Square, a company that has long been associated with nifty card readers, just took a leap into a broader financial services product potpourri with its latest rollout of banking products. The company, which opened its industrial bank in March, seeks to enhance its relationships with sellers through checking and savings account products that interact seamlessly with its suite of payments and order-management tools.

Why should we care?
Square’s banking products have long been anticipated since the company got its industrial loan company (ILC) charter in March of 2020. What’s unique about Square’s offerings is that it’s able to play both sides of the coin in pursuit of its banking offerings (bank and fintech), and won’t need to rely on a partner bank to take deposits or originate loans. Its banking products are reportedly still offered in collaboration with partner Sutton Bank, for the time being at least. With checking and savings accounts, it can pull customers deeper into its product ecosystem, and use the data to recommend products, including what it calls “proactive loans.” Square Capital, Square’s lending arm, is being folded into Square Banking as Square Lending. Square moves into banking with two feathers in its cap: An ILC charter, and an established client group of sellers for whom the banking component will likely be welcomed. It’s unclear whether Square Banking will touch the realm of the yet-to-be-launched crypto-focused unit Square CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted about last week. Dorsey said the company will create a new business “focused on building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permissionless, and decentralized financial services.” Its primary focus will be Bitcoin.