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FAQ: Supported and Unsupported Business Types in Australia

EDIT: May 2021 Update

 

Payments support is now available for associations, clubs and NFPs who have an ABN. Read more here, thanks for your patience 🙂

 

EDIT: 2021 Update

 

Work has commenced on building payments support for the following ABNs commonly used by clubs, associations and NFP organisations. While we don't have a set ETA for availability, we hope to launch support for these ABNs at some point in the first half of 2021:

 

  • Other Incorporated Entities
  • Other Unincorporated Entities

 

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I’ve tried signing up with Square and received a message about my business type being unsupported for payments. Why am I receiving this message?

 

In Australia, different ABN entity types are subject to different regulatory requirements that determine eligibility to register for financial services such as electronic card payment processing. Due to the additional requirements for some entities, Square is not currently able to support all ABN entity types for payment processing.



What ABNs does Square support/not support?

 

ABNs we can on-board via the online signup process:

 

  • Individual / Sole Trader
  • Partnerships
  • Private and Public Companies
  • Trusts (approx. 4 weeks processing)

 

ABNs we don't currently support

 

  • Other Incorporated Entities
  • Other Unincorporated Entities
  • Government Entities
  • Co-operatives
  • Any other entity type not listed as supported



I know someone who is using Square for their organisation - why can’t you support mine now?

 

Square previously trialed a program that involved experimenting with different ways to support the manual onboarding and verification of business information so that certain organisations could be supported for payment processing. 

 

This trial proved challenging for both Square and the organisations involved due to the additional obligations Square needs to meet to comply with Australian regulatory requirements, and it is not scalable at this time. While we cannot support payment processing for you, remember Square can still work as a free point-of-sale application to record sales, manage inventory, run sales reports and analytics, send digital receipts and more.



When will it be possible for my organisation to use Square?

 

While we don’t currently support your business type for payment processing, we can take your details and reach out to you if this changes in the future.



I’ve already purchased hardware, how can I get my money back?

 

If you have purchased hardware via the Square website, please visit our Support Centre to learn more about submitting a request for a refund. Alternatively, if you purchased Square hardware you can return it to the place of purchase with your receipt for a refund.

 

 

Can I just sign up as an individual or use another ABN rather than use my club/organisation’s ABN?

 

As per our Terms of Service, we require you to provide accurate and complete information about the business or organisation you’re taking payments for at the time of sign up. Setting up a Square account as an individual or different ABN would be in violation of our Terms of Service.

Seamus
Square, Australia
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Best Answer

Associations, clubs and NFPs using either an “Other Incorporated Entity” or “Other Unincorporated Entity” ABN can now sign up for payments with Square 🥳

 

For more information please check the following guides:

 

Sign up with an Incorporated Association Entity

Sign up with an Unincorporated Association Entity

 

FAQ

 

I already started creating a Square account previously. How do I continue the sign up process?

 

You’ll need to log into your Square Dashboard, then click “Verify information to start taking payments”. This will take you to the next step of the onboarding process, where you’ll need to provide some personal information, before you’ll be asked to supply more information about the club and its key position holders.

 

Screen Shot 2021-05-11 at 9.43.09 am.png

 

 

When I log into my dashboard it comes up with a message saying “You have nothing to manage”.

 

This means you’ve manually deactivated your account in the past. To reactivate it you’ll need to call our support team on 1800 760 137. Lines are open Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Melbourne time. Alternatively, you can simply sign up again using a different email address,

 

What information will I need to provide?

 

Other Incorporated Entity ABNS

 

Business information:

 

  • Provide basic business information, including the incorporated ABN
  • Annual General Meeting Minutes: Upload a PDF copy of the most recent meeting minutes showing the election of office holders, including President, Treasurer and Secretary.
  • Certificate of Incorporation: Upload if applicable to your association. You can find this on the Australian Securities and Investment Commission website.
  • Provide the Incorporation Registration Number. You can also find this via the ASIC website. Note: You can only search by association name, not the ABN.

Personal Information:

  • Verify the account holder’s identity by providing their name, current residential address, and date of birth using a valid driver licence, passport, or Medicare card.
  • Verify the President and Treasurer, and identify the Secretary (or equivalent positions) . For this step, you need to provide the full name, date of birth and current residential address for the President and Treasurer, and the full name of the Secretary of your association. Make sure you have that individual’s consent to provide this information to us.

 

Other Unincorporated Entity ABNS

 

Business Information:

 

  • Provide basic business information, including the Unincorporated ABN. 
  • Provide Annual General Meeting (AGM) minutes: Upload a PDF copy of the most recent AGM minutes, showing the election of office holders, including President, Treasurer and Secretary.

