Marketing

Online shoppers in the United States spent a record $222.1 billion during the holiday shopping season that ran between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, a 4.9%increase from the same period a year earlier, according to Adobe Analytics. November was a strong month for online holiday purchases, with consumers spending $123.5 billion …

Visa Inc. launched its Web3 Loyalty Engagement Solution, a platform that enables rewards for consumers who interact with businesses on digital platforms. Vetster, a telehealth provider for veterinary care, announced it is expanding its services in California to include online diagnosis and prescriptions, with online payments. Reacting to heightened check fraud, …

RDE Inc., owner of Restaurant.com, a popular dining-deals site, has closed on its acquisition of CardCash Exchange LLC, operator of CardCash.com, a secondary gift card marketplace. The deal advances RDE’s presence in gift cards for consumers and merchants. The combined business accounted for more than $100 million in revenue in …

Overfuel, a provider of online payments for automobile dealerships, has integrated credit reporting from 700Credit LLC to allow users to prequalify for credit on a dealer’s Web site or on a mobile phone. Accounting platform Data Plus is teaming with Edenred Pay, a back-end payments provider for the hospitality industry, to launch …

Presto Automation Inc. forecast its new, artificial-intelligence-based Presto Voice ordering system for drive-through restaurants will have been adopted by 1,270 locations by the end of 2024, up from the current count of 404. River, a provider of technology and financial services related to Bitcoin, launched River Link, a service that lets users send …

Tolling-technology provider Quarterhill Inc. said its Electronic Transaction Consultants unit has launched an E-ZPass interoperability hub to enable readily available electronic toll payments across regions of the United States. The move is considered a step toward nationwide toll-payment interoperability. Equipifi, a provider of buy now, pay later services for debit card issuers, …

Discover Financial Services said its board of directors has appointed Michael G. Rhodes chief executive and president. Rhodes, who will take office on or before March 6, succeeds interim CEO and president John Owen, who will continue as a Discover board member. Rhodes comes to Discover from TD Bank, where he was …

With real-time payments perhaps on the cusp of becoming an essential payment service, Navy Federal Credit Union, which rung up $2.7 million in real-time deposits on its first full day on the RTP network from The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC, is using Alacriti to connect to the network. Bridgewater, …

SoundHound AI Inc. said it will acquire SYNQ3 Restaurant Solutions, a voice artificial intelligence and technology provider for restaurants, in a deal valued at $25 million. Once completed, the deal will extend SoundHound’s services to 10,000 locations and more than 25 national and multinational chains. The deal is expected to close …

Payments provider Usio Inc. says benefits administrator Genius Avenue will use multiple Usio payments products, including automated clearing house transfers and a prepaid card program, to serve its customers. Announced Monday, the partnership integrates Usio’s payments services with the Genius Avenue platform. Tucson, Ariz.-based Genius Avenue is keen to tap …