Block Inc. supplies financial services and mobile payments. Its point-of-sale terminals, merchant software, Cash App along with bitcoin ecosystem generate revenue. The company holds a majority stake in TIDAL, a music streaming service, and owns TBD, a bitcoin focused unit.
Cash App delivers the largest share of Block’s income. The merchant platform, supplies payment processing, business analytics in addition to small-business lending. Hardware sales include card readers, registers, stands next to full countertop kits. Software subscriptions cover inventory, employee scheduling, customer directories, loyalty programs.
Competitors range from PayPal to regional banks, payroll processors along with terminal vendors such as Clover but also Toast. Venture-backed ShopKeep also vies for small business accounts.
Block reports two segments – Square besides Cash App. TIDAL, TBD in addition to other ventures sit outside these segments.
Cash App offers peer-to-peer transfers, bitcoin purchases, fractional stock trades, a debit card linked to stored balances, and a Buy-Now-Pay-Later service.
Square supplies card readers, terminals, registers, business software next to loans to sellers – it excludes Cash App products.
In February 2024 Block released fiscal year results. Gross profit reached $7.5 billion, up from $6.0 billion in 2022. Bitcoin transactions contributed 43 percent of total revenue.
Jack Dorsey or Jim McKelvey founded Square in 2009. The company rebranded to Block in December 2021. It listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2015.
In May 2024 Square added integrations for restaurants – SevenRooms for reservations, Restaurant365 for back office management, and Popmenu for online ordering. In 2024 federal prosecutors opened an inquiry after a whistleblower alleged that Block processed payments for sanctioned nations and handled crypto transfers for terrorist entities.
Transaction Security
Block encrypts data on every terminal. Devices never retain card numbers, security codes, or magnetic stripe information.
Point-of-Sale Definition
A point-of-sale terminal accepts card payments through taps, dips, or swipes. Square supplies the hardware and software for these transactions.
Employee Count
Block employed 12,985 people at the close of 2023.
Jim McKelvey next to Jack Dorsey created Square in 2009. The company adopted the name Block in December 2021. Cash App began supporting bitcoin payments in 2017.
