ACE Group announced today the relocation of its Asia Pacific regional as well as local operations in Singapore on July 20. Located in the heart of Singapore’s Central Business District at 138 Market Street, the move signals ACE’s strong commitment to better serve its business partners, of which some are based within close proximity of its new premises.

The new office occupies approximately 38,500 sq. feet, spread over two interconnected floors housing over 250 employees. The relocation to CapitaGreen, an environmentally-friendly building, also supports ACE’s overarching commitment to sustainability.

Mr. Juan Luis Ortega, Regional President for ACE’s general insurance operations in the Asia Pacific region, said, “This is a very exciting time for everyone at ACE Asia Pacific. At CapitaGreen, we have ample space for dynamic collaboration which enhances our ability to support our growth strategies in this region which is full of opportunity.”

“Asia Pacific is a key growth region for ACE Group. Since the establishment of our regional headquarters in 1999, we have grown and diversified our products, distribution channels and geographies. Our footprint currently spans 13 markets, namely Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Macao, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. We offer a broad array of quality insurance and risk management solutions, ranging from property and casualty, accident and health, to personal and business insurance. As Singapore celebrates its 50^th anniversary this year, our move to the Central Business District bears testament to the nation’s stature as a premier regional hub for multinationals,” Mr. Ortega added.

Mr. Mack Eng, Country President of ACE’s operations in Singapore, added, “We are in the business of fulfilling promises to our customers and business partners. The move to Singapore’s financial district brings us closer to them and reinforces ACE’s dedication and commitment to our relationships with key stakeholders. The integration of space also means greater efficiencies and workplace effectiveness.”

About ACE Group

ACE Group is one of the world’s largest multiline property and casualty insurers. With operations in 54 countries, ACE provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. ACE Limited, the parent company of ACE Group, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ACE) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. ACE's core operating insurance companies are rated AA for financial strength by Standard & Poor’s and A++ by A.M. Best.

ACE^®, ACE logo^®, and ACE insured^® are trademarks of ACE Limited.

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Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), the leading global network of exchanges and clearing houses, today announced that ICE Futures Singapore has appointed Brink’s as the approved vault operator for the physically delivered ICE one-kilo Gold futures contract and that Metalor will provide assayer services.

The ICE One Kilo Gold futures contract will trade and clear at ICE Futures Singapore and ICE Clear Singapore, upon launch later this year. The underlying gold bars for physical delivery will be stored at Singapore vaults operated by Brink's, a global leader in security-related services. Metalor, a global refiner of precious metals, will provide assaying services that will support ICE’s gold bar inspection and certification processes.

In support of the ICE Gold futures contract, Brink’s Singapore will provide inventory management and secure vaulting services. Brink’s Singapore operates across three locations, with six secure vaults in Singapore.

Metalor Singapore is accredited by the London Bullion Markets Association (LBMA) and provides a range of refining services, from evaluation to bullion production, across South East Asia. The company will provide comprehensive assaying services to ICE Futures Singapore for underlying gold bars in the event of any discrepancies.

“Brink’s has been working closely with bullion banks, gold traders and retailers across Asia for many years; and with Singapore developing as a precious metals hub, Brink’s is pleased to leverage its expertise and provide its services in secure vaulting and storage to ICE Futures Singapore,” said Baskaran Narayanan, Country General Manager, Brink's Singapore.

Mr. Teo Eng Cheong, Chief Executive Officer of International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the Singapore government’s trade development agency, said: “IE Singapore aims to develop Singapore as a trading hub for precious metals. Recent developments, such as the exemption of GST on investment precious metals and Metalor setting up a gold refinery in Singapore, have enhanced Singapore’s ecosystem for precious metals trading. The new ICE Singapore Gold futures contract will further strengthen Singapore as an efficient and transparent market for gold trading and presents yet another milestone in our journey towards a gold hub.”

“Singapore has long been an important regional trading hub for commodities. We are therefore pleased to offer a physically delivered gold futures contract with the planned launch of the exchange and clearing house later this year and to confirm the vault storage and assayer services of Brink’s and Metalor, respectively,” said Ang Swee Tian, Chairman, ICE Futures Singapore and ICE Clear Singapore.

