SavvyMoney announced its acquisition of CreditSnap, a fintech solution provider that powers intelligent integrations to digital loan, deposit and account onboarding solutions for banks and credit unions. With CreditSnap’s technology, we aim to strengthen our ability to work alongside existing LOS and account opening systems, delivering even greater value to our partners and their consumers. JB Orecchia, president and CEO of SavvyMoney said, By combining SavvyMoney’s ability to drive high-intent demand with CreditSnap’s flexible integration solution, we’re delivering a comprehensive digital experience for both lending and deposit growth—one that works with, not against, their existing systems. Financial institutions can now offer a seamless, end-to-end experience by leveraging SavvyMoney’s demand-generation capabilities in conjunction with CreditSnap’s flexible integration process. From personalized credit insights to frictionless application and booking, allowing every integration to work with one unified platform. CreditSnap Key Benefits: The platform integrates with more than 73 loan origination, core and digital banking systems; Loan application time can be reduced from 12 minutes to as little as 2 minutes; Financial institutions have reported a 20–40% increase in loan volume and deposit funding rates as high as 78%
Walmart US eCommerce sales jump 21% but tariffs are identified as an “immediate challenge” creating “unprecedented” cost pressure that Walmart cannot fully absorb
Walmart’s strong performance in eCommerce, including a 21% jump in U.S. sales and the achievement of U.S. eCommerce profitability for the first time, is seen as a key factor that can help offset cost pressures from tariffs and supply chain issues. Tariffs are identified as an “immediate challenge” creating “unprecedented” cost pressure that Walmart cannot fully absorb due to narrow retail margins, particularly those on China. This dynamic backdrop makes forecasting future earnings “difficult” and the near term “exceedingly difficult to forecast.” Although first-quarter revenue growth at 2.5% was slower than projected, the company saw strong underlying metrics including 4.5% growth in U.S. comparable store sales driven by increased transactions and average ticket size, with customers prioritizing value and speed across all income cohorts. Sam’s Club U.S. comp sales, excluding fuel, increased nearly 7% with strong growth in transactions. CFO John David Rainey said eCommerce sales in the segment grew by 27%, “led by triple digit growth in Club-fulfilled delivery and double digit growth in pickup.” In further evidence of digital shifts in omnichannel commerce, he noted that “Scan and Go” shopping was up with penetration growing 6% year over year. As for the margins tied to digital sales, said the CFO, “We achieved eCommerce profitability both in the U.S. as well as for the global enterprise in Q1 for the first time. In The U.S., eCommerce net delivery costs have declined as we’ve continued to densify our last mile deliveries and as customers pay fees for faster delivery.” Membership related income was 3.8% higher, with double-digit growth in Walmart+ fees.
Urban Outfitters targets Gen Z with back-to-college shopping pop-ups, citywide scavenger hunt, and a contest offering move-in experience from home to campus
Urban Outfitters is launching a new omnichannel platform, including pop-up activations, designed to support Gen Z students throughout their college careers. Known as “UO Haul,” the effort will include products, citywide pop-ups, strategic brand partnerships, and surprise giveaways. UO Haul kicked off in New York City with a citywide scavenger hunt that let participants follow clues to discover a fleet of glass-walled trucks, each transformed into a Gen Z dorm room and styled to reflect a distinct aesthetic. Select winners were invited to a special performance by global girl group Katseye. Phase two of UO Haul launches in June 2025 with “Special Delivery,” a month-long initiative celebrating recent graduates and inspired by the thousands of letters Urban Outfitters receives each year. Urban Outfitters will also team up with the Collegeboxes by UHaul student storage and shipping solution for a back-to-campus contest launching the week of June 9. Three students will win $1,000 in Urban Outfitters products and a move-in experience from Collegeboxes by U-Haul, which includes door-to-door service to handle their move from home to campus. Urban Outfitters says its immersive “UO Haul” experiences are part of a broader strategy to reimagine back-to-campus shopping by blending function, style, and discovery in a way customers won’t find anywhere else.
Ulta Beauty’s use of centralized first-party data to build unified customer profiles based on preferences and transactions across different channels and AI-driven personalized recommendations in real-time drives a 95% repurchase rate
Ulta Beauty centralized scattered customer data to build unified profiles, by looking at preferences and transactions across different channels. Ulta deployed advanced AI and ML models to understand the customer, predict what they’re likely to do next and send them personalized recommendations. The messages can change in near real time based on new customer actions. Ulta also measures the results. This new capability helps Ulta build stronger relationships and drive growth. The retailer said that nearly all its customers come back. This personalization has led to 95% of customers repurchasing products at Ulta, according to CMO Kelly Mahoney. But there’s another benefit to this approach, too. Using AI for print campaigns — those aimed at magazines, for example — has reduced costs without hurting effectiveness, the retailer claimed. Ulta’s loyalty program, Ulta Beauty Rewards, is central to its data-driven personalization. Each interaction — whether it’s a product review, app click or in-store visit — feeds the retailer’s marketing engine.
