Published
- 07:00 am
MYPINPAD, the global leader in payment acceptance and customer authentication solutions, has welcomed experienced payment industry professional, Nigel Dean, as its new Head of Marketing.
Nigel has over 30 years’ experience in the payments and automotive industries working across multiple disciplines including engineering, product management, marketing, and sales. He has previously held senior level positions at market-leading point-of-sale providers, including Racal, Thales and Spire Payments.
Throughout his career he has been involved in propagating pivotal payment technologies - such as remote terminal deployment and management, traditional POS, mPOS, SmartPOS, and most recently the mobile ecosystem leveraging secure consumer authentication on COTS smart devices.
With a Master’s degree in engineering, Nigel is also a well-respected technical author and public speaker on the complex nature of the ever-developing payments ecosystem.
He brings this extensive experience to the new role, both commercially and technically, to promote the entire suite of MYPINPAD’s authentication solutions.
Speaking about his appointment, Nigel commented: “2019 will be a pivotal year for the global payments industry. Change will be driven by the introduction of ground-breaking authentication technologies, which will remove complexity and promote the exponential growth across the whole portfolio of digital payments. MYPINPAD is perfectly positioned to capitalise on this seismic event as it’s PIN on Mobile solution leads the field in seeking industry security approval. This year will see many significant announcements from MYPINPAD and I’m truly honoured to be part of this pioneering team.”
Phil King, Chairman & CEO at MYPINPAD, added: “Nigel is a recognised expert in payments; we are delighted to welcome him to the team. He will play a crucial part in the delivery of our goals by expertly communicating our innovative suite of authentication solutions to key audiences. Once again Nigel finds himself playing a central role in introducing a new technology into the payments ecosystem.”
Jo Howes
Commercial Director at Crealogix
Santander is just the latest in a series of high street banks to announce multiple closures of their branches, following the footsteps of NatWest and HSBC in recent years. see more
- 03:00 am
UnPAY founder and CEO, Zhang Zhenghua, has received another feather in his cap with the latest win at the 2018 Golden Shell Award. Zhenghua was named as the Payment Industry Pioneer, for his innovative creation of a global one-stop payment technology service model.
The Payment Industry Pioneer award is a new category created by the Golden Shell Award. It was established to recognise corporate leaders who have made great strides and innovations in the year, contributing to improvements in the payment industry.
In its seventh year running, the Golden Shell is a reputable award that is organised by China Payment Network. China Payment Network is the first web portal in China dedicated to following developments in the payment industry. The theme for this year's Golden Shell Award is payment for sustainable development, aimed at honouring companies that have created sustainable solutions and services within the payment industry.
After a stringent selection process, the panel of judges unveiled a total of 12 companies for the Golden Shell Award and six were named as the Payment Industry Pioneers. Commenting on Zhenghua's win, the jury expressed, "Zhenghua was only 30 when he managed a team of nearly 1000 staff as the founder and CEO of Baidu Wallet and Baidu Finance. From here, we can see that not only does he have the drive and talent, he also has exceptional leadership skills."
"Today, as the founder and CEO of UnPAY, he aims to put UnPAY on the world map as a one-stop payment service provider, and is committed to building a borderless payment ecosystem," the jury added.
Under Zhenghua's leadership, UnPAY has realised global collection and exchange transfer of merchant channels via its self-developed "Ark" core payment system. Zhenghua has lofty ambitions to turn UnPAY into a global hub that integrates capital and information exchanges for merchants around the world. Currently, UNPay is already connected to over 500 mainstream payment methods in more than 200 countries and regions.
In addition to its regional headquarters in Singapore, UNPay has since expanded to various parts of the world including Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Thailand, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
"We are motivated by our win in the Golden Shell Awards and are heartened by the support from the jury. In the coming year, UnPAY will expand its presence in the number of countries to 10, and strengthen cooperation with key partners in the region to foster better cross-border payment experience. We will continue to work hard in developing innovative solutions to enliven the payment industry and to build a sustainable ecosystem." Zhenghua enthused.
- 09:00 am
Dash Financial Technologies, the industry’s leading capital markets technology and execution provider, today announced the addition of Scott Patrick as Chief Financial Officer. Reporting directly to CEO Peter Maragos, Mr. Patrick will be responsible for leading financial operations and strategic planning for the firm.
