Sat.Oct 27, 2018 - Fri.Nov 02, 2018

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Brexit A Boon For Blockchain?

PYMNTS

Questions loom large over Brexit. As the U.K. gears up to leave the European Union (EU), for commerce, there remains the unknowns of how trade will be affected, as well as how capital, goods and services can be tracked. Late this month, a study from Nexus found that across 200 businesses surveyed, more than half of large and mid-sized companies queried are looking to adopt blockchain in an effort to mitigate operational risks in the wake of Brexit.

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Smart Beta: How to Avoid Fixed Income’s “Crocodile Jaws”

CFA Institute

Can smart beta help bond investors escape fixed income's "crocodile jaws"? Salvatore J. Bruno and Kelly Ye, CFA, weigh in in an interview with Paul Kovarsky, CFA.

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Trending Sources

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Q&A with Jason Loh, Global Head of Sales Solutions

Anaplan

Sales Tech Star recently conducted a wide-ranging q&a with Jason Loh, Global Head of Sales Solutions at Anaplan. We’re reprinting it here. Tell us about your journey in sales and how you reached Anaplan.

Sales 45
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Mapping Fraud’s DNA

PYMNTS

Payments and commerce fraud has its own ecosystem, one that includes criminals, servers and other computing devices, IP addresses, compromised payment cards and stolen personal data, and even houses and other physical locations. The various parts come together to produce a nefarious whole, one that targets personal and payment data to enable product or identity theft , account takeovers and other illegal activities that, left unchecked, can ruin lives and take down companies.

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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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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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Why The Bank-FinTech Relationship Is More Complicated Than Conflicted

PYMNTS

Pick your metaphor: David vs. Goliath. Knocking the giant off the pedestal. Or, as a recent CNBC article put it, quoting a source, “a mass extinction event.”. The subject? The ongoing struggle, supposedly existential in nature, that pits upstart, relatively young FinTech firms against arrogantly complacent banks for supremacy in this new and growing world of digital payments and commerce.

Banking 76
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Fleetcor Beats The Street In Q3, Launches McDonald’s Contactless Payments Collab

PYMNTS

Commercial fleet payments solution provider Fleetcor once again beat Wall Street expectations when it reported its 2018 third quarter earnings data Tuesday (Oct. 30) evening, coinciding with the announcement of a new contactless payment partnership with McDonald’s in Brazil. Total revenues were up 7 percent year over year to $619.6 million, which included a $28 million impact from the adoption of the new revenue recognition standards, ASC 606.

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Trick Or Treat (Payments And Commerce Style)

PYMNTS

Halloween is the scariest day of the year for children and parents alike – though for very different reasons. For kids, the proliferation of ghosts, goblins, witches, haunted houses and scary movies tend to have a powerful effect on their sugar-charged minds. For adults, Halloween is the last possible day of the year when it is possible to remain in denial about the fact that Christmas is coming and that Thanksgiving is, for all intents and purposes, tomorrow.

Retail 76
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How FinTech Startups Tackle Cyber Threats With Agile Development

PYMNTS

Privacy is not an afterthought with the “privacy by design” mindset, and FinTech startups may take a similar approach with data security. In that sense, they may incorporate data security every time they make an enhancement or a release. “It’s really built in by design,” DadeSystems CIO Mike Capote told PYMNTS.com in an interview. When FinTech startups take a “security by design” approach, they take security into consideration when making updates, and seek to ensure that they are not sacri

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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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Apple NFC Center Of Debate For UK Brexit Digital ID Proposal

PYMNTS

Smartphones and NFC could help European citizens gain residency in the post-Brexit U.K. But there seems to be a hurdle, and it has to do with Apple — a story that shows how the pending political and economic move is having an impact on the technology that helps power payments and commerce. According to a Thursday (Nov. 1) report from 9to5Mac.com , the “U.K. government is set to launch an app that will help EU citizens apply for residency in the U.K. post-Brexit.

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Microsoft And Nasdaq Partner For Blockchain Initiative

PYMNTS

Microsoft is reportedly partnering with Nasdaq on blockchain, in which its Azure blockchain services will integrate with Nasdaq’s Financial Framework. According to a report in Bloomberg citing the companies, Nasdaq’s Financial Framework offers software for traders, exchanges and clearinghouses to interact with each other. The partnership is aimed at creating a blockchain system to help technologies work together for Nasdaq customers.

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Mastercard Weighs In On B2B Payments’ Tipping Point

PYMNTS

In B2B payments, the tipping point looms — away from checks and toward payments done electronically. Or, at least, if the tipping point is not here yet, then we are tipping rapidly toward the tipping point. You may recall that provocative scenario was the title and sentiment of a playbook that debuted in the fall and a collaboration between PYMNTS and Mastercard.

B2B 75
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TRENDING: Freelancers Give Gig Economy An Instant Payments Push

PYMNTS

Whether picking up extra hours driving for Uber or consulting for a financial service firm, everyone has a side gig nowadays — with patience to receive that cash next to nil. The influx of freelancers is pushing companies to adopt even faster methods of disbursements to satisfy their need for payment speed. That means an end to the days of sending paper checks through the mail, and increased reliance on payment solutions that are often built right into the service itself.

