Yooz, the international provider of intelligent P2P software, has been shortlisted in the category Best Cloud Automation Solution in The Cloud Awards, the international Cloud Computing Awards program.

Since 2011, The Cloud Awards program has sought to champion excellence and innovation in cloud computing. Entries are accepted throughout the globe and across multiple industry sectors.

Yooz COO and Chief Innovation Officer Laurent Charpentier said, “To be shortlisted for our work in this international program is not only an honour, but clear recognition of the successes and customer satisfaction we strive to achieve with leading cloud technologies.”

Head of Operations for the Cloud Awards, James Williams, said: “Yooz has recognised the importance of adopting and pioneering leading cloud technologies in order to deliver outstanding client success, which is why they’re a deserving finalist in the Cloud Awards program.

“The Cloud Awards team already had a near-impossible task sorting the exceptional from the excellent and the bleeding-edge from the cutting-edge. Weighing both proven successes and exceptional promise across several unique categories is a constant challenge.

“We see organisations not only adopting leading technologies, but constantly innovating and leveraging their expertise to provide unprecedented levels of customer satisfaction.”

Hundreds of organisations entered, with entries coming from across the globe, covering the Americas, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. You can view the full shortlist here: https://www.cloud-awards.com/cloud-computing-awards/.

Final winners will be announced on Thursday 30 January 2020.

 Marqeta, the leading global modern payments platform, is now a European certified processor with Mastercard. This new collaboration is designed to help digital banks and FinTechs go to market and scale faster. Twisto, an innovative daily payments app linked to a card, will be the first European customer to deploy Marqeta’s card processing capabilities with Mastercard.

Through this partnership with Marqeta, Mastercard’s European customers will now have the opportunity to work with the Marqeta platform that has already significantly disrupted the US market. Marqeta’s proven capability enables businesses to go to market and scale faster. Mastercard offers payment solutions for businesses, retailers, governments and consumers across Europe and the world. Marqeta provides instant access to a sandbox and fully published API documentation via its website, which empowers customers to test and build new innovations.

Twisto will now benefit from this solution, giving it a fast, transparent and hassle-free way to issue cards. Additionally, the offering gives Twisto access to actionable, real-time transaction data that will help them further opitmise business decision making.

“We’re pleased to be able to partner with one of the defining names in global payments to empower fintech players such as Twisto to get to market faster and easier. With Marqeta now able to process Mastercard card payments, more FinTechs across Europe will have the agility and flexibility to provide innovative digital banking services.” Said Ian Johnson, Head of European Growth at Marqeta.

Jason Lane, Executive Vice President, Market Development Europe at Mastercard added: “By partnering with an innovative global payment platform like Marqeta, we can help Mastercard issuers build card products even faster, while also retaining complete control over the end to end process.  Marqeta brings a transparent, innovative and easy to use payment processing platform to the table, which made it an easy decision to partner with them.”

“Our recent launch of the Twisto app and card offering in Poland has been very well received by customers, with over 70,000 sign ups and over 20,000 cards ordered in the first 30 days from launch. We are very pleased with the speed of executing the launch on the side of our  strategic partners, including Mastercard and Marqeta, who have been fundamental to enabling our success on the technology side. We look forward to exploring expansion opportunities across the EU on the back of this solution.” Said Michal Smida, Founder/CEO at Twisto.

At Bitwage, we believe in the importance of educating new cryptocurrency users. In the past, we have written educational articles such as how to file taxes (https://blog.bitwage.com/2019/02/04/tax-season-crypto/), how to earn bitcoin (https://blog.bitwage.com/2018/05/18/how-is-bitcoin-earned/), and why you need a hardware wallet (https://blog.bitwage.com/2018/06/28/you-need-a-hardware-wallet/).

One of the biggest advantages of using Bitcoin to receive any portion of your wage in Bitcoin are the many benefits received when dollar cost averaging. We wanted an easy way to show these benefits, but realized several months back that it was hard to find a calculator that does this. Because we believed that this is a very important tool for people, we set out to build one ourselves.

That is why today, we are happy to announce the launch of www.bitcoindollarcostaverage.com. Working together with ConsultaBit (https://www.consultabit.com), a blockchain consulting and software development company, we have launched a fast, reliable and transparent Bitcoin dollar cost averaging calculator.  

Here is how it works:

1. Pick a time frame
2. Pick investment amount per interval
3. Pick frequency of intervals

Afterwards, you will see your ROI, how much BTC was acquired, your USD today and your USD invested.

Once you finish, tweet out your results, tell your friends, and show the world why they should be Bitcoin dollar cost averaging!

Jonathan Chester, CEO of BItwage: Education is the first step towards mainstream adoption.  Everyone knows about the meteoric rise of Bitcoin in 2017, but do not necessarily see the full picture of Bitcoin’s growth over the last 11 years. Our goal with the bitcoin dollar cost average calculator is to help give people the bigger picture of bitcoin while also educating people about the existence of dollar cost averaging as a way to join the movement.

