Sat.May 20, 2017 - Fri.May 26, 2017

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Why Smartphones Are The Biggest Payments Innovator

PYMNTS

Innovation is happening at the speed of payments — which, as it turns out, can be pretty fast these days. In this edition of the PYMNTS’ Commander in Chief Series , Western Union President Odilon Almeida shares a day in the life as leader of one of the largest global person-to-person money transfer networks, what smartphones have done for the payments space and why security and compliance are always key in a game where the rules are changing every day.

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3 Ways the CFO and Finance Can Partner with the CMO

Planful

For example: A Recent Dun & Bradstreet research report shows that CFOs are shifting from being “financial stewards to growth accelerators”, capitalizing on their command of data, insight, and analytics. Another study by Grant Thornton confirms that CFOs now spend more than a third of their time as strategic advisors, as they move beyond their traditional role.

Finance 40
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Menlo Ventures Closes New Early Stage $450M Fund

PYMNTS

Menlo Ventures , the Silicon Valley venture capital firm, closed a new $450 million venture capital fund aimed at investing in early stage companies focused in the consumer, enterprise and so-called frontier technologies markets. According to a report in TechCrunch , with the new fund, the VC has a total capital of greater than $5 billion under management.

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Bank Of America Branches Into Data Sharing

PYMNTS

Going forward, BoA has announced it will be working with financial data aggregators to give their customers a greater ability to connect their banking information with third-party financial management applications. According to spokesperson Michelle Moore, the move comes as part of the bank’s API strategy that will see banking data utilizing a unique token that takes things like usernames out of circulation.

Banking 63
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Why Tech-Forward Tax and Accounting Firms Have the Inside Track to the Future

Speaker: Joe Wroblewski, Sales Engineer Manager

Automating time-consuming manual tasks can save your firm hundreds of hours–and thousands of dollars. But it can also have longer-lasting benefits, like helping you attract and retain the next generation of CPAs, and we don’t need to tell you how important that is amid the current generational staffing crisis in the tax and accounting profession. You'll want to save your seat for this new webinar with industry expert Joe Wroblewski, where we'll explore how to: Maximize ROI with Cost-Effective Te

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Small Businesses Making Big Mistake By Going Cash-Only, Report Finds

PYMNTS

Small businesses that ignore next-generation payments technologies like invisible payments or cryptocurrencies are losing out big time, but new research suggests that tens of thousands of dollars are lost by SMEs because they aren’t even accepting cards. Analysis from Expert Market found that some small businesses in the U.K. are losing nearly $30,000 every month because they operate as a cash-only establishment.

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Latest Trends Show Shopping Centers Becoming More Social For Consumers

PYMNTS

Phillips Edison & Company , a fully integrated real estate firm with a national platform of grocery-anchored shopping centers, released its industry insights on trending themes for retail shopping centers this week at ICSC’s RECon event in Las Vegas. According to a press release , shopping centers are becoming a social arena where shoppers can eat, drink, socialize and shop.

Retail 53
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Delivery Hero Set For $4.5B Going Public Valuation

PYMNTS

With people’s extremely busy lives and the tech industry’s push to satisfy consumer demand for instant gratification, it’s no wonder the food delivery market has proven to be successful. Just before the summer officially hits, there are talks of European-based food delivery startup company, Delivery Hero , going public with a listing valued at $4.5 billion (4 billion euros).

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Brexit Aside, Europe Still Beckons For Gig Economy — And For Hyperwallet

PYMNTS

In the face of Brexit, the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and a number of major elections that could spell significant changes across the continent (with ramifications well beyond FinTech and the banking sector), many of us are left to wonder: what lies in store for the burgeoning gig economy in Europe? Though details of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union have yet to be sussed out (passporting, worker relocation, among countless other details), one fact remains dis

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The Summer Of Love (Or Not) Edition: CapOne & IDs, Android Pay & PayPal And Walgreens & (Maybe Not) Rite Aid

PYMNTS

The summer is here! Okay, the summer is almost here. Just one week more and Memorial Day is upon us, and with it summer’s unofficial beginning. Given the bang — or, more accurately, series of bangs — 2017 has gotten off to in its first half, it is easy to imagine some — if not all — of us are ready to settle into a beach chair, seaside, with only the sound of the surf and a good book to while the time away.

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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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R3’s Blockchain, Billtrust’s AR Tech Land Big VC Bucks

PYMNTS

Yet again, the B2B FinTech industry proves it’s quality over quantity when it comes to venture capital. This week saw just three funding rounds, but two of which were some of the largest the industry has seen in weeks. Accounts receivable company Billtrust landed major bucks, while a cross-border payments startup stayed mum about its own investment.

B2B 49
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NEW REPORT: Upgrade Payment Systems, Build Stronger Communities?

PYMNTS

Sunscreen? Check. Bug spray? Check. Updated online systems to reduce paperwork? Check. In recent weeks, companies have rolled out several different types of Payments-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions that are designed to help both online and brick-and-mortar merchants. These solutions include POS and cloud-based solutions that are geared toward helping businesses in a variety of different sectors, including restaurants and recreation.

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Phoenix Welcomes Online Alcohol Delivery Startup, Drizly

PYMNTS

Boston-based eCommerce alcohol delivery startup Drizly has announced its next location in Phoenix, Arizona. Partnering to deliver alcohol from local liquor stores that include Lucky’s Liquor, Gary’s Liquor and Chandler Liquors, Phoenix residents will now be able to order and receive alcohol delivery from these retailers. Neighborhoods in the Phoenix area that will have access to this service include Glendale, Peoria, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, and Chandler.

