Today in the Connected Economy: Walmart Metaverse Expansion Includes Concert Series

Today in the connected economy, Walmart announced it is getting into the concert business by hosting a music festival inside its new metaverse space.

Also, Mastercard teams with fraud prevention firm Ravelin to provide more secure quick commerce, and Spotify acquires Kinzen to improve its efforts at detecting harmful speech.

Walmart Hosts Roblox Concert as Part of Metaverse Expansion

Walmart is continuing its excursions into the metaverse with “Electric Fest,” a virtual event the retail giant said is inspired by “the world’s greatest music festivals.”

Debuting this weekend, the event comes soon after the retail giant’s announcement that it had set up two new spaces in Roblox, a non-blockchain metaverse game that boasts 52 million daily active users.

“For the first time on Roblox, Walmart will be hosting a music festival experience featuring three of the world’s top musicians, Madison Beer, Kane Brown, and YUNGBLUD, to offer users an immersive concert experience from the comfort of home,” the company said in a news release.

Mastercard Partners With Ravelin to Drive Quick Commerce Fraud Reduction

Ravelin, a company that uses machine learning to prevent and detect fraud, has teamed with Mastercard to offer an enhanced solution that integrates digital identity verification capabilities to allow for secure quick commerce.

Ravelin will employ Ekata to verify digital identities and Ethoca to analyze real-time fraud insights with the goal of helping merchants streamline consumer identity validation with less friction, the company said in a news release.

“We all want secure and seamless experiences,” said Chris Reid, executive vice president of Identity Solutions at Mastercard.

Spotify Plans to Combat Hate Speech With Kinzen Purchase

Spotify has purchased Kinzen, an Irish content moderation firm, the streaming audio service announced as it attempts to combat hate speech on its platform.

“Kinzen’s advanced technology and deep expertise will help us more effectively deliver a safe, enjoyable experience on our platform around the world,” the company said in a news release.

The terms of the deal were not released. Spotify said it has worked with Kinzen since 2020, noting that the Dublin-based company’s technology is particularly suited to the podcasting and audio formats Spotify offers.

Expanded Tink Partnership Brings Open Banking Payments to Adyen

Open banking platform Tink is working with global payments firm Adyen to offer customers instant account-to-account payments.

“Open banking payments are quickly moving to the mainstream as businesses seek easier and more cost-effective ways of accepting payments,” Tink said in a blog post.

The company is launching account-to-account payments in the U.K., but plans to expand to new markets next year, calling the new product “pay-by-bank.”