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The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web. Today: Starbucks expands in China and Japan; Crytpo-friendly governors set to take office; Australian wearable EMV debuts in U.S..; PayPal adds credit for small businesses in Germany.

Instead of focusing on static rewards, card issuers should focus on more proactive and data-driven “rewarding.” This is a profound shift from a transactional strategy to a relational one, writes Kevin Grieve, North America Payments Lead for Accenture.

Amazon’s dominance is in no danger, but the e-commerce giant is looking over its shoulder as Walmart and other retail powerhouses close in. The fourth quarter could be a tipping point for Amazon, which recently lowered its holiday sales growth forecast.

Will it be a bigfoot from Amazon, Google and Apple, or death by a thousand bites from niche rivals? Or can banks rally and fend off the insurgents?

Banking industry groups said they were vindicated by the defeat of the ballot measure, but public banking advocates plan to keep pushing the idea.

Square gave an earnings forecast in the current quarter that missed analysts’ estimates, amid increasing spending on new products beyond its central payments processing business. The profit projection outweighed a strong sales outlook, sending shares down in extended trading.

The Virginia company said that Carolina State Bank is on pace to open later this month.

During his time as U.S. attorney general, Jeff Sessions was an outspoken opponent of the legalization of cannabis sales. Now that Sessions has resigned, legal marijuana is poised to become a growth industry.

The results won’t do much to stimulate loan growth but could still provide the boost that investors have been waiting for.

Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee expressed concern that FDIC examiners are verbally discouraging banks from working with certain businesses.