Nucleus365, a UK-based payments company providing a centralised platform for global payment processing, foreign exchange, and connected banking, has now appointed Daniel Mayhew as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). 

Daniel brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise having served as GM, SVP & Group Executive at FIS Global, working within its Real Time Payments Network Division, acting as Cross Border Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) for the company. Additionally, Daniel has held multiple positions at various fintech firms including Country Manager (MD) of UK, EU & Israel for Payoneer and Vice President, EMEA for international payments company Earthport (Visa).

With this strategic hire, Nucleus365 hopes to leverage Daniel's expertise to lead the company into its next phase of growth and innovation. As the new CEO of Nucleus365, Daniel will play a pivotal role in driving the company's strategic initiatives, building strong partnerships with its merchants, delivering exceptional value to its customers, and transforming the payments industry.

"We are delighted to welcome Daniel Mayhew to the Nucleus365 family," said Sophie Flynn, the Co-Founder and CFO of Transact365 and Nucleus365, "We are sure that his exceptional leadership skills, deep industry knowledge, and passion for delivering outstanding customer experiences make him the ideal candidate to steer our company forward."

Nucleus365 offers merchants total visibility across the payment process, ensuring they can monitor customer behaviour in all markets they are operating in. Controlling all parts of the payment flow, Nucleus365 has been designed to process, collect, and settle payments within its platform. 

The Nucleus365 mission is to become a market leader in payment services by offering merchants a single, unified access point. By building local connections and employing sophisticated back-office technology, Nucleus365 ensures merchants can increase their global footprint while reducing cross-border fees. With Daniel Mayhew leading the company, Nucleus365 aims to fulfil that goal. 

Vodafone’s  ‘Economy of Things’ Digital Asset Broker (DAB) business is connecting with Aventus, which helps enterprises adopt Web3 – the new blockchain-based decentralised world wide web. 

The two companies will use their collective strengths to help more businesses and strategic partners take advantage of Web3’s secure blockchain technologies when trading and exchanging data electronically, as envisioned within the new Economy of Things. With access to more than 160 million connections worldwide, Vodafone DAB enables customers to do this at scale across multiple geographical regions. 

Initially, Vodafone DAB and Aventus aim to help the aviation sector improve the security and reliability of its supply chain. Vodafone and Aventus are developing a solution that involves equipping cargo tracking pods with blockchain-enabled SIM cards connected to the DAB platform. Around 5%-10% of cargo pods go missing annually, costing the industry about $400 million, and this solution aims to reduce these losses. It builds on Aventus’ existing relationships at Heathrow Airport where Aventus’ blockchain solutions are used to manage aircraft unit load devices for tracking luggage, freight, and mail.

Jorge Bento, CEO of Vodafone DAB, said: “Through our strategic partnership with Aventus, we can help businesses and third-party providers securely adopt, and benefit from, Web3 services through the Vodafone DAB platform. Addressing the needs of the airlines is a start, and we look forward to exploring many other opportunities with Aventus.”

Alan Vey, Founder & CEO, Aventus, added: “We are excited to be partnering with Vodafone DAB. Combining Blockchain, IoT and Web3 has the potential to overhaul the way businesses operate and interact with their customers, bringing huge efficiencies and benefits. Those willing to understand and leverage it today have the unique opportunity to shape tomorrow’s digital landscape.”

Specifically, Aventus offers businesses solutions that incorporate IoT and secure enterprise-grade and trusted public blockchains, which provide a digital record or ledger of online transactions. As a first step, the two companies will establish a bridge between Vodafone DAB and the Aventus Network, which connects to the wider blockchain ecosystem via the Polkadot platform.

By connecting to the Aventus network, business customers and strategic partners of Vodafone DAB can access and interoperate with many trusted public blockchains in a controlled and secure way using the DAB IoT Identity Passport. Any trusted device connected to Vodafone DAB is assigned a unique identity passport and then, using secure links, is automatically allowed to trade data and money from different organisations and ecosystems (like an electric vehicle securely transacting with a charging point).

