NYCs Payoneer Acquires optile To Bolster Payment Technology
Company News

Optile Acquired by New York’s Payoneer to Boost Payment Technology

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Payoneer, one of the leading cross-border payment services providers headquartered in New York, has acquired Optile, an open platform of payment orchestration based in Germany’s Munich. The move was announced yesterday on December 10, 2019, through a press release. However, the terms of the acquisition have not been revealed.

Payoneer also took to the micro-blogging site Twitter to announce its latest acquisition to update the larger community about the new development.

Talking about their recent acquisition, Payoneer’s CEO, Scott Galit, expressed their excitement on welcoming the team of Optile into the Payoneer family. Continuing further, Galit stated that the enterprise-level technology and partner-friendly approach of Optile is a substantial addition to Payoneer’s global platform.

Galit also pointed out the shared belief by both the companies in this rapidly-changing world, where businesses seek an open platform that allows them to associate with providers who could meet their increasing demands.

On the other hand, Optile’s Founder and CEO, Daniel Smeds, also shared how thrilled they were on joining hands with a global platform like Payoneer. In a statement, Smeds said that the move would provide them with the opportunity of leveraging Payoneer’s global team and infrastructure for continually developing the prominent open payment orchestration platform of the world.

Talking about Payoneer, Smeds added that Payoneer shares Optile’s obsession with consumer experience and fulfilling their requirements today while making them ready for tomorrow. He also added that Payoneer is equally dedicated to bringing flexibility, scale, and simplicity to digital businesses of today.

As per the press release, Optile’s team of 75 people will continue operating as a distinct group within Payoneer. They will continue to work towards advancing Optile’s platform of payment orchestration with the merchant autonomy as its central offering.

The reports also noted that Payoneer’s decision to acquire Optile is in line with its own desire to build a foundation that culminates in global growth for marketplaces, SMBs (small and midsize businesses), and business ventures. The company hopes to reduce the plight and balance options in the undefined environment of today’s time.

About Optile

Optile was established in 2010. It streamlines the tedious process of payment acceptance for merchants and sellers all over the world. The sellers can steer their own businesses on Optile’s open network of payment, where they can add payment options, as well as partners, as required.

About Payoneer

Payoneer is a financial services firm making digital payment services and online money transfer a hassle-free process for global consumers. With its services, it empowers businesses across the world to grow at a global level.

World Bank
Opinion & Analysis

Indonesia Suffered $5.2bn Economic Loss Due to Man-made Forest Fires: World Bank

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A World Bank report says that forest fires in Indonesia caused an economic loss of $5.2bn, which equals 0.5% of Indonesia’s GDP.

Farmers in Indonesia burn the agricultural land in the dry season to prepare it for cultivation. The smoke from these fires affects other people and even other countries.

The World Bank assessed the impact of the fires in the eight affected districts between June and October 2019. Officials said that the losses might be even greater as the fires had raged through November.

The report says,

The forest and land fires, as well as the resulting haze, led to significant negative economic impacts, estimated at $157mn indirect damage to assets and $ 5.0bn from affected economic activities.

Over 900,000 people suffered respiratory diseases and 12 national airports and hundreds of schools had to be closed in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore due to the smoke from the fires. Indonesian officials are blaming El-Nino weather patterns for amplifying the health effects of the forest fires this year.

Over 942,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land were burned in Indonesia this year. Additionally, 44% of the land burned were peatlands; thus, carbon emissions from the fires were double that from fires in the Amazon jungle earlier this year.

Thus, El-Nino and the burning of a large peatland area have caused a perfect storm that has engulfed not only Indonesia but its neighboring countries as well.

The report explicitly states that the fires are human-made and this problem has existed since 1997, hinting that successive Indonesian governments have dragged their feet on the matter, which has led to the current crisis.

About 720 megatonnes of carbon dioxide were released into the atmosphere due to the forest fires in Indonesia between January and November this year, according to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast.

As a result of the fires, the World Bank has cut Indonesia’s growth estimates by 0.09% in 2019 and 0.05% in 2020.

The World Bank report warns that the health effects from the fires could harm the global image of palm oil, the main commodity exported by Indonesia.

Cat Rock Capital Releases Just Eat and Takeaway.com Merger Presentation
Company News

Cat Rock Capital Releases Just Eat and Takeaway.com Merger Presentation

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Cat Rock Capital Management LP, which is based on Greenwich, Connecticut, released a presentation on the merger between Just Eat and Takeaway.com. It should be noted that Cat Rock owns 17.7 million shares in Just Eat, which represents 3% of the company’s outstanding shares.

The presentation was about the offer made by Takeaway.com for Just Eat. The presentation in question is public, and anyone interested in the same can visit the website JustEatMustDeliver.com for the same. Alternatively, an interested party can also request a copy of the presentation from info@catrockcap.com.

Cat Rock Capital Management LP’s Founder and Managing Partner, Alex Captain, stated,

We have been Just Eat shareholders for over two and a half years, and we are deeply committed to helping Just Eat realize its great potential. Today we are releasing a public presentation outlining our research on the proposed merger between Just Eat and Takeaway.com.

