Sat.Nov 14, 2020 - Fri.Nov 20, 2020

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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Invests In Chipper Cash In Latest African FinTech VC Deal

PYMNTS

African FinTech Chipper Cash has landed a whale of an investor. Chipper CEO Ham Serunjogi confirmed on Twitter the startup, which got its initial foothold in the market as a peer-to-peer (P2P) payments service, has just wrapped up a $30 million Series B round of venture capital. And among the investors was none other than multibillionaire Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who participated through Bezos Expeditions, his personal venture capital fund.

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The State of Planning in Dynamic Times

Jedox Finance

In this blog we take a closer look at the recently published BARC study “Sound Decisions in Dynamic Times.” What findings and insights can be derived for organizations and is it worthwhile to read it yourself? Let’s find out: Is your organization agile and resilient? In the current times of crisis, these buzzwords common in FP&A and planning turn out to be very important characteristics for companies and it becomes clear how well positioned they actually are.

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Asian countries to see higher pay raises than other regions in 2021

Future CFO

Asian countries expect to see an average pay raise of 4.3% in 2021, compared with the average of 3.2% increase this year, said ECA International recently. Outside of Asia, the outlook is very different for many nations, including many which are expected to see decreases to real salaries. This includes major economies such as the United States and Saudi Arabia, the firm pointed out.

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Gender Lens Funds: Ups and Downs for Women in the Workforce

CFA Institute

The third quarter was an eventful one for gender lens investing as well as women in leadership (WIL) in the financial sector and elsewhere.

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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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Brazil Upgrades Real Time Payments Rails, Goes Live With PIX

PYMNTS

Real-time payments continue to gain traction around the world. Case in point: Brazil. The country’s banking system is giving an upgrade to its instant payments system. Called PIX , the new payment rails have been in the works for some time and launched last week. It will be fully operational starting Monday (Nov. 16) and has already processed 10 million transactions a day.

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Mastercard Embraces Existing Rails To Drive B2B Payments Value

PYMNTS

When it comes to global B2B procurement, nothing is simple. For example, suppose a huge global consumer packaged goods (CPG) conglomerate wants to introduce a new shampoo. To do so it needs new supplies of palm oil, and a new supplier in Indonesia has the right quantity and the right environmental profile. Said CPG company would need to onboard the new supplier, which in the past could be a 90-day process full of you’re your customers (KYC) regulations and other laborious processes.

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Partners Against Crime: Visa Leads Effort To Fight Fraud With New Dynamic CVV Codes

PYMNTS

The rising trend of digitization in commerce and the increased occurrence of card-not-present fraud were not created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, it would be more accurate to note that those macro trend lines were both already on the move quite notably, and then the coronavirus came along and rapidly intensified the situation. That’s one of the takeaways from a recent PYMNTS panel discussion with Visa ’s Director of Global Chip Product Tom Rapkoch , Keyno CEO Robert Steinman and Assistant

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Wells Fargo Debuts Digital Supplier Payment Tool

PYMNTS

Wells Fargo is beefing up its digital payments arsenal with a new service aimed at business customers. The financial services giant on Thursday (Nov. 19) announced in a press release that it is adding a new solution to its WellsOne Virtual Commercial Card , enabling business customers to digitally pay invoices to suppliers and others. To use the tool, customers electronically send payment instructions, which are routed to the WellsOne Virtual Card Payments service, the release stated.

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Bringing Order To Chaos: Open Banking Meets Healthcare Payments

PYMNTS

In the accelerated, digital-first world, few things are more complicated than healthcare payments. In fact, even a medical school degree isn’t enough to sort out the different payment accounts, billing statements and various insurance plans. However, chaos invites someone or something than can bring order, and i2c wants to contribute to that effort.

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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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US Consumers Pay Down $10B In Credit Card Debt In Q3

PYMNTS

Americans paid off $10 billion in credit card debt in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, but borrowed more for car and housing loans, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) citing the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This follows a record $76 billion drop in Q2 credit card debt, as people used COVID-19 stimulus money and pandemic unemployment to pay down financial obligations.

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Credit Suisse, Bird Rides In Talks To IPO Via SPACs

PYMNTS

Scooter rental startup Bird is working on a deal with Credit Suisse Group to go public, according to a report from Bloomberg. The company, based in Santa Monica, California, has spoken with some special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) about acquisition deals, although none have reached any agreements, Bloomberg reported, and some SPACs have expressed inbound interest.

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Carrying Cash Could Become A Casualty Of COVID

PYMNTS

While its imminent death has been long forecast, cash just keeps on living to pay another day. Cash may not be king in the U.S. market anymore, but reports of its demise have often proved to be a bit premature. U.S. consumers’ cash use has declined over the last several years in terms of its share of the overall payments pie, but as consumers spend more, the pie gets bigger, and as people continue to use cash, cash usage continues to grow.

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Can Low Credit Card Balances Save Holiday Spending? Don’t Bet On It

PYMNTS

Here’s the scenario. Consumers have cut back on travel, in-person entertainment and restaurant spend. They have paid down their credit cards. Then they will use this newfound spending power to bring a new, vengeful spending strategy to the holiday season because, after all, the American consumer deserves a few gifts after all that they’ve been through this year.

