Connect with us

Media OutReach

BIK Behavioural Verification technology as the response to the growing wave of digital fraud in the African financial market

Published

on

WARSAW, POLAND – Newsaktuell – 5 May 2026 – Biuro Informacji Kredytowej (BIK), Credit Information Bureau, the leading organization in Poland for credit data exchange and anti-fraud systems, has formed a strategic alliance with Fair Score Africa. Fair Score Africa is an Award Winning pioneer in credit repair and re-integration, alternative credit scoring and in tackling financial exclusion, based in South Africa. This collaboration aims to implement the Polish-developed BIK Behavioural Verification Platform in seven key African markets, with the goal of reducing financial fraud. Amidst the rapid digitalization of financial services across Africa, an increase in fraudulent activities is threatening transaction security and emerging as a significant challenge to the stability of developing economies.

In today’s digital economy, trust has emerged as the most valuable asset, surpassing money as the key currency. The collaboration between BIK and Fair Score Africa unites a robust, well-established security infrastructure developed in Poland with the dynamic growth of African markets, where mobile payments and digital banking are rapidly becoming central to everyday financial transactions. This partnership is focused on the deployment of BIK’s proprietary Behavioural Verification Platform in seven leading African countries: South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Botswana, Ghana, Namibia and Zambia.

The collaborative initiative directly addresses the rapidly expanding issue of financial fraud in Africa’s fast-growing markets, which are home to a population exceeding 427 million. According to the Interpol report Africa Cyberthreat Assessment, published in June 2025, cybercrime now constitutes more than 30% of reported fraud cases in both West and East Africa. Between 2019 and 2025, the continent has suffered financial losses exceeding USD 3 billion as a result of identified cyber incidents.

Security measures relying solely on passwords, one-time SMS codes, and other traditional identity verification methods are no longer sufficient and fail to provide effective protection against increasingly sophisticated threats.

The BIK Behavioural Verification Platform (BVP) is an innovative response to the escalating challenge of digital fraud within the financial sector. Designed to proactively safeguard both individuals and institutions, the BVP leverages advanced behavioural analytics to identify each user’s unique patterns of interaction. By monitoring how customers engage with their devices during online and mobile banking sessions, the platform operates in real time to detect anomalies that may indicate fraudulent activity. This enables the prevention of unauthorized transactions and the submission of credit applications without customer consent, ensuring enhanced protection for all parties involved.

Using state-of-the-art Machine Learning algorithms, the platform continually updates each user’s behavioural profile, adapting dynamically to emerging threats. All data is processed in a context-free manner, strictly adhering to international privacy standards. The BIK Behavioural Verification Platform delivers robust security for end users and supports financial institutions in significantly reducing fraud-related losses across the entire ecosystem.

The BIK solution streamlines institutional anti-fraud operations while maintaining a seamless customer experience. Developed and proven in the Polish financial market, the BIK Behavioural Verification Platform is now emerging as a new standard for digital protection, combining effectiveness, user convenience, and resilience against modern cyber threats. Its adaptable nature enables deployment across international markets, setting a benchmark for security and operational excellence globally.

“Our collaboration with BIK directly responds to a pressing need across the African market, where we are witnessing a swift rise in financial crime, especially through mobile platforms. BIK’s behavioural verification technology offers a crucial enhancement to our security landscape-improving fraud detection without compromising the user experience. We believe this forms the basis for secure and sustainable growth across the region” – says Dr. Danny Zandamela, CEO of Fair Score Africa, and adds:

“We position the partnership with BIK as a long ‑ term commitment, the outcome of which is the ability to provide local financial institutions with a critical technology that protects against the evolving threat landscape across the African continent. In future, it may serve as an authentication layer for national citizen ‑ identification systems through integration with, for example, the Ghana Card or Nigeria’s NIN, which are the respective equivalents of the Polish national identity card” -adds Dr. Zandamela.

