Is the Square loyalty program worth it?
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Square Loyalty is worth it if you already take every payment through Square and A$49 to A$149 a month per location is small change for you: points add up with no scan. If you don't use Square, or that fee stings, Rewardtree gives you a stamp or points card for A$0, scanned at the counter.
The honest sum
What you really pay Square Loyalty for is points that add up by themselves. Square says customers earn points on every purchase, even cash, through Square Point of Sale, Square Invoices or Square Online, with no extra scan and no new habit for your staff. If your whole shop already runs on Square, that is genuinely good. The only question is whether the monthly fee earns its keep.
Square's Australian page (checked 27 September 2026) prices it per location, per calendar month, by loyalty visits (a customer signing up, earning a point or redeeming a reward):
- A$49 for 0–500 loyalty visits
- A$99 for 501–1,500
- A$149 for 1,501 or more
Source: Square Loyalty, Square Australia, checked 27 September 2026. The page doesn't say whether GST is included. That works out to A$588 to A$1,788 a year per location. There's a full breakdown in how much Square Loyalty costs in Australia.
Now the sum, with the assumption said out loud. At A$49 a month (the lowest tier), if each extra visit earns you about A$4 after costs, the program needs about 12 extra visits a month, 3 a week, just to pay for itself; at A$99 it needs about 25. Plenty of busy shops clear that bar. Plenty of others never check.
Where the free alternative lands
What brings customers back is the card itself: they can see their progress, and they know the reward is coming. A wallet stamp card does that with one staff scan at the counter, and on Rewardtree the loyalty program is A$0 forever: unlimited members, cards in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, the free Merchant app, and your customer list to download.
The honest trade-off: your staff scan the customer's card (a second at the till) instead of points adding up by themselves inside the payment. You give up the automatic points; you keep A$588 to A$1,788 a year per location.
Where the card lives is different too. Square offers a loyalty pass for Apple Wallet only, at this time, according to its Australian help centre (checked 27 September 2026). Rewardtree cards go in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, so Android customers get one too.
See the full Rewardtree vs Square Loyalty comparison, including what Square does better.
We make Rewardtree. Every fact about Square links to Square's own page, checked 27 September 2026.
More questions, answered#
What does Square Loyalty cost in Australia?#
A$49 a month per location for 0–500 loyalty visits, A$99 for 501–1,500 and A$149 above that, after a 30-day free trial (Square's Australian page, checked 27 September 2026). For one location that's A$588 to A$1,788 a year.
Does Square Loyalty work without Square POS?#
Square says points come from Square Point of Sale, Square Invoices or Square Online, so it's built for businesses that sell through Square. Rewardtree works beside any till because staff scan the card with a phone.
What's the free alternative to Square Loyalty?#
Rewardtree: stamp or points cards in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, the free Merchant app for your staff, unlimited members, and a spreadsheet download of your customer list, at A$0 forever. Growth (A$29 a month + GST) is for when you want to send your members messages yourself: one-off offers, come-back messages you switch on, AI-written message ideas, member groups, and a report of the sales those messages won back. Everything that happens by itself stays free.