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[ad_1] NYSE-listed data centre and technology services provider Pure Storage inaugurated its new research and development centre in Bengaluru on Thursday, committing to the government’s ‘Make in India’ push. The acceleration of digital transformation around the world is fuelling the growth of data, specifically unstructured data such as video, picture and audio files. That is creating demand for professionals who are experts in solutions that store, manage, protect and analyse such data, the company said in a statement.“We are excited to see another leading global technology company commit to investment in India and the Karnataka region. Pure Storage is providing an opportunity for Indian talent to contribute to technologies that are in demand around the world,” said C N Ashwath Narayan, minister for higher education, government of Karnataka. “India has long been a source of technology talent and we have to stay ahead of the game. With data continuing to grow in volume and complexity, the skills to manage, protect and move it around in hybrid and multi-cloud environments, will become even more in demand and it’s important for Karnataka to be involved in this movement.” A new study conducted by Pure Storage with market research by Zinnov, a management consulting firm, found that over 700,000 professionals in India have the relevant data management skills. This is around 14% of the total technology workforce in the country and is poised to grow further. India makes up more than 10% of the worldwide talent pool of data management professionals and more than a quarter of Asia Pacific. “We strongly believe that talent knows no boundaries and can be found across all regions. This approach encourages a culture of inclusivity, new ways of thinking, customer centricity and provides an opportunity to develop skills to build products across the globe. The India R&D centre will further foster data management capabilities in India while ensuring Pure’s global customers benefit from this abundance of talent,” said Ajay Singh, chief product officer, Pure Storage. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] The pandemic changed the way people do everything from work and school to grocery shopping and medical appointments and the real estate industry has been working to keep pace with the demand for digitization. HousingWire recently spoke with Brendon Weiss, co-founder of EscrowTab, about how lenders can streamline their eClosings with the help of IPEN. HousingWire: What are some of the potential challenges lenders and borrowers face when it comes to the traditional in-person signing process and how can in-person electronic notarization, or IPEN, solve some of those challenges? Brendon Weiss: Lenders and homeowners will agree, the traditional in-person signing process has long been plagued with inefficiencies. Challenges accompanying the traditional methods used to complete in-person signings are not ‘new’ obstacles – they were only made more obvious in recent years as digitization has accelerated in an increasingly tech-forward world. Can you imagine needing to pay for groceries using cash or checks? We can’t either. Soon, we believe printing and signing hard copies of loan documents will also largely be a thing of the past.  In-person electronic notarization (IPEN) is quickly gaining industry-wide traction with lenders, title agencies and settlement companies due to its convenience, cost savings and improved borrower experience. IPEN allows a signer and notary signing agent in the same location to apply the signer’s electronic signatures to digital documents. The notary signing agent is then allowed to eNotarize the documents without any paper involved. To better understand the advantages of IPEN, first consider the implications of facilitating traditional in-person notarization. All documents are paper records, which come at a financial cost to print, costs related to administrative hours to prepare, process and maintain. Paper records can be more susceptible to data security risks or human error – such as skipped pages or incorrectly-placed signatures. Handling tangible paper records with or without having to correct human error can result in delayed processing time. As the traditional in-person notarization process can involve hundreds of paper records, you’re also losing the eco-friendly appeal with modern borrowers expecting a paperless process. IPEN enables eClosings with enhanced security, compliance and accessibility for all parties involved and depending on the vendor, can be more quickly implemented than other solutions available in the market. An IPEN solution like EscrowTab helps streamline closing operations with reduced loan lifecycles – all the while adding value to the borrower experience with convenient full eClosing options. HW: IPEN provides both lenders and borrowers with a level of automation that a traditional signing doesn’t. How are current market conditions necessitating flexible and convenient solutions like EscrowTab? BW: At a time when margin compression is high and closing volume is low, implementation of a solution like EscrowTab would position lenders and title agencies for streamlined efficiency throughout your business. While some solutions take months to implement, EscrowTab bypasses the bottlenecks of system integrations and allows companies to start enjoying cost savings sooner rather than later. EscrowTab’s