The establishment of ICE Futures Singapore and ICE Clear Singapore will support an expanded customer base and the further development of the derivatives markets in Asia with a local exchange and clearing presence. ICE has had a presence in Singapore since 2000 serving customers in the global energy markets. In recent years, Asia-based trading activity in our benchmark commodity and interest rate products has been rising as the region assumes a greater role in global derivatives markets.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) operates the leading network of regulated exchanges and clearing houses. ICE’s futures exchanges and clearing houses serve global commodity and financial markets, providing risk management and capital efficiency. The New York Stock Exchange is the world leader in capital raising and equities trading.

Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located at www.intercontinentalexchange.com/terms-of-use

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 - Statements in this press release regarding ICE's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, as filed with the SEC on February 5, 2015.

SOURCE: Intercontinental Exchange

ICE-CORP

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The Western Union Company, a leader in global payment services, announced the activation of international remittances into Greece, allowing customers to receive cash payouts in minutes* at select walk-in retail Agent locations from almost anywhere around the world.

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Western Union opened for business today in Greece allowing customers to receive cash payouts in minutes* at select walk-in retail Agent locations from almost anywhere around the world. (Photo: Business Wire)

International and domestic Western Union Money Transfer® transactions are available for payout at up to 270¹ out of 1,000 locations of WorldBridge Payment Institution (Paylink®) across Greece, with customers allowed to receive cash in amounts not subject to Greek capital controls.

Western Union is working on expanding its in-bound payout Agent locations to include the entire network of over 1,800 locations represented by Agents WorldBridge Payment Institution (Paylink®) and ELTA - Hellenic Post, Greece’s Postal Authority.

“To reinstate money transfer services for our customers is a great triumph, as we know the need to move money into Greece has never been more relevant than it is today. Our experience across the globe shows that during any type of crises – economic or otherwise – families and friends living abroad come together to support their loved ones in need,” said Giovanni Angelini, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Europe at Western Union.

“We are pleased to reinstate this important lifeline for customers in Greece who urgently depend upon the generosity and kindness of their family and friends across the world to send them funds to pay for regular expenses, including everyday living expenses, health care and education,” he said.

The activation of Western Union international and domestic transfers follows a new law issued by the Greek government, allowing money transfer operators to resume intra as well as in-bound transactions under special conditions.

Western Union also recently activated in-bound transfers directly into Greek bank accounts from family or loved ones from 30 countries across North America, Europe, CIS and Asia Pacific.

Western Union’s cross-border platform is a rare combination of a physical and fast-growing digital network in 200 countries and territories. Across its brands the company has over 500,000 retail agent locations around the world – including leading retailers and banks, more than 100,000 ATMs and kiosks, over 90 active account-based money transfer banks, bank payout in more than 50 countries and wu.com sites in 25 countries.

* Service and funds availability depends on certain factors including the Service selected, the selection of delayed delivery options, special terms applicable to each Service, amount sent, destination country, currency availability, regulatory issues, consumer protection issues, identification requirements, delivery restrictions, agent location hours, and differences in time zones (collectively, “Restrictions”).

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About Western Union

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of March 31, 2015, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of over 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and over 100,000 ATMs and kiosks. In 2014, The Western Union Company completed 255 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $85 billion of principal between consumers, and 484 million business payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

¹ Availability of funds across the 270 select locations will be initially gradual; customers may call WorldBridge’s Call Center at 800 1002020 (local toll free) & +30 210 9005000 to verify the full functionality of locations.

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• Standalone profit after tax at Rs. 1,361 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015
• Standalone Net Interest Margin for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 at 3.8%, spread on loans at 2.31%
• 23% growth in the individual loan book (after adding back the loans sold in the preceding 12 months)
• Gross non-performing loans at 0.69% of the loan portfolio as at June 30, 2015 compared to 0.70% in the corresponding quarter of the previous year
• Consolidated profit after tax at Rs. 2,204 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015

 
Photo Caption: 
From left to right – Mr. Keki M. Mistry, Mr. Deepak Parekh, and Ms. Renu Sud Karnad at HDFC Ltd. Annual General Meeting, 2015.

