Category: E-Commerce

Payza Leads The Way With Bitcoin Integration

Bitcoin, E-Commerce, FinTech, payments, payza

Today most people are familiar with Bitcoins or some other form of virtual currency. Bitcoins especially have been in the news in recent times due the unprecedented increase in their value. Bitcoins have been around for a long time but their popularity has grown in the past few years. Merchants across the world now support payments in digital currencies. Bitcoins are stored in a Bitcoin wallet and are traded on a Bitcoin exchange. As with all virtual currencies, bitcoins do not depend on any central regularization authority or banking system. Bitcoins are a form of cryptocurrency and they function on a decentralized peer to peer network using blockchain technology. As they use encryption techniques, they are not easy to counterfeit which makes them all the more attractive to users of digital currency.

Popular online payment processing platform Payza is one of the first online platforms to provide complete support for Bitcoins. Payza merchants can store Bitcoins in their accounts instead of having to convert them into a fiat currency. Members can buy and sell their Bitcoins using Payza. Payza wallets can hold regular currency as well as Bitcoins and members can easily convert funds into Bitcoins and vice versa.

Cryptocurrency Address Manager

Payza has announced its latest cryptocurrency feature called Cryptocurrency Address Manager. This new feature allows Payza members to generate and manage cryptocurrency addresses within their Payza accounts.

With the new feature Payza members will be able to generate their own bitcoin address and the QR code for their Payza Account. They can easily receive bitcoins from other bitcoin wallets. The service is free and users are not charged to receive bitcoins using this method.

How To Exchange Bitcoin To And From The Fiat Currency

Payza users can hold bitcoin balances and freely convert funds between bitcoins and other fiat currencies supported by the platform.

The Exchange currencies feature is Payza can be used to exchange Bitcoins. Similarly, users can transfer funds using Bitcoins. The Transfer feature can be used to convert bitcoins into fiat currency and vice versa. One of Payza’s key strengths is that it has a simple and easy to use interface. Most functionality is intuitive and can be performed with a few clicks.

Users can send bitcoins to other Payza members instantly from within their Payza accounts. Bitcoins is listed as one of the currency options in Payza. When sending funds, users can choose if they would like the recipient to pay the fees or they will pay the receiving fees. All these features make Payza a very flexible and adaptable platform for different user needs.

Bitcoin Wallet Transfers

Payza users can also transfer bitcoins between their Payza e-wallet and other bitcoin wallets. They can easily add and withdraw bitcoins from their Payza accounts using the Deposit and Withdraw features. These updates make Payza one of the best Bitcoin services payment platform in the market today. Payza also has a resolution center, where in Payza personnel are available to resolve any issues that might arise between buyers and sellers dealing in Bitcoins.

Steps To Take For Running a Successful Fintech Company

E-Commerce, FinTech, payments, payza

Today, you can find so many fintech companies sprouting up, primarily because of the need for funding by companies big and small. The Fintech industry has grown exponentially and there is no sign of stopping it. You can even see some financial intuitions partnering with Fintech companies, acquiring them else initiating their own Fintech startup as a means of expanding their services and providing more finding. Why?

It’s easier to take a loan from such a company because it does not pose many restrictions or regulations and the cost of loan is cheap. A Fintech company as such does not have to deal with the huge number of legal laws as seen by a normal banking service. Businesses that can never think of availing a loan through a regular bank find their way to a Fintech company for the same. The financial markets have not been the same since the rise of Fintech enterprises.

Image Courtesy: PYMNTS.com

Steps To Take For the Success of Your Fintech Startup

With the demand for such funding rising, many entrepreneurs are seeking to initiate a Fintech company. The key financial services offered by such companies are online lending, wealth management, payment and remittance services and insurance. However, along with the rise of many Fintech startups comes competition within its sector. How can your company be the leader in the Fintech world? Here is a look at what you need to know before venturing into the Fintech industry:

