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Digital wallets have fast become part of daily life. By 2027, theyre expected to account for half of all retail salesaround $25 trillion worldwide. Its easy to see why. Paying with a digital wallet is easy, secure, and requires nothing more than a phone. But theres potential for wallets to do so much more, beyond payments.
Digital wallets started as payment tools. Now, they’re becoming platforms for everything: verifying identity, storing loyalty cards, presenting boarding passes and rail tickets, accessing insurance documents, and roadside assistance memberships. This isnt just convenienceits intelligence in your pocket. In China, super apps like WeChat let people manage investments, book rideshares, order food, schedule medical appointments, access government services, and engage with social networks. Its meeting a growing demand for more personalized digital experiences.
Its me, always
Identity is no longer a card in your walletit is your wallet. As governments around the world implement digital passports and drivers licenses, they will be held in digital wallets. In Belgium, more than 80% of those over 16 use itsme for secure identification, digital transactions, and electronic signatures, with millions of actions performed daily.
Another examplethe EU Digital Identity Walletis expected to launch for all EU citizens, residents, and businesses by 2026. It will store users documentation so they can securely access public and private online services across member states. Given its focus on cross-border interactions, the EU program could be a precursor to a standardized global ID framework.
A wealth of management
Today, innovative companies are developing wallets into financial hubs that manage investments, loans, and cryptocurrencies. Revolut, for example, started as a currency exchange wallet and expanded into banking, trading, insurance, and wealth management. This year, the company plans to introduce one-day mortgage approvals and AI-powered assistants that provide personalized financial insights and recommendations.
The convergence of AI, blockchain, and fintech is pushing wallets boundaries. Apps such as Trim, for example, function as AI-driven financial assistants that help users negotiate bills, cancel unwanted subscriptions, and automate savings. Argent, an Ethereum-based smart contract wallet, allows users to securely store, manage, and invest in cryptocurrencies.
Think: less banking app, more autonomous CFO. In a few years, wallets could be semi-autonomous financial agents that analyze a users real-time cash flow, optimize investments, and negotiate loan rates with minimal human input. They may execute smart contracts for renting homes, leasing vehicles, or securing gig work, eliminating the need for traditional intermediaries. With integrated finance capabilities enabled by open banking, they could lend, borrow, and trade assets, adapting to market conditions as they change.
Just A Rather Very Intelligent System
Consider the number of apps we have on our phones, and the amount of time we spend logging in to various platforms and hopping between tasks. Imagine the digital wallet as a personal assistant that steps in for ushelping to manage shopping, banking, healthcare, and prescriptions, for example, or scheduling travel and rebooking flights when delays occur. It might not be JARVIS the AI butler from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but certainly it is a useful and intelligent assistant.
These assistants could make decisions on your behalf via agentic AI models. They have the potential to automatically calculate tax returns, pay utility bills, switch providers, order groceries based on household consumption patterns, share medical histories with healthcare professionals, and recommend spontaneous trips based on weather and work schedules. Imagine your wallet negotiating a mortgage rate at 3 a.m. while you sleep.
Know your agent
Considering the level of agency we may grant to these assistants, it is essential to ensure that they are secure and transparent. A statistic from the World Economic Forum suggests that only a minority of organizations currently have a process in place to assess the security of AI tools before deploying them. Know your agent protocols are in the ascendant, and rightly so. Regulatory and governance frameworks must enforce standards and require that AI models are auditable and free from bias. Solution developers must prioritize user controlenabling individuals to set privacy preferences, verify AI-driven decisions, and override automated actions.
In the future, the smartest thing in your pocket might not be your phoneitll be the agent inside it. This is emerging territory, so businesses and governments should work together to develop open, secure, and ethical innovations. If done right, the digital wallet wont just carry your moneyit will carry your life. And itll do it with your permission, your priorities, and your protection in mind.
Ken Moore is the chief innovation officer at Mastercard.