To View the Results Click on the links Below:
Consolidated Results for Quarter ended in June, 2015
Standalone Results for Quarter ended in June, 2015                                              

Russell Reynolds Associates, one of the top five global executive search and leadership firms, recently unveiled its new corporate identity.

This initiative reflects the evolution of the firm as it continues to stay ahead of market dynamics and increasingly complex client needs – setting the standard for innovation and service in the executive search industry.

Clarke Murphy, Chief Executive Officer at Russell Reynolds: “Clients told us that they want to work with a connected, forward-looking advisor that brings the insight and innovation they need to win. Through Russell Reynolds’ exciting new corporate identity, we are underlining our ability to be their trusted partner and connect them to what’s next, right now.”

Sangeeta Prasad, Chief Marketing Officer at Russell Reynolds: “The objective of this initiative is to capture the evolution of our business. Our consultants not only respond to client needs today, but more importantly, prepare them for what is coming. Our new positioning, descriptors and strapline have been developed to create a differentiated identity for the firm and to reflect our approach – helping clients see around corners.”

Russell Reynolds’ new logo and updated colour palette – which adds purple and teal to its traditional navy blue – are designed to represent the positioning and evoke a feeling of confidence, credibility and relevance.

The firm’s new website echoes its new corporate identity, where thought leadership content is central to the design. The Insights section has been restructured to organise and surface content easily and an advanced search function, to provide speedy access to consultants, has also been incorporated. The website is fully responsive, to ensure visitors can access the same content and functionality across desktop, tablet and mobile devices.

Russell Reynolds engaged Prophet, a global brand and marketing consultancy, to evolve its corporate positioning and visual identity; while full-service agency, Designory, was appointed to develop the firm’s new website.

For more information or to arrange an interview with Sangeeta Prasad, please contact:

TeamRussellReynolds@manbitesdog.com / 0844 561 1416

About Russell Reynolds Associates

Russell Reynolds Associates is a global leader in assessment, recruitment and succession planning for boards of directors, chief executive officers and key roles within the C-suite. With more than 370 consultants in 45 offices around the world, we work closely with public, private and nonprofit organizations across all industries and regions. We help our clients build teams of transformational leaders who can meet today’s challenges and anticipate the digital, economic, environmental and political trends that are reshaping the global business environment. Find out more at www.russellreynolds.com and follow us on Twitter: @RRAonLeadership

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Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and Stripe, a mobile and online payment provider, announced a strategic partnership to support new technologies and online payment experiences for merchants, developers and consumers worldwide. Through this relationship, Stripe will accelerate its international expansion, particularly in emerging markets, accessing Visa’s global footprint through its acquiring and issuing partners. To support this growth and joint long-term initiatives, Visa has also made a strategic investment in Stripe.

Working together, the companies will enable a global payments solution for new ecommerce experiences like “buy buttons” and new innovations to come. Stripe will also be one of the first beta partners to connect to Visa’s network capabilities via APIs and SDKs, offering their developer community access to payment and risk management services, Visa’s tokenization service and security technologies. With this joint effort, Visa and Stripe will offer an expanded set of capabilities to the developer community and the payment ecosystem worldwide.

“Given the explosive growth of new commerce experiences enabled by a global developer community, Visa is expanding its strategic relationships across the payments ecosystem,” said Jim McCarthy, executive vice president, innovation and strategic partnerships, Visa. “We are very excited to work with Stripe and leverage our combined assets to broaden our offering to new types of merchants and developers globally.”

“Stripe aims to give developers the tools they need to create the most secure and novel buying experiences,” said Patrick Collison, CEO and co-founder of Stripe. “Our partnership with Visa will accelerate our ability to expand to markets around the world, and give developers even more control over the end-to-end experience. We’re very excited about the potential.”