solution is designed to work as close to paper as possible, except better. This includes functionality like allowing for edits to the document in real-time without redrawing the docs, and the ability to clear a single page if a borrower signs in the wrong location. And because all EscrowTab’s services – DocPrep, eNote creation, eClosing and eVault – were designed and built in-house, everything works seamlessly to the benefit of the users. HW: Why would a lender, title agency or settlement company choose an In-Person Electronic Notarization (IPEN) method over remote online notarization (RON), which has been the talk of the media for the past few years? BW: In-Person Electronic Notarization (IPEN) has been around for many years, often referred to as simply electronic notarization. Even though this type of notarization has been legal nationwide, and it holds versatile advantages over other notarization methods, there haven’t been many companies providing a simple, intuitive IPEN-based product. Only 40 states have legislation in place permitting the use of RON. Of those 40, several are still operating under temporary emergency orders enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Temporary orders may – for now – still allow the use of RON; however, there’s no guarantee which states with temporary policies will pass permanent legislation. A nationwide IPEN solution offers simplicity and consistency for the notary signing agent and the borrower. In the states with approved use of RON, all parties must meet multi-factor verification requirements. Acceptable multi-factor requirements are state-specific and may include knowledge-based authentication (KBA), automated authentication of government-issued photo ID, or visual inspection of ID through two-way video technology. Accessing multi-factor verification requirements may not be feasible for all parties, who may have inadequate technology means or feel intimidated by the process. When employing IPEN methods in eClosings, tangible paper documents are eliminated, but the in-person connection that is very valued by many borrowers, title companies and signing agents, remains. Tech-shy borrowers can feel confident as they move through a simplified eClosing process with guidance from an industry professional by their side. HW: What is EscrowTab bringing to the market that lenders and title agencies haven’t experienced yet and how will you continue bringing value to the industry? BW: Recent years forced global adaptation to remote work – not just work, but adaptation to living a digitally-enabled life. It’s safe to assume fast-tracked acceptance of digitized operations is a trend borrowers would want to see spill over into other processes – especially if that results in enhanced convenience for all parties. Borrowers’ expectations for efficiency will only continue to rise. For lenders and title agencies, the question is no longer ‘If’ you need to offer eClosing solutions, but rather, ‘How?’ There are many eClosing solutions lenders and title agencies can choose from to ensure borrowers a modern, secure experience. Where EscrowTab has a leg up on the competition is our simplicity and accessibility – and ability for lenders to maintain their current processes. EscrowTab employs In-Person Electronic Notarization using an EscrowTab-enabled tablet and stylus. We are the only eClosing platform that allows borrowers

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[ad_1] Stepping up pressure on power producers to use imported coal, the Union ministry of power on Wednesday said domestic fuel supplies to state government-run utilities and independent power producers (IPPs) will be cut by 30% effective June 7, if they do not place their indents with Coal India (CIL) or have not already initiated their own tender process for purchase of imported coal for blending purpose. The ministry, in letters sent to these utilities on Wednesday, added that the allocation of coal from domestic sources would be further reduced to 60% from June 15, if they continued to be non-compliant with the directive to use imported coal for 10% blending. The domestic coal, thus saved, would be allocated to those gencos/IPPs who have already commenced blending, the ministry added. The power ministry’s letter is also marked to the coal ministry, the chairman and managing director of Coal India and the Central Electricity Authority, indicating their consent to the move. While many state governments find compliance with the Centre’s directive to have a fuel mix with 10% imported coal unviable due to elevated prices of imported coal, officials from the Uttar Pradesh government said that the Centre was “indulging in arm-twisting tactics and forcing the gencos to purchase costly coal.” “If some state utilities and IPPs are unable to purchase costly imported coal, how can the Centre force them to do so? Also, if gencos are unable to import 10% coal, how is it fair to cut their domestic coal allocation by 30-40%?”, a UP power department official asked. Keen to avoid repeat of a serious power crisis, as seen a few weeks ago in many parts of the country, during the months ahead, the power ministry is making all-out efforts to boost power generation and bridge a demand-supply gap. Earlier, in the letter dated May 28 to state-run and private power plants, the ministry said Coal India would import coal for blending on government-to-government (G2G) basis and supply to them. It also asked the