PYMNTS

JULY 17, 2018

International Business Machines (IBM) and Stronghold, the financial services company, are teaming up to back a new cryptocurrency that is tied to the U.S. dollar. Reuters , citing the companies, reported that the digital token, dubbed Stronghold USD, launched earlier on Tuesday (July 17) on the Stellar blockchain platform. Buyers of the digital token deposit U.S. dollars with Prime Trust, Stronghold’s partner, and are issued the tokens on a 1-to-1 ratio.

Foreign Exchange 73

Foreign Exchange Currencies Securities Retail 73

Planful

JULY 20, 2018

Executives want to review financials in PowerPoint, read the details in a nicely formatted Word doc, and run their own what-ifs in Excel. It’s enough to make your already frantic job in finance a tedious and manual copy-and-paste career. And, there’s the constant fear that a simple mistake could have career-limiting consequences. Well, there’s good news.

Microsoft Office 40

Microsoft Office Financial Reporting Financial Data Finance 40

PYMNTS

JULY 20, 2018

Tilray , the first cannabis company to conduct an initial public offering on a U.S. exchange, closed up 32 percent. According to Financial Times reporting, Tilray’s shares sold for a listing price of $17, higher than the original indicated range of $14 to $16 a share. The IPO raised $153 million. And at $22.39 at the close of trading on Thursday (July 19), the company had a market value of nearly $2 billion.

Profit and Loss 57

Profit and Loss Planning Banking Accounting 57

PYMNTS

JULY 16, 2018

Apple Inc.’s research and development spending may have increased in the last fiscal year, but Toni Saccognahi, an analyst at Wall Street firm Bernstein , thinks the iPhone maker can spend more. In a research report covered by Barron’s , the Bernstein analyst said Apple has increased R&D spending to $12.7 billion in its last fiscal year, which accounts for more than it spent between 1998 and 2011 when it was creating the iPod, iPad, and iPhone — and is growing it at a faster clip

Benchmarking 58

Benchmarking Accounting Marketing Retail 58

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Bleisure travel — where employees combine work and leisure — has been around since the advent of corporate travel and is here to stay. Successful bleisure policies strike a balance between employee preferences and company goals — workers report a 64% improvement in work-life balance, while companies benefit from reduced travel costs and increased workforce innovation.

Compliance

PYMNTS

JULY 17, 2018

When one tries to Google the phrase “millennials and mortgages,” something curious happens. Two different – and in some cases, mutually exclusive sounding – accounts of millennials and their home-buying habits, or lack thereof, emerge. Millennials are either dragging down the housing market because they can’t/won’t buy houses, or millennials are both leading the modern mortgage market and simultaneously leading it into the digital age.

Education 52

Education Startups Finance Marketing 52

PYMNTS

JULY 19, 2018

American Express has filed for a blockchain-based proof of payment technology, and Santander U.K. entered into an agreement with Infosys Finacle. Traditional banks and other financial institutions are undergoing tremendous pressure right now to compete in an environment where they are faced with enormous scrutiny from government regulators looking to mitigate risk.

B2B 46

B2B Banking Cash Management Technology 46

PYMNTS

JULY 16, 2018

PPRO Group , a U.K. cross-border ePayment provider, announced on Monday (July 16) a $50 million round of investment led by PayPal. In a PayPal press release , the company said that in addition to its investment, Citi Ventures and returning investor HPE Growth Capital participated in the round of fundraising. PPRO enables businesses to accept more than 140 alternative payments around the globe, partnering with payment service providers and financial institutions.

Investments 46

Investments Planning Banking Technology 46

PYMNTS

JULY 16, 2018

Market watchers have sent out a warning that the U.S. economy might be heading toward a recession. According to Reuters , the rise of risk premiums on investment-grade corporate bonds over comparable Treasuries, which have been increasing since February, is one factor that has analysts worried. “People are talking about the yield curve as a predictor of recessions.

