What an SQ* charge means on your statement
SQ * is Square's label on a card payment Square processed for a business. The business name comes next. The line is the seller, not a charge from Square as a shop.
Last checked: Oct 2026
Why the line looks like that
Square's statement description page says the payment facilitator id on a Square descriptor is SQ *. After that comes the business name from the Square Dashboard. If the payment includes an optional identifier, Square adds a delimiter and then that identifier.
Square's example is SQ *MYPHARMACY*#02943. In that example the identifier is a store number. After SQ *, Square says it is limited to 20 characters, so it cuts the identifier to fit. The bank can shorten the line again before you see it. The text on your statement can be shorter than the name on the receipt.
How to work out which purchase it was
Read the words after SQ *. Square says that part is the business name the seller shows in Square. A receipt from the shop, or a text or email receipt from that visit, should use a name you can match to those words.
Square's page is written for people building payments, not as a tap by tap guide for the cardholder. It does not print a consumer lookup site, so this guide does not invent one. If the shortened name is still unclear, the receipt and the date are what you have.
Cancel or dispute
Square says a clear description can reduce chargebacks, and that bank rules require the description to show the business responsible for the charge. The page does not give the cardholder a cancel button. A subscription billed through Square is canceled with that business. A charge you did not authorize is a question for your card issuer.
The page does not print a different descriptor for Canada. Upload the statement to Expenvo and it lists every subscription it finds. A one time cafe payment is not a subscription just because it starts with SQ *. Expenvo does not dispute the charge for you.
Questions
- What does SQ * mean?
- Square says SQ * is the payment facilitator id on statement descriptions for card payments it processes.
- Why is the name after SQ * cut off?
- Square says that after SQ * it can use 20 characters, and it truncates the identifier to fit. The bank may shorten the line further.
- Is SQ * a charge from Square itself?
- Square says the business name after SQ * is the seller responsible for the charge. The example on Square's page is SQ *MYPHARMACY*#02943.
Sources
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