Vodafone DAB, which became a separate standalone business in May this year, will also join the Aventus Network as a validator, helping to secure the network and contributing to its decentralisation. Both companies believe that interoperability is key to realising the full potential of blockchain technology and driving the new economy of things.

AssetPass, the leading digital legacy platform which enables users to securely take full ownership of their digital assets, is announcing that it is launching a white-label solution that will allow trusted brands to offer their customers control over their digital assets for secure and seamless account recovery and digital legacy.

The unique Trustee Release Control Process for digital legacy management

AssetPass is the leader in digital asset recovery and digital legacy management with an end-to-end encrypted, unique release process that empowers individuals to securely and privately manage their digital assets. This benefits users in the event they need to recover high-value digital assets, such as 24-word seed phrases for crypto wallets, as well as for managing their digital legacy.

Users can be assured that they and/or their beneficiaries are not locked out from accessing important and valuable digital assets if they lose their private keys and passwords, or in the event they are incapacitated or pass away.

The platform is used to store a wide array of digital assets, including valuable items like NFTs and private keys to cryptocurrency wallets, legal documents including Last Will and Testaments and Lasting Power of Attorney, vital medical documentation, as well as cherished digital assets of personal value, such as photographs and videos. The four-step Trustee Release Control Process (TRCP) enables the controlled and confidential delivery of digital assets to assigned beneficiaries. By assigning a 'trustee' who possesses the authority to release your digital assets to designated beneficiaries, beneficiaries can be given access to these assets through a simple and secure process.

Enabling trusted brands to pioneer digital legacy

The new white-label solution enables organisations to harness the power of the AssetPass platform, but in their own company brand and identity to offer a digital legacy solution to their customers. This white-label solution aims to support long-term customer loyalty and retention, whilst offering the benefit of a vital new service to the user. Additionally, the service is designed to generate a brand-new recurring revenue stream via a subscription-based model which can increase shareholder value.

The white label service is managed end-to-end, including a full technical and security audit that ensures AssetPass meets internal requirements for cybersecurity and data storage, as well as GDPR compliance. The solution can be deployed as mobile applications for both Android and iOS on the Google and Apple Store, and also as a full web-based application for enterprise solutions.

Paul Rossini, Co-Founder of AssetPass, commented: “Many of us think of digital asset ownership as being the same as physical asset ownership – and sadly it’s often only when unfortunate events occur that we realise they’re not. For example, it is very common for people that have been bequeathed cryptocurrency to not be able to access it due to not having the private key. And even cherished photos can be lost forever without the correct passwords to access the accounts where they’re stored.

“And with the launch of our white label solution, we look forward to working with more of the brands that consumers trust to help them proactively manage their digital legacy.

The consumer AssetPass application is also currently available in Google Play and Apple Stores. Thousands of users around the world have discovered the benefits of using AssetPass to take ownership of their digital assets and manage their digital legacy.

Orbital, the London-based traditional finance and crypto solutions platform for global enterprises, has raised £5M ($6.4M) in an oversubscribed growth round led by Golden Record Ventures, at an attractive valuation in which the founders are maintaining a large majority. 

Participants in the round include New Form Capital, GSRV, Psalion and Luminous Futures. The funding marks Orbital’s first institutional capital raise, having been bootstrapped and profitable since being founded in London in 2017.

Orbital is a licensed provider of a range of traditional payment and global FX solutions, but where it deviates from the norm is that it’s also licensed for crypto payments, especially focusing on the business use cases for stablecoins in cross border payments.

Facilitating Fiat and Blockchain Payments 

Orbital combines fiat and crypto business accounts to enable traditional, global enterprises, particularly those with exposure to emerging markets, to integrate stablecoins, as well as other major cryptocurrencies and traditional currencies, into existing payment flows. Its APIs further act as an embedded finance solution for stablecoin payments. 

