This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Investment bankers in Hong Kong were tricked out of millions of dollars by a cash-advance business called Global Merchant Funding (GMF). According to Bloomberg , smooth-talking fraudster Avery Stone and his partners at GMF convinced bankers from prominent international banks to invest in the business to the tune of $32.5 million before disappearing. “This isn’t a deal that went bad; these guys systematically preyed off their friends,” Thomas Gallagher, a GMF investor, told Bloomberg.
For Immediate Release: For further information, contact: Christine Morrison, (800) 849-6022. Braintree, Massachusetts – Paul McGovern, CPA, and James M. Downey, CPA, of Downey & Company, LLP, an accounting and business consulting firm, recently returned from the Fall Meeting of the National Alliance of Auto Dealer Advisors in Nashville, Tennessee.
Bitcoin wallet iPayYou continues to work toward a future with bitcoin as the default currency. It was just announced that iPayYou has made a way for consumers to pay for items on Amazon with bitcoin, called Amazon Direct. Now iPayYou users can transfer any amount of bitcoin from their bitcoin wallet to Amazon. Customers can use the Amazon Direct tab to the iPayYou platform to determine an amount of bitcoin to transfer and the destination account.
Fact. Digital commerce has been a reality for more than two decades. Fact. The launch of the iPhone in 2007 and the App Store in 2008 opened everyone’s eyes to the impact that mobile would have on payments and commerce. Fact. Twenty years and hundreds of millions of smartphones later, the digital payments experience is anything but consistent anywhere — online, in-store and in-app.
Traditional budgeting and forecasting methods can no longer keep pace with today’s rapidly evolving business environment. Static budgets, rigid annual forecasts, and outdated financial models limit an organization’s ability to adapt to market shifts and economic uncertainty. To stay ahead, finance leaders must leverage a future-forward approach—one that leverages real-time data, predictive analytics, and continuous planning to drive smarter financial decisions.
American consumers have fallen for mobile banking apps, but up to now, most businesses were not seemingly showing apps the same love. With the number of mobile banking customers now outnumbering those who bank at branches for the first time, consumers have warmly embraced banking via mobile apps. Despite that, the vast majority of American companies, particularly small businesses, have yet to adopt mobile financial management apps.
Upward and onward seems like a hopeful phrase, doesn’t it? Unless it’s fraud you are talking about. At the end of 2014, the average U.S. household held five mobile devices, while, at the start of 2016, that number has increased to about 13. Tech is a wonderful thing, when used for the forces of good and for quality of life. But alongside that iPad your 10-year-old daughter needed, the rate of online fraud attacks on retailers has doubled, up 137 percent year over year in the first quarter of thi
The holiday season has arrived — meaning sales, snowflakes, good cheer, Christmas carols and fraudsters working day and night to break open your bank account through a variety of creative means. One of this year’s favorites so far, according to reports in The New York Times, has been fake retail and product apps popping up in the Apple App Store of late.
The holiday season has arrived — meaning sales, snowflakes, good cheer, Christmas carols and fraudsters working day and night to break open your bank account through a variety of creative means. One of this year’s favorites so far, according to reports in The New York Times, has been fake retail and product apps popping up in the Apple App Store of late.
As the digital age marches on, we have all learned that the convenience and benefits of the IoT , cloud storage and mobile devices come with a darker side. Chain Store Age just released its predictions for the near future of cybersecurity. Their predictions for 2016 turned out to be accurate, so it’s best to pay attention. Here are the upcoming trends and threats for 2017 and what businesses can do to keep up.
Visa said Monday (Nov. 21) that its latest chip data update showed 388 million Visa EMV cards in the U.S. Of those, the firm said there are nearly 181 million chip credit cards in the field and 208.3 million chip debit cards. The firm also said that there are 1.7 million chip-active locations across the country. The 1.7 million tally, up 191 percent in the past year, represents 37 percent of all storefronts nationwide, according to Visa’s statistics.
Mention “mobile payments,” and many people might immediately answer that they 1) pay with smartphones or other devices but 2) spend much more time bellying up to the register and paying with physical cards or cash. Therein lies a conundrum. The promise of mobile has yet to meet reality, and many retailers find that the lines between channels (hence the term “omnichannel”) are increasingly becoming blurred.
Singapore-based B2B FinTech firm MC Payment announced a new funding round, as well as global expansion, late last week. Reports Friday (Nov. 11) said MC Payment raised $3.5 million from an investment firm in Thailand, as well as participation from Aura Funds Management, tryb Capital and Perle Ventures. The funds have also allowed the company to enter the Thailand market, reports said.
