Square announced AI-powered voice ordering and a set of Bitcoin tools on October 8, 2025, but they are separate products for different needs. As of August 18, 2026, voice ordering is still described as a beta feature for eligible Square sellers; Square Bitcoin is an active payment and wallet offering for eligible U.S. businesses. Neither is a universal, no-cost upgrade: voice ordering requires a qualifying plan and online prepayment, while Bitcoin use brings eligibility checks, conversion fees, and potential tax and price exposure.
What Square announced
Square’s October 8, 2025, product release grouped several merchant updates together; it did not create one combined AI-and-Bitcoin service. The restaurant-focused release included AI-powered voice ordering, alongside menu and ordering updates. Its Bitcoin products were Bitcoin Payments, Bitcoin Conversions, and an integrated Bitcoin Wallet. Square also announced other restaurant tools, including Order Guide, menu synchronization, Grubhub integration, and kiosk updates. Square’s release announcement and Bitcoin product announcement describe the separate launches.
The practical distinction is simple: voice ordering is intended to capture phone orders a restaurant might otherwise miss; Bitcoin Payments add a payment method, while Conversions and the wallet let a business hold or manage Bitcoin. Their costs, eligibility, and risks should be evaluated separately.
How AI voice ordering works
A customer calls a Square-provided business number. Square’s AI answers questions about the menu, gathers items and customizations, and takes pickup or delivery details. It then texts the customer an order summary and payment link. The customer must review the cart and pay online; only then does the order enter Square’s system and route to the POS, Order Manager, and, if configured, a Kitchen Display System. Staff can review call summaries and conversations in Square Messages.
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Square’s launch announcement said the system answers “100%” of incoming calls. That is Square’s product claim, not an independently established performance rate. The feature remains beta, so availability and workflows may change. Square’s release-status page describes it as beta.
Requirements and phone setup
- Square lists AI-powered voice ordering for Square Plus, Square Premium, or Square Messages Plus subscribers. Its support documentation does not state a separate public price for Messages Plus; check the current Dashboard offer or Square quote.
- A Square ordering profile is required. It synchronizes the menu, services, and fulfillment options used to take orders.
- The system uses Square-provided business numbers. An existing business number is not directly supported; call forwarding may be an option if the existing phone provider supports it.
- Each location can receive a unique Square number. Online ordering can be enabled or disabled by location.
- Square says onboarding typically takes about five business days, though the timing varies.
Square’s U.S. setup instructions are in its voice-ordering support guide.
Set up and test voice ordering
- Sign in to Square Dashboard, open Messages, and select the gear icon for Settings.
- Choose AI-powered responses, then select Set up or Get Started under “Allow AI to answer customer calls.” Complete phone-number and business verification.
- Create or confirm the ordering profile. Check menu items, prices, modifiers, hours, and pickup or delivery options.
- Go to Channels → Online ordering → Ordering status and enable the locations that should accept calls.
- Call the Square business number, place a test order, and pay using the texted link. Confirm the paid order reaches the POS, Order Manager, or KDS as expected.
- Review the call summary in Square Messages. To filter orders later, use Orders → Order source → Voice AI assisted.
Limits that affect the workflow
An unpaid cart does not appear in the POS or KDS. A customer cannot currently place an order by phone and pay in person later through this workflow. That makes payment completion a condition for sending the order to the kitchen, not a detail staff can handle at pickup.
The system depends on an accurate menu and ordering profile. A stale price, unavailable item, or unclear modifier can produce an order that needs correction. After-hours calls may be accepted, but pickup is scheduled for the next available business-hours window. Restaurants should assign a person to review call summaries and handle complaints, substitutions, refunds, accessibility needs, and ambiguous requests.
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- Get your money as soon as the next business day.
- Get set up quickly with no long-term commitments. Download the Square Point of Sale app for free, create an account, and start taking payments anywhere.
- Run your business all in one place with the free Square Point of Sale app. Track your sales, manage inventory, accept tips, send receipts digitally, and more.
- Works with Apple devices with a Lightning connector.
