PYMNTS Podcast

Ahead of her one-year anniversary as CEO, Kelly Cook talks with Karen Webster about her push to reinvent David’s Bridal.

Rezolve AI Founder and CEO Dan Wagner says agentic commerce needs guardrails around inventory, identity and payments.

The structure of work is shifting as digital platforms connect workers with opportunities in ways that resemble markets. 

Trulioo CEO Vicky Bindra says the ability to unify high-quality data and apply “good friction” at the right moments is key to fighting fraud.

FIS’ Mladen Vladic discusses why future-ready payments infrastructure is important as AI agents begin to search, negotiate and transact.

With AI-powered fraud becoming standard, Entersekt's Dewald Nolte shares why the competitive edge in payments security lies in context.

Boost's Dean Leavitt explains why B2B firms are realizing that the velocity at which their AP and AR systems can adapt to real-world demands is now a key lever for growth. 

The Clearing House’s Sal Karakaplan says reliability, security and transparency will determine how innovations gain durable traction.

Velera’s Cody Banks says credit unions that operationalize data and automate decision-making will distinguish themselves in payments.

i2c Chief Client Officer Serena Smith says real-time payments require interoperability so banks can connect compliance and stop fraud.

Bob Legters, CPO at Paysafe, says the increasing use of digital wallets can streamline back-office processes and reduce costs.

Marschall Runge, former CEO and dean of Michigan Medicine, says he was wrong to be cautious about healthcare AI.

Same-day and same-shift payouts are changing how transactional workers judge jobs and manage cash flow. As platforms compress the gap between work completed and wages received, employers and payments providers are confronting a labor market where timing matters as much as pay.

PicPay’s U.S. IPO marks a shift toward credit-driven growth built on wallet data, underwriting discipline and deeper customer engagement.

In a PYMNTS podcast, leaders from Ingo Payments and WorkWhile explain how fixing “Bill Pay Roulette” could stabilize workers and economies.

Rubail Birwadker of Visa says agentic commerce will only scale if identity, permissions and risk controls are built into the transaction.

WorkWhile Chief Economist Alan Armen says wage shocks move through hourly workers’ budgets in weeks, not quarters, because income becomes spending almost immediately. The latest Wage to Wallet™ findings show platforms supplying 15% to 30% of income as workers try to address declining wages.

CFOs at emerging enterprises are redesigning and adding speed to their cash cycles. As a PYMNTS panel with insights from Bottomline, Coupa and FIS tells Karen Webster, automation, AI and stronger onboarding are the keys to faster liquidity. Together they outline how better data, improved processes and real-time tools will define time-to-cash performance heading into 2026.

Meet the Fortune 5 Million. It’s how BILL CEO René Lacerte describes the US small business community. As AI agents push the financial back office toward full autonomy, Lacerte says the shift will spark nothing short of a creative payments renaissance as it eliminates the grind of financial operations. He believes it will unleash the agility that has long differentiated small businesses.

Boston Finance Manager Rich Andrade and Passport CTO Gene Rohrwasser tell PYMNTS’ Karen Webster how the city is finally breaking from a decades-old patchwork of vendors to build a unified payment platform that promises real-time insight and a more modern experience for residents and visitors alike.

Furniture.com is rebuilding the furniture-buying experience for the agentic commerce age. In a PYMNTS SKU conversation, Cofounder and CMO Dan Bennett tells Karen Webster that by using standardized data and AI, the company is unifying retail partners into a single-cart, highly personalized platform. 

Personalization at scale requires moving from shoppers to signals, and Parbinder "Parbs" Dhariwal, VP and General Manager at CVS Media Exchange, shares why the retailer’s media network is focused on a future where every aisle, every screen, and yes, every long register receipt, is part of a larger conversation between brand and consumer.

Cox Automotive’s new omnichannel platform connects every step of the car-buying journey, closing the long-standing channel break between online research and in-store purchasing. In a Monday Conversation with PYMNTS’ Karen Webster, Senior VP Jessica Stafford explains why shifting dealer mindsets , not just upgrading technology, is the real unlock.

Ulta Beauty is building a commerce ecosystem where AI, social discovery and stores work together to meet fast moving consumer expectations. In a conversation with PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster for the PYMNTS series The SKU, Ulta SVP Josh Friedman explains how the retailer tries to make sure every guest gets what she wants.

Trulioo CEO Vicky Bindra says leadership in the age of breakaway technology innovation isn’t about keeping pace. It’s more about redefining trust, data and decision making when machines move faster than markets. Read more in Bindra’s interview as part of the “What’s Next in Payments” series, “The Year of the CEO.”