Scoop: Square To Buy Brokerage API Third Party Trade

Fintech giant Square Inc SQ will acquire the brokerage API company Third Party Trade, a source familiar with the matter told Benzinga.

Founded in 2015, Third Party Trade offers APIs to power the core functionalities of a brokerage. In short, this means firms looking to offer trading to their customers can focus on building the front-end experience customers interact with, and a sales and marketing engine, without having to do the heavy lifting of building back-end brokerage functionality.

Why It's Important

Companies like Third Party have proven to be a backbone to fueling the uptick of commission-free and low-commission brokerages.

In a 2015 interview, Third Party CEO Michael Giles said the company raised a small amount of capital, but has primarily funded its growth with revenue. Giles was a speaker at the 2018 Benzinga Global Fintech Awards.

Square and Giles did not respond to emailed requests for comment from Benzinga.

What's Next

The deal suggests Square may enter the brokerage or wealth management spaces. The services Square currently offers include payroll, business debit cards, lending and point-of-sale.

In August, Square announced the sale of its food ordering platform to DoorDash for $400 million.

Square shares closed Monday's session down at $61.47. The stock traded down by 1.58% at $60.50 in Tuesday's pre-market session.

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