A patient says to keep their card for next time. That is a small ask, and it is only as good as the record of what they agreed to. Cards on file saves the card with Square, writes down who consented and to what, and then stays inside those limits whenever someone goes to use it.
Saving a card without charging it
Open a patient's Billing tab. Once Square is connected, a Saved payment methods panel appears there, with No cards on file until you add one. The tab itself is part of invoicing. Any member of your team can save a card, not just owners and admins. Choose Add a card and the form shows a short disclosure, which says that by saving the card the patient authorizes the practice to store it with its payment processor for the uses selected, and that they can revoke this by contacting the practice.
The form asks for the name of the person consenting, filled in with the patient's name so you can change it, then three tick boxes, all unticked to start. The card is typed into Square's own card form and sent to Square with a store-only request. Nothing is charged, and no amount is involved.
The consent is saved with the card: the wording shown, the name, whether a staff member recorded it or the patient did, who that staff member was, and the time. The record also keeps the address and browser the request came from. Saving also puts the patient on Square as a customer, reusing one that already matches their email or phone before creating a new one.
Three consents, each building on the last
The boxes are cumulative. The no-show fee box stays greyed out until the without-the-patient-present box is ticked, and the app refuses a no-show authorization without it, so a card can never be cleared for a fee without also being cleared to be charged when the patient is away.
- Staff may view and select this card for an in-person charge: Charge card then offers it as a pick from a list, so nobody retypes the number.
- This card may be charged without the patient present: it can be used by Charge saved card (patient not present) for a balance due.
- This card may be charged a no-show fee: it can also be used for a fee, which is its own authorization. No-show fees covers how that charge works.
Goji never charges a saved card on its own. A card is charged only when someone on your team chooses to, and only for a use it is authorized for.
Making a default, editing permissions, removing
The first card saved becomes the default. After that each card has Make default, Edit permissions and Remove. An expired card can't be made the default.
Edit permissions opens the same three boxes, and it asks for the name of the person consenting again. Saving doesn't overwrite the old record: the earlier consent is marked revoked as superseded and a new one is written, so the history of what was agreed and when stays intact.
Remove asks you to confirm, then asks Square to disable the card, so it is turned off at the processor and not just hidden in Goji. The card's consent is revoked, and it stops being offered anywhere. If Square can't be reached when you remove, the card is still removed in Goji.
Why a card can't be used
Every card shows its three uses with a plain reason next to any that is blocked: no consent, card expired, card unavailable, customer link unavailable or Square disconnected. A card with no active consent also gets a No consent on file badge, and one that lapses within about two months is flagged with Expiring soon.
What Goji stores, and what it doesn't
The card number never reaches Goji. Square's form turns it into a single-use token, Square keeps the card, and Goji keeps only Square's reference to it with the brand, last four digits and expiry. Your own Square account does the processing, and what Square does with the card is covered by your agreement with Square.
Goji doesn't decide whether your consent wording meets any particular rule. The disclosure text is the same for every practice today and isn't editable, so you may want to also tell patients how you will use the card in your own policies.
Patients can do the same from their own portal, apart from a no-show-fee authorization, which stays something staff arrange: see Patients manage their cards. Practices already on Square can bring customers across with Import Square customers, and a service can ask for a card on file at booking: see Prepaid appointments.