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☆ Kapital: 2024 CNBC Disruptor 50
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Small businesses dominate the global economy, and yet few banks focus on lending credit to this underserved demographic. According to the World Bank, small and medium-sized businesses make up 90% of global companies but only get 10.5% of total bank credit available. Even those that do get bank credit often don't have the kind of robust business management platform that large enterprises have. It gives businesses access to capital through revolving credit lines and business credit cards, while its business management platform provides real-time visibility into operations, cash flows, management of loans, payroll, benefits and invoicing. "That's what we're fixing — we give them visibility of their finances," Rene Saul, who co-founded Kapital with Fernando Sandoval in 2020, told TechCrunch.

Persons: Rene Saul, Fernando Sandoval Organizations: World Bank

☆ I used to be a public school teacher. Now I work as a 'middleman' government contractor and can travel when I want to.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

I used to be a special-ed teacher at a public school in Ohio, making around $50,000 annually. I work as a middleman, which means I'm the prime contractor and I bid on the opportunity. I've signed contracts in all kinds of sectors, including landscaping, HVAC cleaning, and construction. I put in about an hour of work on government contracting every dayI spend about an hour a day on government contracting. I have a team member that I work with now as well, and we work on finding opportunities, getting quotes, and submitting proposals.

Persons: —, Wes Fisher, I'm, I've, it's, texted Organizations: Service, Business, Forest Services Locations: Ohio, California , Nevada , Oregon , Pennsylvania, Florida, Louisiana, California, Utah, Panama, Dubai, Jamaica, Chicago, San Francisco

1 reason to use a business bank account. However, it is essential that you do not overlook the value of opening a business bank account — usually both a business checking account and a high-yield business savings account. Here are four things I tell my business owner clients to consider when choosing a business bank account. Ease of paying contractorsSome business bank accounts, especially online accounts, offer free invoicing and bookkeeping software/features. If you use accounting software (such as QuickBooks) to manage your business finances, accessing a business bank account that offers integration features may be desirable.

Persons: — Organizations: Service

☆ Generative AI financial scammers are getting very good at duping work email
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Ellen Sheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Among the most common email scams are phishing emails. Instead of sending out generic emails, the emails are addressed to an individual or a specific organization. Now, criminals anywhere in the world can use ChatGPT or FraudGPT to create convincing phishing and spear phishing emails. If I'm going to do 1,000 spear phishing emails or CEO fraud attacks, and I find one in 10 of them work, that could be millions of dollars," said Davies. It will take some time for companies to adjust, but for now, cybersecurity experts say generative AI is leading to a surge in very convincing financial scams.

Persons: Chase, Christopher Budd, Elon, Gayle King, Tucker Carlson, Bill Maher, Andrew Davies, Cyril Noel, Tagoe, Davies, Venmo, Wise, Netcea, Banks, Ajay Bhalla, haven't, Noel, I've, Budd Organizations: Association of Financial, eBay, CBS, Fox News, Facebook, YouTube, PayPal, Mastercard Locations: Hong Kong, ComplyAdvantage

☆ Sequoia-backed fintech Pennylane just became a unicorn. Check out the 15-slide pitch deck it used to raise $43 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

French accounting tech startup Pennylane has raised $43 million in a deal that valued the business at over $1 billion. Founded in 2020, Pennylane works with SMEs and accounting firms to simplify and digitize their accounting processes. The company's SaaS model pulls third-party data from platforms like Stripe and Qonto, to help SMEs with their accounting needs. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. "We've seen very strong growth in users and revenues, without having to grow our sales and marketing spend," Waller told Business Insider.

Persons: Pennylane, Arthur Waller, Waller, it's, Visma Organizations: Business, Sequoia Locations: Paris, Pennylane

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Artificial intelligence is easily the biggest buzzword for world leaders and corporate bosses diving into big ideas at the World Economic Forum’s glitzy annual meeting in Davos. In a sign of ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s skyrocketing profile, CEO Sam Altman is making his Davos debut to rock star crowds, with his benefactor, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, hot on his heels. Illustrating AI’s geopolitical importance like few other technologies before it, the word was on the lips of world leaders from China to France. Here's a look at the buzz:OPENAI OPENING BIG AT DAVOSPolitical Cartoons View All 253 ImagesThe leadership drama at the AI world's much-ballyhooed chatbot maker followed Altman and Nadella to the swanky Swiss snows. China, one of the world’s centers of AI development, wants to “step up communication and cooperation with all parties” on improving global AI governance, Li said.

