Review loan eligibility requirements
About loan eligibility
Square loans are an invitation-only programme for eligible Square sellers. If you received a loan offer in your Square Dashboard, you are eligible to apply for a loan. After you apply for a Square loan, your application goes through underwriting processes to determine whether your business qualifies for the loan.
If your application is denied, the reasoning can be found in the email notice you received about your loan request.
Numbers are for illustrative purposes only.
You can check your business’s eligibility for a Square loan by going to Money > Loans in your Square Dashboard. This page helps sellers gain insight into the status of their loan eligibility by taking your business’s real time data and comparing it to key factors that determine eligibility. Offer eligibility is based on a variety of factors related to your Square account, including payment processing volume, account history, and payment frequency. Each business is different and all accounts and locations are reviewed independently. Each loan offer is specific to your business and accounts are evaluated for each offer.
If you don’t see a loan offer available, take a look at the key factors that may be affecting your eligibility below. If any of your eligibility factors need attention, take a look at the tips below to increase your chances of eligibility. Square can’t promise a loan offer, even where all of the factors on the eligibility page are good.
Before you begin
Loan eligibility review happens regularly and is automatic and we can’t predict when your business will become eligible, so there’s no need to contact us to request an eligibility review. You’ll be notified in Square Dashboard and by email if you’re eligible for a loan.
Loan offers aren’t guaranteed and we can’t manually generate or predict offers even where all eligibility factors are met. All sellers must qualify based on eligibility criteria.
If you’re currently repaying a Square loan, new offers aren’t automatically extended when a certain percentage of an existing loan is repaid, but your business may become eligible for a new offer when your existing plan is closer to being repaid.
In general, sellers must repay at least three quarters of their loan before receiving another offer. Making an extra payment or paying off your loan early does not guarantee another loan will be offered.
After you apply for a loan through Square, your application goes through underwriting and verification processes to determine whether your business qualifies for the loan you requested. The specific reasons your application was declined can be found in the email notice you received from Square loans.
If you had an existing loan offer, making a full loan prepayment will expire that offer. Once the payment is processed, it can take up to 10 working days from payment submission for your business to be re-evaluated for a loan.
Review loan eligibility requirements
There are many factors that may affect your eligibility, and accounts are evaluated as a whole. Check Square Dashboard for more information about your current eligibility status. Below are some of the key factors we consider when evaluating your business for a loan offer.
The size of your loan offer is generally shaped by how much you process through Square. In general, companies that have processed at least £10,000 or more in a year are more likely to be eligible for an offer.
If you have multiple Square accounts or locations with outstanding Square Loans, make sure that they are processing payments consistently and are on track with repayment of any existing loans.
If you’ve been declined for a loan due to processing volume, your Square account payment history may seem unusual.
A steady pattern of taking payments shows that you have a healthy business. If you consistently take payments, you’re more likely to become eligible.
If you were declined due to payment history, we have reviewed your account and determined that your sales through Square have decreased relative to your prior payment history.
A good mix of new and returning customers reflects that your business is growing in different ways. You can use Square’s analytics tools to understand your customer base better.
A payment dispute happens when a customer disputes a charge from your business and contacts the card issuer to reverse it. Having disputes on your account can affect your loan eligibility.
To protect your business from chargebacks, make sure you have receipts or invoices to prove you provided your goods or services. Square may decline your loan application if your business has received too many chargeback claims.
Swiping chip and PIN cards is one way to increase your chargeback risk. Switch to a Square Reader or learn to manage payment disputes.
Cash advancing include swiping your own credit or debit card or those of family members, friends or associates. This conduct is prohibited by Square’s Terms of Service.
Square’s Point of Sale service is designed to process payments for the sale of goods or services. It is not designed to process person-to-person transfers or to facilitate payments between companies owned by the same individuals, groups of individuals, or within companies.
To protect your account, Square may place a payment limit on your account. Payment limits are restrictions that put a temporary cap on your ability to process transactions. Having a payment limit on your account affects your loan eligibility.
To assist with payment disputes, Square may place a reserve on your account. Having a reserve on your Square account affects your loan eligibility.
Learn how to manage payment reserves with Square.
Your Square account is reviewed for failed debits due to insufficient funds. Make sure that you have available funds in your linked bank account to avoid failed debits.
We want to make sure that your business can support the minimum payment requirement for your requested loan. Please be mindful of the amount of funds available in your linked bank account to avoid failed debits.
Square Loans are subject to credit approval. Being declined recently for a loan may impact your eligibility.
To ensure the security of your account, Square periodically reviews accounts. If your account has been under review recently, it may affect your eligibility.
When your business is connected to another loan through Square, it is important to keep the connected account current and processing consistently. If you have one or more accounts that don’t meet this criteria, your new loan application may not be approved.