2018 is set to be a very interesting year - particularly if your role has anything to do with payments or data. The go live date for PSD2 is Saturday 13th January and GDPR a short five months later, on Friday 25th May. Both these high profile initiatives are being driven by the European Commission and the combined implications in terms of what needs to be done in order to comply with these directives are pretty hefty. And the impacts felt by both the industry and the consumer are set to be far reaching.

Based on the security clearance legislation a national Facility Security Clearance can be awarded to a Finnish company contracting with a public organization when sensitive government information is being processed at the facility. The national FSC certificate is valid for five years. 

SafeCharge (LON: SCH), the leading payments technology company, today announced its partnership with the newly-launched all-in-one video game portal Alibagames. The portal is a marketplace where game developers and studios can place their games and gamers enjoy a room full of tools where they can purchase games and enjoy a massive community.

With increased access to person-to-person (P2P) payment services, consumers across generational lines report they prefer to use mobile applications when paying other people as opposed to cash.

Barclays is set to become the first UK high street bank to launch payments using Apple’s virtual assistant, Siri, enabling customers to make payments using their voice. Available now within the Barclays Mobile Banking (BMB) app.

Ebix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBIX), a leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance, financial, e-governance and healthcare industries, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS) Business of YouFirst Money Express Private Limited.

MatchBack Systems, Inc., the leading software as a service (SaaS) solution to plan, optimize and automate matchbacks, announced that ZIM Integrated Shipping Ltd. joined the company's customer base on May 1, 2017 to optimize their inland operation in Italy. The account will be serviced through the European office in Rotterdam and corporate headquarters in North America. The system will be deployed for a 2 months pilot after which the parties will evaluate the scope for a broader cooperation.

 Cardtronics plc (Nasdaq:CATM), the world's largest ATM owner / operator, announced today that, as the culmination of its Board of Directors' long-term succession plan, Chief Executive Officer Steven A. Rathgaber, 64, will retire from his CEO and Director roles effective December 31, 2017. Edward H. West, 51, presently Cardtronics' Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer, will succeed Rathgaber as CEO and join the board as a Director.

Britain’s top firms and charities urgently need to do more to protect themselves from online threats, according to new Government research and a ‘cyber health check’ published today.