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world’s most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 56,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit usa.visa.com/about-visa, visacorporate.tumblr.com and @VisaNews.

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Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), a leader in global payment services, today celebrated its 20^th anniversary in Africa. With over 34,000 locations and connections to millions of bank accounts and mobile wallets in more than 50 countries and territories, across Africa, the Western Union network serves millions of senders and receivers with a choice of 120 currencies.

To celebrate this special milestone, Western Union’s President for Africa, Middle East, Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe and CIS, Jean Claude Farah, in addition to Aida Diarra, Western Union’s Regional Vice President and Head of Africa and other members of the Africa leadership team visited the first agent location at ADB (Agricultural Development Bank) that offered Western Union money transfer services for the first time in Africa in 1995. The WU leadership team also visited Ecobank head office in Accra and marked the occasion with the launch of the Account Based Money Transfer services through ATM in Ghana.

The Western Union 20^th Anniversary celebration in Ghana in Africa, coincides with a speech made by President Barack Obama at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he is quoted saying:

“Today, Africa is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world.Africa’s middle class is projected to grow to more than one billion consumers.With hundreds of millions of mobile phones, surging access to the Internet, Africans are beginning to leapfrog old technologies into new prosperity.Africa is on the move, a new Africa is emerging.”

Western Union is committed to the expansion and development of its pan-African network which provides a critical link to the ever growing African Diaspora living and working in countries around the world.

“More than 30 million Africans live outside their home countries, contributing billions of USD in remittances to their families and communities back home every year¹”, said Jean Claude Farah. “We are very humbled to play a role in helping them move their money as they seek to elevate their economic status, meet emergency needs, support healthcare requirements, contribute to the education of future generations and in many instances build their own small businesses. By moving money for better for 20 years Western is enabling a world of possibilities for Africa and in Africa.”

Aida Diarra added, “Through the work we do we also enable economic activity and job creation. Currently over 155,000 Front Line Associates (FLAs) are employed in our agent network on the African continent. Western Union invests in training these FLAs developing their business, technical and compliance skills.”

In addition to the socio-economic impact that remittances enable, the company also supports philanthropic activities in Africa via the Western Union Foundation which has a long history of giving back to communities across the African continent. It supports organizations that promote economic opportunity and growth for individuals, families and entire communities throughout the region. Since its creation, the Western Union Foundation has committed to $8.703 million in grants and donations to 158 NGOs in more than 40 countries across Africa.

About Western Union

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of March 31, 2015, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of over 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and over 100,000 ATMs and kiosks. In 2014, The Western Union Company completed 255 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $85 billion of principal between consumers, and 484 million business payments. For more information, visit www.WesternUnion.com.

___________________

¹ IFAD, 2009

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BBPOS, the global mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) innovation and solutions leader, will debut its new Chipper 2X device in the third quarter of 2015, the only mobile card payment acceptance solution that integrates magstripe, EMV and NFC contactless compatibility into a single compact audio jack-based design. Just weeks away from launch, Chipper 2X merchants and organizations will enjoy broad compatibility and enhanced functionality that similar products on the market lack and will benefit from acceptance of both card-base transactions and NFC contactless payments.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150730005507/en/

Chipper 2X accepting NFC payment (Photo: Business Wire)

“Chipper 2X will kick off a new era of incredibly easy, secure and reliable mPOS solutions,” said Alex Choi, President & Chief Executive Officer of BBPOS. “We are bringing our merchant and institutional customers the features and payment acceptance versatility they have asked for, in an ultra-advanced device that will truly transform their ability to satisfy customers and engage the marketplace. Gathering magstripe, EMV and NFC chip reader technology and Apple Pay, MasterCard PayPass and VISA payWave compatibility into one solution is a giant step forward.”

Chipper 2X is designed for maximum convenience and portability: the ultra-compact module is lightweight and sturdy, with hi-visibility LED charging and NFC operation indicators. Chipper 2X simultaneously enhances functionality and expands options available to merchants, while reducing transaction complexity. Chipper 2X complies with EMV Contactless requirements, allowing it to process NFC cards in addition to magnetic stripe and standard EMV IC cards. A SDK is available to support easy integration into mobile payment application and development with iOS, Android, Windows Phone and MS Windows.

