PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

A good forecast is a notoriously difficult thing to write – particularly if one is trying to write it about the payments and commerce ecosystem. Had we told the world a year ago today that Amazon was going to buy Whole Foods, that Walmart Pay would surpass Apple Pay as a consistently favored mobile payment method, that CES would essentially become a showdown between Alexa and Google Assistant, that Uber would take a major valuation haircut in its next funding round, that bitcoin was going to be

Retail 79

Retail Technology Maine Finance 79

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

Western Union reported results Tuesday that showed continued momentum in its digital business, as consumer money transfers grew on a cross-border basis. The company posted 4 percent growth in the top line to $1.4 billion, which topped the Street by $40 million, while earnings of 41 cents a share missed the Street by four pennies. In remarks made on the earnings call , Hikmet Ersek, president and CEO of the company, said that the improvement in the top line came amid improved spend in the company

Government 78

Government Retail Sales Technology 78

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

Soon after Ripple announced a collaboration with MoneyGram, the blockchain firm revealed yet another partnership, this time in China. Reports in Blockchain News on Wednesday (Feb. 7) said Ripple announced a partnership with LianLian International, a Hong Kong-based, cross-border payments company, that plans to use Ripple’s xCurrent enterprise blockchain tool to process real-time payments coming into China.

B2B 77

B2B Finance Technology 77

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

There are few verticals where business is a guaranteed — basically just food, healthcare, and funerary services. And even those spaces are changing. Then there’s gifting. People have always given gifts and probably always will. But they don’t always give the same gifts in the same way. As Jifiti Co-Founder Yaacov Martin sees it, every gift involves three parties: the initiator, the recipient, and the vendor in the middle who’s fulfilling the gift.

Start-ups 75

Start-ups Healthcare Retail E-commerce 75

Speaker: Amanda Adams, Fractional CFO, CPA

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Amanda Adams, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

Account

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

Being a program manager isn’t easy. Essentially, it means handling everything other than card issuing, authorization and transaction processing. If it’s not holding money or providing a payment network, the program manager does it: AML (anti-money laundering) compliance, KYC (Know Your Customer), fraud mitigation, marketing, privacy, document review, OFAC compliance, reporting and more.

Maine 67

Maine Start-ups 67

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 5, 2018

Daimler’s Mercedes and Bosch are gearing up to test driverless taxis on the roads in the coming months. Engadget, citing German news site Automobilwoche, reported that Bosch head Volkmar Denner said the first test taxi will be on the roads in the coming months. He didn’t provide other details, reported Engadget, but did offer up more of a timetable for the initiative.

Technology 66

Technology Gaming 66

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 21, 2018

The banking world is racing to get smarter via artificial intelligence (AI), but how can intelligence that’s artificial stack up to human expertise and the demands of human consumers? . To tackle this issue, companies are looking to infuse AI with a bit of humanity, help consumers better connect with computer-operated services and offer improved insights.

Technology 65

Technology Finance Maine 65

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Transaction banking products provider Intellect Global Transaction Banking (iGTB) and cloud-based software solutions firm Pivotal are partnering to enhance corporate banking technology for businesses in the U.S. and U.K. The companies made an announcement Friday (Feb. 9) noting iGTB will lend its cash management platform, CBX 18, to Pivotal clients via its Pivotal Cloud Foundry cloud platforms.

Technology 63

Technology B2B 63

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

DICK’S Sporting Goods — one of the United States’ major gun retailers — has decided it no longer wants to be in the business of selling assault-style weapons like the one used in the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting. While the retailer is limiting its stock, DICK’S has also decided it will no longer sell high-capacity magazines that allow shooters to fire more rounds than a traditional weapon would without having to stop and reload.

Sports 63

Sports Florida Retail Sales 63

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 19, 2018

What happens to a company when demand is so high that it can’t scale fast enough? What happens when bad guys make off with the cryptocurrencies its supposed to be trading, unauthorized charges gather steam or glitches snowball? If you’re cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, with a $1.5 billion valuation and financial backing from names like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Spark Capital, the complaints start to pile up.

New York 63

New York Start-ups Government accountant 63

Speaker: Abdi Ali, Sr. Lease Accounting Consultant

Join this insightful webinar with industry expert Abdi Ali, who will discuss the challenges that can arise from managing lease accounting with spreadsheets! He will share real-world examples of errors, compliance issues, and risks that may be present within your spreadsheets. Learn how these tools, while useful, can sometimes lead to inefficiencies that affect your time, resources, and peace of mind.

