Visa and Mastercard reached a new settlement with merchants to lower fees in the US this November—another attempt to end a roughly 20-year fight in the courts, per SEC filings. The modest interchange reductions and new ability to steer customers away from higher-fee cards offer meaningful cost relief for small and midsize retailers that consumers may be more willing to support by using another card. However, those concessions are unlikely to move the needle for large national chains. They don’t materially change their economics, nor do they address the fundamental issue that networks and issuers still hold most of the pricing power.

Walmart wants discretion to refuse cards based on their issuer at the point-of-sale, per an objection filed in response to the proposed settlement to end the decadeslong interchange fee legal battle. While new types of fee agreements with banks remain entirely speculative at this point, it’s unclear whether a patchwork quilt of deals with issuers would benefit Walmart. Discontinuing acceptance of certain issuers at the POS will likely cause just as much friction for consumers as the purportedly “useless” changes to the honor all cards rule, especially if Walmart stands alone in its issuer blacklist.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss our “very specific but highly unlikely” predictions for 2026: sports team sponsorships pushing the envelope, the ceiling for TikTok Shop, and a budding relationship between creators and retail media networks. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Senior Analyst Ross Benes, Senior Forecasting Analyst Oscar Orozco, and Principal Analyst Max Willens. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

On today’s podcast, we will cover a few of the takes from our Top Trends to Watch in 2026 report. Our analysts (or bakers) will compete in a Great British Bake Off style episode discussing if the micro-drama craze will mint a new generation of creators with dual support from social networks and entertainment studios, and why AI’s content takeover will shake consumer trust in the internet. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Analyst Jacob Bourne and Principal Analyst Max Willens. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

LinkedIn released a report on the trends shaping small businesses in 2026, proving that technology, trust, and relationship building will be the pillars of success for small businesses in the years ahead. Despite the unique roadblocks small businesses face amid current macroeconomic conditions, success is possible for those who stay on top of emerging technologies, invest in their digital presence, and build professional relationships.

Capital One will issue T-Mobile’s first credit card, according to Bloomberg—but it won’t run on Capital One’s recently acquired Discover network. Whether T-Mobile snubbed Discover or Capital One wasn’t ready to integrate its credit card products with the newly acquired network, the optics of running a new card on Visa aren’t great. But Visa and Mastercard shouldn’t exactly call this a win. While Discover's total volume is still an order of magnitude lower than that of Mastercard or Visa, incremental gains will lead to real lost volume opportunities for the duopoly.

On this special edition podcast, we explore how top brands master commerce media—choosing the right networks, weaving in existing channels, and optimizing for maximum impact. EMARKETER’s Sarah Marzano hosts InfoSum’s Senior Vice President, Sales, North America, Marc Cestaro and Kettle & Fire’s Senior Director, Media and Omnichannel, Niccolò Gloazzo in this live panel from EMARKETER’s May 9th virtual summit, Commerce Media Trends 2025. Listen everywhere you find podcasts, or watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Tariffs threaten innovation’s pace: Prolonged trade wars could hike smartphone prices and delay new tech rollouts, making midrange devices a safer, more strategic choice for buyers and brands. Read online

DirecTV wants a piece of the post-Venu streaming world: The pay TV provider is repositioning itself, but pricing could be a hurdle.

CNBC+ is the latest attempt to bring news networks into streaming: The streaming service will launch in early 2025 as Comcast prepares to separate linear, digital assets.

Commerce media is becoming more competitive as retailers and non-retailers continue to build out their networks and advertisers prioritize measurement for proven results. Looking ahead to 2025, cross-industry partnerships will grow and in-store media will enable retailers to merge online behaviors with in-person shopping.

While travel media networks aren’t new—Marriott has had one for years—the burgeoning commerce media landscape is ripe for travel and hospitality brands to secure their share of ad dollars.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the differences between commerce media networks and retail media networks, how financial services and payment companies are leveraging media networks, who has been successful in the space so far, and who we expect to launch a media network in the next year. Listen to the conversation with our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sarah Marzano and Maria Elm.

Retail media has matured greatly since our 5 retail media networks (RMNs) worth watching. That evolution has come from growth in spend (we forecast US omnichannel retail media ad spend growth at 26.0% this year, with larger increases in off-site and connected TV), in-store innovations, and new entrants from other non-retailers.

Consumers are more ready for shoppable TV than ever. “The opportunity around shoppable TV is changing due to significant advancements in technology and shifts in consumer behavior,” said David Cohen, CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), in its recent Retail Media Goes to the Movies report.

Cost, lack of third-party verification, limited on-site ad space, and limited activation options are some of the top challenges brands and advertisers in the US, France, Germany, and the UK face when using retail media networks (RMNs), according to an August 2023 DoubleVerify study.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss the most important retail trends we're watching in 2024: How retailers will try to compete less with Amazon online, how China's influence will shake up online shopping in the US, and buying retail media networks. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and analysts Sky Canaves and Blake Droesch.

On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss how purchase data can inform campaigns, the importance of real-time information, and what retail media networks are missing. Then, for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the most exciting retail media tech advances happening right now. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analyst Arielle Feger and Damian Garbaccio, chief business and marketing officer at Affinity Solutions.

The payments industry has used its marketing budgets to reap the rewards of a strong market for credit card acquisitions. But marketers will need to embrace doing more with less as credit conditions tighten and savings run dry.

Consumer spending propelled both networks’ volumes upward in Q3. But new rules from the Fed could put a damper on their debit programs.