If a paid order does not appear, first confirm the customer completed payment. If the AI uses outdated information, correct the Square menu and profile. For unexpected after-hours timing, verify business hours and fulfillment windows. If the feature is unavailable, check the subscription, permissions, phone verification, ordering profile, and beta access.
What Square Bitcoin includes
Square’s Bitcoin offering has three distinct functions. A merchant can accept Bitcoin at checkout, convert a chosen percentage of daily sales into Bitcoin, and manage Bitcoin through a wallet in Square Dashboard. These functions are designed to sit alongside Square’s business-finance tools, but using one does not require treating them as the same decision.
Bitcoin Payments
At checkout, the seller selects Bitcoin and presents a QR code for the customer to scan. On a Square Register, 2nd generation, a customer can also select Bitcoin on the customer-facing display and tap a phone using a Lightning-enabled wallet. Sellers can choose settlement in Bitcoin or U.S. dollars, and transactions appear in Square sales reporting. See Square’s Bitcoin payments support guide for checkout and setup details.
Bitcoin Conversions and Wallet
Bitcoin Conversions automatically allocate a selected percentage of daily sales to Bitcoin at the current market price. This creates Bitcoin exposure even when customers pay by card or another conventional method. The wallet is managed in Square Dashboard and supports holding and transfers within Square’s Bitcoin offering. Square describes its intended integration in its Bitcoin announcement.
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- Pay one transparent rate per swipe for Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.
- Works in conjunction with most downloadable Square point-of-sale apps on your device. Customers can pay, tip and sign directly on your device. Track payments in cash, gift cards and more. Also lets you send receipts via e-mail or text message, makes it easy to apply discounts, keeps a data and sales history log and more.
- Accepts magstripe credit card payments, including those from Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express (fees apply).
- App sends deposits to your bank account within 1 to 2 business days, or enjoy instant deposits (fees apply).
Eligibility and geography
This is a U.S.-focused offering, and availability is not guaranteed to every Square seller. Square says eligibility is determined automatically and reevaluated periodically; a seller who is not eligible may not be able to request manual activation. Setup requires completing the wallet flow and business verification. Square says all business types may be eligible subject to Know Your Business verification, but account eligibility still governs access.
Invoice payments have additional limits that should not be applied to every point-of-sale transaction: Square’s invoice documentation says the primary business and invoice must be in the U.S., the feature is unavailable in New York and U.S. territories, and invoice amounts are capped at $2,500. Invoice refunds are issued as U.S.-dollar Square Gift Cards or eGift Cards rather than returned directly to the customer’s Bitcoin wallet. See the Square Invoices Bitcoin guide.
Set up Bitcoin in Square
- Sign in to Square Dashboard and open Banking → Bitcoin.
- If eligible, complete the wallet setup and business verification flow.
- Choose whether Bitcoin Payments settle in dollars or Bitcoin.
- Enable Bitcoin as a payment method where supported. At checkout, show the QR code or use the compatible Register customer display and Lightning NFC flow.
- Reconcile transactions in Square reporting and track conversions and later Bitcoin disposals for tax and accounting records.
Fees: distinguish payments from conversions
Square’s Bitcoin page lists these software plan prices per location per month and conversion fees. Prices below reflect the page retrieved on August 16, 2026; verify current terms before subscribing.
| Square plan | Monthly price per location | Bitcoin Conversions fee |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1% |
| Plus | $49 | 1% |
| Premium | $149 | 0.50% |
| Pro | Custom pricing | Custom pricing |
These figures are listed on Square’s Bitcoin pricing page. Square lists Bitcoin Payments at a promotional 0% processing fee, but its pages conflict on when that promotion ends: the support guide says 0% through December 31, 2026, followed by a 1% fee, while the public pricing page says “0% until 2027.” Confirm the current Dashboard terms and merchant agreement rather than relying on either date alone.
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- With Square Terminal, you can ring up sales, accept payments, and print receipts, all with one device. Use it at the counter or ring up customers anywhere in your store.
- Accept all major credit and debit cards and pay one low rate with no hidden fees and no long-term contracts.
