Square A-SKU-0033 Square EMV Reader

This chip reader won't do ApplePay like their Bluetooth version, but in over 500 transactions at a major event, we had just one person ask to use ApplePay. This reader is $20 less, works with more phones, and you can get it faster via Amazon than you can get either version direct from Square. Yes, you still have to keep the internal battery charged - and if you are going to be using it all day, it might run its battery down. Keep your mag-stripe reader around and plug it into the phone when the battery gets low, and then swap the partly-recharged chip reader back in when somebody hands you that kind of card, and you don't have to worry. (At least, not until all of the cards are chipped, anyway.)Some background: I had been a dyed-in-the-wool PayPal merchant for years on eBay, and I'd swapped to the PayPal phone app to run cards at conventions and festivals a couple of years ago when I figured out that the fake "1.7%" rate from my conventional merchant account was actually more like 5.96% when I figured in all of the various fees and rewards charges. And it was great, by comparison. Going back to cash-only would have probably been great by comparison, for that matter.Then I tried Square.OH WHAT A DIFFERENCE! PayPal's app has handed me misleading error messages that said transactions had failed when they didn't (and there's nothing worse for a merchant than charging a customer twice in error), but Square's app has never hiccupped once. I've had PayPal's system fail mysteriously for hours at a time, and although their debit card lets me spend the charges right away, I have to manually ask for the money to be transferred to my bank, and their deposits are not always "next business day" - which they warn you about up front, but still, it's annoying; Square has *always worked* as long as I could get any kind of data connection, and their deposits are *automatic*; I do not have to stop and think about whether I've set up the transfer. I'll keep my PayPal account as a backup, but the Square account is my main corridor for charges now, and this chip reader is a pretty important part of why; many conventional merchant account providers still don't support chip readers, and that's a disaster waiting to happen for the merchant.

Did not receive this on on the day it was supposed to be delivered, ran a day late...the unit itself is touchy, doesn't always want to hold a signal, nor does it take swiping well at all. Works best with chip reader. Put my state tax in per instructions & that is now wonky. For what Square charges per transaction, they need to get this thing working correctly out of the box.

Works with both the mag stripe and chip. I learned after it not working for two sales that the cover on my phone would not allow the Square to go all the way into the jack, rendering it nonworking. When I removed the protective cover from my phone, it worked just fine. The company should note that in its literature. If it already says so, it needs to be in bigger print.

I first ordered the Square Contactless and EMV Reader with the Dock. But, I didn't realize I had to have the Square stand to make that work with my iPad 2. So I returned those and got this. My first one only worked for about a day and a half, and even then, the battery wouldn't stay full. Then halfway through the second day we plugged it in to find a warning on the screen saying "Reader Damaged". So I contacted Square and they said to return it. So I did. And ordered my third attempt to be EMV compliant. This one has been working for about a week and it does stay charged (as long as you unplug it from your tablet between transactions) to last an 8 hour work day. Overall though my experience with these has just been annoying. I know from cashiering at big box stores that chip cards and the readers are a pain. So I'm not surprised. I was just hoping my experience with Square's reader would be a little less so.It's annoying to have to remove the reader between transactions. Because after you plug it in again it takes a few long seconds for the Register to be connected and ready to go. Usually we're still ringing up their items, but sometimes we just have to sit and wait for the reader to connect. Plus I'm afraid that the Reader is more likely to get lost when it's sitting behind the counter, unplugged from the iPad. It's also not a plus that my staff has one more thing to remember to plug in to charge at night. It would be great if there was a way for the Reader to charge through the iPad.One positive, is if an employee forgets to dip a chip card the Register will pop up a little warning telling them to dip it instead of swipe. I was a little worried about staff just running all cards as swipes to make it easier on themselves. But Square thankfully won't allow that.My business is probably small enough that I don't have to worry about the liability issues of not being EMV complaint. But I'm not that kind of person. I would much rather be safe than sorry. So we're going to stick with this, even though it's kind of a pain. I hope that as chip cards become the norm that some of these annoyances will get worked out. I'm hoping the issues associated with chips are growing pains, and not just something we'll all have to learn to put up with.

This thing never worked properly. Stick with the simple version...it works great.

This works great! I love the added security of having a chip reader! You do have to charge it, but when it's plugged in, it lets you know how much charge you have left, so that you know when you'll need to charge it. Though, I've never even gotten close to half a charge, and that was even after vending at a convention for three days. This lasts quite a while.With the added liability protection that is covered with having a chip reader, vs not having one, this is the absolute cheapest portable chip reader on the market, and I've yet to have any issues accepting payments with it.