Name

Block

Legal name

Block, Inc.

Website

https://squareup.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Merchant Commerce Platform

NAICS

Electronics and Appliance Retailers (44921)

SIC

Retail-Computer & Computer Software Stores (5734)

akta.pro primary industry

POS Terminal Hardware (Countertop, Mobile, PIN Pads) (FSAMADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

In-Store Contactless & NFC Acceptance (Tap-to-Pay, EMV Contactless) (FSAMADAF), Merchant-Integrated BNPL (Checkout POS Financing) (FSAGAIAA), Digital Wallet Platforms (Consumer & Merchant) (BPAMAFAC), Corporate Cards & Spend Controls (FSAGAJAF), POS, SoftPOS & In-Person Acceptance Infrastructure (FSAGABAO)

Keywords

• Payment processing services
• Point of sale hardware
• Small business banking
• Merchant commerce platform
• Consumer peer payments

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices10 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing (Transaction Fees): Square charges merchants a per-transaction fee for processing card and digital payments. Pricing tiers: Free plan at 2.6% + 15¢ per in-person transaction; Plus plan at $49/month reducing to 2.5% + 15¢; Premium plan at $149/month reducing to 2.4% + 15¢. Bitcoin payment processing is fee-free through 2026, then 1% thereafter. This is the primary revenue driver.
2. Subscription Plans (Software): Monthly subscription plans (Plus at $49/month and Premium at $149/month) provide reduced processing rates, additional features, and professional tools for growing businesses. Square for Franchises, Square for Restaurants Premium, and Square Appointments are sold as add-on subscriptions. These recurring revenue streams provide predictability and higher-value merchant relationships.
3. Hardware Sales: Sale of POS hardware including Square Register (2nd gen) at $899 or $44/mo over 24 months, Square Handheld at $399 or $37/mo over 12 months, Square Terminal at $299 or $27/mo over 12 months, Square Stand at $149 or $14/mo over 12 months, and Square Reader for contactless/chip at $59. One-time hardware purchases and hardware installment plans.
4. Banking and Financial Services: Square Banking offers Square Checking and Savings accounts. Square Savings offers 1.00% APY for balances under $10,000 and 3.50% APY for balances $10,000 or more. Square Capital provides loans to sellers based on transaction history. Square Payroll and Square Credit Card services generate additional fees. Square Savings Deposit Account terms apply.
5. Small Business Lending (Square Capital): Machine learning-powered credit underwriting extends capital to small business sellers. Since 2014, Square has originated more than $32 billion in loans for small businesses, with 58% going to women-owned businesses and 36% to minority-owned businesses. Loans issued by Square Financial Services, Inc.
6. Marketing and Loyalty Services: Square Loyalty programs, Square Marketing, and customer engagement tools. Additional services include gift cards, photo studio, and marketplace integrations. These add-on services drive incremental revenue from existing merchant base and increase platform stickiness.
7. Afterpay (BNPL): Block's Afterpay platform enables buy-now-pay-later functionality for consumers and merchants. Afterpay shareholders received a fixed exchange ratio of 0.375 shares of Square Class A common stock per share in the 2021 acquisition. BNPL services generate merchant fees and consumer installment interest where applicable.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion6 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Square, Block's merchant-focused commerce platform, provides integrated POS hardware and software, payment processing, business management tools (inventory, loyalty, marketing, payroll, appointments), and financial services (checking, savings, loans, credit cards) for small and mid-sized businesses. Block also operates consumer-facing Cash App (P2P payments, banking, Bitcoin), Afterpay (BNPL), Tidal (music streaming), and Bitkey (Bitcoin self-custody) on the same technology backbone.

Product overview

Block operates Square as a unified commerce platform combining hardware (POS devices), software (point-of-sale, restaurant, retail, beauty, and appointments solutions), and financial services (checking, savings, loans, credit card, Bitcoin) into a single integrated ecosystem. The platform is anchored by Square POS hardware including Square Register (2nd gen), Square Handheld, Square Terminal, Square Stand, and Square Readers, all running the Square POS software. This hardware-software foundation is extended by add-on modules covering restaurant operations (Square for Restaurants with KDS and Square for Drive-Thru), retail management (Square for Retail), beauty and appointments (Square Appointments), franchise operations (Square for Franchises), customer engagement (Square Loyalty, Square Marketing, Square Messages), online commerce (Square Online Ordering, Square Websites), back-office functions (Square Payroll, Square Shifts, Square Team Communication), and financial services (Square Checking, Square Savings, Square Loans, Square Credit Card, Expansion Capital). Block also offers Bitcoin payment processing through Square Bitcoin and Bitkey hardware wallet, and operates consumer-facing brands Cash App (P2P payments and banking), Afterpay (BNPL), and Tidal (music streaming). The ecosystem is developer-accessible via Square Developer APIs with SDKs in 8 languages, and extendable through the Square App Marketplace.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Square POS: Point-of-sale platform for merchants to process payments, manage inventory, and run their businesses.
• Cash App
• Afterpay
• TIDAL
• Square for Restaurants
• Square for Retail
• Square for Franchises
• Square Banking
• Bitkey
• Managerbot
• Square AI
• Square Restaurant Inventory by MarketMan

