Merchant

Universal Commerce Protocol is an open standard that establishes a common language for AI agents and systems to work together, and will allow consumers to purchase products from retailers directly through Google's AI Mode in the browser or the Gemini app.

Visa and Mastercard logged increases in holiday spending, an industry group called for increased BNPL regulation in the U.S., and more in this week's global payments roundup.

The Swedish financial institution has developed an open standard that allows merchants' products to be catalogued and discovered by AI agents. It was designed to complement Stripe and OpenAI's Agentic Commerce Protocol.

Companies such as Google, Visa and Mastercard are building a framework that will allow AI agents to shop and make payments. There are signs that consumers are warming to the idea.

The payments division of the country's largest bank posted $4.9 billion in revenue in the third quarter as transaction volumes in merchant services outpaced volume in 2024.

U.S. Bank's merchant acquiring unit has expanded its partnership with embedded finance fintech Liberis to offer its small business clients working capital loans.The two companies previously offered loans in the U.K., Ireland and Poland.

Early Warning Services is teaming up with Fiserv to quickly drive uptake for its new Paze digital wallet with merchants and credit card issuers outside of its owner banks. Paze partnered with Worldpay earlier this month to unlock a similar distribution channel.

At the Los Angeles Clippers' Intuit Dome, technology developers hope to forge transaction habits that can be replicated elsewhere.

The bank has added Affirm as an option, after adding the fintech's rival Klarna to its merchant network in February.

The rollout of new technologies in point-of-sale retail payments in the U.S. has historically been slow, and consumer adoption of those new payment flows can be even slower. Can consumers' propensity for self checkout help push adoption?

The niche buy now/pay later firm is looking for differentiation in a crowded market with recognizable brands like Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay.

The bank is adding fintech-style buy now/pay later lending to other recent payment upgrades at its merchant acquiring unit.

By purchasing the merchant acquirer Atlantic-Pacific Processing Systems, the fintech Stax has rounded out its offerings in a way that echoes the structure of larger payment companies.

Using social networks to make purchases and non-credit-card options like buy now, pay later are a permanent part of retail, Dan Brames of FIS writes.

ISVs that optimize B2B payments within their software solutions stand to save the day for merchants who want to grow but feel hamstrung with their current solutions, Ashley Jones of Global Payments Integrated says.

The next step for retailers is to bring consumers the benefits and experience of being in store, from the comfort of their home, says FIS' Dan Brames.

Not only is the payment process an opportunity to deliver on a good customer experience, but it also offers the opportunity to enhance the overall experience, says Global Payments Integrated's Ashley Jones.

Even before the pandemic, almost half of SMB customers were being turned away by their own banks for a small business loan. Enter COVID-19, and banks and credit unions are still not keeping up with the surging demand for capital, says LendingFront's Jorge Sun.

Customers' familiarity and expectations for digital service have risen but customer service strategy needs to adapt to this new playing field, says Majorel's Oliver Carlsen.

Many younger people are looking for financing and are averse to traditional credit cards, says Four's Chaim Lever.