Fintech
Euro Asia Pay Announces Business Update Signaling Increase in Footprint
Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – October 14, 2021) – Euro Asia Pay Holdings Inc. (CSE: EAP) (“EAP” or the “Company“), a leading fintech solutions provider, is pleased to announce its business update for Q4 2021. The Company has significantly increased the number of signed agents and total addressable market in recent months. Since EAP’s IPO in February 2021, the Company has signed more than 175 agreements with international education agents from several countries, strengthening its footprint worldwide.
A Promising Start to the School Year in Canada
“EAP is delighted to share positive market updates at the beginning of Q4 2021, and as Canada’s borders reopened on September 7, 2021, to receive tourists and international students on their exciting journey of learning and growth. Canada’s highly-regarded response efforts to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as continued high rankings on safety, quality of life and education indexes, means that the country remains a highly attractive destination for international students,” said Peter MacKay, CEO of EAP.
“This year, thousands of international students will begin their studies in Canada, and the number is expected to increase significantly with the end of the pandemic. Our team at EAP has spent the past year preparing and growing our agency network for this moment,” Mr. MacKay added.
A Brand New Product for Canadian Students and Parents
EAP is expanding the market reach of its core technology to also support Canadian parents and their children with a new product, called Hero Financials, with its soft launch scheduled for this quarter.
Hero is a full service alternative-to-banking solution, with highly customized products addressing the unmet financial needs of Canadian kids, youth and their parents, such as parent-controlled deposit accounts, budget tools, and access to a physical Mastercard. The Hero product is notable for its versatility, and it is expected to provide speed, knowledge, and access to users anywhere Mastercard is accepted.
With the introduction of Hero Financials to the Canadian market, EAP anticipates that the Company will be able to deliver access to a highly convenient and intuitive tool facilitating financial literacy among children and teenagers, with direct control and involvement from their parents. Hero will create opportunities for Canadian youth to further exercise financial responsibility while providing parents the ability to teach, monitor and track their child’s finances.
Further Footprint Expansion
The Company is planning a U.S. expansion for its products in time for Q3 2022, significantly increasing its total addressable market to over 70 million people. According to Studee, the United States has reigned supreme as the world’s most popular study abroad destination for decades, with approximately 20% of the total student mobility and double the number of students compared to the second place destination. Per recently-released U.S. census data from 2020, the U.S. has a youth population of 73.1 million, one of the largest in the world.
Past Quarters Marked by Significant Partnerships
As previously announced, EAP recently secured partnerships with several important industry players, including Mastercard, CohortGo and PhoneBox, to offer added choice and convenience for subscribers.
- EAP’s international division currently supports students who are coming to Canada from 241 countries through its integration with the Company’s primary international transfer partner, NexPay, and most recently with CohortGo, both of which are key players that provide transfer services in the international education space.
- This summer, the new SideKickTM card powered by MasterCard was introduced, which can be used wherever a prepaid Mastercard is accepted – which is virtually everywhere, in-store and online.
- EAP has also recently partnered with PhoneBox, a wireless network provider, to offer affordable mobile plans to users on 4G/LTE networks for its flagship product, SideKickTM. Through this partnership, new and existing PhoneBox users will also be able to obtain SideKickTM cards at PhoneBox Toronto and Vancouver retail locations.
A Brimming Lineup of Events in Q4 2021 and Q1 2022
In the coming months, EAP has confirmed its participation at key industry events to engage and contract with additional education agents and industry partners. These include ICEF Latin America, ICEF Berlin – the world’s largest B2B networking event for the international education community – and ICEF Miami in Q4 2021, as well as ST Alphe Spain and CAPS-I Missions in Spain and Italy in Q1 2022. At these events, the Company has the potential to engage with over 200 educational agencies, schools and other industry providers in 1-on-1 meetings.
