Datadog has acquired Eppo, a feature-flagging and experimentation platform. Despite the demand for tools that let developers experiment with different versions of apps, the infrastructure required for product analytics remains relatively complex to build. Beyond data pipelines and statistical methods, experimentation infrastructure relies on analytics workflows often sourced from difficult-to-configure cloud environments. Eppo will continue supporting existing customers and bringing on new ones under the brand “Eppo by Datadog.” Eppo offers “confidence intervals” to make it easier to understand and interpret the results of a randomized app experiment. The platform supports experimentation with AI and machine learning models, leveraging techniques to perform live experiments that show whether one model is outperforming another. Eppo co-founder and CEO Che Sharma said “With Datadog, we are uniting product analytics, feature management, AI, and experimentation capabilities for businesses to reduce risk, learn quickly, and ship high-quality products.” For Datadog, the Eppo buy could bolster the company’s current product analytics solutions. “The use of multiple AI models increases the complexity of deploying applications in production,” Michael Whetten, VP of Product at Datadog, said. “Experimentation solves this correlation and measurement problem, enabling teams to compare multiple models side-by-side, determine user engagement against cost tradeoffs, and ultimately build AI products that deliver measurable value.”
Zest AI enables AI-powered lending decisions, supporting policy simulations, application insights, unbooked application analysis and loan performance monitoring
Zest AI says it has introduced a tool to help banks make AI-powered lending decisions. LuLu Strategy is the newest model of the company’s AI lending intelligence platform. The new offering will — at least initially — be available exclusively to customers of digital lending firm MeridianLink. “By equipping financial institutions with advanced generative AI tools like LuLu Strategy, we’re strengthening the entire financial ecosystem by fostering greater innovation throughout the sector,” Zest AI CEO Mike de Vere said. “Now, financial institutions have better insights to responsibly expand access to affordable credit to Main Street consumers, which strengthens the economy overall.” By teaming with MeridianLink, he added, Zest can scale its solution quickly across the financial services landscape, giving regional banks and credit unions the same level of technology that was once exclusively available via national lenders. With the new LuLu Strategy module, financial institutions can access: Policy simulations: ask LuLu for policy recommendations to achieve certain business objectives or change policy rules and quantify the impact on automation, approval rate, and risk.
Application insights: provide deeper understanding of borrower behavior patterns, analyze application metrics and track borrower statistics over time.
Unbooked application analysis: identify missed opportunities by comparing pricing and performance of funded versus unfunded loans.
Loan performance monitoring: access ongoing intelligence to continuously refine lending strategies with in-depth tracking of loan performance, approvals, automation, and fraud as well as delinquency and charge-off investigations
Prudent AI launches one-touch pre-qualification platform especially helpful for processing self-employed, Non-QM borrowers with 24/7 document submissions, real-time insights and loan recommendations, and evaluating borrower repayment ability in minutes instead of hours
Prudent AI launched Prudent AI Upfront, a one-touch pre-qualification platform designed to improve lender sales funnels. The company claims the product is the mortgage industry’s first of its kind and allows lenders to process more applications, reduce fallout and capture more business. Upfront boosts sales funnel efficiency through three outcomes designed to eliminate manual intervention: 24/7 document submissions, real-time insights and loan recommendations, and evaluating borrower repayment ability in minutes instead of hours. Prudent AI claims that lenders who implemented Upfront reported a 60-70% reduction in document review time while expanding their sales pipelines and a seamless integration into their existing tech stacks. The platform is especially helpful for processing self-employed, Non-QM borrowers, company officials said. “The Non-QM market has long struggled with pre-qualification bottlenecks,” commented Paul Gigliotti, chief growth officer. “Upfront eliminates these barriers. Lenders can confidently serve this multi-trillion-dollar segment with unprecedented efficiency.”