One of the worst parts about flying might just be, well, fellow passengers. In fact, a 2023 Fast Company-Harris poll even found that 62% of airline customers are most dissatisfied with other travelers.
Now, that might just be backed up by the new 2025 North America Airline Satisfaction Study from J.D. Power. The study noted that the volume of fliers has decreased in the first quarter of 2025. But surprisingly, customer satisfaction is slightly up compared to last year, which potentially means that people think overcrowding is one of the worst elements of air travel.
The study is based on feedback from 10,224 passengers, all of whom had flown on one of the major airlines within a month of completing the survey. Since the study was conducted from March 2024 through March 2025, its worth noting that the responses were collected before President Trump announced sweeping tariffs that caused airline stocks to fall as the U.S. Consumer Expectations Index reached its lowest level in 12 years. Even still, they reflect a reduction in consumer travel thats likely a result of overall market uncertainty.
The study based satisfaction scores on seven different elements of travel, and broke down passenger responses into three segments by seating class, including first/business, premium economy, and economy/basic economy.
On the studys 1,000-point scale, consumers reported a six point overall uptick in satisfaction compared to the prior yeara number that was largely influenced by the 8-point increase in passengers flying in the economy and basic economy classes. (Satisfaction for customers in premium economy experienced a 7-point decline, and first class passengers reported a 1-point decline.)
All of the passengers were asked to rank their experiences across seven categories: airline staff; digital tools; ease of travel; level of trust; on-board experience; pre/post-flight experience; and value for price paid. While the bump in satisfaction could be partially due to the general decrease in ticket prices as airlines scramble to entice passengers, customers also reported positive experiences with airline staff.
Overall rankings show JetBlue Airways ranking the highest for first/business class satisfaction, followed by Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines. Delta won the customer satisfaction survey in the premium economy segment for the third year in a row, followed by JetBlue and Alaska. For the fourth year in a row, Southwest Airlines took home the win for the economy/basic economy segments, followed by JetBlue and Delta.
As airlines face a challenging year for the travel industry, it will be interesting to see if and how they manage to prioritize consumer satisfaction in the face of economic challenges.
At a time of skyrocketing costs in the U.S., looming tariffs, and fears of a recession, New Yorkers are finally getting some good news: This year more than 8 million people in the Empire State will receive a sort of stimulus check, or officially, an “inflation refund check,” according to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The refunds come as Americans continue to battle high inflation, which is driving up prices on everything from housing to groceries, and stems from the global COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. While inflation has steadily decreased from its 2022 high of 9.1%, prices have not readjusted to levels before the pandemic, according to Newsweek.
Last week, Hochul said: “While inflation has driven prices higher . . . it has also driven sharp increases in the state’s collection of sales tax” that “belongs to hardworking New York families and should be returned to their pockets as an inflation refund.”
The checks add up to about $2 billion and are allocated as part of the state’s 2026 fiscal budget. It’s the first time the state has issued this type of refund check.
Here’s what you need to know.
Am I eligible for a New York inflation refund?
The inflation refunds are going out to more than 8 million people living in New York state who are part of households that fall under set income limits.
For couples or families that file joint taxes, households earning up to $300,000 a year are eligible for the refunds.
For individuals who file solo taxes, those earning up to $150,000 are eligible.
How much can I expect to receive if live in New York?
Couples or families that file joint taxes and earn up to $150,000 will receive a $400 check, while joint tax filers earning more than $150,000 and up to $300,000 will get a $300 refund.
Individuals who file solo taxes of up to $75,000 will get a $200 refund; those who earn more than $75,000 and up to $150,000 will receive a $150 check.
What’s the timeline for the inflation refunds?
There’s no clear timeline yet for when the inflation refunds will be sent out, although Hochul has said New York residents can expect the refunds this year.
What if I have kids? Is there an additional tax credit?
