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KeyBank Introduces The Small Business Wellness Index

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KeyBank has launched the Small Business Wellness Index, which measures the drivers, challenges, payment trends and financing needs of small business owners across the country. Data is drawn from KeyBank’s proprietary Small Business Wellness Review, a first-of-its-kind program driven by artificial intelligence, which guides small business owners through a comprehensive conversation about their business to identify their needs and offers industry-specific guidance and customized cash flow recommendations.

“Not only does the AI-driven program supply business owners with the industry intel they need to stay competitive, it also helps us better understand our clients and offer personalized expertise,” said Kip Clarke, head of KeyBank’s Business Banking.

Since launching the Small Business Wellness Review in 2018, KeyBank has taken the pulse of more than 38,000 American small business owners across the bank’s 15-state footprint. The data provides a real-time perspective on small business sentiment and behaviors in the United States.

“With this significant critical mass of data, we have the unique opportunity to spot macro trends among small business owners that will offer meaningful insights and inform a more holistic banking experience in today’s digital-first world,” continued Clarke.

Top Findings from KeyBank’s Small Business Wellness® Index

The first Small Business Wellness Index from KeyBank, to be released on a quarterly basis, analyzed responses from more than 38,000 small business owners and found that cash flow is the top challenge for small businesses in Q1 2019, but business owners remain passionate and resilient. Top findings include:

  • An entrepreneurial spirit drove most owners to start their own small business, with respondents saying they wanted to be their own boss (21 percent), were motivated by passion for their business (20 percent) or by their entrepreneurial spirit (16 percent).
  • Money concerns rise to the top of small business challenges—with cash flow (43 percent), operating costs (24 percent) and financial control (14 percent) remaining the biggest challenge for small businesses owners across all markets and company ages in Q1 2019, aligning with business owner responses in Q3-Q4 2018.
  • More than half (51 percent) of small businesses say they have financing needs to keep their businesses operating,including increasing working capital (16 percent), purchasing equipment, vehicles or inventory (13 percent), as well as expanding products, services or locations (12 percent).

 

SOURCE KeyCorp

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MALAYSIA SIGNS MOC WITH NINE ASEAN COUNTRIES TO OPERATIONALISE REGIONAL CARBON MARKET AGENDA

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Malaysia has embarked on a landmark partnership with carbon market associations from nine other ASEAN nations through the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) aimed at developing a unified carbon framework, the ASEAN Common Carbon Framework (ACCF).

As the third-largest trader in the world, this strategic agreement is set to enhance carbon market efficiencies across the region, effectuate the green finance transition and secure bloc’s global competitiveness in the future.

It also comes as Malaysia prepares for the ASEAN Chairmanship 2025 and complements the country’s ambitious commitment to reduce the intensity of its carbon emissions by 45% (compared to 2005 levels) by 2030.  

Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, YB Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said, “This collaboration reflects Malaysia’s growing recognition of the urgency to address climate change, and is part of the initiatives that we hope to potentially operationalise as the ASEAN Strategy for Carbon Neutrality when Malaysia takes over the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2025. The ACCF is both timely and essential as it aspires to unlock carbon project  opportunities that is unique to the ASEAN region and at the same time, create stronger demand signals through interoperable carbon markets in this region, allowing us to build an integrated, efficient, and credible carbon market, fostering regional cooperation and accelerating low-carbon investments.”

ASEAN members representing a population of more than 600 million people, covering 4.5 million km2 land area, the combined Gross Domestic Product has raked up to USD 3.8 trillion in 2023, making it the world’s fifth-largest economy. Thus, projections indicate that by 2030, ASEAN is poised to ascend to the position of the world’s fourth-largest economy.

With a unified carbon market framework and strategic partnerships, the ASEAN collaboration is set to unlock carbon project opportunities that are unique to the region and simultaneously send a stronger demand signal to the world. The interoperable carbon markets creates a bigger market of supply and demand for carbon credits while fostering a cohesive carbon ecosystem that supports ASEAN’s overarching green finance goals.

