Financial and IT services expert, Lars Rottweiler, was interested in computers since his childhood. With a computer frame box in his garage during as early as 1981, he was absorbed by technology ever since. In a recent interview carried out by Dinis Guarda, he recalls, “Our consumption of energy was as much as a factory those days, but he let me experiment and use the computer as much as I wanted. So, my childhood was actually hacking and nerdy years”.

After studying Computer Science and Business Administration, he served many multinationals like Accenture, Deutsche Bank, and Infosys gaining extensive acumen for banking and IT services. Lars shares with Dinis that through his managing roles, he offered some unique and customised solutions for the industry.

“We created Pre-internet solutions which are continuously a little bit evolved but still using the old database and stuff. That’s why we decided to do things differently and started a new company”, he says in the interview.

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It is this rich knowledge and experience that drove him -and partner Vladimir Lounegov- to establish Mbanq, a fintech company in 2017. Dinis was excited to know about his realization of setting up a revolutionary solution for the world.

Asked by Dinis, Lars explained the fundamentals of his idea: “We quickly realised that there must be a market for it. An all-in-one banking platform that uses a completely different data architecture. Today, the biggest challenge with all the banks is to keep up with the regulatory changes and requirements.” Lars explains that much of the investment goes into operations instead of developing innovative solutions. This prompted him to use his acumen and present society with path-breaking solutions.

Talking about the evolving financial industry, Dinis asked Lars about the changing paradigms. Lars shares: “The fintech area in the crypto space is unregulated. But more and more regulations are being thought of. There’s more and more drive in this direction. How future regulative jurisdiction can probably control the market and control banking in a crypto space? We talk to many regulations by now to set the target lines and give a guideline on how this could be achieved in a way that it still has the freedom that crypto allows but gives a control. With control, we talk about the trust it gives us in this kind of operations”.

With the Web3.0 fast approaching, Dinis was interested to know how banks are transforming themselves. Lars explains to him that banking and financial services are increasingly being digitalised. He further shares how Mbanq acts as the link that offers innovative and digitalised solutions for banks to be able to thrive in the market that is subject to dynamics of regulations and jurisdictions.

A Lifelong Dream: Creating Mbanq

Mbanq is a FinTech company that sets up and operates banks for clients using its digital banking platform on a Software as a Service (SaaS) basis. Its proprietary technology provides an advanced, modular, end-to-end banking platform with everything required to instantly launch financial services for any use case.

“As a fintech we learn what market demands are and what our cohorts, our clients, our existing other banks, and the neo banks need as a service. So, we create an interconnected ecosystem and see it as part of one.”

Services include banking licenses, compliance, regulatory, lending as a service, payment as a service, credit card licenses, visa licenses, payment drills, ACH, SWIFT, and connecting to blockchain and exchanges.

“Just to summarise it, what do we do differently? I mean, many banks do think digitalisation means you have mobile phones and mobile apps, but we think digitalisation is in the backend, how it’s used to run the whole platform. So, we use Big Data Algorithms where the entire bank has a mobile platform, we have no disrupted data flows, and we never change data. We never accumulate and send it back to the database. We always process the transaction almost instantly, which makes us very flexible and very agile. And obviously, with the new IT infrastructure, we can achieve this kind of tremendous success”.

Mbanq has grown to become one of the most comprehensive digital banking providers globally since its formation in 2016. Today Mbanq is one of the fastest-growing FinTechs in the world, serving banks, credit unions, and financial institutions of all sizes, across the USA, Europe, and Asia.

“We offer for our customers to be compliant at any given time”, concluded Lars Rottweiler on the Dinis Guarda YouTube Podcast.

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4IR: AI Blockchain Fintech IoT Reinventing a Nation by Dinis Guarda and Rais Hussin (4irbook.com)

Dinis Guarda citiesabc openbusinesscouncil Series is also available as podcast on

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Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Lars Rottweiler, Mbanq Founder, Explains BaaS, Digital Banking And Fintech at Dinis Guarda YouTube Podcast appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

Change is a powerful feature. It reshapes global business and society (as a whole). As the emerging technologies turn human-centric in their nature, financial services are also facing a breakthrough in their conventional mechanisms. This is pivotal in its evolution into a more sustainable and inclusive industry altogether. This evolved version promises to restore public trust, with almost no trade-offs between yielding profits and ensuring positive social impact.

The financial services are undergoing disruptive innovation due to key driving factors- evolving customer expectations, rapidly advancing technologies, and changing landscape of regulatory grounds. Fintech innovations like cryptocurrencies, Big Data, and peer-to-peer lending are grabbing the attention and imagination of investors and customers.

Creating the Future: a Hacker’s Guide to Financial Services is a comprehensive report powered by Finastra FusionFabric.Cloud, where over 50 contributors have shared over a hundred predictions on the financial future. The report by Fintech Talents (by VC Innovations Ltd.) creates a relevant narrative, depicting some of the intriguing insights over what trends are going to redefine the future of our existing financial and banking system.

Path-breaking solutions to carve out better financial systems

ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) for a sustainable finance

Over the past few years, the ESG criterion is a popular key metric that investors use to evaluate businesses. The parameters that decide the ESG criteria differ as per the industry standards. The environmental criteria could include everything from energy usage to how waste is disposed of, and even the treatment of animals.

On the other hand, the social criteria are primarily related to a company’s conduct with its stakeholders and its business relationships. This includes its treatment of the suppliers, the relationship with the surrounding community and the social impact it makes on them, or even the conditions of its employees.

Governance criteria, however, have traditionally been an afterthought. Nevertheless, its true meaning is changing, being relatively pertaining to environmental and social issues. Everything from executive pay to shareholder rights, or internal controls- are all relevant to investors within this criterion.

