PASBA
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
The competition for accounting clients can be as intense as in any other industry. That’s why it makes sense to pay attention to client services and frequently expand or improve what your firm offers. Talk to your clients and others in the industry to find out what they really expect of their accountant and what would make them most likely to leave for a competitor or stay with your firm indefinitely.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019
Financial providers worldwide are working to give small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) quick access to their funds. Digital banks , for one, are teaming up with technology providers to accelerate settlement times for payments collected at the point-of-sale (POS). Legacy banks are similarly at work, with one major FI seeking to beat out FinTech competition by offering same-day access to credit card deposits.
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Katz,Sapper&Miller
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
Katz, Sapper & Miller’s Mike Lee, a partner in the firm’s Transaction Services Group, will moderate a panel at the 2019 Indiana University Kelley School of Business Private Equity Conference. Taking place on Oct. 24 at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, the event will gather private equity specialists, investment bankers, and industry professionals to discuss key industry dynamics and strategies.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1595, known as the Secure And Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, on Wednesday (Sept. 25). The bill was sponsored by Congressmen Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, Denny Heck of Washington, Steve Stivers of Ohio and Warren Davidson of Ohio, all members of the House Financial Services Committee. The legislation aims to ensure that state-authorized and regulated cannabis businesses are not forced to operate with cash only.
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PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 26, 2019
If for nothing else, Uber and Lyft will be remembered for one big thing: making payments all but invisible via a seamless transaction process that was pretty much revolutionary. In a short amount of time, that ideal has become the general gold standard for digital and mobile payments and commerce, a guiding light for all types of companies in all kinds of sectors.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
Western Union’s history as a retail cross border remittance platform is moving money between people, largely via cash, within minutes. Today, Western Union announces that it has expanded its real-time global payments capabilities to include real-time account-to-account transfers to an account or a mobile wallet for select banks or digital wallet providers in 17 countries.
Accountant Advocate brings together the best content for small business accounting professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 27, 2019
This week, along with Amazon’s announcement about new Echo devices and Alexa’s celebrity voices, came news of Amazon Sidewalk , a new wireless protocol that uses low bandwidth to extend the distance at which IoT devices can be controlled and requires less power than Wi-Fi. This seemingly small move signals Amazon’s faith in the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), however.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
Two Apple iOS 13 users took to Reddit to share some payment security issues they faced when using the tech giant’s newest iteration of its operating system, according to reports. Apple has already announced it will release iOS 13.1 on Tuesday (Sept. 24) to fix problems concerning reliability and usability. Two users said they were trying to update their payment information when another person’s information popped up in the information box.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
Israel-based hybrid chatbot startup Servicefriend was acquired by Facebook to build customer service bots for its planned digital wallet Calibra , reports said on Saturday (Sept. 21). . Servicefriend was launched in 2015 by co-founders Ido Arad and Shahar Ben Ami to offer customer service using hybrid artificial intelligence (AI) bots. Facebook’s acquisition of Servicefriend is expected to help the social media giant roll out its cryptocurrency Libra in 2020.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
The phase 1 implementation of the ISO 20022 migration strategy that was scheduled for November 2020 is being postponed by the Federal Reserve Bank, the U.S. central bank said in a press release on Monday, Sept. 23. The Payments Market Practice Group asked the Federal Reserve to reassess its approach to the project, which involves a three-phased migration to the ISO 20022 messaging standard for the Fedwire Funds Service.
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
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
American Express announced it is planning to roll out a new real-time product that will let U.K. consumers pay for goods and services online, the company said in a press release on Monday (Sept. 23). Its Pay with Bank Transfer will be offered in Q4 to U.K. bank account holders even if they are not American Express cardmembers. American Express is teaming with eCommerce merchants across a variety of industries, including Thai Airways, Hays Travel, the Royal Lancaster London hotel and others.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
Platform economies want to make it easy for consumers to join. After all, scale means everything. But where there’s scale — millions of users and masses of digital IDs — there are, of course, fraudsters lying in wait and plying their trade, stealing IDs and money. And it may be the case that in the tradeoff between convenience and security, companies would do well to start looking harder into whether identity verification efforts need to be stepped up a bit, even if that means injecting friction
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
Data from the Pew Research Center shows that 52 percent of American adults live in “ middle class ” households, with the median income at $78,442 in 2016. According to Pew, the middle class is defined as adults whose annual household income is two-thirds to double the national median, after being adjusted for household size. The data found that about one-fifth of American households are considered upper class, while 29 percent are lower class.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
With digital as an important growth driver for the sportswear brand, Nike reported quarterly estimates per share that beat The Street’s most bullish estimate. The beat comes after the company came out below the consensus earnings estimate last quarter, Bloomberg reported. Nike ’s gross margin rising by 150 basis points, according to Cowen’s John Kernan, is “indicative of the power of Nike’s innovation and scaling digital platforms and apps.
