Square, Block’s merchant payments platform, has introduced a robust suite of new features, bringing together AI call handling for restaurants and an integrated Bitcoin wallet for businesses.
These innovations are designed to enhance the way merchants interact with customers, manage orders, and process digital payments in a rapidly evolving retail landscape.
Restaurants and cafes using Square’s technology can now delegate incoming calls and complex order customization to AI-powered voice bots.
This is especially valuable for cloud kitchens and delivery-centric establishments that field frequent menu inquiries and requests.
The AI system is capable of responding to nuanced questions, taking detailed orders, and providing dynamic suggestions, freeing up staff for more critical tasks.
How Does Square’s AI Voice Ordering Work?
Square’s new AI voice ordering solution enables restaurants to manage calls and take orders through a conversational interface. When customers call, the AI bot understands requests such as “make my food spicy, but don’t use any dairy” and can recommend menu items or suggest on-the-spot modifications.
By handling customizations and FAQs, establishments increase capacity and reduce human error during busy rushes.
Competitors like Yelp and Kea have been rolling out their own voice AI solutions, but Square leverages tighter integration with its existing payment and kiosk ecosystem.
Orders are seamlessly routed into the point-of-sale system, ensuring fast, error-free transactions and smoother delivery management.
The platform also brings new Grubhub integration for streamlining third-party orders and a redesigned kiosk interface for high-frequency menu items.
Did you know?
Square merchants have accumulated 142 Bitcoins since last year’s launch of daily BTC conversion, totaling over $17 million in digital assets.
What Sets the Bitcoin Wallet Integration Apart?
In a significant expansion of its crypto capabilities, Square now offers merchants a dedicated Bitcoin wallet within its dashboard. Business owners can buy, sell, hold, and withdraw Bitcoin directly, choosing to convert up to 50% of their daily revenue into the digital currency.
This is a significant jump from last year, when Square allowed conversions between 1 and 10 percent.
To speed uptake, Square will waive processing fees for all Bitcoin transactions made through its terminals for the first year.
From 2027 onward, a low 1 percent fee will apply. The move follows Jack Dorsey’s longstanding advocacy for Bitcoin as both a payment and investment tool, reflecting Block’s broader commitment to crypto adoption.
Can Square’s Features Improve Restaurant and Cafe Efficiency?
Square’s AI bot helps businesses operate with fewer staff at peak times, handling orders with accuracy and providing instant answers to commonly asked questions.
An AI-powered inventory management tool complements the offering, enabling restaurants to track supplies and forecast demand trends based on real-time data. The addition of dashboard widgets enables merchants to save auto-updating visualizations, facilitating improved decision-making.
The AI assistant also provides localized insights, including weather updates, local event information, and industry trends.
These tools are available on both web dashboards and via the Square app, ensuring that actionable business intelligence is always within reach of decision-makers.
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Will Merchants Benefit From No-Fee Bitcoin Transactions?
Square’s fee-free approach makes adopting Bitcoin payments more attractive for businesses hesitant about transaction costs. Merchants can accept, hold, or instantly convert payments without incurring losses due to processing fees, thereby gaining more flexibility in their crypto strategies.
According to Square’s data, merchant users have accumulated 142 Bitcoins since the program's inception, an amount totaling approximately $17 million at current rates.
This hands-on approach to crypto acceptance positions Block and Square as leaders in merchant-facing financial technology, encouraging more small businesses to view Bitcoin as an everyday currency rather than a strictly speculative asset.
Starting in 2027, a modest fee structure will replace the initial year’s no-fee model, but the foundation for frictionless Bitcoin transactions will already be in place.
Where Does This Move Place Square in the Tech Race?
With AI voice handling integrated deeply into its payments and order management ecosystem, Square is poised to set new standards for customer service automation and crypto-friendly business systems.
Industry leaders and analysts note that Square is uniquely positioned, serving both sides of retail transactions through its dual roles in Square and Cash App.
Square’s advances come at a time when the landscape for restaurant tech and crypto payments is heating up.
By offering seamless Bitcoin payments alongside sophisticated AI ordering, Square not only competes with rivals such as Yelp and Kea but also establishes a clear lead in providing comprehensive business technology for merchants of all sizes.
Small businesses now have access to tools that were once reserved for the largest corporations, empowering them to innovate and expand in today’s digital-first economy.
Square’s latest features embody a drive to make advanced technology accessible to all, setting the pace for future integrations across retail and payment industries.
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