January, 2018

article thumbnail

The Start Path Class Of 2018 Is Under Construction

PYMNTS

When Mastercard launched the Start Path accelerator program in 2014, the goal – according to VP and senior business leader, Amy Neale – was to make it easier for emerging companies to enter “our world” through a combination of operational support, commercial access and some strategic funding. “And when we talk about our world, we mean not just payments, but FinTech more broadly – and, even more broadly than that, commerce,” she said.

article thumbnail

The Data Behind B2B Payments’ API Excitement

PYMNTS

From market pressures in the U.S. that have encouraged data sharing between banks and FinTechs to regulations in the U.K. and EU like Open Banking and PSD2 that require such cooperation, APIs are emerging as an essential piece of the equation for payments innovation. That rings especially true in the areas of B2B payments and cross-border payments, which are complex, require the movement of data along with funds, and often involve multiple parties that have to all be on the same page about a tra

B2B 77
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Amazon Launches Cooking Smart Home Skill API

PYMNTS

Amazon has expanded into cooking with its latest round of new skills , with the announcement on Thursday (Jan. 4) of the launch of the Smart Home Skill API. In a blog post , Amazon developer Mike Maas said that developers can now build skills to enable U.S. customers to control microwaves via Alexa, its voice-activated digital assistant. Support for other types of cooking devices, such as convection ovens, will be launched soon, the executive said.

article thumbnail

NEW DATA: Retail Kiosks — The Next Billion-Dollar Industry

PYMNTS

One might just call this the age of unattended retail. Increasingly, retailers and other merchants are looking to give customers a more convenient and efficient experience by offering products and services via unattended kiosks. These machines mean that customers can interact with merchants more quickly, without having to waste time standing on a long line or dealing with a slow-moving employee.

Retail 74
article thumbnail

Mid-Year Review: How to Ignite Employee Potential Through Meaningful Feedback

Mid-year performance reviews aren’t just boxes for HR to check. Paycor’s toolkit empowers leaders to: Identify high-potential team members. Boost engagement with meaningful feedback. Support struggling employees. Nurture top talent to drive results. Learn how to ignite employee potential through meaningful feedback. When you nurture top talent, everybody wins.

article thumbnail

How Data Builds A Foundation For Commercial Bank/FinTech Collaboration

PYMNTS

The corporate expense management market doesn’t look like it once did. The traditional strategy of handing an employee a corporate card, hoping they make responsible purchases and depending on accurate expense reports has evolved into a market that embraces automation, artificial intelligence, mobility and an array of card products, from P-cards to virtual numbers.

article thumbnail

TRENDING: APIs Bring FIs Back In The B2B Game

PYMNTS

Old and new tech are both coming into play in B2B API. The ever-changing value of bitcoin has been making headlines, and delivering and dashing investors’ dreams along the way. And recently, B2B API players have been tuned in, paying close attention to the cryptocurrency’s rising and falling star. But, more than just watching the cryptocurrency’s value slide up and down, players in the space have increasingly been exploring its underlying blockchain technology — and what that tech could do for B

B2B 74

More Trending

article thumbnail

Is Cryptocurrency The Key To Shoppable Movie Content?

PYMNTS

No one likes watching ads, and many will go to great lengths to avoid them, including subscription services, time-shifted viewing and pop-up blockers, to name but a few. That’s a big problem for a media industry that is largely fed by advertising revenue. “Hollywood is in trouble,” Federico Pacquing, Reedeux’s founder and CEO, noted. “Over the last decade, the way consumers consume media has changed dramatically.

article thumbnail

2018: The Year Of The Mobile Wallet Reset

PYMNTS

It’s time to talk more about what we’re really trying to accomplish for consumers — and for our businesses — and less about the tactics some are trying, with mixed success, to accomplish that. It’s seemingly all about tactics these days. The 2018 predictions seem more like a laundry list of trends and tactics that’ve emerged over the last several years than a discussion of the profound impact these trends have had on the consumer and business payments experience.

