There is never a dull moment in the world of payments and commerce, and no matter how hard you work to keep up, it can be easy to miss something. That’s where the PYMNTS Weekender comes in. Coverage this week includes a new Amex financial service, deep looks at real-time payments and the woes at WeWork, advances in voice retail and payments, a potential new opportunity for financial institutions, and original PYMNTS research into use case for artificial intelligence.
Top News
Amex Launches Pay By Bank
Its Pay with Bank Transfer will be offered in Q4 to U.K. bank account holders even if they are not American Express cardmembers. American Express is teaming with eCommerce merchants across a variety of industries, including Thai Airways, Hays Travel, the Royal Lancaster London hotel and others.
Western Union Enables Real-Time Account-To-Account X-Border Payments For Banks, Digital Wallets
Western Union CEO Hikmet Ersek told Karen Webster that real time means receivers will have funds available to spend within minutes, enabling new real-time, cross-border, cross-currency payments capabilities for C2C, B2C and B2B use cases.
MyPayrollHR Founder Faces $70M Fraud Charge
The CEO and founder of the New York payroll company MyPayrollHR was arrested and charged in a $70 million bank fraud scheme that left hundreds of small businesses across the country scrambling.
Visa Partner Launch Eyes $17T Digital Payments Opportunity For FinTechs
For all the progress that’s been made on digital payments, the world still has 1.7 billion unbanked consumers who remain nearly wholly paper-dependent when it comes to making payments, totaling $17 trillion worth of consumer payments still made with checks and cash each year.
The Real-Time Payments Receivables Conundrum
What’s the link between payments and P.T. Barnum? Karen Webster explains in a column that digs deep into one of the most pressing issues facing the world of payments.
Will The SAFE Banking Act Make Life Riskier For Banks?
Since California first declared marijuana “legal” for medical consumption in 1996, transactions involving legally permitted cannabis have been complicated things. In fact, in the intervening 23 years, the situation has arguably gotten even more complex as 31 states (plus the District of Columbia) have legalized cannabis consumption for either legal or medical reasons.
Reports and Trackers
Dr. Alexa? How Voice Assistants Can Cure Patient Billing’s Ills
Fifth generation (5G) networks are slated to be in use around the world by 2020. These networks offer higher data processing, lower latencies and more reliable connectivity, which will support intelligence of things (IoT) applications that require vast amounts of data to be processed rapidly. That means 5G may be a gamechanger for smart cities, advanced IoT medical purposes and more.
How Dunkin’ Uses AI For Order Ahead Analytics
Digital food ordering is more popular than ever, with restaurant delivery expected to grow at three times the rate of on-site dining between 2018 and 2023. More than half of these delivery orders are projected to come from restaurant branded apps or websites.
How Payment Plans Remove The Risk From Booking Adventure Travel
New research outlines how consumers have participated in the $1.1 trillion luxury travel market and how innovative payment solutions could open the market to even more travelers. The study examines over 200 data points and is based on responses from 2,141 consumers who either took and paid for a luxury vacation within the past year or who plan to do so within the next year.
Cool, Fun and Otherwise Interesting
Lessons Learned — Or Not — From WeWork’s Whirlwind
For WeWork’s (OK, actually its parent company, We) stunning slide from would-be investor darling, its ill-fated attempt to make the leap from private to public markets and the ouster of its guiding light and CEO Adam Neumann offer several examples of how several factors and forces can align rather unfavorably.
eBay’s CEO Resignation A Pyrrhic Activist Victory?
The eCommerce giant announced that Devin Wenig stepped down from the role of chief executive officer, a position he had held since July 2015.
The New Alexa Experience: Upgraded Speakers, Wild Wearables And Celebrity Appearances
Another day, another tech event announcing the latest and greatest hitting the market this fall checked off the list. Apple and Amazon are finished — Microsoft and Alphabet are still preparing to take the stage.
Merging Apps, Uber Eyes ‘Everyday’ Use
Uber’s apps are getting a makeover — and a bit of a merger. To that end, Uber said it would merge its food delivery and ride-hailing applications in a way that would bring its offerings together as “the operating system for your everyday life,” as CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
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