We have tested and photographed Square Terminal on different occasions for a genuine assessment of the product. We’ll begin with a summary of the package followed by our detailed findings and opinions on it.
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Accepted cards
Unlike traditional card machines, Square Terminal handles more than card payments. You can, for example, accept gift cards and edit your product library on the terminal.
The card machine comes with the Square Point of Sale software on the touchscreen, where customers also enter their PIN. It can integrate with Square’s POS systems for restaurants, retail and appointments to supplement their payment flows.
Transactions and activities on the terminal are connected with your backend Square account where more features, ecommerce tools and integrations are available.
Photo: Emily Sorensen (ES), Mobile Transaction
PIN on glass (on the touchscreen of an industry-approved terminal like Square Terminal) is highly secure.
The payment terminal needs to be connected with the internet via WiFi or an Ethernet cable (via Hub for Square Terminal). It does not work with 4G or other mobile network connections, but accepts chip and PIN offline as long as it is back online within 24 hours.
Square Terminal can link with the Point of Sale app on an iPad, iPhone or Android device, providing a distance between the till screen and card machine. It’s also possible to connect the Square Virtual Terminal by creating a transaction on a laptop and selecting Square Terminal to take the chip or tap transaction in person.
Square Terminal only works with WiFi and broadband, not 4G, so I’d just use it around fixed premises. Although offline mode can step in when you’re out and about without WiFi, it’s not ideal since you need to complete the transactions later.
Emily Sorensen, Senior Editor at Mobile Transaction
Our experience and opinion
Square Terminal isn’t your typical card machine. It looks sleek and a bit chunky, but sits perfectly and securely on a small counter. It also comes with extremely user-friendly software that I think is some of the best in the industry.
With fast payouts and no lock-in or complicated fees, Terminal is designed to please small businesses. Receipts are detailed, the battery lasts a whole day, and the offline mode helps make up for the lack of mobile connectivity (though we would like 4G).
There are also plenty of add-ons like an online store builder, invoicing, phone payments and other business tools on the Square platform. Some of these have paid plans, but using the Terminal just costs the transaction fee.
Square Terminal’s 24/7 support and 2-year warranty also ease concerns about durability when competing card machines by PayPal and SumUp only offer a 12-month warranty and limited support hours. With the monthly instalments, you don’t even need to pay for it in full upfront.
Summary of our Square Terminal ratings:
| Criteria | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Product Payments: Good / Excellent Hardware: Good / Excellent Software: Excellent |
Good / Excellent |
| Cost and fees | Good / Excellent |
| Value-added services | Good / Excellent |
| Contract | Excellent |
| Sign-up and transparency | Excellent |
| Customer service | Good |
| FINAL RATING | [4.5/5] |
Bottom line: Square Terminal is an affordable, high-performing all-in-one POS terminal that’s space-saving in a small shop.
Fees and payouts
A major upside to Square is its simple costs. You just pay for the terminal, then a fixed rate for any debit and credit cards processed.
There is no minimum sales volume or contract lock-in required. Unless you opt to pay for the terminal in instalments, there are no fixed monthly costs either.
Square Terminal costs £149 + VAT to buy. Alternatively, you can choose to pay in instalments of 3, 6 or 12 interest-free monthly payments (subject to credit check and approval). If you pay over 6 months, the monthly instalment is £25 – an attractive option for many startups. The repayments are handled internally by Square, not by a third-party provider, and the first payment is taken when you place the order.
If you just need the card machine and POS hardware for a short-term event, like a car boot sale, festival, pop-up shop or concert, you can rent it for a cheaper price than buying the kit. This requires a personalised quote.
Square Terminal pricing:
| Charges | |
|---|---|
| Square Terminal purchase price | Upfront: £149 + VAT Instalments: £25 x 6 months |
| Hub for Square Terminal (optional) | £39 + VAT |
| Shipping | Free |
| Chip, contactless card rate | 1.75% |
| Keyed card rate | 2.5% |
| Ecommerce transaction fees | UK cards: 1.4% + 25p Non-UK cards: 2.5% + 25p |
| Payouts | Next day in bank account: Free Instant in bank account: 1.5% extra fee Instant in Square Card: Free |
| Refunds | Original transaction fee is retained |
| Chargebacks | Free |
If you’re connecting the terminal to other hardware, you’ll need the Hub for Square Terminal costing £39 + VAT. Many other compatible accessories are available through Square’s website.
