Amazon

Employers have to find a way to keep associates productive and satisfied while this transition in payments experience is underway, writes Mike Zorn, vice president of Workplace Strategy at WorkJam.

Retailers used to be able to hold onto their physical presence as a differentiator against Amazon. In the past year, Amazon has taken even that advantage away.

That’s because transaction-based loyalty programs that focus on discounting simply train customers to wait for coupons and incentives, writes Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Commerce.

JPM, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway are creating their own company; Sarah Dahlgren was formerly head of supervision at the New York Fed.

JPMorgan Chase and Amazon have demonstrated substantial power to digitize their industries, even influencing the strategy of others. But automating and streamlining health care will be a particularly tough task.

The companies said they plan to set up an independent firm “that is free from profit-making incentives and constraints” to offer health care to their employees.

After a year of teething trouble at the Amazon Go cashierless concept store in Seattle, the e-tailer has finally opened its doors to the public. But no amount of Jetsons-esque technology can prepare the company for a stampede of consumers accustomed to Flintstones-era retail.

The idea that all of the money in cryptocurrencies has already been made misses the point. Innovative and sustainable ideas will emerge from the market frenzy, writes Dentacoin's Mariam Nishanian.

Providing the default card in digital subscription services is one way banks can win back bill-pay business, save customers time and help them manage their data.

Bankers could see higher costs as cloud computing vendors struggle to protect their systems from the latest hacking vulnerabilities.

U.S. Bank, Bank of America and other firms are looking toward the day when the ultimate virtual assistant arrives, one capable of being personalized and working on any device.

The access Alexa gets by being built into users' home speakers and tablets is a delicate trust; if Amazon oversteps its boundaries, it might find Alexa gets muted or locked down.

Banks still have advantages in the battle against big tech firms like Amazon and Facebook, but they will need to capitalize on those to survive.

From the identity of bankers in the 21st century to the regulatory turmoil in Washington to the huge impact of technology on the industry, readers expressed an array of strong opinions about what happened in 2017.

Companies like Target and Barnes & Noble are already making moves to streamline payments and connections with consumers, writes Robert Glazer, founder and managing director of Acceleration Partners.

Consumers’ desire to shop online is creating huge demand for distribution centers and forcing property owners to think creatively about redeveloping vacant retail space. Meanwhile, hundreds of billions of dollars will be spent rebuilding areas hard hit by hurricanes and wildfires.

Amazon dominates during the holiday shopping season because Prime offers customers benefits every day, writes Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Commerce.

Analytics can customize experience for consumers and allow consumers to customize the experience for themselves, writes Matt Wilcox, senior vice president of marketing, strategy and innovation for digital banking at Fiserv.

Amazon reported that the Amazon Echo Dot was the best-selling item on Amazon on Black Friday, meaning millions of households are likely to be setting up their new Echo on Christmas morning, writes Scott Hess, vice president of user experience, consulting and innovation at Fiserv.

Jon Stein plans to make Betterment's robo-adviser as personalized and intelligent as the online retailer's recommendation engine.