Persons: OpenAI’s, Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, Altman, Nadella, “, OpenAI, Klaus Schwab quizzed, Li Qiang, ”, Li, Ursula von der Leyen, Emmanuel Macron, Google's Bard, he's, can’t, Julie Sweet, Arvind Krishna, Yann LeCun, LeCun, ____ Chan, Matt O'Brien Organizations: Davos, DAVOS, Bloomberg, Microsoft, ”, European, EU, Accenture, AP Locations: DAVOS, Switzerland, Davos, China, France, Swiss, percolated, afterparties, Europe, Britain, Valley, London, Providence , Rhode Island

☆ A ‘digital handshake’ for the planet: How one asset management firm adopted a new framework for ESG
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-19 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Now, San Francisco-based asset manager Newday Impact Investing believes that using what it calls an Ecological Benefits Framework (EBF), or "a shared market architecture," could provide a new way forward in social investing. "One of the challenges has been that there are a whole bunch of different [ESG] frameworks. But they're all super complicated oftentimes even from organization [to] organization, as impact interpretations are very, very different," said Doug Heske, CEO of Newday Impact. By 2027, the goal is to have 70% of McKesson suppliers (measured by spending), have their own SBTi-approved GHG emissions reduction targets. By 2027, the goal is to have 70% of McKesson suppliers (measured by spending), have their own SBTi-approved GHG emissions reduction targets.

Persons: EBF, Douglas Gayeton, Doug Heske, there's, McKesson, Newday, paperless invoicing, Heske Organizations: Newday, . Healthcare, Equity, McKesson Foundation, Parkland Health, RedBird Health, Energy, Environmental Locations: San Francisco

☆ A 27-year-old freelance writer increased his income by more than 50% in one year. He explains how GPT-4 and other tools help him bring in six-figures working just 3 hours a day.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-19 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewIn 2022, Vancouver-based freelance writer Tony Dong made CA$149,000 working about 30 hours per week. "I was kind of stuck, and the choice was between working more hours and billing more or working more efficiently," the financial writer told Business Insider. AdvertisementThanks to GPT-4 and other tools, Dong managed to increase his income by more than 50% in 2023 — he's on track to earn CA$238,000 (about $180,000) as of December 2023 — while working fewer hours. His process looks very similar to how it did in 2022 — he was also using AI tools last year. At the end of the day, "your job as a writer is to make the editor's job as easy as possible."

Persons: —, Tony Dong, Dong, he's, GPT, It's, I'm, they're Organizations: Service, Bank of, Business, . News, USA, Google, Microsoft Locations: Vancouver, GPT, Grammarly

☆ Bored at work? AI won't take your job, it will just make it more interesting, Google exec says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Google's Philip Moyer told Insider that generative AI will boost job satisfaction. He said AI tools are cutting out tedious work and that workers are now "waiting for it to show up." Some fear AI could lead to job losses, with Goldman Sachs saying 300 million jobs could be impacted. Philip Moyer, vice president of Google Cloud's global AI business, told Insider that rather than taking workers' jobs, generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Bard will likely boost job satisfaction and help employees be more productive. However, it has faced questions over the accuracy of generative AI tools such as its Bard chatbot, which like its rival ChatGPT is prone to "hallucinating" wildly false information .

Persons: Google's Philip Moyer, Goldman Sachs, —, Philip Moyer, Bard, Netzer, you've, Moyer, ChatGPT Organizations: Service, Google, National Bureau of Economic Research, Columbia University, Microsoft

☆ Seeking nominations for the top adtech companies that use generative AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Insider is seeking nominations for companies building generative AI tools for advertising. These companies sell tech that help advertisers make art and copy and find new audiences. Insider is looking for nominations for a list showcasing the adtech companies that harness generative AI to help improve advertising. We're looking to highlight big and small companies that use generative AI as a basis for their solutions — doing everything from helping advertisers make art and copy, inform product placement, build new audiences to target, handle back-office tasks like invoicing, and more. While many adtech companies use AI, this list will solely focus on companies that use generative AI.

