Square gets ready to move into local commerce, challenging Yelp and Foursquare
Could Square be moving beyond payments and into local commerce? There are a lot of reasons why it would be a smart move for the young payments company. Read more »
Five things to learn from Khosla Ventures’ newest partner Keith Rabois
Khosla Ventures’ Keith Rabois talked about startups, dealing with the press, and the Series A crunch on Wednesday in Mountain View. Here are five pieces of wisdom from the Silicon Valley investor and entrepreneur. Read more »
Former Square executive Keith Rabois to join Khosla Ventures as investor
Former Square COO Keith Rabois plans to announce Tuesday morning that he’s joining Silicon Valley venture firm Khosla Ventures beginning in March as an investor. Rabois left Square after allegations of sexual harassment that surfaced in January. Read more »
SumUp adds American Express to its mobile point-of-sale terminal roster
The mobile payments company says it now supports more cards in more countries than any of its many rivals, which include Square, iZettle, Payleven, Adyen and mPowa. Read more »
Disruption: It moves in mysterious ways
Google today released a new video showcasing the user interface of its Google Glass efforts. On the surface it might look like a hands free camera, but in reality it can open up a lot of new possibilities. Just like the iPad did before it. Read more »
Square introduces “Business in a Box” to set stores up with hardware
Square introduced on Wednesday a new combination of products it calls “Business in a Box,” including Square Readers, and iPad holder, a cash drawer and a receipt printer. The hardware combination will work together and allow businesses to easily get up and running. Read more »
Angie’s List merchants can now accept payments with Square
photo: Square
Consumer review service Angie’s List is integrating Square technology into its iPhone app, allowing merchants like house cleaners, plumbers and painters to accept credit card payments in the field. Read more »
Square’s Keith Rabois checks out of mobile payments startup
Keith Rabois, one of the most prominent faces behind Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s side project in mobile payments, Square, has decided to leave the company. Read more »
Mobile’s future is in finding solutions to the problems that are all around us
photo: Felix Mizioznikov/Shutterstock.com
Until now, the mobile revolution has been about squeezing the desktop internet onto portable devices. Entrepreneur Edward Aten says the real revolution for smartphones is about fulfilling a whole new set of needs that people have in their daily lives. Read more »
Revealed: the finalists for the 2012 Crunchies
photo: courtesy of TechCrunch
Five finalists have been chosen in 20 different categories for the 2012 Crunchies awards, and we’re proud to release the worthy nominees today. Voting for the winners starts today, and the winners will be announced January 31st. Read more »
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How consumer media will change in 2013
Many of the biggest stories in the connected consumer space occurred mostly offstage in 2012, from Apple’s new media services to policymakers in Washington. Overall, the past 12 months have laid important groundwork for significant advances in the connected consumer space. The year 2013 should be eventful. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
VeriFone gives up competing head-on with Square
photo: VeriFone
Just seven months after introducing Sail, a payment platform for small merchants that competed with Square, VeriFone is now saying it is retreating from that business and will look to banks and other channel partners to sell the service to merchants. Read more »
Square Wallet offers gift cards with Passbook integration
photo: Square
Square is enabling gift cards for the first time, allowing its users to send presents to each other that can be redeemed at Square merchants. The system also works with Apple Passbook for iOS 6 users. Read more »
LevelUp looks for success as the “Android of mobile payments”
photo: LevelUp
Mobile payment startup LevelUp is trying to be as open as it can be in what its chief said is an Android approach to payments. By offering white labels apps and an API, LevelUp is hoping to gain wide acceptance with consumers and merchants. Read more »
Mobile POS wars: Adyen’s Shuttle could be headache for iZettle and Payleven
Square is safe for now, as Shuttle is only being launched in Europe, but Adyen’s entrenched position in the online and mobile payments markets give it a great initial boost against local rivals. Read more »
Why Passbook could join Ping in the Apple graveyard
photo: Shutterstock/Pressmaster
Apple’s Passbook joins the mobile payments gold rush. But Jeff Fagel, of edo Interactive, has doubts about its viability and says until we see a system that’s easier for everyone, plastic will remain king. Read more »
Square: We’re going to be the “remote control for commerce”
photo: Square
Square has had a whirlwind year, inking a deal with Starbucks, raising $200 million and pushing its annualized processing rate to $10 billion. Now it’s looking ahead to 2013, when it will establish itself as a global brand. Read more »
Mobile payments and a latte: Our test of Square Wallet at Starbucks
Starbucks customers can now use the Square Wallet mobile payment app to pay for their coffee. We take a look at how it work, what its limitations are and what it means for the larger mobile payment market. Read more »
iZettle takes on Payleven in Germany with Deutsche Telekom deal
With Square still out of the picture, Europe is becoming a battleground for its clones. And, fresh from an American Express cash boost, Sweden’s iZettle is taking on Germany’s Payleven on its own turf. Read more »
Square launches first international service in Canada
photo: Square
Square is launching in Canada Wednesday, its first international market. Merchants in Canada will be able to take credit card payments through their iPhone, iPad or Android device. Read more »
Square leases new HQ, expects to have almost 1,000 workers by 2013
photo: GigaOM
Square is growing like a weed and that means only one thing: new digs. It has signed a lease for a new headquarters building in San Francisco, a block away from Twitter. Square expects to have nearly 1,000 employees by the end of next year. Read more »
