Enabling payment tracking: Banks are using Swift GPI’s tracking capabilities to provide customers with transaction updates and support new innovations. Citi, for example, has invested in a Global Beneficiary Services Payment Tracker to improve traceability of payments. This functionality allows beneficiaries to track payment status without a login, addressing the growing focus on retail payments and ecommerce. Checking payment data upfront to reduce rejects: Real-time global payments platform Nium has launched a global account verification capability to ensure correct domestic and cross-border payments. This is part of the European Commission’s Instant Payment Regulation, which mandates these checks across Europe. Nium’s system validates beneficiary account numbers and bank codes, reducing returns by up to 90%. Citi has also developed a similar capability using Swift’s Payment Pre-validation solution, resulting in a 70% reduction in customer queries and rejections. Enhancing their offerings: Payment providers must adapt to evolving customer needs by investing in intuitive websites and apps. BNP Paribas developed an app to guide cross-border payment processes, resulting in a six-fold increase in cross-border payment volumes since its launch in France. This demonstrates the importance of attentiveness to customer needs in boosting payment volumes and customer retention. Collaborating: Collaborating with partners can drive innovation and address payment pain points. Effective traceability requires all players in the payment chain to work together, confirming their part of the process. The financial industry has seen successful collaborations, such as Citi’s partnership with Bank of Shanghai, powered by Swift Go, enabling international tourists to access local currency in China via digital wallets.
Apple’s CarPlay Ultra comes with ‘local UI’ that incorporates data points and controls sourced from the car itself into the interface
The first trial of CarPlay Ultra in an Aston Martin has deemed Apple’s in-car upgrade a massive success, even if car manufacturers will be wary of handing over the UI reins. The next-generation interface expands the iPhone-based interface across multiple displays on the dashboard, and promises a more cohesive experience for drivers. One of the first topics is car manufacturer personalization and control. Not all manufacturers are keen on using the new CarPlay, due to the way it dominates all of the available screens, including the instrument panel. This resistance has led to Apple working to make CarPlay Ultra as acceptable as possible, by offering as much customization as possible. Apple’s implementation is to provide a set of templates, so that the manufacturers can tailor how the various elements of the interfaces appear within CarPlay Ultra itself. CarPlay Ultra is more than just using the interface on an increasing number of displays in a vehicle. Some of the elements are still iPhone-hosted services as before, but now it incorporates data points and controls sourced from the car itself, referred to as “local UI.” Elements such as speed and fuel level are incorporated into Apple’s interface, which is then shown to the driver. On top of that is “punch-through UI,” which refers to some elements from the car’s native infotainment system to work directly, with minimal interference from CarPlay itself. This can take the form of things such as a car’s reversing camera, handled by the onboard system but displayed within CarPlay itself without extra elements. Apple also upgraded how CarPlay itself interfaces with the iPhone itself. To get the new CarPlay Ultra working, you need an iPhone 12 or later, running on iOS 18.4 or newer. Furthermore, while earlier CarPlay could use wired and wireless connections with the iPhone depending on the setup, CarPlay Ultra works entirely wirelessly by default. The booting process prioritizes the instrument panel display first, so that the driver can use the vehicle, even if other CarPlay Ultra elements take a little longer to get going. There is a default layout, but drivers can also switch between a few options on the fly. This includes altering the visual style without changing item placement for a few of them. The main infotainment screen doesn’t seem to have changed that much at first glance. Existing CarPlay users will be familiar with how it works and appears, but changes can quickly become apparent. With local UI in use, the in-car functions now appear within CarPlay, without needing to exit it. Users can also customize the appearance of CarPlay from the screen. The slickness, integration, and Apple familiarity are plus points for an interface, something car manufacturers frequently struggle to get right.