Mr. Patrick brings 25 years of experience in financial services and financial technology from his previous roles as an investment banker, an equity research analyst, and a strategic communications advisor. He joins Dash from Brunswick Group, where he served as a Partner, specializing in M&A transactions, IPOs and investor relations matters. Prior to Brunswick, Mr. Patrick was a Managing Director in the Financial Technology Group at investment bank GCA Advisors, and before that he spent over 10 years at Evercore Partners, most recently serving as Head of Payments Investment Banking. He began his career at Morgan Stanley, where he worked for over 12 years, including in roles in M&A and as the firm’s lead equity research analyst covering the Financial Technology industry.
“We are very excited to welcome Scott to the Dash family,” said Mr. Maragos. “He brings incredibly deep experience from across the capital markets and a strong background in fostering a culture of operational and financial excellence. I know I speak for our board and entire leadership team when I say that we look forward to working hand-in-hand with him as we execute on the shared vision we have for our firm.”
Mr. Patrick said: “I am thrilled to be joining the Dash team at such an important time for the company and the markets, and I look forward to helping the firm continue to build on the great success it has already achieved to date. Dash is incredibly well positioned to benefit from a number of strong secular trends in the institutional trading space. Its innovative suite of award-winning products and services drive demonstrable value for clients, addressing the growing demands and challenges they face as they navigate ever-increasing market complexity and regulatory demands. The opportunities that lie ahead for Dash have never been greater.”
- 09:00 am
Solactive is pleased to announce the launch of the Taiwan Sustainability Index (TWNSI), which tracks the performance of companies that are identified as top corporate sustainability practitioners in Taiwan. The index’ development is the first cooperation between Solactive and a higher education institution, the National Taipei University College of Business, which approached Solactive with a proprietary index concept.
Based on the academic research of sustainability factors, the selection of the index components involves a screening of corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, financial performance, and market quality. Evaluation of over 300 questions covering social, economic, environmental, and disclosure (SEED) dimensions, assigns each company to an individual Total Sustainability Score, which identifies the stock’s CSR performance and eventually assesses their eligibility for inclusion in the index.
“For contemporary investors, screenings for ESG aspects like corporate social responsibility become more and more essential when considering their investments strategies, says Timo Pfeiffer, Head of Research at Solactive. “Therefore, it is hardly surprising that our first client from the academic environment, which we are very proud of working with, chose this factor when developing their first index strategy.”
The President of National Taipei University, Prof. Lee Chen-Jai, also affirms, “The National Taipei University is honored to collaborate with the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy for the development of the Taiwan Sustainability Index (TWNSI). It is also an honor to have Solactive work with us to fulfill the index calculation and publishing via Bloomberg and Reuters. The index highlights the insistence of our College of Business on corporate sustainability teaching and research, which is believed to exert innovative and positive social impact on our financial market.”
- 02:00 am
- 01:00 am
Nathalie Vandepeute, CEO of Bancontact Payconiq Company: “Our mission? To provide simple and reliable payment solutions to all Belgians on the road to a payment world with less cash.
In other words, constantly changing the way in which people pay and are paid – and contributing to the growth of merchants’ businesses, while constantly improving the overall shopping experience.”
One app for everyone and everything
The long-awaited Belgian Payconiq by Bancontact payment app has now been launched. This new app replaces the existing Bancontact and Payconiq mobile payment apps. You can now make mobile payments with Payconiq by Bancontact everywhere you could previously with Bancontact or Payconiq separately – both in stores and webshops, as well as between private individuals. This makes the Payconiq by Bancontactapp genuinely unique in the marketplace. Better still, this new app is particularly intuitive and easy to use.
“The new payment app is an absolute must for all Belgians,” stresses Nathalie Vandepeute, CEO of Bancontact Payconiq Company. “It has been supported by 20 banks1 from the outset and can already be used at over 290,000 payment points right cross Belgium. Payconiq by Bancontact works on both iOS and Android operating systems, which means it can be used on virtually all smartphones, too! All in all, this is a giant step forward for ease and innovation.”
