Two reports, one from Mastercard Inc. and another from Omnisend, an email and SMS marketing platform for e-commerce businesses, indicate that sales during the 2025 holiday season will grow at a slower rate than the previous year as consumers wrestle with higher prices due to inflation and tariffs.  The Mastercard …

PayPal Holdings Inc. and Google Inc. have partnered to leverage their artificial intelligence capabilities in an effort to create what they see as more personalized shopping and payment experiences across their platforms and devices for consumers and merchants.  The deal, announced late Wednesday, will bring together the two companies’ “global …

Cheba Hut, a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in submarine sandwiches, has launched a mobile app that supports ordering, payments, and a loyalty program. Developed with loyalty platform provider Thanx Inc., the app is intended to streamline both ordering and payment and encourage repeat visits. Ordering capabilities through the app are …

Google Inc. early Tuesday launched its Agent Payments Protocol, an open protocol to authenticate consumers who are initiating a payment using an AI agent when shopping online. Developed with 60 payments and technology companies, including Adyen NV, MasterCard Inc., and PayPal Holdings Inc., the protocol is intended to remove a …

American Express Co. said it has launched a travel app that combines travel-planning and booking capabilities.  Developed in response to cardholders it says are looking for an app that provides travel insights, premium offers, and high-value benefits, the app guides cardholders in planning their getaway through what AmEx calls “curated …

Qu POS Inc. says it has bolstered its efforts to modernize the technology stack for quick-service and fast-casual restaurants with the launch of Qu Business Edge, a restaurant-management platform based on edge computing. The new platform, which combines edge computing with artificial intelligence, enables restaurants to increase sales across online …

Consumer spending is expected to remain resilient this holiday shopping season and buy now, pay later loans will play a key role in the trend, according to Cash App Afterpay’s 2025 Holiday Survey. Despite 38% of consumers in the United States saying they feel more financially stressed than in 2024, …

Some 76% of consumers in the United States have taken out buy now, pay later loans, but 49% have missed a payment, while 67% of BNPL users are paying on multiple BNPL loans at once. That’ all according to a recent study from LegalShield. The trend comes at a time …

Paytrie AB Inc., a platform for buying and selling stablecoins, is joining the Circle Payments Network in what it says is an effort to expand the reach of stablecoins to consumers in Canada. The deal, which builds on Paytrie’s support for USD Coin, a stablecoin pegged to the United States …

Fiserv Inc. moved this week to strengthen its hand in the highly competitive hospitality and restaurant industries and pave the way for additional growth in Europe with the acquisitions of digital-commerce platform CardFree and processor AIB Merchant Services. Terms for the two deals, announced Thursday and Friday, were not disclosed. …