The good news if you are a My Best Buy rewards program member is that you will no longer be required to make a minimum purchase to receive free standard shipping on online orders. The bad news is that to get the perk, you’ll have to pay with the retailer’s high interest credit card. How do you expect Be​​st Buy customers to react to changes to its My Best Buy rewards program?

Amazon on Tuesday said that it is adding the Venmo peer-to-peer (P2P) payment service to the options it provides shoppers purchasing goods from its platform. Where do you see the P2P market in the U.S heading and what will it mean for retailers and consumer direct brands?

Many European restaurants use table-side credit card authorization terminals, irrespective of type or level of service and price points. These devices have yet to approach critical mass in the U.S. Do you expect table-side credit card authorization terminals to become commonplace in U.S. restaurants?

Retail trade organizations have come out strongly in support of new legislation that would enable retailers and other merchants a choice of which companies process credit card transactions. Will the “Credit Card Competition Act of 2022” result in lower swipe fees for retailers?

“Buy Now, Pay Later” services saw explosive adoption as e-commerce upshifted into a higher gear during the pandemic, but are now facing questions over their sustainability. Are rising interest rates, inflation and regulatory pressures short-term hurdles for BNPL loan providers or a threat to their survival?

The Merchants Payments Coalition earlier this week sent a letter to the House Financial Services Committee calling on it and Congress to investigate what the trade association calls Visa and Mastercard’s anti-competitive dominance over the U.S. credit and debit card markets. Is the current system for setting interchange fees anti-competitive?

Pacsun in early October became the first major teen retailer to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, believing it is “one of the major trends” working with its young customer base. Will the appeal to Gen-Z prove to be a major driver of the adoption of cryptocurrencies as a payment mechanism for retailers?

With the 2021 holiday season approaching, Walmart has announced the end of its layaway option. The program is being replaced with a buy now, pay later financing service. What do you see as the major benefits of buy now, pay later programs for retail operations?

Following a rush of other retailers adding the payment option, Amazon is bringing a buy now, pay later (BNPL) checkout option to its U.S. platform for the first time. Does the buy now, pay later (BNPL) trend offer more benefits than risks for retailers?

Instacart, the nation’s leader in grocery delivery, and DoorDash, the largest restaurant takeout delivery platform in the U.S., are both planning to launch their own credit cards. Do own brand credit cards make sense for Instacart, DoorDash and other delivery platforms?

While gift cards were once considered to be impersonal or a means to a quick and easy last-minute gift, that is no longer the case. Usage, particularly in e-gift cards, is growing rapidly. Do you see a growing opportunity for gift cards, particularly digital versions, to boost retail performance in 2021?

Facial recognition and other forms of biometric ID have proven controversial. Yet Amazon is going live with a test of a biometric solution that will let customers pay by palm in select Amazon Go stores. Will we reach a point when using biometrics to pay at a store is widely accepted?

While there’s no evidence COVID-19 can be transmitted by cash or credit cards, the use of mobile payments and contactless cards has taken off in recent months over concerns about touching surfaces, according to research from NRF. Will adoption of mobile and contactless payments accelerate as the coronavirus crisis continues?

Despite all the economic disruption caused by the pandemic, leading credit card companies do not plan to extend what’s commonly known as the “Outdoor EMV” deadline. Should the credit card industry delay the Outdoor EMV deadline in light of the COVID-19 outbreak?

Walmart is all about saving consumers money, and the retailer’s new private label credit card program with Capital One is designed to reinforce its low-price image. How will Walmart’s two new cash-back cards affect how holders interact with the chain?

Kroger announced that it will begin levying service fees for all purchases paid with a debit card in which the customer requests cash back. Do you approve of Kroger’s move to charge customers for cash back debit card purchases?

Facebook on Tuesday confirmed that it would lead an effort to create a new global digital currency, called Libra, powered by blockchain technology. Is it time for retailers to accept cryptocurrencies?

