Join us for an in-person Payments Boot Camp® in San Francisco on December 2 & 3. Bundle and save by adding the Advanced Payments workshop on December 4.
A leading payments industry news source for more than 17 years. Glenbrook curates the news and keeps you abreast of the important daily headlines in payments.
Search Payments News
October 8, 2025
On the web
Square Brings Bitcoin to Main Street With First Integrated Payments and Wallet Solution for Local Businesses
Block
"Square introduced Square Bitcoin, the first fully integrated bitcoin payments and wallet solution – built for local businesses of all sizes. Consisting of Bitcoin Payments and Bitcoin Conversions, Square Bitcoin enables sellers to accept bitcoin payments with zero processing fees,¹ automatically convert card sales into bitcoin, and manage their bitcoin alongside their other business finances – all within the Square ecosystem."
Square AI Gains New Intelligence Capabilities, Providing Deeper Business and Neighborhood Insights to Square Sellers
Block
"Square announced significant enhancements to Square AI, its conversational AI assistant. New functionality in Square AI includes: Deeper, local data insights; Pinned data on Dashboard; Conversation history; Mobile access on the Square Dashboard App."
Square Releases Delivers for Restaurants, With Square’s Biggest Food & Beverage Platform Expansion To Date
Block
"Square delivered the most significant expansion of its food and beverage platform to date: Take Orders, Everywhere; AI-Powered Voice Ordering; Square’s latest Grubhub integration; Enhanced Square Kiosk; Multichannel Menu Management."
September 15, 2025
On the web
Square’s New Brand Spotlights the Sellers and Communities Driving Local Economies
Block
"Square unveiled a refreshed brand identity, tagline, and national campaign centered on one clear promise: See You in the Neighborhood. Inspired by the belief that thriving local businesses create thriving neighborhoods, the campaign highlights Square’s deep commitment to helping sellers become beloved neighborhood staples — from new ventures to iconic institutions."
July 24, 2025
On the web
Block’s Square Opens Bitcoin Payments to 4 Million Merchants
The Defiant
"Block Inc.’s payments subsidiary Square on 22 July began enabling merchants to accept native Bitcoin transactions, using the digital currency’s Lightning Network for faster, low-cost settlements. The rollout starts with an initial group of sellers but is ultimately available to Square’s full base of roughly 4 million merchants, according to information provided by the company."
May 14, 2025
On the web
Introducing Square Handheld: A Pocketable Powerhouse to Serve Tables, Manage Inventory, and Close Sales Anywhere
Square
"Square launched Square Handheld, its most powerful, portable point-of-sale device ever. Combining a sleek, durable design with comprehensive, versatile software, Square Handheld enables sellers to manage everything from payments to back-of-house operations right from their pocket."
May 13, 2025
On the web
Square Releases is Here: Built for Sellers to Discover What’s New and Shape What’s Next
Square
"Square debuted Square Releases — a new biannual product launch that delivers the most important new features and tools, all at once. Born out of feedback from the Square seller community, Square Releases gives businesses a simple, consistent way to discover what’s new, understand what’s next, and take action to grow."
April 29, 2025
On the web
Square Expands Banking Services to Give Sellers Better Control of Their Cash Flow
Square
"Square announced new Square Banking tools that give sellers instant access to their cash flow and free, easier ways to manage their earnings. Today, business owners can conveniently sign up for a Square payments account and a free Square Checking¹ account in just minutes through one streamlined application—right on Square’s website and point of sale app."
February 5, 2025
On the wires
Square Selects Peach to Power Innovative Credit Card Program
Business Wire
"Peach Finance today announced it is powering Square’s credit card offering. The credit card integrates directly with Square’s broader ecosystem of solutions, enabling sellers to manage their cash flow from the same platform they use to run their business."
January 14, 2025
On the web
Square partners with Salt Edge to offer open banking capabilities to UK-based SMEs
Salt Edge
"Square has partnered with Salt Edge, a leading open banking platform, to help streamline and simplify payment operations for sellers in the UK."
December 18, 2024
On the web
Square Teams up with Sysco, Delivers New Features to Save Restaurants Time and Smooth Cash Flow
Business Wire
"Square announced a new partnership with Sysco, a leading global foodservice distributor, along with a number of new features to help food and beverage sellers run their businesses with ease."
October 8, 2024
On the wires
Square Launches Orders Platform
Business Wire
"In the third quarter of 2024, Square completed a significant infrastructure shift, creating a best-in-class commerce platform with leading payments and ordering capabilities for sellers. The new platform fundamentally changes how the company builds products and will provide expanded commerce capabilities like Pre-Auth and Bar Tabs to sellers of all sizes across verticals in the U.S."
May 8, 2024
On the wires
Square Kiosk Arrives to Make Ordering Faster and More Intuitive for Restaurants and Diners
Business Wire
"Square unveiled Square Kiosk, a fully integrated software, hardware, and payments solution that enables self-serve ordering for quick-service restaurants."
April 24, 2024
On the wires
Square Brings Offline Payments to All Hardware Devices, Around the Globe
Business Wire
"Offline payments, Square’s no-connection-required solution to deliver continuous commerce connectivity, is now available to Square sellers using every hardware device, and in every country."
September 27, 2023
On the web
Square Introduces Software That Turns Android Devices Into Powerful Payment Technology in Canada
Block
"Square today launched Tap to Pay on Android for sellers across Canada. The new technology enables businesses to securely accept credit card contactless payments with a compatible Android device, at no additional cost."
