TrustArc, the leading data privacy management company, today announced results from a survey conducted by Dimensional Research that gauges the status of GDPR compliance among U.S., UK and EU (excluding UK) companies one month following the May 25 deadline. 

Key findings from the research highlight that only 20% of companies surveyed believe they are GDPR compliant, while 53% are in the implementation phase and 27% have not yet started their implementation. EU (excluding UK) companies are further along, with 27% reporting they are compliant, versus 12% in the U.S. and 21% in the UK. While many companies have significant work to do, 74% expect to be compliant by the end of 2018 and 93% by the end of 2019.

“At TrustArc, we worked with companies of all sizes globally to become GDPR compliant by helping them understand the requirements and deploy technology solutions to support their compliance and risk management objectives,” said Chris Babel, CEO of TrustArc. “While the amount of effort was immense for the deadline of May 25, there is substantive work yet to complete to achieve initial compliance as well as monitor and maintain compliance on a repeatable and efficient ongoing basis.”

While many companies still have a long way to go, a comparison to August 2017 research shows significant progress in the past ten months. The number of companies whose GDPR implementation is under way or completed increased from 38% to 66% in the U.S. and from 37% to 73% in the UK. 

Additional findings include: 

The cost of compliance is high

●       27% of companies spent over half a million dollars each to become GDPR compliant.

●       31% of companies plan to spend over half a million dollars each on GDPR compliance efforts between June and December 2018

●       18% of US companies spent over 1 million dollars each on compliance versus 8% for UK and 8% for EU companies   

Most companies are positive about GDPR 

●       Despite difficulties in becoming GDPR compliant, 65% view GDPR as having a positive impact on their business. Only 15% view the GDPR as having a negative impact on their business

Customer expectations and complexity top GDPR drivers

●       Meeting customer expectations (57%) was the main driver to become compliant, significantly higher than concern for fines (39%)

●       Complexity of GDPR posed the biggest challenge to comply

GDPR will continue to drive privacy investments

●       87% indicate that data privacy will become more important at their companies post the GDPR deadline

●       80% of companies plan to increase their spending on GDPR technology and tools to maintain compliance

UAE Exchange, a leading global money transfer, foreign exchange and payment solutions brand, announced the rebranding of its Africa operations as “Unimoni” (www.Unimoni.com). The announcement was made by Promoth Manghat, Executive Director of Finablr (www.Finablr.com) and Group CEO, at an event held in Nairobi, Kenya, in the presence of dignitaries, partners and other guests.

Short for ‘Universal Money’, the new brand “Unimoni” reflects the company’s aspirations to strengthen its global presence and provide a broader spectrum of innovative financial services to its customers. Following the announcement, Unimoni will be launched across Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, subject to regulatory approvals. As part of its Africa growth strategy, Unimoni plans to be present in 14 African markets by the year 2020, and has developed a healthy pipeline of digital payment solutions designed to cater to the specific needs of the African customers.

Promoth Manghat, Executive Director of Finablr, said: “Home to some of the fastest growing economies globally, Africa holds tremendous potential and is a critical component of our growth strategy as a group. We will continue to invest in enhancing the breadth of our reach and depth of our operations in the African continent. As a group, we have earmarked USD 100 million in investments to support our growth and expansion efforts in Africa over the next decade. As Unimoni, we will facilitate seamless and connected experiences for our customers and pave the way towards sustainable development and inclusive growth of the various African markets.” 

Through its category-leading brands such as Unimoni, UAE Exchange, Travelex and Xpress Money, the Finablr network extends across 45 African markets. With 29 branches in Africa offering affordable money transfer and foreign exchange services, Unimoni plans to significantly increase its retail footprint over the coming years. Additionally, the brand is also making aggressive investments in customer-focused technology innovations as well as collaborating with ecosystem partners to provide an enhanced service proposition to its customer base.