article thumbnail

Stripe Launches Tool To Help Founders File Tax Returns In Minutes

PYMNTS

Stripe has announced an addition to its Stripe Atlas toolkit that will help founders file their corporate tax returns in minutes. This new tool can be especially important for resource-strapped startups, which often have difficulty with the tax process even with the help of an adviser. In fact, 54 percent of Atlas founders reported making a mistake when filing last year’s returns, including paying the incorrect amount, filing late or missing required filings entirely.

article thumbnail

Mastercard Rolls Out Biometric Authentication Mandate Ahead Of European Regulations

PYMNTS

Sometimes eCommerce retailers need to verify a customer’s identity at checkout, but the authentication process often leads to lost sales. Methods like a one-time password sent by text message (SMS), for example, can cause many consumers to abandon their online shopping carts. Customers are more inclined to go through with a purchase when retailers use alternate authentication methods.

Retail 66
article thumbnail

Your Accounting Expertise Will Only Get You So Far: The New Way To Lead

Speaker: Victor C. Barnes, CPA, MBA

In the climb from contributor to leader, the rules quietly change. But if you’re aiming for the summit, the air gets thinner, and what got you here won’t be enough to get you to the top. 🗻 What made you successful early in your finance career—technical accuracy, sharp analysis, flawless execution—won’t be what carries you to the next level. The higher you go, the more your effectiveness depends on how you connect, adapt, and communicate.

article thumbnail

OPINION: Is college worth it? Students can learn to calculate the payoff

PYMNTS

Michael Lawrence Collins. Going to college pays off, on average. But to maximize the chance that a college education offers a satisfactory return, students need to think like investors. They need to carefully consider which degrees pay off and why, and they need to make informed decisions about the type of degree and major they select. Investors in financial markets consider many complex variables to mitigate risks and maximize returns.

article thumbnail

NEW REPORT: Using AI To Generate Real-World Financial Insights

PYMNTS

The mobile devices in consumers’ pockets are getting smarter, and consumers are increasingly using those intelligent capabilities to manage their money. Now, banks are turning to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help consumers make smarter choices by providing actionable financial insights. In the January edition of the Digital Banking Tracker , powered by Feedzai , PYMNTS explores the latest developments surrounding new financial management solutions that are being powered by AI. .

article thumbnail

How Masabi Makes Public Transit Ticketing Mobile

PYMNTS

It’s a problem with which most commuters are familiar, though many likely wish they were not. They wake up, get ready to go, walk to their bus or train stops and reach for their transit tickets only to realize said ticket is sitting on a dresser or bedside table. Even if they muster up the patience to take that long walk back to their homes and then again to the stations, their troubles might not be over.

Alaska 64
article thumbnail

Top UK and US firms still overestimating GDPR readiness

PYMNTS

Less than five months before the compliance deadline for the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), most top UK and US firms are still overestimating their state of readiness, a study suggests

64
article thumbnail

The Hidden Science Behind Why Finance Teams Resist Change—And How to Fix It

Speaker: Kim Beynon, CPA, CGMA, PMP

The most overlooked, yet most critical, element of transformation is preparing people for change. Automation and AI aren't just technical upgrades, they’re cultural shifts which can challenge identities. That’s why change management isn’t a side project—it’s the foundation. In finance, where precision and process rule, navigating change can feel especially disruptive.

article thumbnail

There’s A (Ro)Bot For That

PYMNTS

The American psyche has a complicated relationship with robots. On the one hand, we love robots. When we think about our happier futures, friendly, helpful robots are often envisioned beeping and bopping in the background, quietly improving our lives. Rosie from “The Jetsons,” the “Danger, Will Robinson!” bot from “Lost in Space,” “WALL-E,” Johnny 5 from “Short Circuit,” R2-D2 (C-3P0 and BB-8) from “Star Wars” — popular culture is filled with robots we love.

