FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Beware the Square when Using Sapphire
View Single Post
Old Mar 5, 2015 | 7:18 am
  #6  
RNE
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: JZRO
Posts: 9,175
Originally Posted by RNE
I frequent a small, independent coffee shop near my mansion in West Akron. Normally, charges there code as restaurant purchases and receive the extra-point UR bonus when using my Sapphire card. However, the shop recently switched its credit card processing to Square, specifically the Square Stand pictured below.



That change means charges now code as general purchases instead of restaurant purchases. Thus, no UR bonus, so you may not want to use your Sapphire card at restaurants using Square.

By the way, you'll see "SQ" (for Square) in front of the store name in the transaction detail.

RNE, telling you to beware the Square.
Here's an update. Turns out charges at that Square-using coffee shop are not coming through as general purchases (like Chase told me) but as "Select Grocery Strs". So at least for the rest of this quarter, I'll use my Freedom card there and get the +4 UR-point grocery category bonus—which is better than Sapphire's +1 UR-point restaurant bonus anyway. Of course, that advantage will end next month when Freedom's quarter categories change.

To repeat: Don't assume nothing has changed when you see a new payment method at a store. Its category may too have changed, even though it's the same business. Go figure.
RNE is offline