• Partnership means that Status Money will now offer a credit card that automatically invests rewards in cryptocurrency

 Railsbank, the leading global Embedded Finance platform, and Status Money, the New York-based personal finance company, are partnering to launch an industry-leading cashback credit card that automatically invests rewards in cryptocurrency.

By partnering with Railsbank, Status Money is evolving from being a financial advice platform to a true financial services company to meet the investment pain points of its customers, providing its customers with an automatic way of turning their everyday spending habits into cryptocurrency investments.

This partnership comes at a time when 45% of Americans have no stock market investments (April 2020 poll by Gallup) and only 14% own crypto (April 2021 report by Gemini). Status Money already helps 400,000+ customers manage their finances and track how they are performing against their peers through its app.

The Status Money branded credit card has been made possible and brought to market in record time, thanks to Railsbank’s Credit-Card-as-a-Service product which lets partners like Status Money provide a fully featured credit card without needing to become a bank themselves.

This card provides an effortless fix for customers as it enables cardmembers to earn 2% unlimited cashback rewards on every purchase and automatically invests the rewards in crypto by default. Members get the investment returns without having to deal with the headaches and tax burden of owning crypto.

Dov Marmor, COO of Railsbank (North America), said: “Credit cards are one of the most commonly used spending mechanisms but over 80% of cards are issued by just the top 10 banks. There are simple reasons for this. Until now, issuing credit cards was an extremely complex and expensive business requiring vast technological infrastructure that meets heavy regulatory compliance.”

“We built Railsbank to enable companies like Status Money to create financial products that offer completely different value propositions, whereas currently big banks can only offer cashback, and more cashback. Railsbank offers this at a fraction of the cost and time that would have previously been required.”

Cardmembers will have full access to Status Money’s Premium suite of financial management tools, including the ability to track and compare their net worth with peers and to video chat with a financial advisor every month.

Majd Maksad, co-founder and CEO of Status Money, added: “We’re giving everyone who spends money the ability to become an investor automatically. If cryptocurrencies continue their skyward adoption, a member who spends $1,000 a month on this card will have rewards worth over $60,000 in five years. This is life-changing money for most of us.”

“Thanks to Railsbank, we’re taking our business model to the next level and opening up previously untapped revenue streams. We started Status Money with a social budgeting app that gave members new insights into their finances and access to advice – and this credit card is the first in a suite of products that will make it effortless to build wealth.”

Status Money launched its crypto rewards program this month with the credit card following soon after.

The Tech Nation Global Talent Visa reaches a milestone of 4,000 applications 

• Demand for the Global Talent Visa has increased by 28% between April’19 – March’20 (pre-pandemic) and April’20 – March’21.
• The number of applications for the visa has hit a milestone of 4,000 since 2014 – with a third (35%) of these coming through in the last 12 months.
• Over a third (39%) of all endorsed visa applicants have based themselves outside London.
• The number of endorsed applications from founders has grown by 73% on average every year since 2018.
• Cybersecurity, fintech and healthtech have experienced the highest increase in the number of applications since 2018.

Tech Nation, the UK’s scaleup experts, reveals new data on the Tech Nation Global Talent Visa, providing insights into the global talent pool working in the UK’s digital technology sector.

Tech Nation has been designated by the Home Office to endorse applications for the Global Talent Visa since 2014, enabling the best and brightest talent from around the world to come and work in the UK’s digital technology sector. The Tech Nation Global Talent Visa has received over 4,000 applications from 102 countries – with a third (35%) of these coming through in the last 12 months (July’20 - August’21) and 58% through in the last 24 months (July’19 - August’21).

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, repeated lockdowns, and travel restrictions in the last 18 months, the UK is still a magnet for global talent – with a 28% increase in applications from the period of April’19 - March’20, pre-pandemic, to April’20 - March’21. 