Contributors to Fintech- investors, consumers, and incumbents believe that the industry plays a central role in finding unique solutions to the challenges posed by ESG. The EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations were introduced in March of last year. This was followed by a roadmap published by the Treasury in the month of October that outlined new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements.

This is to continue with the development of the frameworks for appropriate regulation and reporting of ESG in financial services. Gartner reported that 85% of investors considered ESG factors in their investments in 2020. This illustrates the rapidly growing importance investors place on ESG issues.

While sharing his concern about the inadequate upgradation measures, Dinis Guarda, founder of intelligenthq, citiesabc, and openbusinesscouncil says for the report by Fintech Talents, “According to an estimate by OECD and World Bank, an investment of 6.9 trillion will be required by 2030 to meet the ESG targets for climate and development. The current spending on infrastructure is no more than USD 3.4 – 4.4 trillion, lagging significantly behind what is required”.  

The year 2022, for Mohamed Moullouze, Chief Innovation Officer at Attijariwafa Bank, will be the year for FS firms to make a progressive effort in bringing ESG products and services within the market. From green loans and mortgages to carbon tracking capabilities, and sustainable account checking- the innovative financial features are much awaited in the markets.

Embedded Finance ensures Bank as a Service (BaaS) experience for the consumer

Embedded finance is a seamless integration of financial services into a platform that has been functioning non-financial traditionally. For example, a ride-hailing app (like Uber) can accept cashless payments being made by its users on its digital platforms like apps and websites.

Adding the FS feature to business, retail, and corporate customers to a point where they would prefer the consumption of services is BaaS. This makes it convenient for the customers to access these services even at third-party interfaces. Now, to remain relevant, the banks must adapt to this evolving trend by collaborating with service providers, distributors, and enablers. To meet the scalability targets, an open API platform-based approach could be implemented.

Almost every vertical of the finance ecosystem has been impacted by embedded financing. From offering insurance for home appliances at the point of purchase to buying parking through Google Maps- everything is possible with the ingression of embedded finance.

Today, there is virtually no part of the finance ecosystem that hasn’t been impacted by embedded finance. Everything from offering insurance at the point of purchase for home appliances to purchasing street parking through apps like Google Maps has been made possible due to the spread of embedded finance in everyday experiences.

Big players like JP Morgan (who is using some of its $12bn of its tech budget over the next year for developing embedded finance), Goldman Sachs (announcing its own BaaS portal for developers), and Barclays (launched Rise Start-Up Academy for fintech entrepreneurs) are coming up with innovative ways to make the most of the upcoming trend.

“I think more specialisation per underserved industries will see new embedded finance collaboration occur in 2022. Aside from just payments and investments, I think the next evolution ventures into the area of royalties and affiliate compensation solutions that leverage the same concepts for creators” Australia Hoover, III, CEO, CDC Federal credit union.

Open banking and embedded finance, combined, could open up numerous gates for an inclusive ecosystem. This means the lenders and borrowers from all financial backgrounds could be allowed to participate equally on common grounds. With an increasing number of use cases for embedded banking, every business can potentially become a Fintech that provides more frictionless and personalised services.

Decentralised Finance (DeFi)

DeFi is the umbrella term for all blockchain-based financial apps. These apps offer (and perform) conventional banking services over a platform that is mostly based on smart contracts. These smart contracts negate the involvement of any middleman or broker for the culmination of financial transactions.

“Decentralisation is the term of the day – everyone is speaking about it,” says Dinis Guarda, Founder of intelligenthq, citiesabc, and openbusinesscouncil. “DeFi is not just a trend; it is clear that an average person is tired of centralised money supply control; the unprecedented growth of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies proves that.”

It is his belief that the advent of a new financial era with the rising DeFi and Web 3.0 trends offers new avenues for the diverse user base to engage interactively with finance. Speaking specifically in the context, Guarda adds “The current financial system is not working for everyone, it is clear. The communities that have been unable to build generational wealth are looking for a meaningful alternative”, for the report by Fintech Talents.

There have been significant barriers to entry with conventional financial systems. Traditional financial institutions consensually required complex infrastructure, well-trained staff, and intricate IT backend systems to ensure regulatory obligations. DeFi simplifies this system overall. Users can engage themselves in frictionless transactions- borrowing, lending, insurance, liquidity, and compound- all on one platform. DeFi is evolving as the innovation advances, though, there are still many challenges that DeFi will need to address.

Platformification

The accelerated digitalisation of products, services, and processes has altered the traction banks followed for over years. The pandemic itself was enough to project the loss of agility in the traditional banking system.

The API-enabled fintech ecosystem dramatically changed the outlook of financial services. This clearly depicts that a platform provides the required flexibility and innovation while imparting the simplicity of transactions in a most cost-effective manner.

Platformification enables financial institutions to offer a wider range of products and services to their customers using a plug-and-play business model. Collaboration and innovation are at the heart of a successful platformification plan. With a product mix, the traditional financial institutions can benefit from the innovations and embrace APIs. As easy as it is said, achieving these goals could be quite challenging for these institutions.

As more and more customers are getting accustomed to taking advantage of countless services at their fingertips, accessing a wide array of financial tools at a single platform is a preferred mode. This is why despite established brand names, banks operating in traditional ways are unable to support the features that users expect.

“The Banking as a Platform model allows FIs to securely expose their platforms to fintech and developers in the cloud via open APIs. Trusted third parties can access and build on top of existing FSI platforms and FIs can augment their services with third-party offerings and make these new services available to customers through their Super Apps or channels. It’s all about becoming part of their customers’ lifestyle rather than simply being a banking app”, says Özkan Erener, CEO of VeriPark.

