SoundHound AI Inc., a provider of artificial intelligence-based voice technology apps, unfolded its voice commerce strategy in the hotly competitive restaurant market with the introduction of an in-vehicle, artificial intelligence-based reservations agent. The reservation system, developed with restaurant-reservation platform OpenTable Inc., connects drivers to a network of more than 60,000 …
Read More »Mobile Gains in Bill Payment Preference
Yet more evidence of U.S. consumer reliance on mobile phones emerges as 45% of consumers prefer to pay their bills with a mobile device, up from 29% only last year. That finding from the InvoiceCloud 2026 Annual State of Online Payments Report also signals other big shifts in payment preferences. …
Read More »Swipe Fees Are a Drain on Consumers’ Wallets, a Merchant Group Says
Fees paid by merchants to accept credit card and debit cards will dampen consumer spending power this holiday shopping season as sellers look for ways to offset the cost, says the Merchants Payment Coalition. Swipe fees are projected to cost merchants at least $19.9 billion this holiday shopping season, up …
Read More »Eye on Agentic Commerce: Logicbroker Picks PayPal’s Agentic Commerce; Agentic Commerce Nuances Emerge
With one agentic-commerce forecast calling for a total addressable market of $136 billion in 2025, it’s little wonder so many payments companies and merchants are tackling the emerging e-commerce option. One of the latest is Logicbroker Inc., a multivendor commerce platform that is partnering with PayPal Holdings Inc. to broaden …
Read More »NMI’s Business Capital Debuts and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/9/25
Network Merchants Inc., also known as NMI, has launched NMI Business Capital, aimed at allowing ISOs, payment facilitators, and merchant-service providers to offer financing through their existing merchant portals. NMI announced early Tuesday that Parafin, a fintech, is the latest client for the service. Buy now, pay later specialist Afterpay Ltd. added more than …
Read More »Instacart Embeds ChaptGPT in Its Online Shopping App
Grocery-delivery and store pick-up platform Instacart is partnering with ChatGPT to offer shopping and checkout within a ChatGPT conversation. The deal will enable Instacart users to shop at more than 1,800 grocers directly within ChatGPT and complete purchases in real time during a ChatGPT conversation. The partnership with ChatGPT builds …
Read More »Circle Working with Bybit and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/8/25
Circle Internet Group Inc. said it will work with Bybit Fintech Ltd., a cryptocurrency exchange, to expand the availability of Circle’s USDC stablecoin within Bybit’s system. Payments provider Charge1 Gateway announced technology improvements in fraud prevention, gateway security layers, and onboarding processes for merchants. RentRedi launched a Spanish-language version of its RentRedi Tenant App, …
Read More »The FIDO Alliance Launches a Digital Credentials Initiative
The FIDO Alliance has launched an initiative to accelerate the adoption of verifiable digital credentials and identity wallets. The initiative will be led by the Alliance’s Digital Credentials Working Group (DCWG), EMVCo, the International Standardization Organization, The OpenID Foundation, and the Worldwide Web Consortium are also partnering on the initiative …
Read More »InFlow’s Agentic Commerce Tool Debuts and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/5/25
InFlow, a startup aimed at enabling payments via agentic commerce, announced its launch with technology that allows agents to complete payments as instructed without pausing for human intervention. Digital-identity platform Socure Inc. has acquired Qlarifi Ltd., a U.K.-based consumer credit database specializing in buy now, pay later activity. Terms were not disclosed. …
Read More »Klarna Challenges Rewards Card Issuers; Affirm Adds Pacsun to its Merchant Network
Seeking to provide an alternative to rewards credit cards, Klarna AB has expanded its Premium and Max membership programs in the United States. Klarna’s membership program is a monthly fee-based service that offers consumers such rewards as cashback, exclusive deals, and lifestyle rewards, as well as airport lounge access and …
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