The payments & online selling stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
Amplify Credit Union says business accounts that received an instant payment grew deposits 25% faster, a sign that quick payments may help banks too.
Read more: Credit union sees faster deposit growth after turning on instant paymentsA PYMNTS report says taking payments inside your own app is easy to start, but success brings fraud, compliance and workload problems that can force a rebuild.
Read more: Adding payments to your app is easy. Keeping up as you grow is notStripe now lets AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude check balances, pay invoices and move money for a business, which could cut admin but raises access questions.
Read more: Stripe lets AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude handle your business money tasksParityCube, a Mumbai company, has launched OpenTrust, a free shared list for Indian merchants to flag and check phone numbers tied to fraud.
Read more: Indian company ParityCube launches free fraud-number registry for shopsAn Australian court says Apple must allow rival app stores and outside payments on iPhones from March 2027. Apple plans to appeal, so the date could still move.
Read more: Australia orders Apple to let iPhones use rival app storesBank of Ireland says its AI scored over 1 billion card payments and stopped €9.7m of fraud, so a verify request from your bank is likely an automated check.
Read more: Bank of Ireland says AI checked 1 billion card payments and stopped €9.7m of fraudShopify, Otto Group and others report big savings and sales gains from AI tools, including cheaper AI answers and warehouse changes tested in simulation first.
Read more: European retailers use AI to cut costs and test stores virtuallyA new Southeast Asia report says missing payment options cost sales at checkout, and Indonesia shows it most. Here is what sellers abroad should know.
Read more: Southeast Asian shoppers abandon carts when their payment method is missingAnthropic's new Claude Duet app can shop for your business and keep working while you are away, but it asks before it pays, sends, signs or deletes.
Read more: Anthropic's Claude Duet can now buy business supplies for youAn AWS executive says nearly 4 in 10 European startups would consider leaving the region to grow, citing funding gaps, rule costs and energy limits.
Read more: Many European startups say they would move abroad to growMastercard unveiled Mastercard Max, an AI assistant that tells cardholders which perks their card offers, so they can use benefits they may be missing.
Read more: Mastercard Launches an AI Helper That Finds Your Unused Card PerksA new guide from Small Business Trends lays out five steps for an online store report that shows lost sales, weak ads and what to fix first.
Read more: A Simple Five-Step Way to Build a Useful Online Store ReportBoeing and Microsoft launched Dataliner, an AI tool meant to flag airplane repairs early, which could mean fewer surprise delays, though savings are unproven.
Read more: Boeing and Microsoft launch AI tool to spot airplane repairs earlyLegal AI startup Legora raised $550 million at an $8.8 billion value, a sign that law firms are paying for AI tools that handle routine legal work.
Read more: Legal AI startup Legora is now valued at $8.8 billionWalmart is building a way for AI assistants to shop and buy for you, with spending limits, while Amazon blocks AI shopping bots from its site.
Read more: Walmart Lets AI Assistants Shop for You While Amazon Blocks ThemKlarna and FreshBooks are teaming up so small business customers can split an invoice into payments, with no extra setup for the business owner.
Read more: FreshBooks users can now let customers pay invoices in installmentsAnthropic's draft IPO filing shows an $80.7 billion half-year loss, but about $72 billion is an accounting charge, not cash spent running the business.
Read more: Anthropic's Loss Hits $80.7 Billion, Mostly a Paper ChargeOpenAI is bringing ads to free ChatGPT in 26 more countries, and more than 100,000 advertisers have already run campaigns there.
Read more: ChatGPT ads are spreading to 26 more countriesAirbnb changed its rules so hosts can no longer ask guests to do one checkout task. If you host or book stays, the new limits affect you.
Read more: Airbnb now limits the chores hosts can ask guests to do at checkoutAnthropic's draft bill would let the government block an AI model only for harm over $1 billion or 50 people, a bar that could miss most real attacks.
Read more: Anthropic's AI Shutdown Plan Would Only Kick In at $1 Billion in HarmUnited's CEO says Starlink Wi-Fi is pulling in flyers loyal to other airlines, and the airline now has a tracker to show which flights have it.
Read more: United says in-flight Starlink Wi-Fi is winning over loyal flyers of rival airlinesHackers got into a system retailers trust, and Staples now faces a loss of about $5 million. Any business with internal tools should take note.
Read more: Staples faces a $5 million loss after hackers hijack a trusted systemAI shopping helpers can search, compare and buy for you, and scammers are building fake deals to catch them. Here is what that means before holiday shopping.
Read more: AI shopping helpers are hunting holiday deals, and scammers are waitingVisa is rolling out fraud checks and AI tools for business card payments. Owners who pay suppliers by card should ask what it costs and when it arrives.
Read more: Visa adds fraud checks and AI helpers for business card payments
