Episode Six (E6), a global provider of enterprise-grade payment processing and ledger infrastructure, has been selected to join the Mastercard Engage program for its installments solution in Europe.The company’s flexible TRITIUM platform enables incumbent issuers to launch new and modern installment solutions, complementing their current offerings without disrupting services on their existing infrastructures, Episode Six said in a Thursday (Feb. 15) press release.“We have strengthened our instalments offeri ...

This week in the ongoing race for customers’ loyalty and engagement between retail powerhouses Walmart and Amazon, the former may be looking to join in the streaming media space, where the latter is already well established.Walmart is said to be in discussions to purchase smart television maker Vizio for more than $2 billion. This potential deal aims to boost the retailer’s advertising business, with major chains increasingly recognizing the importance of consumer data and ad space as a factor in holding th ...

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, experienced a decline in its shares Thursday (Feb. 15) following a report that OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, is developing a web search product that would directly compete with Google.OpenAI’s search service would be partially powered by Microsoft’s Bing search engine, Bloomberg reported, citing a paywalled article by The Information.This report raised concerns about the potential risks to Google’s search business, which generates the majority of Alphabet’s revenue th ...

One week after its rebrand as “Gemini,” Google’s artificial intelligence tool received a new update dubbed “Gemini 1.5.”“Gemini 1.5 delivers dramatically enhanced performance,” Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, wrote in a company blog post Thursday (Feb. 15). “It represents a step change in our approach, building upon research and engineering innovations across nearly every part of our foundation model development and infrastructure.”Google is releasing a model known as Gemini 1.5 Pro for early testin ...

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency terminated a 2016 consent order against Wells Fargo.The consent order concerned deficiencies and unsafe or unsound practices in the bank’s risk management and sales practices, the OCC said in a Thursday (Feb. 15) press release.The OCC’s order terminating the consent order said “the OCC believes that the safety and soundness of the bank and its compliance with laws and regulations does not require the continued existence of the order.”Wells Fargo said in a Thursd ...

Shares of smaller artificial intelligence (AI) firms reportedly experienced a rally Thursday (Feb. 15) after Nvidia, the world’s leading AI chipmaker, disclosed its stake in them as of Dec. 31.This move by Nvidia offers insights into its growth strategy and highlights its growing influence in the AI world, Reuters reported Thursday. With a rapidly increasing market value, Nvidia has become the third most valuable U.S. company.Nvidia’s largest investment of $147.3 million was in chip designer Arm Holdings, a ...

Customers of Bank of America and Starbucks can now earn more benefits by linking those accounts.A new partnership between the two companies allows Bank of America cardholders and Starbucks Rewards members to earn 2% cash back from the bank and one Star per $2 spent at the coffee retailer, on top of the card benefits or rewards they already earn, the firms said in a Wednesday (Feb. 15) press release.Customers can link an eligible credit or debit card with their Starbucks Rewards accounts and then earn these ...

PayPal-backed Rasa has raised $30 million in a Series C round to grow its generative conversational artificial intelligence (AI) platform for enterprises. The company aims to redefine how businesses use generative AI-powered chat and voice platforms at scale, Rasa said in a Wednesday (Feb. 14) press release. “With our technology, we’re well positioned to transform how businesses interact with their customers, making every conversation impactful and personal,” Rasa CEO Melissa Gordon said in the release. “We ...

PNC Bank will invest $1 billion to open more than 100 new locations and renovate 1,200 existing ones through 2028.The bank currently has about 2,300 brick-and-mortar locations across the country, PNC Bank said in a Wednesday (Feb. 14) press release.With this investment, the bank will build and open new branches in Austin, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Miami, San Antonio and other key locations to improve the reach of its branch network, according to the release.“Our branch network is the heartbeat of our Retail ...

Visa has paused its intermediated commercial card payments in India following an order by the country’s financial market regulator.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed Visa to halt domestic transactions for business payment solution providers (BPSPs), Reuters reported Wednesday (Feb. 14).“Visa received a communication from the RBI on February 8, in what appears to be an industry-wide request for information on the role of business payment solution providers (BPSPs) in commercial and business payments,” ...