Day: June 16, 2021

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SBS UnionPay Debit Card – Unlocking digital financial services, Financial inclusion and global e-Commerce in the Kingdom of eSwatini

MBABANE, eSwatini, June 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Swaziland Building Society (SBS) and UnionPay International (UPI) jointly announced today the issuance of UnionPay debit, platinum and diamond cards in the Kingdom of eSwatini, providing customers of all income groups with a simple, secure and convenient payment experience. This debut plays a significant role following eSwatini’s national financial inclusion strategy, contributing to economic growth, improving financial inclusion, and creating a sustainable future.

According to UNCDF[1], financial inclusion is increasingly positioned as an enabler of broader development goals. More and more countries in Africa have included the financial inclusion efforts in their national development plans, underpinning the ongoing relevance and significance in the region.

“Today marks a key milestone and a strong collaboration between SBS and UPI, both organisations strongly believe the initiative will drive financial inclusion and technological innovation to repaint the payment landscape in eSwatini”, SBS & UPI joint statement.

The new SBS UnionPay cards enable customers to purchase at any point-of-sales and transact online nationwide ensuring safety and contactless payment experience. Locally the cards can also be used to withdraw cash from local ATMs, providing an inclusive payment environment for all customer needs.

A nationwide marketing campaign to raise awareness about the new cards and the diversified everyday scenarios such as shops, restaurants, petrol stations, clinics and more, enabling customers a localised efficient ways to pay will be launched shortly.

With over 59 years of steady growth, the Swaziland Building Society continues to be an innovative financial service provider offering customer-centric transactional, digital financial services and continues to improve its capacity to serve with a competitive edge.

With over 1.5 billion UnionPay cards issued in 70 countries and regions globally, UnionPay has expanded its acceptance network to 180 countries and regions in recent years. At present, UnionPay cards are widely accepted in Africa across all sectors, effectively meeting the diverse purchasing needs of UnionPay cardholders visiting and living on the continent. UnionPay cards are issued in over 10 African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, Madagascar and Mauritius. The Nilson Report (Issue 1154) shows that UnionPay ranks first among all card schemes in card issuance and transaction volume worldwide. UnionPay has launched various innovative payment products in Africa in response to the worldwide digital transformation and financial inclusion.

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Laserfiche nommé acteur majeur dans un rapport d’analyse indépendant sur les fournisseurs de plateformes de contenu

LONG BEACH, Californie, 15 juin 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Laserfiche, le principal fournisseur de logiciels à la demande (SaaS) offrant des solutions de gestion intelligente du contenu et d’automatisation des processus opérationnels, a été nommé acteur majeur dans le rapport The Forrester Wave™: Content Platforms, Q2 2021. Laserfiche est l’un des 14 fournisseurs qui ont été évalués selon la rigueur de leur stratégie et leur offre actuelle.

Laserfishe Logo

Laserfiche a obtenu la cote la plus élevée possible pour les critères concernant les progiciels, le soutien des développeurs, les services de production de contenu et la feuille de route d’exécution. Selon le rapport, « la feuille de route de [Laserfiche] et sa vision axée sur le cloud lui permettent de déployer ses produits au sein de grandes entreprises, et son approche de mise en marché continue de mettre l’accent sur les marchés verticaux clés en ce qui a trait à la programmation. » Il indique également que « Laserfiche offre un soutien solide pour ses progiciels et les modèles de ses solutions, et facilite l’échange de ces modèles par l’entremise des communautés de clients et de partenaires. »

En conservant une approche de la gestion du contenu d’entreprise axée sur le cloud, Laserfiche se concentre sur l’offre d’une plateforme flexible et extensible qui s’intègre facilement aux applications des entreprises. L’entreprise continue d’offrir des services de gestion des dossiers, des formulaires électroniques et des capacités d’automatisation des processus d’affaires de pointe, y compris l’automatisation robotisée des processus et la saisie intelligente. Son souci constant de satisfaire sa clientèle favorise également l’innovation et un engagement concret auprès de sa communauté d’utilisateurs.

« Laserfiche continue d’être un chef de file dans le domaine de l’automatisation des processus axée sur le contenu », a déclaré Thomas Phelps, directeur de l’information et vice-président principal, Stratégie d’entreprise chez Laserfiche. « Nous croyons que notre vision axée sur le cloud et notre engagement à renforcer l’autonomie de nos clients dans les industries hautement réglementées expliquent cette reconnaissance dans le rapport The Forrester Wave: Content Platforms. »

Le rapport The Forrester Wave™: Content Platforms, Q2 2021 évalue les fournisseurs selon 25 critères regroupés en trois catégories de haut niveau, soit l’offre actuelle, la stratégie et la présence sur le marché. Pour en savoir plus, téléchargez le rapport ici.

À propos de Laserfiche

Laserfiche est le principal fournisseur de logiciels à la demande offrant des solutions de gestion intelligente du contenu et d’automatisation des processus opérationnels. Grâce à de puissants flux opérationnels, à des formulaires électroniques ainsi qu’à la gestion et l’analyse de documents, la plateforme Laserfiche® accélère les processus d’affaires, ce qui permet aux dirigeants de se concentrer sur la croissance globale de leur entreprise.