This talent is helping to drive the growth of tech across the UK, and over a third (39%) of visa applicants endorsed by Tech Nation decide to base themselves outside London - including Edinburgh, Newcastle, Cambridge, Oxford, Leeds, and Manchester.

Surge in founder applicants

The Global Talent Visa is open to both highly skilled tech employees and tech founders. The number of founders applying for the Visa scheme has grown by 74% on average every year since 2018, with over 600 tech founders now having been endorsed by Tech Nation. Founders bring new ideas, drive capital creation, and create employment opportunities within the UK tech sector. This is reflected in recent data released by Tech Nation analysing the UK’s decacorns (tech companies with valuations at $10bn and above) - across the UK’s 7 newest decacorns (created in 2021), 6 founders are from outside of the UK, hailing from Israel, Estonia, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, and the US. 

Strong growth in applications across key sectors

2021 has seen large increases in applicants across key sectors, with a 172% increase in the number of endorsed applicants in cybersecurity since 2018, 75% increase in applicants with a fintech background, and double (+117%) the number of applicants coming through with a healthtech background. The visa scheme plays a key role in supporting skilled international tech talent to drive the growth of the UK’s tech sector. Across all applicants, App & Software Development, AI and Machine Learning, and Enterprise Software are the most common skills. 

Gerard Grech, Founding CEO of Tech Nation, comments: “The UK is a global powerhouse for tech, not only due to our world-class ideas and innovation, but our world-class talent too. Tech Nation’s Global Talent Visa is just one of the many reasons the UK is such an attractive hub for ambitious and inspiring tech entrepreneurs, and will help ensure the UK remains one of the best destinations to start and scale a tech business in the months and years to come.”

Two founders who have used the visa are Gilbert Corrales who founded Newcastle-based Leaf, and Anita Koimur who co-founded FinTech LiveFlow. 

Gilbert Corrales, Founder and CEO of Leaf Grow, comments: “Being a Tech Nation Global Talent Visa holder has helped to give me and my co-founders the time, space and access to the network required to scale our business here in the UK. We have also benefited from the route to attract and retain some of our key international talent as we grow."

Anita Koimur, COO and Co-founder of LiveFlow, comments: “Securing the Talent Visa allowed me to continue living in the UK and empowered me to co-found a B2B SaaS company that was backed by Y Combinator and Seedcamp. This opportunity has enabled me to move forward professionally so it's something I am very grateful for.”

Capitalise.com, a digital ‘super platform’ that allows accountants and their SME clients to access capital with a suite of credit and risk tools, has raised £10 million from Experian, QED Investors, Gauss Ventures, Hambro Perks and Post Finance. The investment will support the launch of Capital Reports, an entirely new, integrated risk management service that takes up where traditional credit reports leave off.

Powered by Experian and embedded within an accounting service and SME balance sheet, Capital Reports allows accountants to protect their SME clients from unforeseen risks of their clients’ and suppliers’ credit positions by warning of potential defaults, it analyses what is available to a business and its propensity or need to borrow, and provides real time access to a curated panel of mainstream and alternative providers.    

Half a million UK SMEs have cash reserves of 4 weeks or less. Of those, some 230,000 are at high risk. Their average account balance is £45.000 but the average SME has £30k in outstanding delayed payments: with little idea about when, or if they will be paid. A stronger understanding of the financial risks posed by the suppliers and clients on whom they depend makes SMEs more resilient while improving their own credit rating, allowing easier access to capital at more attractive pricing from both mainstream and alternative finance providers.

Capitalise CEO and Co Founder Paul Surtees says; “Everybody has had to think differently during the pandemic, including us, so we created a virtuous circle in which SMEs and their advisors are shielded from risk and helped to grow. Powered by Experian’s credit data, propensity modelling and open banking, we  underline our commitment to our accounting community by bringing their data to life and supporting their SME clients, in bad times and good”.

