Has anyone ever looked into using Square as a backup for credit card processing? We currently do not have any external credit card processors- everything is ran through Tessitura. So when Tess is out, we don't have a way to process credit cards easily. We are a Vantiv client, and part of my contingency project is looking into acquiring external EMV readers from them, but I'm absolutely dreading the process because of terrible customer service experiences I've had with Vantiv in the past.
I thought of Square and it looks way more appealing to me. From what I understand, we can get 15 of their magstripe card readers for potentially the price of one EMV reader from ingenico or verifone (I'm assuming this is what Vantiv would set up up with, and I've heard that those readers can cost as much as $500+ for one device. This may be incorrect though, I've just been really dragging my feet to try to get a quote from them.) I know Square takes a cut of sales, but I'm almost thinking it would be worth it in the end to be able to do sales EASILY in a moment where we would potentially be doing zero sales.
I'm not concerned about it having any connection into Tessitura- in the event we would actually have to use the Square devices, we would go back into Tessitura once up again and record the sales. It's literally just to get payments- particularly at our GA performances that would absolutely stink to have to turn people away from.
I welcome any feedback! I know there's been posts about Square before, but I don't think any of them discussed it being used in this way.
Nancy ShelehedaSr. Director of Application Development and Support ServicesPittsburgh Cultural Trust803 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa 15222412-456-1387 Sheleheda@trustarts.org | TrustArts.org
Yes, Square is compatible with iOS or Android devices, including tablets. Our organization does not own any of those devices though, and I highly doubt we would foot the bill for them. We don't use TRBO and I'm really not knowledgeable in it- but I did ask the Square rep if she was aware of any capability of Tessitura syncing with Square and she said no.
We wouldn't be using their data plans- their device would be connected to a secure network provided by us. But yes- phone storage did cross my mind- they could potentially not even have enough storage on their phone for the application. We would definitely want them to remove the application from their device after use. I would say in most cases staff would only have the app on their phone for an hour.
And we would of course have to ask their permission and honor anyone who would not want to participate. These are definitely things we need to consider and think through.
Not for their devices. Square does have a virtual terminal that you can access via a web browser- but these transactions are all keyed in- and the fee per transaction is higher for those. That still could possibly be okay though since we would only want these for backup. Better some revenue than none
We use Square quite often and frequently, although not as backup for Tessitura. At this time, there is no ability to use Square with Tess. Hopefully someday. We use Square for on the fly donations at events. I bought a half dozen Samsung Galaxy Tab eLite tablets, and the Square contactless chip reader. I mounted the chip reader on the back of the tablet. Its fast, convenient, and looks professional. Staff love it to take a credit card donation in the lobby or the house on the fly. We still need to input the data later into Tessitura, but that is a quick process back at the office. We get Square reports and can see the amount of donations accepted immediately. This is also huge for our special events where we have auctions, and other special events where we need to accept credit cards without the hassle or time-consuming process of entering data into tessitura at the event. For cards that do not have a chip, we have the standard swipe in the tablet as well. Fast, effective, time efficient. Staff love it. Out patrons love it. For us it was a win-win. I do hope Tessitura will eventually work with Square, or some other technology, to allow this type of secondary payment acceptance. It woud be a huge benefit for both RAMP and non-RAMP customers alike.
We use Clover. I think it's $15/month for 3G service and $40/month/device. It's a bit pricey but it does let us use our merchant accounts and interchange rates. It just simplifies things having one merchant account provider to work with for all CC's.