Industry news

easyJet, Europe’s leading airline has created 37 new jobs at leading global customer experience and business process outsourcing company, Webhelp. There were 23 people working for Webhelp on the easyJet account on a temporary basis and the signing of a permanent contract not only secures those 23 people on a permanent basis but also allows the company to recruit a further 14 people. Lisa Burger, easyJet’s Head of Customer, said “We have been working with the Webhelp team for a number of months and have been very impressed by the quality of their work, we are delighted to be creating 14 new jobs at Webhelp’s Rothesay site in addition to making 23 existing roles permanent”.

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Related news: Easyjet Hit By Slump in Pound

The government has announced that a new rail franchise will combine the current InterCity West Coast services with the development and introduction of High Speed 2 (HS2) services. The franchise will be responsible for the West Coast main line from 2019 and high speed HS2 for its first three years. Bidders to run the line include current East & West coast operator Virgin and First Group.

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Panini, a global payments technology leader, officially announced that its Everest solution architecture that integrates computing platforms with check capture, was recently fully patented in the United States. Panini's Everest unleashes the full power of Panini scanning platforms while dramatically removing the cost and complexity of integration, deployment and support for its customers and partners. Check scanning devices developed with this new technology can be used in different settings and even shared among users, making the move from Branch Image Capture (BIC) to Teller Image Capture (TIC) more attractive to financial institutions and aligning with the "bank of the future" trend of empowering roaming universal bankers in an open lobby environment.

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Related news: Challenger Bank Begins Fintech Rollout

Why not join us at our BFSI conference in London on the 23rd of November to learn more about Fintech and changes in Banking Technology.

A new study from Juniper Research has found that the total transaction value of Mobile Financial Services in emerging markets (including domestic money transfers, deposits on loans, insurance products, and savings accounts) will approach $500 billion in 2021, up from an estimated $198 billion this year. However, the research cautioned that a key challenge would be tailoring financial service products to the needs of individual markets. It cited the case of several early implementations of mobile financial services in markets such as India, the Philippines and Nigeria achieving limited adoption where products were often ill-suited to their target audience.

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The Tandem banking app is being rolled out today as the challenger bank hopes to take a bite out of the traditional banking industry. The app will be rolled out gradually with the hope of going public next year. Currently the app allows you to manage any existing UK bank account, however Tandem has plans for its own products, such as current accounts and loans, in the future. Tandem is part of a wave of financial focused start-ups that have been receiving a lot of attention from investors and industry analysts.

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Related news: Dutch Bank ING Returns to the UK in Digital Banking

Yesterday, in a massive legal for the future of the UK, it was agreed that parliament must be consulted as to the terms of when Article 50 can be triggered. The deal is a blow for the Government who face months of political warfare as parties in the House of Commons (such as the Liberal Democrats and the SNP, both against ‘Brexit’) and the House of Lords can debate the future of the UK outside the EU. We can expect more uncertainty from the decision although chatter of an early election is still speculation.

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More news: Brexit News Round-Up

Outsourcing customer experience firm, Sitel UK, has been awarded a contract to provide contact centre services for the prestigious National Citizen Service (NCS). The contract will see Sitel UK providing multichannel services in support of the programme from their new location in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Karl Brough, General Manager of Sitel UK and Ireland, said; “We are delighted to be involved with helping this great British Institution that is helping our young people. Public sector outsourcing is a growth area and we are seeing many opportunities to provide world-leading public service.”

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More news from Sourcing Focus

Kingston upon Hull City Council has extended its strategic partnership with Civica, a leader in software applications, digital solutions and outsourcing, with a new BPO contract to take on contact centre services ahead of its year as UK City of Culture 2017. Civica will deliver contact centre services for Hull City Council, which receives an average of 70,000 calls each month, provide the underlying telephony infrastructure and support the authority in its strategic digital and communication transformation.

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More news on Council Outsourcing.

In a move to simplify and consolidate its tax collection, the Indian government have set rates for the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) system. Indian businesses have been lobbying for the countrywide tax rates as the reform is expected to reduce costs, particularly for shipping goods across state borders. The change will unify the countries tax system and could encourage further growth in the country. The announcement marks a significant step in the right direction for India although many details of the plan must still be confirmed.

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Avanade (a provider of innovative digital and cloud services, business solutions and design-led experiences for its clients), announced this morning that it will help Aspect (a provider of multi-commodity trade, risk and operations management applications) to manage its IT platform. Aspect recently moved its outsourced operations from Russia to India. Working with Avanade’s Global Delivery Network and local delivery centres, Aspect established a new scalable workforce, within a matter of weeks. “Avanade is well placed to help us transform our business and create value over the coming years through new IT approaches” said Steve Hughes, CEO at Aspect.

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