Sun.Jun 07, 2020

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Things worth reading: 8th June 2020

Chris Skinner

Things we’re reading today include … You may be in love, but you should always have your OWN bank account Bank boss tells lenders to be ready for no-deal Brexit Digital IDs could end the need for in-bank visits and banish passwords £36bn of government-backed loans will be toxic, taskforce … The post Things worth reading: 8th June 2020 appeared first on Chris Skinner's blog.

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Chuck E. Cheese Seeks Loan For Debt Payment

PYMNTS

Chuck E. Cheese , the popular food and games chain, is talking to investors about ways to raise money to avoid filing for bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reports. The chain has also approached lenders in the past few weeks to feel out possible interest in a $200 million loan to help pay for a stay in bankruptcy, a source said, as reported by WSJ.

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Cash takes another hit: U.K. travelers want to avoid it

Payments Source

Coronavirus has made traveling a dicey proposition to begin with, but when U.K. consumers do venture beyond their homes during the pandemic, far fewer plan on using cash for payments.

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Travel Sites, Airbnb Get Boost In Domestic Short-Term Rental Bookings

PYMNTS

As Americans seek relief from cabin fever after months of shelter-in-place orders due to the pandemic, vacation rentals are on the rise, Bloomberg reported. “People, after having been stuck in their homes for a few months, do want to get out of their houses; that’s really, really clear,” Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told the news service. “But they don’t necessarily want to get on an airplane and are not yet comfortable leaving their countries.”.

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Digital Transformation: Accelerating ROI and Growth in Commercial Lending

Now is the time for lenders to prioritize their digital transformation initiatives in preparation for the lending rebound. Rising competition and ever-increasing customer demands for speed and efficiency are forcing financial institutions to embrace digital transformation. This shift can feel overwhelming—where do you begin? This infographic illustrates automation demands and shows you how loan document automation serves as an essential step to increase profits and provide the best lending exper

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The digital dollar is bitcoin's ultimate catalyst

Payments Source

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology embodies a unique set of properties that enable a rapid response toolkit for governments in times of crisis, says CoinFlip's Daniel Polotsky.

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Are banks too full of testosterone?

Chris Skinner

There’s no logical reason for this, but I’ve decided the second week of June is women’s week. It’s a week to celebrate diversity, or the lack of diversity, in finance and technology. So, this week’s blogs are all about women and finance and technology. To start with, let’s look at … The post Are banks too full of testosterone?

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Facebook Uses Retail Data To Train Chatbots To Be Like Humans

PYMNTS

Facebook has launched, what it calls, a new way to train artificial intelligence (AI) in chatbots. Researchers at the social network giant described how data about human conversations is the key to improve shopping chatbots, according to a technical report shared by VentureBeat. Dubbed “Situated Interactive MultiModal Conversations (SIMMC),” its goal is to allow AI chatbots to show an object and explain what it’s made of in response to images, memories of previous interactions and individual req

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£36bn of government-backed loans will be toxic, taskforce warns

TheGuardian

Report finds businesses will have £97bn-£107bn worth of unsustainable debt by March A City taskforce is warning that up to £36bn worth of government-backed business loans could turn toxic by next year, as companies struggle to repay growing debts during the Covid-19 crisis. An interim report by the Recapitalisation Group, led by EY and lobby group TheCityUK, projects that businesses will be saddled with £97bn-£107bn worth of unsustainable debt by March 2021.

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Amazon Shopping AI Lets Consumers Try On Digital Outfits, Makes Fashion Suggestions

PYMNTS

Amazon could be planning an artificial intelligence-driven virtual shopping service, according to documents from a presentation planned for the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), VentureBeat reports. The service would be multi-layered and work through several different algorithms. Users will be able to use the first algorithm to hone search queries by describing variations on a product image, and another algorithm will suggest items that match with things a custom

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The State of Automation in Financial Services 2024 Report

In this report, you’ll find a comprehensive analysis of survey responses from executives at banks, credit unions, and insurance companies concerning their organization’s current and future use of automation. The report’s key insights include: Which types of automation are saving organizations the most time and money How to overcome the biggest barriers to automation implementation and adoption Why automation investments will continue to grow over the next few years How much you could save in 202

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?Banks are the infrastructure?: OCC leader on pandemic, recovery, CRA

American Banker

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks says financial institutions are needed more than ever to “sustain existing businesses” and help entrepreneurs rebuild. Meanwhile, reforming the Community Reinvestment Act, he says, can “unblock opportunities” in minority neighborhoods.

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Xero Partners With Coveo On Improved Search Function For SMB Needs

PYMNTS

Global small business program Xero ‘s new search function will make it easier for businesses to find the apps they need, and to provide a “personalized, intuitive, and efficient experience,” according to a press release Thursday (June 4). The new search function, powered by Coveo , will allow for suggestions to pop up when one logs in, and it will provide a custom influx of popular apps and quick links tailored to individual businesses.

