Merchant Innovation

Palantir Adds Retail Shopping Data With FancyThat Purchase
February 09, 2015

Law enforcement contracts, financial research, health care innovation, and now…shopping? Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required. yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today. By completing this...

How Pin Pads Power Payments Data
February 09, 2015

Marc Freed-Finnegan doesn’t think receipts are exciting. Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required. yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today. By completing this form, you agree...

Alibaba’s Smart Phone Play
February 09, 2015

Alibaba is taking a $590 million stake in a Chinese smartphone maker, Meizu Technology Co, that is virtually unknown internationally as the megafirm continues to explore ways to expand its mobile reach in a tightly competitive market. Get the Full Story Complete the form to...

‘Netflix For Fashion’ Bags $8.8 Million In Funding
February 06, 2015

Dubbed a “Neflix for Clothing,” personalized women’s clothing rental company Le Tote has reportedly raised $8.8 million in Series A funding from various venture capital firms, according to TechCrunch. The fundraising round was led by Azure Capital Partners with backing by Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Simon Venture Group,...

Alibaba’s Even Larger Global Stake In Mobile Payments
February 06, 2015

Ant Financial, an affiliate of the Alibaba Group, announced Feb. 5 that it will take a 25 percent stake in Indian mobile payments company One97, according to TechCrunch. This move appears to line up with Jack Ma’s vision of getting Alibaba more involved in India, which...

Shazam Gives Cardholders Quicker Access To Cash
February 06, 2015

Shazam, a four-decade old financial services company, released a new feature yesterday (Feb. 5) to its Shazam Bolts app that gives debit card users access to person-to-person money transfers, as well as a GPS function that enables U.S. cardholders to find fee-free ATMs. Get the Full Story...

Another Smartwatch Competitor Ticking Against Apple
February 06, 2015

It has been theorized by industry analysts that Apple Pay’s big breakthrough may  when Apple Pay is introduced into the new Apple Watch. When that happens, Apple Pay will take off due to the ease of tapping a watch compared to whipping out one’s phone....

Russia Search Giant Launches Moscow Parking App
February 06, 2015

Dubbed the Google of Russia, Yandex has recently tried to expand its core search business into other fields in a way similar to what Google has done outside of Russia. After acquiring a low-powered geo-mobile startup called KitLocate last March, and expanding its PayPal-like payment...

Consumers Claim To Shop More Online, But Do They?
February 06, 2015

It might seem weird to think of the benefits of online shopping as more of a theory than a practice, especially when the advantages of having near-bottomless inventory and quick price comparisons are so clear, but according to new survey data from the IBM Institute...