The new year looms, and for the FinTech IPO Index, with a year-to-date performance that tops a 64% return, 2024 has been kind, to put it mildly. December alone, as of Thursday’s close, marked an 18.4% gain. In the past several sessions, it was the...
As 2024 comes to a close, the retail sector remains defined by the intense rivalry between Amazon and Walmart. Over the course of the year, these industry titans fiercely competed for consumer loyalty, market dominance and innovation leadership. Here’s a recap of the major moments...
OpenAI is reportedly planning to become a for-profit company and is discussing the details of that transition with major investor Microsoft. According to a Thursday (Dec. 26) report from The Information, the two companies have been in talks since October about how to restructure the...
As payments become faster, fraudsters hide behind anonymity or concoct identities that seem legitimate, and then scam banks, merchants and individuals out of their money. Among the most effective ways of stopping would-be criminals in their tracks is using advanced technologies and collaboration to spot...
Boxing Day appears to be a muted affair for Great Britain’s merchants and shopping centers. Morning footfall on U.K. high streets was down 10.1% compared to last year, with shopping center traffic down 6.1%, the BBC reported Thursday (Dec. 26), citing data from MRI Software....
There’s good news and bad news for online retailers this year. The good is consumers are expected to spend almost $241 billion on eCommerce purchases during the holiday season, the Financial Times (FT) reported Thursday (Dec. 26), citing data from Adobe Analytics. The bad news?...
Sweeping changes to debit card interchange fees — and the ways debit transactions are facilitated — may come in 2025. As a result, the economics of debit payments may also change, with ripple effects that impact issuing banks, merchants and consumers. The Fed in Focus...
Was the threat of an eCommerce-driven retail real estate apocalypse just a mirage? Vacancies at open-air shopping centers have fallen to historic lows, while new steep building costs and high interest rates have dampened new construction, the Financial Times (FT) reported Thursday (Dec. 26). Just...
If tech investors cool on data centers, could AI-powered smartphones fill the semiconductor industry’s void? Doug Lefever, CEO of Nvidia supplier Advantest — the world’s biggest chip-testing machine provider — seems to think so, the Financial Times reported Wednesday (Dec. 25). Lefever said demand for...
