Sat.Apr 06, 2019 - Fri.Apr 12, 2019

article thumbnail

Why Small Business Owners Should Always Have An Exit Strategy

PYMNTS

Hundreds of thousands of new small businesses (SMBs) open their doors every year in the U.S., be them physical or digital. The latest estimates from the Small Business Administration (SBA) peg the number of new SMBs at 414,000 each year, spurring job creation and economic growth for the country, with millennial entrepreneurs at the helm. The high failure rate of a new small business has entrepreneurs focused on simply surviving their first few years in operation.

article thumbnail

Nuclear Risk and the Financial Markets

CFA Institute

The financial community should work to reduce nuclear risks the same way it does those of climate change.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

Achieving the Elusive Zero-Day Close

Planful

However, the more quickly the accounting team can close the books and produce accurate, reliable financial reports, the more time the executive team has to analyze the results and make decisions about how to guide the company forward. In fact, a zero-day close would be considered the ultimate in accounting achievement! Executives would be able to get the most immediate and accurate information to make decisions much more quickly, and accounting would be able to move past the tedious work of veri

article thumbnail

How Retailers Are Gearing Up For Contactless Payments Via mPOS

PYMNTS

With the use of contactless payments heating up around the world, small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) and their solution providers have to prepare for their acceptance. Mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) terminals that are enabled for contactless have to meet certain specifications to gain EMVCo 3.0 certification: They must, for instance, resolve issues when a payment reader’s too-powerful field strength results in damaged smartphones and cards.

Retail 103
article thumbnail

How to Build the Ideal HR Team

HR doesn’t exist in a vacuum. This work impacts everyone: from the C-Suite to your newest hire. It also drives results. Learn how to make it all happen in Paycor’s latest guide.

article thumbnail

A Marketplace For Stolen Fingerprints Has Emerged

PYMNTS

Security researchers at Kaspersky Lab revealed at the Kaspersky Security Analyst Summit in Singapore that a dark net marketplace in which hackers are selling digital fingerprints has emerged. According to a report in ZDNet , Kaspersky Lab said at the summit criminals are selling the digital fingerprints of more than 60,000 individuals. Dubbed Genesis, the marketplace emerged in the fall of last year when the creators started advertising it on forums where hackers sell payment card details they’v

More Trending

article thumbnail

Coinbase Launches Crypto Debit Card In The UK

PYMNTS

Coinbase , the cryptocurrency exchange operator, announced Wednesday (April 10) the launch of the Coinbase Card in the U.K., which is a Visa debit card that lets customers in the U.K. spend crypto as easily as they spend money sitting in a bank account. In a blog post , Zeeshan Feroz, chief executive of Coinbase U.K., said the Coinbase Card is funded by customers’ Coinbase account crypto balances, giving them the ability to pay in-store and online with bitcoin , ethereum, litecoin and other digi

article thumbnail

How FinTech Firms Are Tackling Africa’s Agriculture Challenges

PYMNTS

FinTech firms are tackling everyday challenges across Africa by digitizing payments and providing increased transparency. Cellulant ’s Agrikore and Tingg Marketplace offerings, for instance, seek to take on the continent’s food struggles. Cellulant Group Co-CEO Bolaji Akinboro told PYMNTS in an interview, “We believe that this solution can help solve food crises and hunger in Africa which has the landmass and climate to grow as much quantity of food that can feed the world.

Banking 84
article thumbnail

Jumia Stock Debut Signals Appeal Of African eCommerce

PYMNTS

It was a good day for Jumia Technologies on Friday (April 12) — and that’s a good signal about the future prospects of eCommerce in Africa, home to some 1.3 billion people, of whom at least 725 million have mobile devices. On its first day of trading, shares for the company often called the Amazon of Africa jumped some 54 percent, trading at about $22.

article thumbnail

New Wire Fraud Scam Reroutes Direct Deposit Paychecks

PYMNTS

A new type of phishing scam targets the HR departments of companies and asks for reroutes on direct deposit accounts, CNBC reported. Once the changes are made, a paycheck will go directly into a criminal’s account. KVC Health Systems, a child welfare nonprofit based out of Kansas City, has been hit with the scam. The emails look legitimate, and purportedly come from the company’s CEO, CFO or payroll director.

