November, 2018

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Deliverr Vying To Become ‘Uber’ Of Ground Shipping In eCommerce

PYMNTS

Before Michael Krakaris co-founded an online fulfillment platform for eCommerce merchants, he learned firsthand how companies could reinvent messy spaces with software. One of his first jobs was working for a company that created an application programming interface (API) to help businesses send text messages to their customers. That business solved a major pain point, he says, as companies used to have to make deals with the wireless carriers themselves to have that capability.

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Beginner’s guide to sales forecasting

Anaplan

What is sales forecasting? Sales forecasting is a projected measure of how a market will respond to a company’s go-to-market efforts.

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Venmo Payment Fraud Led To $40M In Losses

PYMNTS

Venmo , the digital money transfer service owned by PayPal , suffered payments fraud earlier in 2018 that played a role in the company posting losses that were higher than forecasted for the first quarter of this year. The Wall Street Journal , citing internal documents it reviewed, reported that for the first three months of 2018 Venmo had operating losses of around $40 million, which was close to 40 percent bigger than what the company had planned for.

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Australia Gets First Virtual Commercial Cards Via Mastercard, DiviPay

PYMNTS

Expense management company DiviPay is rolling out what it says is Australia’s first Mastercard virtual commercial card for corporate payers, and the first solution in the country that combines payments with expense management automation. Reports in Finder this week said DiviPay is launching its virtual card offering to help small and medium-sized companies (SMBs) automate their expense reporting and management processes.

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Live Demo - Supercharge your Month End Close

Automation generally supercharges any process and brings its value to the forefront. See how infusing automation such as ART (our month-end close solution), into your close can get you to the next level of closing. We will share a live demo of SkyStem's solution, ART and share the key elements of month-end close automation. Through ART, we'll take a look at: What month-end close automation entails Which process steps can and should be automated Benefits of achieving process automation, and Why i

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InComm Partners With Welcia To Grow Barcode Payments

PYMNTS

InComm , a global prepaid product and payment technology company, has announced a partnership with Welcia , Japan’s leading pharmacy chain, to launch four mobile barcode payment solutions in its stores. InComm will be integrating its point-of-sale payment technology directly with Welcia. “Simultaneously connecting these major mobile barcode payments with the largest pharmacy chain in Japan is an exciting opportunity for InComm and Welcia’s customers,” Takumaro Arai, vice president and general ma

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SWIFT Disconnects From Iran’s Banks

PYMNTS

Months of geopolitical spats that spanned Europe, the Middle East and the United States have seen payments infrastructure at the center of it all. This week SWIFT, the financial messaging service based in Belgium (and where the acronym stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Communications) said that it would suspend access for at least some Iranian banks.

Banking 81
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Overstock To Sell Retail Biz, Focus On Blockchain

PYMNTS

Overstock is gearing up to sell its retail business, with a deal taking place in the next few months as it focuses solely on its blockchain initiatives. CNBC , citing comments Overstock chief executive Patrick Byrne made in an interview with the Wall Street Journal , reported the sale could happen as early as February. Overstock has previously announced plans to sell the retail business so that it can focus on blockchain technology.

Retail 81
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Sweden’s Cashless Drive Hits A Speed Bump

PYMNTS

In Sweden, the move to a cashless society has been marked by a quickened pace. Might there be speed bumps ahead, though? The New York Times said cash is being left by the wayside, in favor of digital payments, so quickly that the government is reportedly “recalculating the societal costs of a cash-free future.”. The reconsideration comes, according to the Times , as half of Sweden’s retailers have said they will stop accepting hard currency within the next few years.

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Mastercard Leads Investment In Mobile FinTech Mobeewave

PYMNTS

Contactless payment company Mobeewave announced the closing of a $16.5 million Series B funding round, led by NewAlpha Asset Management, Mastercard and Forestay Capital. The investment funds will enable the Montreal-based startup to continue to deploy its patented solution in markets around the world, develop new product offerings and expand the company’s head count.

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Mid-Year Review: How to Ignite Employee Potential Through Meaningful Feedback

Mid-year performance reviews aren’t just boxes for HR to check. Paycor’s toolkit empowers leaders to: Identify high-potential team members. Boost engagement with meaningful feedback. Support struggling employees. Nurture top talent to drive results. Learn how to ignite employee potential through meaningful feedback. When you nurture top talent, everybody wins.

