Cross-Border Payments, Innovation And CEO Insights Top Week’s News

We hope you had a great holiday, and that this past week was productive and profitable. It was a busy week for payments and commerce news, and the new PYMNTS Weekender is here to make sure you didn’t miss anything. Coverage includes a story about how bamboo straws signal a new phase in global commerce, a new mobile payment network and Amazon’s latest push into biometrics, among many other topics and original PYMNTS research.

Top News

Why Invisible Will Make 2020’s Payments Innovation Roar

The famous 17th-century political satirist and author Jonathan Swift wrote in 1745 that “vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” Two hundred and seventy-four years later, those words are the perfect framework for understanding what will define the next decade of innovation in payments and any ecosystem that touches it.

Bamboo Straws, Emerging Markets And The Lessons Of Selling Cross Border

It’s one thing to talk the talk on cross-border payments, one of the hottest and increasingly vital areas of global payments and commerce. It’s another thing to walk the walk, especially when it comes to giving sellers the chance to gain new revenue via online marketplaces and new markets.

What 10 Top CEOs Said About Payments This Summer

There was no shortage of things to watch this summer for payments and commerce peeps. In case you happened to blink at some point in the last three months and missed some of that, don’t worry — we have it all here, as summed up by the CEOs who made the big moves and then explained them to us later.

Seven EU Firms Form X-Border Mobile Payment Network

Seven European payments operators — most of them owned by banks — that own and operate mobile payments services said that they are in the midst of building a pan-European network focused on cross-border mobile payments.

Visa: Chip Cards Reduce Counterfeit Fraud By 87 Pct.

Chip cards are now accepted at more than 3.7 million merchants, whereas in September of 2015 that number was only 392,000. That’s an 825 percent increase.

Regulators Taking Close Look At Payroll-Advance Apps

The apps claim they are more affordable — and safer — alternatives for Americans who live paycheck to paycheck.

Trackers and Reports

Report: The Risky Business Of Navigating Online Sales Tax For Merchants

Consumers are flocking to eCommerce, and more than 230 million U.S. consumers are expected to be shopping online by 2021. Merchants are eagerly striving to be selected to fulfill consumers’ purchasing needs and to stand out from an increasingly crowded eCommerce field. There are already more than 2.5 million sellers active on Amazon, for example, and more joining every day.

How AI Makes Claims Payouts Faster And Smarter

Seventy percent of gig economy workers are still living paycheck to paycheck, despite pulling in more money than ever. Instant payments and disbursements are therefore only growing more integral to every facet of the gig economy ecosystem.

Inside Australia’s Push For A Safe And Trusted Digital ID

The use of digital identities is becoming commonplace, and consumers are largely satisfied with their presence. In fact, PYMNTS’ Digital Identity Lifestyle Capsule found that 100 percent of eCommerce customers who were required to submit digital copies of their physical ID documents when creating accounts said it was a satisfactory authentication process.

Fun, Cool and Otherwise Interesting

Beyond Tariffs, Are Clouds Gathering For Chinese Consumers?

In some ways, the United States and China exist as mirror images, at least when it comes to economic drivers.

Can Amazon Give Biometric Payments A Hand — In The Store?

Biometric payments are making another run at the grocery store, this time at the hands or Amazon. Or, to be more precise, in the hands of Amazon’s customers.

The Apple Crystal Ball: Separating Safe Bets From Wild Speculation

The festivities will officially kick off soon in Cupertino’s Apple Park Headquarters as industry followers, Apple fans, tech enthusiasts and journalists crowd into the Steve Jobs Theater (or around their favorite live-streamed screen) for Apple’s annual fall event.