PYMNTS

JANUARY 10, 2018

When Mastercard launched the Start Path accelerator program in 2014, the goal – according to VP and senior business leader, Amy Neale – was to make it easier for emerging companies to enter “our world” through a combination of operational support, commercial access and some strategic funding. “And when we talk about our world, we mean not just payments, but FinTech more broadly – and, even more broadly than that, commerce,” she said.

Construction 77

Construction Startups Retail Marketing 77

The SaaS CFO

JANUARY 26, 2018

Management Presentations in M&A Due Diligence The banker said to block my calendar for management presentations. Excuse me, what are management presentations? And for two weeks? Yes, and this is only the halfway point. The real “fun” in due diligence comes after the management presentations. However, before we get too far, let’s break down what […].

CFO 61

CFO 61

PYMNTS

JANUARY 15, 2018

From market pressures in the U.S. that have encouraged data sharing between banks and FinTechs to regulations in the U.K. and EU like Open Banking and PSD2 that require such cooperation, APIs are emerging as an essential piece of the equation for payments innovation. That rings especially true in the areas of B2B payments and cross-border payments, which are complex, require the movement of data along with funds, and often involve multiple parties that have to all be on the same page about a tra

B2B 77

B2B B2C eCommerce Banking 77

PYMNTS

JANUARY 16, 2018

One might just call this the age of unattended retail. Increasingly, retailers and other merchants are looking to give customers a more convenient and efficient experience by offering products and services via unattended kiosks. These machines mean that customers can interact with merchants more quickly, without having to waste time standing on a long line or dealing with a slow-moving employee.

Retail 74

Retail Technology Startups Marketing 74

Speaker: Michael Veatch, Senior Director, Implementations & Ella Aguirre, Director of Solution Consulting

Embedding payments can be a transformative step for software companies looking to enhance their platform capabilities, boost customer satisfaction, and drive long-term growth. However, the success of payments hinges on a single thing: implementation. Drawing on real-world insights and experiences, payments implementation experts Michael Veatch and Ella Aguirre will explore actionable strategies that can lead to a transparent, friction-free launch and mitigate potential challenges like technical

Investments

PYMNTS

JANUARY 5, 2018

Amazon has expanded into cooking with its latest round of new skills , with the announcement on Thursday (Jan. 4) of the launch of the Smart Home Skill API. In a blog post , Amazon developer Mike Maas said that developers can now build skills to enable U.S. customers to control microwaves via Alexa, its voice-activated digital assistant. Support for other types of cooking devices, such as convection ovens, will be launched soon, the executive said.

Entertainment 74

Entertainment Investments 74

PYMNTS

JANUARY 10, 2018

Old and new tech are both coming into play in B2B API. The ever-changing value of bitcoin has been making headlines, and delivering and dashing investors’ dreams along the way. And recently, B2B API players have been tuned in, paying close attention to the cryptocurrency’s rising and falling star. But, more than just watching the cryptocurrency’s value slide up and down, players in the space have increasingly been exploring its underlying blockchain technology — and what that tech could do for B

B2B 74

B2B Currencies Banking Technology 74

PYMNTS

JANUARY 19, 2018

Two years after Amazon launched monthly Prime memberships, the eCommerce retailer is increasing its monthly membership fees by nearly 20 percent, Recode reported. The monthly fee for Amazon Prime will jump from $10.99 to $12.99 in the U.S., which works out to an increase of 18 percent. On an annual basis, monthly memberships will now cost consumers $156 a year.

eCommerce 73

eCommerce Retail Marketing 73

PYMNTS

JANUARY 22, 2018

No one likes watching ads, and many will go to great lengths to avoid them, including subscription services, time-shifted viewing and pop-up blockers, to name but a few. That’s a big problem for a media industry that is largely fed by advertising revenue. “Hollywood is in trouble,” Federico Pacquing, Reedeux’s founder and CEO, noted. “Over the last decade, the way consumers consume media has changed dramatically.

Advertising 71

Advertising Entertainment Investments Securities 71

PYMNTS

JANUARY 29, 2018

It’s time to talk more about what we’re really trying to accomplish for consumers — and for our businesses — and less about the tactics some are trying, with mixed success, to accomplish that. It’s seemingly all about tactics these days. The 2018 predictions seem more like a laundry list of trends and tactics that’ve emerged over the last several years than a discussion of the profound impact these trends have had on the consumer and business payments experience.