PayPal pilots digital wallet in Germany amid stablecoin push that combines crypto, BNPL, cashback incentives and contactless payments
PayPal is set to launch its first mobile wallet in Germany as part of its strategy to increase in-store payments. The wallet will be accessible through PayPal’s app and tap-to-pay at merchants that accept Mastercard contactless payments. The app will provide a unified view of both online and in-store transactions. PayPal aims to differentiate its digital wallet by offering cashback incentives when users make contactless payments at select German retailers. The wallet is similar to Apple Pay and Google Pay, but it may be challenging to stand out in an already saturated market. The launch follows PayPal’s push for its PYUSD stablecoin, which has struggled to gain momentum in a market dominated by Tether and Circle. PayPal plans to support its Pay Later functionality for in-store purchases, allowing users to pay in 3- to 24-month installments. A PayPal digital wallet that combines crypto, BNPL, and contactless payments would align with several dominant trends in the payment industry.
Samsung adds Green Dot’s embedded finance platform to digital wallets- a P2P tool to quickly transfer funds within minutes from Samsung Wallet to other digital wallets or contactless debit cards
Digital bank Green Dot announced a new partnership with Samsung Electronics to add new features and functionality to Samsung Wallet1, the secure, go-everywhere app for conveniently using and organizing daily essentials. Leveraging Green Dot’s comprehensive and configurable embedded finance platform, Arc, Samsung Wallet’s U.S. users will soon have access to Tap to Transfer2, a peer-to-peer (P2P) tool enabling users to quickly transfer funds within minutes3 from Samsung Wallet to other digital wallets or contactless debit cards, with additional features and functionality planned. Arc is the embedded finance platform of services featuring all of Green Dot’s secure banking and money processing capabilities designed to fuel value, loyalty and growth for consumers and businesses. Integrated with Green Dot Bank, Arc provides partners with leading FDIC-insured banking products and tools, plus regulatory and compliance expertise, oversight and support. “Our partnership with Samsung presents an enormous opportunity to bring convenient and instant peer-to-peer payments to Samsung’s vast user base,” said Crystal Bryant-Minter, SVP, Money Movement, Green Dot. “It also exemplifies Arc’s potential to power leading brands with seamless, secure financial experiences that deliver real value to everyday consumers.”
Cantaloupe’s Smart Aisle like Amazon Go is relying on 3D cameras, AI, and weighted-shelf technology to analyze motion and keep track of transactions
Self-service commerce company Cantaloupe is debuting new products designed to promote frictionless retail at the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) Show. The Go Micro kiosk is Cantaloupe’s newest self-service micro market kiosk, designed with affordability, versatility and seamless management in mind. Its compact footprint, integrated barcode scanner and five-inch touchscreen provide a seamless checkout experience for consumers and enables operators to manage all their markets regardless of size. The Cantaloupe Smart Aisle is a 24/7 frictionless retail experience that operates without an attendant, relying instead on 3D cameras, AI, and weighted-shelf technology to analyze motion and keep track of transactions. Customers provide a payment method to enter, and while inside they can grab any item, which is added to their virtual cart in real time. Customers verify their cart before leaving, and the transaction is completed and payment method charged upon exit. Cantaloupe will also be displaying its self-service payment solutions: HABCO will feature a Cooler Café unit with Cantaloupe’s P30 card reader and Smart Lock connect technology; AVS will highlight the Go Micro kiosk and a lineup of Cantaloupe card readers; IDW will showcase the Go MiniX and a Cooler Café unit; ID TECH will display the Go Plus100 kiosk and Imbera will show the Go MiniX kiosk equipped with the P30 card reader. Lastly, Cantaloupe will provide demonstrations of its latest product releases within the Seed software suite, including powerful new tools that bring AI into operators’ everyday platform experience.
