The payments & online selling stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
AI-focused investors are buying whole companies, including ADT for $15.3 billion, so the firms behind your alarm, payroll or HOA may soon run differently.
Read more: AI investors are now buying whole companies, from ADT to payroll firmsTwo private investment firms reportedly want to buy Global Payments, a company that handles card payments for businesses. Talks may not lead to a deal.
Read more: Two investment firms reportedly team up on $40 billion bid for Global PaymentsA Seeking Alpha piece says shoppers are starting to chat with AI to find products, but the money from those visits is not yet flowing to everyone.
Read more: AI shopping helpers bring visitors, but few stores are paid yetAmazon says pharmacy customers grew more than 60% in a year, and its app can now take you from a health question to a prescription at your door.
Read more: Amazon Now Lets You Ask a Health Question and Get the PrescriptionCheckout.com will let shoppers at its partner stores pay with a face or fingerprint scan instead of a texted code, starting in the UK and Europe.
Read more: Checkout.com adds passkeys so shoppers can skip texted codesEntersekt says it has upgraded 3-D Secure, the bank check at checkout, to cut failed online payments. Fewer failures could help shoppers and online stores.
Read more: Entersekt upgrades card checks to cut failed online paymentsA new New York bill would make the biggest AI developers hire licensed outside auditors and report risks fast. It could change the AI tools used in the state.
Read more: New York lawmakers want outside experts to audit the biggest AI companiesUnilever and Nestlé are using AI to enter orders and chase unpaid invoices, but slow-paying customers and tangled systems still slow cash down.
Read more: Unilever and Nestlé Use AI to Handle Orders and Chase Late PaymentsWalmart says shoppers will be able to cap what an AI assistant spends and keep card details hidden from it, while Amazon reportedly blocked Meta's Muse agent.
Read more: Walmart plans spending limits for AI shopping assistantsA Plaid executive says AI shopping agents may pick payment methods by your goals, not by habit, which could push more people toward paying straight from a bank account.
Read more: AI shopping assistants may pick a different way to pay than you doAmazon's CEO says few people use AI shopping bots because they are no better than visiting a store's site. Amazon has also blocked Meta's new assistant, Muse.
Read more: Amazon's CEO says shopping bots are not worth worrying about yetThree AI startups watch your ticket after you buy it and ask airlines for money back when the fare falls. Here is what they charge and where the catch is.
Read more: Three startups use AI to win you refunds when airfares dropInstacart paid $350 million for Caper, a smart cart maker, and one expert says the deal shows great technology fails if stores do not adopt it.
Read more: Instacart's $350 million smart cart deal shows tech is not enoughA new PYMNTS survey finds AI is changing where shoppers start looking, but Amazon still wins most of the final purchases, especially those that begin with AI.
Read more: People research with AI, but most still buy on AmazonFintech firm Reap launched Sentry, a service where its specialists run card fraud controls for clients. Wrongly blocked customers can cost as much as fraud.
Read more: Reap launches Sentry, a service that spots card fraud as it happensShelly Store UK says unauthorized software on its website may have copied card details, and one customer saw a charge from Australia before any warning.
Read more: Smart home shop warns customers their card details may be stolenBoston Consulting Group asks if makers of snacks, soap and drinks are ready for AI assistants that pick and buy products for shoppers.
Read more: Will AI shopping assistants change how grocery brands sell?A new PYMNTS survey finds 54% of wallet users have just one payment method saved, so a rewards card you never added can't be used when you tap to pay.
Read more: Most people keep only one card saved in their phone walletAdyen is rolling out Visa Payment Passkey in the UK, so some online card purchases can be confirmed with the same unlock you use on your phone.
Read more: Adyen lets UK shoppers confirm online card payments with a phone unlockMastercard says it will buy BVNK, a firm that links digital currency to bank money, which could make using crypto-style payments simpler for ordinary people.
Read more: Mastercard plans to buy BVNK to link digital currency and regular moneyMastercard earned $4.6 billion in the third quarter, up 18%, and its fraud and data tools are now a main source of growth. That affects how your card is protected.
Read more: Mastercard profit jumps 18% as data services drive growthIndia's festive orders are forecast to jump 27.1%, and online stores are turning to AI to catch fake orders and false refund claims without blocking real shoppers.
Read more: Online stores use AI to catch fake orders and false refund claimsCasap, a startup that uses AI to handle card disputes, raised $56 million. Honest customers could get refunds sooner while false claims get caught more often.
Read more: AI startup Casap raises $56 million to fight "friendly fraud" at banksA card company executive says wrongly blocked purchases can cost banks far more than fraud, and he wants a passkey built into the card to fix both problems.
Read more: Banks lose more to wrongly declined cards than to fraud, exec says
