4.13.18 Your morning briefing

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

The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the Web:

Will Amazon Go face Bingo?
As Amazon considers an expansion strategy for its Go stores, a Chinese version of cashierless stores is advancing quickly.

Called BingoBox, consumers enter by scanning QR codes and pay with smartphones linked to mobile payment apps. There are more than 300 locations in 30 cities in China, and the chain is plotting an international expansion, reports RetailCustomerExperience.

The chain positions the stores, which launched in 2016, as a combination of a convenience store and a vending machine.

David Ryder/Bloomberg

Chinese police shut down blockchain event
China has been restricting ICOs and other parts of the cryptocurrency market, a stance that may have played a role in the police raiding a blockchain conference.

Around midday Thursday, policy forcefully shut down the Global Fintech & Blockchain Summit, reports Coindesk, which added afternoon sessions were cancelled and attendees were removed from the venue in Shanghai.

Blockchain is a distributed ledger designed for cryptocurrency, though it has myriad uses. The conference was scheduled to cover multiple topics, but did include content on ICOs and cryptocurrencies.

AI pros wanted at Mastercard
Mastercard is bulking up on artificial intelligence and blockchain expertise, and plans to to hire 175 people to its innovation center in Ireland, reports Irish Tech News.

The card network's Leopardstown office in County Dublin has 380 people and is headquarters of Mastercard Labs.

The new jobs include software engineers, blockchain specialists, data scientists, project managers and security experts.

Tariff trouble
The potential trade war between China and the U.S. has payment companies worried about supply chain costs, and the cost of payment equipment may also suffer.

The Electronic Transactions Association contends point of sale terminals will be subject to a 25% tariff, which would increase costs for merchants, and uncertainty about expense that could result in higher prices for consumers. The Trump administration contends China has engaged in unfair trade practices which have harmed the U.S. economy.

The ETA represents 500 payment and technology companies.

From the Web

How Lyft, Mastercard, and Drone Companies Are Experimenting With AI
Fortune | Thu April 12, 2018 - Artificial intelligence technologies aren’t just being used to help computers more quickly recognize dogs in photos. Several businesses like Mastercard and fast-growing drone companies are exploring ways that AI technologies like machine learning can better verify people’s identities and process insurance claims.

Pennsylvania Lottery expanding payment options, including debit and mobile payment methods
Fox | Thu April 12, 2018 - Pennsylvania Lottery players may no longer need cash when they buy their tickets. The lottery is making it easier for people to play, adding new pay options for the first time since ticket sales began.

Metro says its new fare-payment app will be ‘remarkably elegant’
The Washington Post | Thu April 12, 2018 - Two years after Metro canceled a $25-million pilot for mobile fare payment because of a lack of interest, the agency says it intends to give it another shot — and get it right this time. The program is built around an all-purpose app that will serve as a “virtual SmarTrip” card, allowing users to reload their fare cards on the go and swipe their smartphones at fare gates the way they wave their SmarTrip cards today.

More from PaymentsSource

Beyond Uber: Green Dot enters the bigger gig economy
Driving an Uber car isn't like many other jobs, and drivers' payments and expenses are also very different. Much of those differences are built on Green Dot technology, and the bank is ready to see if its platform can work for more than just Uber.

Merchants face a double whammy of new rules for chargebacks and signatures
By any measure, if Visa can trim more than two weeks off a chargeback dispute, it should help merchants and cardholders. But like many efforts to improve the payments market, it won't be an easy change.

In the age of noncash payments, Coinstar remains a vital link to the unbanked
Web and mobile bill payment provider Doxo is taking its first step into cash payment options by partnering with Coinstar to enable cash bill payment at thousands of coin-counting kiosks in retail locations.

Fiserv appoints Kim Crawford Goodman as president of card services
Longtime payments industry executive Kim Crawford Goodman has been named president of card services at Fiserv, where she will oversee the payments and ATM services, including credit and debit processing.