“Jack Dorsey announced in a series of tweets today that he is shifting $1 billion in his Square equity to create a fund dedicated to COVID-19 relief. The Twitter and Square CEO is calling the fund Start Small and posting a tally of disbursements and recipients in a public spreadsheet. Dorsey said in his announcement that the new initiative will shift the focus to other causes at some point, naming health and education for girls and universal basic income.”

“Square Inc. announced late Wednesday that it had received conditional approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to conduct deposit insurance related to an Industrial Loan Company (ILC) banking charter. The company also received approval from the Utah Department of Financial Institutions for this purpose. The approval grants Square the ability to operate a bank, Square Financial Services, that will be an independent direct subsidiary of the company. Its main objective will be to provide small-business loans for Square’s Capital lending business and to offer deposit products. The bank is expected to launch in 2021.”

“So the onus was on Square to show that growth wouldn’t again slip. And in the fourth quarter, as the company reported Wednesday after the close, it delivered. Year-over-year gross payment volume growth was 25%, the same as in the third quarter. This was despite the pricing changes implemented last fall that, on the whole, raised the amount the company makes from transactions.”

“In its latest pricing change, Square Inc. disclosed Tuesday that it will raise the cost of instant and same-day transfers from its merchants’ Square balances to their bank accounts to 1.5% per transfer from the previous rate of 1%. The change, announced on Square’s blog, took effect Tuesday for new users of the transfer service and will kick in Feb. 7 for existing users. Pricing for standard next-day transfers remains at zero.”

“If Square Inc. has made one thing clear in recent months, it’s that the company is determined to tie together two worlds most payments companies see as distinct: consumers on the one hand, and merchants on the other. That strategy took another step forward last month with Square’s announcement that its Cash App service now allows users to buy fractional shares of stock with no brokerage fees. The new service joins other features of the 4-year-old payment app, including the ability to buy Bitcoin. Added versatility like this will make the app more valuable to users, a base that includes consumers but also Square sellers, Jack Dorsey, Square’s chief executive, told stock analysts Wednesday afternoon.”

“Square announced today that you’ll soon be able to invest in stocks using its Cash App, and says you’ll be able to start investing with $1. That doesn’t mean you’ll be able to buy a full share of Apple for a buck, though — you’re going to be investing in a fraction of a share, however much that $1 will get you. This concept, fractional share trading, isn’t quite new — you can already do it with some other investment apps, such as Stockpile or Betterment . It’s even something you’ll be able to do if your money is managed by investment giant Charles Schwab, which said last week that it would introduce fractional share trading to help attract younger customers.”

“Rather than focusing on money transmission or payments, as at present, the firm will likely begin to develop services “like hardware, analytics and payroll and lending,” Dorsey said. Square integrated bitcoin in 2018, when its Cash App began selling the cryptocurrency to users. This service generated over $190 million in revenue over the first two quarters of this year, yielding shy of $3 million in gross profit.”

“Co-founder and director of Goodtill, Oliver Rowbory said, “Goodtill software is helpful and easy for merchants and by partnering with Square we are now able to serve more merchants without compromising on their experience. Integrating our point-of-sale with Square payment tools means a broader set of small and large merchants can utilise the tools they need to start, run and grow.” “The Goodtill point of sale works for the business because it is iPad-based which gives me flexibility whether I’m at the restaurant or working an event,” added Matthew Omeye-Howell, co-founder of restaurant Jollof Box.”

“Over the past couple of years, we’ve released APIs and SDKs that focus on enabling developers to take payments in person , online , and in mobile apps . We’re now expanding our platform and shifting the focus from payments to orders. Orders are now a central component of our platform as they connect payments to items, price modifiers, customers, and more…This release is the first to open access for external developers to Square software products. Developers can send orders from their app to Square Order Manager, which turns Square points of sale and Square Dashboard into order fulfillment points that are already used daily by millions of merchants. “

“Square Inc. is getting into the photography business as yet another way to add auxiliary services beyond payments designed to attract and retain merchants. The new service, dubbed Square Photo Studio, enables merchants, or sellers in Square’s lingo, to ship products to a Square studio in Brooklyn, N.Y., where they are photographed by a robotic camera with human assistance, Bloomberg News reported. Sellers can provide instructions on camera angles, according to a Square online posting. Square says it then makes the resulting high-resolution images available to the seller for posting in online stores , on Web sites, online marketplaces, the Pinterest and Instagram social networks, and in emails.”

