蘑菇AV

The total value of contactless payments made with UK Barclays cards surged nearly 50% YoY thanks to regulatory changes and broader acceptance.

Monzo and Chip claim profitability, but UK conditions make their future outlook uncertain.

It released draft legislation to provide more safeguards for UK consumers, many of whom are under financial strain.

The UK leads in VC investments, followed by France, Germany, and the Nordics. Now government-led initiatives are setting the stage for wider AI expansion. France鈥檚 AI project includes backing from the UAE, US and Canadian investors, plus telecom companies Iliad, Orange, and Thales.

Vanquis鈥� latest acquisition will help UK consumers with cost-of-living crisis: Money-saving app Snoop shows the potential of the nexus of AI and open banking.

While overall social network user numbers are rising slowly in the UK, there鈥檚 much greater movement in terms of the platforms being used.

UK regulators could force Google to delay Privacy Sandbox: An internal report found that Privacy Sandbox doesn鈥檛 hold up to regulatory standards, dealing a blow to its rollout.

German grocery retailer Lidl launched a TikTok Shop pop-up in the UK, marking one of the first major grocery retailers to experiment with TikTok鈥檚 ecommerce capabilities.

In 2024, 蘑菇AV data partner GWI started offering data on respondents ages 65 and older in seven markets: the US, the UK, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Israel, and Japan. For ease of comparison, our report features data for respondents ages 16 to 64 in all countries. But we have included the data for respondents 65 and older for those seven countries here as a supplement.

The news: HSBC is shutting down key parts of its investment banking operations in the UK, US, and Europe as part of CEO Georges Elhedery鈥檚 broader restructuring plan, per The Financial Times. The exact timeline for the closure of these units has not been specified, but the process is expected to unfold over the coming months.

As AI agents become more sophisticated and digital twins evolve, marketers have even more to gain from the emerging technology. 94% of UK and US marketers reported that AI positively impacted their revenue growth in the past year, according to an October 2024 Invoca study. Agentic AI advancements enable autonomous agents to independently perform tasks and make decisions.

British retailers and consumers are feeling more optimistic about the economy: But shoppers鈥� price sensitivity will continue to weigh on sales growth.

LinkedIn is expected to overtake Facebook for Gen Z users in the UK by 2028, per our forecast. 32% of US adults use LinkedIn, per Pew Research, just behind TikTok (33%) and Pinterest (36%). Our take: These new tools set the stage for LinkedIn to monetize its video content and become a go-to platform for social media influencers.

We start with our principal analyst covering the UK based in a charming little seaside town on the south coast of England. It's Bill Fisher. Bill Fisher:. Hi Marcus. Hello everybody. Marcus Johnson:. Hello there. We're also joined by principal analyst and VP based in California where the beaches just aren't quite as nice as England's. It's Jasmine Enberg. Jasmine Enberg:. Hey Marcus. Hey everyone.