Sat.Mar 07, 2020 - Fri.Mar 13, 2020

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Space Coast Business – Women in Business

SMBAccountant

Shannon Bloom featured in SCB’s Women in Business. Shannon continues to impress! Check out her feature in Space Coast Business – Women in Business issue! Be on the lookout for more articles as she continues to grow SMB Accounting and Consulting. View the Article Online.

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The Innovative ‘Green Shoots’ Growing Out Of COVID-19’s Scorched Earth

PYMNTS

There seem to be countless sources of collateral damage associated with the unexpected appearance of COVID-19 in early 2020 – the shutdown of production in China, the ripples through the global supply chain, the virtual zeroing out of the travel and events vertical and the carnage on Wall Street. The uncertainty injected into the market, as Ning Wang, co-founder and chief business officer at PingPong , told Karen Webster in a recent conversation, is having undeniable effects worldwide – which ar

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What Employers Need to Know About Taxable Wages

Patriot Software

Part of being an employer is withholding taxes from your employees’ wages before giving them their paychecks. That’s why you need to understand taxable wages before you run payroll. Remember how surprised you were when you saw the chunk of cash taken out of your first paycheck for Uncle Sam? Fortunately for workers, not all […]. The post What Employers Need to Know About Taxable Wages appeared first on Patriot Software.

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COVID-19 Update: An Important Message to Our Clients and Friends

Katz,Sapper&Miller

As Katz, Sapper & Miller continues to closely monitor the novel coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19), the health and safety of our people, clients, families, and communities remain a top priority for us. With this situation rapidly evolving, we feel it is important to update you about the steps we are taking across our firm to manage through this crisis.

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Forecasting Failures Are Costly: Here's How To Fix Them

Speaker: Dave Sackett

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 Static budgets, rigid annual forecasts, and outdated financial models limit an organization’s ability to adapt to market shifts and economic uncertainty.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.

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Space Coast Business – Women in Business

SMBAccountant

Shannon Bloom featured in SCB’s Women in Business. Shannon continues to impress! Check out her feature in Space Coast Business – Women in Business issue! Be on the lookout for more articles as she continues to grow SMB Accounting and Consulting. View the Article Online.

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French Court Says Bitcoin Is Money

PYMNTS

A French court has decided that bitcoin is money, the first time a court in France has issued such a ruling, according to a report from Les Echos Sunday (March 8). The decision came about following a clash between the Bitcoin marketplace Paymium and the crypto investment company BitSpread. The result of the ruling could lead to more activity in the French bitcoin market.

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Apple Resumes Operation Of All China Retail Locations

PYMNTS

After it was forced to shutter its retail locations in China because of the spread of COVID-19, Apple Inc. has reportedly put all of them back into operation. The closures were one of the main reasons the tech company cited for removing its March quarter sales outlook, Bloomberg reported. Apple has been slowly reopening the locations, with 38 of the 42 shops open for business as of last week.

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Making Invisible Payments More Than A Buzzword

PYMNTS

From cash and coins to mobile wallets to wearables … to invisible payments. About 90 percent of purchases are still being made in-store, but the payment modalities are changing — and rapidly. To that end, said Matt Good, senior vice president and general manager of Elan Advisory Services , in an interview with PYMNTS, fledgling ways to pay — where wearables are wielded as payment instruments, and where mobile wallets replace leather ones — will soon become everyday methods.

Education 103
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Joust To Finance Freelancers’ Outstanding SXSW Invoices

PYMNTS

Joust, a banking app in Austin, has announced it will pay users on their unpaid SXSW invoices to help them deal with the cancellation of the huge yearly festival, according to a release. Joust, which was a finalist for the 2020 SXSW Innovation Awards, said it will offer any affected users zero payment processing fees on its FDIC-insured free bank account.

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How JD.com Uses AI To Connect Consumers With Commerce

PYMNTS

There is nothing worse than trying to get customer service from a less than fully functional chatbot or automated voice system. Ask it a question it gives an answer, just perhaps not a relevant one to the question asked. Re-phrase and re-ask, and the consumer might do better — but it’s likely they get the same bad answer, or the bot digs deep and finds a way to give a worse one.

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Are Robots Replacing You? Keeping Humans in the Loop in Automated Environments

Speaker: Erroll Amacker

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

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Alipay Launches Strategy For Massive Digital Evolution In China

PYMNTS

Ant Financial , a division of China’s eCommerce giant Alibaba, has launched a three-year strategy to make its Alipay mobile app platform available to 40 million service providers so they can digitize their offerings, Alipay said in a press release on Tuesday (March 10). Alipay, the biggest payment platform worldwide, is aiming to solidify its position in China.

