Cash App
Block's mobile money app, launched in 2013 as Square Cash: an email-based way to send money that grew into a 59-million-user wallet, debit card, investing and buy-now-pay-later platform — now Block's vehicle for banking its users and connecting them to Square sellers.
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- Country
- United States
- What it is
- Mobile payment service and digital wallet owned by Block, Inc.
- Launched
- October 2013, as Square Cash
- Former name
- Square Cash (Square, Inc. later renamed itself Block, Inc.)
- Monthly actives
- 59 million (reported August 2026)
- Cash Card
- Visa-branded debit card, launched June 2017
- Key features
- Peer-to-peer payments, Cash Card, bitcoin trading, stock investing, Afterpay buy now, pay later on Cash Card
- UK operations
- Closed 15 September 2024
Overview
Cash App is Block’s mobile money app: a digital wallet that began in October 2013 as Square Cash, a no-fee way to send money by email, and grew into a 59-million-monthly-active platform spanning a debit card, bitcoin and stock investing, and buy now, pay later — a service Block now uses to bank its users and connect them to the merchants on its Square network (Payments Dive). At launch, sending money meant putting the recipient in the “To” field, cash@square.com in “CC” and the amount in the subject line, using a linked debit card — no app or account needed on the receiving end (AppleInsider). Basic transfers were capped at $250 a week, rising to $2,500 with identity verification, and the service was available only in the United States (AppleInsider).
From email payments to a money app
The app added one financial product at a time. The Cash Card, a Visa-branded debit card linked to Cash App balances, launched in June 2017 and reached 3.5 million active users by August 2019, when it and the fee-bearing instant-deposit feature were Cash App’s two biggest revenue contributors (Digital Transactions). Bitcoin buying and selling expanded to all users on January 31, 2018, after a trial, with purchases capped at $10,000 a week and priced at a mid-market rate plus a spread (TechCrunch). Stock trading followed on October 24, 2019, with fractional shares available from as little as $1 (The Block). Block, formerly Square, had launched the service to compete with mobile payment apps like Venmo and PayPal (Tech.eu).
The banking pivot: depth over headcount
Cash App’s recent story is less about adding users than about deepening how the users it has use money. Block reported 58 million monthly actives in September 2025, but the metric it chose to highlight was new: 8.3 million “primary banking actives” — accounts receiving wage inflows or spending at least $500 a month across Cash App — up 18% year over year (Block, Inc.). In the same quarter, Block reported Cash App Borrow originations up 134% year over year and post-purchase buy now, pay later originations crossing $3 billion on an annualised basis (Block, Inc.). That credit turn is the context for Afterpay: Block expanded Afterpay on the Cash App Card to eligible cardholders generally in June 2026, after a 2025 pilot in 20 states, letting users convert everyday purchases — groceries, gas, utilities — into instalments (Payments Dive). The loans are offered through First Electronic Bank on the Visa network, underwritten on customers’ cash-flow data rather than traditional credit files, and aimed at hourly and gig workers (Payments Dive). In Block’s own example, a $240 purchase carries a flat 7.5% finance fee and a fixed 65.15% annual percentage rate, repaid over six weeks (Payments Dive). Separately, Afterpay Pre-Purchase — picking instalments instead of a debit charge at checkout — reached general availability in 2026, while Cash App commerce enablement volume grew 17% and consumer lending originations grew 59% (The Motley Fool).
Neighborhoods, retreat, and scrutiny
In October 2025 Block debuted Neighborhoods, a local network linking its 59 million Cash App monthly users with about 4.5 million Square merchants (Payments Dive). Customers order through Cash App, merchants pay a 1% processing fee — half Square’s usual rate — and users earn up to 10% of an order total, capped at $10, in Local Cash rewards that Block funds for 12 months (Payments Dive). By August 2026 Block had added 30,000 more restaurant merchants to the network, and said Neighborhoods users accounted for about 10% of a seller’s gross payment volume after roughly nine months on average (Payments Dive). The same US-first focus ended Cash App’s only other market: Cash App UK closed on September 15, 2024, with Block saying it was prioritising the United States and deprioritising global expansion (Tech.eu).
Growth has also drawn scrutiny. In March 2023 short seller Hindenburg Research alleged Block had overstated Cash App user numbers for years, citing former employees who estimated 40% to 75% of accounts they reviewed were fake, involved in fraud, or duplicates; Block responded that 44 million of its more than 51 million December 2022 monthly actives were identity-verified, and Hindenburg countered that this implied 16% to 31% inflation (Reuters). Then in January 2025, state regulators imposed an $80 million multistate settlement on Block for Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering violations, requiring an independent consultant’s review of its compliance programme within nine months and correction of deficiencies within a year; Block cooperated with the states (Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not claim Cash App’s monthly actives are unique people: Block’s own definition counts accounts, which may share identifiers or belong to a single customer holding several accounts. It does not resolve the 2023 Hindenburg dispute — the allegation and Block’s response are both reported, and no source read adjudicated between them. It does not state a primary-banking figure newer than September 2025, because none was verified in a source read in full. It does not present the Afterpay finance example as universal terms: eligibility is not guaranteed, loans are state-dependent, and the $240 illustration is Block’s own example, not a rate card. Finally, it does not assert a headquarters city for Cash App itself, which different sources place differently for its parent, and it does not adjudicate why Cash App UK closed beyond Block’s stated US-focus rationale.