Lenders to retailers are worried about tariffs leading to inflated debt to maintain liquidity cushion, that could make up half the value of invoice financing
With tariffs threatening to raise prices, creditors that lend to the retail space are reportedly worried, citing the example of Saks Global Enterprises. That department store chain’s creditors were already concerned, even before Saks announced plans to raise more debt, as its notes that mature in 2029 had dropped by 40% in value in the space of five months. Saks recently said it aims to raise as much as $350 million via a new loan, funds that will help the company maintain what CEO Marc Metrick called an “ample” liquidity cushion, even as it deals with future liabilities such as the first interest payment on its 2029 notes. Some advisers are cautioning banks and private credit outfits that steep apparel costs shouldn’t alter their appraisals of client inventory when making loans. In fact, this is a major topic of discussion at banks such as Wells Fargo, the bank’s head of global receivables and trade Daniel Pfeiffer told. “There’s a lot of discussion right now about the value of the current appraisals, how tariffs show up on invoices and how that flows through to when the goods are sold,” Pfeiffer said. “That cost is on the invoice as well, and in some scenarios could make up half the value of what you’re financing.”
The Hispanic Organization of Mortgage Experts (HOME) announced the launch of La Reina, the first-ever shoe created for women in mortgage
The Hispanic Organization of Mortgage Experts (HOME) announced the launch of La Reina, the first-ever shoe created for women in mortgage. La Reina, which is Spanish for “the Queen,” was designed in partnership with AliveShoes and manufactured in Le Marche, Italy. Nicole Yelland, HOME’s chief communications and strategy officer, told that the shoe pays homage to women in the mortgage industry who often have to resort to heels at business events. Each pair of shoes features a metallic gold sole to honor Hispanic and Latino culture. Besides the sole, the shoe is black and “high-end leather intended to go well with a suit,” Yelland said. “The other part of wanting to have a shoe that honors Hispanic and Latino culture is just to help people see it right. But people can’t know what they don’t see.” “Inspired by global voices like Bad Bunny, who use their platforms to push culture forward, we are shining a light on these powerful forces and giving them the recognition they deserve,” he added. “Launching during Mother’s Day week, La Reina will continue celebrating them throughout the year.”
Pagaya’s platform for second-look personal loans offers potential for a mid-sized bank of over $1.5 billion of personal-loan origination in less than nine months; can help lenders “bid better” for leads from data aggregators, such as Credit Karma or Experian
Alternative lending fintech Pagaya Technologies has its sights set on expanding its personal loan offering to regional and super-regional banks while it also builds out its marketing acquisition engine. Pagaya currently partners with banks such as U.S. Bank and neobanks such as SoFi to offer artificial intelligence-powered second-look personal loans to consumers who might not otherwise qualify. Pagaya integrates with lenders’ loan origination systems and buys the loans it originates from the lenders and sells those loans on the secondary market. It is also active in auto lending and point-of-sale buy now/pay later lending. All in, Pagaya counts 31 lenders as partners. Pagaya is in talks with four or five regional banks to help build out or expand their personal-loan offerings, co-founder and CEO Gal Krubiner told. “There is a new era where people are starting to look at growth, and for the regional banks, personal loan is a good way to grow the franchise and to give solutions and products to their customers,” he said. Many regional banks look to personal loans to help secure deposit inflows, a trend that Pagaya is hoping to capitalize on when bringing new partner banks into the fold, Krubiner said. “From our perspective … working with Pagaya could generate for a mid-sized bank over $1.5 billion of personal-loan origination in less than nine months,” Krubiner said, citing U.S. Bank’s performance on the platform. Pagaya is also using its integration into lenders’ underwriting platforms to offer pre-screened loans to potential customers in another avenue that it hopes will lead to growth, said Sanjiv Das, president of Pagaya. “Think about our total market opportunity. We have 31 lending partners. Those 31 lending partners have about 60 million consumers as existing customers. We’ve only scratched the surface right now with the 3% [penetration],” Das, told. Pagaya is also working to help lenders “bid better” for leads from data aggregators, such as Credit Karma or Experian, Das said. The push toward regional banks comes on the heels of solid first-quarter earnings results that beat analysts’ estimates across nearly every metric. Revenue jumped 18% year over year to $290 million, ahead of analysts’ expected $285 million. Net income landed at $8 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with a $21 million loss in the same reporting period last year and eclipsing analysts’ estimate of a $10 million, or 15 cent per diluted share, loss. Shares of Pagaya have risen about 26% since the company reported earnings on May 7, according to a research note from David Scharf at Citizens. Scharf attributes the gains to Pagaya hitting positive GAAP net income ahead of schedule. KBW analyst Sanjay Sakhrani bumped his price target for Pagaya’s stock following the earnings report, pointing to pre-screen and affiliate channels as “growth drivers.” “We believe PGY is well-positioned to shift toward revenue growth across its three loan markets — personal, auto, and POS and deliver profitability. While macroeconomic volatility may introduce risks to funding costs and underwriting capabilities, management’s disciplined risk approach and measured appetite provide confidence,” Sakhrani said.
