PayPal announced that PayPal Credit can now be used everywhere with the introduction of a new physical card, issued by Synchrony. This expands its popular digital PayPal Credit offering to use both online when checking out with PayPal and in-store and everywhere Mastercard® is accepted. When using the new physical card, customers will also have access to a limited-time offer to pay for travel purchases over six months with promotional financing and no minimum spend1. This gives account holders a more manageable way to pay for qualifying travel purchases like flights, hotels, cruises, and ride shares, which can be spread over time to best suit their budget and needs. This is PayPal’s next flexible payment innovation that caters to customers looking to take PayPal Credit everywhere. In addition to the limited-time travel offer, customers can continue to enjoy six-month promotional financing on PayPal purchases over $149. Customers looking for flexibility at checkout can also apply for a PayPal Buy Now Pay Later loan which lets them break purchases into smaller payments over weeks or months. The physical card will be rolling out in the coming weeks to US customers.
Clearstream partners Azimut to develop DLT-based private funds solution – providing broader access to private market strategies, along with a liquidity option that will allow investors to unlock the illiquidity premium embedded in private asset portfolios
Deutsche Börse’s Clearstream announced a new DLT-based solution for private market funds that it developed in conjunction with asset manager Azimut. It leverages the funds distribution platform, FundsDLT, that Clearstream acquired in late 2023. Azimut was the very first asset manager to use FundsDLT. A key goal of the DLT platform from the beginning was to reduce costs through automation and enable greater transparency. It supports the permissioned sharing of information between the asset manager, distributor and client investor, including regular reporting and asset servicing. Clearstream said it now offers a new account model that supports multiple investor portfolios under a single Clearstream Custody account. For example, this might cater to wealth managers and their clients. This structure “enables Azimut to access anonymized, detailed insights into the portfolios of individual investors.” Giorgio Medda, CEO of Azimut Holding said, “This innovative platform will provide broader access to private market strategies, along with a liquidity option that will allow investors to unlock the illiquidity premium embedded in private asset portfolios.” “By leveraging Azimut’s expertise and our robust technology, we aim to set new standards, while maintaining the highest levels of security, compliance and investor trust,” said Philippe Seyll, CEO of Clearstream Fund Services.
Conferma’s partnership with JP Morgan Payments Network to enable businesses to issue virtual cards and make multi-currency payments via API that integrates directly with ERP, procurement, and expense management platforms
Conferma has expanded its strategic membership in the J.P. Morgan Payments Partner Network to include J.P. Morgan Payments’ virtual card solutions as part of its European offerings. This expansion offers European-based businesses the opportunity to issue and manage virtual cards effortlessly, unlocking multi-currency capabilities and providing greater flexibility to streamline payments across the region. J.P. Morgan Payments’ virtual card services offer businesses in Europe the opportunity to access virtual card services and benefit from trusted payment capabilities—simplifying procurement, boosting cash flow, and enhancing security. What this means for businesses: Expanded payment freedom: Corporates can issue virtual cards, eliminating international barriers and empowering businesses with greater global agility. Multi-currency efficiency: Virtual cards enable payment in local currencies, reducing FX costs and improving payment efficiency. Seamless integration: Conferma’s API technology integrates directly with ERP, procurement, and expense management platforms, making adoption effortless and quick. Stronger financial oversight: Businesses gain more visibility, control, and fraud protection, enhancing compliance and security. By combining J. P. Morgan Payments’ virtual card solutions through the J.P. Morgan Payments Partner Network with Conferma’s seamless technology, businesses can accelerate payments, enhance security, and cut operational costs.
VC Lightspeed changes its regulatory status to a RIA, to enable investing more capital into assets beyond direct startup equity including public and secondary shares, as well as cryptocurrencies
Lightspeed Venture Partners, has changed its regulatory status to broaden its range of investments — following similar moves by Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst as they shift away from the traditional VC playbook. Lightspeed has completed the process of becoming a registered investment advisor (RIA), according to a US SEC filing. The move is the culmination of a lengthy regulatory process and gives the firm freedom to invest more capital into assets beyond direct startup equity. It’s also a signal that most of the country’s biggest VCs now have ambitions to expand beyond only investing in startups. Lightspeed is one of the last major venture firms to change its regulatory status, as VCs seek to invest in a wider array of assets, including public and secondary shares, as well as cryptocurrencies. Without the RIA designation, VC firms may only allocate up to 20% of their capital to holdings outside traditional startup equity. Lightspeed, which manages $31 billion in assets, is expected to launch new funds totaling $7 billion and has been expanding its investments in areas such as secondary deals and artificial intelligence.