Transactions cost a fixed rate, 1.75%, for all chip card and contactless payments through the terminal regardless of card brand, country of issue or type of card.
All keyed transactions through the terminal, invoices or virtual terminal cost 2.5%. Ecommerce payments via the online store or links cost 1.4% + 25p for domestic cards and 2.5% + 25p for international cards.
If your customer wants a refund, the fee charged for the original transaction will be retained by Square while the customer gets the full refund. Chargebacks incur no admin fees and include free payment dispute support.
Transactions clear, free, in your bank account the next day, even on weekends and Bank Holidays. To receive funds within 20 minutes in your bank account, you can opt for Instant Transfers for 1.5% added to the transaction fee. Or to avoid the extra fee, you may receive funds instantly in the Square Card account.
Best Square Terminal offer
Buy Square Terminal for £149 + VAT or pay interest-free instalments for 3, 6 or 12 months. No ongoing fees or lock-in. Free delivery in 2-3 working days.
Mobile Transaction is an independent payment industry resource trusted by over a million small businesses per year.
We allow solution providers to offer product discounts for the benefit of our readers, which do not influence our reviews. Ratings are based on full retail price. (Policy)
Terminal features: intelligent, user-centric design
Looking at Square Terminal, you might wonder if the unique design comes at the expense of performance. In my experience, it really doesn’t, but there are certain caveats worth highlighting.
Hardware
Firstly, the battery can last all day without a charge – impressive given the large, energy-consuming touchscreen. But we found that leaving it on standby drains it completely by the next day. Our advice is to switch it off fully after closing, or you’ll be waiting for it to charge before your first customer the next day.
The other highlight is the built-in receipt printer. Changing the paper roll is intuitive enough that you won’t need to consult a manual, and tearing off receipts mid-transaction feels smooth and natural. It’s a small thing, but it matters in a busy shop.
However, Square Terminal does not connect with 4G or other mobile networks. It runs on WiFi only (or Ethernet via the optional Hub), which works for taking orders at tables or queue-busting around premises. But we’d love to see Square add a SIM card slot – it’s the most obvious gap in an otherwise capable device.
The Ethernet connection could be necessary if WiFi is unreliable, but there’s also an offline mode. You can in fact accept chip and PIN, Apple Pay and Google Pay offline, but not contactless cards, as long as you get back online within 24 hours to finish processing the payment.
Photo: ES, Mobile Transaction
Rubber strips prevent Terminal from sliding on a desk.
Physically, it’s a bit heavier than a traditional Ingenico card machine (417 g versus circa 300 g) due to the large screen, compared with the small screen of a mainstream terminal with push-buttons. Two rubber strips underneath keep it stable on a desk, and a hole allows you to screw the terminal to a surface.
Photo: ES, Mobile Transaction
The power cable socket and power/standby button are on the left side of the terminal.
Hardware details of Square Terminal:
| Tech specs | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 142.2 (L) x 86.4 (W) x 63.5 (H) mm |
| Screen size | 139.7 mm (5.5″) |
| Weight | 417 g |
| Data | WiFi (secured network only), Ethernet via Hub (extra cost) |
| Card technology | EMV (chip), NFC (contactless), swipe |
| Battery life | All day from full charge |
| Built-in receipt printer | Uses 57 mm (width) x 35 mm (diameter) thermal receipt paper |
| Accessories included | Square Terminal, power adaptor, receipt paper roll, ‘accepted cards’ decals |
Software
The default software is the Square Point of Sale app, which is downloadable on a mobile device as well.
It’s adaptable
The highly adaptable interface allows you to:
- Enter price amounts manually or tap to add products from the library or ‘favourites’ grid.