Marketing 46

Marketing Benchmarking Treasury Investments 46

PYMNTS

JULY 20, 2018

Children are the future — that’s just a biological fact, and the theme of an old Whitney Houston song. And when it comes to wearables, children may indeed encourage future growth, and perhaps even enable a challenge to Apple. Wearable devices such as smartwatches and fitness trackers make up one of those areas of payments and commerce that often seem to have more future potential than current significance.

Leadership 45

Leadership Securities Technology Investments 45

Speaker: Ashley Harlan, MBA

What if your role as a fractional CFO went beyond operational support to actively shaping the future of your clients’ businesses? 💼 ✨ In this session, discover how fractional finance professionals can position themselves as architects of growth, guiding their clients toward sustainable success and preparing them for full-time financial leadership.

CFO

PYMNTS

JULY 16, 2018

Citi announced Monday (July 16) the launch of Citi Payment Insights, a new service that gives institutional clients access to real-time payment information and the ability to action payments on demand via the CitiDirect BE electronic banking platform. In a press release, Citi said Citi Payment Insights empowers clients by giving them a complete view of the transaction lifecycle within Citi’s global network and across the correspondent banking ecosystem by integrating the transparency provi

Cash Management 44

Cash Management Treasury Financial Systems Banking 44

PYMNTS

JULY 19, 2018

It’s a phrase that can cause several types of jobsite headaches — stepping away from a project to hit a hardware store with petty cash, for instance, or calling the boss to gain approval to go over a card spending limit. “ Spend management ” is hardly the sexist buzzword in payments and commerce, but the practice is developing to a point where many of those headaches are being reduced — a process that can also lead to more revenue.

Construction 44

Construction Entertainment Invoicing Budgeting 44

PYMNTS

JULY 16, 2018

Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether don’t pose much of a risk to global financial stability at the current time, but that isn’t stopping global regulators from creating a framework to monitor risk from cryptocurrency. Reuters cited the Financial Stability Board which is in charge of coordinating financial regulation among the Group of 20 Economies when reporting that the framework covers how risks from crypto assets could spread to other areas of the financial system.

Financial Systems 44

Financial Systems Corporate Finance Valuation Securities 44

PYMNTS

JULY 17, 2018

Since the migration to EMV in the largest card market in the world (the U.S. in October of 2015), the incidences of counterfeit card fraud at chip-enabled merchants have fallen sharply — some 76 percent, as reported by card networks. Once cards became significantly harder to clone, fraudsters took their bag of bad tricks online. At least, that is the narrative that most people in developed countries have internalized, said Derek Pak, regional head of Customer Fraud Management for Asia-Pacific at

Securities 43

Securities Banking Compliance Technology 43

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PYMNTS

JULY 16, 2018

Picture this. It’s Boston. It’s snowing. It’s February (or maybe it’s May, because it’s still snowing in Boston). A driver has to pull over and get gas. The fingers and mind tremble at the thought of getting out of the car to pay, to get the coffee on the trudge to and from the convenience store. It’s the kind of commerce that engenders no joy. Another scenario: A driver has their kids in the car.

Retail 43

Retail Manufacturing Numbers Leverage 43

PYMNTS

JULY 20, 2018

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation released a public service announcement this week warning that business email compromise (BEC) scams are on the rise. The total value of funds redirected as a result of a BEC scam has now topped $12 billion, the FBI said, updating previous warnings of the scam and including data up to May 2018. Between December 2016 and last May there was a 136 percent increase in BEC scam losses across the globe, the FBI said, and instances of the crime have been reported

Invoicing 43

Invoicing Numbers Accounting Banking 43

PYMNTS

JULY 16, 2018

Scientists say that humans have a lot in common with mice. Both species, a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School has found, express profound regret over how much time is spent waiting for something to happen. The study examined the behaviors of humans and mice before each were given an option to wait and receive reward (food for mice, videos for humans) and then after making the commitment, while waiting to receive it.