‘Capital Reports’ will be available on the Capitalise platform which underpins the digitisation and access to capital of over 1,800 UK accounting firms and has delivered over £1billion of offers from its panel of 200 capital providers. Delivery will be through a free and paid subscription model. On launch it will be available to approximately 500,000 SMEs via their accountants and a further 500,000 via API and open banking partnerships. 

Capitalise CPO and Co Founder Ollie Maitlaind says; “Managing credit risk is central to lender activity but SME owners typically overlook it. This restricts their growth and jeopardizes their survival. While the digitalisation of financial services was on course to deliver SMEs with efficient access to new capital providers, the pandemic highlighted the fragility of their supply chains. As they emerge, their ability to recover and protect capital, while boosting their appeal to the lending community will be crucial. Capital Reports will make an unprecedented and timely contribution to SMEs’ ability to survive, and grow, in the UK within the coming months, in South Africa in Q4 with more countries to follow.

Diasoft, the software company listed in the TOP100 global fintech vendors by IDC, today announced it has achieved Red Hat Container Certification. The certification confirms that Diasoft’s application container images are built and certified using Red Hat Universal Base Image (UBI), assuring customers that container applications are supported on the world’s leading enterprise Linux platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

Diasoft's solutions created with open-source technologies are now available through the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog. Diasoft is part of the Red Hat Partner Connect ecosystem, opening new market opportunities for the solutions, both in Russia and around the world.

The Red Hat Container Certification process includes technological validation that Diasoft’s application image is built to the Red Hat standard using Red Hat Enterprise Linux based packages that are supported to include up-to-date vulnerability patches.

With this certification, Diasoft container images can be used to deploy applications on Red Hat OpenShift running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat OpenShift is the industry`s leading enterprise Kubernetes platform, which provides easier installation, configuration, and software upgrades. Red Hat OpenShift can manage advanced application lifecycles (configuration changes, backups and restores) and automatically scale the cluster.

“With a rich partner ecosystem, Red Hat provides an ideal environment for DevOps with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat OpenShift, allowing organizations to iterate their ecosystem at speed, both in the cloud and on-premise. Furthermore, platform-based solutions consolidate workflows and simplify task management, which is critical to digital transformation. Thus, the more solutions appear in the market, the easier for IT professionals to find the best tools for every specific project. We look forward to working with Diasoft and believe that the partner’s products will provide greater support and choice to various organizations and industries,” Timur Kulchitsky, country manager, Russia & CIS, Red Hat.

As of August 2021, Red Hat has certified the following Digital Q software solutions with microservice architecture to run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and supported Red Hat OpenShift environments:

• Digital Q.Omnichannel: Digital customer engagement platform for support of customer service business processes in digital channels.
• Digital Q.Customer Origination: Modern channel for digital customer onboarding and product origination.
• Digital Q.Risk&Compliance: Business platform for support of regulatory requirements to customer screening and identification of suspicious persons and transactions.
• Digital Q.Sensor: Technological platform for visual business processes analytics.
• Digital Q.ProductCatalog: Cross-product component for management of all products and services of  financial organizations.

Diasoft plans to build its collaboration with Red Hat to expand the list of Red Hat certified Diasoft solutions.

Red Hat-certified Diasoft solutions can help financial organizations successfully address the challenges of digital transformation and business process optimization, confidently enter new markets and integrate themselves into digital ecosystems. Modern microservice architecture accelerates time to market for unique financial products and services with the ability to monitor business efficiency in real time and make informed decisions based on live data.

Diasoft’s Red Hat certified containers can be accessed from the Red Hat container registry here. Red Hat, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the Red Hat logo and OpenShift are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.

Only 14% of UK Finance departments report a primary focus on cash flow during the COVID-19 pandemic -

New research has shown that just 14% of UK Finance decision-makers focused on cash flow during the most recent Covid-19 lockdown. 

The majority of businesses focussed on cost-cutting exercises and the use of Government support. For example, 41% confirmed they had furloughed accounts payable staff over the past 12 months.