Loan Extension and Convertible Debenture Issuance
In mid-September, EAP entered into an agreement with one lender, a company related to a director of the Company, in order to extend the maturity date of an unsecured loan in the principal amount of $400,000 from November 6, 2021 until February 6, 2022. The loan was originally advanced by the lender pursuant to an agreement dated August 6, 2020, and bears simple interest at a rate of 8% per annum.
In addition, on October 1, EAP issued and sold a convertible debenture in the principal amount of $300,000 (the “Debenture“) to one arm’s length investor in exchange for gross proceeds of an identical amount. The Debenture is unsecured, bears simple interest at a rate of 8% per annum, has a term of 12 months, and is convertible by the holder at any time until October 1, 2022 (the “Maturity Date“) into common shares of the Company at a price of $0.26 per share, subject to standard adjustment mechanisms.
EAP has the right to prepay all or any part of the amount due under the Debenture at any time prior to the Maturity Date with the consent of the holder, and also has the ability to redeem the Debenture by paying the holder 100% of the principal amount of the Debenture plus any accrued unpaid interest thereon in common shares of the Company at a price that is the lesser of (a) the conversion price then in effect or (b) the price of the securities of the Company issuable in the next equity financing in which Company realizes gross proceeds of a minimum of $500,000. The foregoing redemption right is subject to the holder’s prior right of conversion and the policies of the CSE.
The Company did not pay any finder’s fees in connection with the Debenture financing, and all securities issued or issuable in connection therewith are subject to a standard hold period of four months and one day in accordance with applicable securities laws.
EAP expects to use the proceeds of the Debenture financing to fund the continued development and marketing of its products and for general corporate purposes.
None of the securities referenced in this news release have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act“), or any applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, “U.S. persons” (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) absent such registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the foregoing securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
About Euro Asia Pay Holdings Inc.
Euro Asia Pay Holdings Inc. is a developer of innovative financial solutions for the next generation of consumers. Its first product, SideKick™, enables parents to transfer, control and monitor payments to their children in a simple, intuitive manner. The product includes a student-facing mobile application, a prepaid student payment card and a parent portal, among other features.
To learn more about EAP’s products and services, visit www.euroasiapay.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Peter MacKay
Chief Executive Officer & Director
For further information, please contact:
Peter MacKay
Chief Executive Officer & Director
(800) 508-8813
[email protected]
For all media queries, please contact:
Swati Mehta
PR Associates
(403) 804-0768
[email protected]
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this news release include forward-looking statements or information (collectively “forward-looking statements“) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. The Company is providing cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause its actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as “may”, “anticipates”, “is expected to”, “estimates”, “intends”, “plans”, “projection”, “could”, “vision”, “goals”, “objective” and “outlook”) are not historical facts and may be forward-looking. The Company has based the forward-looking statements largely on its current estimates, assumptions and projections about future events and trends that it believes may affect its business, financial condition and results of operations.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, which contribute to the possibility that the predicted outcomes may not occur or may be delayed. The risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company’s control, include, but are not limited to: the ability of the Company to establish a market for its products; competitive conditions in the mobile payments industry which could prevent the Company from becoming profitable; the effectiveness and efficiency of advertising and promotional expenditures to generate interest in the Company’s products; dependency on continued growth in the adoption of mobile payment technology; volatility of the market price of the Company’s securities; the inability to secure additional financing; the Company’s intention not to pay dividends; claims, lawsuits and other legal proceedings and challenges; conflicts of interest with directors and management; and other relevant factors.
Factors that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements include its history of losses from operations; technology risks; its ability to obtain the additional financing required to meet long-term goals; its dependence on key personnel, including its executive officers; and uninsured risks. These factors are not exhaustive.
Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and, except as required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all such factors and to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on the Company’s business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/99714
Modern brands stake on influencer marketing, with 76% of users making a purchase after seeing a product on social media.The cryptocurrency industry is no exception to this trend. However, promoting crypto products through influencer marketing can be particularly challenging. Crypto influencers pose a significant risk to a brand’s reputation and ROI due to rampant scams. Approximately 80% of channels provide fake statistics, including followers counts and engagement metrics. Additionally, this niche is characterized by high CPMs, which can increase the risk of financial loss for brands.
