This Week in Finance News: 14 Stories You Need to See

A roundup of the week's most newsworthy financial industry press releases from PR Newswire, including back to school costs and Oregon's personal finance course for high schoolers.

NEW YORK, Aug. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering the finance industry stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

1. 30% of parents expect to spend over $500 this year on back-to-school supplies, according to new Empower research
   Nearly all (85%) surveyed say inflation is impacting their back-to-school spending. To navigate increased costs, parents say they're cutting back on non-essential expenses (43%), shopping during sales (48%), and 1 in 4 (26%) are buying in bulk.
2. 'Deloitte 2023 Financial Services Industry Predictions': Generative AI, Carbon Offset Financing, Driverless Vehicles, Office Space Conversion Among Top Trends Transforming Financial Services
   "The reality is that emerging technological changes could be more pervasive and impactful going forward in ways that can be scarcely imagined today," said Jim Eckenrode, managing director, Deloitte Center for Financial Services. Deloitte Services LP. "Financial services will likely play an important role in helping these breakthroughs emerge to the benefit of us all, while simultaneously opening up new avenues of revenue and profit."
3. NFL Player Damar Hamlin Signs First Equity Deal with FinTech B Generous to Revolutionize Charitable Giving
   This groundbreaking collaboration aims to transform the world of fundraising by further elevating the cutting-edge "Donate Now Pay Later" technology developed by B Generous, benefiting non-profit organizations worldwide.
4. U.S. housing market avoids crash, but challenges remain for buyers and sellers
   Home values are growing in line with pre-pandemic norms, a path that Zillow® forecasts will continue. Rent is also back to "perfectly average" growth after its own wild ride. Buyers are finding a costly and competitive market, but one slightly calmer and easier to plan and budget for.
5. Melio Offers A Lifeline To Small Businesses With Launch Of Pay Over Time
   "We're proud to be providing more flexibility to small businesses that need to pay bills and invoices with strict terms, enabling our customers to better align their spend and income," said Matan Bar, Melio co-founder and CEO. "This unique Accounts Payable service enables business bills to be paid in installments, providing our customers with an additional layer of cash flow flexibility."
6. Skipify & Amex team up to elevate Shopper Experience at Checkout
   Skipify's technology, launching exclusively with American Express, identifies select Amex customers via their email address, enabling them to automatically link their eligible Amex Cards to check out with participating merchants. This solution removes the need for consumers to manually enter their payment and billing details, improving merchant approval and conversion rates.
7. Zillow and Redfin announce partnership to help buyers and home builders connect
   Home builders partnering with Zillow will now have their listings and communities automatically syndicated to Redfin, expanding the visibility of these homes to potential buyers.
8. Americans Acknowledge Importance of Financial Knowledge, Yet Only One in Five Learn Money Skills in School, Edward Jones Study Finds
   "Our data demonstrates that knowledge builds confidence – for example, roughly 60% of respondents believe they would be more confident in their financial situation with a better understanding of debt management – so it's our goal to empower individuals to secure their financial futures," said Vanessa Okwuraiwe, Principal at Edward Jones.
9. Oregon Becomes 23rd State to Guarantee a Personal Finance Course for All High School Students
   On July 31, Governor Tina Kotek signed into law Senate Bill 3, bipartisan legislation that makes Oregon the 23rd state to guarantee a standalone personal finance course for high school students. Advocates, including the Next Gen Personal Finance Mission 2030 Fund, applaud the effort.
10. From the Golden State to the Lone Star State: Californians Continue to Flock to Texas
    "These migration trends highlight Texas as a popular destination for those seeking new horizons," said Marcus Phipps, Chairman of Texas Realtors. "The state's strong economy, business-friendly environment, and quality of life continue to attract people from across the United States and beyond.
11. White Glove's 8th Annual Host University Conference to Provide Marketing and Conversion Strategies for Financial Advisors
    Since its inception in 2016, White Glove's Host University has been a beacon of peer-to-peer education for financial advisors seeking to enhance their practices. This year's two-and-a-half-day event will be held August 27 to 29 at the Motor City Casino in Detroit, Michigan.
12. Billtrust Study Reveals CFO's Expanding Role as Digital Transformation Urgency Increases
    The role of today's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is undergoing significant changes and expansions, according to a new study, "The Evolution of Order-to-Cash," conducted by global market analysis and advisory firm IDC on behalf of the B2B order-to-cash software and digital payments market leader, Billtrust.
13. JLL unveils first GPT model for commercial real estate
    The bespoke generative artificial intelligence (AI) model will be used by JLL's 103,000+ workforce around the world to provide CRE insights to clients in a whole new way. JLL's extensive in-house data will be supplemented with external CRE sources, and the company plans to offer made-to-order solutions to clients later this year.
14. Survey: 73% of Companies Struggle to Get Workers Back to the Office
    As COVID-19 changed workers' expectations about where they can do their work, a new survey reveals that companies are struggling to get staff back into the office. The survey, conducted by The Conference Board, also reveals the push for on-site work may be hindering efforts to retain workers. 71 percent of respondents from organizations that are mandating their on-site work policy reported difficulty retaining workers.

Read more of the latest finance-related releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNfinance on Twitter.

Can't-Miss Earnings

In addition to these popular releases, several must-read earnings reports crossed the wire this week, including the quarterly results for Fannie Mae, PayPal, Zillow, and Aflac.

Catch up on all the latest earnings reports here.

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