The peer-to-peer payments firm kiboshed its global public feed and made its app more user-friendly—helping it become more attractive and push traffic to newer products, like Venmo Card.
HBO Max banks on Snapchat in latest subscriber growth effort: The app’s users will be able to watch a free episode of the “Gossip Girl” reboot (among other shows) with friends via a Snap Mini, as the streaming platform vies for more and younger eyes.
Content mod for users: Instagram is handing over the reins to users somewhat, with a new feature for them to select how much sensitive content they want to see in their Explore tab.
Yapily bags $51M to power European expansion: The open-banking provider aims to play in more European markets after closing a Series B round—its geographic growth could position it as the de facto technical standard for an area that lacks an official one.
U.S. Bank reopening of damaged branches hastens hybrid switch: The bank has been revamping Minneapolis branches damaged during last year’s civil unrest to offer self-service for transactional services and personal attention for complex ones. The redesign is consistent with US consumer preferences amid the digital-banking shift.
If retail ecommerce was boosting overall retail growth over the past decade, the pandemic added rocket fuel to surge it ahead by many years.
A 360-degree view of patients in your pocket: Patient engagement platform b.well Connected Health raised $32M—we unpack why companies like it that transform how patients interact with healthcare can help payers and providers with patient retention/acquisition and cut down on wasteful spending
Substack gets deeper into podcasts: The newsletter platform unveiled Booksmart Studios, where it will fund podcasters and test a new subscription model for their audio shows.
The Olympics start today, but should they?
A new survey shows the vast majority of tech workers think it’s important that their employers let them work remotely indefinitely. The findings further complicate Big Tech’s efforts to return to the office amid simmering employee backlash and a quickly spreading COVID-19 variant.
Apple dives headfirst into 5G: Reports say it may release a fleet of 5G-enabled phones, roll out a 5G-enabled SE model, and ditch its mini version. If they’re true, Apple’s commitment to 5G could help drive 5G adoption more widely.