Grant Kurz, CEO of ConsultaBit: Cryptocurrency and blockchain will be a defining force in shaping the 4th industrial revolution. Through partnership with Bitwage in creating the Bitcoin dollar cost averaging calculator, people can now verifiably see how buying Bitcoin does not need to be scary.

Paysend, the UK-based fintech, has appointed Alberto Macciani as global chief marketing officer.

Alberto will focus on developing Paysend’s global brand and marketing strategy to support the firm’s rapid growth. His appointment is part of Paysend’s strategy grow globally by making what was once laborious, slow and expensive to move money across borders simple, quick and low cost.

Alberto joins from Unilever where he was a global vice president responsible for its household care business globally, running a team of over 70 people in multiple regions. He led the strategy and business delivery for one of Unilever’s oldest and biggest brands, Sunlight and achieved a major turnaround, bringing Sunlight back into profitable and competitive growth. Prior to this, Alberto was responsible for various global and local businesses in Home & Personal Care and Foods at Unilever in Europe and Asia.

Launched just two years ago, Paysend’s money transfer service, Global Transfers, already serves more than 1.3 million users across the globe.

Paysend’s growth stems from the rise of people who are increasingly living their lives across borders. Mobile workers and international students who live and work in one country while financially providing for, or relying on, others in another country.

Alberto Macciani, global CMO at Paysend, said: “Moving money changes lives. Paysend customers working overseas frequently send money home to support the needs of their families. The money may be for food and housing. It may be for better education and schooling, or it may be for travel and luxuries.

“Paysend is helping its customers to keep more of their money which can then go a lot further in their home country. I’m looking forward to helping to launch and market new services soon. This will make paying, holding and sending money globally even easier and cheaper, hence helping people make most of their savings.”

World Bank figures show that there are now 270m people worldwide who live outside their home country, sending an estimated $689bn home. This is almost ten times as much as it was in 1990.

Some of the most popular destinations for sending money from Europe are China, India, Philippines, Poland, Nigeria and Ukraine. All benefit from foreign transfers as money sent home helps grow the local economy and support societal needs.

Paysend charges the same transfer rate, regardless of whether it is buying or selling a currency. This means the only cost to customers is a £1 transaction fee.

Colt Technology Services has today announced the appointment of Annette Geuther as its Vice President (VP) of New Business Development, reporting to Keri Gilder, Colt’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).

Annette brings to this newly created role a wealth of knowledge about new and emerging technologies and extensive expertise of go-to-market strategies for new solutions. Combined with deep global experience in both direct and indirect sales, Annette is extremely well positioned to support Colt as it continues to invest in the likes of 5G, Edge Computing, SDN and NFV, Capital Markets, as well as Cyber Security.

Keri Gilder, CCO, said: “I’m delighted to be welcoming Annette into the team. At Colt, we pride ourselves on being at the forefront when it comes to new and emerging technologies, and I’ve no doubt that Annette’s vast knowledge and experience will help us to continue to innovate and challenge the industry status quo.”

Annette joins Colt from ADVA, where she most recently served as its Senior Vice President Sales Emerging Markets. Her team was responsible for sales across the globe, from Eastern and South Eastern Europe to the Middle East as well as across Africa and Latin America. Prior to ADVA, Annette has held several senior and executive positions at global communication providers based in Germany, the USA, North Africa and the Middle East.

On her appointment, Annette commented: “I am very excited to be joining Colt - I have always been impressed with the agile way in which the organisation operated. Despite Colt having an impressive global footprint with its Colt IQ Network, the company still acts like a challenger brand in market, championing innovation and customer experience. I know this next decade for Colt is going to be just as transformative as the last. I am ready and committed to contribute with my expertise to the company’s ongoing transformation.”

Annette will be based in Munich, Germany and began her responsibilities from 1^st January 2020.

Specialist SME lender Shawbrook Bank has successfully completed its largest ever working capital transaction in the North West, providing APS Group with a £25m bespoke funding package.  

First founded in 1949 on one site in Cheshire, APS Group is a family-owned business which specialises in the production and supply of top quality tomatoes. Growing at 6 sites and producing over 500 million tomatoes a year, APS Group was looking to further improve its cultivation and harvesting facilities to maintain its service levels whilst delivering higher yields in the coming season. 

From 2.75m plants, APS Group produces 65 varieties under 70 hectares of glass and harvests 25,000 tonnes of tomatoes every year.

APS was advised by Rickitt Mitchell & Partners and Knights Plc in what was a competitive process, with significant interest from several funders, to deliver a more efficient structuring of the Group’s overall borrowing. 

Shawbrook was selected as the funder of choice given the specialist’s ability to combine local knowledge, sector understanding and breadth of offer to create a flexible structure within a timeframe that matched the Group’s requirements. The solution combined a property loan and a working capital facility.

Shawbrook Bank was advised by Squire Patton Boggs, FRP Advisory and Savills plc.

