Sat.Jan 19, 2019 - Fri.Jan 25, 2019

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Fortnite’s In-Game Currency Used In Money Laundering Schemes

PYMNTS

A new report has revealed that Fortnite’s in-game currency is being used to launder money from stolen credit cards. According to a report by The Independent and cybersecurity firm Sixgill , a hacker will access someone else’s credit card information, and then use it to create a Fortnite account and buy V-bucks, which is the game’s currency. Once the account fills up with V-bucks, it is then sold through a legitimate vendor like eBay, or on the dark web, for lower rates that the $10 for 1,000 gam

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Ashby Monk on Alternative Data’s Potential

CFA Institute

"Alternative data is far more important to our community than artificial intelligence,” Ashby Monk, PhD, says.

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Mastercard Fined $648.3 Million By EU Over Interchange Fees

PYMNTS

Mastercard was slapped with a $648.3 million fine by the European Union, which alleged that the payments company raised the costs of card payments artificially. According to a report in Reuters , citing the European Commission, the bloc’s antitrust regulator, the move is part of an effort on the part of European regulators to stamp out fees that U.S. credit card companies charge.

Retail 82
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How AR/VR Tech Is Reshaping Retail

PYMNTS

Before consumers started to trade brick-and-mortar shopping experiences for eCommerce websites, retailers could bring customers through their doors with window displays. Now, with this shift, retailers are creating engaging experiences that digitally-connected consumers can tap into online with the help of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies.

Retail 81
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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.

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PSD2 Creates Turbulence For Travel Operators

PYMNTS

With PSD2 in full swing in the European Union (EU), any merchant dealing with the payment data of EU citizens must upgrade their payment protocols to stay compliant. That said, the fact that PSD2 is effectively changing how merchants transact doesn’t mean the merchants in question understand what those changes mean. In the January PSD2 Tracker , PYMNTS examines how money movement and data flow are getting an upgrade with PSD2, as well as how the upcoming SCA regulation is bound to affect user au

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PayPal, Mastercard Champion Bank-FinTech Alliances

PYMNTS

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, executives of PayPal and Mastercard touted partnerships between financial technology companies and banks as a positive way to gain customers’ trust and innovate new ways for customers to interact with their finances. On Tuesday (Jan. 22), the executives talked about how financial companies had nothing to fear from these types of partnerships, and PayPal Chief Operating Officer Bill Ready said the idea that banking institutions have something to

Banking 77
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The Big Tech Canary In The Faster Payments Coal Mine

PYMNTS

There’s a canary in the faster payments coalmine. It flew in on Dec. 14, the Friday before the week before Christmas, so you might not have noticed. That was the day that an advocacy group, Financial Innovation Now (FIN), submitted a public comment letter to the Fed in response to its proposal to create and operate a real-time payments system in the U.S.

Banking 77
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Corporate Finance’s Interest In AI Doesn’t Lead To Adoption: Oracle

PYMNTS

Last year was the year of artificial intelligence (AI), declared Brighterion CEO Dr. Akli Adjaoute for PYMNTS’ 2018 year-end eBook. The technology is proliferating financial markets, particularly for some of the world’s largest financial institutions in need of enhanced compliance solutions. Corporate treasurers are exploring AI for their own cash management and forecasting needs, while AI is also being explored among both traditional and alternative finance players for risk mitigat

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VCs Looking For FinTech Firms To Solve The Pain Of Unpaid Invoices

PYMNTS

This week, Barclays and Santander InnoVentures demonstrated traditional banks’ interest in alternative finance when they led a nearly $34 million equity fundraise for invoice financing platform MarketInvoice. However, the company wasn’t the only one landing support for its invoice finance operations: India’s M1Xchange and U.S.-based Apruve landed funding for their solutions, signaling continued interest by venture capitalists (VCs) in not only alternative finance, but in FinTe

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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.

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Compliance Execs Forge Closer Ties With Corporate Buyers

PYMNTS

With third-party due diligence and supply chain security as increasingly critical components of organizations’ procurement operations, compliance executives are finding important positions in their firms’ purchasing processes. Understanding exposure to risk is essential for companies today, and Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) research suggests awareness is strong, with U.S. and U.K. procurement professionals identifying supplier due diligence, internal compliance training, social gov

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How FinTech Startups Bring Keyword Searches To Financial Notes

PYMNTS

FinTech startups are introducing new ways for users to sift through information that was once hard to find: Intrinio , for instance, is now letting users search through notes and disclosures included on the SEC filings of U.S. public companies with keywords. Through the feature, users could look for “any indicators for sentiment analysis” to determine if a company is heading in “a good direction or a bad direction or any interesting events” Intrinio Founder and CEO Rachel Carpenter told PYMNTS i

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Twitter Data Breach Prompts GDPR Investigation

PYMNTS

The Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) is Twitter’s lead regulator in the European Union. On Friday (Jan. 25), the DPC said it was again looking into the social media giant because of another breach notification it received from the company, according to a report from Reuters. “The DPC has this week opened a new statutory inquiry into the latest data breach it received from Twitter on 8 January, 2019,” the Commission said on its website.

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Pharma Tackles The Puzzle Of Data And B2B Payments

PYMNTS

If one wants to understand the complexities of the pharmaceutical supply chain, just follow the money. Contract negotiations between drug manufacturers, wholesalers, hospitals, pharmacies and their group purchasing organizations (GPOs) are ever-changing, meaning B2B payments are often incorrect, and chargebacks and disputes are common. Let’s say a manufacturer sells a drug for $100 to a wholesaler at wholesale acquisition cost (WAC).