Amazon.com has launched a new program with Synchrony which is designed to help people who have no credit history or want to rebuild their credit scores do so responsibly. Do you think a large number of people with bad credit or no credit will be attracted to the Amazon Prime Store Credit Card Builder program?

In the face of growing criticism that cashless retail tech will leave a big portion of the consumer population in the U.S. behind, Amazon.com has revealed that it plans to allow customers who shop at its Amazon Go stores to pay with cash. Do you think that Amazon Go can appeal to unbanked and underbanked consumers?

With its new credit card, Apple is taking a page from Amazon.com’s strategy and acting like a loyalty leader, changing the game for brands that matter or at least act like they do. Is Apple Card a game changer in the payments or loyalty space?

Starting in July, Philadelphia will become the first major U.S. city to institute a ban on cashless stores. Should retailers be preparing for a backlash to cashless stores? How do you see the dispute playing out in the near- and long-term?

The foodservice and retail industries appear headed to a cashless future. While proponents suggest it cut cash handling costs and reduce losses, it may also leave groups of consumers without a way to pay. Why do you think retailers are pursuing cashless stores when so many complain about the fees charged by banks and credit companies?

In what appears to be a pilot, Gap Inc. has rolled out a new promotion that provides its Visa Signature cardholders with bonus points for shopping at Amazon or Target. Do you see more pros and cons in such as an offer?

Rewards credit card rewards have grown increasingly popular with consumers. Retailers continue to bristle at the fees banks charge them for processing the transactions when reward cards are used. Do you see a shakeup coming in the battle between retailers and banks/credit card companies over swipe fees?

Urban Outfitters Inc. has become the first U.S. retailer to use Afterpay, an Australia-based digital platform that offers interest-free installment plans to support online fashion purchases. Would an interest-free installment loan platform offer much appeal to U.S. consumers and fashion e-tailers?

Visa and Mastercard are discussing partnering to create a universal one-click button to eliminate the final pain-point to online purchases: the complicated checkout process. But retailers have concerns. Should retailers have concerns over the single payment button being spearheaded by Visa and Mastercard?

Macy’s will now allow customers to join its Star Rewards loyalty program without having to sign up for a store credit card. What do you think of Macy’s new Bronze tier as a loyalty proposition for non-cardholders?

Shake Shack said last week it was ending its test of a cashless location in lower Manhattan following customer complaints. Was being cash-only or kiosk-only likely the bigger drawback for customers at Shake Shack’s Astor Place location?

Despite lessons learned from past data breaches from Target, Home Depot and others, an epidemic of breaches is hitting the retail industry. Do you see retailers increasingly facing greater vulnerability to online breaches versus in-store?

Amazon.com’s assimilation of Whole Foods continues, this time with the news that holders of the Amazon Rewards Visa card will earn five percent cash back on purchases they make at the organic grocery chain’s stores starting today. How will offering cash back rewards at Whole Foods affect Amazon and the grocery chain?

Known as one of the pioneers in developing rewards cards, Starbucks has partnered with Chase to launch its first co-branded credit card. Do you see the Starbucks Rewards Visa Card helping revive sales for Starbucks?

A Starbucks in Seattle isn’t interested in your cash. In fact, it won’t accept cash should you try to use it as payment for your purchase. Do you think cashless restaurants and stores are going to become ubiquitous in the near future?

A credit card system glitch prevented Macy’s from handling credit and gift card processing both in-store and online from noon until early evening on Black Friday. Did Macy’s handle its credit card glitch as well as it could?

Prominent retailers have implemented a GiftNow button as a payment option on their websites that allows the gift recipient to make changes to characteristics of the order before it ships or even request a different gift entirely. How might such options change holiday shopping behavior?

It’s said that retail is detail. If that’s the case, many of Forever 21’s customers may find the chain’s terse announcement concerning a potential breach of its point of sale systems less than satisfying. Will Forever 21’s data breach news negatively affect its business or have consumers tuned out such notices from retailers?

