Sat.Jul 13, 2019 - Fri.Jul 19, 2019

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Monopoly Goes Cashless And Board Games Gain Popularity

PYMNTS

In this age of live multi-player online gaming, and virtual reality, and all things digital, it can be easy to think of board games as an artifact of the analog world. No doubt many households have a collection of board games in the closet or basement, but so many of them do nothing so much as collect dust, perhaps pulled out during the holidays after the presents are opened and the kids are getting fidgety.

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Why Transforming Your FP&A Matters

Jedox Finance

“Transformation!” is the clear message from Chief Financial Officers. To do that we must address the mindset of the entire FP&A team. Operating within your organization’s framework, as we discussed in the previous posts in this blog series , will frame how your FP&A team carries out this mandate. We asked several Financial Planning and Analysis professionals to share their perspectives on the mindset needed for success now and in the future.

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Book Review: Bond Pricing and Yield Curve Modeling

CFA Institute

Riccardo Rebonato combines theory with current empirical evidence to build a robust understanding of what drives the government bond market.

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How Bitbuy Is Keeping Crime Out Of Crypto

PYMNTS

More than $1.2 billion is estimated to have been lost to cryptocurrency scams, thefts and fraud in the first quarter of 2019, and cybercriminals and scammers are not the only ones putting digital asset users at risk. Canadian exchange QuadrigaCX ’s former CEO, Gerald Cotten, allegedly embezzled approximately $195 million of clients’ money, for example, and his recent death left the company without the passwords required to access most of its customers’ holdings.

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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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Visa Acquires Germany-Based Payworks

PYMNTS

Visa said early Wednesday (July 17) that it has acquired Payworks , a payment gateway based in Germany focused on the point of sale (POS). The company said in a release that Payworks will be integrated into CyberSource ’s portfolio of services offered to clients. In its release, the company said that Payworks’ cloud-based solution for in-store payments processing will be brought together with the CyberSource digital payment management platform, which will create, in Visa’s words, “a fully integ

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Samsung Pay Offers Payments, Credit To Indian Marketplaces

PYMNTS

Samsung has reached an agreement with an online marketplace for financial products in India that will allow consumers to apply for credit cards and loans through the Samsung Pay app. In a deal Samsung signed with Paisabazaar.com, India’s largest online marketplace for financial products, predictive algorithms will connect customers with the lenders most likely to say yes, FinExtra reported.

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SWIFT gpi Service For Multi-Banked Corporates Goes Live

PYMNTS

More than 50 of the world’s largest companies have already started using a new service that enhances payment flows, allowing a single view of transactions across multi-banked corporates. SWIFT announced July 17 that its global payments innovation (gpi) service now offers a full go-live function, giving corporates the power to initiate and track payments across multiple banks, SWIFT said in a press release.

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How PSD2 Is Changing ING Bank’s API Strategy

PYMNTS

Banks and merchants are racing to meet the Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) deadline as September 2019 approaches. Banks are innovating their application programming interface (API) platforms to allow for more third parties, while online merchants are prepping for a potential loss in revenue due to the security frictions that SCA might bring. Both are looking to maintain quick, efficient service to which end customers have become accustomed when it comes to online purchases and transactions

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US Treasury Secretary Sees Libra As National Security Threat

PYMNTS

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin believes that Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency could pose as a national security threat. In a press conference on Monday (July 15), Mnuchin warned that Libra “could be misused by money launderers and terrorist financiers” and that it was a “national security issue.”. “Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin have been exploited to support billions of dollars of illicit activity like cyber crime, tax evasion, extortion, ransomware, illicit drugs and human traffick

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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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Is China The Roadmap — Or Red Flag — For Digital ID Verification?

PYMNTS

Establishing a trust factor is vital to cross-border economics and digital identity , but the roadmap is far from clear. There are billions of individuals online, trillions of dollars in commerce exchanged digitally, and a myriad of approaches to online verification. In terms of authentication, should there be government mandates, private sector ingenuity, or a combination of both?

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In The Dark About GDPR’s SCA?

PYMNTS

Strong customer authentication (SCA) looms on the horizon for businesses based in Europe. The latest PSD2 Tracker shows that a majority of European citizens are aware of GDPR – and the reverse seems true here in the States. Yet online commerce is indeed about to usher in a sea change in how companies deal with security and privacy , as similar laws may span the globe in the coming months.

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Uber Releases Open-Source Conversational AI Platform Called Plato

PYMNTS

Uber AI, the ride-hailing company’s artificial intelligence division, has released an open-source AI platform called the Plato Research Dialogue System, according to a report by Venturebeat. . The platform is made to build, train and deploy conversational AI agents for people to gather data from both prototypes and demonstration systems. . “Intelligent conversational agents have evolved significantly over the past few decades, from keyword-spotting interactive voice response (IVR) systems to the

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Taking The Cash Out Of Cashing Out Tips

PYMNTS

You may have noticed in recent years that the cash you have in your wallet, pocket or purse tends to last longer than it used to. Drew Edwards, CEO at Ingo Money , sure has — a situation he says was brought about by the increasing use of Uber instead of taxis, digital payment options offered by valets and other factors. But there is one place where cash still has a big role: Tipping.

