This January, the Government Blockchain Association (GBA), will present The Future of Money, Governance, & the Law, live in Washington DC., and streamed globally.

Congress just passed a $1.2 trillion spending package, aimed at mending the US roads and transport infrastructure.

Democrats claim the bill pays for itself through a variety of sources without raising taxes. But the Congressional Budget Office reported that the bill would add $256 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years. If taxes are not raised, where is the money coming from?

The CBO stated that the bill would raise about $50 billion by changing the tax reporting requirements for cryptocurrencies, among other measures. That would be half a billion per year out of a global market cap of $2.9Trillion. Other sources for the infrastructure bill will include unspent stimulus money. That stimulus money was created by adding $14 Trillion to the money supply. In one year.

Confused?
In a post-pandemic world, businesses are facing the money, inflation, and debt circle, inspiring many to put their reserves into crypto. How will the tax reporting requirement changes affect businesses that interact with cryptocurrency? How will these requirements affect the individual? Will this new debt erode the value of the dollar?

This January, the Government Blockchain Association (GBA), will present The Future of Money, Governance, & the Law, live in Washington DC., and streamed globally. Topics will include:
- Cryptocurrency Adoption and Projection
- Redefining Money
- Money, Inflation & Debt
- Tokenomics & Crypto-Governance
- State and Local Government and Blockchain
- National and International Government and Blockchain
- Blockchain Regulations/Licensing/NFTs
- Legal and Regulatory Issues
- Banking and CBDCs

And much more..
Join the GBA community this January 27-28, live in Washington, D.C., or streamed globally, and learn how to navigate the changes that are coming. Tickets are on sale now.

For more information on the Government Blockchain Association, go to www.gbaglobal.org

Credlix, the digital supply chain financing platform from Moglix, has entered the EXIM financing space, with its acquisition of NuPhi. The acquisition comes shortly after Moglix’s entry into the Middle East region. As Moglix continues to expand globally, it is focusing on strengthening its supply chain financing solutions to enable manufacturers easy access to cash flow for their growth. Moglix has been working with suppliers and manufacturers across more than 120 countries. As part of its COVID19 response, Moglix supported PPE and medical equipment deliveries to organizations to mitigate global supply chain disruptions in 53 countries.

NuPhi is a Singapore based fintech start-up offering invoice factoring solutions to MSME exporters in India and SouthEast Asia. Founded in 2019, by Pramit Joshi and Mayur Totla, NuPhi offers cross border financing and SaaS applications to digitalise & automate EXIM workflows.

Elaborating on the decision to enter EXIM financing through the acquisition of NuPhi, CEO & Founder, Moglix, Rahul Garg said “As we continue to grow across verticals and geographies, we are building a single operating system for B2B commerce in the manufacturing sector. We are simplifying the flow of goods and value through our global supply chain to improve the ease of doing business. In NuPhi we have found a great team that is passionate about solving for credit access to MSMEs that is a key bottleneck in the global manufacturing supply chain.”

Speaking on its integration with Credlix, Pramit Joshi Co-Founder, NuPhi, said ‘’We are excited to be a part of Credlix and solve the large unmet credit demand of exporter MSMEs in India & SE Asia. We are at the cusp of growth in manufacturing led exports from the country and there is a compelling need for tech led EXIM financing solutions. With the Moglix ecosystem, we become perhaps the only financing company in India that can leverage the synergies from an integrated B2B commerce business - from procurement to invoicing and financing.”

Credlix, launched in February 2021, has already exceeded the annual run rate of credit disbursal of $100 Million. The company has thus far financed 26,000+ invoices for 2,500+ MSMEs across 120 cities. The clientele of Credlix includes manufacturing leaders from diverse industry verticals such as metals, fashion, retail, and hospitality among others.

Project TEN offers combined solution for crypto anti-money laundering (AML), trade surveillance, Travel Rule compliance

Three market leaders in the global digital asset regulatory and compliance space have formed a partnership to create a one-stop solution for firms across the digital asset ecosystem, solving for cryptocurrency anti-money laundering (AML), trade surveillance, as well as Travel Rule compliance for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs).

TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics provider, Eventus Systems, global provider of digital asset trade surveillance solutions, and end-to-end Travel Rule solution provider Notabene today announced the formation of “Project TEN,” which will provide the marketplace with a comprehensive offering to address a host of risk management and compliance challenges facing firms in the digital asset space.

With the launch of Project TEN, crypto-native firms as well as traditional financial institutions moving into virtual assets will benefit from a joint service designed to help maximize the efficiency of regulatory compliance operations. The offering will feature Eventus’ trade surveillance and market risk applications; TRM Labs’ transaction monitoring, wallet screening and forensics tools; and Notabene’s counterparty risk management and Travel Rule compliance software.

Esteban Castaño, Co-founder and CEO of TRM Labs, said: “Organizations operating in the crypto space are tasked with managing a complex regulatory landscape in a rapidly evolving market. Project TEN helps organizations address this complexity by bringing distinct areas of risk management expertise into one comprehensive offering.”

Eventus CEO Travis Schwab said: “We’re delighted to join forces with two other market leaders in the global digital asset space to introduce efficiencies and make lives easier for crypto firms striving to hold themselves to the highest standards, both to attract investment flows and meet regulatory obligations. Powered in part by our Validus trade surveillance platform, the Project TEN partnership offers a compelling solution to a wide cross-section of participants, including traditional financial institutions looking to enter the digital asset space while ensuring they have the same robust processes in place that they apply to other asset classes.”

Pelle Brændgaard, CEO of Notabene, said: “There are many distinct tasks that must be addressed by any institution offering digital asset services. Project TEN creates a comprehensive compliance solution for firms across the rapidly growing global digital asset space. Partnerships are critical as many complex components must work together to manage overall compliance risk. We’re thrilled to embed our privacy-preserving Travel Rule solution into Project TEN, the first comprehensive offering allowing institutional clients to enter the crypto space in a regulatory-compliant manner.”

For more information on Project TEN, visit https://info.eventussystems.com/project-ten.

Sovcombank is the first Russian bank to support the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and of the Working Group on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures). The Bank is committed to applying the Working Group’s recommendations to make its ESG reporting even more transparent.

The Bank adheres to international standards in preparing its sustainability report, including the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, as well as the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative Principles for Responsible Banking – and now the TCFD.

Background information:

PJSC Sovcombank is a universal bank and one of the 10 largest banks in the country (with assets of RUB 1.9 trillion according to IFRS). The Bank employs 24,500 people in 2,942 offices located in 1,037 communities in 77 regions of Russia. The Bank serves 11.9 million customers, including 11.1 million borrowers, 600,000 depositors and 200,000 legal entities. Sovcombank has been assigned the following ratings from international agencies: a BB rating with a positive outlook from Standard & Poor’s, a Ba1 rating with a stable outlook from Moody’s and a BB+ rating with a stable outlook from Fitch Ratings. Its credit ratings from Russian agencies include an AA- rating with a stable outlook from ACRA, an ruАА rating with a stable outlook from Expert RA and an AA- rating with a stable outlook from National Credit Ratings Agency.

PPS, an Edenred subsidiary and a one-stop-shop for prepaid and fintech programmes, today announces its partnership with alternative e-money provider for the financially excluded Suits Me, following its migration from Banking as a Service Provider, Contis.

Launched in 2015, Suits Me is an established, award winning UK-based alternative to traditional high street banks for customers looking for hassle-free banking, such as those arriving in the UK for seasonal work with no track record of address or credit history, and those in financial difficulty looking for a fresh start account. Following the migration of the majority of its customer base from its previous provider, Contis, Suits Me has completed its integration with PPS’ platform to enable a wide range of services. By utilising PPS’ technology and licences for issuing cards and e-money, Suits Me is now able to offer services including Debit BIN, Mastercard Settlement, Banking Service, BACs In, CHAPs In, Direct Debit, Direct Debit Indemnity Claim and PayPoint cash load.

The diverse range of products and services gained by a single integration into the PPS platform has enabled a wider audience for Suits Me that has imminent plans to increase its presence into Europe over the next two years. Already boasting a multilingual customer care team the established fintech player is now able to offer international transfers at greatly reduced rates with greater freedoms to onboard new customers with an easier and quicker experience to sign up and start an account.