For example, companies can accept cryptocurrency payments from customers, off-ramp into traditional currencies like USD, GBP and EUR, and settle into IBAN accounts in minutes. Customers can instantly access new markets, without the need for a physical presence or domestic bank accounts, and if they so choose there's no need to handle cryptocurrencies themselves.

Orbital is licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority as an authorised payment institution in the UK, and as a virtual currency service provider in Estonia, with other licences to be announced in the coming months. 

The company was founded by Chris Mason (CEO), Luke Wingfield-Digby (CIO) and Paulius Grigaitis (CTO), all seasoned industry veterans with years of experience in technology, banking and payments. 

Orbital’s first institutional capital raise comes ahead of it raising a Series A round, and, despite the current crypto bear market, off the back of its seven-digit monthly revenue having grown over 40% in the last 6 months. It has around 80 clients processing $250M of value every month. Orbital’s headcount is 95 globally, with four offices across London, Estonia, Gibraltar and Manila.

The funding round will enable Orbital to continue its rapid growth, secure additional licences in new jurisdictions, and further develop its product. 

Corporate Crypto Circumspection 

Deloitte’s Global Blockchain Survey found that 80% of senior executives believe that digital assets will be very/somewhat important to their respective industries in the next two years, while data from The Block and Bitquery shows that there were $10 trillion dollars worth of on-chain payments in stablecoins over the last 12 months alone.

However, despite the understanding that digital assets are necessary, adoption has been slow amongst corporates because of a lack of internal knowledge and a mistrust of the industry. 

Among digital assets, payments in stablecoin are becoming rapidly more normalised for businesses operating globally because they offer significant benefits for cross-border low-value C2B and high-value B2B payments, particularly when an emerging market is involved. However, although there is currently a plethora of tools available for this, many larger businesses and corporates have struggled to find an overarching solution that doesn’t upset existing banking relationships.

A Single Platform For Multi-Asset Payments

Orbital’s industry-first product bridges the gap between traditional finance and digital asset treasury solutions, offering a regulated, secure and frictionless experience for multinational corporates. It acts as a single point of access to a range of tools needed to run a treasury operation, including multi-currency accounts, foreign exchange, global payments and digital asset custody. Orbital also offers its crypto payment rails via API allowing online merchants the ability to embed crypto payment into their own product or service. 

Luke Wingfield-Digby, co-founder and CIO of Orbital, comments: “We believe all modern, global companies will require access to both blockchain and fiat payment rails, from one single platform, to effectively manage their business in the future. Orbital has been built by veterans who deeply understand the needs of large enterprises, which until now have been massively underserved. Our combined expertise in both traditional finance and crypto means that we are uniquely positioned to serve their demands. Bootstrapped and profitable since 2017, we’ve both grown rapidly and raised financing in a very difficult crypto bear market. Now we’re ready to scale even further and push our platform towards the bleeding edge of fintech.” 

Jad Benabdelkhalek, General Partner at Golden Record Ventures, adds: ““The annual volume of B2B payments is larger than worldwide GDP and yet the architecture of cross-border flow is a patchwork of legacy methods mired with friction and inefficiencies. The Orbital team has developed a best-in-class, compliant technology platform that caters specifically to large corporates and enterprises. The global business community is starting to internalise the value and importance of stablecoins settlement, and we are delighted to back Orbital in its mission to overhaul traditional banking coverage.” 

Airwallex, a leading global payments and financial platform for modern businesses, today announced its partnership with OurCrowd, the global venture investing platform and Israel’s most active venture investor. For the first time, institutions and individual accredited investors will have the ability to invest in startups anywhere – in their own local currency with a single click of a button.

Until now, when making a startup investment, investors had to convert their local currency into US dollars and then wire it. With this new partnership, OurCrowd’s investors from over 195 countries can invest in global startups on a digital platform in their own currency easily, quickly and with favourable terms.

“With the globalization of the startup world, advanced fintech which is multi-currency is a game changer. Now, you can be sitting in Israel and invest in a Silicon Valley startup, pay in Shekels with a single click and it is totally transparent,” said OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved.