In this article Nadia Bubennnikova, Head of agency Famesters, will explore the most important things to look for in crypto channels to find the perfect match for influencer marketing collaborations.
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Comments
There are several levels related to this point.
LEVEL 1
Analyze approximately 10 of the channel’s latest videos, looking through the comments to ensure they are not purchased from dubious sources. For example, such comments as “Yes sir, great video!”; “Thanks!”; “Love you man!”; “Quality content”, and others most certainly are bot-generated and should be avoided.
Just to compare:
LEVEL 2
Don’t rush to conclude that you’ve discovered the perfect crypto channel just because you’ve come across some logical comments that align with the video’s topic. This may seem controversial, but it’s important to dive deeper. When you encounter a channel with logical comments, ensure that they are unique and not duplicated under the description box. Some creators are smarter than just buying comments from the first link that Google shows you when you search “buy YouTube comments”. They generate topics, provide multiple examples, or upload lists of examples, all produced by AI. You can either manually review the comments or use a script to parse all the YouTube comments into an Excel file. Then, add a formula to highlight any duplicates.
LEVEL 3
It is also a must to check the names of the profiles that leave the comments: most of the bot-generated comments are easy to track: they will all have the usernames made of random symbols and numbers, random first and last name combinations, “Habibi”, etc. No profile pictures on all comments is also a red flag.
LEVEL 4
Another important factor to consider when assessing comment authenticity is the posting date. If all the comments were posted on the same day, it’s likely that the traffic was purchased.
2. Average views number per video
This is indeed one of the key metrics to consider when selecting an influencer for collaboration, regardless of the product type. What specific factors should we focus on?
First & foremost: the views dynamics on the channel. The most desirable type of YouTube channel in terms of views is one that maintains stable viewership across all of its videos. This stability serves as proof of an active and loyal audience genuinely interested in the creator’s content, unlike channels where views vary significantly from one video to another.
Many unauthentic crypto channels not only buy YouTube comments but also invest in increasing video views to create the impression of stability. So, what exactly should we look at in terms of views? Firstly, calculate the average number of views based on the ten latest videos. Then, compare this figure to the views of the most recent videos posted within the past week. If you notice that these new videos have nearly the same number of views as those posted a month or two ago, it’s a clear red flag. Typically, a YouTube channel experiences lower views on new videos, with the number increasing organically each day as the audience engages with the content. If you see a video posted just three days ago already garnering 30k views, matching the total views of older videos, it’s a sign of fraudulent traffic purchased to create the illusion of view stability.
3. Influencer’s channel statistics
The primary statistics of interest are region and demographic split, and sometimes the device types of the viewers.
LEVEL 1
When reviewing the shared statistics, the first step is to request a video screencast instead of a simple screenshot. This is because it takes more time to organically edit a video than a screenshot, making it harder to manipulate the statistics. If the creator refuses, step two (if only screenshots are provided) is to download them and check the file’s properties on your computer. Look for details such as whether it was created with Adobe Photoshop or the color profile, typically Adobe RGB, to determine if the screenshot has been edited.
LEVEL 2
After confirming the authenticity of the stats screenshot, it’s crucial to analyze the data. For instance, if you’re examining a channel conducted in Spanish with all videos filmed in the same language, it would raise concerns to find a significant audience from countries like India or Turkey. This discrepancy, where the audience doesn’t align with regions known for speaking the language, is a red flag.
If we’re considering an English-language crypto channel, it typically suggests an international audience, as English’s global use for quality educational content on niche topics like crypto. However, certain considerations apply. For instance, if an English-speaking channel shows a significant percentage of Polish viewers (15% to 30%) without any mention of the Polish language, it could indicate fake followers and views. However, if the channel’s creator is Polish, occasionally posts videos in Polish alongside English, and receives Polish comments, it’s important not to rush to conclusions.
