Block Links Square and Cash App to Create Local Business Network

Block’s local commerce network, Neighborhoods, has added 30,000 more sellers, the company said in a Tuesday (Aug. 25) press release.

Neighborhoods connects sellers who use Block’s Square with customers who use the company’s Cash App, according to the release.

The program is built into Square Point of Sale and Square Terminal and is designed to help local businesses earn repeat visits. It enables customers to earn Local Cash equal to 10% of their order subtotal, up to $10 per order, on qualifying purchases with participating Neighborhoods sellers. They can then redeem the Local Cash on a future visit, the release said.

Participating sellers appear in Cash App, on a map in the Neighborhoods tab, so that customers can discover and follow businesses they select. When customers follow a business, the seller can reach them directly with marketing campaigns through Cash App, per the release.

“Neighborhoods helps local businesses get discovered by new customers and then turn that first visit into a lasting relationship,” Owen Jennings, executive officer and head of business at Block, said in the release. “We’re seeing a business’s most loyal customers come back more often and spend more, which creates the repeat behavior that helps local businesses grow and thrive.”

Block announced the launch of Neighborhoods on Cash App in October, saying the company aimed to create a neighborhood network that connects the local businesses that use Square and the consumers who use Cash App.

The company said Neighborhoods on Cash App provides sellers with their own branded storefront on the open web and inside Cash App, and enables consumers to order ahead, reorder, earn rewards and stay connected.

“For sellers, it’s everything you’d want in your own mobile application — without the complexity or overhead of maintaining it across multiple platforms,” Brian Grassadonia, ecosystem lead at Block, said at the time in a press release.

PYMNTS reported in May that with Neighborhoods, Block aims to deepen the ties between merchants and consumers. At that time, sellers representing $320 million in annualized gross payment volume (GPV) were participating in the program, and more than 100,000 Cash App accounts were following at least one Neighborhoods seller.

Block said in its Tuesday press release that as of June, Neighborhoods had scaled to sellers representing $1 billion in annualized GPV.