Payment Failed Due to Reader Issue — Customer Sees Funds Deducted

[Cuppaj]

We use a small square reader. Square cancel payment on the screen and said it's dead (apparently has 31% battery) but the client showed us it has already deducted money from his bank. Nothing showing on my "Transaction" so I wonder "where is money gone"?

[Laurie_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @Cuppaj,

Thanks for reaching out, I’d be happy to help take a closer look at this with you!

To start, could you share the exact message that appeared on your app screen when the issue occurred? Specifically, did it indicate that the reader had disconnected, or was it related to a low battery?

From what you’ve described, it sounds like the payment was disrupted during processing and didn’t go through successfully, which is why it’s not showing on your Transactions page. When a payment is interrupted, cancelled, or voided, the funds aren’t captured by Square. However, your customer may still see a pending charge on their bank statement. This is common, and the pending charge typically disappears within a few days, often sooner, once their bank processes the void notification sent by Square.

It’s helpful to let your customer know that if there’s no record of the payment on your Transactions page, then the payment was not captured and no funds were transferred.

Another place you can check is the Reports section in your online Square Dashboard. If you navigate to Transaction Status, you’ll be able to see any unprocessed or incomplete transactions, and, if needed, manually capture them from there.

You can find more information about declined or voided payments here.

In the meantime, if you run into this again and need to take a payment quickly, you can either manually enter the card details in the app or use Tap to Pay (if supported on your device) to continue processing.

Let me know how you go!