In addition to that refund, the governor announced she will be expanding New Yorks child tax credit “for middle-class New Yorkers,” giving 1.6 million New York families an annual tax credit of up to $1,000 per child under the age of four, and up to $500 per child ages 4 through 16.
The expansion of New Yorks child tax credit will benefit approximately 2.75 million children statewide, and will double the size of the average credit going out to families from $472 to $943.
One day after WeightWatchers said that it would file for bankruptcy, weight-loss drug giant Novo Nordisks outlook is brightening.
Novo Nordisk, the Danish company that produces the semaglutide drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, saw its shares rise more than 7% Wednesday, in spite of recent headwinds from widely available copycat versions of its signature weight-loss drugs.
Following its quarterly earnings report, shares of the company rose to $71.53 before leveling off and settling around $67.70, in spite of lowered expectations for the year.
Novo Nordisk lowered its sales growth forecast for 2025, now expecting growth between 13% and 21%, down from the 16% to 24% it projected back in February. The company blamed the dip on slower-than-expected uptake of its branded glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs, largely due to competition from compounding pharmacies, which had been filling the gap as demand for weight-loss meds like Wegovy outpaced supply.
FDA crackdown signals end of GLP-1 copycats
But that pressure is expected to ease. The Food and Drug Administration recently declared the shortage over and has officially banned large-scale compounding of GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide. With those off-brand versions now illegal in the U.S., Novo Nordisk and its investors are optimistic sales will rebound in the coming months.
The agency has given large compounding pharmacies in the U.S. until May 22 to wind down production of those drugs or face potential enforcement actions. Late last month, a U.S. judge rejected a legal challenge from an industry group representing compounding pharmacies that could have allowed continued production of GLP-1 copycat drugs to continue.
While their products can be cheaper for consumers, drugs produced in compounding pharmacies face less regulatory scrutiny than their name-brand counterparts. The FDA acknowledges that while compounded drugs are a lawful option that alleviates supply problems, they may not meet the same quality and safety standards.
WeightWatchers collapses under pressure
The future is decidedly less sunny for longtime weight-loss industry stalwart WeightWatchers, which announced that it would pursue Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. The company has struggled to reinvent itself in the era of widely available weight-loss drugs, even as it embraced their rise by pivoting to sell compounded semaglutide through its own online pharmacy.
WeightWatchers may be down, but the company insists that it isnt out. WeightWatchers insists that it will continue to operate normally in spite of its bankruptcy plans, which it described as transformational in a press release. There will be no impact to members or the plans they rely on to support their weight management goals, the company said.
After the process is complete, a new investor group will wield 91% of the company and the remaining chunk of stock will be held by existing shareholders.
The decisive actions were taking today, with the overwhelming support of our lenders and noteholders, will give us the flexibility to accelerate innovation, reinvest in our members, and lead with authority in a rapidly evolving weight management landscape, WeightWatchers CEO Tara Comonte said.
As the conversation around weight shifts toward long-term health, our commitment to delivering the most trusted, science-backed, and holistic solutionsgrounded in community support and lasting resultshas never been stronger, or more important, she added.
A new generation of GLP-1 drugs promising fast results continues to rock the weight-loss industry, which has emphasized dieting and other slow behavioral changes for decades. Whether WeightWatchers can weather the storm remains to be seen, but complete transformation might be the only option if the 60-year-old company plans to make it in the Wegovy era.
Apple is considering reworking its Safari web browser across its devices to place a greater emphasis on AI-powered search engines, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
The disclosure came from Eddy Cue, Apples senior vice president of services, during his testimony Wednesday in the Department of Justices lawsuit against Alphabet. Cue was speaking about the two companies $20 billion-a-year deal that makes Google the default search engine on Apples browsers.
The Apple executive said he expects AI search providerslike OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexityto eventually replace standard sources like Google. Apple has already seen a decline in Safari searches for the first time last month, which Cue attributed to the growing use of AI. Still, he added, its too early for these platforms to become the default.
