text:
Payday loans are not the only style of high priced consumer credit you to definitely get going as the a preliminary-label financial provider but will come to be much time-term debt barriers, based on a report put out Tuesday from the Individual Economic Defense Agency.
The statement ‘s the most recent when you look at the a series of education create because of the government company because forces to own a general lay of the latest regulations ruling businesses that provide short-name user money, generally at highest rates. The new agency is anticipated to discharge proposed laws and regulations in the upcoming days.
The brand new report turns its awareness of a separate, although comparable category of lenders that would be also at the mercy of brand new bureau’s recommended statutes.
“Even if these types of [auto-title] items are constantly sold to possess short-identity financial problems, new long-title can cost you of such financing will merely generate a bad condition even worse,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said throughout the a tuesday appointment label which have journalists. “Such financing . establish issues that act like those let me reveal that have pay day loan.”
New declaration focused specifically to your single-payment auto-term finance, which can be similar to cash advance for the reason that he is expected as paid back into the a lump sum payment, typically shortly after 30 days.
Weighed against cash advance, auto-term fund include larger and now have quite straight down appeal prices, no matter if they show up having a massive connect: Individuals must install security of these funds, providing the lender the right to need its car whenever they can’t shell out. Leer más
You desire dollars? LoanCounty now offers get a hold of short-term cash advance for the Anderson, Sc 17 banking institutions to give you the brand new quick cash you you would like. When you have a reliable income source and you may a bank account, you happen to be recognized for a financial loan doing $a lot of. It’s punctual, easy, and you can confidential. To begin with, only fill in the shape and then click this new «Start off» button.
Cash advance are ideal for situations where your bank account are lengthened by unexpected expenditures including vehicle repairs, scientific debts, household emergencies, otherwise getting in for the a beneficial product sales. Leer más


text:
Funds Flow to FinTech
Financial services technology has become one of the fastest-growing areas for venture capital investment, according to Stephane Dubois, CEO of market data provider Xignite.
“The financial technology space was not the darling of the media and investment community for a while,” Dubois told Markets Media. “But 2014 has been amazing because what we’ve seen is that because of the convergence of the market being at its highest and the technology maturing, some of the start-ups that started three, four, five years ago, are starting to get some real traction.”
Fintech startups are capturing the attention of Wall Street, which regards them as something of a competitive threat, especially in wealth management.
“Companies like Wealthfront, Personal Capital, and Betterment are raising a 50, 70, 75 million dollars in a round and bring in huge amounts of capital to try and reinvent digital wealth management,” said Dubois. “Some of them are starting to deals with larger institutions. Then you’re starting to see some institutions, like the Schwabs of the world saying that they’re doing the same thing. They’re trying to keep up, and not be beat by this.”
Over the past three years, global investment in fintech companies has grown four times faster than venture investing overall, according to a report by Accenture.
Since 2008, deal flow has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 27% and the value of deals by 26%. The first quarter of 2014 was the most active quarter yet for global fintech investment, with $1.7 billion invested and 167 deals closed.
The U.S. received 83% of fintech investment in 2013, the report said. In the first quarter of 2014, nearly $1 billion was invested in U.S> fintech ventures, and new quarterly record, and 109 deals closed.
The financial sector has been adept at incorporating technology that was developed for other sectors, such as retail, as opposed to being on the leading edge, said Dubois.
“It’s not like rocket science,” he said. “What you’re talking about is the application of some technology that hasn’t matured to a domain. If you look at companies like Wealthfront and Personal Capital, the way they go about doing things is not fundamentally different from what you could have done 10 years ago in terms of identifying your richest profile and investing in the portfolios that fit that demographic. What they’re doing, is they’re automating it.”
Featured image via iStock
The new offering sports 11 liquidity-seeking algorithms with more to come.
GMAG says vacation season is a good time for design, implementation and testing of machine-based trading.
A bank will be able to recommend specific changes to clients to improve their access to liquidity.
Tech vendor will support Canadian equities trading and interlisted securities trading via its AMS.
A target-close model allows traders to mitigate market impact, Deutsche Bank's Andrew Royal writes.

domain: news


text:
Imagine your phone completely revolving around Facebook, you would message using Facebook messenger, you would search using Facebook search and so on and so forth. Sounds a bit unrealistic right? Come April 4th, and this may just turn into reality.
While Facebook’s message, “Come see our new home on Android” made people think that the company is working on yet another Facebook phone, reports suggests that Facebook wants to take over the functionality of the Android devices.
Apparently Facebook wants to display content from the News Feed on the users’ home screen, which might be achieved with a widget or a launcher app. But Facebook seems to want to force its way deeper into Android in order to allow it to take over the device home screen.
Obviously this deeper integration would have to be on specially designated handsets, and not easily added to just any device, hence it wouldn’t be seen on all devices. For now only HTC has agreed to support Facebook. Our best guess is that we’ll be seeing a HTC device on 4th April.


text:
As he left for a business conference in Arizona recently, Siamak Masoudi grabbed a stack of his business cards. The vice president of HealthEZ, a health benefits administration firm in Bloomington, wanted the cards even though his smart phone has an app that enables him to trade all of his contact information simply by tapping it against a similarly equipped device.
"It's pretty cool," said Masoudi, whose fascination with computerized gadgets dates to when he minored in computer science 30 years ago at the University of Minnesota.
But it's not so cool that he, like many other people, is willing to give up his printed cards.
Although technological advances such as e-mailed digital calling cards, web-based networking programs and scannable bar and QR codes -- those funky printed boxes that look like tiny, high-tech mazes -- have led many observers to predict that the old-fashioned, printed business card is going to join the three-martini lunch and steno pool as business-world relics, it hasn't happened. According to printing industry statistics, 10 billion of the cards are printed a year. (The real estate business leads in their use.)
While many people predict that the day is coming in which business cards will disappear -- Masoudi among them -- the physical cards remain a viable and important business tool.
Handling the cards "creates a memory of the physical image of the person you just met," Masoudi said. "You can use your cellphone to take a picture of the person, but that's kind of awkward."
Exchanging cards also spares participants from the potential embarrassment of one person having to turn down the other's offer to swap electronic info, said John Purdy, a communication professor at the University of St. Thomas.
You can politely trade cards and then decide later which ones to keep and which to throw away.
"In face-to-face meetings at networking events, business cards offer the receiver a gracious means for deciding if he or she would like to actually record that person in his or her contacts file," he said. "This decision could be made after the event."
Some people find the mere presence of an electronic device problematic, said Carol Bruess, a St. Thomas professor and author of the 2005 book "Contemporary Issues in Interpersonal Communication." These are people who have been offended by "the sometimes rude and off-putting behavior of those around us who are attending to the digital devices in their hands" rather than focusing on the person in front of them, she said.
There is a generational element to the issue, too, said Tom Kosel, director of government relations at Globe University/Minnesota School of Business. The school's students, "with their ties to social media, might laugh at us" for still using cardboard business cards, he said.
"But when I go to a conference, most of the people there have the old-fashioned cards. They might scan them or enter the information into Outlook later, but they carry the cards," he said.
Even if the exchange of electronic data eventually becomes the predominant means of networking, Bruess doesn't think the traditional business card will disappear entirely.
"In a way, I think the business card will have even more symbolic value in the future as fewer people use them," she said. "It's a little bit like the handwritten thank-you note. As fewer of us send notes and cards -- think Facebook 'Happy Birthday' messages sent en masse, with a quick click -- those notes and greeting cards we do receive have greater symbolic value and actually are more meaningful, more prized."
Jeff Strickler • 612-673-7392


text:
15 million Americans live within 1 mile of fracking operations. There is a glut of natural gas on the market. Yet, natural gas prices are up. Over 50% of homes use NG heat, and on average they will pay 13% more this winter, in a surplus. Hey this doesn't make sense!
Price is up in anticipation of shipping our NG to other nations, a world market price like oil, even if you discover more the price is set by world demand not our needs or demands.
Consumers are mostly unaware of this. There is a group of companies filing suit to stop the approval of these export terminals which will raise operating costs in the US. Dow Chemical is leading the fight. When these ports are in operation our NG prices will sky rocket and fracking will expand further. 15 million will become 25, 50?
The Chamber of Commerce, which is business lingo for "middle class not needed", is fighting for these ports to be approved, giving 93% of their donations to the GOP, which dutifully runs the nation for the corporations. Who would have thought that finding more gas means the nations industries will become less competitive and homeowners bills go up? Kiss converting trucks to NG good bye.
Screw'm, stick'm with their surplus! Find a way to use less NG this winter.


