PYMNTS

MAY 25, 2018

As Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect, Facebook privacy critic Max Schrems has filed four complaints over consent required to use online services. The complaints were filed against Facebook — along with its Instagram and WhatsApp services — and against Google ’s Android, TechCrunch reported. “It’s simple: Anything strictly necessary for a service does not need consent boxes anymore,” Schrems wrote in a statement.

Government 70

Government Account accounted accountant 70

Katz,Sapper&Miller

MAY 25, 2018

Beth Scott, a director in Katz, Sapper & Miller’s Veterinary Services Group, will present at the 2018 Emerald Coast Veterinary Conference. Taking place June 14-17 in Miramar Beach, FL, this conference brings together veterinarians, practice managers, and veterinary technicians for meaningful discussion and education on practice management, strategic initiatives, and the latest industry trends.

Education 40

Education 40

PYMNTS

MAY 25, 2018

Among the latest hopes for healthcare payments is blockchain. Touted by observers and industry players as one of the top trends that could impact medical billing and data management for 2018, the technology is increasingly being viewed as part of the path to better efficiency in payments. For instance, ConnectingCare , a company that helps far-flung practitioners view patient data across different points of care, wants to use blockchain for cost forecasting and to enable direct pay options for h

Healthcare 66

Healthcare Technology Hospitality Maine 66

PYMNTS

MAY 22, 2018

Payments software company HPS is launching an API for other FinTech innovators to integrate into banking systems. The company announced news on Monday (May 21) that its PowerCARD Connect-Open API aims to help FinTech developers integrate mobile payment, tokenization, biometrics and other emerging banking technologies into their own solutions. The rollout follows a pilot version of the API launched last year, HPS noted, adding that the API can support “servicing” and “transacting,” enabling push

Technology 63

Technology accountant accounted Account 63

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.

Finance

PYMNTS

MAY 23, 2018

Hy-Vee amps up its partnership with the Wahlberg brothers by opening its first Wahlburgers restaurant at the Mall of America in Minnesota. The opening comes as Hy-Vee plans to open another 25 restaurants over the next few years, The Star Tribune reported. Hy-Vee Chief Executive Randy Edeker was not initially interested in the partnership. “But I promised him I’d consider it,” Edeker told the newspaper.

Minnesota 62

Minnesota Retail 62

PYMNTS

MAY 24, 2018

Some of the biggest banks in Europe are urging regulators to increase oversight of large technology companies that are moving into the financial services market. The Financial Times , citing some of the banks, reported that the new open banking rules that require European Union lenders to provide account access of customers to third parties has resulted in concerns on the part of bankers that Chinese and U.S. technology companies will choose to go only after the best parts of the financial servi

Technology 55

Technology accounting and finance Legal Start-ups 55

PYMNTS

MAY 22, 2018

Flywire , a provider of global payment and receivables solutions, has announced a major expansion of its U.K. and European operations and team. The company has moved to Folgate Street in London’s Spitalfields District, into a new office space that is quadruple the size of its previous location in Canary Wharf. Flywire processes billions of dollars in payments around the world each year.

Education 52

Education Sales 52

PYMNTS

MAY 22, 2018

CFO. Chief financial officer , of course. But might we tweak the title a bit? Maybe to “chief fundamentals officer?” The fundamentals of business is what we’re talking about here: Stretching across everything from external forces, such as competition, to internal workings spanning expense management to communications to defining and spearheading strategy that can change with haste.

Spend Management 52

Spend Management Technology Business Spend Management Start-ups 52

PYMNTS

MAY 23, 2018

Cyberattacks on American financial institutions are at an all-time high, with more and more cybercriminals eyeing consumers’ financial data and other sensitive information. A February 2018 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found that 75 percent of American financial institutions incurred losses due to fraud last year. And with that, governments and security solution providers are stepping into the fray with the aim of combatting fraudsters.

Government 50

Government Technology Maine 50

PYMNTS

MAY 25, 2018

Remember when blockchain was the new technology buzzword on the … block? Still buzzy, if not so new in the nomenclature. Now blockchain is on everyone’s lips, and has been for a while. Where once the concept of the digital ledger was linked to bitcoin , now blockchain stands on its own, as a conduit to any number of transactions across cryptocurrencies and other vessels of exchange, including data.

