The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on Hong Kong residents’ monetary state of affairs with many individuals now anxious about whether or not they’ll nonetheless have the ability to settle their payments, in line with a latest TransUnion survey report.
TransUnion’s Client Pulse research reveals that Hong Kong customers’ monetary state of affairs/well being is getting worse because of challenges associated to the Coronavirus disaster.
Out of greater than 750 adults (in Hong Kong) that had been surveyed in March of this 12 months, about 78% famous that their family earnings had been negatively affected because of the COVID disaster, which is up considerably from 69% when the survey was carried out in November 2020.
Folks responding to the survey mentioned that fewer out there working hours (47%), job loss (27%) and furlough (19%) had been the principle causes for decreased earnings.
When in comparison with the survey outcomes from November 2020, the share or variety of customers in households with somebody shedding their job elevated by 14% from13%. In the meantime, the share of individuals residing in a family the place somebody had been furloughed elevated three share factors from 16%.
Of these which have been negatively affected because of COVID, a substantial 72% mentioned they had been anxious about not with the ability to pay present payments and loans, and 42% assume that the could not have the ability to pay them in full in lower than a month.
When questioned about how they intend to maintain their monetary obligations or excellent funds, 44% mentioned they’ll be dipping into their financial savings, 41% mentioned they’ll must borrow funds from associates or household, and 27% mentioned they might apply for a private mortgage.
The survey’s outcomes recommend there’s been a big change in how Hong Kong residents or households are managing their funds and planning for the long run throughout these unprecedented instances.
Shoppers affected by the Coronavirus disaster made appreciable adjustments of their credit score and financial savings conduct, the report revealed. Throughout the previous three months, almost 40% said that they’d been saving greater than common for emergencies, 30% reported reducing the quantity they put in the direction of their retirement fund, and 20% mentioned they elevated their utilization of credit score and even retirement financial savings.
Hong Kong residents additionally reported reducing their discretionary spending (66%). Folks have additionally been cancelling their subscriptions and memberships (29%). A big variety of customers have additionally lowered digital providers (28%) so as to survive throughout these difficult instances.
Notably, 95% of survey respondents mentioned they now assume it’s very important to have ample financial savings for sudden emergencies or another sort of monetary setback. Round 94% assume it’s necessary to rigorously monitor their credit score as our surroundings has change into fairly unpredictable.
F10, a number one Fintech startup incubator and accelerator program, has teamed up with Seoul Fintech Lab which is supported by the Seoul Metropolitan Authorities and Okay accelerator, a Fintech help heart headquartered in Seoul. By means of the partnership, each organizations will goal to increase their incubation program into South Korea.
This system will primarily give attention to helping early-stage South Korean Fintechs with enhancing their product choices in an effort to be well-prepared for worldwide markets and company purchasers.
F10 will probably be selecting 10 of essentially the most promising or high-potential startups to take part in a 6-week lengthy program, starting on July 26, 2021.
This system is scheduled to run in a hybrid format, with four weeks of on-line courses and an intensive 2-week in-person workshop carried out in Seoul. The classes will conclude with a Demo Day, the place startups can pitch their enterprise concepts to a global viewers.
This newest partnership will goal to assist with enhancing the worldwide competitiveness of South Korea’s startups by profiting from F10’s networking alternatives. The partnership may also goal to fulfil Seoul Fintech Lab‘s and Okay Accelerator’s purpose of supporting progressive tasks within the Korean monetary providers sector.
By leveraging F10’s innovation ecosystem, F10 additionally intends to help these startups with attaining their fundraising targets and likewise with additional growing varied use-cases.
Jonas Thuerig, Nation Success Lead for F10 Singapore, will reportedly be part of the staff that’s tasked with partaking and creating collaborative alternatives between the chosen startups and the F10 community.
Thuerig said:
“The South Korean fintech startup scene is rising quickly and the massive pool of proficient entrepreneurs has huge potential for transformative and disruptive options to realize floor within the monetary business globally. We’re excited to associate with Okay Accelerator and Seoul Fintech Lab.”
