PYMNTS
JULY 13, 2019
In this age of live multi-player online gaming, and virtual reality, and all things digital, it can be easy to think of board games as an artifact of the analog world. No doubt many households have a collection of board games in the closet or basement, but so many of them do nothing so much as collect dust, perhaps pulled out during the holidays after the presents are opened and the kids are getting fidgety.
Katz,Sapper&Miller
JULY 18, 2019
On July 17, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) voted to have its staff prepare an exposure draft to delay the effective dates for accounting standard changes on leases, credit losses, and hedging. The FASB received several requests to provide relief as smaller companies are dealing with the highly challenging implementation of the revenue recognition standard.
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PYMNTS
JULY 15, 2019
More than $1.2 billion is estimated to have been lost to cryptocurrency scams, thefts and fraud in the first quarter of 2019, and cybercriminals and scammers are not the only ones putting digital asset users at risk. Canadian exchange QuadrigaCX ’s former CEO, Gerald Cotten, allegedly embezzled approximately $195 million of clients’ money, for example, and his recent death left the company without the passwords required to access most of its customers’ holdings.
PYMNTS
JULY 17, 2019
Visa said early Wednesday (July 17) that it has acquired Payworks , a payment gateway based in Germany focused on the point of sale (POS). The company said in a release that Payworks will be integrated into CyberSource ’s portfolio of services offered to clients. In its release, the company said that Payworks’ cloud-based solution for in-store payments processing will be brought together with the CyberSource digital payment management platform, which will create, in Visa’s words, “a fully integ
Speaker: Danny Gassaway and Wayne Richards
Finance leaders are prioritizing efficiency and digital transformation, yet many hesitate to automate due to uncertainty. Without a clear understanding of its impact, organizations risk falling behind competitors who are leveraging automation to drive productivity and cost savings. Join Wayne Richards and Danny Gassaway from AvidXchange for a practical guide on bringing accounts payable (AP) automation to your organization.
PYMNTS
JULY 15, 2019
A group of companies in South Korea are collaborating on a blockchain network to be used for mobile authentication services, according to reports. . Samsung Electronics; banks KEB Hana Bank and Woori Bank ; telecom companies SK Telecom , LG Uplus and KT ; and Koscom , an IT service subsidiary from the Korea Exchange, are all part of the group. The companies want to let users protect their own data with the service, which will also allow people to save information from institutions as well as oth
PYMNTS
JULY 14, 2019
Samsung has reached an agreement with an online marketplace for financial products in India that will allow consumers to apply for credit cards and loans through the Samsung Pay app. In a deal Samsung signed with Paisabazaar.com, India’s largest online marketplace for financial products, predictive algorithms will connect customers with the lenders most likely to say yes, FinExtra reported.
Accountant Advocate brings together the best content for small business accounting professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
PYMNTS
JULY 16, 2019
Banks and merchants are racing to meet the Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) deadline as September 2019 approaches. Banks are innovating their application programming interface (API) platforms to allow for more third parties, while online merchants are prepping for a potential loss in revenue due to the security frictions that SCA might bring. Both are looking to maintain quick, efficient service to which end customers have become accustomed when it comes to online purchases and transactions
PYMNTS
JULY 16, 2019
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin believes that Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency could pose as a national security threat. In a press conference on Monday (July 15), Mnuchin warned that Libra “could be misused by money launderers and terrorist financiers” and that it was a “national security issue.”. “Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin have been exploited to support billions of dollars of illicit activity like cyber crime, tax evasion, extortion, ransomware, illicit drugs and human traffick
PYMNTS
JULY 17, 2019
Establishing a trust factor is vital to cross-border economics and digital identity , but the roadmap is far from clear. There are billions of individuals online, trillions of dollars in commerce exchanged digitally, and a myriad of approaches to online verification. In terms of authentication, should there be government mandates, private sector ingenuity, or a combination of both?
PYMNTS
JULY 17, 2019
Strong customer authentication (SCA) looms on the horizon for businesses based in Europe. The latest PSD2 Tracker shows that a majority of European citizens are aware of GDPR – and the reverse seems true here in the States. Yet online commerce is indeed about to usher in a sea change in how companies deal with security and privacy , as similar laws may span the globe in the coming months.
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It's the time of year to give our close process some TLC. Join us in this one hour webinar where we discuss how to adopt leading practices and infuse technology into the month-end close process to improve our experience and increase our productivity during month-end and quarter-end close. Learning Objectives: This course's objective is to understand how the month-end close can be improved with automation and adoption of leading practices.