Securities 67

Securities Accounting Sales Banking 67

Speaker: Amanda Adams, Fractional CFO, CPA

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Amanda Adams, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

Accounting

PYMNTS

JANUARY 10, 2018

Stripe has announced an addition to its Stripe Atlas toolkit that will help founders file their corporate tax returns in minutes. This new tool can be especially important for resource-strapped startups, which often have difficulty with the tax process even with the help of an adviser. In fact, 54 percent of Atlas founders reported making a mistake when filing last year’s returns, including paying the incorrect amount, filing late or missing required filings entirely.

Startups 67

Startups Accounting 67

PYMNTS

JANUARY 26, 2018

Sometimes eCommerce retailers need to verify a customer’s identity at checkout, but the authentication process often leads to lost sales. Methods like a one-time password sent by text message (SMS), for example, can cause many consumers to abandon their online shopping carts. Customers are more inclined to go through with a purchase when retailers use alternate authentication methods.

eCommerce 66

eCommerce Banking Retail Technology 66

PYMNTS

JANUARY 16, 2018

Musicians have a complicated relationship with monetizing their art. They create the songs, but the record labels that distribute them tend to own the song catalogs, which, over the decades, has led to a series of thrilling legal disputes over ownership. Think Paul McCartney’s now 40-year fight for the rights to the Beatles albums , or Prince’s decade-long standoff with Warner Brothers.

Startups 66

Startups Currencies Construction Advertising 66

PYMNTS

JANUARY 1, 2018

Michael Lawrence Collins. Going to college pays off, on average. But to maximize the chance that a college education offers a satisfactory return, students need to think like investors. They need to carefully consider which degrees pay off and why, and they need to make informed decisions about the type of degree and major they select. Investors in financial markets consider many complex variables to mitigate risks and maximize returns.

Education 66

Education Nonprofit Investments Marketing 66

Speaker: Abdi Ali, Sr. Lease Accounting Consultant

Join this insightful webinar with industry expert Abdi Ali, who will discuss the challenges that can arise from managing lease accounting with spreadsheets! He will share real-world examples of errors, compliance issues, and risks that may be present within your spreadsheets. Learn how these tools, while useful, can sometimes lead to inefficiencies that affect your time, resources, and peace of mind.

Accounting

PYMNTS

JANUARY 8, 2018

It’s a problem with which most commuters are familiar, though many likely wish they were not. They wake up, get ready to go, walk to their bus or train stops and reach for their transit tickets only to realize said ticket is sitting on a dresser or bedside table. Even if they muster up the patience to take that long walk back to their homes and then again to the stations, their troubles might not be over.

Transportation 64

Transportation Sales Numbers Technology 64

PYMNTS

JANUARY 2, 2018

Less than five months before the compliance deadline for the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), most top UK and US firms are still overestimating their state of readiness, a study suggests

Compliance 64

Compliance 64

PYMNTS

JANUARY 13, 2018

The American psyche has a complicated relationship with robots. On the one hand, we love robots. When we think about our happier futures, friendly, helpful robots are often envisioned beeping and bopping in the background, quietly improving our lives. Rosie from “The Jetsons,” the “Danger, Will Robinson!” bot from “Lost in Space,” “WALL-E,” Johnny 5 from “Short Circuit,” R2-D2 (C-3P0 and BB-8) from “Star Wars” — popular culture is filled with robots we love.

Retail 64

Retail Investments Banking 64

PYMNTS

JANUARY 26, 2018

Contract, or 1099, workers aren’t a new workforce phenomenon by any stretch of the imagination. But in the era of on-demand services – and a seemingly ever-proliferating number of platforms that match employees to short-term labor contracts – the last decade has been the emergence of the golden era of the gig economy worker. Initially, the rise of the gig economy was adaptive: The U.S. economy was in dire shape, companies were skittish about investing in employees and the labor force rapidly fou

Leverage 63

Leverage Securities Investments Numbers 63

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Join us in this webinar, where we share best practices on how to think about the reconciliation work each month, when best to do reconciliations, how they should be prepared, and some common pitfalls to avoid. Learning Objectives: This course objective is to understand how to properly prepare and review balance sheet reconciliations and its impact on the financial statements.