text:
Infinity Blade, the medieval fighting / role-playing mobile game series from Epic Games, is no more, as the developer has removed all three entries in the franchise from Apple’s App Store. The series has been dormant since 2013, when Infinity Blade III was released and Epic and co-developer Chair Entertainment announced the third game would mark the end of the planned trilogy. However, Epic has continued to support the games throughout the last half-decade — until today, it seems.
In a statement, Epic says “it has become increasingly difficult for our team to support the Infinity Blade series at a level that meets our standards.” If you own the games, you can re-download them on any device by using an account that originally bought them. In-app purchases have been disabled, though Epic says the games should be available for the “foreseeable future.”
If you own the games, you can re-download them for the ‘foreseeable future’
Infinity Blade became notable for pushing the graphical fidelity of mobile games, relying on iOS and custom use of the iPhone’s graphics chip to push the limits of smartphone gaming. The game was featured heavily in Apple keynotes for years, starting with the first game in 2010. It stands as an early testament to the kinds of full-fledged, console-like experiences you can now enjoy on mobile.
The timing couldn’t be more curious. Epic is currently the game industry’s biggest and most popular developer, having sailed to the top thanks to its mega-hit battle royale game Fortnite — a game that runs flawlessly on mobile, thanks in part to advancements first made with Infinity Blade. The company is making hundreds of millions of dollars a month from the game across all platforms, and it’s also begun an effort to rival Valve’s Steam in online PC game distribution with its own store.
Not only that, but it announced earlier today that swords are coming to Fortnite as an in-game melee weapon, with a teaser video showing what looks like the titular sword taken straight from Infinity Blade. Epic even hints at the reference with the final line in its blog post, writing, “As we bid farewell, be sure to keep your eyes peeled. You may find Infinity Blade popping up in places you wouldn’t expect.”
Image: Epic Games
The sword teased as the newest Fortnite weapon looks a whole lot like the titular Infinity Blade.
It certainly seems like Epic has the money and resources to keep Infinity Blade alive, if it were so desired. Yet Epic discontinuing support for anything that isn’t related to either Fortnite or its Unreal Engine game-making software is nothing new.
Epic shut down its League of Legends competitor Paragon in January, citing the success of Fortnite and the need to hone its focus on expanding its battle royale game. That was a smart move — Fortnite has since become one of the biggest and most lucrative games ever. Last week, Epic killed its planned Unreal Tournament reboot, again citing Fortnite and the need to focus a majority of the company’s resources toward supporting that game over new projects.
So while Infinity Blade fans might bemoan the priorities at play here, it certainly makes sense to discontinue support for a game that was likely already purchased and played by pretty much every potential buyer out there. If you didn’t already own the game, there’s a slim chance you would have ever bought it five years on, although it would have been nice to get some notice. Because as an iPhone owner myself, I’m now kicking myself for not buying the second and third installments.


text:
The Nokia 9 PureView was a flagship with high expectations that failed to deliver on multiple fronts. Arguably the biggest let down was the unreliable performance of the Lights optical technology camera. Towards the beginning of the month, we heard some rumors about the Nokia 9s successor which will reportedly incorporate a Snapdragon 865 chipset and is expected to make its debut in the autumn.
Now, we are getting yet another report about the device which is expected to come as the Nokia 9.2 PureView. According to the new leak, HMD will ditch the Light camera technology this time around and will opt for on a more conventional approach but we dont have any details as to what to expect here.
As far as pricing, the new Nokia 9.2 PureView is also rumored to come with a lower pricetag at around $660/600 which brings it in the Nokia 8 mold. In terms of hardware, the rumors suggest a bezel-less display with a 32 or 48MP camera alongside wireless charging and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
- Nokia 9 PureView review
- The next Nokia flagship allegedly delayed to switch to a Snapdragon 865 chip
- The Nokia 6.1 receives Android 10, its second major OS update
- Nokia Power Earbuds BH-605 review


text:
United Fresh Produce Association, Western Growers Association, and Produce Marketing Association Applaud Decision for Increased Processing of H-2A Visa Holders and H-2B Employees
UNITED STATES - The produce industry has felt the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) all throughout the supply chain. With government restrictions implemented, workers in the agricultural field are facing a roadblock to bring fresh produce to stores. Secretary Mike Pompeo, Secretary Sonny Perdue, and others on Capitol Hill have acknowledged the importance produce plays in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and has helped increase the process of H-2A visa holders and H-2B employees through consulates around the world.
“United Fresh members play an essential role in ensuring the safety of the nation and the world’s food security,” Tom Stenzel, President and CEO of United Fresh, stated in a press release. “We are grateful for the administration’s recognition of our part in keeping food moving from farm to table. We will continue to monitor the implementation and application of these revised regulations and ensure that the fresh fruit and vegetable industry has access to the workers that keep our food economy going during these uncertain times.”
United Fresh noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on behalf of the federal government, released updated guidance for both workers and employers who utilize the H-2A and H-2B visa programs. According to a press release, this is a direct result of United Fresh’s actions to ensure that all foreign workers in agriculture are recognized as vital and essential to our nation’s food supply.
Western Growers’ President and CEO Dave Puglia echoes Stenzel’s sentiments.
“Western Growers applauds Secretary Pompeo and the professionals of the U.S. State Department for taking a practical approach to meeting the critical workforce needs of American farmers while protecting the health and safety of State Department personnel,” Puglia said in a statement. “The steps taken by Secretary Pompeo eases the flow of guest workers at a time when our farmers are redoubling their efforts to provide our nation with safe, healthy, abundant, and affordable food. We are grateful to Secretary Pompeo, Secretary Perdue, and all those in the Administration who listened to the needs of the agriculture community in the midst of our present crisis, and acted swiftly to implement this common-sense solution.”
Richard Owen, Vice President of Global Membership and Engagement for Produce Marketing Association, also announced his support of the recent change.
“The Produce Marketing Association is pleased to see that yesterday the State Department took additional steps to increase processing of H-2 visa holders through consulates around the world,” Owen commented in a statement. “With the expansion of interview waiver eligibility, the majority of H-2 processing can continue. This decision will ensure the flow of labor necessary for the produce industry to continue to provide fresh and healthy products to consumers.”
Details of the announcement by the USDA on behalf of the federal government including prioritization for agricultural workers attempting to enter the United States under an H-2A or H-2B visa can be found here in a Q&A and on the USDA website.
For the latest updates in the fresh produce industry, stay tuned with AndNowUKnow.


text:
Digital Finance Holding (DFin) is tech-based financial services platform regulated by Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority, focusing on promoting FinTech in non-banking financial services industry.
Digital Finance Holding (DFin Holding) announced the launch of its FinTech platform focusing on building and financing the next generation of tech-based financial services in Egypt and the region. DFin Holding is licensed and regulated by the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) with the objective of building the first of its kind platform of digital financial services across various subsidiaries and affiliated startups.
DFin Holding is driven by the opportunity that emerged from positive and upcoming developments in the legal and regulatory framework and efforts conducted by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) to formalize FinTech and its applications and to draw on its wide-ranging benefits, especially in terms of financial inclusion, transitioning to cashless societies and the promotion of efficient and agile financial transactions across ecosystem stakeholders.
DFin is backed by a multidisciplinary, experienced team with local, regional, and global expertise in a wide range of banking and non-banking financial services, accounting, academia, technology, artificial intelligence, venture capital and startups. The team has established a solid and promising base to lead the next wave of innovative digital financial services in Egypt and across emerging markets in the region.
DFin Holding announced its initial subsidiary companies to include Shekra (a digital financing platform solution), Optofolio (a robo-advisory and digital wealth management solution) and Camel Ventures which is the first venture debt-focused fund in the region currently fundraising and expected to launch in the second quarter of 2021. Additionally, DFin Holding’s affiliated startups portfolio currently includes; CAYESH (a FinTech supply chain financing platform that aims to facilitate the availability, management and mobilization of working capital to the supply chain stakeholders) and Paynas (a cloud platform with streamlined and hassle-free banking, HR management, payroll management and a benefits platform targeting MSMEs).
Commenting on the announcement, Chairman of DFin Holding, Dr. Khaled Hegazy stated, “FinTech has become a clear cornerstone for economic growth and financial inclusion that is crosscutting across various sectors and industries. Based on the tremendous untapped market size and the pool of tech-savvy and innovative talent residing in Egypt, DFin is developing the appropriate and efficient infrastructure that enables the platform to grow as a FinTech powerhouse in the region, and represents a clear growth opportunity with a positive societal impact.
Dr. Shehab Marzban, CEO and Founder of DFin Holding commented, “we are venture builders, here to create value and to positively contribute to the FinTech industry in Egypt by providing faster go-to-market capabilities through technology, synergy creation and mutually beneficial alliances and partnerships with the different stakeholders capitalizing on everyone’s strength”.
“Through Camel Ventures, we aim to complement the ecosystem of venture capital players by providing new financing options that address the actual capital needs of startups, thus helping them flourish while strengthening their current shareholder structure. This newly introduced vehicle also provides an attractive and favorable investment product for potential investors such as financial institutions, banks and family offices” Dr. Marzban added.
Digital Finance Holding (DFin) is a tech-based financial services platform regulated by the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority, and focusing on supporting and promoting FinTech in the non-banking financial services industry. DFin Holding is built on rethinking the venture-based model by adopting a collaborative venture building approach with entrepreneurs and investors; catalyzing their access to market and growth through creating synergies across the DFin platform and its network.


text:
When it comes to “Music the way the artist intended,” the oft-heard sound byte used by the CE industry to describe sound quality, Neil Young has put his money where his mouth is.
Both the high-res movement and crowdfunding received very public shots in the arms this year thanks to Young’s launch of the Pono music player and accompanying download platform.
Young went to CES in January to mark the formal introduction of both, taking questions from consumer and trade press on the launches and his main motivation behind them: providing a method to hear music the way it should be heard.
Acknowledging that high-res isn’t for everyone (“Some people think they don’t need it, and that’s OK,” he told TWICE), the rock legend still didn’t mince words on his thoughts regarding the MP3 format. And despite skepticism from the press, Young insisted Pono would appeal to more than just a niche audience.
“I consider Pono a mainstream consumer company. Not an audiophile product,” he said. “I don’t view the audiophile market as a target. I view the music-loving market as a target.”
Underscoring this commitment to sound quality, Young announced in July via Facebook that he would be pulling his entire catalog from streaming services.
“Streaming has ended for me,” Young wrote. “It’s not because of the money … It’s about sound quality. I don’t need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution.”
Still, readily cognizant that technology could one day catch up with expectations, he added: “When the sound quality is back, I’ll give it another look. Never say never.”