B2B 76
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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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GoFundMe Crowdfunds For Furloughed Government Workers

PYMNTS

It’s been 10 full days since government workers missed their paychecks due to the prolonged government shutdown, and one of the most recognizable crowdfunding companies is stepping in to help. GoFundMe has launched a fundraising campaign targeted specifically to furloughed government workers, according to reports , and it’s raised around $90,000 from more than 1,000 people in just two days.

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Google Fined $57M By French Regulator In Largest GDPR Action

PYMNTS

Alphabet Inc.’s Google was hit with a $57 million fine Monday (Jan. 21) by a French regulator, in what the Wall Street Journal reported is the largest penalty under the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) privacy law. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal , France’s National Data Protection Commission fined Google, saying it didn’t do enough to get the consent of users when gathering data used for targeted advertising.

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Report: The 16 Things That Will Take Subscription Commerce To The Next Level

PYMNTS

At their core, subscription services are simple and straightforward. A consumer pays a recurring fee and, in return, receives access to a selection of goods and services. Subscription merchants have duplicated this simple formula within every industry imaginable, but few today offer subscription services that resonate with what consumers want. So, what differentiates the best from the rest?

B2C 75
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Do Grocery Stores Need Bitcoin ATMs?

PYMNTS

There are few familiar places in the regular life of a consumer other than the grocery store , and that familiarity can breed a type of trust, a sense that nothing too weird or threatening will happen there. That doesn’t mean they can’t be about innovation. Supermarkets are home to some of retail’s major and ongoing technological advances — and 2018 stands as a big year for grocery innovation.

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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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How Inefficient B2B Payments Systems Hobble Business Growth

PYMNTS

Business confidence remains strong in the U.S., riding on the optimism of a strengthening economy that brings new opportunity for revenue growth. This is particularly true for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), most of which are anticipating revenue growth in the year ahead, according to JPMorgan Chase research. The firm’s Business Leaders Outlook report, published earlier this month, found that the majority of SMBs expect revenue, sales and profit increases in 2019, with executiv

B2B 75
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Walmart Tests New Payments Approach To Up Online Conversions

PYMNTS

Walmart is testing out a new solution designed to automatically address soft declines on its eCommerce site. Walmart Labs, the technology arm of Walmart, discovered that most declined purchases on the retail giant’s site were soft declines, which are credit card rejections due to generic issuer errors such as server timeout or issuer unavailability.

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Bitcoin Daily: Coinbase Eyes Asia Expansion; R3, ING Pair On Blockchain Tech

PYMNTS

Bitcoin fell to a five-week low during this past holiday weekend, reaching $3,442.50, its lowest level since Dec. 17. By Tuesday (Jan. 22), the crypto was up 0.7 percent to hit $3,622.41 on the Kraken exchange, according to MarketWatch. “Bitcoin keeps bouncing along in the upper $3K range, but it was unable to extend last week’s breakout above this level,” wrote Market Analyst Jani Ziedins.

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What Do Antilock Brakes And Instant Payments Have In Common?

PYMNTS

“Can we all just agree that real-time access to money isn’t going to be an option anymore?” said Ingo Money CEO Drew Edwards. That’s how Friday’s conversation between Edwards and Karen Webster started. Yet, according to the latest Disbursements Tracker , a collaborative effort between Ingo Money and PYMNTS, hurdles remain. The Tracker found that some 74 percent of business executives cited a lack of interoperability as a major inhibitor to their real-time payments adoption, along with the opera

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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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Crowe Launches Cash Management Solution For Hospitals

PYMNTS

Accounting, consultancy and technology firm Crowe is rolling out a new solution designed for hospitals to automate daily bank reconciliation processes and manage cash flow, the company said in a recent announcement. Hospitals can often struggle to manually reconcile cash flow coming from multiple sources. Crowe is addressing this friction with the rollout of its Crowe Automated Reconciliation for Healthcare tool, providing hospitals a three-way match solution between their general ledgers, patie

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Mastercard, Rockefeller Foundation Pledge $50M For Data Science Philanthropy

PYMNTS

The Rockefeller Foundation and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, the two philanthropic arms of the organizations, announced a partnership on Tuesday (Jan. 22) called Data Science for Social Impact, according to a press release. The aim of the new organization is to “accelerate the use of data science by empowering nonprofit, civic and government organizations with the tools, expertise and other capabilities they need to help solve the world’s most pressing challenges.”.

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Google Loses Walmart In eCommerce Bid vs. Amazon

PYMNTS

There’s an old saying in battle that the enemy of your enemy is your friend. In eCommerce, all sorts of alliances emerge, with Amazon squarely in sight. And according to recent news on the eCommerce front, Google has lost a friend, seemingly, in at least part of its ongoing eCommerce battle against Amazon. Bloomberg reports that Walmart has “quietly” left one of Google’s key efforts against Amazon, having removed products from the latter’s Shopping Actions website, and also left Google Express,

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Dutch Startup Raises $33M For AI In Real Estate

PYMNTS

When Dutch entrepreneur Teun van den Dries started GeoPhy , an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven service that performs real estate valuations, there was nothing like it on the market. When he went to buy a house, Bloomberg reported, the appraiser he used simply asked him how much he thought it should cost. That led him to realize the potential market for his company, which he started in 2014.

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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.