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NewsBriefs

85 countries. The annual event is a vehicle to generate
ideas, make connections, seize business opportunities,
strengthen partnerships and discover the latest
disruptions on their way to revolutionizing the future of
money. With numerous, enticing innovations on display,
no single offering jumped out as this year's show-stealer.
Black Friday lifts all retailers, analysts say

Just before Black Friday opened the holiday season Nov.
24, 2017, the surge of in-store and online shopping was
expected to benefit Main Street, not just big-box retailers,
according to retail analysts. A new study published Nov.
14, by Womply, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider,
Editor's Note: Following are excerpts from news stories recently posted found 2016 Black Friday sales surpassed Small Business
under Breaking Industry News on our home page. For links to these and Saturday and December 23 among small business owners.
other full news stories, please visit www.greensheet.com/breaking-
news.php?flag=previous_breaking_news. Womply's data scientists found Black Friday was the top
sales day for local retailers in every state except Maine,
Cordray resigns from CFPB where Small Business Saturday took top honors. Analysis
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard was based on average daily revenue from 65,000 U.S.
Cordray stated in an email to employees on Nov. 15, 2017, his businesses for November and December 2016 and January
intention to resign by the end of the month. His term was 2017.
set to expire in July 2018. Since he took the helm, Cordray's Holiday spending on track for growth
sweeping authority and the CFPB's constitutionality had
been called into question in some sectors and supported in The jointly released Electronic Transactions Association-
others. Cordray picked his Chief of Staff, Leandra English, The Strawhecker Group 2017 Holiday Spending Report
to be Deputy Director; however, President Trump picked Card, which tracks same store year-over-year sales from
Mick Mulvaney as Acting Director shortly thereafter. over 3.5 million card accepting U.S. merchants, projected
Mulvany is heading the agency while a dispute over its growth in holiday spending will be driven by strength in
leadership works its way through the court system. the Northeast region and increased spending nationally
at hotels, restaurants, shoe stores and building material
Real-time payments launch, American style stores.
The Federal Reserve's vision of real-time payment systems
accessible to U.S. consumers and businesses alike is "Low unemployment, coupled with consumer confidence
inching closer to reality. On Nov. 13, 2017, the first real- near a 17-year high, is bolstering an already healthy
time payment was processed through RTP, a new payment economy," said Jared Drieling, Director of Business
system developed by The Clearing House. The exchange Intelligence of The Strawhecker Group. "Coming into
was between BNY Mellon and U.S. Bank. At least four this holiday season, shoppers have seen an increase in
other large U.S. banks – Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, PNC personal income – especially disposable income – which
Bank and SunTrust Bank – are expected to start moving is helping build off of a 2016 holiday season that was one
payments through RTP any day, TCH said. of the best in years."
ThreatMetrix study predicts Visa game on at Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup
record holiday cyberattacks Visa Inc. is planning to step up its game as the official
payment partner for the upcoming XXIII Winter Olympic
ThreatMetrix warned retailers and consumers to be Games and 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. Affiliated with
vigilant this holiday season. The company’s Q3 2017 the Olympics since 1986 and FIFA since 2007, the global
Cybercrime Report, published Nov. 15, 2017, recorded 171 payments brand will unveil innovative cash-free fan
million attacks against ecommerce sites in the third quarter experiences at both sporting events.
of 2017, a 32 percent increase from the first quarter of the
year, the company stated. Security analysts contributing to "We are looking forward to transforming the payment ex-
the study also detected increasingly sophisticated attack perience for everyone who attends the upcoming Olympic
vectors, such as wide-scale, automated bot attacks against Winter Games in PyeongChang," said Iain Jamieson, Visa’s
consumers and business owners. Korea Country Manager. "At Visa, we have been working
Money20/20 sparks innovation, partnerships tirelessly to ensure all of the Olympic venues are equipped
with the very latest payment capabilities to provide the
The 2017 Money20/20 conference, held Oct. 22 to 25 in best experience possible for all those on-site."
Las Vegas, attracted more than 11,000 attendees from

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