PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 26, 2016
Entrepreneurialism is often about self-teaching. Business owners may be experts in their particular industries, but that doesn’t mean they’re always familiar with some of the back-end processes of running a company, like cash management and investing. When launching a small business culminates in an entrepreneur ready to sell, this lack of financial literacy can spell problems.
Katz,Sapper&Miller
FEBRUARY 26, 2016
On Feb. 25, 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) released Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) (the Update). Previous lease accounting guidance has long been criticized for not addressing the needs of financial statement users and FASB has spent several years on this project to address the concerns of users.
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PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 29, 2016
Cloud computing, say its proponents, has several advantages over hardware-based systems. Flexibility of the technology is one selling point; updates can be managed remotely and instantly, information can be shared over multiple locations in real time and costs are lower. To that end, NYMBUS, a core banking software company based in Florida, has partnered with Geezeo, a white-label personal finance management solutions provider that caters to banks and credit unions.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 26, 2016
Generally speaking, it is hard to think of social media as something that is making the world a more inclusive place – given its occasional status as a toxic swamp of intolerance and cruelty. But social media has the ability to give more than men’s rights activists, bigots, misanthropes, political extremists and conspiracy theorists a venue to spout their more interesting ideas about the world and how it works.
Advertiser: Paycor
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PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
In a sign that small business lending may be well on its way to moving beyond the traditional conduits of big banks and other larger financial players, online platform Lendio, which helps smaller companies find access to capital, reported heady growth for 2015. The company said Wednesday (Feb. 24) that its revenues were up more than 100 percent year over year, with one figure posting growth of more than 1,000 percent — 1,175 percent to be exact — as the company facilitated more than $128 million
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 25, 2016
Visa has struck a new deal with China UnionPay through a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on three key areas in the financial ecosystem: payments security, innovation and financial inclusion. The deal, which was signed by Shi Wenchao, President of China UnionPay, and Visa CEO Charlie Scharf, aims to provide a platform for the two payments networks to come together to “strengthen and create new value for the bank card ecosystem benefiting consumers, merchants, financial institutio
Accountant Advocate brings together the best content for small business accounting professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 29, 2016
It looks like Snapchat has been scammed by an enterprising phisherman who managed to collect personal data on about 700 employees of the social media service. According to reports that appeared overnight in Los Angeles Times , a payroll department employee accidentally emailed the personal information of about 700 employees (current and past) to someone masquerading as Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 26, 2016
Alibaba is reportedly after a $4 billion loan from banks as it seeks backing for its expansion plans, according to unnamed sources who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. The news hints at what’s next for the Internet giant, which could include further acquisitions that Alibaba may want to get its hands into, the sources said. This follows Alibaba’s recent surge of spending — somewhere in the billions — on major expansion/acquisition plans in its home country of China — and abroad.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 25, 2016
Who has more difficulty finding clothes they like: women or men? Stitch Fix, the once-female-only styling service and apparel retailer, has changed its answer from the former to “both.” In an interview with Re/code , Stitch Fix Founder and CEO Katrina Lake explained that the San Francisco-based startup will be adding lines of men’s clothing products and male fashion stylists to help match the right pieces to the right customers.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
With a unique customer experience becoming ever more important in retail, virtual reality could play a significant part in those efforts. That’s the case made in a recent story from Forbes , which examines the growing trend of virtual reality (VR) in retail applications, paying particular focus to a number of Samsung’s offerings. The outlet shares that Samsung debuted a VR experience at select AT&T stores last week, which includes a virtual Carnival cruise for users outfitted wit
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.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 29, 2016
Just because businesses are interested and willing to adopt payments innovations doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. Other key players in the adoption curve include government entities and financial institutions, says Bottomline Technologies Managing Director of Digital Banking Norm DeLuca. Governments and banks have a lot to do with developing an ecosystem that supports adoption of payments technologies for both consumers and corporates, and DeLuca sees some stark differences between the U.K. an
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
With the 2016 presidential race in full swing, many important economic issues are being discussed. One of the most significant: the health and importance of small businesses, and in particular, the “mom and pop” shops that line the main streets and side streets of our local communities. These businesses – we call them Store Fronts — represent 3.8 million businesses, accounting for nearly 37 percent of all SMBs.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
It wasn’t easy for Tim Cook to get Apple Pay into China, but his company was finally able to make that vision a reality last week (Feb. 18). Now, however, new details have surfaced as to why China’s banks were finally ready to jump on the Apple Pay bandwagon. According to a report in the Chinese news site Caixin , Apple cut a deal with Chinese banks to charge them less fees than what it charges banks in the U.S.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 23, 2016
Yesterday, PYMNTS detailed what happened during Day 1 of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. That included news like Visa’s car-based commerce deal, and its plans to expand Visa Checkout. It also detailed a series of news announcements from MasterCard, including details about its “selfie pay” expansion plan, MasterPass expansion plans, MasterCard’s IQ Series, its partnership with Coin, and its wearable payments play.
