In today’s top news, Inspire Brands is buying Dunkin’ for $11.3 billion, and U.S. personal income and spending rose in September. Plus, Denmark’s Nets is merging with Italy’s Nexi to create one of the largest payments platforms in Europe.
Inspire Bets $11.3B That Its Brands Can Run on Dunkin’
After speculations last week, private equity-backed Inspire Brands will buy Dunkin’ and bring it private for $11.3 billion. The acquisition will extend Dunkin’s skills in mobile tech to its larger brand base, with the goal of building a better customer experience and loyalty offerings.
US Personal Income Increase Beats Forecasts
September was the fifth consecutive month that U.S. personal income went up, posting an increase of 0.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported on Friday (Oct. 30). Personal spending was also up, increasing 1.4 percent in September.
Denmark’s Nets Merging With Italy’s Payments Giant Nexi
European payments rivals Nets of Denmark and Nexi of Italy have negotiated an “all-share” merger deal that would establish a large payments platform for the pan-European market, creating a “one-stop-shop” for payments.
Stripe Expands Payments Partnership With Mindbody
Stripe and Mindbody have expanded their partnership to fuel advanced digital and brick-and-mortar experiences for wellness clients in the United States, Canada and throughout Europe.
Walmart+, Amazon Prime Face Off as Consumers Decide Who Gets Their Business
Walmart+ debuted a little more than a month ago, and new PYMNTS data shows that roughly 17 percent of U.S. consumers report having a Walmart+ membership – and already three in 10 of the highly coveted bridge millennials say they have both Amazon Prime and Walmart+. Karen Webster says time will tell whether Walmart+ can keep those younger, higher-spending consumers in the boat.
Visa’s Phalen: Better Collaboration Will Push B2B Payments Into the Digital Age
Get used to the phrase “collaborative commerce.” Kevin Phalen, head of global business solutions at Visa, tells Karen Webster that facilitating interoperability and eliminating friction will bring buyers and sellers — as well as trillions in revenue — into the B2B space.
Big Tech Earnings Cement Digital-First Economic Shift
The Big Tech companies that reported earnings over the last several days — Alphabet (Google’s parent), Amazon, Facebook, Twitter among them — showed that eCommerce, and the ads that keep eCommerce top of mind for consumers (and, of course, the corporates that cater to them), are on an upswing.
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