text:
At the beginning of November, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma traveled to Tirupati in the hilly southern India. His temple, famous for promoting good fortune and one’s own fortune, was a convenient place for Sharma to “seek”. [the] Blessing of God ”before launching India’s largest IPO to date.
The IPO didn’t follow script this week as the fintech’s shares plummeted more than a third in its first two days as a public company, making it one of the worst debuts in Indian stock market history. The group’s shares, which are 2.5 billion
The debacle has put Paytm, its shareholders SoftBank and Alibaba, and IPO bookrunners like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup in the spotlight. It has also raised concerns among investors and entrepreneurs, who feared it could ruin a number of anticipated Indian IPOs that should cement the county’s status as the leading destination for tech startups after the US and China.
“The concern for all of us is that this will affect the general tech sentiment in India? Bad business and bad judgment can upset the apple cart, ”said the head of stock markets for India at a western bank. “The assessment will be very difficult.”
MobiKwik, an Indian fintech company, has postponed its IPO originally planned for November and announced this week that it will be listed “at the right time”.
Ashneer Grover, co-founder of fintech company BharatPe, said Paytm “spoiled” the Indian market. “Nothing can come into this market,” he told the Moneycontrol website.
Sandeep Murthy, a partner in the Lightbox investment group in Mumbai, said there could be a “cool down” in fintech listings by early next year, but argued that it was “natural”.
Indian tech companies have a record $ 5 billion this year, according to Dealogic. The country has become a major beneficiary of ongoing regulatory crackdown on tech companies in China, which has led international investors to look elsewhere.
July-listed grocery delivery company Zomato overcame skepticism about its cash burn and valuation as its stock doubled from its IPO price. Shares in insurance aggregator PolicyBazaar and beauty platform Nykaa have also rallied since their debuts earlier this month.
But Paytm’s far larger listing, which accounts for roughly half of total Indian tech IPO revenue this year, risks overshadowing others.
Paytm was founded 11 years ago and thanks to its mobile wallets it has grown to become one of the best known technology brands in India. The charismatic Sharma attracted leading international investors including Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Warren Buffett and Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank.
But the Indian government’s rollout of UPI digital payments infrastructure undermined its core business, with PhonePe, owned by Google and Walmart, now leading the market. Paytm has diversified into everything from investing to insurance, but faces better established competitors in each sector and lacks clear strengths, analysts say.
Its core business is not making money, and an attempt to cut marketing spending indicated that it was looking to get better results before listing, said Prashant Gokhale, the Hong Kong-based co-founder of research group Aletheia Capital. “There was a lot of hype there about SoftBank and Warren Buffett,” he said.
One person with direct knowledge of the discussions Paytm had about IPO prices said there were too many liquidity hunts, especially since the move in China has made India a more attractive destination.
“Investors are desperately looking for points of contact, which is driving prices higher without improving fundamentals,” the person said. “A lot of money chasing this business that it didn’t get is probably happy now.”
Paytm’s large Chinese stake also poses regulatory and reputational risk after India severely curtailed Chinese investments following military tensions last year. While Alibaba and its financial arm Ant sold shares in the IPO, together they still own nearly a third of the company.
The debut drew comparisons to Reliance Power’s disastrous listing in 2008, which hit a record $ 1.5 billion before plummeting 17 percent on its first day of trading. Its shares have never rallied, trading 95 percent below their issue price this week.
Madhur Deora, Paytm’s chief financial officer, told the Financial Times the company will “focus on our performance. . . How this is reflected in the valuation and share price, etc., must of course be decided by the investors. ”
Some argue that Paytm’s painful debut could ultimately prove a boon if it causes investors to view other highly valued and much-lauded Indian tech companies with some skepticism.
“What was encouraging for me at least [was] to see that the market wasn’t in a state of irrational exuberance, ”said Murthy of Lightbox of the company’s debut. “If a market were to evaluate things blindly, that would be it [be] a bigger challenge in the future. “
An analysis by Goldman Sachs found that these Indian companies that are potential IPO candidates had an average price-to-sales ratio, a company valuation metric, of 21 over the past three years, compared to three for groups in India Benchmark Nifty Index.
Among the most prominent future offers is budget hotel group Oyo, which submitted a draft prospectus last month to raise $ 1.1 billion. Chief Executive Ritesh Agarwal, supported by SoftBank, attempted to make Oyo the largest hotel company in the world only to greatly reduce its ambitions in the face of a liquidity crisis.
Portfolio company Ola, a ridesharing company of Fellow SoftBank, is also planning to submit a prospectus in the coming months. The company is now focused on making cheaper electric scooters, but shipments of the new bikes have been repeatedly delayed.
“Valuations continue,” said Mohit Nigam, a fund manager at Hem Securities in Mumbai. “As investors, we have to be careful about the upcoming IPOs because these guys, no matter how good their business is. . . you can’t overlook profit and cash flows. “
Rajan Anandan, head of Sequoia Capital India, argued it was too early to judge Paytm’s long-term prospects, but acknowledged that technology valuations in India and abroad risked a setback.
“At some point there will be a correction in the public and private markets” across the technology sector, he said at an FT Indian Express event this week. “When that happens, it will hit everyone.”
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive the latest fintech news and opinions from FT’s worldwide network of correspondents #fintechFT
Register here with one click


text:
(Yicai Global) Dec. 6 -- The third-party payments unit under China Telecom, one of the country's big three state-owned carriers, plans to invest CNY20 billion (USD2.9 billion) next year to attract more merchants.
China Telecom Bestpay will use the cash as incentives in hopes of bringing on board more than 15 million vendors, its parent announced yesterday.
Over 500 million users have paid via Bestpay in China and it has more than 40 million monthly active members who can make payments at over six million offline merchants and 150 online stores. In comparison, sector leader Alipay has over 700 million active users, according to its latest quarterly earnings report.
While third-party payments are yet to make a big mark in developed countries like the United States -- where Apple Pay had just 38 million users as of the end of 2017 -- Chinese consumers are renowned for their openness to new technologies and the sector is taking off in a big way. Chinese spenders racked up transactions worth CNY28 trillion (USD4.1 trillion) last year, according to iResearch. The figure has grown at between 40 percent and 68 percent a year since 2013, when transactions tallied CNY5.4 trillion.
Bestpay also held its second partner conference in Beijing yesterday, where it announced its merchant support policy for 2019, Tencent reported. The firm did not give further details on the policy.
Editor: James Boynton


text:
A spokesperson for the Department For Exiting The European Union has confirmed that the Brexit Dividend for every UK citizen will be three Shillings, a tin of Spam and polio.
He added, ‘Shortly after 11pm on March 31st 2019, a dedicated website will open where members of the public will be able to apply for their dividend.’
’The presumed-eradicated illness will be sent via an infectious teaspoon, along with a specially commissioned three-shilling note featuring the face of Jacob Rees-Mogg that will be accepted in all branches of Woolworths.’
We asked whether or not the tin of Spam would be subject to any delays owing to the fact that it would be coming from the United States and there is currently no trade deal in place.
’He said, ‘To be fair, you could buy a lot of Spam with your three Shillings.’


text:
One of the biggest stories from the weekend was Google’s announcement that it will be changing the way it deals with smartphone giant Huawei, following trade sanctions imposed on Chinese firms by the USA’s Trump administration.
The order from the US government, with which Google is complying, means that Huawei will not be receiving Android updates, and will have to fall back on the version that’s available through an open-source licence. In the future, assuming nothing changes, this will also likely mean that Google-owned apps such as Google Maps and YouTube will be unavailable on Huawei devices.
You may not have been aware that Honor is a Huawei-owned trademark, and that Honor camera phones will therefore also be affected by these developments. So what does this news mean for those who own a Honor smartphone, such as the recent 48-megapixel Honor View 20, or have been considering buying one?
What this means for Honor smartphone owners
In the immediate short term, very little. Huawei has released a full statement which was also passed out by representatives from Honor, in full reading as follows:
“Huawei has made substantial contributions to the development and growth of Android around the world. As one of Android’s key global partners, we have worked closely with their open-source platform to develop an ecosystem that has benefitted both users and the industry.
“Huawei will continue to provide security updates and after-sales services to all existing Huawei and Honor smartphone and tablet products, covering those that have been sold and that are still in stock globally.
“We will continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem, in order to provide the best experience for all users globally.”
Google has also chimed in with a similar sentiment: “For users of our services, Google Play and the security protections from Google Play Protect will continue to function on existing Huawei devices.”
Honor 20 launch affected?
Current Honor smartphones (and soon-to-be-released ones, more on which in a moment) have gone through Google Play’s certification process already, so this specific announcement shouldn’t affect them at all, for now. Users will still be able to access the Google Play store and all the Google-owned apps therein.
This also presumably applies to devices that are scheduled for imminent release, and Honor has specifically informed us that the Honor 20 series launch scheduled for tomorrow (the 21st) is proceeding as planned.
So if you have or are imminently getting an Honor smartphone, you don’t need to worry just yet. You’ll still get access to regular Android features. However, you may later find yourself denied access to features that are specific to Android Q, the major update Google is currently working on and is due for general release later in the year.
Of course, some of this is just speculation, and we’ll have to wait and see how things develop. It’s possible the dispute could be resolved, or that Huawei-owned devices including Honor smartphones will get ported wholesale over to a Huawei operating system. We’ll have to wait and see, but in the meantime, make sure you join us tomorrow for the Honor 20 series launch, where we’ll be bringing you hands-on coverage of the new smartphones.


