Klarna moves into Open Banking with the launch of Klarna Kosma. Klarna has traditionally stayed in Buy Now, Pay Later Payments and ECommerce space while Open Banking has been dominated by Tink and Plaid. Open Banking, in simple terms, is open bank data that provides third-party financial service providers open access to consumer banking through the use of APIs. Klarna embarked on the Open Banking journey in 2004.
Amsterdam-based Mollie, and one of our neighbors, launches Connect for Platforms to enable SaaS and Marketplace businesses to expand across Europe. The new product helps companies of all sizes to integrate payments, onboarding customers and accept and route payments. Inclusive and widespread with multilingual support across Europe. Some of the first clients who jumped onto the platform include Q-Park, Chargebee, Booking Experts, AFAS software, Exact, and Jotform.
The UK is about to trial a 4-day working week. 30 companies signed up for a 6-month pilot, set to launch in June this year. Each firm will pay its staff their usual salary. In return, staff must maintain 100% productivity in 80% of their working time. Researchers from Cambridge and Oxford University will keep track of productivity and well being within the companies. Microsoft Japan recorded a 40% increase in productivity and lower costs when it trialed a 4-day week in 2019. Major companies such as Basecamp, Bolt and British fintech Atom Bank have also embraced a 4-day working week for their employees. Here, at PCN, we are proud advocates for a four-day week.
Switzerland-based software company Netcetera, and one of PCN’s proudest clients, will partner with Pakistan-based payments service provider Covalent to expand online payments in the Middle East and Africa. These two regions have historically been slow to jump onto the online payment bandwagon and the majority of transactions still occur in cash. Pakistan is largely an untapped market with 61 potential customers.