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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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Curve Captures $55M In New Funding

PYMNTS

Referred to as an “over-the-top” digital banking platform, London-based Curve has cleared $55 million in its latest funding round. Curve’s claim to fame in financial services is allowing customers to consolidate their many cards into a single Curve card and app. The theory is that centralization will allow consumers better control over their spending.

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Germany’s FlixMobility Reaches $2B Valuation With Massive Funding Round

PYMNTS

German AI-driven mobility startup FlixMobility has raised $531 million in a new funding round, and is now valued at more than $2 billion, according to reports. . The funding amount is the largest for any German outfit so far this year. The company is perhaps best known for its FlixBus network, with its lime green vehicles that offer cost-effective traveling options.

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Why ING Is Taking A Platform Approach To PSD2 And Open Banking

PYMNTS

The second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) is changing how banks share data and interact with third-party providers and FinTechs, which are now relying on open banking information and application programming interface (API) access to build out new products. The regulation is also altering banks’ end customer interactions as new players make their way to the financial stage.

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WeSwap P2P Currency Exchange Seeks $2.89M In Crowdfunding

PYMNTS

After hitting the 500,000 user mark, currency exchange service WeSwap has rolled out a Seedrs crowdfunding round. The company is seeking a £2.3 million ($2.89 million) raise, according to reports. The raise is the company’s third on Seedrs and had previously brought in funds from 3,868 investors of more than £3.5 million ($4.4 million). It will support an IW Capital-led Series B investment round.

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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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Many Retailers Aren’t Prepared for PSD2 – But Are Consumers?

PYMNTS

The second Payment Services Directive ( PSD2 ) groundwork laid out in 2016 is about to come to fruition in a few months – Sept. 14, 2019, to be exact. The deadline is looming for merchants and payments providers to comply with new requirements for authenticating online payments in Europe. Firms must soon put more stringent fraud decisioning processes in place, and strong customer authentication (SCA) protocols must be built into checkout flows for online transactions that begin in Europe.

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How Technology Can Unlock Trust In Cross-Border Transactions

PYMNTS

Trust is important for all of payment, commerce and financial services – it is more or less the glue that holds transactions together. Without foundations of trust, no transaction can get off the runway. And when it comes to cross-border transactions, that importance increases exponentially, simply by the nature of that activity. The parties don’t know each other, and are often separated by language and time zone barriers that can make communication a tremendous challenge.

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For Mastercard/OpenText and the Automotive Industry: Have Trust, Will Trade

PYMNTS

To keep the wheels of commerce — or the commerce of wheels — turning, trust is key, among lengthy supply chains, and vendors large and small. In the automotive industry, hiccups amid the supply chain — for deliveries or for payments, can have outsized ripple effects. Mastercard said late last week that it has partnered with OpenTex t, focused on enterprise operations management in a bid to streamline supply chain and finance activity.

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In Banking Innovation, Eyeing The Needs Of The ‘Digital Native’

PYMNTS

TS Eliot wrote: “Between the idea/And the reality/Between the motion/And the act/Falls the shadow.”. The same observation might apply to financial services. Depending on where you look, the chasm yawns wide when it comes to innovating with new technologies or features. In a PYMNTS interview with Karen Webster, Joe DeRosa, EVP of Global Sales at i2c , discussed the findings of the July 2019 Innovation Readiness Playbook , subtitled “Leveling the Playing Field for Different-Sized FIs.

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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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SumUp Snags $371M Loan Backed By Bain, Goldman

PYMNTS

Six-year-old digital payments startup SumUp has managed to secure a 330 million-euro ($371 million) loan, backed by Bain Capital Credit and Goldman Sachs Private Capital. The new funds will reportedly go toward financing expansion, according to Bloomberg. The firm is reportedly looking to grow its customer base in the 31 markets where it is already doing business.

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SoftBank Ventures Asia Notches $270M To Fund Startups

PYMNTS

The Seoul venture capital division of Japanese multinational holding company SoftBank has raised $270 million, or 317 billion won. The new fund of SoftBank Ventures Asia will invest globally in early-stage startups, with Asia being the cornerstone, Reuters reported Friday (July 19). Investors include South Korea’s National Pension Service. SoftBank Ventures Asia indicated the new fund will close in the next six months.

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Prime Day Expected To Lift US eCommerce Spend Past $2B

PYMNTS

Amazon’s impact from Prime Day this year will again lift the U.S. eCommerce market, according to a report by TechCrunch. . Adobe Digital Insights (ADI) predicts that top retailers who have more than $1 billion in online sales will have a revenue lift of 79 percent, which is higher than the 60 percent from a year prior. . The research also predicts that Prime Day is going to be the third time eCommerce spending goes over $2 billion on a day that’s not a holiday; the other two days were Labor Day

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Retail Pulse: Toys R Us Returns With Small Retail Stores

PYMNTS

Iconic brick-and-mortar retailers are sometimes reinvented, and return to the world of retail with smaller-format concepts. The parent of the Toys R Us brand, Tru Kids , plans to bring stores under the legendary name to the United States for the 2019 holiday season. Tru Kids has entered into a joint venture with the software-powered experiential retailer b8ta to offer a new store experience with curated toys in “highly immersive, smaller-format spaces.”.

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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.