SAN FRANCISCO—Payments firm Square is rebranding to Block.
The announcement of the new brand/name came just two days after Block CEO Jack Dorsey announced he’s stepping down from his other role as CEO of Twitter, which he also helped to cofound.
In the announcement, the company said Block is only partly a nod to blockchain.
“The name has many associated meanings for the company — building blocks, neighborhood blocks and their local businesses, communities coming together at block parties full of music, a blockchain, a section of code, and obstacles to overcome,” the company stated.
“While COVID has accelerated the move of commerce online, Block has a unique role in the world of physical commerce. In the West, most point-of-sale transactions go through Visa and Mastercard. Apple and Google Pay are usually linked to a Visa or Mastercard card. Even Amazon has said ‘enough’ when it comes to Visa credit card charges in the U.K.,” Ledger Insights noted.