The world of unattended retail has come a very long way in a very short time. Less than a decade ago, the unattended retail space was more or less defined by vending machines. It was the source of last-resort sustenance – participating in unattended retail usually meant...
The news last Friday that Facebook has plans to launch its own global crypto-based payments rails is déjà vu all over again. Déjà vu because it was 10 years ago, in May of 2009, that Facebook launched the alpha version of Facebook Credits. Credits was...
Payments don’t always have to be just about the cards. That’s the big message being sent throughout the payments world as PSD2 and other FinTech efforts spark innovation and give consumers, companies and other organizations more methods to pay — methods that better match the preferences...
FinTech firms are tracking the evolution of digital commerce and payments while tapping into the experiences of their leaders. AvidXchange Chief Operating Officer Steve Boehm, for instance, got the chance to live life at a web 1.0 company through his experiences of roughly six years...
Once upon a time, the world of travel in general – and exotic or adventure travel, specifically – was a very different place. As the second decade of the 21st century is drawing to a close, it is almost unimaginable that booking a flight or finding the...
The hostel industry has rapidly grown since the first one opened in Altena, Germany in 1912. The market now serves millions of international travelers and is worth $5.5 billion. Dozens of sites and services enable customers to book stays online in their local currencies, making...
Citigroup’s Global Head of Payments and Receivables Manish Kohli is relying on technology to increase its payment business. “Our strategy has to be very simple,” Kohli told his team recently, as he laid out his mission to ensure that the payments industry keeps up with...
In the homesharing market, “caveat emptor” takes on heightened relevance for both sides, particularly when making sure both parties are the real deal. In the latest Payments and the Platform Economy Playbook, Spotahome’s Co-founder Hugo Monteiro explains how establishing that trust is much more challenging...
The sharing economy is butting against regulatory challenges. As the number of sharing economy participants grows worldwide, governments and regulatory bodies are starting to ask more questions. Regulators want to have a greater stake in the way sharing platforms operate. Many of these regulators also...