CFI.co Blogger, Author at CFI.co Blog

NDB President reports to BRICS leaders at 11th Summit in Brasilia, Brazil

On November 14, 2019, Mr. K.V. Kamath, President of the New Development Bank reported to the Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa during the 11th BRICS Summit in Brasilia, Brazil.

“Thus far, the NDB has approved 46 projects for USD 12.8 billion in our member countries. By the end of this year, we expect the approvals to reach about USD 15 billion. In 2020, we are targeting approvals of USD 8-10 billion,” said Mr. K.V. Kamath.

“We are measuring the impact of our work through our contributions to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals that our members have committed to. We are also supporting projects that address some of the core developmental needs in our member countries, as articulated in their development agendas,” said the NDB President.

Mr. K.V. Kamath highlighted operations of the Bank in its member countries:

In Brazil, the NDB is supporting improved physical connectivity of remote areas to logistical hubs while simultaneously laying the infrastructure for enhanced digital connectivity.
In Russia, in addition to financing infrastructure that will conserve and improve accessibility to historic and cultural centers, the Bank is moving into new areas such as bringing digital technologies to the judicial system, expanding higher education and supporting railway sector.
In India, the NDB is investing in improving connectivity of rural areas to markets and opportunities, as well as in better management of water resources.
In China, the Bank is contributing to the rehabilitation and restoration of environmental assets that were adversely impacted during the phases of rapid growth and lending for innovative green technologies.
In South Africa, the NDB is assisting energy and water projects, two areas that are at the heart of the country’s economic and social challenges.

“NDB has thus far received USD 5.6 billion in capital, including advance payments of the fifth instalment by China and Russia. We expect to receive the balance USD 900 million of the fifth instalment from our other three members by January 2020,” stated the NDB President.

“The Bank’s Africa Regional Center in Johannesburg has proved that on-the-ground presence makes a big difference to our work. Our Brazil office is already staffed and ready to open and we await completion of necessary formalities. Preparations for our office in Moscow are at an advanced stage and we will open this office early next year. We will follow that up with our Delhi office in the first half of 2020,” added Mr. K.V. Kamath.

“Going forward, the Bank is capable of sustaining between USD 8-10 billion of annual lending. With the initial USD 10 billion of capital that has been provided to it by the founding members, by 2027, the Bank can achieve a total asset book of about USD 50 billion.”

“As and when the decision is taken to admit new members to the Bank, and capital from these new members is received, the Bank can grow further. Under this scenario, it can achieve a total asset book of about USD 90 billion by 2027,” projected the NDB President.

Background Information

The NDB was established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development. To fulfill its purpose, the NDB will support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments. According to the NDB’s General Strategy, sustainable infrastructure development is at the core of the Bank’s operational strategy for 2017-2021. The NDB received AA+ long-term issuer credit ratings from S&P and Fitch and AAA foreign currency long-term issuer rating from Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR).

Read the full text of the President’s Report on the NDB website: https://www.ndb.int/president_desk/report-of-the-president-2019/

Technology

Extraordinary Opportunity to Experience the World’s 6G Hotspot Followed by the World’s First Open 5G Cyber Security Hackathon in Oulu, Finland

ByCFI.co Blogger

Hosted by National Cyber Security Centre Finland NCSC-FI / Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom

We invite you to join us at the opening of the world’s first Open 5G Cyber Security Hackathon at the global 6G and 5G hotspot – Oulu, Finland on the 29th of November. This ground-breaking hackathon brings together nearly 100 best hackers from 20 different countries as they complete different challenges set by Ericsson, Nokia and Oulu University.

Before the opening event, you get the unparalleled chance to explore Oulu – the home to research and development of top-tier cybersecurity on a
global scale. 6G is a flagship programme at Oulu University and about 60% of the world’s mobile phone traffic utilizes network technologies that were developed in Oulu. During this trip, you have the unique opportunity to learn about the latest 6G developments, get to know to the one of a kind ICT ecosystem in Oulu and visit some of the leading cyber security companies in the city, such as Bittium, F-Secure, Nokia 5G Factory and Tosibox. You´ll also have the opportunity to meet the head of Ericsson 5G Cyber Security.