Speaking about the future expansion plans for its Africa operations, Allen Semboze, Regional Head Africa, Unimoni, said: “The next few years are going to be very eventful for us at Unimoni, as we set out to achieve our ambitious growth strategy. We are in advanced discussions with various ecosystem partners including Mobile Network Operators and aggregators to develop new money transfer solutions. These services will be available in four of our seven markets in Africa by the second half of 2018. We are also working on developing our digital capabilities including an online remittance platform, a white-label solution for our corporate customers and an online forex solution. While we are adopting a phased approach towards our growth in Africa, all these offerings will be live by 2020 across all our African markets.”

The rebranding exercise follows an earlier announcement made by noted UAE-based businessman and philanthropist, Dr. Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, Founder and Chairman of the UAE Exchange Group. In April 2018, Dr. Shetty launched “Finablr”, a holding company which, subject to regulatory approvals, aims to bring together his global portfolio of category-leading financial services brands including Unimoni, UAE Exchange, Travelex and Xpress Money under one umbrella.

Path Solutions is delighted to announce that it has received two accolades from The Asset Triple A Awards 2018, including ‘Best Islamic Technology Provider’ for a fourth year running and ‘Best Islamic Digital Banking Solution’ for its flagship Islamic core banking platform iMAL for the second time.

The Asset Triple A annual event represents the industry’s most prestigious award ceremony recognizing excellence across Asia in the fields of banking, finance, treasury, and capital markets. The Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Awards honour the best and brightest in what has become one of the fastest growing and most promising niches of global finance.

“We are thrilled and honoured to receive these awards from The Asset. To be ranked highest in Asia in two of the most comprehensive categories is immensely gratifying and also inspires us to work even harder and top the rankings again next year”, commented Mohammed Kateeb, the Group Chairman & CEO of Path Solutions. “We are humbled by the continuous support and confidence of our valued clients and hope to maintain this strong momentum whilst endeavouring to fulfil their ever-evolving needs in the best and most cost efficient ways. This notable success and multiple wins are a tremendous acknowledgement of all our hard work and will spur us on to keep delivering the best client value proposition”, he said. 

Path Solutions is a Fintech digital solutions provider serving 130+ Islamic financial institutions across 39 countries with a comprehensive set of services that brings unique convergence of domain and technology. The company’s new age initiatives – Digital & Social Banking, Mobility solutions, Business Analytics, Risk Management & Compliance solutions cater to the evolving need for speed, reach and predictability. Its multi-award winning Islamic core banking platform  iMAL  is based on Service-Orientated Architecture (SOA), and supports open banking through open APIs and web services. Path Solutions’ total commitment to open standards enables its clients to benefit from the latest technology advances ensuring business agility, continuity, data integrity and availability, and low downtime delivering a significant and immediate ROI.

The Asset Awards are Asia’s preeminent recognition for those who have excelled in their respective industries. The honours are adjudicated by The Asset’s Board of Editors and the Asset Benchmark Research team who collectively have several decades’ worth of experience evaluating accomplishments in Asia. 

Celebrating its outstanding success in Asia’s Islamic financial markets, Path Solutions received the awards at The Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Awards 2018 Grand Luncheon held on July 10 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. 

The awards’ results are available at https://theasset.com/awards-single/islamic-finance-awards and in the June Issue of The Asset magazine.

New study on cash automation presents in-depth insights from retailers in 13 countries on technology which counts, validates and stores banknotes, and which is capable of fully automating cash management in stores.

Security considerations drive retailers to invest in automation of cash processing

Retail Cash Automation 2018, a brand new study by strategic research and consulting firm RBR,reveals that retailers consider security of both cash and staff to be the strongest drivers for investing in new cash technology. Most retail cash automation devices are designed to handle cash in retailers’ back/front offices, although some are point of sale (POS) units located at individual checkouts.

The report, which is the first international study into this growing market, shows that retailers in countries which have strong cash usage as well as general concerns around security are likely to gain the most from retail cash automation. Security issues are considered paramount in countries such as the USA, Brazil and South Africa.

