Tech conglomerate Block released its third-quarter results for the year which shines a light on the significance of its mobile payment service Cash App.
The Q3 results revealed that Cash App generated a gross profit of $774m – just under half of Block’s total gross profit of $1.57bn, up 51% and 38% respectively year-over-year (YoY).
In addition, the Cash App Card which serves as a debit card for Cash App customers, also saw significant growth in the last quarter, scaling up more than 35% in monthly active users and 40% YoY.
The Jack Dorsey-owned Block launched Cash App back in 2013 and in continuous attempts to stand out from similar payment services such as Google Pay and Apple Pay, it introduced the Cash App Card to provide customers with a physical link to their online account.
Whilst not officially listed as a traditional bank with no licence yet signed off on, Cash App is growing in usage and in profitability, as insiders are now beginning to view the fintech service more and more as a bank.
Dorsey commented on the Q3 results stating: “We don’t have the data on whether we’re primarily competing against other credit cards or other banks, but that is certainly our goal.
“Over time, we want to work towards being primary because everything that you need in your financial life you can find within Cash App Card. So that’s the goal, that’s what we’re focused on, and I think we have the best strategy to get there.”
Furthermore, Block CFO Amrita Ahuja, attributed Cash App’s flexibility to offer a range of payment options as a result of the services success over the last quarter.
She commented: “We believe driving inflows per active user starts with the customers ability to easily fund their Cash App accounts through a variety of channels.
“Together, direct deposit and paper money deposits have made up a growing share of overall inflows reaching 14% of inflows in the third quarter, up from 9% a year ago.”
Block’s Q3 findings also revealed its point-of-sale solution platform Square grew a gross profit of more than 45% YoY.
Dorsey added: “We realise there are some significant challenges all businesses are facing today. So giving sellers simple and intuitive tools to remove complexity from running their business is critical.”
As well as owning former Jay Z-owned music streaming service Tidal, along with the recently acquired BNPL platform AfterPay, Block has displayed a plethora of avenues it can attribute to the growth of the company, which currently boasts a net worth of $34.22bn according to Macrotrends.
“We’re building multiple ecosystems to serve different audiences,” concluded Dorsey.
“Square for sellers, Cash App for consumers, Tidal for musicians and TBD for developers. But what makes Block unique is our ability to connect all of these together.”