As businesses increasingly adopt automation, finance leaders must navigate the delicate balance between technology and human expertise. This webinar explores the critical role of human oversight in accounts payable (AP) automation and how a people-centric approach can drive better financial performance. Join us for an insightful discussion on how integrating human expertise into automated workflows enhances decision-making, reduces fraud risks, strengthens vendor relationships, and accelerates R
The seed of FinTech innovation often comes from a desire to do things differently. In B2B payments, that can mean discontent in the way traditional banks and FIs do business or a need for disruptive technologies to come to market faster than banks can offer. But as finance and payments tech expands, these traditional FIs are learning that perhaps the best way to meet the demands of their corporate clients isn’t to compete with FinTech innovators but to collaborate with them.
The U.K. is already a hotbed of FinTech startups, but the government is getting behind it in a bigger way, committing to invest £500,000 a year into financial technology companies. According to a report , the U.K. government is also gearing up to launch a network of regional FinTech envoys as an effort to enhance the country’s status as a leader in FinTech.
In the opening scenes of “The Graduate,” a (supposedly) successful man whispers in Benjamin Braddock’s ear the key to the future: “One word: plastics.” Fast forward 50 years, and that single word could be recast: “One word: FinTech.”. The premise is the same no matter the verbiage. Technology’s inexorable march marches on, and the newest wave is FinTech — the disruptor of the way financials services are rendered and the key to how those services are to be reimagined.
Apple announced that it is expanding Apple Pay to allow nonprofit organizations and charities to accept donations via the mobile payments service and Apple Pay on the Web. The change takes effect immediately in the U.S. Previously, charitable donations were barred on Apple Pay due to a lack of safeguards and the ability to validate the legitimacy of charities accepting donations.
Based off SkyStem's popular e-Book, the book of secrets to the month-end close will be revealed in this one-hour webinar. Learn leading practices when it comes to building a strong and sustainable month-end close that has room to grow and evolve. Learn about the power of precise estimates, why reconciliations are critical to closing the books, how and when to automate, and how the chart of accounts play into your close process.
For some businesses, cybersecurity may be an abstract threat. Business owners may think “it won’t happen to me,” or they may be confident in their ability to remain unaffected by a cyberattack. But a new report by Accenture uncovers just how big of a threat cyberattacks are on businesses. According to the company’s latest data , released this week, about one-third of cyberattacks on businesses are successful in their attempts to infiltrate a firm’s existing defenses
Risk has been around at least as long as transactions have been around. How to manage for risk has been a question that has bedeviled firms across the ages. One way to mitigate risk, of course, comes with insurance — and, more specifically, covering the possibility that the other side of a transaction will not deliver on its financial promises. To that end, Fluent, which operates an open account trade platform online using distributed ledger technology (through blockchain), has linked up with Eu
If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, then a company is only as strong as its weakest competitor. Nowhere does that analogy hold more true than in banking, especially when it comes to earning and keeping a consumer’s trust. It’s been a long road back to strengthening those weak links as banks have weathered the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Why make one’s life hard hacking consumer accounts — or taking up armed robbery — when one can get the best of both worlds by directly attacking the banks’ computers and getting ATMs to do things like start spewing cash for no apparent reason? Taiwan and Thailand saw such attacks earlier this year when cyber criminals programmed bank ATMs to spew cash.
AI is reshaping industries, yet finance remains one of the slowest adopters. Concerns over compliance, legacy systems, and data silos have made finance teams hesitant to embrace AI-driven transformation. But delaying adoption isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about staying competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape. How can finance leaders overcome these challenges and start leveraging AI effectively?
In the wake of the fake account scandal at Wells Fargo, companies are rethinking how they compensate salespeople, reported The Wall Street Journal. According to a report, companies are trying to overhaul how they compensate salespeople in an effort to improve customer service and prevent the bad behavior that did Wells Fargo in. Sure, commissions can motivate people to ink deals and boost sales, but they also have risks associated with them.
