ST. LOUIS, July 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical, industrial, automation and connectivity products and provider of related supply chain management and logistics services, has entered an agreement to purchase New Jersey-based Samson Electrical Supply, with an expected close date in early August.

Founded in 1949, Samson Electrical Supply is a leading electrical distributor located in South Plainfield, N.J. The company offers a comprehensive range of electrical products, lighting solutions, power distribution equipment, and MRO support for commercial, industrial, residential, institutional and utility customers. As a subsidiary of Graybar, the company will continue to operate under the Samson Electrical Supply name with the same team and suppliers.

“Samson Electrical Supply is a highly regarded company with a strong customer focus and deep roots in New Jersey,” said Kathleen M. Mazzarella, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Graybar. “This acquisition expands Graybar’s presence in the region and enhances our ability to serve customers. We look forward to welcoming the Samson team to Graybar and working together to achieve success.”

“Samson and Graybar share a long-term commitment to our customers, employees and suppliers,” said Michael Cohen, president of Samson Electrical Supply. “Joining Graybar allows us to preserve the values that have defined Samson for generations while providing access to additional resources, capabilities and growth opportunities. We are excited about what this means for the future of our company, our employees, and those we serve.”

Graybar’s acquisition of Samson Electrical Supply is the company’s third acquisition of 2026, following the acquisitions of Broken Arrow Electric Supply in March and American Electric Supply in May.

Graybar, a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America, is a leader in the distribution of high quality electrical, industrial, automation and connectivity products and specializes in related supply chain management and logistics services. Through its network of more than 355 North American distribution facilities, it stocks and sells products from thousands of manufacturers, helping its customers power, network, automate and secure their facilities with speed, intelligence and efficiency. For more information, visit www.graybar.com or call 1-800-GRAYBAR.

Media Contact:

Tim Sommer

(314) 578-7672

timothy.sommer@graybar.com

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SOURCE Graybar

As AI assistants begin shopping and paying on consumers’ behalf, Strivve gives every credit and debit card issuer — from the largest banks to community credit unions — the technology to be the default card at agentic checkout: automatically, securely, and across the long tail of merchants where households actually spend.

SEATTLE, July 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Strivve, the company behind the patented Top of Wallet® card-on-file platform, today announced it is extending its technology to agentic commerce — the fast-emerging world where AI assistants shop and pay on a consumer’s behalf. The move gives any credit or debit card issuer, from the largest banks to the smallest credit unions, a way to become the default card an AI agent reaches for at checkout.

Consumers are beginning to delegate their spending. “Find the best price on headphones under $300 and buy them.” “Reorder the usual groceries and add what we need for taco night.” AI assistants that support the Model Context Protocol (MCP) — including Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok — can now select the merchant, complete checkout, and pay. That raises the question that will define the next decade of payments: whose card does the agent use?

For issuers, the risk is disintermediation — platforms inserting themselves between the cardholder and the transaction. Strivve’s answer is to make the issuer’s card the one already on file when the agent checks out, present and preferred wherever a consumer’s agent shops, including the thousands of long-tail merchant sites that network-level programs overlook. Strivve calls it Top of Wallet for Agentic Commerce. The prize is as large as the risk: the issuer whose card an agent reaches for by default earns a new stream of agent-initiated transactions across the entire long tail of merchants — automatically, every time the agent shops.

“For fifteen years, winning top of wallet meant being the card a consumer reached for,” said Chris Hopen, CEO and co-founder of Strivve. “In agentic commerce, the consumer doesn’t reach for anything — the agent does. The issuers who win will be the ones whose card is already there when the agent pays. We make that automatic.”

The capability builds on the same proven, PCI-DSS-compliant placement engine that serves more than 200 credit and debit card issuers today and holds patents purpose-built for autonomous card-on-file placement (U.S. Patents 10,372,980 and 10,846,665). At Michigan State University Federal Credit Union, that platform achieved a 96% card-placement success rate and a 12x return on investment. For agentic commerce, Strivve adds agent-ready placement, so agent-initiated purchases route to the issuer’s card by default; long-tail merchant coverage across the sites where real household spend happens; and per-institution security that keeps credentials under the issuer’s control rather than scattered across agent platforms. Strivve already operates as a verified trusted agent in production today across Cloudflare and Akamai. Its agents implement the Trusted Agent Protocol (TAP) — the open, Visa-led framework for verified agent-initiated transactions — so merchants can cryptographically confirm that a Strivve agent is authorized and acting with the cardholder’s consent.

