Sat.Jun 06, 2020 - Fri.Jun 12, 2020

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UN Blockchain Expert Says Digital Cash Could Replace Bank Accounts

PYMNTS

United Nations global blockchain expert Massimo Buonomo has foreseen a future where digital currencies could replace low-interest bank accounts, Coindesk reports. Low interest rates, he said, were the main enticement for people to come and join a new bank — but they would be obsolete in competition against an official digital currency, which could easily process a digital payment the same way.

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Offer in Compromise and Coronavirus COVID-19

MyIRSRelief

IRS has provided updated instructions to taxpayers with respect to the effects of coronavirus – COVID-19 on offers in compromise (OICs). IRS has the authority to compromise a taxpayer’s tax liability. An OIC is an agreement between the taxpayer and IRS that compromises a taxpayer’s tax debt for less than the full amount owed. IRS will accept an OIC when it is unlikely that the tax liability can be collected in full and the amount offered by the taxpayer reasonably reflects the taxpayer’s c

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Orange County Grant Small Business Relief Program 

CapataCPA

Orange County Grant Small Business Relief ProgramWould you like a grant of up to $10,000 from Orange County to help your small business? Read this today—help may be on the way! In general, the grants require that your business was affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The qualifications are generous, and different programs have different application. The post Orange County Grant Small Business Relief Program appeared first on CPA firm in Orange County, CA | CAPATA.

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The Leadership Podcast: Prisoners of Our Own Perspective

RLLeaders

I recently had the privilege to join the wonderful team over at The Leadership Podcast to discuss leadership and a slew of other topics. Here are some of the takeaways, along with the full recording below. The Leadership Podcast – We Study Leaders · TLP206: Prisoners of Our Own Perspective. [3:45] If you don’t have revenue, you’re not a business.

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Building a Business Case for Finance Automation

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.

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FBI Issues Warning To Bank Mobile App Users?

PYMNTS

As the use of mobile banking apps surges due to the limited access to banks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the FBI is warning users to beware of cyber attacks.

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COVID-19 Business Survival Series: “Innovation: The COVID-19 Silver Lining”

Katz,Sapper&Miller

The dark cloud called COVID-19 has been hanging over the nation’s economy for months. It has disrupted every point in the supply chain and has affected every level of engagement within companies themselves. But in the midst of this massive disruption, we’re starting to see a silver lining. COVID-19 has forced organizations to innovate – to reinvent presence, productivity, and collaboration.

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Chuck E. Cheese Seeks Loan For Debt Payment

PYMNTS

Chuck E. Cheese , the popular food and games chain, is talking to investors about ways to raise money to avoid filing for bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reports. The chain has also approached lenders in the past few weeks to feel out possible interest in a $200 million loan to help pay for a stay in bankruptcy, a source said, as reported by WSJ.

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Experts Tell Congress It?s Time To Create A ?Digital Dollar?

PYMNTS

Trillions of dollars in federal COVID-19 stimulus payments are being disbursed through paper checks, prepaid debit cards and direct deposit

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TikTok?s Data Privacy Policies Draw Eyes Of EU Authorities

PYMNTS

TikTok , the popular Chinese short-form mobile video app, is facing more scrutiny over its privacy policies, Bloomberg reported. The EU’s investigative unit will form a task force to examine TikTok’s activities across the 27-nation bloc following a request from a lawmaker concerned about its data collection and its security and privacy risks. EU authorities can fine companies for violations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

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TranSwap, Currencycloud Partner For More Flexibility In B2B X-Border Pay

PYMNTS

Singapore-based cross border-payments platform TranSwap will partner with Currencycloud , which provides B2B embedded cross-border solutions, to let businesses collect and hold numerous currencies in the U.S., U.K., EU and other countries, a press release states. By using Currencycloud Spark, TranSwap will be able to offer the Global Borderless Virtual Account (GBVA) to customers, enabling funds to be held in 34 currencies and allowing more flexibility for cross-border payment solutions, through

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Fall In Love With the Month-End Close

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.

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Scandit: The Future Of Retail Will Include Mobile Scanning

PYMNTS

Physical brick-and-mortar retail was suffering long before the pandemic. As the great shift to digital continues, the last three months have shown that consumers are not only used to conducting commerce in bits and bytes — they like it. Consider the findings of a PYMNTS consumer survey , where 42 percent of consumers are engaging in even the most routine activities online, and as much as $158 billion in brick-and-mortar sales are moving to digital channels.

