Wallets/square
Square
0 standards supported
Overview
Square is the US's defining small-business + SMB merchant-payment platform, operated as a division of Block, Inc. (NYSE: XYZ; formerly Square, Inc.) [1, 2]. Founded 2009 by Jack Dorsey + Jim McKelvey, Square pioneered the iconic white Square Reader credit-card-reader plug-in for smartphones — enabling any small merchant to accept card payments without expensive POS hardware. In Q3 2025, Square's gross payment volume (GPV) reached $67.2 billion (+12% YoY) with international payments contributing 26% of growth. Square segment gross profit grew 9% YoY in Q3 2025. Companion product [[cash-app]] is the consumer-side of Block's strategy.
2025 product launches: Square Handheld portable POS device + unified Square subscription plans (Free + Plus + Premium) launched October 2025 to simplify software ecosystem.
History
February 2009 — Founded by Jack Dorsey + Jim McKelvey [2]: Originally Square Inc.; iconic white Square Reader card-reader hardware launched 2010.
2010-2015 — Square Reader + mass US SMB adoption [2]: Plug-in mag-stripe card reader on smartphones disrupted SMB-payments market.
2013 — Square Cash launches [cash-app-cro]: Consumer P2P companion (later Cash App).
November 2015 — Square IPO (NYSE: SQ) [2]: $9 share price; substantial subsequent appreciation.
2018 — Square Capital + Square Banking expansion [2]: Merchant lending + banking.
December 2021 — Square renamed Block, Inc. [2]: NYSE ticker → XYZ; reflects broader blockchain + financial-services focus.
2021 — Afterpay acquisition ($29B): BNPL into Square + Cash App.
Q3 2025 — Square segment GPV $67.2B (+12% YoY) + segment gross profit +9% YoY + 26% international payments growth [1, 3].
October 2025 — Square Handheld launch + unified subscription plans (Free/Plus/Premium) [1].
Ownership & operator
Operating entity: Square — division of Block, Inc. (NYSE: XYZ).
Founder + CEO: Jack Dorsey (co-founder of both Square + Twitter; CEO of Block).
Sister product within Block: [[cash-app]] (consumer side).
Other Block subsidiaries: Afterpay (BNPL; acquired 2021), TIDAL (music streaming), Spiral (formerly Square Crypto; Bitcoin R&D), TBD (Bitcoin/Web5 infrastructure).
Regulators:
- United States: state-level money transmitter licenses across all 50 states; FinCEN Money Services Business; NYDFS + other state regulators.
- Per-country: Australia (AUSTRAC + RBA), UK (FCA), Ireland (CBI), Canada (FINTRAC), Japan (FSA), France + Spain (per-EU regulator).
Technical integration
Square is SMB-focused merchant-payment platform with POS hardware + payment-processing + banking + lending + capital [1, 2]:
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Hardware | Square Reader (iconic white mag-stripe; chip; contactless), Square Stand, Square Register, Square Terminal, Square Handheld (2025) |
| Channels | Square Point of Sale app (iOS + Android) + Square Online (e-commerce) + Square API |
| Identifiers | Card number (tokenized via EMV) |
| Card networks | Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, UnionPay (per market) |
| Sub-products | Square Payments, Square Banking, Square Loans, Square Capital, Square Marketing, Square Loyalty, Square Appointments, Square Restaurants, Square Retail, Square Invoices |
| BNPL integration | Afterpay integrated into Square checkout |
| Standards | EMV (chip + contactless) + ACH + per-country local payments |
Users & growth
Square segment (Q3 2025) [1, 3]:
- Gross payment volume (GPV): $67.2 billion (+12% YoY)
- International payments contribution to growth: 26%
- Segment gross profit: +9% YoY
Block group (2025) [1]:
- Block 2025 gross-profit guidance: $10.25 billion (+15% YoY)
- Cash App (Block's consumer arm): 58 million MAU (September 2025)
Use cases
SMB card-payment acceptance [1]: Cardinal use — defining Square use case.
iconic Square Reader hardware [2]: Plug-in card reader for smartphones — original product.