Maine 64
article thumbnail

CapLinked Deploys API To Protect Blockchain B2B Transactions

PYMNTS

Enterprise software company CapLinked is rolling out a way to secure data stored on blockchain platforms. This week, the company announced the launch of TransitNet, a blockchain framework to protect digital assets and data stored on blockchain for enterprise clients. Companies can deploy the protocol via application program interface (API), CapLinked explained in a blog post , to secure transactions and data surrounding key enterprise deals like M&A, licensing, financing and more.

B2B 62
article thumbnail

Banks Say FinTech Innovation, Not Regulation, Is Now Their Fiercest Market Pressure

PYMNTS

The regulatory pressures on banks is not only fierce, it’s also continually changing, forcing financial institutions (FIs) to invest vast resources to stay on top of evolving rules. Regulation has undoubtedly acted as a catalyst to major financial services trends in areas like small business (SMB) lending, faster payments and, most recently, open banking and collaboration with FinTechs.

article thumbnail

As Bitcoin Swoons, Might Hacking Balloon?

PYMNTS

New year. New worries? Amid the wild price swings that have bedeviled bitcoin and other cryptos, there’s always the specter of traders and their money being soon parted – not by losses when the coins change hands, but by losses tied to hacking. As in disappearing bitcoins. As in hackers reaching even beyond the bitcoin and grabbing other personal information, using the virtual currencies as bait, lure and conduit to theft.

Sales 61
article thumbnail

Doing More With Less: The Modern Finance Miracle

Speaker: Mark Gilham, FCCA, CPP

Finance used to be the function that counted, now it's the one that’s counted on. 📊 For accounting firms, controllers, and finance leaders, expectations are rising faster than headcount. Businesses want agile forecasts, granular analysis, seamless reporting, and smart automation—often without added resources while demanding uncompromised accuracy and compliance.

article thumbnail

Bridging The 40 Percent Gap In Online Banking

PYMNTS

In life, 40 percent of anything is a lot. In online banking, 40 percent abandonment is … intolerable. As many as four in 10 consumers have at some point in their journey into online banking found the process frustrating enough to give up, as estimated by Signicat. The survey from that identity assurance provider, conducted across 2,000 individuals, found that when it comes to applying for financial products at a financial institution (FI) — from checking accounts to credit cards — 40 percent of

article thumbnail

Visa Signs Off On Optional Signatures For EMV Merchants In North America

PYMNTS

No more signatures. Visa said today (Jan. 12) in a blog post that it is making the signature an option — and no longer a requirement — for EMV chip-enabled merchants across North America. That shift, for contact or contactless payments, goes into effect April 2018. At the same time, Visa said in its posting that it will continue to invest in initiatives tied to advanced analytics and biometrics.

Sales 61
article thumbnail

The Argument for Risk-Based Security

PYMNTS

A scanner can identify a vulnerability, but only a deep understanding of cyber exposure will tell you about the seriousness of that risk. Here's how and why.

60
article thumbnail

eBay Takes Control Of Its Payments Destiny

PYMNTS

In what was described by eBay as an effort to improve customer experience and offer sellers a more competitive cost structure, eBay announced news on Wednesday (Jan. 31) that it will intermediate payments through a multi-year implementation that may last through mid-2020. This move marks a significant change in how buyers and sellers will interact and transact across the company’s online marketplace — namely, by letting shoppers complete their purchases within eBay’s website.

article thumbnail

Automation, Evolved: Your New Playbook for Smarter Knowledge Work

Speaker: Frank Taliano

Documents are the backbone of enterprise operations, but they are also a common source of inefficiency. From buried insights to manual handoffs, document-based workflows can quietly stall decision-making and drain resources. For large, complex organizations, legacy systems and siloed processes create friction that AI is uniquely positioned to resolve.