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LG Teams With Korean Food Delivery Platform To Make Robot Waiters

PYMNTS

If restaurants, bars and cafes come roaring back after months of being shuttered worldwide, LG Electronics could be one of the big winners. The South Korean global electronics company headquartered in Seoul has partnered with online food delivery platform operator Woowa Brothers and the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement (KIRIA), an incubator for robot startups, to develop robot waiters, LG announced Friday (June 12).

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Sensory CEO: Voice Technology Is About To Make Itself Heard

PYMNTS

To say that voice technology is having its moment in the global pandemic’s aftermath isn’t quite accurate. The sector has actually been having its moment for much of the past decade in terms of adoption among consumers and exponentially growing interest among companies that want to connect with them. But Todd Mozer , CEO and chairman of voice technology firm Sensory , told Karen Webster recently that the sector is enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime moment in terms of its potential for expansion.

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Redfin On The US Housing Market?s Great Snapback (For Now)

PYMNTS

For housing, the great snapback? As stock markets whipsaw (the Dow was off more 6 percent on Thursday), as the Federal Reserve sees mid-single-digit economic contractions and unemployment remains at double-digit percentages, the homebuying market has decided to shake it all off. Redfin reported last month that homebuying is up more than 16 percent above levels that had been seen before the pandemic.

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Navigating Payroll Compliance: Future-Proofing Payroll in an Evolving Regulatory Landscape

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.

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FCC Removes Some Barriers To 5G Implementation

PYMNTS

The Federal Communications Commission ( FCC ) is working on facilitating 5G wireless networks across the U.S., according to a press release. The FCC is doing so by looking into how it can speed up the upgrades to existing wireless infrastructure through state and local rules, the release states, in order to provide the high-speed 5G networks which are “critical to expanding economic opportunities and supporting public health and safety in American communities.” In 2012, Congress pass

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MoneyGram Reports 100 Percent Digital Transaction Growth In May

PYMNTS

MoneyGram has been doing well in May, illustrated by a triple-digit percentage increase in digital transactions. The popular money transfer app reported a 100 percent growth increase year-over-year in May, a press release states. That’s a significant jump from the company’s 57 percent digital transaction spike in the first quarter. The growth in May was driven by MoneyGram Online, the company’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) channel, which reported 107 percent growth and over 80 perc

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Travel Sites, Airbnb Get Boost In Domestic Short-Term Rental Bookings

PYMNTS

As Americans seek relief from cabin fever after months of shelter-in-place orders due to the pandemic, vacation rentals are on the rise, Bloomberg reported. “People, after having been stuck in their homes for a few months, do want to get out of their houses; that’s really, really clear,” Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told the news service. “But they don’t necessarily want to get on an airplane and are not yet comfortable leaving their countries.”.

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New Report: Home Closings Go Digital With Remote Online Notary Services

PYMNTS

Cybercrime is surging during the COVID-19 pandemic as fraudsters seize on increased online activity to steal consumers’ sensitive personal details. As much as 22 percent of consumers have now been targeted by COVID-19 digital fraud scams, driving a mounting need for new ways to mitigate digital fraud risks. FinTech firms and government bodies are responding to the wave of cybercrime by developing new anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) technologies, particularly those levera

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Next-Level Fraud Prevention: Strategies for Today’s Threat Landscape

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.

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California Tells Uber And Lyft Their Drivers Are Employees

PYMNTS

The California agency that regulates ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft said their drivers are considered employees under the state’s new gig work law, the latest development in the fight over drivers’ status, Reuters reported. In a letter to the ridesharing companies , Douglas Ito, director of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), reminded them of the July 1 deadline to secure workers’ compensation coverage for drivers.

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Google Assistant Could Soon Control Doorbells, Clothes Stylers

PYMNTS

On Friday night (June 5) Google Assistant, the artificial intelligence–powered virtual assistant for mobile and smart home devices, was updated to include doorbell and clothes styler devices, which will soon be available widely, reported 9To5Google. Last month, the Google-focused , online news service reported that as Spring emerged, people are looking for ways to keep cool indoors.

