Paying with physical gift card and square POS?

[Dirky]

I've received my order or plastic gift cards for Square.

I've figured out how to load them with credit on the Square point of sale, swiping the card through the plug in mag stripe reader.

However, I cannot figure how to make a sale and pay using one of these cards?

I would have thought I just swipe the card at checkout, Square would realise I am paying with

a gift card and figure out what to do.

However, it does  not work.

Surely I don't have to type in the 16 digit number?

If I can top it up with a swipe, check how much credit is left, why cant I pay with it?

Thanks!

[tranguyen]

Hey @Dirky, sorry to hear you are running into an issue with this! From what I know, you should be able to charge the gift card by swiping it. 

If possible, can you let me know:

• The exact version of the Square Point of Sale app you're using 
• The exact model of the device you are using
• All the steps that you've taken before swiping the gift card
• Is there an error onscreen?

Once I have these information, I'll be able to investigate it further on my end. 

[Dirky]

Hi @tranguyen 

I am using Square point of sale on an iPad Air 2, running iOS 14.1

The square app version is:-

5.6.1 (5610011)

Spoc version spoc1.0

The 'square card reader for magnetic stripe', is the one which came in the box with the Square reader. It is plugged in to the headphone port on the iPad. The iPad detects it fine when plugged in, This is proved by the fact I can swipe a card and read the amount of credit on it.

See photos below.

Basically I am selecting a £1 test item, clicking 'charge £1' then typing the order ticket name, next

Then I swipe the card at this point. That is when I get the error you see about connecting a Square Reader?

I look forward to any info. Thanks!

[Dirky]

Sorry I am getting the following error when I attach the photos

Your post has been changed because invalid HTML was found in the message body. The invalid HTML has been removed. Please review the message and submit the message when you are satisfied.

[tranguyen]

Hey @Dirky, thanks for all the information! Does the error say something about Connect a reader to swipe, insert or touch by any chance? 

I'm going to check in with our team here and see if they've come across this before with the magstripe reader and the best way to resolve this. 

I'll also let our Seller Community team knows there's an issue with uploading photo as well, thanks for flagging this!

[Dirky]

Yes that is exactly the message/error I see. Hopefully I can upload this photo?

(Ok, photo did not work still

Your post has been changed because invalid HTML was found in the message body. The invalid HTML has been removed. Please review the message and submit the message when you are satisfied.)

[Dirky]

Hi @tranguyen  I wonder if you figured anything out about this?

I have successfully been able to load about 50 cards with credit for our pay it forward customers (all by swiping on the POS),

it would be ideal if we can swipe these to also pay when we open in 2 weeks!

Thanks

D

[tranguyen · Accepted solution]

Hey @Dirky, thanks for bearing with me while I dig into this with our team.

From testing, the team confirmed that we should definitely be able to charge gift card by swiping them through the magstripe reader. We're currently investigating further based on the information you've provided so far.

One thing the team did ask - when you're swiping the magstripe reader, was the Square Card reader also connected to the iPad at the same time? 

[Dirky]

hi @tranguyen thanks!

Good question, when I loaded the cards with credit, definitely not.

However, I need to test for charging, it could be that it wasn't connected, though when I saw the message

about the reader not being connected, I thought I did connect it.

I will test again at my end.

Thanks

D

[Dirky]

Hey @tranguyen, sorted. I had not got the card reader connected! Well it was connected to another iPad nearby and I was mistaken! So, that is the answer, you need the bluetooth card reader connected to the POS and you can then take payments with physical gift cards! Awesome.