text:
A Boulder company that manufactures cannabis-infused edibles has voluntarily initiated a state-wide recall on one of its products because of “a lack of temperature control during the manufacturing and distribution processes,” according to Denver’s Department of Environmental Health.
No illnesses have been attributed to the recall, the city confirmed.
More pot business news
The marijuana company, the Growing Kitchen, is recalling a breath spray product known as MaryMint Tincture after a Denver health inspector saw the product on the shelf of one of the city’s marijuana stores. The Growing Kitchen is asking stores and customers to destroy any remaining products, a number the edibles company estimates at around 60 packages.
“It came down to a technicality over refrigeration laws,” said Brooke Wise, co-owner of the Growing Kitchen. The number of recalled items is relatively small because “we knew we were about to shift the packaging,” Wise said.
The Denver health inspector saw the tincture on a shelf, and not in a refrigerator, and questioned its room-temperature oil content’s risk of developing the dangerous clostridium botulinum — “the bacteria that forms the toxin that forms botulism,” said Danica Lee, food safety section manager at the Department of Environmental Health. “It’s rare, but because it’s something that kills people we take it seriously.”
The Growing Kitchen was quick to respond to the health department’s concerns, Lee said: “They’ve really impressed me. They initiated a recall proactively before I had to utter the word to them, which is really impressive.”
The health department and the edibles company discussed several options for the product’s future, and now the Growing Kitchen is changing its standard operating procedures to make its tincture with local honey instead of vegetable glycerin. The company expects to have the new product on pot shop shelves — with a longer shelf-life, thanks to the honey, and the new packaging as originally planned — next week.
“It never feels good to have to swap out products,” said Wise. “You always want to feel good about the product you put out … But now that we’re using our own honey from our own bees on our own farm, it can be shelf-stable and for a longer period of time.”


text:
Before the ball dropped on 2019, several trends in content marketing were predicted to take the new year by storm. Now that we’ve crossed 2019’s midpoint, it’s interesting to look back and see if any of those predictions stuck. According to Entrepreneur, an online publication, the trends most likely to impact the marketing industry included everything from changes in the structure of the marketing funnel to voice-enabled search results. A look back on the past six months reveals what’s succeeded so far.
The marketing team, Digital Success, lists several trends that have dominated 2019. At the top of the list is voice-enabled search. Voice-enabled search allows users to command their devices, such as Apple’s Siri, to search the internet, a website, or app for specific keywords and phrases. Due to its increase in popularity among users, its importance for those who specialize in search engine optimization (SEO) goes without statement.
The next trend is branded content. Branded content exists outside the lines of traditional advertising, but is still created by and associated with the brand in question. One clever example is Lego Movie. The toy company put several stop-motion animation films, made from its products, in theaters for a new generation of children. This isn’t to say a brand has to go so far as to make a feature film, but it’s an example of the creative lengths a brand may go to if it has the resources.
While a feature-length kids’ film might work for a toy company, the same content would be inappropriate for a brand such as Always, that sells feminine products. Knowing the type of content that’s relevant to your brand is as important as the content itself. A short film that’s several minutes long might not be appropriate for Twitter, but a GIF or graphic will do the job.
An important change in content media trends is how performance is measured on social media. Metrics now look to engagement, as opposed to reach, to determine how effective the marketing is. According to Digital Success, the popularity of engagement sits at 30 percent, as of 2018, while reach has declined from 37 percent in 2016 to just 12 percent in 2018. Seeing how easy it has become to buy likes and followers, this isn’t surprising. Reach is no longer a reliable indicator of success.
Finally, long-form content such as videos and podcasts continue to rise in popularity among digital audiences. According to Nielson, 48 percent of digital audience members are millennials and individuals of Generation Z. Of these two demographics, fewer of them are turning on their televisions and radios, and more are charging up their laptops and mobile devices.
Trends will continue to change as technology, audiences, and the culture shifts. However, the one constant is that consistent and quality content, in whatever form it takes, is the best way to reach audiences across the board.


text:
After Google chairman Eric Schmidt and former NBA star Dennis Rodman, the notorious file-sharing site The Pirate Bay is claiming to be the latest unexpected visitor to Stalinist North Korea.
A U.K. judge has ordered British Internet service providers to censor three popular file sharing websites accused of flouting international copyright rules.
Embattled file-sharing site The Pirate Bay is looking for safe havens in Norway and Spain after its Swedish host came under legal pressure to shut it down.
Americans call it piracy. Antiguans call it justice. The islands of Antigua and Barbuda are threatening to strip intellectual property protections from American goods as part of a long-running trade dispute over the U.S. ...
Music sales in Sweden rose last year thanks to the growing popularity of music streaming service Spotify, the country's music industry body said, offering hope to a sector battered by file-sharing.
Dutch MPs have voted not to ban illegal Internet downloads of copyrighted films, music and software, preferring to levy a tax on smartphones and computers.
China promised the United States that it would crack down on pirated software as the world's two largest economies looked to ease trade frictions amid political changes.
Whether living with pirates or in the wild, parrots have exceptional abilities to mimic the sounds they hear. One species, the orange-fronted conure, may have evolved this ability in order to communicate with specific individuals ...
(AP)—Hackers have struck at least two Swedish government-affiliated websites, shutting down one of them in a denial-of-service attack and leaving links to profane messages on the other.
The co-founder of The Pirate Bay filesharing website was on Friday detained in Sweden, days after his deportation from Cambodia, officials said.


text:
Moreover, with the presence of “new normal” conditions or new trends in travel in which tourists will be more concern on tourism protocols, especially those related to health, safety, and comfort.
The Deputy of Tourism Products and Events for the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Tourism and Creative Economy Agency Rizki Handayani during the Ecotourism Webinar, Wednesday, 19, 2020 explained that this pandemic changes the types and management of destination including ecotourism activities.
According to the official, an evaluation and re-arrangement of ecotourism travel pattern that has been adjusted with new normal condition is necessary.
“We predict the nature-based tourism activities or outdoor will be the most quickly to rebound because ecotourism is not mass tourism but special interest tourism. We support the return or even the development of ecotourism in Indonesia. In the future, we will focus in Ecotourism and Wellness Tourism,” Rizki said in a press release on Thursday, May 21, 2020.
Director of Indonesia Ecotourism Network (INDECON) Ary S. Suhandi and Director of Via Via Tour & Travel Sry Mujianti were also present on the webinar as panelists.


text:
Not much makes sense about 2020. But one thing that does seem right in a year that was full of a whole lot of wrongs is that Spanx's Faux Leather Leggings were crowned 2020’s most loved fashion item.
Every year, LIKEtoKNOW.it unveils its most loved products. It evaluates billions of items to narrow it down those things that received the most clicks through influencer links and are thus deemed “the most loved.” Though the list officially comes out on LIKEtoKNOW.it’s site on December 1, we got a sneak peek at the most coveted items of 2020. Lots of great things are included, but the most loved product that we loved the most is Spanx’s Faux Leather Leggings. They’re chic, they’re flattering, and they’re on rare sale thanks to Spanx’s Black Friday promotion.
RELATED: Oprah and Podiatrists Love This Shoe Brand — and It Just Slashed the Prices of Its Best-Selling Styles
With billions of fashion items to sift through, earning the title of “most loved” isn’t an easy feat. But when it comes to Spanx’s best-selling leather leggings, it’s easy to see why they’ve earned the title. A surface-level look reveals the leggings are ultra-cool and sleek. Love! But a deeper look into their DNA shows that 2020’s most loved leggings do more than just add a touch of cool to a look.
Buy It! Spanx Faux Leather Leggings, $78.40 (orig. $98); spanx.com
Designed with the brand’s signature slimming waistband, Spanx’s Faux Leather Leggings offer the perfect amount of support and lift, and exactly where it counts, too (at the booty!). They also feature a center-free seam — which means no camel toe — and a waistband that lands above the hips to keep muffin tops at bay.
With Spanx’s Black Friday sale going on right now, it’s the perfect time to scoop up 2020’s most loved leggings for $78.40. This is one purchase you’ll definitely love. Then check out the full list of 2020's most-loved items on LIKEtoKNOW.it on December 1.
Shop More Black Friday 2020 Sales
- Nordstrom Rack’s Big Black Friday Sale Is Here — and It Includes This Oprah-Loved Boot Brand
- The Sculpting Leggings That Have Thousands of Shoppers Hooked Are 40% Off for One Day Only
- The Necklace That Once Racked Up a 6,000-Person Waitlist Is Already on Sale for Black Friday
Source: Read Full Article