The need for market leading mPOS solutions is highlighted by the current EMV migration underway in the United States, as well as the emergent Apple Pay, MasterCard PayPass and VISA payWave standards. The combination of magstripe/EMV/NFC capability in the Chipper 2X allows maximum versatility and the ability to accommodate customers on both sides of the transitional divide.

BBPOS is a preferred supplier of end-to-end mPOS solutions to markets around the world, with an uninterrupted reputation for merchant- and customer-friendly products that combine innovative technology, unparalleled convenience and outstanding reliability. Chipper 2X is ready to ship in Q3 2015, pricing and availability will be announced shortly.

About BBPOS

BBPOS is a leading innovator, designer, manufacturer and provider of end-to-end mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) solutions to all sectors, including mobile merchant, retail, hospitality, delivery, transport and government. BBPOS has developed a family of innovative mPOS devices that deliver the highest standards of quality, security and certification, with the flexible connectivity required to securely manage any transaction, in any environment. BBPOS was founded in 2008. The company is headquartered in Hong Kong and maintains regional offices in San Jose, Miami, London, Singapore and Shanghai.

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Tigers are coming.........

Tigers have roamed China for thousands of years. They inspire awe in their prowess, ferocity and beauty. Now a new Tiger is coming to China.

TigerRisk Partners LLC (“TigerRisk”) is pleased to announce its first presence in Asia with the opening of the Hong Kong office of its subsidiary TigerRisk China Partners. TigerRisk China Partners is a member of the Hong Kong Confederation of Insurance Brokers effective July 30.

TigerRisk Partners is a US-based reinsurance, capital management and strategic advisor created in 2008. In April of this year, the firm added investment banking, M&A and capital markets advisory expertise with the creation of TigerRisk Capital Markets & Advisory. TigerRisk is based in Stamford, CT., with offices in New York, London, Minneapolis, Chicago, Raleigh, Dallas, Bermuda and now Hong Kong.

"The 21st Century belongs to Asia in terms of economic development. The most powerful engine of that development is China. That is why we elected to start our Asian presence here,” said Rod Fox, CEO of TigerRisk.

TigerRisk President, Tony Ursano, added: “We want to be an important participant in the development of the Chinese insurance market. We will do so by bringing the analytic, technical, product development and advisory skills we have developed in North America and Europe. We are delighted with the highly qualified and experienced team we have been able to attract to join us in Hong Kong."

TigerRisk's team in Hong Kong will be led by Dr. Houqin Zhu, a highly experienced veteran of the insurance and reinsurance business. Dr. Zhu began his career with one of the prominent insurance groups in China as a reinsurance buyer. He subsequently moved to Singapore as a treaty underwriter for American Re and QBE Re. After several years of underwriting, he switched his career focus to become a professional reinsurance broker and led Willis Re’s China operation. Dr. Zhu will be supported by a hand-picked team of experienced professionals including Michael Fung, Raymond Chen and other seasoned veterans. This team will receive the full support of the analytic, technical and capital markets advisory resources resident in TigerRisk’s US, London and Bermuda offices.

“China and the United States share a great number of common challenges in measuring and protecting capital from the risk of natural peril catastrophe,” said Dr. Zhu. “TigerRisk is excited to share and introduce our innovative approaches about measuring, controlling and mitigating catastrophe risk and spreading those risks globally.”

In its seven-year history TigerRisk has developed a top-tier client list by delivering unique analytical approaches, creative structuring concepts and innovative solutions designed to provide clients a competitive advantage. This includes the development of capital markets products and proprietary tools designed to improve client profitability. TigerRisk will be making available all applicable tools and techniques to the China market through its Hong Kong team.

For more information visit TigerRisk.com.