As of June 2021, approximately 11.6 million jobs had been placed on furlough in the United Kingdom as part of the government's job retention scheme at a cost of around £100 billion.

Ian Smith, GM and Finance Director for document management provider Invu, the company that commissioned the research, argues that cash is the key metric in a crisis.

“Cost-cutting is a key component in cash management but failing to pay attention to current and future cash flow both entering and coming out of a crisis can be terminal for a business.”

“At the start of a crisis, working capital assets and liabilities unwind as the volume of business reduces. For most businesses, this releases cash tied up in working capital and together with cost-cutting may help a business survive to the bottom of the cycle. Emerging from the crisis will see both increasing expenditure and increasing working capital requirements, a nasty pincer movement on cash resources.”    

“Surviving this cycle is dependent on having full visibility of working capital commitments which places a high reliance on timely and accurate management accounts and visibility of future financial commitments.”

The survey showed 16% of UK businesses can take up to 20 days to publish their management accounts - a further 7% taking over 30 days.

Smith argues that this is far too long in a normal business environment, let alone a crisis, as the relevance of the information diminishes after each passing day, providing little value for decision making.

“A business needs real-time visibility of variances compared to plan to be agile in a crisis. Each day spent waiting for management accounts, to see variances in performance against the current plan, represents a lag in decision making for corrective actions. This is a significant business vulnerability to nasty financial surprises,” Smith says.

The survey showed that a minority of businesses, 32%, use budgetary controls at the point of making a purchase commitment, and 68% of those businesses believed their purchasing process was effective.

“The majority of businesses appear to make financial commitments without fully understanding their financial business impact at the point of purchase. Combining this with slow management reporting means the impact on cash is often not known until it’s too late to do anything about it,” Smith continues. “Narrowing the gap between making a commitment and understanding its impact on cash flow needs to be a priority. Businesses failing to address this are at risk.”

GBT Technologies Inc. (OTC PINK: GTCH) ("GBT” or the “Company”), evaluates developing a driver monitoring system based on its wireless movement and position detection technology, internal project code name Apollo. Apollo is an intelligent method and system to detect motion-based radio waves. An AI system controls radio wave transmission and analyzes the reflected information to construct 2D and 3D images including real time movement. The system, once developed also can potentially detect human’s vitals like heart rate, breathing rhythm and more. GBT is investigating applying this technology as a vehicle’s driver monitoring system.

Statistics show that more than 90% of road accidents are caused by driver error (European survey - European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP). Human errors can occur due to driver fatigue, distraction, inattentiveness, intoxication, inexperience, or sudden medical incapacitation. The Apollo system upon development can potentially and effectively detect impaired or distracted driving, providing an audible and visual alert and possibly in extreme cases, prevent crashes or take over the vehicle. The Apollo system may use radio waves for monitoring and assessing the driver's physical and mental condition reliably and accurately. Based on this data the system can alert or act to ensure safety. The system concept includes an AI algorithm that analyze the driver's face, breathing rhythm, heart rate, eyes status, and perspiration and can determine if he/she is in a condition to control the vehicle.

GBT believes that the Apollo system, if developed, can significantly reduce driver errors caused by distractions, fatigue or emotional causes and can save lives by taking control over the vehicle, in case of sudden medical condition. The company will add this these concepts and possible application to its non-provisional patent that is planned to be filed during the next few weeks.