article thumbnail

Planning Your Restaurant's Path to Profitability

Speaker: James Kahler, COO of Full Course

Ever wondered where to splurge and where to safely conserve when it comes to operating and growing your restaurant? 🤔 Join James Kahler, COO of Full Course and industry visionary, in this new webinar where he'll talk all about best practices to invest in your restaurant's success! Whether you're a new business or an established restaurant, a seasoned pro or a rookie, you'll learn the keys to sustainable success in this competitive industry.

article thumbnail

How Payments Help The Sharing Economy Run On Trust

PYMNTS

All those children’s TV shows and stories lied: Sharing is not easy. Sharing is, in fact, enormously complex, prone to fraud and frustration, at least when it comes to digital payments and commerce. The rise of the global sharing economy — tied to online marketplace operations — is sparking challenges related to trust, security and confidence for buyers and sellers alike.

article thumbnail

AI Enters The FI Fast Lane

PYMNTS

It’s hard to find fault with one of the latest tests of artificial intelligence (AI). Medical diagnostic technology built by Google and a sister company can detect diabetic retinopathy — an eye condition that can cause blindness — with as much accuracy as a human doctor. That matters in places such as India, where the AI tech has been deployed, and where a relatively tiny group of eye doctors struggle to serve a massive population.

article thumbnail

XinFin Connects Blockchain Factoring Tool To QuickBooks

PYMNTS

Blockchain company XinFin is rolling out an integration between its invoice factoring application InFactor and QuickBooks. Reports in Virtual Strategy Magazine this week said InFactor, developed by the XinFin-powered TradeFinex Dev team, is connecting the factoring tool to QuickBooks so users can automatically obtain financing on their unpaid invoices.

article thumbnail

The Cybersecurity Threat Of GDPR

PYMNTS

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) represented a new phase in data security and EU regulators’ approach to it. Designed to safeguard consumers with greater transparency into how, when and by whom their personal data is collected, GDPR , though based in EU, has a global reach and is likely to act as a blueprint for upcoming data security regulations in other markets.

article thumbnail

How Automation is Driving Efficiency Through the Last Mile of Reporting

Speaker: Jamie Eagan

As organizations strive for agility and efficiency, it's imperative for finance leaders to embrace innovative technologies and redefine traditional processes. Join us as we explore the pivotal role of digitalization and automation in reshaping what is commonly referred to as the “last mile of reporting”. We’ll deep-dive into why digitalization is no longer a choice, but a necessity for finance departments to stay competitive in a fast-paced environment touching on: 2024 trends for the Office of

article thumbnail

SWIFT On Cybercrime’s Evolution Post-Bangladesh Bank Heist

PYMNTS

Headlines swirling around cyber fraud usually center on the size and scope of heists, where the bad actors make off with breathtaking sums — in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Indeed, one of the more brazen thefts occurred three years ago when hackers took roughly $101 million from the Bangladesh central bank account housed within the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Banking 76
article thumbnail

Will Disbursements Put Payday Cycles Out To Pasture?

PYMNTS

The rise of fast-acting payment solutions is changing the way businesses and governments issue payments to consumers and citizens. Demand for instant payments is also increasing in the workforce, and has the potential to change how workers view concepts like payday. The new Disbursements Tracker highlights recent efforts by businesses, banks and government agencies to improve payment practices by delivering on consumers’ speedy expectations, and how th e rise of peer-to-peer (P2P) services like

article thumbnail

Amazon Wants Alexa To Track Medicine, Provide Health Data

PYMNTS

Amazon.com is aiming to enable Alexa, its voice-activated digital assistant, to keep tabs on customers’ medicine and provide personal health updates. As part of an effort to expand into healthcare , Amazon took the first step last week announcing Alexa is HIPAA-compliant and that five healthcare companies including Cigna, Livongo Health and hospital partners have created new Alexa skills, enabling Alexa to make appointments at urgent care facilities, track prescription drug shipments and provide

article thumbnail

China May Move To Ban Bitcoin Mining

PYMNTS

China could move to ban mining for bitcoins if a draft list of activities the country’s state planner wants to ban becomes law. According to a report in Reuters , citing China’s state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, the agency is facing mounting pressure from the government to control the cryptocurrency market and as a result, may move to ban bitcoin mining.

