Connect with us

Business

Mastercard Wants to Acquire a Swedish Firm that Simplifies the Management and Cancellation of Subscription Agreements

Published

on

On Tuesday, Mastercard said that it had reached a deal to buy Minna Technologies, a software company that helps customers better manage their subscriptions.

The action was taken in response to Mastercard’s and Visa’s aggressive efforts to diversify their businesses beyond credit and debit cards and into technology services including pay-by-bank payments, cybersecurity, and fraud prevention.

Mastercard refuses to share the transaction’s financial information, which is presently being examined by regulators.

The payments giant claimed that the agreement will enable it to provide customers with a method to access all of their subscriptions in a single view, whether inside your banking app or a central “hub,” in conjunction with other projects it is committed to surrounding subscriptions.

Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, Minna Technologies creates technology that enables users to manage subscriptions within banking apps and websites, irrespective of the payment method they originally used.

According to the company, it collaborates with some of the biggest financial institutions in existence today. It already counts rival Visa and Mastercard as important partners.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Mastercard stated, “These teams and technologies will add to the broader set of tools that help manage the merchant-consumer relationship and minimize any disruption in their experience.”

Modern consumers frequently have a tonne of subscriptions from various providers, including Netflix, Amazon, and Disney Plus, to keep track of. Having numerous subscriptions can make it challenging to cancel them because users may forget which ones they have paid for when.

According to Mastercard, this may have a detrimental effect on retailers since customers who find it difficult to cancel their subscriptions often contact their banks to ask that payments be stopped.

Data from Juniper Research indicates that there are currently 6.8 billion subscriptions worldwide; by 2028, that figure is predicted to increase to 9.3 billion.

Establishment businesses in the financial services industry, like Mastercard, have been expanding their product line quickly to stay competitive with up-and-coming fintech companies that provide consumers with easier-to-use, digitally native methods of managing their money.

A U.S. fintech company called Finicity was purchased by Mastercard in 2020. It allows other banks or other third parties to access a customer’s banking data and process payments on their behalf.

In other words, as a customer, you would simply need to use your fingerprint to confirm your identity when you pay, instead of having to manually enter your card details as it was previously stated that the company would tokenize all cards issued on its network in Europe by 2030.

Meanwhile, Visa is making an effort to compete with fintech rivals. The business introduced Visa A2A, a new service that makes it simpler for customers to set up and manage direct debits—payments that are deducted from your bank account instead of using a credit or debit card—last month.On Tuesday, Mastercard said that it had reached a deal to buy Minna Technologies, a software company that helps customers better manage their subscriptions.

The action was taken in response to Mastercard’s and Visa’s aggressive efforts to diversify their businesses beyond credit and debit cards and into technology services including pay-by-bank payments, cybersecurity, and fraud prevention.

Mastercard refuses to share the transaction’s financial information, which is presently being examined by regulators.

The payments giant claimed that the agreement will enable it to provide customers with a method to access all of their subscriptions in a single view, whether inside your banking app or a central “hub,” in conjunction with other projects it is committed to surrounding subscriptions.

Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, Minna Technologies creates technology that enables users to manage subscriptions within banking apps and websites, irrespective of the payment method they originally used.

According to the company, it collaborates with some of the biggest financial institutions in existence today. It already counts rival Visa and Mastercard as important partners.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Mastercard stated, “These teams and technologies will add to the broader set of tools that help manage the merchant-consumer relationship and minimize any disruption in their experience.”

Modern consumers frequently have a tonne of subscriptions from various providers, including Netflix, Amazon, and Disney Plus, to keep track of. Having numerous subscriptions can make it challenging to cancel them because users may forget which ones they have paid for when.

Mastercard pointed out that this could be detrimental to retailers because customers who find it difficult to cancel their subscriptions wind up contacting their banks to ask that payments be stopped.

Data from Juniper Research indicates that there are currently 6.8 billion subscriptions worldwide; by 2028, that figure is predicted to increase to 9.3 billion.

Establishment businesses in the financial services industry, like Mastercard, have been expanding their product line quickly to stay competitive with up-and-coming fintech companies that provide consumers with easier-to-use, digitally native methods of managing their money.

A U.S. fintech company called Finicity was purchased by Mastercard in 2020. It allows other banks or other third parties to access a customer’s banking data and process payments on their behalf.

In other words, as a customer, you would simply need to use your fingerprint to confirm your identity when you pay, instead of having to manually enter your card details as it was previously stated that the company would tokenize all cards issued on its network in Europe by 2030.

Meanwhile, Visa is making an effort to compete with fintech rivals. The business introduced Visa A2A, a new service that makes it simpler for customers to set up and manage direct debits—payments that are deducted from your bank account instead of using a credit or debit card—last month.

