Today In Payments: Study Shows Americans’ Savings Drying Up; State AGs To Press Own Case Against Google

In today’s top news, Americans are struggling as savings accounts run dry, and several states are preparing their own antitrust probe into Google. Plus, Amazon reported that third-party sellers garnered over $3.5 billion in Prime Day sales.

Study Shows Americans Struggling As Savings Dry Up

Seven months into the worldwide pandemic, Americans are facing empty savings accounts, reduced unemployment benefits and no relief in sight, according to an Oct. 16 (Friday) J.P. Morgan Chase Institute analysis.

State AGs To Press Own Case Against Google

Several states are moving forward with their own antitrust probe into Google and could decide to join the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) case. The states leading the probe include Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Utah.

Amazon Prime Day Sees Small Business Sellers Rake In $3.5B

Third-party sellers generated over $3.5 billion in sales during Prime Day on Amazon’s online marketplace, as eCommerce activity surges in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the tech giant reported. That’s up from the more than $2 billion in sales notched by third-party sellers on Amazon’s marketplace last year.

Square’s Terminal API Lets Sellers Accept Any Form Of Payment

At Square’s fourth annual conference for developers, the Silicon Valley startup introduced Terminal API for seamless all-in-one-payments. It works with all platforms and operating systems and gives developers the flexibility to build software that is adaptable to the circumstances needed.

The Direct-To-Consumer Challenge: Converting One-Time Buyers Into Repeat Customers

The digital-first shift means there are more options for smaller, direct-to-consumer brands, to find first-time customers from around the country or even the world. But Sticky.io CEO Brian Bogosian tells Karen Webster that the rubber meets the road when it comes time to convert those first-time buyers into loyal, repeat customers. Here’s how some really creative D2C brands are using new tech to do that.

Billtrust CEO: B2B Buyers Ignore Suppliers’ Payments Preferences At Their Peril

B2B buyers want to take their time paying, but suppliers want to get paid quickly. In between lies inefficiency — namely, the paper-based ways in which business payments still often occur. CEO Flint Lane of Billtrust tells Karen Webster that this buyer/supplier dynamic is changing for the better, although pain points remain. Getting rid of that pain? Step 1: Get rid of the checks.

Retail Sales, Card Data Point To Continued Consumer Spending Rebound

The latest reading of retail sales, released by the Commerce Department on Friday (Oct. 16), showed a rise of 1.9 percent in September over August. The takeaways are these: We’d seen some improvement in consumer spending during the summer, and the pace of spending has gathered momentum in September.