QNB Group, the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, announced its results for the nine months ended 30 September 2018.

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QNB Group HQ Building in Doha (Photo: AETOSWire)

For the nine months ended 30 September 2018, Net Profit reached QAR10.8 billion (USD3.0 billion), up by 6% compared to same period last year, despite the impact of the Turkish Lira devaluation.

Total assets increased to QAR853 billion (USD234 billion), up by 8% from September 2017. The key driver of total assets growth was from loans and advances which grew by 4% to reach QAR604 billion (USD166 billion). This was mainly funded by customer deposits which increased by 7% to reach QAR615 billion (USD169 billion) from September 2017. The growth of the Group assets and liabilities has been partly affected by the devaluation in the Turkish Lira. Despite the devaluation impact, QNB’s strong asset liability management capabilities helped QNB Group to improve its loans to deposits ratio to 98.3% as of 30 September 2018.

The Group’s drive for operational efficiency is yielding cost-savings in addition to sustainable revenue generating sources, enabling the Group to improve the efficiency ratio (cost to income ratio) to 26%, from 29% last year, which is considered one of the best ratios among large financial institutions in the MEA region.

Robust credit quality is underpinned by non-performing loans ratio of 1.8% as of 30 September 2018, a level considered one of the lowest amongst financial institutions in the MEA region. The Group’s conservative policy in regard to provisioning resulted in the coverage ratio at 106% as of 30 September 2018.

Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) as of 30 September 2018 amounted to 15.6%, higher than the regulatory minimum requirements of the Qatar Central Bank and Basel Committee. Currency headwinds in our core markets had limited impact on the CAR.

QNB's successful funding from the international markets during the year includes, amongst others, (1) capital market issuances of USD560 million (AUD700 million) with a 5- and 10-year maturity in Australia and (2) USD720 million bonds with a 30-year maturity in Taiwan. This reflects the Group’s success in diversifying funding sources by entering new debt markets, sourcing sustainable long-term funding, extending the maturity profile of funding sources and the trust of international investors in the strong financial position of QNB Group and its strategy.

During the year, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s have revised the Outlook to Stable due to successful management of the impact from the blockade. Also QNB remains the highest-rated bank in Qatar and one of the highest-rated banks in the world from the major rating agencies of Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

QNB Group serves a customer base of more than 23 million customers with more than 29,000 staff resources operating from more than 1,200 locations and 4,300 ATMs.

*Source: AETOSWire

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OTCXN, a blockchain-powered capital markets infrastructure company, announced that it has signed Prime Trust to serve as a neutral, third-party custodian of assets for trading entities and exchanges that use OTCXN technology to facilitate clearing and settlement of OTC block trades and cross-exchange trading. Prime Trust is a chartered, regulated and insured trust company with full fiduciary powers and AML/KYC procedures supporting both US and international clients.

The biggest problem for institutions in the cryptocurrency space prior to OTCXN’s launch has been the lack of a clearing and settlement solution that eliminates trading counterparty and settlement risk while connecting all global liquidity providers and exchanges. OTCXN’s multi-custodian solution solves this problem and delivers global liquidity access with a single account at the preferred custodian of a trading desk or exchange.

Prime Trust will play a key role in supporting the expansion of the OTCXN network by providing clients with safe, capital efficient access to global liquidity through OTCXN’s market leading trading platforms.

“Bringing Prime Trust on-board to use OTCXN’s Custodian Desk platform to support our mutual institutional clients trading digital assets such as cryptocurrencies over OTCXN’s unique network, is an exciting development. Prime Trust is one of only a few regulated US entities offering neutral custody services in Fiat and Cryptocurrencies. They stand out for their experienced management team with deep securities and fiduciary industry backgrounds, hot and cold hardware-based wallets, and client asset safety,” stated Rosario M. Ingargiola, CEO and Founder of OTCXN.

Prime Trust is a financial institution dedicated to the blockchain industry that, as an SEC Qualified Custodian, provides custody of tokens, Fiat and other alternative and traditional assets, as well as funds processing, AML/KYC compliance, and transaction technology for the new digital economy. As a blockchain-driven trust company, its mission is to provide exchanges, portals, platforms, brokers, real estate syndicators and direct-issuers with best-in-class solutions to seamlessly meet the needs of their securities offerings, as well as their secondary markets.