Legal 99
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Santander Purchases Majority Stake In Mercury TFS With €30M Investment

PYMNTS

As part of its digital plans to speed up growth by purchasing shares in companies, Banco Santander is buying a majority stake in Mercury TFS. The bank is making an investment of €30 million in the firm, which automates as well as digitizes management of trade finance transactions for corporate clients from start to finish, according to an announcement.

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Latest AI Playbook: Many FI Systems Are Too ‘Artificial’

PYMNTS

For all the talk about artificial intelligence (AI) in financial circles at present – it seems everything is “AI-powered” – it turns out there’s a lot less genuine AI in place than we might have imagined. The March 2020 Unlocking AI Playbook: FI Edition , a PYMNTS and Brighterion collaboration, explains that while the use of AI solutions by banks and financial institutions (FIs) skyrocketed 70 percent in a single year (2018-2019), less than 10 percent of all banks say they use AI today.

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How Hospitals Use AI To Triage The Triage

PYMNTS

Unless one is having a medical emergency, going to an ER, in general, is often not the best way for a patient to receive care for more minor ailments. It is expensive, especially for the uninsured, but increasingly for the insured with a high deductible as well. It’s also incredibly time-consuming; ERs by nature of what they are triage patients in order of need, meaning if one is not profusely bleeding, unconscious, actively having a heart attack or a baby, the wait can be long.

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Book of Secrets on the Month-End Close

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.

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Amazon To Deliver Coronavirus Test Kits In Seattle

PYMNTS

To assist in bringing at-home testing kits for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus , to homes of Seattle-area residents, Amazon Care is reportedly in discussions with local health groups, according to a CNBC report. The talks have been occurring for over a week, according to unnamed sources. Amazon Care rolled out last fall as an experimental effort to provide employees and dependents in the area of Seattle with high-quality health care.

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Airbnb Sees 40 Percent Drop In Bookings; Delays IPO

PYMNTS

The toll of the coronavirus on businesses has hit everything from tourism to large gatherings like concerts and conventions. With those goes the value of Airbnb , which saw its bookings fall by 40 percent, according to published reports Thursday (March 12). According to independent data from analytics group Airdna, the drop was largest in China (previously the fastest-growing market for the rental platform) and parts of Europe where the virus has hit the hardest.

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How To Compete With Banks: Start With First Principles

PYMNTS

Aristotle may have originated the notion of first principles thousands of years ago, but it would take Elon Musk to add a contemporary business flair to that method of analyzing business problems. First principles is the discipline of going back to the rudimentary sources of truths for any problem or situation, and then designing a solution only after truly understanding those foundational elements.

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Fiserv On Why 2020 Is ‘The Year Of P2P’

PYMNTS

Will this be the year that real-time payments — and, especially, peer-to-peer (P2P) — reach critical mass in the United States? In an interview with PYMNTS, Matt Wilcox, senior vice president of payments innovation at Fiserv , said recent data points show that an increasing number of financial institutions (FIs) are determined to satisfy a real demand for real-time transactions.

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How To Break Digital Transformation Barriers And Accelerate AI Adoption

Speaker: Anna Tiomina, MBA

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?

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Blockchain.com Unveils ‘Borrow’ Service

PYMNTS

To allow users to borrow against their holdings, digital currency wallet and exchange company Blockchain.com unveiled a “Borrow” Service. The offering will provide loans in stablecoins that are denominated in U.S. dollars against bitcoin holdings kept in the Blockchain Wallet, Coindesk reported. Blockchain Co-Founder and CEO Peter Smith said per the report, “Institutional and retail investors have the same financial goals — grow wealth and manage risks — but the tools at their disposal are vastl

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The Real-Time Disruption Of Banking And Business

PYMNTS

Faster payments are only one example of the effects of a world moving toward real-time everything, with growing customer demands driving change in the way banks and businesses operate themselves. As such, the consequences of real-time payments aren’t solely impacting consumers’ peer-to-peer ( P2P ) transaction activity. Indeed, services like Zelle and The Clearing House’s RTP are impacting, both directly and residually, financial processes of banks, small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs)

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How Blockchain Is Transforming The Supply Chain

PYMNTS

There are two terms seen a lot in juxtaposition to supply chain lately: coronavirus and blockchain. One is putting a lot of stress on the supply chain, while the other is ready to revolutionize it. Some new use cases and a new report put blockchain and the supply chain in perspective. First, it is becoming evident that blockchain is becoming something of a “safe deposit box” for retail data, offering a digital method for storing and sharing data between multiple stakeholders.

