5.12.17: Your morning briefing

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.

Welcome to the PaymentsSource Morning Briefing, delivered daily. The information you need to start your day, including top headlines from PaymentsSource and around the Web:

P-to-P's the new normal : More than a third of Americans use digital person-to-person transfer services, such as Zelle and Venmo, according to Bank of America's Trends in Consumer Mobility report (Bank of America is one of the banks that operates Zelle). The P-to-P services have made the most inroads among millennials, with nearly two thirds of that segment using the technology. Among those who have adopted P-to-P, 68% cite convenience and time savings, while 48% say peers' usage of the services have caused them to adopt P-to-P. Just 16% say it's because they no longer want to use cash or checks. Timing is also a factor, as 69% say they use the services to pay acquaintances within the same day and one third saying they pay within the hour. Also 53% expect people to pay them back within 24 hours and 22% within one hour. Respondents to Bank of America's survey also expect very young people to vigorously embrace P-to-P, with 71% saying children under ten won't know how to write a check when they get older and 42% saying children won't use credit cards in the future.

adrianbysiak - Fotolia

Lost doge: Dogecoin, originally a joke form of digital currency, developed a real following alongside the bitcoin craze. But it just suffered a potentially lethal setback when the creator of dogetipbot, a service that let reddit forum users send funds to one another, shut down the service and announced he is out of funds and all Dogecoin balances are gone, according to Gizmodo. The article credits dogetipbot with fuelling Dogecoin's success as a legitimate currency, and the service's death may lead to a similar fate for the digital currency itself. Dogecoin's whimsical nature also contributed to its success; based on the alternative currency Litecoin, Dogecoin had no unit cap and was faster to produce than the mainstream digital currency, bitcoin.

Internet of literally everything: Despite an absurd number of internet-connected devices coming to market, one group of researchers seems to think that there can be even more. CMU's Future Interfaces Group, which draws funding from Google's IOT ecosystem research effort, has developed a plug-in circuit board that can detect the status of any non-connected appliance, TechCrunch reports. The device's many built-in sensors can determine whether an electrical or non-electrical device (such as a faucet) is on or off, or even whether someone left the cabinets open in the kitchen, according to the article. The researchers have not yet determined how to commercialize their product, but it could conceivably be used to detect when cupboards or refrigerators need to be restocked, similar to how Amazon Dash or Samsung's smart fridge operate.

Going even more digital: E-commerce sites may be outgrowing their need for using real-world imagery as a metaphor for digital shopping habits, such as the shopping cart icon. Google is making a move in this direction by dropping the "shopping bag" icon from Google Play, the company's app store, according to Android Police. The article notes that the old icon is a remnant of the Play Store's original name, "Android Market," which itself was a callback to the concept of a physical shopping venue.

From the Web (powered by Wiser)

Years After Spinning Off Its Loyalty Program, Air Canada Will Create a New One
Skift • Brian Sumers, Skift
It was a big deal when Air Canada spun off its frequent flyer program. And it was probably a good idea for the time because Air Canada needed the cash. But times are different now, and Air Canada is in stronger shape....

Burger King tests order-ahead
Business Insider • Dan Van Dyke
Burger King could potentially gain an edge over McDonald's by releasing a mobile order-ahead feature ahead of its rival in a nationwide rollout set...

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