The average Verizon internet household now manages 18 connected devices and consumes 656 GB of data monthly, up 6% YoY, according to the latest Verizon Consumer Connections Report. Verizon is offering an industry-first 3-year price lock guarantee on all myPlan (mobile) and myHome (home internet) network plans, available to both new and existing customers. The offer meets a growing consumer demand for financial stability, control and simplicity — especially as families weigh technology investments alongside everyday priorities. Verizon is also now offering a free phone to new and existing wireless customers on any myPlan when they trade in a device — regardless of its condition. Plus, get even more immediate savings when bundling home internet, taking $15 off the total monthly bill. Families can stay confidently connected — with steady rates on core services like calling, data and texting. Customers can also save over 40% on five of the most popular subscription services Plus, free satellite messaging on qualifying devices. Verizon’s 3-year price lock guarantee offers predictable, multi-year stability across connectivity costs. As families upgrade their homes and devices, Verizon’s price lock guarantee offers something rare in tech: predictability.
US Treasury report on stablecoins mulls upside of offering interest – based on estimates that stablecoins will grow to $2 trillion by 2028
The US Treasury’s Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC) explored the impact of stablecoins on the demand for short term Treasuries. One topic was mentioned repeatedly – the potential for stablecoins to offer interest. The last iteration of the Senate’s stablecoin bill, the GENIUS Act, introduced a clause that banned the payment of stablecoin interest before receiving a positive vote by the Senate Banking Committee. The TBAC report used a figure from Standard Chartered research that estimates that stablecoins will grow to $2 trillion by 2028 assuming stablecoins don’t pay interest. As an aside, Citi also recently published forecasts. The mid April capitalization of stablecoins was $234 billion, which accounts for approximately $120 billion investment in short-dated Treasuries. Combining that with Standard Chartered’s figure, the report estimates that stablecoin investment in Treasuries will expand to $1 trillion by 2028. If stablecoins were to offer interest, the figure could be quite a bit higher, although no forecast was provided. That would account for a significant slice of the short term Treasury Bill market, which currently has a $6.4 trillion issuance. A key reason why most global stablecoin regulation has not supported the payment of interest is because there is a concern that bank deposits might shift to stablecoins, potentially affecting the economy with less credit available from banks, or credit might become more expensive. The TBAC report states that transactional demand deposits at banks that total $6.6 trillion are most “at risk” from stablecoins. Apart from delving into the potential for stablecoins to offer interest, two other issues were floated – the potential to allow stablecoin issuers access to the Federal Reserve and / or deposit insurance. This would help reduce the impact of de-peg events.
Visa’s push to embed its tokenization-based payment network into AI systems, including chatbots and agents could transform ecommerce by letting online shoppers use natural conversation with an AI agent to make purchases
Soon online shoppers will be able to make purchases straight from their chatbots, which could drive the biggest shift in shopping since Amazon or the iPhone. Visa on announced a push to embed its payment network into AI systems, including chatbots and agents. The effort is in the early testing stage, with Visa listing OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Mistral and Perplexity among its partners.”We think the shift could rival the level of impact that e-commerce and mobile commerce themselves have [had],” Visa chief product and strategy officer Jack Forestell said. Visa demoed how a user can enter their payment information into a chatbot, just once, and use natural conversation with an AI agent to purchase a range of goods and services. Under the hood, Visa is incorporating the tokenization technology it has used to secure mobile and online commerce, combined with mechanisms for communicating authentication, payment intent and instructions. “We could give AI agents payment tools today, and they’d be able to go out, access your credentials, your cards, your money, and go spend it,” Forestell said on stage Wednesday. “That would just uncover a bunch of other really important problems that we need to get solved before we take step one.” Forestell is “hopeful that within the next 12 months” people have the option to use autonomous agent payments, at least within certain use cases. Separately, OpenAI said that ChatGPT search will begin including direct product links in its results, starting with categories including fashion, beauty, home goods and electronics. Experts say retailers need to start rethinking their e-commerce strategy to prepare for chatbots to play a significant role. The shift could allow companies to spend less on search advertising, but having the most up-to-date information on products and their availability will become more important, Pimberly CEO Martin Balaam told.
