Sat.Jan 12, 2019 - Fri.Jan 18, 2019

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Credit Unions Step Up During Government Shutdown

PYMNTS

There is no shortage of headlines about the partial government shutdown that is now on its 27th day, and no shortage of articles speculating how long it will go on, what will be affected and (most often) what it will take to finally bring it to an end. There is, yet, one simple takeaway from all of them: So far, there is no end in sight. While that can — and hopefully will — change any day now, the reality is that the longer the government remains partially closed for business, the longer 800,00

Nonprofit 105
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ESG Investing: Too Good to Be True?

CFA Institute

The notion that companies that care about the environment, look after their employees, and exhibit good governance outperform is likely a mirage, says Nicolas Rabener.

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Create a cash flow friendly business

Creative CFP

The term "Cash is King" rings true and is crucial for the survival of any business. Statistics have shown that 80% of businesses fail in their first three years due to a lack of support. Poor cash flow management is at the top of the list of issues that require support. What is cash flow management? In theory and simply put, cash flow management is: Cash coming into the business as early as possible, Cash exiting the business as late as possible, Keeping an eye on the future and planning accord

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Why Africa Is eCommerce’s Next Great Frontier

PYMNTS

Africa as next great eCommerce frontier? The ingredients for a revolution in payments across the region, fueled by demographics and technology, seem to be there. In an interview with PYMNTs’ Karen Webster, Saqib Nazir, managing director of Africa at Emergent Technology delved into the ways the payments landscape across Africa is ripe for digital and mobile conduits, and a “cash light” mentality that focuses on the needs and desires of a burgeoning and youthful population.

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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

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Blockchain Makes Inroads Into Banking

PYMNTS

In Asia, blockchain continues to get a boost from government and regulatory efforts, especially in the realm of trade finance done across borders. In one example from the past several days, the China Banking Association (CBA) — the regulatory agency tied to the sector — has launched a new blockchain-underpinned initiative focused on trade finance.

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Physical Retail Isn’t Dead – The Physical Store Model Is

PYMNTS

It looks like we can finally have a serious conversation about the impending collapse of physical retail in the U.S. All it took was a 160-year old retailer and a $34 billion kick in the stomach to the retail sector to get everyone’s attention. News last week that Macy’s profits would take an unexpected Q4 nosedive set off a retail stock market shock wave that wiped $34 billion in value from the sector.

Retail 79
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Warehouse Robots Pave The Way For More AI Logistics

PYMNTS

Robots have taken their place inside eCommerce and other commerce-related warehouses, and will in the coming years take even larger roles in fulfillment, according to estimates. Hot on their trail are machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technology — the software and algorithms promising to reduce the risks of overstocking and understocking, and providing other benefits that can boost retailers’ revenue.

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Fresh Holiday eCommerce Data: Another Nail In Physical Retail’s Coffin?

PYMNTS

Online retail and mobile commerce had their shining moments over the 2018 holiday shopping season — the latest evidence of that comes from Adobe Analytics , which said that U.S. consumers spent a record $126 billion online during that period, above the company’s earlier projection. The new figure comes amid fresh questions coming out of that holiday season about the viability of brick-and-mortar retail sales.

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Blockchain Tries To Jolt B2B eCommerce Into The Digital Age

PYMNTS

The complexities and demands of B2B eCommerce can be significantly greater than those of the consumer digital shopping realm. While that characteristic can be an argument for why it is imperative that B2B commerce goes digital, it’s also one of the biggest reasons why the industry is struggling to make progress. Procurement officials and business professionals may prefer to shop online for their companies today, but only about 10 percent of B2B sales of products and services are online, ac

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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.

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Apple Pay Users In Australia Can Now Choose Visa Or EFTPOS

PYMNTS

Apple Pay, in a move that will let users in Australia skip credit card fees at places that support EFTPOS (electronic funds transfer), now has support for dual-network debit cards, according to reports. Previously, the default Visa payment option had users pay a fee they otherwise wouldn’t have had to fork out if they were using a physical card. The feature, called “Choose Payment Option,” allows an Apple Pay user to decide whether they want to use Visa or EFTPOS on a dual-network card.

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HSBC Readies Blockchain FX Tool For Corporates

PYMNTS

HSBC is increasingly relying on blockchain technology to facilitate its foreign exchange trading services, reports in Financial Times said Monday (Jan. 14), with more than three million FX transactions having already been processed by the bank in the past year via blockchain. Now, the bank is reportedly planning to allow its own corporate customers to use its blockchain tool.

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How Shopgoodwill.com Authenticates Luxury Goods With AI Tech

PYMNTS

Traditional eCommerce and brick-and-mortar merchants aren’t the only organizations that market luxury goods like handbags. ShopGoodwill.com , an eCommerce auction platform that was created by Goodwill of Orange County and is still operated by the organization, offers the same kinds of items on its site. Over 120 Goodwill organizations nationwide put items on the site.

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YES BANK On Developing APIs For Speedy, Scalable Service

PYMNTS

For corporations that want to stay ahead of the competition, innovation is a must, but developing and supporting a payment solution can prove challenging. Instead, many rely on their FIs to create this kind of technology, which presents these institutions with a number of hurdles. Assisting corporate clients — especially those with legacy infrastructures — can require tailored solutions, which can be costly and time-consuming. .

Banking 75
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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.