“OTCXN is an exciting and well thought-out institutional-grade digital asset trading network unlike anything we’ve worked on until now,” says Scott Purcell, Prime Trust’s CEO and Chief Trust Officer. “OTCXN’s strategic technology aligns perfectly with our continued mission to support an ever-evolving digital economy; and, we are excited to play a role in bringing more infrastructure to the industry.”

The OTCXN solution has strong appeal to custodians that hold crypto-assets for institutional clients because the cryptocurrency is always held in deep, cold storage, rather than being held at an exchange or being in-flight, as it is when traded over-the-counter. The OTCXN approach significantly increases safety for institutional clients and reduces administrative overhead for custodians with clients engaged in active trading. The solution provides custodians with continuous net settlement reporting, with point-in-time snapshot features and workflow tools to support periodic net settlement movements between custodial accounts.

OTCXN has launched its OTC Block Trading platform which delivers an institutional RFQ-style workflow with instant, atomic clearing and settlement of trades against provable assets at a custodian, and no initiator settlement risk. Later this year, OTCXN will be launching its high-performance matching engine, LiquiMatch, as both a Dark Pool and Central Limit Order Book-style exchange for cryptocurrencies. Clients of custodians on the network can access liquidity across all OTCXN trading platforms with a single account at a custodian.

Any OTC desk, liquidity provider, fund or exchange can join the OTCXN network by holding a portion of Fiat/Crypto trading assets at a custodian, including Prime Trust.

About OTCXN

OTCXN is a capital markets infrastructure company using asset digitization, proprietary blockchain technology, real-time collateral management and an array of institutional trading platforms to organize global liquidity and make it tradable via a single account at any custodian on the network. OTCXN has developed the first technology platform that eliminates counterparty and settlement risk without the use of balance sheet and credit, and without becoming a counterparty to transactions. For more information, visit www.otcxn.com and @OTCXN.

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• Increased speed and convenience for customers
• Axis Tap & Pay is available on all NFC-enabled android mobile phones

International Financial Corporation (“IFC”), a member of the World Bank Group, and Ant Financial Services Group (“Ant Financial”), the world’s leading tech company and the operator of Alipay, jointly announced the 10x1000 Tech for Inclusion programme at the 2018 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.

The initiative will include a comprehensive programme that embraces interactivity and the exchange of ideas to provide training to 10,000 tech experts in emerging markets from both public and private sectors over the next 10 years.

Alibaba Group founder and Executive Chairman Jack Ma said that the programme aims to build an interactive and open platform to increase support for tech leaders and skilled individuals who are working to alleviate poverty and make basic financial services more broadly accessible in Indonesia, which will be the first stop of the programme within emerging markets.

“I believe that investing in people is investing for the future. Cultivating talent is one of the most significant things the Alibaba ecosystem can do. My hope is that emerging markets will benefit from the individuals that are nurtured under this new 10x1000 Tech for Inclusion programme and be able to embrace a brighter future through the digital economy,” said Ma, who is an adviser to the Indonesian government steering committee for e-commerce.

The 10x1000 Tech for Inclusion programme will seek support from local public and private sector partners in emerging markets. A series of Techfin workshops will be held across China and various countries. The workshops will aim to inspire tech leaders and local talent to become “drivers for change” in the digital era, promoting technology inclusion and global sustainability.

“Technology offers the largest dividend of the digital era bringing unprecedented opportunities for financial inclusion,” said Eric Jing, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ant Financial. “Individuals with talent in technology are the drivers for change who can inspire innovation that will lead to a better collective future. Now is the time for Alipay to share its knowledge and experience in digital financial services to broaden the tech communities and ecosystem within emerging markets.”

IFC and Ant Financial have partnered on initiatives to extend micro-credits to small- and women-owned businesses in China and over the past year have driven collaboration on inclusive digital finance, green digital finance and business-environment enhancement. In 2016, Ant Financial signed onto the World Bank Group Universal Financial Access 2020 goal and committed to increasing access to financial services for 100 million underserved individuals.

Philippe Le Houérou, IFC CEO, said, “Digital finance is transforming the financial landscape, creating new markets, empowering consumers and putting banking in the hands of unreached millions worldwide for the first time. The joint programme will further deepen knowledge and create new opportunities for digital financial services to expand financial access and improve lives.”