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How Headless Commerce Can Level The eCommerce Playing Field

PYMNTS

It’s a simple concept, but one that is quickly revolutionizing how consumers buy from eCommerce. It’s called headless commerce. Aside from the funny name, technically it’s a digital architecture that separates the back end and front end of a retail website to optimize search results, customer experience and the purchase journey. New research says it may be the key to leveling the future eCommerce playing field for Amazon competitors.

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New Software & You: Elevating Your Tech Stack

Speaker: Joe Wroblewski, Senior Sales Engineer

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!

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The Clearing House’s Strategies To Drive RTP Uptake

PYMNTS

Even the most convenient, feature-filled payment rails will fall flat if nobody can be convinced to try them. Such systems can offer everything from swifter settlement times to easy payment status tracking, but such benefits require widespread adoption. Consumers and businesses do not want to use new payment networks unless they believe others are already using them, creating a chicken-and-egg problem.

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Amazon Covertly Working On Cold Vaccine

PYMNTS

Amazon has been secretly working for years to cure the common cold with an initiative called “Project Gesundheit,” according to a report from CNBC. The company has staffed more than 100 people in a research and development group called Grand Challenge, which exists under Amazon’s cloud computing division, AWS. A small part of that group is actively working to cure the common ailment.

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Bringing eCommerce – And The Shopping Cart Model – To Healthcare

PYMNTS

To solve the healthcare payments puzzle — look to eCommerce. In an interview with Karen Webster, Paul Ketchel, founder and CEO of MDsave , said that online platform models could help bring together patients seeking affordable care with providers and simplify billing and payments collection along the way. The conversation came against the backdrop, of course, where markets are roiling, there’s talk of recession, and no doubt the health of the consumer is top of mind.

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Amazon Introduces ‘Just Walk Out’ Technology To Merchants

PYMNTS

Amazon is introducing its “Go” concept to other merchants interested in its “Just Walk Out” technology, Reuters reported on Monday (March 9). The eCommerce giant is in talks with other retailers and has “several” signed deals with unnamed customers. The new business division aligns with Amazon’s scheme of turning internal capabilities into business-to-business (B2B) services.

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The Human Side of Finance: The Intersectionality of People, Culture, Adaptability, and Resilience

Speaker: Melissa Hurrington

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.

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Open Banking Expands Into SMB Lending, Smaller Banks

PYMNTS

Open banking and bank-FinTech collaboration can be an effective way for financial institutions (FIs) to launch new digital products. But the latest initiatives reveal a growing interest in transforming internal processes, particularly among smaller banks looking to upgrade their core infrastructure and elevate small business lending operations. Below, PYMNTS rounds up the latest tie-ups and data sharing efforts as institutions explore how open banking models might accelerate their modernization

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Rethinking The SME Loan Underwriting Model In Southeast Asia

PYMNTS

The small business credit gap is a global issue, a problem that banks and FinTechs continue to hack away at, yet one that remains stubbornly persistent. In markets like Southeast Asia, high rates of credit-invisible, underbanked small businesses make filling the small business credit gap an even more difficult challenge. At the root of the matter is often a lack of predictive data to ascertain the creditworthiness of these small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

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Amazon Delivery Exec Leaves For FinTech SoFi

PYMNTS

Amazon’s VP of Delivery Experience Maria Renz is quitting the firm after more than 20 years and is heading over to digital lender Social Finance (SoFi), The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday (March 12), citing sources. Renz started working for the eCommerce giant in 1999 when Amazon was just five years in the making. She was promoted numerous times, and from 2015 to 2017 she was the first female technical adviser to Jeff Bezos , Amazon’s founder, chairman and CEO.

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NEW DATA: The Innovations Credit Union Members Need To Stick, Not Switch

PYMNTS

Credit unions (CU) members have a reputation of being loyal to their financial institution (FI) — and not without reason. CU members, by and large, are happier than most financial consumers are with their primary FIs, with 88.5 percent saying they are very or extremely satisfied with their CUs’ performance. This compares to just 80.5 percent of non-CU members who say the same.

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Demo SkyStem’s Award Winning Month-End Close Solution & Earn $100

Is your finance team bogged down by endless data requests and disorganized spreadsheets during the month-end close? It’s time to consider a better option – automate with ART! SkyStem’s solution works alongside your ERP to transform the close and account reconciliation process and speed up month-end work. Explore SkyStem’s ART - the award-winning account reconciliation automation platform - and receive a $100 Amazon gift card as a thank you for your time.