Platformification establishes an ecosystem that offers the right products for the clients on a single platform like WeChat. This ensures retention and resilience amongst the customers even in an increasingly competitive environment. Specialised services that particularly target the niche audience create fintech sub-sectors like wealthtech and insurtech that could leverage the financial services for a better future.

Financial services are evolving for a sustainable future

The community of innovators is quirky to be able to see what is coming for the future, not just what is happening now and here. They are able to capture and predict the impact new services and products will make on the evolving needs of the customer. What the stakeholders’ demand is more transparency and accountability from FIs. This requires improved financial performance while meeting regulatory compliance. Nevertheless, the most important attribute for a successful financial process is the ability to articulate the unique culture of the society and amalgamate it with the evolving trends.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post How Innovation And Sustainability Carve The Future Of Financial Services appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

As 2021 draws to a close, Amrit Dhami, Thematic Analyst at GlobalData, offers her view on these themes:

M-commerce is fueling the development of super apps in the West, but China will continue to rule the roost

“The increased use of mobile wallets — a virtual wallet that stores card details on mobile phones — and mobile commerce (m-commerce) — purchasing online via a mobile phone — is driving the development of ‘super apps’ in the West, similar to China’s WeChat and Alipay. In 2022, the value of mobile wallet transactions will exceed $266 billion in the US and $60.5 trillion in China.

“Mobile wallets act as a gateway to a broader range of financial services without the need for consumers to leave the app. Mobile point of sale (POS) software usually requires biometric authentication and offers more security than contactless card payments. It’s also more convenient for users, as they carry their phones around everywhere with them anyway, and no additional hardware is needed. This will continue to encourage consumers to abandon cash and cards.

“Since it’s now easier than ever to make transactions using mobile phones, it’s no surprise that m-commerce is exploding to become the most popular method of online transaction. The convergence of mobile wallets, m-commerce, financial services, and social media will encourage payment companies such as PayPal to develop super apps that will streamline the consumer experience and provide a portal to a host of services.

“However, the West’s super apps will fall short of emulating China’s powerful digital ecosystems because western social media companies consistently fall short at building consumer trust — something that is pivotal to the success of super apps. In the absence of the regulatory hands-off approach in China that allowed Tencent and Alibaba to grow substantially, US social media giants must earn their users’ trust if they aspire to reach super-app status.

“GlobalData’s Thematic Scorecards score companies based on how they will perform in various themes. Almost all of the 35 companies on GlobalData’s Social Media Thematic Scorecard score less than two (out of five) for the ‘Data Privacy’ theme, including Meta and Snap. Data privacy is incredibly important to consumers and regulators, so this demonstrates that social media companies still have some way to go before they can be allowed to grow into super apps.”

The herd of fintech unicorns will continue to expand and engage in strategic partnerships

“Fintech unicorns—private companies valued at $1 billion or more— have now climbed to 116 in number, with an aggregate valuation of $529 billion. A surge of investment in start-ups has expanded the herd of fintech unicorns this year, and 2022 will be no different with the likes of Corvus Insurance and Navi Technologies set to join the cohort. Meanwhile, at least 10 current unicorns will become public, including Stripe, Monzo, and Chime.

“The sheer volume of highly valued start-ups operating in fintech demonstrates the extensive ongoing disruption of the financial services sector by digital technologies.

“Disruptors and incumbent institutions will continue to form dynamic partnerships to capitalize on the innovation of start-ups and large user bases of traditional financial institutions. Goldman Sachs and Visa are among those building an extensive fintech network.”

Openness in data ownership has played a critical role in fintech partnerships

“Open banking has encouraged partnerships between disruptors and incumbents by allowing accounts and data to be linked across institutions, important for services like smart budgeting, automated onboarding, and credit risk assessment. PSD2 (the amended Payment Services Directive) has facilitated openness by giving third parties access to banks’ infrastructure.

“Open banking —where banks open up data for regulated providers to access — has been a key driver of partnerships between unicorns and banks, and has been delivered top-down in Europe through PSD2. A more open model of data ownership, where data can be moved across different institutions, increases transparency in banking services, and is an important step in shifting the ownership of customer data from banks to the customer. Institutions will be battling to win our trust and confidence.

“Openness in data ownership will continue to be a key theme in the financial services sector, so discussions around PSD3 will continue in order to instigate the more aggressive measures needed for further networking across financial institutions.”

Generation Hashtag is driving fintech innovation

“Generation Hashtag refers to the cohort born between 1991 and 2005. Having experienced the uncertainty of both the Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19 recession, this generation will continue to redirect their savings towards commission-free stock trading and investment apps such as Robinhood and Freetrade. These apps target young investors with a firm grasp of technology, but limited wealth —Robinhood’s average user is aged 27.

“Generation Hashtag is also wary of credit card fees, so is driving innovation in interest free, buy now pay later (BNPL) services. BNPL is convenient for consumers and lucrative for retailers, reducing cart abandonment. However, more transparency around BNPL services is urgently needed to ensure consumers understand that they are accruing debt through BNPL, which can negatively affect their credit scores. Regulators will pay more attention to BNPL following its rapid growth in 2021, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) already recommending rigorous affordability checks before consumers can use such services.”

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Predicts GlobalData, China To Dominate Super Apps, Data Ownership In Banking To Be More Transparent, And Mobile Wallet Transactions Set To Exceed $266 Billion In The US In 2022 appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

Fintech Week London Focus

Content for the week, curated by some of the industry’s most respected experts and B2B influencers, includes Sustainable Banking and Green Finance, CryptoCurrency, Big Tech & Big Banks and Digital Identity.

Deputy Mayor of London for Business, Rajesh Agrawal, addressed the online audience from Barclays Rise on Monday 12th July as the opening Keynote speaker, along with a welcome from CEO of Fintech Week London, Raf De Kimpe.

