AI has plenty of forecasts. Now the market can put a price on them. PYMNTS and @cryptocom are launching AI Prediction Market Contracts that settle against PYMNTS Intelligence data measuring changes in consumer behavior, enterprise deployment and the economy. Trading begins in September, with more than 20 contracts planned for the initial phased launch and additional contracts to follow. AI Prediction Market Contracts create a new way to follow the AI economy as it changes. And, we’re thrilled to partner with @cryptocom to bring this new, tradable information market live. Subscribe for alerts when new contracts start trading: hubs.ly/Q04vRHQ50 #AI #PredictionMarkets #PYMNTSIntelligence

⛪ Pope Leo told the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Thursday that AI is creating new risks for international peace and security, pressing again for global oversight. Full story on PYMNTS. hubs.ly/Q04yk6MH0

📟 Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Muse Charm at Connect Wednesday, a Tamagotchi-style gadget with a 2-inch screen that runs one thing and can't make calls. Read the full story on PYMNTS. hubs.ly/Q04yk6wy0

27% of Gen Z and millennial credit union members own cryptocurrency. Yet 75% of credit union executives say their members show limited or no demand for it. Some credit unions aren't waiting for that picture to clear up. The latest PYMNTS Intelligence Data Dive shows which ones are moving ahead, which are getting ready to act and what could decide when digital assets become part of everyday banking. Read more now. hubs.ly/Q04yk5FB0

"The first real mainstream adoption of agentic transactions is going to be low-value but high-frequency purchases," says Sabrina Tharani, senior vice president, Global Fintech Programs at @Mastercard. Think household staples, recurring payments and, eventually, back-to-school and holiday shopping. Watch Tharani tell PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster why speed and convenience will get consumers to hand agents the everyday buys first. hubs.ly/Q04yk5j00

Nearly 32% of digital freelancers say a platform they use introduced AI tools that can do their kind of work. Those tools are showing up inside the same services freelancers rely on to find jobs, and workers are weighing what each assignment pays against the time and costs to finish it. The latest Wage to Wallet™ Index from PYMNTS Intelligence, produced in collaboration with @WorkWhileAI, looks at how freelancers are responding as AI becomes part of the platforms that send them work. hubs.ly/Q04yk4D50

💳 How issuers can hold on to their top-of-wallet status. PYMNTS Intelligence surveyed 2,460 U.S. credit card holders to learn what sends a primary card to the back of the wallet. 58% of consumers who chose a new top-of-wallet card promoted a one they already carried instead of opening a new account. ⬇️ Download the full report (our collaboration with Elan Credit Card for data on must-know findings like why retention offers often miss what customers want: hubs.ly/Q04y6Rqw0

Roughly 90% of Amazon's selling partners already use some form of third-party AI, according to Mary Beth Westmoreland, vice president, Worldwide Selling Partner Experience at @amazon. So Amazon is taking its seller intelligence to them, through a plugin for Amazon Quick and, initially in beta, Anthropic's Claude. In an exclusive conversation with PYMNTS, Westmoreland explains how sellers control what the plugin can see and which actions it can take. hubs.ly/Q04ydlDB0

Every benefits transaction that doesn't process cleanly ends up on somebody's desk. The latest PYMNTS Intelligence report, produced in collaboration with @SoFiTechSol, models a 5,000-account program where 5% of accounts need manual attention each month. Those eligibility disputes, reimbursement requests and reconciliation exceptions add up to about 62.5 staff hours. See which infrastructure changes stop exceptions before they reach an administrator. hubs.ly/Q04ydm0l0

A shopper's basket shows exactly what they're buying, but brands have rarely had a way to act on it at the moment of payment. Smart checkout matches products in the basket with eligible offers and applies the savings automatically. Nearly half of brands already use checkout-integrated promotions. The latest PYMNTS Intelligence report, produced in collaboration with @FISGlobal, lays out the controls brands want before they go further, from data ownership to choosing which products qualify. hubs.ly/Q04ydkQ80

