Square’s Latest Processing Win Is on the Golf Course

Golftec LLC, a provider of golf lessons and club fittings, has partnered with Square, Block Inc.’s point-of-sale payments unit, to provide payment processing across its more than 260 locations in the United States.

The deal with Square is expected to bring greater efficiency to Golftec’s payment-acceptance processes by reducing the need for manual reconciliation of problematic transactions and by providing greater visibility into chargebacks, the parties say. Square, which recently announced a deal with AI-based restaurant-technology platform provider MarketMan to launch an inventory-management application for restaurants, will also provide Golftec with data the company can use to smooth the customer experience, according to the parties.

Prior to the deal, Golftec personnel, especially instructors, spent a substantial amount of time troubleshooting payment issues, which took away from instruction time, according to Square. Founded in 1995, Golftec employs more than 1,000 instructors.

Square’s platform will enable Golftec to support mobile payments acceptance, gain real-time visibility into payments across all training centers, retail locations, and e-commerce channels, speed refunds, transaction reconciliation, and dispute management, and support new payment options, such as buy now pay later.

The integration of Square’s platform into its technology stack has so far saved Golftec personnel 10,000 hours in administrative work linked to payments and refunds and saved the company $100,000 through improved dispute and chargeback handling. Square says it worked with Golftec to reduce chargebacks by tightening customer contracts and accelerating response times for disputed transactions. Transactions are also closing two days faster, on average, allowing Golftec to access customer data sooner, Square says.

“Our coaches want to devote their energy to their students, not wrestling with payment processing,” Chris Koske, chief marketing officer for GOLFTEC says in a statement. “Square gives them the freedom to keep their attention where it should be: on fixing swings and helping players enjoy the game more.”