Software solution
Tap to Pay on Android
Tap to Pay on Android gives a mobile seller a practical second checkout lane: use the Square Point of Sale app on an eligible NFC-enabled Android phone, enter the sale, and let a customer tap a contactless card or wallet to the back of the device. It fits a bakery pop-up, boutique appointment, salon service, or contractor visit where carrying a reader is inconvenient.
Built for your day-to-day
No payment reader is required, and the same Square account can continue to work with Square hardware when a more permanent station makes sense. The tradeoff is important: the phone needs Android 9 or later, NFC, a network connection, and a model Square supports in the U.S.; Tap to Pay also cannot process offline payments.
Key capabilities
Use the latest free Square Point of Sale app on an eligible Android phone. Enter an item or amount, select Tap to Pay, and have the customer tap a contactless card or wallet on the phone’s back.
The U.S. product and support pages identify contactless cards plus Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. This is useful when customers arrive with a phone or watch instead of a physical card.
Square’s U.S. support article lists Square Point of Sale, Square Restaurants POS, Square Appointments, and Square Invoices. The exact workflow varies by app, but the seller can charge a sale or add payment to an invoice from the phone.
Square describes Tap to Pay as another way to take payments alongside Square hardware. A business can use the phone for a mobile queue or field visit, then use its existing Square station for a fixed checkout.
Square says card numbers are not stored on the phone and describes account monitoring, dispute support, and PCI-compliance support. The support guide also recommends device passcodes and having the customer tap without handing over the phone.
Explore the details
Use an Android 9 or later device with NFC, an internet or cellular connection, and a model that Square marks compatible for the U.S. Turn on NFC, keep Developer options off, install or update the Square app, and have the account owner enable Tap to Pay. Team members need the take-payments permission; once enabled, eligible devices under the account can use the feature.
For a boutique or clothing seller, the phone can close a sale away from the counter. A beauty salon can use it at a service station or for a product add-on. A contractor or specialist can collect a contactless payment at a client site. A farm-stand or other market seller can avoid carrying a separate reader when the phone and network are available. These are practical fits for the portable workflow, not a promise that every device or Square app has identical features.
Square documents a $50,000 per-transaction limit for contactless payments and a $10,000 per-transaction limit for physical contactless cards; amounts over the physical-card limit may require PIN or signature verification, decline, or another payment method. Tap to Pay on Android does not support offline payments. Square also identifies Samsung Galaxy S8, S9, and Note 9 as incompatible, and says Restaurants use is limited to Samsung A32 5G and Samsung A13 in the cited U.S. support guidance. A phone case holding cards can create accidental-tap risk.
Plan details
No hardware purchase or paid monthly subscription is required specifically for Tap to Pay on Android. Square Free is $0 per location per month and lists Tap, dip, or swipe at 2.6% + 15¢. Square’s U.S. fee help page separately lists Tap to Pay on Android at 2.6% + 15¢ for legacy plans. Square Plus is $49 per location per month with 2.5% + 15¢ for tap, dip, or swipe; Square Premium is $149 per location per month with 2.4% + 15¢. Plan availability, rates, and account-specific custom pricing should be confirmed in Square Dashboard; Square says sellers processing over $250,000 annually can discuss custom pricing.
Square’s U.S. fee article lists this for legacy-plan subscribers; processing rates may vary by plan and account.
Square Free; $0 per location per month.
Square Plus; $49 per location per month.
Square Premium; $149 per location per month.
Additional fee for credit or debit cards issued outside the U.S.; applies in addition to the base processing fee.
Compatibility is model- and country-dependent. Square’s U.S. compatibility tool should be checked for the exact Android phone before publication or deployment.
Square’s support guidance excludes Samsung Galaxy S8, S9, and Note 9; for Square Restaurants it identifies Samsung A32 5G and Samsung A13 as the compatible models in that guidance.
Tap to Pay on Android is not an offline-payment solution. A live internet or cellular connection is required.
Square documents separate limits: up to $50,000 per contactless transaction and up to $10,000 for a physical contactless card; a physical-card payment above that threshold may require PIN or signature verification, decline, or another tender.
Published rates can vary by plan, legacy status, custom pricing, and card origin. The seller should verify the applicable rate in Square Dashboard before relying on a comparison.
A case holding payment cards can cause an unintended tap; Square recommends removing those cards while processing or disabling NFC when not taking payments.
This record does not claim that every Square feature, tender type, receipt flow, or industry mode behaves identically across the supported apps.
Questions
Yes. Square says no card reader is needed. Use an eligible NFC-enabled Android 9+ phone with the supported Square app and a network connection. A separate reader can still be useful when you need swipe or a dedicated checkout device.
On Square Free, Square lists tap, dip, or swipe at 2.6% + 15¢ per transaction with $0 per location per month. The U.S. fee page lists the same 2.6% + 15¢ for Tap to Pay on Android on legacy plans; Plus lists $49 per location per month and 2.5% + 15¢, while Premium lists $149 per location per month and 2.4% + 15¢. Your account’s plan and rate control.
No. Square says offline payments are not supported for Tap to Pay on Android, and the phone must be an eligible NFC model running Android 9 or later. Compatibility can vary by model and country, so check Square’s U.S. compatibility tool; Developer options must also be off.
Keep exploring
Hardware
Square Reader for magstripe gives a mobile seller a simple way to take swipe payments through a compatible phone, tablet, MacBook, or Chromebook setup.
Explore Square Reader for magstripeInformation as of 2026-10-27. Product details date: 2026-10-27.
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