Mastercard today announced that Donald Chesnut will join the company as its first chief experience officer, effective January 14, 2019.

In this newly created role, he will lead a team that supports the organization’s delivery of the best consumer payment experience, while providing merchants, issuers and other partners a more holistic way to work with Mastercard’s products and services.

Nets, a market leader in the payments industry, has today announced the completion of the acquisition of leading Polish online payment service providers Dotpay/eCard. Andrzej Budzik will continue as CEO of Dotpay/eCard and the brands of Dotpay and eCard will remain. 

• Top bosses earn 133 times more than the average worker 

• Latest CIPD/High Pay Centre analysis finds that the average FTSE 100 CEO is paid £1,020 per hour and £3.926 million a year, an increase of 11% on the previous year

• Excessive pay and the business culture of ‘Superstar’ CEOs is increasingly being recognised as a failure of corporate governance, affecting employee engagement and trust in business leadership

One of the most important trends we’ll see in 2019 is the global adoption of Open Banking, especially in the United Kingdom, the European Union and Asia-Pacific (primarily in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia). Open Banking allows third-party payment service providers (TPPs) to obtain consumer data from banks about financial history, and to initiate payments directly through bank accounts.

The global securities finance industry generated just under $9.96 billion in revenue for lenders in 2018, according to market data provider DataLend.

It was a record year in terms of revenue generated for investors that lend out securities from their portfolios, referred to as beneficial owners, since DataLend began tracking the market in 2013. Beneficial owners include asset managers, insurance companies, pension funds and other institutional investors. 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) today announced a settlement with USAA Federal Savings Bank, a federally chartered savings association headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

HCL Technologies (HCL), a leading global technology company, has been recognized as a Leader by ISG in its recently published report, “ISG Provider Lens™ Research Quadrant for Finance & Accounting Outsourcing Digital Operations, U.S. Market, 2018.”  According to the report, HCL has a strong presence in the U.S market and is using it to expand its footprint in finance BPO.  HCL has invested heavily in advanced automation and analytics, which makes it a favorable choice for clients that want high-end automation of their finance processes.

Over one in ten (11%) UK companies is just paying the interest on its debts, rather than repaying the debt itself, according to new research from insolvency and restructuring trade body R3.

Only being able to pay the interest, not the original debt itself, is one potential sign of a so-called ‘zombie business’ – a company which is only surviving thanks to low interest rates but which otherwise might not be viable.

Leading peer-to-peer business lender, Assetz Capital, has launched a new cashback offer which rewards new investors with up to £350 in cashback.

To trigger the cashback, users need to register and invest by 31st January. Those that invest between £5,000 and £10,000 will earn £100 cashback, with those investing over £10,000 or £20,000 earning £150 or £250 respectively.

Home-grown technology firm Connexin has been announced winners of the IoT Breakthrough Award for Smart City Deployment of the Year, for the Newcastle Smart Road pilot.