Block’s Owen Jennings at the 2024 UBS Technology and AI Conference

Last week, Owen Jennings, Business Lead at Block, joined Tim Chiodo, Managing Director and Lead Equity Research Analyst at UBS, for a fireside chat at the 2024 UBS Technology and AI Conference. The conversation focused on Block’s purpose of economic empowerment and reimagining financial services and commerce for people and businesses globally.

Owen shared insights into the evolutions across Block brands, including Square and Cash App. He noted Square’s product velocity over the past year, including the launch of the new Orders platform — which provides sellers with capabilities like kiosks, bar tabs, subscriptions, and more — and accelerating go-to-market strategy to reach more sellers around the globe. In discussing Cash App’s evolution from a peer-to-peer payments platform to a next-generation financial services provider with over 24 million Cash App Card monthly actives in the third quarter, Owen spoke to the app’s resonance with consumers. He noted marketing investments are planned to focus on clearly defining Cash App’s financial services product offerings, such as paycheck deposits, savings accounts, and investment tools for Cash App customers.

The conversation also touched on Block’s broader efforts in lending and our work to bring a tech-driven, transparent approach to reimagine consumer credit for underserved communities and small businesses. Owen discussed our underwriting of over $22 billion in loans through Square Loans since its launch. In spotlighting the upcoming Afterpay integration with Cash App Card, he noted, “Our purpose as a company is economic empowerment — we see expanding access to capital as a critical part of that work.”