Visa and Square Award $200,000 to Small Business Owners

Square Wallet Challenge awards 20 Small Business Owners with $10,000 Each; Challenge Designed to Support Job Growth and Entrepreneurship

SAN FRANCISCO – Square, the company making commerce easy for everyone, announced the 20 winners of the Square Wallet Challenge presented by Visa Inc. (NYSE: V). The contest was open to all Square businesses across the U.S. and was designed to support small business growth. Square businesses across the U.S. will be awarded $10,000 each for winning the challenge.

Contest participants earned points based on the number of Square Wallet transactions routed through their account. The businesses that earned the most points each received four $250 Visa gift cards to distribute to their employees, in addition to the cash award. Contest winners included a variety of businesses from food trucks to retail shops.

“There are so many incredible growing businesses and we’re committed to supporting them. With Square, we want to make it easier than ever for business owners to focus on doing what they love,” said Chuck Kimble, head of Strategic Partnerships at Square.

“We are proud to recognize the small business winners of the Square Wallet Challenge and provide them with resources to help them grow and succeed,” said Janet Zablock, head of global small business at Visa Inc. “This Challenge brings awareness to the benefits of accepting electronic forms of payment and helps business owners attract new customers and build loyalty with current customers – all with the confidence in the safety of the transaction.”

Sellers across the country use Square Register to run their businesses, and their customers use Square Wallet to pay with their phones. Square Register is a free point-of-sale application for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. Square Wallet is an application for customers that enable them to find neighborhood businesses and pay using only their phone. Through these products, Square connects buyers and sellers.

Café Grumpy in NYC uses Square to accept Square Wallet at their 4 locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. “Square Wallet is the easiest way for our customers to pay and makes our line go much faster,” said Caroline Bell of Café Grumpy. "It is also great because we can see the names and photos of our regular customers on our iPad as soon as they walk through the door and its like they each have their own VIP bar tabs."

Jason Duncan, the owner of Cafe Evoke in Oklahoma City, OK said “We're planning to use the money to expand our catering service and bring the best coffee, wine and beer to even more customers.”

Over three million individuals and businesses are able to accept credit card payments in a seamless way with Square. Sellers pay a low rate of 2.75 percent per swipe with no additional fees or commitments. Over 250,000 businesses in the U.S. accept Square Wallet payments, enabling their customers to pay with their phone, browse menus and earn rewards.

Square, Inc. changed its name to Block, Inc. on December 1, 2021.

Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) is a global technology company with a focus on financial services. Made up of Square, Cash App, Spiral, TIDAL, and TBD, we build tools to help more people access the economy. Square helps sellers run and grow their businesses with its integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions, business software, and banking services. With Cash App, anyone can easily send, spend, or invest their money in stocks or Bitcoin. Spiral builds and funds free, open-source Bitcoin projects. Artists use TIDAL to help them succeed as entrepreneurs and connect more deeply with fans. TBD is building an open developer platform to make it easier to access Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies without having to go through an institution.