CFPB, State Attorneys General Probe Block Over Cash App

Digital payment company Block, run by CEO Jack Dorsey, is now being investigated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and several state attorneys general regarding its Cash App service, Bloomberg wrote Friday (March 4).

The CFPB has requested information from Block, including details on Cash App’s handling of “customer complaints and disputes,” according to the report. Block has said it is cooperating with all the parties, and the company added that it’s “not possible to reliably determine the potential liability” when it comes to the investigation.

Cash App is primarily utilized to let users send money to friends and family, but it can also be used to buy stocks or bitcoin directly from one’s phone.

“We are committed to investing in Cash App’s customer experience and expanding our customer support and operations infrastructure,” a Block spokesperson said Friday in a statement. “We will continue to respond to the CFPB’s requests.”

PYMNTS wrote that Block has recently seen more traction among mid-market sellers, including double-digit percentage gains in card present and card not present activity. There’s also been increased Cash App usage.

See also: Block Sees Afterpay GPV Up 30% 

Block also recently bought Afterpay, raising questions on how Block plans on utilizing buy now, pay later (BNPL) services in the future.

The report said revenues were up 28.1%, with gross payment volume up 44.7% to $46.3 billion. Cash App generated revenues of $2.6 billion and was up 18% year on year, with a gross profit of $518 million.

Cash App was a big help with subscription and services-based revenue for the company, which said its Cash Card had gotten “significant scale” in the quarter, with over 13 million monthly users in December.

On an earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Amrita Ahuja said inflows were sitting at $45 billion in the fourth quarter, and that had come even as many government disbursement programs from the pandemic were ending.