Archive for Square

Square Lets You Send Cash Via Email

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A few days after Google announced the ability to send money via email, mobile payments purveyor Square has done the same.

Square Cash, which the company introduced in invite-only mode on Monday, lets consumers send money to friends by cc-ing "pay@square.com" and including the dollar amount in the email's subject line. Square takes a $0.50 cut of each transaction. The program is also open only to those who are 18 and older. Though Square had been focused on businesses, this release appears to be geared towards consumers.

At the moment, Square isn't disclosing much else about the program. The company has included a short animation illustrating how such an email might look: Read more...

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Square Follows Google With Pay-by-Email Service

square, google, gmail, email, paymentsLess than a week after Google launched a service that allows private individuals to transfer money by email, Square has launched a similar product in a private beta.

If a user cc’s Square in an email promising money and puts an amount in the subject line, the payment processing company will transfer the funds into the recipients debit card account.

To use the service, called Cash, both parties must have their accounts linked to a Square account.

A payment, which cost $0.50 to send and nothing to receive, can be canceled up until the moment that the recipient picks it up.

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PayPal to Offer Free Payment Processing for ‘Qualifying’ Merchants

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In a bid to one-up Square, PayPal is offering free payment processing through the rest of the year for some U.S. businesses that use its PayPal Here mobile payment system.

Starting next month, PayPal will offer free credit, debit card and check processing to "qualifying" merchants. The company's announcement didn't outline how such businesses can qualify for the program. Reps from PayPal could not be reached for comment.

When PayPal Here launched in March 2012, PayPal took a 2.7% fee, though each merchant that signed up got a PayPal debit card, which earned the merchant back 1% instantly, taking the cut down to 1.7%. Square charges a 2.75% fee for every transaction, though the company also offers a program in which a participating companies can pay a $275 monthly fee in lieu of the per-transaction charges Read more...

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Social Media Newsfeed: Google Music Streaming? | Pinterest Mentions

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GoogleGoogle Reportedly to Launch Music Streaming at I/O Conference Today (SocialTimes)
Google will launch music streaming through YouTube and Google Play, according to reports in The Verge and the Wall Street Journal. The company, which has struggled to keep up with Apple in terms of media offerings, has reportedly signed licensing deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, the reports said. The Verge Earlier this year, Fortune magazine reported that Google had already struck similar licensing agreements with Warner Music Group, the smallest of the top three record labels. But landing Universal Music and Sony gives Google access to the two largest record companies, home to such acts as Bob Dylan, Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne, Rihanna and Jay-Z. The Wall Street Journal Google already has an existing music service, which it launched in 2011 and is part of its Google Play digital media store for devices powered by its Android operating system. That service only lets people buy individual songs or albums, while the new one from Google’s Android unit offers a paid subscription model to access whole libraries of songs. TechCrunch The Google streaming service has been in development for a while now, according to rumors, but negotiations have now progressed to the point where it’s ready to launch, with all three major record labels signed up. There won’t be a free option, says The New York Times, but instead there will be a paid subscription available at or around the going rate at competing services, or roughly $10 per month. The New York Times By expanding to streaming music, Google will be tapping into the most rapid growth area in digital music. Spotify, which was founded in Sweden in 2008 and came to the United States almost two years ago, now has more than 24 million regular users, six million of whom pay about $5 to $10 a month for premium service. Pandora now has more than 200 million users, the vast majority of whom use it free.

Pinterest Adds Mentions, Notifications to Mobile (Mashable)
Pinterest released on Tuesday updates to its iOS and Android apps, including new mobile features such as search suggestions, push notifications and the ability to mention friends in posts. The updates may seem small but represent the company’s larger efforts to move beyond its Web-based presence and make it easier for people to use the platform on smartphones and tablets. The Next Web The new search functionality is arguably the most useful. Simply hit the magnifying glass icon in the bottom toolbar, and enter a query in the text box at the top of the screen. Pinterest will automatically suggest relevant results based on what the user is typing; it’s a small addition, but one that significantly ramps up the speed at which users can navigate the app and discover new content. CNET People using the iOS app can also now pin from an external website inside the app. Altogether, the updates help make the inspirational social network a mobile-friendly place where people can do more than just browse through pins.