Timeline
- 2013
- Square launches Square Cash, a no-fee person-to-person service that sends money by email, capped at $250 a week for basic users and $2,500 with verification.
- 2017
- The Cash Card, a Visa-branded debit card linked to Cash App balances, launches in June; by August 2019 it has 3.5 million active users.
- 2018
- Bitcoin buying and selling expands to all Cash App users on January 31, after a trial, with a $10,000 weekly purchase cap.
- 2019
- Cash App adds stock trading on October 24, with fractional shares available from as little as $1.
- 2023
- Short seller Hindenburg Research alleges Block overstated Cash App user numbers; Block responds that 44 million of its 51 million-plus December 2022 monthly actives were identity-verified.
- 2024
- Cash App UK closes on September 15 as Block prioritises the United States and deprioritises global expansion.
- 2025
- Block reports 58 million Cash App monthly actives in September, including 8.3 million primary banking actives, and debuts Neighborhoods, linking Cash App users to Square sellers.
- 2026
- Afterpay on Cash App Card expands to eligible cardholders generally in June, after a 2025 pilot in 20 states; Afterpay Pre-Purchase reaches general availability and Cash App commerce enablement volume grows 17%.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- Monthly actives are accounts, not unique people — Block's own definition notes that accounts may share an alias identifier and one customer may hold multiple accounts, so actives must not be read as a headcount.
- The 2023 Hindenburg dispute over user counts was not adjudicated in any source read; both sides are reported and neither is adopted.
- The latest verified primary-banking figure is September 2025 (8.3 million); no later figure was verified in a source read in full.
- The Afterpay finance example ($240 purchase, 7.5% fee, 65.15% APR, six-week term) is one illustration from Block's release; terms vary by state and eligibility is not guaranteed.
Sources
11 sources (2 tier 1, 8 tier 2, 1 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
Built from sources fetched and read in full: Reuters (tier1) for the 2023 user-count dispute, a state banking regulator release (tier1) for the 2025 AML settlement, and tier2 specialist coverage (AppleInsider, TechCrunch, Digital Transactions, The Block, Tech.eu, Payments Dive, Motley Fool) for the product timeline and 2025–2026 status. Block's own shareholder letter is used only for company-reported metrics, each labelled as Block's reporting. Wikipedia was used only as a lead index and is not cited.
- Supports: Hindenburg's allegation that Block overstated Cash App user numbers; former-employee estimate of 40–75% fake/fraud/duplicate reviewed accounts; Block's response of 44 million identity-verified of 51 million-plus December 2022 actives; Hindenburg's 16–31% inflation claim Open original source
- Supports: $80 million multistate BSA/AML enforcement action against Block; independent-consultant review within nine months and a year to correct deficiencies; Block's cooperation; findings on customer due diligence, suspicious-activity reporting and high-risk-account controls Open original source
- Supports: October 2013 launch as Square Cash; email-based no-fee person-to-person transfers; $250 basic / $2,500 verified weekly caps; debit card + email requirements; US-only at launch Open original source
- Supports: Bitcoin trading expanded to all users January 31, 2018; $10,000 weekly cap; no purchase fee but mid-market price with a spread; bitcoin held by Square Open original source
- Supports: Cash Card as a Visa-branded debit card launched June 2017 with 3.5 million active users by August 2019; card and instant-deposit as Cash App's two biggest revenue contributors Open original source
- Cash App adds stock trading Tier 2Supports: Stock trading announced October 24, 2019; fractional shares from as little as $1 Open original source
- Supports: Cash App UK closure on September 15, 2024; Block's stated US-focus rationale; 50 million-plus monthly actives at that date; launched 2013 as Square Cash to compete with Venmo and PayPal Open original source
- Supports: Afterpay on Cash App Card expansion June 2026 after a 2025 pilot in 20 states; loans via First Electronic Bank on the Visa network; cash-flow-based underwriting; targeting of hourly and gig workers for everyday purchases; $240 / 7.5% fee / 65.15% APR / six-week example; pilot finding that three in five users transacted at least five times Open original source
- Supports: Afterpay Pre-Purchase reaching general availability; Cash App commerce enablement volume growing 17%; consumer lending originations growing 59% Open original source
- Building Block's Square base Tier 2Supports: Neighborhoods debut October 2025 linking 59 million Cash App monthly users with about 4.5 million Square merchants; 1% processing fee; Local Cash rewards up to 10% of order total, max $10, Block-funded for 12 months; 30,000 more restaurant merchants added August 2026; Neighborhoods users averaging about 10% of a seller's gross payment volume after nine months Open original source
- Q3 2025 Shareholder Letter First-partySupports: Company-reported metrics only — 58 million monthly actives September 2025; 8.3 million primary banking actives, up 18% year over year, with the primary-banking definition; post-purchase BNPL originations crossing $3 billion annualised; Cash App Borrow originations up 134% year over year; Neighborhoods introduction; the transacting-active account definition footnote Open original source
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