Sat.Sep 15, 2018 - Fri.Sep 21, 2018

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From Startup To Global Payments Giant: Visa Turns 60

PYMNTS

Sixty years ago today (Sept. 18), a San Francisco startup launched by sending roughly 60,000 credit cards to consumers living in northern California. This startup was a bank, and its innovation was a single card that could be used by consumers to purchase things on credit from many different merchants. The card eliminated the need for consumers to establish credit with multiple merchants, then carry multiple cards issued by each of those merchants to pay for purchases over time.

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Shifting Lanes: How Updated Lease Accounting Standards Are Affecting Dealerships

Katz,Sapper&Miller

Most auto dealers participate in leasing in some way, whether they are leasing a building or equipment, operating as a lease here – pay here (LHPH), or are lessors of real estate. That means nearly all auto dealers will be impacted by the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) update to the accounting standard for leases under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

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Amazon Now Up And Running In Turkey

PYMNTS

Amazon.com announced Wednesday (September 19) that it launched in Turkey, enabling consumers in the country to shop from millions of products over the internet. In a press release , Amazon said Amazon.com.tr is now live, featuring products in 15 different categories including books, consumer electronics, sports, outdoor, tools and more. “Our mission at Amazon is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, at great pri

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Why Certainty Rules Payments

PYMNTS

I needed a few outdoor cushions earlier this season and hired a local upholstery shop to make them. This small business is a really small business: a guy working out of a teeny tiny storefront in a little town north of Boston. The shop came highly recommended for the quality of his work and high service levels. The sole proprietor is a hard-working immigrant who’s been in business in this town for 20 years.

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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.

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AR And VR Sizzle At Macy’s And Walmart, Amazon And Danske Bank Fizzle

PYMNTS

Sizzle Of The Week: AR/VR’s Retail Gains. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have spent much of 2018 generating buzz as a potential tool for retailers looking to bridge the digital/physical gap and deliver an all-encompassing, omnichannel shopping experience. Retailers and merchants — big and small — have come running to the tech. Some of the luminaries on the field include Target , Walmart, Amazon , eBay , Macy’s, Ikea and Airbnb , all of which have made some type of notabl

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Uber In Talks To Buy Deliveroo As It Focuses On Food Delivery

PYMNTS

Uber Technologies, the ride-hailing company, is reportedly in early-stage talks to acquire Deliveroo , the food delivery company. Bloomberg , citing people familiar with the plans, reported the deal could be worth several billion dollars. Deliveroo , which is based in the U.K., was most recently valued at greater than $2 billion, noted Bloomberg. Acquiring the startup would be a big effort on the part of Uber to lead in the food delivery market in Europe.

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Cognitive/AI Business Spending Expected To See Strong Growth

PYMNTS

Spending on cognitive and artificial intelligence (AI) systems is expected to see continued strong growth as businesses invest in projects in those areas. According to market research firm International Data Corp.’s Semiannual Cognitive Artificial Intelligence Systems Spending Guide , spending on cognitive and AI systems will reach $77.6 billion in 2022, more than three times the $24.0 billion forecast for this year.

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Can Virtual Cards Void Checks’ Feeble Future?

PYMNTS

In an effort to kill the check — where B2B payments are anything but efficient — might virtual cards be the answer? In an interview with PYMNTS’ Karen Webster, Scot Yarbrough, group executive of commercial services , and Todd King, vice president of product management , both at TSYS , said the embrace of electronic payments may have been slow to get beyond a standing start, but momentum is building.

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NACHA Approves Expansion Of Same Day ACH

PYMNTS

NACHA — The Electronic Payments Association — announced that its membership has approved three new rules that will expand Same-Day ACH for all financial institutions and their customers. The first rule will allow Same-Day ACH transactions to be submitted to the ACH Network for an additional two hours every business day, while the second boosts the Same-Day ACH per-transaction dollar limit to $100,000, and the third rule increases the speed of funds availability for certain Same-Day ACH and next

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Robotics Process Automation Dwarfs The B2B VC Competition

PYMNTS

Robotics process automation (RPA) is a fast-rising star in the enterprise software space, touting its ability to go beyond surface-level automation and provide true efficiencies to businesses. Investors are clearly impressed, thanks to a funding round for one startup that now claims it may be the fastest-growing enterprise software company in history.

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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.

