Silver Tree Consulting & Services signed on today with Apptinuum, a platform developed by ChoiceWORX, to provide artificial intelligence fueled end-user application, device support, and infrastructure management to their clients and internal operations.

ChoiceWORX, an intelligent automation software firm that is revolutionizing Information Technology (IT) operations, recently launched Apptinuum, a first-of-its-kind cognitive platform that combines multiple modern technologies to improve end-user support, infrastructure management, Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) and ultimately the customer experience.

"This strategic integration will significantly reduce end-user tickets, manage synchronous and asynchronous end-point devices and avoid the "admin in the middle" paradigm with issue resolutions for Silver Tree and their clients. In turn, this will produce increased productivity and yield significantly reduced operational costs," said Sam Gross, CEO & Founder at ChoiceWORX.

"We are so impressed with Apptinuum's capabilities that we will deploy it corporate-wide to our own personnel. Apptinuum is a perfect fit for our IT Service Management (ITSM) offering, to better enable digital transformation that delivers real outcomes for our clients. With Apptinuum, we are able to help clients easily automate a wide range of functions, cutting down on their workload, saving them money and enhancing their customers' experience. Our passion at Silver Tree is to deliver the highest degree of automation for business and IT operations. Apptinuum is a fundamental component of our complete solution for digital transformation of IT operations," said Richard Ricks, Founder & CEO, Silver Tree Consulting & Services.

H2O.ai, the open source leader in AI, has been named a "Top 3 Vendor" in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning by industry analyst firm Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) in its latest report titled "EMA Top 3 Enterprise Decision Guide for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)," based on the innovations of its enterprise-ready automated machine learning platform, H2O Driverless AI.

The new report from EMA provides guidance for enterprises on how to optimally leverage today's AI and ML capabilities depending on their individual situation and priorities, specifically highlighting the top three enterprise software products in the industry it recommends should be included in product evaluations. Each of the Top 3 Vendors EMA were chosen based on end user research, market analysis, technical product reviews and expert interviews to provide enterprise customers with pragmatic guidance to optimally benefit from AI and ML.

In the EMA report, H2O.ai is specifically recognized for "its vision of creating an AI and ML tool that ultimately aims to allow almost everyone within the business to create their own predictive models," and how that vision is executed in H2O Driverless AI. The automated machine learning platform empowers data scientists or data analysts to work on projects faster and more efficiently by using automation and state-of-the-art computing power to accomplish tasks that can take humans months in just minutes or hours by delivering automatic feature engineering, model validation, model tuning, model selection and deployment, machine learning interpretability, time-series, NLP and automatic pipeline generation for model scoring. 

As part of its commitment to democratizing AI, H2O.ai recently announced expanded NLP capabilities and integrations for H2O Driverless AI that allow organizations to broaden their current AI strategies, directly address key machine learning use cases, improve the accuracy of many predictive models like fraud detection and churn, and expand to sentiment analysis, document classification and other text-centric applications.

"There is a very clear need in the market for a solution that enables a broader subset of employees within an organization to leverage the power of AI and ML to drive decision-making, and H2O Driverless AI aims to accomplish just that," said Torsten Volk, managing research director of containers, DevOps, machine learning and artificial intelligence at EMA. "During our testing of the platform using a variety of different data sets, it achieved impressive results – automatically extracting a tremendous amount of predictive capacity from the data sets and making this capacity available via automatically generated scoring pipelines. This, in turn, enables organizations to gradually introduce AI and ML capabilities into their software development process." 

In his analysis of H2O Driverless AI, Volk notes that H2O.ai levels the playing field in AI and ML by enabling everyone to experiment with data and algorithms to make fact-driven business decisions and build a strong data-driven culture from an organization's earliest stages, while preventing common issues and mistakes that are often made at the start of an AI journey.

"At H2O.ai, we are truly committed to democratizing AI – allowing anyone in an organization to realize the full potential of their data through automatic machine learning," said Ingrid Burton, CMO at H2O.ai. "We are honored that EMA understands the value of what H2O Driverless AI has to offer as enterprises embark on their AI Transformation."

 CashValet®'s and POSpod™ technology delivers rich and dynamic feature functionality now installed in Canada providing operators tools to better manage Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements, responsible gambling initiatives, evolving privacy regulations while setting new benchmarks in performance.

The PCI DSS Level 1 - P2PE certified solution and cloud-based application stands alone in casino payments providing the highest level of security while providing operators custom modules to proactively manage their business in real time. Together with CashValet®, Passport Technology's patented ActiveData RT® analytics software provides never before available feature functionality addressing dynamic pricing, security, responsible gambling initiatives, KYC regulations and loyalty programs. 

