Finance is moving into the moment of purchase, not after it.

No stories were filed on this trend that week.

1. Money · ExtendsHow credit card issuers and reservation apps like OpenTable and Amex-owned Resy fragment restaurant reservations, wiring the best tables into premium card perks (Wall Street Journal)The Wall Street Journal
   Aug 10

1. Adoption · ExtendsBNPL lenders like Flex, Zip, and Affirm are now pitching loans for basic household needs; Americans spent $160B through pay-later loans in 2025, up 2x from 2023 (Stacy Cowley/New York Times)The New York Times
   Aug 18

No stories were filed on this trend that week.

1. Adoption · ExtendsBusinesses in China are experimenting with ways to package and market AI tokens to ordinary consumers, including as credit card rewards and telecom plan bundles (Kinling Lo/Rest of World)Rest of World
   Sep 6
2. Adoption · ExtendsChinese banks and carriers have turned AI tokens into rewards, monthly plans and collateralThenextweb
   Sep 6

1. Build-out · ExtendsAI agents are learning to spend money. Who will handle the payments?Thenextweb
   Sep 12

1. Money · ConfirmsWall Street Is Now Financing Ticket ScalpersSubstack
   Sep 14

1. Build-out · ExtendsAnt International’s AI Strategy: Fixing Payments Today, Building for Agents TomorrowForrester
   Sep 24
2. Attention · ExtendsEMARKETER’s Sarah Marzano: Commerce Media will Drive One-In-Four-Digital Ad DollarsBeet
   Sep 22
3. Adoption · ExtendsCommerce Media Moves Beyond the Checkout Aisle in Omnichannel PushBeet
   Sep 22

1. Adoption · ExtendsMedia Briefing: Publishers are turning GEO from an experiment into a businessDigiday
   Oct 2

1. Adoption · ExtendsDelta Air Lines Is Building Out Its Own Media NetworkFinancial Times
   Oct 6
2. Pushback · ExtendsO23: Turning Uber’s Customer Data into a New Product FeatureSubstack
   Oct 6

No stories were filed on this trend that week.

1. Build-out · ExtendsTrends from Money20/20 2026: The rise of “hidden” financial services Stripe
   Oct 22
2. Adoption · ExtendsMeta Calls Travel ‘a Top Use Case’ for Muse — and Zuck Wants a CutFinancial Times
   Oct 22

1. Pushback · ExtendsThe creator economy has a payments problemDigiday
   Oct 31

1. Adoption · ConfirmsZillow's mortgage gains show banks the value of reaching borrowers earlier November 6Emarketer
   Nov 7
2. Money · Extends‘Eventually I won’t have a choice’: Car subscriptions for remote start and extra horsepower pile on top of a record $787 average paymentFortune
   Nov 5
3. Adoption · ExtendsHow Pinterest’s programmatic pivot unlocks retail media budgets November 3Emarketer
   Nov 4
4. Adoption · ExtendsFuture of TV Briefing: What it costs brands to fund long-form creator seriesDigiday
   Nov 4