Cognito, the full-service public relations and marketing agency for the financial services sector, announced the release of Comtela, a social PR platform that allows financial services companies to find, follow and interact with journalists on Twitter. Comtela is part of Cognito Analytics, Cognito’s research and technology division.
Comtela uses the Twitter API to build and benchmark a company’s Twitter followers versus a proprietary database of more than 700 traditional media influencers in the financial industry. Based on the results, Comtela allows users to find and follow additional relevant media members. The service also provides live-updating trends and topics among financial journalists so users can better interact with these new followers.
“Twitter’s role in PR programs is growing in importance. Financial services firms need tools that allow them to focus in on the small but vital part of the social conversation that matters to their customers,” said Tom Coombes, CEO, Cognito. “We have taken our more than ten years of experience communicating on behalf of the best names in the industry and created a tool that allows them to strategically participate online and track their results.
Comtela is the latest addition to Cognito Analytics, a suite of online products that enables firms in the financial sector to improve their businesses through more effective use of market, media and competitive intelligence. Cognito Analytics proprietary technology is supplemented by analysts with extensive industry and PR experience who provide expert analysis and recommendations.
DataArt and Kaazing team up for mobile financial apps partnership
DataArt, a custom software development company that builds advanced solutions for select industries,announced a new partnership with Kaazing, the leading provider of enterprise web and mobile communication for live data delivery and the creators of HTML5 WebSocket, to provide real time, mobile application solutions to the financial services industry.
The collaboration will merge Kaazing's technology, a standards-based software platform that allows enterprises to easily extend their systems to mobile for secure, bi-directional live data delivery, with DataArt's expertise creating financial software solutions, to respond to emerging requirements and mobility demands. Financial services firms are being challenged to update and provide real time mobility without disturbing existing infrastructure and sharing data locked up in the enterprise's back-end systems with users, customers, partners and other consumers.
Midpoint launches P2P FX matching service
Midpoint.com enables businesses and individuals to save money by using a currency exchange matching service, providing industry low rates and a flat, transparent fee structure. For example, a business exchanging £5,000 into Euros each week could typically experience savings of more than 2% - a £100 saving per transaction. This activity level would offer customers around £5,000 a year saving over traditional currency exchange methods.
Midpoint's patented technology was the first to 'match' foreign exchange requirements for individuals and companies in Euros, US Dollars and Sterling - e.g. Midpoint matches an order to buy British pounds with Euros, to an order that buys Euros with British pounds. By directly matching businesses and individuals with opposite currency needs, Midpoint is able to eliminate the 'spread' or 'margin' component from all transactions. This is the mechanism by which current providers generate hundreds of millions in profits each year in the global foreign exchange markets.
SumUp launches plug and play POS tech
SumUp, the company that empowers merchants to take debit and credit card payments with their smartphones, has announced the launch of the SumUp Point of Sale Box - a complete plug and play package that allows merchants to set up a point of sale within minutes.
The Point of Sale Box has been designed by SumUp with the specific needs of small businesses in mind and will give merchants such as cafes, fashion boutiques and beauty stores access to an affordable and easy to use point of sale system.
The Point of Sale Box will include a pre-configured iPad, an iPad stand, a receipt printer, a cash drawer and a Wi-Fi router. The entire setup can be up and running in less than 15 minutes. The monthly rental price for the box will be €69.95 which includes a 48h turnaround replacement guarantee on any component of the Box as well as a full 30 day money-back guarantee.
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