Gateless’ integration of mortgage tech platform with Fannie Mae’s income calculator to enable lenders to calculate accurate qualified income in real-time using tax return data, for borrowers without W-2 wages
Mortgage technology firm Gateless has integrated its platform with Fannie Mae’s income calculator. The integration enables lenders to calculate qualified income, particularly for borrowers without W-2 wages, such as the self-employed, small-business owners and real estate investors. The solution provides real-time income calculations backed by Fannie Mae, offering representation and warranty relief on conventional loans. This gives lenders increased confidence in their underwriting decisions while reducing risk exposure. Using tax return data, the system generates monthly income calculations and delivers actionable insights. Gateless claims to optimize loan volume processing and accelerate the post-closing process by up to 400%. After analyzing more than 200,000 loans, the company found that 80% of critical documents identified during the loan process can be satisfied through automation. Gateless offers Smart Underwrite, an end-to-end automated underwriting solution that begins at the point of sale, as well as VeriClear, an income verification tool. Among its publicized partnerships are those with The Loan Store and Equifax. “Our technology automates the intricate process of income analysis and ensures lenders receive precise, accurate income calculations quickly, whether for traditional wage earners or increasingly common self-employed borrowers,” said Katie King, chief risk officer at Gateless.
Circle to Search in Android to now capture the whole screen to “generate suggestions and results” and automatically add it to the upcoming text query
The “search box” in Circle to Search in Android will now use your whole screen to “generate suggestions and results.” Previously, launching Circle to Search and tapping the pill-shaped field would let you enter a new text query, like any other Search box on Android. Google is now changing the behavior so that CtS will capture your entire screen and automatically add it to the upcoming text query. Instead of a general text search, you’ll now “Ask about this image.” If you just want to “Search anything” (like before), you have to first remove the image by tapping on it twice in the box. Some users might not like the extra step to perform a regular search from anywhere on your device. This new approach complements Circle to Search’s targeted queries without users having to manually expand the capture area, though this update appears to make that easier by letting you just tap anywhere to cover the entire screen.
HomeLight’s new ‘Buy Before You Sell’ creative financing taps into high levels of home equity to allow home buyers take the money out of their existing house and apply it for a down payment on their new home through a 0% interest loan
Rising mortgage rates have created a bottleneck in deal flow, with 47% of surveyed loan officers citing high interest rates as the biggest obstacle to closing transactions. Many buyers — particularly those who already own a home — find themselves trapped by high debt-to-income ratios and immobile equity. “It’s very unlikely that you can afford both mortgage payments at once,” Nick Friedman, president of homes at HomeLight said. “And so, with [HomeLight’s] Buy Before You Sell, we allow you to remove that existing mortgage payment… [and] offer a 0% interest loan where we basically allow [clients] to take the money out of their existing house and go use it for a down payment on their new home.” HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell offering is one product in the marketplace designed for unlocking liquidity and eliminating friction in a process that has traditionally been rigid and risk-averse. At its core, the tool helps clients sidestep the chicken-and-egg problem of needing to sell their home before they can afford their next one. It’s particularly relevant now, as home equity remains at all-time highs even while transaction volume has stalled. Beyond HomeLight’s proprietary products, Friedman pointed to broader trends in creative financing that are helping to prop up demand in a cooling market.
OneStream’s enterprise finance platform offers access to 30+ plug-and-play, quantitative, and generative AI routines that enable teams to detect anomalies, summarize variances, streamline reporting and reconciliation
OneStream, a leading enterprise finance management platform, has announced the release of four SensibleAI ™ capabilities at its Splash 2025 user conference. These solutions are incorporated into the OneStream platform across planning & forecasting, close & consolidations, and reporting & analytics processes. These tools help finance leaders navigate uncertainty, identify risks, run what-if scenarios, uncover more insights, and drive confident decisions in a shorter amount of time. The developments come after OneStream’s Finance Talent Crunch Survey found that while 89% of finance students have enough experience with AI, only 54% of senior professionals do. SensibleAI delivers embedded tools to help automate manual work and free up time for higher-value analysis and decision-making. SensibleAI Agents are AI-powered chat assistants that retrieve data, perform deep analysis, visualize data, and execute tasks. They are embedded directly into the platform, allowing users to use natural language to gain actionable insights across their data and workflows. SensibleAI Studio is a growing library of 30+ plug-and-play, quantitative, and generative AI routines that enable finance teams to detect anomalies, summarize variances, and optimize system performance. SensibleAI Account Reconciliations automate a critical close process, reducing manual effort and improving compliance.