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Raise Launches New Mobile App

PYMNTS

Online gift card marketplace Raise is announcing the launch of their new mobile app for iOS and Android. Raise’s marketplace is home to 300 retail partners and 3,000 brands and serves approximately 2 million customers looking for discounted digital gift cards. The new app is designed to make is using digital gift cards in store and online frictionless for everyday purchases.

Retail 47
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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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Millionaires, Millennials And The Great Avocado Debate

PYMNTS

It was a week of controversy for the ages – battle lines were drawn, allegiances were declared and ad hominem attacks were spewed on Twitter. No, we’re not talking about the appointment of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the firing of James Comey. No, we’re talking about the real debate in America and the answer to the most important questions facing our nation today.

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Using AI To Stop Store Robberies In Real Time

PYMNTS

While the world is busy helping retailers stop cybercrooks from stealing them blind online, every year 75,000 small retailers are being robbed at their physical locations. Curtailing or even stopping it, Sean Huver, CEO and founder of Deep Science AI , told Karen Webster in the latest Topic TBD, is a matter of using the same visual search techniques that Google is using to enable a person snapping a picture of a cool blue bike to find out where to buy it.

Retail 47
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Chinese Scammers Snared, Confess To Stealing $138 Million USD

PYMNTS

In an ongoing digital fraud scheme, Chinese scammers have racked up over 950 million yuan ($138 million USD) from more than 93,000 victims by preying on victims’ sense of national pride and desire for easy returns. Police in Tianjin, Beijing and Guangxi arrested 44 more suspects on Thursday (May 25). Scammers promised victims a large payout for their small deposit, which was touted to help “unfreeze” assets belonging to former dynastic rulers and the Kuomintang government that had been smuggled

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Today In Data: The Story Behind The Bitcoin Story

PYMNTS

You’ve probably read a lot about bitcoin lately, as its value has been running a seemingly infinite victory lap this week and throughout 2017. But there’s more to bitcoin than stocks and price per coin. Here are some of the numbers behind the cryptocurrency. 182% | Increase in bitcoin value in 2017. 32| Countries where Coinbase, the world’s largest bitcoin company, has operations.

Numbers 47
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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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Blockchain Tracker: How Blockchain Tech Is Evolving Financial Services

PYMNTS

Some could argue that over the past few decades, financial services has completely transformed itself. From relying on physically walking into a bank to withdraw cash to snapping a photo of a check for deposits, technology has played a great part in the way financial transactions have evolved within the last thirty years. The latest technological finance breakthrough, blockchain technology, has been a slow burn over the past eight years, since 2009 when it popped up as the power behind bitcoins.

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Barnes & Noble’s New CEO on Brick-and-Mortar’s Survival

PYMNTS

While Barnes & Noble reported an 8.3 percent decline in sales this past holiday season, it’s not down for the count (at least, not without a fight). Although we’ve seen the retailer close its college bookstore chain and reduce its Nook business, Barnes & Noble’s newly appointed CEO, Demos Parneros, is confident that physical bookstores still have a place in today’s e-commerce driven sales arena.

Sales 46
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Could Regulation Prevent The Next Cyberattack?

PYMNTS

After the latest worldwide cyberattack, the question remains: What’s going to change? That depends, says counterterrorism and cybersecurity expert Richard Clarke, on what companies, banks and regulators are willing to learn from the incident. In early May, approximately 300,000 computer systems in more than 150 countries were compromised by the WannaCry cyberattack.

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AmazonFresh Pickup Gets Smart

PYMNTS

Ecommerce giant Amazon is increasingly dipping its virtual toes into the physical world, this time with the launch of the AmazonFresh Pickup service in Seattle’s Ballard and SoDo neighborhoods. Amazon Prime members can now order groceries online and pick them up at one of two designated windows in the city where the company keeps it headquarters. For users willing to pay an extra $15 per month to get the Fresh add-on, pickup can be scheduled for as soon as 15 minutes after the order is placed.

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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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Brexit Exodus Trickling Toward a Steady Stream?

PYMNTS

The exodus fomented by Brexit may be quickening. As noted by sources including CNN Money , data shows that 117,000 individuals, who have citizenship in European countries but who were residing in the U.K, left Britain last year. That’s a whopping 36 percent boost over 2015’s figures. The migration, of course, comes in the wake of Brexit and a wave of questions over who lives where, where they can work, and even how they’d get paid.

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Wyre Chatbot Enables China-US B2B Payments

PYMNTS

Blockchain FinTech Wyre is the latest firm to deploy chatbot technology to facilitate B2B transactions. The U.S.-based company said Wednesday (May 24) that it is launching a chatbot that links to Facebook in the U.S. and WeChat in China to facilitate B2B payments. “WeChat is everything in China. Email is somewhat outdated,” Wyre CEO Michael Dunworth said.

B2B 46
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Is The Recreation Market Ready For A Payments Makeover?

PYMNTS

For millions of families, the arrival of warm weather means it’s time to start thinking about summertime activities for the kids. But for recreational activity organizers — including sleepaway camps and athletic programs — the arrival of these customers can also mean unwanted headaches in the form of paperwork. Because many summer camps and recreational programs don’t offer their customers the ability to register or make payments using modern payment processing solutions, program organizers can

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For NACHA Award Winners, Innovation Beyond Speed And Plumbing

PYMNTS

Necessity is the mother of invention, goes the saying, but in payments, sometimes invention evolves into necessity. Or, put another away: Why didn’t we think of that? Transaction pain points are often so deeply ingrained in process that they become endured with a shrug. Until someone, or some firm, comes along with a better way of doing things that is so simple and convenient upon unveiling that it offers a new level of standardization that proves a boon for all parties involved.

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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.