Signup Troubleshooting
Not being able to activate your Square account can be a stressful experience. This article provides troubleshooting support for the most common issues when signing up for Square or activating your Square account.
Before you begin
This article is for troubleshooting account activation issues for sole-proprietorship businesses.
To troubleshoot your account activation issues, you need to be at a desktop computer. If you exited your account setup during the activation process, sign in to your Square Dashboard to return to the account setup process. Review our Set up your Square account for more information on signing up for Square.
If you can’t resolve your activation issue with our troubleshooting guide below, contact our support team. Learn how to get support at Square.
Troubleshoot sign-up issues
Review common account activation issues below before attempting to activate your account.
Based on the information you provided during the sign-up process, we could not approve your request to accept card payments. Even if you linked a bank account to your Square account successfully, you will not be able to process credit card transactions.
Some common reasons why an account can fail activation include:
- Typos or incorrect information
- Providing a business name or a recently changed name instead of your legal name. A legal first and last name are required to verify your identity. If you recently changed your name, try entering your previous name.
- Providing a business address instead of your current home address. You must provide your current home address. If you moved within the last six months, try using your previous home address.
- Providing a document or photo that was blurry or indecipherable. Submit clear and legible documents and photos to verify your identity.
- Providing an incorrect Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. This information must be valid, even if you’re signing up as a business or organization.
If you were declined once, you have two options to attempt verification again.
- Sign in to your Square Dashboard and attempt the process again; or
- Locate the “We couldn’t verify your identity” email sent to your email address. read the instructions and select Verify Identity.
If identity verification is unsuccessful, you will be unable to process payments with Square at this time.
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.
Square may request that you submit additional information, including a selfie and a photo of your physical government-issued photo identification document, for verification purposes before your account is activated. You’ll receive an email notification if we need more information.
If you received this notification:
- Sign in to your Square Dashboard and select Verify Identity.
- Follow the prompts to complete and send the images to us for further review.
If your account is locked, or if you are having trouble accessing the email used to activate your account, we offer an alternative way to log in.
- Square will ask for a phone number and send you an SMS message with a link.
- Tap the link and provide a photo of your valid government-issued ID and a selfie for verification.
- Check your Square Dashboard in one to two business days to review the status of your account activation.
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:
- Submitting a photocopy of your physical ID
- The ID is not in frame or all the information is not clearly visible
- Submitting unsupported document types
- The ID is expired, annulled, or damaged
- The name on your ID does not match what you previously entered in the personal information fields
- The full face is not clearly visible