Organizations: Morning

☆ Putin lauds ‘excellent’ economic ties with China. Here’s how they’ve grown
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“Relations between Russia and China in the sphere of economic cooperation have reached a very high level,” Vladimir Putin said, speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, according to Russian state-owned news agency TASS. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in May that he expected trade with China would top $200 billion this year. As many Western banks have reduced their presence in Russia, China’s lenders swooped in to offer banking services. Between February 2022 and March this year, the assets of Chinese banks in the country more than quadrupled to $9.7 billion, according to data collected by KSE Institute at the Kyiv School of Economics. Of China’s four biggest banks, Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China saw the biggest increases in their Russian assets.

Persons: ” Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Mishustin, Putin, ”, Laura He, Josh Pennington, Alex Stambaugh, Mitch McCluskey, Anna Chernova Organizations: London CNN, “, Eastern Economic, Moscow, Russian, Organization of, Petroleum, International Energy Agency, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, KSE Institute, Kyiv School of Economics, Bank of China, Industrial, Commercial Bank of China, European Central Bank Locations: Moscow, Beijing, Russia, China, Vladivostok, Ukraine, United States, Saudi Arabia, India, wean

☆ Jefferies names Splunk a top pick, says turnaround can result in 'mid-teens' sales growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Splunk is now in the position to deliver "mid-teens" increases in annual revenue after a management overhaul that began 18 months ago, according to Jefferies. "Splunk's growth prospects and addressable market are vast, particularly in the enterprise segment of the market that it addresses," Thill wrote in a note Tuesday. "With these transitions now largely over and a new mgmt team in place, the financial model is now more straightforward," Thill wrote. "The focus at SPLK has noticeably shifted in the last year towards profitable growth while exercising disciplined expense management," Thill said. "As top-line growth stabilizes at scale, we believe the larger opportunity for Splunk lies in improving operational efficiencies and profitability," Thill wrote.

Persons: Splunk, Brent Thill, Jefferies, Thill, Gary Steele, Steele, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Jefferies Locations: Splunk

☆ China's yuan is displacing other top global currencies in trade, but not the US dollar
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China's share of global payment transactions on the SWIFT system grew to 3% in July. But that hasn't come at the expense of the dollar, which had a record high 46.5% share on SWIFT. A greater role of BRICS and other emerging markets in global trade may create more natural demand for alternatives to USD, but this has not happened so far. AdvertisementAdvertisementFor its part, the dollar's share of SWIFT transactions is holding relatively steady, accounting for 46.5% in July and 42% in the first half of 2023. As an example, China has been steadily building an alternative to the Western-dominated SWIFT system, with the Cross-border International Payments System, or CIPS.

Persons: BRICS, China's Organizations: ING, SWIFT, Service, FX, dollarization Locations: Wall, Silicon, China

☆ I gave up my tech job in Seattle to live on a sailboat. I've fought off pirates at 3 a.m. and it was terrifying — but I'll never go back to my old life.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Brooke Morton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Brian Trautman has spent the past 14 years living on a 53-foot sailboat, sailing to 46 countries. I gave my business partners my year's notice in 2008 and started selling everything to buy a sailboat. Starting my lifelong sailing adventureI bought SV Delos, a 53-foot Amel Super Maramu sailboat, for $390,000 in 2008. We left the boat with my brother and his girlfriend, who continued to sail Delos across the Atlantic to Antigua. When she was 4 months old, all three of us flew back to Antigua to reboard Delos and sail the Caribbean.

Persons: Brian Trautman, Trautman, I'd, Karin, Trautman's, SV Delos merch, we've, We've, Delos merch, Brian Trautman Karin, Karin's, Sierra Trautman, reboard Delos, we'd, Sierra Organizations: Service, Microsoft, SV Delos, Delos, YouTube Locations: Wall, Silicon, Seattle, Caribbean, Redmond, New Zealand, Auckland, South, Fiji, Sweden, Delos, Antigua, Florida, reboard, Mexico, Fatu, Polynesia, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationORLANDO, Florida, July 26 (Reuters) - Remember the U.S. twin deficits? The dollar did fall - around 40% between the dotcom bust and the global financial crisis - and the twin deficits were a factor. Indeed, when the twin deficits really exploded in 2008 as the government and Fed fought to prevent another Great Depression, the dollar actually rose 25%. "Twin deficits are inherently unsustainable – for Treasuries and the dollar - unless there is a shift towards a deflationary environment that stimulates demand for sovereign debt instruments," Costa said. Persistently wide twin deficits will test the appetite to use the dollar as the savings currency of choice for investors and countries around the world.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Mark Carney, Tavi, Costa, Meera Chandan, Octavia Popescu, Bill, Jamie McGeever, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: REUTERS, Fed, Reuters, Bank of England, Crescat, Treasuries, United, Office, Thomson Locations: ORLANDO , Florida, U.S, Britain, United States, Americas, Washington

