Issue 9 2020

4 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 9 2020 CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 9 2020 5 , Leading international provider of governance, risk and compliance software, Ideagen Plc, has announced the first cloud version of its industry leading quality, health & safety and environmental (QHSE) product, Q-Pulse. Q-Pulse is already used by more than 2,000 companies around the world to effectively manage and mitigate their QHSE risks. This update ensures existing and future customers will have access to one fast, simple system, backed by 25 years of innovation, from an established and trusted vendor. CEO of Ideagen, Ben Dorks, said: “I am very excited by this major update to Q-Pulse and I am confident that our customers will be too. The team has worked incredibly hard on this project and their efforts have really paid dividends as they have produced a product that is game-changing in its scope, ease of use and flexibility.” Although there are specific benefits depending on the industry sector, there are a number of benefits that are common to all. Firstly, Q-Pulse will enable businesses to transform their QMS into a competitive weapon by applying new levels of intelligence and insight to form a complete picture of their organisation. Q-Pulse allows a single view of the organisation, its supply chain and key stakeholders in one place. It can be integrated with other business systems via flexible APIs and it can send information to other platforms, such as a CRM or ERP. Secondly, Q-Pulse will help businesses to act quickly and confidently to exploit new opportunities, identify new markets and secure new quality standards by using data- driven decision-making. Having comprehensive data so readily available removes the guesswork from complex decisions. Thirdly, Q-Pulse helps to make quality and compliance the responsibility of everybody in the organisation, not just the compliance team. It helps businesses to easily align around world class processes and that helps to demonstrate a culture of quality to customers, regulators and certification bodies. Ben added: “Ideagen is committed to continually delivering enhancements to our products to ensure we can offer the latest innovations in technology that will help businesses meet their QHSE and audit, risk and compliance needs. As a software product development company, it is vitally important that we constantly evolve to ensure our products remain at the cutting edge and that we can deliver the reliable, fast and easy service our customers expect.” Phos, the fintech behind the first-ever software Point of Sale (POS), has today announced the extension of its partnership with Mastercard to introduce their innova- tive mobile payment solution. 12,000 small businesses across 12 European countries will now be able to accept contactless payments using their Android mobile devices, with this number set to increase over the coming months. This will allow merchants to digitalise their payment processes and offer more payment options to their customers, with the potential to drive sales and grow their businesses. Following the success of the original pilot scheme which covered the UK, Germany, Romania and Bulgaria, this new phase of the partnership will not only support significant growth in the existing markets but also roll out across eight others including Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain. The partnership will support micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the continent as they reopen their businesses and look for ways to attract new customers and increase their sales. Ac- cess to a credible technology solution that can streamline payment processes and avoid common acceptance issues will mean that they can start using contactless payments quickly and effectively. They will also avoid the need for additional costly hardware and can access their monies more quickly than via most other digital payment services. Despite increasing demand from businesses and consumers for safe and sustainable alternatives to cash, over 33m businesses across Europe are still reliant on it. For many, cost has been an issue but the growth in mobile phone ownership and contactless transactions is helping to overcome this barrier. Phos is a simple and effective payment acceptance solution that can enable any organisation, from micro-merchants through to global enterprises, to accept payments from their customers using ‘Tap on Phone’ with an NFC-enabled Android device. By eliminating the need for a separate electronic terminal phos, an evolution of traditional POS solutions, is completely secure and has no hidden costs for the user. The project will rely on Paynetics, an e-money institution with license across the European Union, as the acquiring bank. Part- nering with merchants across the participating countries will allow further refining of this innovative POS solution based on actual market conditions. Brad Hyett, CEO of phos, said: “Our ongoing partnership with Mastercard brings next-gen payment technology to those financially underserved merchants who want to maximise the sales potential of their customer base, and is particularly pertinent as they get back up and running post-lockdown. With a proven and credible technol- ogy solution behind us, we have purposefully built a solid network across the European region that we can use to support those businesses, for who we expect significantly increased sales. The support we are getting from the team at Mastercard on both a global and local scale will allow us to help even more businesses expand their portfolio of payment options over the coming months.” Jason Lane, EVP, Market Development Europe at Mastercard commented: “Small businesses form the backbone of the European economy; enabling them to accept digital payments isn’t only more convenient and secure, but it’s also essential for them to operate in the new normal. As Mastercard, we are delighted to extend our partnership with phos to empower small businesses to offer more payment options as they open their doors post lockdown.” 25 Years Of Innovation Supporting European Businesses And Boost Economy Small businesses across twelve countries can now take advantage of pioneeringmobile payment technology as they reopen for business. Ideagen launches first cloud version of industry leading Q-Pulse software.