“At BIK, we are proud to be building one of the world’s most advanced anti-fraud ecosystems, renowned for its exceptional scope and technological sophistication. By expanding this digital shield to our partners’ markets in Africa, we are not simply sharing technology – we are exporting trust and confidence in the financial sector. By analyzing each customer’s distinctive behavioural patterns, our technology can safeguard their finances even in situations where login credentials have been compromised by cybercriminals. We are demonstrating that cutting-edge technology developed in Poland is fully scalable and ready to protect financial sector clients across continents” – says Mariusz Cholewa, PhD, CEO of BIK, President of ACCIS.

BIK – the only Credit Information Bureau in Poland, member of ACCIS, associating the largest group of credit registers in the world. BIK supports the security of financial institutions and their clients by providing a safe system for exchanging credit and economic information and innovative anti-fraud solutions. The sectoral solutions in BIK portfolio are: BIK Anti-Fraud Platform, Cyber Fraud Detection Platform, Behavioural Verification Platform, ESG BIK Platform. BIK collects and provides data on the credit history of individual customers and entrepreneurs from the entire credit market, as well as data from the area of non-bank loans. BIK possesses the highest competencies in market analysis and modern technologies. It combines the features of a modern technology company with the attributes of a public trust institution.

Fair Score Africa – the company is an innovative FinTech in credit repair, credit re-integration, alternative credit scoring and financial inclusion, developing mobile‑ and behavioural‑data‑driven risk assessment tools that enable the secure scaling of financial services across African markets. Fair Score’s Score Improvement Program is able to improve the credit risk profile of individual consumers through targeted interventions that improve the behaviour of consumers in the credit economy, making them more responsible participants of that arena. In this way, lenders are also able to engage these consumers through a redefined credit risk outlook in their assessments. The Score Improvement Program has recently been awarded as being the Best Credit Assessment Initiative – Africa for 2026 by The Digital Banker in Singapore.

Hashtag: #BIK

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Media OutReach

The 15th Canon x McDull Inter-school Ink Cartridge Recycling Award Presentation Ceremony Advancing Environmental Education with Collective Efforts

Published

on

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 10 July 2026 – Canon Hongkong Company Limited (Canon Hong Kong) successfully held the “15th Canon x McDull Inter-school Ink Cartridge Recycling Award Presentation Ceremony” at Canon Image Square on 4 July 2026. The ceremony commended the winning schools for their outstanding performance in ink cartridge recycling. To further enrich students’ learning experience, “Build Your Own Camera” STEAM parent-child workshop was also conducted, providing an interesting opportunity for students to assemble handcraft camera models, design their own unique cameras, and explore the fascinating world of photography and optics.

Adhering to Canon’s corporate philosophy “Kyosei”, Canon Hong Kong has spared no effort to promote environmental conservation and sustainable development, injecting green elements into different kinds of corporate activities. Since the launch of “Ink Cartridge Recycling Program” in 2009, Canon Hong Kong has invited the beloved local cartoon character, McDull, to serve as the program ambassador. With the ambition of cultivating the environmental awareness of the next generation, the program was extended to the education sector in 2011, calling on support from primary and secondary schools in the annual competition. Now in its 15th year, the program has reached an important milestone and received overwhelming responses from more than 300 organizations, housing estates, shopping malls, supermarkets and schools, all helping to set up recycling boxes to encourage the public to recycle used inkjet printer cartridges of all brands. To deepen students’ understanding and engagement with environmental issues, Canon Hong Kong has organized over 230 environmental seminars for participating schools, reaching over 70,000 students with messages about recycling and sustainable development. As of June 2026, over 295,000 ink cartridges were collected. Recycled ink cartridges were dismantled, while the metals and plastics were being recycled into raw materials for other products.

In the welcome speech at the ceremony, Ms. Candy Mau, Director of Corporate Communications and General Administration Division of Canon Hong Kong, affirmed the winning schools for their exemplar dedication in promoting recycling. A total of 8 schools were recognized in the category of “Highest No. of Recycled Ink Cartridges”. Ms. Mau noted that the escalating threat of global warming and climate change has sounded an alarm for the Earth, reminding us of the need to protect the environment together. She emphasized the importance of promoting environmental protection to the young generation from an early age and urged schools to build a better and sustainable society together by continuously promoting environmental education.

