Square has set out a public 2025 roadmap, switching offline payments on by default, pushing harder into restaurants, expanding credit access and piloting Bitcoin at the point of sale, with AI tools and deeper integrations to follow.
Square has taken the unusual step of publishing a public product roadmap that sets its priorities for the rest of 2025 and ties them to a twice-yearly “Square Releases” cadence.
The plan, outlined by Square’s Global Head of Product Willem Avé on 25 August, points to reliability upgrades, a restaurant-sector push, expanded credit, Bitcoin at the point of sale, and new third-party integrations.
Square says offline payments will be switched on by default, alongside simpler printer set-up and efforts to extend “offline-style” resilience to Kitchen Display Systems.
The small print says transactions taken offline must be reconnected within 24 hours and the seller bears the risk of expired, declined or disputed payments during that window. That is operationally helpful for uptime, but shifts liability onto merchants during outages.
Restaurants are the immediate battleground
The roadmap concentrates on features for quick-service operators: combo meals, self-serve kiosks, centralised menu management, and back-of-house improvements.
Enhanced reporting (revenue-centre tracking and custom summaries) is also promised. Square says sellers will be able to apply surcharges on credit-card orders, which, if offered, will need to be configured carefully given network rules and state-level constraints.
Visa’s guidance limits surcharging to credit (not debit or prepaid), requires acquirer notice and customer disclosures, and caps the fee at the cost of acceptance.
Credit earlier in the relationship
Under “Square Banking”, sellers could qualify for a loan as early as the first week of processing and apply directly for a Square credit card (issued by Celtic Bank).
Footnotes within the roadmap reiterate that Block is not a bank; banking services are provided via partners and Square Financial Services (ILC).
The deposit and funds-availability terms differ for card proceeds versus ACH, which will matter for cash-flow planning.
Bitcoin at POS—limited at launch
Square intends to introduce Bitcoin Payments (Lightning), a built-in bitcoin wallet and optional “Bitcoin Conversions” that automatically allocate a percentage of card sales into bitcoin.
Availability is US-only initially and not anticipated for New York, with regulatory approvals noted as a dependency.
Block previously previewed the initiative around the industry conference circuit; adoption will hinge on treasury policies and tax/accounting comfort rather than pure technical readiness.
AI and integrations
Square AI, a conversational assistant embedded in Dashboard, remains in open beta for US sellers, designed to surface sales, staffing and customer insights.
On integrations, Square highlights inventory sync with Shopify (via Thrive) and Wix, signalling a more pragmatic stance toward third-party e-commerce where sellers already operate.
