In today’s top news, Starbucks offers a leave of absence option to employees impacted by reduced café hours, and Western Union makes a takeover offer for MoneyGram. Plus, Visa reports a smaller decline in payments volume for May.
Starbucks Offers Leave Of Absence For Baristas Facing Fewer Hours
Starbucks is offering its baristas a voluntary leave of absence program for employees impacted by reduced work schedules amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the company told workers.
Western Union Eyes Buying MoneyGram
Western Union has made a takeover offer to MoneyGram, but nothing has been made official, in a transaction that would unite two of the country’s largest money transfer services
Visa: May Payments Volume Shows Slide Slowing
Visa‘s total U.S. payments volume in May declined slower than the previous two months, which could be indicative of a slight economic recovery as consumers spend more. The payments volume in May saw a drop to 5 percent, better than the 18 percent drop from April.
Coronavirus’ Economic Impact Could Last 10 Years, Cost $8 Trillion
The final financial toll of the coronavirus will likely be a reduction of $7.9 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) until 2030, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday (June 1). That number includes the rescue funding approved thus far by Congress, which has numbered in the multi-trillions, with aid going to businesses, individuals and services like testing.
The Machine Learning Fix For Healthcare Disbursement Delays
Complex billing codes and paper-based disbursements have long troubled independent primary care practitioners — frictions that result in treatment delays during the pandemic. Andrew Toy, chief technology officer for health insurance provider Clover Health, explains how machine learning can help resolve billing issues, disburse payments near-instantly and close the healthcare and patient billing service gap in the latest Disbursements Tracker.
Mastercard: Data-Driven Insight Key To Fast-Tracking America’s Reopening
Can better data speed the rebound from the pandemic as cities and businesses reopen? Raj Seshadri, Mastercard’s president of data and services, tells PYMNTS that real time, anonymized consumer data can pinpoint where economic aid needs to go to help SMBs recover.
The Drive-In Dance Club And The Future Of Social Gatherings
In the era of COVID-19 and social distancing, people are finding that gathering in cars is an acceptable substitute for being in a room together. It’s easy to envision this aligning with dining out and movie-going, but clubbing? Drive-in dancing could be next.