Squarespace Help: Can Squarespace Take Payments?

Selecting the right payment solution for your business is just as important as choosing its name or logo. Because every business’s ultimate goal is to generate revenue, the process of receiving that revenue should be as smooth and efficient as possible. In today’s marketplace, cashless transactions are more critical than ever, which means choosing the right payment solution is a necessity.

Squarespace provides a variety of payment solutions, including Squarespace Payment—a high-quality, fully integrated tool accessible right within your Squarespace dashboard. This article will explain how Squarespace Payment works, review other available payment options on the platform, and guide you in selecting the one that best suits your business needs..

What is A Payment Solution?

Before we dive in, it’s important to understand the role and value of a reliable payment solution.

When a customer pays on your website, multiple entities—from card networks to the receiving bank—must coordinate seamlessly to complete the transaction. A robust payment solution ensures that all of these moving parts work efficiently together. This is why choosing the right provider is essential to your business’s success.

Squarespace Payments simplifies this process by allowing you to manage the entire payment experience through one platform. From charging customers and resolving chargeback disputes to viewing payouts and generating reports, everything is centralized and accessible directly within your Squarespace dashboard.

A payment processor, in particular, plays a critical role in your online transactions. It securely transfers a customer’s payment information from your store to the relevant banks and requests authorization for various payment methods. By partnering with a reliable processor, you ensure a smooth, secure checkout experience for both you and your customers.

What to Consider Before Choosing A Payment Solution 

The process of choosing a payment tool that works best with your business can be simplified by considering a few factors. It is not simply about the speed of the transactions, you have to factor in the provider’s support during chargeback disputes, their ability to scale with your business, and the amount of security promised among others. Here is a list of these factors in detail:

• Safety and Security 

Safeguarding your customers’ payment information is paramount. A single instance of fraud or data theft can erode brand trust, potentially spreading quickly and causing lasting damage. Choosing a PCI-DSS–compliant payment solution can help you avoid these pitfalls. Look for tools featuring advanced security measures—such as tokenization, encryption, and fraud detection—to substantially reduce the risk of compromised transactions.

• Ease of Use

Once you’ve confirmed that a payment solution is secure, the next factor to consider is its ease of use—for both your customers and your team. A streamlined, intuitive checkout experience helps build trust and encourages repeat business. On the administrative side, look for features that simplify transaction monitoring, data analysis, and report generation. This information will enable you to refine the user experience and make more informed, strategic decisions to support your sales growth.

• Scaling Feasibility 

As your business evolves, a payment solution that once met your needs may no longer be sufficient. To prepare for future growth, select a platform designed to scale with increasing transaction volumes and an expanding customer base. Consider providers that support multiple payment methods and offer international processing capabilities to accommodate the demands of a global market.

• Transaction Fees

Keep in mind that most payment solutions charge a transaction fee as well as other costs, such as monthly or setup fees. Some may include additional or hidden charges. Because these expenses often vary based on transaction volume and selected features, it’s essential to calculate your estimated total costs beforehand. Determine whether these fees align with your profitability goals, and compare multiple providers to identify the solution that best meets both your financial and operational requirements.

• Customer Support 

While you work to support your customers, your payment solution should, in turn, provide reliable support for your business. When transaction issues arise, it’s critical to have an accessible, responsive team you can contact to promptly resolve the problem. Evaluate the provider’s support channels and availability. How quickly can you reach them, and how fast do they respond? What methods of communication—phone, email, live chat—are offered? Opt for a payment solution that delivers timely, effective assistance. Prompt problem resolution helps you avoid unnecessary downtime, lost sales, and dissatisfied customers.

Payment Solutions Available on Squarespace 

Squarespace Payments 

Squarespace payments is a native payment option that can be easily integrated into your online store. There are several benefits to using this payment solution on your Squarespace website:

• All-in-one Management 

One of the key benefits of Squarespace Payments is the ability to manage both your website and your payment operations on a single, integrated platform. Instead of relying on an external service, you can conveniently oversee transactions, payments, and payouts directly within your Squarespace dashboard, streamlining your workflow and enhancing overall efficiency.

