Today in the Connected Economy: YouTube, Shopify Team for Livestream Shopping

Today in the connected economy, Shopify and YouTube collaborate to let creators and merchants showcase their products.

Also, Google Wallet rebrands for the fourth time, and payments platform Pidgin partners with The Bankers Bank to extend Pidgin’s platform to more than 250 banks in the southwest.

Shopify Teams With YouTube for Shopping Features

Shopify and YouTube have joined forces to offer new shopping functions that will let creators and merchants feature products for sale via livestreams, videos and a store tab.

The companies said creators and merchants can integrate their Shopify stores with YouTube Shopping and reach more than 2 billion monthly users.

“Commerce today is multichannel, and YouTube is one of the most influential channels on the planet,” said Kaz Nejatian, vice president of product at Shopify. “Shopify’s new YouTube integration will fundamentally change what opportunity looks like for independent brands in the creator economy.”

Google Wallet Launches as Fourth Rebrand of Payments System

Google has launched Google Wallet, the company’s fourth rebrand of its payment system, returning to the original name the tech giant used from 2011 to 2015.

The system was rechristened Android Pay in 2015, then became Google Pay in 2018. Google Pay has been on the market for a little more than a year and will remain so in the U.S. despite the return of Google Wallet.

The launch of Google Pay last year prompted a mass exodus of Google employees and the cancellation of plans to roll out Google bank accounts.

Pidgin, The Bankers Bank Team For Faster Payments

Payments platform Pidgin has teamed up with The Bankers Bank to extend Pidgin’s platform to more than 250 banks in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas.

The companies said their collaboration will give community bank customers a fast, easy and secure way to receive and make payments.

BlueCart Acquires Revolution Ordering for Better Digital Management

Hospitality order management platform BlueCart has acquired Revolution Ordering, an off-premises partner for restaurants and hospitality companies, to create a unified system for digital ordering and order management.

The combination of BlueCart, BinWise, Revolution and SproutQR “offers hospitality and food businesses of all sizes an unparalleled opportunity to streamline ordering, improve profitability, reduce expenses and enhance service,” the companies said in a press release.

In addition, the acquisition provides BlueCart customers with tools for customizing menus, capturing orders, managing suppliers and automating inventory management, and brings Revolution’s Order One, Ground Control and Connect platforms and its Google Food Ordering integration to BlueCart’s B2B eCommerce platform.

New FTC Data Directives Driving Change at Car Dealerships

When the FTC published a blog post last week about internet of things (IoT) devices that can glean highly sensitive information about users and are subject to regulation, connected cars were second on the list after smartphones, which held the top spot.

The post referenced the Federal Trade Commission’s Safeguards Rule, which requires dealers and other groups to have a comprehensive system to protect personal data, including data stored in dealerships’ software platforms and in vehicles’ electronic systems.

“The Safeguards Rule applies to financial institutions, of which two of the biggest classes of companies that are subject to the rule are auto finance companies and dealerships,” Andrea Amico, founder and CEO of Privacy4Cars, told PYMNTS. “So, I think that when the FTC says they’re going to be enforcing this if cars collect geolocation, I think it deserves the attention of the auto community.”