More than 2,000 people who had signed employment agreements with Google as temp and contract workers had their offers rescinded, The New York Times reported. As the California-based search giant deals with shrinking ad revenues caused by COVID-19, Google told employment agencies about its decision in an email last week, the...
US Lawmakers Ask FTC To Examine Tipping Practices On Instacart And Other Delivery Platforms
After reports that eCommerce delivery platforms are allowing consumers to “tip bait,� four U.S. senators are asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look at “potentially unfair and misleading� tipping practices on Instacart as well as other services. In a letter to FTC Chairman Joseph Simons, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz, Sherrod Brown,...
Democrats Skeptical Of Second Round Of Stimulus Checks
House Democrats who had hoped to provide Americans with a second $1,200 stimulus check are facing opposition from members of their own party in the Senate, The Hill reported. Two weeks ago, the House narrowly adopted a $3 trillion measure that would provide a second wave of cash payments to...
Today In Payments: Mastercard Introduces Recovery Insights Tools; Starling Notches $49M In Funding
In today’s top news, Mastercard introduces Recovery Insights tools, Google is mulling a purchase of a share of Vodafone India, and British digital bank Starling has raised $49 million in funding. Mastercard Debuts COVID-Recovery Data Tools For Business, Gov’t Mastercard’s new Recovery Insights technology will try to assist companies and...
SBA Data Shows At Least $20B Of PPP Loans Have Been Canceled
A minimum of $20 billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans have been canceled — many by small businesses afraid they can’t spend the money in ways that will qualify for loan forgiveness, calculations of Small Business Administration (SBA) data by Bloomberg found. SBA reports indicate $510.5 billion in the net amount...
Sweden’s Economy Grew In Q1 In Absence Of Lockdown
Sweden is winning the race among European nations to restore the economy from the coronavirus pandemic, according to data published on Friday (May 29), CNBC reported. The Nordic country reported its gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of economic health, grew at an annual rate of 0.4 percent from January...
The Walmart Amazon Whole Paycheck Tracker: Retail Giants Eye Key Acquisitions And Expansions
Both Walmart and Amazon made some big add-ons and/or acquisitions this week as they attempt to widen their sphere of retail influence in a post-pandemic world. Amazon made a big push into the automotive world, while Walmart doubled down on secondhand clothing sales. It was a busy week in the race...
The Week In Payments: How Businesses Can Navigate The Road To Recovery
Most every state in the U.S. this week is starting to walk the road to recovery. Mandatory stay-at-home orders are easing and businesses are beginning to reopen, albeit in very different ways than at the start of the year. As Deluxe CEO and President Barry C. McCarthy told Karen Webster for the latest...
How Disney Is Remaking The Magic Kingdom For Social Distancing
After officially shutting its doors in mid-March and furloughing staff, Disney World is planning its comeback. The park has officially scheduled a grand reopening for July. Disney officials plan a phased reopening that will see the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom parks fire back up on July 11, followed by Epcot Center...
How mobile wallets keep propping up plastic (or metal) cards
How mobile wallets keep propping up plastic (or metal) cardsSince the dawn of the smartphone era, banks and payment companies have struggled with a chicken-and-egg problem: How to get people to adopt mobile wallets when most merchants can't or won’t accept them.The solution, dating back to 2011's Google Wallet (a...