PayPal's biggest threat is coming from around the Block & it's called Cash Pay š³; Time to build: the oldest VC firm in US closes $4.6B š; Celebrities won't save FinTechs from themselves š¤¦āāļø
FinTech is Eating the World, 9 September
Good day Everyone,
And TGIF! I couldnāt have wished for a better issue to end the week than this one. I hope you will feel the same after reading it as today weāre looking at PayPal's biggest threat thatās coming from around the Block and it's called Cash Pay (+ another reminder of why ecosystems matter in FinTech & why Block still has massive potential), the oldest VC firm in the US closing $4.6B across two funds (+ grab the funding cheat sheet if you havenāt yet & go build!), and why celebrities won't save FinTechs from themselves (you have to look elsewhere). Letās jump straight into the amazing stuff:
PayPal's biggest threat is coming from around the Block and it's called Cash Pay š³
Product expansion š² Retail finance heavyweight Cash App users can now make online payments via Cash App Pay to merchants that donāt use Square.
More on this š The Block SQ 0.00%ā owned app recently partnered with major retail brands like American Eagle and JD Sports for the launch, and it expects other merchants to join in the coming months.
Users can get discounts and promotions from these merchants when they shop on Cash Appās Discover tab, or they can check out with a dedicated Cash App button on merchantsā websites.
Why this is huge? š¤ First, this is yet another reminder that Block/Square has one of the strongest ecosystems in FinTech globally. More importantly, this rollout further broadens Cash Appās use cases beyond P2P payments thus helping the Block compete even more aggressively with PayPal. Hereās more on that + the takeaway: