Square’s quarterly revenue surges as lockdown stokes online shopping shift

(Reuters) – Payments processor Square Inc reported on Tuesday a 64% jump in second-quarter revenue as consumers increased online buying and used its peer-to-peer Cash App platform during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Square’s Cash App saw a 167% spike in transactions in the second quarter ended June 30 as the coronavirus-triggered lockdown forced more Americans to shop online, while people also signed up to receive government aid.

The Cash App, which directly competes with PayPal Holdings Inc’s Venmo app, allows users to send money to each other for free. The app charges fees to businesses when users choose to instantly deposit money from the app into their bank accounts, rather than wait several days.

Square, founded and led by Twitter Inc Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey, was initially expected to report second-quarter earnings on Aug. 5.

The company said it released the figures due to “early external access of the company’s quarterly financials”.

The payments processor posted a loss of $11.5 million, or 3 cents per share, compared with a loss of $6.7 million, or 2 cents per share last year.

Its subscription and services-based revenue, which includes earnings from Square’s software offerings, rose 38% to $346 million.

Total net revenue rose to $1.92 billion from $1.17 billion last year.

(Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Aditya Soni)