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How Clandestina (Literally) Snuck Into The US Market

PYMNTS

Starting a new business is never easy, and new apparel lines are particularly challenging. There are many, many retailers and brands trying to outfit the world, and standing out in the crowd is difficult. But even on the already pitched startup terrain, apparel startup Clandestina, based in Havana, Cuba, had some unique troubles all its own. The brand became the first to launch a website for U.S. sales last month — and it is spinning up to take on its first-ever Christmas season.

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GoDaddy Highlights Small Business Cybersecurity Paradox

PYMNTS

Earlier this week, reports said two researchers from Bloomsberg University of Pennsylvania made their case for safe harbor rules and overall easing of regulatory penalties for small businesses hit by a cyberattack. Their argument, reports in the Wall Street Journal said, is that small businesses are held to the same standards as large corporates when they suffer a data breach — even if the small business is found to not be at fault.

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Real-Time Payments Driving Real-Time Liquidity: Deutsche Bank

PYMNTS

Corporate finance executives seem to be readying for real-time payments, preparing to adopt faster payment capabilities and bracing for changes to their cash flow management strategies as a result. A new report from Deutsche Bank said this industry path is guiding banks and corporates to a new destination: real-time treasury. Driven by a range of factors (including changes to intraday reporting requirements, open banking initiatives, longer clearing windows for real-time gross settlement (RTGS)

Banking 78
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The Bitcoin Bust And Its Ripple Effects

PYMNTS

It has not been a great week for the price of bitcoin, or really any cryptocurrency for that matter. The price of bitcoin has fallen and stayed below $6,000 for the last four days and no one’s predicting a rally anytime soon. The fall comes after a long and uncharacteristically uneventful lateral motion in the bitcoin market where it seemed $6,000 was the stable floor price of bitcoin.

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Your Accounting Expertise Will Only Get You So Far: What Really Matters

Speaker: Victor C. Barnes, CPA, MBA

In the climb from contributor to leader, the rules quietly change. If you’re aiming for the summit, the air gets thinner—and what got you here won’t be enough to get you to the top (a concept first popularized by Marshall Goldsmith in his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There ). What made you successful early in your finance career—technical accuracy, sharp analysis, flawless execution—won’t be what carries you to the next level.

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Third-Party Data Breaches On The Rise In The U.S.

PYMNTS

Opus, the provider of global compliance and risk management solutions, announced Thursday (Nov. 15) the results of the third annual Ponemon Institute’s “Data Risk in the Third-Party Ecosystem” study, which found that 59 percent of companies surveyed said they have experienced a data breach caused by their vendors or third parties. In a press release announcing the results of the survey of more than 1,000 CISOs and other security and risk professionals across the U.S. and U.K., Opus said th

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How Open Banking Will Test Banks’ Data Security Strategies

PYMNTS

Whether driven by regulation or market competition, the financial services sector in several jurisdictions is progressing toward open banking, interconnectivity and a freer flow of data between customer accounts and third parties. As such, data security has simultaneously emerged as a renewed focal point for the financial services market, because the more data moves and the more actors touch it, the more exposure that information has to nefarious actors.

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FLEETCOR May Be Nearing Western Union Business Payments Buy

PYMNTS

Western Union and FLEETCOR are nearing an agreement to sell WU’s business payments operations to the fleet payments firm, according to reports in PE Hub on Wednesday (Nov. 15). Citing three unnamed sources, reports said Citi is advising on the deal, which could fetch $600 million for the B2B payments operations. Though unconfirmed, the deal would not come entirely as a surprise.

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Why Real-Time Payments Need Real-Time Trust

PYMNTS

It can be a moment of anxiety, worry and mistrust: that moment when a digital payment is sent into what was once called the ether. Will the funds end up in the right bank account? Will fraudsters hitch a ride? Those and other questions can vex people involved in the transaction — and keep them glued to paper-based payments until the questions can be answered to their satisfaction.

B2B 77
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The Hidden Science Behind Why Finance Teams Resist Change—And How to Fix It

Speaker: Kim Beynon, CPA, CGMA, PMP

The most overlooked, yet most critical, element of transformation is preparing people for change. Automation and AI aren't just technical upgrades, they’re cultural shifts which can challenge identities. That’s why change management isn’t a side project—it’s the foundation. In finance, where precision and process rule, navigating change can feel especially disruptive.

