Booking Holdings is seeing early results from the generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) solutions it offers across its travel and related platforms. The company, which owns the Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, Kayak and OpenTable brands, offers several gen AI tools and added more during the third quarter, executives said Tuesday (Oct. 28) during an earnings call. “What are we measuring in terms of impact? Ultimately, faster search, better conversion, lower cancellation rates, and higher...| PYMNTS.com
Visa’s fiscal fourth quarter results, released after the markets closed on Tuesday (Oct. 28) showed growth in debit and credit spending, a surge in tokenized credentials and momentum in stablecoin-related activity. The company’s materials indicated that U.S. payments volume was up 8%, accelerating from the previous quarter. Credit and debit spending both were 8% higher. “When looking at quarterly spend category data in the U.S., we saw broad-based strength, including improvements in r...| PYMNTS.com
The Federal Reserve is reportedly considering granting FinTechs a form of direct access to its core payment infrastructure. Fed staff is looking into “skinny” master accounts that would give select FinTechs access to the accounts banks use to move money through Fed systems, but would exclude access to interest, overdraft privileges and discount window borrowing, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (Oct. 28). For FinTechs, an arrangement like this could allow them to hold customer reserves directly...| PYMNTS.com
Prediction market Polymarket reportedly plans to launch trading in the United States by the end of November. The company will focus on sports betting in the U.S., and the trading will initially be limited to select participants, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (Oct. 28), citing unnamed sources. Polymarket did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment. The Bloomberg report flagged a page on the company’s website that said: “Polymarket will soon be available for US traders. We’re ...| PYMNTS.com
SoFi reported its Q3 earnings Tuesday morning (Oct. 28), and the message was straightforward: Its mostly prime borrowers look resilient, and their spending is steady. Pressed by analysts on consumer credit, CEO Anthony Noto said the company’s real-time view across checking, investing and lending shows “very strong” credit performance and day-to-day activity. “The first message is our credit performing very well … not just the performance of credit, but the spending that we see in ...| PYMNTS.com
Moves from Adobe, Oracle, OpenAI and Google highlight how enterprise tech is doubling down on artificial intelligence (AI) in workflows, infrastructure expansion, and developer enablement across creative, business and cloud ecosystems. Creative Professionals Get Agentic AI Adobe announced Tuesday (Oct. 28) at its MAX 2025 event that Creative Cloud apps such as Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere and Illustrator will now include an AI Assistant powered by agentic AI to handle repeatable tasks and s...| PYMNTS.com
In traditional finance, custody is almost invisible. A custodian bank can hold trillions of dollars in securities, ensuring that ownership records are accurate and assets can’t be misappropriated. These institutions are regulated, insured and audited. Cryptocurrency custody has traditionally operated in a different universe. Across the blockchain, possession of digital assets means controlling a private key, or a long, unique string of numbers that allows its holder to move assets recorded ...| PYMNTS.com
Western Union plans to launch a new stablecoin and a network designed to enable real-world utility for digital assets. With these products, Western Union aims to “reshape how money moves worldwide,” it said in a Tuesday (Oct. 28) press release. The company’s stablecoin, U.S. Dollar Payment Token (USDPT), will be built on Solana and issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, according to the release. This collaboration will bring together Solana’s blockchain technology, Anchorage Digital Bank...| PYMNTS.com
Nvidia is investing $1 billion in Nokia through a partnership with the Finnish tech company. The partnership, announced Tuesday (Oct. 28), involves the| PYMNTS.com
Payments processing FinTech Unlimit says it has integrated Apple Pay transfer capabilities into its platform. This new integration is designed to let retail customers using Unlimit “seamlessly” transfer their fiat funds to eligible Apple Pay cards, according to a Tuesday (Oct. 28) news release. “With digital asset adoption accelerating across Europe, the need for reliable and user-friendly off-ramp solutions is becoming increasingly critical, and users now expect to be able to seaml...| PYMNTS.com
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has proposed rescinding its recovery planning guidelines for insured national banks, federal savings associations and federal branches with at least $100 billion in assets. The agency said in a Monday (Oct. 27) press release that the guidelines, which went into effect Jan. 1, are unnecessary because the OCC expects these institutions to be well managed and have appropriate risk management processes in place. “Risk management is a dynamic process...| PYMNTS.com
UnitedHealth Group says tech investments are key to its ongoing turnaround strategy. The insurer announced quarterly earnings Tuesday (Oct. 28) showing consolidated revenues of $113.2 billion, a 12% increase year over year. Speaking during an earnings call, the company’s management team noted the different ways UnitedHealth and its various arms were using technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) to boost performance. For example, Tim Noel, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, said that almost ...| PYMNTS.com
