Beating a Dead Horse but it needs to be: Preauthorization

[FarmAndBar]

We need to be able to preauthorize credit cards when running a tab. Period.  We really enjoyed the low buy in and easy menu development and a couple of the other features, but a bar/restaurant needs to be able to run a tab and preauthorize a credit card.  I've gone back and looked at conversations about it and it appears that this has been a CONSTANT request by users that has gone ignored.

I'd like to know why it isn't available.

[#2]

Pre-Authorization for Bar Tabs Update ⭐
Hi everyone - I'm Hadley, from the F&B product team. First of all, thank you SO MUCH for continuing to share all the feedback here over the years, we know how important the Bar Tabs feature is. For anyone who is not aware, this feature is currently in beta in the US for both Square Point of Sale as well as Square for Restaurants POS. 

➡️ If you use Square POS, here are instructions on how to get started beta testing. 

➡️ If you use RST POS, you can join the beta community here and our beta team will enable feature to your account. You can find the support article for getting set up on RST POS here. 

As a reminder, when a feature is in beta, there is still some engineering work happening to iron out the smaller bugs and optimizing the experience for our sellers and their customers. If you choose to participate in the beta testing, please share any feedback (good or bad 😄) to our beta team at betafeedback@squareup.com so we can learn how it is working for you and your staff.  

Thank you!

[BWH]

Me as well.  A MUST HAVE feature for my business.  I have to use another solutions to do pre-auth and then Square to charge.  Not efficient and I imagine the other company will cut me off at some point. 

[TheMakery]

Can we get an update on this request please? Preauthorizations are essential for us - we are a bespoke jewelry studio, and we need to preauthorize credit cards for custom orders before we begin the work. It's inconceivable to me that I would need to sign up for Appointments (which I don't use) to get access to a basic functionality. Clearly you have the ability to provide it since it's part of another service offering - why you're choosing not to offer it to merchant accounts I don't understand.

[BWH]

As expected, the other company I use put a hold on my account due to using the hold feature without ever finalizing.  Please release this feature.

[pvlc]

Same here with the rental business.  I need to pre-authorize!!!!

[hamlin]

Does square have a freature to pre-swipe cards for a large event?

[jjgard]

I don't think so.  But you could create a customer before the event and store the card info for that particular customer.  Are you concerned that they won't come back at the end to pay?  Or are you trying to do a pre-authorization for a large amount prior to the event to ensure they have enough available funds to cover it?

[Kpay]

@hamlin, if you're talking about pre-authorizing cards, you may want to check out this thread where some other sellers discuss the topic. Right now pre-authing cards is not something you can do with Square Point of Sale, though it is available in Square Appointments. Check out this thread and feel free to comment if you have more questions!  

[TheSanctuaryBnB]

So, I know it isn't pre-authorization per se in the fashion being requested, but there is functionality to verify a card is valid.

Create a manual, keyed entry charge for $1.00 (or the full amount). When you get to the signature screen, cancel the payment. This allows verification that the numbers provided are valid (with the $1.00 charge/non-charge) and allows verification that the card has available credit (with the full charge/non-charge amount). 

This isn't a pre-authorization in the fashion requested because it doesn't stay on the account as a pending transaction until released, as a "true" pre-authorization might. In other words, this validation method does not prevent a card from reaching its credit limit between the verification and later full charge. 

When I run my own card in this fashion, my online banking shows an entry for $1.09 ($1.00 charge plus 9% lodging tax) as "Pre auth SQ* THE SANCTUARY B&B Loc: Ellsworth". And it also shows an entry for -$1.09. My Square Dashboard, on the other hand, does not show any activity from this process. In effect this is a pre-authorization and immediate release.

The issue that I have is that our B&B markets through channels (online travel agents) that do not provide the CVV code (or CVC). They say the code is not required for lodging transactions, but Square requires it for manual processing (which is necessary in certain cases, such as cancellations/no shows).

[Acadia1]

Sanctuary....call your market account rep for third party and tell them it is required with your system. They tried doing that to us this year and we got it switched back to receiving all the proper information.

[Brixandhops]

I get a lot of dine and ditch. How can I run a credit card and keep it on file without making the person open an account in square? I just need to have a way to charge drink and ditch people.