text:
Apple’s newest iPad has some new elements that could make it a (bigger) hit in the enterprise, such as a higher-resolution screen for video conferencing and presentations as well as taking dictation. But it has become increasingly clear to corporations that their networks can’t handle the iPad or, really, most of the devices employees are bringing into their walls.
We have done a lot of coverage on how iPads have made inroads into the enterprise, with 64 percent of mobile workers now carrying a tablet, and that will rise to nearly 80 percent within the next six months, according the Mobile Workforce Report (you can see the iPad breakdown below). In general, the number of mobile devices coming into corporate networks has grown to 3.5 devices, up from 2.7 in 2011, according to the same report, which was released earlier this week.
So many devices, such a static network
But the problem with iPads and mobile devices in general is that they move, and so your network resources have to move too. Or at least adapt to ensure that when someone has an impromptu meeting by the water cooler, there is enough network capacity to serve those devices. Before, when people computed and connected from their desks, it was much easier to predict where the network needed to have the most capacity.
Much like the networking trends happening inside the data center or out on the cellular networks, where scale and flexibility are becoming essential ingredients, the networks inside companies are due for their own tune-up, driven in part by devices like the iPad. As our computing has become more mobile and varied depending on the device, the once-staid world of networking has had to adapt — everywhere. The best explanation so far of this trend comes from Pradeep Sindhu, the director, vice chairman of the board and CTO of Juniper (s jnpr). In an interview with Om last year, Sindhu said:
The nature of traffic today is increasingly dynamic. And so the old ways of addressing and building networks, with very statically provisioned technologies, like circuit switching, is essentially dead. So you have to rethink this architecturally. Point number two is that I believe that the traffic is going to get a lot more stochastic in nature. In other words, unpredictable, both with respect to any given circuit and with respect to the sources and destination the amount of usage will continue to explode and they will get more and more dynamic and unpredictable.
Companies also have to figure out how to revamp their corporate device policies to ensure data is kept secure. Aruba, a wireless equipment firm, offers this slide to explain all the considerations an enterprise must think about.
The iPad and the big enterprise networking shift
As the new iPad launches with better screens and better video conferencing and presentation capabilities, those responsible for corporate networks are a wee bit concerned. Depending on whom you ask, some are very concerned. Brocade, which on Tuesday launched a series of products that makes corporate networks programmable and flexible, polled 120 IT managers and found that about half
are worried in some way about anticipate traffic changes thanks to the coming iPad.
And even if the iPad isn’t mentioned by name, the trend of bringing in consumer devices to the network is leading to opportunities not just for firms making tablets such as Apple but also those on the back end charged with building and securing corporate networks. Companies like Brocade, Aruba (s arun), Cisco (s csco) and others are watching today’s launch and hoping it drives a few more CIOs to ring up their salesmen.


text:
11 Apr Ecco’s Revenues Climb 3 Percent In 2018
Ecco reported sales in 2018 rose 3.1 percent to €1.31 billion from €1.27 billion in 2017. Profits before tax advanced 9.2 percent to €201 million from €184 million.
“It is very satisfactory for the employees to see all their hard work and enthusiasm rewarded with such a good result; particularly when taking into account that the retail industry is going through a disruptive period and is facing many challenges,” said Ecco’s CEO Steen Bogholm in a statement.
Direct-to-consumer sales continued the fast growth of previous years
and recorded a 10 percent growth in retail and 36 percent in online
sales. In particular, North America and Asia recorded strong overall
market growth with 13 percent and 11 percent, respectively. More than 50
percent of Ecco’s shoes were sold in concept stores – online and
“In a year Ecco connect with millions of consumers. We still have a lot to do to take full potential of this in our marketing, sales and operating model. Further investments in the development of new products will continue and help us generate sustainable and healthy growth for Ecco also in the years to come,” stated Borgholm.


text:
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) said on Tuesday that it learned that Sprint received tens of millions of dollars from a government subsidy program meant to benefit low-income wireless consumers. However, the agency says it discovered that about 885,000 low-income people targeted in the program didn’t receive services for which the government paid Sprint. So, the FCC is investigating Sprint to find out what happened.
Sprint’s probe could delay Dish’s entry into the wireless market
In what could be a blow to the T-Mobile–Sprint merger and Dish’s wireless plan, one of the FCC commissioners wants the agency to pause the review of the merger deal. Reuters reported that Commissioner Geoffrey Starks wants the review stopped until the FCC settles Sprint’s subsidy payment issue.
The FCC has yet to issue its formal approval for the T-Mobile–Sprint merger agreement. Last year, T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to combine to create a stronger challenger to market leader AT&T (T).
In July, the Department of Justice (or DOJ) cleared T-Mobile and Sprint to merge their operations with a set of conditions. The DOJ requires T-Mobile and Sprint to divest certain assets to Dish to allow it to enter the wireless market. In addition, the DOJ wants T-Mobile and Sprint to allow Dish to sell wireless plans on their networks.
T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to allow Dish to rent space on their wireless network for seven years. During that time, Dish would develop its wireless infrastructure. Dish wants to build a 5G network.
FCC probe of Sprint threatens to raise hurdles for its merger deal
However, the FCC’s probe of Sprint over the government subsidy program could complicate the closing of the T-Mobile–Sprint merger. The companies already face a state-led court challenge to stop them from joining forces in the merger. More than a dozen states sued to block the companies from combining their operations. The states argue that the merger could stifle competition in the wireless market and harm consumers through higher service prices.
Dish would be able to start selling wireless plans once T-Mobile and Sprint complete their merger. As we discussed on August 8, Dish could make over $3.3 in new wireless revenues from Sprint’s prepaid phone business.
We believe Dish could spend that sum toward developing its wireless network to meet the deadline set by the FCC. Dish’s 5G wireless network project requires an investment of about $10 billion. Moreover, Dish needs $5 billion more to pay for the purchase of the divested T-Mobile–Sprint assets.
So, we believe that continued delay in the closing of the T-Mobile–Sprint merger hampers Dish’s ability to solidify its wireless operations.


text:
We interrupt our Fashion Week coverage with an important announcement: The Telegraph finally admitted that their article about Michelle Obama shutting down a block of Madison Avenue so that she could go on a $50,000 “shopping spree” at Agent Provocateur with the Queen of Qatar, Sheikha Mozah, was indeed completely false. They also formally apologized for printing such total (but hilarious!) bullshit, but mostly to Sheikha Moza, not Obama — indeed, the title of the correction is “Her Highness Sheikha Moza – An Apology.”
Further to our article “First Lady’s luxury buys boost Agent Provocateur” (Jan 30), we would like to make clear that the “shopping spree” involving Her Highness Sheikha Moza and Michelle Obama that we referred to in fact never occurred, and that Her Highness has never been shopping with Mrs Obama, at Agent Provocateur or otherwise, and has never sought to have any part of New York closed off to enable her to shop undisturbed. We apologise for the distress and embarrassment this article caused.
Okay, you can go back to looking at fashion shows now.


text:
Tabcorp Holdings has increased full year profit 14 per cent, with the gaming company benefitting from contract wins and licence wins securing a long-term future for the group.
Net profit was $534.8 million for the 12 months to June 30 compared with $469.5 million a year earlier, Melbourne-based Tabcorp said in a statement.
Tabcorp added that the net profit reflected the actual win rate in the VIP rebate business of the Casinos division and one-off demerger related items. The company demerged its Casino business as the separately listed Echo Entertainment Group in June.
Revenue increased six per cent to $4.47 billion.
Tabcorp declared a final dividend of 19 cents, fully franked, with a record date of August 25.
The company said it would target a dividend payout of 50 per cent of net profit in 2011/12 and 80 per cent in 2012/13.
"Tabcorp looks forward to a successful launch of Victorian Keno in April 2012 and a smooth transition to the new Victorian Wagering and Betting Licence in August 2012," it said.
"We will continue to develop the businesses through our investments in new technology, self-service terminals, strengthening our retail footprint, a new online wagering platform and expanding wagering products into the retail network such as live betting and Trackside."
Tabcorp said its businesses had "momentum," with steady trading activity continuing into fiscal 2012.
"This underlines the resilience of our businesses," Tabcorp chief executive officer David Attenborough said.
Tabcorp Chairman Paula Dwyer said fiscal 2011 was a transformational year for Tabcorp, following the successful demerger of its casinos businesses from its wagering, gaming and Keno operations.
"The last 12 months have also been significant with the company winning a number of long-dated licences, which in turn has secured the long-term future of the group," he said.
In full-year 2011, Tabcorp was awarded the new 10-year Victorian Keno licence and executed an important agreement with the NSW racing industry and NSW Government to introduce Tabcorp's animated racing game, trackside, and an expanded fixed odds offering into the NSW market.
Last month the Victorian Government announced it would award the new 12-year Victorian wagering and betting licence to Tabcorp.
"The licence will create value for Tabcorp shareholders and allows the company to continue the great relationship we have built over the last 17 years with the racing industry in Victoria," Tabcorp said.
"Tabcorp continues to be a strong, competitive and well capitalised business with several long-dated licences providing strong cash flows, coupled with a market leading presence in retail and online distribution."


