ceo

May 06 2021

GHL Systems to Offer Flexible Payment Options in ASEAN Region with Visa Instalments

GHL Systems has teamed up with payments giant Visa (NYSE:V) in order to become the first in the ASEAN region to offer Visa Instalments for customers using the eGHL Payment Gateway platform.

Visa Instalments works by turning pre-approved issuer credit lines into installment payment options at checkout for all Visa cardholders.

This new option appears to be Visa’s response to the rising popularity of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solutions in Southeast Asia. BNPL services are being widely used because they give consumers more flexibility with how they pay for items. They’re able to split their payments into more manageable interest-free installments (instead of having to pay extra money or interest when using traditional credit cards).

If a customer qualifies or is eligible, they’ve presented the Visa installment options at the point of purchase. They may see this option on a payment terminal screen in-store or at a checkout page online. This should give more customers the ability to complete the purchase in easy installments.

GHL Group is reportedly the very first digital payment gateway in the ASEAN region that has added Visa Instalments, which aims to make shoppers’ big-ticket spending more manageable. It should also allow merchants to achieve greater sales conversion rates.

At present, more than 2,500 eGHL online merchants in Malaysia may be able to provide their clients easy instalment options via this new solution. The solution will be available to GHL face-to-face merchants during the next phase of the rollout.

GHL’s digital payment gateway presently processes more than MYR850 million in online transactions value per month across a wide range of businesses, and across merchants of all types.

GHL appears to be focused on the BNPL sector. In March 2021, the company partnered with BNPL Fintech Split.

Sean Hesh, Group CEO of GHL, remarked:

“GHL is excited to be the first in ASEAN to be integrated to Visa Instalments API to provide a seamless shopping experience and expand consumers’ purchasing power, especially when it comes to bigger ticket items. The payment flexibility is just the beginning of many of our continuous efforts and innovative solutions that we hope to grow with Visa here onwards.”

Kim J. Hak, Head of Products for Visa Malaysia, remarked:

“Visa Instalments empowers consumers [with] the ability to choose how they pay upon checkout, and simplifies the current friction and time-consuming instalment process for buyers and sellers. We’re extremely excited to partner with GHL to integrate our API with their payment gateway and offer this solution to thousands of online merchants. We will be working with our issuer partners to enable this solution for Visa cardholders shortly so that they can make instalment payments with eGHL merchants.”

Source

May 04 2021

Uppsala Security Conducts First Virtual Assets AML Training Program for South Korean Government Agency Compliance Officers

Uppsala Security has reportedly conducted the very first “Virtual Assets AML Training Program” for partners and government agency compliance officers.

Uppsala Security, the provider of tools for Crypto Risk Management and Cybersecurity, revealed on May 4, 2021, that it has begun its Virtual Assets AML Training Program via the Crypto Incident Response Center (CIRC).

As mentioned in the announcement:

“The Training Program was initiated as a consequence of the implementation of more exigent special law revisions in South Korea beginning with March 2021. Government agencies and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) attended the training program and already obtained certified licenses.”

Uppsala Security also noted that at the end of last month, Park Jung-sup, Senior Researcher at the Center for Virtual Asset Damage Response (CIRC), had carried out a 3-day training program for Compliance Monitoring Officers of government agencies in its Korean branch office.

The training covered the following key areas:

Basic understanding of blockchain-based virtual assets suspicious transactions
Analysis of the flow of stolen funds and the suspected wallet
Improvement of tracking capability and real case practice

As noted in the announcement, the courses are divided into UCCA (Associate), UCCP (Professional) and UCCE (Expert), “depending on the training’s level of depth, and upon the training’s completion, trainees can also obtain an Uppsala Certified Cryptocurrency Incident Analysis certificate and license.”

A representative of the Coin&Coin Exchange, which has signed an AML contract with Uppsala Security and also took part within the CIRC training, stated that this was a good opportunity for them to gain an understanding of why AML solutions “specializing in virtual assets are important in order to comply with the special law revision.”

The representative added:

“We are looking forward to learning how to use Uppsala Security’s complex product suite for the swift tracking of alleged cases and to write STR’s evidence for suspicious transactions in next quarter’s training.”