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
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019
For bitcoin, and perhaps cryptocurrencies in general, does the future lie in … futures? As reported this week, the first bitcoin futures contracts that in turn settle in that marquee name in crypto started trading Monday (Sept. 23). Thinly, as Bloomberg noted. The move is being heralded as a “new chapter” in bitcoin’s storybook. The initial foray of the Bakkt/ICE futures on the Bakkt Exchange does indeed seem muted.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019
Trust is the backbone of digital commerce. Knowing who’s on each side of the transaction, and verifying their identities, is the backbone of trust. That sentiment was underscored earlier this month when South Korea said it would delist a number of altcoins from an exchange over privacy concerns – namely, the anonymous nature of the transactions are at odds with the goals of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which include combating money laundering and fraud.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
PayPal has decided to once again collect a fee when a seller issues a refund. While the company had rolled back the policy in April, it has decided to reinstate collecting the initial 2.9 percent commission fee sellers give up during a transaction, even when the seller is refunding a customer in full. “Earlier this year, PayPal updated its User Agreement to change our refund policy,” a PayPal spokesperson told The Verge.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019
The director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Kenneth A. Blanco, gave a speech at the 2019 Federal Identity (FedID) Forum and Exposition on Tuesday (Sept. 24), to talk about digital identity today, how safe it is and what the agency is doing to protect it against financial crimes, according to prepared remarks. . One of the biggest problems, Blanco said, is account takeover. .
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
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
Amazon researchers have published a paper revealing what they have found to be a better way to select an architecture when crafting an artificial intelligence (AI) model. In “ On the Bounds of Function Approximations ,” the researchers explained that they were trying to establish a framework to better understand the computational bounds of Neural Architecture Search (NAS) in relation to its search space.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
Big Brother will keep an eye on Chinese businesses as the government’s social credit system compiles data on the country’s 1.4 billion people, The New York Times reported on Sunday (Sept. 22). As China increasingly becomes a market economy, the government is becoming more concerned about improper conduct in the marketplace. Various agencies in the country are sharing information like copyright violations and payroll figures so a comprehensive database can be created.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
Amazon has expanded its two-hour delivery service for Whole Foods customers to almost 30 cities in an attempt to take on Walmart. The eCommerce giant launched a pilot program in August, using the purchase histories of Whole Foods shoppers who use their Prime memberships to suggest the same products on its main website with the bonus of free two-hour delivery.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 27, 2019
The Federal Reserve’s buildup to faster payments innovation came to a head in August when it announced FedNow , its proposed real-time payments infrastructure under the draft Payments Modernization Act of 2019. Reception toward the initiative was not, however, universally positive. The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services Task Force on Financial Technology held a hearing Thursday (Sept. 26) titled “ The Future of Real-Time Payments ” to discuss the development of FedNow and its impl
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PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019
Silicon Valley credit card startup Brex has begun a points transfer partnership for its rewards program with JetBlue Airways , Brex announced in a press release on Tuesday (Sept. 24). The partnership allows customers to use Brex rewards points on JetBlue’s TrueBlue loyalty program. “ JetBlue is an innovative and exciting brand and Brex is thrilled to offer access to their valuable TrueBlue loyalty program within the Brex Rewards platform,” said Brex Co-Founder and Co-CEO Henrique Dubugras.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 27, 2019
Crypto startup RSK will buy Spanish social media network Taringa in a bid to expand and to gain access to the platform’s 20 million users, according to a report by Forbes. RSK, a subsidiary of IOVLabs, is self-described as the “first open-source, smart contract platform secured by the bitcoin network.”. The partnership will encourage Taringa users to share content and receive cryptocurrency rewards in return.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019
Allow us to be blunt: The B2B finance and invoice settlement system is broken. Well, that’s not entirely true – things tend to work pretty well for the largest firms out there, as the largest buyers can basically set their own terms and essentially pay when they want. But for pretty much everyone else, it’s broken. And as Eyal Shinar, CEO at Fundbox , noted to Karen Webster in a new PYMNTS discussion, that’s an approximately $3.1 trillion problem, according to PYMNTS research – and, of course,
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019
Innovation can be a blanket term in the banking world. Is artificial intelligence (AI) for anti-money laundering (AML) compliance innovation? Is real-time global payments expanding to new markets? Much focus has been given to fundamentals like the payment technologies needed to support features from transactions on real-time payment rails to instant cross-border payments.
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.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 26, 2019
Consumers, businesses and governments are seeing faster payments as a path to greater convenience and financial security, and this growing demand is spurring payments services providers (PSPs) to meet this need in a swift, secure manner. That consideration includes assessing the potential benefits and risks that come with the two fundamental types of bank payments: push and pull transactions.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
Last week’s launch of the Mastercard Track Business Payment Service, designed to automate payments between the world’s suppliers and buyers, is just one sign that B2B payments are changing. This digital shift hasn’t affected all businesses equally, though. Many industries are still heavily analog, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in particular.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 27, 2019
As WeWork looks to reduce its costs and refocus, the co-working company’s two new co-CEOs reportedly committed in a message to workers to “strengthen our core business” following the ouster of Chief Executive Officer Adam Neumann. That process began by selling Neumann’s private airplane, Bloomberg reported. We Co., WeWork’s parent, is selling the Gulfstream G650 that the company purchased in 2018 for Neumann’s use for meetings as well as travel per an unnamed source in the report.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 27, 2019
Unilever has revealed that its sales on Amazon are only a small piece of its pie since most of its products sold on the website are priced below $10. “People are surprised that our Amazon business is only a couple of hundred million,” Unilever Chief Financial Officer Graeme Pitkethly said at the Bernstein conference in London, according to Reuters. He noted that his company generated less than 200 million pounds ($246.32 million) in sales from the eCommerce giant last year.
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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