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A 0% Bitcoin payment-processing fee does not mean the overall feature has no cost. The business may still pay for a qualifying software subscription, Bitcoin Conversions, bookkeeping and tax work, staff training, refund handling, and the risk of holding Bitcoin. Voice ordering likewise requires an eligible plan, and its value depends on recovered orders or labor saved relative to the plan cost.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Bitcoin exposure, taxes, and payment edge cases
Dollar settlement can reduce a merchant’s direct exposure to Bitcoin price changes on customer payments. Bitcoin settlement or automatic conversions leave the business exposed to market movements. Square warns that sellers are responsible for capital-gains taxes on increases in Bitcoin’s value between receipt and later sale; it does not provide tax advice. A business considering either settlement route should ask a tax professional how to record receipts, conversions, and disposals.
Square says a Bitcoin payment that takes more than five minutes may be declined; the seller then needs to create a new cart at the updated exchange rate. For invoice refunds, the customer receives a U.S.-dollar Square Gift Card or eGift Card, not a direct refund to a Bitcoin wallet. Before promoting Bitcoin broadly, confirm the treatment of point-of-sale refunds, partial refunds, tips, discounts, and customer disputes in the applicable Square workflow and merchant terms.
Square’s beta service terms also matter for voice ordering: beta services may have limitations and may change. Do not treat a beta phone workflow as a guaranteed substitute for human call handling.
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Which businesses are a good fit?
AI voice ordering
It is most promising for restaurants that have measurable missed calls during rush periods, use structured menus and predictable modifiers, and already route online orders through Square POS, Order Manager, or KDS. It is a weaker fit when orders are highly bespoke, menus change too often to keep synchronized, customers need to pay at pickup, or no one can review exceptions.
Before enabling it, estimate the number and value of phone orders currently lost, the portion likely to complete payment through a text link, and the Square plan cost. Compare that with labor saved, while accounting for the time needed to review call summaries and resolve errors. If existing-number forwarding, complex call escalation, or advanced analytics are essential, compare dedicated restaurant phone-AI providers as a category; they may offer broader phone compatibility but can require separate POS integrations and setup.
Square Bitcoin
Bitcoin Payments are easier to justify when customers already ask to pay with Bitcoin or Lightning, and when the business wants an additional payment rail without introducing a separate terminal. Dollar settlement may suit a merchant that wants to accept Bitcoin but avoid holding it. Conversions are a separate treasury choice for businesses that deliberately want Bitcoin exposure and can manage the associated accounting.
It is a poor fit where customer demand is negligible, the business needs a guaranteed refund to the original wallet, or there is no appetite for volatility and tax complexity. Compare standalone Bitcoin or Lightning processors if wallet or settlement control is the priority; compare conventional card processing if operational simplicity matters more than another payment option. These categories involve different integrations and controls, so Square is not automatically the cheapest choice.
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Common problems and what to check
- Voice order is missing: Check whether the customer paid through the texted link; unpaid carts are not submitted to the merchant workflow.
- Menu information is wrong: Update the menu and ordering profile before taking more calls.
- Existing number will not connect: See whether the current provider can forward calls to the Square number.
- After-hours pickup time is unexpected: Check location hours and fulfillment windows.
- AI mishandled a request: Review the call summary, contact the customer, and correct the order through the normal Square process.
- Bitcoin is unavailable: Check Banking → Bitcoin periodically; eligibility is automated and may change.
- Bitcoin payment times out: Create a fresh cart and have the customer retry at the current exchange rate.
- Fee timing is unclear: Confirm the live Dashboard terms and merchant agreement because Square’s public pages state different promotional end dates.
The decision in brief
Square’s voice tool is primarily a missed-call and phone-labor experiment, constrained by beta status, menu accuracy, and the requirement that customers pay online before orders reach the kitchen. Square Bitcoin is primarily a payment-option and treasury decision: accepting Bitcoin with dollar settlement differs materially from holding Bitcoin or converting sales into it. The strongest case for either feature is an existing Square merchant with a specific, measurable need—not simply the appeal of a newly announced tool.
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