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Square may make a 'hardware wallet' for Bitcoin
Square may make a bitcoin hardware wallet, says Jack Dorsey.
Square is buying a majority stake in Tidal
Jack Dorsey's Square is buying control of Tidal in hopes of finding new ways for musicians to get paid.
The Cash app's parent company is now running its own bank
Square Financial Services is bringing financing for Square sellers in-house.
Microsoft tried to buy Nintendo, but got laughed out of the room
Specifically, the Xbox was unveiled at CES in 2001 — to commemorate that launch, Bloomberg has published an in-depth oral history of how the console came to be. It’s a fascinating read, but one particular passage stands out: details on Microsoft’s efforts to secure games for the brand-new console. While the company implored third-party developers to work on the Xbox, Microsoft also considered using its considerable financial might to buy developers.
Square could be trying to buy Tidal from Jay-Z
The outlet is reporting that Square, the payments company run by Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey, has discussed a potential acquisition with Jay-Z, the rapper and entrepreneur who bought Tidal in early 2015. Bloomberg cites an unnamed source and has emphasized that a deal isn’t guaranteed. Tidal is a direct competitor to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Music Unlimited.
Chase takes on Square with its own contactless payment system
Chase has introduced a competitor to Square, Business Complete Banking, that makes contactless payments easy.
Square enables free stock trades using Cash App
Square kept introducing new features for its Cash app over the past years until it's no longer just meant for sending and receiving money from friends. Last year, the company launched the ability to instantly buy and sell bitcoin, allowing users to take a chance on cryptocurrency if they want to. Now, Square has revealed that it's rolling out the ability to buy stocks from within the Cash app. Users don't even have to invest money they can't afford losing -- say, over $1,000 to buy a single Google share -- because it'll allow them to buy fractions of stocks for as little as $1.
Square offers sellers $10 photoshoots for their products
If a picture really is worth a thousand words, then great product photography needs to be at the top of the agenda for anyone selling stuff on Etsy, eBay, Kickstarter or basically anywhere online. Sometimes, though, shooting on your iPhone just doesn't cut the mustard, and hiring a professional photographer -- or even just the right kit -- is pretty expensive. Enter the Square Photo Studio, which will take high quality product shots for you, at the fraction of the cost.
Square will offer its new crypto employees payment in Bitcoin
Payments startup Square is turning its attention to cryptocurrency. According to tweets from CEO Jack Dorsey, the company is hiring engineers and a designer to "work full-time on open source contributions to the bitcoin/crypto ecosystem."
Square adds payment installment plans to its merchant tools
It its latest move into the banking industry's turf, Square is now letting its sellers offer payment installment plans. The company says it's easy for a seller to sign up for the feature and customers will be given the option of paying their total over the course of three, six or 12 months. While customers will have to apply for a payment plan, Square will assess and decide on those applications in real time.
New York sues US treasury for allowing fintechs to become banks
New York is suing the US over a decision to permit US financial technology firms to apply for national bank charters, blasting it as "lawless" and "ill-conceived". Maria Vullo, superintendent of New York's Department of Financial Services, filed the suit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in a Manhattan federal court.
Square finally has a Lightning card reader for newer iPhones
If you have a newer iPhone, it's been a pain to take payments from magstripe cards using a Square reader -- without a native headphone jack, you've had to plug in a dongle and hold it steady while you serve a customer. Isn't Square overdue for a more iPhone-friendly version? Thankfully, it's here. You now have the option of a magstripe reader with a Lightning connection instead of the usual 3.5mm plug. There's nothing new apart from the port compatibility, but the identical $10 price makes it an easy choice if you run an iPhone-centric shop.
Square sellers no longer need signatures for card payments
Square Cash is continuing its crusade to make the business of parting with your hard-earned money a little less painful. It's just announced that it's cut down EMV transaction time on Square Reader for contactless and chip even further, to just two seconds, compared to the average eight to 13 seconds. The process uses a new "dip transaction flow" that prioritizes the parts of a transaction that are critical to security, which means less time standing in line, waiting for your card info to churn through to the issuer.
Apple Pay Cash leads Consumer Reports' first payment service test
Peer-to-peer mobile payment services are all the rage these days (eMarketer expects a 24 percent jump in US adoption in 2018), but which of them is actually the safest to use? Consumer Reports might have an idea. The publication has conducted its first head-to-head test of payment services, and it's clear that some services are better picks than others. While all of the payment platforms were "good enough to use," Apple Pay Cash was the victor due to its stronger-than-usual privacy and security.
eBay adds Apple Pay as a payment option
eBay is spreading its wings now that it has officially started transitioning to a non-PayPal payment system. This fall, it's adding Apple Pay as one of its first options on the new payment platform, giving people a way to purchase goods through eBay's mobile app or through its website on Safari using Cupertino's digital wallet. The option will initially be available to a small group of Marketplace customers given the chance to participate in the first phase of Apple Pay's rollout, so buyers won't be encountering it at every turn yet. eBay plans to move more people to the new payment platform next year, though, and aims to finish transitioning everyone to it by 2021.
Snapchat ends its peer-to-peer payment service on August 30th
Snap's one-time hope of becoming a major player in money transfers has come to an ignominious end. The company has confirmed to TechCrunch that it's discontinuing its Snapcash service on August 30th. While it didn't say what would happen to users' accounts, it promised that they'd receive notifications through both the Snapchat app itself as well as the support website. It's sad news if you're a frequent Snapchatter who used the feature to cover your share of restaurant bills, but you could see this coming given the competition and Snap's own fortunes.
Square's Cash app now supports direct deposits for paychecks
Square's Cash app now supports direct deposits for paychecks, which means it's one step closer to becoming a fully functional bank account, without actually being a bank account. Users just need to give their employer their account and routing number (found in Cash settings), and the app will notify them when a deposit hits their account. The funds are added to their regular Cash balance and can be spent via debit card, sent to a friend, put into another account or even used to buy bitcoin.
Square Cash now allows anyone to buy and sell bitcoin
Square's Cash App has been helping people send and receive money without fees for a while now. Originally an money-by-email service, Cash App has grown into a more robust offering with its own prepaid Visa card. The company has been testing buying and selling Bitcoin via the app, as well, and has finally made it official.
Square tests buying and selling bitcoin inside its payment app
Square Cash moved beyond sending money in February 2016 when it started letting users store their funds in account reserves, digital wallet-style. Starting today, you can use the service's mobile app to stash another type of currency: bitcoin. But only select users are seeing the feature.
‘Final Fantasy XV’ multiplayer DLC pushed back to November 15th
Back in September, Square Enix announced upcoming multiplayer DLC titled Comrades for Final Fantasy XV, its blockbuster game that came out a year ago. Unfortunately, the extra content was delayed past its initial Halloween release date, but not for much longer: The publisher tweeted that it's coming out on November 15th.
