One’s first thought at the word “Walmart” might not be “blockchain enthusiasts,” even though these days it would not be an inaccurate description. But Walmart isn’t taking bitcoin payments; they are using the blockchain to make their food networks safer and more transparent. And payment...
While innovation and advances are often expected to appear in explosive, disruptive form – as often as they seem to appear out of nowhere full formed – more really good ideas actually evolve over time. The first few generations of all-in-one smart credit cards crashed and...
The year 2018 has been a been a big year for FinTechs, as investor interest has been strong, and consumers have apparently been interested in upgrading their tools and services. Digital commerce continues to grow, with subscription services showing particular strength – and digital payments continue to go contactless, though perhaps...
Sometimes the future shows up ahead of schedule, particularly where consumer desires are concerned. Voice activation went from the realm of science fiction to product fact in less than half a decade – and consumers are now wondering why their cars aren’t quite as well-connected as their...
Some digitizations are clearly an upgrade — consumers prefer doing their Black Friday shopping from their couch as opposed to the mall, and businesses prefer that their cross-border payments not be a source of surprise when it comes to arrival times. However, some innovations are, perhaps,...
Despite the thousands of articles and books written by self-help experts over the years extolling the benefits of embracing change and incorporating more variety into one’s life, the truth is that trying new things can be a hard thing to motivate people or businesses to...
High-pressure systems often have bad news to share. In payments, data theft is going nowhere: In fact, it is expected to be an explosive growth industry over the next several years, which will be costly both in terms of what is stolen and transactions damaged...
That digital payments are moving forward fast is inarguable at this point. You can see it in the explosive growth of P2P payments in the U.S. and around the world, and in the rapid onset acceptance and use of contactless payments. But for every advance forward, there are still lead...
In a world that is moving quickly – and often in a lot of new directions at once – staying caught up is hard, and often costly, work. But the costs of falling behind are generally greater, as consumers and businesses gravitate to providers that can...
