News in the payables world hasn’t exactly been in short supply lately. This week, there’s some good news about sustainability and business travel as well as new developments in the world of captive finance.
Read on to find out more.
HospitalityNet: Sustainable Business Travel on the Rise in Europe
A recent Global Business Travel Association survey found that a slight majority of enterprises in Europe have sustainability built into their programs, HospitalityNet reports. The 57% of European enterprises with built-in sustainability marks a major increase from 39% in 2012, while also noting that U.S. companies continue to lag behind their European counterparts. Read the full article at http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4068794.html.
American Banker: Google-Lending Club Alliance Takes Captive Finance into Digital Age
American Banker magazine reported on an alliance between Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Lending Club (NYSE: LC), which will allow Google to offer financing to its suppliers. The deal will allow Google to offer up to $600,000 in financing over two years to resellers, service providers, and consultants that are already in its supply chain; the loans are going to have a 5% interest rate in year one, with a low variable rate capped at 9.9% in year two. This is, in essence, a new version of the captive finance set-up put into play with companies like General Motors offering financing to car dealers. Read the full article at http://www.americanbanker.com/news/bank-technology/google-lending-club-alliance-takes-captive-finance-into-digital-age-1072343-1.html.
Reuters: Bank of England’s Haldane: No Rush to Raise Rates
Andy Haldane, the Bank of England’s chief economist, said on a visit to northern Wales that the U.K. central bank isn’t in a hurry to raise interest rates, Reuters reports. The Reuters article was based on a longer piece in the North Wales Daily Post, which interviewed Haldane while he was on a two-day trip to the region. Haldane also noted that, when the Bank of England starts to consider raising rates, the increase could be as low as half a percentage point a year. Read the full Reuters article at http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/28/us-britain-boe-haldane-idUSKBN0L113W20150128.
Fortune: American Express Plans to Start Operations in Cuba
With U.S.-Cuba relations starting to thaw, American Express (NYSE: AXP) announced recently that they planned to start operating in the Caribbean nation. This follows news that Mastercard (NYSE: MA) would allow transactions to clear in Cuba. Read the full article at http://fortune.com/2015/01/27/american-express-plans-to-start-operations-in-cuba/.
In other news …
- Corcentric announced recently that Matt Clark, vice president of operations, was promoted to Chief Operating Officer. Clark served in his previous post for two years, and has been with Corcentric since 2004. Clark will now be responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations of the company.
- Esker announced last week that it acquired TermSync, a Wisconsin-based provider of cloud-based Accounts Receivable software. This expands Esker’s solution set on the AR side of the equation.
- Nvoicepay raised $6 million in financing to focus on expanding into new channels.
