Sat.Oct 29, 2016 - Fri.Nov 04, 2016

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Fraudsters Bilk Bankers Out Of $32M

PYMNTS

Investment bankers in Hong Kong were tricked out of millions of dollars by a cash-advance business called Global Merchant Funding (GMF). According to Bloomberg , smooth-talking fraudster Avery Stone and his partners at GMF convinced bankers from prominent international banks to invest in the business to the tune of $32.5 million before disappearing. “This isn’t a deal that went bad; these guys systematically preyed off their friends,” Thomas Gallagher, a GMF investor, told Bloomberg.

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Katz, Sapper & Miller Takes on Hunger for Annual ‘Day of Service’

Katz,Sapper&Miller

Katz, Sapper & Miller is helping to lead the fight against hunger in Indiana with more than 200 employees volunteering at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana on Friday, Nov. 4.

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Ringing In The eCommerce Christmas Season

PYMNTS

American consumers have big plans for the holiday season when it comes to their shopping, according to a report. A new survey by Deloitte revealed that 50 percent of shoppers plan to shop online for their holiday gifts, spending roughly half (47 percent) of their budget online. More than 5,000 consumers in the U.S. were surveyed, and the research showed that physical stores are not likely to see a surge in traffic. “Retailers must cater to that digital mindset long before someone walks int

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Collaboration Spurs Treasury Management Innovation

PYMNTS

The seed of FinTech innovation often comes from a desire to do things differently. In B2B payments, that can mean discontent in the way traditional banks and FIs do business or a need for disruptive technologies to come to market faster than banks can offer. But as finance and payments tech expands, these traditional FIs are learning that perhaps the best way to meet the demands of their corporate clients isn’t to compete with FinTech innovators but to collaborate with them.

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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.

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Fluent In Credit Insurance, With Blockchain

PYMNTS

Risk has been around at least as long as transactions have been around. How to manage for risk has been a question that has bedeviled firms across the ages. One way to mitigate risk, of course, comes with insurance — and, more specifically, covering the possibility that the other side of a transaction will not deliver on its financial promises. To that end, Fluent, which operates an open account trade platform online using distributed ledger technology (through blockchain), has linked up with Eu

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Seven Things To Know About The Gig Economy

PYMNTS

Mobile devices, apps, new technologies have given birth to new platforms that match supply and demand easier than ever before. And the ability to embed payments into those platforms is what has ignited those marketplaces. But how many people participate in the gig economy? How big is it? And what do they do? We were curious, too, and collaborated with Hyperwallet to measure and size the market.

More Trending

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SBI Ripple Asia Says 42 Banks Have Joined Payment Consortium

PYMNTS

A Japanese bank consortium gearing up to create a new real-time payments platform using blockchain technology from SBI Ripple Asia has expanded to 42 members. According to a report , the group launched in August with 15 members, and SBI Ripple Asia had expected to increase the size to 30 banks. “Because of active responses from many financial institutions, the consortium was finally launched with 42 member banks,” said SBI in a statement, according to the report. “Member financ

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US Treasurers Fall Behind On FinTech Investment

PYMNTS

Treasurers from the largest corporations are more likely to invest in newer financial technologies, found a new report from East & Partners and Contentive Media. Reports released last week said researchers found that, across the globe, treasurers at the largest corporations are investing more in financial technologies than their peers at smaller firms.

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Shopify Throws Hat Into Chatbot Ring

PYMNTS

Shopify’s online store platform is integrating with Sundown AI’s artificial intelligence platform named Chloe. The collaboration is expected to bring enhanced mobile commerce to online stores with the use of voice and text commands. Shopify users will be able to access immediate assistance on their mobile phones via Chloe for any inquires or requests while navigating a store.

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Mobile Devices To Account For 75 Percent Of Internet Use In 2017

PYMNTS

Mobile devices will account for 75 percent of global internet use next year, according to Zenith’s new Mobile Advertising Forecasts, published last week. In a press release highlighting the results, Zenith said the mobile proportion of internet use has increased rapidly, from 40 percent in 2012 to 68 percent in 2016, and said it is forecasting for it to reach 79 percent by 2018.

