Highlighting the maturation of the GameFi space, Shrapnel is the first AAA game to build on the network, opening the Avalanche community to a new cohort of top tier projects

 Shrapnel, the world’s first blockchain-enabled moddable AAA first-person shooter game, has selected Avalanche, the fastest smart contracts platform in the blockchain industry, as the network to underpin a new gaming experience.

Shrapnel is being developed by a BAFTA and Emmy award-winning team of game industry veterans with unmatched experience in transmedia, virtual production, and gaming-as-a-service. Designed to reward and empower players and creators, its high stakes gameplay is fuelled by user generated content. In order to facilitate this ever-evolving design, Shrapnel requires a high degree of customization. As the premier platform for individuals and enterprises to create powerful, reliable, and secure networks with uniquely customizable implementations, Avalanche offers the ideal foundation to build Shrapnel upon.

Don Norbury, Head of Studio at Shrapnel, said: “Shrapnel is being built from the ground up, with community involvement driving gameplay and development at every stage. Choosing Avalanche, with its blazingly fast, low cost, and eco-friendly network, was a no brainer for our team. The ability to run Subnets and define our own parameters provides the flexibility needed to facilitate the type of adrenaline-pumping, extraction-based shooter that Shrapnel is. We know that reducing frictional elements and minimizing risk will be key for bringing players on board. With Avalanche as our foundation, we are excited to showcase all the features of AAA gaming that players know and love, while also enabling new modding capabilities and reward mechanisms.” 

Low-latency, seamless, glitch-free gameplay is a basic requirement for players plugging into blockbuster games. With its unmatched processing power, Avalanche is well-equipped to enable the quick loading speeds and smooth player experience that Shrapnel players will expect. Avalanche’s breakthrough consensus protocol is efficient and scalable, with the ability to handle high levels of throughput. This means that the game will also easily support a growing number of players and a more complex economy as Shrapnel’s popularity increases.

The Avalanche network consists of a core set of public chains, as well as custom, application-specific chains called “Subnets”. Subnets enable developers like Shrapnel to fully customize their implementation based on the needs and rules of the game. Gaming sessions and in-game asset trading activities will take place in their own Subnet, enabling a gasless environment to keep players focused on gaming.

As an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible chain, Avalanche enables all of Shrapnel’s in-game assets to be interoperable with EVM compatible chains. This functionality allows players to transfer their assets from Shrapnel’s marketplace to Avalanche C-chain, trade with other players and community members, and then bring them back in game sessions. This dedicated subnet guarantees the reliability and speed gamers expect from a AAA experience. 

Ed Chang, Director of Gaming at Ava Labs said: “Shrapnel’s entry into the market is symbolic of the maturation of GameFi towards AAA quality. Since launch, Avalanche has cemented its position as one of the fastest organically growing ecosystems in crypto with over 500 projects building on the platform. Now, welcoming its first AAA game into the ecosystem will showcase how Avalanche’s unmatched flexibility, speed, cost, and eco-friendly credentials make it the perfect foundation for top tier gaming projects to build upon.”

The news follows the close of a successful seed funding round for Shrapnel, who raised $10.5 million USD from leading players including Griffin Gaming Partners, Polychain Capital, and Forte. 

Nuvei will power online payments for Scout Gaming’s US-based daily fantasy sports offering, FanTeam

Nuvei Corporation (“Nuvei” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: NVEI) (TSX: NVEI), the global payment technology partner of thriving brands, announces today that it has partnered with Scout Gaming, the world’s leading provider of B2B fantasy sports and sports betting products.

Nuvei will support Scout Gaming’s expansion into the US market with an array of online payment options available on their consumer-facing daily fantasy sports app, FanTeam.

Through one integration, FanTeam will have access to more than 500 innovative payment methods in more than 200 markets as well as Nuvei's industry-leading payment processing services in the US including card processing, account-to-account transfers, and instant payments for deposits and payouts. By offering payments through Nuvei, FanTeam will benefit from better customer retention, increased acceptance rates, and broad market awareness.

“Providing the best payment experience is at the heart of what Nuvei does,” said Philip Fayer, Chair and CEO of Nuvei. “We are excited to support Scout Gaming to grow their player-base as they expand into the US through a best-in-class user experience.”

“As one of the leading daily fantasy sports providers, we are constantly looking for diverse payment solutions for our players,” said Andreas Ternström, CEO at Scout Gaming Group. “Through Nuvei’s innovative payment technology, we can continue to provide the best-in-class daily fantasy sports experience for our consumers.”

Collaborating with Scout Gaming will further solidify Nuvei as the leading payments partner for the fantasy sports and sports betting industries. As the industry grows rapidly more and more operators, including US sportsbooks, are relying on Nuvei’s technology and rich global heritage in regulated gaming to support them to maximize their revenues.

LendingUSA's enhanced instant decisioning capability uses TransUnion's Instant Prescreen solution to automatically qualify new and existing customers for prescreened offers within seconds.

"Conversations about money are almost always uncomfortable, and no one wants to be the bearer of unnecessary bad news when a loan application is declined, in particular within the funeral industry," says David Rueda, Executive Vice President at LendingUSA. "FastScreen empowers merchants with information that allows them to selectively offer financing to customers who are more likely to be approved."

To complete a FastScreen, the funeral merchant simply inputs the customer's name and address, and within seconds a prescreen decision will pop up. If the customer qualifies, the funeral home can share the good news with the family. If the customer does not meet underwriting requirements, the funeral merchant can focus on other payment methods. 

"Our new customer prescreen tool truly delivers a seamless experience to both merchants and customers," says Rueda. "We look forward to continuing to advance our products for the funeral industry and beyond."

FastScreen utilizes TransUnion's Instant Prescreen solution, which combines tailored customer attributes and instant decisioning to enable lenders to extend a firm offer of credit to the right consumer.

"This partnership is an example of how our solutions can enable lenders to meet very specific use cases across a variety of industries," said Liz Pagel, senior vice president and consumer lending business leader at TransUnion. "By integrating credit data with instant decisioning, qualifying consumers can benefit from the streamlined application process and are presented with relevant financing offers in real-time.

Community bank chooses nCino’s robust, single platform to best serve its community

nCino, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCNO), a pioneer in cloud banking and digital transformation solutions for the global financial services industry, today announced that $4 billion-asset sized SmartBank, a subsidiary of SmartFinancial, Inc. ("SmartFinancial” or the "Company"; NASDAQ: SMBK) is moving to the nCino Bank Operating System^®. SmartBank will utilize nCino’s Commercial Banking Solution, which will provide the institution a robust, digitized, end-to-end experience for all its clients.

“We know that investing in technology is crucial in the current digital landscape, but it’s even more critical to have the knowledge and understanding on where to best allocate that investment. We’ve been very acquisitive in the market and to ensure that our customer onboarding processes remain as seamless as possible, we needed a best-in-class solution that will serve our clients from anywhere, at anytime,” said Daniel Hereford, EVP and Chief Information Officer at SmartBank. “This partnership will create greater efficiency and transparency for our associates and customers, and we look forward to further simplifying the lending experience.”

SmartFinancial, headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, opened its first branch in 2007. The company continues to assess its digital capabilities and has made several bank acquisitions that have given it a 40-branch presence in Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. nCino’s platform will be critical to the bank’s active M&A strategy by creating a consistent and scalable loan delivery experience for merging institutions. SmartBank’s move to nCino will also help replace outdated legacy systems while increasing speed, efficiency, and the ease with which clients and their bankers interact.

“The upswing in M&A activity this past year has presented many opportunities for financial institutions to transition to new technologies as they look to expand their businesses,” said Will Cameron, Senior Vice President of Community and Regional Banking at nCino. “We are excited for SmartBank to have a scalable solution that will not only drive future growth, but will also create a single view for all of their commercial clients.”

Customers receive 100% cashback directly into their STICPAY account

Leading global digital payment provider STICPAY, has announced a further addition to its popular Forex Cashback service.

STICPAY receives a rebate from brokers for every new customer that signs up via their STICPAY account or links their STICPAY account to their broker. STICPAY has decided to pass 100% of this rebate onto its customers, which means their forex trades have an even greater chance of being profitable.

Customer Service Director at STICPAY, James Bay, explained: “We want to make it as easy and profitable as possible for people to get involved in forex trading. With our 100% cashback offer, our customers can enjoy a boost to their funds without even the need to make a claim. The money is automatically credited to their STICPAY account so there is no time lost when trying to take advantage of small but fast currency price moves.”

The move follows the recent news that STICPAY had added six new brokers onto its Forex Cashback service. This takes the number of broker partners to 21 and makes it easier for STICPAY’s customers to get involved in the potentially lucrative activity of forex trading.

Obtaining BOI status demonstrates firm’s commitment to regional growth

Exactpro, a leading software testing services provider for financial market infrastructures, announces today that it has obtained the Board of Investment (BOI) status in Sri Lanka, having signed an agreement marking Exactpro’s commitment to long-term investing in the country.

This announcement follows the news of Exactpro’s expansion to Sri Lanka in July 2021 through the launch of a delivery centre in Colombo and the appointment of Jagath De Silva as the Exactpro Systems Sri Lanka CEO in October 2021.

The BOI status in the region enables Exactpro to continue strengthening support for global clients, including major exchanges and firms in the UK and US. Most importantly, the expansion will allow Exactpro to tap into Sri Lanka’s rich talent pool, enabling the firm to

scale its support for existing and new global projects.

