PYMNTS
MAY 10, 2018
Synchrony Financial announced today (May 10) that it will acquire Loop Commerce , the digital gifting platform used by retailers to make every product giftable. Using Loop’s GiftNow feature, consumers shopping for someone else at a participating retailer can send any product to any recipient using only their email address and then schedule a time for that item to be delivered, including in real time.
Katz,Sapper&Miller
MAY 9, 2018
Katz, Sapper & Miller’s Randy Hooper will participate in the 2018 American Trucking Associations (ATA) National Accounting & Finance Council (NAFC) Conference.
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PYMNTS
MAY 11, 2018
Robots aren’t going to take over the world, but humans could use them for some scary stuff. That’s Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s take on artificial intelligence (AI), according to CNBC. And in the wake of Google ’s latest tech revelation, many experts are agreeing with him. Google revealed its human-sounding AI assistant Google Duplex during this week’s I/O conference.
PYMNTS
MAY 11, 2018
Americans could stand to get a few more hours of rest each night. According to the CDC , about one-third of all Americans between the ages of 18–70 are not getting the recommended 7–8 hours of sleep a night — or, in a lot of cases, even getting close to it. “As a nation, we are not getting enough sleep,” Wayne Giles, MD, director of CDC’s Division of Population Health, said in the study, before noting that Americans need to change their lifestyles (going to bed at the same time each night, risin
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
MAY 9, 2018
As restaurant operators seek to bolster sales in the face of weak traffic growth, Yum! Brands’ Pizza Hut is bringing beer delivery to approximately 100 of its restaurants in California and Arizona. The restaurant chain had begun testing the service in Phoenix back in December, Reuters reported. The new rollout will include cities such as Tucson, Prescott and Winslow in Arizona, and Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Sacramento and Santa Barbara in California.
PYMNTS
MAY 11, 2018
Coupa has rolled out enhancements to its business spend management (BSM) solution, the firm revealed this week. The enterprise spend management company announced at its annual Inspire conference the addition of voice activation using Amazon Alexa to manage inventory, locate items, and reorder stock. This feature, via Coupa Inventory, is available only in an Early Access Program (EAP).
Accountant Advocate brings together the best content for small business accounting professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
PYMNTS
MAY 7, 2018
There are some things that happened so predictably they became like laws. Transistor density on microchips doubled every year and a half, so we started calling it Moore’s law, until it started slowing down. SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program , colloquially known as food stamps) customers are easily assumed to be digital outsiders, but Propel is rewriting that rule.
PYMNTS
MAY 7, 2018
Since at least the time of ancient Rome, human beings have been saying some variation on the expression “fortune favors the brave.” It has many permutations — “nothing ventured, nothing gained” or (our favorite) “go big, or go home” — but they all get at approximately the same point: Want a big reward, better be willing to take a big risk. This week in PYMNTS and commerce, we had plenty of players pushing in the spirit of said ancient wisdom, to greater and lesser effect.
PYMNTS
MAY 8, 2018
Disruptions to the small business banking and lending landscape over the last decade have completely overhauled entrepreneurs’ relationships with FIs. Today, small businesses are often frustrated with their banks, and access to financing can be a challenge. A survey previously released by the Federal Reserve found that small businesses face an 80 percent chance of rejection when applying for a bank loan.
PYMNTS
MAY 10, 2018
After nearly three years, the transition to EMV in the United States still has its challenges. In an interview with PYMNTS, National Business Systems VP David Riley noted a lack of awareness in the field for smaller firms across several verticals. The executive stated that the simple cash register — and what that hardware can do, and how — has undergone a series of transformations over the last few decades, reaching the point where EMV protection and integrated payments are both affordable and e
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
MAY 11, 2018
One of the small joys of travel is waking up a bit later than expected, then skipping the check-out desk on the way to a cab or shuttle bus, the morning off to a strong start because there was no need to wait in a line. That’s one of the driving ideas behind a new service that Marriott International recently launched for Chinese travelers going overseas — a service that also helps to demonstrate how the country’s growing tourist class is changing payments and retail.
PYMNTS
MAY 8, 2018
Drive.ai , the California self-driving car startup, announced Monday (May 7) that it is launching an on-demand self-driving car service pilot in Frisco, Texas. In a press release , Drive.ai said that starting in July — and in conjunction with the Frisco Transportation Management Association, it will offer rides to more than 10,000 people in self-driving vehicles.
PYMNTS
MAY 7, 2018
The airline industry, in conjunction with Deutsche Bank, is trying to challenge credit card companies with a new digital payment system to purchase plane tickets. According to a report in the Financial Times , the real-time electronic payment system is being designed to save the airline carriers billions of euros in transaction fees. The payment systems, which will enable travelers to purchase web-based tickets, will be rolled out in Europe starting toward the end of this year.
PYMNTS
MAY 11, 2018
Apple and Goldman Sachs Group are in the midst of bringing a joint Apple Pay-designated credit card to market. The news comes at a critical juncture in the product lifecycle of Apple Pay. It’s been more than three years since the launch of the mobile wallet and, as classic business theory goes, this moment in time should mark the top of the S-curve for a new product — the point where it is at peak adoption.