Commenting on the partnership, Pranav Sood, EGM, EMEA at Airwallex said, “With embedded finance, modern businesses of all sizes can bring global connectivity to customers by offering their own local payment solutions and minimizing FX pain points. Our embedded finance partnership is a perfect example of how we support and enable our customers’ end users to grow, while also giving OurCrowd the tools to expand and deepen their services. From streamlining payment processes for investors and startups to minimizing FX costs, embedded finance is simplifying the way businesses operate across borders.”

By integrating Airwallex’s API, OurCrowd can now offer users the ability to invest in their own local currency, rather than being restricted to only USD-denominated wire transfers. A stack of Airwallex’s products, including Global Accounts, Payouts and LockFX, now allows accredited investors to participate in startup deals with minimized friction and maximised efficiency.

OurCrowd allocates a global account to each investor, who can select from an assortment of currencies, including their own local denomination. Once selected, OurCrowd converts the funds into USD at a transparent rate that is generally locked in for 24 hours. This integration improves efficiency and speed, providing a seamless experience for all parties. 

Since embedding Airwallex’s API in February this year, more than a third of OurCrowd’s FX flow goes through Airwallex and is typically completed in under 24 hours. OurCrowd aims to increase its flow with Airwallex to 90 per cent by the end of the year. This is the first phase of Airwallex’s partnership with OurCrowd, focused on local payment acceptance. Phase two will focus on expanding OurCrowd’s payment options so investors can invest using the best local payment options and currencies available via local rails.

“Airwallex works just as it should,” said Joachim Maus, an OurCrowd investor based in Germany. “It cuts the time, hassle and expense of converting my payments from euros into dollars and makes investing in OurCrowd deals much more convenient than using a bank transfer.”

Micky Sapir, OurCrowd’s VP of Product said, “OurCrowd’s partnership with Airwallex has made a significant positive impact on our customers’ overall experience. By reducing transfer times across the board and enabling localised transfers and FX services for investors worldwide, OurCrowd’s investment platform has become even more reliable, fast and efficient.”

Founded in 2015 in Melbourne, Australia, Airwallex is one of the fastest-growing payments and financial infrastructure companies in the world. The company is valued at US$5.6 billion and has raised over US$900 million from some of the world’s top investors including Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia, Tencent, Square Peg, Lone Pine Capital and 1835i. Globally, Airwallex’s revenue has doubled year on year and the company has processed more than US$50 billion in annualized transaction volume for its global portfolio of customers. With operations in over 20 locations globally and a team of 1,400 employees worldwide, Airwallex plans to continue its exponential growth by hiring an additional 500 global employees by the end of 2023, including hires in Israel and the Middle East.

Freedom Finance, one of the UK’s leading digital borrowing marketplaces and embedded finance providers, is delighted to add secured loans from Evolution Money to its market-leading lending  panel.  

Secured loans from Evolution Money will be available via Freedom Finance’s direct-to-consumer marketplace.  

Loans available range from £5,000 to £100,000, over terms of 36-240 months and can be up to  140% loan-to-value ratio (LTV).  

Homeowners will be able to check their eligibility with Evolution Money on Freedom Finance’s credit matching platform with the completion of the loan application done directly through Evolution  Money.  

Freedom Finance currently operates the widest panel of lenders of any loan platform partner in the market. Its embedded finance partners are many of the UK’s most reputable brands,  including the likes of Creation Marketplace, Asda Money and RAC, and Freedom Finance is continually expanding their marketplace to allow them to more precisely match customers to the right borrowing product for their needs.  

The market-leading proprietary matching technology that powers Freedom Finance’s platform completes thousands of credit searches each week and eliminates risk to credit scores by only using a soft credit check to search multiple UK lenders. The platform’s thorough decision-making capabilities simplify the process for customers by only showing them credit offers they have a  good chance of qualifying for, providing lenders with stronger applicants. 