“We have identified an efficient safety application of our Apollo project technology. The Apollo system can detect objects and living entities based on radio technology. The system analyzes the returned reflected waves information and detects people’s position, movements, and can even measure their vitals. When applying this technology as a driver monitoring system, Apollo can analyze the driver's face, eyes position, pupils, heart rate, breathing rhythm, head, and body position in order to “see” the driver’s face, and posture. Using this data, the system can determine the driver’s physical and mental status at all times. For example, it can identify that the driver’s eyes are closed, open or blinking. Since the technology is RF based it can detect these characteristics even if the driver is wearing dark sunglasses or at night. AI algorithms collect the driver’s data, creating a model of a driver’s normality, attentiveness, and state of mind in normal circumstances. In case of abnormalities the system will alert via audible and visual to get the driver's attention. Upon user’s permission setup, if no driver response is achieved in an acceptable time manner, the system can take control over the vehicle, and stop it for safety purposes. The company filed a provisional patent on June 2021, and will file a comprehensive non-provisional patent during the next few weeks. We truly believe that such system can be an essential safety application for all vehicle types, significantly increasing our roads safety for generations to come.” Said Danny Rittman, GBT’s CTO.

There is no guarantee that the Company will be successful in researching, developing or implementing this system. In order to successfully implement this concept, the Company will need to raise adequate capital to support its research and, if successfully researched, developed and granted regulatory approval (provisional patent was submitted), the Company would need to enter into a strategic relationship with a third party that has experience in manufacturing, selling and distributing this product. There is no guarantee that the Company will be successful in any or all of these critical steps.

• Fundraise: Rocket Academy raises $1.1m in pre-seed funding from consortium of business angels 
• Demand: Over the past 3 months, demand for their Coding Basics course has increased 10x 
• Growth: Rocket Academy is actively hiring to double its headcount by end 2021 to address global talent shortage of developers, expected to reach 85.2m in 2030 
• Impact: 100% of students who graduate from Rocket Academy bootcamp course secure jobs 

Rocket Academy, a start-up providing online coding courses, today announced it has raised $1.1 million in pre-seed funding. The investment comes from a consortium of 50 marquee tech investors and venture capitalists including entrepreneurs Darius Cheung from 99.co, Marcus Tan from Carousell and Stanley Tang from DoorDash, former Singapore Ambassador to the UN Kishore Mahbubani, SEA tech leaders’ investment network XA Network, and VC firms Taurus Ventures and Hustle Fund. Rocket Academy will use this funding to grow the company into the leading coding school in Southeast Asia helping to address the current industry-wide shortage in software engineers.

Rocket Academy has developed two courses to date: Coding Basics, an introductory course for beginners to learn the basics of coding; and Software Engineering Bootcamp (SEB), which prepares students for a career in software engineering. All course material is pre-recorded for students to review and complete at their own pace. Rocket Academy holds regular live classes over Zoom for students to clarify concepts with instructors, apply learning in pair exercises and network with classmates. Classes are online allowing greater flexibility and efficiency, and the course platform allows high levels of engagement between students and teachers.

Kai Yuan Neo, Founder and CEO at Rocket Academy commented: “There is a mounting global talent shortage of developers around the world. As of December 2020 this amounted to 40 million developers worldwide. By 2030, that is expected to reach 85.2 million. Not only this but companies worldwide risk losing $8.4 trillion in revenue because of the lack of skilled talent. Rocket Academy exists to solve this equation and we are on a mission to scale further and faster.”

In addition to teaching, Rocket Academy helps its SEB graduates find their dream software engineering jobs through resume development, portfolio development and interview preparation. Rocket Academy leverages its network of companies sourcing for software engineers, makes referrals and helps set up job interviews for SEB graduates. To date, Rocket Academy has a 100% success rate in placing SEB graduates in software engineering jobs within companies and organisations such as 99.co, Xfers, Glints, GovTech, and GoTrade.

“Getting our students good jobs is our top priority. The better jobs our students get, the stronger our alumni network becomes, which enables us to find better jobs for future students,” said Neo Kai Yuan Neo. “Over the past months the demand for our SEB graduates from businesses has doubled. So far we have successfully placed all SEB graduates. We are so confident that our SEB graduates will find coding jobs that we will refund their fees if they still cannot find a job 6 months after graduation.”