Later, at the hackathon opening event, experts and decision-makers in 5G and cybersecurity join together to discuss the future of 5G and 6G as well as its security as the world enters a new digital decade. In addition, the hackathon’s challenges will be revealed.

This event will be followed by Leading Edge 5G Forum on February 13, 2020 in Helsinki, Finland that gathers the leading experts and decision-makers from around the world to single forum. The event´s speaker list includes major technology vendors, EU cyber security authorities, top decision makers and representatives from some of the biggest operators around the world, topped with leading professionals and evangelists in the field of 5G cyber security.

Please sign up by November 25, 2019. Registrations are handled by PR Agency Miltton, liisa.myllymaki@miltton.fi

Business

WeWork? More like WePull: New flexible co-working is fuelling office romances

ByCFI.co Blogger

The melting pot of young creative talent is having surprising effects on co-worker’s love lives

It used to be down to catching the eye of your suitor at the water cooler, but now with the influx of co-working super offices with an average of 700 members per building, office romances are hitting record levels.

Daily networking opportunities, huge open plan co-working areas and free beer are some of the features that are helping to turn WeWork into “WePull”.

“If you fill a building with young, ambitious people, then fuel them with free beer, topped off with evening networking – it’s going to bring people together and I guess that’s the point!”, says Jonathan Ratcliffe from Offices.co.uk

“We’ve been told that the large buildings are very busy with new relationships, and many are working out. People seem to have a common goal, a reason to chat and the environment is very productive to new relationships – both business and personal”, Ratcliffe adds.

The average amount of co-workers per WeWork location is nearly 700 – with a steady turnover and influx of new members every day, those looking for new romance can sit back and take their pick.

Even if it doesn’t work out, flexible workspace means just that – move to the next.

But there are pitfalls for those working for large organisations though – breeching company policy and embarrassing public arguments could have serious effects for those in long term employment.

According to a survey by Vault.com industries with the highest “fling per head” were:

Retail – 62%
Technology – 60%
Human Resources – 57%
Insurance – 54%
Finance – 49%

The survey also found that 51% had an office romance at some point, and 20% were in a relationship with a co-worker at that very time.

“It’s not surprising that the industries that typically use co-working workspaces are those who enjoy the most work flings”, concludes Jonathan Ratcliffe from Offices.co.uk

Survey data taken from Vault.com: https://www.vault.com/blogs/workplace-issues/2015-office-romance-survey-results

Spokesperson Jonathan Ratcliffe from Offices.co.uk is available for comment on 020 3151 3360 or by email jr@offices.co.uk

Offices.co.uk is a National Provider of Serviced Offices and Flexible Workspaces.

Website: https://www.offices.co.uk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/offices_co_uk

Economics

Triple Hit: Brexit, Election and Christmas impacting office space take up

ByCFI.co Blogger

Confidence of potential occupiers of office space has taken a triple hit in the run up to Christmas

The annual Christmas slowdown in office deals has come earlier in 2019 than ever, as a triple hit of Brexit worries, Election uncertainty and staff taking a long Christmas break has upset potential occupiers’ confidence according to Office Agents Offices.co.uk.

“We are seeing a very early slowdown in deals being done, and we are being told it’s because of three main reasons: Brexit, the General Election and the long 12-day Christmas holidays this year”, says Offices.co.uk Senior Broker Jonathan Ratcliffe.

Brexit is well reported, as is the General Election – but combined with an annual leave trick staff are using whereby using 5 days annual leave nets them 12 days off. The effect is a delay in bosses decision making process.

One potential deal for a large office space in Bank, City of London was kicked back 6 months as the occupier simply couldn’t get their head around how the economy might change in 2020. They are an international company, with offices in Berlin, Madrid and London and their European CEO simply cannot predict what will happen in the UK – he’s been forced to delay his office search until next summer.