Currently, Apple and Alphabet have a lucrative agreement that allows Apple usersacross more than 2 billion active devicesto perform searches through Google. Initially, Apple agreed to use Google in its Safari browser for free. Eventually, the two companies agreed to share revenue generated from search advertising. A shift away from Google and the entry of multiple competitors into the space could jeopardize that profitable arrangement, which contributes significantly to Apples revenue.
Theres enough money now, enough large players, that I dont see how it doesnt happen, Cue said about the switch from standard internet search to AI, according to Bloomberg.
The Walt Disney Company’s stock price soared on Wednesday, up by 10% at the time of publishing, as the company surpassed earnings expectations and unveiled its first new theme park development in 15 years.
Following Disney’s second quarter earnings report, the entertainment giant announced an agreement to build a new resort and theme park in Yas Island, United Arab Emirates.
“As our seventh theme park destination, it will rise from this land in spectacular fashion, blending contemporary architecture with cutting edge technology to offer guests deeply immersive entertainment experiences in unique and modern ways,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.
While no opening date or project timeline has been released yet, the Abu Dhabibased experiences company Miral Group is set to develop and build the new shoreline resort, with Disney imagineers leading operational oversight and creative design.
Our resort in Abu Dhabi will be the most advanced and interactive destination in our portfolio,” said chairman of Disney Experiences Josh DAmaro.
Prior to the theme park announcement, Disney also released its favorable second quarter earning report, recognizing “that uncertainty remains regarding the operating environment for the balance of the fiscal year,” the company said in the report.
Disney reported a 7% increase in revenues this quarter in comparison to the same period last year, increasing to $23.6 billion. Notably, Disney’s entertainment saw significant growth, with a 2.5 million subscription growth for Disney+ and Hulu from this years first fiscal quarter.
“We have a lot more to look forward to, including our upcoming theatrical slate, the launch of ESPNs new DTC offering, and an unprecedented number of expansion projects underway in our Experiences segment,” Iger said in the report. “We remain optimistic about the direction of the company and our outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year.”
House Republicans have added a provision to their sweeping tax cut package that would authorize the sale of thousands of acres of public lands in Nevada and Utah, prompting outrage from Democrats and environmental groups who called the plan a betrayal that could lead to increased drilling, mining and logging in the West.
Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee adopted the land sales proposal early Wednesday morning. The initial draft had not included it amid bipartisan opposition.
The land sale provision put forward by Republican Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada and Celeste Maloy of Utah would sell thousands of acres of public lands in the two states, and calls for some of the parcels to be considered for affordable housing projects. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., called the plan deeply irresponsible.
Public lands shouldnt have a price tag on them. But [President] Donald Trump and his allies in Congress are working like mad to hand over our public lands to billionaires and corporate polluters to drill, mine, and log with the bare minimum oversight or accountability,” said Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Clubs Lands Protection Program. The lands potentially for sale belong to all Americans. They shouldnt be given away to pad corporate bottom lines,” Manuel said.
The sales were approved as the Natural Resources Committee voted 26-17 to advance legislation that would allow increased leasing of public lands for drilling, mining, and logging while clearing the path for more development by speeding up government approvals. Royalty rates paid by companies to extract oil, gas, and coal would be cut, reversing former Democratic President Joe Bidens attempts to curb fossil fuels to help address climate change.
The measure is part of Trumps big bill of tax breaks, spending cuts, and beefed-up funding to halt migrants. House Speaker Mike Johnson has set a goal of passing the package out of his chamber by Memorial Day. All told, 11 different House committees are crafting portions of the bill.
Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, a Republican and former interior secretary in the first Trump administration, had said before the vote that he was drawing a red line on public land sales.
“It’s a no now. It will be a no later. It will be a no forever,” said Zinke, whose state includes large parcels of federally owned lands.
