Amazon announced the availability of its Just Walk Out technology to rival merchants. Shoppers use credit cards to enter the store. Items are selected and automatically billed to the card—with no scanning, checkout (or waiting in line) required. The tech is similar to that used in Amazon Go stores. CardLinx Insight: Amazon’s new cashierless technology will face an uphill battle...

ChaseVisa announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire financial data aggregator Plaid for $5.3 billion. Plaid’s investors include Visa, MasterCard and American Express, among others. Unlike most card-linked data providers who source consumer financial data through secure APIs from banks and payment networks, Plaid relies on a consumer entering their online banking user name and password into a...