CC Pre-Authorization for bar tabs

[coffee4]

Where is this at in the beta process? Its one of my restaurant's priorities and is frequently brought up by both staff and customers.

[banter_bar]

This is where we are at. I saw the beta and signed up for the POS app, but didnt continue with it because it was only available on the iOS devices. That blew my mind. I opened a tab on the ipad stand, but couldnt close it out on the handheld device the I BOUGHT FROM SQUARE. Like every one else on the internet, it blows my mind that I cant tap a card to hold this info in 2024.

[AndySQ]

I've DM'd you with the latest, @BillysIce - thanks for the question 🙂

[JW4624]

I read your message but don’t understand why you can’t post this and let the rest of the community know you’re giving up on your customers and not implementing this feature everyone had asked for unless you don't want them to know and want to keep stringing everyone along. 

After all the requests and interest in this feature Square should be ashamed of letting down its users who have been promised to for years that this would be coming.

[mythmaker]

Hey Andy,

I came on here to follow up on pre-auth with the loyalty program enabled, as I was told late July. However reading this thread, I'm afraid that's probably not the case. Any update? As many have stated, holding cards is a thing of the past that many are not comfortable with anymore. I was told nearly two years ago that pre-auth would be available soon.

Is it time to start looking into a POS system that can offer this feature?

Thank you.

[AndySQ]

@mythmaker Loyalty for Pre-Auth actually did roll out in late July, and the Pre-Authorization feature is still available on your account, if you'd like to give it a try with those options 🙂

Like I mentioned in my post below, Pre-Authorization won't be coming to Square Point of Sale in the long term, but we are working on a way to make it available to businesses that need it.  I just can't go into much detail on that at this time.

When we originally began this Beta over a year ago, launching to Point of Sale was where we were headed. This summer, that plan changed, and it's an unfortunate reality that not all Betas go the distance - even extremely popular features like Pre-Authorization.

Ultimately only you can make the call when it comes to who you process with and what's best for your business.  I'm just sorry that this change feels so abrupt and puts you in a position where considering alternatives may be necessary.

Andy

[JW4624]

Thanks, but I don't want an unproved and tested aspect of your software handling my customers credit cards. I'll continue to look elsewhere but use Square until we find something better.

[mythmaker]

Hi Andy,

So it is available on my account to use? Is there anything in particular I need to do to have loyalty work with this? Thanks.

[AndySQ]

@mythmaker Yep, I've got it enabled manually on your account while it's still available!  Until earlier this summer, the updated order management flow that Pre-Auth used couldn't interact with loyalty points and customer profiles, but we've updated it so that they can function together now.

You'll utilize loyalty the same way you do now without Pre-Authorization.  When you link a customer profile to the sale/order ticket, you can review their eligible rewards/points and apply them to the sale.  And if they're not quite at a reward yet or are new to Square Loyalty, they can accrue points based on their purchase.

Andy

[ZoeyEllen]

Hey Andy,

My Square POS account also had access to the pre-authorization while it was in Beta, but we barely used it while Loyalty wasn't an option because Loyalty is such a big deal for our customers. Is there any world where this preauthorization feature could be added back while coinciding with Loyalty? We are a quick service bar and holding physical credit cards is SUCH A PAIN! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Zoey

[AndySQ]

Hi @ZoeyEllen The Pre-Auth for Square Point of Sale Beta has been discontinued, and this functionality is only available on Square for Restaurants for accounts that haven't previously tested on Point of Sale.

I'll follow up via DM to see if we have other options to help here 🙂

[AndySQ]

@JW4624 I hear where you're coming from, and don't blame you for being frustrated.  These options have been a long-time request and a real need for many businesses.  While I'm not the one ultimately making the call on this, I AM sharing every comment and response to this decision with the product team that has.

At this time, we are not planning on releasing bar tabs with pre-authorization on Square POS. We’re exploring other ways for you to access this feature in the future and we’ll post an announcement in the Seller Community as soon as we have updates we can share.

For businesses already participating in the Beta (including your account), we have kept the feature active, but are not currently enrolling any new accounts in the Beta program or rolling out additional features.

