Sep 7, 2017

Square wants to become more like a bank

Courtesy of Square

Square, the payments company co-founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, plans to apply on Thursday for a license to be an industrial loan company, as American Banker first reported on Wednesday and the company has confirmed to Axios. The license would allow it to perform certain banking services like offer loans without having to get licenses in each state or relay on a bank to originate them.

"The primary purpose of the Bank will be to offer business loans to small businesses, similar to the existing business of Square Capital, and to offer deposit products," a Square spokesperson told Axios in a statement. Square Capital has been making small advances to the company's business customers since 2014. The new unit will be based in Utah and get $56 million in capital.

New wave: Square's application comes just a few months after SoFi, another San Francisco tech company that provides loans and refinancing, submitted its own. The FDIC hasn't approved a new license since Walmart unsuccessfully applied for one in 2005.

Go deeper

Axios

China tries to contain coronavirus, as Apple warns of earnings impact

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's NHC; Note: China refers to mainland China and the Diamond Princess is the cruise ship offshore Yokohama, Japan. Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios

As China pushes to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus — placing around 780 million people under travel restrictions, per CNN — the economic repercussions continue to be felt globally as companies like Apple warn of the impact from the lack of manufacturing and consumer demand in China.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed at least 1,775 people and infected more than 70,000 others, mostly in mainland China. There are some signs that new cases are growing at a slower rate now, although the World Health Organization said Monday it's "too early to tell" if this will continue.

Go deeperUpdated 1 hour ago - Health

Ina Fried

Apple will miss quarterly earnings estimates due to coronavirus

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple issued a rare earnings warning on Monday, saying it would not meet quarterly revenue expectations due to the impact of the coronavirus, which will limit iPhone production and limit product demand in China.

Why it matters: Lots of companies rely on China for production, but unlike most U.S. tech companies, Apple also gets a significant chunk of its revenue from sales in China.

Go deeper2 hours ago - Technology

Orion Rummler

America's dwindling executions

The Trump administration wants to reboot federal executions, pointing to a 16-year lapse, but Pew Research reports the government has only executed three people since 1963.

The big picture: Nearly all executions in the U.S. are done by states. Even those have been steadily dropping for two decades, per the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) — marking a downward trend for all executions in the country.

Go deeper4 hours ago - Politics & Policy