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For Visa, She’s Next Is What’s Next

PYMNTS

If knowledge is power, then shared knowledge is … shared power. To that end, Visa said on Tuesday (Jan. 15) that it has launched a global initiative, She’s Next, Empowered by Visa, which seeks to support the advancement of women-owned small businesses around the world through shared research, experience and technologies. The announcement comes as, since 2014, more than 163 million women have launched businesses across the globe, at a rate that outpaces that of businesses launched by men.

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Indian eCommerce Sellers To Appeal Ruling In Favor Of Flipkart

PYMNTS

All India Online Vendors Association, a trade group representing online merchants in India, vowed to appeal a ruling by the Competition Commission of India that favored Flipkart , the eCommerce company owned by Walmart. According to a report in Reuters citing the association that speaks for more than 3,500 Internet merchants, the group contended Flipkart was using its leading position to favor some merchants over others.

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The Payments And Commerce Game Of The Super Bowl

PYMNTS

For certain sports fans, it’s one of best times of the year, a weeks-long period of anticipation, anxiety and hope. That’s because after a long fall, and after enduring what winter has thrown at us so far, the big day is approaching — Major League Baseball pitchers and catchers report to spring training in less than a month. Ha! Just kidding. The big sports news for the new few weeks is professional (U.S.) football, of course, and that means big news for payments and commerce as the Feb. 3 Supe

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With Nod To Retail’s Golden Age, Department Stores Reach Back To Restaurants

PYMNTS

Luxury department stores are borrowing from the past to bring customers into their stores in the digital age. That is, retailers are taking a page out of a playbook set by retailers like the now-closed B. Altman, which served tea sandwiches in its Charleston Garden, and opening their own restaurants. Saks Fifth Avenue is one of the retailers falling into this trend with a new eatery called L’Avenue at Saks in New York City, which is the same locale where Lord & Taylor is closing to make way

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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.

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Apple CEO Wants FTC To Let Consumers Control Their Data

PYMNTS

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive who has emerged as a powerful privacy advocate, has called on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to put in place a new framework to increase the transparency of companies that handle user data. According to a report in CNBC , in an op-ed piece for Time Magazine published Wednesday (Jan. 17), Cook said consumers should be able to track where their data is going and delete any information on demand.

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Goldman Eyes FinTech As Investment — And As Strategy

PYMNTS

Goldman Sachs as FinTech player? Goldman Sachs has been around since 1869, and may exist in the mind’s eye with pile carpeting, wood paneling and being among the more entrenched players in traditional wealth management and on Wall Street. The digital age is upon us, though, and the bank is proving nimbler than perhaps some might think. News came Wednesday (Jan. 16) that growth in Marcus continues apace, and that the online lending and savings offering had logged $35 billion in deposits last year

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Goldman-Backed Vietnam Mobile Wallet Momo Snaps Up New Funds

PYMNTS

Momo, a Vietnam-based FinTech company that provides users with digital payment options, has reportedly received a very large Series C investment from American private equity firm Warburg Pincus. The exact size of the investment isn’t being released, but Pham Thanh Duc, CEO of M-Service, which is Momo’s parent company, said the amount sets a new record for funding.

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Google Buys Fossil Smartwatch Tech For $40M

PYMNTS

Fossil Group has announced that it is selling $40 million of intellectual property (IP) related to smartwatch technology to Google. As a result of the news, Fossil’s shares jumped about 8 percent on Thursday (January 17), according to CNBC. In recent years, smartwatches have become Fossil’s fastest growing category — it launched smartwatches across 14 of its owned and licensed brands.

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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

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Brexit A Bust – And A Blow To UK’s FinTech Role?

PYMNTS

Down for the count, where the tally is 432 to 202. And for Brexit , the question now becomes: What’s next? The news came down late in the day (Jan. 15) in the U.K. that Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit proposal was voted down by Parliament, by the above margin. The vote is an effective period, or exclamation point, in the wake of a delay stemming from last year, where May did not have the votes to support the proposal.

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Many Bitcoin Investors Don’t Plan To Deduct Losses On Tax Returns

PYMNTS

Bitcoin investors took a massive hit in 2018 – and, according to personal finance company Credit Karma, most of them don’t realize they can write off the losses on their tax returns. According to a report in MarketWatch , citing Jagjit Chawla, general manager of tax at Credit Karma, U.S. investors lost $1.7 billion in bitcoin investments last year and had unrealized losses of more than $5 billion.

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Bots And Outside-The-Bots, CES 2019: Payments And Commerce Highlights

PYMNTS

There was a lot about CES in Las Vegas last week that was predictable. Google and Amazon competed for voice-activated mindshare. There seemed to be as many new smart devices as show attendees. Robots were everywhere. Then, there was the eccentric. Last year, the world met the its first talking toilet – and this year, the Numi 2.0 Intelligent Toilet promised not just to talk, but to listen.

Retail 71
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Are Consumers Ready To Buy And Sell Homes Online?

PYMNTS

Way back in the day (which, in 21st century digital economy terms, probably means a decade or so), smart and important people used to express well-informed skepticism about the prospect of selling clothes, cars and even groceries via online or mobile channels. The concerns were reasonable and varied (logistical hurdles, perhaps, or just long-standing consumer habits), but, clearly, those views turned out to be wrong.

Sales 70
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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.