Laserfiche est une pionnière en matière de gestion du contenu des entreprises pour éliminer l’utilisation du papier au bureau. Aujourd’hui, son approche de développement axée sur le cloud intègre les innovations en matière d’apprentissage machine et d’IA, afin de permettre aux entreprises de plus de 80 pays de passer au numérique. Les clients issus de tous les horizons – gouvernement, éducation, services financiers, soins de santé, fabrication – font appel à Laserfiche pour accroître leur productivité, prendre de l’expansion et offrir des expériences client axées sur le numérique.

Basés dans différents bureaux aux quatre coins du globe, les employés de Laserfiche s’engagent à réaliser la vision de l’entreprise : renforcer l’autonomie des clients et inspirer les gens à repenser comment la technologie peut transformer leurs vies.

Pour communiquer avec Laserfiche :

Blogue de Laserfiche | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/626078/Laserfiche_Logo.jpg

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UN Calls for Better Remittance Services at Lower Cost

The United Nations is urging reforms that make it easier for migrants to send money back to their home countries, as it observes its annual International Day of Family Remittances.

“Migrants have shown their continued commitment to their families and communities during the pandemic with more remittances transfers made digitally than ever before,” Gilbert Houngbo, president of the U.N.’s International Fund for Agricultural Development, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, families in rural and remote areas — where remittances are a true lifeline — battle to access cash outlets or even more convenient alternatives such as mobile money accounts. Governments and the private sector need to urgently invest in rural digital infrastructure to address this.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used his own statement to call for remittance fees to be set “as close to zero as possible,” and for those in the industry to “foster the financial inclusion of migrants and their families.”

“Looking forward, we must continue efforts to support and protect migrants, who — as the COVID-19 pandemic has made clear — play such an important role in keeping essential services and the economy at large running in many parts of the world,” Guterres said.

Data from the World Bank showed remittances to low- and middle-income countries hit $540 billion in 2020, a decline of 1.6% from the previous year. It said last month it expects the amount of money sent to those countries to increase by 2.6% this year and 2.2% in 2022.

Latin America and the Caribbean saw an increase of 6.5% in remittances received last year, according to the World Bank, followed by 5.2% in South Asia and 2.3% percent in the Middle East and North Africa.

Remittances declined 7.9% to East Asia and the Pacific, and 9.7% to Europe and Central Asia. Remittances to sub-Saharan Africa rose 2.3%, not counting Nigeria, which saw the amount of money sent there by migrants plummet 28%.

India, China, Mexico, the Philippines, Egypt and Pakistan were the top destinations for migrants to send money in 2020.

Migrants working in the United States, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Germany sent the most money home, according to the World Bank.

Worldwide, the U.N. says there are 200 million migrant workers who send money to support more than 800 million family members, and that in 2020, 75% of that money was spent on “immediate needs.”

The United Nations has set a target for those facilitating remittances to charge no more than a 3% fee. But the World Bank said that at the end of last year, the global average fee to send home $200 was 6.5%.

Source: Voice of America

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France Arrests ‘High-Ranking’ Islamic State Fighter in Mali

French forces in Mali have captured a man they describe as a "high-ranking fighter of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara" (EIGS), the French military said Wednesday.

Dadi Ould Chouaib, also known as Abou Dardar, was arrested June 11 in the flashpoint "tri-border" region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, the site of frequent attacks by extremist groups, the military said in a statement.

He was carrying "an automatic weapon, a night vision telescope, a combat vest, a telephone and a radio," but surrendered without resistance.

He was located during a helicopter sweep as part of a joint mission between troops from France's Barkhane operation and Nigerien forces.

Niger's army said in a statement late Wednesday that the joint operation, launched June 8, had led to a clash Tuesday with "armed terrorists" that left a Nigerien dead and "12 terrorists neutralized."

The term "neutralized" means "killed" in West African military contexts.

Dardar was formerly a member of the al-Qaida-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), many of whose fighters had joined EIGS.

First arrested in 2014, he was handed over to Malian authorities.

But he was one of around 200 prisoners released in October 2020 in exchange for four hostages, including French aid worker Sophie Petronin.

Dardar is suspected to have been one of the armed men who mutilated three people at a market in Tin Hama in northern Mali on May 2, cutting off their hands and feet, according to local sources.

According to the United Nations' Mali mission, MINUSMA, the armed men were suspected of belonging to EIGS.

Dardar's arrest will come as welcome news for France, after President Emmanuel Macron promised in February to step up efforts to "decapitate" extremist groups in the Sahel region.

France, the former colonial power in all three "tri-border" countries, is pursuing a strategy of targeting the leaders of militant groups.

Its military presence in the semiarid Sahel, Operation Barkhane, recently called for the elimination of a high-ranking fighter of the al-Qaida group in the Islamic Maghreb, an adversary of EIGS in the area.

Baye Ag Bakabo was responsible for the kidnapping and death of two French RFI journalists, Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, who were killed in northern Mali in 2013.

Macron recently announced that France will wind down its 5,100-strong Barkhane force, which has battled extremist groups in the Sahel for eight years.

He said earlier this month that he sees France's future presence as being part of the so-called Takuba international task force in the Sahel, in which "hundreds" of French soldiers would form the "backbone."

It would mean the closure of French bases and the use of special forces who would be focused on anti-terror operations and military training, he said.

But Macron's plans have fueled fears that certain areas of the Sahel, in particular northern Mali, will pass completely into the hands of extremist groups, as local authorities appear unable to restore their grip on the region.

Source: Voice of America