  • Get expert legal advice on all the rules and regulations that apply in your industry. You should be aware of the don’t in this industry to avoid legal pitfalls.
  • Check out the competition and do not limit your search to similar Fintech companies but also banks and other legal lending institutions.
  • Offer new and innovative finance lending services, which offer low interest rates and attractive monthly installment plans. Being different induces interest in your brand.
  • Look into new and innovative software that you customers can use to check services offered by you, open an account through your site and monitor their loans etc. Opt for the use smart internet and mobile technology when offering your services because it will make people feel inclined towards your business as it shows you are technology savvy and make use of it to make your services more easily accessible to people.
  • Opt for an appropriate financial niche by understanding various services offered by Fintech companies. Choose what you are comfortable with and what will make your brand shine in the market.
  • Show how you are trustworthy because this is the key factor to gaining customers. For example, telling customers that your site is secure with modern encryption which ensures their data security is a way of showing that your brand is reliable.
  • Get an optimal social media plan, one that promotes your Fintech Company in the best possible way in front of competitors and gains the kind of customers desired to your site. Include engaging content in your social media posts and respond to comments to show that your brand is always accessible to the public and is ready to address concerns at any time.
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Corporate Culture Is A Key Ingredient In Supporting Innovation

Corporate Culture, E-Commerce, FinTech, Firoz Patel, payments, payza

In today’s fast-paced times where companies are struggling to stay afloat, what sets top companies apart is their futuristic vision and an ability to innovate and adapt to changing consumer needs, expectations and demands. So how does an organization prepare itself for the disruptive forces that have become the norm in current digital times? What is the secret ingredient that allows some companies to better adapt to changing circumstances? It has been found that corporate culture plays a big role in the ability of an organization to innovate and adapt.

Corporate Culture

So what exactly is corporate culture? Corporate culture usually refers to the value system and beliefs that drive the behaviors and decisions of a company’s management and employees both within the company and with outside business partners. Culture usually builds over a period of time and is not explicitly defined. Culture affects the day to day functioning of the company and its employees. A healthy business organizational culture can go a long way in motivating employees and in turn increasing customer satisfaction. There is a theory that if you keep your employees happy, they will keep your customers happy.

Importance Of Corporate Culture

According to research, corporate culture is one of the most important factors that drive innovation. A company that welcomes diversity encourages learning and allows people to fail will automatically be a more innovative company as people will be more willing to experiment and try out new ways of doing things.
It has been found that all innovative companies show similar traits in terms of corporate culture. The extent to which a company supports and fosters innovation within its structure and provides incentives for innovation allows it to quickly adapt to changing industry trends and stay ahead of its competitors.

Role Of Leadership

Leadership plays a very important role in building a positive corporate culture in the following ways:

  • Leadership needs to foster diversity in thinking and building of knowledge within the organization
  • There should always be an emphasis on team-work and collaboration
  • The corporate goals and values must be articulated very clearly and in such a way that it is understood by employees at all levels and imbibed in their day to day work
  • Leadership should have a pulse on the organization – this implies a good understanding on the thinking of their employees and how it impacts their behavior.

It is very important to continuously reinforce the company’s values and beliefs so that employees are aligned. New employees must be trained and made aware of how they are expected to function within the company or while carrying out business transactions with the company’s partners. A good training program can go a long way in achieving these objectives.

Thus, companies need to invest in understanding and developing their corporate culture that is conducive to growth as well as helps them to attain their long-term objects. Culture cannot be enforced and has to be built over a period of time. It also needs to be regularly monitored and corrective actions are taken where necessary.

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Avoid Pitfalls In Affiliate Marketing

E-Commerce, Marketing

Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest and most common form of online marketing. In this type of marketing arrangement, an online retailer pays commission to an external website or partner site for traffic or sales generated from its referrals.

The affiliate industry has many players. Affiliates are marketing partners. They include bloggers, review sites and organizations and can prove to be effective in selling a brand or service as affiliate marketing helps to drive new customers to a company. While this form of marketing has many benefits and helps to create a new customer base, there are also some watch outs.

Not All Affiliates Are Beneficial

In affiliate marketing, a company primarily benefits from the efforts of affiliates or channels. However, there could be some affiliates that are not really generating value. For example, some affiliates design their business models to capture customers who are already in the buying process in the shopping cart. Such affiliates get credit for transactions when the customer tries to make a purchase though they have done nothing to initiate or offer incremental value. It is important to scrutinize the contribution of affiliates to avoid this type of low and no value activity.