The biggest dilemma facing innovators isn’t whether what they’re doing will cannibalize what makes them money today but rather getting enough people to try their innovations so that they become mainstream and can make money tomorrow. Getting people to embrace the new — and make it a habit — is very, very hard to do. University of College London researchers conclude that it takes 66 days, on average, for a consumer to do that “something new” each and every single one of those 66 days to totally b
Mobile devices, apps, new technologies have given birth to new platforms that match supply and demand easier than ever before. And the ability to embed payments into those platforms is what has ignited those marketplaces. But how many people participate in the gig economy? How big is it? And what do they do? We were curious, too, and collaborated with Hyperwallet to measure and size the market.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is turning heads for its attention to faster payments, but the Fed has recently announced yet another initiative in the payments innovation space. Last week, the Fed’s Secure Payments Task Force called for comment from industry stakeholders about what challenges they face when it comes to payments security. The task force, made up of about 160 members, will explore areas of payments security, like identity management and data protection, in hopes the survey will he
Is your tech stack working for you—or are you working for it ? 🤖 In today’s world of automation and AI, technology should simplify workflows—not add complexity. Seamless integration and interconnectivity are key to maximizing productivity, optimizing workflows, and improving collaboration. Join expert Joe Wroblewski for a practical and insightful session on how you can build a smarter, more connected tech stack that drives efficiency and long-term success!
Cash may be king, but for small businesses, cash is expensive. New research from Sage finds that small businesses in the U.K. are losing out on $11.8 billion every year because of their cash transactions. Those costs can rack up in a number of ways, researchers found. For instance, nearly a quarter of small businesses surveyed by Sage said they had been the target of cash theft by a member of their own staff.
Small businesses may not always be at the forefront when it comes to technology, but when it comes to how its customers pay, most are on board when it comes to mobile payments. That’s according to a new survey commissioned by Samsung Electronics America and conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, which found the majority of small businesses polled said customers want to pay with their smartphones and they expect the use of mobile payments to grow.
A Japanese bank consortium gearing up to create a new real-time payments platform using blockchain technology from SBI Ripple Asia has expanded to 42 members. According to a report , the group launched in August with 15 members, and SBI Ripple Asia had expected to increase the size to 30 banks. “Because of active responses from many financial institutions, the consortium was finally launched with 42 member banks,” said SBI in a statement, according to the report. “Member financ
Equity-crowdfunded FreeAgent, a U.K.-based small business accounting firm, has listed on the nation’s AIM stock exchange, the LSE ‘s market for smaller firms. FreeAgent broke ground with the listing but, according to reports, missed the mark on valuation. Friday (Nov. 18) reports said FreeAgent has become the first IPO on the market delivered by an equity crowdfunding platform, Seedrs, which launched a funding campaign for the startup last year.
Finance isn’t just about the numbers. It’s about the people behind them. In a world of constant disruption, resilient finance teams aren’t just operationally efficient. They are adaptable, engaged, and deeply connected to a strong organizational culture. Success lies at the intersection of people, culture, adaptability, and resilience. Finance leaders who master this balance will build teams that thrive through uncertainty and drive long-term business impact.
U.S. prosecutors late last week charged a Florida man in connection with an illegal bitcoin exchange. According to a report by Reuters , Ricardo Hill, 38, was arrested in Florida in October and charged with conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting firm. Hill is linked to an illegal bitcoin exchange owned by a person in Israel that is accused of hacks on JPMorgan Chase.
In this week’s Bitcoin Tracker, bitcoin soars, then settles down and plans for its yearly sale abound. Switzerland gives bitcoin a hand by way of rail ticket machine sales, an Australian startup banks on the aptly named Dash and Zcash fervor fades. The election came and went and, with it, brought some stock market shock. First, they slid way down ( investors don’t like surprises ), then they rose back up a bit.
Shopify’s online store platform is integrating with Sundown AI’s artificial intelligence platform named Chloe. The collaboration is expected to bring enhanced mobile commerce to online stores with the use of voice and text commands. Shopify users will be able to access immediate assistance on their mobile phones via Chloe for any inquires or requests while navigating a store.
Bad guys know retailers and businesses are working to stay one step ahead of their sophisticated and malicious attacks. To combat this, hackers are looking to gain access to sensitive information by taking a much easier route: using legitimate credentials to go right inside. In this week’s Hacker Tracker , Ryan Stolte , cofounder and CTO at Bay Dynamics , joined PYMNTS to shed light on the growing cybersecurity concern of insider threats and how retailers are making big strides in keeping hacker
In the accounting world, staying ahead means embracing the tools that allow you to work smarter, not harder. Outdated processes and disconnected systems can hold your organization back, but the right technologies can help you streamline operations, boost productivity, and improve client delivery. Dive into the strategies and innovations transforming accounting practices.
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 237,000+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
100 
Let's personalize your content