"The searches are already happening," says Gaurang Shah, executive vice president, Global Acceptance and Merchant Solutions at @Mastercard. But consumers are "definitely stopping at the recommendations." To get from a recommendation to a purchase, merchants need to know the agent at checkout is legitimate, authorized and staying within its limits. Shah tells PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster what that trust layer has to include before AI agents can actually buy. hubs.ly/Q04ydj5n0

A supplier's payment request can look routine right up until someone checks the bank account on file. Treasury teams are moving their fraud checks earlier to catch it. Among firms not yet using AI for fraud detection, 58% say they're putting it in place now or plan to within 12 months. The latest PYMNTS Intelligence report, produced in collaboration with @bottomlinepay, shows which improvements finance leaders are prioritizing before the next wave of fraud attempts. hubs.ly/Q04yc-9P0

Breaking: The Clearing House taps Quant to power its tokenized deposits network. Get the details on PYMNTS: hubs.ly/Q04ycPwt0

.@SoFi bets $25 billion on putting stablecoins behind the card swipe. @Mastercard and @SoFiTechSol are now using stablecoin settlement across SoFi Bank, N.A.’s debit and credit card program, with SoFi Bank migrating its entire $25 billion card program to stablecoin settlement of transactions. Full story on PYMNTS: hubs.ly/Q04y9QxQ0

👟 Crocs replaced a chatbot that kicked 80% of conversations to a human with Rivet, a single AI agent handling product search, sizing, order tracking, returns and checkout. Full story on PYMNTS. hubs.ly/Q04y7HLc0

Three-quarters of credit unions say their members show limited or no demand for cryptocurrency. Their members might disagree. 17% already own it, and that climbs to 27% among Gen Z and millennial members. Only 4% of executives report strong or critical demand. The latest PYMNTS Intelligence playbook, produced in collaboration with @WeAreVelera, shows which credit unions are acting on that interest and which ones are still waiting for a signal. hubs.ly/Q04y6_g30

🎙️ Out Now: How do culture and leadership shape performance in the AI era? Episode 2 of Fired Up, a brand new podcast on the PYMNTS Business News Network, features a conversation between Paulette Rowe and future of work expert Sophie Wade. 🔥 Get fired up for an episode that goes deep into how business leaders must adapt to support their workforce as AI and culture become more intertwined. 🎧 Subscribe on Apple:  hubs.ly/Q04y74yB0 🎧 Subscribe on Spotify:  hubs.ly/Q04y74yC0

Gen Z shows up at checkout with expectations, and their digital wallet is at the top of the list. Here's what the latest PYMNTS Intelligence report, produced in collaboration with @PayPal_Open, found. 💳 47% of Gen Z shoppers used a digital wallet online in the past month. 🛒 28% abandoned or would have abandoned a cart because their wallet wasn't accepted. 🚪 48% of Gen Z wallet users would have switched merchants or walked away without it. 📉 That cart abandonment rate drops to 3.9% for baby boomers and seniors. See how each generation responds when its wallet is missing and which shoppers merchants are most at risk of losing. hubs.ly/Q04y6YtN0

💼 Adyen names Klarna CFO Niclas Neglen as new finance chief. Everything you need to know on PYMNTS: hubs.ly/Q04y6DsM0

"This job apocalypse is such a hoax." That's @WorkWhileAI CEO Simon Khalaf, and he's got his own platform's numbers behind him. Demand for workers rose 22% from July to August, then another 14% by late September. He now has more jobs than people to fill them. He tells PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster why the AI buildout itself could drain the hourly workforce, starting with the forklift operators data centers need. Listen now on PYMNTS. hubs.ly/Q04y6Vjq0

JPMorgan weighs opening card business to private credit. Full story on PYMNTS: hubs.ly/Q04y6zcv0