Zinke and Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-New Mexico, are set to lead a new bipartisan Public Lands Caucus intended to protect and expand access to Americas public lands. The caucus was set to launch on Wednesday, hours after the resources panel vote.
Oil and gas royalty rates would drop from 16.7% on public lands and 18.75% offshore to a uniform 12.5% under the committee-passed bill, which still faces a vote in the full House and Senate once it is incorporated into the final legislative package. Royalties for coal would drop from 12.5% to 7%.
The measure calls for four oil and gas lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge over the next decade. It also seeks to boost the ailing coal industry with a mandate to make available for leasing 6,250 square miles of public landsan area greater in size than Connecticut.
Republican supporters say the lost revenue would be offset by increased development. Its uncertain if companies would have an appetite for leases, given the industrys precipitous decline in recent years as utilities switched to cleaner burning fuels and renewable energy.
Drew McConville, a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress, denounced the committee vote.
The Trump tax bill was already a massive and historic sellout of U.S. lands and waters to corporate interests. This dark-of-night maneuver shows how shamelessly focused congressional Republicans are on sacrificing public benefits to pay for Trumps reckless tax cuts. If this bill passes, the losses to Americas great outdoor legacy will be felt for generations, McConville said in a statement.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner in March proposed using underutilized federal land for affordable housing. Turner said some 7 million homes are needed. Officials under Biden also sought to use public lands for affordable housing, although on a smaller scale.
The agencies have not yet released more details of the proposal.
Matthew Daly and Matthew Brown, Associated Press
The vertical video feed is coming to the Netflix app.
The streaming service announced Tuesday that in the coming weeks it will pilot the new feature, which it will populate with short-form clips of movies and shows tailored to the end-user’s viewing habits. Netflix users will be able to swipe through the feed to watch, save, or share content with friends, just like Tiktok. Yep the user interface that took over social media is making its way into streamingbut most importantly for Netflix, it’s a play for improving its own content discovery engine.
“We know that swiping through a vertical feed on social media apps is an easy way to browse video content, and we also know that our members love to browse our clips and trailers to find their next obsession, so in the coming weeks well be testing a vertical feed filled with clips of Netflix shows and movies to make discovery easy and fun,” Netflix’s chief product officer Eunice Kim said during a virtual presentation.
[Image: Netflix]
During this mobile-only test, the vertical video feed won’t be available to every single member, Netflix tells Fast Company, but those who get it will see recommendations personalized to them, with feature clips from their top picks for you. Netflix previously tried vertical-video feeds in 2021 with two themed apps, Fast Laughs for comedy clips and Kids Clips for clips from its children’s programming, but it’s forthcoming in-app pilot expands on that concept across the streamer’s library.
The announcement was one of a number of design changes Netflix announced Tuesday, including a new My Netflix tab with listed content, reminders for upcoming shows, and a continue watching feed, as well as a homepage designed to show more information at a glance, including callouts like “New Episode,” “Recently Added,” “Oscar Winner,” and “We think you’ll love this” that appear with their own emoji-style icons next to shows. The company is also considering expanding into video podcasts. But it’s the vertical video feed that seems aimed at killing two birds with one stone.
[Image: Netflix]
Netflix head of design Steve Johnson told Fast Company last year that the two things that keep him up at night are discovery and competition for viewing time from a generation that spends a majority of its viewing hours on mobile devices. By piloting its own short-form, vertical video feed, Netflix is trying to both improve discovery and carve out more viewing time on its app with a swiping experience borrowed from social media. Already, TikTok’s social media competitors like Instagram have made design changes that mirror its vertical video layout, and that trend is now creeping into other app categories. (Tubi launched its own TikTok-ified discovery format, called “Scenes,” last fall.)
As TikTok became more popular, full-length, professionally shot shows had to compete with more and more short-form video content, and even with amateur, recorded snippets of their own IP popping up in social feeds.
Now, Netflix is trying to meet viewers where they are, with a few potential benefits. By offering viewers shareable clips of its own shows, Netflix has a say in how its content appears on other platforms, while still taking advantage of the soft marketing of user-generated fandom.
