Square and Cash App outage creates trouble for small businesses

Payment processing platforms Square and Cash App suffered an outage on Thursday, September 8, preventing customers from making purchases and costing small business owners thousands in lost revenue.

Both Square and Cash App are owned by Block, a software development firm behind several financial-focused applications, including a cryptocurrency platform titled Spiral. Square is often used as a point-of-sale platform by storefronts looking to avoid installing a more expensive and cumbersome payment system, while Cash App is typically used to electronically pay a company’s invoices or even employee wages.

The two services were ultimately down for several hours over the course of Thursday afternoon. NBC reports that Block failed to inform many of its users that the outage was occurring. While some Square and Cash App customers did receive email alerts regarding the disruption, many were informed through a message posted to the former’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter, stating: “Since around noon PT on Thursday, sellers have been unable to access accounts or process payments due to a systems outage within Square. We know you trust us with your business, and these situations add challenges to running your operations. For that, we are truly sorry.”

During the outage, many brick-and-mortar stores were unable to conduct any transactions, although some continued serving customers paying with cash. Others simply decided to close early since the company did not elaborate on when it expected services to resume. The availability of offline services appeared to be inconsistent, preventing companies from recording their transactions for later processing.

The two platforms are well-suited for smaller companies that lack a dedicated accountant. However, after the outage, many are likely to begin searching for alternative systems, even if they lack the convenience of a mobile app. Were a Square and Cash App outage with a longer duration to appear, the effects could be devastating to small businesses with narrow margins.