February, 2026

• 1 February

  Is the Party Already Breaking Up?

  

  The biggest thing in retail commerce and payments in the past year has been agentic commerce. But amid all the euphoria, a more sobering and complex picture has developed. Agentic commerce. We’ve seen this movie before. Thirty years ago, at the dawn of the World Wide Web, Amazon.com, and retail …

October, 2025

• 1 October

  How Fintechs Can Rewrite Independent Worker Payouts

  

  The independent workforce is huge—but grossly underserved when it’s time to get paid. That’s creating an equally big opportunity for fintechs. More than 60 million Americans now work independently—as freelancers, gig workers, consultants, and contractors. By 2028, they’re expected to make up the majority of the U.S. workforce. Independent workers …

September, 2025

• 1 September

  Adapting to Volatile Markets With ‘Long TAIL’ Thinking

  

  How crises like Covid, and now perhaps tariffs, can be catalysts for business-to-business payments innovation. Stormy trade winds, political uncertainty, protectionist policies, and talk of a global recession are swirling around us. While we are unlikely to be heading toward upheaval of Covid-19 proportions, the signs of economic turbulence are …

June, 2025

• 1 June

  A Giant Misstep

  

  Tariffs and threats of tariffs can do great harm to U.S. commerce. The payments business is no exception. President Trump’s barrage of tariff threats and tariffs by executive diktat will pour gasoline on the fire of payments protectionism. America’s payments industry is the most competitive and innovative in the world. …

April, 2025

• 1 April

  The Hidden Costs of Poor Spend Management

  

  Making back offices more efficient may well deliver more savings than you think. Imagine finding out your company is spending $40 to process a single invoice. Now multiply that by thousands of invoices per month. If that sounds insanely high to you, you’re right. But it’s happening right now in …

March, 2025

• 1 March

  How Smart Merchants Use Surcharging to Boost Profits

  

  Merchants are fed up with the cost of credit card acceptance. Surcharging is a smart alternative—if it’s done strategically. In today’s business environment, merchants face increasing operational costs, fluctuating market conditions, and evolving consumer behaviors. As credit card usage continues to grow, so do the associated processing fees, which can …

February, 2025

• 1 February

  How to Surcharge Like a Pro

  

  The key lies in navigating network surcharging frameworks to avoid costly mistakes. Amid rising inflation and persistent economic uncertainty, merchants are more cost-conscious than ever, scrutinizing every expense to protect their bottom lines. Interchange fees, a long-standing source of frustration, have become a focal point of their discontent, fueling debates …

December, 2024

• 1 December

  Gen Z’s Unique Payment Preferences

  

  When it comes time to collect loan payments, lenders have some thinking to do. Approximately 69 million Americans fall into Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2013. With many of them now in their 20s, they represent a sizable portion of consumers repaying auto, home and personal loans. That’s more …

October, 2024

• 1 October

  Modern Fraud Fighting Requires a Global Approach

  

  If fraud prevention remains tied to single regions, online payment losses will continue to mount. The global financial ecosystem has become incredibly interconnected with the growth of e-commerce, where global sales approached the $6-trillion mark in 2023. Fueled by new payment methods and categories like mobile and social commerce, online …

September, 2024

• 1 September

  Apple’s Big Move

  

  The iPhone maker will finally allow developers to access the device’s NFC chip and secure element. Will this trigger a payments bonanza in Cupertino? Ten years after the first iPhone with an NFC chip to enable Apple Pay launched, Apple is opening access to the chip to third-party developers. Apple …