January 15, 2023

FreedomPay to Unleash the Power of Pay at NRF 2023

One of the world’s fastest growing fintech to showcase award-winning global commerce technology platform and industry-leading partner network.

NEW YORK, National Retail Federation, Jan. 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FreedomPay, the global leader in Next Level Commerce and the commerce technology platform of choice for global retail, hospitality and payments brands including Marriott, Foot Locker, Shake Shack, Engage People, and Castles Technology, will showcase its innovations and partnership announcements this week at NRF in booth #4250.

The event will mark the launch of FreedomPay’s new call to action, Unleash the Power of Pay. As the commerce landscape evolves with new technologies and changing consumer needs, Unleash the Power of Pay introduces the notion of unleashing the power of payments to drive greater customer loyalty, leverage business intelligence insights, and bring value-added services.

“FreedomPay is excited to make a splash at this year’s NRF and to launch Unleash the Power of Pay. The concept is a testament to our award-winning technology and best-in-class partner network that is enabling billions of transactions in more than 75 countries across the globe,” said Tom Durovsik, Founder & CEO of FreedomPay.

As part of its line-up at NRF, FreedomPay will host a roundtable discussion on Monday, January 16 at 10:30AM at booth #4250 with industry influencers Castles Technology, Charter Communications, and Elo Touch, moderated by Dale Laszig of the Green Sheet. The event, Next Level Commerce: Unleashing the Power of Pay, will focus on the challenges and opportunities across retail, the trends influencing retail’s future, and strategies for merchants to navigate the changing retail sector. Those who would like to attend virtually are encouraged to register here.

FreedomPay also announces the publication of a new industry white paper The Next Level of Global Payments: Unleash the Power of Pay. The report highlights pivotal opportunities for retailers to elevate customer relationships and increase profit margins internationally, outlining strategies for security, safety, speed, simplicity, and customer satisfaction with service across borders. Download now to read the bespoke report.

FreedomPay’s global footprint continues to grow through the power of its partner network and new integrations to allow merchants to Unleash the Power of Pay for their customers. FreedomPay also announced in the days leading up to NRF 2023 new partnerships that will bring its solutions to more merchants around the world.

Moneris Solutions Corporation (“Moneris”), the largest payment processor in Canada*, will now be able to offer its merchants access to FreedomPay’s commerce technology platform, bringing an enhanced checkout experience to millions of shoppers across Canada.

FreedomPay also announced an integration with Flooid, bringing enhanced innovation, choice, and flexibility to retailers around the globe on the Flooid platform.

To learn more about FreedomPay, visit us at NRF booth #4250 or www.freedompay.com.

About FreedomPay

FreedomPay’s Next Level Commerce platform transforms existing payment systems and processes from legacy to leading edge. As the premier choice for many of the largest companies across the globe in retail, hospitality, lodging, gaming, sports and entertainment, foodservice, education, healthcare and financial services, FreedomPay’s technology has been purposely built to deliver rock solid performance in the highly complex environment of global commerce. The company maintains a world-class security environment and was first to earn the coveted validation by the PCI Security Standards Council against Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE/EMV) standard in North America. FreedomPay’s robust solutions across payments, security, identity, and data analytics are available in-store, online and on-mobile and are supported by rapid API adoption. The award winning FreedomPay Commerce Platform operates on a single, unified technology stack across multiple continents allowing enterprises to deliver an innovative Next Level experience on a global scale. www.freedompay.com

*Based on total number of transactions processed in Canada

Jennifer Tayebi
Hill+Knowlton Strategies for FreedomPay
+1 734 395 0780
Jennifer.Tayebi@hkstrategies.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8729731

January 15, 2023

UFO Reports in US Rise to 510

The U.S. has now collected 510 reports of unidentified flying objects, many of which are flying in sensitive military airspace. While there’s no evidence of extraterrestrials, they still pose a threat, the government said in a declassified report summary released Thursday.

Last year the Pentagon opened an office, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, solely focused on receiving and analyzing all of those reports of unidentified phenomena, many of which have been reported by military pilots. It works with the intelligence agencies to further assess those incidents.

The events “continue to occur in restricted or sensitive airspace, highlighting possible concerns for safety of flight or adversary collection activity,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in its 2022 report.

The classified version of the report addresses how many of those objects were found near locations where nuclear power plants operate or nuclear weapons are stored.

The 510 objects include 144 objects previously reported and 366 new reports. In both the old and new cases, after analysis, the majority have been determined to exhibit “unremarkable characteristics,” and could be characterized as unmanned aircraft systems, or balloon-like objects, the report said.

But the office is also tasked with reporting any movements or reports of objects that may indicate that a potential adversary has a new technology or capability.

The Pentagon’s anomaly office is also to include any unidentified objects moving underwater, in the air, or in space, or something that moves between those domains, which could pose a new threat.

ODNI said in its report that efforts to destigmatize reporting and emphasize that the objects may pose a threat likely contributed to the additional reports.

Source: Voice of America

January 15, 2023

WHO Appeals to China to Release More COVID-19 Information

The World Health Organization has appealed to China to keep releasing information about its wave of COVID-19 infections after the government announced nearly 60,000 deaths since early December following weeks of complaints it was failing to tell the world what was happening.

The announcement Saturday was the first official death toll since the ruling Communist Party abruptly dropped anti-virus restrictions in December despite a surge in infections that flooded hospitals. That left the WHO and other governments appealing for information, while the United States, South Korea and others imposed controls on visitors from China.

The government said 5,503 people died of respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 and there were 54,435 fatalities from cancer, heart disease and other ailments combined with COVID-19 between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12.

The announcement “allows for a better understanding of the epidemiological situation,” said a WHO statement. It said the WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, talked by phone with Health Minister Ma Xiaowei.

“WHO requested that this type of detailed information continued to be shared with us and the public,” the agency said.

The National Health Commission said only deaths in hospitals were counted, which means anyone who died at home wouldn’t be included. It gave no indication when or whether it might release updated numbers.

A health official said the “national emergency peak has passed” based on an 83% decline in the daily number of people going to fever clinics from a Dec. 23 high.

The report would more than double China’s official COVID-19 death toll to 10,775 since the disease was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019. China has counted only deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official toll, which excludes many fatalities that might be attributed to the virus in other countries.

Source: Voice of America