Author: Akin Naphtal

The Bank of England is seeking applications for a sample wallet for a Central Bank Digital Currency. Posted on the UK Government’s Digital Marketplace, the central bank is offering a £200,000 contract to successful bidders for the five-month project. Key deliverables include the development of a mobile wallet app, wallet and merchant website and a back-end server to serve mobile app and website, call the core ledger API and store user data and transaction history. In terms of functionality, the Wallet should incorporate a signup process, a way to update details, and to display balances, transactions and notifications. Other specifications…

ZELF, an American fintech company, has launched an anonymous Visa debit card that can be used as legal tender in 80 million locations around the globe. This amazing initiative by ZELF has incited further excitement within the crypto market and the tech space. Pursuing its goal to democratize access to finance, ZELF, Bank of the Metaverse, has explained that the instant Visa debit card can be replenished with cryptocurrency, and there are other methods of funding the account. This revolutionary product provides users with the freedom and convenience to make secure purchases while preserving their privacy. This latest feature will…

Ericsson and Apple have sealed a multi-year, global patent license agreement between the two companies. The agreement includes a cross-license relating to patented cellular standard-essential technologies and grants certain other patent rights.Furthermore, Ericsson and Apple have mutually agreed to strengthen their technology and business collaboration, including in technology, interoperability and standards development. This settlement ends the lawsuits filed by both companies in several countries, including in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Texas, as well as the complaints filed before the United States International Trade Commission (USITC). Ericsson’s IPR licensing revenues continue to be affected by…

U.S. tech giant, Microsoft has announced its plan to take a 4 per cent stake in London Stock Exchange as part of a 10-year strategic partnership to improve the exchange’s data and analytics.According to a recent statement, as part of the deal, Microsoft will provide LSEG with data analytics and cloud infrastructure products using its Azure, AI and Teams platforms.The statement stressed further that, “With the Microsoft Cloud and its AI capabilities, the deal significantly advances LSEG’s strategy of building an efficient and scalable platform for its data and analytics business to deliver next-generation services, through improved workflow and greater…

Dutch payments firm PayU has appointed Keren Ben Zvi as its new head of data as it looks to provide merchants with more detailed customer insights to support business growth. Specialising in business analytics, machine learning and data architecture, Ben Zvi has more than 15 years’ worth of experience in data strategy. Prior to joining PayU, she served as vice president of data at digital advertising firm Perion. READ ALSO: North America announce Syncfy, Totem amongst others get fintech funding round-up China reveal plans on developing its digital yuan to protect its interests Cisco in New Launch of the Industry-First…

Syncfy, a fintech start-up building an open finance platform in Latin America, has bagged $10 million in seed funding led by Point72 Ventures. The round also includes investments from JAM Fund, Ausum Ventures, Avalancha Ventures, FJ Labs, MANTIS Venture Capital, and XBTO Humla Ventures, along with angel investors. The company’s platform enables single API access to financial data from over 125 banks, digital wallets, tax authorities, utility providers, crypto exchanges, and blockchains across more than 15 countries in Latin America and internationally. Syncfy says its customers include large banks and enterprise software companies such as BBVA and Intuit, as well…

The invasion of Ukraine unfolded as the first significant transnational conflict of the digital age. Concerns have been raised about whether emerging digital financial instruments might undermine the global order, curbing the effectiveness of sanctions. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war provoked the West to launch broad retributions and an increasingly saber-rattling China should be looking for ways to protect its national interests. Bearing in mind the economic penalties imposed by Washington, the Chinese government has every right to be afraid. All eyes are on its leaders, widely regarded as challengers to the so-called global order. Many Western lawmakers claimed that…

The internet is headed for a “point of no return” where social control and dependence on addictive apps rise to unsustainable levels, says Geert Lovink, a professor at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science. Lovink, who helped create a precursor to the internet called the Digital City, claims in his new essay “Extinction Internet” that increasingly sophisticated methods of monitoring and control mean that “our supposed freedom of expression no longer actually exists.” Whether or not the internet is beyond repair, the emergence of data-powered algorithms raises a number of important questions about data use and its effects on sociopolitical…

Information technology has deeply penetrated many areas of our lives. Almost any modern person can hardly imagine himself without such devices as a smartphone, a computer, a laptop, etc. Even the latest laptops are prone to lag once in a while, and in these circumstances, many seek to speed up their laptop to better suit their needs. This can be traced back to a number of issues, ranging in seriousness from unwanted background programs or low disk space, to insufficient RAM, or malware having infected your device. Although problems could be solved by simply purchasing new hardware, this could be…

The UK and Japan have signed a strategic partnership, which will see the pair collaborate on a range of digital technologies.Standardising internet of things (IoT) security, improving semiconductor supply chains and joint research and development projects are among the initiatives being explored in a new digital partnership between the UK and Japan.The partnership, announced recently, is looking at ways to make it easier for businesses to operate in both countries by aligning digital regulations. It will see government departments from both countries meet annually as part of a Digital Council in a push to increase collaboration between the British and…