Nothing at all about Instant Profiles anywhere to be seen.

I also don't necessarily want to disable Instant Profiles in the case that I don't have an existing customer. There, Instant Profile would be useful.

[frances_a]

Hello @4CFC 

This issue was discussed with our Product Team and they confirmed it is not the expected behavior for an Instant Profile to be created after an existing one is added to the transaction. 

To properly investigate this issue and be able to provide a resolution, our team needs to gather additional information from you and your account and file a ticket. Unfortunately, we don't have access to your account details here in the Community. When you get a chance, please reach out to our support team, they'll be happy to help.

As for the option to toggle off Instant Profiles, the option was made available in some countries where we offer this feature, but at this time, it cannot be disabled in U.S. accounts. I apologize for the confusion!