article thumbnail

Zuckerberg Hedges On Crypto On Facebook

PYMNTS

Add Mark Zuckerberg to the growing list of people interested in cryptocurrency. According to Bloomberg , Facebook’s CEO mentioned cryptocurrencies in a Jan. 4 posting that detailed his plans to spend 2018 working to address long-standing problems – including widespread misinformation and hate speech– that have plagued Facebook for the past two years.

article thumbnail

Vantiv, Worldpay And The New Payments Processing

PYMNTS

Technology services, merchant services, payments processing: These terms woefully minimize the range of needs merchants face in today’s mobile, digital world — and they often fall short of accurately describing the solutions innovators are bringing to market to help merchants maximize their potential. That potential, said Shane Happach, head of Global Enterprise eCommerce at Worldpay , lies at the center of the blurred lines that now define commerce.

article thumbnail

China Goes After Alternative Cryptocurrency Trading Platforms

PYMNTS

China steps up its regulation of cryptocurrency trading by going after online platforms and mobile apps. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported China’s regulators are eyeing internet-based platforms and mobile apps that provide customers with exchange-type services. Last year, Chinese authorities banned trading in cryptocurrencies, but recently the country has been seeking out alternative cryptocurrency trading venues.

article thumbnail

Amazon Go May Be About More Than The Getting Of Groceries

PYMNTS

It’s been about a year in the making. But here we go with Amazon Go, newly out of beta this week and available to the public, in what the eCommerce juggernaut hopes will be a brick-and-mortar retail game changer. It seems the brick-and-mortar arena continues to entice online merchants, as the store opened its doors at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters. The shopping is done via mobile, by app specifically, and customers get to leave with what they’ve bought without having to wait to checkout.

Retail 58
article thumbnail

Data Talks, CFOs Listen: Why Analytics Are Key To Better Spend Management

Speaker: Claire Grosjean, Global Finance & Operations Executive

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.

article thumbnail

Holiday eCommerce Fraud Attempts Jumped In 2017

PYMNTS

Attempts to commit online fraud jumped during the holiday season, increasing 22 percent from Thanksgiving to December compared to a year ago. That’s according to new data from payments company ACI Worldwide , which found that along with the fraud increase, overall online transactions also jumped 19 percent from Thanksgiving to the end of 2017.

Retail 58
article thumbnail

Private Labels Gone Public

PYMNTS

Zalando is not a well-known website in the U.S. However, for European consumers, it’s a digital treasure chest for fashion and accessories at all levels. Among the things that separate Zalando from Amazon — the U.S.-based eCommerce giant to which the company is most often compared — is its luxury brands, like Givenchy and Proenza Schouler. Zalando has had much success in the upper and even middle-tiers of fashion: Fast-fashion brands like Zara and H&M were long holdouts.

Retail 58
article thumbnail

NEW DATA: Climbing To The Top Of The FI Innovation Ladder

PYMNTS

The financial services industry is no stranger to innovation, but it increasingly appears that change in the space is being driven by outsiders instead of the financial heavyweights. For several years, upstart challengers, rather than traditional banks, have been pushing a wide range of tech-powered financial innovations aimed at addressing the needs of consumers and companies alike.

57
article thumbnail

Blockchain Security A Moving Target For Both Developers And Hackers

PYMNTS

No one truly knows exactly where and how blockchain technology will make the greatest impact. In corporate finance, the tool could upend the status quo of supply chain management, cross-border payments, invoicing and document sharing and more. Regardless of where blockchain makes its mark, what is certain is that corporates have to trust that a largely unfamiliar innovation will work the way it should; that means securely, efficiently and easily.

article thumbnail

8 Pillars of Leadership Development

Great leadership development is the key to sustainable business growth. Are you ready to design an effective program? HR can use Paycor’s framework to: Set achievable goals. Align employee and company needs. Support different learning styles. Empower the next generation of leaders. Invest in your company’s future with a strong leadership development program.