Grocer Kroger launches QR code-based payment service, snubs Apple Pay

Grocery chain Kroger Co. rolled out a first-party mobile payments solution on Wednesday as it continues to rebuff third-party solutions like Apple's Apple Pay. Dubbed Kroger Pay, the app-based solution generates single use QR codes on a customer's device, which are subsequently scanned by a Kroger cashier upon checkout. The service allows users to associate any major credit or debit card with the digital wallet.
Read more: https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/02/13/grocer-kroger-launches-qr-code-based-payment-service-snubs-apple-pay?source=Snapzu

The 4 Finance Skills Every Leader Needs No Matter Their Industry

An intuitive understanding of finance is an indispensable part of any leader’s toolkit. Knowing how to create and measure value can not only lead to smarter decision-making in the workplace, but professional advancement and improved communication with stakeholders. If you’re aiming to be more financially minded in your role and help your company thrive, here are the skills you need to develop, no matter your industry.
Read more: https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/finance-skills?source=Snapzu

Is Apple too big to fail? Let's hope so as failure would be catastrophic

In 2018 Apple became the first company to reach a market value in excess of $1 trillion. In the same year, the company's shares dropped 30 per cent. Josie Cox explains how it got there and where it's going next.
Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/apple-iphone-mac-steve-jobs-tim-cook-pc-computer-business-a8741961.html?source=Snapzu

JP Morgan rolls out first US bank-backed cryptocurrency to transform payments business

The first cryptocurrency created by a major U.S. bank is here — and it's from J.P. Morgan Chase. The lender moves more than $6 trillion around the world every day for corporations in its massive wholesale payments business. In trials set to start in a few months, a tiny fraction of that will happen over something called "JPM Coin," the digital token created by engineers at the New York-based bank to instantly settle payments between clients.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/13/jp-morgan-is-rolling-out-the-first-us-bank-backed-cryptocurrency-to-transform-payments--.html?source=Snapzu

Blizzard: No major game planned for 2019

Blizzard Entertainment has no “frontline release” planned for the 2019 fiscal year, the company announced today during its quarterly earnings call with investors, meaning there won’t be any new titles in the next 12 months — including a long hoped-for mainline entry into the Diablo franchise. “We expect materially lower financial performance this year,” said Activision Blizzard president Collister “Coddy” Johnson on the conference call, during which company brass discussed its 2018 fiscal year earnings. “2018 benefited from the release of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, whereas we are not planning a major frontline release for 2019.”
Read more: https://www.polygon.com/2019/2/12/18222527/blizzard-no-new-games-2019?source=Snapzu

Retail sales sink 1.2% in December in the worst plunge in nine years

Sales at retailers fizzled in December and posted the biggest decline in nine years in a worrisome sign for the U.S. economy, according to a long-delayed government report. Retail sales sank 1.2% in December, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. It’s the largest drop since September 2009, a few months after the end of the Great Recession.
Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/retail-sales-sink-12-in-december-to-mark-biggest-drop-since-2009-as-holiday-season-fizzles-out-2019-02-14?mod=economic-report?source=Snapzu

Google says it’ll invest $13B in US data centers and offices this year

Google today announced that it will invest $13 billion in data centers and offices across the U.S. in 2019. That’s up from $9 billion in investments last year. Many of these investments will go to states like Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia, where Google plans new or expanded data centers. Though like most years, it’ll also continue to expand many of its existing offices in Seattle, Chicago and New York, as well as in its home state of California.
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/13/google-says-itll-invest-13b-in-u-s-data-centers-and-offices-this-year/?source=Snapzu