Friday , January 9, 2026

Competitive Strategies

Google Launches Its Agent Payments Protocol to Validate AI Agents Are Making Purchases

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 …

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As Its Volume Reaches Record Highs, Zelle Launches a New SMB Feature

Zelle, the peer-to-peer payment service, appears on track for a banner year with a record 2 billion transactions processed in the first six months of 2025, a 19% increase from the 2024 first half. The dollar amount of these transactions increased more, reaching nearly $600 billion, up 23% from $481 …

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Affirm OK’d for In-Store Apple Pay Use and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/16/25

Buy now, pay later specialist Affirm Inc. announced it is offering its services through Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay mobile-payments app for in-store transactions. Apple enabled Affirm for online transactions in 2024. In related news, the payments platform Klarna AB said it too is now available on Apple Pay for in-store purchases, in this case in the …

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AmEx Launches an All-In-One Travel App; Chase Boosts Rewards for Trips

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 …

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PayPal Broadens Its Peer-to-Peer Payments with PayPal links

Peer-to-peer payments competition has increased with the debut of PayPal links, a new way for PayPal users to send funds to others. PayPal links enable users to create a personalized link to share that contains the amount and a short description. PayPal says they can be shared in any conversation, …

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Square’s Neighborhood Push and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/15/25

Block Inc.’s Square point-of-sale unit launched a national marketing campaign featuring what the company calls a “refreshed brand identity” and a focus on local small businesses. Payments-technology provider Kuvasz Solutions and comforte, a provider of payments-data protection, said they are expanding their partnership to North America from their base in Latin America. Paysign …

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Qu Launches Its Business Edge Platform for Restaurants; Onosys Expands Its Web of Partners

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 …

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Klarna’s IPO Price Jumps and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/12/25

Klarna Group plc, a Sweden-based buy now, pay later platform with major U.S. operations, said its initial public offering closed with 34.3 million shares outstanding at an IPO price of $40 per share. Klarna closed at $42.74 per share after the first day of trading Thursday. Alipay said its Alipay Tap! contactless-payment service …

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BNPL Expected to Stretch Holiday Shoppers’ Budgets and Boost Holiday Spending

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, …

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Weighing the Profitability of High-Risk Merchants in a Risk-Wary Climate

High-risk merchants can offer generous profit margins, but those returns must be weighed against the risks they bring. That balancing act starts before onboarding and continues afterward, panelists at the Western States Acquirers Association conference said Wednesday. One of the many considerations with high-risk merchants is to avoid misunderstanding the …

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Digital Transactions