Online and In-Person Payments in the UK and Northern Ireland

[cm6t]

I live in the UK (England) and have a Square payments seller account. I have been selling to buyers in the mainland UK (England, Scotland and Wales) via Square Online and via in-person payments using the Square app on my phone - all works OK.

But will Square accept a payment from a buyer who lives in Northern Ireland?

When I search for an answer to this, I can't find a straight answer. All I find is "Yes for the Republic of Ireland" or "No for international payments".

Northern Ireland is part of the UK (just like England) - it is NOT part of the Republic of Ireland. Also it should NOT be an international payment because Northern Ireland is part of the UK.

Common sense would say that a buyer in Northern Ireland would be treated the same as a buyer in England, but I can't find a straight answer to this.

So ... can someone in Northern Ireland buy from me:

a. via Square Online web site, and

b. if they phone me (from Northern Ireland to England) and I enter their card details into the Square app.

?

The title of this thread has been edited from the original: Buyers in Northern Ireland 

[Breffni · Accepted solution]

Hi @cm6t thanks for your post! 

Apologies for any confusion caused by the information you've found so far.

To clarify:

• Yes, you can accept online payments from buyers in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (and most other countries).
• For in-person sales, you can accept payments from Northern Ireland, but not from the Republic of Ireland.
• Cross-border payments are not supported for in-person transactions, meaning you can only accept in-person payments within the UK.

This regulation applies Square-wide, not just for the UK and Ireland, in-person card transactions attempted outside of the country where you activated your Square account can’t be processed with the Square Reader.

To answer you questions directly: 

a. via Square Online web site: Yes ✅

b. if they phone me (from Northern Ireland to England) and I enter their card details into the Square app: No ✖️

I hope this helps!