“It seems to be a recurring theme – Brexit has dented confidence; the Election supercharges the effect and Christmas is slow anyway – we might as well finish for 2019 now and get the mince pies out” says Ratcliffe

Reports from regional cities such as Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham are that office space enquiries are drying up much earlier than previous years.

Jonathan Ratcliffe from Offices.co.uk adds: “Leeds was really busy until the news of the Election, then the phone stopped ringing”

How employees are using 5 days annual leave to net a 12 day Christmas Holiday: https://www.offices.co.uk/christmas-holiday-hack-get-a-festive-12-day-christmas-break-by-taking-just-5-days-off/

Spokesperson Jonathan Ratcliffe from Offices.co.uk is available for comment on 020 3151 3360 or by email jr@offices.co.uk

Offices.co.uk is a National Provider of Serviced Offices and Flexible Workspaces.

Website: https://www.offices.co.uk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/offices_co_uk

Finance

Onguard’s new machine learning function enables companies to predict customer payment behaviour

ByCFI.co Blogger

London, 14 November 2019 – Onguard, the fintech company that streamlines the entire order-to-cash process, has announced that in collaboration with Altares Dun & Bradstreet and Quantforce, machine learning will feature in its platform to enable businesses to predict the payment behaviour of debtors and act accordingly.

Available from early 2020, the platform brings together historical data from Onguard’s software, external debtor information from business data expert Altares Dun & Bradstreet and the relevant invoice and payment history of the customer via machine learning on a scorecard generated by Quantforce. The resultant score ranks the debtors in order of the risk of non-payment which enables organisations to estimate and anticipate the payment behaviour of customers at an early stage.

Adjusting workflows based on debtor information
Once the customer’s risk profile is known, it becomes possible to adjust workflows directly to payment risk with the help of artificial intelligence. When it is predicted that a customer will not pay or pay too late, it is possible to immediately take the necessary actions. This saves the organisation time and limits exposure and unnecessary tasks, such as sending reminders or transferring it to collection agencies. Similarly, this avoids those customers who are shown to regularly pay on time being bothered unnecessarily.

“There is an enormous amount of data available both within and outside organisations, which is currently not being used,” says Daniel van den Hoven, VP Alliances & Partners at Onguard. “With all available data, organisations can better understand customers. In addition, credit managers see at a glance which customer needs extra attention and can easily prioritise. The advantage for the organisation is that there is more focus on high-risk customers and that the processing time for invoices becomes shorter.”

Thanks to the collaboration between Quantforce, Altares Dun & Bradstreet and Onguard, it is possible for businesses to predict in advance whether and when customers will pay. This is beneficial for both the organisation and the customer because immediate action can be taken to find a solution when a payment fails. In this way, credit management is organised more proactively and efficiently

Rob Berting, Managing Director of Quantforce adds: “The collaboration between these three parties from the same market is logical. All three have our own expertise and because we have joined forces, we can offer even more value to the customer. Quantforce assigns the scores on the basis of proven algorithms and also applies machine learning. This makes it possible to automatically adjust workflows on the Onguard platform to the debtor risk. In this way Onguard can optimally support the customer and their debtors in the order-to-cash process.”

Adriaan Kom, Director Partnerships at Altares Dun & Bradstreet: “We place great value on the customer relationship and thanks to this collaboration we can add even more value to the customer. The combination of data gives organisations an insight into how a debtor will behave in the near and distant future. In this way a company gains a more in-depth understanding of the customer which will elevate the business to a higher level.”

About Onguard

Over the past 25 years, Onguard has grown from a specialist in credit management software to a market leader in innovative solutions in the field of order to cash. The integrated platform ensures that all processes in the order-to-cash chain are optimally linked and that critical data can be shared. Intelligent tools which interface seamlessly combine to provide an overview and control of the payment process and help build lasting customer relationships. Users in over 50 countries worldwide work with the Onguard platform on a daily basis to achieve successful management and tangible results in Order to Cash and Credit Management. Read more at http://onguard.com/.