Younger Soh, Head of Seoul Fintech Lab, remarked:
“Singapore is the nation with the best demand for Seoul Fintech Lab startups’ to enter. By means of this collaborative program with F10 Singapore will present sensible assist for startups to efficiently settle in Singapore and Southeast Asian markets.”
Do you wish to use GoFundMe to lift cash to your training prices?
Assume crowdfunding may very well be a technique to get a level, pay for a course, or assist with bills related to college dwelling?
On this article, we’re supplying you with some ideas and recommendation if you wish to use GoFundMe to lift cash for college-related prices. These insights will assist you to to lift more cash and have higher reception on the platform.
Be taught one thing that would assist you to out?
Trying to uncover related crowdfunding content material?
As for proper now, let’s write out the right way to use GoFundMe for training prices!
Your Marketing campaign Story
If you inform somebody a great story, one thing wonderful occurs: you seize their consideration.
This attention-grabbing is important to the success of any GoFundMe marketing campaign. And as a by-product, you possibly can transmit essential details about your objectives by the telling of that story.
The objective of your story needs to be, primarily, to elicit an emotional response.
Within the case of GoFundMe, you are attempting to provide an emotion of empathy in direction of your trigger. Consider your self because the protagonist in a film.
What makes this character likeable? Why are you so invested of their journey?
You wish to place your self in an identical context. You need potential backers to be cheering for you, in a way.
However it’s important to construct this context out. Individuals — strangers particularly — want some assist to get into that emotional state.
Take into consideration a time the place you randomly activate the TV and see somebody crying. You acknowledge their emotion, however in case you’ve missed the entire present, you’re most likely going to alter the channel.
Then there’s the case the place you’ve been following a present for a complete season and also you attain a climactic second with a crying protagonist. On this case, you’re more likely to cry together with them and really feel an emotional stake within the state of affairs.
The identical pondering applies to a GoFundMe marketing campaign.
The best way to Inform Your Story
So — we’ve established that storytelling is crucial component of your GoFundMe journey. However how do you really give folks that compelling narrative?
This web page serves because the transactional level between you and potential donors. You’ve received to construction it in a significant method.
That is finished by three parts:
Video: When you have the aptitude, create a video demonstrating some key factors, occasions, and moments in your life which have led you to ask for this donation.
Photos: Put a face to your marketing campaign. In an academic context, you would possibly think about together with some pictures of you taking part in your potential subject of examine, and many others.
Marketing campaign Textual content: This is a chance to talk to a donor in your personal phrases. For extra data on this, take a look at this video: Highly effective GoFundMe Writing Suggestions.
When you’ve compiled all these parts, your story ought to embrace:
What has occurred to get you thus far.
Why you want the cash / what you’ll be utilizing it for.
The stakes of getting the funding.
A way of who you might be as a person; make donors really feel like they know you. What are your hopes and goals?
Selling / Advertising and marketing Your GoFundMe Marketing campaign
Most individuals on the market aren’t simply scrolling by GoFundMe campaigns trying to donate. And additional, nearly all of your donations will come from folks that you already know.
You need to attain out to them and that’s finished by promotion.
Primarily, this will probably be finished by social platforms comparable to Fb, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, in addition to e-mail, textual content, and cellphone name outreach.
In case you’re unwilling to market your marketing campaign — and we hate to interrupt this to you — you’re not going to have a lot success. In fact, it’s a bit bit awkward to ask for cash.
However this instructional pursuit goes to alter your life, so that you gotta go all in!
In case you can, talk this concept of vulnerability. Spotlight the truth that you might be placing your self on the market for one thing that you simply actually care about.
For some extra in-depth insights on promotional methods, ensure to take a look at this video:
On the subject of GoFundMe fundraising, I see lots of people neglecting to speak about some of the necessary parts of any marketing campaign: saying thanks.
Exhibiting appreciation is extraordinarily necessary as a result of it makes folks be ok with donating to your trigger. And once they really feel good, they’re extra more likely to inform their associates or return to donate once more.
An effective way to offer thanks for a GoFundMe donation is publicly.
Why?
As a result of it’s one other nice excuse to speak about your charity fundraiser. If you create a submit thanking an individual for a big donation or tag folks that have donated in an inventory format, it creates social proof.