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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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Bank’s Margins Suffer As US Consumers Pay Down Credit Card Debt

PYMNTS

U.S. consumers have been paying down payments on credit cards with the pandemic continuing to hamper spending opportunities, which has led to dramatically falling bank card loans, The Financial Times (FT) reports. According to the report, the total amount of card loans in U.S. banks was $755 billion, down $100 billion from before the pandemic, while balances have drifted lower in three of the last four weeks.

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Bitcoin Daily: Citibank Analyst Says Bitcoin Will Hit $318K; Pakistan SEC Exploring Digital Asset Regulation; Binance Discontinues BGBP Stablecoin

PYMNTS

A Citibank senior analyst predicted that bitcoin could reach $318,000 by December 2021 in a report written for Citibank’s institutional clients, according to CoinDesk. Thomas Fitzpatrick’s report was leaked on Twitter Friday (Nov. 13) by user “ClassicMacro,” who noted in a tweet , “there is no edge in guessing targets so far in time with TA. All we know is that price is likely to continue going up.”.

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Banks Reinforce Protections As Cybercriminals’ Tactics Evolve

PYMNTS

Banks have long worked to anticipate and protect against emerging tactics of cybercriminals. Now, with the pandemic accelerating a move toward digital product acquisition, communication, purchases and money movement, financial institutions (FIs) and their clients need to be even more vigilant. Leslie Ragan manages transaction fraud prevention for Elan Financial Services , a unit of U.S.

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Citi Partners With Mastercard For Google Pay Plex Accounts

PYMNTS

Citi and Mastercard are teaming up as network partners for the digital checking and savings account Citi Plex on Google Pay, available for both Android and iOS. . Alpesh Chokshi, head of business development, Citi Global Consumer Bank, said in a statement on Wednesday (Nov. 18) that today’s consumers seek money management that is like their own lives — a fast-moving “integrated experience.”.

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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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SellerX Raises $118M In Bid To Buy Up Amazon Sellers

PYMNTS

Venture capital cash has been flowing this year to companies that plan to buy up sellers on Amazon and help them grow. In particular, such deals have targeted companies in the Fulfillment by Amazon program, in which the eCommerce giant warehouses a company’s products and then takes care of packing, shipping and providing customer service. The latest such deal has Berlin-based SellerX landing 100 million euros ($118 million) of financing, reported Tech.eu.

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PayPal Teams With Gap, DoorDash For Payments, Checkout Solutions

PYMNTS

New entries to PayPal 's enterprise merchant roster include delivery company DoorDash and clothing retailer Gap Inc. , which will now allow customers to use PayPal at checkout, according to a press release. According to the release, PayPal's strategy is working " to create a seamless and simple checkout experience for consumers online by offering customers the flexibility and power to choose how to pay.".

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Payments Startup Veem Introduces New Tool For Easy B2B Payments 

PYMNTS

Global payments startup Veem is launching a new business-to-business (B2B) tool to simplify and automate domestic payments, the company announced in a Wednesday (Nov. 18) press release. “Small business owners, financial controllers, and accountants are moving away from paper-based payments and manual processes as the pandemic increases the demand for online payment solutions,” Veem Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Marwan Forzley said in the announcement. .

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Worldpay: Pandemic Has Forced The Issue On B2B Automation

PYMNTS

Compared to their direct-to-consumer (D2C) counterparts, the heavy-lifting, hardworking B2B businesses of the world have always been chided for being a few clicks behind when it comes to embracing and investing in payments technology. And while that will probably remain the case for the foreseeable future, Maria Prados , vice president of global eCommerce at Worldpay , tells PYMNTS that the shift to automated, paperless and secure B2B transactions is on the move.

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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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COVID Crisis: What Happens If Most People Don’t Get The Vaccine?

PYMNTS

On the same day that COVID-19 cases in the U.S. topped 10 million and hit 50.5 million globally, the world got news that Pfizer and BioNTech had successfully completed Phase 3 trials of a COVID-19 vaccine on 43,000 people — and achieved an astounding 90 percent effectiveness rate. It was a day that medical scientists and epidemiologists had been awaiting for eight long months, marking a significant scientific breakthrough for the virus that hobbled the world.

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COVID-19 Pivot: Boston Restaurateur Turns Idle Space Into Cozy Money Maker

PYMNTS

Like restaurant owners and operators everywhere, restaurateur Chris Campbell of Boston’s Troquet on South has found the past eight months to be full of challenges. He’s increased take-out, retooled delivery and altered his dining room’s seating and layout as a way to adapt to the pandemic’s new requirements. But after watching his private function room sit idle for six months, Campbell figured he had to try something different.

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Deep Dive: How Biometrics Help Telecommunication Companies Fight Onboarding Challenges, SIM Swap Fraud

PYMNTS

Consumers’ ownership of smartphones has become all but ubiquitous in the U.S. More than three-quarters of Americans carry a smartphone , with average users checking their devices 58 times a day. This overwhelming reliance on smartphones has generated record profits for major telecommunications companies, including AT&T , Sprint and Verizon , with the industry generating $610 billion in revenue in 2019.

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Revolut Brings Open Banking To Germany In Deal With TrueLayer

PYMNTS

Revolut announced Tuesday (Nov. 17) that, in collaboration with TrueLayer, it will expand into Germany. Earlier this year, the European digital bank had taken on Ireland, France and Italy. In a press release, Revolut said the latest expansion would bring open banking to its users in Germany. “With the new feature, German customers can now connect their accounts at Comdirect, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, ING-DiBa and Sparkasse with the Revolut app and view all their finances in one place — directl

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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.