Fintech
Main Street Shrugs at Tariffs, Banks on Growth | PYMNTS.com

Published
2 weeks agoon
By
Hrishi
It seems like a massive disconnect. But for the payments industry, it’s an opportunity.
One the one hand, the current administration’s shifting tariffs on imported goods and commodities ranging from Swiss watches and Brazilian coffee to Canadian aluminum and steel are a blow to companies reliant on those items. Unless they pivot on sourcing or cut expenses elsewhere, somebody has to eat those costs. and 70% of tariff-related costs will be passed on to shoppers through higher prices, Goldman Sachs assumes. Right now, consumers face an overall average effective tariff rate of 18.3%, the highest since 1934, according to the Yale Budget Lab, equivalent to an average household income loss of $2,400.
On the other hand, America’s smaller businesses are feeling newly chipper.
As of early June, more than 8 in 10 small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) were confident in their ability to remain operational two years from now, a recent PYMNTS Intelligence report found. This data point, captured in an early-June survey detailed in “Small Business Growth Monitor Q2 2025: From Headwinds to Hope on Main Street,” marks the highest share since PYMNTS Intelligence began tracking business sentiment over three years ago, in July 2022.
Even more striking: Small business confidence spiked at a time when uncertainty about the Trump administration’s flip-flop approach to global trade swelled with off-again, on-again levies and start-and-stop negotiations with major trading partners. Just four months prior in early February, before the April “Liberation Day” tariffs were announced and other “reciprocal” duties hadn’t yet emerged, nearly 1 in 5 smaller businesses were pessimistic about their survival. Almost 7% thought they might not make it.
But by early June, the picture was a lot brighter, with only 5.3% deeming survival unlikely. Even the tiniest firms, micro-SMBs with annual revenues under $150,000, are riding this new wave of optimism, with 3 in 4 indicating they are very or extremely likely to survive the next two years — a solid increase from 68% in March and February.
Confidence With Tripwires
To be sure, it’s not all puppies and rainbows.
Mid-sized businesses with annual revenues between $150,000 and $1 million saw a slight decrease in confidence in June compared to March, when the second-most recent survey was conducted. Industries like construction and utilities, along with independent retailers, are generally seeing improved financial health, while hospitality businesses are struggling the most.
But while micro SMBs pulled overall confidence up, 14% reported being worse off financially than six months ago, double the rate of high-revenue SMBs. These smallest firms are typically disproportionately affected by rising costs for imported goods or services, poor cash flow and late customer payments.
There’s more. Just over 8 in 10 small business owners who applied for a business loan or line of credit within the last year found it difficult to access affordable capital, a Goldman Sachs report said in June.
Forces at Play
The big mystery is, with the economic headwinds, why are many of America’s small businesses newly optimistic? Several factors are at play.
First, consumers. They’re not locking up their pocketbooks, at least not yet. Bureau of Economic Analysis data shows that they nudged up their spending by 0.3% in June, mostly on food, beverages, clothing and shoes, and recreational goods. That slight increase, after flat spending in May, coincided with an equal rise in disposable income. When money came in the door, people spent it, both on essential categories and discretionary items related to experiences and personal care (areas where many small businesses, like nail salons and summer camps, excel). Four in 10 SMBs reported benefiting from rising demand, the PYMNTS Intelligence report shows.
Next, business boot-strapping. The report found that larger SMBs saw gains from introducing new products and services and from efficiency-boosting technology upgrades. Meanwhile, the smallest firms were more likely to emphasize better marketing and customer outreach.
Next, competitive advantages. Andrew Clarke, the president and founder of Ground Floor Partners, a small business consulting firm in Chicago, said Thursday that some of his clients in construction, plumbing and electrical services had kept their prices higher than the competition for years because they can justify that by offering better customer service. If their costs rise due to tariffs, he said, “they just can reduce their margins” and still do well.
Then there’s Uncle Sam. In July, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” made a lucrative tax deduction enjoyed by many small businesses and self-employed individuals permanent (it was due to end on Dec. 31). It also increased the deduction starting next year and made it easier to qualify for. While that legislation came after the June survey days, small business likely already knew it was in the works, after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a permanent, expanded deduction in May, making blessing by the Republican-controlled Senate in July a slam dunk.