People who find themselves nonetheless skeptical about donating would possibly have a look at that and say:
Oh, different folks consider that that is necessary. Perhaps I ought to too.
Moreover, individuals who have donated would possibly like, touch upon, and even share your appreciation submit. Meaning big publicity!
Each profitable non-profit firm does this. They’re all the time honoring their donors, as a result of it’s what facilitates neighborhood, connections, and proof of trigger!
Sources For GoFundMe Fundraising
You perceive the significance of training — that’s why you’ve got down to run this GoFundMe marketing campaign.
Right here at CrowdCrux, we’re all about educating as nicely. That’s why we’re penning this weblog submit for you!
We have now some further assets that you could look into to make sure that you launch a mission that’s profitable as attainable. Examine them out:
Each of these assets gives you A to Z steering as to the right way to run an superior mission primarily based on tried and true greatest practices that we’ve found through the years.
Within the course, you’ll uncover downloadable templates and checklists to construct out your storytelling and just be sure you’re hitting each promotional channel attainable. These modules will stroll you thru, step-by-step, the keys to unlocking your funding objectives!
We hope that this text has been useful for you and that you simply take us up on among the assets we’ve talked about. Remember as nicely that we’re all the time chugging out useful, free GoFundMe content material on the weblog and Youtube Channel, so make a bookmark or subscribe!
Good luck together with your GoFundMe instructional marketing campaign. You’re formally one step nearer to shifting the world!
UK banking group NatWestlately introduced it’s encouraging small enterprise clients to make a local weather dedication and be a part of the federal government’s Collectively for our Planet ‘enterprise local weather leaders’ marketing campaign, which was launched by the Prime Minister and Enterprise & Power Secretary.
NatWest reported that as a part of the marketing campaign, it should spotlight to our clients the significance of tackling local weather change and encourage them to decide to slicing their emissions in half earlier than 2030, and to net-zero by 2050 or sooner.
“When small companies enroll, they are going to be given instruments to grasp their emissions, in addition to sensible however essential steps to guard the planet, the advantages of futureproofing and rising a greener enterprise. Small companies who make a web zero pledge on the brand new enterprise local weather hub might be recognised by the United Nations Race to Zero marketing campaign and can develop into ‘local weather leaders’ – role-modelling and provoking different to search out significant methods to take constructive environmental motion.”
Whereas sharing extra particulars concerning the marketing campaign, Johnson said:
“Each step {that a} small enterprise takes on their journey to web zero provides up – not solely in defending the well being of the planet but additionally in future-proofing their enterprise and inspiring new funding, new clients and new alternatives for development. We’re offering the assist and recommendation small companies want to hitch us and develop into leaders within the battle in opposition to local weather change.”
“Because the main financial institution within the UK for companies, we need to encourage, allow and prepared the ground in serving to small companies transition to a web zero carbon economic system. From our current SME Restoration Report, we all know SMEs have the chance to assist the UK meet its web zero targets by decreasing their carbon footprint by 80 MtCO2e by 2030 via extra sustainable enterprise working fashions.”
Parametrix Insurance coverage, an Israel-based insurtech startup, lately introduced it secured $17.5 million by way of its newest funding spherical, which included participation from FirstMark Capital and F2 Ventures.
Based in 2019, Parametrix Insurance coverage defined it gives insurance coverage insurance policies protecting third-party IT downtime occasions comparable to cloud outages, e-commerce downtime, fee failures, and different disruptions from SaaS, PaaS and IaaS platforms.
“Our fast-paying, automatically-triggered insurance policies present technology-reliant companies with the liquidity and enterprise continuity they should rapidly get better after downtime happens.”
Talking in regards to the funding, Yonatan Hatzor, CEO at Parametrix Insurance coverage, acknowledged:
“The enterprise world’s dependence on cloud options is quickly accelerating. To assist them hedge this exterior threat, we created a brand new class within the insurance coverage market by introducing dependable safety from the cloud downtime incidents that inevitably happen. I’m very proud that FirstMark has joined our journey and excited to maneuver collectively into our fast progress section throughout which we are going to develop our operations around the globe.”
Parametrix went on so as to add that it is going to be utilizing the brand new funding to speed up international growth.
