January 2013 Payments Newsletter

Copyright © 2013 Association for Financial Professionals, Inc.
All rights reserved.

• AFP Fraudwatch: Common Internal Fraud Threats for CorporatesDuring the closing keynote address at last week’s AFP of Canada Treasury Management forum, fraud expert Chris Mathers discussed some of the top fraud threats to businesses. One area where many organizations can do a better job, Mathers said, is with recognizing and eliminating internal fraud.
• Banks and Nonbanks Must Collaborate on Corporate PaymentsIn the past few years a large influx of nonbank providers have introduced cutting-edge payment technology to corporate payments. Understandably, banks are wary of this intrusion on long-held turf. But today’s corporates are open to any effective vendor—and that is forcing banks to reach out to nonbank providers.
• AFP Fraudwatch: ZeuS Attacks Surge, Microsoft Storms CitadelThe ZeuS Trojan, which is designed to invade a system and steal a user’s bank account credentials and other personally identifiable information, is back in the headlines again. However, at least one variant of the insidious malware has been taken down a peg.
• Fed Report Seeks to Ease Interchange DebateA new Federal Reserve study says the small-banks exemption from the debit interchange fee limit of 21 cents required for large banks has worked as intended. As this is the first study to observe the impact that the rule has had on interchange fee transaction costs for businesses, retail treasurers and managers of payments processing should find the study compelling.
• Bottom Line: Star ‘Bucks’ in Canada and BeyondFrom the International Space Station in April, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield unveiled the new plastic Canadian $10 and $5 bills. Also in April, the Canada Revenue Agency announced that bitcoins are subject to Canadian tax under barter transaction rules, capital gains or income tax, whichever apply.