Big Short: Fintech Fraud Wirecard Explained (EY Accounting Scandal)

Eddie Donmez takes a look at the German Payment processing Fintech- Wirecard. He dives into the 15-year long accounting fraud that saw €1.9bn go missing and draws parallels to previous scandals like Lehman Brothers and Enron. Are there more FinTechs out there that have grown too quickly and let their standard slip?

Digital Payments: The Evolution of Currency

Over the last decade, the digital payments landscape has undergone a structural shift. Consumer behaviors are changing—moving towards contactless and cashless transactions. Meanwhile, as the magnitude of COVID-19 grows, these trends have only accelerated.

Examine the digital payments ecosystem, explore its history and innovative technologies, and how it continues to grow as a solution of choice for trillions of dollars of transactions each year.

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Wirecard and the missing billions

Payment processing company Wirecard was the darling of Germany’s fintech industry until auditors uncovered a $2 billion hole in its accounting. WSJ explains what we know about the missing money, as investigators are still trying to understand what happened.

COVID-19 and the Payments Industry

In just a couple of months the COVID-19 virus has change the world. How we work and how we live has changed and probably will never be the same again.

Did you miss our free webinar? No problem. Watch it now - on You Tube.

In this presentation, we examine the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the Payments Industry and explore some possible future outcomes in the areas of banking, fintechs, the cashless society, mobile wallets, online shopping, customer behavior, and more.

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Recovery post-pandemic - Brett King's views

Futurist, Brett King speaks to Finextra about Covid-19's impact on the industry and the lessons learned up to today, where FIs will move to next, what the future of business looks like post-pandemic.

Business Continuity and the Pandemic

Now and again a "perfect storm" comes along. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of those. Generally "Business Continuity" focuses on localized events - a cyclone, a terrorist attack; but not usually on an event that affects everything, all over the world - at the same time!

COVID-19 has done just that - from shutting down international travel, stopping manufacturing, closing stores, malls, offices, schools, and more.

So just how are firms coping with events?

Read "Lessons from the front line -  How managers have coped with the pandemic" from The Economist. Click HERE.

Downturns are corporate fraudsters’ worst enemy

Booms help fraudsters paper over cracks in their accounts, from fictitious investment returns to exaggerated sales. Slowdowns rip the covering off.

As Warren Buffett once put it: “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.” This time, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, the water has whooshed away at record speed.

Read the full Economist article HERE.