About Ant Financial

Ant Financial Services Group is dedicated to using technology to bring the world equal opportunities. Our technologies, including blockchain, artificial intelligence, security, Internet of Things and computing, empower us and our ecosystem partners to serve the unbanked and underbanked, bringing more secure, transparent, cost-effective and inclusive financial services to individuals and SMEs worldwide. Ant Financial has formed international partnerships with global strategic partners to serve local users in those markets, and we serve Chinese travelers overseas by connecting Alipay with online and offline merchants in popular destinations. By the end of March 2018, together with its local partners, Ant Financial served 870 million users worldwide. Brands under Ant Financial Services Group include Alipay, Ant Fortune, Zhima Credit, MYbank and Ant Financial Cloud.

About Alipay

Operated by Ant Financial Services Group, Alipay is the world’s largest mobile and online payment platform. Launched in 2004, Alipay currently works with over 200 domestic financial institution partners. Over the years, Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets, pay utility bills, make appointments with doctors, or purchase wealth management products directly from within the app. In addition to online payments, Alipay is expanding to in-store offline payments both inside and outside of China. Alipay’s in-store payment service covers over 40 countries and regions across the world, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 29 countries and regions. Alipay works with over 250 overseas financial institutions and payment solution providers to enable cross-border payments for Chinese travelling overseas and overseas customers who purchase products from Chinese e-commerce sites. Alipay currently supports 27 currencies.

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Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) and Reis, Inc. (NASDAQ:REIS) announce today that Moody’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Moody’s Analytics Maryland Corp., successfully completed the previously announced tender offer to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Reis at a purchase price of $23.00 per share, net to the seller in cash, without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes.

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The tender offer expired at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on October 12, 2018. The depositary for the tender offer has advised that as of the expiration of the tender offer, a total of 9,800,276 shares of common stock of Reis were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn in the tender offer (excluding shares with respect to which notices of guaranteed delivery were delivered) representing approximately 84.7% of Reis’s outstanding shares of common stock. All of such shares have been accepted for payment in accordance with the terms of the tender offer.

As a result of the tender offer, Moody’s now indirectly owns a sufficient number of shares in Reis to complete a “short-form” merger under applicable Maryland law without stockholder approval. Upon completion of the merger, all outstanding shares of common stock of Reis other than shares held by Moody’s, Moody’s Analytics Maryland Corp., Reis, or any of their respective wholly-owned subsidiaries will be canceled and converted into the right to receive $23 per share in cash without interest thereon and less any applicable withholding taxes. Moody’s expects to complete the merger later today. In addition, in connection with the merger, the common stock of Reis will cease to be traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market.

ABOUT MOODY'S CORPORATION

Moody's is an essential component of the global capital markets, providing credit ratings, research, tools and analysis that contribute to transparent and integrated financial markets. Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is the parent company of Moody's Investors Service, which provides credit ratings and research covering debt instruments and securities, and Moody's Analytics, which offers leading-edge software, advisory services and research for credit and economic analysis and financial risk management. The corporation, which reported revenue of $4.2 billion in 2017, employs approximately 12,300 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 42 countries. Further information is available at www.moodys.com.

ABOUT REIS

Reis provides commercial real estate (“CRE”) market information and analytical tools to real estate professionals. Reis maintains a proprietary database of information on all commercial properties in metropolitan markets and neighborhoods throughout the U.S. This information is used by CRE investors, lenders and other professionals to make informed buying, selling and financing decisions. In addition, Reis data is used by debt and equity investors to assess, quantify and manage the risks of default and loss associated with individual mortgages, properties, portfolios and real estate backed securities. Reis currently provides its information services to many of the nation’s leading lending institutions, equity investors, brokers and appraisers.