By aligning standards, regulations, and trading mechanisms, Malaysia and other ASEAN Member States play a transformative role in generating and trading carbon while synergising its trading processes to ensure an efficient, transparent, and beneficial market for all participating economies.

To deepen and broaden ASEAN’s regional integration for years and generations to come, Malaysia will continue to reinforce its position in the region as an “Epicentrum of Growth”. This is not only to cement the country’s position to capture full value of regional green value chains and increase liquidity in regional markets, but to fulfil and grow the individual Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

At COP29, negotiators achieved a major breakthrough by reaching consensus on standards for an international carbon market under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement. These standards have established a centralised framework for carbon credit trading, designed to drive down global emissions more affordably with direct substantial financial resources to developing nations, emphasising its potential to save up to $250 billion annually in climate action costs.

The Malaysia Pavilion at COP29 is spearheaded by the Ministry of Natural Resources and  Environmental Sustainability (NRES) in collaboration with the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) as the implementing agency. The Pavillion and our country’s participation is proudly supported by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation (MPOGCF), Felda Global Ventures Holding Berhad (FGV), SD Guthrie Bhd, Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank), Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad (BPMB), Kloth Wear and De Carton.

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For more information regarding the Malaysian Pavilion at COP29, visit https://malaysiapavilion-cop.com/.

About the Malaysian Pavilion

Malaysia is proud to present our Malaysia Pavilion at COP29, built around the theme “Shift for Sustainability: Climate Action Now”. This theme emphasises the urgency of addressing climate change with immediate, bold actions. Through a whole-of-nation approach, Malaysia is committed to collaborating with all sectors—government, businesses, and communities—to create a sustainable and resilient future for all.

Join us at the Malaysia Pavilion as we showcase our nation’s innovative solutions for climate action, from green urban development to energy transitions, biodiversity preservation, and more.

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China Unicom Beijing and Huawei Announce World’s First Large-Scale Integrated 5G-Advanced Intelligent Network

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BEIJING, Nov. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — China Unicom Beijing and Huawei held an event, “5G Capital on the Way – Lighting Up Beijing with 5G-Advanced,” to announce their deployment of the world’s first large-scale integrated 5G-Advanced intelligent network. The network supports a world-leading 5G-Advanced smart commercial complex, with high- and low-band integrated networking, at the Workers’ Stadium. Furthermore, a benchmark was set for the industry’s first large-scale 10-gigabit 5G-Advanced network featuring air-ground integrated communications at the Great Wall scenic area, establishing the low-altitude economy innovation base. These developments will bring a better user experience to users in Beijing.

The ultra-large-scale commercial 3CC network covers over 10 million people, lighting up Beijing with 5G-Advanced.

In pursuit of large-scale 5G-Advanced network benchmarks, China Unicom Beijing and Huawei have built an ultra-large-scale commercial 5G-Advanced three component carrier (3CC) network, covering stadiums, schools, scenic areas, metro stations, commercial areas, residential areas, and other types of facilities in Beijing. The network provides full 5G coverage and 85% 5G-Advanced coverage for the area within Beijing’s 4th Ring Road and the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center, effectively supporting services like immersive videos, UHD live streaming, and cloud gaming. In addition, China Unicom Beijing has renovated old phone booths and connected them to the 5G-Advanced 3CC network, making it possible for passersby to enjoy navigation and ride-hailing services or call emergency services with just one click, benefiting countless people across the city.

The world-leading high- and low-band integrated 5G-Advanced network supports a commercial complex at the Workers’ Stadium.