And if cutting up its shows into bite-size videos and organizing them in a format familiar to social media natives provides Netflix a better discovery funnel for new shows, the format could soon find other closed platform imitators.
CrowdStrike reiterated its fiscal 2026 first quarter and annual forecasts on Wednesday and announced a plan to cut about 500 roles, roughly 5% of its workforce, to streamline operations and reduce costs.
The cybersecurity company will incur about $36 million to $53 million in charges related to the layoffs, of which about $7 million will be recognized in the first quarter ended April 30, it said in a regulatory filing.
Austin, Texas-based CrowdStrike said the rest of the charges will be seen in the second quarter. The charges primarily consist of future cash expenditure related to severance payments, employee benefits, and related costs.
The company’s shares were down nearly 4% in morning trading.
CrowdStrike had 10,118 full-time employees as of January 31, according to its annual report.
“While we will continue to prudently hire, primarily in customer-facing and product engineering roles, we are reducing roles in some areas of the business,” CEO George Kurtz said in a note to the company’s employees.
Cybersecurity remains a priority for businesses and governments at a time when high-profile hacking incidents have hit companies such as Microsoft, UnitedHealth Group and Walt Disney.
Analysts have said CrowdStrike’s prompt handling of the Windows outage last year, which disrupted internet services globally, helped the company maintain customer trust.
CrowdStrike reiterated its full-year 2026 revenue forecast to be between $4.74 billion and $4.81 billion and reaffirmed its annual adjusted profit-per-share estimate of $3.33 to $3.45.
The company’s forecast for first-quarter revenue was between $1.10 billion and $1.11 billion.
“This will likely spark debate on if this announcement is coming from a place of weakness or strengthto which we broadly believe it is the latter,” multinational financial services company Piper Sandler said in a note.
CrowdStrike will release financial results for its first quarter on June 3.
Jaspreet Singh, Reuters
The latest TikTok trend is leading to fire evacuations at schools across Connecticut.
As part of the trend, students are filming themselves inserting items such as pencils, paper clips, and pushpins into the charging ports of their school Chromebooks to set them on fire. Why? For a laugh and a brief break from schoolwork.
One such tutorial gained 1.5 million views on TikTok before being removed, showing a student pushing a lead pencil into the back left corner of the port. You might have to wiggle it a bit, the user explained.
Another student tried to film a how-to video last week, managing to cause a laptop fire and triggering an evacuation at Newington High School, as reported by WDBJ7. Since Monday, both Derby High School and Cromwell High School have experienced similar incidents.
On Thursday, I was alerted by both my director of security and high school principal that we had a Chromebook that was smoking, Maureen Brummett, superintendent of Newington Public Schools, told NBC Connecticut.
She further explained that after an investigation, it was clear that the damage to the laptop was “done intentionally” rather than being a result of a malfunction, and that students would be held accountable for replacing the school equipment.
Chromebooks are expensive and theyre going up in price, so when a student does intentionally destroy a Chromebook, its their responsibility to replace it. We have an insurance program, but its not covering intentional damage, she added.
DJ Zordon, a Newington fire marshal, described arriving at the scene to find a room filled with smoke. We did see video from students . . . and thats one of the biggest things. The batteries that are essentially catching on fire, once they burn, theyre producing this toxic smoke, Zordon told NBC Connecticut.
For those thinking about participating in the trend, the consequences go beyond just a damaged Chromebook. The school has to be evacuated, firefighters respond to the firehouse and subsequently to the scene, and it takes resources away from any other emergencies that might be happening at that time,” Zordon added.
While no injuries have been reported, when batteries like those in laptops catch fire, there is a risk of explosion, which could lead to burns or injury from flying shrapnel. Investigations are ongoing across the schools, and warnings have been issued to students and their families.
Maybe this is one trend to skip.