Technology 48

Technology Healthcare 48

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Technology

PYMNTS

MAY 22, 2018

Chase announced news on Tuesday (May 22) that it is launching Ink Business Unlimited, a new credit card geared toward small business owners that gives them unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on purchases. In a press release, Chase said Chase Ink Business Unlimited rewards business owners on every purchase without requiring them to make purchases in special categories.

New York 49

New York accounted Account accountant 49

PYMNTS

MAY 22, 2018

Corporate treasurers gathered for the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) annual conference last week, and there, treasury professionals made clear where their priorities stand today. At the top of the list, according to reports, is incoming FinTech disruption, legislation like PSD2, market shifts stemming from Brexit and more. According to reports in Global Finance , an estimated 1,100 corporate treasurers from across the U.K. and Europe gathered for the conference.

Technology 49

Technology Finance Start-ups B2B 49

PYMNTS

MAY 25, 2018

After reports of money laundering caused lenders in Estonia and Latvia to close, police said on Friday (May 25) that more than $13 billion (or about €11 billion) was laundered through banks in Estonia between 2012 and 2016. Much of the money was reportedly laundered through bank accounts belonging to non-residents, Reuters reported. “In 2012, more than €7.3 billion in securities from Russia were processed through the Estonian financial system.

accountant 48

accountant accounted Account 48

PYMNTS

MAY 23, 2018

As the speed of payments increases around the world, the potential scope of fraud shifts to targets beyond cards. Criminals are taking advantage of the global spread of real-time digital transactions to con chief financial officers, invoice managers and the like, hoping to steal massive sums before anyone knows they’ve been ripped off. That is among the themes of a recent discussion that Karen Webster had with two fraud experts from Vocalink , the Mastercard -owned payment company that powers re

Education 47

Education B2B accounted accountant 47

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.

payroll

PYMNTS

MAY 24, 2018

In 10 years, no one will talk about “contextual commerce” — it’ll just be commerce. That’s what Rich Aberman, co-founder of WePay , predicts. Native commerce is where Aberman believes all platforms are headed — and that’s not just true for software developers like Apple, Google and Microsoft, but also for social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

Retail 47

Retail accountant accounted Account 47

PYMNTS

MAY 22, 2018

Though the idea of contextual commerce is widely loved, delivering on it is a significant challenge. As it turns out, finding the right context — a moment when a customer is perfectly primed to buy a good or service, if only someone would give them an easy way to do it — is not as easy as simply declaring something a good context for commerce. For example, the rocky launch of the eCommerce chatbot over the last year has proven this problem.

Gaming 47

Gaming Sales accountant accounted 47

PYMNTS

MAY 22, 2018

The number of independent restaurants continues to decline in the United States, but they still make up more than half of the country’s eateries, and account for 15 percent of total restaurant operator spend. That’s according to research released on Monday (March 21) by The NPD Group. The research firm said that “while the number of independent restaurant units in the U.S. dropped by 3 percent, 346,105 independent restaurants remained opened, which represents over half of the 647,288 commercial

Manufacturing 47

Manufacturing Technology accountant accounted 47

PYMNTS

MAY 23, 2018

The experiment did not work out for AutoZone. The retailer of aftermarket automotive parts had tried offering “aggressive promotional discounts” for items ordered online and then shipped to consumers’ homes, according to CEO William Rhodes — a nod to how eCommerce is changing customer expectations. The discount program, while only a small part of the chain’s overall revenue mix, had a “negative impact on our sales, which also negatively impacted our overall same-store sales,” he said on Tuesday

B2B 46

B2B Sales B2C Retail 46

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.

Finance

PYMNTS

MAY 21, 2018

Small business invoice financing platform Fundbox is targeting the events industry through a new partnership with Eventbrite. A press release late last week said Fundbox is integrating its solution into the Eventbrite platform to link event creators with access to credit. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics cited in Fundbox’s announcement, the event industry is slated to grow 44 percent between 2010 and 2020.

Finance 46

Finance accounting and finance Entertainment Sales 46

PYMNTS

MAY 24, 2018

The ideal goes something like this: Consumers at any location — a friend’s house, a car — could speak into a voice assistant or smart speaker and be instantly recognized by the device no matter who owns it. That consumer could make secure transactions or add items to a daily calendar or perform any of the other tasks possible in a world where voice recognition has become ubiquitous.

