Shut Down by Square? High-Risk Options That Still Work
If your Square, Stripe, or PayPal account was terminated, don’t panic. Here’s what you need to know to recover and keep processing.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Square Shut Down Your Account? Here’s What To Do
If Square has suddenly shut down your merchant account or is holding your funds without warning, you’re not alone. Every week, businesses across high-risk industries wake up to surprise emails that their accounts have been permanently deactivated.
The good news? You have options. In this guide, High Wire Payments breaks down exactly why Square might close your account, how long they can hold your money, and—most importantly—how you can quickly get back to processing payments with a reliable, high-risk payment partner.
Why is Square Holding My Money?
Square may suspend your deposits for a variety of reasons—some that can be resolved quickly, and others that reflect deeper compliance issues.
- Your linked bank account is unverified or flagged.
- Your transfer amount falls outside the permitted range ($25 – $10,000 per transaction).
- Your account is under review for chargeback or risk monitoring.
Square is legally obligated to hold funds for up to 180 days to mitigate future chargeback risk. This hold period aligns with how long cardholders are allowed to dispute payments. If no disputes occur, funds are usually released after the window expires.
Reasons Your Square Account Was Deactivated
Square can terminate your merchant account for many reasons, including:
- High chargeback ratios.
- Breaches of their Terms of Service or Acceptable Use Policy.
- Suspected fraud or misrepresentation.
- Lack of account activity for 90+ days.
Square’s terms grant them broad discretion to deactivate accounts without warning. They are not required to give you prior notice or offer an appeal.
High-Risk Transactions That Trigger Square Reviews
Some industries are inherently high-risk to Square’s processors. These include but are not limited to:
- CBD, kratom, and supplement sales.
- Adult content, firearms, or vape products.
- Membership or continuity billing programs.
- Digital goods, coaching, or marketing services with refund exposure.
Even if you are fully compliant, Square may still flag your transactions based on category, customer complaints, or refund/chargeback patterns.
How to Reactivate Your Square Account
In most cases, reactivating your Square account is unlikely once it’s been shut down. However, you may still try the following steps:
- Contact Square support and ask for the reason your account was closed.
- If related to inactivity or missing documentation, resolve the issue and request reinstatement.
- In all other cases, prepare to apply elsewhere. Square rarely reactivates accounts flagged for risk.
Are There Better Options?
Yes. If you’ve been deactivated by Square, Stripe, or PayPal, the best solution is a dedicated high-risk merchant account. High Wire Payments offers:
- No contracts or early termination fees.
- Chargeback prevention tools and PCI-compliant gateways.
- Support for CBD, kratom, subscription, digital, and eCommerce merchants.
- Real human support—no bots, no ticket queues.
We help high-risk merchants stay live and secure—so you never face another surprise shutdown again.
Final Thoughts
If your Square account has been shut down, don’t panic. While the platform offers fast onboarding, it also comes with high risk for merchants in sensitive industries. High Wire Payments offers an experienced, stable alternative with built-in underwriting and flexible approvals.
Apply today and let our team build a custom solution tailored to your exact business model.