The Biden administration issues guidelines to federal agencies buying AI
That includes establishing teams to work together on informing future AI policy
Read more...Ain't nothing gonna break Square's stride, that's for sure. The San Francisco-based mobile payment service announced today that it has hired Sarah Friar as its new Chief Financial Officer.
Up to this point, Friar has been the senior vice president of finance and strategy at Salesforce.com and now she will be the number's woman for the fastest-growing mobile payment service changing how small businesses function.
Before joining Salesforce, Friar worked at Goldman Sachs in corporate finance, M&A and equity research, as well as at McKinsey in various global branches.
Square stated that this new hire will help the company grow its product offerings and prepare for its international expansion later this year. That sounds very promising -- I wouldn't mind walking into a boutique in Guadalajara and using my Square account rather than having to convert all my dollars to pesos.
Square also used this announcement as a prime moment to state that the company now processes “over $6 billion in payments on an annualized basis” and that “over 1 million individuals and businesses are able to accept credit cards with Square.”
In recent months, everyone has been jumping into the mobile payment app service -- from Visa and Mastercard to PayDragon and LevelUp. Talk also started this week around Apple’s new Passport feature in the upcoming iOS 6 release. This new service that stores various cards, coupons and tickets could threaten Square but they have created a loyal base that gives them a great advantage.
"Square was founded on a commitment to help people start and grow their business," said Friar, in a statement. "I'm thrilled to join a company driving meaningful economic growth while revolutionizing the payment experience for consumers."
In the past year, Square has grown from 80 employees to more than 300 and recently added several VP-level executives including Alyssa Cutright (VP, International) from PayPal, Jesse Dorogusker (VP, Hardware) from Apple and Ricardo Reyes (VP, Communications and Brand Marketing) from Tesla.
That includes establishing teams to work together on informing future AI policy
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Read more...Startup/Business
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LevelUp is the pay phone app. It lets you pay with your phone to save time and money at your favorite local businesses. To get started, visit http://www.TheLevelUp.com or grab the free app for iPhone & Android. Based in Boston, MA, SCVNGR + LevelUp is funded by Google Ventures, Highland Capital Partners and Balderton Capital.
Startup/Business
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PayDragon is a mobile shopping app that lets smartphone users order and pay remotely for goods and services. PayDragon translates the convenient one-click shopping experience to the real world by enabling consumers to easily browse, scan, shop and pay for items on the go. Launched by the team behind Paperlinks, a leader in QR code marketing and mobile commerce, the PayDragon app is available for free on iPhone and Android.
PayDragon is headed by CEO and Founder Hamilton Chan.