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Branch Named “Best Payment Enablement Platform” in 9th Annual FinTech Breakthrough Awards Program

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Prestigious Annual Awards Program Recognizes Outstanding Financial Technology Products & Companies Around the World

TAMPA, Fla., March 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Branch, the leading workforce payments platform, today announced that it has been selected as winner of the “Best Payment Enablement Platform” award in the 9th annual FinTech Breakthrough Awards program conducted by FinTech Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies, and products in the global FinTech market today.

“Branch offers companies a competitive edge in recruiting and retention”

Branch empowers companies across a range of industries including hospitality, healthcare, business services, gig platforms & marketplaces, logistics, agriculture, and construction, by enabling real-time payments for both 1099 and W-2 workforces. Branch’s comprehensive workforce payments platform offers full visibility, allowing businesses to manage payouts efficiently, including shift-based payouts, same-day or daily payments, earned wage access (on-demand withdrawals), paycards and direct deposit, and off-cycle payments for bonuses, tips, or payroll corrections. Companies can set up and roll out Branch to their workforce within one to two weeks.

Additionally, onboarding onto Branch is easy for workers too: workers can quickly sign up for the Branch App and Card, a digital wallet that includes a bank account, debit card1, and financial wellness tools, in as quickly as 90 seconds. The Branch Direct offering supports fast payouts and ACH transfers directly to workers’ existing bank accounts, ensuring seamless integration with existing financial tools. Branch also provides companies white-label solutions that enable organizations to launch their fully customized payment solutions in two to three months.

“Branch offers companies a competitive edge in recruiting and retention. Traditional payroll methods like checks, ACH transfers, and even paycards often involve delays, fees, and hurdles, making them inefficient for modern workforce needs,” said Steve Johansson, Managing Director, FinTech Breakthrough. “Branch eliminates these constraints by providing free and easy-to-launch payment solutions for companies of all sizes that enhance financial access and flexibility for workers. That makes them our pick for ‘Best Payment Enablement Platform’ for 2025!”

The FinTech Breakthrough Awards is the premier awards program founded to recognize the FinTech innovators, leaders and visionaries from around the world in a range of categories, including Digital Banking, Personal Finance, Cryptocurrencies, Lending, Payments, Investments, RegTech, InsurTech and many more.

“By providing fast, fee-free options, and easy-to-use tools, we’re helping businesses support their workers’ financial wellness while also simplifying operations, driving engagement, and boosting retention,” said Branch CEO Atif Siddiqi. “We’re incredibly honored that FinTech Breakthrough has recognized how our platform enables businesses to deliver engaging payment experiences to their workforces.”

About Branch
Branch is the leading workforce payments platform that helps businesses deliver fast, flexible options for workers to get paid. Whether it’s sending earnings to employees or contractors, companies choose Branch because they know that faster payments can help them strengthen worker loyalty, save time and money, and drive business growth. Earners that sign up with Branch can receive a digital bank account, quick access to earned wages, rewards, and personal finance tools to help them manage their cash flow between pay cycles. Branch partners with the nation’s leading companies in hospitality, healthcare, gig platforms & marketplaces, and staffing services. Branch has been honored with a Webby Award—Best Financial Services, FinTech Breakthrough Award, Gartner Eye on Innovation: Financial Services, and Great Place to Work Certification. To learn more about Branch, visit https://www.branchapp.com and follow us on Twitter/X and LinkedIn.

About FinTech Breakthrough
Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for technology innovation and leadership around the globe, the FinTech Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring breakthrough innovation in Financial Technologies and Services companies and products. The FinTech Breakthrough Awards provide public recognition for the standout achievements of FinTech companies and products in categories that include Payments, Personal Finance, Cryptocurrency, Wealth Management, Fraud Protection, Banking, Lending, RegTech, InsurTech and more. For more information visit FinTechBreakthrough.com.

Tech Breakthrough LLC does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our recognition programs, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with award designations. Tech Breakthrough LLC recognition consists of the opinions of the Tech Breakthrough LLC organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Tech Breakthrough LLC disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this recognition program, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

1  Branch is not a bank. Banking services provided by Evolve Bank & Trust, Member FDIC. FDIC insurance only applies for eligible accounts should the bank holding your funds fail. The Branch Mastercard Debit Card is issued by Evolve Bank & Trust pursuant to a license from Mastercard and may be used everywhere Mastercard debit cards are accepted.