Numbers 75
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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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VCs Act On Cannabis’ FinTech Opportunities

PYMNTS

As legal cannabis spreads, the industry is a big opportunity for FinTech, as industry players struggle to manage intense compliance requirements and limited access to traditional financial services. In this week’s rundown, the industry landed the most funding among B2B FinTechs, though other bright spots included cybersecurity, alternative finance and a startup working to prevent firms from losing money when employees commit expense fraud.

B2B 75
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HSBC, Standard Chartered, Others Launch Blockchain-Based Trade Finance Platform

PYMNTS

HSBC, Standard Chartered and 10 other banks launched a new blockchain -based trade finance program in Hong Kong on Wednesday (Oct. 31) aimed at increasing the efficiency of international trade. According to a report in Reuters citing HSBC, the platform, dubbed eTrade Connect, enables it to reduce the time it takes to approve a trade loan to four hours.

Finance 74
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Western Union Grows Digital Double-Digits, Expands Underbanked Reach With Amazon

PYMNTS

Traction with digital transactions marked Western Union ’s latest results on Wall Street, while a newly minted agreement with Amazon grabbed its share of attention on the post-release third-quarter earnings call on Thursday (Nov. 1) — and trained a spotlight on the lures of eCommerce done cross-border. Generally speaking, in terms of consolidated top- and bottom-line results, Western Union’s revenues of $1.39 billion were just shy of the $1.42 billion expected by the Street, and its reported ea

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Experts May Overestimate SMBs’ Understanding Of Cyber Threats

PYMNTS

Corporate cybersecurity is an ever-increasing focus of government entities, with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the latest to place emphasis on the importance of safeguarding data and systems. Late last week, the FTC rolled out a series of informational resources for nonprofits and small businesses (SMBs) to heighten awareness and understanding of cybersecurity threats and how to mitigate them.

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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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Why Legacy Banks Have Mobile App Advantages

PYMNTS

A consumer’s sense of security and trust can be a funny, even unpredictable thing, especially when it comes to payments, banking and commerce. Maybe it’s the reputation of a brand that lowers the mental resistance to inputting payment and personal details on a mobile device to complete a transaction. Maybe it’s more about convenience and the back-of-mind knowledge that fraudulent purchases would be refunded.

Banking 73
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How Supplier Churn Can Stifle B2B Payments Automation: Symbeo

PYMNTS

Accounts payable (AP) automation certainly has the potential to transform the invoice-to-pay process by allowing employees to turn their attention from monotonous, manual tasks to more value-added ones. The key in AP automation is to have technology that is able to handle a range of scenarios: for instance, being able to automatically process invoices, regardless of whether they come in as a paper document, PDF or true eInvoice.

B2B 73
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WEX Eyes Corporate Payments M&A Push To Reach Beyond Fleet

PYMNTS

WEX released its third-quarter 2018 earnings data on Wednesday morning (Oct. 31), beating analyst expectations in posting $382.7 million total revenues, an 18 percent year-over-year increase, with earnings at $2.19 per share. Fleet payments, WEX’s flagship focus, grew with a 7 percent increase in total fuel transactions processed during the quarter compared to Q3 2017, with a 22 percent increase in fuel prices accelerating value for the company.

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The Three Reasons Why Checks Seem Immortal

PYMNTS

Checks, despite their near extinction in consumer payments, remain alive and well when it comes to businesses paying each other. And that, TransCard CEO Greg Bloh noted, is for a good – if often underappreciated – reason. When it comes to B2B disbursements, there are actually three things a payment method needs to do. Everyone knows the first one, he said, because it’s the most obvious: The method needs to be able to move money from one entity to another.

B2B 72
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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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Coinbase Raises $300M For Valuation Of More Than $8B

PYMNTS

Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange operator, has raised a fresh round of funding that gives it a valuation of more than $8 billion. According to a Coinbase blog post , the company raised $300 million in a Series E round of funding led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from Y Combinator Continuity, Wellington Management, Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain and others.

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Mastercard Gains B2B Payments Traction, Sees Double-Digit Growth

PYMNTS

Strength in global consumer spending — along with double-digit cross-border gains and traction in B2B payments — marked third-quarter Mastercard results released Tuesday (Oct. 30), as management eyes digital checkout and other high-tech payments initiatives in the U.S. and beyond. In terms of headline numbers, Mastercard’s revenues of $3.9 billion, up more than 14.7 percent year on year, edged analysts’ estimates slightly, though management noted that revenue on a currency-neutral basis, and exc

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Bank Top Lines At Risk Amid FinTech Boon?

PYMNTS

Cooperation, competition, new banking entrants … and for banks, top-line risk. For banks, the landscape is getting crowded. A report earlier this month from Accenture has estimated that the range of financial sector upstarts — from challenger banks to FinTech firms, to new tech firms coming into financial services — will disrupt top-line growth for entrenched financial institutions (FIs).

Banking 71
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How Target And Walmart Are Taking On Amazon Prime For The Holidays

PYMNTS

When it comes to two-day shipping, Amazon is king: The eCommerce retailer’s Prime service offers free two-day shipping on eligible orders to its more than 100 million members. And the company says it is ready to take on the holidays, with more than 100 million Prime items eligible for free two-day shipping – and a logistics network ready to play Santa.

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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.