If you don’t do so, it can also negatively impact affiliates who are actually selling your brand and getting you new customers via blogs, social media or review sites.

Not All Affiliates Share Your Values

While affiliates give more significant value to the company, some involve in deceptive marketing activities to collect commissions. This kind of fake online marketing can put the brand and the integrity of your company at risk.

Many companies turn a blind eye to these wrong marketing techniques as it generates revenue. Sometimes companies do not have any idea of these types of affiliates who are promoting their brand in an illegal way. But remember it neither reflects well upon the company nor demonstrates a successful marketing program. To avoid unethical affiliates getting into your company you should screen all your partners carefully, have transparent insights into what they are doing to promote your brand and monitor their activities once they are taken into your program.

Over the years, the affiliate marketing domain has evolved and matured but some of the above problems still exist because they benefit the many players involved and shutting down this can mean less profitability. However, it has been observed that today companies are now becoming more concerned about how they partner and with whom. They prefer to pair with partners who share their values and can representing their brand with integrity.

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Country Spotlight: Invest in Spain

E-Commerce, FinTech, payments, payza

 

Compared to other Western European countries, e-commerce in Spain has developed slowly. Held back by the challenges of recovering from the recession, digital investment has lagged within Spain and international merchants have overlooked the country. But today, Spain’s e-commerce market has grown to become the largest in Southern Europe and businesses expanding into Spain will find plenty of opportunities for further growth.

Spain is the fifth largest country in the EU by population and this country provides a key business market with an e-commerce sector recording the largest growth of any European country. The opportunities available for cross-border merchants to do business in Spain are due, in part, to the country’s underdeveloped domestic solutions. Three out of every five Spaniards regularly shop online and, most importantly, more than half of all online purchases made in Spain are made on e-commerce websites based outside of the country.

Unless otherwise noted, figures in this article are sourced from:
ecommercewiki.org/Global_Ecommerce_Figures/Europe/Spain
thepaypers.com/ecommerce-facts-and-figures/spain/8

Spanish Consumers
Total population: 47 million
Internet users: 32 million
Online shoppers: 17 million
E-commerce sales: EUR 18.2 billion
E-commerce annual growth rate: 11.6%

Post-SEPA, it’s simpler than ever to do business in Spain. The nation’s economic recovery in recent years has been impressive, with the GDP growth rate at 1.6 at its highest and the consumer confidence index reaching 90.6, so it’s a valuable market for online retailers to expand into no matter where they’re from. With an annual e-commerce turnover of more than €18 billion and double digit year-over-year growth, tens of millions of Spanish consumers are spending more online, averaging over €1,000 per year and growing.

Though the internet penetration is relatively low for a country in Western Europe, the proportion of internet users that shop online is quickly approaching 100% and at least half of those people shop using their phones. The Spaniards who spend the most online belongs to the 35-54 age group. Debit cards are the most popular online payment method, with 61% penetration, and the most popular e-commerce product category is Apparel and Footware. Holiday shopping contributes to roughly one quarter of each year’s e-commerce turnover and (like in Italy, the UK, the US and Canada) the biggest online shopping day is Cyber Monday.

Drivers and Barriers
Driver: Mobile
Spain is the leader in Europe in m-commerce, with half of all e-commerce shoppers in Spain having already made at least one purchase using their phone in 2017 (an increase of 15% compared to 2016). However, only 53% of online retailers in Spain are offering support for mobile payments, which gives a big opportunity for cross-border merchants to meet an unfulfilled demand in the Spanish market.
The popularity of direct carrier billing also contributes to so many Spanish consumers making purchases with their mobile devices. Direct carrier billing, which allows consumers to make a purchase using their mobile device and have the cost added to their phone bill, is seen as easier and more secure, which helps Spanish consumers feel more confident in m-commerce.

Barrier: Logistics
Though Spain is now a major e-commerce market, it was late to the game. One artifact of this delay is the country’s underdeveloped logistics industry. While this has a definite negative effect on local retailers, it can actually be seen as an advantage for cross-border merchants. Because of poor logistics, Spanish consumers are accustomed to longer delivery times, allowing international merchants to compete with domestic providers on convenience. On the other hand, consumers in Spain desire a strong, customer-centric returns policy, which can be costly for out-of-country retailers.

