How to set up a Square Loyalty program

Square Loyalty is Square's built-in rewards program. Customers sign up with their phone number at checkout, earn points every time they buy, and redeem those points for discounts or free items, in store or online. Because it runs inside Square POS, there is no separate punch card, app or login to manage.

This guide covers what the Square Loyalty program costs in the US and Australia, how to set it up, how to get customers enrolled, and how to decide if it is worth it.

What does Square Loyalty cost?

United States

In the US, Square Loyalty is included in Square's paid software plans rather than sold as a separate add-on.

Square Plus and Premium both come with a free 30-day trial, and you can cancel or switch plans anytime. The monthly fee applies to each location. You may still see older prices online (from $45 a month, tiered by loyalty visits). Those were Square's previous standalone loyalty prices and no longer appear on Square's US site.

Australia

In Australia, Square Loyalty is priced per location by the number of loyalty visits each month. A loyalty visit is any time a customer enrols, earns a point or redeems a reward.

Australian plans also include a 30-day free trial with no long-term contract.

Prices from squareup.com/us and squareup.com/au, checked October 12, 2026. Square updates its pricing from time to time, so confirm on Square's site before you sign up.

How to set up Square Loyalty, step by step

You create the program in Square Dashboard. The account owner, or a team member with loyalty permissions, can set it up.

1. Open Loyalty. In Square Dashboard, go to Customers, then Loyalty, and click Get started.
2. Name your points. Choose what customers collect, such as "points", "stars" or "beans". A name that fits your brand makes the program easier to remember.
3. Choose how customers earn. Pick one of four ways:
   • Visits: one point per purchase, with an optional minimum spend. Great for coffee shops ("buy 9, get the 10th free").
   • Amount spent: points for every dollar. Good when ticket sizes vary a lot.
   • Specific items: points only on chosen items, like a signature drink.
   • Categories: points on a whole menu category, like smoothies or pastries.
4. Create your rewards. Offer a dollar or percentage discount on the whole sale, a discount on an item or category, or a free item. You can add up to 15 rewards later under Loyalty, Settings, Add a new reward, so customers have something to reach for at different point levels.
5. Pick your locations. Choose which locations take part. One program runs across all the locations you select.
6. Set point expiry. Decide whether points expire after a number of months or never. If they expire, Square texts customers 14 days before.
7. Review and launch. Check the summary and turn the program on.

Turn on sign-up at checkout

Customers join at the point of sale, so make sure the check-in screen is on:

• Square Point of Sale and Square Terminal: go to More, Settings, Loyalty, and turn on customer check-in on the customer display.
• Square Register: go to More, Settings, Loyalty, and turn on the check-in screen and loyalty sign-up.

Customers enter their phone number after paying, and Square sends a text confirming they joined. On Android and Square Register, turn off Skip receipt screen and Automatically print receipts, or the loyalty screen will not appear.

Add promotions and extras

• Promotions: under Customers, Loyalty, Promotions, create double points for slow hours, holidays or a featured item.
• Apple Wallet pass: turn it on in loyalty settings so iPhone users can keep their card in Wallet.
• Marketing: pair loyalty with Square Marketing to email or text loyalty members about rewards and new items.
• Reporting: track loyalty sales, visits, top customers and promotion results in the Loyalty reports, filtered by date and location.

Is Square Loyalty worth it?

For most coffee shops, cafes, juice bars and quick-service businesses, yes. Square's own data (global Square Loyalty data, 2022) shows that in food and drink, loyalty customers spend 46% more and visit 57% more often than other customers.

A quick way to check the math for your shop:

• Count your regulars. If you have even 100 customers who visit weekly, a few extra visits a month from each one usually covers the monthly cost many times over.
• Price your reward. A free drink after ten visits costs you the ingredients of one drink, roughly a 10% discount for customers who are already coming back.
• Look at what else is included. In the US, Square Plus also brings other paid features. If you already use them, loyalty adds no extra cost.

Things to know before you start

• Each Square account runs one loyalty program, which can cover several locations.
• Loyalty accounts are tied to a phone number. A customer who uses a different number gets a separate account.
• Tips never earn points. In the US and Canada, points are calculated before tax by default.
• Square Loyalty is available in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, Ireland, France, Spain and Japan.
• Out of the box, customers check their balance through a text link, a web page or Cash App. Your own app gives them a place to see it every day.

Make Square Loyalty part of your own app

The biggest reason loyalty programs stall is that customers forget about them between visits. Putting your program on their home screen fixes that.

Orda connects to the Square Loyalty program you already run and puts it inside your own branded iOS and Android app. Customers sign up in the app, see their points and how close they are to a reward every time they open it, and redeem rewards when they order ahead. The same points work at the counter, so there is nothing to reconcile. Add push notifications to tell regulars when a reward is waiting, and Square e-gift cards that work in the app and in store.

More than 10,000 Square businesses have used Orda. See how Square Loyalty works in your own app.