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Paysafe extends Skrill?s cross-border digital wallet to U.S. consumers

Payments Source

Paysafe is expanding the reach of its Skrill digital wallet to U.S. consumers who will be able to use it to send funds to 18 countries.

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iwocaPay To Help Businesses, Suppliers With Unpaid Invoices

PYMNTS

Small business lending FinTech iwoca has launched its new iwocaPay service intended to alleviate the woes of unpaid invoices by paying suppliers instantly while allowing businesses to pay on their own time, according to a press release. The launch comes amid a crunch on trade credit, which has seen one in four businesses worrying that they won’t survive the current financial climate, with 40 percent waiting on 10,000 pounds ($12,665) in unpaid invoices, the release states.

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Why Is CRE Lending Stuck in the Past? Top 3 Reasons for Digital Resistance

Commercial lending is on the verge of a resurgence, but traditional processes are an obstacle. Explore the top 3 reasons for resistance to digital transformation and how overcoming them can pave the way for growth and efficiency. Discover why embracing automation and digital solutions is crucial for success in today's competitive landscape. Discover how GoDocs helps commercial lenders in the digital era with seamless integration and a borrower-focused approach.

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Chatbots to the Rescue: How Conversational AI Will Save Call Centers

The Financial Brand

Natural language processing advances, combined with the pandemic's impact on call-centers, is reinventing customer experience in banking. The post Chatbots to the Rescue: How Conversational AI Will Save Call Centers appeared first on The Financial Brand.

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Apple Preps Installment Pay Plans On Apple Card

PYMNTS

Buyers of Apple products will soon have the ability to pay for those products, including iPads, Macs and AirPods, in monthly installments using the Apple Card. The tech giant, planning to introduce the service over the next few weeks, will allow buyers to split up the payments in an interest-free manner, according to Fortune , which spoke to people familiar with the matter.

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Banking Must Take A Stand On Tough Social Issues

The Financial Brand

Financial institutions must move beyond empty rhetoric to provide financial support for sensitive social causes often ignored in the past. The post Banking Must Take A Stand On Tough Social Issues appeared first on The Financial Brand.

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Retailers Prep For More Reopenings

PYMNTS

The world of physical retail is slowly beginning its grand reopening. In Massachusetts, stores are reopening for the first time since mid-March, and in COVID-19’s epicenter of New York City, nearly 400,000 workers are readying to return to retail, manufacturing and construction jobs as the city’s first phase of reopening commences according to The New York Times.

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Register Now: Sneak Peek Into Close Automation SkyStem Web Demo

Technology is rapidly changing the way accountants perform and manage month-end activities. Spreadsheets, email, and shared drives no longer have to slow us down. Join us as we present a "sneak peek" recorded demo of SkyStem's month-end close solution – ART. In under four weeks, your team can start reaping the benefits of month-end close automation by vastly reducing spreadsheets, cut down on reconciliation work, speed up the month-end close, and better manage your remote team.

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8 Ways Financial Institutions Must Prepare for the Next Pandemic

The Financial Brand

Experts worry COVID could have a second wave and that more viral threats lie ahead. Special readiness testing could save your bank. The post 8 Ways Financial Institutions Must Prepare for the Next Pandemic appeared first on The Financial Brand.

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Trust models in distributed ledgers

Perficient

Consensus, getting distributed processes to agree on a single value, is a fundamental problem in computer science. Distributed processing is difficult. In fact, there are logical proofs that show pretty conclusively that there won’t be a single perfect algorithm for handling consensus in an asynchronous system made of imperfect nodes. As long as there is the possibility of a fault, there is a certainty of a problem.

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IDC: Smartphone Market To Decline 12 Pct Due To Pandemic

PYMNTS

The latest casualty of COVID-19: smartphone shipments. . By year’s end, the number of units shipped globally is expected to plummet by nearly 12 percent to 1.2 billion units , down from 1.4 billion in 2019, according to a press release form the International Data Corp. (IDC), a Massachusetts market research company. The prediction follows the largest year-over-year decline in history in the first quarter of 2020.

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DOJ, States Eye Alleged Antitrust Issues In Google?s Ad Tech Business

PYMNTS

Alphabet Inc.’s Google is facing an investigation over potential antitrust violations by 50 of the nation’s state attorneys general led by Texas, CNBC reported. Critics allege Google bundles its ad tools in a way that rivals can’t match, and its combination of search results, YouTube, Gmail and other services are killing competition. The AGs, and separately the U.S.

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Top 10 Benefits of Automating Loan Modifications for Commercial Lenders

Get ready for the wave of $1.2 trillion in commercial debt maturing in the next 24 months with GoDocs' ModDocs® platform. Traditional loan modifications are slow, expensive, and prone to errors, which put lenders at risk. But with ModDocs®, you can enjoy an innovative solution that eliminates attorney fees, allows on-the-fly loan modifications, and ensures compliance.