Here’s the best global payments news that crossed our desk this week, all curated and quickly accessed for your weekend reading enjoyment. We start with PayPal’s acquisition of iZettle for $2.2 billion.  Amazon’s Alexa introduces six new products, hoping to dominate the voice shopping market. Same-day ACH payments are getting more popular with companies.

In New Jersey, legislators consider banning cashless stores. according to research from Valassis, 82% of consumers use coupons for shopping weekly.  One-third of US consumers now smart speakers. Voice shopping anyone? After analyzing more than 8 billion 2017 holiday marketing emails, Yes Lifestyle Marketing has free tips on how to do it right. There’s much more news ahead, so scroll down and pick your favorite stories.

PayPal acquires iZettle for $2.2 billion

PayPal acquires iZettle PayPal Holdings Inc. announced today it has acquired iZettle for $2.2 billion. Founded in Stockholm in 2010, iZettle is a financial technology company that created a mini chip-card reader and software for mobile devices. The company works with small businesses in Europe and Latin America, providing payment tools and services. Read more…

Six biggest threats to Alexa payments

Amazon Alexa offers six new productsAmazon is coming out with a massive range of Alexa-enabled devices — from high-end speakers to ordinary-looking microwaves — with the goal of building out an ecosystem tied to the company’s massive e-commerce platform. The variety of these new devices may seem random or experimental, but each is responding to a specific threat to Amazon’s work in voice-controlled commerce. Read more…

Data: Same-day ACH volume vs fraud

ACH surges

Same-day ACH payments—introduced for credits in 2016 and debits last year—are gaining popularity with banks and corporations. The success prompted Nacha this week to approve new rules for these payments going into effect over the next two years. Speed and access for same-day funds will expand, and per-transaction limits will rise from $25,000 to $100,000.  But many corporations say that’s still not large enough to be very useful. Read more…

Amazon, Walmart delay NJ bill that would ban cashless stores

New Jersey may ban cashless storesNew Jersey lawmakers shelved a vote on advancing a bill Thursday that would prohibit retailers from refusing to accept cash. The measure was tabled before a Senate Commerce committee hearing after the retail giants and other stakeholders expressed concerns with the bill, said State Sen. Nellie Pou (D., Passaic), who chairs the committee and is sponsoring the legislation. Read more…

Coupons and grocery shopping go hand-in-hand

82% of shoppers use coupons weeklyEighty-two percent of consumers surveyed said they use coupons for their weekly grocery shopping trips and 47 percent do the same on fill-in trips, according to Valassis. Consumers are also looking for grocers to offer coupons for online shopping with 48 percent saying they would be more likely to order if coupons were offered and/or accepted. Read more…

One-Third of Adults Own a Smart Speaker, and They’re Comfortable With Voice Tech

One-third own smart speakersAbout 1 in 3 US adults (32%) reports owning a Smart Speaker as of August 2018, marking a 4% point increase from January of this year, according to a new survey from Adobe. The study suggests that up to half of adults could own a Smart Speaker by the time the holiday season is over as a result of purchase intentions among adults yet to own the device. Read more…

2018 Holiday Marketing Guide: Lessons & opportunities from the 2017 holiday season

Yes Lifecycle Marketing analyzed over 8 billion emails.To help marketers understand trends and identify opportunities, Yes Lifecycle Marketing analyzed over 8 billion emails sent in Q4 2017 through its Yesmail360i platform. Learn the adoption rate of different Q4 holidays in marketers’ messages, view performance of each holiday listed above, and get best practices (with creative examples) relevant for the 2018 holiday season. Read more…

Walmart warns Trump new China tariffs could mean price hikes on bikes, Christmas lights

Walmart lobbied White House on China tariffsWalmart has warned the Trump administration that its latest batch of proposed tariffs could make it more expensive for U.S. households to buy items ranging from cribs to Christmas lights. Walmart joined other industry players in sounding an alarm that American shoppers will suffer the most if another batch of levies is imposed on goods and parts bought from China. Read more…

Alibaba’s Jack Ma backs down from promise to Trump to bring 1 million jobs to the US

Alibaba's Jack Ma speaks out on China tariffs.Jack Ma, founder, and chairman of Chinese retail giant Alibaba says the company no longer plans to create 1 million jobs in the United States in the wake of the ongoing trade conflict between the U.S. and China. Ma made his original job creation pronouncement during a high-profile meeting with Donald Trump in January 2017 before Trump’s inauguration as president. Read more…

Grocery chain Aldi will roll out Instacart delivery nationwide

Aldi partners with Instacart for home deliveryInstacart Inc., which late last month expanded its relationship with Kroger Co., reached a deal with Aldi that will bring online ordering and delivery to Aldi stores nationwide by Thanksgiving. Aldi’s expansion of delivery via Instacart covers 75 major markets, including San Diego; New York City; Miami; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Minneapolis, Aldi says. Read more…