PYMNTS
JULY 16, 2019
Uber AI, the ride-hailing company’s artificial intelligence division, has released an open-source AI platform called the Plato Research Dialogue System, according to a report by Venturebeat. . The platform is made to build, train and deploy conversational AI agents for people to gather data from both prototypes and demonstration systems. . “Intelligent conversational agents have evolved significantly over the past few decades, from keyword-spotting interactive voice response (IVR) systems to the
PYMNTS
JULY 17, 2019
You may have noticed in recent years that the cash you have in your wallet, pocket or purse tends to last longer than it used to. Drew Edwards, CEO at Ingo Money , sure has — a situation he says was brought about by the increasing use of Uber instead of taxis, digital payment options offered by valets and other factors. But there is one place where cash still has a big role: Tipping.
PYMNTS
JULY 16, 2019
Referred to as an “over-the-top” digital banking platform, London-based Curve has cleared $55 million in its latest funding round. Curve’s claim to fame in financial services is allowing customers to consolidate their many cards into a single Curve card and app. The theory is that centralization will allow consumers better control over their spending.
PYMNTS
JULY 19, 2019
German AI-driven mobility startup FlixMobility has raised $531 million in a new funding round, and is now valued at more than $2 billion, according to reports. . The funding amount is the largest for any German outfit so far this year. The company is perhaps best known for its FlixBus network, with its lime green vehicles that offer cost-effective traveling options.
Speaker: Jennifer Hill
Payroll compliance is a cornerstone of business success, yet for small and midsize businesses, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of federal, state, and local regulations. Mistakes can lead to costly penalties and operational disruptions, making it essential to adopt advanced solutions that ensure accuracy and efficiency.
PYMNTS
JULY 18, 2019
The second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) is changing how banks share data and interact with third-party providers and FinTechs, which are now relying on open banking information and application programming interface (API) access to build out new products. The regulation is also altering banks’ end customer interactions as new players make their way to the financial stage.
PYMNTS
JULY 14, 2019
After hitting the 500,000 user mark, currency exchange service WeSwap has rolled out a Seedrs crowdfunding round. The company is seeking a £2.3 million ($2.89 million) raise, according to reports. The raise is the company’s third on Seedrs and had previously brought in funds from 3,868 investors of more than £3.5 million ($4.4 million). It will support an IW Capital-led Series B investment round.
PYMNTS
JULY 17, 2019
The second Payment Services Directive ( PSD2 ) groundwork laid out in 2016 is about to come to fruition in a few months – Sept. 14, 2019, to be exact. The deadline is looming for merchants and payments providers to comply with new requirements for authenticating online payments in Europe. Firms must soon put more stringent fraud decisioning processes in place, and strong customer authentication (SCA) protocols must be built into checkout flows for online transactions that begin in Europe.
PYMNTS
JULY 18, 2019
Trust is important for all of payment, commerce and financial services – it is more or less the glue that holds transactions together. Without foundations of trust, no transaction can get off the runway. And when it comes to cross-border transactions, that importance increases exponentially, simply by the nature of that activity. The parties don’t know each other, and are often separated by language and time zone barriers that can make communication a tremendous challenge.
Speaker: Sierre Lindgren
Fraud is a battle that every organization must face – it’s no longer a question of “if” but “when.” Every organization is a potential target for fraud, and the finance department is often the bullseye. From cleverly disguised emails to fraudulent payment requests, the tactics of cybercriminals are advancing rapidly. Drawing insights from real-world cases and industry expertise, we’ll explore the vulnerabilities in your processes and how to fortify them effectively.
PYMNTS
JULY 15, 2019
To keep the wheels of commerce — or the commerce of wheels — turning, trust is key, among lengthy supply chains, and vendors large and small. In the automotive industry, hiccups amid the supply chain — for deliveries or for payments, can have outsized ripple effects. Mastercard said late last week that it has partnered with OpenTex t, focused on enterprise operations management in a bid to streamline supply chain and finance activity.
PYMNTS
JULY 18, 2019
TS Eliot wrote: “Between the idea/And the reality/Between the motion/And the act/Falls the shadow.”. The same observation might apply to financial services. Depending on where you look, the chasm yawns wide when it comes to innovating with new technologies or features. In a PYMNTS interview with Karen Webster, Joe DeRosa, EVP of Global Sales at i2c , discussed the findings of the July 2019 Innovation Readiness Playbook , subtitled “Leveling the Playing Field for Different-Sized FIs.
PYMNTS
JULY 16, 2019
Six-year-old digital payments startup SumUp has managed to secure a 330 million-euro ($371 million) loan, backed by Bain Capital Credit and Goldman Sachs Private Capital. The new funds will reportedly go toward financing expansion, according to Bloomberg. The firm is reportedly looking to grow its customer base in the 31 markets where it is already doing business.
