Today In Payments: China Trials Digital Yuan By Giving Away $1.5M; EU Puts 20 Firms On Regulatory Hit List

In today’s top news, China is giving away $1.5 million to test the digital yuan, and the EU is compiling a list of 20 tech companies to hit with stricter regulations. Plus, Instacart is in talks to file for an IPO.

China Trials Digital Yuan By Giving Away $1.5M

China’s central bank is issuing 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) worth of digital currency to 50,000 people chosen by lottery in the country’s first trial run of a cashless payments system. The money can be used Oct. 12-18 at more than 3,000 designated shops in the Luohu shopping district in Shenzhen.

EU Puts Up To 20 Firms On Regulatory Hit List

European Union (EU) regulators are drawing up a list of up to 20 large internet companies to target with strict regulations to limit their market power. Large platforms on the list will face tougher regulations than smaller companies will, such as new rules forcing them to share data and offer transparency on how they gather information.

Report: Instacart Talks To Bankers About An IPO

Representatives of grocery delivery powerhouse Instacart have met with investment bankers to explore taking the company public, days after announcing a $200 million funding round, boosting Instacart’s valuation to $17.7 billion. The initial public offering (IPO) could be one of the biggest of the year.

Robinhood Reports Potential Hacking Incident

Online brokerage Robinhood, which offers a suite of tools aimed at making investing easy and comparatively cheap for the uninitiated, said on Friday (Oct. 9) that hackers may have gained information about customers’ personal email accounts. The data breach follows a series of technical issues and outages over the past year.

What The Great Time Revolution Means For Consumers

At the beginning of 20th century, new electric-powered appliances helped women save time doing household chores. Karen Webster says that at the beginning of the 21st century, the internet and connected devices led to another revolution in time by digitizing and democratizing how those chores get done. This year, she says, we see this revolution shift into high gear as consumers use a host of connected devices and apps to both save time and shift when and where it gets done. Here’s why that matters to the businesses that hope to serve them.

FedNow’s Montgomery: Gearing Up For 2023-24 — And Instant Payments Competition

Faster payments initiatives are gaining ground across the globe. In a PYMNTSTV exclusive with Karen Webster, Ken Montgomery, the Boston Federal Reserve’s chief operating officer and FedNow program executive, says the Fed’s ambitious instant-payments initiative remains on track — with a pilot program set to launch shortly.

Consumers Feather Their Connected Home Nests

Locked-down consumers are spending plenty of money upgrading their homes to make living and working and going to school there more efficient. The market is responding with more and more smart speakers, smart appliances and other gear to help consumers feather their fully-connected home nests. PYMNTS breaks it all down.