ProviderUnited StatesSince 2009Listed Oct 2026squareup.comWebsite
S

Square

Card acceptance, point of sale and online payments for small and mid-sized sellers, in eight countries.

Square is the seller side of Block. It began as a card reader on a phone and is now a full acceptance stack: terminals and point of sale in the shop, a hosted checkout and APIs online, and the same account behind both.

Its footprint is deliberately narrow and deep. Square processes card payments in eight countries — the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Spain — and in each one it sells the whole thing rather than a gateway alone. Outside those eight, a Square account can still record cash and external payments, but it cannot process cards.

What it accepts varies by country rather than being one global list. Discover runs in the United States, Canada and Japan and not in Europe; Interac is Canadian; EFTPOS is Australian; Japan adds the transport IC cards, QUICPay and iD in person. Apple Pay and Google Pay are everywhere it operates. Afterpay, which Block owns, is offered in the United States, Canada, Australia and — as Clearpay — the United Kingdom.

Note that Square does not offer card processing in the US territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

16

payment methods

ACHAfterpayAmerican ExpressApple PayCash App PayClearpayDinersDiscoverEFTPOSGoogle PayInteracJCBMastercardPayPayUnionPayVisa
8

markets

AustraliaAUCanadaCAFranceFRIrelandIEJapanJPSpainESUnited KingdomGBUnited StatesUS
6

currencies

AUDCADEURGBPJPYUSD

What Square costs

Square quotes per merchant. What you are offered depends on your volume, your industry, the countries you sell in, your card mix and your risk profile — so a published headline rate would not be your rate. Ask them for a quote against your own numbers.

Licences and regulation

Authorisations Square holds, as published by the provider or regulator. Check the register entry before relying on it.

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Authorised Electronic Money Institution under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (Squareup Europe Ltd., Companies House no. 08957689, trading as Square) — provides Square's UK payment services · United Kingdom · GB · 900846
Register
Central Bank of Ireland (CBI)
Electronic Money Institution, authorised under Regulation 9 of the European Communities (Electronic Money) Regulations 2011; listed on the CBI "E-Money Institutions PSD2" register (Squareup International Limited, Irish company no. 583287, trading as Square) — the EEA licence, passported into France, Spain and the rest of the EEA · Ireland · IE · C184117
Register

What the last check found

Square is a brand, not a licence-holder: the licensee is Block, Inc. (NASDAQ: XYZ), renamed from Square, Inc. on 8 December 2021, Delaware-incorporated, head office 1955 Broadway, Suite 600, Oakland, California. The 10-K states "We started Block with the Square ecosystem in February 2009."

Who holds a merchant's money depends entirely on region.

  • UK: Squareup Europe Ltd. (Companies House 08957689, One London Wall) is an FCA-authorised EMI, FRN 900846, confirmed on the FCA's firm checker as Squareup Europe Ltd, squareup.com/gb/en, W1W 6XH, currently holding permission. Safeguarded e-money, not deposits.
  • EEA: Squareup International Limited (Irish company 583287) is a Central Bank of Ireland e-money institution, C184117, confirmed on the CBI's firm data page with the trading name Square, on the E-Money Institutions PSD2 register, and passported into France, Spain and the rest of the EEA. Note the split: the Irish entity also supplies the SaaS layer to UK sellers while the UK entity does the payments.
  • US: acquiring is by Block, Inc. itself under about 50 state money transmitter licences (NMLS 942933) plus a NYDFS BitLicense (122486). Block is also a FinCEN-registered MSB, confirmed in the 10-K, though its MSB number could not be retrieved. Separately, Square Financial Services, Inc. is a Utah-chartered industrial bank (FDIC certificate 59177) — a banking licence, so Square Checking and Savings balances are FDIC-insured deposits, a materially different legal position from e-money.
  • Australia: Square AU Pty Limited, ASIC AFSL 513929.
  • Canada and Japan contract via Square Canada, Inc. and Square株式会社 (Square K.K.); neither names a reference in its terms, and FINTRAC's MSB registry and Japan's FSA register were unreachable, so no number is recorded rather than guessed.

Verification differs by claim, and only the UK and EEA references are recorded as authorisations. FRN 900846 is register-read on the FCA firm checker and C184117 on the Central Bank of Ireland's firm data page. The NMLS company number, the ASIC licence and the NYDFS virtual currency licence come from Square's own regulator-mandated disclosures and from Block's 10-K, which corroborates all three licence types, but NMLS Consumer Access is JavaScript-only or bot-blocked, so a reader following a link to them would have nothing to read.