Doji’s app makes apparel try-ons both fun and social by guiding users through the process of creating personalized avatars in roughly 30 minutes and then serving different looks while also letting them scroll through the collections
Startup Doji is launching its app designed to make apparel try-ons both fun and social. It does so by creating your avatar and then serving you different looks that may inspire you to buy new clothes. The company uses its own diffusion models to create its personalized avatars and to make clothing try-ons more realistic. Doji, which is still in invite-only mode, guides users through the process of taking six selfies and uploading two full-body images to create an avatar. The app takes roughly 30 minutes to create an avatar, then notifies you when the avatar is ready. You can also choose your favorite brands during onboarding to see more items from them in the app. By default, the app shows you clothes that might suit you through a series of looks with your avatar. You can scroll through the different tops and bottoms listed on the site and tap on them to create a new look for your avatar. Plus, you can post a link to apparel from the web to check if it would suit you. While the app lets you try on different clothes to see how certain apparel would look on you, it can’t yet tell you how an item would fit. The team is also working to make the virtual try-on process faster and integrate the buying process in the app, instead of directing users to external sites.
Internet Roadtrip allows a thousand users to simultaneously simulate a virtual road trip using Google Street View by voting on what direction for the “car” to drive, to honk the horn or change the radio station
Internet Roadtrip is an MMORTG (massive multiplayer online road trip game). Neal Agarwal, the game’s creator, calls it a “road-trip simulator.” Every 10 seconds, viewers vote on what direction for the “car” to drive on Google Street View — or, you can vote to honk the horn or change the radio station. The direction with the most votes gets clicked, and the car continues on its scenic path to … wherever the chat decides to go. Internet Roadtrip is reminiscent of Twitch Plays Pokémon, an iconic stream from over 10 years ago in which viewers voted on what button to press as part of a collective Pokémon Red game. But Internet Roadtrip is far less chaotic — both because only a thousand or so people are playing at a time, and because we have better organizational tools than we did in the Twitch Plays Pokémon era . Progress on the virtual roadtrip is slow. The car moves at a pace slower than walking. Discord moderators have had to temper newcomers’ expectations, explaining that it’s pointless to suggest driving to Las Vegas from Maine, since it would likely take almost 10 months of real-world time to get there. The same goes for Alaska, but it’s not just a matter of time that’s the issue. “Google Street View works by taking multiple pictures and putting them together. In some areas of the roads leading to Alaska, there are gaps in pictures available and so we would get stuck there, were we to go to these roads,” the Discord FAQ reads. “All potential roads to Alaska have these gaps. We checked.”
Paythru partners with Adyen to build omni-channel EV payments platform that will allow drivers to pay with their preferred payment method including mobile wallets and fleet cards, which can be easily processed and allocated to the charge point operator
EV payment specialist Paythru has partnered with Adyen to co-develop a next-generation, omni-channel payments platform for EV charging. The collaboration aims to address the problem of inconsistent EV charging payments – where EV drivers face different payment methods at different charge points – which frustrates drivers and hampers EV uptake. The partnership will integrate Adyen’s platform with Paythru’s software and expertise in EV-specific payments. The resulting EV payments platform will allow drivers to pay with their preferred payment method, which can be easily processed and allocated to the charge point operator. The platform will also incorporate a range of digital features to make the user experience easier, such as emailed digital receipts. It will be purpose-built to integrate into EV charging software, including compatibility with emerging standards. Key features of the new EV charging payment platform will include: Support for over 100 global payment methods across 100+ countries, including mobile wallets and fleet cards; Plug & Charge readiness (ISO 15118), ensuring compatibility with energy optimisation and bi-directional charging; Transparent pricing, digital receipts, and real-time data integration; White-label front ends for charge point operators and fleet managers.
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”, offering greater flexibility to shift spending between human and digital labor
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.