[New] Tap to Pay on Android

[tranguyen]

Hi Sellers! 👋

We’re excited to announce that Tap to Pay on Android is now available! With this feature, you can accept contactless cards and digital wallets like Google Pay or Apple Pay with just your Android phone - no additional hardware necessary. 

Using Tap to Pay on Android is easy:

1. Make sure your POS app is updated to the latest version
2. Add an item or key in an amount.
3. Ask your customer for a contactless card or digital wallet. 
4. Have them hold it to the back of your phone and you’re set.

Tap to Pay on Android is available on Square Point of Sale, Invoices POS, Appointments POS on compatible Android phones, and with the Restaurant mobile POS kit. There is no monthly fee to use Tap to Pay on Android, just your usual transaction costs. 

No additional set up is necessary. You can use Tap to Pay on Android right alongside your current Square hardware, it sends the money you make to the same Square account. 

For more help getting started with this new feature see here. Let us know if you have questions.

[GrahamB]

Have tried Tap To Pay on my Samsung S10 (Android 12)  but have not been able to complete a transaction yet.

Have double checked that NFC is enabled in my phone settings & Tap To Pay is enabled within the Square app.

Issue may be that my phone doesn't detect my card because the phone is inside an Otterbox case.  But that is not negotiablefor me, phones are too expensive.  Better to risk dropping a $29 Square reader than a $1200 - $2,000 phone.

Has anyone any suggestions to offer?

[tranguyen]

Thank you for sharing this @GrahamB! 

The team are aware that some phones with phone cases may not work due to the strength of the phone's NFC chip. For context, each brand and phone model uses different strength chips. We are hopeful that as the technology becomes more popular, brands will build phones and accessories that can accommodate the feature better. 

Just to make sure that the feature is working correctly, have you try taking a Tap to Pay payment without the phone case? We want to rule out any potential issue with the feature itself. 

If Tap to Pay is working when you try it without the case and not when you have the case on, can you let me know:

• Is there a particular error you are seeing or is there just no reaction at all to the card?
• Is the Developer Options turn off? You can check and disable it by following the steps outlined here. 

[GrahamB]

Yes, it worked when I removed the case but will not work when my Samsung S12 is inside its OtterBox case.

One suggestion...  Square developers seem hell bent on increasing thenumber of keystrokes required tocomplwtea transaction and if I was to use Tap To Pay you would add one more. Given that Tap To Pay requires NFC to be ON  & Square reader requires it to be OFF why add the unneccesary step after I press :Charge"?

And don't get me started on how you have truly screwed up the app by forcing me to have unwanted "Gift Cards / Rewards / Discounts / Service Charges" on my home library screen.  

AND you have forced the unwanted "Review Sale" screen on me which further wastes time.

PLEASE listen to your customers and allow users in busy environments to complete transactions in minimal time.  Sometines I'd like to be able to complete several $5 transactions sequentially & these unwanted screens just waste my time and cost the charity I volunteer for lost donations.

Square has reduced the price of the reader... probably as a reaction to Tyro introducing a similar contactless reader at a lower price.  https://www.tyro.com/products/eftpos/tyro-go/ 

 Tyro fees are lower too so if Tyro develops a better app Square will see large numbers of users shift to the Tyro product.

Square developers must listen to & heed customer feedback....

[GrahamB]

BUT, credit where it's due...

I really like the much larger font for the amount being charged. That is an excellent improvement.

[tranguyen]

I will make sure to share these feedback with the appropriate team @GrahamB!

Something that may help in the meantime — you can disable the Review Sales on your device by tapping the menu > Checkout > Payments > toggle the button next to Skip review sale to blue. This should reduce the number of steps required to take payments.

About the Tap to Pay — when you are attempting to take payments while the phone is in its case, is there a particular error you are seeing or is there just no reaction at all to the card?

[DanCoxArt]

I have been able to manage to reset the square card reader and it seems to now be able to pair with the phone...

I have not tried a transaction as yet but at least I have the phone recognizing the device and it still has the tap and pay option also - we shall see with the next transaction.

Thanks

[DanCoxArt]

I was at a market on Saturday when Square updated to the Tap and Pay and I was unable to process any card payments. Only a couple of phone payments were able to go through. I had to manually enter the card numbers which charges me more in fees. I could also not re-pair the square reader. I have never had an issue with the card reader before but now it is useless. Can you offer  suggestion as I cannot enter manually all the time?

[tranguyen]

Sorry to hear this @DanCoxArt. Did you get any error message when you attempt to take payments with Tap to Pay? Can you also let me know the model of the device you have, your current Android version and if there's any pending update for the Square Point of Sale app?

Regarding the Square Reader, please try running through the troubleshooting steps below. These usually help with any underlying connection issue between the device and the reader: 

1. Make sure the Square Point of Sale app and the Android software is up to date
2. Forget the reader from the device's Bluetooth setting
3. Turn the Bluetooth off and back on
4. Turn the device off and back on
5. Hard reset of reader -- hold button for around 20 seconds, wait for lights to turn orange, then red, then release the button when all the lights have stop flashing
6. Go back into the Square app > Settings > Hardware > Square Readers > Connect a reader and follow the prompt

[DanCoxArt]

I managed to get the square to reset but have not been able to process a transaction as yet, but the device is paired and the tap to pay is there also...so I will see what happens when I manage a transaction.

Thanks for your help

[lawnbrook]

Worked brilliantly for me over the weekend which is our busiest weekend of the year. I let my staff use the traditional hardware but I used my phone all weekend to process payments. It's a little harder to work out when its phone to phone (you need to find 2 sensors!) but it was a life saver for me and saved me having to buy a bunch of hardware for 1 weekend. 👍

[Laurie_]

We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience using Android Tap to Pay, @lawnbrook! 🤗

[DanCoxArt]

Yeah it was the opposite for me. Phone to phone was okay but the reader needed a full reset.

Should all be good now! I hope!🤘