Expense Examine, an Australian insurtech, introduced on Monday it raised AU$four million via its newest funding spherical, which was led by Holland Insurance coverage Firm. The corporate additionally revealed that it has rebranded toKanopi because it prepares to increase its native presence and launch into the U.S. market.
Based in 2016, Kanopi describes itself as a data-driven insurtech that connects insurers and digital platforms to allow them to present the fitting insurance coverage to their clients.
“As an embedded insurance coverage platform Kanopi intelligently anticipates client wants to supply them with insurance coverage inside minutes, when and the place they want it. The corporate’s mission is to remodel the insurance coverage trade by working with insurance coverage and marketplaces to create one widespread ecosystem that simplifies insurance coverage, making it extra human and clear for everybody.”
Talking concerning the funding and rebranding,Nigel Fellowes-Freeman, Founder and CEO of Kanopi, said:
“We stay dedicated to enabling firms to enhance their understanding of their clients to allow them to serve them with insurance policies that greatest match their wants. Our new model identification, mixed with this increase, ensures a stronger basis for us shifting ahead as we search to additional develop our know-how and our partnerships in Australia and throughout new markets.”
Kanopi went on so as to add that the funding spherical will allow it to “execute on its progress imaginative and prescient,” which is able to embrace U.S. enlargement and crew progress.
Karachi’s Seed Labs, which has developed a brand new buying and selling app (known as dTrade), has secured $6.four million in capital by a seed funding spherical at a $50 million valuation.
Seed Labs co-founders Ahmad Jawaid, Zabi Mohebzada, Rabeel Jawaid, and Yameen Malik have helped create the dTrade app, which lets folks commerce derivatives with out having to work with a brokerage or clearinghouse. The app additionally removes any counterparty danger.
The initiative is supported by VCs from 9 international locations. Traders embrace institutional liquidity suppliers, Alameda Analysis, Kronos Analysis, LedgerPrime and several other others that collectively commerce 28B+/every day, the corporate’s administration confirmed in a press release on Thursday (Might 27, 2021). These liquidity suppliers will probably be supporting the workforce in making a “extremely liquid” and “simply accessible” derivatives alternate, in response to a launch.
Seed Labs has been co-founded (a yr in the past) by Gold Medalist at NUCES-FAST (in 2017) Yameen Malik. He reportedly has greater than 6 publications in AI, and has expertise working at Symantec as an software developer.
Rabeel Jawaid has a robust background in Physics and accomplished three levels concurrently from the College of Pennsylvania, the announcement revealed. Jawaid, a co-founder at Seed Labs, is working alongside Zabi Mohebzada, who has a robust background in organic sciences and graduated from the College of Western Ontario earlier than co-founding Seed Labs.
Ahmad Jawaid graduated from UC Berkeley and labored as a software program developer in Silicon Valley earlier than becoming a member of Seed Labs. Out of the 24 whole workforce members on the firm, 18 are at present primarily based in Karachi, Pakistan and the opposite six are working abroad in Sydney, Toronto, Washington DC, Novi Unhappy, New York and San Francisco.
On the time of its launch, the platform will primarily present a perpetual swap buying and selling alternate.
As defined within the launch, perpetual swap contracts are a kind of by-product that lets merchants earn earnings from value fluctuations of property. Any buying and selling pair from any asset class could also be used for buying and selling, together with commodities, equities, digital property, and even pre-IPO shares.
Zabi remarked:
“Proper now our goal markets are Europe and the Asia Pacific Area. The derivatives alternate is anticipated to launch in Q3 of this yr and is at present present process the primary spherical of technical safety and penetration testing audits.”
The merchandise at present out there on dTrade won’t be provided to US individuals or residents of “any nation or jurisdiction topic to US sanctions.”
Complete commerce quantity between Qatar and the UK reportedly reached £7 billion final yr, though there have been restrictions in place (partly attributable to COVID). The sturdy buying and selling exercise can also be being reported after varied challenges associated to the pandemic and ensuing socioeconomic uncertainty, in line with British ambassadorJonathan Wilks.