After the ceremony, Canon Hong Kong arranged a “Build Your Own Camera” STEAM parent-child workshop for the students and parents. The activity allowed them to assemble and build their own handcraft camera models, thereby learning basic optical principles. Through interactive demonstrations and disassembling camera structures, participants gained a deeper understanding of the science behind imaging while enjoying the joy of creativity, technology and photography. The workshop added a memorable learning experience to the ceremony and brought the event to a successful close.
Hashtag: #Canon #McDull

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Canon Hongkong Company Limited

Canon Inc. (TSE:7751) was founded in 1937 in Japan. Its predecessor, Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory, produced Japan’s first 35 mm focal-plane-shutter camera “Kwanon” in 1934. From there, Canon Inc. expanded into the photocopying and printing industries, launching Japan’s first plain paper copier NP-1100 in 1970 and the world’s first inkjet printer BJ-80 in 1985. Through the years, Canon Inc. has acquired in-depth experience in digital imaging product manufacturing, research and development. Pioneering in innovative product development, Canon Inc. holds the most technology patents in the imaging industry. Canon Inc. also makes significant contributions to promote photography. Today, Canon Inc. has a strong global presence, representing one of the most important market players in the imaging, office and industrial product categories. As of 31 December 2025, Canon’s global revenue was US$30 billion.

In 1971, Canon Hongkong Co., Ltd. (Canon Hong Kong) was established as one of the first Canon offices in Asia. Canon Hong Kong is a Total Imaging Solution provider, providing professional pre-sales, marketing and after-sales services for all Canon products and solutions in Hong Kong and Macau. With the solely owned subsidiary Canon Business Solutions (Guangdong) Co., Ltd. established in 2018; the company continues to deliver intelligent total business solutions and professional services to Greater Bay Area. Canon Hong Kong adheres to Canon’s corporate philosophy of “Kyosei”, encouraging the company and staff to engage in social, charitable and environmental activities for the community. Implementing an internationally recognized management system, Canon Hong Kong has achieved ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO 27001 (Canon Digital Production Center) certifications.

For more information about Canon Hong Kong, please visit our website: .

Continue Reading

Media OutReach

Booster Pack 09 “Here He Comes! Our Hero!” & Starter Deck 04 “Ultraman & Ultraman Cosmos” To Be Released on Friday, October 23! The Showa Ultraman Series Makes Its First Appearance!

Published

on

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 10 July 2026 – Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Masayuki Nagatake) is pleased to announce the release of Booster Pack 09 (BP09), “Here He Comes! Our Hero!”, and Starter Deck 04 (SD04), “Ultraman & Ultraman Cosmos,” for the Ultraman Card Game on Friday, October 23, 2026.

BP09″Here He Comes! Our Hero!”/SD04 “Ultraman & Ultraman Cosmos”

BP09 “Here He Comes! Our Hero!” and SD04 “Ultraman & Ultraman Cosmos” introduce Ultraman Cosmos, one of the heroes most requested by players, alongside the original Ultraman, who makes his long-awaited debut from the Showa Ultraman series in the Ultraman Card Game.

These products also commemorate the 2nd Anniversary of the Ultraman Card Game, making them a special milestone release.

They also introduce the new “Color System” and the all-new “Boost Card” category. These additions expand strategic possibilities and offer greater deck-building diversity, delivering even more exciting and dynamic battles.


Feature 1: Ultraman and Ultraman Cosmos Join the Game!

The original Ultraman and Ultraman Cosmos finally make their debut in the Ultraman Card Game.

Build decks and experience gameplay that faithfully recreates the unique abilities, fighting styles, and identities of these legendary heroes.

  • Ultraman also appears as a serial-numbered card in BP08.

To celebrate this milestone, Ultraman is also featured as a serial-numbered card in Booster Pack 08: Converging Bonds, released on Friday, July 10.


Feature 2: Introducing the New Card Category – “Boost Cards”

A brand-new card category, Boost Cards, joins Character Cards and Scene Cards as a new card type.

Boost Cards are inspired by iconic elements from across the Ultraman series, including Defense Teams and memorable items used throughout the franchise.

