Sign Up Troubleshooting

If you’re having trouble signing up for Square or activating your account, the following article provides helpful information.

Not Approved to Accept Credit Cards

Based on the information you provided, our system could not approve your request to accept card payments. While we don’t have access to any of the information you entered for privacy and security reasons, some customers believe they’ve been declined due to a typo or because they provided incorrect information.

Keep in mind that banking industry regulations require Square to ask for your full legal name, phone number and your current home address. 

Some common reasons why Square is unable to approve customers to accept credit cards:

• Providing a business name, or a recently changed name. A legal first and legal last name are required to verify your identity. If you recently changed your name, you may want to try your previous name. (like if you were recently married, try entering your maiden name.)

• Providing a business address instead of your current home address. You must provide your current home address. If you’ve moved within the last six months, try using your previous home address.

• Providing a document that was unable to be used to verify identity. This could be due to:

  • Submitting an expired document, a document that is blurry or otherwise indecipherable.

  • Not presenting a valid physical ID.

  • Submitting a document in a non-supported format.

• Submitting a photo where your face is not clearly visible.

• Not providing your Social Insurance Number. While this information is optional, it can help expedite the activation of your account.

If you leave the identity verification screen during the verification process, head to the , sign in, read the instructions, and click Verify Identity.

If there was an issue verifying your submitted selfie and photo of your physical ID, you may be able to try again. Some possible reasons that could cause verification issues include:

• Presenting a copy of your physical ID

• ID is not in frame or all the information is not clearly visible

• Unsupported document types

• Expired, annulled, or damaged ID

• Name on your ID does not match what you previously entered in the personal information fields

• Full face is not clearly visible

You only have four attempts to successfully verify this information. If you entered the correct information and the verification keeps failing, please contact Square support for assistance.

If the final identity verification is unsuccessful, you will be unable to process payments with Square at this time.

Delayed or Pending Activation

If you receive one of the following error notifications, we may need one to two additional business days to process your activation request:

• Your Request is Pending

• There was a problem activating your account

You can accept cash payments in the meantime. Check your Square Dashboard in one to two business days to review the status of your account activation. 

Need More Information

Square may request that you submit additional information, including a physical government-issued photo ID, for verification purposes before your account is activated. You’ll receive an email notification if we need more information.

If you received the notification, log in to your online Square Dashboard and click Verify Your Identity.

Note: Copies of government-issued ID documents won’t be accepted.

Age Requirement for Sign-Up

Current credit card processing regulations require our account holders to be at least 18 years of age. Once you turn 18, we’ll be happy to accept you as a Square customer.

Time Limit Expired

For security reasons, we have a 10-minute time limit when filling out your activation request. If that limit is surpassed, the form will automatically be locked for three days.