Although Rocket Academy is a small start-up, it has lofty ambitions – to train and supply the best software engineers in the region. Rocket Academy will invest its pre-seed funding in two key areas. First, further developing its flagship products, Coding Basics and Software Engineering Bootcamp courses. This involves strengthening course curriculum and improving the learning platform to boost the student experience. Second, expanding to new markets, specifically Hong Kong and Australia in the short term, other Southeast Asian markets in the medium term, and then globally in the long term.

To succeed, Rocket Academy will need the best software engineering and education talents to craft its student experience. The company prides itself on a work environment with highest-calibre peers, transparent company progress, decentralised decision making, and flexible work arrangements. Rocket Academy is actively hiring and targets to double its headcount by end 2021.

“Over the past 3 months we have seen a 10-fold increase in demand for our Coding Basics course and a 4-fold increase in demand for our SEB course. We are regularly in touch with businesses to understand technical skills that software engineers need. This allows us to refine our curriculum to make it relevant and appropriate for students looking for rewarding software engineering careers,” added Neo Kai Yuan.

“Rocket Academy is exactly what Singapore needs now. To get good middle-class jobs, young Singaporeans need to be globally competitive in the digital space. Rocket Academy provides these critical skills. This initiative couldn’t be more timely!” said Kishore Mahbubani, Former Singapore Ambassador to the UN and angel investor in Rocket Academy’s pre-seed round.

  One-stop-shop platform empowering retailers to modernize trade and accelerate digital adoption

•  Aims to offer host of tech-enabled trade offerings to drive mass acceptance

•  To offer an all-inclusive digital payment hub that ensures easy acceptance across different form factors, simplified for both retailers and customers

•  A store management tool to offer one-click process to take stores online, digital ledger for better credit management and unified platform offering wholesale procurement options

•  Eyes to digitize millions of largely underserved MSMEs as well as bring a new set of retailers into the PayNearby fold

In its bid to mass modernize the retail sector across the country, PayNearby, India’s leading branchless banking and digital payments network, has associated with Retailers Association's Skill Council of India (RASCI) to launch “PayNearby NeoDukaan” to digitally upgrade its retail partners and gear them towards a better livelihood. PayNearby NeoDukaan is a first-of-its-kind holistic store management tool aimed at digitizing the retail stores and accelerating digital adoption at the last mile. With multiple digital payment options, digital ledger for credit management and online wholesale procurement options, PayNearby NeoDukaan looks to create a thriving ecosystem for its retail partners by empowering them digitally and bringing them at par with the current times.

In India, retail is evolving, retailers are not. Retail is India’s largest industry, accounting for over 10% of the country’s GDP and 8% of employment, however, despite its large size, the sector has remained predominantly unorganized due to the presence of local stores and vendors. To win in this changing landscape, the local retailers need to change too. To be indispensable to the consumer, local retailers must constantly update to accommodate their various needs. And, PayNearby is completely transforming the retail outlets and making them future-ready. The company has enabled more than 38+ lakh retailers across 17, 600+ PIN codes to have a strong online presence and ensures that small and local shops are not left behind in the transforming digital world.

Echoing this sentiment is PayNearby’s latest business vertical – the NeoDukaan app. This store management package is an end-to-end comprehensive suite that exclusively focuses on helping retailers modernize their stores, simplify their lives and bring them at par with the times. With this app, PayNearby intends to make retailers future-proof and take them to the level where they can compete with the e-commerce giants and large format superstores. PayNearby NeoDukaan enables stores to go online with a single click and service customers in their neighborhood and beyond to avail the digital store at their convenience. With this platform, PayNearby aims to digitally empower the local retailers in India whilst enhancing their efficiency and opportunities to serve their customers better.