Pinterest now lets shoppers use a “more expansive visual ‘vocabulary’ to ‘describe’ their style ideas.- generating the words they can use to figure out what they like about the image, and then further explore and shop
Pinterest is introducing new features to let users find ideas that match their personal tastes. The new visual search tools will first be available for women’s fashion content in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., eventually moving to more categories. The new tools let users find what they’re searching for without using words, by breaking down and decoding images so users can quickly search and shop for the details of an outfit they like. “Whether it’s an overall aesthetic, a color palette, a specific fit, or product category, when users view a Pin, we’ll now generate the words they can use to figure out what they like about the image, and then further explore and shop,” the company said. To help users identify and select the objects that they want more easily, the company says it has added a new animated glow. Also new is a “refinement bar” to help users narrow down their search results and find things that match their style. The company said the new search options are powered by visual language models (VLMs), a form of generative artificial intelligence (AI), to offer users a “more expansive visual ‘vocabulary’ to ‘describe’ their style ideas.” “Our visual search technology represents a shift in how users interact with and discover inspiration,” Dana Cho, Pinterest vice president of design, said. “We’re not simply delivering search results — we’re curating a personalized journey of discovery that empowers individuals to find their unique style, and shop it too.”
Lowe’s rolls out AI assistant for 1700 store associates, marks the first time a retailer has successfully implemented this kind of technology at scale
Lowe’s Companies is introducing Mylow Companion, an AI-enabled employee app developed in partnership with Open AI, developer of the ChatGPT generative AI model. Purpose-built for associate sales floor devices, the app provides access to product details, project advice, and inventory information, and also speeds up the employee onboarding process. According to Lowe’s the launch of MyLow Companion to all associates across its more than 1,700 stores marks the first time a retailer has successfully implemented this kind of technology at scale. Mylow Companion uses generative AI to let associates obtain answers to customer inquiries using natural, conversational prompts, including voice-to-text for faster, hands-free use. Mylow Companion is built on the same platform as Lowe’s recently launched Mylow customer chatbot. Mylow delivers quick, conversational answers directly to customers’ home improvement questions and can provide insights on customer projects during their product discovery, helping ensure they find and purchase the right tools and materials for their projects. Shoppers using Mylow can also refine their local recommendations by providing details like their project budget or ZIP code.
Instacart introduces alcohol-focused Fizz App to tap Gen Z market- lets multiple users contribute to a single order, pay for their own purchases and have them delivered together for a flat fee of $5
Instacart is reportedly rolling out an app targeting Gen Z consumers, centered around group orders of drinks and party snacks. This app, Fizz, lets multiple users contribute to a single order, pay for their own purchases and have them delivered together for a flat fee of $5. Fizz will be complementary to Instacart, with younger users employing the app and then turning to Instacart as their “lives evolve.” The push follows Instacart’s recent move to reduce the minimum spend to $10 from $35 for paid subscribers to receive free delivery, a decision that increased engagement. Instacart began work on the app at the beginning of the year, Daniel Danker, Instacart’s chief product officer said. Merchants offering the drinks and snacks on Fizz are grocery and liquor stores with existing relationships with Instacart. Danker said Fizz will bring more retailers to Instacart.
Agree.com’s AI-powered e-signature platform is different from competitors because it includes invoicing generation and payment processing
Agree.com says its AI-powered e-signature platform is different from competitors because it includes invoicing and payment processing. That’s why the company might have a shot at tackling the industry Goliath, Docusign. Because the startup makes its money from transaction fees for any money movement facilitated by its platform, Agree.com has made e-signatures free to all users. Agree.com uses AI on top of optimal character recognition (OCR) software so that it can auto-detect and label all of a contract’s input fields and signature blocks. Its technology can also identify and extract “any and all” payment terms to dynamically generate invoices. Because of its multitasking approach, Agree.com can potentially replace traditional e-signature software and invoicing and accounts receivable tools such as Bill.com. Agree extracts every character, indentation, semicolon, and hyphen to not only understand the type of contract being signed, but make it fully editable and collaborative with commenting, redlining, and version control. Agree’s “business model is truly unique: free software, monetized through invoicing and payments.”