- Create open tickets straight from the checkout screen and save them for quick access.
- Customise the menu to include the functions you need most, e.g. reports.
- Edit the checkout flow and products – no need to log in on a computer to do it.
Enter an amount to add to the bill.
Product menu as the checkout screen.
You can add product variants like size and colour and label orders as Eat-in, Takeaway, Delivery or Pickup if you’re a café.
It offers many payment methods and links to online ordering
As for payment options, you can accept:
- Cash
- Debit and credit cards and mobile wallets
- Online payments via links or QR code
- Cards on file (saved in the customer library)
- Electronic gift cards (issued from the terminal too)
- Invoice payments
- Manually-entered card details
- Clearpay (Buy Now, Pay Later)
The fact you can split the tender and add custom or preset tips makes it even more flexible. Refunds are no problem either, whether it’s a custom amount or for specific items.
Payment methods.
Receipt options after a transaction.
You can create and send Square Invoices directly on the terminal, completed with the help of a customer library.
If you use the browser-based Virtual Terminal, transactions can be sent from your computer to Square Terminal for a chip or contactless payment. As long as the card payment was completed by contactless or chip and PIN, the fee is 1.75% (lower than the keyed fee).
The QR code and payment link options weren’t accessible on the terminal just a few years ago, so it’s good to see Square is actively developing the product.
Pickup and delivery orders placed online can also be managed and printed on the terminal, which we found very handy for order fulfilment.
Transactions overview.
Sales summary.
Once a transaction is complete, you get the choice between printing, emailing or texting the receipt, which you can customise in the account.
Photo: ES, Mobile Transaction
Square’s built-in receipt printer produces itemised and customised receipts, as opposed to traditional card machines that only display transaction totals.
Software, security and integrations
The terminal updates its software daily when connected to the internet. So prepare to wait for the update to process when you switch on the terminal every day (it took minutes on most days we tested it).
For increased security, we recommend setting the terminal to require a password (can be reset) every time someone wants to log in.
iPad, iPhone or Android devices can connect with Square Terminal via one of Square’s POS apps. There will always be more features in the apps, but at least the terminal works in sync with the booking, retail and hospitality systems for tableside payments, stock take, till transactions or other purposes.
Square Terminal vs Reader vs Handheld
How does the seemingly similar Square Handheld compare with Terminal? And why is Square Reader so cheap?
Handheld is Terminal’s closest alternative with its large touchscreen and direct connection with WiFi (sadly not 4G). It’s flatter for easier carrying and has a barcode scanner instead of a receipt printer. This makes it better for retailers, whereas restaurants might prefer Terminal for its table-side receipt printing.
Square Reader is cheap because it has no screen, no PIN pad, no receipt printer and no app on the card reader itself. It has to be paired with a smartphone, iPad or Android tablet to accept payments.
Differences between Square Reader, Terminal and Handheld:
| Square Reader |
Square Terminal |
Square Handheld |
|
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
|
| Price | £19 + VAT | £149 + VAT | £169 + VAT |
| Standalone? | |||
| Prints receipts? | |||
| Scans barcodes? | |||
| Connectivity | Bluetooth to mobile device with 4G or WiFi | WiFi; Ethernet with additional Hub | WiFi |
| Battery life | Over 24 hours’ active use | 8-10 hours’ active use | Full business day’s use |
| Dimensions | 66 x 66 x 10 mm | 142.2 x 86.4 x 63.5 mm | 179 x 79.3 x 21.9 mm |
| Weight | 56 g | 417 g | 315 g |
At a practical level, Square Reader is tiny compared to Terminal, so it’s very convenient on the go. Of course, this requires using both the card reader and a mobile device, and some customers may hesitate to enter their PIN on your mobile screen.
Photo: ES, Mobile Transaction
Square Terminal prints detailed receipts and sits very securely on a desk.
On a countertop, Terminal sits very well with its rubber strips and shorter length, whereas Handheld is literally for holding. Square Reader can be purchased with a charging dock for a counter, but also fits into any pocket due to its tiny footprint.