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Social third-quarter 2012: analysis and outlook
Social media technologies continue to permeate marketing and enterprise collaboration, even if investors felt let down in the third quarter by their consumer-facing businesses like Facebook, Groupon, and Zynga. So B2B technology offerings in support of marketing and collaboration will soon steal all the social tech attention. This quarterly wrap-up analyzes these events, and provides a near-term outlook for trends, technologies and companies to watch in the next 18 to 24 months. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Square officially ends its New York taxi pilot
photo: Square
Square’s test of mobile payments in New York taxis has officially come to an end. The startup is terminating its memorandum of understanding with the city because it said it wants to pursue a different hardware and software combination. Read more »
From Twitter to Dropbox, how many female executives do top startups have? [chart]
The number of female executive at a startup correlates to its success, according to a new study. We take a look at 10 popular startups to see how many women are in their executive ranks. Read more »
Square launches web directory to find local merchants
photo: Square
Square is launching a web-based directory of merchants who take Square and Pay with Square payments. The service is limited for now but shows how Square can be a better resource for its merchants and better local discovery tool for consumers. Read more »
Square boosts design and gets NY office with 80/20 acquisition
photo: Pinar Ozger
Square is increasing its emphasis on design with the acquisition of New York firm 80/20, which has about a dozen designers who specialize in user interfaces. The acquisition also helps Square expand to New York for the first time. Read more »
Square rivals bank on live customer support to compete
photo: Square
Many of Square bigger rivals are hoping live customer support can help them compete against the startup. Square doesn’t offer a customer service line and handles questions primarily through email, forums, videos and a Twitter feed. Read more »
Groupon rolls out its own Square competitor
photo: Groupon
Groupon has joined the mobile payment race with Groupon Payments, which provides a mobile payment service similar to Square. It’s part of a larger effort to build up its merchants services tool and create a new business outside of daily deals. Read more »
Square goes big: raises $200M at $3.25B valuation
photo: Square
Square is making it official: it has raised $200 million as part of its Series D round including $25 million from Starbucks. The money will help the company to grow as it fends off more challenges from competitors and tries to expand internationally. Read more »
VeriFone opens Sail payment platform to developers
VeriFone is opening up its Sail mobile payment service to developers with a new developer portal. That will allow developers to easily add Sail to their mobile apps. But it will also be a way for developers to offer their services to Sail’s business customers. Read more »
iZettle goes to Android, lays out a challenge to Square and its rivals
Swedish payments startup iZettle is the leading European rival to Jack Dorsey’s Square. And now that the Scandinavian company is adding Android support to its arsenal, the potential for conflict between the two companies just got a lot bigger. Read more »
No swiping fees: Square offers merchants a monthly fee option
Mobile payment startup Square is giving small businesses an option to pay a monthly transaction fee of $275 instead of paying $2.75 per card swipe. That will save money for businesses who do more volume and will give them more predictability about their costs. Read more »
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Consumer privacy in the mobile advertising era
Smartphones can enable an amazing level of connectivity, but they can also allow that activity to be monitored and used in controversial ways. But for mobile marketing to realize its full potential, consumers may need to sacrifice their privacy to one degree or another. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Rocket apes Stripe and takes its clone factory to new countries
Never ones to rest on their laurels, the Samwer brothers have launched their copy of hot payments service Stripe, while also partnering up with the cellular carrier Millicom for a fresh push into emerging markets Read more »
Why Starbucks is betting on Square
Starbucks has seen the power of mobile payments first hand but isn’t prepared to expand its own payment efforts. But it is making a big $25 million bet on Square to be a leader in this fast growing space. Read more »
GoPago repositions itself as a free Square rival
The line-up of Square rivals just got a bit longer today with the debut of GoPago Live, a mobile payment service for small businesses. GoPago’s twist is that its offering software and a tablet with 4G wireless, a receipt printer and cash drawer, all for free. Read more »
Cash register maker NCR joins the pursuit of Square
Square’s list of big name competitors is officially getting another billion dollar company. NCR Corp., the Duluth, GA maker of cash registers and ATM machines, is now launching NCR Silver, a cloud-based point of sale product aimed at small businesses. Read more »
Square addresses #1 request: better security for multiple workers
Mobile payment startup Square is taking on its most requested feature: unique log-ins for multiple workers. Now, the Square Card Reader app will offer unique log-ins for up to 50 employees, so a manager can have them log-in separately without getting access to the business account. Read more »
VeriFone launches Square rival SAIL on Android
VeriFone is taking its newly launched SAIL mobile payment product to Android smartphones after debuting on the iPhone last month. The move helps VeriFone better compete with Square, an early mobile payment leader and PayPal Here, which are both available on iPhones and Android. Read more »
Square gets into the loyalty game with digital punch cards
Mobile payment start-up Square is working to fill out its menu of services and today it’s revealing new loyalty, inventory, analytics and discovery tools for Square Register and Pay with Square, helping Square appeal to a wider number of merchants. Read more »