Fintech expert and author Chris Skinner spoke about the future of Fintech in London. Prior to the event he said: “During the last year, we have seen an extraordinary move from physical to digital, as evidenced in every part of the economy from airlines to online. In finance, we can see how this has changed when you consider the rise of cryptocurrency values from bitcoin to ethereum to dogecoin.
 
“This is a bigger and deeper change than anyone imagined and heralds a new world order. FinTech Week London will delve deep into what is that new world order and how it works. From nascent technologies like quantum and AI to core systems changes in the form of cloud and ‘as-a-service’ structures, this week will cover it all. And, as a first physical event that I’ve been involved with for a year, it will be nice to have a chance to network, meet and talk physically and digitally once more.”

Programme

On Tuesday 13th July, Fintech Week London opened to a live audience, as well as online, and welcomed eagerly awaited Keynote speaker, Ron Kalifa, to discuss the recently published Kalifa report.

Ghela Boskovich and Imran Gulamhuseinwala lead the morning session on Open Banking/Banking as a Service.

Ghela Boskovich, says: “Open Banking is the reality in which all banks and fintechs will operate, and lessons learned from the UK experience, shape who, what, and how finance evolves. It frames what innovations materialise and how consumers are empowered to take better control over their financial lives. For Fintech Week London, we’re examining this evolution and how the UK can continue to set the gold standard for delivering competition, innovation, and better outcomes for consumers.”

David Birch (Consult Hyperion), honorary president of EEMA, the European e-ID Association and Matt Warman MP hosted a session in the early afternoon around UK Digital Identity Framework, discussing any new requirements for businesses.

“The UK has found it extremely difficult to develop a fit-for-purpose digital identity, so perhaps the fintech sector can provide some new thinking, some new ways to approach the problems of identity that could deliver both improved security and better privacy in a more practical way”, said David Birch ahead of the conference.

“This is why I thought it would be interesting to explore both the identity and people and the identity of things at Fintech Week London. If London is to remain a preeminent financial centre and an engine for the wider economy, then it needs to reinforce the need for this missing pillar of the economy and drive forward its construction.”

On Wednesday morning 14th July, the panel curated by Theo Lau, includes Joy Macknight, Dr Leda Glyptis, Adizah Tejani, Kate Rosenshine and Joanne Dewaran, leading the discussion on Big Tech and Big Banks.

Theo Lau says: “If we think back at our habits in the past decade or more, we’d have noticed the increasingly dominant role that smartphones — or rather, big techs — play in our day-to-day lives. From connecting with friends and family to ordering groceries and entertaining, we rely on our digital devices to keep track of everything for us.

“In parallel, we have seen an explosion of funding towards fintech startups. From Wise and N26 to m-Pesa and Nubank; from Ant Group and Paytm to Grab and GoJek, thousands of fintech startups around the world have made great strides in building new digital products and experiences from lending, payments, investing, and beyond.

“Do banks still have a place in this digital economy? Absolutely. But for regular consumers, can they conduct their day-to-day lives without incumbent financial institutions? The answer is increasingly yes as well.

“Perhaps the right question to ask isn’t so much so, “Do we need to be banks to offer financial services”. Rather, who will customers trust with their money and their data and why?

“Now that’s a billion dollar question — especially for those entities who are banking (literally and figuratively) on the vast amount of valuable data they stand to gain from the consumers.”

Wednesday afternoon will see the Next Big Things in Fintech, hosted by Chris Skinner and Suzanne Chisti looking at the power of fintech founders and the importance of diversity in a changing world, as well as how the pandemic and fintech have impacted each other.

The breakout sessions on Thursday will be hosted at Level39, and will focus on hot topics including raising capital for fintechs, cybersecurity, payments and AI. In the afternoon, together with Market Across and main partner crypto.com, the topic will be cryptocurrencies and blockchain, looking at innovations such as DeFi, NFTs and what is happening to Bitcoin.

Speakers throughout the week will also include Alex Marsh, head of Klarna UK, Dan Morgan, policy lead – Europe, of Plaid and Sophie Guibaud, chief growth officer of OpenPayd.

Guests, media and conference attendees will be treated to an industry party on Tuesday 13th July and The Open Banking Expo Awards will take place on Thursday evening, 15th July.

Safety Notes

As a minimum, all visitors will be asked to scan the NHS Track & Trace QR code at the reception and temperature checks will be performed on entry. All visitors will be asked to wear a mask as much as possible and wash hands regularly. There will be extra hand sanitising stations throughout the venue and common areas will be disinfected regularly.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Fintech Week London Opens First International Hybrid Event appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

Global Industry leaders, thought leaders, Universities and government officials will speak during the 3-day openbusinesscouncil summit in partnership with WSCF World Smart Cities Forum and in collaboration with Ruh Global Impact on 20th, 21st and 22nd April 2021.

London, 14th April 2021 

openbusinesscouncil summit offers businesses and governments solutions to the urgency to create awareness for digital transformation, 4IR Tech to empower businesses and SMEs.

The openbusinesscouncil Summit and Awards, in partnership with citiesabc and World Smart Cities Forum, is running an online event with the aim to strengthen businesses, startups, and government’s strategies post COVID-19.

The summit provides access to a unique audience and has indirect digital streaming in social media, that reaches over 10 million people.

