A new report from Mastercard confirms the power of mobile technology to improve financial inclusion. The research shows that 15 countries account for over 60% of the global unbanked population, where 607 million people have a mobile phone, but do not yet have a bank account. Mobile technology could therefore provide them with immediate access to the benefits of financial inclusion.

In all but one of these 15 countries (India) people with a mobile phone outnumber those with a bank account by several million (rising to 204 million in China).

Computop, the global payment processor, today announced that Europe's leading online optician, Mister Spex, has selected the company’s highly secure POS terminals for the processing of all card payments  across its national network of German stores. The CCV Pad card terminal from Computop is one of a new generation of POS solutions that have been developed to reduce costs and expenditure on PCI security audits while protecting purchasers’ card data.

Calligo, the global data optimization and privacy specialist, today announced it has acquired Connected Technologies Inc., a Canadian specialist in outsourced IT and cloud services. 

The purchase of Connected Technologies, based in Brampton, Ontario, is another significant step in Calligo’s continued growth strategy. The acquisition complements its two previous acquisitions in Canada – cloud services provider, 3 Peaks, in October 2017 and Mico Systems, an outsourced IT services company, in May of last year. 

Over one-third of IT decision makers in the UK’s largest financial services companies believe that AI will transform the industry in the next decade, but the same percentage admit that their infrastructure is not prepared for the transformation, a new survey conducted by Digital Realty reveals. 

A survey of business leaders by DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC) and Vanson Bourne, an independent research firm, reveals that 86 percent of IT and business decision makers believe that being able to predict and prevent future challenges with applications could be a “game changer” for their organizations.

VERMEG, the banking and insurance software solutions leader, is proud to announce it has received a top mark on the 2019 Corporate Equality Index (CEI). The CEI is recognized as the premier benchmarking survey and report in the United States and abroad on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality, and is administered by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation.  

VERMEG joins the ranks of over 560 major U.S. businesses that also earned top marks this year.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has opened the beta phase of its Sandbox, a new service designed to support organisations using personal data to develop products and services that are innovative and have demonstrable public benefit.

Today, Brickblock achieved a significant milestone by tokenizing a real estate vehicle carrying an approximately €2 million property in Wiesbaden, Germany. The sale was exclusive to eligible investors.  

Ground X, the blockchain subsidiary of the leading South Korean mobile platform, Kakao, has released its public testnet Baobab, along with the updated position paper, which highlights the technical architecture and direction of Klaytn. 

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (NYSE: DB) and Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) are pleased to announce that Deutsche Bank’s new Single Dealer Platform will be developed with Deutsche Bank, and hosted and operated by Nasdaq’s market technology. The expected go-live is targeted for Q3 2019.