Freedom Finance is a leading UK digital lending marketplace providing unsecured personal loans, credit cards, mortgages and other financial products. Connecting customers with over 100  of the UK’s leading lenders and service providers through the platform.  

Andrew Fisher, Chief Growth Officer at Freedom Finance, said: “We are delighted to add  Evolution’s secured loans to our platform. As the market conditions for credit continue to change, the range of credit options we offer through our platform is a key differentiator for both customers looking for credit, and for partners looking to work with Freedom Finance. 

“We have products from the widest range of credit partners on the market available on our  platform and our proprietary matching technology means we can help borrowers find the most  appropriate credit products available to them.” 

Matt Roberts, Business Development Manager, from Evolution Money said: “We are delighted to be joining the Freedom Finance marketplace. By making our credit products available to people using Freedom’s proprietary technology, we will be able to help even more  customers meet their financial goals.” 

Award-winning brokerage AAAFx has made a name for itself thanks to its ECN (Electronic Communication Network) trading conditions. Offering a choice of ECN account types, AAAFx has built a trading environment that provides direct access to liquidity so that traders can benefit from the best bid and ask prices in the market. But how does ECN trading work? In this article, we offer a hands-on perspective on how AAAFx leverages ECN trading to benefit its clients.

Advantages of ECN trading with AAAFx

The benefits of trading with an ECN broker such as AAAFx are numerous. Here is an overview of the most important ones:

1. Connecting traders with other market participants. Being an ECN broker, AAAFx has the capability to connect traders with other market participants via interbank trading prices. In turn, the electronic communication network that AAAFx is a part of enables buyers and sellers to find a match for their trading positions. 

2. Price aggregation. Another advantage that AAAFx presents as an ECN broker is its ability to aggregate prices from a pool of liquidity providers and allow them to compete in the same auction (trading position), providing traders with the best possible pricing and lower-cost trading conditions. And when it comes to low-cost trading, AAAFx exceeds expectations.

Centring its offering on ECN, the broker has created a secure environment where traders can grow steadily. With any of the ECN accounts that the broker offers, traders gain access to 70 Forex pairs and 200 CFD instruments based on stocks, indices, commodities and cryptocurrencies, ultra-competitive pricing, commission as low as $0.0 on Forex and raw spreads. 

Most importantly, traders across all the 176 countries where AAAFx has established a solid presence can equally enjoy accessibility to all these trading opportunities and lucrative trading conditions. Additionally, with the ECN Plus account, they can enjoy trading commission-free on all Forex pairs. The razor-thin spreads starting at 0.0 pips on all instruments facilitate access to institutional-grade liquidity at super-low cost. 

3. Trading around the clock. Apart from low-cost trading and direct liquidity access, ECN trading also allows traders to trade uninterruptedly, during major market events such as the NFP or monetary policy decisions, earnings releases and the like, giving them the opportunity to take advantage of the market volatility generated around these events.

By providing direct access to the markets, AAAFx empowers traders to capture key financial movers across its MT4 and MT5 platforms. On top of this, the vast range of trading tools available combined with the advanced hosting and fail-safe connectivity to top-tier liquidity pools raises the bar for traders of all levels. 

4. Rocket-fast execution. What distinguishes ECN Forex industry players like AAAFx from others is execution speed. Using cutting-edge ECN technology, AAAFx delivers real-time execution and minimum to no slippage. In turn, this translates to best bid-ask prices for traders and cost-effective trading.

5. No dealing desk intervention. Generally, ECN brokers are well-known to operate a no-dealing-desk (NDD) environment, which for traders translates to ‘no trade manipulation’ and ‘instant execution.’ AAAFx makes no exception to this rule. As an NDD broker, AAAFx focuses primarily on providing the best trading experience to its clients, ensuring trades are executed at actual market prices, without any dealer’s intervention or delay. Moreover, the location of its servers in major data centres around the world is pivotal to enabling execution in milliseconds and the tightest of spreads. 

