Main Street SMBs, Digital AP, GoodRx’s IPO Tops This Week’s News

It’s the end of another work week, and the PYMNTS Weekender is here to catch you up on the latest news. We have deep dives on the financial health of Main Street small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), digital accounts payable (AP), and GoodRx’s initial public offering (IPO).  

News

GoodRx’s IPO Shows Disruption Could Be The Cure For Costly Prescriptions 

Shares of GoodRx spiked 53 percent on their inaugural trading day Wednesday (Sept. 23) after the firm had an IPO at $33 per share. The gains illustrate how sanguine investors are about reshaping the pharmacy medication area.

FinCEN Files Show Banks’ Use Of AI And Machine Learning Effective In KYC/AML 

Documents sent by banks to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of Treasury indicate that many of the biggest global banks moved money for a number of people and enterprises participating in criminal financial activity.

However, in PYMNTS’ own coverage, the twin external forces of market pressures and regulatory scrutiny are making financial institutions (FIs) retool and bolster their anti-money laundering (AML) efforts.

Mastercard Expands Digital Card Program To Include Instant Access, eWallet 

Mastercard has grown its Digital-First Card Program in North America as demand rises for digitally-driven money management offerings. The global tech firm has teamed with payment processors Fiserv, PTS, FIS, CoreCard, Galileo, i2c, TSYS and Marqeta to give them digital guidelines that will let clients get almost instantaneous access to card information and peace of mind to make secure transactions, among other benefits.

HSBC To Staff: Stay Off Bank’s Social Media Accounts 

The 233,000 global staffers of HSBC Holdings Plc were told to remain off the bank’s social media sites on Monday (Sept. 21) after a report was leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and BuzzFeed News. A bank executive sent a memo to the workforce saying that they must not post to social media until 11 a.m. U.K. Time on Tuesday (Sept. 22) at the earliest.

MineralTree Raises $50M, Buys Two Companies

Massachusetts-based accounts payable (AP) automation technology firm MineralTree Inc. unveiled a Series D investment round of $50 million and the acquisition of two firms. MineralTree bought Atlanta-based Regal Software and California FinTech Inspyrus.

Trackers And Reports

New Report: The Power Of Instant On SMBs’ Financial Health

The outlook for a number of Main Street SMBs seems to be getting better, but a cash crunch is still a lingering headwind. Faster payments infrastructure has the potential to mitigate that headwind in part, if not overall, for SMBs if Main Street merchants truly understand the options in existence for them.

Report: Hanging Up The Phone On Mobile Remittance Fraud

Money transfer organizations have to remain in compliance with regulations or they will encounter sizable penalties or let crime spread. PYMNTS explores the challenges that financial institutions (FIs) encounter in keeping compliant and how digital security strategies can assist.

Report: Using Digital AP To Build Faster Subcontractor Payments Flows

Construction firms depend on different suppliers and subcontractors, but paying these partners can quickly become complex for firms that harness paper-based ways to accept and supervise all the paperwork that has to be collected prior to issuing funds.

PYMNTS explores how technologies based on the cloud can make document acceptance simpler amid subcontractor onboarding and allow for more effective invoice/payments monitoring.

Fun, Cool, and Otherwise Interesting

Have A Credit Card In Your Purse? Thank Ruth Bader Ginsburg     

As PYMNTS has covered many times, what is crucial for any individual of any gender aiming to stand upright is control over their financial destiny. It is a control that the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made possible for American women everywhere with the transformative power of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) of 1974.

Mnuchin And Powell Tell Congress U.S. Economy Could Use More Stimulus

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told a House committee this week that marked economic progress has occurred since the depths of COVID-19 in March. However, they indicated there’s further work that needs to be done, particularly in addressing small business lending and extending additional stimulus via direct payments to individuals and families.

Does The Merchant And Consumers' Disconnect On The Pandemic’s Length Signal Trouble?

A fairly large disconnect exists between Main Street SMB owners and consumers about how long COVID-19 will last. It’s a difference in an opinion that is widening as SMBs become gradually more confident about the road ahead.

Amazon’s Latest Devices Zero In On The Power Of The Connected Home

Amazon became the newest Big Tech player to launch its collection of pre-holiday shopping products, with the new hardware pulling double duty on buzz building. What caught the globe’s attention as Amazon debuted a large year-end collection?