{"id":643100,"date":"2026-08-18T06:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T06:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/643100\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T06:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T06:48:16","slug":"with-industry-consolidation-looming-block-refreshes-business-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/643100\/","title":{"rendered":"With industry consolidation looming, Block refreshes business payments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"yf-1jsc1up\">\n<li class=\"yf-1jsc1up\">\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><strong>Key insight<\/strong>: Block has updated cards and payments technology at its Square unit.  <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"yf-1jsc1up\">\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><strong>What&#8217;s at stake<\/strong>: While not directly related, Block made the upgrade as Stripe closes in on deals to acquire PayPal and OpenRouter, with Block being named as a potential investor in the PayPal deal.  <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"yf-1jsc1up\">\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><strong>Forward look<\/strong>: The potential Stripe deals are aimed at expanding AI as more merchants adopt advanced large language models.  <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanbanker.com\/payments\/news\/paypal-ceo-expresses-openness-to-acquisition?utm_campaign=distributionpartner&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoofinance\" data-ylk=\"slk:payments%20giant%20Stripe;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;source:content-canvas%20default\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;payments giant Stripe&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yTrafficOrigin&quot;:&quot;content-canvas default&quot;}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">payments giant Stripe<\/a> appears set to invest billions to acquire PayPal and AI firm OpenRouter, elsewhere in the industry Block is making a separate move to improve its business payments technology.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">Square, which is Block&#8217;s business-facing division, has updated its Square Credit Card to enable sellers to pay vendors through Square Bill Pay. This adds options beyond cards, including ACH or check. It&#8217;s also a key move to bolster Block&#8217;s business-facing operations, one of the company&#8217;s two major lines, along with consumer payments and Cash App, which consumers and business customers use.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">&#8220;It&#8217;s a credit and a B2B platform. You can pay your vendors, suppliers, rent and others \u2026 and you can do it digitally whether your vendor accepts a credit card or not,&#8221; Andrea Raj, head of product for Square Money, told American Banker.  <\/p>\n<p>        Square&#8217;s card          <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">In addition to more closely aligning Square&#8217;s card with Block&#8217;s other payment products, Square also tweaked its incentive marketing to include 3% cash back on Square Bill Pay transactions and 1.5% on purchases, redeemable as cash deposits into Square Savings.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">The refresh is part of a broader strategy at Block to expand its business services to more closely integrate payments, banking, credit and bill management together in one platform.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">Square is also attempting to address a need for businesses to manage cash positions as assets and liabilities don&#8217;t always match, creating overdraft risk, according to Raj.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">&#8220;Businesses face a mismatch of money out and money in,&#8221; Raj said, saying Square is adding tracking of incoming and outgoing B2B payments in addition to consumer checkout at small businesses. &#8220;We&#8217;re trying to smooth all of that out. What we&#8217;re tracking is how businesses earn all of their income. It&#8217;s no longer just funds coming through a point of sale.&#8221; Square is playing from a position of strength, as the <a href=\"https:\/\/s29.q4cdn.com\/628966176\/files\/doc_financials\/2026\/q2\/Block-Investor-Presentation-Q2-2026.pdf\" data-ylk=\"slk:unit&#039;s%20gross%20profit;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;source:content-canvas%20default\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;unit&#039;s gross profit&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yTrafficOrigin&quot;:&quot;content-canvas default&quot;}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">unit&#8217;s gross profit<\/a> rose more than 13% in the most recent quarter over the prior year. Block has also boosted its full-year outlook following a 40% <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanbanker.com\/payments\/news\/block-earnings-beat-wall-street-estimates?utm_campaign=distributionpartner&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoofinance\" data-ylk=\"slk:AI-powered%20downsizing;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;source:content-canvas%20default\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;AI-powered downsizing&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yTrafficOrigin&quot;:&quot;content-canvas default&quot;}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">AI-powered downsizing<\/a> earlier in 2026.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">&#8220;Block is supported by healthy operating trends across both Square and Cash App as well as ongoing execution against margin expansion initiatives,&#8221; BofA Global Research said in a research note.  <\/p>\n<p>    Story Continues  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">&#8220;Block epitomizes the secular shift toward tech-forward digital finance companies as it takes share with leading tech-enabled point of sale solutions and powers commerce and financial services monetization in Cash App, its next-gen consumer banking solution,&#8221; William Blair said in a research note.  <\/p>\n<p>       Meanwhile         <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">Square and Stripe both sell payment and e-commerce technology to businesses, largely small to medium-size firms. While Square did not upgrade its business payments technology as a direct competitive counter to Stripe, it&#8217;s also not operating in a vacuum.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">Stripe is either making or is close to making two large acquisitions, with potential participation from Block in one of the deals. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanbanker.com\/payments\/news\/stripe-takes-another-swing-at-paypal-aquisition?utm_campaign=distributionpartner&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=yahoofinance\" data-ylk=\"slk:Stripe;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;source:content-canvas%20default\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Stripe&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yTrafficOrigin&quot;:&quot;content-canvas default&quot;}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Stripe<\/a> and private equity firm Advent are reportedly negotiating a potential acquisition of PayPal as PayPal&#8217;s board reportedly rejected the firms&#8217; initial offer of $53 billion, reported in a number of financial media outlets earlier this summer. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/07\/15\/stripe-advent-offer-to-buy-paypal-for-more-than-53-billion-reuters.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:CNBC%20has%20linked%20Block;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;source:content-canvas%20default\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;CNBC has linked Block&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yTrafficOrigin&quot;:&quot;content-canvas default&quot;}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">CNBC has linked Block<\/a> to a potential PayPal deal, with Block, Stripe and Advent contributing $17 billion in equity. Separately Stripe has also reached a $7 billion deal to buy artificial intelligence firm OpenRouter, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-08-16\/stripe-nears-deal-to-buy-ai-firm-openrouter-for-over-7-billion\" data-ylk=\"slk:Bloomberg;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;source:content-canvas%20default\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Bloomberg&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yTrafficOrigin&quot;:&quot;content-canvas default&quot;}\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Bloomberg<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">Any combination of PayPal and Stripe, along with OpenRouter and a potential stake from Block, would build scale for AI at a time when payment companies and banks are investing heavily in agentic commerce. While AI agents are mostly not used to make payments, they play a role in shopping and customer service, along with internal uses to speed product development. PayPal&#8217;s strategy includes Fastlane, an AI-powered product that enables payments and payment facilitation, or routing payments based on a sender&#8217;s costs and timing preference. Block and Stripe have also made inroads into agentic commerce.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">Stripe and Block did not comment.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">OpenRouter, which is not part of the rumored PayPal deal, enables developers to research and switch large language models, including those from vendors such as OpenAI, Google, Meta and Anthropic.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\"><strong>Read more:<\/strong>  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">That&#8217;s important because as businesses increasingly use large language models, they are becoming attached to specific models, which can be used for payments and a variety of other non-payment purposes, according to Richard Crone, a payments consultant who has researched how merchants are using advanced forms of AI.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">Crone said the businesses his firm speaks with are widely using advanced AI across their entire business, making it easier to switch payment companies than an AI provider.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"text text-block paragraph text-left neo-font-paragraph-xl-reg  yf-18d6y07\" style=\"text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; text-transform: none; text-align: inherit; font-variant-numeric: normal;\">&#8220;Businesses are more loyal to their LLM,&#8221; Crone said. &#8220;A small business can easily plug into a payment processor but not necessarily an LLM.&#8221;  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Key insight: Block has updated cards and payments technology at its Square unit. What&#8217;s at stake: While not&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[261],"tags":[291,289,290,67993,165910,272055,18,19,17,4589,272054,272056,46138,82],"class_list":["post-643100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-block","tag-business-customers","tag-business-payments","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-paypal","tag-square-credit-card","tag-square-unit","tag-stripe","tag-technology"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117115178638443038","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}