6. Higher bid & lower ask prices. Getting the best bid-ask prices is vital. Eliminating middlemen from the equation, ECN brokers offer traders the edge of higher bid and lower ask prices. This is possible because ECN financial service providers connect various market players, including banks and non-bank liquidity providers, institutional and individual traders, which creates a more fluid and competitive market environment ruled by higher bids and lower ask rates. This also holds true for AAAFx, which, leveraging its strategic liquidity partnerships, empowers traders to achieve their goals effectively.

Apart from these considerable benefits of choosing AAAFx, traders might also take into account other distinct advantages that the company offers and which are not to be ignored, such as:

• Trading with a broker regulated in Europe by the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) and in South Africa by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA)

• The ability to use a variety of trading strategies

• Virtual Private Server (VPS)

• No limitation on the number of orders placed

• Micro lot trading

• Negative balance protection for all EU traders

• Access to the largest social trading community - ZuluTrade - and fee-free social copy trading with the ECN Zulu account (available to EU traders only)

This wealth of benefits coupled with the advanced trading tools and excellent customer support that AAAFx provides 24/5 has earned it a top place across markets. In the course of 2023, the financial firm won several awards, including ‘Best CFD Broker - MEA’ at the UF AWARDS MEA, ‘Best Forex Spreads Africa’ from the Financial Achievements in Markets Excellency (FAME) Awards and ‘Best CFD Broker - APAC’ at the UF AWARDS APAC.

Spectrum Markets ("Spectrum"), the pan-European trading venue for securitised derivatives, announces the appointment of Mai Le Hoang as the new Head of Compliance. Based at the company's headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, Mai Le Hoang will be responsible for overseeing all compliance activities within the company, reporting directly to Dr. Alpay Soytürk, Chief Regulatory Officer.

Her role will not only involve managing the compliance and monitoring function but also analysing, assessing, and advising on regulatory developments at international, EU, and national levels, with a particular focus on building and expanding the trading venue across Europe.

Mai Le Hoang brings with her many years of extensive experience in financial services consulting. She joins Spectrum from Ernst & Young, where she served in the Financial Services Consulting division for over seven years. Throughout her career, she has successfully managed several regulatory and strategic innovation projects at major financial institutions, including MiFID II, IBOR, and the introduction of crypto assets.

Mai Le Hoang holds a Master's degree in Management with specialisation in finance and information management from Goethe University Frankfurt. Additionally, she is a certified cash market trader and is currently participating in the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center's DLT Talents Program. With her deep understanding of financial regulations, Mai Le Hoang will lead the compliance function and oversee relevant processes and systems in a coherent and consistent manner.

"We are delighted to welcome Mai Le Hoang to our international team as the Head of Compliance at Spectrum," said Dr Alpay Soytürk, Chief Regulatory Officer. "With her extensive experience in digital assets and DLT, she will play a pivotal role in the success of our innovative trading venue."

"I am very excited to be part of such an innovative, forward-thinking company that is continuously evolving and forging new partnerships across Europe," comments Mai Le Hoang. "Regulatory implementation projects, the establishment of compliance procedures and policies, and the analysis of new regulatory frameworks for disruptive technologies and products are ever more important in today’s markets and trading environment."

NCR Corporation reported financial results today for the three months ended June 30, 2023. Second quarter results and other recent highlights include:

• Revenue of $2.0 billion; Recurring revenue of $1.3 billion
• Net income from continuing operations attributable to NCR of $20 million
• Adjusted EBITDA of $389 million
• GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations of $0.11; Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.94
• Net cash provided by operating activities of $227 million; Adjusted free cash flow-unrestricted of $154 million
• Company progressing toward separation into two public companies

“We delivered strong second-quarter results, marked by solid growth in recurring revenue, margin expansion and robust cash flow generation,” said Michael Hayford, Chief Executive Officer. “We have made significant progress preparing for the separation into two public companies, which we anticipate will occur in the fourth quarter, and are in a strong financial position and carrying positive momentum. Over the last three quarters, NCR generated cumulative adjusted free cash flow-unrestricted of over $550 million, enabling us to decrease financial leverage in preparation for the separation transaction.”