Affirm expands beyond Experian to begin reporting all its pay-over-time loans to TransUnion but transactions will not be factored into traditional credit scores nor visible to lenders in the near-term
Affirm is expanding the credit reporting of its pay-over-time products to TransUnion. All Affirm pay-over-time loans issued from May 1, 2025 onward, including Pay in 4 and longer-term monthly installments, will be reported to TransUnion. Consumers will see details about all Affirm transactions on their TransUnion credit files, though these transactions will not be factored into traditional credit scores nor visible to lenders in the near-term. As more pay-over-time providers report account information to the credit bureaus, lenders who request TransUnion credit reports will also be able to view consumers’ pay-over-time history. In the future, as new credit scoring models are developed, this information may factor into consumers’ scores, with the aim of supporting more informed lending decisions and helping consumers build their credit histories. TransUnion research found nearly 40% of consumers who haven’t used buy now, pay later are likely or very likely to use them in the future. Notably, a higher 53% of non-users would be likely or very likely to use them if it had the potential to have a positive impact on credit scores.
SitusAMC supports originators in the residential real estate market using a globalized network of 3rd party partners to tackle everything from initial and re-distributed disclosures to potential Adverse Actions
SitusAMC — a top-of-the-line provider of investment advice, talent solutions, and digital tools — offers a rare opportunity for lenders and investors. SitusAMC views the primary market through a secondary market lens — and that comprehensive approach is invaluable to originators. SitusAMC’s solutions help lenders and investors handle originations, secondary markets transactions, MSR and portfolio management, and valuations without compromising marketplace agility. Digital tools and technology are only the tip of the spear regarding SitusAMC’s solutions. Lenders and investors can rely on the company for expert-level advice concerning underwriting, investment, securitization, servicing, asset management, and more. Between residential and commercial market professionals, SitusAMC can guide all financiers toward increased profit, efficiency, and sharper analytics. SitusAMC offers several services designed to tackle each task and component via a globalized network of third-party employees and partners. Regarding origination support in the residential real estate market, SitusAMC’s global staffing solutions tackle everything from initial and re-distributed disclosures to potential Adverse Action (HMDA). Pre-underwriting, underwriting, and condition clearing are also key component services that clients can access.
Clients can maintain contact with SitusAMC via dedicated Client Relationship Managers that connect mortgage professionals to the company’s team — allowing for clear, consistent communication. For specific loan types like federal loans, SitusAMC offers advisory and consulting services for originators offering federal loan products, subject to frequent changes over time. These services also include an operational readiness assessment. Overall, component services allow internal loan processors to focus on relationship building. Most processors handle a pipeline of 25 to 30 loans. However, outsourcing can bump that load up to 50 loans and beyond.
Goldman Sachs-backed firm triples sales after US tariffs – TheStreet
Back Market, is a France-based operator of a global marketplace for refurbished electronics, including laptops and smartphones, aiming to help people do more with what they already have to avoid unnecessary carbon emissions and reduce tech waste. To date, it has sold more than 30 million refurbished devices across 17 markets, avoiding approximately 1.6 million tons of carbon emissions. Over the years, Back Market raised money from high-profile investors such as Goldman Sachs, Aglaé Ventures (the venture arm of Group Arnault), and Eurazeo Growth. The platform is available in 13 European countries, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and the United States. The company’s CEO Hug De Larauze told that Back Market sales have tripled in a single week amid Trump’s tariff announcement. “Maybe some people rushed into [replacing their smartphones or computers] earlier, because they were afraid it’s going to cost so much more weeks from now,” de Larauze said. According to Hug De Larauze, it is possible that more Americans could start choosing used or refurbished devices if tariffs raise prices. “This is a big opportunity to change the way American people consume this stuff, because the incentive has never been as high to avoid those tariffs,” he says. Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities’ global head of technology research, agrees that prolonged tariffs could result in a significant jump in short-term sales of used and refurbished devices, especially smartphones. However, in the longer run, Ives is skeptical that a typical American consumer would permanently shift to refurbished alternatives. “We believe 80% to 90% of consumers like buying a new smartphone, [and] buying behavior is hard to change,” Ives says. Some analysts estimate that tech conglomerates such as Apple might need to raise their prices by hundreds of dollars per product, depending on the eventual electronics-specific tariffs. If that happens, it will be interesting to see how a typical American consumer would remain faithful to the habit of buying new devices.