gencos to suspend tenders for direct coal imports that are “under process” to “await the price discovery by Coal India.” The move followed concerns expressed by many state power utilities and IPPs over the efficacy of the pass-through mechanism announced by the government to recoup the high cost of imported coal. In the latest letter to state power secretaries, state gencos as well as IPPs, the ministry further said that those state gencos and IPPs that have either placed their indents with CIL or initiated their own tender processes will be allocated domestic coal proportionately based on the likely availability. Coal India was asked to import coal for blending on government-to-government (G2G) basis and supply to thermal power plants of state generators and IPPs on composite billing basis along with the domestic coal. The ministry had asked all thermal power generators to indicate their coal import requirements for blending by May 31. Since only three states — Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh — had complied with this by May 31, the government had decided to extend the deadline by a couple of days. The UP government has told UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam, the umbrella body of state-owned generators, that “after considering all aspects, it has come to the decision of not allowing either the state gencos, or the independent power producers in the state to import coal.” The UP government official quoted above added: “If we are unable to import 10% coal, we can plan to restrict production proportionately and go for planned power outages. But if 40% domestic coal is cut, it means we are being penalised for no fault of ours,” he said. Terming the Centre’s directive as an attempt to put undue pressure on states, the All India Power Engineers Federation reiterated its demand that since the coal crisis is not the fault of the state power generating houses, the additional cost of coal imports should be borne by the Centre.Shailendra Dubey, chairman, AIPEF further said that most thermal power stations in all the states are not designed for imported coal and blending imported coal will increase tube leakages in their boilers. The power ministry recently proposed a fresh scheme to facilitate state-run electricity distribution entities (discoms) to pay up their dues to gencos, which at last count stood at a staggering Rs 1 trillion. The move follows low level of compliance with its recent directives to discoms to clear the dues and the realisation that it largely resulted from a resource crunch with the discoms. The scheme will allow payment of financial dues by discoms in up to 48 monthly installments. It also includes a one-time relaxation wherein the amount outstanding (including principal and late payment surcharge) on the date of notification of the scheme will be frozen without further imposition of the surcharge. If the scheme works without causing further default by discoms, it will enable gencos, many of which are facing huge liquidity crunch, to continue their operations in an uninterrupted manner. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] CrossCountry Mortgage is suing Guild Mortgage for poaching a former Las Vegas branch manager and allegedly convincing her to steal proprietary information, the latest escalation in a brewing legal battle between the retail mortgage lenders. CrossCountry alleges that San Diego-based Guild Mortgage offered Mirajoy Casimiro, former branch manager and loan originator at CrossCountry, a lucrative employment package and persuaded her to take “massive amounts” of confidential business and client information in the period spanning between mid- 2020 and January 2021. The lawsuit also claims that Guild convinced Casimiro to divert loans in process to be closed. The accusations are part of a lawsuit filed in late-May in the U.S. District Court of Nevada. CrossCountry Mortgage seeks an undisclosed amount as compensation for “the continuing loss of its competitive position, loss of market share, and lost profits.” Guild Mortgage did not respond to a request for comment. Ohio-based CrossCountry Mortgage also did not respond to a request for comment. According to the lawsuit, Casimiro was “in active coordination” with Guild in exporting confidential information and data while she was still employed with CrossCountry. The lawsuit also said that CrossCountry did not receive a warning from Casimiro when she left to join Guild in January 2021. CrossCountry alleges that Guild intentionally made Casimiro breach her contractual obligations and duties of loyalty, and as a result, CrossCountry has suffered substantial harm, including loss of investment made in the former branch manager and a disruption to the company’s Las Vegas operations. This is not the first spat between the two lenders. In October 2021, Guild Mortgage sued CrossCountry for allegedly engaging in similar practices. As of June 2022, litigation is ongoing. A lawsuit filed by Guild in the Western District of Washington U.S. District Court alleges that CrossCountry monetarily enticed three former Guild employees, who worked at the lenders’ Kirkland branch, to convince other Guild employees to defect en masse to CrossCountry. The lawsuit said that the three former Guild employees, a former branch manager, a senior loan officer, and an operations manager, received “lucrative employment packages” from CrossCountry. In early July 2021, virtually the entire Kirkland Branch resigned from Guild and left to CrossCountry, the lawsuit said. Former employees took a “massive amount” of confidential business and client information, and loans were also diverted in the process at Guild to be closed at CrossCountry, the lawsuit alleges. Another lawsuit was filed by Caliber Home Loans in May 2022, which accused CrossCountry of executing an “illegal scheme of unfair competition” by targeting its employees, stealing trade secrets and diverting customers.  