More details on Boost Cards, including gameplay mechanics and previewed card effects, will be revealed at a later date.

Feature 3: New Gameplay Mechanic – “Color System”

BP09 introduces the new Color System.

Under this system, every Character Card belongs to one of five colors:

  • Red
  • Blue
  • Purple
  • Yellow
  • Green

Cards released before the introduction of the Color System, along with cards that do not have a color attribute, are treated as Colorless, allowing them to remain fully playable.

Combined with Boost Cards, the Color System adds greater deck-building depth, strategic decision-making, and exciting comeback opportunities.

More details on the Color System will be announced soon.

Official Accessories
Two new official card sleeve designs and a new playmat will also be available to help protect and showcase your collection.

1. Ultraman Card Game Official Card Sleeves (Beta Capsule)
Features the Beta Capsule, Ultraman’s transformation device, together with its iconic Ultra Sign.

2. Ultraman Card Game Official Card Sleeves (Cosmo Pluck)
Features Ultraman Cosmos’ transformation device, the Cosmo Pluck, together with its Ultra Sign.

3. Ultraman Card Game Official Playmat (Ultraman)
A playmat featuring the iconic debut scene of Ultraman as its design.

It also includes a newly added Boost Card Area, supporting the latest game rules.

Booster Pack 09 “Here He Comes! Our Hero!”

  • Release Date:October 23rd, 2026 (Friday)

Contents

  • 12 cards per pack
  • 24 packs per display box

※Box Topper is not included in this release

Starter Deck 04 “Ultraman & Ultraman Cosmos”

  • Release Date: October 23rd, 2026 (Friday)

Contents

  • 1 50 card pre-constructed deck (20 card types)
  • 1 pack of BP09「Here He Comes! Our Hero!」
  • 1 playsheet

Ultraman Card Game Official Sleeves 2 types (Beta Capsule/Cosmo Pluck)

  • Release Date: October 23rd, 2026 (Friday)

Ultraman Card Game Official Playmat (Ultraman)

  • Release Date: October 23rd, 2026 (Friday)


Regarding Ultraman Card Game

The Ultraman Card Game is a trading card game designed based on the Ultraman Universe and combines collectability with playability that appeals to both adults and children.

Official Name: Ultraman Card Game
Distribution Areas: Retail, toy stores, and trading card shops in distribution countries

Official Website:
https://ultraman-cardgame.com/

Official Social Media:
https://x.com/ucg_en (English X)
https://linktr.ee/ultramancardgame (List)

Hashtag: #UltramanCardGame #BP09 #SD04



The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Continue Reading

Media OutReach

Ancient Port, New Voyages: Ningbo’s Smart Manufacturing Expands Global Trade Footprint via Maritime Silk Road

Published

on

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA- Media OutReach Newswire – 9 July 2026 – On July 4, 2026, the cultural exchange event Encounter & Insight: Dialogue Between Ningbo, China and Colombo, Sri Lanka took place in Colombo.

On July 4, 2026, the cultural exchange event Encounter & Insight: Dialogue Between Ningbo, China and Colombo, Sri Lanka took place in Colombo.

Separated by thousands of miles, the two millennia-old port cities reconnected, leveraging their ports as a bond and cultural exchanges as a cohesive force to hold in-depth talks on integrated port-city development and bilateral economic and trade connectivity.

This cross-Indian Ocean dialogue echoes the ancient Maritime Silk Road while charting a brand-new outbound development path. As a pivotal starting port of the ancient Maritime Silk Road, Ningbo is building a new global trade landscape powered by smart manufacturing.

A thousand years ago, merchant vessels from Mingzhou Port set sail southward loaded with Yue Kiln celadon porcelain, passing through Ceylon to deliver Oriental crafts across the Indian Ocean coasts. Precious gemstones and spices traveled the same sea route back to regions south of the Yangtze River, laying the groundwork for the earliest cultural exchange between the two ports through trade. Today, the cargo carried by giant cargo ships has undergone a dramatic transformation. Beyond traditional daily necessities, intelligent equipment, digital home appliances and industrial robots now dominate shipments.

