The 2^nd edition of the BNP Paribas International Hackathon took place last week-end in 8 countries simultaneously. 96 startups competed to create solutions around the theme: “Streamlining the Customer Journey through co-creation with startups.”

Last week-end, startups joined forces in order to find the best solutions to address this year’s theme: “Streamlining the Customer Journey through co-creation with startups.”

The Western Union Company, a leader in global payments, has grown its reach in Mexico with the ability to send money from the United States directly into nearly all bank accounts in Mexico1, amplifying funds-out options in the fourth largest remittance market in the world.

Customers in the United States can now send money via the Western Union® mobile app, westernunion.com and retail Agent location channels, directly into millions of bank accounts in Mexico.

Accurate Group, a leading provider of real estate appraisal, title and compliance services, today announced that it has hired former Huntington National Bank executive, Mike Kirk. Mike joined Accurate Group effective June 13, 2016 as Senior Vice President of Strategic Valuation Initiatives and will report directly to CEO and President, Paul Doman.

Between April and May of 2016, SilverCloud, Inc., a SaaS company specializing in banking-specific sales and service solutions, signed six new customers, including Langley Federal Credit Union, Chartway Federal Credit Union, Cambridge Trust Company, Solarity Credit Union, United Community Bank and Merrimack Valley Federal Credit Union.

nCino, the leader in cloud banking, announced today that $9.9 billion-asset Eastern Bank has selected its Bank Operating System to increase efficiency, improve productivity and streamline the overall lending process.

For the second year in a row, Discover Financial Services has been recognized by the Asia Society as one of the top employers for Asian Pacific Americans. The 2016 Asian Pacific American Employer Awards honor companies at the forefront of promoting Asian Pacific American employees and global diversity. This year, Discover was named the nation’s Best Employer for Asian Pacific American Employee Resource Groups.

In addition, Discover was recognized in the following categories:

As we move towards a cashless society, we need to be mindful that all transactions and updates are reliant on the public internet working properly. Consider what happens in a period of downtime, especially if retailers stop taking cash as a form of payment? In short, both parties suffer. For the merchant it’s a loss of revenue and for the consumer, it’s the inconvenience of not being able to purchase vital services. For example, imagine you are filling up with petrol and connectivity to make a payment fails but there’s no other alternative method to pay – what happens then?

ACI Worldwide, a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions, today announced that Paul Thomalla, ACI’s senior vice president for Global Corporate Relations, has been elected as a member of the executive board of nexo, the international association that develops and promotes open standards for card payments.

MasterCard today announced the 2016 summer class of its Start Path Global program – the company’s global effort to support innovative early-stage startups developing the next generation of commerce and fintech solutions.

iGTB, the organisation behind the world’s first comprehensive global transaction banking solution, has appointed Herber De Ruijter as its new Head of Digital, responsible for Product Strategy and Development of Intellect’s Digital offerings for Corporate Banking.

Herber joins iGTB from solutions provider Backbase, where he was responsible for product development as well as leading the company’s American business and operations.