Lowe’s launching omnichannel initiative that blends social media posts, mail and poster, to express gratitude to first responders and volunteers who rebuild its hurricane-damaged store
Lowe’s Companies Inc. is celebrating the reopening of a hurricane-damaged store with a nationwide initiative to show gratitude to first responders, volunteers and nonprofits. As the home improvement giant prepares to reopen its East Asheville, N.C. store, which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Helene, the company is asking consumers nationwide to help share one million “thank yous” for personnel who help rebuild after disasters by May 2. Lowe’s is calling the effort “#BuildThanks.” To participate, consumers can post a message of gratitude on social media using the hashtag #BuildThanks. They can also deliver or mail a thank you poster, sign or note to Lowe’s East Asheville, N.C. store on Tunnel Road, with sample signs available for download at the Lowe’s corporate site. Lowe’s will post the culmination of the initiative on its social media channels on Saturday, May 3. The retailer invested nearly $14 million in response and recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton and $2 million to support wildfire relief in Southern California. The wildfire donation assisted first responders and nonprofits that responded to critical needs such as supporting evacuations, emergency shelter and distributing urgently needed supplies like water, N95 masks, air purifiers, ash sifters and storage.
Manychat provides a tool for managing and automating conversations and engagement across multiple messaging channels using platform-specific APIs
Startup Manychat provides a tool for managing and automating conversations and engagement across multiple messaging channels. Manychat’s CEO and co-founder, Mike Yan, said the company sends “billions” of messages annually on behalf of these users across TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and other chat platforms. Manychat’s trajectory mirrors both the rise of smartphone-based messaging apps over the last decade and the growing opportunity around tools that help businesses leverage that medium in a better way. Things started to take off when Facebook opened up its APIs for Messenger. Additional APIs opening up across other Meta-owned platforms as well as TikTok have boosted that growth. Users can still market on Telegram, too, Yan said, although these days that is just a small percentage of its traffic. Instagram is by far the most engaged and active platform for the company, Yan said. Manychat’s approach of building an engagement layer makes it a solid bet for the next wave of activity on messaging platforms. If you want a help desk chatbot, there are myriad tools out there, but very few that are engaging to sell or elicit other responses from users in the way that Manychat has done.
Etsy’s new tool for sellers lets them determine which listings would benefit most from a refresh with help from a seller visibility dashboard
Etsy Inc. is rolling out multiple new technology-based enhancements to the back-end experience it offers sellers. New photo tools enable Etsy sellers to upload and edit photos directly on the e-commerce retailer’s site or seller app using editing tools that process in the background so sellers can work on other tasks without interruption. Sellers can also create and save custom photo filters, see all listing categories and subcategories directly in the seller app, and determine which listings would benefit most from a refresh with help from a seller visibility dashboard. In addition, Etsy is beta testing real-time listing quality feedback alerts on issues that could impact a seller’s search ranking before they publish with select sellers. Etsy has also enhanced key features of its Shop Manager platform. Now it’s easier for sellers to find information like stats and orders, and recent activity has moved to its own dedicated tab. Sellers with an active shop in the U.S., Canada, U.K and Australia, along with some high-volume sellers in other regions and sellers with an all-star rating can now reach Etsy support directly from Shop Manager. The orders page now loads faster and the sales & discounts page now loads 40% faster. Messages now load faster in the Etsy seller app. Updates in the seller app allow Etsy to better see which pages are slow or crashing, enabling it to test and make improvements faster. Improved ad placement within buyer search. Shop home page layout updates are being tested to make seller inventory easier to browse and shop for buyers.
Sesh’s fan engagement platform lets artists send direct push notifications to their fans’ phone wallets and direct them to a new music release, exclusive merch drop, VIP event invite or presale tickets
Sesh, a fan engagement ecosystem that connects people with their favorite music artists, announced it has raised $7 million. Sesh foster connection by connecting fans with interactive experiences, exclusive content and live events. Additionally, the company is launching its Member Card, allowing fans to register and seamlessly download a digital pass to their phone’s wallet—no app required—becoming an official part of their favorite artist’s community. For the first time, artists can send direct push notifications to their fans’ phone wallets, going beyond the access streaming platforms and social media channels provide. Artists can direct audiences to a new music release, exclusive merch drop, VIP event invite or presale tickets directly within the ecosystem. With Sesh, artists get access and a direct line to their fans, including full ownership of essential data such as email, location, name, date of birth and engagement insights, empowering creators to own and cultivate their audience relationships without relying on third-party platforms. By providing tools for direct engagement, including integrations with Spotify and TikTok, Sesh helps artists grow and strengthen their fan communities.