Square has closed $150 million in new venture financing, bringing Square’s current value to about $6 billion, the New York Times reported Sunday (Oct. 5). The new financing round was led the Government of Singapore Investment Corp.—a new investor—and included Goldman Sachs and Rizvi Traverse...
Visa CEO Charlie Scharf is trying to change the payments conversation, from reaching out to retailers—some of whom, he freely admits, “hate” Visa—to embracing mobile and cyber currency strategies, according to an extensive BusinessWeek profile published Thursday (Oct. 2). “A 4-foot-tall robot with a video...
Supervalu has discovered a second data breach—a “separate intrusion” potentially launched by a different sets of cyberthieves—that hit many of its grocery stores. The chain did, however, report a silver lining: Security upgrades from the first attack minimized damage from the second attack. But it...
The Chinese government is officially allowing Apple to start selling the iPhone 6/6 Plus in China after extracting a privacy promise from Apple “that it would never allow any country or government agency backdoor access to its devices or user data,” according to a report...
Wanting to keep its most critical pilots near its headquarters in Bentonville, the world’s largest retail chain this began filling same-day Internet grocery purchases at a drive-thru facility in Bentonville on Tuesday (Sept. 29). Walmart dubbed the test “Walmart Pickup—Grocery” and said that it “continues...
There’s more reported fallout from the databreach at sandwich-chain Jimmy John’s, with some 100 new restaurant victims identified and a confirmation from the chain that “an unauthorized person gained access to a user name and password that Signature Systems used to remotely access POS systems.”...
As part of an effort to push its mobile payment app as deeply into retail as possible, China-based Tencent Holdings has increased the size of its minority ownership of a shopping mall and logistics developer. “Tencent’s deepening ties with China South City Holdings could create...
FiveStars, a 3-year-old loyalty reward firm focused on small businesses, has raised $26 million. “Menlo Ventures led the Series B investment, joined by the company’s earlier backers Lightspeed Venture Partners, DCM and Rogers Communications,” the Wall Street Journal reported. FiveStars has about 150 full-time and...
Online retailers are worrying less about infrastructure and more about marketing and customer service for the 2014 holiday season, according to a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. ecommerce professionals by eBay Enterprise. The 2014 Holiday Retail Audit found that retailers are beefing up spending...
