The payments & online selling stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
Mastercard published a story on how Samsung built a smarter retail strategy. The details are not confirmed, but store tactics can affect what shoppers pay.
Read more: How Samsung is rethinking the way it sells in storesCrediMax and Mastercard will help Bahrain's stores sell to AI shopping assistants that search, compare and pay for shoppers within limits the shopper sets.
Read more: Bahrain Stores Get Ready to Sell to AI Shopping AssistantsExpedia's CEO says AI assistants are good at helping people plan trips, but travelers still prefer to book on a brand they trust.
Read more: Travelers plan trips with AI helpers but still book on ExpediaNIQ and Similarweb are building a tool to show whether AI shopping chats lead to real sales. A first version is due in Q4 2026, so sellers have time to prepare.
Read more: Two firms plan to track sales that start with AI shopping chatsTwo companies now sell banks a package that turns a phone into a card reader and adds shop tools, so small merchants may skip the terminal.
Read more: Shop owners could take card payments on a phone, no terminal neededMastercard and Trulioo say AI agents are nearing checkout, but proof of who they are and who pays for their mistakes is still missing.
Read more: AI shopping assistants can't check out safely until we can trust themWalmart is rolling out an AI helper that can search and pick items for shoppers, and investors and customers are both asking what it means.
Read more: Walmart is testing an AI shopping helper that buys for youMeta, Google and Amazon earned $164.7 billion in ads in one quarter, and now want a cut when AI assistants buy things for shoppers. Sellers may pay more.
Read more: Meta, Google and Amazon race to profit when AI does your shoppingAdobe's AI marketing helper now runs inside ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot and more, so teams can use it in the AI tool they already have.
Read more: Adobe's marketing AI helper now works inside ChatGPT and ClaudeQuestionPro, a survey software company, is buying Contlo to build AI shopping assistants. Small businesses may soon need to get their products ready for them.
Read more: QuestionPro buys Contlo to build AI tools that help shoppers buyGoogle says criminals are stealing company AI logins, reselling access, and leaving the victims with bills that reached $1 million at some firms.
Read more: Hackers are running up million-dollar AI bills on company accountsCrowdStrike's new AI Kill Switch can stop a misbehaving AI agent, but only one part works today. Here is why that matters if agents touch your money or records.
Read more: CrowdStrike adds a kill switch to stop AI agents that go off trackAnthropic says its FlashProve system could let users confirm which AI model answered them, so a cheaper stand-in could not be swapped in unnoticed.
Read more: Anthropic is building a way to prove which AI answered youMicrosoft added AI agent tracking to Clarity, so store owners can see whether AI shopping helpers can find deals and check out on their sites.
Read more: Microsoft's Free Site Tool Now Shows How AI Shoppers Use Your WebsiteA survey of more than 5,100 shoppers finds most use AI to shop, but few let it pay alone, and the question of who covers mistakes is still open.
Read more: Shoppers like AI helpers but few trust them to buy aloneAmazon's new Merchant Workspace lets outside stores link up so Alexa for Shopping can show their products, and shoppers get sent to those stores to buy.
Read more: Amazon lets outside stores show up when you shop with AlexaYellow Card now owns GoMoney, a Brazilian firm, so clients can pay in reais and settle in stablecoins. Full central bank approval is still pending.
Read more: Yellow Card buys a Brazilian firm to move stablecoin payments thereRevolut says it is now worth $115 billion after new funding, while a U.K. regulator reportedly looks at how fast the money app is rolling out new products.
Read more: Revolut, the money app, is now valued at $115 billionBlock, the company behind Cash App and Square, is close to a $964 million deal with the Justice Department over weak money-laundering checks. Here is what it could mean for users.
Read more: Block, owner of Cash App, nears $964M deal with Justice DepartmentBerlin firm Pliant raised $80 million to let outside AI tools run business payments, which raises a fair question about who is responsible when software moves money.
Read more: Berlin payments firm Pliant raises $80 million to let AI pay billsRiverside Payments agreed to pay $600,000 over claims it promised card-fee savings that did not show up and hid costs in a long contract.
Read more: Payments firm pays $600,000 over claims it hid fees from small shopsThe OCC, a federal bank regulator, released a guide for examiners reviewing bank AI use. It sets no new rules, so banks face the same safety standards as before.
Read more: Bank regulator issues a guide for checking how banks use AIOnline stores are replacing clunky security screens with quiet background checks, which could mean fewer passwords for shoppers and fewer lost sales for merchants.
Read more: Online stores now check you are real without slowing checkoutOPay stopped its $300 million US share sale hours after pricing it, Bloomberg reports, because Chinese regulators asked last-minute questions.
Read more: OPay pauses its $300 million US stock sale after Chinese inquiries
