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IBM took the banking world by storm last month when it revealed its planned acquisition of Promontory Financial Group. Now, it has unveiled IBM Pay, a perhaps unexpected and yet unsurprising addition to the technology giant's Watson Commerce unit.
The private label mobile payment and point of sale system for merchants allows them to integrate loyalty, engagement and payments within their existing app, giving retailers full control of the end-to-end digital container—under their own brand—to compete more effectively with online merchants.
An IBM logo sits on display outside the offices of International Business Machines Corp. in the media city district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Friday, Nov. 7, 2014. The United Arab Emirates' central bank limited mortgage lending and required larger down payments, and the Land Department doubled transaction taxes early last year as policymakers tried to avoid a repeat of a property bubble in 2008 that caused values to slump by about 65 percent. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Watson, IBM's massive artificial intelligence engine, is central to IBM Pay. A video announcement released Monday implies the move is more of a play for loyalty and engagement than convenience, which the consumer-facing Apple, Samsung and Android Pays have been pushing.
IBM touts the offering's insights, tailored offers that can be redeemed with one-click payments, and reduced transaction times and costs through in-app payments.
Buy now/pay later provider Sezzle has filed a lawsuit against Shopify, alleging that the e-commerce giant engaged in antitrust practices by making it difficult for merchants to integrate Sezzle's BNPL offering into their websites.
The 3.5% excise tax proposed in President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill comes with wide-ranging implications for financial institutions engaged in money transmission services.
The retail giants are kicking the tires on their own currencies. The potential prize is a way to reimagine prepaid cards and gain a key position as new forms of artificial intelligence-powered payments take off.
Primis Bank plans to sell an undisclosed amount of its 19% ownership stake in Panacea Financial, a digital-only lender focusing on medical professionals and veterinarians. The deal should yield $22 million.