Mr. Hayford continued, “With the planned separation in sight, we will become two distinct and robust entities with market-leading positions, each with ample opportunities for long-term growth. NCR Voyix will leverage NCR’s industry-leading software for global retail, hospitality and digital banking technology platforms. NCR Atleos will enable customers to meet global demand for ATM access while leveraging new ATM transaction types, including digital currency solutions, to drive market growth. We believe the enhanced operating and financial flexibility will benefit both companies and will unlock substantial value for our customers and stockholders.”

On July 24, 2023, NCR announced the new names for the two companies that will form after its planned separation, expected in the fourth quarter of 2023. NCR Voyix will be the new name for our digital commerce business, which includes our Retail, Hospitality, and Digital Banking segments. The new name for the ATM business will be NCR Atleos, which includes our Self-Service Banking and Payments & Network segments as well as our telecommunications and technology business.

In this release, we use certain non-GAAP measures, including presenting certain measures on a constant currency basis. These non-GAAP measures include “Adjusted free cash flow-unrestricted,” “Adjusted EBITDA,” and others with the words “non-GAAP” or "constant currency" in their titles. These non-GAAP measures are listed, described and reconciled to their most directly comparable GAAP measures under the heading “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” later in this release.

Second Quarter 2023 Operating Results

Revenue

Second quarter revenue of $1,986 million decreased 1% year over year. On a constant currency basis, revenue growth was flat year over year. The following table shows revenue for the second quarter:

• Second quarter gross margin of $538 million increased from $471 million in the prior year period. Gross margin rate was 27.1%, compared to 23.6% in the prior period. Second quarter gross margin (non-GAAP) of $576 million increased from $515 million in the prior year period. Gross margin rate (non-GAAP) was 29.0%, compared to 25.9% in the prior period.
• Second quarter income from operations of $148 million increased from $103 million in the prior year period. Second quarter operating income (non-GAAP) of $297 million increased from $233 million in the prior year period.
• Second quarter net income from continuing operations attributable to NCR of $20 million decreased from net income from continuing operations attributable to NCR of $35 million in the prior year period.
• Second quarter Adjusted EBITDA of $389 million increased from $339 million in the prior year period. Foreign currency fluctuations had an unfavorable impact on the Adjusted EBITDA comparison of 2%. Adjusted EBITDA margin rate was 19.6%, compared to 17.0% in the prior year period.
• Second quarter cash provided by operating activities of $227 million increased from cash provided by operating activities of $80 million in the prior year period. Second quarter Adjusted free cash flow-unrestricted was $154 million, compared to break-even Adjusted free cash flow-unrestricted in the prior year period.

2023 Outlook

We are affirming our full year 2023 guidance communicated on February 7, 2023, with our strong first half pushing expectations to the higher end of the previously guided ranges. For the full year 2023, we are forecasting:

• Revenue - $7.8 billion to $8.0 billion
• Adjusted EBITDA - $1.45 billion to $1.55 billion
• Non-GAAP diluted EPS - $3.30 - $3.50
• Adjusted free cash flow-unrestricted - $400 million to $500 million

With respect to our Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted free cash flow-unrestricted and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share guidance, we do not provide a reconciliation of the respective GAAP measures because we are not able to predict with reasonable certainty the reconciling items that may affect the GAAP net income from continuing operations, GAAP cash flow from operating activities and GAAP diluted earnings per share from continuing operations without unreasonable effort. The reconciling items are primarily the future impact of special tax items, capital structure transactions, restructuring, pension mark-to-market transactions, acquisitions or divestitures, or other events. These reconciling items are uncertain, depend on various factors and could significantly impact, either individually or in the aggregate, the GAAP measures. Refer to the heading “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for additional information regarding our use of non-GAAP financial measures.

