Congress adopted the $600 billion-plus Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help American small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) stay afloat by using forgiveness loans to keep their workers employed and cover certain overhead expenses while the economy was shut down. But while generally regarded as a sincere effort to bail out...
The Week In Payments: How Businesses Can Navigate The Road To Recovery
Most every state in the U.S. this week is starting to walk the road to recovery. Mandatory stay-at-home orders are easing and businesses are beginning to reopen, albeit in very different ways than at the start of the year. As Deluxe CEO and President Barry C. McCarthy told Karen Webster for the latest...
Main Street’s Pandemic-Led Shift To Digital Innovation
The lockdown of the United States economy, which was designed to slow the coronavirus’ spread, changed the way consumers browse, shop and pay for purchases. Businesses that didn’t have eCommerce channels could not sell their products, while eateries that lacked online ordering couldn’t serve diners. Small and medium-sized companies faced the choice...
Ad Platform Gives SMBs A Shot At Media Revenue
Self-service retail tools have gained momentum over the last week, as SMBs look to make the digital shift a consistent part of their business. Facebook, Instagram and Shopify’s social selling tools have been met with a positive reception, and now the advertising platform Criteo is giving SMBs access to consumer...
SMBs Explore Financing Options For Their Digital Transformations
Access to capital for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) has always been vital, as well as a challenge. Borrowers don’t always have a consistent experience in their hunt for financing, either. In some cases, when a traditional bank shuts the door on an SMB applicant, a business owner may not...
Mastercard Debuts COVID-Recovery Data Tools For Business, Gov’t
Mastercard‘s new Recovery Insights tool will attempt to help businesses and governments assess data during the pandemic in order to make smarter decisions, according to a press release. The tool will attempt to help an array of businesses, including airlines, restaurants, banks, governments and other types of money-making and governing...
Saving Main Street: How A Business School Is Helping Toronto SMB Retailers
If there’s a playbook for Main Street’s migration to digital, Toronto’s Schulich School of Business is authoring a very effective chapter. It starts with a public-private partnership, has a great pizza story in the middle and ends with a feisty attitude in the face of a devastating pandemic. In an...
American Express Canada Introduces Offers To Support SMBs
In an effort to bring greater value to its small and medium-sized business (SMB) card members, American Express Canada is debuting limited-time offers as well as solutions. The company said that the changes seek to tackle the evolving requirements of today’s businesses, with the inclusion of modifications to spending habits...
House Eases Rules On PPP Loans
A measure that would make it easier for small businesses (SMBs) to get their hands on a forgivable federal loan has easily passed the House, The Wall Street Journal reported. The bi-partisan bill answers a request from entrepreneurs who asked lawmakers to reduce the amount of the Small Business Administration’s...