Compass Plus, an international provider of retail banking and electronic payments software to payment processors and financial institutions, has announced the fifth birthday of TranzAxis, the Open Development Payment Platform. Since its launch into production, TranzAxis has been implemented in a number of countries across the globe, including Antigua, Sweden, Russia and Jordan, and has risen to fulfil the technology requirements of companies such as GPC and Klarna.

Anaplan, the enterprise planning cloud company, launched its Global Compensation for Banking app that provides financial institutions with a scalable and agile bonus planning and modeling platform. This secure, multi-dimensional app enables Reward teams to allocate a business’s total bonus pool across multiple organization levels. With full transparency over compensation models, firms can run “what-if” scenarios, deliver sophisticated bonus deferral calculations down to employee level, and analyze results in real time. 

GMC Software (GMC), a provider of customer communications management, announced the availability of its GMCInspire Mobile Advantage, a solution that makes it possible to create a responsive, interactive and regulatory compliant mobile experience with little reliance upon IT or external support.

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, one of the largest insurance and financial services companies in the United States, has expanded their commitment to Guidewire Software’s solutions by selecting the complete set of Guidewire Digital Portals™ to complement their investment in Guidewire InsuranceSuite. The company is already in production with ClaimCenter and PolicyCenter.

Bitcoin is still an attractive sphere for investment, despite the fact that financiers and developers switched their attention to the blockchain. In the last year alone, venture capital investments in cryptocurrency start-ups reached a record level.

Verafin announced a new analytic to help U.S. banks and credit unions detect suspicious tax refunds.

Misys, the leading financial software company, today announced it has appointed Mourad Ayachi as European Head of Professional Services and Bob Kubala as Regional Sales Manager for North America for its Investment Management division. Both will support the Misys FusionInvest product suite, a fully integrated portfolio and risk management system for buy-side firms.

HID Global introduced a mobility initiative that includes solutions, services, investments and alliances that expand the capabilities of trusted IDs on mobile devices across a growing range of access control, authentication and Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

Nomura Research Institute (NRI), a leading provider of consulting services and system solutions launches the second phase of its Proof-of-Concept (PoC) to examine the applicability of blockchain technology for securities markets. This project will be done in collaboration with Asia’s leading exchange group, Japan Exchange Group, Inc. (JPX).

According to a new study, SMEs see digital opportunities as a major priority for investment in the year ahead, and are prepared to confront the challenges that have prevented them from reaping the benefits to date.

New data from the Close Brothers Business Barometer - a quarterly survey which gauges sentiment from business owners and managers from across the UK and Ireland - reveals that 20% of firms plan to prioritise investment in technology this year. For large numbers of these businesses, that will mean investing in new digital tools and technologies.