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Moody’s Analytics, a leader in credit risk management, announced that it has enhanced its RiskOrigins solution, which provides credit decisioning and monitoring for commercial lenders. Among the enhancements are a new collaborative workflow model and deal structuring functionality, which help lenders make smarter credit decisions, streamline the complex process of assessing credit risk, improve efficiency and comply with regulations.

“In today’s environment of low margins and increased competition, banks need to work smarter and more efficiently than ever – especially when it comes to evaluating credit,” says Keith Berry, Managing Director of Credit Assessment and Origination at Moody’s Analytics. “We’ve enhanced our RiskOrigins solution to go beyond traditional loan origination and help lenders make smarter credit decisions, which can help improve underwriting quality, increase deal throughput and boost profitability.”

Used by some of the world’s largest financial institutions in over a dozen countries, the RiskOrigins solution gives lenders greater insight into deals on their books, or in their pipeline, and illuminates potential impact on an institution’s overall credit profile.

The solution’s new workflow model streamlines the credit risk lifecycle by improving and automating error-prone manual procedures, such as spreading and risk grading, monitoring covenants and managing the bank’s risk appetite. In addition, its deal structuring functionality addresses the challenges that financial institutions face in efficiently capturing deal data and defining risk mitigants at loan origination.

Moreover, the RiskOrigins solution helps standardize information from disparate sources to enhance data integrity and governance, which are becoming hot-button issues with banking regulators. By enforcing transparent, repeatable and auditable processes, the RiskOrigins solution helps lenders incorporate best practices into their operations and meet compliance challenges with confidence.

“The banks we talk to expect to increase spending for commercial lending technology more than for other systems, and are focusing on adopting modern, integrated commercial lending platforms like RiskOrigins to standardize and simplify operations,” says Joanne Pollitt, Executive Advisor at CEB TowerGroup, which provides counsel to financial services leaders on the technology issues that are most important to their businesses. “We foresee strong, sustained growth in demand for these systems in the years ahead.”

For more information about the RiskOrigins solution, please visit www.moodysanalytics.com/riskorigins.

About Moody’s Analytics

Moody’s Analytics helps capital markets and risk management professionals worldwide respond to an evolving marketplace with confidence. The company offers unique tools and best practices for measuring and managing risk through expertise and experience in credit analysis, economic research and financial risk management. By providing leading-edge software, advisory services and research, including proprietary analyses from Moody’s Investors Service, Moody’s Analytics integrates and customizes its offerings to address specific business challenges. Moody's Analytics is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO), which reported revenue of $3.3 billion in 2014, employs approximately 10,000 people worldwide and has a presence in 33 countries. Further information is available at www.moodysanalytics.com.

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MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) announced today that Cindy Tang will join the company as its Vice President and Head of Communications for the Asia region. Cindy will be based out of MetLife’s Asia region office in Hong Kong and will start with the company on August 20, 2015. Cindy will report to Jeanmarie McFadden, Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for MetLife. At the same time, she will become a member of MetLife’s Asia Leadership Group and will work closely with Christopher Townsend, President of Asia for MetLife.

In this role, Cindy will offer strategic direction in corporate communications to support senior leaders in Asia for the various and ambitious business strategies across the region. She will also spearhead all communications initiatives.

“MetLife has been growing from strength to strength in Asia with a dynamic growth strategy and strong capabilities; Cindy’s joining will bring a wealth of experience, leadership acumen, and professional skills to the company. We are very pleased to have outstanding talented individuals such as Cindy taking up key roles in supporting our expansion in the region,” Townsend said.

Cindy was the Head of Group Communications for Asia at HSBC Bank plc. based in Hong Kong. Prior to that, she spent 10 years at Standard Chartered Bank where she held various senior communications roles covering Asia, EMEA and Americas for the bank. Earlier, Cindy had a diverse career in the US and Taiwan in marketing, sales and finance. She has worked across teams that included investor relations, sustainability, government relations and brand strategies for Asia.

“I am very pleased to welcome Cindy to MetLife. Cindy has been a trusted advisor to senior management teams in financial services for more than a decade and she brings a unique global perspective to MetLife in Asia,” said McFadden. “Cindy is also a fantastic leader, her proven track record in the industry and rich experience in communications strategies and coaching will add great value in building communications teams in Asia.”