Banking

Visa And Georgia’s Tbc-Backed Neobank – Space Announce Strategic Partnership

ByCFI.co Blogger

Visa signs partnership agreement with FTSE250 TBC Bank’s Space, the first Georgian neobank,to develop innovative banking solutions in Georgia andbeyond in the growing digital payments landscape

Visa And Georgia’s Tbc-Backed Neobank - Space Announce Strategic Partnership

TBILISI, 14 NOVEMBER 2019 – Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, and Space, the first fully digital bank in Georgia, today announced they have signed a partnership agreement to jointly develop innovative banking services and expand digital banking footprints in new geographies.

Space is a startup backed by TBC Bank and was launched in 2018 with just three employees. They now have more than 70 employees, and have amassed a portfolio of more than 160,000 consumers. The bank operates as an innovative banking laboratory, and has successfully introduced financial services in new formats in Georgia. These include online bank account opening, remote KYC, courier card delivery by electro scooters, and the ability to manage all banking services through a mobile app.

Through the partnership, Visa will work with Space to jointly develop innovative, user-centric and secure banking solutions and help Space in their ambitions to expand to other countries focusing on CISSEE (Commonwealth of Independent States and Southeastern Europe).

Nikoloz Kurdiani, the Deputy CEO of TBC Bank said,“Space has the ability to transform everyday banking experiences by making them easier and better. When we launched Space, we wanted to move beyond the traditional banking approach and outdated technology to create a new type of bank in Georgia that would be better at responding to modern customers’ needs. Now, we are ready to go global. Therefore, it is critically important for us to have gained Visa as our strategic partner. Space has proved that its innovative and ambitious vision is realistic and that it is ready to accomplish bigger goals.”

Yevgen Lisnyak, Senior Director and Head of Strategic Partnerships, Fintech & Ventures (Visa, CISSEE), added:“At Visa we believe in the power of partnership to bring our profound experience and innovative solutions to emerging payment players like Space. Being in the center of Fintech ecosystem, we aim to share our knowledge, best practices and network of technological partners with Space to achieve mutual goals in expanding the reach of digital financial services. Today, we are witnessing a rapid transformation of the financial banking sector, where new players are playing a significant role. Neobanks are agile, consumer-centric, flexible and innovative, offering modern consumers completely new financial solutions and digital banking experience. We are excited to be able to support fintechs to navigate the payments landscape in the Caucasus region to achieve their business growth and international expansion ambitions”

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 www.corporate.visa.com, www.visasoutheasteurope.com, https://www.facebook.com/VisaGeorgiaGE;

About Space

For the first time in region, thoroughly digital banking service – Space has launched. Space, powered by TBC Bank, is aka Neobank, that doesn’t have any branch offices or physical spaces, and exists just on mobile phones. Space is user friendly and aims at giving simple, transparent and rapid daily financial service. Space, the first ever digital bank in Georgia and in the region, was launched in May, 2018 and it has already achieved more than 400,000 downloads and 160,000 registered customers (As of 31 September, 2019). Aim of Space bank is to deliver a full daily banking mobile service with superior customer experience by putting special focus on differentiating by design, customer care, price transparency and instant service delivery. Space is available on App Store and Google Play.

Business

SMEs hoarding record levels of cash amid Brexit turmoil – and it’s costing them billions a year

ByCFI.co Blogger

SMEs now hold an estimated £333 billion in cash deposits – a record high
But SMEs are set to miss out on £3.7 billion in interest this year because their money is languishing in low-paying savings accounts
This may also be damaging to the UK economy as it relies heavily on the performance of SMEs, says Flagstone

UK small and medium-sized businesses are holding record levels of cash as uncertainty surrounding Brexit persists – and it is costing them billions of pounds a year, new analysis reveals.

