Artificial intelligence and conversational commerce are among factors driving a resurgence in SMS messaging for brands that are tapping the technology to drive loyalty and sales, writes Lindsay Rittenhouse. Melissa Collins, The Container Store chief marketing officer, says text messaging is efficient and effective, and Good Peeps CEO Shray Joshi points to overall performance that can outpace social media and the value in "99% open rate and insane click-through rates." Full Story: Ad Age (tiered subscription model) (7/24)
Social platforms jockey for top spot amid declining users At least one social media account is held by 82% of global internet users and market saturation will continue driving down the rate of new sign-ups into single digits for platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, with most gains coming from Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, predicts eMarketer. Snapchat will overtake TikTok this year with the most new users, while Twitter's losses continue to increase from 2.7% in 2023 to 4.9% in 2025. Full Story: O'Dwyer's (7/21)
How much will businesses pay for Fed's instant payments? Businesses' adoption of instant payment service FedNow, which the government rolled out last week, will hinge on its price, as well as how it handles fraud and liability, financial adviser Adam Shapiro says. Banks determine how much to charge businesses for the payments, adds Shapiro, noting that the Federal Reserve charges banks about 4 cents per FedNow payment compared with half a cent for each ACH payment. Full Story: TechCrunch (tiered subscription model) (7/23)
Fair & Equitable Housing
Advocates: Homelessness increasing due to rising rents Advocates argue that the rising cost of rent is the main factor behind increasing homelessness and not addiction, mental health conditions and disability. "For 75 years, the long-term trend has been that the cost of modest rental housing has been going up faster than modest income," said Steve Berg of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Full Story: MarketWatch (tiered subscription model) (7/24)
Legislation & Regulation
Jump in home prices complicates Fed's inflation policy Home prices are increasing following a brief decline in 2022, creating a challenge to the Federal Reserve's efforts to contain inflation and leading to concerns over whether interest rates will need additional increases. Despite a rapid rise in borrowing costs, demand for homes continues to outpace supply. Full Story: BNN Bloomberg (Canada) (7/24)
Regulators urge banks to be flexible on CRE defaults U.S. regulators have provided banks a roadmap for how to handle a potential surge of commercial real-estate loan defaults. Regulators have urged banks to be flexible with borrowers and outlined ways they can alter loan terms without taking a loss. Full Story: The Wall Street Journal (7/24)
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