Sat.Mar 02, 2019 - Fri.Mar 08, 2019

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ATMs For Medicine? That’s One Way Pharmacies Are Going Digital

PYMNTS

Pharmacies and the delivery of prescription medication are both undergoing significant change, and much of the credit for that can be directly or indirectly attributed to the rise of eCommerce and digital payments. The latest development? The deployment in South Africa of what some observers are calling ATMs for medicine. A recent report from the Financial Times offers one of the better descriptions of the project, meant to ease certain pressures on the South African healthcare system and provid

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Nouriel Roubini: The Mother and Father of All Bubbles

CFA Institute

True to his Dr. Doom moniker, Nouriel Roubini believes that vulnerabilities in the system are currently hidden and will emerge when the next economic downturn occurs.

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Trending Sources

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Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium To Accept Only Cashless Payments

PYMNTS

To help keep the prices of food and drinks low, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta is about to become cashless. Only credit cards, debit cards and mobile payments will be accepted at the venue beginning on March 10, Bloomberg reported. With the change, the costs of working with cash, such as reconciliation and physical cash drawers, are said to be removed.

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Philadelphia Passes Ban On Cashless Stores To Fight Income Discrimination

PYMNTS

Lawmakers in Philadelphia have passed a ban on cashless stores, making it the first major city in the U.S. to do so, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The new law will take effect in July and would require most retail outlets to accept physical currency. New Jersey recently passed a similar law and New York City is on the path to doing so as well.

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The Human Side of Finance: The Intersectionality of People, Culture, Adaptability, and Resilience

Speaker: Melissa Hurrington

Finance isn’t just about the numbers. It’s about the people behind them. In a world of constant disruption, resilient finance teams aren’t just operationally efficient. They are adaptable, engaged, and deeply connected to a strong organizational culture. Success lies at the intersection of people, culture, adaptability, and resilience. Finance leaders who master this balance will build teams that thrive through uncertainty and drive long-term business impact.

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Visa, PayActiv Launch Real Time Payroll

PYMNTS

The gig economy has changed — and is still changing — when we work, how we work and, of course, how we get paid. Readers of this space may recall some stats at the end of last year, where the PYMNTS Gig Economy Index found that as many as one-third of workers in the U.S. have participated in the gig economy — and 85 percent would do more work if they were paid faster.

More Trending

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Ant Financial Launches Banking As A Service Platform

PYMNTS

Ant Financial Services Group and Jiangsu-based Hoperun Information Technology announced Wednesday (March 7) a new banking product aimed at financial institutions. In a press release , the companies said the new banking product dubbed Distributed Core Banking Platform (DCBP) helps financial firms move their business models to customer-oriented models and away from transaction-oriented models.

Banking 79
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What ATMs And Open Source Have To Do With Payments Innovation

PYMNTS

It might be the case that 2019 takes shape as a watershed year for payments regulation, marked by PSD2 and GDPR. Stakeholders in the financial services and payments arenas are navigating new rules about how data is collected, stored and shared. However, the way payments innovation is pursued — and becomes reality — is changing, too. The rise of Open Banking is helping to open up payment ecosystems, encouraging collaboration between traditional financial firms and smaller, tech-focused upstarts.

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How Voice Is Turbocharging The Autonomous Vehicle Ecosystem

PYMNTS

Allow us at PYMNTS to take a brief step back and admire the landscape — in this case, the growing, though still young, connected vehicle ecosystem. A decade or two from now, such a look will be possible only via history books, TV and magazine retrospectives, or unreliable personal memories. Now, though, one can see how this massive economic, commercial and cultural shift is taking place in real life.

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Mastercard Acquires Transfast To Expand Cross-Border Services

PYMNTS

Microsoft disclosed on Friday (Mar. 8) that it will acquire global cross-border money transfer company Transfast, which works with both P2P and B2B payments. Microsoft said in a press release that Transfast will “complement Mastercard’s wide range of payment solutions by increasing worldwide connectivity in the account-to-account space, enhancing compliance capabilities and offering more robust foreign exchange tools.”.

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Maximizing Profit and Productivity: The New Era of AI-Powered Accounting

Speaker: Yohan Lobo

In the accounting world, staying ahead means embracing the tools that allow you to work smarter, not harder. Outdated processes and disconnected systems can hold your organization back, but the right technologies can help you streamline operations, boost productivity, and improve client delivery. Dive into the strategies and innovations transforming accounting practices.