PYMNTS
JULY 19, 2019
The Seoul venture capital division of Japanese multinational holding company SoftBank has raised $270 million, or 317 billion won. The new fund of SoftBank Ventures Asia will invest globally in early-stage startups, with Asia being the cornerstone, Reuters reported Friday (July 19). Investors include South Korea’s National Pension Service. SoftBank Ventures Asia indicated the new fund will close in the next six months.
Speaker: Debra L. Robinson
CPAs know the drill: taxes, compliance, rinse, repeat. But what about the sneaky cash flow that’s quietly messing with your organization’s success? It’s time to step into the spotlight and expose the “dirty little secrets” of cash flow to fuel strategic growth. By upskilling your accounting practices and shifting focus from tax compliance to the strategic movement of money, you can transform your role from reactive accountant to proactive financial strategist.
PYMNTS
JULY 15, 2019
Amazon’s impact from Prime Day this year will again lift the U.S. eCommerce market, according to a report by TechCrunch. . Adobe Digital Insights (ADI) predicts that top retailers who have more than $1 billion in online sales will have a revenue lift of 79 percent, which is higher than the 60 percent from a year prior. . The research also predicts that Prime Day is going to be the third time eCommerce spending goes over $2 billion on a day that’s not a holiday; the other two days were Labor Day
PYMNTS
JULY 19, 2019
Iconic brick-and-mortar retailers are sometimes reinvented, and return to the world of retail with smaller-format concepts. The parent of the Toys R Us brand, Tru Kids , plans to bring stores under the legendary name to the United States for the 2019 holiday season. Tru Kids has entered into a joint venture with the software-powered experiential retailer b8ta to offer a new store experience with curated toys in “highly immersive, smaller-format spaces.”.
PYMNTS
JULY 16, 2019
When consumers use mobile apps like Uber or iTunes, the expectation that payments occur in a seamless, integrated way represents a broader paradigm shift in the payments world — one that is seeping into the corporate community as well. According to Mphasis Senior Vice President and Head of Global Payments Andres Ricaurte, the corporate equivalent to the mobile device’s effect on payments expectations can be seen in businesses’ adoption of the cloud and Software-as-a-Service.
PYMNTS
JULY 17, 2019
It can be easy to forget — especially for people plugged into digital payments and commerce — that much of the world still revolves around analog processes. That holds especially true for service retail, where contractors and mechanics might still be more likely to quickly answer an actual phone call than respond to an email. In other words, digital innovation has been slow to arrive in the service world, a point demonstrated by recent PYMNTS research in collaboration with AEVI, and a new PYMNTS
Speaker: Aaron Berson
Managing spend is more than a cost cutting exercise – it's a pathway to smarter decisions that unlock efficiency and drive growth. By understanding and refining the spending process, financial leaders can empower their organizations to achieve more with less. Explore the art of balancing financial control with operational growth. From uncovering hidden inefficiencies to designing workflows that scale your business, we’ll share strategies to align your organization’s spending with its strategic g
PYMNTS
JULY 15, 2019
For those who are focused on how better payments can lead to better eCommerce, the upcoming months promise to be an exciting and revealing time. That’s because the newest EMVCo payment specification is freshly out in the world, and the feedback and metrics on its success and failures will soon start emerging. In a new PYMNTS interview, Simon Armstrong, vice president of products for Entersekt , discussed the June release of the long-anticipated EMV Secure Remote Commerce (SRC) Specification vers
PYMNTS
JULY 19, 2019
Walmart is making some organizational adjustments with its executives to help better integrate its retail store and digital operations, according to a report by CNBC. The information was gleaned from a letter that CEO Doug McMillon wrote to the company’s employees, which was obtained by CNBC. “Our customers want one, seamless Walmart experience,” McMillon wrote to employees.
PYMNTS
JULY 16, 2019
McDonald’s has added DoorDash as a delivery partner, ending its exclusivity with Uber Eats , according to a report by CNBC. Uber Eats has singularly handled McDonald’s delivery since 2017 in about 64 percent of the chain’s stores in the U.S., and delivery has ballooned into a $3 billion business. However, Chris Kempczinski, McDonald’s U.S. head, said that it still only accounts for about 2-3 percent of its total business.
PYMNTS
JULY 16, 2019
Sharing economy platforms are opening up new opportunities for property owners and travelers. Homeowners can monetize spare rooms and visitors can secure accommodations before arriving in new cities. Car owners can turn profits on underused property, and drivers can avoid the expense of purchasing items they need on a temporary basis. Platforms facilitating these transactions must foster trust between property owners and renters if they want to be successful, but creating that confidence require
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Bleisure travel — where employees combine work and leisure — has been around since the advent of corporate travel and is here to stay. Successful bleisure policies strike a balance between employee preferences and company goals — workers report a 64% improvement in work-life balance, while companies benefit from reduced travel costs and increased workforce innovation.
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