Hardware integration
If you wonder “how does this work with the rest of the POS system”, we should emphasise the terminal is the POS system.
Still, you can connect it to up to three hardware pieces through the optional Hub for Square Terminal (purchased separately for £39 + VAT). The Hub connects to the terminal via a cable and has three USB ports for POS hardware and one Ethernet socket for internet.
Photo: Square
Square Terminal Hub has three USB ports for optional POS accessories.
Compatible till equipment is plugged into the Hub’s USB ports (Bluetooth not accepted) and includes:
- Receipt printers
- Kitchen ticket printers
- Kitchen display
- Cash drawers
- Barcode scanners
You may just use Terminal for the card acceptance part, allowing distance between you and customers. This requires a tablet or smartphone with a Square POS app in the vicinity or a computer with Square Virtual Terminal open (can be placed remotely). A connected Terminal could then be fixed to your countertop.
It’s perfectly possible to run Square’s POS system separately on a tablet with Terminal taking payments independently elsewhere, as long as they’re connected to the same Square account.
Reporting
On the card machine, you can view sales history, generate custom reports, track cash drawer activity and sales by team member.
Square users have backend (browser) access to sales reports sorted by date, location, time period and more, and reports can be exported to Excel. There are lots of other free analytics on gift cards, popular sales categories, sales trends, transaction status, discounts, employee sales, etc. Custom reports can also be created.
If these are not enough, you can integrate your Square sales with more advanced accounting and reporting tools including QuickBooks, Enterpryze, KashFlow, Shogo, Xero and Zoho Books.
Who is Square best for?
If you’re a small shop, café, hairdresser or any type of merchant who doesn’t require massively complicated POS features, Square Terminal will save you counter space and money because you don’t need to buy a receipt printer, tablet or touchscreen monitor. And if you’re cashless, the terminal would be all you need.
If your sales are primarily online, but you also have a brick-and-mortar store, the simple Square Terminal checkout could be what you need to connect those sales without superfluous equipment to fill your face-to-face shop.
It works best in locations with a fixed WiFi connection or a till point with an Ethernet cable. We would not recommend it for use on the go where WiFi networks can’t be depended on (since it lacks a 4G connection), but you can always accept chip and PIN and mobile wallets offline.
Of course, if you’re already using Square Reader, there’s no faff changing over to Square Terminal. It is only if you require more custom features that we recommend looking for a card machine that connects with advanced POS software.
Customer service and user reviews
Square provides 24/7 support over the phone exclusively for Square Terminal users. This is more than with Square Reader that only entitles you to weekday support during office hours. There’s a very helpful Support Centre on the website which answers most questions.
Furthermore, you get a two years’ warranty on the terminal and 30-day cooling-off period during which you can get a full refund if you don’t like the product.
Customer reviews in the UK are generally very good, implying the service works smoothly. Occasionally, users complain about sudden account closures and funds being held by Square, which is a security mechanism designed to weed out high-risk transactions or business sectors Square considers high-risk.
The pricing is the same for everyone, unlike many payment companies that like to get on a call to get business information before giving you a quote.
Emily Sorensen, Senior Editor at Mobile Transaction
How to get started
Getting started with Square could hardly be any easier. The pricing is already set and the same for everyone, in contrast to many payment companies that require a call to get your business details for a quote.
Square just requires you to complete a short sign-up form with basic business and personal information. They will assess the information and check the validity of your bank account, but you are able to start selling straight after sign-up through the complimentary online invoicing tool, payment links and virtual terminal.
Photo: ES, Mobile Transaction
Square Terminal comes in a sturdy, white box (looks like an Apple product) containing the terminal, power cable, decals and ‘get started’ booklet.
It takes 2-3 days for your terminal to arrive after placing the order. The card machine is so intuitive that you don’t need a manual to set it up – just make sure your WiFi is working.
Your bank account can take around 4 days before it receives the first payouts. Any transactions accepted by then will instantly settle in the Square balance, which you can choose to spend if you get the Square Card.