Passport Technology is excited to introduce the industries first fully functional, smart and P2PE certified cashier terminal POSpod™ SE as part of the POSpod™ family of Point of Interaction (POI) devices. The SE terminal resides conveniently at the cashier's desk and provides patrons and the operator the same user experience and feature functionality of the larger self-service POI devices located throughout the casino. The addition of POSpod™ SE along with CE and ME, provides operators with a variety of unique form factors and POI's to best accommodate their environment while providing a consistent and rich patron experience. 

"Together with our Canadian partners—and based on our successful experience in the United Kingdom and Europe—we are deploying solutions delivering immediate operational, financial and social impacts to Canadian operators," states Kurt Sullivan, Chief Operating Officer. "We are excited to establish CashValet®, POSpod ™, ActiveData RT® and our soon to be launched ATM Drive™ solution as new industry standards."

"We're absolutely delighted to see our Canadian designed product suite installed and live with one of Canada's leading casino operator and eager to complete dozens of installs from East to West including ACM-OWL™,  gaming's most advanced ATM platform," states Scott Dowty, Chairman. "This is a true homecoming for Passport Technology and a great example of Canadian innovation and perseverance."

Passport Technology launched services in the United Kingdom in February 2017 and has established itself as the industry leader in the UK and Europe steadily taking market share from competitors and creating new market opportunities. Since launch, Passport Technology has processed more than $200,000,000 USD, available in over thirty casinos, spanning two continents and six countries. 

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ: TREE) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire QuoteWizard.com, LLC, one of the largest insurance comparison marketplaces in the growing online insurance advertising market. Since its founding in 2006, QuoteWizard has helped nearly 40 million consumers find their ideal insurance policy with top-tier insurance carriers across key insurance markets: auto, home and health. 

"By acquiring QuoteWizard, LendingTree will establish itself as a leading player in the online insurance advertising industry, while continuing our ongoing diversification within the financial services category," said Doug Lebda, Founder and CEO of LendingTree.  "With QuoteWizard's proprietary technology platform, direct relationships with over 30 of the top-tier carriers and a network of nearly 10,000 agents, combined with LendingTree's strong brand and extensive reach, we will be well-poised to capitalize on the growing market opportunity that stems from the ongoing digitalization of the financial services industry."

"LendingTree's strong brand identity, online marketing and technology capabilities are the ideal match for what we've built at QuoteWizard," said co-founder and CEO Scott Peyree. "This acquisition will give our business the reach and tools it needs to continue our growth trajectory while further diversifying LendingTree's product portfolio. We're simply thrilled to join the LendingTree team and really excited about what our two companies will be able to do together in the coming years." 

The equity purchase has a possible total consideration of $370.2 million, which consists of $300 million in cash at closing and contingent payments of up to $70.2 million, subject to achieving certain growth targets over a three-year period.

The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter subject to customary closing conditions and LendingTree intends to fund the acquisition through cash on hand and by drawing on the existing credit agreement. 

For the six months ended June 30, 2018, QuoteWizard enjoyed considerable growth, with approximately $75.6 million in revenue and approximately $12.8 million in Adjusted EBITDA.  LendingTree expects the acquisition to be accretive to 2019 adjusted earnings per share.

LendingTree will host a conference call tomorrow, Friday, October 5, 2018 at 8:00 AM Eastern Time (ET) to discuss the transaction and answer analysts' questions. Those interested in accessing the toll-free call may dial (877) 606-1416. Callers outside the United States and Canada may dial (707) 287-9313. A live audiocast will be available to the public and can be accessed via LendingTree's investor relations website at http://investors.lendingtree.com.

BofA Merrill Lynch acted as exclusive financial advisor to LendingTree in connection with the transaction. GCA Advisors, LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to QuoteWizard in the transaction.

Digital World Exchange is now open for trading. This platform is one-of-a-kind in the fact that it is backed by ten million in Bitcoin. Users can create an account within the platform to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies. Currently, the exchange supports the top fifteen cryptocurrencies and was built on a platform to allow for a user-friendly experience.