Example of statistics
Wrapping up
These are the main factors to consider when selecting an influencer to promote your crypto product. Once you’ve launched the campaign, there are also some markers to show which creators did bring the authentic traffic and which used some tools to create the illusion of an active and engaged audience. While this may seem obvious, it’s still worth mentioning. After the video is posted, allow 5-7 days for it to accumulate a basic number of views, then check performance metrics such as views, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), signups, and conversion rate (CR) from clicks to signups.
If you overlooked some red flags when selecting crypto channels for your launch, you might find the following outcomes: channels with high views numbers and high CTRs, demonstrating the real interest of the audience, yet with remarkably low conversion rates. In the worst-case scenario, you might witness thousands of clicks resulting in zero to just a few signups. While this might suggest technical issues in other industries, in crypto campaigns it indicates that the creator engaged in the campaign not only bought fake views and comments but also link clicks. And this happens more often than you may realize.
Summing up, choosing the right crypto creator to promote your product is indeed a tricky job that requires a lot of resources to be put into the search process.
Author
Nadia Bubennikova, Head of agency at Famesters
The BIS, along with seven leading central banks and a cohort of private financial firms, has embarked on an ambitious venture known as Project Agorá.
Named after the Greek word for “marketplace,” this initiative stands at the forefront of exploring the potential of tokenisation to significantly enhance the operational efficiency of the monetary system worldwide.
Central to this pioneering project are the Bank of France (on behalf of the Eurosystem), the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Korea, the Bank of Mexico, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. These institutions have joined forces under the banner of Project Agorá, in partnership with an extensive assembly of private financial entities convened by the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
At the heart of Project Agorá is the pursuit of integrating tokenised commercial bank deposits with tokenised wholesale central bank money within a unified, public-private programmable financial platform. By harnessing the advanced capabilities of smart contracts and programmability, the project aspires to unlock new transactional possibilities that were previously infeasible or impractical, thereby fostering novel opportunities that could benefit businesses and consumers alike.
The collaborative effort seeks to address and surmount a variety of structural inefficiencies that currently plague cross-border payments. These challenges include disparate legal, regulatory, and technical standards; varying operating hours and time zones; and the heightened complexity associated with conducting financial integrity checks (such as anti-money laundering and customer verification procedures), which are often redundantly executed across multiple stages of a single transaction due to the involvement of several intermediaries.
As a beacon of experimental and exploratory projects, the BIS Innovation Hub is committed to delivering public goods to the global central banking community through initiatives like Project Agorá. In line with this mission, the BIS will soon issue a call for expressions of interest from private financial institutions eager to contribute to this ground-breaking project. The IIF will facilitate the involvement of private sector participants, extending an invitation to regulated financial institutions representing each of the seven aforementioned currencies to partake in this transformative endeavour.
Source: fintech.globa
The post Central banks and the FinTech sector unite to change global payments space appeared first on HIPTHER Alerts.
TD Bank has inked a multi-year deal with Google Cloud as it looks to streamline the development and deployment of new products and services.
The deal will see the Canadian banking group integrate the vendor’s cloud services into a wider portion of its technology solutions portfolio, a move which TD expects will enable it “to respond quickly to changing customer expectations by rolling out new features, updates, or entirely new financial products at an accelerated pace”.
This marks an expansion of the already established relationship between TD Bank and Google Cloud after the group previously adopted the vendor’s Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for TD Securities Automated Trading (TDSAT), the Chicago-based subsidiary of its investment banking unit, TD Securities.
TDSAT uses GKE for process automation and quantitative modelling across fixed income markets, resulting in the development of a “data-driven research platform” capable of processing large research workloads in trading.
Dan Bosman, SVP and CIO of TD Securities, claims the infrastructure has so far supported TDSAT with “compute-intensive quantitative analysis” while expanding the subsidiary’s “trading volumes and portfolio size”.
TD’s new partnership with Google Cloud will see the group attempt to replicate the same level of success across its entire portfolio.
Source: fintechfutures.com
The post TD Bank inks multi-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud appeared first on HIPTHER Alerts.
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