Strivve’s card-on-file platform is available now. Its agentic capability is in early access with a limited group of issuers, backed by a working prototype Strivve will demonstrate against an issuer’s own card portfolio. Issuers can see where their card stands in agentic checkout and start the conversation at strivve.com/agentic.

“Agentic commerce is not a future scenario — it is happening in households right now,” said Kevin Knight, chairperson of Strivve. “Every day an issuer waits, agent-initiated transactions go to whoever moved first. We built this so our issuers never lose that race.”

About Strivve

Strivve, Inc. is the creator of the Top of Wallet® card-on-file placement platform — the service that makes it easy for cardholders to save their card at hundreds of merchant and bill pay sites in seconds. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Seattle, Strivve’s patented AI and machine learning technology serves more than 200 issuers through direct relationships and integration partnerships. Strivve owns the registered trademarks Top of Wallet® and CardSavr® and the trademarks Capture More Commerce™, CardUpdatr™, and CardLinks™. Visit strivve.com for more information.

Top of Wallet and CardSavr are registered trademarks of Strivve, Inc. Capture More Commerce, CardUpdatr, and CardLinks are trademarks of Strivve, Inc. The Trusted Agent Protocol (TAP) is an open framework introduced by Visa Inc. and industry partners; Visa is a registered trademark of Visa Inc. Cloudflare and Web Bot Auth are trademarks of Cloudflare, Inc. Akamai is a registered trademark of Akamai Technologies, Inc. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic, PBC. ChatGPT is a trademark of OpenAI. Gemini is a trademark of Google LLC. Grok is a trademark of xAI. Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard maintained by Anthropic, PBC. All other trademarks, service marks and trade names referenced in this material are the property of their respective owners.

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SOURCE Strivve

RALEIGH, N.C., July 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — First Horizon Bank (NYSE: FHN) (or “First Horizon”) announced today that Catherine Wood has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Head of Commercial Banking Strategy. Wood has served as a Raleigh-based banking leader for more than 15 years. In her new role she will lead the corporate multi-year strategy to drive growth and a differentiated client experience with a focus on identifying high‑impact AI and technology opportunities across commercial onboarding, origination, underwriting and servicing. Her responsibilities will include oversight of the commercial client experience, portfolio management and SBA lending.

“Catherine has consistently demonstrated strong leadership, deep industry knowledge and a talent for building long-term relationships that strengthen our commercial banking franchise,” said Samuel Erwin, Director of Regional Banking for First Horizon Bank. “Her promotion to lead Commercial Strategy is a well-deserved recognition of her impact. I’m confident she’ll continue to drive growth while delivering exceptional service for our clients and communities.”

Wood is an industry veteran who has held several leadership positions within First Horizon Bank, most recently as Head of Commercial Portfolio Management where she led multiple strategic initiatives. Prior to that, she led a team of commercial and corporate portfolio managers and credit analysts across North Carolina and Virginia and was the Credit Administration Manager for TrustAtlantic Bank, prior to its acquisition by First Horizon Bank in 2015.

Dedication to the community continues to be a priority for Wood. She developed a financial literacy program for children ages 5-12 at The Daniel Center for Math and Science in Raleigh and previously served as President of the Board of Directors of Meals on Wheels of Wake County.

About First Horizon Bank
First Horizon Corp. (NYSE: FHN), with $84.4 billion in assets as of June 30, 2026, is a leading regional financial services company, dedicated to helping our clients, communities and associates unlock their full potential with capital and counsel. Headquartered in Memphis, TN, the banking subsidiary First Horizon Bank operates in 12 states concentrated in the southern U.S. The Company and its subsidiaries offer commercial, private banking, consumer, small business, wealth and trust management, retail brokerage, capital markets, fixed income, and mortgage banking services. First Horizon has been recognized as one of the nation’s best employers by Fortune and Forbes magazines and a Top 10 Most Reputable U.S. Bank. More information is available at www.FirstHorizon.com.

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SOURCE First Horizon Bank