The accusations are part of a lawsuit filed in May in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle. Caliber claims its rival hired more than 80 of its employees, among them 40 loan producers, beginning in February 2021. The staff worked across 18 different branch offices in six states: Washington, Oregon, Texas, Florida, Tennessee and California.   At the time, neither lenders responded to requests for comment. The post Tensions rise between CrossCountry and Guild appeared first on HousingWire. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] The post Simplifi vs. Mint: A Breakdown appeared first on Millennial Money. Managing your finances can be a daunting task — especially as you get older and your situation becomes more complex. Even so, personal finance management doesn’t have to be a nightmare. It also doesn’t have to be something you spend a fortune on by hiring a personal accountant.  In fact, there are a variety of awesome mobile apps within reach that make it easy to track your income, create budgets, and reduce your monthly expenses.  Two popular options include Simplifi by Quicken and Intuit’s Mint.com. Keep reading to learn how these apps compare so you can decide which is best for you.   or, jump straight to our in-depth Mint and Simplifi comparison What is Simplifi? Simplifi comes from parent company Quicken, which is a leading financial management software provider with about three decades of experience. Simplifi is one of Quicken’s latest innovations — and, from where I stand, it doesn’t disappoint. In short, Simplifi is an app that you can use to stay on top of money and reach your financial goals. It works with iOS, Android, and any web browser, and all features are available over the web and its mobile apps. Simplifi features Here’s a breakdown of what the Simplifi app offers. Financial dashboard  Chances are you have many accounts — including loans, checking accounts, credit cards, investment accounts, and savings accounts. Without a single management app, it can be tough to stay on top of each one and monitor them with any sense of urgency. Simplifi solves this problem by bringing all of your accounts together into a single mobile dashboard. With Simplifi, you can view all your accounts in one place and check your balances and transactions in just a few clicks.  In other words, you don’t have to manually log into different accounts for quick updates. In this light, Simplifi saves time and eliminates hassle. Watchlists One of the top reasons people fall behind in their budgeting goals is because the process is time-consuming and stressful. After all, many people don’t like the feeling of limiting spending on takeout food or entertainment and find that keeping a budget makes them feel guilty about everyday purchases.  Simplifi takes a different approach to budgeting with custom watchlists. Simply put, a watchlist is a way to track monthly spending across different categories without watching every penny. It’s a more relaxed approach to budgeting — one that can be just as effective as the traditional approach of going transaction by transaction. Simplifi lets you set up as many watchlists as you want, so you don’t have to worry about being limited. Bill and income tracker  One of the tricks to personal finance management is to track your daily cash flows. If you always know what’s in your account and when upcoming bills are due, you can adjust your spending accordingly.  Simplifi provides an intuitive bill and income tracker which lets you view all upcoming transactions in a single place. Plus, you can even tell Simplifi to send notifications about current and upcoming transactions — including weekly bills, recurring bills, and paycheck arrivals. In addition, Simplifi tells you what you have available to spend based on your upcoming bills. So, if you’re out for a night on the town with friends, you can rest easy and have another extra craft brew won’t leave you incapable of paying your rent or utility bills on time.  Another nice feature that Simplifi offers is credit card account tracking. The app can track credit patterns and give you the insights you need to minimize unnecessary credit charges and pay down balances. Spending plan If you need a bit more oversight with daily spending, Simplifi’s automated spending plan can help. To get started, simply connect your accounts to Simplifi, and the app will analyze your upcoming expenses and tell you exactly how much you can spend across different spending categories. This takes all the pressure out of paying for items and managing your finances.  Savings goals  Setting money aside for growth isn’t easy when you’re putting food on the table, paying for your kids’ field trips and sporting events, and filling up your gas tank. But with Simplifi, saving is a lot easier. You can create new savings goals in the app, and Simplifi will tell you exactly how much you need to set aside each month to reach your target.  