The experts include, amongst others, high-profile personalities such as:

• Javed Jaffrey – Bollywood film, TV Actor and Personality
• Dr. Scott Edward Parazynski – Former Nasa Astronaut and CEO of Fluidity Technologies
• Valeriya Ionan – Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine,
• Jaewon Peter Chun –  President at World Smart Cities Forum.
• Ben Goertzel, Founder of SingularityNET, co-creator Sofia the Robot
• Dimitrios Psarakis – Brussels Council former EU Parliament
• Michael Stanley-Jones – United Nations Environment Programme
• Surina Shukri, CEO of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC);
• Professor Kiran Fernandes, Professor and Associate Dean Durham University
• Jawad Sardar, Director SUM Global – Smart Cities Specialist, Advisor to UK and Governments globally

The openbusinesscouncil summit team offers a 3-days event, covering urgent issues trending and disruptive topics, such as the boom of 4IR and AI, DeFi, the always-widening possibilities of blockchain and AI, the impact of leading tech in Finance and Society, the rising importance of NFTs, etc, in more than 50 panels.

Dinis Guarda and Hilton Supra founders of the event say: “We all have the power as stakeholders and our destinies to use the tech of our time, digital literacy and simultaneously using 4IR technology as a direct consequence of the COVID-19 crisis to serve and empower businesses and professionals worldwide #obcsummit.”

The openbusinesscouncil digital summit will cover how COVID-19 is rapidly transforming Organisations. Businesses and Governments can only survive and ideally thrive, in an environment where new consumer behaviours can accelerate their digital transformation efforts.

openbusinesscouncil citiesabc summit will reflect and offer panels and masterclasses on:

1. Creating Smarter Digital Transformation Businesses in a Time of Covid-19 with 4IR, Big Data, IoT and Cybersecurity to Businesses and SMEs;
2. Challenges and Opportunities Digital HealthTech & Wellness Post Covid-19 and Digital Inclusion in Cities and AI
3. How can Tech4All, Tech4Good and AI4Good Support CSR and CDR;
4. Smart Cities and Digital Twins
5. The Future of Collaborative Innovation, Media, IP, Digital Platforms with 4IR & AI;
6. Finding our way Forward with UN SDGs, ESGs in the Post-Covid-19 World;
7. Redesigning Businesses After Covid – ESG – Sustainability – Finance and Digital Transformation Investment
8. Centralised Finance vs Decentralised Finance, Digital Assets – NFTs;
9. Scale-Ups and Venture Capital Accelerator Networks Aiding Growth to the Business Startup Ecosystem?
10. Fintech, GovTech, LegalTech and PropTech, & The WorkPlace of the Future
11. Blockchain, DeFi and CBDC – the Next Fintech Frontier
12. ESG, Carbon Footprint and Energy

About the organisers: openbusinesscouncil is a Leading Global Digital Business Directory Certification and Marketplace created by a team of global thought and business leaders with more than 20 years of working with governments, business networks, tech ecosystems and  universities.

citiesabc.com is a platform for smarter cities and their creative industries – art, music and film NFT marketplace network. citiesabc offers tools to the organisations and the people of the cities.

World Smart Cities Forum is a non-profit organisation established to assist local governments and municipalities to solve current urban challenges by building and developing human-centric smart cities around the world.

The event will be streamed in the fast-growing Dinis Guarda YouTube Podcast series https://www.youtube.com/c/DinisGuarda/videos

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/openbusinesscouncil-summit-and-awards-tickets-136828817677

For more information https://openbusinesscouncil.org/summit/

Summit & Awards video: https://youtu.be/hb9hnc9NHu0

Media and Contact: Serafima Semkina

serafima.semkina@ztudium.com – +447771321078

__________________________________________________

Meet The Speakers At Openbusinesscouncil Summit and Awards

The biggest names to speak at the conference and their bios can be accessed below. Openbusinesscouncil ensured the highest quality of speakers, who come from top positions in their fields.

Ms. Valeriya Ionan, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Ukraine 

Currently working as a Deputy Minister for Eurointegration in the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, she is in charge of the digital literacy national program (Diia. Digital Education), development and growth of SME with help of digital instruments (Diia.Business), new digital professions, online children protection, euro integration. Before working for the Ukrainian government, she was an entrepreneur. Valeriya graduated from the  MBA program at Edinburgh Business School Eastern Europe in Marketing, Organizational Behavior, Negotiations and Human Resource Management.

Jaewon Peter Chun, President at World Smart Cities Forum

Jaewon is the President of World Smart Cities Forum (WSCF), which is a non-profit organization based in London, England. He also founded ARK-i Labs in New York City, which is a smart city curator and investment company. Besides, he also founded and have run XnTREE, a Tech accelerator in Level39 which is the largest open tech cluster in Europe, which is located in Canary-Wharf financial district in London. In 2018, he was appointed Master Planner, head of Korea’s smart city national pilot project, to create a master plan framework.

Jawad Sardar, Future Cities & Prosperity Specialist, DIT UK

Jawad is a  smart cities specialist who works with national and local governments across the world to develop leading smart governance, mobility, urban planning and sustainability projects. Most recently overseeing the Prosperity Fund Global Future Cities Programme (GFCP) for the Department of International Trade (DIT) as their Future Cities & Prosperity specialist. Jawad also works with tech companies to help build smart cities applications and use cases for Ai, IoT, AR/VR, and data analytics in cities.

Neil Milliken, Global Head of Accessibility, Atos, AxChat, W3 consortium advisor

Neil is the Atos representative on the Business Disability Forum Technology Task Force and have successfully instigated the adoption of and implemented the Accessible Technology charter. His role is to help make the world a better place by delivering better technology for his customers and staff, embedding inclusive practice into the Business As Usual Processes of organisations with thousands of employees and turnovers numbering in billions. His clients include: BBC, Department of Health, Ministry of Justice, Insolvency Service, and NHS.

