Today In Payments: Digital Chipotle Orders Account For 50 Pct Of All Sales; Affirm To Buy Returnly For $300 Million

In today’s top news, Chipotle’s earnings showed a massive shift to digital ordering, and Affirm is acquiring Returnly. Plus, SPAC deals have dropped significantly thus far in the second quarter of 2021.

Digital Chipotle Orders Now Account For 50 Pct Of All Sales

Chipotle Mexican Grill reported first-quarter 2021 earnings that soared past forecasts, with year-over-year digital orders up 133.9 percent to $869.8 million and now accounting for 50.1 percent of all sales. This is the first time the Southern California chain had more digital orders than in-restaurant sales.

Affirm To Buy Returnly For $300 Million In Cash, Equity

San Francisco-based Affirm announced Wednesday (April 21), that it has struck a deal to acquire Returnly, which deals with online returns and post-purchase payments, for a total of $300 million in cash and equity.

SPAC Market Drops Precipitously As US Regulators Eye Deals

SPAC activity has slowed to a crawl. While there were more than 100 new deals in March alone, that number has shrunk to 10 SPACs so far in April. The slowdown in investor interest comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began eyeing the boom in SPAC deals.

UiPath Works Connected Office Into $36 Billion IPO

Software firm UiPath, which uses digital transformation technology to connect the disparate front and back-end office functions, ended its first publicly traded day at $69, up from its opening of $56. The company also ended the day with a $36 billion valuation.

ConnectedEconomy 2021: PayPal’s Dan Schulman Settles Into His Role As Catalyst

PayPal has come a long way from its first iteration as an online “buy” button. As CEO Dan Schulman told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster in the PYMNTSTV video kick-off to the ConnectedEconomy series, his plan is to advance the connected economy with a suite of services for both consumers and merchants to be able to navigate and thrive in the digital era.

Joella’s Hot Chicken Takes Bite Out Of Loyalty Fraud With Data Analytics

Quick-service restaurants (QSRs) are dishing out mobile-enabled loyalty programs, but fraudsters are also eager to take a bite out of them. In the Mobile Order-Ahead Tracker, Joella’s Hot Chicken’s Katie Wollrich and Christina Happel explain how QSRs can use data analytics and code-based redemption features to keep loyalty offerings fraud-free.

US House Passes Bill To Form ‘Digital Asset Working Group’

The basic existential questions about what cryptocurrencies are and how they would operate may be answered, at least in part, by a new working group devoted to those issues — and by creating a framework to help improve primary and secondary markets.