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FBI Probe, Oracle Suit Eye Amazon’s Government Procurement Role

PYMNTS

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched a preliminary investigation into Amazon ‘s work with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), shining a spotlight on the challenges technology companies face as governments procure products and services to digitize their own operations. The Federal News Network (FNN) reported this week that the FBI and DoD Inspector General (IG) are now probing the DoD’s dealings with Amazon Web Services (AWS), which secured a $10 billion contrac

SAP 76
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Adjoint CEO On Why Treasury Management Needs Blockchain

PYMNTS

Blockchain is increasingly garnering headlines and attention for its use cases beyond cryptocurrencies. For instance, the ability to transfer data and various assets can help firms keep track of, and improve, operations. It’s no secret that transactions done between businesses, or across borders, can be mired in manual tasks. One area where elimination of such processes can be of benefit is treasury management — specifically, reconciliation of transactions and liquidity management.

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Credit Card Debt Ends Year At Record High

PYMNTS

Credit card debt in the U.S. reached $870 billion at the end of last year, setting a record. Bloomberg , citing data from the Federal Reserve, reported credit card balances in the third quarter were $26 billion less. While spending tends to increase in the fourth quarter because of the holiday selling season, the Federal Reserve said it’s the first time credit card balances reached “the 2008 nominal peak,” the report said.

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How FinTech Firms Evolve To Help Merchants With Payments

PYMNTS

Product debuts from FinTech firms sometimes come out of an evolution: Modo has been facilitating interoperability for banks for a few years. As part of those efforts, the company has worked with large FinTechs or banks to help connect their secure technology to the marketplace of payment methods. And, while the company still works with banks, Modo recently unveiled a new product dubbed /Checkout that is geared toward eCommerce merchants.

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Smarter Card Solutions: Meeting the Challenges of Mid-Market Travel & Expense

Our 2025 Center Travel Survey is clear: as corporate travel increases, so does corporate credit cards distribution, and a rise in off-platform travel booking. This 61% rise causes various challenges: compliance, spend control, reporting problems, and a lack of visibility across organizations. To evolve with the ever-changing needs of travelers, decision-makers need a better solution.

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Bank-FinTech Collaboration Drives B2B FinTech Funding

PYMNTS

Bank-FinTech collaborations have emerged as a viable, lucrative growth path for both sides of these partnerships. For traditional financial institutions (FIs), working with a would-be competitor means integrating technologies for customers without having to build solutions from scratch. For FinTechs, the deals mean access to a broader range of customers through well-established industry names.

B2B 72
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Marketplaces: The Difference Between Fail And Scale

PYMNTS

Shopping on a traditional, narrowly focused eCommerce site is one thing. Consumers are dealing with a single merchant, and the working assumption is that the retailer is vetting suppliers and products, and has invested the time and money to provide a secure environment in which consumers can operate without excessive worry. But online marketplaces are different creatures.

B2C 72
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Visa Celebrates International Women’s Day With A Global Challenge For Female Entrepreneurs

PYMNTS

On Friday (March 8), the world will recognize International Women’s Day — celebrated globally since 1975, when it was adopted as a holiday by the United Nations. In the 44 years since, much has changed for women all over the world. More women have finished college and started businesses, as well as work outside the home and fill management or supervisory blue-collar positions, than at any previous point in U.S. history.

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Senate Hearing Grills Equifax, Marriott CEOs On Data Breaches

PYMNTS

Data privacy and security is becoming a popular political issue, and the latest proof of that came Thursday (March 7) on Capitol Hill. During a hearing for the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations, executives from Equifax and Marriott were called out on their companies’ recent data breaches , while other witnesses helped describe the current landscape when it comes to online privacy and data security.

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Bringing AI to Finance: How to Leverage Technology for Efficiency and Control

Finance teams are balancing more than ever, but manual processes shouldn’t slow you down. In this ebook from BILL, discover how AI is transforming finance—automating AP, expense tracking, and document management to reduce errors, increase efficiency, and improve financial control. Learn how real companies are using AI-powered automation to streamline workflows, detect anomalies, and gain deeper insights.