Personal Information:

  • Verify the account holder’s identity by providing the full name, current address, and date of birth using a valid driver licence, passport, or Medicare card.
  • Verify the President, Treasurer, and Identify the Secretary. For this step, you will be asked to provide the full name, date of birth and residential address for the President and Treasurer, and the full name of the Secretary of your association.

 

Why do I need to provide this information?

 

Square is obligated to request and verify the above information when onboarding clubs, associations and NFPs under the AML/CTF Act.

Seamus
Square, Australia
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Hi - this is disappointing as there is a huge market and demand for systems such as Square with linked card readers/payment platforms to be used by the numerous “unsupported” groups. Also just checking - do sporting clubs, which may be incorporated associations, still fall into this unsupported group? Is this likely to change? 
The Square pos and connected card reader is ideal for these environments due to ease of set up and use plus limited hardware and equipment required.

 

I am interested to see if this will ever progress?

 

Regards

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Hey @Eureka,

 

Thanks for reaching out.

 

It's understandably disappointing to not be able to get an account verified to take card payments and I wish there was more I could do here to help!

 

Whether or not a sports club would be able to sign up for Square to take payments is determined solely by the ABN entity type - so for a club that used an "Other Incorporated Entity" ABN, this is unfortunately not possible at the moment.

 

It is always subject to change in the future, though I don't currently have a time frame as to if and when this may happen. Long term I certainly hope we are able to support clubs and associations in Australia, and will continue to track and pass on feedback coming from these organisations.

Seamus
Square, Australia
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As soon as you aware if you are able to support clubs and associations please let me know too!

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I'll be sure to update this thread once we're able to support more ABN types @LizT1!

Seamus
Square, Australia
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If I run into the same problem with the other incorporated entity bit. How do i still use the Square as a point of sale device?

 

Guy

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Hey @DevoDog,

 

If you get the "Unsupported Business Type" message you can skip past it in the web browser to access your Square account and then simply sign in on the Point of Sale app.

 

It won't feature the ability to process card payments via Square, but you can still use the POS app to record payments, track your inventory etc.

Seamus
Square, Australia
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Ah got thank you. Will have to wait until we can use it for currently unsupported organisations.

 

Thanks.

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I'll make sure to tag everyone who has commented in this thread @DevoDog 👍

Seamus
Square, Australia
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We are also interested as to timing when associations can use it. 

 

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Any updates for sporting clubs?

This would be an great solutions for us!

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Thanks for the answer, I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out why I couldn't get the Square to work when the one I set up for my "real job" was not a problem.  If this is such a major issue for sporting clubs like ours and "Other Incorporated Entities" etc, why is this information not available on your web site or anywhere you do research on the Square.  To say that as a small sporting club who just wants to use it for canteen and fundraiser is incredibly disappointing would be an understatement...

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Can you please add us to the notifications of when you can support these NFP's to take payments using Square. We're a school association and need a method for taking payments other than cash for our fundraising activities. Thanks.

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Hi everyone, 

We are a small school and are hoping to use the square reader for fundraising events, we have changed our account to a business account and yet it still says we are not supported?

Why is this happening? 
we really need a contactless payment system for fundraising events 

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Hey @coobypc,

 

Thanks for getting in touch and very sorry to hear you're having trouble getting activated to use Square. I've moved your message to this thread that highlights which ABN entity types we can and cannot support at the moment.

 

Unfortunately it looks like your ABN is currently unsupported. We are exploring ways to accommodate more ABN entity types and we know there are a lot of associations, clubs and organisations who really want to use Square at the moment! I will update this thread and tag you if I hear of any changes.

Seamus
Square, Australia
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Hi Seamus

 

Thanks for explaining things.

 

Can you please let me know when, for example, the Narooma and District Lions Club can be supported by Square, to sell its food at our monthly markets, and special events.

 

All my hopes

 

Richard

Treasurer

Narooma and District Lions Club

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Hey @Richard63,

 

We're still in the same position as my comment in this thread yesterday I'm afraid!

 

No ETA at the moment, but we're working on it!

Seamus
Square, Australia
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Hi contact community banking WBC has monthly seasonal product. Worth looking into.  May not be as cheap as square but if you need something a good alternative until supported and no lock in contract. 

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Hi, I am from an incorporated association which cannot use square due to being a not for profit group. Can you please add me to the list for notifications for when you will be able to support our associations again. This was very disappointing as Square was recommended as a great payment tool.

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We are, like many others, a dance club (unincorporated) who are disappointed we can't use Square for our limited yearly fundraising efforts, or as a way to take our club fees from our members.  Any further information on when we can be supported would be welcome.  Thanks 🙂

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We are an Association and are also disappointed. Please let me know when this changes.

I want to now use it for personal reasons.  Can I delete setting up as a business and set up my Square for personal use?  

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