The news comes as there are still around 1.2 million people in the UK without access to banking with freelancers, temporary labour workers and migrant workers all struggling to get standard bank accounts due to their unstable incomes. Suits Me is on a mission to make sure that in today's modern society factors like a credit score or an unstable income are not a barrier to getting essential banking services.

Richard Lynch, Managing Director of Suits Me, commented: “We believe that everyone should have access to financial services, no matter of their background and financial position. Thanks to PPS these are incredibly exciting times for Suits Me as our partnership will not only increase our best-in-class product portfolio for the underserved, it will also allow our business to grow with fewer restrictions, enabling more flexibility and ease of use for our customers who are the heart of everything we do. Our partnership with PPS is something we are extremely proud of with the migration and change of scheme completed remotely during lockdown along with a new card design.”

Ray Brash, Chief Executive Officer of PPS, added: “Through our commitment to technology, innovation and expansion, PPS’ processing platform is playing a vital role in powering a range of fintechs to improve services for the people outside the current financial system. We are immensely pleased to have partnered with Suits Me to support those in financial difficulty, including migrant workers living here where English may not be their preferred or first language. By enabling accounts for all while providing added services such as a cashback reward scheme at various online and high street retailers we can continue to offer enhanced  comprehensive solutions to financially excluded customers.

PPS will support future plans for Suits Me providing greater flexibility to develop and grow with more ownership over the relationship with customers, while gearing up for European expansion with multi-lingual customer service agents already servicing existing Suits Me cardholders. As the demand for temporary labour increases PPS will continue to build corporate relationships with employers and recruiters of temporary labour to issue cards to freelancers and migrant workers who would otherwise struggle to find banking services while in the UK.

Compass Plus’ innovative universal mobile payments service, MobiCash, has scooped Best Mobile Payments Solutions award at the ninth annual Payments Awards. MobiCash received the accolade during an in-person awards ceremony which took place at Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square in London on Thursday 11^th November. The awards recognise excellence and innovation in the payments industry as a whole.

MobiCash is an integral component of Compass Plus’ wider digital solutions, which combined, form a seamless mobile-first digital payments ecosystem. As a mobile payments service, MobiCash is designed to go beyond payment acceptance in order to support the unique requirements of different sectors and their customers; to provide modern, feature-rich, payment journeys, alongside extensive value-adds. It is simple to use and offers a cheaper and more inclusive way of accepting payments at a wide range of businesses, from charities to utilities companies, shops to tradesmen, and more.

Bethan Cowper, Associate Vice President, Market Development & Business Analytics at Compass Plus said: “We are proud that MobiCash has received such a prestigious award, particularly when up against such deserving competition. The win is testament to the versatility of the  service, and highlights how MobiCash can help businesses thrive, even in uncertain times such as COVID19. This was clearly demonstrated by how MobiCash has transformed the collection strategies of charities in the UK, turning one-off contributions into regular donations and accelerating fundraising initiatives even in comparison to before the pandemic. This is a drop in the ocean of what MobiCash can do and we are excited to share MobiCash with the payments’ world.”

For more information, please contact either Declan Kinsella or Ash Dhindsa PR@compassplus.com / +44 115 753 0120.

 Apple CEO Tim Cook told the New York Times’ DealBook the company is considering cryptocurrency features but didn’t go into any specifics. While Cook noted that Apple has no “immediate plan” to enable crypto payments in Apple Pay, his comments didn’t preclude the integration entirely.

Key context: This isn’t the first time Apple has weighed crypto functionality. In 2019, Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey expressed interest in adding cryptocurrency into the mobile wallet, saying that cryptos had “long-term potential.”

Given both the surge in crypto payment products this year—with players like PayPal and Mastercard joining the fray—and Apple’s standing as a tech innovator, some financial experts view an Apple Pay crypto integration as an obvious business move. Back in February, RBC Capital Markets analysts said Apple Pay would benefit from integrating cryptocurrency offerings into its platform, noting that it would let Apple capture significant crypto market share. And a job posting from May suggests that Apple has been weighing crypto integrations for some time now.

The opportunity: While Apple’s crypto plans remain uncertain, an Apple Pay or Apple Card crypto integration could help the tech giant increase monetization and engagement.