Albertsons is rolling out the TreviPay Pay by Invoice solution to enable business buyers to receive a dedicated 30-day line of credit
Albertsons is rolling out the TreviPay Pay by Invoice solution to enable business buyers, including small offices, K-12 schools, local government and community organizations and residential programs, to receive a dedicated line of credit for online grocery purchases with 30-day net terms. The Albertsons pay by invoice program includes a self-serve portal to assign spending limits to approved purchasers and real-time tracking of invoices, payments and credit lines. TreviPay’s invoicing program offers the control to customize purchasing hierarchies and the convenience of paying using credit lines, which we know are important to this buyer segment. Through the partnership, stores across Albertsons Cos. banners can automate their acounts receivable processes for business purchases with real-time credit decisioning, electronic invoice generation and payment tracking, with the goals of reducing billing errors and eliminating back-office resources. TreviPay settles funds right away and owns any buyer credit risk. Enabling Albertsons Cos.’ business customers to pay by invoice allows their corporate buyers to make large, repeat orders using their preferred payment method, while retailers eliminate the complexities of accounts receivables and fuel growth.
WHSmith runs store takeover promotion with Nestle- participants engage with Nestlé Essentia branding through a variety of touchpoints, including the retailer’s WHS Media retail media network in-store digital screens and audio, front-of-store pop-up displays, floor decals, and other creative placements throughout the stores
Global travel retailer WHSmith and CPG company Nestle are promoting a bottled water brand via an experiential retail media campaign. The activation includes full-store takeovers at 10 WHSmith airport locations, as well as a complete terminal takeover and an interactive basketball arcade experience at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport. The three-week campaign kicked in May 2025 with WH Smith store takeovers by Nestle at 10 U.S. airports, including LaGuardia, Newark Liberty International, Palm Springs International, Orlando International, and Phoenix Sky Harbor. Shoppers at participating will engage with Nestlé Essentia branding through a variety of touchpoints, including the retailer’s WHS Media retail media network in-store digital screens and audio, front-of-store pop-up displays, floor decals, and other creative placements throughout the stores. The campaign also includes a full terminal takeover of LaGuardia’s Terminal E, beginning May 15. Travelers see Nestlé Essentia branding throughout the terminal, and can play a branded version of Pop-A-Shot, the basketball arcade game, fully wrapped in Nestlé Essentia creative.
D2C jewelry brand Wanderlust + Co sets up first US brick and mortar store to offer city-specific and personalization services driven by success of high-converting pop-ups together with curated community meets
Viral female-founded jewelry brand Wanderlust + Co is expanding Stateside. The playful and accessibly priced label has chosen New York City and Philadelphia for its first U.S. brick and mortar locations—on Bleecker Street and the King of Prussia Mall respectively. While Malayia based Wanderlust + Co has its roots as a digital-first brand, it has already established five locations across Asia in Malaysia and Singapore and is stocked with some 400 retailers worldwide. The U.S. region, however, accounts for 40% of global website traffic and conversions together with a 20-25% repeat purchase rate among U.S. shoppers. According to CEO and founder Jenn Low, these permanent spaces were also a response to insights gathered from a series of high-performing U.S. pop-ups together with intimate media dinners and one-on-one meetings. They demonstrated significantly increased conversion when people could physically engage with the product. The offering of these stores tap into broader spectrum market trends such as city specific products and personalisation services which are key when it comes to drawing customers in-store and and building a local community. While appealing in particular to a Gen-Z consumer, personalisation and storytelling amplify the emotional resonance of jewelry. The New York and Philadelphia stores both offer on-site piercing alongside personalisation services such as welding, engraving and a jewelry adjacent ‘patch bar’ where customers can personalise canvas key-chains, choosing from a series of iron-on designs—”allowing customers to bring their stories to life, making each piece uniquely theirs.”