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SOURCE Branch

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eSign.AI Named Sole Electronic Signature Technology Provider for Hong Kong Government’s CorpID Project, Building the Foundation for Digital Signing Infrastructure in Hong Kong

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HONG KONG, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As Hong Kong’s Digital Corporate Identity Platform (CorpID) counts down to its phased launch, eSign.AI has been appointed as the sole electronic signature vendor in the project, responsible for delivering core digital signing capabilities including digital signatures, certificate management, and signature verification services. CorpID is led by Nexify, a seasoned government systems integrator, as the prime contractor. The platform is expected to launch in phases starting late 2026, with multiple CorpID-based e-government services going live in mid-2027.

CorpID: Government-Grade Digital Identity Infrastructure for Hong Kong Enterprises

The Digital Corporate Identity Platform (CorpID) is an enterprise-level digital services platform launched by the Hong Kong SAR Government, developed under the oversight of the Digital Policy Office (DPO). It is designed to serve as the business equivalent of “iAM Smart,” providing a unified digital identity foundation for Hong Kong enterprises. CorpID’s core mission is to build an integrated digital government infrastructure — offering unified identity authentication, digital signing, form pre-filling, and e-licence storage — replacing paper-heavy, cumbersome traditional processes and enabling smart city development through seamless data connectivity.

The platform is open to companies incorporated under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) and businesses registered under the Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310), including sole proprietorships and partnerships. The DPO requires all enterprise-related e-government services to support CorpID within 18 months of launch, and will continue expanding ecosystem coverage through sandbox initiatives, cross-industry identity standard interoperability, and fully online registration processes.

eSign.AI: The Digital Signing Engine Behind CorpID

eSign.AI is an AI-native electronic signature and contract automation platform built for enterprises worldwide, offering a complete signing framework from simple electronic signatures to the highest-level compliant digital signatures — meeting diverse regulatory requirements across industries and jurisdictions.

On the identity verification front, eSign.AI has completed integration with iAM Smart, enabling individual identity verification through Hong Kong’s citizen digital identity system, and providing legally valid digital certificate services for both enterprises and individuals.

Looking ahead, the eSign.AI SaaS platform will be deeply integrated with CorpID, providing enterprise and individual identity verification for Hong Kong businesses, and supporting both electronic and digital signing that complies with Hong Kong’s Electronic Transactions Ordinance — connecting the full digital contracting lifecycle for government and enterprise alike.

Getting Ahead of the AI Era: From eSignGlobal to eSign.AI

The electronic signature industry is undergoing a structural shift from “tooling” to “intelligence.” Market data underscores this acceleration: the AI-powered contract analysis tools market has grown from USD 3.32 billion in 2025 to USD 4.3 billion in 2026, at a CAGR of 29.6%. Signing is just one node in the contract lifecycle — document generation, workflow orchestration, compliance tracking, and post-execution management are all being transformed by AI, and the industry window is closing fast.

In April 2026, the company officially rebranded from eSignGlobal to eSign.AI, completing its strategic transformation from an e-signature tool provider to an AI-native contract automation platform. As the company’s spokesperson noted, this rebrand is not cosmetic — it is an acknowledgment of where the product actually is. Customers were already using eSign.AI to automate workflows that go far beyond the signature itself.

eSign Automation Skill was launched alongside the rebrand — an AI-powered signing automation framework for enterprise workflows that enables complete contract signing through natural language interaction, with no manual intervention required. Whether it is single-party approval, multi-party sequential signing, or large-scale parallel execution, an AI Agent can orchestrate the entire workflow in a single call. All signature initiations and status queries return structured JSON outputs, directly parseable by leading large language models and intelligent workflow systems.

eSign Automation is now available in the OpenClaw ecosystem and supports integration via Claude MCP, ChatGPT, and other leading AI platforms.

By combining AI automation capabilities with CorpID’s government-grade digital identity infrastructure, eSign.AI delivers a complete solution for Hong Kong enterprises — from identity verification to intelligent signing to full workflow automation.

About eSign.AI

eSign.AI (formerly eSignGlobal) is an AI-native electronic signature and contract automation platform built for enterprises worldwide. The platform serves over 100 countries and regions, covering core industries including financial services, manufacturing, real estate, human resources, and healthcare — with 1,500+ scenario applications and 3,000+ ecosystem partners. eSign.AI holds ISO 27001, ISO 27701, and ISO 27018 certifications and supports major regulatory frameworks including the U.S. ESIGN Act / UETA, EU eIDAS, HIPAA, GDPR, and 21 CFR Part 11. Infrastructure is anchored by independent data centers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Frankfurt, Germany.