BlackBerry Plans to Beat Twitter at its Own Game, and I Just Found a Unicorn (AllTwitter)
Now we have BlackBerry making an end run to snag the “social platform” golden ring away from those slackers (Twitter, Facebook and Google+) by introducing “channels.” CNET shares that “BlackBerry wants to take on Twitter by creating its own social network through its BlackBerry Messenger service.”

Reddit’s New Multireddit Feature Brings a Massive Change to its Front Page (VentureBeat)
It’s been years since community news sharing site Reddit has made a major change to how things appear on its coveted front page of popular submissions, but Tuesday the company announced a new feature called multireddits that could do just that. The multireddit feature enables you to combine several subreddits together, which can then be subscribed to on its own.

Social Slam: Second Annual NBA Social Media Awards to Air on NBA TV (LostRemote)
The NBA recently surpassed 400 million likes and followers combined across all league, team and player pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Sina and Tencent, and was the first sports league to surpass one billion video views on YouTube. On June 12, the NBA will capitalize on this success by airing on NBA TV the second annual NBA Social Media Awards presented by SAP.

With Square Stand, Jack Dorsey Brings High Design to the Point of Sale (AllThingsD)
If you’re a business, Jack Dorsey wants to make your countertop look a whole lot better than it does right now. That, in part, is the philosophy behind Square Stand, the payments startup’s new point-of-sale product unveiled on Tuesday morning.

Users Can Email Tumblr Posts from the Dashboard (SocialTimes)
Users can now email Tumblr posts directly from the homepage, or “dashboard.” Users can access the feature through a drop-down menu attached to share button that also leads them to the post’s permalink page. They then type in the email address to which they want to send the post.

LinkedIn Clarifies its Ban on Prostitutes, and Yes, There are Prostitutes on LinkedIn (The Huffington Post)
Not only is “prostitution” a tagged skill you can select on LinkedIn*, there are actually escorts who advertise their services on the professional networking site. Now LinkedIn is making sure everyone knows that the practice is not OK.

Facebook Announces Global Rollout of Sections on Timeline, Best Practices for App Developers (AllFacebook)
Facebook announced Tuesday that the application modules it introduced for Timeline in March have now been rolled out to all users, encouraging app developers in a post on its developer blog to incorporate these sections into their apps. The social network said when introducing sections in March that the modules give apps prominent placement on users’ Timelines, and the collections created by developers can help boost engagement with users.

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Square Stand Turns iPads Into Cash Registers

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Square took another big step towards simplifying the payment processing experience for small businesses with the introduction of Square Stand on Tuesday.

Square Stand, which retails for $299, is a sleek countertop device that holds the iPad and has a credit card swipe machine built into it. The goal is to provide bricks-and-mortar stores with a simple and stylish alternative to traditional clunky cash registers.

"Local business owners take as a given that they need an ugly, slow, expensive and complicated point-of-sale system cluttering their counter," Jack Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Square, said in a statement. "Square Stand is elegant, fast, affordable and easy to use. Whether you’re selling cupcakes, cardigans or cappuccinos, running your business with Square has never been easier." Read more...

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14 Ways to Accept Mobile Payments

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Accepting mobile payments —whether by accepting credit cards in the field or by letting users pay on-site with smartphones —is a must for businesses of all types. Figuring out which mobile payment technology is right for your business can be a challenge.

Here are the pros and cons of 14 different mobile payment services to help you sort through your options for accepting mobile payments.

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If you're looking for a no-frills approach to mobile credit card processing, then check out Square. With no monthly fees, no contracts and no merchant accounts, Square is a good solution for those who only occasionally need mobile payment processing. Read more...