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Amazon Launches API For Alexa Gadgets

PYMNTS

Amazon announced on Tuesday (Sept. 18) the launch of a new API, dubbed Alexa Gadget Toolkit, which is aimed at creating more functions for the Alexa Gadgets. According to Amazon, Alexa Gadgets are accessories that pair to compatible Echo devices via Bluetooth and extend Alexa’s abilities with motors, lights and sound chips, among other things. The toolkit offers developers self-service APIs, including Gadget Interfaces, which provide the metadata of Alexa capabilities on compatible Echo devices.

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Amazon To Launch Storefront That Sells US SMB Products

PYMNTS

Amazon.com Inc. is reportedly gearing up to launch a new store later Monday (September 17) where consumers can shop the U.S. small and medium sized businesses that sell on the platform. According to a report in FoxBusiness.com, the store is being called Amazon Storefronts and gives customers access to a more than one million products from close to 20,000 U.S. businesses.

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Stripe Rolls Out Stripe Terminal To Support In-Store Payments

PYMNTS

Stripe, the payments company, announced on Monday (Sept. 17) the launch of Stripe Terminal, a product that will enable online businesses and platforms to accept in-person payments with Stripe. In a press release, Stripe said Stripe Terminal extends its infrastructure to the physical world, enabling developers to build custom payment experiences for in-person transactions in the same way they have been doing it for online merchants.

Retail 75
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Taxify Beats Uber In Africa

PYMNTS

Taxify , the African ride-hailing app company, is ahead of Uber Technologies, moving from an Estonian startup to a tech unicorn within five years, reported The Wall Street Journal ( WSJ ). According to a report in the paper citing Taxify, the company has 2.4 million active users in six African countries including Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana.

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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.

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PwC Finds Blockchain Distrust High, Even As Adoption Accelerates

PYMNTS

The financial services (FinServ) market is, by far, ahead of other industries when it comes to blockchain innovation and adoption, according to data released this year by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Much of that innovation has been focused on corporate finance and payments, as top financial services players have introduced new blockchain solutions in an effort to disrupt and improve corporate payments.

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Anatomy Of A Bank Heist, SWIFT-ly Done By Phishers

PYMNTS

Phishers caught a big one — any way it’s sliced, $81 million is a big haul. The fraudsters who hacked their way into the Bangladesh central bank two years ago got there by getting into software tied to the SWIFT financial platform. The way they got there? By casting a line by email, of course, offering a cautionary tale for anyone who sees a link they are quick to click.

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PayPal Smart Buttons Goes Global

PYMNTS

Two and a half months ago, PayPal launched Smart Buttons in the U.S. as a way to improve the checkout experience for both merchants and consumers. PayPal made its “Buy Button” smarter by dynamically presenting consumers with the most relevant payment method at checkout — saving them time. Smart Buttons also gave merchants more of an opportunity to capture a sale by tailoring the checkout experience around the consumer’s preferred way to pay.

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SAP Ariba Tapped To Digitize LATAM Cosmetics Supply Chain

PYMNTS

SAP has been chosen by cosmetics company Grupo Boticário to digitize its cosmetics supply chain, reports said on Wednesday (Sept. 19). Based in Brazil, Grupo Boticário is a leading manufacturer of cosmetics and perfume. The company has points of sale across 13 countries, according to reports in Retail Times. In an announcement, Grupo Boticário said it has chosen SAP and its SAP Ariba solution to digitize its supply chain and procure-to-pay processes.

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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.

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Switzerland Eases Blockchain Firms’ Access To Corporate Bank Accounts

PYMNTS

Switzerland is reportedly exploring ways to make it easier for blockchain companies to open corporate bank accounts as the government moves to prevent those innovators from leaving the country. Reports in Reuters on Friday (Sept. 21) said the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) is taking measures to address what the publication described as an “exodus” of blockchain projects from Switzerland.

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Hacker Attack Exploits Security Hole In Token Exchange

PYMNTS

A cyberattack on what’s been described as a “decentralized” token exchange reportedly has led to a $58,000 theft and an illustration of a “shocking security vulnerability.”. According to a report in The Next Web , hackers flooded the exchange with “one billion fake EOS.” EOS refers to “a decentralized operating system [that] is developed to support decentralized applications in commercial scale by providing them [with] all the essential support and features,” as per one common definition.