For more information regarding Reis’s products and services, visit www.reis.com and www.reisreports.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements and are based on future expectations, plans and prospects for Moody's business and operations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements and other information in this release are made as of the date hereof (except where noted otherwise), and Moody's undertakes no obligation (nor does it intend) to publicly supplement, update or revise such statements on a going-forward basis, whether as a result of subsequent developments, changed expectations or otherwise. Moody's is identifying certain factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ, perhaps materially, from those indicated by these forward-looking statements. Those factors, risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, credit market disruptions or economic slowdowns, which could affect the volume of debt and other securities issued in domestic and/or global capital markets; other matters that could affect the volume of debt and other securities issued in domestic and/or global capital markets, including regulation, credit quality concerns, changes in interest rates and other volatility in the financial markets such as that due to the U.K.’s referendum vote whereby the U.K. citizens voted to withdraw from the EU; the level of merger and acquisition activity in the U.S. and abroad; the uncertain effectiveness and possible collateral consequences of U.S. and foreign government actions affecting world-wide credit markets, international trade and economic policy; concerns in the marketplace affecting our credibility or otherwise affecting market perceptions of the integrity or utility of independent credit agency ratings; the introduction of competing products or technologies by other companies; pricing pressure from competitors and/or customers; the level of success of new product development and global expansion; the impact of regulation as an NRSRO, the potential for new U.S., state and local legislation and regulations, including provisions in the Financial Reform Act and regulations resulting from that Act; the potential for increased competition and regulation in the EU and other foreign jurisdictions; exposure to litigation related to our rating opinions, as well as any other litigation, government and regulatory proceedings, investigations and inquires to which Moody's may be subject from time to time; provisions in the Financial Reform Act legislation modifying the pleading standards, and EU regulations modifying the liability standards, applicable to credit rating agencies in a manner adverse to credit rating agencies; provisions of EU regulations imposing additional procedural and substantive requirements on the pricing of services and the expansion of supervisory remit to include non-EU ratings used for regulatory purposes; the possible loss of key employees; failures or malfunctions of our operations and infrastructure; any vulnerabilities to cyber threats or other cybersecurity concerns; the outcome of any review by controlling tax authorities of Moody's global tax planning initiatives; exposure to potential criminal sanctions or civil remedies if Moody's fails to comply with foreign and U.S. laws and regulations that are applicable in the jurisdictions in which Moody's operates, including data protection and privacy laws, sanctions laws, anti-corruption laws, and local laws prohibiting corrupt payments to government officials; the impact of mergers, acquisitions or other business combinations and the ability of Moody's to successfully integrate acquired businesses; currency and foreign exchange volatility; the level of future cash flows; the levels of capital investments; and a decline in the demand for credit risk management tools by financial institutions. Other factors, risks and uncertainties relating to our acquisition of Reis could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, including difficulties or unanticipated expenses in connection with integrating Reis’s operations, products and employees into Moody’s and the possibility that anticipated synergies and other benefits of the acquisition will not be realized in the amounts anticipated or will not be realized within the expected timeframe; risks that the acquisition could have an adverse effect on the business of Reis or its prospects, including, without limitation, on relationships with vendors, suppliers or customers; claims made, from time to time, by vendors, suppliers or customers; changes in the global marketplace that have an adverse effect on the business of Reis; and the accuracy of any assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. These factors, risks and uncertainties as well as other risks and uncertainties that could cause Moody’s actual results to differ materially from those contemplated, expressed, projected, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements are described in greater detail under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of the Moody's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, the tender offer documents previously filed with the SEC by Moody's and its acquisition subsidiary Moody’s Analytics Maryland Corp, as amended, the solicitation/recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 previously filed by Reis, as amended, and other filings made by Moody's from time to time with the SEC or materials incorporated herein or therein. Stockholders and investors are cautioned that the occurrence of any of these factors, risks and uncertainties may cause Moody's actual results to differ materially from those contemplated, expressed, projected, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements, which could have a material and adverse effect on Moody's business, results of operations and financial condition. New factors may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Moody's to predict new factors, nor can Moody's assess the potential effect of any new factors on it.

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Bank of America reported its third-quarter 2018 financial results. The news release, supplemental filing and investor presentation can be accessed in the following ways:

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181015005455/en/

• Bank of America newsroom at https://newsroom.bankofamerica.com
• Bank of America Investor Relations website at http://investor.bankofamerica.com
• Business Wire’s news webpage at http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/news

Investor Conference Call information

Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan and Chief Financial Officer Paul Donofrio will discuss the financial results in a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET today. For a listen-only connection to the conference call, dial 1.877.200.4456 (U.S.) or 1.785.424.1732 (international), and the conference ID is 79795.

Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. Investors can also listen to a live audio webcast of the conference call and view the presentation slides by visiting the Events & Presentations section of the company’s Investor Relations website.

Replay information for Investor Conference Call

Investors can access replays of the conference call by visiting the Investor Relations website or by calling 1.800.934.4850 (U.S.) or 1.402.220.1178 (international) from noon on October 15, through 11:59 p.m. ET on October 22.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,400 retail financial centers, approximately 16,100 ATMs, and award-winning digital banking with more than 36 million active users, including nearly 26 million mobile users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE:BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom. Click here to register for news email alerts.

www.bankofamerica.com

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Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) opened the polls for voting in its 2018 Intuit QuickBooks Global Firm of the Future contest. The public vote, which closes October 31, 2018, will determine which of the contest’s five finalists − Cloud Bookkeeping Services, PJCO, Reconciled, Regional Business Services Ptd Ltd or Wealth Café Business Advisors Pvt Ltd. − will be named the grand prize winner. Representing Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and India, respectively, these forward-thinking firms represent some of the top accounting firms from around the world, having embraced online technologies to grow their practices and help their small business clients succeed and prosper.

During the voting period, Intuit invites the public to visit the Firm of the Future contest website and vote once per day for the firm that they feel best embodies the Firm of the Future. For every vote and social share that takes place, a donation from Intuit will be made to Kiva.org (up to $25,000 USD), an international nonprofit based in San Francisco, California that invests in entrepreneurs from underserved communities around the world who are looking to create a better future for themselves, their families and their communities.

To learn more about the finalists, the public can view videos in the online gallery on the Firm of the Future contest website. These videos highlight how each firm has embraced online technologies and how they have helped a specific small business client to succeed.

“These five firms represent the most innovative firms in the industry, and we are eager to see how they will continue to grow and drive success for their own businesses and small business clients,” said Ariege Misherghi, global leader of Intuit’s Accountant Segment, Small Business and Self-Employed Group. “These firms have recognized the benefits of being a Firm of the Future and have successfully navigated the path forward. Each firm is already a true champion, and we’re excited to celebrate these finalists and see who will be named the grand prize winner.”

To help the finalists in their video submission process, Intuit provided a videographer and film producer to work directly with each finalist to create a high-quality video showcasing what makes his or her firm a Firm of the Future. The five finalists (in alphabetical order) are:

• Cloud Bookkeeping Services, Canada
• PJCO, United Kingdom
• Reconciled, United States
• Regional Business Services Pty Ltd, Australia
• Wealth Café Business Advisors Pvt Ltd, India

Anyone wishing to vote must first register, and all registrants will only be permitted to vote once per day during the open voting period. The top five global finalists and the small businesses identified by each firm will each receive a $5,000 USD cash prize as well as one ticket to Intuit’s annual conference, QuickBooks Connect, November 5-7, in San Jose, California. The grand prize winner and the small business they support will be revealed on the main stage and receive additional cash prizes of $25,000 USD and $15,000 USD, respectively.

Register for QuickBooks Connect and meet the finalists and grand prize winner in-person in November. The conference offers a dynamic lineup of speakers, including Alex Rodriguez, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of A-Rod Corp, Mindy Kaling, Actor, Writer, Producer and Director and Dylan Lauren, CEO and Founder of Dylan’s Candy Bar.

To cast votes through October 31, visit https://intuit.me/FOTF2018. To join the conversation, share on Facebook and Twitter using #QBFirmOfTheFuture.

About Intuit

Intuit’s mission is to Power Prosperity Around the World. Our global products and platforms, including TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint and Turbo, are designed to empower consumers, self-employed and small businesses to improve their financial lives, finding them more money with the least amount of work, while giving them complete confidence in their actions and decisions. Our innovative ecosystem of financial management solutions serves approximately 50 million customers worldwide, unleashing the power of many for the prosperity of one. Please visit us for the latest news and in-depth information about Intuit and its brands and find us on social.

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• Download & Register on the PhonePe App and link their bank account to UPI
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• Select the Jio number they wish to recharge for and select the Jio recharge plan (Example - Rs.149 or Rs.399)
• Complete the payment using UPI
• Customer will get the cashback as soon as the transaction is successful 

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) today announced the commercial expansion of the Visa Token Service for credential-on-file (COF) token requestors, marking a major milestone towards further securing consumer payments in the digital channel.