Stripe’s services can now natively run on Verifone payment devices, to support commerce use cases such as self-service checkout and tableside ordering
Through this partnership, Stripe services will natively run on Verifone payment devices, offering Stripe customers even more flexibility and choice in deploying durable and performant in-person payments. Merchants can now support commerce use cases such as self-service checkout and tableside ordering by leveraging Verifone’s payment devices with Stripe Terminal, an in-person payments solution. Verifone and Stripe support digital wallets, QR codes on-reader, digital or printed receipts, and interactive screens for tipping, loyalty programs, customer signatures, and more. Stripe customers can choose from a broad range of Verifone devices—from multilane to handheld readers with built-in printers—designed to meet the needs of any in-person commerce experience. With powerful device management tools and dedicated support from Stripe and Verifone, merchants can confidently manage and scale their in-person payments with ease.
Wyoming’s Stable Token Commission taps Inca Digital’s analytics platform for real-time monitoring and mitigation of risks related to fraud for its fiat-backed, state-issued stablecoin
The Wyoming Stable Token Commission has partnered with analytics provider Inca Digital on its forthcoming state-backed Wyoming Stable Token (WYST). WYST is said to be “the first fully-reserved, fiat-backed stable token issued by a U.S. public entity.” The asset will be fully backed by U.S. Treasurys, cash, and repurchase agreements. “The Commission’s goal is to enhance financial transparency and drive economic growth for the state, fortifying Wyoming’s position as a national leader in digital assets,” it wrote. Inca will provide real-time risk management solutions and other analytics services. “This collaboration will bolster the Commission’s ability to monitor and mitigate risks related to fraud, money laundering, and market anomalies, ensuring the safety and integrity of WYST for its users,” the commission wrote. Executive Director of the Wyoming Stable Token Commission Anthony Apollo said. “By leveraging Inca’s industry-leading intelligence tools, we are reinforcing our promise to deliver a trustworthy digital asset for Wyoming and beyond.” State authorities hope the token will enable “near-instant, dollar-denominated transactions worldwide” while offering “significantly lower fees compared to traditional financial systems.” At launch, WYST will be the first stablecoin directly issued by a government.
Salesforce new pricing model gives companies a more attractive way to pay for non-conversational and internal uses of the AI agents by charging them about 10 cents per “action”
Salesforce is unveiling a new pricing model for its AI products and letting customers reallocate spending from traditional software subscriptions to the artificial intelligence tools. Clients will pay about 10 cents per “action” when using some Salesforce AI agents, which are tools designed to complete work without the need for supervision from an employee, Salesforce plans to announce Thursday. The new pricing structure is meant to give companies a more attractive way to pay for non-conversational and internal uses of the AI agents such as scanning through old emails to find potential sales targets, according to Bill Patterson, an executive vice president at the company. Salesforce will also begin to let customers shift contracted spending from per-user application subscriptions to its AI agent offerings. This will help give the companies greater flexibility to shift spending between workers and AI agents, Patterson said. “For companies who are looking at the future of their workforce — whether it scales up or scales down — what the flex agreement gives us is this ability to move spending between human labor and digital labor,” Patterson said.
Google partners FS-ISAC offering Priority Flaggers dedicated channels to inform Google of potential fraud and violations that will be reviewed at a priority.