In the next few days, users of the Bancontact app will receive an invitation to update their app to the Payconiq by Bancontact app. Users of the Payconiq app can activate their existing Payconiq account very easily in the new app once they have downloaded the Payconiq by Bancontact app. The Payconiq by Bancontact app
can be downloaded on iOS from today and on Android in the coming week.
For consumers: the easiest payment method by a mile
Paying with the Payconiq by Bancontact app is very easy. Simply scan the QR code (online or in the store), confirm the amount and enter your personal PIN code. Done! (If you scan the QR code with the Payconiq logo featured on a sticker attached to the cash register, first enter the amount to be paid yourself before confirming the payment). If a merchant has its own commercial app or mobile webshop and accepts mobile payments with Bancontact or Payconiq, then it’s even easier: select Bancontact or Payconiq as payment method and simply confirm the payment with your PIN code.
It’s also very easy to pay contactlessly in stores (Tap & Pay) with the Payconiq by Bancontact app using your Android smartphone at any payment terminal that accepts contactless payments with Bancontact.
And – the cherry on the cake – you can easily transfer money to friends using the Payconiq by Bancontact app via the list of contacts in the app. Or else you can pay shops via the list of stores in the app, provided your bank supports this function. Plus, of course, you can always pay your friends back by scanning a QR code when you are with each other.
For merchants: fast, easy and reliable
The Payconiq by Bancontact app gives customers a very easy way to pay in-store, regardless of whether there’s a physical payment terminal or not. The merchant can receive and track payments using a QR code, sticker or screen via his tablet, computer or smartphone once the consumer has scanned a QR code. This also makes mobile payments accessible for small merchants, as well as the self-employed and liberal professions. And not only are small merchants jumping on to the fast-moving Payconiq by Bancontact train, but large chain stores, too want to offer the easiness of the new payment app to their clients. Soon it will also be possible to use the Payconiq by Bancontact app without a payment terminal to pay at Decathlon (for the moment only at Decathlon Nivelles) and McDonald’s stores. Merchants can also choose to integrate the payment solution in their cash register. Nothing will change for merchants who currently offer their customers Bancontact or Payconiq as a payment method. They can continue to receive payments with the Bancontact card or Payconiq by Bancontactapp using their existing payment solutions.
Bancontact card remains more relevant than ever
As a result of its exceptional coverage – there are more Bancontact cards in circulation than there are Belgians – the Bancontact card is still the go-to secure method for all consumers and Belgian merchants who want to pay or be paid with a physical card, both in-store and online. A recent survey by BeCommerce also shows that Bancontact is the favourite means of payment online also for Belgians2. So the good old, familiar Bancontact card remains just as it is. The way it works, name and logo are unchanged, whether you’re withdrawing cash, paying at the till (contactlessly or not) or making payments online.
App and card: the age of multiform payments is here
The payment world is changing fast: new technologies, providers and legislation are all happening with increasing speed. Bancontact Payconiq Company sees these changes as a positive challenge. “We want to be the benchmark for everyday payments in Belgium – in-store, online and between friends,” says CEO Nathalie Vandepeute. “The new Payconiq by Bancontact payment app takes us into the age of multiform payments and sits perfectly alongside the Bancontact card. Users can choose their method of payment to suit the situation. During the day, they might pay with their Bancontact card at the shopping centre, while in the evening they can buy a drink or snack at a festival using the Payconiq by Bancontact app. And merchants can accept payments by their clients with a physical Bancontact card or via the Payconiq by Bancontact app, with or without a terminal, or both.”
BANCONTACT PAYCONIQ COMPANY HANDLING THE PAYMENTS OF THE FUTURE
A revolution in less than two generations
Since electronic payments using a bankcard were first launched, back in the summer of 1979, card payments have grown exponentially. Today, there are around 16 million Bancontact cards in circulation. Last year, the number of Bancontact in-store transactions (excluding cash withdrawals) rose by 3.1% to 1.37 billion. In turn, the number of cash withdrawals fell by 1.9%. 2018 was the year when paying contactlessly with Bancontact really broke through. The total number of contactless payments in 2018 was seven times higher than in 2017. And last year, some 4.3% of all Bancontact card payments were contactless. In the year ahead, increasing numbers of Belgians will have a contactless card, which will boost this growing trend still further.
