News

Latin America
Prometeo Co-CEO on What It Takes to Create Latin America’s Connected Financial Ecosystem
January 22, 2024

Open banking promises to forge new financial ecosystems as data is shared among banks, corporates and consumers. Easier said than done. Banks must be on board. Corporates must be on board. And the technological underpinnings must be in place to connect and transmit information in...

Payments Innovation
X Heralds P2P Payments With @XPayments Account
January 21, 2024

Is X getting closer to adding peer-to-peer (P2P) payments to its platform? Elon Musk’s social media company announced plans to launch such an offering earlier this month. Now, X — formerly Twitter — has apparently set up a dedicated payments account. The verified @XPayments account appeared on...

CFPB
CFPB Sues Strategic Financial Solutions Over Alleged Fee Collection
January 19, 2024

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced Friday (Jan. 19) that it has launched a lawsuit against Strategic Financial Solutions (SFS), charging it with running an illegal debt-relief business.  SFS markets itself as a provider of debt-relief services and uses shell companies and facade law firms...

Retail
Consumers Turn to Social Media Platforms for Secondhand Products as Resale Partnerships Surge
January 19, 2024

As the economy continues to grapple with rising prices and inflationary pressures, consumers are adjusting their purchasing habits to cope with the erosion of their purchasing power.  In fact, a mere 18% of wage earners believe their incomes have matched inflation, prompting a shift toward...

Retail
3 in 10 Convenience Stores Look to Smart Shelf Tags to Keep Shoppers Engaged
January 19, 2024

As connected technologies take over brick-and-mortar stores, convenience retailers are increasingly seeing smart shelf tags as key to providing a positive shopper experience. By the Numbers The report “Big Retail’s Innovation Mandate: Convenience And Personalization,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and ACI Worldwide collaboration, drew from a survey...

Artificial Intelligence
4 in 10 High-Income Consumers Worry About Becoming Too Dependent on AI 
January 19, 2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of businesses and industries, but consumers still have uncertainties about its role in their lives and careers.  In the “Consumer Interest in Artificial Intelligence” edition of the “Consumer Inflation Sentiment” series, PYMNTS Intelligence sheds light on consumers’...

Artificial Intelligence
DeepMind Scientists Considering $220 Million Round for AI Startup
January 19, 2024

A pair of scientists at Google DeepMind, Laurent Sifre and Karl Tuyls, are reportedly in discussions with potential investors to establish their own artificial intelligence (AI) startup in Paris.  The potential startup, currently known as Holistic, aims to develop a new AI model, Bloomberg reported Friday (Jan. 19). The startup...

Cross-border Payments
Digital Wallets, Pay by Bank and Push to Card Can Transform Cross-Border Payments
January 19, 2024

Cross-border money movement’s digital makeover rests with a variety of endpoints. More specifically, the more ways there are to send and receive, the more options there are to house stores of value, and the more streamlined international payments become. To that end, and as PYMNTS reported...

Retail
Wayfair Cuts 13% of Workforce While ‘Right-Sizing Its Cost Structure’
January 19, 2024

Wayfair is laying off 1,650 employees as part of its efforts around “right-sizing its cost structure.” The cuts amount to about 13% of its global workforce and 19% of its corporate team, the furniture and home goods eCommerce company said in a Friday (Jan. 19)...