Google has launched a joint effort with the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, or FS-ISAC, that will combine the search giant’s threat detection capabilities with FS-ISAC’s network and intelligence sharing to prevent fraud within the financial sector. The program is dubbed the Financial Services branch of Google’s Priority Flagger Program. The collaboration with Google “accelerates the speed with which FS-ISAC members can identify and mitigate evolving fraud threats, increasing the security of institutions and the communities they serve,” said Teresa Walsh, FS-ISAC’s chief intelligence officer. While anyone can flag content on Google platforms flags from Priority Flaggers are prioritized for review by content moderators due to their high degree of trust and expertise. Google’s Priority Flagger program provides tools to eligible organizations like government agencies and non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, to quickly resolve with Google any violations of the platform’s policies, such as ads that attempt to defraud bank customers by imitating that customer’s bank and misusing its branding. Google considers priority flaggers to be particularly effective at reporting content that violates Google’s Community Guidelines or policies. The program gives participants dedicated channels to inform Google of potential violations that will be reviewed at a priority. Content reported by Priority Flaggers is not automatically removed. The same standards apply for all flags; the difference is the prioritization of the review process. The goal of the Financial Services Priority Flagger Program is to accelerate fraud prevention and detection specifically for the financial sector, according to Google and FS-ISAC. Google’s Priority Flagger Program generally streamlines the process of identifying, reporting and mitigating fraud threats related to Google platforms — specifically, Google Workspace and Google Ads. This collaboration builds on “years of collaboration” between the organizations, according to Amanda Storey, senior director of trust and safety at Google. It is “the kind of concrete cross-sector effort that meaningfully helps financial institutions protect their customers and employees,” she said. As part of this financial services-specific initiative, FS-ISAC will operate a dedicated channel for its members. Through this channel, members can report fraud and other malicious activity that leverages Google Workspace or Google Ads. The program initially launched with a pilot group of FS-ISAC member institutions. In the first 10 days of the pilot, FS-ISAC flagged 21 accounts, which allowed Google to identify and take action on 288 abusive accounts connected to the original ones, according to the press release. The program is now expanding to include all FS-ISAC member firms, providing access to reporting mechanisms, resources and direct support from experts. FS-ISAC’s new program is part of Google’s participation in the consortium’s Critical Providers Program. The Critical Providers Program is an official conduit for nonfinancial organizations that provide network infrastructure and services to share timely and industry-specific security information. Google Cloud was the first major cloud provider to join this program. Google’s new partnership with FS-ISAC reflects the significant and persistent challenge of fraudulent advertisements published through the Google Ads platform. The issue not only impacts consumers but also poses a substantial financial threat to legitimate businesses.
Vercel’s AI model enables creating independent, scalable web-based checkout systems on developers’ own domains by offering customisable template with frontend components through API
The team behind Vercel’s V0, an AI-powered platform for web creation, has developed an AI model it claims excels at certain website development tasks. Available through an API, the model, called “v0-1.0-md,” can be prompted with text or images, and was “optimized for front-end and full-stack web development,” the Vercel team says. Currently in beta, it requires a V0 Premium plan ($20 per month) or Team plan ($30 per user per month) with usage-based billing enabled. Vercel’s model can “auto-fix” common coding issues, the Vercel team says, and it’s compatible with tools and SDKs that support OpenAI’s API format. Evaluated on web development frameworks like Next.js, the model can ingest up to 128,000 tokens in one go. The launch of V0’s model comes as more developers and companies look to adopt AI-powered tools for programming.
Akool’s Live Camera uses AI that simulates human presence dynamically, analyzing live audio/visual inputs to generate responsive avatars, translate video calls and swap faces in real-time
Akool Live Camera uses AI to capture human movement and mimic that movement with a generated virtual avatar in real time. Akool can also translate speech in real time during a virtual meeting and also provide instant face swapping during a call. The AI technology listens to conversations in one language and instantly translates them into the selected target language, providing real-time, synchronized audio that matches the avatar’s lip movements and facial expressions. The company also offers lip-syncing for avatars in real time, where the avatar lip movements can match the words being spoken by a person in real time. This Akool Live Camera tool is a part of the Akool Live Suite, a first-of-its-kind collection of products that features live, real-time video generation with minimal delay. The suite includes live avatars, live face swap, video translation, and real-time video generation. Akool Live Camera sets a new standard in AI-powered video generation technology, going well beyond scripted, text-based prompts. This opens up a new array of possibilities for virtual meetings and live streams, especially when connecting with international audiences. Akool Live Camera is an interactive engine that simulates human presence dynamically, analyzing live audio/visual inputs to generate responsive avatars with expressions and contextual awareness. The combination of Akool’s AI and intuitive design empowers creators, educators and enterprises to connect more authentically and efficiently than ever. Key capabilities of Akool Live Camera include: Unmatched live interaction, Real-time multilingual translation, Dynamic expression and gesture mapping, Cross-platform versatility, Privacy-forward design,` and Market- and audience-specific customization.