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

article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

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.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

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
article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

From Start to Scale: Driving Growth Through Seamless Payments Implementation

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

article thumbnail

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.

More Trending

article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

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
article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

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
article thumbnail

Less Stress, More Success: Accounting Best Practices & Processes for 2025

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.

article thumbnail

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

article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

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
article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

Avoiding Lease Accounting Pitfalls in 2025: Lessons Learned from Spreadsheet Errors

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.

article thumbnail

Doctor On Demand CEO Talks Walmart Partnership And Telemedicine’s Expansion

PYMNTS

When last year’s flu vaccine turned out to be ineffective 80 percent of the time, it did not necessarily have to turn into a flu pandemic. The good news about living in 2018, Doctor on Demand CEO Hill Ferguson told Karen Webster, is that the flu can be treated in the first 48 hours of infection. Where the vaccine failed, the anti-viral drugs should have succeeded — b ut they didn’t.

article thumbnail

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
article thumbnail

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
article thumbnail

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
article thumbnail

Back to Basics with Reconciliations

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.

article thumbnail

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

article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

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
article thumbnail

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
article thumbnail

Usage-Based Monetization Musts: A Roadmap for Sustainable Revenue Growth

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

article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

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
article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

Solve Your Firm's Automation Complexities Once and For All

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.