Technology 46

Technology 46

PYMNTS

MAY 23, 2018

What if QR Codes could transition consumers seamlessly between the online and offline worlds, blurring the lines between physical and digital retail, and ingraining shopping as part of the everyday experience? They can’t, but the next generation of scannable codes aims to do exactly that, leveraging a color matrix that can be scanned from afar and renders well on TV screens.

Technology 46

Technology Real Estate Sports Maine 46

PYMNTS

MAY 21, 2018

Are the days of the real estate agent numbered? Probably not — no matter what, someone has to put out cookies and snacks for potential home buyers — but artificial intelligence is taking more command in the industry. The latest evidence comes from SetSchedule , a real estate data analytics and marketing firm. It recently announced its launch of a service called SetValue, which the company describes as a “tool that is the first of its kind to combine data analytics and artificial intelligence and

Real Estate 46

Real Estate Gaming Retail Tax 46

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.

CPA

PYMNTS

MAY 21, 2018

Adobe has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Magento Commerce for $1.68 billion, subject to adjustments. The addition of the Magento Commerce Cloud will enable commerce to seamlessly integrate into the Adobe Experience Cloud, and delivers one platform that serves both B2B and B2C customers around the world, Adobe said in an announcement.

B2C 45

B2C Manufacturing B2B Retail 45

PYMNTS

MAY 25, 2018

The wallets of small business (SMB) owners are bulging with plastic, thanks in large part to the difficulty of securing funding, which leads to those merchants using their personal credit cards to meet expenses. That’s according to Nav , which helps business owners find financing and access credit. To arrive at its findings, Nav “analyzed anonymized personal credit card usage data from 143,004 of its small business customers and 128,281 of its consumer customers.

Finance 45

Finance B2B 45

PYMNTS

MAY 24, 2018

Paper checks may be the No.1 way to pay suppliers in the U.S., but only by a slight majority. ACH, wire, virtual and physical cards, and other rails all come into the mix, particularly as each vie for a chance to take B2B payment market share away from paper. For vendors, this means managing acceptance of multiple payment rails, often based on what their corporate customers prefer.

B2B 45

B2B B2C E-commerce accounting and finance 45

PYMNTS

MAY 22, 2018

It looks like a flaw in Comcast’s website used for the activation of Xfinity routers can be exploited to harvest sensitive consumer information. According to reports, the purpose of the site is to make it easy for customers to set up their home internet without having to wade through a customer service call. It’s a useful service except for the fact that it can apparently be tricked into displaying the home address of wherever the router happens to be.

Retail 45

Retail accounted Account accountant 45

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

Spend Management

PYMNTS

MAY 21, 2018

A smart entrepreneur dropped out of college, identified an unmet market need and created an entirely new market segment. He did it by establishing a platform that matched an underutilized source of supply with a growing demand for services. One of his platform’s competitive advantages was the centralized payments platform he created to remove the friction involved in paying suppliers.

Technology 45

Technology payroll bookkeeping bookkeeping services 45

PYMNTS

MAY 22, 2018

Welcome to the new world of trust. Identity is the new currency, and the costs of mishandling it – or making it easy to steal – can end up higher than the mere theft of funds. That’s one of the insights offered by Tony Ball, senior vice president and general manager of identity and access management for Entrust Datacard , during an interview with Karen Webster for the PYMNTS “ Economy of Trust ” podcast series.

Education 44

Education Start-ups accounting and finance Retail 44

PYMNTS

MAY 22, 2018

Remember that old saying, “You break it, you bought it?” A tweak on that might read: “You click on it, you bought it.”. Or, in simpler language: “That’s enough.” So says Amazon , it seems, when it comes to returning items bought from the site. The premise breaks down to this: Too many returns and you don’t return. The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon has been banning shoppers for what the financial publication notes are “infractions such as returning too many items, sometimes without tel

Retail 44

Retail Account accounted accountant 44

PYMNTS

MAY 22, 2018

For women around the world, freelancing in the digital economy isn’t just convenient – it’s empowering, especially as gender pay disparity comes under scrutiny across the corporate workspace. But what’s not empowering are the steep transaction fees and currency challenges, such as forex fluctuation or non-acceptance of customers’ preferred tender. The new way of working has “unquestionably broken down barriers to women’s economic empowerment,” according to Meghan Hagberg, senior vice president,

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