article thumbnail

Register Now: Sneak Peek Into Close Automation SkyStem Web Demo

Technology is rapidly changing the way accountants perform and manage month-end activities. Spreadsheets, email, and shared drives no longer have to slow us down. Join us as we present a "sneak peek" recorded demo of SkyStem's month-end close solution – ART. In under four weeks, your team can start reaping the benefits of month-end close automation by vastly reducing spreadsheets, cut down on reconciliation work, speed up the month-end close, and better manage your remote team.

article thumbnail

AlipayHK And McDonalds Hong Kong Team Up For In-App Payment

PYMNTS

AlipayHK, a mobile payment system in Hong Kong, has partnered with McDonald’s to offer payment on the McDonald’s app on smartphones, the company said in a release. AlipayHK users can also use a QR code-based system for special rewards. “With the advent of mobile payment services and big data analytics, restaurants are going full steam on digitalization,” the company said in the release.

article thumbnail

Chase On Gen Z, Mobile Banking — 10 Years In

PYMNTS

With more consumers than ever interested in fulfilling all their financial needs on mobile, both legacy banks and FinTech firms are focusing on creating digital-only banking services, designed to catch and keep customers using their smartphones to bank. What’s more, financial institutions (FIs) and payment providers around the world are trying their hand at providing all the capabilities of an established bank on the smartphone.

Banking 74
article thumbnail

What FIs Get (And Don’t Get) About AI

PYMNTS

The jury is in. Almost every modern financial institution (FI) has at least one artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning system in place, and 61 percent intend to invest in more. The only question is: What learning systems will they choose to adopt? Among the many AI and machine learning systems available on the market, there is one particularly versatile type of AI, having been engineered specifically to enhance financial and payment operations: smart agents.

article thumbnail

SWIFT Set To Shutter Data Matching Tool TSU

PYMNTS

Payments messaging company SWIFT is gearing up to close its Trade Services Utility (TSU), a workflow engine aimed at facilitating value-added supply chain services. Reports in Global Trade Review (GTR) on Monday (April 8) said SWIFT will switch off its TSU in December 2020. “TSU has been a very niche success, and important for banks and corporates using it.

article thumbnail

Accounting Software and ERP Readiness Guide

In this white paper, we explore the factors to consider in deciding whether the time is right for your Company to consider a new ERP or accounting software, the total cost of ownership and plans necessary to make the potential leap to these systems.

article thumbnail

Cyber Criminals Are Trying To Steal Less Money To Avoid Detection

PYMNTS

A report by Bloomberg said that after one of the biggest cyber heists in history involving the theft of $100 million from the Bangladeshi central bank’s account in the U.S. Federal Reserve, criminals are now vying for smaller amounts in an attempt to avoid detection. The amount of money stolen in 2018 averaged between $250,000 and $2 million, which is down from amounts in the tens of millions, according to a report by interbank messaging service SWIFT.

Banking 73
article thumbnail

Square Rolls Out Online Store For UK Sellers

PYMNTS

Square , the payments provider, announced Tuesday (April 9) the launch of the Square Online store for U.K. sellers. In a press release , Square said the Square Online Store provides small and medium sized enterprises with one solution for their omnichannel or online-only business. It marks the first of Square’s products in the U.K. to be integrated completely with Weebly, the platform for building a website or online store.

article thumbnail

Startup Riskified Seeks $200M To Fight eCommerce Fraud

PYMNTS

An Israeli startup that creates anti-fraud services that deal with online transactions wants to raise $200 million for expansion, according to a report in Bloomberg. Riskified , which was founded in 2013 and is based in Tel Aviv, is potentially considering going public, possibly by 2020. When asked, however, the company didn’t provide any details about its future business.

article thumbnail

Wanted: Cybersecurity Aces — Mastercard, Partners Have A Plan

PYMNTS

Here’s a bit of heresy for 2019: Data’s not everything. Sure, data often gets called the oil of the digital age — and data, as a commodity, has an economic, political and cultural value as massive as all those hydrocarbons gathered from beneath the planet’s surface. However, it takes more than data for 21st century society to function. This may be the early stages of the digital age, but society still needs people at the gates defending against attack, just like it’s always been.

article thumbnail

Recruit and Retain New Blue-Collar Talent

Blue-collar jobs have a branding problem. One company, GEON, partnered with Paycor to find the solution. Learn how to attract, engage, and retain blue-collar employees, helping them build meaningful careers – and support your company’s goals.