September 26, 2023
On the web
Square Unveils Over a Dozen New Features to Help Businesses Win this Holiday Season
Block
"Square announced a new suite of solutions designed to give sellers a competitive edge this holiday selling period ...Square is introducing House Accounts, a deferred payment account that business regulars and corporate clients can easily charge purchases to. When a seller is ready to settle up, they can quickly create an invoice for the outstanding balance and receive payment online via credit card, ACH payment, or Card on File. ."
September 20, 2023
On the web
Square Enters the Cannabis Market in Canada by Partnering with Jane Technologies for eCommerce
Block
"Today, technology company Square announced a partnership with Jane Technologies, the premier online ordering platform service for cannabis dispensaries, solidifying plans to cater to cannabis sellers in Canada."
Square CEO Alyssa Henry is Stepping Down, and Jack Dorsey Will Take Over For Now
CNN
"Alyssa Henry, the CEO of Square – a unit of Jack Dorsey’s fintech company, Block – will leave her post at the company next month. Dorsey, whose current title is Block Head and Chairperson, will take on an additional role of “Square Head."
September 13, 2023
On the web
Square Says Daylong Outage Caused by DNS Error
Yahoo News
"Square said there was "no evidence" a cyberattack caused an outage that left customers and small businesses unable to use the payment giant's technology on Thursday through early-Friday. The payments technology giant said in a post-mortem of the daylong outage that the outage was caused by a DNS issue."
September 11, 2023
On the web
Square’s Outages Will Have Global Impact
Electronic Payments International
"As many frustrated business owners will know, Square suffered global outages last week across its service. On Thursday, Square had over 18,000 outage reports, with Cash App, also owned by Square, having 9,000 reports, with problems running into the following day. Square will see a global impact in the fallout of these outages, with the company currently operating in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Japan, Spain, UK and USA"
September 8, 2023
On the web
Square Says it has Resolved Day-Long Outage
Yahoo News
"Fintech giant Square says its services are coming back online after a day-long outage left small business owners unable to process payments...In a new posting on its status update page, Square says that it is “actively observing the recovery of all Square systems” after engineers implemented a fix early on Friday. The company noted...it anticipates "slight delays" for some transfers as a result of the disruption."
August 29, 2023
On the web
Square Data Finds Multi-Hyphenate Businesses Continue to Rise
Square
"Consumer spending has been hard to predict in recent quarters...Across all industries, sellers have been offering subscriptions to continually engage and bring back customers, while leveraging technology to automate recurring payments for memberships, donations, and more. "
August 9, 2023
On the web
Square Q2 Restaurant Industry Report: In Post-Pandemic Era, Restaurant Spending Shifts from Friday to Saturday
Square
"Today, Square is introducing the inaugural edition of its quarterly Restaurant Industry Report – this report will look at data across more than 800,000 food and beverage Square sellers, examining dining trends and how consumer spending is changing."
August 8, 2023
On the web
Square Go, Square’s New Booking App, Seamlessly Connects Consumers with Beauty and Personal Care Businesses
Square
"Today, Square launched Square Go, a consumer booking app that provides an end-to-end booking experience so consumers can search, discover, and schedule with highly-rated independent service providers in their area."
June 28, 2023
On the web
Square Unveils Square Credit Card and New Cash Flow Management Products in Beta as Banking Adoption Grows
Block
"Square today announced the beta launch of new banking and spend management solutions for its U.S. sellers, including new credit tools and features that help businesses simplify their cash flow management and consolidate their finances."
June 27, 2023
On the web
Square to Roll Out Generative AI to Help Drive Retail Sales
Australian Financial Review
"Payments and business software provider Square will put generative artificial intelligence into the hands of its merchant customers this year, allowing small businesses to use its data to determine what products are top sellers and which employees are the most productive."
June 9, 2023
On the web
The Risks of Storing Money in Apps Like Venmo and Cash App
The New York Times
"Millions of Americans use mobile payment apps to pay friends, family and retailers, but they may not know that money held in the apps often lacks federal insurance protection."
On the wires
Cardinal Health Launches Modern Commerce Solutions for Retail Independent Pharmacies powered by Square
PR Newswire
"Cardinal Health today launched modern payment solutions, powered by Square, to help independent pharmacies increase operational efficiency, stay current with customer payment preferences, and access integrated software tools for their business."
April 26, 2023
On the web
Klaviyo Announces Integration with Square to Help Businesses Drive More Sales
Klaviyo
"Klaviyo, a marketing automation and customer data platform for B2C businesses, today announced a new integration with Square Online – Square’s ecommerce platform that helps sellers more easily run and grow their businesses. With this new integration, sellers can quickly sync real-time and historical data from Square Online into Klaviyo, including event-level data, profile properties, and catalog information and utilize that to deliver truly personalized experiences across their marketing channels, including email and SMS. For businesses using Square Point of Sale, Klaviyo will also receive customer purchase data made through in-person locations to help connect offline and online interactions."
April 21, 2023
On the web
Square Will Let Merchants in 6 Countries Take Payments With Just Their Android Phones
MarketWatch
"After allowing sellers to accept contactless payments with just their iPhones last year, Square will make the same move for merchants that have Android devices. The company, which is part of Block Inc., announced Wednesday that it was rolling out Tap to Pay on Android in the U.S. and five international markets."
Take us with you
Payments on Fire is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and other podcast apps and services. Or just say “Alexa, play Payments on Fire podcast.”