☆ I made up to $6,300 a month working 3 hours a day as a virtual assistant. Here's how I found and connected with new clients through Instagram.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Ella Hopkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

I focused on a client nicheI started working as a virtual assistant in January 2021. I connected with clients organically on InstagramI put all my time and effort into making my Instagram profile engaging. I'd find clients I wanted to work with and comment on their posts and respond to their Instagram stories. I'd have about five or six clients on the go at a time, and I'd work for each one every day. With each client, I'd explain on the call that I had a minimum length of four months for each contract.

Persons: Shannon Blanchard, Blanchard, —, What's, I'd, Jessica Hawks, creatives, they'd, I've Locations: Minneapolis, TikTok

☆ Sensorfact helps industrial companies manage their energy and water usage. Check out the 11-slide pitch deck it used to raise $28 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sensorfact has created a smart monitoring system to help industrial companies cut energy and water use. Check out the 11-slide pitch deck it used to secure 25 million euros (around $28 million). A Dutch startup helping industrial companies manage their energy and water use has just raised 25 million euros (around $28 million) from growth impact fund Blume Equity. Sensorfact, founded in 2017, has developed a smart monitoring system for industrial companies including food and beverage, plastic and rubber, and metals manufacturers. It uses wireless sensors that are clipped onto machine cables and gas, water, and compressed air pipes to monitor flow every 30 seconds, which is fed back to a user-facing platform.

Persons: Sensorfact, Pieter Broekema's, Broekema, Biden's, Blume, Eleanor Blagbrough Organizations: Blume Equity, Sensorfact, Industry, SET Ventures Locations: Dutch, Europe

LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - An accelerating dollar slide could be a U.S. gift to its allies by helping them catch up with its impressive disinflation. A dollar slide of this size and speed has typically elicited yelps of pain from U.S. trading partners. Euro zone headline inflation - which peaked about one percentage point above and three months later than the U.S. equivalent last year - was still 2.5 points above it last month. The ECB will likely stay shy of peak Fed rates, but an expected move to 4.0% policy rates by year-end will involve two quarter point hikes after the Fed has stopped. A time-limited dollar drop now may be more benign than a simple reversion to a new 'currency war'.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Mike Dolan, Josie Kao Organizations: Reserve, Monetary, Sterling, Bank of England, European Central Bank, ECB, Fed, Transatlantic, Reuters, Twitter, Thomson Locations: U.S, Europe, Britain, Swiss

☆ Euro holds ground on world stage despite Russia slashing use -ECB
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The euro kept or even increased its share of the world's foreign exchange reserves (20.5%), international debt (22%) and loans (27.6%), as well as foreign exchange turnover last year, the report said. But the rouble's usage on the SWIFT system collapsed after Russian banks were disconnected from that network, the world's largest. It cited evidence from Europe itself, where the euro has replaced the dollar as an invoicing currency in countries neighbouring the euro zone since it was launched in 1999. "International currency status should not be taken for granted," ECB President Christine Lagarde said in a statement accompanying the report. The report also showed London remained the main venue for foreign exchange trading in euros and that Britain's importance for international financial activities in euros had not changed materially since Brexit.

Persons: renminbi, SWIFT, Christine Lagarde, Fabio Panetta, Francesco Canepa, Gareth Jones, Catherine Evans Organizations: European Central Bank, U.S ., European Union, London, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, Russia, China, India, Brazil, Ukraine, Europe

Experts have mixed reactions on whether the budget will meet IMF requirements and the impact on the economy. The ‘No new Taxes on Industry’ claim is belied by increase in super tax and that too in not a fully progressive way. Will retailers and the agri sectors that together contribute 40% contribute more than 2% as a result of the budget? SHAHBAZ ASHRAF, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT FRIM VENTURES“It is surely not a budget that the IMF would approve of. "The regional energy price budget, which has built in cross subsidies, general collection and distribution losses is something the export industry cannot sustain."

