Square approved to loan out emergency coronavirus funds to U.S. businesses

Square will lend out emergency funds to small businesses as the U.S. government seeks to buttress the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

The payments company announced Monday that it received approval from the U.S. Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to be a part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Last week, PayPal and Intuit also said that they had been included in the PPP to help SBA distribute at least $350 billion in emergency loans.

"The PPP is a first-of-its-kind stimulus program, and details are developing daily. The Square Capital team has been busy behind the scenes sorting through the details for you," Square stated in a blog post.

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Square said it is not accepting applications yet. However, it will notify sellers when their application becomes available, "starting with employers whose application data we can verify automatically," according to a tweet from Square. 

Fintech companies, including Square, Paypal, and Intuit, have been pushing for weeks to be included in PPP and other government stimulus initiatives, arguing that their technology-focused approach can help distribute emergency funds faster than traditional banks. 

The plan is a part of the $2 trillion stimulus bill signed by U.S. President Donald Trump in late March. 

About Author

Celia joined The Block as a reporter after earning her BA in the History of Science from the University of Chicago. Having spent years pondering over why 2+2 cannot equal 5, she is interested in the history and philosophy of mathematics, computation, and cryptography. She also had a very brief stint at Crunchbase News.