Patrick Kim, CEO of Uppsala Security, remarked:

“I understand that the Korea Federation of Banks recently distributed a draft of ‘Guidelines for Issuing Real-Name Accounts’ to each bank in South Korea, including information on identifying and evaluating Money Laundering risks. Considering that this is a draft related to the Risk-Based Approach (RBA) recommended by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), exchanges should eventually conduct continuous monitoring (RBA) on virtual assets separately during the VASPs’ business registration period. This means that Crypto-AML and its monitoring training for law-abiding virtual assets exchanges is also essential. We will continue to provide the best service to customers in order for them to fulfill their obligations and comply with current regulations by preventing Money Laundering through continuous operation of education programs.”

Uppsala Security provides virtual asset AML solutions to Samsung Blockchain Wallet users in 19 different countries. It also offers these solutions to Bithumb, Coin&Coin Exchange, Danal Fintech and Hexlant

Uppsala has also helped with “the identification and arrest of a virtual assets fraud suspect through a swift cooperation with the Bithumb Exchange.” Uppsala Security is based in Singapore and maintains business offices in Seoul, South Korea and Tokyo, Japan.

Source

May 02 2021

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction: BTC/USD Struggles to Break Above $58,000 Resistance, Lacks Buyers at Higher Price Levels

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction – May 3, 2021
BTC/USD is in a brief uptrend and has partially broken above the $58,000 resistance. The bullish momentum could not be sustained above the resistance level because of intense selling pressure. Bitcoin now fluctuates between $56,000 and $58,000 price levels.

Resistance Levels: $65,000, $70,000, $75,000
Support Levels: $50,000, $45,000, $40,000

Today, the BTC price has returned to retest the $58,000 resistance level. The $58,000 support level has been the crucial price level that has facilitated the resumption of upside momentum. On the upside, Bitcoin bulls are retesting the recent high for a possible breakout. If buyers succeed in breaking the current resistance the market will rally to the $60,000 high. Also, if the $60,000 psychological price level is breached, Bitcoin will resume the second round of upside momentum. However, if BTC price rallies the $60,000 high and fails to sustain above the psychological price level, the market will not hesitate to fall to the previous price level. Bitcoin is trading at $57,956 at the time of writing.

Turkey Jails Six Suspects Over Missing CEO of Thodex Crypto Exchange
The missing Thodex CEO is reported to have own millions of dollars worth of crypto. Turkish authorities are investigating the local cryptocurrency exchange, Thodex, which has ceased operation abruptly. The Turkish court has already jailed six suspects including siblings of the missing CEO and senior company employees. According to reports 83 individuals suspected to be involved in the case have been detained. There are growing concerns that Thodex was a scam after the platform halted money withdrawals. Nevertheless, the missing Thodex CEO is reported to have gone with as much as $2 billion worth of crypto. From the latest reports, interior minister Soylu said that the company’s portfolio has a total of $108 million.

On the 4-hour chart, the BTC price is struggling to break above the $58,000 resistance. The Fibonacci tool has indicated a possible rise to the $60,000 high and subsequent reversal. On May 1 uptrend. a retraced candle body tested the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level. This retracement indicates that the market will rise and reverse at level 1.272 Fibonacci extension or the high of $59,884.70.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction: BTC/USD Struggles to Break Above $58,000 Resistance, Lacks Buyers at Higher Price Levels

Source

May 02 2021

Philippines based Digital Bank Tonik Reports $20M+ in Deposits in Less than A Month After Launch, Announces Partnership with PESONet

Earlier this week, Philippines based digital bank Tonik partnered with PESONet in order to support safe and secure digital fund transfers to its account from other banking service providers.

Tonik clients now have the option to send money from a PESONet participating bank directly to their bank accounts.

This new service is currently available through CIMB, PSBank, Landbank, and RCBC. Other PESONet member banks are expected to add the service in the foreseeable future.

As mentioned in the announcement, interbank transfer services through PESONet will be available with more banks within the next few weeks.

The announcement has come shortly after Tonik’s official launch in March 2021. The digital bank revealed that it has managed to secure more than 1 billion pesos ($ 20 million) in retail deposits in less than a month.

Tonik’s management also mentioned that they intend to introduce their loan offers and further expand their payment options during this year.

Greg Krasnov, CEO and Founder at Tonik, remarked:

“The response we got when we introduced the app last month was overwhelmingly positive. It’s a testament to the fact that Filipinos are thirsty for a financial enabler that cuts the red tape, makes banking less complicated, and lets their hard-earned money work better for their future. Allowing easier and bigger interbank transfers to Tonik accounts through PESONet is just one of several features that we are introducing in our app that I’m sure will make our customers love us more.”