In the last 12 months, SME’s cash reserves have increased by more than 3% to £333 billion – the highest level on record – according to analysis of UK Finance figures by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) on behalf of Flagstone, the UK’s largest cash deposit platform.

Much of this growth has been from deposits into instant-access accounts. Indeed, nearly 58% of all SME cash reserves are now being held in instant-access accounts, suggesting that firms want quick access to their money.

However, by doing this firms are missing out on billions of pounds of interest as these accounts typically pay the lowest interest rates.

With SMEs currently holding £191 billion in instant-access accounts and receiving an average rate of 0.41 % [1], they are on track to earn £566 million in interest in the coming year, CEBR’s analysis found. However, if they were to switch to a market leading instant-access rate of 1.40% [2], they would earn £2.7 billion in total in the next year – £2.1 billion more than they are currently expected to earn.

Further, UK SMEs currently hold £141 billion in fixed-rate deposit accounts earning on average 0.86%, meaning they are expected to earn £1.2 billion in the next 12 months. But if SMEs instead switched to the market-leading 1.95% one-year fixed rate, they would collectively earn £2.8 billion in interest in the coming 12 months – £1.6 billion more than they would have otherwise.

It means, in total, firms are expected to miss out on £3.7 billion in interest in the next year because their money is languishing in low-rate savings accounts.

That extra £3.7 billion would be enough to fund for a year the salaries of more than 123,360 additional workers on the UK average annual salary of £29,588[3].

Separate research conducted by YouGov on behalf of Flagstone reveals why SMEs are reluctant to shop around for a better rate for their cash.

Almost four in ten (39%) of the 500 firms surveyed said the hassle of opening an account is the greatest barrier stopping them from moving their money followed by 34% of firms who said the perceived risks of depositing money with a challenger or non-high street bank was the biggest deterrent.

Andrew Thatcher, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of Flagstone, said: “It’s clear that firms are worried about what effect Brexit will have on their business and are hording cash in case the waters become choppy. However, whilst this may be a sensible move, our study reveals that firms aren’t choosing the best home for their cash. Often, firms are getting sub-optimal rates of interest when they could be getting much higher returns on their cash by shopping around.

“The research shows that savings apathy doesn’t just affect individual savers, but also the nation’s businesses too. Each year SMEs are missing out on billions of pounds of interest because they’re failing to shop around for a better deposit rate for their cash reserves. Firms that forego this extra cash could be missing out on the chance to grow their business by hiring extra staff or investing in productivity improvements.”

“The solution a platform like Flagstone provides is that it not only consistently keeps business owners and financial directors in the path of the best rates, but it also removes the barriers to switching, providing a simple way to increase income and reduce risk. If you are an SME or charity with excess cash at bank it makes no sense not to at least consider a service such as Flagstone and choose from one of hundreds of deposit products at the touch of a button to earn more money.”

[1] All figures on current SME cash holdings and average interest rates are Bank of England data, analysed by the Cebr

[2] Correct as at 4 November 2019

[3] Employee earnings in the UK: 2018, released by ONS on 25 October 2018. Annual figure calculated by multiplying median full-time gross weekly earnings (£569) by 52

Flagstone

Flagstone is an FCA authorised and regulated fintech company (FCA reference numbers 676754 and 605504) located in London and founded in 2013. Flagstone’s online cash deposit platform enables companies, charities and individuals to earn more interest and reduce risk through diversification. Completion of a single application gives the client access to over 550 deposit accounts from 38 different banks and enables them to research and open accounts in just a matter of keystrokes. The platform puts clients in control of their cash, giving them access to market-leading and exclusive rates from a growing panel of UK banks, consolidated reporting and regular new rate alerts to ensure that their cash is working as hard as possible for them 24/7. For more information, see www.flagstoneim.com or watch a short film explaining what we do and how it benefits clients by clicking here.

All of the UK banks on the Flagstone platform are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the PRA. Deposits placed with any of these banks via the Flagstone platform are afforded exactly the same Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection (i.e. £85,000 per individual depositor per authorised institution) as if the client placed the deposit directly with the bank.

