Block’s Cash App will now let users pay online beyond the Square network

Block’s (formerly known as Square) Cash App is now letting users make payments on e-commerce sites outside the Square network. Until now, users could only make payments using Cash App Pay on Square terminals or online Square merchant partners.

The company has partnered with American Eagle, Aerie, Tommy Hilfiger, Finish Line, and JD Sports for the launch with more merchants like Romwe, Savage x Fenty, SHEIN, thredUP, and Wish coming to follow in the coming months.

Users can either explore discounts and promotions offered by these brands from the Cash App’s Discover tab or go to their website and select the Cash App Pay option at checkout. They can use a mix of Cash App credit and debit cards to pay for items they purchase.

Image Credits: Block

The company said it’s automatically offering a 10% discount to users when they make their first purchases with these merchants using Cash App Pay.

Block first introduced Cash App Pay last year to let customers easily make payments to Square merchant partners in-person or online by scanning a QR code or pressing the button on their app.

This new move of letting users make payments outside the Square network might help Block compete better with rivals like Apple Pay, which has a long list of online partners. The firm announced in June that it’s working with Apple to support the tap-to-pay on iPhone feature — which was announced back in February — on the Square app later this year.

In April, Block confirmed a massive data breach where a former employee download unauthorized reports from the Cash App that included information like full customer names, brokerage account numbers, and some cases full information about their investment portfolio.

Cash App, which has more than 80 million users on its platform, is a major revenue feature driver for Block and offers services like investment in stocks and Bitcoin. The company posted $1.47 billion in profit for Q2 2022 with 29% year-on-year growth, but its Bitcoin business revenue was down due to the volatile crypto market.