It’s Thursday (April 21), and Shopify is nipping at Amazon’s heels, making the eCommerce behemoth rethink its relationship with merchants. Meanwhile, WhatsApp wants to move beyond social and into the office. Here’s what else should be on your radar this morning.
Amazon vs Shopify: Amazon is trying to cozy up to its merchants with a new Buy With Prime perk in a move to thwart Shopify’s encroachment on its eCommerce ecosystem. Amazon’s new seller tool allows merchants to integrate Amazon Prime checkout directly from their own website. READ MORE
WhatsApp for the Office: Employees at the same company could soon be chatting with the boss on Meta-owned WhatsApp as the messaging firm moves to launch a subscription plan for businesses. The commercial plan would upgrade the number of allowable devices from four to 10 and could also be used to showcase products and connect with customers. READ MORE
Digital LatAm: Small-and-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Latin America want to embrace a digital-first environment —not only to expand their firms, but to drive financial inclusion. Of the 5 million SMBs in Colombia, for example, 60% have little access to financial services, Mario Shiliashki, CEO of PayU Global Payments, told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster. READ MORE
Crime-as-a-Service: Cyber crimes have expanded from fraud and money laundering to ransomware, business email compromise (BEC) and phishing — and then there is the use of cryptocurrency as a vehicle to hide ill-gotten gains. Featurespace Founder Dave Excell told Karen Webster that the rise of “Financial Crime-as-a-Service” has infiltrated the financial services sector. READ MORE
Main Street Recovery: As the world starts slowly bouncing back from the two-year pandemic, Main Street businesses are having a hard time recovering but are finally seeing more signs of life. PYMNTS “The Main Street Index: How America’s Small to Mid-Sized Businesses Are Rebuilding for a Post-Pandemic Economy,” powered by Melio, shows that Main Street firms are now at pre-demic levels. READ MORE
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