Airtel Africa, Visa Direct Payouts, Open Banking Top This Week’s News

In this week’s news, DoorDash sued Olo for alleged overcharging, proposed USPS changes could mean slower mail delivery, and we spoke with 34 CEOs about payments and its role in the connected economy. The Weekender has it all here.

News

Will USPS Changes Be Another Nail In The Paper Check’s Coffin?

Proposed changes at the U.S. Postal Service — longer delivery times for some first-class mail, shorter hours for some post offices and more expensive postal rates across the board — might further slow at least some mail, adding pressure to kill the paper check.

Paysafe Goes Public; Eyes Double-Digit Growth

Paysafe began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday (March 31) after having merged with the blank-check firm known as Foley Trasimene Acquisition II Corp. Founder and chairman of the SPAC Bill Foley aims for Paysafe to gain ground in the domestic gaming market — which is estimated to be worth as much as $24 billion in 2025.

Visa Direct Payouts Pushes Payments To Cards, Two Billion Bank Accounts Globally

Visa launched Visa Direct Payouts — a single point of integration for domestic and cross border B2B and B2B payouts. As Senior Vice President and Global Head of Visa Direct Bill Sheley told Karen Webster, this “network of network” strategies supports payouts to any 16-digit PAN and directly to 2 billion bank accounts cross border.

General Motors Considering Bitcoin As Payment

During General Motors’ (GM) fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Mary Barra said that while the automobile giant is not interested in investing in bitcoin, the company will monitor — and consider — the idea of accepting it as a currency for purchasing automobiles.

We’ve Seen The Future of Retail — And It’s At The Grocery Store

If retail’s success in 2021 and beyond will be defined by logistics, then grocery is where we’ll see this unfold. The grocery store winners will recognize that consumers want to increasingly make ordering and logistics the supermarket’s problem to solve — not theirs. And, as goes grocery, so goes the rest of retail.

Trackers and Reports

34 CEOs On Payments As The Connected Economy’s Power Source

As Q1 2021 comes to a close, PYMNTS asked 34 CEOs to share their thoughts on the role of payments in enabling new consumer and business experiences. What we heard was nearly universal: payments is the power source for connecting commerce across use cases and ecosystems — and no longer simply an aspirational goal.

Report: Banks Put CFOs In The Cash Management Driver’s Seat

How do banks deliver the real-time account control and visibility that their corporate clients need? In the Corporate Cash Management Playbook, PYMNTS reveals how banks can bring digital liquidity tools to the C-suite and develop new models for innovation along the way.

Merchants And PSPs Supercharge A2A Payments With Open Banking

Open banking-powered payment offerings have been available in some markets since 2018, but the pandemic drove many consumers to try these solutions for the first time — and there’s no going back. In the Open Banking Report, PYMNTS examines open banking’s rise as merchants and payment services providers worldwide tap into such options to offer secure, seamless account-to-account payments.

Restaurants Serve Up Machine Learning To Personalize Order, Payments Preferences

In the Digitizing Restaurant Payments Report, Piada Italian Street Food’s Matt Harding and Jason Profitt explain how restaurants can tap machine learning to analyze customers’ data and better personalize their experiences.

Fun, Cool And Otherwise Interesting

DoorDash-Olo Lawsuit Draws Attention To Restaurant Delivery Economics

Restaurant aggregator and delivery service DoorDash is suing digital ordering solutions provider Olo for allegedly overcharging the company by millions of dollars over several years. The suit highlights a larger conversation in the restaurant industry and its partners over how to make the economics of delivery work.

Cargo Ship Unstuck: Suez Shipping Set To Resume

The Ever Given cargo ship was freed from the Suez Canal on Monday (Mar. 29), after a six-day removal operation. The stuck ship was estimated to be blocking about $10 billion worth of goods every day, as transport in the vital pathway came to a halt. Now that it’s floating free again, the hope is that the canal’s backlog of ships can be quickly cleared, but some say that it may take a while to resume normal traffic flow.

Hybrid C-Store Model Builds Neighborhood Connection with Consumers

Foxtrot Market started as on online-only retailer in Chicago, providing 60-minute deliveries of traditional C-store merchandise with a dash of local flavor. Three years ago, it started opening brick-and-mortar locations and as CEO Mike LaVitola told PYMNTS, that hybrid model has been verified by doubling its store count and securing new funding.

US Car Sales Shift Into High Gear In Q1

In the fear of missing out, consumers are snapping up new vehicles at pre-pandemic levels. Auto sales were up 8 percent in the first quarter, leading to vehicle shortages that have only accelerated the buying binge. Retail deliveries are forecast to have reached 3.16 million vehicles during Q1, the second-highest total on record.

Mastercard’s Airtel Investment Spotlights Africa’s Mobile Money Boom

Momentum is gaining for movement of money through mobile means across the globe. Against that backdrop, Africa stands out, as evidenced by the recent investment Mastercard said it would make in Airtel Africa.