Eye on Small Business: Square Expands its Credit Card Program; J.P. Morgan Backs Dream Payouts’ Launch – Digital Transactions
Small businesses dominate the U.S. economy, and two payments companies are taking steps to ensure they offer relevant services. First, Square added 3% cash back on Square Bill Pay transactions and the ability to pay vendors even if they don’t accept cards. And, with J.P. Morgan Payments’ backing, Dream Payments launched Dream Payouts to help small businesses issue payouts.
Square, a unit of Block Inc., launched its credit card program—available to its merchants only—in 2023 on the American Express Co. network. Now, in addition to the bill-pay cash-back feature, along with 1.5% cash back on other purchases with the card, Square has added a Bill Pay function.
Cardholders can use Bill Pay to pay vendors from the card account regardless of whether they accept payment cards. Square says when a payment is made to a non-card accepting vendor it will route the payment to the method the vendor prefers, whether it’s a direct deposit via the automated clearing house or a physical check. Square says the 3% cash back can cover the fee for the service. There are no fees for the card.
Square says the Bill Pay feature gives its merchants more flexibility in managing their cash flow and can help reduce the expense of managing multiple payment methods for various vendors and platforms.
In related news, the new Dream Payouts feature from Toronto-based Dream Payments enables small businesses to issue a payout with just an email address. The J.P. Morgan Payments payment infrastructure supports Dream Payouts.
Businesses enrolling in the service will work with four components. In addition to the email-based Dream Payouts, there is the Dream Wallet, an account provided by J.P. Morgan; the Dream Payee Portal, so recipients can enter their banking details; and Dream Payment Controls, which enables limits and approval workflows, and stores email addresses. Dream Payouts works inside accounting software used by the business, it says.