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Why Economic Volatility Opens Up Opportunity For The Modern Corporate Accountant

PYMNTS

The pandemic is setting the stage to change just about every aspect of running a business. With market volatility and economic pressure higher than it has been in more than a decade, the ways businesses manage and account for their money is inevitably included in that wave of operational change. That means significant implications for the ways accountants and auditors operate both within an enterprise and externally from it.

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Enforcing AML/KYC Compliance When Legal Precedent Does Not Apply

PYMNTS

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the way businesses and government agencies verify their customers’, clients’ and citizens’ identities. Social distancing restrictions implemented to curb the virus’s spread are preventing compliance professionals from obtaining physical identification documents and holding in-person meetings that typically enforced anti-money laundering/know your customer (AML/KYC) compliance.

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Cash Flow Secrets Every Upskilled CPA Should Know

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.

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How goLance Is Using Connectivity, Transparency To Build Freelancers? Trust

PYMNTS

The COVID-19 pandemic may have shifted shopping and food delivery patterns, but it has not changed the basic requirements for freelancers looking to find work. Companies still need to find and quickly verify workers and their skills, and freelancers must make sure employers are trustworthy as well. These workers also want to be paid via convenient methods that allow them to keep up with their bills and other financial needs.

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New Funding To Make DoorDash A $15B Company

PYMNTS

DoorDash Inc.

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Ascena Retail Group Considers Bankruptcy Filing

PYMNTS

With the pandemic putting its business into a state of disorder, Lane Bryant and Ann Taylor owner Ascena Retail Group is reportedly in talks with lenders about a possible bankruptcy filing. A Chapter 11 filing would let the firm maintain the operation of some of its brands as it looks to sell other names and could come as early as July, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.

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Amazon, Goldman Sachs Launch SMB Credit Line

PYMNTS

In what is seen as the latest marriage between tech and Wall Street, Amazon has partnered with Goldman Sachs to launch a digital credit line for U.S. merchants, CNBC has learned. Here’s how it would work: small and medium-sized business (SMB) sellers on the eCommerce website can access Goldman’s Marcus revolving credit up to $1 million at a fixed annual interest rate of between 6.99 percent to 20.99 percent that can be drawn and repaid like a credit card, sources told the network.

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Profit in the Details: Rethinking Spend for Monumental Impact

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

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Facebook Uses Retail Data To Train Chatbots To Be Like Humans

PYMNTS

Facebook has launched, what it calls, a new way to train artificial intelligence (AI) in chatbots. Researchers at the social network giant described how data about human conversations is the key to improve shopping chatbots, according to a technical report shared by VentureBeat. Dubbed “Situated Interactive MultiModal Conversations (SIMMC),” its goal is to allow AI chatbots to show an object and explain what it’s made of in response to images, memories of previous interactions and individual req

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Mastercard Teams With Octet Europe For SMB Trade Technology

PYMNTS

To assist small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in expanding their operations, Mastercard and Octet Europe rolled out a new trade system throughout the European Economic Area (EEA). The Mastercard Trade Solution, which is fueled by Octet, helps firms trade domestically and internationally by allowing for safe payments, a credible value chain, streamlining of back office work and handling of cash flows per a Thursday (June 11) announcement.

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Flywire Adds Customizable Plans To Healthcare Payments Platform

PYMNTS

In a move to enhance patient engagement and affordability, Flywire has unveiled new enhancements to its healthcare payments platform amid the pandemic, according to a press release. The firm’s pre-service payment plans let healthcare providers give patients personalized payment options before service, and also offer customizable payment offers that adapt to a patient’s ability to pay to let providers address concerns of those who might be facing hardship due to COVID-19.

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Retail Infrastructure Catches Up With Digital Shift

PYMNTS

The long-term consequences of the digital shift continue to be quantified and qualified. As evidenced by last week’s PYMNTS’ card on file report , consumers are ready and willing to keep their data with retailers, both online and offline, in exchange for frictionless experiences. The big action has now moved to infrastructure, payments and more behind-the-scenes activity that shows the spike in eCommerce is likely here to stay, even post-pandemic.

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Navigating Bleisure Travel: A Guide for Mid-Sized Companies

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.