What is Square Cash and Why Should You Use It?

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Getting paid can sometimes mean the difference between life and death to a small business.

Sure, cash flow is important for all businesses, however, bigger businesses can spread their risk over more customers and often have cash held in reserve to cover delinquent payments.

The bottom line? Knowing how to invoice and get paid is a key ingredient of small business success.

This isn’t an article about collections, however. You see, two ways to increase the odds of getting paid is to:

1. Offer more than one way to pay; and
2. Make paying you as frictionless (i.e. easy) as possible.

And that brings us to Square Cash.

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What is Square Cash?

Introduced by Square, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) back in 2013, Square Cash was originally designed, “as the fastest, easiest way to pay anyone.”

The service was focused on individuals and streamlined payments for everyday transactions such as splitting the dinner bill.

Then, in March 2015, Square introduced $Cashtags, an easy way for individuals and businesses to ask for payments for products and services rendered and for non-profits to solicit money.

$Cashtags

Here’s how $Cashtags work:

1. You let folks know what your $cashtag is by listing it:

Online:

Or offline:

2. Customers can pay you in one of two ways:

Online at cash.me:

Or, via Square Cash’s iOS or Android apps:

Paying a bill or donating money doesn’t get any easier than this and that means you’re more likely to get paid and receive donations.

Square Cash Details

• Square Cash supports standard, U.S.-issued AMEX, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover credit and debit cards.
• A fee of 2.75 percent is automatically deducted from any payment accepted with Cash for Business.
• A business needs to link a debit card or a bank account to accept payments via Cash for Business (click here to learn how).
• Business accounts can issue refunds from within the Square Cash app.

Which Small Businesses Should Use Square Cash?

Square provides the following list of recommended business types as a guideline:

As you can see, most of these businesses are not brick and mortar. Sure a business with a physical presence can use Cash for Business however, there are no inventory features or functionality and that limits the solution’s use for those types of businesses.

Small Business Benefits

The biggest benefit of Square Cash is how it eliminates the “swipe”.

No longer does your customer have to take out a credit card so you can swipe it through your Square reader or any other credit card machine.

One advantage here is that your customer doesn’t need to be physically present in order to pay you. This facilitates online and long-distance payments greatly.

Another advantage gained by eliminating the swipe is the fact that your customer’s payment information is kept very secure. You never see their debit or credit card, a factor that can increase trust and encourage a sale.

In additions to eliminating the swipe, most Square Cash for Business payments arrive in seconds. That beats waiting for a check to clear any day.

How Can Your Small Business Use Square Cash?

As mentioned earlier, two ways to increase the odds of getting paid is to:

1. Offer more than one way to pay; and
2. Make paying you as frictionless (i.e. easy) as possible.

Square Cash in on the job.

Offering Multiple Ways to Pay You

As you saw above, customers can pay you both online or via a mobile app.

If that were not handy enough, Square Cash is also available on the Apple Watch, enabling folks to “pay from the wrist“.

Promoting How Easy it is to Pay You

Once people realize how easy it is to pay your business, they’re much more likely to do so. You can promote your $Cashtag in many places, each of which can lead to an upfront conversation about how easy it is to pay you using Square Cash:

1. In a video, image or blog post as shown above;
2. On a sign or placard as shown above;
3. On your business card; or

4. Even as part of a classified ad:

Supporting Regular Payments

Square Cash also promotes the solution as a way to manage regular payments such as rents, services with retainers and more. Forget writing a check – now your customers can see your bill and pay it from your couch. Talk about frictionless!

Conclusion

Square Cash for Business tackles the thorny challenge of getting paid, a critical issue for many small businesses.

By offering multiple ways, and making it super easy, to pay your business, Square Cash will increase the odds that you’ll get paid while making your customers happier when doing so.

Image: Cash.me

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