The deduction allows small business owners to deduct up to 20% of their “qualified,” meaning core, business income, which reduces their taxable income and thus what they owe to the Internal Revenue Service. Starting next year, they can deduct 23%.
Payment Industry Dividend
For the payments industry, the overall small business optimism is a good sign. When SMBs are ready to thrive and grow, they often invest in digital technologies: contactless payments, integrated online checkout, better point-of-sale systems and faster funding solutions. They look for partners who can offer flexible, secure and scalable payment methods. As businesses open new locations, launch eCommerce platforms or expand their service offerings, their need for seamless, cost-effective payments grows in lock step. That’s the silver lining in the tariffs cloud.
Of course, consumers will have to keep spending if small businesses are to grow their sales and merchant accounts and boost demand for their value-added services. And it’s still early in the tariffs game to see how the levies might drive down consumption. Still, the current sentiment suggests an opportunity to support these businesses, not just with payment processing, but with broader tools including analytics, financing and fraud protection.
“Small businesses are no strangers to adversity — resilience is in their DNA,” said Dave Charest, the director of small business success at Constant Contact, a digital marketing platform. “What sets them apart is their ability to stay close to their customers, adapt quickly and deliver real value.”
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Fintech
HappyRobot Raises $44 Million for AI Supply Chain Workers | PYMNTS.com

Published
11 hours agoon
September 3, 2025By
HrishiHappyRobot, an artificial intelligence startup focused on supply chain operations, raised $44 million.
The Series B funding will help the company with hiring, product development and expansion into more enterprise deployments, according to a Wednesday (Sept. 3) press release.
While the company did not share its valuation, a report by Reuters cited unnamed sources who said HappyRobot is now valued at $500 million.
A wave of venture investment into AI firms has raised concerns about possible saturation and increased competition for the companies, the report said.
HappyRobot is hoping its in-house tech and logistics expertise help separate it from general-purpose AI voice startups such as ElevenLabs, according to the report.
“Being verticalized” gives the company an advantage over more general-purpose competitors who might be “clueless about the operations and the intricacies of these industries,” said HappyRobot co-founder and CEO Pablo Palafox, per the report.
Launched 18 months ago, the company has more than 70 enterprise customers, including DHL, Ryder, Schneider and Werner, which use HappyRobot for tasks such as appointment scheduling, collections and outbound sales, according to the press release.
“The early results are clear: AI workers aren’t just cutting costs — they’re unlocking new revenue opportunities, increasing visibility and freeing teams to focus on strategic, relationship-driven work,” the release said.
HappyRobot’s AI operating system combines “real-time truth,” specialized AI workers, and an orchestrating intelligence to manage “complex, mission-critical work,” starting with supply chain and industrial-scale operations, per the release.
The goal is to help enterprises operate with speed and ongoing improvement, “while humans focus on higher-value work,” the release said
The PYMNTS Intelligence report “The Agentic Trust Gap: Enterprise CFOs Push Pause on Agentic AI” found that 15% of chief financial officers surveyed are even considering putting agentic AI to work, with most still in the early evaluation stage.
“This contrasts with the surging adoption of generative AI, which CFOs are increasingly using for tasks like content creation, customer service, coding and data analysis,” PYMNTS wrote Aug. 15. “The report shows generative AI’s deployment for product and service innovation up 21% and for spotting fraud and errors up 31% since March 2024.”
For all PYMNTS AI and B2B coverage, subscribe to the daily AI and B2B Newsletters.
Fintech
Kraken Brings Tokenized Equities to Ethereum Blockchain | PYMNTS.com

Published
1 day agoon
September 2, 2025By
Hrishi
The effort is designed to offer new opportunities to integrate tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) “across the world’s most widely adopted smart contract network,” according to a Tuesday (Sept. 2) Kraken blog post.
“Ethereum’s vibrant developer community, deep liquidity and global user base make it a natural home for the next phase of xStocks’ expansion,” the post said. “By extending Kraken’s support of xStocks to Ethereum, we’re enabling millions of Ethereum users and thousands of live applications to source the industry standard for tokenized equities liquidity.”