John Phibbs, CFO at APS Group says: “APS Group has experienced rapid growth over the last 12 years and our aim over the coming seasons is to increase productivity levels but continue to grow in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way. We therefore needed to streamline costs and further improve our horticultural facilities. This is where Simon and his team came into the picture – they quickly evaluated the business and created a solution that took on board the flexibility and timelines needed to meet our seasonal requirements.”

Matt Greenhalgh, Shawbrook's Relationship Manager in the North West, says: “The deal team led by Matt Greenhalgh spent a lot of time with APS to understand how their commitment to service, investment in growing facilities and approach to maximising crop yield have resulted in them becoming the UK’s largest tomato producer. Structuring the right facility, taking into account the seasonal nature of the business, was then key and I’m delighted that we’ve delivered exactly what we said we would – quickly.”

Leading core banking SaaS solution provider Ohpen, today announces Corinne Aaron as its new head of marketing. Corinne joins Ohpen with over 15 years of global marketing experience, including six years leading the EMEA marketing team at Tesla. In her role at Ohpen, Corinne will be responsible for evolving the Ohpen brand while accelerating marketing efforts as the company executes its plans to expand internationally over the next years.

“We knew – with the trajectory we had planned for Ohpen over the next years – that we needed someone with a track record of accelerating a company’s brand, whilst maintaining their culture and sense of purpose during a period of high growth – Corinne has just that,'' Angelique Schouten, CCO of Ohpen, explains. “Maintaining the uniqueness of our marketing and branding is crucial during this expansion. More than a third of the company has been with Ohpen for over half of its existence, and we felt that it was the perfect time for Corinne to build on what we had created and take it to the next level.”

While at Tesla, Corinne built a regional team of best-in-class marketers, leading them to create marketing campaigns that elevated Tesla to a household name across Western Europe. She was instrumental in leading the European marketing strategy during an expansion phase, and through the launch of several Tesla products, including Model X and Model 3 – now Europe's best-selling electric vehicle¹. Prior to Tesla, Corinne gained experience running global marketing across a host of global brands, including the adidas Group, and Hyatt Hotels.

Corinne comments, “I see great similarities between Tesla and Ohpen. During my time at Tesla, we disrupted the automotive industry by proving that people did not need to compromise to drive electric vehicles. Ohpen is already having a similar impact on the financial services industry – paving the way for banks and other financial services companies to move to the cloud. For me, Ohpen is one of the most exciting scaleups in the Netherlands, with ambitious plans for its next phase of growth and from what I’ve seen of the team so far, I have no doubt that we will achieve them.”

Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Corinne made the Netherlands her home over eight years ago. She also spent 11 years in the US, studying and working. This addition boosts the workforce at Ohpen to a nationality count of 30. 

Horizon Software (Horizon), the world’s leading provider of electronic trading solutions and algorithmic technology, has announced the release of a new version of its global EOMS product, adding significant and unique improvements for the automation of client order / execution workflow to its already market-leading solution. The enhancements, which will be available globally, include a more efficient workflow to create and trade derivatives strategies and improved performance, now supporting a trading scope of over 10 million instruments.

The multi award-winning EOMS has been used by sell-side Horizon clients in Asia for some time; this international launch sees the solution with added new features resulting from Horizon’s unique experience and long-standing expertise in derivatives trading. As with previous versions, clients can benefit from market connectivity to multiple global exchanges to seamlessly access liquidity venues for best execution and manage incoming client order. They can also use a flexible single execution solution that integrates their own trading algorithms and can dynamically manage positions, portfolios, trade allocation and risk across equity and derivatives. It will also support the ability to trade single orders as well as multi-leg options strategies.

Vincent Dumontoy, Global Head of Client Solutions and Services at Horizon commented: “We are delighted to offer these improved functionalities on our EOMS system and to see the vast array of benefits and differentiators that the integration of EOMS workflows with our Algorithmic Framework will bring to our client base. As always, this release embodies our ‘Trade Your Way’ philosophy with its easy integration of custom algorithms with rich APIs and fast, simple setup. This release has been enriched based on feedback from our clients and our unparalleled expertise in derivatives trading. We are happy to see clients in Europe and Hong Kong fully live on the solution.”

Dumontoy continued: “Clients use our EOMS to manage incoming client orders, create automatically listed strategies when needed, display market data and seamlessly access liquidity venues for best execution. They also benefit from a single platform to embed algorithmic strategies. Even if our EOMS is a multi-asset solution, we believe it is unique on the options market as it was developed based on our expertise in derivatives when our competitors primarily designed theirs for equities.”

Key benefits of the newly announced product include:

• Strategies creation via FIX: clients can receive orders through FIX and manage them automatically or manually
• Synthetic execution of spreads
• Trade your way: clients can design & integrate their own algos
• Improved performance and scalability > 10M instruments
• Ability to trade single-order and multiple-leg options strategies
• Improvements to general usability and workflow
• Cost-effectiveness: flexible implementation models, optional managed service, reduced hosting fees

Of note, this new version is also specifically designed to ease application support and monitoring and can be deployed using Horizon’s Managed & Hosted Support Model which is available for clients and prospects across the globe.