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

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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.

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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.

Sales 45
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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.

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Automation, Evolved: Your New Playbook For Smarter Knowledge Work

Speaker: Frank Taliano

Document-heavy workflows slow down productivity, bury institutional knowledge, and drain resources. But with the right AI implementation, these inefficiencies become opportunities for transformation. So how do you identify where to start and how to succeed? Learn how to develop a clear, practical roadmap for leveraging AI to streamline processes, automate knowledge work, and unlock real operational gains.

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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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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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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
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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.

Retail 76
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Data Talks, CFOs Listen: Why Analytics Is The Key To Better Spend Management

Speaker: Claire Grosjean

Finance teams are drowning in data—but is it actually helping them spend smarter? Without the right approach, excess spending, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities continue to drain profitability. While analytics offers powerful insights, financial intelligence requires more than just numbers—it takes the right blend of automation, strategy, and human expertise.

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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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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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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
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What Your Financial Statements Are Telling You—And How to Listen!

Speaker: David Worrell, CFO, Author & Speaker

Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.

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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.

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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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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
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Forecasting Failures Are Costly: Heres How To Fix Them

Speaker: Dave Sackett

Traditional budgeting and forecasting methods can no longer keep pace with today’s rapidly evolving business environment. Static budgets, rigid annual forecasts, and outdated financial models limit an organization’s ability to adapt to market shifts and economic uncertainty. To stay ahead, finance leaders must leverage a future-forward approach—one that leverages real-time data, predictive analytics, and continuous planning to drive smarter financial decisions.

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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.

Banking 73
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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.

B2B 73
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Are Robots Replacing You? Keeping Humans in the Loop in Automated Environments

Speaker: Erroll Amacker

As businesses increasingly adopt automation, finance leaders must navigate the delicate balance between technology and human expertise. This webinar explores the critical role of human oversight in accounts payable (AP) automation and how a people-centric approach can drive better financial performance. Join us for an insightful discussion on how integrating human expertise into automated workflows enhances decision-making, reduces fraud risks, strengthens vendor relationships, and accelerates R

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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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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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Book of Secrets on the Month-End Close

Based off SkyStem's popular e-Book, the book of secrets to the month-end close will be revealed in this one-hour webinar. Learn leading practices when it comes to building a strong and sustainable month-end close that has room to grow and evolve. Learn about the power of precise estimates, why reconciliations are critical to closing the books, how and when to automate, and how the chart of accounts play into your close process.