Getting paid is the best part of running a business – usually. If you’ve ever had a customer ask you for change from $100 (for a $7 purchase), or pay you with all the coins they’ve saved up in their piggy bank, you’ll know that physical cash payments can be a pain in the neck.

Digital payments are a big improvement. They make it much simpler for customers to pay the exact amount, and are easier for you to track for reports and tax purposes. Picking the right digital payment solution, however, can be a headache. Some options charge high fees, which is bad news for your bottom line. Some solutions are so complicated they seem to be designed for tech geeks, which (unless you are one) is bad news for your nerves.

So it’s always good to hear about a new digital payments solution, and that’s where Square Cash for Business comes in. Who knows, it might just make your business life a whole lot easier. Read on to find out more about Square Cash for Business, and find out if it’s the right option for your business.

What is Square Cash for Business?

First, the facts. Square Cash is a digital wallet that launched in 2013 to simplify asking for and making payments between friends. The business version, Square Cash for Business, came along in 2015.

How does Square Cash for Business work?

In brief, Square Cash for Business works like this:

  • Download the app to your phone, or sign up on the Cash.app website.
  • Use your email address or mobile phone number to create an account.
  • Square sends a one-time passcode to your email or your phone every time you log in; you won’t set a password, you’ll just use the one-time passcode to identify yourself.
  • Link your bank account or credit card.
  • Mark your account as a “business” account (this is important: if Square thinks you’re using a personal account for business purposes, or vice versa, it will disable your account).
  • Start sending and receiving funds.

Now let’s dive deeper into the advantages and disadvantages of Square Cash for Business, to see if it’s a good match to your needs.

Advantages to using Square Cash for your business

1. It’s Easy to Use

You’re a therapist because you have a deep fascination for the inner workings of the human psyche – not for the inner workings of financial tech. (Otherwise you’d be an app designer.) So it’s a major plus that Square Cash for Business is so easy to set up and use.

You can request payments through the app, or send a link in an email, Whatsapp message, or text message. There’s no need to connect with a card swiper.

The interface is clear and simple; just log in, and see how much money you have in your Square account.

It’s easy for your customers, too. If they have a Square Cash account, they can use it to make a payment, but if not, they can use their credit or debit card to send payment through the Cash.me website or via the app. A big plus.

2. Secure Remote Payments

With Square Cash for Business, you can reassure your customers that it’s safe to pay you remotely. They won’t need to take the risk of sharing their credit card information over the phone or in an email; they’ll just pay through the secure site. This makes it a lot easier to request card-not-present payments, especially if you work as an accountant, graphic designer, or other profession where you provide your services remotely.

Additionally, using a one-time passcode to log in each time means that there’s no need to worry about hackers guessing your password. 

3. Reasonable Fees

It would be too much to hope that Square Cash for Business would be completely free. However, the fees are realistic, straightforward and won’t break the bank:

  • It’s free to download the app, connect your bank account, and make payments
  • There’s a 2.75% transaction fee on every payment you receive, which is in line with other payment solutions
  • It’s free to transfer funds to your bank account
  • There’s a 3% fee to move money to or from a credit card

4. Cashtag Payments

With Square Cash for Business, you can ask customers to make a payment using your email address, name, or phone number, but you can also use a cashtag. It’s like a hashtag, but it uses the $ sign before the tag instead of a #.

Each person’s cashtag is unique, and it creates a unique URL on the Cash.me website. You can send that Cash.me URL to customers in an email, SMS, or through any channel, and they can just click the link to go to your personal Cash.me payments page. It means that you don’t need to install a payments button on your website or design a whole landing page to request payment; all you need is a hyperlink to take customers to your Cash.me page.

Drawbacks to using Square Cash Up for business

1. Only Connects to your Bank Account

The original Square Cash comes with a useful cash card that links with your Square account so that you can spend funds directly, without transfers or fees. Unfortunately, that benefit is only offered to Square Cash personal users. If you use Square Cash for Business, the only way to spend your money is to transfer it to your bank account, or pay a 3% fee to transfer it to a credit card.

What’s more, Square Cash for Business doesn’t integrate with other Square apps and tools, like the Square POS or your Square business account. It’s a standalone, lite payments app.

2. High Charge for Instant Deposits

Although it’s free to deposit funds into your bank account from Square, that comes with a time lag. Square say that it generally takes 48 hours for money to clear in your bank account, but it can take several days, depending on your bank, which can be an issue for cash flow.

Square offers same-day or instant deposits, but you have to pay for them. Other Square tools charge 1% for instant and same-day transfers, but Square Cash for Business charges 1.5%. Hmm.

3. Very Low on Business Features

Square Cash for Business is literally just for receiving remote payments. It can’t help you track payments; it does not integrate with your online appointment scheduler; it does not encourage clients to re-purchase your services. Although you can make a note next to each payment to keep track of what it’s for, this isn’t sufficient for business reporting, business growth or bookkeeping requirements.

If you’re a service-based business and you have other ways to manage your clients appointment, and payments, all of this won’t matter. But if you want to manage your business from one app that keeps all your bases covered, you’re probably want to skip Cash Up and check out tools like vcita.

4. Limited Customer Support

Square Cash for Business seriously disappoints in this area, because customer support is limited. There’s no live phone support or even live chat support. If something goes wrong, your only option is to search through the FAQs section or send a message through the app and wait on pins and needles for someone to reply.

Tips for using Square Cash for Business

If you decide to use Square Cash for Business, you want to make the most out of it.

1. Make a cashtag

As well as helping you to request payment, cashtags are also awesome for branding purposes. Your cashtag could be the name of your business, like $Nails4u, or highlight what you excel at, like $bestplumbers.

2. Check out cash boosts

Cash boosts are a cute way that Square helps you get more bang for your buck. These won’t necessarily have an impact on your business, but who cares? You may be a business owner, but you’re a person, too!

Cash Boosts are special offers from linked merchants in your neighborhood or online. Every day, you can choose one Cash Boost among those displayed on your Square Cash app, and enjoy discounts on your dinner, special prices on pharmaceuticals, or direct cash back. Nice.

3. Raise Transaction Amounts

This is important, folks: The default settings on Square Cash for Business limit you to receiving no more than $1,000 in payments in each 30-day period, and sending no more than $250 in a single transaction. To unlock these limits (and we hope you hit them soon!), you need to verify your business with Square by answering some questions and sharing some documents on the app.

Bottom line: Square Cash for Business can be a good choice for small, service-based businesses

Square Cash isn’t suitable for large businesses, or anyone who needs an integrated payments system that connects with all the other moving parts to their business.

If you’re running a mobile, service-based business, however, and you need something lightweight and fast to make and receive remote payments securely, Square Cash could be a good solution for you.