und sicherheitseinbehalt
Thousands of small businesses, including legal consultants, plumbers and construction firms, say that Square (SQ +1.6%) has started to hold back 20%-30% of the money they collected from customers with little notice, the New York Times reports.
Square, which has only recently started the practice, says it has the right to hold the money for the next four months to protect against risky transactions or customers who demand their money back.
Several of the affected businesses, though, showed the NYT documents showing they had not had any risk flags or returns.
The aggrieved merchants say Square is unfairly holding onto money during an economically challenging time to protect its own profits. That's forced the small firms to lay off employees, cut expansion plans, miss mortgage payments, and take out loans to keep operating, the NYT said.
In the past month, ~1,300 business owners signed an online petition asking Square to end the practice.
In a blog posted today, Square said it applies the reserves on more "risky" sellers, "such as those that take pre-payment on goods or services delivered at a future date, sell goods or services more prone to disputes, or operate in an industry that historically receives higher chargeback rates than others, among other factors."
But it says macroeconomic shifts may make certain industries riskier than they were before and changes in consumer behavior may affect businesses that typically pose a lower risk, "as we've seen with COVID."
The company said it has changed its reserve process by giving earlier notice of any decision before it takes effect, giving sellers more time to choose whether they want to continue processing with Square.
In Square's Q1 release, the fintech said gross payment volume plunged 35% Y/Y in the last two weeks of the quarter, as COVID-19 shutdowns started to take effect. |
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