Square handles online checkout on the booking site and payment requests through access tokens, and in-person Tap to Pay on an Android phone running the OTC POS app through a separate connection to your Square account. The Square card on the Payment gateways tab has three pills: Online keys, In-person and Customer.
Getting started
Navigate to Purchases > Payment settings, open the Payment gateways tab and pick Square.
How it works
Online payments use Square access tokens that you paste on the Online keys pill: test tokens run in Square's sandbox, live tokens process real payments. In-person payments use a connection to your Square account made with Square's secure sign-in, so Off The Couch never sees your Square password. The two are independent: a venue can have either or both.
Step-by-step guide
Add online access tokens
- On the Online keys pill, click Add test credentials or Add live credentials.
- Enter the Application ID, Access token and Location ID from your Square developer dashboard. All three are required.
- Click Save, then Activate on the set you want in use. The section badge reads Live ready once live keys are saved.
Connect Square for in-person payments
- On the In-person pill, leave Live selected. Sandbox is for Off The Couch's own testing with a Square developer test account.
- Click Connect Square, sign in to Square and authorize the connection. You come straight back to this page.
- The section badge reads Connected and shows your Merchant, Location and Environment. Staff can now take Tap to Pay payments on this venue from the OTC POS app; see Point of sale for pairing the app.
To end it, click Disconnect in the Disconnect Square row and confirm the Disconnect Square? dialog. Staff cannot take in-person payments until you reconnect.
Configure saved cards and card-on-file rules
On the Customer pill, the Customer management section has four toggles that save as you flip them.
| Toggle | What it does |
|---|---|
| Automatically create a customer in Square and link customers to payments | Every payment links to a Square customer record. Required before saved cards can work |
| Enable saved payment methods (allow customers to store credit cards for future use) | Lets customers store a card. Shown only when the toggle above is on |
| Require saved payment method for deposit payments | A card on file is required when booking with a deposit. Shown only when saved payment methods is on |
| Require saved payment method for full payments | A card on file is required when the customer pays in full up front; the card is saved automatically. Shown only when saved payment methods is on. Independent of the deposit rule |
Turning off customer creation also turns off the three toggles below it; turning off saved payment methods turns off both requirements.
Set the custom note
Also on the Customer pill, the Custom note section sets the text that appears in the note field of each payment in your Square dashboard. Type it in Note (max 500 characters) and click Save note. Open Supported dynamic variables to copy [Customer First Name], [Customer Last Name] or [Customer Phone] into the text.
Reference
Pills
| Pill | Section | Check mark when |
|---|---|---|
| Online keys | API credentials | Live access token saved |
| In-person | In-person (Tap to Pay) | Square account connected |
| Customer | Customer management, Custom note | No mark |
In-person connection
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Live, Sandbox | Which Square environment to connect; venues use Live |
| Connect Square | Starts Square's sign-in and authorization |
| Merchant, Location, Environment | The connected account's details |
| Disconnect | Ends the in-person connection; online tokens are unaffected |
Good to know
- Online and in-person are separate. Online checkout needs access tokens; Tap to Pay needs the In-person connection. Neither configures the other.
- The Location ID is the venue identifier in your Square dashboard. With several Square locations, pick the one this group should process payments through.
- Saved payment methods require customer creation. Turn on Automatically create a customer first.
- The card-on-file requirements are card-only. Gift cards, cash, customer credit, custom payment methods, pay-on-arrival, zero-amount checkouts, deposit payments and partial payment-request payments are not gated.
- Square Readers (contactless and chip) pair with the OTC POS app over Bluetooth, which lets a tablet or a phone without NFC take cards. The steps are in Point of sale.
FAQ
Q: How do I find my Square Location ID?
A: In your Square dashboard, open Account & Settings > Locations and copy the id of the location this group should use.
Q: Do I need the In-person connection if I only sell online?
A: No. Online checkout runs on the access tokens alone. Connect Square only when staff will take Tap to Pay payments on the OTC POS app.
Q: Where do I see the custom note?
A: On each payment's details in your Square dashboard, with the variables filled in from the customer and transaction.