The first half of 2020 has been particularly grueling for the travel industry. Jeff Cavins, CEO of recreational-vehicle rental site Outdoorsy, likens it to the entire planet “getting hit by a meteor� in terms of what it did to consumer interest in travel. Cavins and other industry all-stars recently joined...
Saving Main Street: How A Business School Is Helping Toronto SMB Retailers
If there’s a playbook for Main Street’s migration to digital, Toronto’s Schulich School of Business is authoring a very effective chapter. It starts with a public-private partnership, has a great pizza story in the middle and ends with a feisty attitude in the face of a devastating pandemic. In an...
How Faster Disbursements Can Help Solve Patients’ Payment Pain Points
The United States healthcare system is notorious for burdening patients with hefty expenses — a reality that existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic turned a national spotlight onto the issue. Financially-strained consumers can struggle to afford medicine and treatment for a variety of conditions, and some skip on getting the...
Using Sensors And IoT To Thwart Home Invasions (Of Privacy)
To monitor a home and to make sure all is safe and secure means you have to monitor the people and the activities inside. How to do that without destroying privacy in the age of work from home, shop from home, do-everything from home? In the age of connected devices,...
QSR Orders Have Gone Digital And Fraudsters Want A Piece Of The Pie
If you were to hop into a time machine and take a look at the quick-service restaurant (QSR) space a mere five years ago, the segment would look incredibly different than it does today. Digital barely existed among QSRs, and custom demand for it was nearly nonexistent. In fact, the...
UPS Adds Peak Delivery Surcharge To Manage eCommerce Demand Amid Pandemic
Seeking to manage the overflow of cases during the pandemic, UPS is adding a new ‘peak’ surcharge similar to how they do for the busy holiday season, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday (May 28). The surcharges will add an extra 30 cents to packages shipped by UPS Ground and...
USDA’s SNAP Benefits Can Used In 25 States, DC To Buy Groceries From Amazon
Amazon customers can now use Supplemental Nutrient Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in more states, according to a statement from the eCommerce giant. As of this week, customers with SNAP in the states of Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin can now...
Kudlow: Gov’t Eyes Cash Bonuses To Get People Back To Work
Larry Kudlow, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, said he thinks the idea of cash incentives for people going back to work could be in the cards. “It’s something we’re looking at very closely,” he said, speaking to CNBC. “We may go with something like that.” Kudlow said there...
Green Dot To Launch Mobile Banking For US Immigrants
Welcome Technologies, which works to aid immigrants as they integrate into life in a new country, is partnering with Green Dot for the PODERCard, which will help U.S. Hispanic immigrants access digital banking services, according to a press release. Less than half of U.S. Hispanic immigrants have access to actual...
SDF Invests $550K In SatoshiPay For B2B X-Border Solution
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has made a $550,000 strategic investment to go toward SatoshiPay‘s development of a B2B cross-border payments solution and its digital wallets, according to a press release. SDF’s investment came by way of convertible loan notes and was the third investment the foundation has made in...