Is Square Safe? Security Review
4/5
Overall Safety Score
★
★
★
★
★
Verdict: Square provides strong payment security with end-to-end encryption and PCI compliance. Consumers can trust Square-powered transactions, though merchants share data within the Block ecosystem.
Square is a point-of-sale and payment processing platform owned by Block, Inc. Used by millions of small businesses, it handles card payments through hardware readers and online checkout.
Security Ratings Breakdown
| Category | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption | 4/5 | |
| Privacy | 3/5 | |
| Track Record | 4/5 |
Security Features
- End-to-end encryption from card reader to server
- PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance
- Point-to-point encryption (P2PE) hardware
- Tokenization of card data
- Account takeover protection
- Chargeback protection for merchants
Privacy Concerns
- Transaction data shared within the Block ecosystem (Cash App, Afterpay)
- Digital receipt emails can be used for marketing
- Merchant data used for lending and business insights
Past Security Incidents
- No major breaches of Square's payment processing infrastructure as of 2025
- Parent company Block's Cash App breach in 2022 did not affect Square POS systems
How to Stay Safe Using Square
- Decline digital receipt emails if you don't want marketing contact
- Use contactless payment (Apple Pay/Google Pay) at Square terminals for extra security
- Review charges from Square merchants promptly
Safer Alternatives
- Stripe (online payments)
- PayPal Zettle (alternative POS)
- Clover (alternative POS hardware)
Last updated: February 10, 2026