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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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Hackers Trade Identity Data Like Baseball Cards

PYMNTS

With major data breaches on the rise, it’s no surprise cybercriminals have access to more than enough compromised data. From a person’s payment information to their mother’s maiden name, hackers have everything they need to pose a legitimate customers and keep perpetrating fraud. In this week’s Hacker Tracker , we look at how identity information has quickly become a critical currency — being stolen, traded and resold at an alarming rate.

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Thwarting Fraud In The Complex IoT Age

PYMNTS

With fraud expected to hit $7.2 billion by 2020, companies — particularly eCommerce retailers — are considering mobile and online innovations in payments and IoT security technology to help thwart cyberattacks. This seems especially pertinent these days after hundreds of thousands of smart devices were recently exposed to a global distributed denial-of-service cyberattack.

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Bitcoin Tracker: Challengers And Backlogs

PYMNTS

It’s been a varied week for bitcoin. First, some positive news: Bitcoin’s upward pricing trend continues, more or less. It opened this morning with a value of $742 and peaked at $744 (about as close as bitcoin has come to its year high since it hit $768 back in June). As of the time of writing, the price sits around $693 , still up from last week ’ s $682.

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Contactless Payments Set To Explode In US

PYMNTS

For banks and retailers, there is a fine line between making people’s use of credit and debit cards as painless as possible and protecting individuals’ financial details from swindlers. Contactless credit cards have seen a slow rate of adoption in the U.S., but that may all change thanks to the continuing rollout of chip cards and new payments in terminals around the country.

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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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For Digital Identities, Verify And Verify Again

PYMNTS

We live in what is increasingly a harrowing digital world, replete with ever-mounting cyberbreaches at seemingly every corner of commerce. For financial institutions, there’s reason to be concerned over digital identities. The challenge is authenticating a consumer across a landscape where that individual is actively opening accounts and performing transactions.

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Shopify Sees eCommerce Sales Boost By 89 Percent

PYMNTS

Shopify , the eCommerce platform that enables small and medium-sized businesses to reach customers across channels, experienced total revenue growth of 89 percent year-over-year in Q3. The company also confirmed that the value of the goods sold through the merchant sites on its platform increased 100 percent to $3.8 billion. The Canada-based eCommerce vendor announced that its Q3 sales totaled $99.6 million, an increase of 89 percent from $52.8 million in Q3 2015.

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Startup DNA: Rooam, Close Your Bar & Restaurant Tab Remotely

PYMNTS

Most people aren’t thinking about mobile payment when they head out for a night on the town. But that’s changing. “Every time I tried to close a check or tab at a bar or restaurant, I always wondered why this process could not be seamless and more efficient,” said Junaid Shams, cofounder and CEO of Rooam. Shams said the impetus for his startup sparked when he was dining at a busy hotspot in Washington, D.C., and the restaurant lost his credit card: “I kept thinking that there must be a solution

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What If Millennials Aren’t Quite As Different As Advertised

PYMNTS

Millennials are different — a point hammered homed in a million ways, in a million think pieces written since the generation that started to be born in 1980 started to come of age about 10 years ago. And the narrative has been ramping up consistently since we hit what demographers call “peak millennial” last year when the largest single cohort (millennials born in 1990) hit 25 years old.

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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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Ripple CEO Steps Aside

PYMNTS

The CEO of blockchain tech startup Ripple has decided to step aside for the firm’s current COO and president. Reports Tuesday (Nov. 1) said Chris Larsen will end his position as CEO of Ripple, with COO and President Brad Garlinghouse taking his place effective Jan. 1, 2017. According to a statement from Larsen, the executive will continue to play an active role in the development of the blockchain firm.

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In Pursuit Of The Perfect Payments-As-A-Service Pairing

PYMNTS

From loyalty to inventory management and data to omnicommerce strategy, there’s no shortage of available features and options for retailers looking to upgrade to full-service payments solutions. But with so many different solutions and combinations of features out there, finding the right system that can fit each business’ needs is difficult. Even after a retailer does find a suitable option, integrating the system into their operations can be a challenge.