Account

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Brick-and-mortar retailers have an opportunity to surprise and delight shoppers with digital, connected and omnichannel experiences in the physical store, but many are struggling to make that opportunity pay off. To be fair, reimagining an entire industry is no easy task. Trevor Sumner, CEO of PERCH , said that people aren’t seeing TV ads anymore, and active engagement between brands and their customers on Facebook is dwarfed by the number of shoppers who pass by a store display on any given da

Education 62

Education Retail Sales Start-ups 62

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 21, 2018

This is not a test. Beware the credit card test. There may be no escaping credit card fraud, as it comes in one form or another. Overall, one subset of card fraud is on the rise: Last year, Radial’s eCommerce Fraud Technology Lab said credit card testing was up triple-digit percentage points on an annualized basis. Credit card testing is a way the bad guys use stolen card data to make sure an account is valid.

Technology 62

Technology Healthcare Government Start-ups 62

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

Fit Pay , a unit of NXT-ID , announced news on Thursday (Feb. 8) of the launch of Flip TM , a contactless payment device for cryptocurrency holders. According to a press release , Fit Pay said the new device will enable cryptocurrency holders to use their digital coins to pay for goods at retail locations. The device launch follows an announcement in December that the company would expand its platform to include cryptocurrencies.

Retail 61

Retail Sales Technology accountant 61

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

Can predicting the future help retailers and other organizations avoid negative outcomes? It’s not just a thought exercise: By analyzing the past, organizations can shape the future they want to see, starting with creating the best possible user experience. Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it, and all that. Customer churn doesn’t have to be a total loss.

Retail 60

Retail Gaming Start-ups Sales 60

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Join us in this webinar, where we share best practices on how to think about the reconciliation work each month, when best to do reconciliations, how they should be prepared, and some common pitfalls to avoid. Learning Objectives: This course objective is to understand how to properly prepare and review balance sheet reconciliations and its impact on the financial statements.

financial statements

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Whether their money is on the Pats or the Eagles, one thing is for sure: Football fans will be spending a lot of it this Sunday (Feb. 4), especially if they’re attending the Super Bowl in person. ATMs in and around U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis will see a spike in activity with the influx of consumers for the big game. That’s to be expected for financial services company Diebold Nixdorf , which partners with U.S.

Gaming 60

Gaming Start-ups Retail Maine 60

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 27, 2018

Imagine a coffee shop. In this imaginary coffee shop — let’s call it Mooncheddar — there are tables and chairs, a service counter staffed by hip, young millennials with half-shaved heads, delicious and ethically sourced coffees, pastries baked in-house, free WiFi and even mobile ordering. Mooncheddar sounds like it has it all. But would you eat and drink there if the restrooms were filthy?

Retail 59

Retail Technology 59

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have a problem. While SMB owners may be expert bakers, carpenters or designers, managing the back office activities that keep the business on an even keel is typically not their forte. That’s especially true when it comes to getting paid for their work, a process that can drag between getting invoices out and getting payments in.

Technology 59

Technology accounting software accounting system accountant 59

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

ALDI , the grocery store operator, is being targeted by scammers who are installing credit card skimmers on top of point-of-sale terminals in plain sight. According to news from TechCrunch on Thursday (Feb. 8), police in Lower Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania, have pinpointed a group of thieves as the culprits. They’ve been installing camouflaged skimmers on ALDI credit card terminals right in front of surveillance cameras.

Pennsylvania 58

Pennsylvania Sales 58

Speaker: David Warren and Kevin O’Neill Stoll

Transitioning to a usage-based business model offers powerful growth opportunities but comes with unique challenges. How do you validate strategies, reduce risks, and ensure alignment with customer value? Join us for a deep dive into designing effective pilots that test the waters and drive success in usage-based revenue. Discover how to develop a pilot that captures real customer feedback, aligns internal teams with usage metrics, and rethinks sales incentives to prioritize lasting customer eng

Sales

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 9, 2018

Corporate T&E company Certify is integrating payment capabilities provided by Western Union to enhance its global reimbursement and supplier payment offering. The companies announced in a press release sent to PYMNTS on Thursday (Feb. 8) that they formed a partnership that allows businesses using Certify to facilitate employee reimbursements and supplier payments across borders, with transactions powered by Western Union.

Expense Management 58

Expense Management Technology B2B 58

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 19, 2018

India expense management company Happay secured more funding after its Series B round, according to an unnamed source cited by VCCircle on Friday (Feb. 16). The publication said Happay raised about $250,000 from Cupola Venture Opportunities, which placed the funding last December. The investment follows a Series B funding round that raised $10 million, also announced last December; that investment was led by Sequoia Capital, while Singapore’s Axiom Capital, a private equity fund, and AME Cloud V

Expense Management 57

Expense Management Spend Management B2B 57

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 21, 2018

Expense management firm Soldo is accelerating the pace at which companies can send money and receive payment via an API integration with Starling Bank. The companies announced news on Tuesday (Feb. 20) that Soldo is looking to provide real-time management and control of corporate expenses. Integrating with the challenger bank gives Soldo its own sort code and account number, the firms explained, further automating the movement of company cash.