text:
The Droid X smartphone is selling like hotcakes, and Verizon Wireless and Motorola are doing their best to keep it that way. The two companies' speedy response to an issue with the Droid X display contrasts with Apple's handling of the iPhone 4 antenna issue.
Motorola's Droid X, the latest Google Android smartphone, launched last Thursday, and some early buyers have reported flickering and the appearance of vertical bands on the device's display. On Wednesday, Verizon and Motorola jointly acknowledged the problem and said it only affected "a very small number" of Droid X units.
Most importantly, the companies clearly indicated that the problem had been fixed. "Motorola has resolved the issue and is continuing to ship the phones. Any consumer who experiences a flickering or banding display should contact Motorola customer support center or Verizon Wireless," a Verizon spokesperson said in an email statement.
Andy Kretzer, director of sales and marketing at Bold Data Technology, a Fremont, Calif.-based system builder, got his Droid X on launch day and immediately updated the device's firmware. Although he didn't encounter any screen flickering or banding, Kretzer is impressed with how Motorola and Verizon addressed the problem.
"I’m very happy that they did come up with a patch as soon as an issue was discovered," Kretzer said. "That’s a far more responsible approach than Steve Jobs’ original response [to the iPhone 4 antenna issues] of 'Just don't hold it that way.'"
Last month when iPhone 4 customers began reporting the "death grip" issue, which causes calls to drop when the phone is held a certain way, Apple refused to admit it was a design flaw. Instead, the company said attenuation affects all mobile devices to some extent, and its advice to customers was to either avoid gripping it in the lower left corner or use a protective case.
Only when Apple's stock price started dropping and Consumer Reports pulled its recommendation of the iPhone 4 did Apple react in a more decisive way. At Apple's press conference last week, the company offered to give free protective cases to customers and refunds to customers who wanted them, but there was still an air of reluctance around the proceedings.
The Droid X's main problem thus far has been supply: The device was widely hyped and appears to have fulfilled its promise. That's great news for Motorola, which desperately needs a "home run" type of device to get back into the smartphone discussion.
The cynical view holds that Motorola is hungry and needs to do whatever it takes to satisfy customers, while Apple is decidedly less hungry and can afford to have a take it or leave it attitude. Or, perhaps Motorola and Verizon are just operating under the old fashioned assumption that when customers are complaining about something, it's a good idea to do something about it quickly.


text:
Of the three quarters of movers (76 per cent) who re-direct their post, at least one in ten (11 per cent) is still at risk by leaving personal documents behind.
Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the UK and Experian has identified moving home as one of the key events that put people at risk. Almost half (43 per cent) of identity theft cases in the UK have occurred at a previous address.
Despite this, the CreditExpert.co.uk research shows a huge number of people leave behind key personal information when they move, which can be used to commit identity fraud. These include mail order catalogues addressed to them (11 per cent), personal mail / letters (nine per cent or 9%) and even bank statements and utility bills (2 per cent).
A quarter (24 per cent) of people fail to re-direct their post when they move and 70 per cent of new residents report receiving post addressed to the previous occupier. A huge 40 per cent of new residents report that they receive at least one letter addressed to a previous occupier every month. Almost a quarter (24 per cent) receive post addressed to several previous occupiers. This post often includes documents containing valuable personal information that a fraudster can use to obtain credit in someone else’s name, putting their ability to obtain a mortgage, loan or other financial product in jeopardy.
Over a third of new residents (38 per cent) report receiving credit card application forms addressed to previous occupants, 36 per cent have received mail order catalogues and 15 per cent have received bank or credit card statements.
Over a third (36 per cent) of 17-25 year olds receive post addressed to previous occupiers once a week or more, a common problem in rented student accommodation. And almost one in 10 (8 per cent) have received important personal documents belonging to the previous occupier, such as a passport or cheque book.
More than 9 out of ten (94 per cent) of people aged 66+ arrange for their post to be re-directed when moving home, taking more steps to protect their financial assets. Younger people should also take care to protect their identity, as damage to their credit score by an identity fraudster could affect their creditworthiness in years to come, leading to them being refused a mortgage, loan or credit card.
But it’s not just their identity that forgetful Britons are leaving behind. The research shows that we regularly leave behind other valuable items, including paintings, jewellery, cash, cars, sunbeds and even our pets.
Over one in four people (44 per cent) have left behind furniture and household accessories when moving house, with over a quarter (28 per cent) also forgetting to pack electrical goods and appliances. A small number have even left behind their pets, including cats, goats and fish — although no dogs.
The Metropolitan Police claim that identity theft is used by criminals involved in illegal immigration and terrorism and other economic crime.
Detective Chief InspectorDavid Thompsonof the Metropolitan Police comments: "We support promoting awareness of this area of criminality and would ask members of the public to take whatever steps are necessary to reduce the risks of their identity being stolen."
Jim Hodgkins, Managing Director of CreditExpert.co.uk, comments: "Moving home can be a stressful time, but it is crucial that you don’t leave yourself open to identity theft by leaving your personal information behind at your old address.
"If you are worried that you may have left behind personal information and could be at risk from identity theft, a credit monitoring service, such as CreditExpert.co.uk, will alert you to any changes to your credit report, so you can take any necessary action as soon as possible."
CreditExpert.co.uk tips for moving house:
1. Re-direct your post as soon as you move - this will ensure your mail will not go to your previous address and cannot be intercepted
2. Buy a shredder — shred any personal documents before placing them in the bin
3. Inform your credit card companies, bank and other financial organisations you have a relationship with that you have moved — and make sure they update their systems
4. Register with the Mailing Preference Service at your old address
5. Sign up to CreditExpert.co.uk’s free 30 day trial — use a credit monitoring service to keep tabs on your credit report and receive alerts if anyone fraudulently applies for credit using your identity


text:
Three in every 10 new cars sold by Volvo are, as of 2022, electrified Recharge models. Volvo has been investing heavily in fully electric models over the past few years, but its history with plug-in hybrids is now more than a decade old, and has won the company sufficient incremental commercial progress that right now it is selling between three and four times as many PHEVs as EVs.
Quite clearly, Gothenburg still considers petrol-electric motoring a key part of its powertrain strategy, and the powertrain in this week’s road test subject proves as much. The Volvo V60 T6 Recharge has, as part of the wider family of 60- and 90-series cars, just received a widely improved hybrid system.
While the critical components all package just as they did in the pre-facelift Volvo V60 (2018-2022), they add significantly to both the car’s drive battery capacity and its electric motor output – as we are about to describe.
That, in turn, makes this a V60 PHEV capable of more than 50 miles of electric running on a full charge – nearly a 60% improvement on its direct predecessor, according to WLTP lab testing. For company car drivers, then, the model qualifies for UK benefit-in-kind tax at an eye-catchingly low rate, and yet is priced almost identically to its less powerful, shorter-legged immediate predecessor.


text:
The VR game Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, previously announced for Oculus headsets, will be released on December 11. The game does not appear to be exclusive to Facebook’s Oculus headsets, the game also appears for SteamVR.
During the Facebook Connect event, developer Respawn Entertainment announced that Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond will be released on Steam and has full SteamVR support. That’s notable because the game was originally announced as Oculus-exclusive . On publisher EA‘s website, it also says that the game will come exclusively to the Oculus Rift platform.
Posse possible the decision to release the game on Steam has to do with the strategy change within Facebook. The company stops using VR headsets that only work in conjunction with a PC. The Rift S goes on sale next year and there will be no successor. It’s also likely that Facebook is no longer investing in VR games that can only be played on a PC.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond will be released on December 11 through the Oculus Store and on Steam. The game can be played with the Oculus Rift and Quest, provided the latter is connected to a PC. SteamVR makes the game playable with other VR goggles, such as the Valve Index and HTC Vive models.
The game includes a single-player campaign and a multiplayer section. Peter Hirschmann, the producer of the first Medal of Honor game from 1999, is involved in the VR project as a director. The game also includes interviews with world war ii veterans and survivors


text:
themed cufflinks uk online – Wear these Dark Knight cufflinks as fiercely as Batman does in Gotham City. The fixed closure features the DC logo. Approximately 3/8″ x 7/8″, Fixed logo backing, Officially licensed by DC Comics,
Much of the scrutiny stems from Ren’s background with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), where he worked as a civilian engineer for nearly a decade until his departure in 1983, after helping to build its communications network. Officials in some governments, particularly the United States, have voiced concern that his company is close to the Chinese military and government themed cufflinks uk online. Huawei has repeatedly insisted Beijing has no influence over it. Ren, 74, founded the Chinese telecommunications company in 1988 and, like his elder daughter, has largely kept a low profile..
But in a rare move, he posed last month for a family photoshoot for French lifestyle magazine Paris Match with his younger daughter and current wife. Annabel Yao, 20, Meng’s half-sister, posed in front of a grand piano with her mother, identified by the magazine as Yao Ling, and Ren, who wore a blue shirt with his hand resting on his smiling daughter’s shoulder themed cufflinks uk online. A Huawei spokesman confirmed to Reuters that Yao is Ren’s wife. Few outsiders had previously heard of the younger daughter, a Harvard computer science student and ballerina. She recently made a high-profile appearance at the exclusive Le Bal Debutante ball in Paris..
Huawei is privately held and describes itself as employee-owned themed cufflinks uk online. Though Ren owns only around 1.4 percent of the shares, employees say he has supreme leadership within the company, frequently communicating to staff scattered throughout the world via internal memos. Huawei, now China’s largest technology company by employees, with more than 180,000 staff and revenue of $93 billion in 2017, started off selling digital telephone switches in the 1990s. It won its first big overseas contract for fixed-line network products from Hong Kong’s Hutchison-Whampoa in 1996. Today, Huawei’s domestic and overseas revenue are equally split, according to the 2017 annual report..
Huawei derives around half of its revenue from supplying equipment to telecoms carriers around the world. It has overtaken Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia to be the world’s largest telecoms equipment maker by revenue. Smartphones have become another key business in recent years, pitting it against Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics in the highly competitive market. According to Huawei’s website, Meng joined the company in 1993, obtained a master’s degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 1998, and rose up the ranks over the years, mostly holding financial roles themed cufflinks uk online.
She has held the positions of director of the international accounting department, CFO of Huawei Hong Kong, and president of the accounting management department, according to the website. In her first media appearance before the Chinese press in 2013, Meng said she had first joined the company as a secretary “whose job was just to take calls”. She also said she was married with a son and a daughter and that her husband did not work in the industry, dismissing speculation she was married to a senior Huawei executive themed cufflinks uk online.


