Cash App looks beyond P2P payments, and strives to become users’ primary bank

“Banking our base is our priority.” – Amrita Ahuja, Block CFO.

Cash App has long been known for its role as a peer-to-peer payment app. But you’d be mistaken if you thought that was all Cash App could do. Since its launch, Cash App has been steadily increasing their capabilities. Today, the company is trying to entice users with a combination of convenient features and strong customer service to use Cash App as their primary banking entity.

Want to learn more about the financial services industry? Check out our Financial Services: Industry Snapshot report for trends and brand rankings.

Cash App is primarily targeting households that make $150K or less each year to treat the app as a “one stop shop” for all of their financial service needs. Rather than housing five or six financial service apps on their phones, Cash App argues that users just need one – theirs. The success of this plan largely hinges on Cash App’s ability to convince users to directly deposit their paychecks onto the app. Currently only 2 million (out of 57 million active users) transfer even some of their paycheck to Cash App.

While most of us are not currently depositing our paychecks to Cash App, the app’s increasing number of features makes this prospect increasingly attractive. These include BNPL plans, Cash App Borrow, wire transfers, high savings yields, and tax services. Cash App offers investing features, such as Bitcoin Round Ups, that automatically invests the change from purchases into bitcoin. Cash App also offers a free debit card that pulls money from users’ Cash App balance.

Looking at data from QuestBrand by The Harris Poll, we can see that Cash App’s likelihood to consider score significantly increased among their target demographic (HHI below $150K) throughout the second half of 2024. This signals that a higher percentage of consumers said they would consider using Cash App at the end of 2024 than at the start, a powerful signal of growth. Cash App is onto something.

Cash App’s Likelihood to Consider Score – 12 Week Trended Average

QuestBrand. Base: HHI below $150K, n=13,328. Base: US adults, n=15,918. 1/1/24-1/31/25.