Square Banking Q&A: Let's talk about how Square Savings can help you prepare for tax season💰

[Tom]

Hi Seller Community,

With the 2022 tax season in the rearview mirror for many of us, we're eager to catch your questions and get your feedback on how Square Savings can help you stay on top of taxes in the year ahead!

Whether you pay your business taxes monthly or quarterly, Square Savings offers automated saving, which helps to take the guesswork out of withholding amounts, and folders, which help to organize and keep money set aside for taxes.

We were grateful to have @jmonfort from the Square Banking team address your questions and share solutions for automating healthy habits with Square Savings on Wednesday, May 4th.

A few example questions:

• How do folders in Square Savings accounts work?
• What’s the benefit of setting up an account with Square Banking versus my existing bank account?
• If I could do "_______" with Square Savings, that would help me run my business much more smoothly.

Note: We can't share specific details on our product roadmaps, though this information will be helpful as we continue to make improvements.

Block, Inc. is not a bank. Banking Services provided by Square Financial Services, Inc. and Sutton Bank, Members FDIC.

[akhdesign413]

Is there a fee for square savings

[jmonfort]

Nope! There are no monthly maintenance fees, sign-up fees, or fees associated with minimum balances, as there are no minimum balance requirements. There are also no overdraft fees or withdrawal limits fees that are associated with traditional business savings accounts.

[hiawathahair]

Do I need to open a Square checking account to use my savings, or can I transfer it to my own bank account?

[jmonfort]

Hello! You can open a Square Savings account without a Square Checking account. You’ll be able to make standard, cost-free ACH transfers to external bank accounts and expect funds to settle within 1-2 business days.

[Anb]

I can’t find the option to add square savings from my dashboard. Does this mean I’m not eligible? If so, why?

[jmonfort]

Hello! To open a Savings account, you’ll want to visit your Balances dashboard, where you’ll see a button to enable Square Savings. You can also open an account here.

[incometaxpro]

I don't have any questions but I love Square Savings.  Last year I set mine at 2% of my sales and intend to increase the amount by 1% each year.  So far, I don't have any immediate plans for what has been saved for so but it's nice to know it is there and available for a rainy day or an emergency. I need to upgrade my business computer by the end of the year so I may use some of it for that.  Thank you for adding this feature!

[jmonfort]

Hello! So glad to hear it, that sounds like a great idea! 😊

[Travis4]

Hello , yes i was wondering if its possible to put monies into my savings account from daily sales in order to transfer to another bank . not the percentage that square puts in there daily but another amount from my days sales in order to put monies into my other account . thanks 

[jmonfort]

Hi Travis, you can go to your Savings Dashboard and click “add money” to deposit funds into your savings account from Square daily sales or external bank account. Similarly, once you are ready to withdraw, you can click “Transfer out” and transfer money to your Square Checking or an external bank account.

[mikeyy30]

Tom,

We just applied for Square Savings and were turned down. I'd like to know why. We've been a square customer for about 10 years with no issues whatsoever. If you don't know, please steer me to someone who can help me.

[SAPB]

I'm with ya...don't understand at all.   I was told the process was a third party decision provider and that Square could not help with providing a reason for ineligibility.  

[jmonfort]

Hi Mikey, thank you for your interest in Savings, and apologies for the inconvenience.

If you are getting a message that it’s not eligible, the most common reason is failure to verify information provided during the on-boarding process. We rely on third party data sources for help to verify personal and business information, such as the Internal Revenue System (IRS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). We currently can't support multiple attempts to verify this information, but are working toward leveraging other information to expand eligibility. Stay tuned!

[sabrinamarg]

How do you qualify for a square savings?

Can tax payments be taken right out of the savings account?

I pay in quarterly.

I do want to learn more about folders, as suggested in the post.

What sort if interest rate will we see on thr savings account?

[jmonfort]

Hi Sabrina, great questions. You can check if you are eligible here. Once you are ready to pay taxes, from your Savings Settings tab, you can use your routing and account number if accepted. You are also able to transfer your funds out of square savings to pay taxes.

Our folders can help you plan for the next day, week, or month. You can easily separate and organize your money for business needs (sales taxes, rainy day funds), or milestone moments, like a brand-new website. When you set up your folder you have the option to set it up with or without automated savings (so a portion of each sale will be deposited into the folder), and well as with or without a target amount (so if you’re saving for a specific item/expense with a set cost you can track your progress). You can watch this demo to see how to set up a folder.

Square Saving’s current yield is 0.50%, which is 8x the national average for business savings accounts.

[drsstenseth]

I'd have more questions regarding Square Savings, but I'm told that "my business isn't eligible for square savings."  Why would that be???

[SAPB]

It's beyond frustrating...and they can't say why!  

[Stacelyn24]

This feels like a breath of fresh air!!! One thing not to have to worry about is having enough ,only to cover taxes. We’re definitely using this service and will be tuning in to get more insights on how we can make the most out of this service 🙂

[jmonfort]

So happy to hear, and glad it’s helping! 😊

[DavidBlair]

Hello,

I am a restaurant, usimg square to process my credit card transaction for the last five years and four months. Recently I attempted to open a Square checking account, responding to an email offer from Square. I was unable to pass the challenge stage (what's your address question). I called customer service and they said that they were unable to help me at all, and that I would not be able to open an account with Square.  Im puzzled about this predicament!

My business address is still the same, but we don't receive us mail because we are in Lake Tahoe - we must use a po box. I have moved my residence several times during the last five years though.

Im able to log into my Dashboard, and I still have Square sending my funds to the same bank account i open tbe business with five years ago

I was considering a square checking and savings account but couldn't verify my address. because of this I am being denied.

I would appreciate if someone from square would reach out to me

last year i processed almost 800k in sales

Thank you

[jmonfort]

Hi David, I’ve flagged this for our Checking team. Will update when I've heard back.