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is set to rescind its Nonbank Registry Rule (NBR Rule) that requires nonbank financial companies that have broken consumer laws and are subject to government or court orders to report those orders to a bureau registry. The rescission will be effective when it is published in the Federal Register, which is scheduled for Wednesday (Oct. 29), according to an unpublished PDF version of the rule posted on the Federal Register website. “The bureau is final...| PYMNTS.com
Consumer confidence edged down in October as the outlook among Americans grew more cautious heading into the year’s final months. The latest Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index slipped by 1 point to 94.6, from 95.6 in September, marking its lowest level since spring. Beneath the headline number that was reported Tuesday (Oct. 28), a divergence emerged between current and future assessments of economic conditions and between income groups. The Present Situation Index, which captures c...| PYMNTS.com
Vanguard Group has turned artificial intelligence from a pilot program into a profit engine, generating more than $500 million in measurable business value across customer service, analytics and software development, according to MIT Sloan Management Review. The $11 trillion asset manager’s methodical rollout shows how large financial institutions can use AI to boost productivity while maintaining trust, governance and employee engagement. From Call Centers to Investment Analytics As mentio...| PYMNTS.com
Finance platform BILL has launched a suite of AI agents for small businesses. The new offering, announced Tuesday (Oct. 28) includes features that autonomously collect and validate W-9s, reconcile receipts, accelerate user onboarding, and carry out routine tasks for what BILL calls “Fortune 5 Million” companies saddled with manual workflows. “For example, more than 90% of businesses say collecting W-9s is the most painful part of doing taxes, and many spend too much time on expense mana...| PYMNTS.com
Stronger-than-expected demand for the new iPhone 17 series reportedly helped drive Apple’s market capitalization above $4 trillion on Tuesday (Oct. 28). Apple became the third public company to reach that milestone, following Nvidia and Microsoft, which both reached it in July, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. The company’s stock price has been lifted by the success of its latest iPhone series and a reduction of tariff pressures, according to the report. Its new iPhone 17 series outsold its pr...| PYMNTS.com
Elon Musk has launched Grokipedia, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered version of Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia, which launched Monday (Oct. 27),| PYMNTS.com
Amazon reportedly plans to start cutting as many as 30,000 corporate jobs Tuesday (Oct. 28) as part of an effort to reduce the amount of bureaucracy and| PYMNTS.com
The lines between the gamification of money and the monetization of gaming are increasingly blurring. At the heart of this blurring lies a fundamental| PYMNTS.com
PYMNTS Intelligence has long chronicled the challenges facing smaller firms navigating the storms of economic volatility. Capital, of course, offers up a| PYMNTS.com
For millions of Americans, the biggest threat to their personal finances and spending routines isn’t tariffs. It’s their mortgages. Many homebuyers jumped| PYMNTS.com
Here are the top artificial intelligence (AI) stories of the week: Agentic AI Systems Have to Earn Trust in 3 Ways From Enterprises CFOs are nearly| PYMNTS.com
The U.K.’s financial watchdog says lenders need to make online loan applications easier to understand. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Thursday| PYMNTS.com
Boost Payment Solutions and FIS have partnered to facilitate accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP) automation for enterprise customers. This| PYMNTS.com
U.S. Bank introduced an online education platform aimed at small business owners. The lender’s free Business Resources Central is designed to provide| PYMNTS.com
A group of trade associations representing European retailers reportedly asked the European Commission to take action against Mastercard and Visa under| PYMNTS.com
Priority Sports, a unit of payments and banking solution provider Priority, said it has been handling ticket sales transactions for the Minnesota Wild, a| PYMNTS.com
House Republicans have introduced their plan to overhaul the U.S. student loan system. The measure, introduced Monday (April 29) by members of the House| PYMNTS.com
Shein has increased the prices of several products in response to pending tariffs. As Bloomberg News reported, most of those U.S. price hikes by the| PYMNTS.com
A London court approved a settlement in a class action lawsuit brought against Mastercard over its swipe fees. By approving the deal, the Competition| PYMNTS.com
Upbound Group, owner of Rent-A-Center and Acima, has completed its purchase of Brigit. The deal, finalized Friday (Jan. 31), adds Brigit’s financial| PYMNTS.com
Apple reportedly took the next step in its rollout of Apple Intelligence by turning it on by default in its latest software update for iPhones, iPads and| PYMNTS.com
It’s OK if you’re confused about the state of TikTok. Let’s not forget that this whole mess started when Congress banned TikTok, citing national security| PYMNTS.com
Chrysalis Investments increased the value of its stake in Klarna, reportedly giving the buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider an implied valuation of around| PYMNTS.com
Growing concerns about geopolitical instability and legal and regulatory uncertainty accompanied a slight decline in CEO confidence in the fourth quarter.| PYMNTS.com