Products and services

• Square Point of Sale (POS) Core point-of-sale platform enabling merchants to accept card and contactless payments in person and online, with tools for managing orders, inventory, customers, and team operations across a unified commerce platform.
• Square Register (2nd gen) Dual-screen POS device with merchant-facing operations screen and customer-facing screen for fast checkout, priced at $899 or $44/month over 24 months.
• Square Handheld Portable POS device weighing 11 ounces that moves with the business, enabling mobile payments and order processing, priced at $399 or $37/month over 12 months.
• Square Terminal Receipt-printing POS device for countertop commerce, priced at $299 or $27/month over 12 months.
• Square Stand iPad-based POS with swiveling display for counter-service retail and restaurant environments, priced at $149 or $14/month over 12 months.
• Square Reader for contactless and chip Portable card reader supporting tap, dip, and swipe payments for mobile devices, priced at $59.
• Square Reader for magstripe Magstripe card reader enabling basic card payment acceptance via mobile devices.
• Square Kiosk Self-service ordering kiosk hardware and software for restaurants enabling customer self-ordering at a counter or drive-thru.
• Square for Restaurants Restaurant-specific POS solution covering quick service, full service, bars and breweries, food trucks, catering, bakeries, and pizzerias, with features including Kitchen Display System (KDS), table management, and menu management.
• Square for Retail Retail-optimized POS solution for inventory management with specialized features for clothing, home and gift, wine and liquor, grocery, and garden merchants.
• Square Appointments Bookings and appointments POS solution for beauty salons, hair salons, nail salons, day spas, barbershops, tattoo and piercing studios, and med spas, enabling online scheduling and customer management.
• Square for Drive-Thru End-to-end integrated solution for quick-service restaurant drive-thru operations, combining order capture, kitchen display systems, and customer handoff workflows with digital menu boards and order confirmation technology from The Howard Company and Nanonation.
• Square for Franchises Franchise-specific management platform enabling standardized operations across multiple locations, including centralized menu management, unified reporting, KPI tracking, branded micro-sites for online ordering, same-day pickup, local delivery, and event bookings.
• Square Online Ordering Online ordering profiles enabling merchants to accept orders for pickup and delivery through a digital storefront integrated with Square POS.
• Square Websites Website building and hosting tools enabling merchants to create branded e-commerce sites connected to Square's commerce platform for unified online and in-person operations.
• Square Invoices Invoice creation and management tools enabling merchants to send professional invoices and track payment status, with over $93 billion paid via Square invoices globally.
• Square Payroll Payroll processing and management tools integrated with Square POS for time tracking, team scheduling, and payroll tax handling.
• Square Marketing Marketing automation tools enabling merchants to run automated marketing campaigns, email campaigns, and customer engagement initiatives.
• Square Loyalty Customer loyalty program tool enabling merchants to track repeat visits, manage reward programs, and analyze customer trends to convert first-time visitors into regulars.
• Square Gift Cards Digital and physical gift card management integrated with Square POS for customer gifting and merchant revenue generation.
• Square Checking Business checking account offering instant access to funds generated through Square payment processing, with FDIC insurance coverage up to $250,000 through Sutton Bank.
• Square Savings

Quantifiable outcome

• Regular customers generate 6x more annual revenue than one-time visitors, and tip 11% higher on average
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

AI capability9 records

Feature12 records

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Toast: Toast is the leading restaurant-focused POS and commerce platform in the U.S., directly competing with Square for Restaurants, Square for Franchises, and Square Kiosk/Drive-Thru. Both target F&B SMBs and franchise operators with integrated payments, payroll, and online ordering.
• SumUp: SumUp is a European-headquartered mobile POS and card reader competitor with a similar SMB self-serve onboarding model. SumUp competes with Square Reader and Square Terminal in the UK, Ireland, and other shared markets.
• Lightspeed Commerce: Lightspeed provides cloud-based POS for retail and restaurants, directly competing with Square for Retail and Square for Restaurants. Both target SMB and mid-market merchants with integrated payments, e-commerce, and inventory.
• Shopify (Shopify POS): Shopify POS competes with Square for Retail and Square Online, particularly for omnichannel merchants who already use Shopify for e-commerce. Square's WooCommerce and online ordering integrations create direct overlap.

Broad incumbents

• Fiserv (Clover): Fiserv's Clover POS network is a major competitor in SMB in-person payments, directly overlapping with Square's hardware and software stack. Both target restaurants, retail, and services merchants with bundled processing and POS.
• Stripe: Stripe is a global payments infrastructure leader and a primary competitor to Square in payment processing. Both firms are explicitly identified as key players in the ~$150B global fintech infrastructure market, with overlapping SMB and enterprise acquiring offerings.
• Adyen: Adyen is a global payments processor named alongside Square and Stripe as a key fintech infrastructure player. While Adyen focuses more on enterprise/omnichannel merchants, it competes with Square for the same payment processing wallet of large multi-location brands.
• PayPal (Zettle): PayPal's Zettle POS hardware competes directly with Square Register, Handheld, and Reader. PayPal also overlaps with Square in online checkout, invoicing, and small business payment acceptance.
• Global Payments: Global Payments is a large publicly traded payments processor that competes with Square across merchant acquiring and integrated POS. Its scale and SMB reach make it a relevant comparable for Square's overall processing footprint.

Emerging players

• SpotOn: SpotOn is a fast-growing restaurant and retail POS/Payments platform competing with Square for Restaurants. Its bundled software-plus-payments model directly parallels Square's commerce ecosystem play in F&B.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat8 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@square
• Xx.com/Square
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/jacob-plump-4521bb271

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Block