• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

New

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Watch Fortune Daily, our new video show that brings you inside the Fortune newsroom and the boardroom

Tech

Square Just Became an Online Lender

By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 25, 2016, 8:26 AM ET
Photo Courtesy: Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

The recent bright star in the portfolio of Square, the San Francisco payments company led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorseyc, isn’t actually payments. It’s the company’s cash advance service, Square Capital, which provides cash advances to merchants using Square’s point of sale service.

On Thursday, Square revealed that it is deepening its footprint in the financial stack by becoming a traditional online lender.

The move also puts it in competition with other small business lenders such as OnDeck Capital.

In the past, Square (SQ) has insisted that it isn’t a lender, and that its existing cash advances are intended for merchants who need money fast and may not qualify for a loan. Merchants receive a lump-sum payment in exchange for an agreed-upon percentage of future sales, as well as a fee.

Cash advances are a speedy source of additional funds, but they come with pricey fees that help insulate the lender from the additional risk to make them. They’re also not as heavily regulated as traditional loans.

Square’s new loans are aimed at small businesses that already use its point of sale services. Square says it will take into account company sales data and cash flow, among other information, to determine if a business qualifies for a loans and what the resulting fee structure may look like. The approach is similar to how Square evaluates whether to issue a cash advance.

For more on Square, watch this:

Fees for the new loans range between 10% to 16% of the amount borrowed. Square will pocket 10% of each transaction. Unlike its cash advances, which are typically repaid in a year’s time, the new loans must be repaid within 18 months.

Square will likely receive its money sooner than that. Cash advance customers typically repay them in nine months, it says.

To back the loans, Square is using its own money as well as funds from Utah’s Celtic Bank. The loans will then be sold to investors such as hedge funds.

Square Capital has been one of the company’s fastest growing businesses, as it revealed during its earnings call in March. The company said that it made $400 million in cash advances in 2015—$150 million in the fourth quarter alone—and 70,000 advances to date.

About the Author
By Leena Rao
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Tech

st. louis
CommentaryData centers
$25 billion in data centers shows St. Louis is serious about competing in the AI economy 
By Ron KitchensAugust 5, 2026
1 hour ago
Current price of Ethereum for Aug. 6, 2026
Personal FinanceEthereum
Current price of Ethereum for August 5, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerAugust 5, 2026
2 hours ago
Noa Khamallah smiles in a white polo with his hands in his pockets
NewslettersTerm Sheet
Noa Khamallah was a street kid and convict. Now his $10 million fund is taking on mega-VCs
By Lily Mae LazarusAugust 5, 2026
3 hours ago
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell during the company's initial public offering (IPO) in New York, on June 12, 2026. (Photo: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
NewslettersFortune Tech
What happened in SpaceX’s first earnings report as a public company
By Andrew NuscaAugust 5, 2026
3 hours ago
Europe’s AI sovereignty is under threat. Could Mistral be the answer?
Magazinemistral
Europe’s AI sovereignty is under threat. Could Mistral be the answer?
By Beatrice NolanAugust 5, 2026
5 hours ago
Europe’s tech sovereignty is facing its biggest test yet
Magazinemistral
Europe’s tech sovereignty is facing its biggest test yet
By Sam ForsdickAugust 5, 2026
5 hours ago

Most Popular

How Zohran Mamdani's pied-à-terre tax exposed an epidemic of 'ghost cars' instead
Personal Finance
How Zohran Mamdani's pied-à-terre tax exposed an epidemic of 'ghost cars' instead
By Catherina GioinoAugust 4, 2026
1 day ago
Bars, bowling alleys, and movie theaters cost too much to run and visit. Americans have run out of places to hang out and we're paying with our health
North America
Bars, bowling alleys, and movie theaters cost too much to run and visit. Americans have run out of places to hang out and we're paying with our health
By Catherina GioinoAugust 2, 2026
3 days ago
Ray Dalio on the AI bubble nearing 1929, 2000 levels and the lesson people always forget: 'Wealth is not the same as money'
Investing
Ray Dalio on the AI bubble nearing 1929, 2000 levels and the lesson people always forget: 'Wealth is not the same as money'
By Nick LichtenbergAugust 4, 2026
1 day ago
Forget Gen Z: People in their 70s and 80s are some of the earliest Americans to welcome physical AI into their homes and daily routines
AI
Forget Gen Z: People in their 70s and 80s are some of the earliest Americans to welcome physical AI into their homes and daily routines
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezAugust 3, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of August 4, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of August 4, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerAugust 4, 2026
1 day ago
Scott Bessent is using moves from his hedge fund days to prop up Japan's yen—and America's $40 trillion national debt
Economy
Scott Bessent is using moves from his hedge fund days to prop up Japan's yen—and America's $40 trillion national debt
By Mia OsmonbekovAugust 4, 2026
17 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.