In the weeks ahead, eligible Kraken clients will be permitted to deposit and withdraw xStocks directly on Ethereum, which offers investors greater choice and flexibility to transfer assets between Kraken and self-custodial wallets for on-chain activity, per the post.
Kraken announced in late June that it started offering tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs on its platform for eligible non-U.S. clients, thanks to xStocks.
Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in the blog post that xStocks is a key component in Kraken’s efforts to bring traditional assets “onto trust-minimized infrastructure” while integrating public markets with the internet’s base layer.
“Our multi-chain strategy is deliberate,” he said in the post. “It ensures tokenized equities are accessible across ecosystems, portable between wallets and protocols, and composable within the applications users already trust. Ethereum is the next logical step. It is the center of gravity for smart contract innovation, on-chain liquidity and decentralized finance. By launching xStocks on Ethereum, we are making tokenized equities programmable, interoperable and continuously accessible to builders and institutions worldwide.”
PYMNTS explored the world of tokenized stocks earlier this summer following Kraken’s initial launch of xStocks and Robinhood’s tokenized stock announcement. Soon after, the news broke that JPMorgan Chase was developing a new service to tokenize carbon credits.
“While the initiatives may appear distinct, ranging from environmental credits to fractionalized equity exposure, the connective tissue is the same,” PYMNTS wrote July 3. “Moving traditional financial services onto the blockchain.”
Fintech
PYMNTS’ Summer of Big Quotes, From Tariffs to Trust Codes | PYMNTS.com

Published
2 days agoon
September 1, 2025By
Hrishi
Summer is over. Time for PYMNTS to look back on the season’s best quotes from PYMNTS Intelligence and our news and feature stories.
“They have white labeled premium products or materials for highly purchased categories like athletic wear. They also have established exclusive partnerships with athletic companies to carry products on online storefronts like Nike. This has enabled Amazon to be the easiest platform for customers to buy and return products. More and more customers are using Amazon as a one-stop search engine versus going to each of their brand’s websites individually.”
—Amrita Bhasin, CEO of reverse logistics company Sotira on Amazon’s dominance in apparel
“Over 90% of U.S. adults use debit, yet most brands don’t reward that spend. Galileo’s Co-branded Debit Card changes that. Our API-first platform simplifies the tech stack and accelerates time to market
—Derek White, CEO of Galileo, from “Rethinking Rewards With a Loyalty Platform for the Debit Generation”
“Instead of click to buy, we are moving to ‘code to buy.’ Agents are nothing more than lines of code. Making sure that code is tied to the right consumer, with clear consent parameters, is essential to building trust.”
—Trulioo CEO Vicky Bindra on his firm’s new agentic AI collaboration with Worldpay
“Strip away the digital tools (which are mostly mobile), and what you find underneath is remarkably familiar: Young people want to build credit, save money, buy things with the least amount of friction, stay healthy, go to concerts and watch movies, and connect with friends.”
—From July’s “The Gen Z Decoder Ring,” by PYMNTS Intelligence
“Obviously, 0% transactions are somewhat less profitable for us. They’re still profitable … but the interest income that comes in interest-bearing loans is obviously more profitable … the experience using Affirm is so positive, they do convert to interest-bearing users just fine, and come back to us for many other things than just ‘zeroes.’”
—Affirm CEO Max Levchin on whether consumers embracing the 0% APR offerings shift to repeat usage
“Some firms attempt to absorb the costs, reducing profitability to preserve customer loyalty. Others trim product assortments, cutting lower-margin items from shelves. A few attempt to differentiate with premium offerings that justify higher prices. Even those face resistance as those who serve the consumer find middle-income consumers cutting back. This strategy is not sustainable. Businesses cannot lose money indefinitely. At some point, they must either raise prices more aggressively or thin product selection. Both choices carry risks. Higher prices may further dampen demand. Fewer products may reduce consumer choice and weaken competitive positioning.”
—PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster on tariffs from “Tariffs. Who Really Pays.”
“This isn’t a world where you can go and say, ‘I have a North Star in mind. I’m going to take the next four years to get there,’ because in four years, the landscape will look radically different than it does today in terms of consumer behavior and consumer expectations.”
—Matt Swatzell, head of Solutions, North American Acceptance at Visa, commenting on the “Rise of the Mobile-First Shopper” series.
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