The worldwide economic situation became more interesting last week. The United States enjoyed a barn-burner of a jobs report on Friday morning—312,000 jobs were created in November, while the unemployment rate held steady at 5.8%. Meanwhile, the Bank of International Settlements expressed some concern about the strength of the U.S. dollar and how that could impact the global marketplace, and the European Union still faces some monetary difficulty.
In the accounts payable world too, last week appeared very busy. SAP closed its purchase of Concur without an issue, MasterCard has come out against Bitcoin, and PrimeRevenue inked a deal to push deeper into the Asian market. Read below for the rest of the capsules in this installment of Payables News Weekly.
SAP’s $8.3 Billion Acquisition of Concur Closes
SAP’s (NYSE: SAP) previously announced acquisition of Concur (NASDAQ: CNQR) closed on December 4 without an issue. We first reported the acquisition when the two companies broke the news back in September.Check out our initial analysis of the deal at http://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2014/09/instant-analysis-sap-announces-plans-acquire-concur-8-3-billion/.
PayPal, Square Fund Small Businesses, Give Traditional Lenders Run for Their Money
NerdWallet takes a hard look at the new working capital business lines launched recently by PayPal and Square, which are designed to offer alternative financing sources to small and mid-sized enterprises. The two programs more closely resemble merchant cash advances rather than traditional loans, according to NerdWallet, and include aspects such as PayPal deducting its monthly payment from merchant sales processed through its portal. Read the full write-up at http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/small-business-finances/paypal-square-small-business-loans/.
MasterCard Rails Against Bitcoin’s Anonymity
MasterCard (NYSE: MA) is taking on Bitcoin in Australia, submitting to the local government its concerns about the anonymous nature of Bitcoin wallets and associated transactions. According to the Computerworld article, MasterCard expressed concern that the public Bitcoin “block chain” isn’t enough to ensure payments security; the “wallets” that are used to make Bitcoin payments aren’t always linked to a person’s real identity, which in MasterCard’s view makes security difficult. Read the full article at http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/560825/mastercard-rails-against-bitcoin-anonymity/.
American Express Global Business Travel Appoints Elyes Mrad to Run EMEA Operations
American Express (NYSE: AXP) announced via press release that it appointed a new managing director of Europe, Middle East, and Asia for its global business travel unit. Elyse Mrad joins American Express from Hertz International and will work out of London to grow Amex’s travel business in EMEA. Read the full release at http://www.marketwatch.com/story/american-express-global-business-travel-appoints-elyes-mrad-to-run-emea-operations-2014-12-01/.
PrimeRev, ApexPeak Sign Partnership
Global Trade Review reports that PrimeRevenue has inked a partnership deal with ApexPeak, a Singapore-based alternative lender. ApexPeak offers working capital financing in 25 emerging market economies, which provides PrimeRevenue effective inroads deeper into the Asian marketplace. Read the full article at http://www.gtreview.com/trade-finance/global-trade-review-news/2014/December/PrimeRevenue-ApexPeak-sign-partnership_12113.shtml.
The eInvoicing Play for Banks
Daniel Szmukler of the Euro Banking Association writes at Banking Technology about the importance of transitioning over to eInvoicing from a paper-based process. Szmukler also presents ideas for how banks can support their customers in the transition toward eInvoicing technologies and processes. Read the full article at http://www.bankingtech.com/268161/the-e-invoicing-play-for-banks/.
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