The CEO, Alexander Elbanna, is proud to deliver a platform which allows users to buy, sell, and trade while also having access to a digital marketplace referred to as the Amazon of cryptocurrency. Alex is looking forward to the exchange expanding across multiple countries and allowing people in isolated areas to utilize the exchange as a form of payment and/or trade. "One of the most difficult things we face in this country is the fact that our economy discriminates against the hardworking class with low wages, minimal health care, and their inability to meet financial obligations they are expected to meet," says Elbanna. "With Digital World Exchange, we will find solutions for every sector starting with agriculture, energy, financial, healthcare, housing, and education. Using our platform will give users the opportunity to gain financial growth for the first time. With our technology, we use confirmations that are instant and applicable to real life situations such as buying a cheeseburger at McDonald's, paying for gas, and swiping your card to pay for a snack. Our goal is to make a currency that can be used in daily life to help the 99.9 percent of the world."

The coin is listed as DWE, and is not an ICO. The exchange is a blockchain network with instant confirmations of transactions. Digital World Exchange is looking to be a global solution for issues that everyone in the world is facing. Digital World Exchange's mission is based upon supporting the community in a positive way which in turn will allow its community to support the exchange. "We back our exchange using BTC and 51 percent of our exchange profits daily. 51 percent of profits stay in exchange, and each month we will award bonus DWE coins based on the monthly average of coins in your DWE wallet. So you earn DWE as you hold the coins in addition to the fluctuation of the market price, making it a win/win for our community. We have a lot of plans moving forward, but will only announce them 48 hours prior to release. In this wild west world, we want to ensure your safety and security."

"DWE payments will confirm in less than a second. Our Masternodes, Instasend, and Private send have an X11 Algorithm, mining software and Proof of work / Proof of Stake. We will implement ZeroCoin protocol for anonymous transactions. This will protect your financial information. PrivateSend ensures your activity history and balances will be private. Transactions are confirmed by 200 TerraHash of X11 ASIC computing power and over 4,500 servers hosted around the world. The same transaction, paid with DWE, would cost less than $0.01. i.e. It'd almost be free. In the Bitcoin network, transactions require 10 minutes for confirmation. For a business, this is unacceptable. PIVX transactions, on the other hand, are confirmed within 60 seconds and are most often instant. We are eco-friendly as it does not require any traditional computationally demanding miners to run its network. Our blockchain was built by forking from DASH and PIVX. 

On September 26, 2018, at the Philippine Consulate in Chicago, the ALTHASH blockchain, represented by HTMLCOIN, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Kinasang'an Foundation Inc. (KSFI) to secure newborn birth data on the ALTHASH blockchain. As the overseer of the Wellness Family Midwife Clinics in Mindanao, Philippines, KSFI will then upload and secure the research outcomes resulting from KSFI's use of the blockchain. The results have the potential to drastically reduce the alarming number of global newborn deaths, which reaches 2.7 million annually.

HTMLCOIN is quickly accelerating its partnerships with other health care institutions across Southeast Asia and the world and is proud to have selected KSFI as a launching pad for acquiring a user base in the health-care community. Moreover, the signing of the MOU opens doors for individuals and organizations to interact with and utilize the ALTHASH blockchain, as the new web platform contains the Myoffspring DAPP, which registers newborns' place and date of birth, parents' names, and other information.

The ALTHASH Blockchain web platform AltHash.org is the homepage for all DAPPs built on HTMLCOIN's ALTHASH blockchain. In the next six to twelve months, at least twenty-five DAPPs will be released, ranging from e-governance (e.g., vote tracking) to health care (e.g., newborn registration) to e-learning to art (e.g., registration of artists' creations). Two DAPPs were released initially as use cases: MyOffspring, an application for registering newborns and creating digital certificates on the blockchain, and the TokenFarm, which enables anyone to create tokens by filling out a form in less than a minute and is particularly useful for business owners who want to reward loyal customers. The HTMLCOIN team encourages and supports DAPPs created by its community, curating their content and making them available on the web platform.

Atar Labs will introduce its next-generation SOAR platform ATAR with its regional distributor StarLink in SR-J2 booth to more than four thousand participants from 120 countries during the 38th GITEX Technology Week at Dubai World Trade Center on 14-18 October.

Atar Labs CEO Burak Dayioglu said, "ATAR is built out of necessity. Investing more in security technologies and trying to hire more people does not get us more secure. We need to leverage our existing tools and staff better and this is why we are building ATAR. The market feedback we are receiving and the blue chip customers we are working with demonstrates that Atar Labs is on the right path. Our target as Atar Labs is to be the market leader in the region. We are excited to be presenting the ATAR with sector leaders of MENA and South East Asia at GITEX Technology Week."

