holding credit card for open tabs

[jacobspw18]

How do those of you that operate bars/ restaurants work around not being able to hold payment info to hold a tab?  We've been physically holding onto cards for years now but its so antiquated it is embarassing.

[Lovewell]

@jacobspw18 You could save them as a customer, and add their card info to their customer profile. 
We have a couple customers who have their card on file in our coffee shop for whenever their family comes in we can charge the moms card. 
then you’re not having to hold onto a physical card. But you may run into the issue of cards expiring eventually or being declined. So you’d have to make sure the person closes out their tab somehow since they won’t be needing to collect their physical card from you at the end of the night. 

[alexandriak]

I second this suggestion

[_Violet]

Hi @jacobspw18 @Lovewell @alexandriak - Thanks for reaching out to us here on the Square Seller Community👋

Square Point of Sale is enhancing its Open Ticket feature with pre-authorization, catering to bars, breweries, and bar-centric restaurants, enabling them to offer convenient bar tabs to customers. This widely requested feature is now available to all device users, streamlining the customer experience while financially safeguarding sellers through temporary fund holds on customer cards, particularly beneficial for bars and breweries to manage tabs effectively.

For more information on this feature, please see this article from our Support Center.

I hope this information is helpful but please do let me know if you have any additional questions.

[jacobspw18]

Thank you, Violet.  How long before it comes out of Beta?  Right now i cant use the feature and the loyalty at the same time.

[_Violet]

Hi @jacobspw18 - Thanks for your patience here. I reached out to the Product Management Team and they let me know that Loyalty + Pre-Auth should be live by the end of this year, although we don't have an exact ETA yet.