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the largest life insurance companies in the world. Founded in 1868, MetLife is a global provider of life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management. Serving approximately 100 million customers, MetLife has operations in nearly 50 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.

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BOARD International, the leading global provider of software for unified Business Intelligence, Analytics and Performance Management, announced the release of “Data Fast Track,” a new BOARD function for automatic data discovery, modeling, mash-up and uploading.

The BOARD Data Fast Track will minimize business users’ “time to insight,” through self-service data preparation. With the new functionality, users will be able to create compelling visual analyses and analytical applications from raw data, without the help of IT, in a matter of seconds.

Data Fast Track will allow users to connect to a dataset and automatically build a BOARD data model that reflects similarities and relationships among all data items. Users can then enrich the data model by automatically blending additional data sets or by creating derived fields in an Excel-like environment. Once the data model is finalized, BOARD’s drag-and-drop environment will allow the immediate creation of any analysis.

At this point, the IT team can easily promote the new business models to enterprise level, maintaining full data governance.

“BOARD Data Fast Track represents a revolution in the BI, Performance Management and Data Discovery space” said BOARD International CEO Giovanni Grossi “Unlike our competitors, we manage self-service data discovery and Enterprise BI in a single platform rather than with two different products that are incapable of sharing their data environments. BOARD offers all the self-service capabilities that traditional BI and Performance Management platforms are not delivering, combined with the governance capability that other data discovery products are not providing.”

BOARD Data Fast Track will be included in the forthcoming BOARD release generally available by 14^th September.

Resources
 

About BOARD International

BOARD International has enabled more than 3,000 companies worldwide to rapidly deploy BI and CPM applications on a single integrated and programming-free platform, in a fraction of the time or cost required by traditional BI solutions. The BOARD platform provides a single, accurate and complete view of an organization’s information, fully integrated with enterprise processes, while uniquely planning and monitoring performance from strategic down to operational detail.

BOARD has a worldwide direct sales force and a reseller network with local partners across the globe.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150804006198/en/

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading worldwide provider of payment technology services, announced that it has completed the formation of a joint venture with Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), a leading commercial bank in the Philippines.

BPI is a leading Philippine provider of financial services with more than 800 branches. The bank has operated a merchant acquiring business in the Philippines for over 27 years.

Under the terms of the agreement, Global Payments holds a 51 percent majority interest in the joint venture, and BPI holds the remaining 49 percent.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) is a leading worldwide provider of payment technology services that delivers innovative solutions driven by customer needs globally. Our partnerships, technologies and employee expertise enable us to provide a broad range of products and services that allow our customers to accept all payment types across a variety of distribution channels in many markets around the world.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with more than 4,400 employees worldwide, Global Payments is a Fortune 1000 Company with merchants and partners in 29 countries throughout North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and Brazil. For more information about Global Payments, our Service. Driven. Commerce brand and our technologies, please visit www.globalpaymentsinc.com.

About BPI

With 163 years of experience in the local banking industry, BPI is one of the largest universal banks in the Philippines today. It offers a wide spectrum of financial services to both retail customers and corporate clients through the bank’s extensive distribution network locally and abroad. BPI serves 6.8 million customers through its network of more than 800 branches, over 2,500 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) nationwide and close to 30,000 Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals. Additional information is available at www.bpiexpressonline.com.ph.

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Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) announced the opening of a new technology development center in Bangalore, India, that will play a central role in the company’s efforts to accelerate digital commerce globally. As part of the opening ceremonies, Visa announced mVisa, a new mobile payment service that will be tested this summer with merchants across the Bangalore region and with customers of Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI (State Bank of India).

