Explore how using Square for payments gives your members more ways to pay and more ways to get paid through your MemberPress checkout.
Everyone has their preferred way to pay online. For some, it’s a saved credit card. Others go straight to Apple Pay or breeze through with PayPal.
The point is, consumers aren’t experimenting at checkout. They’re sticking with what they already use on every other site they shop. And if your checkout doesn’t match what they trust, there’s a good chance they’ll back out before completing their purchase.
That’s why we’re excited to announce the NEW Square integration for MemberPress!
Using Square for payments means you can offer your audience yet another widely recognized option directly on your WordPress site. No third-party tools. No workarounds. Just a smoother, smarter way to get paid for the content you create.
In this post, we’ll take a quick look at Square’s rise and how it became one of the biggest names in payments. Then we’ll walk you through setting it up in MemberPress and the types of payments it supports.
Because the last thing you want is something as small as a missing payment button on your checkout page to be what stops a ready-to-buy customer in their tracks.
Let’s get you all squared away!
What is Square?
Square made its debut back in 2009 with a brilliant idea: to turn a smartphone into a card reader.
You probably remember seeing it for the first time at your local coffee shop – a tiny white gadget plugged into the barista’s phone. All you had to do was swipe your card, squiggle your signature, and you were paid up before your latte was finished pouring.
Since then, Square has evolved into a powerful payment platform that supports both in-person sales and digital checkouts.
Today, using Square for payments is common across all kinds of businesses – from brick-and-mortar stores and pop-up shops to food trucks, eCommerce brands, and yes, membership sites like yours!
The Benefits of Using Square for Payments
Some of what makes Square stand out comes down to the core things every business needs from a payment platform: trust, flexibility, affordable pricing, and security you don’t have to second-guess.
- Global Trust & Reach – Square typically powers 4 billion transactions across 8 countries, processing an impressive $209.6 billion in annual payments. So your customers are paying through a name they already recognize.
- Flexible for All Business Sizes – Whether you’re running a small site with a few digital downloads or a full library of gated content and courses, Square scales with you no matter how big your inventory or audience gets.
- Straightforward, Predictable Pricing – Square follows clear flat rates (typically around 2.9% + 30¢ for online). That way, you always know what you're paying and what you're earning.
- eCommerce Tools Included – Square goes beyond payments with built-in tools for invoices, inventory tracking, sales reports, digital gift cards, customer messaging, and even email marketing.
- Security You Can Count On – Everything’s PCI-compliant, with fraud detection, SSL encryption, and even instant or next-day payouts – protecting both you and your members.
With Square now integrated into MemberPress, that robust stack of benefits becomes part of your checkout process.
How to Connect Square to MemberPress
To start using Square for payments, first you’ll need an active Square merchant account.
Once that’s set up, connecting it to MemberPress only takes a few clicks. From there, you can begin accepting payments directly through your checkout page alongside other payment gateways you may have in place.
What Square Supports Inside MemberPress
The MemberPress Square integration fully supports key payment types and workflows that keep your business running.
Whether you’re selling tiered memberships, online courses, or digital downloads, Square gives you a reliable, secure way to manage payments – both for you and your members.
Here’s what it supports out of the box:
- Recurring Subscriptions: Set up automatic billing on any schedule (weekly, monthly, quarterly, or custom) and Square will handle the charges and sync everything with MemberPress.
- One-Time Payments: Charge upfront for memberships, fixed-term courses, digital products, or Order Bump add-ons – no recurring setup required.
- Free & Paid Trials: Let new members try before they commit. Offer free trials, paid trials, or a mix of both to boost conversions and build trust.
- Credit Card Updates: Members can update their saved card details anytime from their account, cutting down on failed payments and missed renewals.
- Pause/Resume Subscriptions: Give members the flexibility to temporarily pause their subscription and return later without completely losing access or member status.
- Card Expiry Notifications: Square automatically alerts customers when their card is about to expire, reducing the chance of failed payments and disruptions.
- Refunds Made Easy: Issue full or partial refunds directly from your MemberPress dashboard – no need to log into Square separately.
- Failed Payment Recovery: Square works with MemberPress to retry failed charges, notify members of issues, and update access rules based on payment status.
- Secure, Compliant Checkout: Square handles PCI compliance and encryption automatically, so your payment data stays protected without extra setup or third-party tools.
- Accept In-Person Payments with Square Hardware: Selling at live events or physical locations? Use Square hardware (like the Reader or Handheld) to accept card payments in person and manually sync new members into your site.
Square is built to keep pace with the rest of your payment stack. And in many ways, it adds even more flexibility and control to what you’re already using.
What’s Next…
With Square fully integrated, your checkout is primed for smarter growth. Every way you monetize with MemberPress is backed by a payment system designed to support how you sell and scale across your site:
- Square syncs with your existing MemberPress Rules to create a seamless payment experience for every new member sign-up and gated content access.
- Sell access to your Online Courses and process every payment through Square, all within your existing MemberPress checkout flow.
- Drip your course or membership content with confidence, knowing Square has already handled payment before anything unlocks.
- Use Square to power one-click Order Bumps that let members tack on upgrades, add-ons, or exclusive content while they’re already set on making a purchase.
- Create Coupon Codes in MemberPress, and Square will charge the adjusted total – whether it's a one-time discount, a recurring percentage off, or a reduced first payment.
Now that Square rounds out your payment stack, you’re set up to sell with more precision, flexibility, and control. Every part of your checkout flow is ready to handle what’s next: new offers, new upgrades, and new ways to grow without outgrowing your tools.
Launch, Sell & Get Paid!
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