Another weekend is on tap, and that means a new edition of the PYMNTS Weekender, which ensures that you have not missed any important news from the last and very busy week of payments and commerce. We do a deep dive on PayPal and the tech visions of Sam’s Club, and have new and original research into mobile card apps — along with many other stories.
Top News
PayPal’s Schulman: Why Payments’ Biggest Innovations Are Yet To Come
Dan Schulman still vividly remembers the first question he was asked on his first day on the job as PayPal’s CEO in 2014. Shortly after being introduced to the assembled employee base at a companywide presentation by then eBay CEO John Donahoe, an audience member stood up and asked Schulman to define his vision for PayPal.
Visa Direct To Power TransferWise Real-Time Global P2P
Visa has added a new partner in its quest to simplify, digitize and drive costs down in the global remittances space with its real-time push payments platform Visa Direct. Visa Direct has been used to process 2 billion transactions in 2019, a number it is looking to grow in 2020.
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Why SamsClub.com CEO Says It’s A $60B Tech Startup
The two key words that Sam’s Club keeps at the forefront as they are reformatting and expanding their offerings for customers are choice and convenience. That’s why they installed scan-and-pay technology, called Scan & Go, so that customers could skip the check-out by essentially turning their phone and the app into their point of sale (POS).
B2B Payments Firm Bill.com Has A Good Day In IPO Land
Bill.com, which launched 13 years ago, focuses on small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), according to Bill.com CEO Rene Lacerte.
Visa: US Contactless Payments Primed For A Big 2020
When Visa, Chase, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and other industry leaders co-launched a contactless payments pilot seven months ago, they started small, and with modest goals.
Trackers and Reports
Fifth Third’s Two Cents On Treasury APIs
Financial institutions (FIs) are locked in competition as they seek to serve the $38 trillion global business-to-business (B2B) payments sector, which could use some major changes: B2B payments too often take the form of paper checks winding their way through the mail, and accounts payable professionals are betting that digitization will overhaul the space, and unlock much-desired faster payment speeds.
Behind The Consumer’s Surging Interest In Mobile Card Apps
Getting consumers to download new apps can be a tough sell — crowded as the smartphone screens of many already are these days. It may be even more challenging to get them to use new apps on a regular basis before they are banished from their home screens.
Fun, Cool and Otherwise Interesting
Apple’s Tim Cook Says Not All Monopolies Are Bad
When is a monopoly not a threat? Maybe when you’re the monopoly. We make that statement a bit tongue in cheek, of course. The jury is still out as to whether Apple is indeed a monopoly, and/or whether it has a detrimental effect on its competitors across a slew of verticals at all.
PayPal Sues CFPB Over ‘Misleading’ Digital Wallet Disclosure Rules
PayPal has filed suit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), alleging that the agency has dismissed its arguments that digital wallets do not operate in the same way as reloadable debit cards — and that disclosure rules mandated by the agency require the payments giant to make “misleading and confusing” disclosures about its products.
Deutsche Bank Predicts Weak Fiat System Will Fuel Demand For Crypto
The past several months have seen bitcoin perhaps overshadowed (just a bit) by any number of large-scale efforts to bring digital coins to mainstream society.
Insurance And Other Services Get Smarter Via Connected Vehicles
It’s not just cars and trucks that are undergoing historic changes thanks to digital and mobile technology, and the drive toward the connected vehicle and autonomous driving ecosystems. The whole automotive culture — and that includes payments — is transforming.
Making The Frozen Foods Section Ground Zero For Retail Reinvention
As most people who found themselves in a grocery store during the chaotic pre-Thanksgiving period will probably recall: some days shopping in a store, even for relatively simple things, can be a pretty atrocious experience. Nothing seems to be in the right place, the signs advertise all kinds of sales — even ones that appear to have expired a day or two ago — and figuring out even basic product information seems to be a major uphill climb.