Persons: GHIAS KHAN, EHSAN MALIK, SHAHID HABIB, ARIF HABIB, ZULQARNAIN, ABDUL ALEEM, IRFAN IQBAL SHEIKH, MUSTAFA PASHA, SHAHBAZ ASHRAF, they've, There's, ” FAHAD RAUF, ISMAIL IQBAL, GOHAR EJAZ, Ariba Shahid, Jonathan Oatis, Nick Zieminski Organizations: International Monetary Fund, IMF, Pakistan, Reuters, FX, ENGRO CORP, OF, PAKISTAN BUSINESS, Industry, PAKISTAN, Company, FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN, OF COMMERCE, PKR, IN, MILLS ASSOCIATION, Thomson Locations: KARACHI, Pakistan, PAKISTAN, Karachi

☆ De-dollarization signs are emerging as the greenback slides in currency reserves, JPMorgan says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Signs of de-dollarization are showing in FX and central bank reserves, JPMorgan said. "Some signs of de-dollarization are emerging; this trend is likely to persist but USD should maintain its large footprint for the foreseeable future." "Some signs of de-dollarization are emerging; this trend is likely to persist but USD should maintain its large footprint for the foreseeable future," they said. And the dollar's share of foreign exchange reserves has also dropped. "De-dollarization is evident in FX reserves where USD share has declined to a record as share in exports declined, but is still emerging in commodities," JPMorgan said.

Persons: —, invoicing, Goldman Sachs Organizations: JPMorgan, Service, West, Russia's Locations: Ukraine

☆ Debt ceiling crisis: How a US default would ricochet around the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

But if it does, it could make the 2008 global financial crisis feel like a walk in the park. The consequences are frightful.”The belief that America’s government will pay its creditors on time underpins the smooth functioning of the global financial system. During the 2011 standoff over raising the US debt ceiling, the S&P 500 index of leading US shares plunged more than 15%. “It’s unclear in a Treasury default crisis whether the Fed could do enough even with the types of efforts it deployed in March 2020,” Obstfeld said. “A default would be a message to investors all around the world of eroding confidence in America,” he added.

☆ De-dollarization fears are overblown, but rising debt and US brinkmanship are top threats to the greenback, Bank of America says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

De-dollarization fears are overblown, and the greenback remains strong globally, BofA said. But the main risks to the dollar are rising US debt and "fiscal brinkmanship," according to a note. "Therefore, the key threats to the USD's dominant role seem largely domestic, as opposed to competition from other currencies." "Therefore, the key threats to the USD's dominant role seem largely domestic, as opposed to competition from other currencies." Amid the looming risk of default, BofA said there are no real alternative currencies, even as others have also pointed to a rise in non-dollar arrangements as evidence of de-dollarization.

☆ M3ter, a startup that enables SaaS firms to offer usage-based pricing, just raised $14 million with this 12-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

SaaS pricing startup M3ter has raised $14 million in Series A funding. M3ter helps companies manage their software spend by employing usage-based pricing. A startup that enables SaaS companies to offer usage-based pricing to customers has raised $14 million as it prepares to expand its presence in the US. "Usage-based pricing is a trend that is already happening so we're just selling shovels in a gold rush," Parry told Insider. In addition, the growth of usage-based pricing has come from a shift in the needs of B2B customers and the rise of automation.

☆ This startup that automates SME invoices with AI just raised $8 million. Check out the 10-slide pitch deck Triver used to raise the fresh funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The startup was founded by former Funding Circle executive Jerome Le Luel and is backed by Stride.vc. A London-based startup that will provide instant working capital to SMEs has emerged from stealth with an $8 million funding round. Like most forms of short-term working capital, financing solutions for the SME market are often expensive and time-consuming. Most providers run checks based on e-commerce data, but Le Luel believes that Open Banking data allows for better risk and analytics modeling. The company wants to launch its platform within this quarter and said that it had a "line-of-sight" to a very profitable business by 2027.

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