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LEGO Wear, AR And Powering Sales With An Empty Pop-Up

PYMNTS

In London, LEGO and Snapchat are partnering on a pop-up shop that combines many concepts that, if not opposite, are not normally associated with each other. It’s a shop, but doesn’t have any merchandise in it – from a quick glance, it’s a blank white room with a single snap code for scanning. The goods for sale, despite the LEGO branding, aren’t building sets or toys, but a line of streetwear themed around LEGO in general – and, specifically, around the new LEGO movie.

Sales 69
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Comcast Buys AI Cybersecurity Company BluVector

PYMNTS

Comcast announced Monday (March 4) that it has acquired BluVector, a company that uses advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide cybersecurity protection to companies and government agencies. In a press release , Comcast said that using a proprietary machine-learning engine, BluVector can detect, analyze and contain cyberthreats, including fileless malware, zero-day malware and ransomware.

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Mexico And Amazon Reportedly Collaborating On Mobile Payments System

PYMNTS

The Mexican central bank and Amazon are in talks to introduce a government-approved mobile payment system, according to reports. The system would involve users paying for online purchases using QR codes, and it would be the first time Amazon offered the technology in the country. In Mexico, half of the population is unbanked, so the move could eventually provide Amazon with a new customer base.

Banking 69
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Barclays Sells Off Corporate, Payroll Prepaid Portfolio

PYMNTS

Barclays has divested its portfolio of physical prepaid cards in the U.K., selling the assets to Prepaid Financial Services (PFS), PFS said in a press release Wednesday (March 6). PFS took on the corporate and payroll prepaid card assets from Barclays and integrated the portfolio into its own platform earlier this year, the company noted. In a statement, PFS CEO Noel Moran said the acquisition will enable the company to enhance its offering to corporate customers using corporate prepaid cards an

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Say ‘Goodbye’ to Clunky Spreadsheets and Say ‘Hello’ to Month-End Automation

Technology is rapidly changing the way accountants perform and manage month-end activities. Spreadsheets, emails, and shared drives no longer need to slow you down. 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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Can Banks Safely Monetize Consumer Data?

PYMNTS

It’s one of the main clichés of the early 21 st century, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong: Data is the new oil. The saying reflects the value of payment, commerce and personal information in the growing digital economy, and the fact that those organizations that know how to collect and harness tend to have an edge over competitors and the best prospects for growth.

Banking 68
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Crypto Goes After Intercompany B2B Payments

PYMNTS

Corporate payments are still not a guaranteed use case for cryptocurrencies. While some analysts say crypto is a viable technology to address the friction of cross-border transactions in particular — pointing to the lack of transparency and speed in the traditional correspondent banking system — a lack of acceptance on the receiver’s end means a technology like bitcoin probably won’t be the B2B payment rail of choice anytime soon.

B2B 67
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PayPal Marks £1B Milestone In UK Alternative Lending

PYMNTS

PayPal said on Wednesday (March 6) that it has provided more than £1 billion in financing to small businesses in the United Kingdom through its Working Capital program. As has been reported, the company’s capital lending program lets companies receive cash advances against future revenues. The company said in a statement that the total amount of funding advanced to firms was up 60 percent, reaching that £1 billion tally in 2018.

Finance 67
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Strange Bedfellows? Trade Unions And Gig Marketplaces

PYMNTS

The guiding principle of any marketplace is supply and demand. The guiding principle of any online marketplace focused on short-term work — known, of course, as the gig economy — is to match supply and demand with speed and efficiency to get workers in place for the jobs that need doing. To that end, U.K. marketplace Labour Xchange , launched in February, is “trying to turn the entire market on its head,” according to Co-founder and CEO Jonathan Key in the latest PYMNTS Matchmakers podcast.

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Outsourcing Vs. In-House: The Ultimate Battle For Better Collections

Speaker: Susan Richards

Your past-due accounts are growing, cash flow is tightening, and the pressure is on. The big question: Do you handle the collections internally or outsource to experts? Both strategies come with advantages and risks - but which one delivers the best impact for your business? In this session we’ll dive deep into the in-house vs. outsourcing debate, examining cost-effectiveness, efficiency, compliance risks, and overall recovery success rates.