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Luxury Brands Slash Prices to Entice Middle-Income Buyers
Luxury brands have begun lowering their prices to win back middle-income shoppers. As The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Sunday (July 21), this move — by companies such as Burberry and Yves Saint Laurent — is aimed at enticing the 330 million people who spend less than $2,180 per year on high-end clothing, handbags and jewelry, but who account for more than half of all luxury purchases.
National Ice Cream Day Gets a Sprinkle of Digital Transformation This Sundae
Sunday (July 21) is National Ice Cream Day, and as the event has evolved for today’s digital consumers, brands are taking advantage of shoppers’ enthusiasm for the sweet treat to drive online engagement. Take, for instance, Cold Stone Creamery, which is using the occasion to drive loyalty program...
Nigerian Regulator Fines Meta $220 Million, Alleging Privacy Law Violations
A Nigerian regulator has fined Meta $220 million, saying the privacy policy of the company’s WhatsApp violated the country’s data and privacy laws. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) said in a Friday (July 19) press release that the company violated the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018, the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation 2019 (NDPR) and other relevant laws.
Microsoft Outage Could Produce ‘Insurance Catastrophe’
Insurers reportedly could be facing hundreds or thousands of business interruption claims resulting from the Microsoft outage that began late Thursday (July 18). Economic damages from the event, which crippled industries and inconvenienced consumers around the world, could amount to tens of billions of dollars, Reuters reported Friday (July 19).
Businesses Scramble for Backup After CrowdStrike Update Hobbles IT Networks
If there ever was a day that needed a Plan B, it was Friday, July 19. Banks, airlines, hospitals, fast food chains, retailers, even the Paris Olympics, and nearly any and every business relying on a Microsoft Windows computer system found themselves grappling with a massive disruption that brought critical services to a standstill.
Federal Reserve Fines Green Dot $44 Million, Alleging Unfair Practices
The Federal Reserve Board said Friday (July 19) that it fined Green Dot $44 million for unfair and deceptive practices and a deficient consumer compliance risk management program. The regulator said in a Friday press release that while marketing, selling and servicing its prepaid debit card products and its tax...
Fifth Third Leans on Strategic Automation, Payments Innovations
This quarter’s bank earnings, like the macroenvironment, have been mixed and unpredictable. And the ongoing theme of controlling for what’s controllable held true for Fifth Third Bancorp executives, who told investors during a second-quarter 2024 earnings call on Friday’s (July 19), “Geopolitical tensions remain elevated and deficit spending, green energy investments, and the domestication of supply chains are all inherently inflationary in the medium term.”
Magic Leap Cuts 75 Jobs, Shifts Focus to Technology Licensing
Augmented reality (AR) startup Magic Leap reportedly cut 75 jobs on Thursday (July 18) as it reorients its business toward technology licensing. The company’s cuts included its entire sales and marketing departments, Bloomberg reported Friday (July 19). “Magic Leap has been evolving our go-to-market approach to better align with...
Netflix Co-CEO Touts Programming Flexibility and Eyes Ads Tier Business
During Thursday’s Q2 earnings call, Netflix officials discussed a redesigned homepage aimed at improving content discovery for users, along with excitement connected to its advertising business targeting subscription tiers with streaming ads. Netflix Co-CEO Greg Peters said during the call that continually enhancing the member experience is an ongoing...
Congresswoman Waters Urges Regulators to Reject Capital One-Discover Merger
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) reiterated her opposition to the proposed Capital One–Discover merger. Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC), testified against the proposed merger Friday (July 19) during a virtual meeting convened by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), according to a Friday press release.
Meta’s AI Retreat May Signal EU Regulatory Minefield
Facebook parent Meta’s decision to withhold its latest multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) model from the European Union highlights the growing chasm between Silicon Valley innovation and European regulation. Citing an “unpredictable” regulatory environment, per a report from The Verge, Meta joins Apple in pulling back AI offerings in the...
They Said That: Notable Quotables From the Week of July 14
This week featured insights from JOOR CEO Kristin Savilia on the necessity of experiential retail for luxury brands, discussions with One Inc CEO Ian Drysdale on the digital shift in the insurance industry driven by Gen Z expectations and warnings from Intellicheck CEO Bryan Lewis about the dangers of recent data breaches.
Hospitals Cancel Procedures, Find Manual Workarounds Amid Microsoft Outage
Hospitals are reportedly among the organizations being hit hard by the Microsoft system outage that began Thursday (July 18). A survey of hospitals around the world found that many are delaying procedures and finding manual workarounds for tasks that are normally done digitally, Bloomberg reported Friday (July 19). Without the...
Open Banking Faces Challenges as Banks Urge Delay in New Data Rules
Open banking, as it emerges more fully in the United States, promises to bring personalized services and products to customers, expanding financial access. Data underpins the joint efforts of traditional financial institutions (FIs) and third parties to bring those innovations to the mass market. But as recent communications from banks...
This Week in AI: From Mini GPTs to Construction Cash Flow
As OpenAI unveils its compact GPT-4o mini and pursues human-level reasoning with “Project Strawberry,” AI’s reach expands across industries, sparking innovation and concern. From potentially homogenizing creativity to transforming finance and construction, AI’s rapid advance has regulators and businesses scrambling to harness its power while navigating risks like algorithmic bias and data privacy issues.
Restaurants Tinkering With Subscriptions Turn From Freebies to Discounts
As the restaurant industry aims to figure out how to use subscriptions to drive loyalty, some are finding that offering free menu items is not particularly cost effective, instead shifting to discounting models. In the United Kingdom, coffee chain Pret a Manger has reportedly drawn ire from its Club Pret...
Navigating Change: Insights From Kenneth Cole and Nuts.com
Earlier this month at The Lead Summit in New York City, Jed Berger, president of apparel company Kenneth Cole Productions, and PJ Oleksak, CEO of Nuts.com, offered valuable perspectives on steering their companies through transformative changes while preserving brand integrity. Kenneth Cole, renowned for his innovative designs, made headlines when...
Regions Financial: Business Lending ‘Pipelines Are Beginning to Rebuild’
Regions Financial saw average loans remain stable during the second quarter, with some signs that demand for business loans may pick up. Average balances for total loans were down 0.1% compared to the previous quarter and down 1.3% compared to the second quarter of 2023, the parent company of 1,250-location Regions Bank said in a Friday (July 19) earnings release.
Beyond Payments: What B2B Businesses Can Unlock With Clean Data
In today’s digital world, effective use of data defines increasingly defines business success. That makes it critically important for businesses to define what both good data and bad data looks like. Data isn’t created equally, making enterprise-level data standardization key to fueling decision-making, unlocking operational efficiency and enabling sustainable,...
Big Tech’s AI Ambitions Face Reality Check, PYMNTS Report Shows
Despite big budgets and bold plans, a new survey conducted by PYMNTS Intelligence reveals most large companies are struggling to implement AI in meaningful ways, lagging behind in the race to leverage artificial intelligence for transformative business impact. The findings detailed in “The Impact Of GenAI on a COO’s Priorities,”...
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