For accounts that need to access Pre-Authorization going forward, the best recommendation I can make right now is to request to join the Square for Restaurants Next Gen Beta, where it is accessible on the Square for Restaurants application.  I know a lot of folks really prefer Square Point of Sale, but it may be worth giving Restaurants a try if Pre-Authorization is something truly critical to your operations.

I'm sorry, again, that this hasn't rolled out the way so many of you hoped that it would - and the Beta team is still here to listen and pass along your comments to the team overseeing Pre-Auth development at Square.

Andy

[limberlost]

I know you guys are trying things but you are letting us all down by not having a "pre-auth" or "hold a card tab" in 2024. Every other system has it and to take it away and not have a clear stream of communication is something I would expect from a second tier processor. Square has been good to most of us, but this is absolutely unprofessional and a slap in the face for all of your long-term users.

We signed up for Beta before it was announced they were closing it down and it's another bad look to your customers. If you are really trying to enhance the customer service experience and you want us to come back and by more stuff, maybe it'd be good to listen to your service industry customers on this.

Why would we or anyone want to upgrade to Square for Restaraunts when you're just going to pull the rug out from under us again? Dumb.

[Getonthebus]

I totally get where you are coming from. We use Square for Restaurants for our bar and grill and thought that we were the only place on the planet who couldn't run bar tabs for our guests. Our staff was using an old rolodex to hold cards each day and then those who couldn't remember to collect their cards at the end of the evening were having to come fetch them the next day. Customers ridiculed us for not having a pre-auth feature. We enrolled early on in the beta but then had to back out for about six months as several of the features we needed weren't available. We re-enrolled and it has been a game changer for our business. 

Customers love the ability to run a tab - especially with large groups. My staff gets to go home about an hour earlier on super busy nights as closing each open tab is much easier. Yes, we still have hiccups but mostly due to user error.

If you are concerned about the support from Square, give it another chance. Square has been with us with all of my ups and downs and worked with us through the process. Square does understand how important these features are to their users.  The cost is a tremendous values compared to Toast and other products because yes, I have shopped them all. Square offers you much better control over your own operating system.

Take a peek at Square for Restaurants. I think you might like it for your place too!

[JW4624]

Thanks, but how can I give Square Support another chance if they won’t respond to my emails. In my opinion, they’re avoiding me a cause they don’t know how to resolve the issue.

[BeerStreetSouth]

Flaunting CC pre-auth as a beta feature, dropping it and seeing it re-emerge as a paid only feature (the only one my business would require from your paid tiers) is such a slap in the face. I'm disgusted. Have you considered making certain features a la carte?

[wobile]

Wait is this real? You’re telling we spent a year testing and giving feedback to then be told it’s not longer included? Hope

my account manager is ready for a call from me 

[Brews]

We were using Pre Authorization for Bar tabs. It is now gone according to a brilliant customer service rep. After a very delayed talk with customer service they told me it is no longer available. Customer service on chat is one of the worst experience I have had with any company. I had to walk him through his own product! It took over 40 min to get there answer of it is not available. After all the years of asking for this and it worked for a while they took it from us. I am leaving Square as this is not acceptable in 2025! Has anyone jumped to one of the many companies that have this feature that they like? Thanks

[Brews]

After all the years asking for Pre Authorizations for bar tabs they have taken this away. Customer service said they are "no longer". This answer took my brilliant customer service chat person over 40 min to tell me, after asking for advance help! This is not acceptable in 2025, where is everyone moving to that offer Pre Authorizations for bar tabs? There are so many that offer this now. I am leaving Square. Thanks for any help

[tranguyen · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone! 

I want to jump in as it looks like there have been a lot of conflicting information about the availability of the feature to pre-authorize cards for bar tabs. 

To clarify: the ability to enable and configure preauthorization for bar tabs is available with Square.

You'll see the option to enable this if you:

• Have opt into using New Gen Restaurants. You can do this via the Release Manager in your Square Dashboard. Here are the steps to enable this. Square for Restaurants Free and Plus or Premium subscribers all have access to this feature. 
• Are using full service, quick service or bar modes enabled in the Square Point of Sales app.

You can find more information on how this feature works and what the limitations are in this article.

If you have any question or run into an issue setting this up, plese let us know!