Retailers

The high-tech and visual user experience is getting set to take hold, giving merchants something to think about, according to Radu Spineanu, co-founder and CEO of Two Tap.

Neither Amazon nor Starbucks could be described as a traditional retailer. But they both use their shared headquarters city as a playground for developing digital and in-store innovations that all merchants and payment companies will have to respond to the years ahead.

The video game industry serves a decidedly digital, tech-savvy audience with a propensity toward digital payments, but has been plagued by inconsistencies in payments to developers and a lack of a consistent rewards program for loyal players.

Working with technology developer Next Retail Concepts, Mastercard has connected to a virtual version of Los Angeles boutique retailer Fred Segal, where users may virtually pick merchandise on the shelves of the iconic store in West Hollywood, explore it from various angles, and make purchases with a discount for using Mastercard.

Instacart will begin separating itself from Whole Foods and eventually no longer let its customers order from the Amazon-owned grocer through its app or website,

Cloud-based point of sale company ShopKeep is in a fierce fintech battle to woo tech hungry restaurants, and has closed a $65 million round of equity and debt financing to bulk up technology and broaden its geographic footprint.

Digital funds transfer provider Ingo Money is launching a new software integration with Visa Direct to allow customers to initiate push-to-card payments.

Amazon and Shopify will likely improve and expand the “last mile” for e-commerce orders, putting the heat on UPS and FedEx, according to Radu Spineanu, co-founder and CEO of Two Tap.

Mastercard and white label payment software company Cardstream are partnering to accelerate the deployment of Mastercard’s Secure Remote Commerce (SRC)-ready Masterpass wallet and its “Pay by Bank” solution.

Fintechs and banks are both pursing the market, which much adjust to handle the larger volume, according to Nufar Segal Bareket, a general manager at Jifiti.

Germany-based Wirecard is working with Google to enable users of Wirecard’s boon mobile app to pay at any French merchant that accepts Google Pay as it becomes available in France.

Vipps International, a Norway-based payments service operated by a coalition of more than 100 Norwegian banks, is the latest to collaborate with China’s Alipay mobile wallet in a partnership to capture more payments from Chinese tourists.

Credit and debit cards often overshadow prepaid gift cards, but the tables get turned during holidays, particularly as people get gift cards for themselves.

There are barriers to overcome before we will see widespread adoption as a payment option, yet the path is viable, says Jared McClure, co-founder and COO of CrayPay.

Mobile banking, e-commerce integration, loyalty and rewards schemes and even IoT payments all link to cards. That’s a lot to ask of a back-end system, writes Rune Sorensen, a product manager at Nets.

Social media is allowing non-celebrities to gain popularity and push consumer activity toward certain retailers to boost payments and new channels, contends Todd Grossman, CEO of Talkwalkers Americas.

Airports would provide a way to bring Amazon Go to spaces beyond the relatively small storefronts at Go’s early locations in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

Chase and UATP, the airline-owned payment network, are collaborating to make Chase Pay an option on airline websites and mobile apps.

By giving options, business can ensure that when users are in a hurry and suddenly faced with an elaborate setup for a new logon procedure, they won’t leave for a different provider, writes Marco Lafrentz, a vice president at tyntec.

Walmart is already a retail heavyweight, and it has never shied from innovative projects to change the way people pay.