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R3’s Marco Polo Releases First Product: Receivables Discounting

PYMNTS

Marco Polo, the blockchain-powered trade finance platform developed by R3 and TradeIX , has launched its first product following the completion of bank partners’ proof of concept. Reports in Global Trade Review said on Wednesday (Sept. 19) that Marco Polo’s receivables discounting solution is now live on the platform. Banks participating in the initiative, including BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, ING and Standard Chartered, can begin piloting the solution next month.

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Entersekt Names Christian Ali Head Of Canadian Ops

PYMNTS

Entersekt , the push-based authentication and mobile app security company, announced that it has appointed FinTech veteran Christian Ali as its country manager of Canada. The news comes as Entersekt continues its expansion into the United States and Canadian markets. Ali has spent more than 20 years in the payments and digital identity spaces, working as an executive at Dream Payments, SecureKey, and EnStream.

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Protect What Matters: Rethinking Finance Ops In A Digital World

Speaker: Cheryl J. Muldrew-McMurtry

Distributed finance teams are rewriting how the back-office runs, and attackers are taking notes. Disconnected workflows, process blind spots, and rising cyber threats are more than just growing pains—they’re liabilities. The challenge isn’t just going remote. It’s building resilient systems that protect accuracy, control, and speed across every transaction and touchpoint.

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Flipkart In Talks For Stake In Streaming Service Hotstar

PYMNTS

Flipkart , the Indian eCommerce company owned by Walmart , is in discussions to acquire a stake in Hotstar , the video streaming service owned by Star India. Reuters , citing Mint, the daily, reported the move comes at a time when demand for video streaming in India is growing, with companies like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video doing brisk business in the country.

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Bitcoin Daily: Tezos Launches Main Network, WannaCry Still Used To Mine Crypto

PYMNTS

Samsung has revealed that South Korea’s customs authority has agreed to use the company’s Nexledger blockchain tech for its decentralized customs clearance system. In addition, 48 domestic institutions, including public agencies and shipping and insurance companies, have also signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU), according to CoinDesk. The move will enable all parties to easily share necessary documents, such as customs declarations and delivery forms, and is being designed to “fundament

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OCC FinTech Efforts in Legal Crosshairs, While GDPR Still Lags

PYMNTS

The battle over FinTechs and national banking charters is about to get a bit more heated. New York state is suing the United States. Or to put it a bit more specifically, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The suit is one alleging that the OCC does not have the authority to provide such licenses under the FinTech charter that has been proposed.

Legal 72
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Government Payment Service Leaks Data On 14M Customers Online

PYMNTS

Government Payment Service , the company that enables online payments for thousands of U.S. state and local governments, has inadvertently made available information on more than 14 million customers from as long as six years ago. According to a report in KrebsOnSecurity , the data includes names, addresses, phone numbers and the last four digits of credit card numbers.

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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.

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Amazon Go Debuts In Chicago

PYMNTS

Amazon Go has launched another store, this time in the Windy City. According to Venture Beat , the Chicago store is located at 113 S. Franklin Street, and offers standard convenience store fare that includes breakfast, lunch and dinner meal kits and hot food. The location will only be open on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. This is the fourth Go store and the first to open outside of Amazon’s hometown of Seattle.

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PayPal And iZettle Close On Their Deal

PYMNTS

PayPal, the digital payments company, announced on Thursday (Sept. 20) that it has completed its acquisition of iZettle. In a press release , PayPal said the closed $2.2 billion deal builds on the company’s products and services that are geared toward small businesses. “We’re thrilled to welcome the iZettle team to the PayPal family, and are excited to expand the ways we serve our small business customers,” said Bill Ready, chief operating officer of PayPal, in the press release.

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UnionPay To Roll Out Branded Card In The UK

PYMNTS

China’s UnionPay , the payment card issuer, is gearing up to roll out branded cards in the U.K. as it expands more into Europe, aiming to take on Visa and Mastercard. According to a report in the Financial Times , with UnionPay facing increased competition in its home market from the likes of Alipay and WeChat Pay , it is setting its sights on expansion.

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Flipkart Launches Cashless Credit, Eyes Non-Banking License

PYMNTS

Flipkart has launched a cashless credit program to give shoppers an instant credit line of up to Rs 60,000 ($833.97 USD). According to DealStreetAsia , depending on credit history and past shopping patterns, customers can receive the instant credit line, then have the option to pay for products they buy on the site later in month, or through easy monthly installments (EMIs).

Finance 70
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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.