On September 24th, 2019 Square Up (also known simply as Square) sent out emails to small business owners informing them that their payment processing costs were going from 2.75% flat fee to a rate of 2.6% + $.10 per transaction. This increase may not seem like much but to small businesses all over the country, this will be devastating costing close to 50% more for credit card processing than has been the case.



If you didn't receive the email yet, you may still end up being effected. You can see here that they are starting out all new accounts on this pricing and they have reached out to numerous businesses about this as well.



https://squareup.com/us/en/pricing?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI49SN_Znt5AIVrSCtBh0qFQErEAAYASABEgKNvfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&pcrid=251532411012&pdv=c&pkw=square+pricing&pmt=e&solution=pricing-in-person-payments



This impacts small business owners disproportionately as we are seen as having less bargaining capacity than larger companies. This eats into our already small margins and takes advantage of small, community minded business owners all over the country. Together, we can make a difference and keep these small businesses in a healthier place.



Square has done some great things for our businesses and we recognize what it takes to run a business. They may even need to raise their rates. We understand these things. What isn't fair is how much they've raised their prices while building their systems to increase our reliance on them.



Our credit card sales have increased to around 80% of our transactions. This is exacerbated by their loyalty program pushing customers to use cards for convenience and tracking. Each time, they sip a little off the top of our already tight margins.



Here, we are asking for them to either stay their pricing or at the very least, meet us in the middle with some more reasonable rates. Perhaps raising the cost to 3% flat fee.



Now, this petition is not intended to simply be a complaint forum. We plan to work together with other organizations to create a solution that will give small businesses a fighting chance at competing with larger businesses by collectively working together to negotiate a deal that represents all of us together.



By signing this petition, you are throwing weight behind our bargaining power. You're throwing weight behind our call to Square - that if there isn't something meaningful achieved, they'll be losing the backbone of what made their business successful in the first place: independent coffee shops, bakeries, restaurants, boutiques, and retailers all over the country.



Please share this with your friends. Sign the petition. Make sure that Square knows that while we may be small individually, collectively we are the bulk of their business.