With this expansion, acquirer gateway and technology partners Adyen, AsiaPay, Braintree, Checkout.com, Cherri Tech, CyberSource, Elavon, Ezidebit, eWAY, Fit-Pay, Giesecke & Devrient, PayPal, Payscout, Rambus,SafeCharge, SecureCo, Square, Stripe, Worldpay and YellowPepper are or will soon be able to tokenize credential-on-file digital payments on behalf of their merchant and payment clients.

Built on top of the EMVCo Payment Tokenization Standard, the Visa Token Service offers another layer of security by replacing sensitive cardholder information, such as personal account numbers and expiration dates, with a unique digital identifier (a “token”) that can be used for payment without exposing a cardholder’s more sensitive account information. In addition to enhancing security, expired or compromised payment credentials can be seamlessly updated in the background by the financial institution, eliminating a significant point of friction for consumers and merchants.

Merchants also get the added security protection of being shielded from data breaches that occur elsewhere in the ecosystem since the Visa card number is replaced with a token unique to the merchant or gateway acquirer partner.

“Today, we welcome 20 partners into the Visa Token Service who will help scale tokenization to their thousandsof merchant clients and millions of customers around the world. This opens up a world of possibilities for our merchants and partners to further evolve and innovate in digital payments,” said Ansar Ansari, senior vice president, digital payment products, Visa. “Making digital transactions even more secure is one of Visa’s biggest priorities. Working with Visa, these partners will help secure cardholder data and make digital payments safer, resulting in frictionless digital commerce experiences for consumers.”

“Adyen is excited to be the first acquirer in the payments ecosystem with in-market solutions to support and offer Visa Token Service to our global merchants,” said Kamran Zaki, president, North America, Adyen. “In addition to improving security, Visa network tokens through Adyen will allow our merchants with cards on file to reduce involuntary churn and improve authorization rates without any additional work on their part.”

“Worldpay is committed to protecting the integrity of every transaction and this solution integrates well with our own security and tokenization products,” says Asif Ramji, chief product officer, Worldpay. “By forming strong relationships with companies like Visa to bring global scale to every merchant, we ensure their ability to deliver positive customer experiences. Importantly, Worldpay merchant partners who take advantage of our implementation of the Visa Token Service do not need to wait for individual certification and approval to begin protecting their customers’ data.”

“The integration of the Visa Token Service within the CyberSource Token Management Service is an important milestone in our quest to enable clients to create new digital commerce experiences and deepen consumer engagement across channels,” said Andre Machicao, senior vice president, CyberSource, a Visa solution. “The powerful integration of these services provides merchants additional value and simplifies access to future Visa Token Service enhancements, especially in the area of credential life cycle management. Dynamic updates of credentials when a card is lost, stolen or expired will help our clients improve the consumer experience and lift conversion.”

Since the launch of the Visa Token Service in 2014, Visa has added over 60 global token requestors—including mobile and wearable manufactures, issuer wallets, online merchants, payment service providers and acquirers—from 40 markets onto the token platform. The addition of 20 merchants, acquirer gateways and token requestors will bring scale globally and support Visa’s commitment to security and convenience of online and mobile payments from both traditional eCommerce as well as credential-on-file transactions.

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a cashless future for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, visacorporate.tumblr.com and @VisaNews.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181017005149/en/

• Up to 9.10%* rate of interest for Senior Citizens
• Up to 9.00%* rate of interest for Existing loan and FD customers
• Up to 8.75%* rate of interest for new customers

Vietnam International Bank (UPCoM: VIB) announced its financial statements of the first 9 months 2018 with positive results.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181023005507/en/

A clerk at VIB (Photo: Business Wire)

Profit before tax grows 176%
VIB reported profit before tax of VND 1,720 billion, up 176% year-on-year (YoY), equal to 86% of its full year target. The revenue increased by 48% YoY, in which interest income and non-interest income up 50% and 37% respectively; the latter accounted for 16% of total revenue and continued upward trend. The cost-to-income ratio (CIR) significantly dropped from 57% in 2017 to 48%. Provision expense in 9 months was lower than YoY in the context that VIB no longer has bad debts in VAMC. The return on equity ratio (ROE) reached 19.4%.

