Retailers

PayPal reports it’s adding users to Venmo’s new initiatives quickly, pushing the company’s wish to monetize Venmo to what its CEO calls a “tipping point."

Banks currently enjoy the pole position, but until they revamp and modernize their lending processes to better compete with the speed and convenience of nontraditional lenders, they will continue to lose market share, writes Trevor Dryer, CEO and co-founder of Mirador.

Intent on rapidly capturing the value and benefits of these new services, companies too often take a path of least resistance to cloud assessment and operational planning, writes Justin Yunag, chief digital officer, financial services for Atos North America Operations.

Marks & Spencer is the first major U.K. retailer to launch a mobile scanning and payment app in its stores. Several U.K. supermarket chains have launched pilots of cashierless and checkout-free mobile shopping, but have yet to roll out services.

Allowing third-party access to bank data will open up the opportunity for far wider data aggregation than previously possible, writes Huw Davies, CCO of Token.

To remain competitive, retailers must always have one eye on the future. Mobile wallets offer a strategic platform for retailers to harness and promote emerging payment models, writes Julian Wallis, retail director at Rambus.

PayPal and Walmart are offering a cash-in and cash-out service from PayPal accounts within Walmart stores. It's the first time Walmart, one of the founders the defunct Merchant Customer Exchange, will accept a third-party mobile wallet.

Worldpay is combining the Worldpay Bankout solution, which will now deliver to 154 direct bank disbursement destinations, and Worldpay FastAccess enabled by Visa Direct.

While the fintechs that offer merchant loans usually argue they’re lending to the ultra-small businesses that banks don't serve, competitive forces will bring the technology companies deeper into banks’ domain.

Square CFO Sarah Friar, who helped lead the company's many forays into financial services, is leaving Square to become CEO of Nextdoor, a social network for local neighborhoods.