Security automation and unified investigations interface bring in agility to cyber defense  

ATAR integrates with 100+ different technologies and the ATAR robot can be programmed in the field to handle repetitive activities, sparing a lot of time and resources. ATAR's unique simple and secure investigation interface allows analysts to investigate and respond to cyber alerts without switching screens or logging in and out of different applications while allowing collaboration between team members. ATAR's security model allows safe delegation of sensitive security work to less experienced resources. With ATAR, multiple organizations observed analyst productivity increases in the order of 15-20 times.

Why are innovative FinTech solutions taking off faster in the Asia-Pacific region than elsewhere and what does this tell us about the future of financial services, not just in this time zone but across the globe? This is the core focus of Thursday’s Big Issue Debate, titled The Rise of Asia as a source of innovation, moderated by Oliver Kirby-Johnson, partner, advisory, KPMG.

Critical demand factors include the rise in wealth and mobility of Asia’s burgeoning middle class, which is driving competition between both established financial service providers and newer technology-led firms to meet fast-evolving demand for coverage and risk appetite. Indeed, the combination of growing middle-class wealth, the insatiable appetite of Asia’s millennials for technology-based interaction, and the ability of mobile-based services to provide finance to the previously unbanked means there is no shortage of demand.

Many of these needs play to the strengths of fintech solutions which use digital technology innovations to accurately assess and respond to customer behaviour, needs and risks, as well as informing tweaks to provider’s business models. Indeed, in many Asian markets, ‘super-apps’ developed by leading technology firms have rapidly expanded into retail financial services, quickly taking up market share. In many cases, they are embedding payment capabilities into existing services, such as ordering entertainment and fast food; but they are also branching into investment services such as mutual funds and money market funds.

But financial institutions in the Asia-Pacific region and other emerging markets are also introducing innovative solutions faster than their peers in more developed markets. Some of them are partnering with technology firms – both start-up fintechs and the giants of Asia’s e-commerce boom – to deliver niche services via digital means, such as fast, secure remittances along key migration corridors.

For all, Asia’s defining characteristics – such as regulatory and market diversity as well as relative lack of legacy systems and infrastructure in some of the fast-growing economies – are seen as opportunities as much as challenges. This is because of the sheer range of needs that can be fulfilled across the region when fintech innovation is allied to financial service domain expertise, from streamlining the trade finance transaction flows in support of the supply chains that cross-cross the region, to data-driven consumer credit scoring models, to simplified post-trade processes in the securities markets.

These combinations and collaborations are fast becoming accepted practice across the Asia-Pacific region. In other markets, fintech and banks perhaps no longer view each other with mutual suspicion, but perhaps they still could learn from the experience of Asia’s pioneers.

Find out more in the Plenary Room at 11am on Thursday, October 25 at 11am from our expert panel.

Accurate and reliable data is critical in contemporary financial services, and its importance is set only to grow.

For this year’s Sibos, the SWIFTRef team has designed a series of insightful thought leadership sessions that will bring you up-to-date on the latest developments in reference data management, including new opportunities for enhanced data quality and the ability to process different data sets.

Our market experts will host a number of events where they will address two key questions:

• How can payment reference data better help businesses mitigate risk and reduce costs?
• How can reference data from SWIFT’s information products improve a due diligence manager’s efficiency?

Attendees will also be invited to participate in round-table discussions on the future of reference data for corporate treasurers, and how APIs are already delivering improved accuracy for SWIFT’s customers.

SWIFTRef Theatre Sessions 

An open session where delegates can deep dive into an industry topic and how SWIFT can offer support on it. SWIFTRef will be holding three of these events:

• Setting a new standard for an efficient due diligence journey – Tuesday 23 October, 9.45am
• Can proper reference data management really lower risks? An Asian perspective – Wednesday 24 October, 4.00pm
• The future of reference data for treasurers – Thursday 25 October, 10.15am

SWIFTRef Knowledge Bar sessions

This year at Sibos our team will also welcome you to our Knowledge Bar, where delegates can learn from SWIFTRef experts in an informal, drop-in environment.

Join us to make sure your reference data products are ready to cope with the new BIC ISO Standards scheduled for later this year and discover how SWIFT can help you with your due diligence processes. The two sessions are:

• BIC Standard format change – What is the impact on SWIFTRef? – Tuesday 23 October, 14.15 – 15.00
• Discover SWIFT’s offering to reach an efficient due diligence journey – Wednesday 24 October, 17.00 – 17.45

Don’t miss out on these exclusive and thought-provoking sessions: save the date now!