Scott Edward Parazynski – Physician | former NASA astronaut

Scott is an American physician and a former NASA astronaut. A veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and seven spacewalks, Parazynski’s latest mission was STS-120 in October, 2007 – highlighted by a dramatic, unplanned EVA to repair a live solar array. arazynski said he wanted to build a company based on what he’d learned as an astronaut, from collaborating with colleagues around the world to training and designing things in virtual reality. In 2016, he founded Fluidity Technologies in Houston. The company’s first product, the FT Aviator, is a joystick used to fly DJI drones as smoothly as possible with just one hand.

Debra Ruh, Founder & CEO Ruh Global IMPACT

Debra has worked as a Global Inclusion Strategist since 2001. Before she became an entrepreneur she was an executive in the banking industry for many years. She created Ruh Global Communications to help clients reduce their compliance and brand risks associated with inclusion and create programs that act as a positive differentiator. The goal is to help our clients thrive in this space and empower them to be global problem solvers, champions of change, and transformational leaders of social change.

Joy Tan, SVP Public Affairs, Huawei

Joy leads a diverse team of communications and media affairs professionals to convey Huawei’s cutting-edge innovation and best practices as a global technology leader to U.S. audiences. Together with her team, she is committed to telling the unique story and rapid growth of Huawei, which has grown into a $122 billion multinational company, whose products and services are used across 170 countries from its inception over 30 years ago.

The inaugural summit reached 50,000+ live views 300,000+ post-live views with a global media outreach in social media and PR of over 10 million people!

The April 2021 summit and awards are expected to far exceed this with the addition of more key speakers and participants.

The event will be streamed in the fast-growing Dinis Guarda Youtube Podcast series:

https://www.youtube.com/c/DinisGuarda/videos 

Tickets:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/openbusinesscouncil-summit-and-awards-tickets-136828817677

For more information:

https://openbusinesscouncil.org/summit/

Summit & Awards video:

https://youtu.be/hb9hnc9NHu0

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post 120+ Speakers Including Former Nasa Astronaut Scott Parazynski, Bollywood Actor Javed Jaffrey Join Global Digital Transformation Openbusinesscouncil Citiesabc Summit Looking at Best Ways to Cope With Covid-19 Business Challenges appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

PayFuture has launched a new high performance payment gateway connector that delivers online access to popular local payment options across numerous emerging markets. With the rapid global growth of ecommerce, both local and international online merchants can now use PayFuture to enter these emerging markets and capture significant opportunities for business, which were previously unexploited. By choosing PayFuture’s modern gateway technology functions. Merchants now have a chance to leap forward technologically, moving away from aging legacy gateway systems offering just generic international payments options and now have the ability to give these same merchants access to localised and most popular payments across each of the major global emerging markets.

By incorporating AI and deep learning technology at its heart, PayFuture ensures an unrivalled customer experience and journey. It also ensures optimum approvals and full conversion recovery to decrease merchant’s revenue loss. Importantly, With PayFuture’s Risk and Fraud monitoring system, merchants also benefit from comprehensive fraud protection and auto alerts, which warn merchants of potential risks as they occur.

The countries initially accessible through the gateway include: Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh Brazil, Columbia India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Thailand, Vietnam and many more. With just a few clicks, PayFuture delivers accurate real-time data that assist merchants in understanding customer trends and payment habits of each country. This powerful payment data-rich country insight and analysis enables instantaneous, real-time views helping merchants to fine tune their marketing plans, budgets and business growth plans for each region.

A highly experienced team of transaction monitoring experts is on hand 24/7/365 to closely watch the flow of traffic’ aiming to prevent transaction disruption even at peak periods. Of particular note, is PayFuture’s Conversion Recovery Solution. This works in real-time to identify when a customer might abandon a sale. This alerts both the systems chat-bots and the merchant’s call centre to re-engage with the customer to save the deal. For transactions that are ultimately declined, the system offers users the option of trying a different payment option.

Commenting on the launch Manpreet Haer of PayFuture noted: “This is an enormous leap forwards. Access to local Ecommerce Payments payment methods is now crucial in emerging territories – especially those without developed retail or personal banking sectors. PayFuture’s technology enables this by allowing the ecommerce merchant the full suite of all local payment methods, faster payment completion times and therefore reducing payment abandonment. Globally we find that many emerging market’s most popular payment methods are using mobile only wallets and localised mobile payment systems. These are all enabled as standard via the PayFuture connector gateway.

“Our system allows customers to move into growth countries for the first time, with the risk of fraud under close control. This ensures significant peace of mind and that our merchants receive the highest customer conversions no matter which country their clients are paying from.”

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post PayFuture AI And Deep Learning Tech Opens A World Of Opportunities For E-Commerce Merchants appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

· From building Smart Cities to the role of 4IR technologies like blockchain, AI, IoT on the industries of tomorrow, openbusinesscouncil Summit offers a 3-day digital event packed with insights and solutions for all the challenges of our society.

· Learn how Digital Transformation, 4IR and Society 5.0 can be achieved from top ministers including Minister of Technology of Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and top industry leaders like Eric van der Kleij, former UK Smart Nation Director; Michael Stanley Jones from United Nations and Ben Goertzel, AI mastermind and others

· The openbusinesscouncil Summit starts on December 9-11, offering two days full of meaningful panels. Watch now on Dinis Guarda Youtube Channel.

Digital Transformation and 4IR are an unstoppable force of change. Businesses, nations and industries need to adapt to what this digital revolution offers. But there are many challenges and questions that need to be addressed, especially in these difficult times of global COVID-19 pandemic.

The openbusinesscouncil summit is a leading 2-day global virtual event that aims to strengthen businesses, startups and governments’ with digital transformation strategies and how to deal with the economic challenges and technology disruption arising from COVID-19.

From December 9 – 10, the leading global virtual event provides access to a unique roster of 100+ leading global speakers from over 30 countries and a direct reach of 10.000 participants and an indirect reach of around 10 million people.

