|
OCTOBER 13, 2026 |
|
Which approach uses AI-created capacity to reduce costs, potentially through lower staffing levels? |
|
A) Capacity expansion B) Capacity extraction C) Capacity reinvestment D) Capacity acceleration |
|
|
|
|
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up
here. | | | |
|
CREDIT CARDS |
|
|
|
US consumers are spending big on Halloween, with more than half (54%) of shoppers planning to spend $200 or more, despite 63% of respondents claiming they felt more price-sensitive about Halloween costs than last year, per a CIT Bank survey conducted by Researchscape International. |
-
38% of Americans plan to spend $300 or more.
-
While the average budget was $210 nationally, millennials’ average budget hit $270 and Gen Zers averaged $308. |
|
And yet, spending is up. Total card spending per household rose 0.9% MoM and 4.5% YoY in August, per The Bank of America Institute. Discretionary spending accounted for the bulk of this growth. |
|
| | | |
|
HOLIDAY TRENDS |
|
|
|
Early holiday spending is looking robust compared with last year. This year’s September card spend per household on holiday items was the strongest in four years, per a report from Bank of America Institute. |
|
Consumers are also leaning into installments for holiday shopping. |
-
8.3% of Bank of America households had a BNPL payment in September, up from August.
-
And almost 20% of households using BNPL had repayments over $500. |
|
Early breakout trends by household income show how consumers are navigating holiday shopping with BNPL. |
|
| | | |
|
POINT OF SALE |
|
|
|
Toast introduced an AI labor-management tool and expanded its AI-powered marketing solution for restaurant and retail owners, per a press release. |
-
Toast IQ Team helps owners manage staffing around high-demand periods; schedule employees based on availability, sales data, and overtime risk; and gamify team performance with menu-item contests.
-
Updates to Toast’s marketing tool include an SEO agent that reviews business discoverability, a Reviews Agent that prompts customers to contribute feedback about their experiences, and Offers and Marketing Agents that win clients through personalized email, social, and SMS services. |
|
| | | |
|
REPORT |
|
|
|
AI is reshaping banking from product discovery through financial action. As genAI and AI agents gain influence over customer decisions, banks must balance greater convenience and autonomy with trust, customer control, and a changing role in the financial journey. |
|
Key Question: How can banks capitalize on AI as it reshapes product discovery, customer interaction, financial guidance, execution, and the interfaces through which consumers manage their financial lives? |
|
Key Stat: Fully 58% of the US banking customers who use genAI have used it to research banking products, rising to 65% among Gen Zers, per May 2026 data from Deloitte. That’s giving AI a growing role in which financial products consumers consider. |
|
| |
(EMARKETER subscription required to read the full report) | | | |
|
CHART OF THE WEEK |
|
|
|
Key stat: OnePay leads Gen Z online bank/fintech customer satisfaction with a score of 757 out of 1,000, a meaningful 49-point gap over second-place SoFi (708) per JD Power. | | | |
|
|
|
Email sent to: |
|
If you cannot view the HTML newsletter, . |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
©2026 EMARKETER, 685 Third Avenue 21st Floor, New York, NY 10017 |
|
|
| | | |
