Digital payment companies Square and Cash App experienced nationwide outages on Thursday, costing some Baltimore area businesses sales and leaving others with unpaid balances.

Around 3 p.m. EDT, sellers began experiencing issues accessing their Square accounts or processing payments, the company said via social media on Friday.

Cash App said on X (formerly Twitter) Thursday night that they were “actively working on a fix” as customers experienced issues sending payments, purchasing with their Cash Card and accessing other features.

Local businesses like Peabody Heights Brewery in Baltimore’s Abell neighborhood were among those affected. The brewery put out a call on Facebook for customers whose tabs did not process to return to the taproom and pay.

“Last night was a relatively low-key night, we didn’t have any major events planned. If it had been a super busy or if this had happened on a night when a large-scale event was happening, it could have resulted in a huge, huge loss for us,” said Marshall Lilly, the brewery’s director of programming and community outreach.

Harry Stello, owner of I Loves Me Some Snoballs, Sweets and Treats in Clarksville, said his sales went down by half during the few hours they were open at their Howard County stand. He also has a mobile truck, and it was used for a private event later in the day.

“We probably lost out on a few hundred [dollars]. I wish they would have disseminated the fact that there was an issue because we didn’t really know what was going on,” Stello said. “In the evening, for sure, it was a real hassle for people because they had to go get cash. Luckily, we were only open for a few hours yesterday, anyhow, because we had another event to do.”

Stello added that despite the mishap, Square is “incredibly” reliable.

“Stuff happens. I’ve never had any issues with them, their customer support is pretty darn good. And I’m not going to change software providers because of something that happened with them one time,” Stello said.

Both Square and Cash App are owned by the same parent company, Block, headquartered in San Francisco.

Square posted on X to apologize for the service interruption and set up a website where users can track updates.

Both apps said Friday that services have been restored. Square said its engineering team is monitoring the rollout of a fix to the platform and is asking for patience before all features are fully back online.

penelope.blackwell@thebaltimorebanner.com