Square is a popular credit card processing service that lets thousands of small businesses and merchants accept credit cards without having to buy an expensive card terminal or pay super-exorbitant fees.
And as you might expect, Square customers are frequently targeted by hackers.
Luckily, you can easily protect your own Square account from those hacking attempts by enabling Two-Factor Authentication.
In a nutshell, Two-Factor Authentication adds an extra layer of verification to the login process. In addition to entering your password, you will also be required to enter a verification code that the online service sends to your mobile phone in a text message or via an authentication app.
Once Two-Factor Authentication has been enabled on your account, no one (not even you) will be allowed to log in to that account without entering the verification code the service texted to your phone.
And without your phone, a potential hacker won’t be able to receive the code. Therefore, a hacker would need access to your phone before he/she would be granted access to your account.
Square has made it easy to enable Two-Factor Authentication on your Square account. Just follow the steps below:
1 – Sign in to your Square dashboard.
2 – Click Account & Settings.
3 – Select Personal Information.
4 – Click Activate 2-Step Verification.
4 – Select an authentication method (either SMS text message or the Google Authenticator app) and then follow the steps below for the selected method.
If you chose to receive your codes via SMS text message…
1 – Add your primary mobile phone number.
2 – Click Next. You’ll now receive a verification code via text.
3 – Enter the verification code in the field on your dashboard or your “Square Point of Sale” app.
4 – Click Verify.
If you chose to receive your codes using the Google Authenticator app…
1 – Download the Google Authenticator app.
2 – Scan the barcode into Authenticator app.
3 – Enter the verification code generated by your Authenticator app.
4 – Click Verify.
That’s all there is to it. Two-Factor Authentication is now active on your Square account.
Bonus tip #1: Click here for instructions for enabling Two-Factor Authentication on your other online accounts.
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