FAQ: Supported and Unsupported Business Types in Australia

[Seamus]

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.

[Ashlea12]

Another disappointed customer here. We purchased based on articles about how this could be used for not for profits! Now we are $59 out of pocket.

Are we able to return this even when the packaging has been opened to a retailer. I really think this should be more clear to your customers.

Very very disappointed!

[NicholasP]

Hi Seamus,

Please keep me updated on the progress for support of Not-for-Profit Incorporated Associations.

I'm still looking for a solution to support over 50 not-for-profit groups in my local regional town

[debbrett]

This is very disappointing why don't you tell people before they sign up. I like others have gone to the effort and purchased equipment wasted time only to be told you don't support incorporated organisations our organisations money is as good as anyone's else. Shame on square very of putting i like others will be returning my machine for a refund.

[Garden2]

Hi,  I belong to an incorporated club and all we want to do is set up a  credit card  payment system for our members.  Firstly I tried to set up a Square account but we didn't have an ABN.  So I applied for an ABN for the club and we got one.  Set up the Square account only to find the  we were not supported  by square to take payments.  Lucky I hadn't bought the hardware yet.  Why is it a problem if you are an incorporated company.  We are registered with the Office of Fair Trading, get our books audited but not required to, but we can't accept  electronic credit card payments.  The club is trying to keep up with technology, and  trying to fit in with  a cashless society.  Very disappointed.

[Seamus]

Hey @Garden2,

Apologies for the disappointment!

I've moved your message to this thread, which covers the situation in detail.

I'll be updating this thread once we've got a solution in place for club-based ABNs! We're hoping to have this done in the first half of 2021, I'll ping you so you should be notified via email of any updates.

[Billustrious]

Me too thanks.

[Seamus]

@Billustrious will do!

[CCANthAdelaide]

We are a Not for Profit, have purchased 3 readers and docks and now have to try to return them all for a refund.  Beyond disappointed and dismayed that this has not been sorted out. 

[ntssheean]

Hi Seamus, can you add us to the contact list too?

We are a parent run committee supporting Navy Cadets and fall under the unsupported business type.

Thanks

Rosie

[Seamus]

Will do @ntssheean - I'll ping everyone who has posted in this thread once I have an update!

[TOSC]

Can you please let me know when sporting clubs are supported to use Square. Thanks

[KeysieCougars]

I get this message and don't know what to do now.

Does this mean that I cannot use this??

We do not currently support your selected business type for payment processing. We will contact you once your business type is supported. In the meantime, Square can work as your point-of-sale solution. You can record sales, manage inventory, run powerful sales reports and analytics, send digital receipts and more.

[Seamus]

Hey @KeysieCougars

I've moved your message to this thread which explains which ABNs we can and cannot support for payments at the moment. Unfortunately it sounds like your ABN type is not currently supported for payments. 

Long term, we're working on building a system to support ABNs commonly used by clubs, associations and NFPs that accommodates the additional regulatory requirements to sign those ABNs up for electronic payments.

I'll be tagging everyone in this thread once this is available, which will send an emailed notification. While I don't have an ETA for this, it's hopefully not too far away - we're aiming for the first half of 2021 and are working it at the moment.

[debbrett]

Hi Seamus in this thread you mention ABNs to be fixed by the first half of this year while you mentioned in another thread that this would be fixed in the first quarter of this year. So which one is it going to be because like many others if it’s going to be the later I will be returning my machine so you need to justify this as being fixed in the first quarter or first half.

[Seamus]

Hey @debbrett,

We don't have a set ETA at the moment - essentially it will be ready when we have a finished and workable solution. I certainly hope we can make Q1 of 2021, however project timelines can shift and change for various reasons. Per my previous comments I've not suggested any definite timelines because development timelines are not set in stone. 

While I'm not sure which previous comment you're referring to here, if you can send me a link I'd gladly clarify my intended messaging. I'd certainly hope that my comments are not being perceived as definitive release dates, as I can only ever give an estimated ballpark based on how things are looking at the time of posting.

[clivey]

Hi Seamus,

I really appreciate the way you respond so promptly to each comment on this site.  Are you able to explain briefly the nature of the difficulty in allowing associations etc to use the Square terminal?  Why is it harder than for a company or sole trader?

Thanks again,

clivey

[Seamus]

Hey @clivey,

The additional regulatory requirements for "Other Incorporated Entity" and "Other Unincorporated Entity" ABNs alluded to in the original post involves checks and ID verifications Square is required to perform under the Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act (2006). You can read more about these requirements here. We previously trailed doing this in a manual fashion, but this was not scalable on a wider level to meet the demand we were seeing.

For the ABNs we do officially support, it's a pretty simple process of linking to the Australian Business Register's API (Application Programming Interface) to obtain the required info. Unfortunately for other ABNs, the ownership/financial control structure isn't as straightforward or listed on the ABR and instead requires sourcing this information from various other places.

So without getting too technical, we're working on a system that aims at automating the process in a fashion similar to how it works for other ABNs. The caveat is that our existing API integration with the ABR won't cover this, so we need to build entirely new systems using different APIs from other government departments - all of which takes time and resources, engineering, requires regulatory approval etc.

That's about as far as I can go into the process, hopefully it gives a little more context though!

[clivey]

Thanks Seamus.  Very helpful.  We all wish you speedy success!

Clivey

[Seamus]

Thanks @clivey, appreciate your support 🙂

We're wanting to get this one out as quickly as possible too, and know how much our card readers and other products would be able to help clubs, associations and NFPs nation wide - especially in a post-COVID world.

[monprent]

Hi, I'm wanting to be kept in the loop.  I just wish I knew before I bought the square products that Charities weren't supported.  I'm not sure if I'll get a refund but we do want to use square in the future so not really sure what to do.   Hopefully we will hear soon on the progress

[Seamus]

@BasketballSteve Regarding your post asking for more information on why, please see my post above here - this is the long and short of it!