Driver: Language
After Mandarin, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world. Savvy retailers can see the value of localizing their e-commerce website for the Spanish market because it also allows them to market to large Spanish-speaking populations in Latin America: a very populous and rapidly-emerging e-commerce market, and it can also increase the brand’s footprint with significant language minorities in USA, France and Portugal.

Barrier: Trust
Just because Spanish consumers want more options when they’re shopping online doesn’t mean that they’ll take anything they can get. Like in most European countries, recommendations from friends and colleagues significantly influence purchase decisions. Shopping cart abandonment is common in Spain – if retailers don’t provide enough detailed product information, a clear and flexible returns policy, and most importantly multiple payment options, they risk losing the sale. Offering Spanish-language customer service can also go a long way toward gaining trust and confidence from customers.

Spanish E-Commerce Facts
Largest e-commerce market in Southern Europe
Spanish consumers spend an average of €1,089 online per year.
55% of the e-commerce turnover is cross-border.
At least half of the online population shop with their smartphones.
The demographic that spends the most online is 35-54-year-olds.
Longer delivery times (3-5 days) are widely accepted.
Cyber Monday (the Monday after U.S. Thanksgiving) is the busiest online shopping day of the year.
The most popular payment method is debit cards, although credit cards, e-wallets and direct carrier billing are also popular.
The most popular product categories for online shoppers are Apparel & Footwear, followed by Food & Drink.

Spanish consumers are rapidly shedding their financial concerns, embracing impulse spending, and turning to their mobile devices for their online shopping. Building trust and organic brand awareness is key; while the market is far from crowded, for retailers to get the most out of Spain they must focus on customer experience and reputation. This becomes increasingly challenging the more saturated the market is, so if you’re looking to expand your e-commerce business, now is the time to enter one of the most attractive growing markets out there. Spain, with one of the most populous markets in Europe and who speaks the world’s second most common language, is hungry for cross-border e-commerce.

Expanding into a new cross-border market is always a challenge but can be very rewarding if done right. For the latest news and information about how to scale up your e-commerce enterprise into an international success, subscribe to the Payza Blog and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Top Technological Innovations in the Financial Industry

E-Commerce, FinTech, Firoz Patel, payza

Today the most important buzzword that has caused an uproar in the Banking and Financial services industries is Disruption. This vertical is probably the most impacted by recent technological innovations such as blockchain, robotics, big data, machine learning and prescriptive and predictive analytics. These technologies are majorly impacting the way we manage and transact in the financial world. Most payments can now be done online and there is a growing space for better payment methods including the emergence of payment processing platforms using e-wallets and mobile payment apps using digital wallets. All this digital innovation has caused massive disruption in the world of finance – one of the most legacy system based and heavily regulated the industry with strict compliance and auditing needs.

Let us take a look at some of the key new technologies that are causing the shift towards digital transformation.

Blockchain

If you have heard of bitcoins then in all probability you are familiar with blockchains. However, block chain has applications way beyond bitcoins and tech savvy companies are increasingly beginning to leverage this technology. The blockchain is basically a digital public ledger that maintains a distributed record of transactions across a network of public computers. Digital currencies have been using blockchain for a long time now.

At the heart of the blockchain is the concept of a network performing the role of trusted intermediary as against the traditional middlemen. This innovative financial technology has found several use cases in the industry and has also proved to be a major disruption for banks and traditional payment methods. Thus it is not a surprise that fin-tech companies are racing against each other to see how they can best leverage this technology to improve their services.

Image Courtesy: Business Insider

Digital Wallets

Digital wallets are another innovative financial technology that is gaining increasing popularity with smart phone users. These mobile payment systems are basically smartphones apps that can be used to hold your payments and loyalty card information. Major players in the market such as Google and Apple have their own digital wallets. There are also other providers such as Lemon and Square wallet that are also very popular with users. Google’s wallet is based on near field communication technology also referred to as NFC. The idea is that instead of using your card at the check out counter, you only have to tap your smartphone on the machine or wave it for the payment to be made. You can also save loyalty card information and coupons in most wallets as well as save receipts for future reference. Apple’s wallet uses the concept of a barcode for making payments. Needless to say, security is a very important consideration for digital wallets and all key players have the basic security measures in place.