Square POS apps (Square Register, Square Stand, Square Terminal, Square Handheld) [1]: Full POS hardware lineup.
Square Online (e-commerce) [2]: Web-based commerce platform.
Square Banking + Square Loans [2]: SMB deposits + credit.
Square Capital (merchant cash advance) [2]: Advance against future Square sales.
Square Restaurants + Retail + Appointments [2]: Vertical-specific SaaS.
Square Loyalty + Marketing [2]: SMB engagement tools.
Square API (developer platform) [2]: Custom integrations.
Afterpay BNPL at Square checkout [2]: BNPL option for shoppers at Square merchants.
Implementations & partners
Operator: Square (Block, Inc. division).
Sister product within Block: [[cash-app]] (consumer side).
BNPL subsidiary integration: Afterpay (acquired 2021).
Card-network partners: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, UnionPay.
Major competitors:
- [[stripe]] (developer-first payments — competes for SMB + larger merchants).
- [[paypal]] / Braintree (online + omnichannel).
- Toast (restaurant POS specialist; US).
- Shopify POS (e-commerce-led POS).
- Lightspeed (POS competitor).
- Adyen (enterprise payments).
- Local processors per country.
Fun facts
- Founded February 2009 by Jack Dorsey + Jim McKelvey — Dorsey was Twitter CEO simultaneously.
- iconic white Square Reader plug-in card-reader (2010) defined the SMB-payments-on-smartphone category.
- November 2015 NYSE IPO at $9/share — substantial subsequent appreciation.
- December 2021 Square → Block rebrand + NYSE ticker SQ → XYZ.
- Q3 2025 GPV $67.2B (+12% YoY) + 26% international payments growth contribution.
- October 2025 Square Handheld launch + unified Free/Plus/Premium subscription tiers.
- Afterpay acquisition (2021, $29B) — BNPL into Square merchant + Cash App consumer.
- Companion product Cash App is Block's consumer arm — Square serves merchants, Cash App serves consumers.
- Square Capital advances against future Square sales — distinctive merchant-lending model.
Comparison
| Feature | Square (Block) | [[stripe]] | [[paypal]] (+ Braintree) | Toast (restaurant) | Shopify POS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Block, Inc. (XYZ) — Square division | Stripe, Inc. (private) | PayPal Holdings (PYPL) | Toast, Inc. (TOST) | Shopify (SHOP) |
| Primary segment | SMB merchant payments + POS hardware | Developer-first payments | Online checkout + Braintree | Restaurant-specific POS | E-commerce-led POS |
| Hardware | Square Reader + Register + Stand + Terminal + Handheld | Stripe Terminal | PayPal Here (retired) | Toast POS | Shopify POS Pro hardware |
| Q3 2025 GPV/TPV | $67.2B (Square only) | $1.9T annualized (group) | $458.1B PayPal total TPV | n/a (vertical) | n/a |
| Sister consumer product | [[cash-app]] (Block sister) | None | Venmo (PayPal sister) | None | None |
| BNPL | Afterpay (acquired 2021) | Affirm + Klarna integrations | PayPal Pay Later | None | Shop Pay Installments |
Status
Active, leading US SMB merchant-payment platform [1, 2]:
- Square (Block, Inc. division; NYSE: XYZ).
- Q3 2025 GPV $67.2B (+12% YoY) + 26% international growth contribution + segment gross profit +9% YoY.
- October 2025 Square Handheld + unified Free/Plus/Premium plans.
- Companion product [[cash-app]] (Block's consumer arm).
- Block 2025 gross-profit guidance: $10.25B (+15% YoY).
Sources
- 1 Block Q3 2025 earnings — SEC
- 2 Block, Inc. — Wikipedia
- 3 Cash App + Square Q3 earnings — eMarketer
- 4 Square Statistics 2026 — CoinLaw
- cash-app-cro Cross-reference:
reports/wallets/cash-app.md
Source
Biography extracted from square.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.