text:
The next round of Apple vs. Samsung in Australia is due to take place this morning (August 29), Sydney time, with a directions hearing before Justice Bennett of the Federal Court of Australia at 9.15am.
Don’t get too excited, however: a directions hearing is a merely procedural matter, in which the court indicates to the parties how the action should proceed (including details such as working out the handover of documents, timetables, and so on).
If the hearing proceeds, all it will immediately mean is that the two parties haven’t somehow settled their differences outside court, and that for now at least, the case is proceeding.
Since the two smartphone behemouths have continued with legal mortar fire in the US and Europe since the first hearing three weeks ago, it doesn’t seem likely that the Australian case will disappear any time soon.
The dispute has kept Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 out of the hands of Australian consumers, and with the case descending to the ridiculous level of citing Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey as prior art for tablet computers, locals who want a fondleslab alternative to the iPad and missed out on their shot at a cut-price HP TouchPad will just have to keep waiting. ®


text:
UTICA (WWJ) — Utica Community Schools and LTGI.net, a provider of online and mobile technology solutions for primary and secondary schools, have announced that Michigan’s first K-12 free school app is now available at Apple and Android stores.
The app, which is updated several times daily with new content on the state’s second largest school district, was first K-12 free smart phone or tablet app when it was launched in April 2012. The app remains the only educational app made exclusively in Michigan for a Michigan school district.READ MORE: Michigan Matters: Two Stars With Motor City Ties Lighting Up Entertainment World
The app, UCS Mobile (named for Utica Community Schools), is now available both in the Apple Store and on the Android market for Apple iPhones, iPads and Android phones and tablets.
“UCS Mobile is another tool that allows our community to get updated information on our schools at any time,” superintendent Dr. Christine Johns said. “Combined with our other social media sites, our parents and community can get the news they need directly from their phone or tablet.”
The app allows interested parents, students and community members to get the latest news, calendars, school lunch menus, athletic results, contact numbers and other important information about Utica Community Schools.
Produced by LTGI.net, the app is free to download either on Apple or Android. During its initial launch a year ago, the app was developed in just 10 weeks for LTGI to create from concept to completion. LTGI.net and Utica Community Schools are also considering a possible future Windows smart phone version.READ MORE: 23rd Annual 'A Home For The Holidays At The Grove' Comes To CBS On Sunday, December 5th
Utica Community Schools also uses LTGI’s Applicant Central product for online employment applications and applicant management.
“Utica Community Schools is committed to transparency and providing real-time information to its entire school community,” said LTGI.net President Troy Lindner. “We’ve worked side-by-side with all of our customers for the last decade creating solutions for fast and easy access to that information.”
LTGI.net adopted a “Mobile First” design principle in late 2011. The Rochester-based company now begins every product development and revision with mobile devices in mind because of their increase in daily use.
“We believe that the ease, simplicity, and speed of mobile devices are promoting the trend toward consumers using these devices as their primary means of accessing school information,” Lindner said. “Mobile devices will play an ever-increasing role for day-to-day parent, teacher and school communications.”MORE NEWS: MDHHS Updates COVID-19 Quarantine Guidance For Michigan Schools


text:
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in /home/midday/public_html/wp-content/plugins/really-simple-facebook-twitter-share-buttons/really-simple-facebook-twitter-share-buttons.php on line 318
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of the Democratic Party has recently urged telecoms to provide their customers with the option of blocking unsolicited robocalls. The Senator wants the technology to be easily accessed by both landline and mobile phone users.
In a recent statement, Schumer said the anti-robocalling tech should work very much like e-mail spam blockers, i.e. whenever an automated call is made by a telemarketer, the call would be redirected in a “spam” box just like on an e-mail account.
The Senator argued that the intervention is necessary because telemarketers keep harassing customers despite the Federal Trade Commission’s Do-Not-Call rules. Currently, hundreds of thousands of Americans receive unwanted receive robocalls, and they don’t have any option to block them.
According to Consumers Union, more than 300,000 complaints on unwanted telemarketing calls were filed in Sept. 2014.
But robocalls are not only annoying. They can also be dangerous. Thousands of people have complained that beside the usual automatic calls from credit card companies and mortgage firms, they had also received scam calls.
Schumer explained that the most frequent scam via phone is the tax scam, i.e. an automated call informs the user that he or she owes money to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Next, the victims are urged to transfer the money to an account through wire transfer or prepaid debit cards.
The FTC cautioned that scammers impersonate IRS employees and can even display phony IRS badges. They can easily tweak the caller ID to look like you are actually speaking to the IRS. The robocalls often state that you owe the federal agency money in unpaid taxes and, thus, you may risk jail time. Scammers may also have access to the last four digits of their victims’ social security numbers.
The FTC recommends users to not fall for these scams. Firstly, the IRS does not contact taxpayers by phone. If indeed there is a problem, they will contact you via e-mail. Secondly, the IRS never threatens people over phone. And also be wary that the agency does not use the e-mail or a social media account to collect your financial or personal data. Only online scammers do.
Recently Time Warner Cable said that it would set in place a robocall blocker called “Nomorobo.” Schumer expects others to soon follow suit.
According to the FTC rules, telemarketers need to provide phone users with info on their name, their company or entity, and a phone number or address at which you can contact them and tell them to stop calling you. Plus, any telemarketing calls not made between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. are illegal.
Image Source: www.public-domain-image.com


text:
Amazon’s beloved electrical company Rivian has gone public
After last week, Rivian filed for an initial public offering. The 12-year-old electric car maker, backed by Amazon and considered one of the biggest threats to Tesla, wants to be valued up to $ 80 billion. That would make Rivian one of the most valuable automakers in the world billions more than Ford or GM – and its trucks are not yet on the road. Rivian’s first car, a $ 73,000 pickup, is expected to begin shipping in September, and a second model, a $ 75,500 seven -seat SUV, would have been released next year.
In some ways, Rivian’s timing is good. President Joe Biden recently issued an executive order calling for electric vehicles for half of all new car sales in the United States. in 2030, and a growing number of legacy automakers are committed to shifting their production in electric vehicles over the next two decades.
But as the world continues to struggle with the pandemic, Rivian faces some serious challenges. The shortage of semiconductors has caused delays and stoppages in production throughout the industry. Neither does that multiple charging stations available throughout the United States, leaving some potential EV buyers worried about losing juice.
“It’s a great deal to have a lot of public infrastructure available,” Jeremy Michalek, a professor of the public policy profession at Carnegie Mellon, told Recode. “Perhaps the first priority is to make sure there are enough fast chargers available at highway rest stops so you can take your car wherever you want to go.”
Like Tesla, Rivian is the same selling home chargers and developing a national charging network. The company plans to have 10,000 stations available by the end of 2023, with most going to remote areas. Just as Tesla did, the Rivian brings an AI-focused approach to its vehicles. Rivian has invested heavily in its left-handed, semi-autonomous driving technology with a suite of features called Driver +, which sounds similar to Tesla’s Autopilot. In a lawsuit, Tesla even accused Rivian of stealing its trade secrets after hiring its employees in the past.
But one big difference between Rivian and Tesla is the class of electric cars sold by the two companies. After being founded in 2009 and remaining hidden for many years, Rivian announced in 2018 that its first models were a pickup truck and an SUV that was for off-road driving. That’s a notable difference from Tesla, which focuses primarily on selling cars and croszers. (Tesla announced the first pickup truck, the Cybertruck, in 2019, but the lasted until 2022.)
Rivian also attracts commercial clients, including its own influential supporters. After participating in two rounds of funding for the startup, Amazon last year committed to purchase 100,000 power delivery vehicles from Rivian in 2030. Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and three other passengers on the first flight of Blue Origin with people aboard though riding in a Rivian SUV at the launch site.
Ford, which has its own plans to release an electric version of the popular F-150 pickup truck next year, has also invested more in half a billion dollars to start the electric car.
The tough time of Rivian’s IPO
There is no doubt that President Biden is enthusiastic about electric cars. The Biden administration has already begun electrifying entire fleet of federal cars, SUVs, and trucks, more than 600,000 vehicles. Meanwhile, the White House and Congressional Democrats are pushing for the Postal Service purchase of up to 165,000 electric delivery trucks. Biden also wants to spend $ 174 billion to produce 500,000 electric chargers across the country. (Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also promised to open Tesla Superchargers to electric vehicles from other manufacturers.)
But as EVs become increasingly popular around the world, the U.S. is facing much slower growth than China or Europe. Last year, sales in the world of electric cars grew by 41 percent, endorsed by the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental energy policy advising organization. While sales of U.S. electric vehicles are behind those in China and Europe, sales of hybrid cars grew, a sign that many consumers may be heating up electric cars on line.
In a in a recent Pew survey, some 7 percent of Americans say they own an electric or hybrid car, and 39 percent say they would consider buying one. The higher price of EVs in fact a causal factor at a slower rate of US adoption. But the price of battery, which is most expensive part of electric vehicles, fell, so that Americans will see more affordable EVs in the future.
Barriers during the pandemic also damaged the auto industry. Rivian, which originally released its pickup truck in July, has twice suspended delivery of vehicles. Late last month, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe told customers there were warning vehicles that Covid-19 disrupts everything from “facility construction, to equipment installation, to the supply of vehicle components (especially semiconductors).” The same chip shortage was forced on Tesla also write code for its vehicles, and experts are concerned that the lack of semiconductors could delay the production of the new electric Ford F-150.
However, if Tesla’s past success has any indication, Rivian stands out to find enthusiastic, people outside customers who want an EV to get out of the way. Considering today’s challenges, the company has a hard time relying on standing apart from Tesla and the growing number of legacy automakers who want a cut in the EV market. The Jeep IMMINENT to release an electric version of his Wrangler in 2023. President Biden has already given one a test drive.