Long Pineda, President at Tonik Digital Bank, Inc, stated:

“This is another chapter in our journey of growth and driving financial inclusion in the local banking industry. By making in-demand banking transactions such as interbank transfers safer and more seamless with PESONet, we hope to encourage more Filipinos to manage and maximize their finances with Tonik in the #neonormal.”

As covered, Tonik had started working with several companies in 2020 so it would be ready for a successful launch. After acquiring $6 million in capital in early 2020, Tonik chose Singapore’s online security firm V-Key as its mobile security partner.

As reported in July 2020, Tonik had selected Mastercard as its payments partner.

Source

Apr 28 2021

KingsCrowd, a Ratings and Analytics Firm for Private Securities Market, Releases New Regulation CF Report

KingsCrowd, the online private market’s data-driven ratings and analytics platform, announced on Tuesday (April 27, 2021) the publication and availability of the KingsCrowd Regulation Crowdfunding 2018-2020 Intelligence Report.

The KingsCrowd Regulation Crowdfunding 2018-2020 Intelligence Report reportedly covers more than 150 Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) market statistics, key insights, and analytics. These items are presented in an “easy-to-read” visual format. Readers get an extensive overview of the Reg CF market as of last year, along with a preview of what is set to be a “record-shattering” 2021, according to a release.

In 2020, startups secured over $210 million via equity crowdfunding. This total represents year-over-year growth of about 110% from 2019’s total funding and notably marks the fourth year early-stage firms have been able to acquire investment capital from the public under the JOBS Act’s Regulation Crowdfunding rules.

KingsCrowd Founder and CEO Chris Lustrino, stated:

“The release of this first edition of our Regulation Crowdfunding Intelligence Report couldn’t come at a better time. On March 15, the U.S. Securities and Exchange increased the maximum raise amount under Regulation Crowdfunding rules from $1.07 million to $5 million. This marks a watershed moment for our industry and makes Regulation Crowdfunding a viable alternative to traditional venture capital and. KingsCrowd’s Regulation Crowdfunding 2018-2020 Intelligence Report was written for anyone interested in the Reg CF market and looking to update themselves on this fast-growing space quickly.”

A few takeaways from the report:

For the year 2020, “more than $210 million was invested in Reg CF raise campaigns.”
The average valuation of companies raising funds in 2020 “was $11.35 million, a 24% increase from 2018’s average valuation and up slightly from 2019’s $11.19 million figure.”
Second half 2020 data “shows 291 out of 964 start-up companies raised capital exhibited mixed-gender founding teams while 27% of all entities that raised funds through Reg CF included minority founders.”

KingsCrowd says that it’s at the “intersection between early-stage companies seeking growth capital and startup investors.” By offering “institutional-grade” data and analysis that stakeholders can “trust,” KingsCrowd allows anyone to “invest like a venture capitalist.”

KingsCrowd’s Merlin™ Ratings Platform analyzes over 150 data points to offer key insights, analytics, and ratings “to help investors navigate the startup investing market and vet the best deals worth adding to their investment portfolio.”

In late January 2021, Wefunder, a leading securities crowdfunding platform, highlighted Q4 performance in the Reg CF crowdfunding sector. According to the numbers generated by Kingscrowd, Wefunder dominated this sector of online capital formation.

Now crowdfunding encompasses other exemptions, including Reg A+ and Reg D (506c). Each of these exemptions is unique in its own way (Reg D is only available for accredited investors, for example), and many platforms offer securities under all three exemptions, including Wefunder but the bulk of the platform’s securities offerings are from issuers raising capital under Reg CF.

The numbers show Wefunder topping its nearest competitor under Reg CF by almost $10 million:

Wefunder – $29 million
StartEngine – $19.8 million
Republic – $9.9 million
All others – $12.6 million

As covered in March 2020, KingsCrowd closed on a $1 million crowdfunding round on the NetCapital marketplace. NetCapital lists private securities under both Reg CF and Reg D. The KingsCrowd offering leveraged both exemptions in a side-by-side offering. KingsCrowd said it raised $902,952 under Reg CF and $97,048.80 under Reg D 506 (c). 555,556 units were sold. Kingscrowd is a ValueSetters, Inc. (OTC:VSTR) portfolio company.

You may download a copy of the KingsCrowd’s Regulation Crowdfunding 2018-2020 Intelligence Report here.

Source