Cloud Technology, B2B Payments, Visa’s YellowPepper Deal Top This Week’s News

The PYMNTS Weekender is here to catch you up on the latest news at the end of another busy work week. We have deep dives on cloud technology, business-to-business (B2B) payments and Visa’s deal to acquire YellowPepper.

News

Visa To Acquire YellowPepper To Expand Network Of Networks In LATAM

Visa has signed a deal to acquire YellowPepper, which works with upstarts in Latin America and the Caribbean. The purchase builds on a strategic partnership and investment made in 2018, where Visa invested in the firm back then.

Bain Capital Ventures: 2020 Is B2B Payments’ Breakout Year

Bain Capital Ventures’ partner Matt Harris told PYMNTS that 2020 marked the tipping point for commercial payments. “I think in terms of market recognition, 2020 was the breakout year — [and] in terms of commercial adoption, 2021 will be more like it,” Harris said.

Pfizer Vaccine Data Delayed; Fed Halts Clinical Trial

Albert Bourla, the chief executive of Pfizer, told investors this week that the pharmaceutical company won’t be unveiling COVID-19 vaccine data prior to the Nov. 3 election.

Visa Debit Volume Up As Consumers Spend With Funds On Hand

Visa reported fiscal Q4 results that illustrated a rally in pent-up demand, with volumes up quarter over quarter.

How Customers Fall Through The Cracks Of Digital Platforms

The “whose customer is it” question is now at the core of a number of the platform dynamics at play today and experiences that shoppers and retailers have with those platforms.

Trackers And Reports

Western Union Heads To The Cloud To Make B2B Payments Faster

The payments market has experienced a surge of new players, a number of them consisting of digital-first firms taking their first steps in payments processing. Legacy players are being forced to evolve their business models or fall behind.

PYMNTS explores how cloud infrastructure and automated systems have improved Western Union’s operating efficiencies.

U.S. Bank On Helping Businesses Pick Faster Payment Options

Businesses are working to speed up their payroll and business-to-business (B2B) transactions, but there is not one solution that fits the needs of all companies. PYMNTS explores how companies weigh factors such as price, speed, ease of installation and cash flow reporting to find the right approach for them.

REPORT: Consumer Privacy Concerns Demand Regulatory Compliance

Consumers throughout the globe started branching out during the first week months, leveraging alternative transaction methods, but fraudsters have followed them onto digital channels.

PYMNTS explores why making sense of data privacy trends amid COVID-19 is key to the survival of retailers.

Fun, Cool And Otherwise Interesting

Ant’s March To The Biggest IPO Shows Power Of (Online) Commerce

Ant Group took its listing to the Shanghai Star Market and the Hong Kong Stock exchange. But, aside from the mechanics of the listing itself, the sheer weight of the initial public offering (IPO) shows that online payments are reshaping the landscape of how commerce is conducted throughout the globe’s second-biggest economy.

Payment Firms’ Stock Rout Hints At Consumer Spend Worries

The hopes may have been that consumer spending had been rallying, entrenched enough to stay positive, sufficient to save the holiday shopping season, and maybe beyond. COVID-19 may be enough to dash those aspirations.

Apple Services Revenue Jumps, Subscription Bundles Debut

Apple’s ever-growing services segment, home of Apple Pay, Apple Care, iCloud, Apple Cards and Apple Subscriptions was record-setting once again in Q4.

Amazon Focuses On Fulfillment After Another Record-Setting Quarter

Amazon was able to meet the heightened demand in Q3 because of more network capacity, especially in its transportation network. And it hired more workers to staff the said fulfillment network.

New COVID-19 Wave Crashes Through Global Economy

It’s been a week of all the wrong kinds of pandemic records getting set globally. In the U.S., the average number of new cases hit another record on Monday (Oct. 26).

And, while the European Union has done better than the U.S. during the summer months in lowering infections, caseloads have suddenly jumped all over the region.