Welcome to the PYMTS Weekender, where we recap the week’s biggest development in payments and commerce. This edition includes news about Facebook’s new payments push, Amazon’s new robotics plan and why Google is working more closely with financial institutions. The Weekender also includes the latest original research from PYMNTS.
Top News
Facebook Launches ‘Facebook Pay’ For Cross-App Payments
Users of Facebook Pay, which the company said is not related to its proposed cryptocurrency Libra, will be able to enter a preferred payment method and then use the option to eventually pay throughout all of the related apps.
Goldman Denies Discriminatory Apple Card Practices, Says It Will Reassess Limits
Goldman Sachs has promised to reevaluate how credit limits are determined for Apple Card users after being accused of gender discrimination.
Google Dives Into DDAs
Code-named Cache, the accounts will be handled by Citigroup and a credit union at Stanford University. The branding will reflect the financial institutions and not Google.
Deutsche Bank Admits Widespread Payment Failures To BoE
Deutsche Bank told U.K. regulators that it still has ongoing problems processing high-value payments despite more than three years of remediation efforts.
Amazon To Build $40M Robotics Innovation Hub Near Boston
Tye Brady, chief technologist at Amazon Robotics, said the new hub will speed-up innovation and will be a “world-class facility, where our teams can design, build, program, and ship our robots, all under the same roof.”
Reports and Trackers
Zillow: Tackling Real Estate’s $1.6T Money Laundering Epidemic
Governments are tightening know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements on various industries out of increasing concern over fraud threats. Cryptocurrency companies that previously let customers remain anonymous will have to change their tunes in some countries, as will online gambling sites that provided fast onboarding at the expense of rigorous identity verification approaches.
New Data: How Subscription Box Merchants Can Contend In The Amazon Age
Consumers can access a wide range of retail products through subscription boxes, including meal kits, pet supplies and beauty items — to name a few options. These services are highly popular, with an estimated 41.2 million American adults subscribing to some type of subscription retail product offering.
Behind Regions Bank’s AI-Powered Digital-First Push
Recent PYMNTS research indicates that 34.8 percent of banking customers would be interested in switching their financial institutions if their branch experiences do not match their digital banking experiences.
Cool, Fund and Otherwise Interesting
Apple Pay Competition Practices Eyed By EU Regulators
Big Tech has gotten, is getting and will get its share of regulatory scrutiny. For Apple, there seems to be an increasing interest in its digital wallet, and how the firm is competing in the payments realm.
Google’s Growing Global Challenge To Amazon’s Voice Dominance
On their shared home territory of the U.S. market, Amazon and Google have spent the last two years avidly racing for control of the emerging world of digital voice controls, and striving to develop the voice-responsive artificial intelligence (AI) that consumers interact with on a daily basis. It is a race that Amazon is leading in the U.S. — and not by a small margin.
Does Nike Move Show An Amazon Weak Spot?
The knives were out for Amazon this week thanks to a major sneaker brand. But at this point, it seems unlikely that major changes are in store for the eCommerce operator.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More