How Gen Z is Leading the World Towards a Cashless Society
Gen Z may already be far more tech-savvy than millennials will ever be. Their latest disruption? Cash.
While plastic cards have been moving money around the world for awhile, Shiv Singh, Visa’s Senior Vice President of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships, tells Cheddar that Gen Z is more likely to spend their bucks digitally. He says they are also more likely to use messaging platforms, such as China’s WeChat, to make transactions.
“They expect all of their payments … to happen in a Facebook messaging type of environment,” Singh said. “The amount of payment volume on WeChat itself has grown dramatically in the last twelve months.”
Singh foresees that this trend will “explode” around the world. Facebook recently jumped on board and announced that it’s integrating advertisements in its Messenger app. The move aims to facilitate purchases and communication between consumers and companies.
Singh says that all of these efforts are only the beginning of a cashless society. The executive adds that the first step towards a cashless society is waving contactless cards, like Apple Pay. The company projects that contactless payments will grow dramatically in the U.S. over the next two years.
Singh points out that 40 percent of the POS terminals are ready for contactless payments in the U.S.. “Now,” he says, “it’s all about educating the consumers, and putting the right technology in their hands.”
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