Almost every area of the finance industry is being disrupted by these new technologies, forcing the traditional banking sector to re-evaluate and invest in digital innovation and transformation. This has changed the way of doing online business as we know it and the trend is only expected to continue in the future.

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A Challenger Appears: Ethereum Approaches Bitcoin Market Capitalization

Bitcoin, E-Commerce, FinTech, Firoz Patel, payments, payza

At the start of 2017, the global cryptocurrency market cap, that is, the total value of all cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Litecoin, was just under $18 billion USD. This was already a very promising increase from just $7.1 billion the year before. Compared to what was about to come however, even that increase seems minuscule. As of mid-June 2017, cryptocurrencies have reached a global market cap of just over $115 billion. That’s a 533% increase in less than half a year!

Payza has been keeping a close eye on the exciting new cryptocurrency trends, and in 2014, became one of the first e-wallets to allow its members to load and withdraw from their accounts using Bitcoin.

Until a few months ago, Bitcoin’s dominance, or the percentage of Bitcoin’s total value compared to the total combined cryptocurrency value, held steadily between 80% and 90%. Since March, however, there has been a tremendous rise in both awareness and value of Bitcoin alternatives, dubbed Altcoins. As a result, Bitcoin’s dominance has dropped significantly, making up just under 40% of total cryptocurrency value as of mid-June.

Trailing closely at 31% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, a challenger seems eager to take Bitcoin’s throne: Ether.

Ether

Built on the Ethereum computing platform, Ether (ETH) was released in May 2015 and has since gathered strong support from developers and investors alike, despite a hard fork in 2016 that prompted the creation of the Ethereum Classic (ETC). Following the success of the network and a growing market capitalization, multiple ventures are aiming to use Ethereum for projects related to finance, energy sourcing and pricing, sports betting, the internet-of-things, etc.

With an adoption rate that rivals that of Bitcoin, both experts and enthusiasts are becoming reluctant to use the term ‘altcoin’ when referring to Ether. There’s even speculation within the community that Ether will soon overtake the current leader, an event humorously named “The Flippening.”

The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance

With partners from multiple Fortune 500 companies (Microsoft, J.P. Morgan, Intel, etc.), research groups and blockchain startups, the nonprofit organization Enterprise Ethereum Alliance was established in March 2017 with a vision: to augment the Ethereum blockchain by creating a private version (currently known as EnEth 1.0), based on a reference architecture focusing on confidentiality, privacy, scalability and security. It will facilitate collaboration, as everything created will be open-source, making the EEA evolve alongside the public Ethereum community in harmony.

A Surge of ICOs

Part of the extraordinary increase in cryptocurrency value during the second quarter of 2017 is attributed to growing cryptocurrency awareness, the creation of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, but also to a multiplication of successful Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), crowdfunding campaigns dedicated to projects that build upon the Blockchain to provide solutions to existing problems or to future-proof the technology. Among the top ten crowdfunding projects, six are cryptocurrency-related, all based on the Ethereum blockchain: Bancor, the DAO, AEternity, MobileGo, Basic Attention Token and Aragon.

These projects, which have raised just over $477m, show tremendous support for the Ethereum blockchain, which was itself crowdfunded in September 2014 for $18m, a figure that pales in comparison of recent investments.

Altcoins and Payza

Payza has kept a watchful eye over all cryptocurrency developments, not just developments related to Bitcoin. As such, we’ve already started exploring and developing new ways to incorporate Ether and other Altcoins into our global online payment platform.

As cryptocurrency and blockchain technology advances, it is becoming increasingly clear that these currencies will make up a meaningful part of the global e-commerce ecosystem. The only questions that remain are which coins will emerge as the market leaders, and how much of global e-commerce volume will cryptocurrency payments make up?