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Visa's new technology development center in Bangalore, India. (Photo: Business Wire)

Visa’s new 100,000 square feet technology center is part of the Bagamne World Technology Center, a 70-acre campus in the heart of India’s IT corridor. The center is a combination of office and collaboration spaces that will be the home for 1,000 Visa developers. This team is tasked with making it easy for application developers to access Visa’s 400 payment products and services in order to build their own payment experiences that can work across a broad range of connected devices. This center is one of several facilities planned by Visa in the U.S. and Asia, and is part of a global strategy to transform Visa’s global processing network into an open commerce platform.

“India has fast become one of the world’s most important technology epicentres with an incredible pool of technology talent,” said Charlie Scharf, Chief Executive Officer, Visa Inc. “Our new center in Bangalore, which complements others planned for Singapore and the U.S., will help Visa to accelerate the development of next generation payment solutions that enable secure, digital commerce through connected devices like mobile phones, PCs, tablets and even cars.”

Consumer purchase behaviors are changing dramatically with the use of mobile phones and other connected devices that embed the ability to shop and pay into consumer’s daily lives. According to a recent report by Juniper Research, worldwide mobile payment transaction volume, including all payments made via a mobile phone and tablet, is projected to reach $3.27 trillion by 2018.¹ Also purchases made via tablet or smartphone increased 48 percent in 2014 – that is three times the growth in desktop purchasing.²

Visa Stepping Up Technology Development

Visa developers have created a new payment service, mVisa, which brings the benefits of secure digital commerce to financial institutions, merchants and consumers in emerging markets. The new service will be tested in India later this year with select customers of Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI, and with merchants across the greater Bangalore region. With mVisa, consumers can make cardless purchases, pay bills and send money to friends and family members.

Here is how mVisa works:

• Consumers will be able to download the mVisa application to their smart or feature phone and securely link their Visa debit, credit or prepaid account to the mVisa application.
• Once activated, mVisa enables consumers to pay for purchases in stores and online by simply initiating a transfer of funds from their account to the merchant’s account. Additionally, mVisa users will be able to pay bills and send funds to other Visa account holders.
• mVisa transactions are processed via Visa’s global network, VisaNet, applying the scale, security and reliability of Visa to mobile payments in emerging markets. The service is designed to enable consumers to engage in secure, digital commerce, and more easily access funds in their existing bank accounts to make everyday purchases and pay utility bills.
• Merchants and billers benefit by offering consumers a more convenient and secure way to pay, and are instantly notified via SMS text message when a payment has been received.
• Starting in September, mVisa will be available to 20,000 merchants in the greater Bangalore region.

mVisa is one of several initiatives that Visa has undertaken to accelerate the global migration from cash to digital commerce. The company is increasing its recruitment efforts, adding 2,000 full time employees to an already accomplished team of technologists who will work in development centers in India, Singapore and the U.S.

“For the past 50 years, access to Visa’s technology environment was tightly controlled and available only to developers at financial institutions and merchants – a strategy that helped drive the migration from cash to electronic commerce in a secure manner,” said Rajat Taneja, EVP of technology at Visa Inc. “Today, as commerce shifts to digital environments where consumers can make secure purchases using mobile devices, it is critical that we open up Visa’s network and make it easier for developers globally to access our payment platform – making secure Visa payments a standard feature of mobile applications.”

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world's most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 56,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more information, visit usa.visa.com/about-visa, visacorporate.tumblr.com and @VisaNews.

¹ Juniper Research: “Mobile & Online Purchases; Cards, Carrier Billing & Third Party Payment Platforms 2015-2020,” July 15, 2015.

² According to an October 14 study from BI Intelligence, a research service from Business Insider, THE E-COMMERCE REPORT: Mobile Is Giving Traditional Retailers A Chance To Bounce Back These Holidays

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• Max India shareholders support the demerger with an overwhelming majority of 99.99%
• Significant milestone towards completing the three-way demerger 

Every day communication professionals craft news releases and media pitches designed to encourage media outlets to cover their organization’s latest product launch, fundraising program or earnings release.

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In an effort to identify the evolving needs of today’s media, from content to performance metrics, and to provide a road map for communication professionals, Business Wire launched the 2015 global media survey. This survey identifies the needs of today’s media outlets as it pertains to company news.

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