The summit has a solid focus on businesses and governments’ digital transformation strategies, and it will provide a road map of solutions, covering opportunities of how to work and collaborate as governments, businesses, cities, citizens and nations move forward with 4IR – Society 5.0. The summit will provide an international business and brand exposure through our media partners.

The openbusinesscouncil summit starts off at 8.30am GMT and runs through to 18.00am GMT on both December 9 and 10. The first panel features Saifuddin Abdullah, Minister of Communications of Malaysia, and along Dinis Guarda, CEO and Founder of ztudium, Thought Leader & Influencer and Sanjay Aggarwal, Chairman & CEO at Paramount Communications Limited will look for an answer to “How can Governments & Businesses manage the Challenges of COVID-19 – Digital transformation 4IR, AI, Blockchain, FinTech?”

The first day will close with the panel “Technology, Blockchain, AI, Automation. What is the future?”, with the insights of Ben Goertzel, Founder of SingularityNET; Aidan Meller; Creator of Ai-Da robot and Dr. Jamal Ouenniche, Professor and Chair in Business Analytics at the University of Edinburgh Business School.

Day-2 will feature some of keynote speakers, including Eric van der Kleij
Cofounder EdenBase.com, creator of Level39.co, former adviser to U.K. Prime Minister – Technation.io, Naokazu Takemoto, Minister of Technology Japan and Cato Ochi, Special Advisor to the State Minister, Business and political Consultant in the panel “The Global Business & Startup digital and Tech landscape – Challenges and Opportunities?”

Providing solutions to businesses will be a key theme along the summit and the panel “The Global Business & Startup digital and Tech landscape – Challenges and Opportunities?” proves that. This panel will count with the presence of Oleksandr Bornyakov, “Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for IT Development Ukraine”; Tina Jabeen, CEO & Founder of Bangladesh Startup CEO Founder; Tran Van Tung, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology Vietnam and Andrés Saborido, Managing Director at Wayra.

Join us on from December, 9 on Dinis Guarda YouTube channel.

About openbusinesscouncil summit

The openbusinesscouncil summit is a leading 2-day global virtual event that aims to strengthen businesses, startups and governments’ with digital transformation strategies and how to deal with the economic challenges and technology disruption arising from COVID-19.

The three-day summit provides access to a unique audience of 100+ leading global speakers from over 30 countries and a direct reach of 10.000 participants and an indirect reach digital streaming in social media that reaches around 10 million people. The participants include potential partners and clients, leading global thought leaders, entrepreneurs, startup organisations, accelerators, investors, authors and governments.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Openbusinesscouncil Summit Is Live! Focusing on the Impact of Covid-19 and the Challenges of 4IR, Society 5.0, AI, Blockchain and FinTech appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

· ICC Solutions has secured a deal with a major US acquiring bank, seeing its turnover increase by a third over the next 5 years
· The Fintech exporter which helps businesses implement secure payments such as Chip & PIN, contactless and mobile phone
· The UK fintech sector is estimated to be worth around £7 billion to the economy and employs around 60,000

With an increasing number of businesses moving to contactless payments worldwide, one UK company has secured a deal with a major US acquiring bank to implement and safely test payment methods, which is set to increase turnover by 35% over the next 5 years.

Founded in 1996 by husband and wife David and Wendy Maisey, ICC Solutions was created out of the need for businesses to securely test card payments and prevent fraud.

An early deal with VISA in 2000 saw the company gain the global credibility it needed, leading to a well-respected position in the Canadian market in 2007 and subsequent recognition in the US.

As of today, ICC Solutions’ exports account for 94% of its overall turnover. Its technology is used by banks and merchants to implement secure payments such as Chip & PIN, contactless and mobile phone in over 100 countries worldwide, with the business employing 45 full time staff and looking to grow this in the coming months.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) has been providing support and opening networks, enabling the company to generate significant international growth. As a DIT Export Champion ICC Solutions has also been supporting and mentoring other businesses in their exporting journeys.

Co-founder and Director of ICC Solutions Wendy Maisey OBE said: “We started ICC Solutions after noticing that there wasn’t a way to safely test tools for card payments, this was a real gap in the payment industry. We then set out to design and create a software solution that took care of all the testing and certification, preventing fraud and saving large acquiring banks and businesses a great sum of money.

“Exporting has a significant impact on revenue, it has given us resilience to get through a situation like this, and it makes it exciting for the team.

“We are living in very uncertain times, so if you are considering expansion into different countries, speak to the Department of International Trade about doing so – their expertise is invaluable in understanding legislation when entering new markets.”

The UK fintech sector is estimated to be worth around £7 billion to the economy and employs around 60,000 people up and down the UK. In 2018, total trade between the UK and US was worth over £190 billion, with the financial services industry representing the UK’s largest service export to the US at £11.8 billion.

Miles Celic, Chief Executive Officer, TheCityUK, said: “As a world-leading FinTech hub, the UK offers ambitious firms a competitive base for their global growth.

“The US is one of the most important export destinations for our industry, which is why further strengthening our ties in future-focused areas like digital trade, FinTech and data is so important.

“Deepening the UK’s wider trade and investment relationship with the US will reinforce one of our most important trading relationships, and this has the potential to deliver wide economic benefits on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Minister for Exports Graham Stuart said: “It is fantastic to see such an innovative company adapting to the challenges of coronavirus and thriving in new markets. Our new free trade agreements will have a strong modern and digital focus, allowing British technology to thrive across the world in the coming years.

“The US is our largest trading partner and we will continue to champion free trade because we know that an agreement between our nations will provide UK exporters with a wealth of new opportunities.”