As reported by the Gulf Occasions, Wilks instructed the information outlet that the rise in commerce quantity between Qatar and the UK includes totally different sectors, like agricultural produce and meals merchandise. Wilks added that this can be a signal of the curiosity and exercise that the UK and Qatar have in creating commerce relations, conducting enterprise, and forming strategic funding relationships.
Wilks famous that the recently-launched ‘British Meals Pageant’, which ran till Could 25 in any respect LuLu shops throughout Qatar, gave an opportunity or alternative to the UK to share a few of its tech and enterprise partnerships to permit the Center Jap nation to reinforce its meals safety.
Wilks stated that the LuLu hypermarket chain, which has sourcing places of work in Birmingham, has helped with opening up key alternatives for suppliers throughout the UK, so that they’re in a position to entry totally different Qatari markets and work with different entities within the wider GCC area.
Wilks emphasised the significance of the UK and Qatar forming new expertise partnerships with a deal with digital commerce, Fintech platforms, well being, and schooling, amongst different industries.
Wilks remarked:
“E-commerce and Fintech are already huge areas for co-operation between the UK and Qatar, and that each nations are constructing on Qatar’s ambitions to grow to be a Fintech hub, which is a principal sector within the UK. London is likely one of the principal centres, and past London we’re already creating centres in main cities.”
Along with working with the UK and different European nations, Qatar and US enterprise initiatives had been valued at $200 billion, as of December 2020.
Final yr, Qatar Improvement Financial institution CEO stated the nation would work with US corporations to diversify its financial system, which is supported by Fintech and digital applied sciences.
ChainSafe has reportedly acquired a growth grant to natively combine Chainlink (LINK) into the Cosmos software program growth equipment (SDK).
As beforehand reported, the Chainlink Neighborhood Grant Program presents monetary sources to the event groups and researchers making a “extra useful, accessible, and socially impactful” Chainlink Community.
Chainlink says that it encourages expert particular person software program engineers and growth groups to use to the grant program. Researchers are additionally welcome to collaborate with the Chainlink group.
As famous within the announcement, ChainSafe, a blockchain protocol and infrastructure growth firm, has been awarded a Chainlink neighborhood grant to be able to perform a local integration of Chainlink into the Cosmos-SDK.
As talked about within the replace, the grant will likely be supporting varied sensible contract growth groups throughout the Cosmos ecosystem eager to create “externally related” decentralized purposes (dApps) on Tendermint-powered blockchains utilizing Chainlink Oracles.
After being accomplished, the Cosmos ecosystem will begin supporting varied (decentralized finance) DeFi, (non-fungible tokens) NFT, gaming, and insurance coverage merchandise and markets “because of seamless and native entry to Chainlink’s time-tested and absolutely useful oracle networks.”
With the funding offered by Chainlink neighborhood grant, ChainSafe will concentrate on the next:
Create a Cosmos-SDK module that “helps Chainlink oracle networks by accepting combination signed information from a set of oracles and storing it within the blockchain state.”
Guarantee compatibility with present Chainlink Off-Chain Reporting (OCR) Information Feeds by “supporting oracle stories produced by its peer-to-peer consensus protocol.”
Present help for a number of information feeds inside a single module occasion and “permit the module to work together with different modules to dispense rewards to legitimate taking part information suppliers.”
The creation of a Chainlink module for the Cosmos-SDK will “allow software builders within the Cosmos ecosystem to entry Chainlink’s extensively used Value Feeds, together with the latest and historic information.”
The Chainlink module can even “help the present Chainlink OCR feeds already utilized in manufacturing and develop help for connection to any API, opening up entry to premium authenticated information sources and enabling information aggregation to be achieved securely, reliably, and cost-efficiently.”
ChainSafe is a blockchain or distributed ledger tech (DLT) protocol and infrastructure developer that provides engineering help for open-source software program initiatives.
Supported by software builders with an in depth technical background and experience, ChainSafe has appreciable expertise creating blockchain-related software program, such because the Ethereum 2.zero Typescript implementation Lodestar, the Filecoin node Rust implementation Forest; the Polkadot host Golang implementation Gossamer, the Rust implementation of Mina, and the Ethereum Javascript API Web3.js.