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PayPal Working Capital Steps Into Germany

PYMNTS

PayPal is broadening its small business financing offering into the German market, a press release announced on Wednesday (Nov. 7). PayPal Working Capital will launch in Germany as PayPal Businesskredit, offering small and medium-sized businesses access to working capital financing that is deposited directly into their PayPal accounts. The rollout of its SMB lending offering comes nearly 15 years after PayPal first launched operations in the market, and adds Germany to the list of markets in whi

Finance 77
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Bank Of England Plans Panel To Standardize Payments Messaging

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As the U.K. continues its move to adopt the ISO 20022 payments messaging standard, the Bank of England is reportedly planning to create a panel aimed at streamlining the adoption of the standard for more efficient payments in the country. In a press release issued last week, the Bank of England said that it, along with Pay.UK, is inviting interested parties to join its Standard Advisory Panel to help guide adoption of the payments messaging standard across the New Payments Architecture (NPA).

Banking 77
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NEW DATA: 14 Ways To Improve Mobile Checkout Conversion

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Smartphones are now more ubiquitous than laptops and desktops. As many as 86 percent of modern consumers own a smartphone, and 23 percent of them shop on their mobiles. Many eTailers are looking to cash in on the smartphone’s ubiquity by optimizing their mobile sites, making it easier for consumers to navigate, find and pay for items. For bottom-performing merchants, mobile checkouts are an even higher priority.

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Robotics Process Automation Rakes In The VC Cash

PYMNTS

In a week of multiple nine-figure venture capital funding rounds, B2B FinTech has proved it plans to end the year on a high note. The star of this week’s roundup is undoubtedly data: Two Robotics Process Automation (RPA) companies focusing on enterprise data analytics and automation landed a combined $565 million, while other high-value rounds were closed in the workspace sharing and asset-based lending markets.

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Doing More With Less: The Modern Finance Miracle

Speaker: Mark Gilham, FCCA, CPP

Finance used to be the function that counted, now it's the one that’s counted on. 📊 For accounting firms, controllers, and finance leaders, expectations are rising faster than headcount. Businesses want agile forecasts, granular analysis, seamless reporting, and smart automation—often without added resources while demanding uncompromised accuracy and compliance.

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Nigerian Presidential Hopeful Wants Blockchain And Crypto To Help Economy

PYMNTS

Atiku Abubakar, a 2019 presidential candidate in Nigeria, said he will support cryptocurrency and blockchain if he becomes the country’s next leader, according to the Daily Post. The push is part of his “Get Nigeria Working Again” proposal. Abubakar, who is a former vice president, plans to use cryptocurrency to help speed up the economy in the country.

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Amex’s Small Business Saturday Bests $100B

PYMNTS

On Nov. 24, holiday consumers and small businesses celebrated the ninth annual Small Business Saturday. The event, created by American Express as an offshoot to Black Friday , brought in an estimated $17.8 billion, according to surveys commissioned by the company. This brings the estimated total spending on the day to $103 billion since 2010, reported Amex.

Sales 77
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BitPay Lands Ex-PayPal Talent For Business Solutions Unit

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B2B cryptocurrency payments company BitPay announced this week that Rolf Haag is joining the company to lead its business solutions unit. In a press release , BitPay said Haag will spearhead the company’s B2B and mass payments operations. He comes to BitPay after working for both Western Union as its former director of global mass payments, and PayPal as its former head of mass payment global disbursements.

B2B 77
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Bitcoin Daily: Hublot Unveils Bitcoin Watches; Swiss Regulator Throttles Bank Crypto Trading

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Blockchain , the crypto wallet provider, plans to have an airdrop worth $125 million, Fortune reported. Through the cryptocurrency giveaway, each recipient would receive around the equivalent of around $25 in Stellar. The company said in a statement, “Accessible to anyone with a Blockchain Wallet, the first batch of recipients will receive their lumens, Stellar’s native digital currency, this week — for free.

Banking 77
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Tariffs on the Table: How to Brief the Board and C‑Suite With Confidence

“What should we do about the tariffs?” There’s no straightforward answer — every leader has a different expectation. CFOs want numbers. COOs want action. CEOs want strategy. And supply chain and procurement leaders need to be ready with the right response — fast. That’s why GEP has created a simple three-part framework that will help CPOs and CSCOs brief the board and C-suite with clarity and confidence.