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Need To Raise Funds For Your Business? Check Out Crowdfunding

crowdfunding, E-Commerce, payments

The traditional approach to raise funds for starting a new business has been to draw up a business plan and run it through interested parties who have the funds and are looking for good investment opportunities. These interested parties could be venture capitalists, angel investors or banks. This has been the most common approach followed in the past for new business ventures. In contrast, crowdfunding is a relatively new idea that is rapidly gaining ground.

What Is Crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is a method of fundraising through the collective contribution of individuals. These individuals could be your family, friends, customers or anyone who finds your idea interesting and is willing to invest. Thus, rather than focusing on a few wealthy individual investors, crowdfunding leverages the funds from a large pool of people. Individual contributions may be smaller but because of several contributors, this can raise big amounts. Funds are typically raised online via social media or crowdfunding platforms.

Benefits Of Online Crowdfunding
There are several benefits of using crowdfunding. Online crowdfunding platforms give you access to a huge number of accredited investors. Accredited investors are individuals whose net worth exceeds a certain amount and are able to legally invest in your venture. A good crowdfunding campaign is bound to include social media, email based newsletters, and other online marketing activities. You can track the status of your fundraising on crowdfunding platforms and see how far you have met your targets for business finance. Online platforms eliminate the need to follow up with each individual investor and you can also very quickly get feedback on your promotions and campaigns.

Types Of Crowdfunding
There are different types of crowdfunding and the one you choose depends on your business venture.

  • Rewards-Based Crowdfunding
    In this type of fundraising, people invest in your business venture with the promise of a reward in return. This could possibly be the use of your products or services. This is a popular method as there is no financial benefit or ownership to be provided to the investors.
  • Equity-Based Crowdfunding
    In this type of funding, investors receive your equity shares in return of investment thus becoming part owners of your business venture. Thus investors not only get some ownership but also are entitled to a share of your profits.
  • Donation-Based Crowdfunding
    In this type of funding, there are no returns provided to the investors. This is usually used for non-profit activities and charity based work.
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Reasons for More Banks to Team Up with Fintech Industry

cyber security, E-Commerce, FinTech, Firoz Patel, payments, payza

Fintech being the latest buzzword in the finance industry, more or less many people have already come to know about it. For those who are still in the dark and are finding this term totally unfamiliar, Fintech is a whole new industry offering financial benefits to various organizations.

The fintech industry is made of different companies that offer innovative and latest financial technologies for the betterment of financial services. With the growing competition in the market, more and more banks are opting for a partnership with this latest industry.

Here are the main reasons for why most banks are thinking about teaming up with it:

Allowing Latest Payment Methods
Providing innovative technological ideas for easy online transactions, the fintech is providing the banks with excellent financial services. Banks have suffered a serious loss in popularity, over the past few years due to their not-so-updated financial methods of proceeding with transactions online. The financial crisis is acting as an eye-opener, so the banks are now relying on Fintech.

Presenting the Refreshed Version of Brands
Around 83% of respondents are referring to fintech as the main factor in enabling them to refresh their brandings. Fintech is helping the banks to improve their relationship with the customers in the best possible way.

It’s also allowing banks to introduce the latest offers and services to the customers in the fastest way possible. It is simply providing opportunities for various financial organizations of repositioning themselves in the market through its cutting edge technologies.

Banks Are Able to Cut On Costs Significantly
It has been seen in the records that 87%of the total participants have been able to cut the costs successfully. The fintech sector’s total amount of transaction value is expected to grow up to $ 1.57 trillion by the year 2020.

So, there’s no doubt about the effectiveness of it in cutting up the costs. The reasons for these huge amounts of savings are the agile and flexible structure of Fintech, as well as the lesser requirement for developing the services offered to the customers at the end of the incumbents.

Increased and Boosted Revenues
In the recently conducted survey, it has been seen that almost 54% of the incumbents have experienced a certain increase in their revenues. With the passage of time, it is expected that the number of profits will be boosted more than now or ever. For enjoying the benefits of the partnership with Fintech, specific areas and strategies must be formed and decided by the banks.

Letting the banks in on the latest trends of financial service technologies, it is helping banks to transform and embrace digitalization. It is by joining forces with Fintech, that banks would be able to stay updated in the dramatically and drastically changed online payment landscape.

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