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SOURCE eSignGlobal

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The 9th AskGamblers Awards Finalists Announced as Voting Starts

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The highly anticipated 9th AskGamblers Awards has officially moved into the voting phase. Following a rigorous selection process, the finalists across 5 premier categories have been revealed: Best Casino, Best New Casino, Best New Slot, Best Sportsbook, Best Provider. Players are invited to cast their votes until 11 June.

BELGRADE, Serbia, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The voting stage of the 9th annual AskGamblers Awards has officially begun. The list of finalists is announced, and the first votes are already coming in. 

Players will have a chance to vote for their favourites until 11 June, when the winners will be announced at the gala ceremony in Belgrade. There’s a total of 5 categories where popular votes are taken into consideration:

Best CasinoBest New CasinoBest SportsbookBest New SlotBest Game Provider

There aren’t any big changes to the voting process compared to last year. The votes from the prominent members of AskGamblers Forum will be counted in as well, while some award winners will be announced directly by the AskGamblers teams. 

These include: Best Crypto Casino, Best Partner, and Best Manager categories, while the AskGamblers Superstar Award is expected to be handed to the operator that illustrates the brand values best.

Dijana Radunović, General Manager at AskGamblers, is excited for voting to start: “We’re seeing some familiar contestants, but there are a lot of new names, so it will be exciting to see who comes up on top.”

“We invite players to vote for their favourites! This is a chance for you to speak your mind and support operators and games that shape this industry,” Radunović added.

Before the AskGamblers Awards Ceremony that takes place on 11 June, Charity Night is scheduled for 10 June.

About AskGamblers

AskGamblers.com strives to provide current, objective, and accurate information and guide its users towards a safe gaming experience. The way we deliver our services, from the online casino, sportsbook, slot, and bonus reviews to our trusted Complaint Service, is best described by our motto: ‘Get the truth. Then play.’

For more information about AskGamblers and AskGamblers Awards, please contact dijana.radunovic@g2m.com.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

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SUNMI Wins 2026 Red Dot Design Awards with Five Products, Leading Global Commercial Industrial Design

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SINGAPORE, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The winners of the 2026 German Red Dot Design Award were officially announced. Five of SUNMI Technology’s flagship products won awards: the CPad Business Tablet, CPad PAY, FLEX 3 Interactive Display, the V3 handheld POS Terminal and L3 Industrial PDA. These products stood out with three core design concepts: integration, versatility and human-centricity.

Known as “The Oscars” of global industrial design, the Red Dot Award has strict evaluation criteria covering aesthetics, ergonomics, scenario adaptability and sustainability. SUNMI adheres to original commercial scenario customization, rejecting crudely modified consumer devices. All winning products are originally developed for real commercial scenarios such as cash register, food delivery, industrial inspection and store operations, covering the entire commercial track with high scenario adaptability. Meanwhile, it practices ESG concepts, adopting eco-friendly materials and modular structures to extend equipment service life, reduce consumable consumption, and implement low-carbon and long-term design, which perfectly meets the Red Dot’s sustainability evaluation criteria.

Simplify Complexity: With highly integrated design, SUNMI eliminates the “patchwork feeling” of cluttered devices and tangled cables in traditional commercial scenarios, streamlining store operations and saving space.All-in-One Versatility: Beyond a single tool function, SUNMI’s products achieve flexible transformation through modular and multi-form designs to proactively adapt to changing business needs. The CPad series with modular accessories and FLEX 3’s Lego-style modular design enable multi-scenario application and long-term reuse.Human-Centric Design: Every detail is human-oriented, focusing on real pain points to enhance scenario experience. The L3 Industrial PDA reduces high-frequency work fatigue through scientific weight distribution; the V3 Smart POS Terminal balances large-screen visibility and grip comfort; CPad PAY integrates full-link functions to simplify workflows.

These honors stem from SUNMI’s long-term commitment to a sustainable society, original commercial R&D and ESG. In the future, SUNMI will uphold its core concepts, expand the boundaries of commercial industrial design, and empower global businesses with user-oriented, eco-friendly and high-value products.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/sunmi-wins-2026-red-dot-design-awards-with-five-products-leading-global-commercial-industrial-design-302766777.html

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