“Having a transparent, locally based payment system is essential for the vitality of the Belgian economy,” says Erik Luts, chairman of the Board of Directors of Bancontact Payconiq Company. “Bancontact Payconiq Company offers reliable payment solutions to both consumers and merchants, regardless of how big or small the amount may be.”
Mobile payments: the new normal
The stakes are high: almost 3 out of 10 Belgians believe that cash will have disappeared within ten years. Today 77% of Belgians aged between 18 and 34 already carry hardly any cash at all. Instead, they take their smartphone with them everywhere they go: 45% of smartphone users think it is extremely handy to be able to pay with their phone. We are also seeing the rising trend of mobile payments in the figures. Compared with 2017, the number of mobile payments more than doubled: 34 million in 2018, compared with 15 million in 2017. Today, the majority of mobile payments are online. In December 2018, around 44% of all Bancontact payments made online were mobile by scanning the QR code or directly in the app of the merchant. Through the Payconiq by Bancontact app,
Bancontact Payconiq Company also aims to see this trend go physical by offering both merchant and consumer the simplest payment solution available. “Smartphone payments are developing at the speed of light in Belgium and all around the world,” says Mr Erik Luts, chairman of the Board of Directors of Bancontact Payconiq Company. “More and more new methods are coming on to the market, which makes everything very complicated for customers and merchants. The banks behind the
Payconiq by Bancontact app have listened to the needs and expectations of users. Clearly there was a need for a single mobile payment solution, available for all Belgians. Today, Payconiq by Bancontact is the most transparent payment app around. It guarantees consumers fast, secure and problem-free payments and can be used in a variety of situations – online, in-store or between friends. On their side, merchants can benefit from a secure payment solution that increases their own convenience, while making paying easy for their customers – all with broad-based support from the outset.”
- 03:00 am
In line with the company’s international expansion plans and ambitions to become the global leader, Perkbox, Europe’s fastest growing employee experience platform, is today announcing the appointment of Jacques Stern, previously global CEO of Edenred (2010-15), as a Non-Exec Director on the Perkbox Board.
Jacques ran the Edenred business operating in 40 countries with 6,000+ employees and over £1B in annual revenue between 2010-2015. Since then he has moved on to become the CEO & President of Global Blue SA, the global leader in tax free shopping that operates in 52 countries worldwide.
Just in the last year, Perkbox has been named UK’s 4th fastest growing business, launched a range of new products, expanded internationally and invested heavily to treble its UK-based software development team. With its recent expansion into France achieving faster success than expected (+1,200 companies registered to launch in just two months), Perkbox is aiming to become a global leader in helping businesses motivate, reward and engage their employees.
Perkbox will be launching into several additional international markets in 2019. Throughout this journey, Jacques’ experience as global CEO guiding Edenred will be exceptionally valuable to the company. As a member of the Board, he will be assisting the senior leadership team in formulating and executing their global strategy.
Saurav Chopra, Co-founder and CEO of Perkbox says: “It is with great pleasure that we welcome Jacques to the team. At Perkbox, we’ve made it our mission to help 10 million employees by 2020 and 100 million by 2025. Jacques’ expertise in running and growing two successful global businesses will be immensely valuable as we scale up to become the number one employee experience platform worldwide.”
Jacques Stern, Non-Exec Director of Perkbox says: “Perkbox’s ‘employee first’ strategy and extremely fast-paced growth has got me very excited about the untapped potential in the market. I am convinced that digital cloud-based platforms focusing on the holistic employee experience are a natural evolution of how to integrate the value proposal in this space. Perkbox has the potential to become a unique differentiator, providing an environment that meets the comfort and efficiency required by today’s employees. I am delighted to be helping this talented team in their journey to become global market leaders.”
- 03:00 am
Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) today announced that it has been selected by three Finnish financial institutions, Savings Banks Group, Oma Savings Bank Plc and POP Bank Group, as their strategic partner to build and operate a shared core banking platform to enable their digital transformation plans. More than 10 percent of Finnish banking deposits and loans will be managed by the new platform.