Today, it is crucial for all stores to have digital formats of digital payments. This all-new platform will enable retailers to offer wide-ranging payment options such as UPI QR, Aadhaar Pay, mPOS and SoftPOS to the customers in the local community. Besides being cost-effective and easily implementable, retailers will not lose customers due to limited payment options and will be able to offer digital financial services seamlessly. PayNearby NeoDukaan will help retailers provide a slew of choices to their customers and will help accelerate digital adoption in the country, especially among the underbanked spectrum, reducing the demand for cash and cash-led transactions. Besides, in the wake of COVID, it will enable customers to make safe, contactless payments too. NeoDukaan, thus, aims to democratize digital payments, ensuring the availability of form factor agnostic transactions at the last mile such that digital payments become as seamless as exchanging cash.

In the majority of Tier II, Tier III cities and beyond, most of the daily businesses run on credit. Retailers end up breaking their backs to maintain a physical ledger and spending long hours on reconciliation. While retailers are used to traditional bookkeeping by maintaining bahi-khatas, NeoDukaan will help them manage customer credits more efficiently with ‘Customer Khata’ - a digital ledger. Besides offering enhanced security, Customer Khata will help retailers to go digital, streamline their accounts and reconcile better. With Customer Khata, retailers can record all transactions digitally, set automatic payment reminders for customers - so that they can collect the dues on time, and view customized reports too.

Moreover, many small businesses do not have a good supply management. They often end up shelling out exorbitant prices for supplies that are way beyond the wholesale rates, incurring losses. To help with this, PayNearby NeoDukaan will also function as an aggregator platform, whereby retailers can easily access various wholesale procurement alternatives such as Big Basket, ITC, Unnati etc. all in one spot. Currently, no other player offers multiple wholesale procurement options on a unified platform. Besides operational efficiency, the app will enable retailers to digitally procure goods timely and at competitive prices.

Commenting on this occasion, Mr. Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby, remarked, “We are thrilled to present the PayNearby NeoDukaan app to help our retail partners grow non-stop in life. Retailing in India is one of the pillars of our socio-economic structure, with retailers having deep-rooted relationships in the local communities. For India to thrive and grow, it is important that the retailers are given the necessary support and tools to stay relevant in the fast-evolving economy. PayNearby NeoDukaan is one such effort committed to enabling financial inclusiveness and the economic wellbeing of the retailers.

As the word ‘neo’ denotes transformation, PayNearby NeoDukaan will be a game-changer for the mass retail community offering them opportunities to acquire new customers, engage better with existing customers and reduce the cost of operations. This will further accelerate the growth of the digital economy even across hinterlands and remote towns whilst making ‘Digital India’ a closer reality. PayNearby NeoDukaan will transform every shop in the country into a shop ready for a new era.

As an organization, PayNearby acknowledges the deep symbiotic relationship it has with the retailer community, and with PayNearby NeoDukaan, we want to assure the progress of our retailers. Our association with RASCI will ensure that our retail partners have all they need to get ahead in life. This is our ‘Zidd Aage Badhne Ki’. A ‘Zidd’ to make every shop in Bharat modern, digitally-empowered and future-ready.”

On the occasion, James A. Raphael Executive Head - Retailers Association's Skill Council of India (RASCI) and Joint Central Apprenticeship Adviser - Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (GOI) said, “PayNearby is paving the way to bridge the gulf of Bharat and India.  NeoDukaan is a committed stride towards the digital empowerment of local retail at the last mile. It will position Indian retailers at the forefront of a new consumption economy whilst offering a huge stimulus to the ‘Digital India’ movement. This digital transition will usher in a new era of commerce, transform 'job seekers' into 'job creators' and will create millions of livelihood opportunities in the hinterlands and small towns thereby driving economic growth and social upliftment in the real Bharat.”

Additionally, the company has set an ambitious target of on-boarding 100 million retailers by 2025. PayNearby NeoDukaan is designed to bring a completely new set of retailers into the PayNearby fold.

Proficient European P2P investors choose liquidity on the secondary market

According to the investment platform Robo.cash, 62% of European P2P investors support the opportunity of buying loans on the secondary market. The growing demand for this option is primarily driven by experienced customers with sufficient funding.