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
MAY 11, 2018
They started out selling gum, and now they’re selling tossed salads. Modern vending machines have come a long way since the first coin-operated machines were introduced in the 1880s. Now, they are a thriving, global business. Between now and 2021, the American interactive kiosks market is projected to grow by an annual rate of 7.2 percent. In 2016, the market generated $717 million in revenue, 30 percent of which came from food and beverage kiosks — the largest share of total revenue of any cate
PYMNTS
MAY 11, 2018
Innovation implies a break from the conventional ways of operating a business. Ultimately, innovation is oxygen for companies in almost any vertical, as competition demands new products and services, improving customer experiences in unexpected ways. It’s no secret that the regulatory landscape is shifting quickly, requiring firms catering to those very customers through innovation to safeguard them at the same time, especially when it comes to their data.
PYMNTS
MAY 8, 2018
Equifax , the embattled credit scoring company that was the subject of a massive data breach last fall, provided several congressional committees in the Senate and House with more information on the data compromised in the breach. In a press release , Equifax said the additional details do not identify additional stolen data or new customers that were impacted, nor do they require more consumer notifications.
PYMNTS
MAY 11, 2018
Welcome to Five at Five , your late look at some of the freshest payments news of the day — news you might have missed. Today’s stories include a discussion on why Macy’s eCommerce success does not impress Morgan Stanley and the details behind the joint pursuit of payments by Apple and Goldman Sachs. Google is drawing criticism for robots — specifically, their interactions with humans — and there is a fresh measure of Americans’ debt burdens.
Advertiser: Paycor
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PYMNTS
MAY 10, 2018
Capital is the lifeblood of economies, and of the companies (and yes, of course, individuals) that collectively make things and provide services … and in the age of FinTech, the capital comes digitally and across innovative channels. The initiatives are far-flung and varied, but each is marked by a common thread of serving small business needs as both the lenders and the borrowers seek growth.
PYMNTS
MAY 9, 2018
Walmart announced earlier on Wednesday (May 9) that it inked a deal to invest in Flipkart for $16 billion, giving the retailer a 77 percent stake in the India-based eCommerce company. In a press release , Walmart said the deal still needs the approval of regulators in India, but that once that step is completed, the retailer will own 77 percent of Flipkart.
PYMNTS
MAY 7, 2018
A Russian state-owned fund is trying to attract investment to the tundra and swamps of Siberia through a digital token sale backed by Siberian diamonds. According to The Financial Times , the plan will start a trial this month, where investors can buy a share in a diamond for as little as $10. If all goes well, future token sales will include the region’s forests, gas and gold, as well as its fresh water and fish.
PYMNTS
MAY 10, 2018
To reduce markdowns and break out of a lull in sales, H&M is turning to artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data to tailor its merchandising mix in its brick-and-mortar stores. The fashion retailer is using algorithms to gain insights from returns, receipts and data from loyalty cards to improve its bottom lines, according to news source Retail Dive reports.
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
MAY 8, 2018
Small businesses (SMBs) prefer not to seek funding to finance their innovative endeavors, according to new research from BMO Wealth Management , which suggests SMBs are missing out on opportunities to drive growth. A survey of more than 1,021 small businesses in the U.S. published in BMO Wealth Management’s “ Creating Wealth through Business Improvements ” report on Monday (May 7) found that 60 percent of small businesses have never sought funding to support investment in innovation.
PYMNTS
MAY 7, 2018
Accelerating payments mean financial institutions have less time to identify fraud before a transaction clears and settles. With Same-Day ACH now a reality in the U.S., FIs are kept on their toes to mitigate this risk. In its analysis of the Same-Day ACH rollout, NACHA found no evidence that it led to an increase in fraud attempts or successful breaches.
PYMNTS
MAY 11, 2018
The NYPD is fighting back against ATM tampering with a device called the “Skim Reaper.”. According to CBS News in New York , the device can detect if an ATM or gas pump has been compromised. Credit card skimmers steal more than $1 billion from U.S. customers each year, according to the Secret Service. For its part, the NYPD has four full-time, trained detectives tasked with finding skimmers, but says the problem is too widespread to be stopped with those resources.
PYMNTS
MAY 5, 2018
Some things in life are predictable. The passage of seasons, the flow of time and, of course, quarterly earnings reports. Rain or shine, four times a year analysts and investors in publicly traded companies get a behind-the-scenes look at their investments wrapped around a summary of a financial performance for the quarter that just closed. There is a predictable rhythm to these reports.
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
MAY 11, 2018
The latest iteration of Google Maps is slated to launch this summer, TechCrunch reported, with a slew of new features that tie into exploring surroundings, rather than just focusing on getting from here to there. The tech trade publication wrote on Friday (May 11) that the forthcoming exploration tools are geared toward personalization, aided by artificial intelligence.
PYMNTS
MAY 7, 2018
Whether robots will take our jobs or take over the mundane tasks for humans to shift to more strategic operations, one thing is for sure: Automation is changing the workforce. For small businesses, technology adoption often means more time for business owners and entrepreneurs to focus on strategic initiatives, instead of the repetitive, manual tasks on their to-do lists.
PYMNTS
MAY 11, 2018
As FinTech firms grow in popularity with their personalized services and sleek mobile apps, HSBC looks to compete by launching a multi-account app for customers in the U.K. The new app, which was dubbed “Connected Money,” garnered 13,000 downloads within one day of its rollout, Reuters reported. Through the app, users can take a look at their accounts at up to 21 different banks.
PYMNTS
MAY 11, 2018
Companies often face a dilemma when it comes to corporate catering: They want to order breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks for their employees, but the process can be complicated. Some companies assign that task to one employee — and that job is not easy. Arram Sabeti learned first-hand when he became the fifth hire of a startup. ZeroCater Founder and CEO Arram Sabeti told PYMNTS.com in an interview , “I was responsible for everything from recruiting to the QA [quality assurance] to ordering the
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.
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