Top News In Payments: Uber, Lyft, DoorDash Back Initiative To Fight Gig Worker Law; Adobe Predicts Holiday Sales To Reach $143.7B

In today’s payments news, Uber, Lyft and DoorDash are backing a ballot initiative to exempt themselves from California’s landmark law that re-classifies gig workers as employees. Also, a study by Adobe Analytics found that the upcoming holiday shopping season is expected to break records in online spending. And Lyft is launching a new Lyft Pink membership plan.

Lyft Rolls Out Paid Membership Discount Program

Lyft is launching Lyft Pink, a new membership plan for riders seeking discounts on car, scooter and bike rides. The membership plan comes with a 15 percent discount on all car rides and comes at a cost of $19.99 a month. Other perks offered with Lyft Pink include waived lost and found fees, priority airport pickups and a break on cancellations, with up to three cancellation fees covered monthly.

Shopify Hits 1M Merchant Mark, Reports Surprise Q3 Loss

Shopify posted a surprise third-quarter loss on Tuesday (Oct. 29) even though the company hit two significant milestones. Adjusted loss came in at 29 cents per share, which was lower than adjusted net income of 5 cents per share a year ago. The company also closed its 6 River Systems acquisition earlier in the month and hit the 1 million merchant mark last month.

Uber, Lyft Back Ballot Measure To Fight California Gig Worker Law

Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash are backing a ballot initiative to exempt themselves from California’s landmark law that re-classifies gig economy workers as employees. The Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Act ballot measure includes a guarantee that drivers would get 30 cents per mile and make 20 percent over minimum wage. It also proposes an ACA-comparable healthcare subsidy and accident insurance.

Holiday Shoppers Forecasted To Spend Record $143.7B

A study by Adobe Analytics found that the upcoming holiday shopping season is expected to break records in online spending. eCommerce shopping during November, as well as December, is anticipated to go up 14.1 percent over last year, reaching sales totaling $143.7 billion. The study tracked transactions for 80 of the top 100 U.S. internet retailers with the inclusion of Amazon and Walmart.

Walmart’s Daniel Eckert On Why TailFin Is Retail’s Next Big Thing

Walmart and Green Dot already have a payments partnership, one that involves the Walmart MoneyCard program and which launched in 2006. But news broke late Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 29) that the relationship has gotten deeper. Not only is that payments deal being extended, but the two businesses will create and roll out a FinTech accelerator.

These two developments foreshadow future changes to come in 2020s for retail and FinTech, Senior Vice President of Walmart Services and Digital Acceleration Daniel Eckert told Karen Webster shortly before the news broke. “The next big thing in retail is the integration of FinTech and retail tech,” he said. “In order to deliver something like that, you’ll have to get a lot closer to others.”

OfferUp’s General Counsel On Keeping Marketplace Shoppers Safe From Scammers

Online marketplaces need to keep users safe as shopping keeps becoming digital. Even tech-savvy millennials fall victim to scams. However, the marketplace that can keep fraud levels minimal is the marketplace that will survive, according to Nathan Garnett, general counsel of OfferUp, a marketplace for person-to-person (P2P) sales.

In a feature story, Garnett explains how to use machine learning tools to find early signs of fraud, as well as provide customers with verification options and safety tips to keep themselves — as well as their money — safe.