Local sellers could make funds simpler to simply accept, however discovering new prospects and giving them a motive to return is a problem. Marketplaces can convey demand, however sellers might must take care of commissions, competitors for visibility, and separate instruments for managing buyer relationships.
Block, the guardian firm of Square and Cash App, noticed this hole between its vendor and shopper networks. In the final quarter of 2025, it introduced the 2 networks collectively by way of Neighborhoods, a feature in Cash App. It lets prospects uncover and comply with local companies that use Square, place orders by way of Cash App, and earn Local Cash rewards that encourage them to return.
Block stated in August 2026 that Neighborhoods had added 30,000 sellers, almost ten instances the quantity in June. As of June 2026, taking part sellers represented $1 billion in annualized gross cost quantity, up greater than 220% from March. Block additionally reported that spending by followers accounted for a median of 10% of sellers’ gross cost quantity after three quarters on the platform.
Tearsheet Managing Editor Sara Khairi spoke with Owen Jennings, Block’s Business Lead, about why the corporate linked Square and Cash App now in spite of everything these years, how Neighborhoods modifications the economics of buyer acquisition and retention for local sellers, and why Block describes it as an “anti-marketplace.”
Q: What had been the largest boundaries – technical, organizational, data-related, or in any other case – to connecting Square and Cash App, and what modified that allowed Neighborhoods to occur now?
Owen Jennings, Block: Connecting Square and Cash App meant bringing collectively our largest networks whereas making the expertise easy for sellers and prospects. For sellers, the expertise wanted to work by way of the Square instruments they already use. And for purchasers, it wanted to create a significant motive to interact with local companies by way of Cash App.
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