Exactpro will be working closely with higher education institutions based in Sri Lanka. The team has already met with the Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT), Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) and NSBM Green University during the last two weeks, with discussions underway to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in order to build a strong partnership in the future. Meetings with many other universities in the country will also be scheduled in the near future as part of Exactpro’s endeavour to help local students learn more about a career in software testing and quality assurance in the financial technology sector.

Alexey Zverev, co-CEO and co-founder of Exactpro, said: “We are delighted to continue our growth in Sri Lanka as part of our long-term business strategy to scale our capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region. We have a long-standing history of working successfully alongside leading technology specialists in Sri Lanka and expect the Exactpro delivery centre here in Colombo to be instrumental in driving the company’s efforts to further develop Exactpro’s next generation framework for automation in testing.”

Exactpro already has several projects and partnerships underway in the Sri Lankan market, including a local provider of wealth management software as a service (SaaS)and a provider of cloud-native blockchain enabled financial market infrastructure technology. Both engagements are a contribution to the already successful history of Exactpro’s collaboration with local specialists, that started over a decade ago with MillenniumIT (now LSEG Technology Sri Lanka).

Commenting on the news, Jagath De Silva, CEO, Exactpro Systems – Sri Lanka, said: “Obtaining BOI status was an important milestone that recognised our commitment to contributing to the growth of the high potential IT industry in Sri Lanka. We expect this recognition to generate benefits for both the Exactpro business and the Sri Lankan labour market.”

The firm is expected to hire 60-70 specialists locally this year and scale up to more than 100 team members in 2023.

Only 5% of UK SMEs have no issue with their current Payment Service Provider (PSP)

More than half of SMEs (52%) are frustrated by slow response times

Fear (29% worry about adoption costs), uncertainty (31% worry a change will impact CX), and contract lock-in (28%) are preventing UK SMEs from switching PSP

Mollie, one of the fastest growing payment service providers in Europe, today shared initial findings from a survey examining the state of the UK ecommerce sector, through the lens of small and medium-sized (SME) merchants. The assessment of the 500-strong representative cohort reveals a lack of proactive advice and support from Payments Service Providers (PSPs) but also a fear of switching.

More than half of SMEs (52%) reported being frustrated by slow response times. Nearly two in five (39%) complain that communications methods are not appropriate to their needs, and over a third (35%) say that their biggest frustration with their PSP’s customer service is the lack of issue resolution. Over one third of businesses surveyed have unresolved issues and a staggering 95% of those report service issues - just 5% were completely satisfied with the service they receive. 

In the last two years a third (34%) of UK SME ecommerce merchants have switched PSP and a further 37% have considered switching. Only 12% have never changed and 9% have never even considered it. The main reasons for switching, or considering a switch, are cost, complexity and poor customer support, but there are a number of factors that prevent switching.

Uncertainty surrounding the potential impact on customer experience (31%), fear of the costs of adopting new technology (29%), and complications with switching (28%) are the key factors preventing UK SMEs from switching PSP. Also ranking highly is the feeling it is too risky (23%), a lack of internal skills to manage the change (18%); and integration concerns (28%). For almost a third (28%) of UK SME ecommerce merchants, contractual lock-in was a major factor preventing switching.

“UK SMEs are quietly dissatisfied with their payment service providers, accepting and working around unresolved problems and unresponsive support. Fear, uncertainty and lock-in prevent them from switching,” says Josh Guthrie, Mollie’s UK Country Manager. “Amazon already accounts for more than 30% of UK ecommerce sales and this will intensify, threatening UK SME growth ambitions. UK SMEs deserve better - they need PSP partners with hosted onboarding to ease switching, a superior checkout experience to drive conversion and dedicated customer support that can help SMEs compete and grow, not just process their payments.”

Automation should be a top priority for insurance providers who urgently need to reduce the volume of repetitive tasks that prevent them from improving vital services, according to Jason Cripps, the former Global Head of Intelligent Automation at Zurich Insurance.

Speaking last night to an audience of senior figures at The Insurance Network event, sponsored by Laiye, at London’s Shard building, industry expert and now independent consultant Mr Cripps called on insurers to recognise the benefits of intelligent automation to liberate staff from manual tasks and free them up to improve business operations and customer experience.

He said, “Intelligent Automation is the top priority for enterprise in 2022, with the events of the past two years exponentially driving adoption. The benefits of automating mundane, non-value-added tasks are clear: increasing and diversifying revenue, enriching employee activity, optimising legacy tech and improving customer outcomes are common examples.

“However, first generation automation deployments solved simple tasks, but the true value cannot be realised without true Intelligent Automation deployed across the enterprise at scale,” added Cripps.

Neil Parker, general manager EMEA, Laiye, added, “The success of the insurance industry relies upon its ability to deliver first class customer services alongside accurate decision-making. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, with many new challenger organisations entering the fray, intelligent automation is a key differentiator for empowering companies to reach their full potential.”