MasterCard has imposed a five-fold increase on credit card interchange fees charged for UK online purchases from the EU, following Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. Prior to Brexit, UK merchants and cardholders benefitted from a 0.3% cap on credit card interchange fees imposed by the European Commission. But with the country withdrawing from Europe, these fees will increase to 1.5%, as payments between the UK and the European Economic Area are now deemed “inter-regional”. The fee for debit card payments is also set to rise from 0.2% to 1.15%. The increase in fees is another blow to UK merchants…
Author: DigitalTimesNG
Visa has joined Zone2boost, an investment startup programme created by CaixaBank, Global Payments and Worldline, according to a finextra report. Visa joins the international innovation initiative following its first year of activity with more than 300 start-ups assessed, eight start-ups incorporated into its acceleration programme and a committed investment volume of €800,000. Companies receiving investments span a wide range of financial and e-commerce activities, driving innovation through the use of cutting edge technologies like blockchain and AI. Visa will contribute to the programme by helping selected startups to scale and enrich their products and by contributing to investment funding. Eduardo…
Pula, an African InsureTech service provider startup that specialises in digital and agricultural insurance to derisk millions of smallholder farmers across Africa, has closed a $6mn Series A fundraise led by TLcom Capital, with the participation of Women’s World Banking. The new investment will be used to scale up operations in the company’s existing 13 markets across Africa. Currently, Pula has impacted over 4.3mn farmers on the continent and the new funding will also help propel its expansion into Asia to power resilience and profitability for Asian smallholder farmers. Launched in 2015 by Rose Goslinga and Thomas Njeru, Pula designs…
By Obiora OKOYE The global demand for skilled Software Developers is directly proportional to the rate at which the software industry is growing. This new trend is making tech companies compete for relatively few Senior Engineers. Junior software developers who want to advance in their careers and take on senior engineering responsibilities should be prepared for the journey ahead of them due to the demand and expectations of the role. Here are some steps that Junior Software developers can take to advance to Senior engineering roles: Be consistent in enhancing technical skills As a software engineer, it is essential to…
54gene has unveiled its new lab in Lagos State, Nigeria, capable of human whole-genome sequencing and a variety of other scientific investigations. Hosting a suite of world-class molecular genomics capabilities, including the Illumina Novaseq 6000 and NextSeq 550Dx, the lab is part of 54gene’s mission to enable Africans to conduct genomics research and will be fully operational from this January 2021. Recently inspected by the Commissioner of Health for Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, the new lab is geared to crucially expedite internal and external research projects designed to facilitate precision medicine for Africans and the global population. 54gene is…
Prospective candidates for the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) – First Series for Private Candidates (WAEC GCE) across Nigeria can now conveniently purchase their registration ePINs through any of the multiple channels available on Remita, a leading electronic payment platform in Nigeria. This follows the recent announcement by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) of the commencement of the sale of WAEC GCE registration PINs, which closes on January 29, 2021. To obtain the ePIN, intending candidates are to visit the Remita website or download the Remita mobile app to make payment through their preferred payment channel…
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Engr. Festus Y.A Daudu has charged the management of the National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) to ensure that it keeps building the capacity of Nigerians in Information and Communication Technology sector. Engr. Daudu made this charge on Thursday at the Ministry’s headquarters when the NITDA’s Director-General, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, led some members of his management to brief the Permanent Secretary about the activities of the Agency. According to the Permanent Secretary, “you need to make sure that the necessary capacity is developed within the ecosystem because you have…
MasterCard and its strategic partner, Network International, have collaborated to launch a new digital platform which will accelerate the adoption of digital payments across the Middle East and Africa. MasterCard is a technology leader in the global payments industry, while Network International is the leading enabler of digital commerce in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. With this new digital platform launching in January, Network International will help its clients to enable mobile-based payments for their consumers and merchants across various channels. Merchants will now have one simple-to-use technology interface through which they will be able to accept multiple…
As people everywhere ramp up their usage of instant messaging and more and more are choosing Ayoba, MTN Group said it is proud to partner with this unique instant messaging platform localised for the needs of consumers across Africa. Launched in 2019 to improve access to affordable communications, Ayoba is active in 17 MTN markets and is also available to download onto Android smartphones in numerous other markets from Google Play and via the Ayoba website www.ayoba.me as an over-the-top (OTT) offering. Ayoba is focused on protecting users’ privacy and security: it is not possible for messages in the app to be…
After losing around $4.5 billion over the past five years, LG’s smartphone business has been struggling to compete with rivals, and therefore, it’s considering exiting the smartphone market in 2021. LG CEO, Kwon Bong-Seok has notified employees that the company is considering making big changes to its smartphone business. The Korea Herald reports that Kwon Bong-Seok sent out an internal memo to staff on Wednesday, hinting at a change in direction for LG’s phone business. “Since the competition in the global market for mobile devices is getting fiercer, it is about time for LG to make a cold judgment and the…