Under a multi-year agreement, Cognizant will transform and operate the banks’ common core banking systems and support each individual bank’s enterprise digital strategy. The new core banking platform, based on Temenos T24 and Temenos Payment Hub (TPH), will enable the banks to streamline processes and have greater agility and scalability while helping reduce overall costs of systems and business operations. The banks will be able to launch new products and services more quickly and cost-effectively, and their customers will benefit from improved experiences across mobile, internet and in-branch banking.
As part of the agreement, and subject to satisfaction of certain regulatory closing conditions, Cognizant will acquire Oy Samlink Ab, the current technology services provider owned by Savings Banks Group (42%), Aktia Bank PLC (22.56%), Oma Savings Bank Plc (15.45%), Handelsbanken (7.53%), Posti Group PLC (5.88%), POP Bank Group (5.24%) and several other minority shareholders. Oy Samlink Ab associates have deep expertise in the Finnish banking market, and the company has two delivery centres in Finland. The addition of Oy Samlink Ab will further strengthen Cognizant’s banking capabilities, and expand its network of delivery centres in the Nordics.
“We needed a strategic partner with global scale, and proven success in modernizing banking IT systems and delivering the type of robust capabilities required to foster our collective digital transformation goals -- a key part of which is the core banking platform renewal. This is the most significant digital transformation project to date in the banks’ histories,” said Tomi Närhinen, Oy Samlink Ab’s Chairman of the Board. “This is part of a bold initiative that will allow us to automate processing and offer our customers a wider range of products. With Cognizant’s deep expertise in business process operations and developing and implementing complex banking systems and technologies, we are confident we have chosen the ideal partner.”
“We are pleased to be working with Savings Banks Group, Oma Savings Bank Plc and POP Bank Group to advance their digital strategies,” said Santosh Thomas, President, Global Growth Markets, Cognizant. “A secure, cloud-enabled core banking system supports faster roll-out of new features and provides superior customer experiences, while reducing operational lag, providing each bank with new future-ready capabilities.”
Thomas added, “We look forward to welcoming Oy Samlink Ab employees to Cognizant. Oy Samlink Ab is well-known in Finland for its deep technical expertise, collaborative culture and strong reputation for excellent delivery. We plan to establish banking and financial services’ centres of excellence at their facilities which will enhance Cognizant’s ability to serve clients across the Nordics, specifically, and in Europe as a whole.”
- 08:00 am
Guernsey is demonstrating its global leadership in drafting new laws to offer certainty in the use of “Electronic Agents” in transactions and contract matters, and to create a smart, secure environment for the exploitation of technology for specialist financial services.
The lodging of the Electronic Transactions (Electronic Agents) (Guernsey), 2019, Ordinance this week offers greater certainty as the use of artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technology grows. It will boost confidence and enable adopters of technology solutions to use Guernsey.
The new law will allow the formation of a contract through the interaction of electronic agents, on the presumption that natural persons intended to create a legally binding contract.
It will also cover interactions between an electronic agent and a natural person. Electronic agents will be able to be involved in transactions in several ways without revoking the legal validity of a contract.
Guernsey Finance, Deputy Chief Executive, Strategy, Dr Andy Sloan said: “As outlined in the Financial Services Policy Framework, published in December, our strategy is to lead the way in the creation of a safe and secure environment for the adoption and exploitation of current and future technologies in the provision of specialist financial services.
“Guernsey has been open to the exploitation of technology in financial services and boasts many examples of excellence, including the world’s first commercial deployment of blockchain in private equity, market-based provision of electronic CDD services, and the world’s first listing on a regulated exchange of notes digitised on a blockchain by Northern Trust, The ID Register, and Solidum Re respectively.”
The new legal developments build on Guernsey’s existing Electronic Transactions legislation, which dates back to 2000, in offering express confirmation that so-called “smart contracts” – where computer code carries out a task in response to information received, without further human input – will be legally recognised.
The laws of most jurisdictions do not yet explicitly address electronic agents. Guernsey’s move is being seen as an
important development in progressing the island’s digital ambitions, and positioning Guernsey law as the international law of choice for commercial contracts for those seeking to use smart contract technology.
Dominic Wheatley, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance, the promotional agency for the island’s finance industry, said: “Our ability to respond quickly to change has long been one of Guernsey’s strengths and world-first confirmation of legal certainty underpinning the development of smart contracts and AI will be a powerful legislative tool kit for the island.”