Official statistics show that Ningbo’s exports of intelligent equipment, including mechanical arms and industrial robots, hit 440 million yuan in 2025, surging more than 40% year-on-year. From January to May this year, Ningbo’s exports of mechanical and electrical products maintained steady growth, reaching 247 billion yuan, a 4.1% year-on-year increase and accounting for 58.0% of the city’s total export volume. The new energy foreign trade sector saw explosive growth, with exports of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products jumping 138.4% year-on-year, with electric vehicle exports skyrocketing 215.9%. Smart manufactured goods are continuously expanding the scope of Ningbo’s foreign trade.

Complementing the Colombo forum, an exhibition highlights Ningbo’s outstanding going-global enterprises and their products, vividly illustrating the profound shift in Ningbo’s trade structure.

Alongside time-honored Maritime Silk Road staples such as celadon porcelain and silk, Ningbo’s smart manufactured products—including AI translation glasses, intelligent outdoor gear and digital small home appliances—occupy prominent display spaces across the venue. In Sri Lanka, Ningbo smart water meters are widely adopted nationwide, while handheld cooling fans and intelligent kitchen appliances have entered ordinary households.

Leveraging Colombo Port’s transshipment advantages, massive volumes of Ningbo smart manufactured goods are distributed onward to Europe, the Middle East and beyond. What Ningbo exports today is no longer mere commodities, but a complete outbound solution integrating technology, brand value and after-sales services.

Faced with mounting challenges including homogeneous global market competition and rising trade barriers, Ningbo’s manufacturing sector has abandoned the old model of low-cost OEM production, relying on intelligent transformation to consolidate its competitive edge in overseas markets.

Over more than a decade of digital transformation efforts, Ningbo has achieved full digital upgrading of all industrial enterprises above designated size. A large number of local factories have built unmanned black-light workshops and flexible production lines, escaping vicious price competition through continuous technological iteration. Represented by five specialized, sophisticated, distinctive and innovative enterprises dubbed Ningbo’s “Five Little Tigers”—famous for their core proprietary technologies, including highly sophisticated visual inspection equipment, heat-resistant materials, sun-proof coatings, puncture-proof materials and self-drilling fasteners—these niche manufacturers have developed differentiated technical routes and full-spectrum production capacity, cementing irreplaceable competitiveness for Ningbo smart manufacturing on global markets.

Beyond trade expansion, Ningbo has built a supporting cultural communication system to ensure “products go global, accompanied by local culture”.

The launch of Sri Lanka’s first “One-Meter Cultural Space” cultural station during the Colombo event marks a tangible milestone of Ningbo’s go-global initiative. Built on enterprises’ overseas outlets, these miniature cultural exhibition halls integrate intangible cultural heritage crafts, urban stories and smart products, enabling overseas clients to experience cutting-edge manufacturing while gaining insight into Ningbo’s profound cultural heritage.

During the twin-city story-sharing session, Ningbo entrepreneurs based in Sri Lanka and local designers blending Chinese and Sri Lankan aesthetics shared stories of bilateral exchanges. Economic and trade ties have evolved into a bond for people-to-people communication, bridging divides in cross-cultural trade.

From Tang-dynasty celadon porcelain sailing across the Indian Ocean to intelligent equipment shipping to every corner of the globe, Ningbo, the ancient Maritime Silk Road port, has preserved its enduring gene of openness. Where exchanges once relied purely on commodity trade, today smart manufacturing underpins a stable, diversified and high-value-added global trade network.

The Ningbo-Colombo dialogue stands as a vivid microcosm of this transformation: the port still links lands and seas, yet the core of its trade has undergone a full intelligent upgrade.

Rooted in its historical legacy as a key Maritime Silk Road hub, Ningbo has consolidated its industrial foundation through a decade of digital development, expanded global market reach via worldwide port networks, and softened trade cooperation through cultural exchanges. This brand-new outbound shipping route forged by smart manufacturing has not only reshaped the city’s foreign trade landscape, but also delivered a replicable port-city development model for Chinese manufacturing to go global.

Hashtag: #NingboSmartManufacturing #MaritimeSilkRoad #GlobalTrade

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Continue Reading