China Plans Energy Exchange for Oil and Gas Trade Expansion
Trading News

China Plans Energy Exchange for Oil and Gas Trade Expansion

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As everyone knows, China is the largest importer of oil in the world, and the country is naturally looking at ways to have access to a larger market. To that end, China has decided to establish a new oil and gas trade exchange known as the Greater Bay Area International Energy Transaction Center.

The exchange is an expansive one and is going to connect a wide range of buyers and sellers irrespective of the scales of the trades concerned. Additionally, the market participants will be able to trade in a wide range of products starting from crude oil, energy derivatives, and electricity, ethane, and carbon credits.

China is also setting up hubs powered by cloud-based blockchain technology in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. The smaller businesses in China do not have the wherewithal to use advanced technology for their businesses’ needs. That results in the business lagging behind its larger rivals.

The exchange seeks to change that. Chairman of exchange, Gong Jialong, said,

Small businesses do not know where to look. But if you are an exchange member, you have access to all the Chinese counterparts. Ninety percent of small businesses cannot connect with each other, but this exchange is for that purpose.

The Chinese economy may have slowed this year, but there is no doubt that it is going to resume its growth soon. Hence, the demand for oil, gas, and chemicals is only going to rise. The exchange of this nature allows companies in China to get their products directly from the producers in the US. Oil prices are the lowest in the US, and this allows the Chinese participants to get their products at a lower price.

The exchange brings all participants of the market into one platform and allows them to get a better price than usual. For instance, natural gas is frozen and then sent to China from the US. The price of natural gas goes up threefold to ship to China.

The exchange gives China access to a larger market and allows oil sellers to serve a huge market. Russia, one of the biggest oil producers in the world, is looking for new markets to ship to, and Canada is exploring options in Asia after having lost some of the US markets. The Greater Bay Area could well prove to be the best solution to those problems.

There are as many as 70 million people in the area and also includes the lucrative market of Hong Kong. President of The National Center for Sustainable Development, Eric Fang, stated that he believes that the exchange will eventually become highly influential once the trade war with the US ends. He said,

We believe this exchange could rise to be a major center for the future. Once we stop the trade war, you will see a lot of energy supply going to China.

SpaceChain Has Launched Its Third Cryptocurrency Wallet Node Into Space
Company News

SpaceChain Has Launched Its Third Cryptocurrency Wallet Node Into Space

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The world’s leading open-source blockchain satellite network, SpaceChain, has released its third cryptocurrency wallet node into space. SpaceChain aims to build a blockchain-based network in space. It is a significant and ambitious project compared to other projects.

SpaceChain wants to develop a cryptocurrency wallet in space with the aim of no physical attack or control over it. It is the safest digital currency wallet in existence. The company has already launched its two rockets in China, which has holding parts of the wallet and network. Now, it is launching the third one from outside of the United States in Florida.

During the rocket launch, the CEO of SpaceChain, Zee Zheng, said that the company had put all its resources into this project. He declared that there is a much difference between the third one and the other two rockets that they have already launched. He forced his team to build a unique design to fulfill their needs and requirements.

NASA will get involved in this project after some time. The space program asked SpaceChain to ensure that their hardware must be fit and attached to the International Space Station (ISS). It will take a long time to release the idea of SpaceChain for use.

Vistara inks codeshare agreement with Lufthansa
Company News

Vistara and Lufthansa Signed a Codeshare Agreement

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Recently, it is announced that Vistara and Lufthansa signed a pact of codeshare to provide benefits to the fliers of both airlines. According to the partnership, they will allow frequent fliers from both airlines to earn points/miles when they travel on each other’s networks.

According to the agreement, Lufthansa will add its designator code ‘LH’ to almost 18 flights by Vistara. It will begin from December 16, 2019, and it will cover ten cities of India, which are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kochi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Goa.

The Chief Strategy Officer at Vistara, Vinod Kannan, said that they aim to provide an international network to their customers by strategic associations. Their codeshare agreement with Lufthansa is an essential step to spread the customer base outside India. The aims of Vistara are due to the rapid growth in the global carrier.

As per the agreement, the passengers are allowed to connect from Vistara domestic flights in India to Lufthansa’s Frankfurt and Munich flights. Customers will get their boarding passes at the first departure point for all the local and international traveling sectors after checking their baggage to the final destination. This agreement is a step forward to the growth of the Vistara airline.

Uncontrolled South African Airways (SAA) Exit will Affect Economic Growth
News

Uncontrolled South African Airways (SAA) Exit will Affect Economic Growth

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According to the Airlines Association of South Africa (AASA), there will be a negative impact on economic growth due to an uncontrolled South African national carrier SAA exit.

Recently, the board of directors of South African Airways talked with the shareholder of government. The board declared that the issue would be resolved if the company is taken to the business rescue and get a solution to the financial challenges they are facing.

This solution by the board will help in providing more security and clarity in South Africa’s air transport, logistics, trade, travel and tourism sectors, and AASA. The members of AASA are included in the domestic airlines of the country. Many airlines of AASA are in the South African Development Community region and the Indian Ocean islands.