The greater security provided to staff by use of the technology can be beneficial for the morale of a workforce, as well as help with recruitment and a retailer’s public image. In countries with sparsely populated geographical areas, such as Australia, security is particularly significant for retailers which have a number of isolated outlets, such as those in the convenience with fuel sector.

Retailers are keen to increase cash efficiency and lower labour costs

The study found that in countries where cash usage is only moderately strong, other factors, such as cash efficiency and labour costs come into play when deciding whether to invest in the technology. In western Europe there is a focus by retailers on making the processing of cash more efficient and cheaper. In some Asian markets, such as Singapore, where labour costs are high, retail cash automation devices are seen as a way for retailers to save money.

Provisional credit, which enables retailers to receive credit in their bank account for cash deposited in devices, is also popular with users. Benefits include improvements to cash flow, a reduction in the number of cash in transit (CIT) visits and swifter reporting, which may also enable management to access more detailed information about individual outlets.

Initial expense of procuring the technology is an obstacle

The most significant impediment to procuring retail cash automation identified by retailers interviewed is the high upfront costs involved, a sentiment shared by both users and non-users. Operational costs, by contrast, are seen as a less significant concern. Integration problems are considered a very significant inhibitor, and cover potential issues regarding integration with existing systems, or with physical architecture.

For retailers in specific markets, such as in Spain and Sweden, the decreasing use of cash is an inhibitor to adopting the technology, as is competition from alternative solutions. Other solutions include the use of different types of terminals used at the point‑of‑sale, such as self-checkouts or card-only kiosks, and air tube systems that swiftly move cash from the checkout area to the back of the store.

Ongoing challenges of processing cash will fuel demand for cash automation technology

Even in markets with falling cash usage, banknotes and coins will still need to be processed and the costs of doing so will remain essentially fixed. In addition, many of the tasks associated with cash management will remain necessary. This means that retail cash automation will continue to have relevance in different markets across the globe.

Alex Maple who led the RBR research noted: “With cash usage expected to remain resilient in many advanced economies, the need to process it safely and securely will continue. We expect demand for technology that automates cash handling and processing will rise, particularly as retailers look for the most efficient way of dealing with cash in their stores”.

Accuity announced today that it has acquired Safe Banking Systems (SBS).

SBS is a specialist provider of innovative Know Your Customer due diligence and anti-money laundering solutions that enable financial institutions to identify, assess and manage risk across the enterprise. SBS’s solutions perform advanced false positive reduction and risk assessment in the account screening process across a number of sectors, including high volume banks and non-bank financial institutions, bringing greater intelligence for entity resolution to clients worldwide.

Accuity, part of RELX Group, is a leading provider of innovative solutions for payments and compliance professionals, offering comprehensive data and software that manage risk and compliance, and flexible tools that optimise payments pathways through its Fircosoft, Bankers Almanac and NRS brands.

SBS is already a long-standing partner of Accuity’s Fircosoft business, leveraging the Fircosoft filter in its solutions. Accuity and SBS share many mutual customers, which benefit from their complementary offerings. This acquisition will allow Accuity to strengthen these benefits to clients as they face an evolving, complex and costly regulatory environment, providing Accuity with an enhanced and leading account screening solution, and complementing its transaction and trade screening offerings.

Hugh M. Jones IV, Accuity President & CEO, said: “SBS has an impressive track record of delivering award-winning technology and deep subject matter expertise, enabling clients to truly take a risk-based approach that advances the field far beyond traditional matching technologies. The business shares Accuity’s ambition to be a trusted partner to clients, protecting their reputations and transforming the way they manage risk. We look forward to welcoming the SBS team and collaborating to strengthen our Fircosoft solutions.”

David Schiffer, CEO, Safe Banking Systems, said: “Accuity is the natural home for SBS and affords us the opportunity to build on our existing partnership and success to date, grow our investments in our business, and expand globally.  Bringing our expertise and teams together will enable us to accelerate the development of innovative approaches to managing risk through advanced entity resolution and reducing false positives.”

Squirrels Research Labs today announced Acorn, a new hardware component that improves efficiency and effectiveness of cryptocurrency mining.

