Responsible Lending Expands Access to 15M Cash App Users

One year in, our work on Cash App Borrow proves a simple truth: expanding access and lending responsibly go hand in hand. Instead of relying on traditional credit scores, our team built an approach to underwriting that reflects a customer's real, current financial behavior — reaching people whose potential legacy models miss, while keeping Borrow a responsible, short-term tool. Huge credit to the teams across Block, Cash App, and Square Financial Services. Your rigor and genuine care for customers made this possible. And we're just getting started. As we grow the bank and broaden access to credit, we'll keep learning from our customers — and keep proving that a fuller view of financial health brings more people into the financial system.

Block released a report highlighting its Cash App Borrow product. The key point: "Expanding access to credit and lending responsibly are not competing goals. By incorporating a broader view of a customer's recent financial behavior alongside traditional credit signals, we can responsibly expand access while maintaining a disciplined approach to lending."

As the bank originating and servicing Cash App Borrow loans, Square Financial Services is helping millions of eligible customers bridge short-term financial needs through a product designed with transparency, safeguards, and responsible repayment at its core. More than 15 million Cash App actives have used Borrow, and over $27 billion has been originated to date. That impact reinforces what we believe: expanding access and responsible lending can — and should — go hand in hand. Proud of the SFS, Cash App, and Block teams behind this work. Juan Hernandez

Last year, our bank, Square Financial Services, began expanding Cash App Borrow across the country following FDIC approval. Since then, 15M Cash App actives have used Borrow in cities and towns across the U.S. Borrow provides eligible customers with access to small-dollar loans directly within Cash App in a simple, transparent and fast way so they can manage cash flow and access funds when they need them. Our underwriting process takes into account customers’ real-time financial behavior (not just their credit history) to make fairer lending decisions and expand access.  Proud of our teams for building a product that is making a real difference in people's lives. More here about our approach and where we’re heading: https://lnkd.in/gWEef2xs

Not every delinquent loan starts with a borrower who can’t pay. Sometimes, the problem is that paying is harder than it should be. Limited payment options, missed reminders, disconnected systems, delayed posting, and friction for indirect borrowers can all make it more difficult for people to stay current. For credit unions, reducing delinquency isn’t only a collections strategy. It’s also an opportunity to improve the payment experience. This article explores six practical ways credit unions can remove friction, including: ✅ Offering more payment options ✅ Encouraging recurring payments ✅ Improving payment visibility and reminders ✅ Simplifying payments for indirect and non-member borrowers ✅ Reducing manual processing and reconciliation Learn how modern loan payment workflows can support borrowers and credit union teams alike: https://hubs.ly/Q04p-HMX0 #CreditUnions #DigitalPayments #Fintech

An opaque web of relationships is forming across CRE's lending ecosystem. Banks are powering private credit's push into the space through various credit facilities, but tracing a mortgage back to an institution has become nearly impossible.... That is, until I raised the question with Ryan Alfred over at Atrium. By matching Uniform Commercial Code filings with collateral assignments for properties in NYC, he was able to map the growing back-leverage network. That database was shared exclusively with Bisnow. My latest: https://lnkd.in/eMNWt3_w

Private credit has a shadow lender. Behind most CRE loans a private lender makes sits a bank — providing the warehouse line or repo that lets the lender lever up. That relationship lives in UCC filings and county collateral assignments that almost no one reads. At Atrium we read them. A few things we found:  — Bank of America, JPMorgan, Goldman, and Wells Fargo dominate the bulge bracket. JPMorgan alone has 60+ filings tied to Sculptor Capital.  — Axos Bank, a $28B digital bank in San Diego, is warehousing 30+ private credit counterparties simultaneously — from Carlyle ($426B AUM) to NYC bridge lenders like Emerald Creek and Northwind. — As an example of structure, a 9-page ACRIS instrument shows MSD Partners (Michael Dell's firm) borrowing ~$78m from Axos at a 65% advance rate on a $120M loan at 250 Water Street — same day the property sold for $143M.                                                                                                                            — Axos converted from direct participant to loan-on-loan lender on a $585M Madison Realty construction loan six months before default. First time it surfaced publicly: a Rule 2004 subpoena in bankruptcy court. We've become obsessed with capital stacks - not just the name brand on the loan, but the underlying structure. When distress hits - knowing the syndicate or knowing the repo provider is vitally important. Its always great collaborating with Sasha Jones at Bisnow. Full analysis + interactive network graph at the link below: https://lnkd.in/gZvpcyBh

Community banks hold 40% of small business loans, yet many struggle to keep those high-value deposit accounts. When promised deposit relationships fail to materialize, tech gaps, especially in business account opening, are often the culprit. Read our latest piece exploring how outdated onboarding workflows drive business owners to megabanks, and how Linker Finance founder Jorge Garcia turned his own frustrating banking experience into a solution that helps community banks win back operating accounts. → https://lnkd.in/e6KZVUg2 #CommunityBanking #SmallBusinessBanking #BusinessBanking #DigitalBanking #Fintech #BankingInnovation

I'm your case study. I've been with my credit union even through it has changed ownership 4 times since 1994. The best-performing credit union I know grew loans 4% and membership 17% in a flat market. Their rates weren't the lowest in town. They weren't close. So how did they win? They stopped selling loans and started owning relationships. Here's the math most lenders miss. A member with only an auto loan is a rate shopper — they're gone the day a competitor beats you by 25 basis points. A member with checking, direct deposit, and three other products funds your book with low-cost core deposits and stays for a decade. One is a transaction. The other is a hub. And the hub quietly fixes everything else: cheaper deposits (there's your margin), stickier members (there's your churn), and a lifetime value no rate war can touch. Rate gets you the first loan. The relationship gets you the next fifteen years. That's the thread through this entire series — trust, margin, affordability, risk, channel. They all resolve into one question: are you the place a member borrows once, or the hub their financial life runs through? CU and bank leaders — are you competing on rate, or building the relationship hub that makes rate less relevant? This wraps Revenue Leadership for Lenders. Thank you for reading, commenting, and sharpening it with me. #CreditUnions #RevenueLeadership

Key takeaway: Raleigh, North Carolina-based First Citizens BancShares paid $2.5 billion on an FDIC purchase money note during the second quarter, plus another $1 billion in July. Expert quote: “We have good capacity at the Federal Home Loan Banks, so we might draw on that. We are planning on doing more long-term debt issuance, so that would be a source, and then broker deposits if needed.” —Craig Nix, chief financial officer at First Citizens Supporting data: First Citizens reported second-quarter net interest income of $1.66 billion, topping analysts’ expectations, as higher income from loans and investment securities offset higher deposit costs