The Green Sheet Online Edition
December 22, 2025 • 25:12:02
News Briefs
Holiday weekend sets shopping records <- click to read full story
Consumers shopped and spent in record numbers during the five-day holiday weekend from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday 2025, according to the NRF, Prosper Insights & Analytics, Mastercard, Salesforce and Adobe. A record 202.9 million consumers shopped, exceeding last year's 197 million. Online shopping led with 134.9 million consumers, while in-store shopping reached 129.5 million.
Black Friday was the busiest day overall, followed by strong gains through the weekend and a surge on Cyber Monday. Nearly all shoppers surveyed made holiday purchases, spending an average $337.86, the highest level since 2019. About two-thirds of spending went toward gifts, with clothing, toys and books among top categories.
Retail sales excluding autos rose 4.1 percent year over year on Black Friday, with apparel and restaurants among top performers. Online sales posted solid growth, with Cyber Monday spending hitting $14.25 billion. Mobile devices dominated online shopping, while digital wallets, social media and AI-driven shopping tools boosted traffic, conversions and sales growth.
Small business credit card satisfaction surges <- click to read full story
Satisfaction with small business credit cards rose sharply in 2025, driven largely by financially vulnerable businesses, according to the J.D. Power U.S. Small Business Credit Card Satisfaction Study. Overall satisfaction increased to 716 on a 1,000-point scale, up from 708 last year, with the biggest gains tied to card terms, benefits and rewards programs.
Financially vulnerable businesses reported the highest satisfaction, particularly when cards offered features that support cash flow, such as rewards, payment plans, balance transfers and discounts. However, many small businesses strongly dislike surcharges: 28 percent avoid using credit cards when surcharges apply, instead turning to cash or BNPL options. Card favorability drops by 40 percent or more under surcharge conditions.
Credit cards remain the dominant payment method, used by 89 percent of small businesses, followed by digital wallets, cash and debit cards. BNPL usage rose to 17 percent. American Express ranked highest in satisfaction for the fifth straight year.
Beyond passkeys, FIDO Alliance eyes password-free ID future <- click to read full story
The FIDO Alliance is expanding its mission beyond passwordless authentication to tackle digital identity. In December 2025, FIDO launched a Digital Credentials Working Group to address fragmentation across identity wallets, credential issuers and relying parties. The initiative applies the same collaborative standards-based approach that drove adoption of passkeys to digital credentials such as government-issued IDs, mobile driver's licenses, and credentials tied to payments or loyalty programs.
Despite growing momentum—such as the EU's Digital Identity Wallet program and widespread issuance of mobile driver's licenses in the U.S.—adoption has been slowed by inconsistent technical, security and privacy frameworks. To close these gaps, FIDO outlined three workstreams: wallet certification to ensure baseline security and interoperability; complementary specifications that build on existing standards from groups like ISO, OpenID and W3C; and usability and relying-party enablement to reduce implementation friction.
Industry groups including OpenID, W3C, EMVCo and the OpenWallet Foundation, welcomed the effort.
States raise questions about BNPL <- click to read full story
A coalition of attorneys general from seven states is scrutinizing the buy now, pay later (BNPL) market, raising concerns about consumer protections, fees and rising debt. Led by North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, the group sent a joint letter to the six largest BNPL providers—Affirm, Klarna, PayPal, Sezzle, Zip and Afterpay—seeking detailed information about their products and practices.
The attorneys general warned that BNPL loans, while often marketed as simple and interest-free, may expose consumers to surprise fees, weak dispute resolution and inadequate assessments of borrowers' ability to repay. Citing Federal Reserve findings, they noted that nearly one in four BNPL users has recently fallen behind on payments.
BNPL usage has surged, with consumers spending $10.1 billion through these plans between Nov. 1 and Dec. 1, 2025, a 9 percent year-over-year increase, according to Adobe Analytics. State officials worry that economic pressures and limited underwriting may push consumers into mounting debt.
Hotels must get AI-ready soon, or risk falling behind, Mews warns <- click to read full story
Hotels face a narrowing window to prepare for an AI-driven future, according to Mews' 2026 hospitality outlook report, which calls the coming year a pivotal moment for transformation. The report predicts that by 2035, most hotel discovery and booking will happen through AI-led conversations, routine guest requests will be handled by autonomous agents, and at least half of back-office work will be automated—while human staff focus on emotional, high-impact interactions.
Based on input from 18 cross-industry experts, the study warns that hotels failing to make their systems and data AI-readable risk becoming invisible in conversational search and agent-mediated booking channels. Visibility will depend less on advertising spend and more on structured data, consistent content and open integrations.
The report also highlights a looming battle between online travel agencies and direct bookings, with connectivity and content quality determining who controls the guest relationship. To act, Mews recommends a four-step checklist: assess tech stacks, centralize accurate content, launch small supervised AI pilots, and establish strong governance and training.
Fed considers changes to check services <- click to read full story
The Federal Reserve is weighing whether to reduce the scope of check services it provides, reflecting the continued decline in check usage and rising concerns about cost and fraud. The Fed voted to seek public input on potential changes, noting that interbank check volume fell to fewer than 3 billion in 2024, down sharply from 16 billion in 2018.
The move aligns with broader federal efforts to phase out paper checks. Beginning Sept. 30, 2025, the Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service will stop issuing most paper checks, citing higher fraud risk and delays compared with electronic payments. Today, most Fed check processing involves electronic images from remote deposit capture rather than paper handling.
Fed staff said Reserve Banks would need to make substantial investments to maintain current service levels and asked whether those investments are justified. The vote to issue a request for information was not unanimous. Vice Chair Michelle Bowman dissented, arguing that although checks represent only 5 percent of non-cash transactions, they account for 21 percent of transaction value and remain important to the payment system. 
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