The total asset of the bank reached over VND 132,500 billion, up 8% year-to-date; lending and deposits reached VND 95,200 billion and VND 89,200 billion, up 13.1% and 14.8% year-to-date, respectively. Non-performing loan ratio (NPL) remained at 2.5%.

VIB ranks among biggest retail banks
VIB puts strong focus on Retail Banking business unit. Lending reached 67,400 billion, up 58% year-on-year, helping VIB become one of the biggest retail banking. VIB continued to maintain the first position in auto-loans taking 25% share of total market. VIB rank top 3 in Bancassurance sales in Vietnam, increasing by 202% YoY. Multi-channel credit card development model grows strongly; number of credit cards increased by 84% YoY and total credit card spending of Q3/2018 went up by 214% YoY. The positive growth in both size and quality has made VIB’s retail revenue in the first 9 months of 2018 rise 92% YoY.

Effective risk management, no bad debts at VAMC & ready for Basel II

According to Moody’s report issued on Aug 2018, Moody’s has upgraded the long-term local and foreign currency deposit and issuer ratings of VIB from B2 to B1. VIB’s capital adequacy ratio (CAR) reached 12.4%. Ratio of short-term deposits used for long-term loans stood at 38.2 %, lower than permitted maximum limit of 45%.

In July 2018, VIB was recognised by the State Bank of Viet Nam and VAMC as one of five banks to re-purchase all bad debts that they sold to VAMC. Three years ago, only VIB & Vietcombank are ready to apply Base II standards.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181023005507/en/

(From L to R): Ashish Goyal, Co-Founder & CFO and Akshay Mehrotra, the Co-Founder & CEO

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Algorand, a first-of-its-kind blockchain and cryptocurrency purpose built for business, announced today the closure of a $62M equity investment and the addition of senior executive hires from leading global technology brands. Steve Kokinos, co-founder and Chairman at Fuze, and W. Sean Ford, co-founder of uPromise and former CMO of LogMeIn, join Algorand as CEO and COO, respectively. The $62M comes from a broad global investment group representing the venture capital, cryptocurrency, and financial services communities. The funding, combined with the executive hires, will help launch the revolutionary blockchain protocol designed by MIT’s Silvio Micali.

“At USV we believe that foundational innovation is required to deliver on the promise of blockchain technology,” said Albert Wenger, managing partner at Union Square Ventures. “Algorand is building a crucial part of that with their novel consensus algorithm that solves for security, decentralization and scalability.”

“Algorand is a company uniquely approaching the blockchain and cryptocurrency space from both a technology and business perspective,” said Jamie Goldstein, founding partner, Pillar Venture Capital. “Silvio Micali is an award-winning cryptographer, and the technology he and his team have developed has the potential to transform industries. With the addition of Steve and Sean, he is now joined by a senior leadership team that has deep expertise in building enterprise companies at scale.”

“We have been developing Algorand as a technology for several years with the ultimate goal of creating a business-ready protocol for a truly global and decentralized economy,” said Silvio Micali, Algorand founder, MIT computer science professor and Turing Award winner. “Our team of scientists is comprised of some of the most accomplished minds in cryptography, theory, and finance, and we are very excited to add the proven business acumen we need to help bring our protocol to market.”

Bringing a combined 40+ years of proven technology experience in leading disruptive brands, Kokinos and Ford offer deep and unique expertise in driving the growth of innovative tech companies. A serial entrepreneur, Kokinos has founded and grown three successful companies – Fuze, BladeLogic, and WebYes, Inc. while Ford has built a reputation for operational execution and go-to-market expertise at a variety of tech companies including uPromise, Oracle and LogMeIn.

About Algorand
Based in Boston, and founded by cryptography pioneer and Turing award winner Silvio Micali, Algorand solves the “blockchain trilemma” with a platform that delivers decentralization, scalability and security. Algorand provides a foundation for existing businesses and new projects to operate globally in the emerging decentralized economy. Algorand’s first-of-its-kind, permissionless, pure proof-of-stake protocol supports the scale, open participation, and transaction finality required to build systems for billions of users.

For more information, visit https://www.algorand.com/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181024005053/en/