For example, you might want to park $2,000 in an emergency car fund. In this scenario, the app will create a custom budget and remind you to put away $166 each month. By the end of the year, you’ll have $2,000 in savings. Reports In addition to monitoring your daily spending, it’s a good idea to track your financial habits over time.  Simplifi contains a special reports tab that you can customize and filter to track your progress and see how you’re doing over time. For example, you might want to track food spending over three months. You also might want to assess annual transportation costs and see where you can cut down.  Simplifi offers spending, income, net worth, and savings reports along with monthly summaries. The app also offers a handy shopping refund tracker, which you can use to keep track of transactions when sending items back to the store.  Add it all up, and this app packs a real punch. Now that you have a good idea of what Simplifi is all about, let’s take a closer look at Mint to see how the two apps stack up. Learn More: Simplifi Review | By Quicken  What is Mint? At a very high level, Mint is quite similar to Simplifi. The platform brings together many different pieces of financial data — including spending, balances, and budgets — into a single, user-friendly app. If you’re looking to consolidate your accounts into a single mobile dashboard, Mint is a great option. And like Simplifi, Mint is backed by a parent company

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[ad_1] Govt proposes to amend social media rules; plans to set up grievance appellate committee The Centre plans to set up a grievance appellate committee to look into appeals filed by individuals against the decisions of grievance officers of social media platforms. Besides, the panel has to dispose of the appeals within 30 days of receiving them and its decision will be binding on the intermediaries or the large social media companies concerned, according to a notification to amend the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The proposed move assumes significance against the backdrop of instances of accounts, including that of celebrities, being blocked by social media platforms such as Twitter for alleged violation of respective community guidelines. “The central government shall constitute one or more Grievance Appellate Committees, which shall consist of a Chairperson and such other Members, as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette,” the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) said in the draft notification. The aggrieved person can appeal against the decision of the grievance officer concerned before the committee within 30 days of receipt of the order. “The Grievance Appellate Committee shall deal with such appeal expeditiously and shall make an endeavour to dispose of the appeal finally within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the appeal. Every order passed by the Grievance Appellate Committee shall be complied with by the concerned intermediary,” the draft notification said. The committee will provide an alternate grievances redressal mechanism but the complainant will also have the right to seek judicial remedy on the grievance at any point of time, as per the draft notification issued on June 1. The rules for social media companies came into effect from May 26, 2021. It mandated large social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to enable identification of the ‘first originator’ of the information that undermines the sovereignty of India, the security of the state, or public order. Under the rules, significant social media intermediaries — those with over 50 lakh users — are required to appoint a grievance officer, a nodal officer and a chief compliance officer. These personnel have to be residents in India. As per the draft notification, intermediaries have to acknowledge suspension, removal or blocking of any user or user account or any complaint from its users in the nature of request for removal of information or communication link within 24 hours and dispose of the complaint within 15 days. In the case of any complaints in the nature of request for removal of information or communication link carrying defamatory, obscene, pornographic, invasive of another’s privacy, libellous, false and untrue information, those should be redressed within 72 hours of the reporting, according to the draft notification. Also, the intermediary concerned will be required to take all reasonable measures to ensure accessibility of its services to users along with reasonable expectation of due diligence, privacy and transparency. “… the intermediary shall respect the rights accorded to the citizens under the Constitution of India,” the draft notification said. Meity has sought comments on the draft notification till June 22. Since the implementation of the rules in May last year, various social media platforms, including Facebook, have been coming out with monthly compliance reports. In its compliance report for April, mobile messaging platform WhatsApp said it banned over 16 lakh accounts of Indian users in April to prevent harmful activities on the platform. There has been a rise of around 37.82 per cent in hate speech on social media platform Facebook and 86 per cent jump in violent and inciting content on Instagram in April, as per the monthly report released by Meta. Meta company was earlier known as Facebook and WhatsApp is also part of Meta. [ad_2] Source link