B2B 43

B2B Banking Investments Economics 43

PYMNTS

JULY 18, 2018

Machine learning was one of the main subjects on Tuesday (July 17) during the Amazon AWS Summit in New York City, as the eCommerce operator rolled out new cloud-based features related to commerce and payments. The announcements from Amazon Web Services (AWS) come at a time when machine learning and AI are receiving increased focus in the payments and commerce industries, with executives and researchers developing technologies that can operate outside the limitations of human bias and intuition.

Construction 43

Construction Healthcare Leverage Startups 43

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

Investments

PYMNTS

JULY 18, 2018

SBI Holdings’ own crypto trading platform, VCTRADE , has gone live, according to Cryptovest. At launch, the platform will reportedly support trading of the Japanese yen with Ripple ’s XRP. The news comes as the platform was formally unveiled in June following beta testing last year. In other news, BitPay has received a digital currency license from the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) that is called a “BitLicense,” Cryptovest reported.

Currencies 43

Currencies Banking Technology Accounting 43

PYMNTS

JULY 19, 2018

It’s no secret that banks and FinTechs are collaborating at a rate faster than ever before. Where once traditional finance companies viewed tech-driven service firms with caution and even a bit of skepticism, the realization more recently has been that joint efforts can reap dividends. There’s the long-term lure, of course, of increased customer headcount and cross-pollination of new revenue streams.

Banking 42

Banking Risk Management Auditing Compliance 42

PYMNTS

JULY 20, 2018

Amazon is launching a new feature that allows users to search for home improvement parts with ease. The eCommerce giant’s “Part Finder” enables users to simply point their smartphone camera at an item they need, and Amazon will scan it, measure it, and find matching items from its product catalog. The company didn’t officially announce the feature’s launch, but confirmed to news outlets it was rolled out a couple of weeks ago.

eCommerce 42

eCommerce Technology 42

PYMNTS

JULY 19, 2018

Coinbase says that it hasn’t received approval from two U.S. watchdogs for three acquisitions, Cryptovest reported. The firm reportedly told Bloomberg that it had received approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, Coinbase VP of Communications Rachael Horwitz told Bloomberg that “Coinbase has discussed aspects of its proposed operations … on an informal basis with several members of SEC staff.”.

Communication 42

Communication Securities Planning Banking 42

Speaker: Duke Heninger, Partner and Fractional CFO at Ampleo & Creator of CFO System

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Duke Heninger, 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.

Accounting

PYMNTS

JULY 16, 2018

Employers are increasingly moving away from depositing paychecks into employees’ bank accounts, offering instead to add them to payroll cards. Payroll cards work like debit cards, allowing employees to purchase goods and services or make cash withdrawals from ATMs. Unlike debit cards, though, there are no bank accounts tied to the cards and money is directly added to them by employers.

Accounting 42

Accounting Banking Securities Marketing 42

PYMNTS

JULY 20, 2018

Investors placed more than $136.5 million with B2B startups this past week, and while investment targets were diverse (including B2B eCommerce and small business lending), the bulk of the funding landed at companies focused on enhancing businesses’ ability to assess their performance. Business intelligence is a common theme in this week’s B2B venture capital (VC) roundup, with many startups deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and sophisticated data analytics technologies for their

B2B 42

B2B Pharmaceutical Startups Investments 42

PYMNTS

JULY 16, 2018

Continuing the recent string of earnings from big banks – a string that kicks off earnings season per tradition – Bank of America said loan growth and a boost in digital initiatives boosted results in the second quarter. The company is also committing a significant amount of incremental capital over the next several quarters to technology initiatives.

Banking 42

Banking Numbers Sales Technology 42

PYMNTS

JULY 16, 2018

Say hello to the payments industry’s 83-year-old startup. That would be UATP (Universal Air Travel Plan), the oldest payment scheme in the world, founded by American Airlines in 1936. In fact, President, CEO & Chairman of UATP Ralph Kaiser told Karen Webster in this week’s edition of Monday Conversations that all UATP cards start with the number “1” because they were the first cards issued 83 years ago.

Startups 42

Startups B2B Marketing Sales 42

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.

Accounting