Finance

Fed to Purchase Commercial Paper

Today's big news (at least so far)… efforts turn to addressing the shortage of short term liquidity. [Read the Fed Announcement] via Bloomberg:      Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve will create a special fund to purchase U.S. commercial paper after the credit crunch threatened to cut off a key source of funding […]

Current Events Economic Outlook Regulatory Environment

Behind the Scenes Events that "Spooked Policy Makers into Action" (NYTimes)

In today's New York Times Joe Nocera explores how the credit crisis that unfolded from the morning of Sept. 17 to the afternoon of Sept. 18 spooked policy makers into action. Plus, the graphics team at the Times have done their usual outstanding job here.

Current Events Economic Outlook

A Crash Course on the Financial Crisis (WSJ)

Here's a round up of WSJ articles on the financial crisis A Main Street Rescue 09/29/08 — Congress passed this 'bailout' a long time ago. The Washington Panic 09/27/08 — The Paulson plan is a tool to avoid a deeper downturn. The Paulson Sale 09/24/08 — Taxpayers are going to put up capital one way […]

Banking Current Events Economic Outlook

Laying blame on the bankers, not government

The New York Times DealBook blog links to an article in The New Republic (published Friday) by Larry Grafstein and Jim Millstein, two managing directors at the investment bank Lazard, blaming Wall Street for the current financial mess. Excerpt from The New Republic (emphasis mine): Those on Wall Street who do not feel ashamed of […]

Regulatory Environment

Obama and McCain on Regulation (American Banker)

The American Banker features two "insider perspectives" on the regulatory approach of Presidential candidates Obama and McCain:Obama on RegulationAccording to Daniel Tarullo, economic adviser to Obama The presumptive Democratic nominee backs a detailed list of programs aimed at protecting consumers and clamping down on lending practices, from an interest rate cap on high-cost loans to […]

Uncategorized

Inching Toward IFRS

Just as the payments infrastructure begins to address globalization and the need for seamless international transactions (SEPA, SWIFT, IAT – see previous posts here), the regulatory bodies are inching toward international accounting standards as opposed to separate, domestic accounting rules (more on IFRS vs. US GAAP).  Christopher Cox, head of the SEC, wants a "public […]

AP Payables Payments News

SunTrust Launches Enterprise Spend Platform for Commercial Card Management

Two commercial card posts in a row… SunTrust (a VISA corporate card issuer) announced today the launch of its Enterprise Spend Platform for commercial card management. There are five modules, allowing companies flexibility in implementing and scaling the solution to meet their needs. Statement Manager allows clients to view and act on detailed statementsfor SunTrust […]

Banking Payments News Research Round Up

Fed: Check Volume Decreasing at a Faster Rate

A study released by the Federal Reserve Board's Financial Services Policy Committee  on Tuesday, based on a sample of 30,000 checks from the image archive Viewpointe, indicates that businesses write nearly 40% of all checks and receive nearly three-quarters of all checks. Almost half of the checks written by consumers are for payments to businesses, […]

Business History

Comprehensive (800 pages!) Guide to the History of Business

In anticipation of today's publication of the Oxford Handbook of Business History, Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge has an interview with the editor, Geoffrey Jones. Highlights from the interview: Why is this book important? Business historians over recent decades have generated rich empirical data on firms and business systems. They can in some cases confirm, […]

Economic Outlook

The Semantics of Crisis: "Decidedly Wobbly"

This morning, the usually staid financial press have got their thesaurus out – how many different ways can you say "historic"? "sank" "slipped" "decreased" "fell" "slid" and "slumped" all in one paragraph! The S&P 500 sank 21.08, or 1.6 percent, to 1,267.06 at 12:59 p.m. in New York. The Dow average slipped 85.08, or 0.7 […]

Apple iPhone Mobile Technology Russ Jones

Apple Rocks the Mobile World

Apple announced their much anticipated software roadmap for the iPhone today, with a surprising (to me anyway) two-pronged push. I was waiting for the iPhone SDK announcement, but this turned out to be a bit more than I was expecting! The first of the two initiatives will evolve the iPhone to better fit into the […]

Russ Jones Writings

Apple Rocks the Mobile World

by Russ Jones Apple announced their much anticipated software roadmap for the iPhone today, with a surprising (to me anyway) two-pronged push. I was waiting for the iPhone SDK announcement, but this turned out to be a bit more than I was expecting!

Card Payments Taxi Payments Transit Payments

Taxis and Payment Cards in New York City

On a New York visit over the last several days, I used four taxis – and paid with my debit card each time. (New York City has recently implemented a regulation requiring all cabs to accept card payments – without minimums or added fees.) As I paid, I asked each driver whether or not card […]

Project Management

Spectacular Failure: Project Management Lessons from a Doomed Satellite Program

Sunday's New York Times features a lengthy discussion of the factors contributing to the spectacular failure of the government's $4 billion spy satellite program. The project was ultimately canceled in yet it is clear from the the various participants that are quoted in the article that the effort was doomed from the start. What went […]

Russ Jones Writings

The 10-Step Cookbook for Glenbrook's Thumbnail Mobile Banking Strategy

by Russ Jones I completely agree with this thumbnail mobile banking strategy. But let’s refine it a little into the 10-step cookbook version.