More about Square, Mobile Payments, Paypal Mobile, Gopayment, and Google Wallet

Uber Reportedly Valued at $1 Billion

uber, social apps, mobile apps, taxi apps, ride sharingUber is in the midst of a fundraising round that values the company at $1 billion, according to Reuters’ report.

The news follows remarks by Bill Gurley, an Uber investor through Benchmark Capital, at the Disrupt NY conference, describing Uber as “probably the fastest growing company that we’ve ever had.” Gurley specifically noted that Uber was growing faster than eBay did in its early days.

A billion-dollar valuation would put Uber, which launched in 2010, in a small class of elite start-ups. Spotify, Pinterest and Airbnb are currently valued in the low billions.

A successful round will be the test of the aggressive valuation.

Despite facing regulatory hurdles, Uber now offers its e-hail taxi service in Boston, San Francisco and New York.

Update: CEO Travis Kalanick denied on Twitter that Uber was actively fundraising. It may be that it’s considering another round, or that investors are asking it to open up another round. Or it could be that Reuters just blew it.

 

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Venture Firms Delay IPO Payouts, Prefer to File in Secret: Report

social media, social networks, facebook, twitter, googlePublic stock offerings of companies originally funded by venture capital investments dipped by more than half in the first quarter of 2013, and many expect the companies to wait until the end of the year to go public, according to a study from the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters.

Just eight venture-funded enterprises went public in the first quarter, bringing in $672 million. Six of the eight were technology companies.

With a dollar amount lower than any since 2008, NVCA says investment firms delayed public offerings due to uncertainty about tax policy and sequestration.

In the remainder of 2013, the pace of IPOs will likely pick up, according to the report.

“Quality companies tell us they are starting the process toward an exit later in the year,” said John Taylor, NVCA’s head of research.

Twenty-five companies have filed public paperwork for IPO with the SEC. But, according to the report many, or even most, companies will now submit the confidential registrations legalized through the JOBS Act, which became law last April.

Companies likely to go public within the next year or two include Twitter, Spotify, Square and GrubHub, according to Greencrest Capital.

Despite widespread pessimism about Facebook’s performance since its 2012 IPO, seven of the eight companies that went public in the first quarter of 2013 are now trading above their offering price.

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Square Hit With Cease-and-Desist Order and Massive Fine in Illinois

square, twitter, social media, social networks, mobile appsSquare is facing a cease-and-desist order and a huge fine in the state of Illinois, according to a regulatory filing made in January and released today.

Ride-sharing apps have also been hit with cease-and-desist orders and fines by regulators who see them as car services rather than technology through with drivers and riders come to private arrangements.

In Illinois, “transmitting money” requires a license.

“No person may engage in this State in the business of selling or issuing payment instruments, transmitting money, or exchanging, for compensation, payment instruments or money of the United States government or a foreign government to or from money of another government without first obtaining a license under this Act,” the law further states.

Square, founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, describes itself as “a merchant payment processor.”

Square provides an attachment for mobile devices that turns them into credit card readers. It charges merchants a monthly flat rate or a small percentage of each transaction.

“Square processes payments you receive from your customers. This means that we collect, analyze and relay information generated in connection with these payments,” the company’s legal fine print says.

“They are a merchant agent in a card-based commerce transaction. They never take possession of funds, but send instruction,” tweeted Thomas Noyes, a former Citi executive.

The state is assessing a fine of $1,000 per transaction plus four times the total amount transacted in each case and $1,000 per day for each day the company has violated the law.

“We’ve been in close contact with the Illinois Division of Financial Institutions for several months and are addressing their concerns,” a Square spokesman told SocialTimes.

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Infographic: Billion-Dollar Startups

Price tags for social media companies have skyrocketed since Facebook debuted in 2004.  These startups were valued at a billion dollars or more.

This infographic from staff.com compares the company founding dates, estimated value, number of employees, and total capital raised for 13 companies from Facebook through Instagram.

Facebook’s market value is currently higher than all of the others combined, even without including its recent acquisition, Instagram, in the total. But it’s not the largest company in the group — Groupon has the most employees.

Take a look.

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