SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two years ago, employees from the start-up Square Inc descended on farmers markets in San Francisco to hand out a new type of credit-card reader that let small, independent merchants accept plastic via their smartphones or tablets. But this month, when Starbucks Inc and Square announced that 7,000 coffee shops across the country would begin accepting payment through Square's smartphone app, the small white cubes that were Square's original calling card didn't merit a mention. The subtle shift in Square's business focus, from card readers to nifty software, comes as one of Silicon Valley's most highly-touted startups encounters the brutal realities of the arcane but...
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