Today is an auspicious day for Ardent Partners. Chief Research Officer Andrew Bartolini and Research Director Christopher Dwyer are going to be giving a webinar at 2 pm Eastern time on Accounts Payable trends in 2015 in partnership with Concur (click here to register). News around the payables world has been fairly big as well; Taulia has a new CEO, UBS is researching the Bitcoin blockchain, and AvidXchange has added a few new executive team members among other stories. Read on to catch up on all the biggest payables news from the past week and a bit.
Taulia Appoints Cedric Bru as CEO
Taulia announced recently that Cedric Bru had been named as the company’s new CEO. Bru, currently the chief sales officer for the San Francisco-based financial supply chain company, was chosen personally by outgoing CEO Bertram Meyer. Meyer, a Taulia co-founder, will remain on the board of directors to focus on expanding the company’s European presence and its go-to-market strategy. Bru joined Taulia in 2013 and has helped triple company sales for two consecutive years; he joined the board of directors last summer. Read the announcement at http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/taulia-appoints-cedric-bru-as-ceo-2004843.htm.
This is the latest in a stretch of new developments for Taulia, which has so far already hired a new CFO, raised $15 million in extra capital, and expanded its management team. Bru adds a different perspective to the company’s corner office, having come from Visa’s Syncada previously, and intends to work closely with outgoing CEO Meyer on leading Taulia into the next era. This could spell a bit of a different period for Taulia, given that Bru is the first CEO who didn’t also found the company. Whatever happens though, Ardent will be paying attention.
AvidXchange Adds Key Executive Leadership to Support Growth Initiatives
AvidXchange announced earlier this week that they had added a new chief financial officer and new head of compliance to their executive roster in order to support the company’s growth initiatives. Karen Bertaux, a veteran finance professional in the technology space, will join Avid as the new CFO; Ross Agre, meanwhile, will become the firm’s new chief legal officer and head of the compliance department.
Bertaux most recently was the CFO of AGDATA in Charlotte, NC, where she helped lead a recapitalization of the company in 2014. Agre was the general counsel for Mercury Payment Systems, a fast-growing payments company with gross revenues exceeding $1.2 billion. Both Bertaux and Agre will help support Avid’s impressive growth numbers over the past few years—the company experienced 60% year-over-year growth in 2014, and looks to be on much the same path in the year ahead. Read the announcement at http://www.avidxchange.com/news/view/175/avidxchange-adds-key-executive-leadership-to-support-growth-initiatives.
UBS to Research Blockchain Technology in London Lab
The Swiss banking giant UBS plans to open up a research lab in London for the express purpose of researching the Bitcoin blockchain technology, Coindesk reports. UBS intends to look for applications of the blockchain to legacy financial services systems, shortly after releasing a report stating the benefits of blockchain technology if it is co-opted by traditional banks. Essentially, UBS plans to begin looking outside the traditional banking industry for innovation, instead focusing on all comers for technology developments. The research lab will be hosted at Level 39, the financial technology accelerator at London’s Canary Wharf. Read the full article at http://www.coindesk.com/ubs-to-research-blockchain-technology-in-london-lab/.
SmartMetric Continues Development on Fingerprint Activated Payment Cards Following Legal Dispute
SmartMetric, a firm focused on biometric identification technology, is now free to continue development on its fingerprint activated payment cards in the wake of a legal dispute being thrown out. The Nevada-based engineering company was embroiled in a dispute over legal fees with Visa and Mastercard until earlier this month, which followed from a patent infringement lawsuit that SmartMetric filed against the two credit card giants.
SmartMetric’s core card product is a fingerprint activated payment card that does not display a security code until after an authorized fingerprint is found. This biometric technology has the potential to revolutionize payment card security for both B2B and B2C transactions; biometric identifiers can add a layer of unparalleled security to transactions. Read the full article at http://www.biometricupdate.com/201504/smartmetric-continues-development-on-fingerprint-activated-payment-cards-following-legal-dispute.
How Bitrated Wants to Put the Trust Back in Bitcoin
Coindesk reports that Bitrated, a new rating company, wants to help businesses and consumers start to trust Bitcoin again. The Israeli startup intends to use a combination of a reputation management system, a multi-signature payment system, and an arbitrated marketplace that allows for transactions to be reversed as a way to rebuild confidence in the digital currency. Historically, the “all sales are final” nature of Bitcoin has remained a significant stumbling block in the digital currency’s adoption with a wider community beyond its most ardent supporters.
Creating this layer of trust, however it is done, could also be something that increases adoption in the B2B world. Given that the decentralization of currency has the potential to simplify commerce through not having to worry about conversion rates, the ability to reverse transactions as well as knowing whether a buyer/seller is reputable or not, could ease many business concerns about new digital currencies. Read the full article at http://www.coindesk.com/how-bitrated-is-aiming-to-put-trust-back-in-bitcoin/.
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