The payments & online selling stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
A new survey finds Americans split on buy now, pay later, with younger shoppers warmer to it. Check your budget before splitting holiday gifts into payments.
Read more: Buy now, pay later wins fans across ages and incomes this holiday seasonBTCPay Server told users to shut down after attackers began emptying hot wallets. If you run one to take bitcoin, the money in it may be at risk.
Read more: Crypto Payment Tool Tells Users to Shut Down Servers After TheftsDoorDash wants to buy Instacart for $17 billion. Together they would hold most U.S. delivery app spending, while Amazon and Uber push for faster delivery.
Read more: DoorDash plans to buy Instacart for $17 billion, taking on AmazonForbes says the way a company scores its fraud checks can hide real losses, including sales lost when honest customers get blocked by mistake.
Read more: Many companies may be judging their fraud checks the wrong wayAmazon is opening its delivery network to all, and AI shopping tools tend to reward the quickest delivery, which could matter if you sell online.
Read more: Amazon opens its delivery network to all as AI shoppers favor speedFake ChatGPT Plus billing emails lead to a counterfeit checkout page where a scammer watches live and can then ask for your bank's one-time code.
Read more: Fake ChatGPT billing emails steal card details and bank codesAmazon has cut off Meta's Muse shopping agent, so an AI helper that works at some stores may not work at Amazon. Here is what shoppers should know.
Read more: Amazon blocks Meta's new AI shopping assistant from buying on its siteFinextra Research says trust is the base for AI that buys for you. The open question is how stores and banks know an AI really acts for you.
Read more: As AI starts shopping for you, trust becomes the key to paymentsFujifilm's Instax Square 2 prints square instant photos, costs $119 in the US, and adds two color filters and a new focus mode over the older model.
Read more: Fujifilm's new square instant camera is simple, pretty and $40 cheaperGoogle, Meta and Amazon are building AI that can shop for you, and sellers may soon have to win over an AI before a person ever sees their product.
Read more: Google, Meta and Amazon race to build AI that shops for youAI shopping helpers can already find many online stores, but they pick based on clean data. Wrong prices or stale stock counts can keep a store off the shortlist.
Read more: AI shopping helpers can find your store, but bad data keeps you off the shortlistBoston Consulting Group says AI assistants that shop for you could reshape retail in Japan, and businesses may need to be ready for software as a buyer.
Read more: AI shopping assistants that buy for you are coming to JapanA Billtrust finance chief says automating invoices can leave cash uncollected, and offers a simple test for any new tool that promises to speed up billing.
Read more: Billtrust CFO: Faster invoicing doesn't mean you get paid fasterAI assistants are starting to choose hotels for travelers, and a hotel with messy or outdated data may never be considered. Here is what hotel owners are being told.
Read more: AI Assistants Now Pick Hotels for Travelers, and Hotels Must Be ReadableMastercard signed a broad deal with OpenAI as AI shopping grows. Its CEO says it is early, but the way your card is protected could soon matter.
Read more: Mastercard and OpenAI team up so AI can shop and pay for youShopify's Fall '26 update lets store owners manage orders from AI chatbots and lets shoppers use those same bots to find and buy products.
Read more: Shopify lets AI chatbots run your online store and shop for youAmazon blocked Meta's Muse shopping agent and is promoting its own Alexa helper. Whichever AI shopper you use may shape where your money goes.
Read more: Amazon pushes its own Alexa shopper as outside AI agents riseResearchers got AI assistants to lift their own spending limits and send money to an attacker. Email codes did not stop them.
Read more: Researchers fooled AI assistants into raising spending limits and sending moneyGoogle now offers free short Gemini video courses for finance and legal staff, a low-cost way to see what AI can do for work with money and contracts.
Read more: Google offers free short AI video courses for finance and legal staffMcKinsey says 84% of Millennial shoppers in India use AI when they shop, ahead of Gen Z, so sellers should not assume only the youngest buyers rely on it.
Read more: Millennials, not Gen Z, lead AI shopping in India at 84%OPay called off its planned New York Stock Exchange debut over a regulator's inquiry, but says its app and payments still work normally.
Read more: OPay pulls its New York stock market debut over a regulator's inquiryOpenAI is now aiming to raise $20 billion, not $30 billion, as worries about AI spending hit tech stocks. That could matter for your investments and your tools.
Read more: OpenAI Cuts Its Fundraising Goal From $30 Billion to $20 BillionMicrosoft's Clarity data shows checkout appears in 25% of AI-assisted site visits versus 15% of human ones, but it cannot say who clicked or whether anyone bought.
Read more: AI shopping helpers reach checkout more often than people doVisa says business use of dollar-linked digital coins is growing fast, which could matter to any owner who pays overseas suppliers and wants lower fees.
Read more: Visa says more businesses are paying with digital dollar coins