The fourth round of UK-US Free Trade Agreement negotiations took place earlier this month, with the exchange of tariff offers between the two nations, highlighting a significant progress and a notable milestone achieved since launching negotiations in May 2020.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post UK Fintech Exporter ICC Solutions Pens Deal To Make Card Payments Safer In The US appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

Recent years have witnessed a surge in the adoption of digital payments worldwide, driven by the rising number of smart devices and the booming eCommerce market. As one of the first and most significant players in the digital payments landscape, PayPal has played a huge role in building a cashless society.

According to data gathered by StockApps, PayPal hit 346 million active users and more than 3.7bn transactions in the second quarter of 2020, a 25% jump year-on-year.

PayPal Transactions Rocket 105% in Three Years

Compared to its biggest rival, Alipay, built on the Alibaba ecosystem with a much larger user base, PayPal operates as a standalone company. Moreover, it scores the Chinese competitor both in terms of worldwide popularity and international acceptance.

Today, the PayPal platform provides digital commerce and peer-to-peer money transfers in more than 200 markets across the world. Statistics show its massive global reach has been driving steady growth in the number of transactions over the years.

In the second quarter of 2016, PayPal reached more than 1.4bn transactions worldwide, revealed Statista data and PayPal Q2 2020 Results. In the next twelve months, this figure rose by 25% to over 1.8bn. The quarterly number of payments continued growing in the following years and hit more than 2.9bn in the second quarter of 2019. Statistics show the quarterly number of PayPal transactions jumped by 105% in three years. The group’s Q2 2020 Results also revealed the net revenue hit $5.26bn in the second quarter of 2020, a 22% increase year-on-year.

Five years ago, PayPal had 169 million users all around the world. Since then, this number soared by 104% to 346 million in the second quarter of 2020. Statistics indicate the number of people actively using PayPal services jumped by 105% in the last three years.

PayPal’s Market Cap Soared by 83% Year-on-Year

The increasing number of both PayPal transactions and users worldwide has been followed by the group’s steady stock performance.

In September 2019, PayPal had $121.6bn in market capitalization, revealed the Yahoo Finance data. By the end of the last year, the total value of the group’s stocks increased to $126.8bn. This figure dropped 11% to $112.3bn in March amid the stock market crash caused by the coronavirus crisis.

However, the second quarter of the year brought a recovery, with the market cap rising to $204.3bn in June, an 81% increase in three months. In September, the combined value of PayPal stocks stood at more than $223bn, an 83% jump year-on-year.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post PayPal Hit 3.7bn Transactions And 346 Million Active Users Amid Coronavirus Pandemic appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

The future of payments lies in the cloud. Prior to the pandemic, the widespread adoption of cloud computing was already prevalent, with industries like healthcare, marketing, retail, and finance all embracing the technology to supercharge their operations. In healthcare, the cloud is used for securing and storing electronic health records, while the marketing sector uses it to automate routine tasks and track trends. Retail businesses utilise cloud technology to market to their customers more effectively, and the finance industry leverage it to make expense management and digital payments much more efficient.

While the situation is not ideal, the outbreak has become the turning point for the payments industry. Enterprises that had invested heavily in cloud solutions have been able to continue with less interference compared to those who didn’t. Since March, cloud-based services for remote workers were responsible for keeping the world working, due to many businesses being forced to shut down and transition to a work-from-home setup. Those previously opposed to the concept are also starting to realise its benefits, and if the prediction by Global Data proves to be correct, the cloud services market will blow up to a whopping $661 billion (£528 billion) by 2024. That clocks into a 19% annual growth rate between 2019 and 2024.

In the coming months and years, the biggest tech companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Alibaba, and IBM, are likely to position themselves as the superior cloud-based collaboration and application providers. Google is already at the forefront of this movement, with Google Cloud announcing that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UK Crown Commercial Service (CCS) in an effort to make it easier and more affordable for public sector agencies across the UK to take advantage of Google Cloud’s full range of services. This project will aid them in providing a seamless digital transformation for the British public.

Simon Tse, Chief Executive of CCS, highlights how the MoU will also lead to large-scale business benefits for customers and emphasises the CCS’ role in helping the public sector serve the nation in more novel and innovative ways. Organisations will get the chance to leverage a range of technologies available in the cloud, including, but not limited to infrastructure, analytics, artificial intelligence, application modernisation and development, workflow management, and collaboration solutions.

This initiative is likely to push the adoption of cloud computing even further forward, leading to an even more widespread adoption of digital payments. A report by The Business Research Company noted that the decline of cash payments in-store was due to the advice of government bodies and health institutions, resulting in the rise of contactless payment methods. Businesses struggling to stay afloat will definitely benefit from using a cloud-based payment system, given how it’s more convenient and safer for customers due to reduced physical contact and its enhanced data security. Indeed, popular payment provider FIS Global details how cloud-based solutions can integrate seamlessly with a variety of payment channels and platforms, enabling large enterprises to access the same network from around the world. This helps ensure that retail transactions stay securely encrypted due to real-time updates being carried out across all systems. Sensitive data is also tokenised, a process in which a unique identifier is assigned the secure information, allowing businesses to safely conduct payment transactions. This applies to almost all digital payments available, whether it’s recurring bills, subscriptions, or one-time fees.

There’s no doubt that organisations and businesses will benefit from transitioning to the cloud should they decide to do so. However, it should not be done in haste. CIO underscores how transitioning from on-premises infrastructure to multi-cloud or hybrid cloud is no easy feat, and one must consider making a cloud-first commitment. This means taking a deep dive into cloud computing and gaining an in-depth understanding of its economics, as well as planning for continuous compliance. Any mistakes will be very costly to rectify.

But what is clear is it that from here on out cloud computing is no longer a novel phenomenon. It’s here to stay, and, in fact, it’s only just getting started.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post The Rising Popularity of Cloud Computing and Digital Payments appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.