Entertainment
The entertainment industry is made up of multiple, distinct sub-markets. One way to break it down is to consider the content or activity type, for example:
Digital content, inclusive of video streaming and downloads, news access and subscriptions, audio content purchases (i.e., books, stories, music, podcasts), and video games (i.e., game purchases, in-game purchases)
Events , inclusive of events ticketing to sports games , concerts, etc .
Online gaming and betting, inclusive of sports betting, casino games, and other wager-based betting experiences
Another way to consider the market is by the key players, like Consumers, Content Creators, Distributors/Platforms, and Advertisers. In either instance, if you are an organization working within one of these markets, you offer end users access to fun and leisure, and end users have high expectations for related experiences – including payments. As a result, you must take a more systematic and intentional approach to your payments strategy.
Glenbrook supports entertainment companies to address the following common questions
How should our payments strategy support our growth strategy?
How should we support tokenization, if at all?
What fraud vectors should we be most concerned about and how do we best mitigate those?
What is the optimal team configuration to support our payments strategy?
What is the optimal architecture to support our objectives?
Are we using the right payments partners?
What orchestration approaches are most meaningful to us?
Are we exposed to churn risk? If so, how do we best manage it?
Our Clients
Gaming Companies
Event Ticket Marketplaces
Newspapers
Digital Music & Audiobook Services
Video Streaming Services
Other Entertainment Companies
Entertainment Case Studies
Resources
Articles
Glenbrook shares our perspectives on activities in the industry.
Mid-Year Payments Check-In: Revisiting Our 2026 Predictions
The Glenbrook team is taking stock in June 2026 to see how the payments trends predictions from our January Payments on Fire episode are holding up.
The Missing Context Layer in Agentic Commerce: Part 3
Glenbrook’s Drew Edmond explores the specific implications for the payments and agentic commerce industry: how discovery changes when agents mediate it, how payment selection shifts upstream, how merchants need to prepare differently across categories, and who ultimately controls the agent layer.
The Missing Context Layer in Agentic Commerce: Part 2
Glenbrook’s Drew Edmond examines why the agent’s role in agentic commerce varies significantly by purchase category, where the context layer is being built today, and how far along it actually is.
Podcasts
Glenbrook speaks with industry leaders to share a variety of perspectives on the latest payments trends and activities.
Episode 297 – A New Era for Card Issuing, with Nikil Konduru, Lithic
Drew Edmond and Chris Uriarte chat with Nikhil Konduru, Chief Commercial Officer at Lithic, to discuss modern card issuing infrastructure and where the market is headed. Tune in as they break down the issuing stack, discuss issuer-side tools to improve authorization outcomes, and explore implications for cross-border payments and agentic commerce.
Episode 296 – Fanning the Flames – Beyond Borders: Navigating Your Global Payments Strategy
Going global with your payments strategy requires far more than choosing a single payment provider: companies must weigh local acquiring versus cross-border acquiring, country-by-country payment preferences, entity structure, tax implications, compliance requirements, authorization performance, currency handling, and provider coverage.
In this episode, Chris Uriarte joins Glenbrook colleagues Samantha Gordon, Simon Skinner, and Drew Edmond to explore the complexities and potential benefits for merchants and platforms to consider when expanding payments globally.
Episode 295 – Fanning the Flames – 2026 Mid-Year Payments Industry Trends Update
The Glenbrook team is taking stock in June 2026 to see how the predictions from our January episode are holding up. Tune in for updates on trending topics in payments, including agentic commerce, stablecoins, cross-border and instant payments, risk and fraud, and the regulatory landscape. We also share insights on the “hot off the presses” news on tokenized deposits and the Visa/Mastercard interchange settlement.
News
Glenbrook objectively curates the news to keep you abreast of important daily headlines in payments.
Amazon Japan Supplier AZ-Com Maruwa to Adopt Yen Stablecoin JPYC for Payments
"The Japanese logistics firm plans to pay 2,300 partners, including truck drivers, using JPYC in Japan’s first large-scale corporate stablecoin rollout. Maruwa's aims to facilitate faster cash flow to drivers and small carriers amid Japan's labor shortages, an aging...
India, Spain Advance UPI-Bizum Payment Talks
"India and Spain agreed to advance technical discussions on interoperability between the Unified Payments Interface and Bizum. The proposed UPI-Bizum linkage is intended to support cross-border digital transactions for travellers and businesses and to improve...
How PayPal Went from Wall Street Favorite to Unwilling Merger Target
"Five years ago PayPal was a Wall Street favorite and a leader in digital payments. Owen Lau, an analyst at financial services firm Clear Street, said PayPal prioritized winning market share by pricing aggressively, but failed to charge enough to generate attractive...
Ready to see how Glenbrook can support your entertainment company to be as efficient and effective as possible?