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.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 29, 2016
Bad loans – they’re everywhere! Well, not really. Mostly in the energy sector. Oh, and by the way, autos too, it looks like. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday (Feb. 29) that the banks have got a new sector to worry about, which comes on four wheels. With the caveat that problem loans on banks’ books tied to auto lending are thus far “at an early stage and manageable,” the warning signs are there that trouble may be in the offing.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 29, 2016
Go ahead and blink, but the Internet of Things is everywhere around us. And, increasingly, IoT is on us. To get insight into the big picture of IoT, PYMNTS recently interviewed Sanket Amberkar, Senior Director of Innovation and New Ventures at Flextronics, a technology development company that is a big player in the IoT space. When talking IoT with someone from Flex, the first thing you should probably know is the company prefers to call it the “Intelligence of Things,” Amberkar said.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 26, 2016
Mobile World Congress 2016 is in the books, but the conversations and topics that drove the announcements of the week are sure to be driving the innovations for much of the next few years across the payments, tech, commerce, and security industries. But what were some of the biggest trends that hit social media this week during mobile’s big event in Barcelona?
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
When it comes to a retailer protecting its assets — digital and otherwise — the intrinsic assumption might be that the focus ought to look outward. But the reality is that the greatest security threat facing retail companies, according to a number of recent surveys, often comes from within. And we’re not just talking about sales floor employees with occasionally sticky fingers (although we are talking about that, to some degree); we’re talking about advanced cybercrime.
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.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
Western Union is being questioned by the European Union’s antitrust regulators in relation to allegations that it conspired with banks to push its rivals out of the money-transfer market. “Western Union is cooperating with the European Commission following a request for information on the company’s business in Europe,” spokesman Daniel Diaz said in an email, according to Reuters.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
Mintos, a Latvian P2P lending startup, which provides a platform for investors to finance nonbank lender loans, has raised $2.2 million in a seed funding round led by Riga, Latvia-based VC Skillion Ventures. The year-old company helps its investors find loans they can fund or buy from alt-lenders who are looking to liquidate their investment. Mintos CEO and Cofounder Martins Sulte (left) with CFO and Cofounder Martins Valters (right).
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 29, 2016
Concur is on a roll when it comes to partnerships , linking companies like Lyft and HotelTonight with its corporate travel and expense management solutions for more streamlined business travel. Even more recently, the company cozied up to Booking.com. Its latest collaboration is with travel management firm CTI. Their tie-up, announced last Friday (Feb. 26), sees CTI giving its corporate clients access to Concur’s expense management solutions, a move made to help customers gain deeper insight int
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 29, 2016
Despite many customers’ perceptions that tech companies like to beta test their new products and services as initial releases, Amazon has been cautious with its restaurant delivery program. However, now that several U.S. cities have been taken under the Prime Now umbrella, is it time for some transatlantic countries to get in on the fun? That’s the report from Reuters.
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.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 29, 2016
Most of the time, the big battles in retail take place on the battlefields of brick-and-mortar storefronts and customers’ keyboards. However, that doesn’t mean all the money corporations spend on legal team retainers is completely wasted. Reuters reported that, despite a string of losses in the courtroom and an order to pay Apple $120 million in damages for patent infringement, Samsung received a bit of good news on Friday (Feb. 26): The U.S.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 29, 2016
Contactless spending in the United Kingdom tripled last year to hit £7.75 billion ($10.76 billion) in transaction volume, marking a sharp spike from the £2.32 billion ($3.22 billion) spent in 2014. The growth of contactless spending, which more than doubled in volume than the last seven years combined, comes on the heels of widespread adoption by Transport for London (TfL), which now sees over a million journeys being paid for by contactless methods every day.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 25, 2016
Mobile money transfer service WorldRemit announced Wednesday (Feb. 24) that it has launched in California. Regarded as the U.K.’s fasted growing startup, WorldRemit said it has set its sights on California, as the state is home to one in four migrants in the U.S. California will also stand as the company’s second largest market to date. “WorldRemit allows people to send money to family and friends with the speed and convenience they have come to expect in our connected world.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
Retailers spend as much time making sure their products get in front of customers at the right times as they do coming up with worthwhile products in the first place. However, Whole Foods may have solved one of those problems for the next few years. Speaking to Re/code under condition of anonymity, sources with knowledge of the situation explained that Whole Foods and Instacart are close to, if not already done with, a deal that would see the grocer not only invest a substantial amount in the de
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.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
What consumer doesn’t need to buy clothes? And what average consumer with a little extra cash isn’t going to feel fine spending a little more to get the latest fashion trends in their closets? It’s temptingly tautological how success and profitability should follow in so-called “essential” industries like apparel, grocery and restaurants, but the extended rough patch established apparel retailers are mired in proves that even their vertical isn’t immune to tur
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
Share in online lender OnDeck have dropped 20 percent on the announcement that growth this year will be slower than initially forecasted. The top left OnDeck shares priced at a thrifty $7.05 – dropping to less than 50 percent of what it was when the firm first went public a little over a year ago. OnDeck’s difficulties are not unique exactly – tech based financial services firms are seeing an ebb in the explosive growth that has characterized them for the last several years.
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 23, 2016
Some of the nation’s biggest food producers are facing a whopping $14 million lawsuit that alleges an “elaborate scheme” to secretly fund an initiative to kill a food labeling law. The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) stands accused by Washington AG Bob Ferguson of illegally hiding the names of its donors. Those donors were funding the opposition to Initiative 522 — a law that would have required genetically modified foods (GMOs) to be identified on a product’s lab
PYMNTS
FEBRUARY 23, 2016
For all the johnny-come-latelies who spend the hours before midnight on April 17 scrambling to submit their tax forms, there are millions more Americans who are sitting pretty with their tax refunds already in hand. It’s a peculiar part of tax season. Nobody likes handing their hard-earned money over to the government, but plenty treat their tax refund checks like golden parachutes, federally sanctioned excuses to splurge on vacations, new clothes and the latest electronics.
Advertiser: Paycor
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