It is reported that the AASA will not reply to the business of SAA or the decision of the shareholder. But, it is necessary to consider them in the industry, and other broad socio-economic contexts subsist by the sector. In Africa, the domestic air transport of South Africa is very important and robust in competition. It is beneficial for economic growth by providing safe, affordable, choice, and reliable connectivity to the markets and destinations across the country by reducing the travel cost and doing the business.

It is a tensed situation for the AASA, its members, customers as well as for the government of Africa. It is essential to look for ways to maintain everything. It is a warning that there will be a complete impact of uncontrolled SAA exit against the air transport and tourism industries. These industries will be unable to apply contingency plans, and economic growth will be slowed down or become negative.

It is reported that the business rescue should offer the aviation and allied industries to their customers, communities, and markets. These services are provided to convince them that they are providing sustainable, reliable, and safe services.

Qualcomm Partners With Pokemon Go Developer to Develop XR2 compatible AR Glasses
Company News

Qualcomm Partners With Pokémon Go Developer to Develop XR2-compatible AR Glasses

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At Snapdragon Tech Summit 2019, one of the leading developers of chip technology, Qualcomm, revealed its new and more powerful SoC for extended reality headsets. On top of that, the firm announced its partnership with Niantic, the creator of popular mobile game Pokémon Go.

Under the MoU, both the firms will team up to develop reference hardware, software, and cloud-based technology for augmented reality glasses. In a statement, Qualcomm stated that the collaboration is for more than a year and is aimed to fast pace the development of AR software and hardware; however, gaming enthusiasts might have to wait for some time.

Niantic’s Real World Platform host some well-known online mobile games like Pokémon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The new product will allow developers to alter the programming for making it XR2 compatible. During the event, Niantic’s Chief Technical Officer, Phil Keslin, stated that the product would be made available to every user in the Niantic Creator Program launching in 2020 as the XR2-optimized platform is ready to be used.

As per reports, the new product will be optimized for Qualcomm’s XR2 platform. Besides, it will be the first 5G-enabled extended reality system with the capability of 8K and 360-degree video playback, says Qualcomm officials. Through this new H/W and S/W integrator, Qualcomm will also try to figure out the specifications and feasibility of a pair of XR2-powered glasses.

Invoiced Partners With Chase Bank’s WePay to Provide Invoiced Payments
Company News

Invoiced Partners With Chase Bank’s WePay to Provide Invoiced Payments

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Recently, the Accounts Receivable Automation platform, Invoiced, declared its partnership with Chase’s WePay to provide invoiced payments. The Invoiced customers can use this integrated payment processing solution for easy and secure setup payment processing services.

Invoiced is connected with the integrated payments business of JPMorgan Chase and Co. to offer payment processing solutions to more than 23,000 businesses. They trust the Invoiced company for all their accounts receivable operations. The Accounts Receivable Automation platform is suitable for handling invoiced payments seamlessly.

Invoiced is a well-known platform with more than 20,000 customers in 92 countries, and approximately $50 billion of receivables are processed. On the other hand, WePay is an integrated payment processing provider and helps small businesses by providing software and applications like BigCommerce, Zoho, GoFundMe, etc.

There is a frictionless customer payment portal on the Invoiced platform that helps customers in online payments through debit cards, credit cards, ACH, etc. Clients do not need to research, set up, and combine gateway or payment processor.

There are many features as well as benefits of Invoiced payments:

  1. Quick Onboarding: One can start without any form or account sign-up. It takes a couple of minutes to accept online payments for businesses.
  2. Reasonable Pricing: Invoiced Payments provides affordable, competitive, and transparent rates to many businesses.
  3. Smooth Integration: The payment entry, as well as transactions, appears in a single payment portal of the client.
  4. Security: Invoiced Payments is PCI-compliant, and the integration with Invoiced will minimize the overall PCI-compliance overhead.

Co-founder and CEO of Invoiced, Jared King, said that their main aim of the company is to make the process of billing and collections easy, efficient, and useful. Chase provides Invoiced Payments to the businesses to offer comprehensive, integrated A/R and payment solutions.

Marketing VP of WePay, Jennifer Lewis, said that small businesses focus on developing their companies. But sometimes, they got bogged down due to some backend operations, which take a lot of time to solve. But, their collaboration with Invoiced provides Invoiced Payments that can solve some of their issues. Currently, Invoiced Payments are available for users in the US and Canada with paid accounts.

Mexican Government Rebuff the US Factory Inspector as Part of Trade Deal
Trading News

Mexican Government Rebuff the US Factory Inspector as Part of Trade Deal

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Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of Mexico, announced today that the government had rejected a US lawmakers’ plan to inspectors into the country’s factories. As part of the US-Mexico trade deal, Democratic lawmakers had proposed that inspectors should be allowed to inspect Mexican factories for labor law violations.

Mexico has stated that it wants a new North American trade accord with the US as soon as possible so that no complications can arise due to the elections next year.

However, Democratic lawmakers are worried that the absence of labor unions has led to low wages in Mexico and hence, resulted in the flight of US manufacturing jobs.

President Obrador stated that the Mexican government had passed the necessary reforms that would lead to free and fair labor union elections. He added that the government has also approved a budget for monitoring those elections.