In a recent blog, we looked at the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the global payments industry. One certainty is that the virus will dominate the short-term.

Phos, the fintech that created the first ever software PoS which allows merchants to accept payments directly on their phones, today announced that it has closed a fundraising round of €1.3M. The round was led by New Vision 3 and also saw new angel investment in the business. The new funding sees the total amount raised by the business increase to €2.5M, enabling phos to grow its development team to introduce new features like PIN on Phone, its Software Development Kit (SDK) and a new integrated loyalty system.

Credit Hero, an online lender from Hong Kong, teamed up with Salt Edge, a leader in offering open banking solutions, to access borrowers’ bank data at digital speed and eliminate the traditional paper chase.

Hong Kong is a leading global financial hub. As recently the macroeconomic environment has changed, the lending market is experiencing a so-called digital seismic shift. Escalating uncertainties kickstart the demand for credit products which provide fast access to consumption-oriented liquidity.

Technology and consulting firms that address financial crime, trading floor operations and related risk issues were inundated this week with requests from financial institutions with respect to how we would support them considering a potentially expanding impact of Coronavirus. Issues related to record-keeping contingencies have appeared at the forefront of the concerns expressed by leading FIs, particularly with respect to trading floor operations.

As our clients and firms across the buy side begin to process the recent BCBS and IOSCO recommendation to delay by one year the implementation of phases 5 and 6 of the uncleared margin rules (UMR), we wanted to share why Cassini Systems supports this move.

DriveWealth, LLC, a U.S. based leader in global digital trading technology, today announced the launch of a new Health Savings Account (HSA) division, DriveHSA^®. The new division aims to transform the HSA landscape by helping HSA platform providers enhance their current offerings with modern investing tools and allowing end-users to invest in real-time fractional shares of U.S. equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and mutual funds.

From today, an additional 40,000 free meals will be available to NHS heroes on Uber Eats.

Together, Uber Eats and Mastercard hope this will help reduce the pressure on the heroes on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis.

NHS staff will receive a £10 voucher, donated by Mastercard, that they can use on the Uber Eats app to buy a meal from thousands of restaurants and convenience stores in more than 150 towns and cities across the UK.

Toussaint Wattinne, Uber Eats General Manager, UK said:

Forter, the leader in e-commerce fraud prevention, today announced the release of the Forter Special Report on the Impact of Coronavirus on Consumer and Fraudster Behaviour.

Global cyber protection expert, Acronis, has warned authorities and private organisations in the UK and globally of a looming increase in ransomware attacks targeting private and government hospital systems in the coming weeks amid the Covid-19 crisis. Raising the concern, Acronis cites a surge in ransomware detections in Europe by up to seven percent in the last week of February 2020, followed by a 10 percent increase the week after.

Avaloq, a global leader in digital banking solutions and wealth management technology, is on track to reach net zero emissions by the third quarter of this year, one of a number of significant targets the firm is announcing as part of its first CSR programme. Avaloq is also on track to be using 100% renewable energy for its global operations by Q3 as it looks to lead the financial technology sector in its approach to climate change and meeting the highest environmental standards.