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

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Seven Big Threats Facing Seven Big Tech And Payments Players This Halloween

PYMNTS

Halloween , the annual celebration of the spooky and supernatural, is just a couple of days away. For many in payments and the vast ecosystem that it powers, the scariest thing about Oct. 31 might not be the sight of a kid in a full-on Frankenstein costume at the door on Halloween night asking for candy. The day after Halloween marks the 60-day sprint to the end of the year – a year in which the pace of innovation has accelerated materially.

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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.

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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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Planning Your Restaurants 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.

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How PSD2 And Open Banking Impact Security

PYMNTS

As a result of the passage and adoption of open banking regulations, like PSD2 in Europe, banks and other financial firms are sharing data more freely than ever before. The greater availability of data gives financial institutions (FIs) and FinTech firms alike insight into customers’ behaviors, habits and preferences, allowing them to develop more effective tools, products and features.

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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.

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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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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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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

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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.

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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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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.

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How The Gig Economy Is Igniting Spend Management Innovation

PYMNTS

Before CEO Toffer Grant founded PEX , he worked in the world of prepaid cards (gift cards in particular), where Christmas was the biggest challenge of every year. Gift card use would faithfully and intensely spike around Christmas, only to settle back to a more typical baseline six to eight weeks after the “event.”. That was, of course, predictable — people would get gift cards in lieu of a physical gift, and recipients redeemed those cards in the first few weeks after their receipt.

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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).

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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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PowerPoint Best Practices for Creating Stellar Presentations

Mastering data visualization in PowerPoint will help accelerate your career because it positions you as someone who can present data that drives business decisions forward. think-cell's PowerPoint Best Practices eBook was created specifically for professionals aiming to master the art and science of data-driven storytelling. What’s inside: Practical Insights: Uncover valuable tips for crafting engaging and persuasive presentations.

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Worried About Digital Fraud Now? Just Wait For The Implants.

PYMNTS

There may come a day, a generation or two from now, when stories about the data breaches and other hacking threats faced by payments and commerce operators in 2018 seem quaint — or, at the least, like relatively primitive foreshadowing of a new type of digital criminality. It’s no big news that microchip implants are part of the future of humanity. It’s already happening, of course, albeit tentatively.

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NEW DATA: Why One-Third Of Businesses Want Real-Time Payments

PYMNTS

Paper checks are still the norm when it comes to B2B payments — and companies aren’t happy about it. After all, paper checks are neither easy to use, nor convenient. Twenty percent of companies surveyed by PYMNTS said they dislike using checks for B2B payments because of fraud concerns, while another 18 percent said checks are too expensive. Yet, almost half of the businesses surveyed use checks to send or receive payments on a daily basis.

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NEW REPORT: Retailers Face An Augmented Reality Check

PYMNTS

Augmented reality (AR) has long been associated with games like Pokémon Go and Zombies, Run! However, AR is now rewriting the rules of the retail game. A growing number of retailers are leveraging the technology to entice customers with a “try before you buy” shopping experience, having already been adopted by several big names in retail, including the likes of Walmart and Target.

Retail 69