Amazon Alexa Now The Office Assistant, Too

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Amazon has launched a new feature that will allow third-party office equipment manufacturers to embed Alexa directly onto their devices.

According to Fortune, the feature is an extension of the company’s Alexa Voice Service device software development kit, used by coders to embed Alexa into non-office equipment including internet-connected speakers and home networking gear.

Users of the new feature will have their products registered with Alexa for Business, which is a paid service that allows organizations and employees to use Alexa to be more productive at work.

Some of the companies already working with Amazon on it include BlackBerry, iHome, and Plantronics, which owns Polycom.

“We’ve been using Alexa for Business since its launch by pairing Echo devices with existing Polycom equipment, and integrating those experiences directly into products like Polycom Trio will take our customer experience to the next level of convenience and ease of use,” Plantronics vice president of alliance marketing Laura Marx Klopfer said in a statement.

Last month, Amazon announced that Alexa now works with 20,000 devices — a fivefold increase in just eight months.

“Just this year, Alexa has sung Happy Birthday millions of times to customers, and she’s told over 100 million jokes,” said Amazon executive Daniel Rausch.

Rausch, Amazon’s vice president of smart home, explained that at the beginning of 2018, Alexa worked with just over 4,000 devices. The number of brands using Alexa also increased from 1,200 to over 3,500 during the same eight-month period. He added that there are currently 50,000 Alexa skills, as well as hundreds of thousands of developers in over 180 countries working on Alexa.

Alexa has even been utilized by financial institutions, with the U.S. Bank announcing last year that it was among the first banks in the U.S. to enable customers to complete banking tasks such as checking an account balance or making a digital payment to a U.S. Bank credit card by speaking a command to Alexa.


45% of Non-Recurring Transactions Now Use Instant Payments

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The gig economy and gaming industries have driven a rise in ad hoc transactions, payments made outside of regular invoicing and payroll. Businesses are relying on instant payments to streamline these transactions, which involve contractors, consumers and small businesses.

According to a PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Gigs and Games: How Instant Payments Are Gaining Ground for Ad Hoc Transactions,” a collaboration with Ingo Payments, with increased demand for efficiency and speed, instant payment systems are becoming a preferred solution, though obstacles to wider adoption remain.

Instant Payments Comprise Nearly Half of Ad Hoc Transactions

Instant payments are gaining in popularity for ad hoc transactions, according to the report. With the demand for quicker and more efficient methods of payment, businesses are adopting real-time payment systems to facilitate faster transactions, reduce fraud risk and improve overall financial processes.

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PYMNTS found 45% of all ad hoc payments made in July 2024 were sent via instant methods, a notable increase from 36% earlier in the year. Industries that rely heavily on nonrecurring payments, such as gaming and the gig economy, have seen the most significant uptake.

Larger Enterprises Leading the Shift

Larger companies are leading the adoption of instant payments for ad hoc transactions. Businesses with more than $1 billion in revenue are sending half of their ad hoc payments via instant rails, revealing a preference for speed and efficiency. Smaller companies, however, are lagging in adoption, with those earning between $50 million and $100 million turning to instant methods for just 34% of ad hoc payments. The delay in adoption among smaller enterprises is often linked to the high costs of integrating instant payment systems into their existing processes.

Despite this, the trend toward adopting instant payment methods is gaining momentum across the board. Many large enterprises view instant payments as the future standard for ad hoc transactions, especially in business models that no longer rely on recurring payees, such as contractors or freelance workers. But challenges persist in scaling this technology across industries of all sizes.

Barriers to Broader Instant Payment Adoption

While instant payments offer considerable benefits, particularly in terms of speed, cost savings, and enhanced customer/vendor retention, the report shows businesses face obstacles in fully adopting them. For many enterprises, the cost of integrating real-time payment systems remains the primary barrier. According to the report, 35% of businesses cite integration costs as the biggest obstacle to adopting instant payments for ad hoc transactions.

Additionally, there is a digital divide, with industries like gaming and the gig economy leading the charge in adopting instant payment systems. But two-thirds of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), particularly those in industries with less digital momentum, are dealing with the costs and complexities of implementing these systems. Despite these challenges, businesses that do embrace instant payments could gain a competitive edge by securing customer and vendor loyalty, driving down transaction costs, and improving cash flow management.