• Seamless Onboarding 

Enrolling in Squarespace Payments is both quick and straightforward, enabling you to begin processing transactions within minutes and receive payouts as early as the following day. The initial setup requires only basic information, with minimal additional details necessary to activate full payouts. Moreover, Squarespace’s commitment to exceptional customer support ensures prompt, helpful assistance whenever you have questions.

To set up Squarespace Payments: 

• Open the Payments Panel

• Under Squarespace Payments, click Turn on Squarespace Payments 

• Enter the required information 

• Click Agree & Submit 

After submitting, you will be returned to the Payments Panel where you can view the connection status of your Squarespace payments account. If you already use Stripe and want to switch to Squarespace payments, simply: 

• Open the Payments Panel where you will find a Squarespace payments banner 

• Click Get Started 

• Read through the information that appears then click Accept and Continue 

• Click Start Import

• When you are done importing, click Connect Checking Account and follow the prompts 

• Secure and Reliable Payment Processing with Squarespace Payments

  Squarespace Payments integrates advanced security measures that adhere to industry standards, ensuring your customers' payment information remains safe and protected. With PCI compliance (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), your transactions meet rigorous security requirements, safeguarding sensitive cardholder data. The platform is also SSL-certified, enhancing website security by encrypting all data transfers. Additionally, Squarespace Payments employs payment data encryption, which converts payment details into secure, unreadable code to prevent fraud and unauthorized access. For seamless payouts, Squarespace leverages bank authentication secured by Plaid, securely linking your bank account to the payment system.

• Consistent and Reliable Payouts

  Squarespace Payments ensures smooth business operations by offering daily payouts. This consistent cash flow helps you maintain financial stability and reduces delays in accessing your funds.

• Flexible Payment Options

  Squarespace supports a wide range of payment methods, allowing you to cater to diverse customer preferences:

  • Visa

  • Mastercard

  • American Express (AMEX)

  • Discover

  • Apple Pay

  • Afterpay/Clearpay

  • Klarna

  • Link by Stripe

  The inclusion of buy-now-pay-later options like Afterpay/Clearpay and Klarna broadens your appeal, enabling customers to split payments into manageable installments.

• Availability and Limitations

  Squarespace Payments is available for merchants in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, and supports transactions for Commerce and Digital Products such as one-time purchases, online courses, member sites, video pages, subscriptions, and donations. However, it is not currently available for point-of-sale transactions or Acuity Scheduling.

  Squarespace Payments delivers a secure, efficient, and versatile solution for modern online businesses, ensuring both customer trust and operational efficiency.

Other Payment Methods 

There are other payment methods you can choose from on Squarespace. They include:

• Stripe:  With Stripe, customers can pay with debit or credit cards without creating or logging into an account. You can accept payments from Visa (credit and debit cards), MasterCard (credit and debit cards), American Express, and Discover (US merchants only) with Stripe, Apple Pay (supported device only).

• PayPal: Customers can check out using their PayPal or Venmo accounts. They only need to click Continue with PayPal to login to their PayPal account and complete the purchase. Customers using a mobile device can check out on Venmo if they enable mobile web purchases in the Venmo app and are using a supported web browser.

You may connect both Stripe and PayPal to access a wide variety of payment options across different countries. To do this, your country must be supported by both payment options. You can verify this by checking Stripe and PayPal's list of supported countries.

• Square: You can use Square with Squarespace Point of Sale to process in-person payments (both card and cash) and integrate it with your online store. Square can only be used for this, only in the US, and only on the Squarespace Commerce Basic or Advanced plans.

• Afterpay/Clearpay: With Afterpay and Clearpay, customers can pay in installments with zero interest. You can enable these processors if you already use Stripe or Squarespace payments and if you meet the eligibility requirements.

You can learn more about these payment solutions and their fees here.

In Conclusion 

Now that you're familiar with the various transaction options available on Squarespace, the choice is yours. Do you prefer the convenience of managing all your business activities in one place with Squarespace Payments, or would you benefit more from the international reach and flexibility offered by Stripe PayPal?

At Spaceworks, we're proud to be official Squarespace Experts, offering comprehensive support to help you seamlessly integrate the payment solutions that best suit your business needs. Whether you're looking for guidance or hands-on assistance, we're here to ensure your payment processing is set up for success.

For more tips, insights, and expert advice on maximizing your Squarespace website, do check out our blog.