"We developed a piece of hardware called Acorn that increases the effectiveness of existing GPU mining operations without adding a significant cost," Squirrels president David Stanfill said. "This is a brand new concept that's never been done before."

Acorn works in sync with GPUs to offload work that typically creates bottlenecks in mining. It performs the work much faster, resulting in an increase in overall mining efficiency.

Initially three models will be available: CLE-101, CLE-215 and CLE-215+. Each model uses high-performance FPGA chips from Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) in an M.2 slot to perform the least GPU-efficient parts of cryptocurrency mining.

All Acorn models work with memory-intensive algorithms like Ethash and CryptoNight V1. The 215 and 215+ models work with both memory-intensive and core-intensive algorithms like LyraREv2 and X16r. Acorn CLE-215+ utilizes 30 percent more FPGA performance for the most efficient power-to-hash-rate ratio.

The three models are priced to show a quick return on investment for GPU miners at $199.99, $299.99 and $329.99 USD respectively.

Acorn requires the use of the free, multi-algorithm SQRL mining software, SQRL Miner. SQRL Miner combines the best parts of other mining software in one place and allows for quick-glance operation monitoring. While it's designed to work specifically with Acorn and Acorn-accelerated CPU and GPU hardware, it can be used without Acorn hardware.

"We want Acorn to be useful for anyone mining with GPUs," Stanfill said. "We've created shared bitstreams, open specifications and open APIs. We're already seeing a thriving community, and we're excited for what that will bring as it continues to flourish."

DasCoin, the Currency of Trust and the store of value within DasEcosystem, has achieved a remarkable milestone by implementing Graphene technology to provide the DasCoin Blockchain with a 50% blocktime speed reduction.  

This incredibly fast new speed of three seconds per block ranks the DasCoin Blockchain amongst the fastest on the planet. With an expectation that higher volume will be required through the ecosystem’s future payment solution and the wider use of DasNet, scalability and speed are key strategic goals for the DasCoin development team.

The blockchain will further strive to stay the fastest, most reliable and securest settlement system available, providing a first-class service to its global community of users. Michael Mathias, CEO of DasCoin said: “This is an incredible achievement for DasCoin and our expert team of developers and was made possible by our choice of deploying Graphene technology in our Blockchain. We are striving to position ourselves as the Currency of Trust for the new digital economy and today’s announcement positions us to capture a leading position in the blockchain-enabled payment solutions sector.”

Thanks to the superior governance system of the underlying blockchain technology called Graphene, it is possible to tune critical operational parameters of the blockchain in near-real time. In contrast to other technologies, these changes can execute and go live in the entire blockchain system even without the need for every participant and server to upgrade the software. This allows the Graphene technology to modify system-critical parameters like the maximum block size in as little as 30 minutes. 

Prior to today’s technology implementation, the DasCoin Blockchain had set a new standard with six-second blocktime tranasctions.

Finicity, a provider of real-time financial data aggregation and insights, announced today it has signed on to work with Cre8tech Labs, Inc., a provider of innovative technology products for the financial services industry, to streamline and speed up the verification process in mortgage lending. The initial focus is on the integration of Finicity’s Verification of Assets (VoA) solution into Cre8tech’s Lender Price Digital Lending™ platform to further digitize the mortgage experience for lenders and borrowers.

Finicity’s credit decisioning solutions allow lenders to free up resources, improve accuracy and reduce fraud, all while giving borrowers a paper-free, hassle-free experience that utilizes transaction data direct from financial institutions. Lender Price provides a digital application for the loan officer and borrower to collaborate to apply for a mortgage that is fully integrated with the Lender Price pricing and eligibility engine.

“Consumers understandably want the most accurate information when making a life-altering purchase like a new house. Lenders want to meet those expectations while improving efficiency and profitability,” said Steve Smith, CEO and co-founder of Finicity. “We’re excited to work with Lender Price, another disruptor that is enhancing the mortgage lending experience for borrowers and lenders with a smart, digital solution.”

