Cash App, the peer-to-peer fintech app owned by Jack Dorsey\u2019s Block, has launched a new \u201cpay-over-time\u201d deferred payment feature that allows eligible users to pay for their everyday transfers over an extended period of time.<\/p>\n
Companies have increasingly offered deferred payments for relatively mundane and everyday purchases. About a year ago, DoorDash partnered with Klarna<\/a> \u2014 allowing users to \u201cmicro-finance\u201d their food orders (the partnership notably inspired a flurry of online jokes about \u201cburrito debt\u201d and late capitalism<\/a>). Cash App\u2019s new feature clearly builds on this trend \u2014 expanding flexible financing into the P2P payment realm.<\/p>\n To take advantage of the new feature, users pay a 7.5% fee \u2014 meaning that, if you borrow $100 from Cash App, you\u2019re going to end up paying the company back $107.50. Transfers of $25 or more are eligible, the company says, and repayments can be made in weekly increments over a period of up to six weeks or as a single payment at the due date.<\/p>\n There are also loan limits to the new system, but they are dynamic \u2014 meaning that they will be different for different users. \u201cThe specific amount available for conversion depends on the original transaction amount and individual customer assessment,\u201d a spokesperson said. \u201cWe evaluate each transaction for eligibility based on our responsible lending criteria rather than setting traditional credit limits,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n In an interview, Block\u2019s Executive Officer and Head of Business, Owen Jennings, framed the new feature as a way to add value to Cash App\u2019s customers via \u201ccash flow management.\u201d Jennings noted that many Americans have different kinds of jobs today \u2014 many of which pay with less consistency than those offered in prior decades. Cash App\u2019s new feature is designed to add financial flexibility to that situation, Jennings said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing more folks \u2014 particularly younger folks \u2014 who are solo-preneurs, entrepreneurs\u00a0\u2026 [and] gig workers. They have side hustles, they\u2019re working multiple jobs, [and] so they have variable income streams,\u201d Jennings said. \u201cIt\u2019s very different than if you go back like 40 or 50 years ago \u2014 I think the average income earner in the U.S. [back then] was basically getting, like a steady W2 income every two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBuy now, pay later\u201d services have skyrocketed in popularity<\/a> over the past several years while also spurring significant criticism and concern. Some critics maintain that such services are designed to trap consumers in cycles of debt<\/a>, while others have suggested that Americans needing to finance basic household items is a sign of broader economic crisis<\/a>. Companies that provide these services have also found themselves in legal hot water. Just this week, Klarna was sued<\/a> in a class-action lawsuit alleging it had engaged in \u201cpredatory\u201d practices, Bloomberg reports.<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA Jennings said Cash App\u2019s new feature has strong built-in protections that are designed to steer users away from financial trouble, like getting stuck in what he called \u201cdebt spirals.\u201d \u201cThe way all of our lending products are created is non-revolving,\u201d he added. \u201cIf you don\u2019t pay back a loan, then you can\u2019t take out another loan.\u201d<\/p>\n The service also builds off of other financial flexibility services that Cash App already offers, Jennings said. In prior years, the app debuted Borrow<\/a>, which, somewhat like a traditional bank, allows users to take out a small loan from the app and then pay it back over a period of four to six weeks.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n