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Dev Essentials
PaymentsCommerceCustomersStaffMerchants
Publish
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Docs Home
Dev Essentials
Payments
Commerce
Customers
Staff
Merchants
Publish
Release notes
Overview
Build a Tip Report
Split an Online Payment
Build a Sales Report
Delayed Capture
Partial Payments
Statement Descriptions
ACH Bank Transfer Payment
Afterpay and Clearpay Payments
Cash App Payments
Cash Payments
External Payments
House Accounts
Collect Application Fees
Update Payment and Tip Amounts
Retrieve Payments
Troubleshoot
Webhooks
Refund Payments
Refund a Payment with an App Fee
Retrieve Refunds
Process an Unlinked Refund
Webhooks
Process Disputes
Test in the Sandbox
Take Payments on Hardware
Quickstart
Take Payments for Orders
Take One-Off Payments
POS App Pairing
Monitor Square Terminals
Check Device Information
Add Payment and Checkout Features
Save Card on File
Print or Issue Receipts
Customize the Idle Screen
Confirmation Screen
Signature Capture Screen
Data Collection Screen
Menu Selection List Screen
QR Code Screen
Link and Dismiss Actions
Manage Terminal Actions
Authorize the Mobile Payments SDK
Pair and Manage Card Readers
Take a Payment
Tap to Pay on Android
Offline Payments
Handling Errors
Authorize the Mobile Payments SDK
Pair and Manage Card Readers
Take a Payment
Tap to Pay on iPhone
Offline Payments
Configure for Square Stand or Square Kiosk
Handling Errors
Migrate from Reader SDK
React Native Plugin
Flutter Plugin
Reader SDK
Migrate to Mobile Payments SDK
Quickstart
Get Credentials
Configure the Sample Application
Take a Cash Payment
Customize the Checkout Amount
Take a Credit Card Payment
How It Works
Build on Android
Build on iOS
Connect a Contactless Reader
Charge a Card on File
Save a Card on File
Configure on iOS for Square Stand
Deauthorize Reader SDK
Capture a Transaction
Delay the Capture of Payments
Configure APK Splits
Update to New Reader SDK Version
Flutter Plugin
React Native Plugin
How It Works
Build on Android
Build on iOS
Build on Mobile Web
Find Your Android Fingerprint
Use the API in Offline Mode
Add an Alert Dialog Helper Class
Accept E-Money Payments
Accept PayPay Payments
Mobile Web Technical Reference
Payments API Integration
Set Up the Web Client App
Add the SDK to the Web Client
Deploy the Application
Take a Card Payment
Apple Pay
Google Pay
Digital Wallet Payment Requests
ACH Bank Transfer
Afterpay
Cash App Pay
Take a Gift Card Payment
Take Partial Payments
Customize the Card Entry Form
Charge and Store Cards
Add a Content Security Policy
Set up the Client
Deploy the Server
Install the SDK
Build on Android
Build on iOS
Google Pay
Apple Pay
Localize an Application
Gift Card Payments
Flutter Plugin
React Native Plugin
Customize the Payment Entry Form
Connect to a Backend Service
Remove the Postal Code Requirement
Troubleshoot
How It Works
Verify a Buyer
Quick Pay Checkout
Square Order Checkout
Subscription Plan Checkout
Checkout Settings
Checkout Configurations
Manage Checkout
Guidelines and Limitations
Subscription Plans and Variations
Manage Subscriptions
Subscription Actions and Events
Pause, Resume, or Cancel Subscriptions
Subscription Billing and Invoices
Swap Subscription Plan Variations
Create and Publish Invoices
Retrieve, List, or Search Invoices
Create or Delete Invoice Attachments
Update Invoices
Cancel or Delete Invoices
Pay or Refund Invoices
Walkthrough: Create and Publish Invoices
Manage Cards
Create a Card on File from Payment ID
Create a Card on File and Make a Payment
Create a Shared Card on File and Make a Payment
Manage Card Declines
List Payouts
Get Payout
List Payout Entries
Bank Accounts
How It Works
Build with Mobile Authorization
Get Authorization Code on Command Line
Payment Methods by Country
Payments Pricing
Strong Customer Authentication
Payment Minimums

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Payments

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Take Payments on Hardware

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Reader SDK

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Quickstart

Take a Cash Payment

Applies to: Reader SDK - Android | Reader SDK - iOS

Learn how to take a cash payment on a virtual device or physical device.

Warning

The Square Reader SDK is deprecated and will be retired on December 31, 2025. The SDK is no longer receiving new releases and support for new operating systems isn't guaranteed.

The Mobile Payments SDK launched as the successor of the Reader SDK and is now in General Availability (GA). To ensure continued support and functionality, you should migrate your application from the Reader SDK to the Mobile Payments SDK before the retirement date.

Authorize your mobile application
Option 1: Take payment on a virtual device
Option 2: Take payment on a physical device
Link to section

Authorize your mobile application

The Reader SDK must be authorized to collect payments. To get started quickly, get a mobile authorization code for your Reader SDK sample application.

  1. Open the Developer Console and choose the Reader SDK sample application.

  2. In the left pane, choose Reader SDK, and then choose the Generate Mobile Auth Code button.

    A graphic showing the Generate Mobile Auth Code window, which includes a scannable QR code and text authorization code.

  3. For use on a virtual device, copy the mobile authorization code that is generated.

  4. For use on a physical device, keep the QR code open for option 2, step 4.

Link to section

Option 1: Take payment on a virtual device

  1. Build and run your application on a virtual device (Android Emulator or iOS Simulator) and grant any device permissions requested.
  2. Open the Reader SDK sample application.
  3. Choose Enter Code Manually in the sample application.
  4. Paste the mobile authorization code into the field provided.
  5. Choose the Charge $1.00 button to complete a cash transaction.
  6. View the transaction details in the Square Dashboard.

A graphic showing the three mobile application pages created by the Reader SDK for authorizing the mobile device and taking a payment.

Link to section

Option 2: Take payment on a physical device

  1. Build and deploy the sample application to a physical device. If you run into difficulty deploying the application to a physical device, see Run an app on a device for Xcode and Create your first Android app for Android Studio.
  2. Grant any device permissions requested.
  3. Open the Reader SDK sample application.
  4. Choose Scan QR Code in the sample application and grant the application Camera permissions.
  5. Scan the QR code from the Square application settings page.
  6. Choose the Charge $1.00 button to complete a cash transaction.
  7. View the transaction details in the Square Dashboard.

A graphic showing the three mobile application pages created by the Reader SDK for authorizing the mobile device and taking a payment, with the second page showing an authorization QR code.

Important

Before building the sample application, open the General tab for your application target and change the Bundle identifier to a unique string. Square recommends appending .YOUR_NAME to the existing ID.

Apple registers bundle IDs to developer accounts when building applications to a device from Xcode. The bundle ID in the sample application is already registered to Square, so you must change it or you get an error that the ID is already taken.

On this page
Authorize your mobile applicationOption 1: Take payment on a virtual deviceOption 2: Take payment on a physical deviceSee also