Business

Film Bazaar Unveils an Interactive Cinema App from an Indian Tech Startup

Published

on

Arjun Nittoor, the founder of the Indian technology firm Vireza, disclosed at Film Bazaar that the company is creating a new mobile application that would transform the experience of watching movies in theaters by enabling viewers to engage with the films in real time.

The technology, which was created wholly in-house at the company’s research and development department in Bengaluru, allows viewers to use their smartphones to vote on important plot points during the movie. To keep up with the current screening, patrons download an app before entering the theater and scan a QR code at their seat.

“The film industry is one of the few sectors where the audience experience has seen minimal technological disruption in theatres,” Nittoor stated. “While screen and sound quality have advanced and 3D has been partially adopted, the viewing experience has largely remained the same for decades.”

The screen automatically brightens to show voting options and dims again when choices are made. The system uses discreet phone notifications to encourage audience participation around every ten minutes.

In 2026, Vireza intends to introduce the technology with a full-length interactive movie that will be produced in both English and South Indian for international distribution. The business is presently in the development stage and will shortly start doing multiplex chain trial screenings.

CtrlMovie’s prior success in the interactive film industry was mentioned by Nittoor. CtrlMovie is well-known for “Traces of Responsibility” and “Late Shift.”

In order to overcome the difficulties in cinematography, editing, shot composition, and writing that plagued previous attempts at the format, the firm has spent five years creating what Nittoor refers to as “a new science of filmmaking” that is especially tailored for interactive cinema.

“Despite the proliferation of viewing devices, big-ticket films continue to draw massive crowds to theatres, with box office numbers higher than ever,”  Nittoor stated. “This demand underscores the potential for a meaningful technology shift that could draw audiences out of their homes and into cinemas.”

Other Asian businesses are likewise investigating audience-driven narrative in motion pictures. In February of the following year, Japan’s King Records intends to release “Hypnosis Mic – Division Rap Battle,” an animated interactive film.

Continue Reading

Business

Perplexity, an AI business, adds retail capabilities as search competition gets more intense

Published

on

Perplexity, an artificial intelligence search firm, opened a shopping hub on Monday to draw people to its platform in an effort to challenge Alphabet-owned Google’s hegemony in the search engine market.

Supported by Amazon (AMZN.O) founder Jeff Bezos and top AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O), the company launches a new tab and will provide users with product cards that display pertinent goods in answer to shopping-related queries.

According to the company, each card offers product facts in an eye-catching manner.

Shopify (SHOP.TO), one of the platform integrations that powers the new functionality, provides access to up-to-date and pertinent information on products from companies on the Canadian e-commerce platform worldwide that ship to the United States.

The goal of e-commerce platforms has been to attract more merchants by utilizing more AI-powered solutions.

‘Snap to Shop’ is a visual search engine featured in Perplexity’s online shopping rollout that displays products based on users’ pictures of an item.

The features will initially be introduced in the US before moving on to other regions; however, no timeframe has been given.

Additionally, Perplexity is launching a “Merchant Program” to enable shops to communicate with the company about its products.

Earlier in November, Reuters reported that the business was raising $3 billion in new funding.

Since the generative AI pioneer added a number of new search features to ChatGPT, OpenAI has become a direct rival of Perplexity, which has been seeking to broaden its product line.

Continue Reading

Business

HealthKart in India is worth $500 Million in New investment

Published

on

A fresh all-secondary investment of $153 million has raised the valuation of Indian nutrition startup HealthKart to almost $500 million, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

Private equity companies ChrysCapital and Motilal Oswal co-led the investment, which was one of the biggest for an Indian consumer business this year. Avendus Capital provided financial advice. The round also included participation from asset manager Neo Group and A91 Partners. At one point, the startup was worth $350 million.

According to the sources, some of the original investors in the firm sold their shares to the new backers. Peak XV, formerly Sequoia India and Southeast Asia, has sold the shares it purchased for around $15 million for nearly $120 million, effectively exiting the firm. Temasek, Sofina, and financial management IIFL are also supporters of HealthKart.

HealthKart, a company based in Gurugram, announced $118.5 million in revenue for the fiscal year that concluded in March 2024, solidifying its standing as the biggest consumer nutrition platform in India. The firm offers health accessories and protein supplements for sale.

The 13-year-old company, which split off from online drugstore startup 1MG, announced on Thursday that it is repurchasing $6.5 million worth of employee shares. In the fiscal year that concluded in March, the startup was EBITDA profitable.

“The Indian sports nutrition market, currently underpenetrated, is expected to expand due to a rise in fitness awareness and the increasing importance of nutrition and protein,” said Arpit Vinayak, VP at ChrysCapital, in a statement.

Continue Reading

Trending

error: Content is protected !!