“At Lender Price, we highly value speed and accuracy within the mortgage lending process, which directly correlates with Finicity’s mission,” said Lender Price president, Dawar Alimi. “Together, we’re equipping lenders with the innovative tools they need to streamline mortgage originations.”

The partnership has already seen success with a variety of customers, including Mountain West Financial, Inc.

“We’re excited to provide our borrowers with the exceptional customer experience of automated VoA reports,” said Cindy Douglas, Mountain West Financial implementation and onboarding specialist. “It makes our loan officers more efficient, providing them asset data faster and helping reduce the time to close. Improvements to our digital mortgage process are crucial to making homeownership a reality for our communities.”

Finicity is an authorized, integrated provider of asset verification reports within Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter® (DU®). This gives lenders a validated asset report through Fannie Mae’s Day 1 Certainty^TM initiative. Finicity is also part of the Single Source Validation (SSV) pilot, meaning Fannie Mae will utilize transaction data from Finicity reports to validate assets, income and employment. A broader rollout of SSV is planned later this year and will build on Fannie Mae’s Day 1 Certainty initiative.

Today Instantor, the Swedish fintech company making financial decisions easy, releases “Consumer Finance Today. The Global Industry at a Glance: How to Identify Opportunities.” an eBook that examines how to navigate shifts in the consumer finance market successfully, utilizing cutting-edge technology.

Instantor´s CEO, Simon Edström comments: “The consumer finance industry faces unprecedented circumstances that we want to highlight in this eBook to lead consumer lenders to make the most out of them. In an effort to democratise the financial services sector, the Instantor´s editorial team made a significant effort in gathering & analysing data of markets in Europe, Latin America & Asia to produce a world-class, insightful & trustworthy eBook available for all.”

Few industries are transforming as rapidly as the financial industry, where financial organisations are striving to gain a competitive advantage by replacing traditional credit scoring models and manual processes with innovation-driven solutions as well as meeting consumers increasing demands.

Although, several positive factors are shaping the landscape of the consumer finance industry today across the globe, the reliance on AI & Machine Learning to better understand and predict consumers´ behaviour is making the difference when it comes to successful & profitable consumer lending business today.

Simon concludes that “the eBook communicates how to take advantage of market conditions utilizing cutting-edge technology like AI and KYC digital processes to help organisations to advance to the forefront of the game".

Italian banking group, BPER, has contracted Meniga, the global leader in white-label digital banking solutions, to build its next generation digital banking experience solution. BPER has been working on modernising and increasing efficiency across operations and the enrichment of the digital banking with PFM (Personal Financial Management) solution for customers is central to this.  

Recently, BPER launched Smart Mobile My Money, a standalone mobile application, and the new version of the online banking Smart Web, allowing customers to manage their finances as part of their online digital solution. Meniga’s digital banking products will be used to create meaningful engagement between the bank and its customers with the below enabling users to: 

·            Better understand their finances.

·            Keep spending budget under control with features such as categorising transactions.

·            See clear budget overview.

·            Track monthly spending with Facebook-like activity feed.

·            Understand patterns with monthly and weekly reports.

Diego Rossi, Head of Everyday Bank and Omar Campana, Head of IT Department from BPER together with PFM BPER team (Mauro Gagliardi, IT Project Owner; Mariavittoria Bruno, Product Owner, and Giovanni Ranzolin, Program Manager) commented: “We are delighted to work with Meniga to improve our digital solution effectiveness and engagement. Customers are increasingly looking for solutions that allow them to financially plan for the future. We are pleased to have identified a partner that can provide them with best in class software.”

Georg Ludviksson, CEO and Co-Founder of Meniga added: “Banks need to be bold in today’s competitive and fast paced digital era. With a multitude of fintech companies looking to exploit the PSD2 legislation to launch new services^[1], banks need to move fast to develop user-friendly solutions that allow them to compete and stay close to their customers. Our partnership with BPER highlights our mission to help financial institutions world-wide utilize data to build a truly personal user experience and drive customer engagement.”