“Square continued to grow business operations like Square Cash — its instant money transfer service — and its core payments business (subscription and services revenue). The latter was up 126% to $219 million, led by growth of the Square Cash app, Caviar, Square Capital and Instant Deposit for sellers. Square noted that in the first quarter of 2019, Square Capital facilitated approximately 70,000 loans worth $508 million, up 50% year over year.”

“Invoice2go and Square Capital today announced a partnership that gives Invoice2go customers in the United States a fast, seamless way to access the funding they need to grow their business – from right inside their Invoice2go mobile app. This partnership is the first time Square Capital, the small business loan program created by financial and technology company Square, has had a partner incorporate embedded access to business loans through their mobile app, making the process of applying simple and easily accessible.”

“Last year, the firm enabled bitcoin buys and sells on its Cash App platform, a rival to PayPal’s Venmo. Still, despite Dorsey’s bullish stance on bitcoin — the billionaire has said bitcoin could be the future of money — Square does not hold that much bitcoin on its own balance sheet, but did however make approximately $1.7 million in net profit trading bitcoin during the year, according to company filings. “

“Square Inc. is rapidly growing into a heavyweight player in the hard-fought market for peer-to-peer payments. The San Francisco-based company had 15 million active users in December for its P2P product, Cash App, a number that doubled from December 2017, the San Francisco-based company disclosed on Wednesday. That’s still well behind the 100 million consumers using the bank-controlled Zelle service, but the growth in Cash App is particularly gratifying for Square as it plays into the company’s emphasis on financial services for both consumers and merchants, Square executives said during an earnings call to discuss fourth-quarter 2018 and full-year results.”

“quare, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) today announced the launch of Square Card, a free business debit Mastercard that helps businesses manage their cash flow by eliminating the time between making a sale and having the funds available to spend. Square Card also encourages commerce among the small business community by offering sellers a 2.75% instant discount on purchases made at other Square sellers.”

“With the Square Card, which is free to obtain and use, business owners will be able to spend their Square balances immediately in stores and online. Previously, those who used Square for payment processing had to wait several days for their funds to transfer to their banks accounts, or else they could pay a small fee for instant access to their money.”

“Square said Thursday it has leased the iconic Uptown Station complex in downtown Oakland, marking a major boost for the East Bay city and a deal that will bring hundreds of the tech company’s workers to the city. The maker of mobile payments technologies and systems, whose chief executive officer is the co-founder of Twitter, said it leased the entire office portion of Uptown Station at 1955 Broadway in Oakland.”

“Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) today launched employee benefit offerings within Square Payroll, providing small businesses who use Square Payroll access to quality, affordable benefits like health insurance and retirement savings. Benefits are flexible, easy-to-use, and seamlessly integrate with the rest of Square Payroll, removing the administrative complexity businesses typically face with offering benefits.”

“Adjusted revenue grew 68 percent year over year. The company reported its first quarterly profit of $20 million, compared with a net loss of $16 million in the third quarter of last year. Square’s chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, said a “big driver” of the profitability was the investment in EventBrite, which went public in October.”

“”The market appears to be overlooking any risks to the company’s business model, and credit risk in particular,” Palmer said in a note to clients Monday. “Our bearish thesis on Square (SQ) is predicated in part on our view that the company’s increasing dependence on the extension of credit to its customers to spur its growth has made its business model increasingly vulnerable to volatility in the credit markets.””

“The San Francisco-based tech company announced Thursday it will let businesses using Square’s payment network give customers the option to break big payments into smaller, fixed monthly ones. “It’s a seamless and transparent way to offer installment payments to customers who might otherwise walk away, or might not be able to buy something in that particular moment,” Square Capital chief Jacqueline Reses told CNBC in a phone interview.”