B2B credit card platform Pliant is planning to expand after raising $19 million.The funding round, announced Wednesday (April 17) was led by PayPal Ventures and brings the Berlin-based Pliant’s total Series A financing to north of $53 million.“We are excited to welcome PayPal Ventures as a new shareholder, and we’re looking forward to continuing to grow the company as we expand into new markets, starting with the UK,” Malte Rau, CEO of Pliant, said in a news release.According to the release, Pliant’s cards- ...

Walmart will launch a new service that allows suppliers to combine insights from its data monetization platform with its closed-loop, omnichannel retail media solutions.This combination of Walmart Luminate insights and the Walmart Connect retail media solutions was piloted last year and will be available to all Walmart Luminate Charter subscribers by the end of 2024, the company said in a Wednesday (April 17) press release.“For suppliers, this means being able to identify trends within critical categories t ...

U.S. Bancorp is forecasting a decline in net interest income for this year. In announcing its earnings Wednesday (April 17), the lender said it anticipates net interest income (NII) of $16.1 billion to $16.4 billion, down from earlier projection of at least $16.6 billion for the year.The bank’s NII for the quarter came to $3.9 billion, down 3.1% for the fourth quarter of 2023, and 14% year over year. This was “due to the impact of higher interest rates on deposit mix and pricing, partially offset by higher ...

Earlier this year, Visa and PYMNTS Intelligence trained a spotlight on the Click-and-Mortar™ shopper.This fast-growing segment, who seek digital features with the instant gratification of in-store shopping, offers both challenge and opportunity for merchants as they offer up reimagined experiences in the aisles, at the register and online.  Andre Machicao, senior vice president, Acceptance Solutions at Visa, told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster: “The payment experience has got to be seamless — and deeply embedded. Co ...

Amazon Live has launched an interactive and shoppable channel called FAST Channel on Prime Video and Amazon Freevee.This channel will feature Amazon’s “shop the show” technology that allows customers to use their mobile device to browse, shop and engage with the content they’re watching on their TV, Amazon said in a Tuesday (April 16) press release.“We are excited to bring customers more ways to shop with their favorite Amazon Live creators and brands on our premium streaming services,” Wayne Purboo, vice p ...

The recent cyberattack on UnitedHealth Group’s Change Healthcare unit cost the company $872 million.Speaking during an earnings call Tuesday (April 16), CEO Andrew Witty said a bulk of that figure — around $595 million — were direct costs due to “the clearinghouse platform restoration and other response efforts,” such as medical expenses relating to the temporary suspension of certain care management activities.“For the full year… it’s important to note these direct costs are included in net earnings, but a ...

Amazon Bedrock now features all three versions of Anthropic’s Claude 3 artificial intelligence (AI) model.That makes Bedrock the first and thus far only managed service to make all three Claude 3 models — Opus, Sonnet and Haiku — generally available, Amazon said in a news release Tuesday (April 16).This, the release added, enhances “the ability of customers of all sizes to rapidly test, build, and deploy generative [AI] applications across their organizations.”As PYMNTS wrote last week, Bedrock is part of A ...

Last month, Amazon introduced its first-ever Annual Big Spring Sale. Whereas Amazon’s Prime Days events are designed to woo Amazon subscribers into filling their shopping carts with merchandise, the Big Spring Sale was the first Amazon event to cater to non-subscribers as well.As PYMNTS Intelligence found in its Amazon’s First Annual Big Spring Sale Report — which analyzed the big event by surveying more than 7,000 shoppers — overall, the Spring Sale fell short when compared to what Prime Days typically gen ...

PNC Financial Services Group saw average commercial loans dip in the first quarter as businesses remained cautious about the macroeconomic environment.Overall, average loans decreased 1%. Within this, consumer loans declined less than 1%, while average commercial loans decreased 2%, the bank said in a Tuesday (April 16) earnings release.The slight decline in consumer loans was driven by lower credit card and home equity balances, according to the release. The bank attributed the decline in commercial loans ...

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has emphasized the pivotal role of medical technology (MedTech) in advancing healthcare.During a Tuesday (April 16) call with analysts to discuss the first quarter (Q1) and full-year 2023 financial results, the pharmaceutical giant underscored its commitment to bolstering its reputation as an “innovation powerhouse.” A significant move in this direction is the acquisition of Shockwave Medical, with an enterprise value of approximately $13.1 billion. According to the company, the purc ...