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Millennials Vs. Baby Boomers: Raise A Glass To Purchasing Preferences

PYMNTS

Raising a glass — or rather, the purchasing of whatever goes in that glass — varies from generation to generation. This is also the case for the drinking habits of millennials vs. baby boomers. According to PYMNTS research, millennials of drinking age drank 42 percent of the wine that was drunk in 2015, with the average millennial downing just over three glasses in a sitting.

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SaaS, SME Finance Save B2B Funding’s Week

PYMNTS

Not every week can be a home run for B2B startups. This time, the industry saw modest gains — a couple million in funding here, another million there — with just three venture capital funding rounds. Software-as-a-Service earned some surprising investor attention, but it was small business financing that earned the biggest round of the week. Find out who secured how much below.

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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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UK Banks Now Required To Refer SMEs To Alt-Lenders

PYMNTS

The U.K.’s bank referral scheme has officially kicked off. Reports by Financial Times on Tuesday (Nov. 1) said the program that requires traditional banks to refer small businesses to alternative lenders if they’re rejected for a loan has begun. “A refusal from a big bank should not be the end of the line for a small business and, thanks to the finance platforms being launched today, now it won’t be,” said Chancellor Philip Hammond in a statement.

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New Report: Ensuring A Faster Insurance Payment?

PYMNTS

Waiting on an insurance payment, for those in a tough spot, can be like watching grass grow while face-down in the grass. When lives need rebuilding, receiving funds quickly is more than nice-to-have. Whether it’s someone who has lived through a storm like Hurricane Matthew and needing to repair their home or someone needing their car back on the road after an accident, policyholders want and need fast resolutions and payouts from their insurance companies.

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Zcash Finds A Bug That May Stop Private Transactions From Being Mined

PYMNTS

Zcash, the anonymous new bitcoin alternative that was just launched, found a bug that may stop private transactions from being mined. According to a blog post on Zcash’s website, the company said there is one known bug that causes private transactions to not get mined. “We’re going to release v1.0.1 shortly to fix it,” the company said.

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Social Media Paves The Path To Purchase For 71% Of Shoppers

PYMNTS

It looks as though social media has become a mainstay in the shopping experiences of many shoppers. As the holiday shopping season draws near, a recent report from Crowdtap revealed the significant influence social media has on the path to purchase of many consumers. According to the study, more than one-third of U.S. adults look to social media as a way to connect with brands when they are considering making a purchase, while they are shopping and even after a purchase has been made. “As

Retail 74
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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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Office Of The Comptroller Of The Currency Disclosed A Data Breach

PYMNTS

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) disclosed it was hacked in September, reported The Wall Street Journal last week. According to the report, the banking regulator said the data breach had to do with a former employee at the agency removing more than 10,000 records without receiving authorization to do so. The incident occurred in Nov. 2015 when the ex-employee downloaded a large number of files onto two thumb drives.

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Taking A Pulse On The New Gig Economy

PYMNTS

Let’s face it — the availability and popularity of short-term, ad-hoc positions, or “gigs,” look much different than they did just five years ago. No longer is it just the Avon lady or Mary Kay consultant. These gigs span a growing number of verticals and industries, from home help and tutoring, to accounting and design. The gig economy is here, and if the data from the latest PYMNTS.com Gig Economy Index™ — produced in collaboration with Hyperwallet — is any indication, the bubble

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Overcoming The Payments Data Integration Hurdle

PYMNTS

With data analytics now a paramount process of cash flow management, developers are tasked with making their most innovative B2B payments and finance technologies seamlessly integrate with ERP and accounting platforms. The issue, said U.S. Bank Senior Vice President of Corporate Payments Robert Kaufman, is that there are so many versions of these accounting platforms and so many ways to customize them that ensuring B2B payments tools integrate properly isn’t a sure bet. “What weR

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New Report: Is The US SMB Engine Billowing Smoke?

PYMNTS

If you ask the owners of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), they’ll tell you that they are relatively tech-friendly and even tech-savvy. But they may not be telling it exactly as it is. On a scale from one to 10, the average SMB scored themselves just above a six when it comes to adopting new payment technology, according to the latest data from the SMB Technology Adoption Index™.

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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.