• An Apple Pay crypto integration could help close the gap between iPhone owners and Apple Pay users. Apple Pay has expanded to include support for things like driver's licenses and student IDs—both attempts to increase user adoption. Only about 38% of US iPhone owners use Apple Pay, according to estimates using Insider Intelligence iOS and Apple Pay forecasts. And with consumer interest in crypto rising, implementing the tech in its wallet could give Apple a concomitant increase in adoption.
• A crypto-linked Apple Card product could boost Apple’s card business and payments volume. A bevy of crypto-linked card products from players like Visa and Mastercard have launched in the last few months, suggesting demand and growth benefits from these types of solutions. Integrating cryptos into the Apple Card might induce higher spending and may even help grow its user base: There are an estimated 6.4 million Apple Card users, per Cornerstone Advisors. A crypto feature could also bolster Apple’s overall payments business.

Why this could succeed: Although its business has a very different focus, PayPal’s experience with cryptos suggests Apple Pay could find success with digital currencies.

Referencing PayPal’s crypto service that launched in November 2020, CEO Dan Schulman said on the company’s Q1 earnings call that nearly half of all crypto users opened the PayPal app every day. Apple Pay could unlock similar engagement if it decides to launch a crypto integration.

Related content: Check out how other wallets, like PayPal and Square, are tapping into the crypto phenomenon.

According to the results of Q3 2021, international fintech holding Robocash Group has issued 547.3 M USD worth of loans. Notably, every fifth loan was issued to the new customers. 

The Group has greatly exceeded the initial goal of doubling the disbursement volumes compared to 2020. In the 9 months of 2021 alone, the holding has issued 547.3 M USD worth of loans, up by 151.8% from the same period last year. Comparing the volumes issued for the whole year of 2020, the Group has already outpaced the results by 69.7%.

Due to increased issuance volume, the Group’s revenue for the period has also seen considerable growth at 227.6 M USD, a 172.8% increase. The net profit growth slowed down in Q3 2021, resulting in 19.1 M USD for 9M 2021, though still surpassing the results for the same period last year. Although a significant number of new customers in the group's key markets does not translate into increased profits this year, it will result in a greater profit gain in 2022.  At the same time, the management expects an overall improvement in Q4 2021, achieving the 34-35 M USD net profit for the whole year. 

Commenting on the results, Sergey Sedov, Founder & CEO of Robocash Group said: “Alternative lending has been growing rapidly in the emerging markets of South and Southeast Asia. Rising consumption volumes and the third wave of the pandemic are urging the growing demand for additional funds. Therefore, an income gap among the population is still significant. In this sense, our results at Robocash Group to date have only confirmed that. This year’s Robocash Group's entry into Sri Lanka and launching new credit service in the Philippines aimed to further facilitate the financial inclusion across South and Southeast Asia. We will continue expanding our activities to provide access to financing to a broader range of customers.”

JCB International Credit Card Co., Ltd.the US subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., Japan's only international payment brand, and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NY MTA), the largest public transit authority in North America, are pleased to announce the enablement of JCB Contactless payment acceptance at all OMNY (One Metro New York) contactless subway and bus validator screens.

NY MTA is one of the largest transportation systems in the world and a vital infrastructure not only for locals, but also for travelers. JCB has been one of NY MTA's long-time fare payment options and now enabling contactless payments gives JCB cardmembers the convenience of tapping their cards wherever OMNY, NY MTA's contactless fare payment system, is available.

Sarah Meyer, Chief Customer Officer of NY MTA, commented, "We look forward to working closely with JCB. Huge numbers of visitors from Asia will be able to experience the seamlessness of OMNY when they are visiting New York City. We are excited about being a conduit to contactless users from around the world."

Ray Shinzawa, President & COO at JCBUSA, said, "We are pleased that our JCB cardmembers can now enjoy the added convenience of tapping their cards or smartphones on NY MTA subway and bus validator screens. We respect and appreciate NY MTA's NFC adoption of JCB, a prominent payment brand from Asia. JCB has been leading the NFC interface since 2000's with Felica in Japan. JCB's NFC acceptance is growing rapidly, and JCB is committed to broaden the NFC network to enhance convenience and security in transportation around the world."