Separation Update

On September 15, 2022, NCR announced a plan to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies – one focused on digital commerce, the other on ATMs. The separation is intended to be structured in a tax-free manner. The separation transaction will follow the satisfaction of customary conditions, including effectiveness of appropriate filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The current target is to complete the separation in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Should alternative options become available in the future that could deliver superior value to our stockholders than the planned separation, such as a whole or partial company sale of NCR, the Board remains open to considering alternative scenarios.

2023 Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call

A conference call is scheduled for today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss the second quarter 2023 results. Access to the conference call and accompanying slides, as well as a replay of the call, are available on NCR's web site at http://investor.ncr.com. Additionally, the live call can be accessed by dialing 888-820-9413 (United States/Canada Toll-free) or 786-460-7169 (International Toll) and entering the participant passcode 9356480.

Leading fintech-as-a-service provider, Soft Space Sdn Bhd (“Soft Space”), JCB International Co., Ltd.(“JCBI”), the international operation­­s subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., Japan’s leading international payment brand, and Hong Leong Bank (“HLB”) have joined forces to actively drive JCB Card acceptance in Malaysia, bolstered by strong post-pandemic economy recovery prospects. 

As the Malaysian economy continues to grow positively in 2023, tourism has emerged as one of the brightest sectors spearheading the recovery process, with Japan listed as one of the top 10 contributors to tourist arrivals and spending in Malaysia. Malaysia targets to welcome 16.1 million international tourist arrivals and generate RM49.2 billion (US$10.89 billion) in tourist receipts in 2023.

To capitalise on this bright recovery prospect, Soft Space and JCBI recently signed an agreement to enable Soft Space to work with local acquirers, such as HLB, to promote JCB Card acceptance in Malaysia. Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara, a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, is one of HLB’s merchants that has begun accepting JCB Card payments.  

“As Japanese tourist arrivals in Malaysia begin to ramp up again, we are pleased to be able to enable and promote cross-border payments between Japan and Malaysia via our partners,” said Joel Tay, Chief Executive Officer of Soft Space. “This merely represents a first step in our ambition to roll out similar agreements in Southeast Asia, boosting JCB Card acceptance and riding on the wave of increasing contactless card payments in the region.” 

“We decided to expand the collaboration with another global leader who shares similar values in enhancing user experience through state-of-the-art technological application,” said Yoshiki Kaneko, President and Chief Executive Officer of JCB International Co., Ltd. 

“Malaysia has been an important destination country for our card members across the regions. Establishing a partnership with HLB is a huge step forward for the expansion of JCB acceptance network in Malaysia. We can now better serve JCB Card members coming to Malaysia not only from Japan, but also from the ASEAN region where we have more than 10 million card members. I am especially delighted as this achievement has been brought via a unique tripartite collaboration including Soft Space. Leveraging on today’s success, we are further strengthening our presence in the entire ASEAN region through this partnership with Soft Space.” 

According to Andrew Jong, Managing Director of Personal Financial Services at HLB, this partnership with JCB and Soft Space signifies the Bank’s commitment to providing financial products and services that are centred around the needs of both its merchants and their customers.   

“With an influx of tourists and expats coming from Japan into Malaysia, the option to accept JCB Cards will ensure convenience for its cardholders and provide businesses with an additional opportunity to capture more tourists and grow their business. This partnership will enable us to serve the customers who are increasingly going cashless as well as help our merchants increase their sales and customer transaction value.”  

The agreement showcases the partnership progress between JCB and Soft Space since the former investment in the fintech in January 2022. This includes a series of business collaborations that are aimed at leveraging on Soft Space’s fintech-as-a-service business model, technology and regulatory knowhow, and JCB’s global recognition, vast alliances and brand reach. 

The promotion of JCB Card acceptance in Malaysia also signals the expansion of its merchant network, the establishment of card issuing solutions, and the provision of customer marketing solutions in Malaysia, and later in Southeast Asia.