China Unicom Beijing, Sinobo, GTVerse, and Huawei have created a world-leading integrated 5G-Advanced network at the Workers’ Stadium. A large number of 5G-Advanced 3CC sites have been deployed both inside and outside the stadium, enabling the 10-gigabit 5G-Advanced network to support the widest frequency range anywhere in the world. Field tests recorded a downlink peak rate of 11.2 Gbps, allowing a crowd of up to 68,000 people to simultaneously and smoothly watch 1080p videos. Meanwhile, the uplink peak rate reached 4 Gbps, sufficient to support services like UHD shallow compression. China Unicom Beijing has also developed innovative practices in terms of the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), Internet of Things (IoT), and extended reality (XR) split rendering, demonstrating 5G-Advanced’s potential to empower all industries.

The 10-gigabit 5G-Advanced low-altitude economy innovation base drives low-altitude economic development in Yanqing

At the Great Wall scenic area, the Beijing Yanqing District Government and China Unicom Beijing have jointly deployed 10-gigabit 5G-Advanced base stations at scale. This offers uninterrupted network coverage both on the ground and in low-altitude (below 300 meters) airspace. High- and low-band integrated spectrum use enables the network to provide deterministic, highly-reliable, and high-quality services. It also supports efforts to explore low-altitude operational scenarios in tourism, logistics, emergency rescue, and scenic area protection, boosting safety and the development of the low-altitude economy.

End-to-end automation enables 5G-Advanced site provisioning within minutes and AI-driven intelligent optimization

Based on its 5G intelligent operations platform, China Unicom Beijing has established an end-to-end self-provisioning process for 5G-Advanced sites in lightweight scenarios, shortening provisioning times from days to minutes. The provisioning process requires no manual intervention, significantly reducing cyber security risks. Furthermore, the company has realized end-to-end automatic optimization of 5G-Advanced base stations based on user service data, including AI-powered optimization of provisioning, services, iteration, and inspection. China Unicom Beijing is the world’s first carrier to implement network self-provisioning and self-optimization in lightweight scenarios. It has also deployed computing power at base stations to realize distributed, AI-driven management, helping build a digital and intelligent ecosystem powered by cloud-edge collaboration.

Yang Lifan, Deputy General Manager of China Unicom Beijing, said: “Large bandwidth can quickly improve user experience. Only by providing 10-gigabit network capabilities can we guarantee a gigabit experience for all users. This time, we’ve built a large-scale integrated 5G-Advanced intelligent network to bring a better experience to all China Unicom users across Beijing. We are confident that, based on Huawei’s advanced technologies and our smart operations capabilities, we will provide users in Beijing with an increasingly better network experience in the future.”

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Li Jie, President of Huawei’s 5G&LTE TDD Domain, said: “As the 5G Capital project enters its fifth year, I am honored that Huawei’s new 5G-AA solutions have helped China Unicom Beijing maintain its global leadership in 5G-Advanced network construction, demonstrated by the large-scale 5G-Advanced network benchmark launched early this year, and today’s launch of the world’s first large-scale integrated 5G-Advanced intelligent network. Huawei will continue to innovate and support China Unicom Beijing in building inclusive and high-quality 5G-Advanced networks to seize more opportunities in the AI-powered mobile network era.”

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Navigating the Cycles | 2024 World Maritime Merchants Forum Held in Hong Kong

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HONG KONG, Nov. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — On 18 November, the 2024 World Maritime Merchants Forum grandly opened in Hong Kong, China. As a major platform for global maritime industry exchange and dialogue, this landmark event was led by China Merchants Group (CMG) in collaboration with the Transport and Logistics Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government, the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the Hong Kong Shipowners Association (HKSOA).

Since 2021, the World Maritime Merchants Forum has been held in Hong Kong for three consecutive years. This year, the Forum once again partnered with “Hong Kong Maritime Week” under the theme “Navigating the Cycles”, focusing on the latest policies, trends and hot topics in the maritime industry. Guests were invited to discuss the new opportunities and challenges facing the shipping industry amidst the significant shifts in global trade and transportation.

The event drew approximately 1,500 participants, including authoritative figures and leaders from global shipping, ports, trade, logistics, financial institutions and industry regulatory bodies.

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