With numerous instances of retail fraud, its pervasiveness undermines retailer, bank, credit card and e-commerce credibility. With the rise of EMV chips in use at physical stores, fraudsters are shifting some of their focus online. As fraudsters have turned increasingly to online transactions, how critical is it that retailers employ a multi-layered solution to prevent fraud?

Amazon.com has recently announced new ways to pay that may expand the rolls of its Prime subscription program and make it more likely that consumers will turn to the e-tailer when making purchases. Will expanded payment options help Amazon expand the numbers of Prime subscribers?

In order to let the unbanked and underbanked portion of its customer base take part in things like online shopping, Walmart has launched programs that make the retailer look a bit like a bank itself. But with its Prize Savings program, Walmart has taken a step that banks have not. What are the positives and negatives of Walmart introducing incentives to get its customers to save money in its Vault?

Amazon.com has made it easy to purchase through any number of payment methods on its site. But pre-loading an Amazon account with cash hasn’t been an option — until now. Will the unbanked and underbanked take advantage of Amazon Cash in significant numbers?

The latest perk offered by Amazon is its new Prime Rewards Signature Card that offers users five percent back on everything they buy on the site as well as two percent back at restaurants, gas stations and drugstores, and one percent back on all other purchases. Will the addition of the Prime Rewards Signature Card attract more customers to the Amazon membership program?

Gift cards may be considered less crude than cash, but are often seen as less exciting and meaningful as providing a tangible gift. Loop Commerce’s e-gifting solution promises the safety and ease of a gift card in a more personalized package. Do you see e-gifting as a viable, more personal alternative to gift cards?

When Walmart launched Walmart Pay within its mobile app earlier this year, one of the primary criticisms was that it worked only at Walmart. It appears as though Walmart has come to a similar conclusion following the announcement that it is adding Chase Pay to its mobile app. Will the addition of Chase Pay to Walmart’s app spur increased usage of mobile payments in its stores?

Higher interest rates and skimpier sign-up offers have reduced the value of retailer credit cards, according to a new study from CreditCards.com. Are store credit cards still a wise strategy for retailers?

Layaway programs are going strong and retailers from coast-to-coast are trying to capture their share of the 17 percent of all shoppers that, according to Deloitte, make holiday purchases using this method. Are concerns about the costs associated with layaway programs still valid?

The willingness of consumers to take on debt has proven to be a net positive for merchants over the years, but that may be in jeopardy as Millennials push back against the “charge it” mentality of their parents. Should retailers worry about the reluctance of Millennials to use credit cards?

Walmart Pay, the retailer’s answer to Apple Pay and other mobile payment apps, is now available in all 4,600+ of its U.S. stores. Based on early results, it does not appear as though the chain is going to be offering its customers any competitive options in the near future. Do you expect Walmart Pay will be a winner for the retailer?

Walmart Canada has decided the fees it pays to accept Visa are too high and will cease accepting the cards at its 370 stores across the country beginning with a location in Thunder Bay on July 18. Who will be hurt most by Walmart Canada’s decision to stop taking Visa in its stores?

What does the suspension of CurrentC and the rollout of Walmart Pay say about the future of mobile payments? Do you see QR codes or near field communications emerging as the preferred technology for mobile payments?

One of the benefits touted when Apple Pay launched was that it would allow consumers to both pay for goods and earn retail reward points with a single tap. That promise appears to be coming true with an announcement yesterday by Kohl’s. Do you see Kohl’s Yes2You Rewards members making the switch to Apple Pay?

If history repeats itself, Costco will bump up its club membership fees early next year. That’s the conclusion of a UBS analyst who noted in a letter to investors that the warehouse chain typically increases its annual membership once every five or six years. How likely is Costco to suffer pushback from members over an increase in its annual membership fees?