Technology

G-Core Labs and Wasabi Technologies partner to offer superior cloud storage and CDN services for the media and entertainment business

ByCFI.co Blogger

Boston, MA / Amsterdam, NL. Wasabi Technologies, the hot cloud storage company, today announces a partnership with G-Core Labs, an international provider of cloud and edge solutions for content delivery, hosting and security. Now Wasabi customers can leverage company’s cloud storage with G-Core Labs global content delivery network (CDN), whilst G-Core Labs expands the geography of its cloud storage in Europe, North America and Asia by offering Wasabi.

The integrated solution particularly benefits customers with applications that require large file sizes to be transported and stored with high performance such a media storage, gaming, e-commerce and online services. The partnership will significantly reduce costs for customers, while increasing their speed of operations and making it easier for them to scale internationally. It will also provide fault-tolerant data warehousing and content delivery network functionality with Wasabi’s 11x9s data durability and G-Core Labs CDN average response time of less than 30 milliseconds.

Dmitry Samoshkin, vice president of products at G-Core Labs commented: “By simultaneously providing high-quality cloud storage and accelerating the loading and delivery of multimedia content and business information, G-Core Labs and Wasabi are together offering ground-breaking, integrated solutions.Whether you are a fast-growing online multimedia service provider, a game developer, bank or medical company, your business requires a high-performance content delivery network that makes it easy to scale. This is what this partnership is offering – at market-leading prices.”

“Through this partnership, customers can take advantage of G-Core Labs’ market leading content delivery network services in combination with Wasabi’s hot cloud storage offering” stated David Friend, CEO of Wasabi. e

“The G-Core Labs CDN is easily accessible for Wasabi customers in Europe, Russia and Asia as it has been integrated through our S3 API. Together, we are enabling customers to get ahead of the competition by cutting storage costs and ensuring faster, more reliable data delivery.”

Wasabi delivers a truly agile and cost-effective storage hub for hybrid and multi-cloud media workflows. This is built on a revolutionary file system and architecture, with multiple data centres across the United States and in Europe.

Wasabi writes and reads data faster than competing cloud storage services and the company has transformed the cloud storage market by offering a single tier of ultra-high performance storage with no charges for data egress or API requests.

About G-Core Labs

G-Core Labs is an international cloud and edge leader in content delivery, hosting and security solutions for any business, headquartered in Luxembourg, whose global infrastructure is included in the Guinness Book of Records.

G-Core Labs provides a wide range of services for customers of all industries that develop their business online. The company’s services include managed hosting, content delivery network (CDN), advanced media platform for professional broadcasts and streaming of any complexity, protection against DDoS attacks of any level, cloud content storage etc. G-Core Labs built its own global infrastructure on all continents (over 100 nodes in reliable Tier 3 data centers) with the best CDN performance in Europe, Russia and the CIS.

The company’s clients are leading international and regional brands in the field of telecommunications, finance, media, video games developers and publishers, including MTS, Beeline, Megaphone, Tinkoff Bank, Wargaming holding (World of Tanks, World of Warships, World of Warplanes), american publisher of games RedFox Games, TV channel “78”, etc.

On content delivery network (CDN)

G-Core Labs created its own global content delivery network on five continents to solve the difficult problem of instantly transmitting the heaviest type of content — high-quality online games, with peak loads on the system. The infrastructure created was tested by millions of users playing at the same time and became the owner of the Guinness record.

G-Core Labs provides instantaneous transfer of content, speeding up customers’ websites and online stores and offering highly-efficient security.

G-Core Labs network is ready for any peak traffic, as the total network bandwidth exceeds 7 Tbit/s. G-Core Labs has about 4,000 peering partners, in addition to agreements with major operators and an ISP license.

CDN by G-Core Labs has the best performance in Europe, Russia and the CIS according to Citrix.com, a leader in independent monitoring and optimising CDN performance, in the following parameters:

The best throughput (the amount of data that a site transmits in fixed time)
The best response time (actual request processing time, plus the delay in transmitting information over the network and messages delay in the queue)
The best time of files downloading.

