PYMNTS Intelligence

Everyone Has a Side Hustle Now. Not Everyone Has the Same Reason.
Everyone Has a Side Hustle Now. Not Everyone Has the Same Reason.
February 20, 2026  |  Consumer Insights

Job security may be improving across the U.S. workforce, but financial confidence tells a more divided story. “Wage to Wallet™ Index: Side Work Patterns in...

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Americans Are Rewriting Household Budgets to Make Room for Extended-Family Support
Americans Are Rewriting Household Budgets to Make Room for Extended-Family Support
February 20, 2026  |  Consumer Finance

As financial pressures intensify across the U.S., a growing number of consumers are shouldering an obligation that rarely shows up as a line item in...

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What Happens When Embedded Finance Grows Up?
What Happens When Embedded Finance Grows Up?
February 19, 2026  |  Payments Innovation

For more than two decades, financial technology companies have been racing to expand a financing model invented by General Motors over a century ago. The...

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US and Canadian Middle-Market Firms Gain Working Capital Edge With AI Cash Forecasting
US and Canadian Middle-Market Firms Gain Working Capital Edge With AI Cash Forecasting
February 19, 2026  |  Accounts Receivable

Cash is king when uncertainty reigns. But for many firms, profit is not disappearing due to macroeconomic forces alone. In many cases, it is being...

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Card Issuance Expands as Earnings Season Highlights Platform Economics
Card Issuance Expands as Earnings Season Highlights Platform Economics
February 17, 2026  |  Payments Innovation

Earnings season rarely yields a single organizing narrative, yet the most recent cycle has revealed a narrative tied to cards: Issuance is increasingly positioned as...

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14% of Consumers Use BNPL Even After Holiday Spending Surge
14% of Consumers Use BNPL Even After Holiday Spending Surge
February 17, 2026  |  BNPL

Buy now, pay later is no longer just a checkout feature. It is becoming a line item in the monthly household budget. Get the Full...

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Inflation Data Supports Optimism as Consumers Adapt
Inflation Data Supports Optimism as Consumers Adapt
February 13, 2026  |  Economy

The latest inflation data released Friday (Feb 13) point to a continued easing of price pressures, particularly in categories that define household necessity rather than...

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More Than Half of Banks Plan to Outsource Fraud Detection 
More Than Half of Banks Plan to Outsource Fraud Detection 
February 13, 2026  |  Fraud Prevention

The cost of fraud at U.S. financial institutions is rising, but the deeper threat may be what it does to customer relationships and brand reputation....

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AI Agents Are Becoming the New Power Brokers in Digital Commerce
AI Agents Are Becoming the New Power Brokers in Digital Commerce
February 12, 2026  |  Artificial Intelligence

This edition of “The Prompt Economy™ Tracker®” examines how tokenization is emerging as the foundational trust layer for agentic AI and the next generation of digital commerce....

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