Chainsafe has additionally acquired a Chainlink neighborhood grant to be able to develop the Chainlink oracle pallet on Polkadot, “proving their data of the Chainlink tech stack and heterogeneous blockchain ecosystems.”
Cosmos is described as an “ever-expanding” ecosystem of interconnected apps and companies, “constructed for a decentralized future.” Cosmos apps and companies join utilizing IBC, the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol, “permitting customers to freely change belongings and information throughout sovereign, decentralized blockchains.”
The Cosmos-SDK is “a extremely versatile framework for constructing blockchains, which is predicated on Tendermint core and might interoperate by means of IBC.” By integrating Chainlink into the Cosmos ecosystem, “over 247+ purposes/companies and $78B+ in digital belongings achieve entry to high-quality exterior information made obtainable by means of decentralized oracle networks which can be extremely obtainable, exact, and tamper-proof.”
Aidan Hyman, Co-founder and CEO of ChainSafe, said:
“We’re proud to proceed our nice relationship with Chainlink, serving to develop the ecosystem into the Cosmos community with a customized Cosmos-SDK module. This can be a large step in the direction of offering the Cosmos ecosystem with dependable oracles, empowering new use instances to be realized. We sit up for contributing our area experience within the Cosmos ecosystem by connecting Chainlink’s confirmed oracle infrastructure to the increasing record of Cosmos blockchains and purposes and offering safe, dependable sources of exterior information.”
Komo, a digital banking service developed by East-West Banking Company (EastWest) (PSE: EW) within the Philippines, has teamed up with Open Banking service supplier Brankas with a view to help prompt in-app deposits.
Via this partnership, Komo customers will be capable to immediately top-up their stability by way of the app.
Customers simply must enter the quantity they wish to top-up and select a supply financial institution by means of Brankas’ safe (software program improvement equipment) SDK stream with a view to deposit funds to their Komo accounts.
Via Brankas’ fund switch APIs and financial institution integration suite, shoppers are capable of obtain funds from their alternative of Philippines-based banks immediately within the app.
Isabelle Yap, Enterprise Lead at Komo, famous:
“Now, cashing in from the Komo app is extra seamless and safe for our clients. Immediate in-app cash-in has been a extensively requested function for purchasers since we launched and we’re glad to lastly launch this function with Branka’s safe API integration whereas providing all kinds of companion banks to select from.”
Todd Schweitzer, CEO of Brankas, said:
“At Brankas, we’re impressed with Komo crew’s ardour for his or her clients. Komo offers a good looking, intuitive, and safe neobanking expertise, elevating the usual for Philippine shopper banking. At Brankas, we imagine Filipinos ought to have extra alternative and suppleness in managing their hard-earned cash, and we’re excited to companion with Komo to introduce customer-centric Open Banking options.”
East-West Banking Company, the eleventh largest financial institution within the Philippines with over $6 billion in belongings, had launched its personal fully-digital financial institution, Komo in Could 2020.
The corporate had claimed, final yr, that it’s the primary common banking group within the nation to ascertain its personal all-digital financial institution, because it goals to maneuver ahead with its up to date retail banking technique.
The Komo digital banking platform is being supplied by way of EastWest’s wholly-owned subsidiary, EastWest Rural Financial institution. The initiative is reportedly financed by a longtime and respected native financial institution. It can pay an annual rate of interest of three% (as of Could 2020, so charges might now have modified) for its digital financial savings account with out requiring a minimal stability.
Based in 1994, EastWest is among the many fast-growing banks within the Philippines and has managed to stay worthwhile (as of Could 2020). The establishment’s digital banking venture is a part of its digital transformation technique and elevated concentrate on adopting the newest applied sciences, as shopper necessities are altering quickly.
Tony Moncupa, CEO at EastWest CEO, said (final yr):
“Komo combines the perfect of two worlds: the comfort of contemporary digital banking backed by the safety of a robust brick-and-mortar financial institution like EastWest. We see a digital future in banking. With Komo, our clients are certain to get the perfect that digital banking has to supply whereas being assured that their cash is in good fingers.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on Hong Kong residents’ monetary state of affairs with many individuals now anxious about whether or not they’ll nonetheless have the ability to settle their payments, in line with a latest TransUnion survey report.
