(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
1 — Intuit QuickBooks Business Network plans to accelerate and automate B2B payments for millions of U.S. businesses.
Global financial technology platform Intuit QuickBooks recently expanded the Intuit QuickBooks Business Network to make it available to millions of small and mid-sized businesses throughout the United States. This expansion now makes it one of the biggest B2B networks geared toward automating and accelerating B2B payments and enhancing cash flow. (Source: Business Wire)
Why this is important for your business:
With so many businesses already using QuickBooks, why not provide a way to connect them to each other so that transactions can be faster? Kind of a no brainer. In addition to the network’s other benefits the things that will help my clients will be the ability for a business to send an invoice directly to their customer’s or vendor’s QuickBooks account, having QuickBooks instantly create a bill for the customer or vendor using auto-populated information from the invoice and then being able to review, save, and pay that bill through the variety of payment options available within QuickBooks.
2 — Starbucks taps embedded finance to improve customer experience and increase retention.
A recent report revealed that Starbucks is embracing several embedded financial tools and lifestyle products in an effort to increase customer engagement. Some of the products include bitcoin payments, wearable payments, reward and gift card programs, stored value cards, and mobile payments. (Source: Fintech News)
Why this is important for your business:
More companies are providing additional features in their apps to help their customers with financial decisions, or just to play games. If you’re a retailer you should be offering a loyalty or payment app that also starts provided things like embedded finance capabilities. This will be more common in the near future.
3 — These are the must-have technologies to rapidly boost your small business.
Editors at the San Diego Newspaper Group recently shared their top picks for the must-have technologies that will rapidly boost small businesses. (Source: SDNews)
Why this is important for your business:
Tech picks include CRM systems to help manage customers, the Cloud for data storage, cybersecurity technology to protect important data, financial management software to help streamline financial resources, live chat to help customers directly, project management tools to streamline processes, and online instant quote capabilities to boost efficiency.
4 — Microsoft 365 Basic is a new $1.99 a month subscription with 100GB of storage and more.
Microsoft 365 Basic — which is launching by the end of January — will cost $1.99 a month with the aim of replacing the 100GB storage option on OneDrive with some additional features as well. Those features include enhanced security capabilities such as data encryption for Outlook and virus/malware scanning, and an ad-free experience for Outlook web and mobile. (Source: The Verge)
Why this is important for your business:
This could be a good tool for freelancers and microbusinesses. And as you grow you can migrate to more powerful Office 365 features.
5 — Your next job recruiter might be an AI bot.
According to recent studies, 35 percent to 45 percent of companies plan to employ AI-driven recruiting software to aid in picking and interviewing job candidates in 2023. Last year, three in four businesses increased how much they invested in talent acquisition tech with 70 percent planning to continue that investment this year, even with a recession on the horizon. (Source: Computer World)
Why this is important for your business:
AI recruiting tools are becoming more common among larger companies and will soon be affordably available for smaller firms. They can offer an objective way to qualify potential candidates. But there are some concerns of their bias.