Reconciliations

PYMNTS

JANUARY 26, 2018

Enterprise software company CapLinked is rolling out a way to secure data stored on blockchain platforms. This week, the company announced the launch of TransitNet, a blockchain framework to protect digital assets and data stored on blockchain for enterprise clients. Companies can deploy the protocol via application program interface (API), CapLinked explained in a blog post , to secure transactions and data surrounding key enterprise deals like M&A, licensing, financing and more.

B2B 62

B2B Auditing Securities Compliance 62

PYMNTS

JANUARY 18, 2018

The regulatory pressures on banks is not only fierce, it’s also continually changing, forcing financial institutions (FIs) to invest vast resources to stay on top of evolving rules. Regulation has undoubtedly acted as a catalyst to major financial services trends in areas like small business (SMB) lending, faster payments and, most recently, open banking and collaboration with FinTechs.

Banking 62

Banking Marketing Investments Leverage 62

PYMNTS

JANUARY 31, 2018

In life, 40 percent of anything is a lot. In online banking, 40 percent abandonment is … intolerable. As many as four in 10 consumers have at some point in their journey into online banking found the process frustrating enough to give up, as estimated by Signicat. The survey from that identity assurance provider, conducted across 2,000 individuals, found that when it comes to applying for financial products at a financial institution (FI) — from checking accounts to credit cards — 40 percent of

Banking 61

Banking Securities Accounting Technology 61

PYMNTS

JANUARY 12, 2018

No more signatures. Visa said today (Jan. 12) in a blog post that it is making the signature an option — and no longer a requirement — for EMV chip-enabled merchants across North America. That shift, for contact or contactless payments, goes into effect April 2018. At the same time, Visa said in its posting that it will continue to invest in initiatives tied to advanced analytics and biometrics.

Leverage 61

Leverage Securities Investments Sales 61

Speaker: David Warren and Kevin O’Neill Stoll

Transitioning to a usage-based business model offers powerful growth opportunities but comes with unique challenges. How do you validate strategies, reduce risks, and ensure alignment with customer value? Join us for a deep dive into designing effective pilots that test the waters and drive success in usage-based revenue. Discover how to develop a pilot that captures real customer feedback, aligns internal teams with usage metrics, and rethinks sales incentives to prioritize lasting customer eng

Sales

PYMNTS

JANUARY 31, 2018

In what was described by eBay as an effort to improve customer experience and offer sellers a more competitive cost structure, eBay announced news on Wednesday (Jan. 31) that it will intermediate payments through a multi-year implementation that may last through mid-2020. This move marks a significant change in how buyers and sellers will interact and transact across the company’s online marketplace — namely, by letting shoppers complete their purchases within eBay’s website.

Risk Management 59

Risk Management eCommerce Investments Numbers 59

PYMNTS

JANUARY 22, 2018

Technology services, merchant services, payments processing: These terms woefully minimize the range of needs merchants face in today’s mobile, digital world — and they often fall short of accurately describing the solutions innovators are bringing to market to help merchants maximize their potential. That potential, said Shane Happach, head of Global Enterprise eCommerce at Worldpay , lies at the center of the blurred lines that now define commerce.

B2B 59

B2B Reconciliations Retail Technology 59

PYMNTS

JANUARY 15, 2018

China steps up its regulation of cryptocurrency trading by going after online platforms and mobile apps. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported China’s regulators are eyeing internet-based platforms and mobile apps that provide customers with exchange-type services. Last year, Chinese authorities banned trading in cryptocurrencies, but recently the country has been seeking out alternative cryptocurrency trading venues.

Marketing 58

Marketing Investments 58

PYMNTS

JANUARY 23, 2018

It’s been about a year in the making. But here we go with Amazon Go, newly out of beta this week and available to the public, in what the eCommerce juggernaut hopes will be a brick-and-mortar retail game changer. It seems the brick-and-mortar arena continues to entice online merchants, as the store opened its doors at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters. The shopping is done via mobile, by app specifically, and customers get to leave with what they’ve bought without having to wait to checkout.

Retail 58

Retail eCommerce Sales Numbers 58

Speaker: Mark Stovel

When it comes to automating, many firms focus on finding the latest tech, believing that efficiency is something achieved through new tools. Yet true efficiency is achieved by delivering real value to clients, not merely by upgraded systems. Without a clear approach, no level of automation can overcome the complexities of serving every client’s needs.

Marketing