Square Launches Banking Business With Checking, Savings Accounts

(Bloomberg) -- Square Inc. announced Square Banking on Tuesday, a new line of financial features for small businesses that includes checking and savings accounts.

The checking accounts will link to a business’s Square Debit card, and have “no account minimums, overdraft fees, or recurring fees,” according to a company announcement. The savings accounts, which are Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured, are similarly free of fees and balance requirements, and offer a 0.5% annual yield.

Square is also rebranding its small business loan program, which it now calls Square Loans. It had been called Square Capital. Bloomberg previously reported on Square’s plans for checking and savings accounts. 

Square’s cash register and card reader products have become a staple for most small business retailers, and the company has been pushing aggressively into banking features to accompany those in-store options. The company’s Square Financial Services subsidiary was approved for a U.S. banking charter earlier this year, and savings accounts and small business loans put Square in direct competition with the world’s largest, most established banks.

Square shares were little changed Tuesday morning in New York at $232.82.

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