text:
You’ve heard the cliché, but Airbnb is getting a lot of attention lately, thanks to a string of high-profile scandals involving the platform.
And that spotlight is on luxury shower rentals.
For instance, in January, Airbnb announced it would stop renting out its own hotel rooms.
Airbnb has now also announced it will end the rental of the luxury cabin rentals at the New York City Hilton Midtown.
And it has also announced that it is ending the rental at the luxury spa at the Beverly Hilton, which had previously been available to its guests.
But it’s not all bad news.
Airbnb is also going to allow guests to book a private room on its platform, and the company has also said it will be offering private rooms to guests at its flagship hotels, including the Hilton in New York and the Beverly in Beverly Hills, California.
And in addition to the luxury shower rental, Airbnb is offering the same service to guests in the company’s own rooms.
The company says the new service will be available from December 16 through February 19.


text:
Off The Grid Fitness is powered by people, both literally and figuratively.
The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based fitness center, which opened last spring as one of the state’s first eco-friendly gyms, puts its patrons’ hard work to use with energy-harnessing cardio machines that capture and reclaim the power produced by users.
The elliptical machines and fitness bikes found at Off The Grid, manufactured by SportsArt Fitness and PlugOut Fitness, respectively, are part of the fitness industry’s push towards sustainability.
Off The Grid currently has three elliptical machines and 15 spin bikes. In addition to the machines that trap energy, Off The Grid offers also has self-powered treadmills, which consume no energy at all.
The elliptical machines are capable of producing quite a bit of power. Ten machines used at full capacity for one hour can produce enough energy to power a 27-inch flat screen television for 17 hours.
Off the Grid founder Eric Guilleminault got the idea from Adam Boesel, founder of the The Green Microgym in Portland, Ore. and the inventor of the PlugOut fitness bikes.
Guilleminault also used recycled construction material and weightlifting machines when possible and installed bamboo flooring, a far more sustainable resource than hardwood. His locker rooms include dual flush toilets and low-flow faucets and showerheads to eliminate water waste, too.
The former personal trainer always dreamed of opening his own gym, but says he didn’t always envision a green gym.
Off The Grid is not only a novelty in Arizona – it’s one of the few gyms in the country investing in the cardio machines. And being a pioneer means there is no guarantee that this green gym will actually produce enough green to survive.
“This is really a case study,” founder Eric Guilleminault said of Off The Grid. “If it works out then great, if it doesn’t, at least we tried.”
It’s too early to tell if the gym’s innovative concept will be a success, but Guilleminault is hopeful that things will pick up come fall and that eventually he will reach his goal of 300 members.
So far, Guilleminault said that Off The Grid’s green efforts are not what is pulling people in, but most agree they are a nice perk. And once members learn how their tough cardio workout is being converted into new energy, Guilleminault said they usually have the same question: Do I get a discount on my dues because I’m paying your electric bill? (The answer is ‘no.’)
Guilleminault said he hopes to one day open additional facilities in Arizona California. He chose to start his business in Scottsdale because he heard it was a city whose dwellers were interested in both fitness and the ‘go green’ movement.
But in a city where its residents are often as hot as the sizzling temperatures, competition in the fitness industry can be fierce.
“If I make it here, I think I can pretty much make it anywhere with this concept,” he said.


text:
Display The revealing choices for: Tinder has become bypassing the fresh Enjoy Shop to the Android os to stop Google’s 30 percent slashed
Tinder mother or father organization Suits Classification has just end up being the latest high-character app inventor to intense Google to the its 30 % payment for all Android purchases from Gamble Store. To quit make payment on business in-application instructions of memberships in order to qualities such as for instance Tinder Gold and you will Tinder Together with, Matches Group tend to now prompt users to go into bank card facts in to Tinder’s possibilities, according to Bloomberg, citing new research because of the Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter.
The move is like you to definitely made by preferred video game creator Unbelievable Video game, and therefore last year create the fresh new Android type of battle royale hit Fortnite via its very own downloadable launcher to stop new 30 % reduce. Notably, Tinder was Meets Group’s most profitable organization, and you will anywhere between their registration characteristics or other in the-application buy choices like buying the ability to learn whenever someone provides discover the phrase, the program is often among higher grossing 100 % free software towards each other apple’s ios and you will Android os.
“Within Matches Class, we always try the new reputation featuring provide benefits, handle and you can substitute for all of our profiles,” says Fits Group representative Justine Sacco into the a statement given to Bloomberg. “We shall usually make an effort to bring choice you to benefit the feel and you can giving fee choice is certainly one exemplory case of so it.” Once inputting their bank card for the Tinder’s program, the fresh new app allegedly non-payments to that percentage method for one when you look at the-application buy afterwards, allowing Tinder to avoid new slashed indefinitely. Bing was not instantly designed for opinion.
Display that it tale
Unbelievable and you may Suits will be the simply two high-profile enterprises to thus far openly sidestep new Play Shop if you find yourself still trying to cater to Android os users. But really popular registration functions such as for instance Netflix and you can Spotify features for a long time shown distaste toward 70-30 model of progressive app places, that has been set up of the Fruit back in 2008 and you may borrowed but a few weeks later on from the Google for its Play Shop.
A lot of companies cure the fresh 30 % slashed because price of doing business, especially to the apple’s ios where you rating Apple’s quality assurance and you will business grip for the the ecosystem, however some begrudgingly consider the price as the “Fruit tax.” No matter if Unbelievable Games did sidestep the new Google Play shop, they chose to discharge Fortnite on ios from Application Shop and take the brand new strike, as an example. Android os, however, is more discover and that more flexible that have just how developers want to generate income and you can arrived at profiles a lot more directly. That’s launched the entranceway to possess Unbelievable and then Meets Category to try.
Despite Apple’s steadfast way of Application Shop costs, Spotify keeps filed an antitrust issue facing Fruit on Western european Commission looking to get transform pushed compliment of controls. The European union has become in the process of examining Fruit to possess alleged anti-competitive plans, that have Spotify arguing one Apple’s 30 % slash sets third-class characteristics at a disadvantage when https://hookupdate.net/local-hookup/memphis/ contending facing its choices, including Apple Audio.
Consistently before you to, Spotify and you can Netflix both have come with innovative a way to force anyone outside of the Apple and Yahoo ecosystems towards the cellular to help you avoid spending the cost, periodically capitulating to your storeowners and you may jacking up registration costs to possess mobile indication-ups consequently.
History August, Netflix first started reportedly investigations a method comparable when you look at the construction to help you Tinder’s you to definitely allows users register straight to the services through a mobile webpage who would avoid the fresh ios App Shop. For the December out of this past year, Netflix stopped enabling inside-app instructions of any kind for the brand new and you can present pages on ios.
Apple possess attempted to attempt to especially appease companies you to definitely fees having registration features, minimizing their App Shop charges back to 2016 off 29 in order to fifteen percent to the any service that a person was signed up through the mobile app for longer than one year. Yahoo inserted Fruit in that rules back to the fall of 2017. It looks businesses are becoming more and much more sick of the fresh status quo as they are offered seeking sidestep the fresh new middlemen entirely.
It’s not clear if Yahoo will take action facing Tinder for trying skirt a shop; In past times, Apple enjoys apparently hindered Spotify’s ios application from the limiting position whenever they discovered the songs streaming services are trying avoid this new Software Store. Google grabbed no step up against Epic, but one to was not an obvious assessment because the Tinder is still are distributed by new Gamble Store and you can technically however bound by Google’s terms. It doesn’t matter, even when Yahoo chooses to do-nothing, that may imply even more apps pursue Match Group’s lead in driving profiles supply the brand new app inventor, rather than the fresh Gamble Store, its charge card information.


text:
Visa and fintech startup Plaid ditched plans for a $5.3 billion merger Tuesday after a Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit had threatened to block the deal.
Visa CEO Al Kelly said in a statement he believes the business enterprises will have prevailed in court, but complex and “protracted litigation will likely take substantial time to completely resolve.”
Antitrust regulators argued Visa’s acquisition of Plaid would eliminate a nascent competitor offering a “lower-cost option for online debit payments” and “deprive American merchants and consumers of this revolutionary way to Visa and increase entry barriers for future innovators.”
Plaid has seen a huge uptick in demand during the pandemic, and while the business enterprise was in an inexpensive position for a merger a year ago, Plaid decided to remain an impartial company in the wake of the lawsuit.
“While Plaid and Visa would have been an excellent mixture, we’ve made a decision to instead work with Visa as an investor and partner so we are able to totally concentrate on building the infrastructure to help fintech,” Plaid CEO Zach Perret said in a statement.
Plaid is a San Francisco fintech upstart used by popular financial apps as Venmo, Robinhood and Square Cash to link users to their bank accounts. One major reason Visa was interested in purchasing Plaid was to access the app’s growing client base and sell them more services. Over the older year, Plaid says it’s grown its client base to 4,000 firms, up sixty % from a year ago.