Furthermore, CDN by G-Core Labs allows for:

• More than 1 million full HD videos to be watched at the same time

• Over 2.1 million simultaneous requests to be sent to the site per second

• Five million song downloads per second

• More than 20 million tracks to be listened to at the same time

About Wasabi Technologies

Wasabi is the hot cloud storage company delivering disruptive storage technology that is 1/5th of Amazon S3 and faster than the competition with no fees for egress or API requests. Unlike first generation cloud vendors, Wasabi focuses solely on providing the world’s best cloud storage platform. Created by Carbonite co-founders and cloud storage pioneers David Friend and Jeff Flowers, Wasabi is on a mission to commoditize the storage industry. Wasabi is a privately held company based in Boston, MA. Follow and connect with Wasabi on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and our blog.

Finance

Financial Sector Turning Backs On Younger Workers As Employers Prefer ‘Loyal’ Older Generations

ByCFI.co Blogger

November 2019

More than a third of business owners in the finance sector would choose to recruit an older worker than a younger candidate with exactly the same skills and experience, according to new research.

In a national survey, more than a third (36%) of 1,000 SME business owners across a range of sectors including education, healthcare, IT, manufacturing, hospitality and tourism said that they would sooner recruit a 55-year-old than a 24-year-old, with 35% of business owners in the finance sector saying the same. Just a quarter (25%) of finance business owners preferred a 24-year-old with the same CV. Issues raised by business leaders about so-called ‘snowflake’ and ‘Millennial’ employees included ‘lower productivity’, ‘higher absence rates’ and ‘a poorer grasp of the English language’, instead preferring ‘loyal’ older workers, according to data gathered by the UK’s most trusted business healthcare provider, Benenden Health.

The study, which also surveyed 1,000 employees, found that nationally more than half (56%) of Generation Z employees (aged 16-23) felt they have been overlooked for roles due to their age compared to 47% of Millennials (aged 24-38), 29% of Generation X (aged 39-54) and a third (34%) of Baby Boomers (aged 55-72). More than a third of employees surveyed in the finance sector felt they had been overlooked for a job due to their age.

However, when it comes to attracting and retaining a workforce, the findings have shown a major discrepancy between what employers and employees see as a priority, with 56% of employees in the financial sector stating that a strong health and wellbeing scheme would increase their likelihood to stay with a business.

Health and wellbeing packages are starting to command increasing importance for employees, with nearly half of all respondents in the finance sector (48%) saying a strong health and wellbeing benefit would increase their likelihood to join or stay with a business. Nationally, Generation Z employees (aged 16-23) revealed they would be willing to sacrifice a whopping third of their salary to receive a healthcare package that fits their personal needs.

Yet, despite this, nearly two thirds (64%) of SMEs surveyed in the finance sector reported that they don’t have a healthcare package in place for employees above statutory allowances, with 57% of those without one claiming they don’t believe it is necessary and nearly half (46%) saying they don’t believe or weren’t sure a strong health and wellbeing package is valuable in recruiting and retaining employees.

In addition, more than a quarter of financial businesses (26%) revealed that they have never consulted workers on what they would value in a healthcare package, despite employees having different priorities depending on their age. Nationally, younger workers revealed that they place value on mental health support, counselling sessions and life skill lessons, whereas older generations said regular medical checks and flexible working were top of their list of potential healthcare benefits.

Helen Smith, Chief Commercial Officer of Benenden Health, commented: “Our research has highlighted some interesting statistics on the attitudes of employers towards a multigenerational workforce. The finance sector appears to be one of the more progressive industries in regard to hiring younger workers, but there is still a preference for older workers, even those with the same skills and experience as younger candidates. Unlocking the potential of a multigenerational workforce is the key to harnessing skills and talents of different generations.

