Square

Payment service provider · Oakland, United States

Square is the seller-facing point-of-sale and payments business of Block, Inc. (NYSE: XYZ). It sells card readers, POS software and online checkout, charging a flat processing fee, and layers on Square Checking, Square Savings and short-term Square Loans for sellers in the United States. Square is not itself a bank: its US banking products are issued by an affiliate, Square Financial Services, Inc., a Utah-chartered industrial bank with its own FDIC insurance, and its EU business runs through Squareup International Limited, an Irish-licensed e-money institution. Square operates directly in eight countries: the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Australia and Japan.

Legal name: Block, Inc. (Square seller ecosystem)
Regulated by: FDIC and Utah Department of Financial Institutions (Square Financial Services, Inc.), Central Bank of Ireland (Squareup International Limited, EMI), US state money transmitter regulators, NMLS 942933, New York State Department of Financial Services, SEC and FINRA (Cash App Investing LLC, broker-dealer)
Licence confirmed: yes, on a regulator's own list
Established: 2009
Website: squareup.com

Scores, 0 to 10

8.0Fast digital onboarding

Square Checking activates instantly online once a Square account is approved, with no branch visit and no minimum deposit. · source

8.0Accept crypto payments

Square sellers can take bitcoin over Lightning at the point of sale, in Square Online and on invoices since 10 November 2025, settled as BTC or USD, with 0 percent processing fees until 2027 and 1 percent after; it is bitcoin only and US only, and was switched on by default for eligible US sellers in March 2026. · source

7.5Bitcoin

Square sellers can buy, hold, sell and withdraw bitcoin to external wallets with standard, rush or priority speeds and accept Lightning payments, all from the business dashboard; incoming transfers from external wallets are not supported. · source

7.0United States

Square Financial Services, Inc. is an FDIC-insured Utah industrial bank offering nationwide Square Checking, Savings and Loans, though it is not a full-service commercial bank. · source

7.0On-ramp: buy crypto with fiat

A seller can buy bitcoin inside its Square account up to USD 100,000 a week and can auto-convert up to 50 percent of daily card sales into bitcoin at a 0.5 to 1 percent fee; the route is USD to bitcoin only. · source

6.5Financial strength & stability

Block, Inc. is publicly listed on the NYSE with FY2025 revenue of USD 24.2 billion and total assets of USD 39.5 billion, but disclosed pending state AML settlement talks in November 2024 and is unrated as a bank. · source

6.5Crypto wallet and custody for a business

Eligible US sellers, except those in New York and US territories, get a bitcoin wallet in Square Dashboard where Square is the custodian and which is protected by two-step verification; it holds bitcoin only and cannot receive bitcoin from external wallets, checked September 2026. · source

6.0Lowest fees

Flat published pricing of 2.6% + 15 cents in-person and 3.3% + 30 cents online on the free plan, with no monthly account fee for Square Checking. · source

6.0Business cards (Visa, Mastercard)

The free Square Debit Mastercard has no monthly fee and up to five cards per Square Checking account, though it earns no rewards and third-party ATM fees can apply. · source

6.0Off-ramp: crypto to fiat in a business account

Sellers can sell bitcoin in the Square wallet at any time with no limit and bitcoin payments can settle straight to USD, but bitcoin from outside wallets cannot be deposited, so only coins bought or received through Square can be sold. · source

5.5Europe (EU, EEA, Switzerland)

Squareup International Limited holds a Central Bank of Ireland e-money institution licence passported across the EEA, with Square live in Ireland, France and Spain. · source

5.5Customer satisfaction

Trustpilot gives Square US a TrustScore of 3.7 out of 5 from 7,464 reviews, citing mixed customer-service and account-management experiences. · source

5.0United Kingdom

Square point-of-sale and payments are sold directly in the UK, but no UK banking or e-money licence for Square itself was found; UK activity runs on card-acquiring rails. · source

5.0Online businesses: e-commerce and SaaS

Square explicitly supports online, in-person and omnichannel selling with published flat-rate online pricing of 3.3% + 30 cents and integrated checkout. Square's tools target in-person and omnichannel retail and restaurant sellers; there is no dedicated recurring-billing or SaaS product beyond basic invoicing. · source

4.5Canada

Square point-of-sale and payments are sold in Canada, but no Canadian banking or payment-institution licence for Square was found beyond payments registration. · source

4.5Asia-Pacific (SG, HK, AU, JP, KR)

Square operates directly in Australia and Japan, but no evidence of a banking licence in either market; the product is payments and POS only. · source

4.5Best interest on business balances

Square Savings, a connected high-yield account, pays 1.75% APY with no stated minimum, well below top treasury products. · source

4.0Startups & VC-backed companies

Square onboards small and pre-revenue sellers in minutes online, but has no venture-debt or startup-specific programme. · source

3.0Cross-border payments, FX and multi-currency accounts

Square reports sales in the local currency of each of its eight markets but offers no FX conversion, multi-currency holding or cross-border settlement product for merchants. Square Checking, Savings and Loans are single-currency small-business tools with no cash pooling, hedging or multi-entity treasury management. · source

2.5Foreign-owned & non-resident companies

A working Square account needs a US SSN or ITIN, a US bank account and a US business address, which forum guidance confirms blocks most non-resident-owned businesses. · source

2.5Stablecoins (USDC, USDT and others)

Square offers sellers no stablecoin acceptance or balance; the group's consumer app Cash App, also run by Block, opened USDC send and receive with automatic conversion to dollars to all eligible individual customers in May 2026, which is a retail product of the parent group. · source

2.0Crypto-friendly bank

Block's Bitcoin ecosystem revenue comes from Cash App's retail bitcoin trading; Square does not publish a policy for banking other crypto exchanges or brokers as merchant clients. · source

2.0Fintech companies that need a partner bank

Square publishes no safeguarding-account or agency-banking product for other EMIs or payment institutions; it is itself a payments company rather than a banking-as-a-service provider. · source

1.5Trade, manufacturing & import-export

No trade finance, letters of credit or supply-chain finance product exists; Square is a retail payments and small-business banking platform. · source

1.5High-risk verticals (iGaming, cannabis, adult, forex)

Square's Payment Terms explicitly prohibit cannabis and CBD products, adult entertainment and gambling or betting businesses. · source

1.0Ethereum

Square's crypto features for sellers cover bitcoin only; there is no ether buying, holding, acceptance or transfer, checked September 2026. · source

Sources

Built on public information and the BankStore team's own aggregated experience; no confidential client or partner data. Bank Index and BankStore are not banks. This is information, not financial advice.