Mobile payments by Apple across devices
A wave of new data from Independent, SBS, and other outlets shows continued regulation, new apps, and consumer protection debates across the UK, Australia, Africa and Canada. Reports cover casino apps, payout rates, addiction risks, and standout operators with no wagering bonuses.
A collection of personal essays from Business Insider UK and other outlets examines digital boundaries, parenting, money, sleep, and career shifts in 2026. Writers describe reducing smartphone use, reorganizing family tech rules, and experimenting with unconventional routines to regain calm and control.
TikTok is expanding beyond social video to include shopping, travel bookings, and payments, signaling a move toward a “super app” model. Separate microdrama deals show investors betting on AI-assisted, mobile-first storytelling as a growing entertainment niche, while studios and networks explore vertical formats and creator-owned IP.
Stripe and Advent are pressing forward with a potential bid to jointly acquire PayPal, valuing the payments giant around $53-60 billion and backed by roughly $50 billion in bank financing. PayPal has not yet responded as discussions continue, with experts noting the deal would create a dominant dual-powered payments group.
Xbox reports an outage lasting about 20 hours, affecting sign-ins and game launches. CTO Scott Van Vliet apologises and says a licensing service failure caused entitlement checks to fail. Microsoft will harden dependencies and roll out a fix to prevent future disruptions, amid renewed worries about a digital-only future in gaming.
X Money has launched for US Premium and Premium+ subscribers, offering 6% APY on deposits and 3% cashback. Real-time transfers within X and an X-branded Visa card are available, but several markets lack money transmitter licenses and transfers face limitations, prompting questions about adoption as the broader payments ecosystem evolves.