“Our research found that healthcare is becoming increasingly valued by financial workers with nearly half (47%) of employees in the sector willing to sacrifice over 30% of their salary – indicating that businesses should be offering tailored health and wellbeing plans to meet the varied needs of a modern workforce and attract a talent multigenerational workforce

“Younger generations told us that mental health support is of great importance to them, but these priorities change over time. Generation X workers often have the dual commitment of looking after children and parents so flexible working is valued by them, and with employees working longer than ever, ensuring your older workers are catered for as well – through regular eyesight and hearing tests, and ergonomic offices, for example – is vital to maintaining a strong modern workforce.

“At Benenden Health we firmly believe that a healthy workforce is a productive and motivated workforce and having these open conversations with employees and tailoring a healthcare approach to suit will put businesses in prime position for recruiting, retaining and maximising talent.”

Benenden Health is a not-for-profit society with a UK-wide membership of over 815,000, founded in 1905 to bring people together to help pay for medical care when they might need it. Today, it has a mission to support businesses by providing affordable healthcare that helps keep employees healthy and valued and businesses thriving.

To download Benenden Health’s guide to managing the needs of a multigenerational workforce, go to: https://www.benenden.co.uk/health-through-your-life

Top five sectors least likely to hire younger generations:

Out of 1,000 SME employers, it was found that these five sectors are the least likely to hire a 24-year-old over a 55-year-old

Manufacturing (11% preferred a 24 year old to a 55 year old with the same CV)
Education (15%)
Tourism and Leisure (19%)
Retail, Hospitality and Catering (19%)
Healthcare (24%)

Technology

Veriff hires a top executive from Stack Overflow and opens an office in New York

ByCFI.co Blogger

Online verification company Veriff hires Guy Zerega, a former Executive Vice President of Revenue of Stack Overflow. Zerega serves as the Senior Vice President of Sales at Veriff being in charge of building the company’s global sales organization and business expansion.

Zerega spent the last 8 years at a programmer-specific Q&A portal Stack Overflow leading the sales organization as their Executive Vice President of Revenue and working to make the internet a better place.

According to Guy Zerega, Veriff SVP of Sales, the mission of a safer internet aligns perfectly with Veriff’s intention to make trust scalable and reliable the online world. “In a couple of years, the idea of online identity verification will become commonplace. I see tremendous potential for Veriff to dramatically change the online verification processmeanwhile building and improving trust on the Internet.”

According to Kaarel Kotkas, Veriff CEO and founder, it’s exciting to welcome Guy to Veriff’s team. “Guy brings over 20 years of sales, sales leadership, and building world-class sales and customer success teams globally to Veriff. He has lots of experience in opening new offices, market expansion and that’s what he is also going to focus on in Veriff. Together with Guy we can turn Veriff into a verb the fastest.”

Zerega started at Stack Overflow eight years ago being the employee number 38. Over the years, he built the company’s sales team from 3 to 135 people with three revenue streams. He has sold products and services in many different environments ranging from start-ups to the Fortune 50 companies. Under his leadership, Stack Overflow also opened overseas offices in London and Munich.

“I am looking forward to doing the same at Veriff, it’s super exciting. Opening the New York office and setting up a sales team in the US is a crucial first step for the further global expansion,” Zerega added.

Stack Overflow is a programmer-specific Q&A portal, where developers can ask their programming related questions by combining the idea of a Q&A site with voting and editing. With more than its 10 million users, Stack Overflow has grown into a trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

About Veriff

Veriff is a global online verification company that protects businesses and their customers from online identity fraud by making sure that a person is who they claim to be. With the help of artificial intelligence, Veriff analyses thousands of technological and behavioural variables in seconds, verifying people from 190+ countries. Founded in 2015, Veriff serves a global portfolio of internet businesses including fintech companies, sharing economy providers and marketplaces in London, New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Vienna, and other major cities. Veriff is an alumnus of the startup accelerator Y Combinator and has raised €7.35m ($8.3m) in funding. Veriff employs over 300 people in Tallinn, Estonia.