Expense Management 57

Expense Management Technology business accounting accountant 57

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 9, 2018

In 2017, cryptocurrency startups raised $5.6 billion through ICOs (initial coin offerings, a fundraising strategy by which creators of digital coins and tokens like bitcoin and Ethereum sell their tokens to investors in order to fund the currency’s launch). With so many ICOs underway, one might say the cryptocurrency space has quickly grown oversaturated – or at the very least, overwhelming.

Government 56

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The first Market Momentum Index: AI and Unstructured Data Management, conducted by Deep Analysis with support from AIIM and M-Files, surveyed 500 enterprises across various industries to assess their readiness to employ AI. The results reveal that AI is already far more embedded into organizations' operations than previously realized. These findings and more insights have been brought to you in the "Market Momentum Index: AI and Unstructured Data Management.

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 22, 2018

Who says you can’t teach an old criminal new tricks? Hackers who used to amuse themselves stealing credit cards have raised the level of their identity theft game such that 2017 was a record year — 16.7 million Americans were victimized last year, a jump of eight percent from 2016. That fraud run saw $16.8 billion successfully lifted in 2017, the highest amount in four years.

Gaming 56

Gaming Sales accountant Account 56

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

Creating possible competition for ridesharing companies such as Uber , Nissan and DeNA are planning a test run of a self-driving taxi service — dubbed Easy Ride — in Japan, CNBC reported. Nissan said on Friday (Feb. 23) it will conduct the test on a 4.5 kilometer road in the Minatomirai district of Yokohama in March. To set a destination during the test run, test passengers can request recommended destinations by voice or text through a tablet.

Technology 56

Technology 56

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 16, 2018

A month after security researchers publicized security flaws in Intel ’s microchips, along with those of other manufacturers, the company is facing 32 lawsuits over the vulnerabilities. Intel was not able to estimate how much those lawsuits might cost the company, Reuters reported. The basis of many of the lawsuits is that Intel’s “actions and/or omissions” in relation to the flaws harmed Intel’s customers.

Manufacturing 56

Manufacturing Legal 56

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 21, 2018

Public transit app Moovit announced Wednesday (Feb. 21) that it had closed a Series D round of funding, raising $50 million. In a statement on the company’s blog, Moovit said the Series D round of funding was led by Intel Capital. It also featured participation from all of Moovit’s earlier investors, including Sequoia Capital, BMW iVentures, NGP, Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures, BRM, Gemini, Vaizra, Vintage and newcomer Hanaco.

Technology 55

Technology Sales Transportation 55

Speaker: Mark Stovel

When it comes to automating, many firms focus on finding the latest tech, believing that efficiency is something achieved through new tools. Yet true efficiency is achieved by delivering real value to clients, not merely by upgraded systems. Without a clear approach, no level of automation can overcome the complexities of serving every client’s needs.

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 23, 2018

Every workday, some 135 million Americans get behind the wheel for 15 to 30 minutes of commuting each way. In doing so, they reportedly drive $212 billion in annual commerce. Nearly 54 percent of commuters place an order to pick up food along the way, 40 percent get their fix of morning joe and 39 percent find and pay for gas using their phones, according to The Digital Drive Report.

E-commerce 55

E-commerce Technology Washington Start-ups 55

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 6, 2018

Frozen food didn’t kill the restaurant. Telephones didn’t kill human interaction. And eCommerce won’t kill brick-and-mortar retail. That’s L Brands CEO and Chairman Les Wexner’s theory, as reported by The Wall Street Journal , in the face of brick-and-mortar retail’s worst year ever. Around 7,000 stores closed their doors in 2017, among them Abercrombie & Fitch, CVS, Gymboree, J.

Retail 55

Retail Sports E-commerce Technology 55

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 19, 2018

At one point, restaurants were not considered desirable tenants in shopping centers. Times have changed, however, as landlords seek to replace anchor stores in U.S. malls that are closing — particularly as shopping increasingly moves online, CNBC reported. “I remember trying to find leases and people were like, ‘No. We don’t want a restaurant in our building.

Real Estate 54

Real Estate Illinois Retail Sales 54

PYMNTS

FEBRUARY 22, 2018

After a weak holiday sales season, Toys R Us is planning to shutter about more 200 stores. The company also plans to lay off many of its corporate staff, the Wall Street Journal reported based on information from people familiar with the situation. The news comes as the retailer’s sales have declined 15 percent from the 2017 holiday shopping season compared to 2016, and as the retailer previously announced it may close 100 stores.

Manufacturing 54

Manufacturing Retail Sales 54

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Setting the stage for successful organizational change always begins with clear, thoughtful communication. When it comes to rolling out a new travel and expense (T&E) policy, establishing a well-structured communication plan is key to ensuring that all employees understand the changes and their impact. By following a step-by-step approach, you can guide your organization through the transition, fostering smooth adoption from the outset and improving compliance.