Checked against Square’s own documentation on 21 October 2026. Coverage changes; confirm anything you are about to build on.

Is Square regulated?

Square holds authorisations from Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). Always check the regulator’s public register before relying on it.

People at Square

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Similar to Square

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Sources · 18

  1. Square developer docs — payment card support by country · developer.squareup.comcountriesmethodsUsed for countries, card brands and wallets per countryChecked 19 October 2026
  2. Square developer docs — international development · developer.squareup.comcountriesUsed for the eight processing countries; external and cash payments elsewhereChecked 19 October 2026
  3. Square help centre — international availability · squareup.comUsed for international availability; US territories excluded from card processingChecked 19 October 2026
  4. Central Bank of Ireland register — firm page for C184117 · registers.centralbank.ielicensingUsed for Primary verification: Squareup International Limited, reference C184117, trading as Square, on the "E-Money Institutions PSD2" register
  5. FDIC BankFind API — institution search · api.fdic.govlicensingUsed for Primary verification: Square Financial Services, Inc., FDIC cert 59177, Salt Lake City UT, established 03/01/2021, regulator FDIC
  6. Square Payment Terms (Ireland) · squareup.comlicensingUsed for Source of the CBI reference "firm reference no. C184117" and the statement that Square is an Electronic Money Institution
  7. Square General Terms of Service (UK) · squareup.comcountrieslicensingthe companyUsed for Squareup Europe Limited as UK payment services provider, company no. 08957689, FCA "registered reference no. 900846" under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011
  8. Square — Licenses (US) · squareup.comcurrencieslicensingUsed for Block, Inc. as the US licensee, NMLS No. 942933, the full state money transmitter licence list, NY money transmitter 104921 and NY virtual currency 122486
  9. Square Financial Services Guide (Australia) · squareup.comlicensingUsed for "Square AU Pty Limited ABN 38 167 106 176 which holds Australian Financial Services Licence number 513929 (AFSL)"
  10. Australian Business Register — ABN Lookup · abr.business.gov.auUsed for Confirming SQUARE AU PTY LTD, ACN 167 106 176, active from 16 Dec 2013
  11. Block, Inc. Form 10-K for FY2025 (filed 2026-02-26) · sec.govlicensingthe companyUsed for Founding ("February 2009"); independent corroboration of the FCA EMI, Central Bank of Ireland EMI and ASIC AFSL/credit licences; Square Financial Services as a Utah-chartered industrial loan company supervised by UDFI and FDIC; FinCEN MSB registration
  12. Block, Inc. Exhibit 21.1 — List of Subsidiaries · sec.govthe companyUsed for Confirming Square Financial Services, Inc. (Utah), Square Capital, LLC (Delaware), Square Technologies, Inc. (Canada) as Block subsidiaries
  13. SEC EDGAR submissions data — CIK 0001512673 · data.sec.govthe companyUsed for Registrant Block, Inc.; former name Square, Inc. (2011-03-02 to 2021-12-08); state of incorporation DE; business address Oakland, CA
  14. Companies House — SQUAREUP EUROPE LTD. · find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.ukthe companyUsed for Registered UK entity name and number, incorporated 25 March 2014, status Active, One London Wall
  15. Square General Terms of Service (Canada) · squareup.comUsed for Square Canada, Inc. provides Canadian payment services; Square Technologies, Inc. provides subscriptions/hardware; no FINTRAC number disclosed
  16. Square 利用規約 (Japan) · squareup.comthe companyUsed for Square株式会社 (Square K.K., c/o Block, Inc.) as the Japanese contracting entity; no registration number disclosed
  17. Square Conditions générales (France) · squareup.comlicensingUsed for Confirming Squareup International Limited (no. 583287), supervised by the Banque Centrale d'Irlande, serves French sellers — i.e. the Irish EMI passport
  18. FCA Firm Checker — search for "Squareup" · fca.org.ukcountrieslicensingUsed for Register read confirming FRN 900846 belongs to Squareup Europe Ltd, squareup.com/gb/en, W1W 6XH, and that it currently holds FCA permission.Checked 21 October 2026

18 sources · last checked 21 October 2026 — each one says which claim it supports.

Compiled from public sources — verify with Square before you sign anything. How we compile this · Suggest a correction ·