Technology

Academy Bank Recognized for Excellence in Talent Strategy and Innovation

Published

1 year ago

April 10, 2025

ADP Honors Academy Bank with a 2025 HCM Distinction Award in Talent at Work category

Bank earns national distinction for commitment to improving employee experience and cutting-edge recruitment strategies

KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Academy Bank – a full-service community bank and wholly owned subsidiary of Dickinson Financial Corp. – has been recognized as a prestigious 2025 HCM Distinction Award winner by ADP, a leading global human capital management (HCM) technology provider. Honored in the Talent at Work category, Academy Bank accepted the award during ADP’s recent 40th annual Meeting of the Minds conference in March.

ADP bestows the awards to a select group of large employers leveraging HCM technology to drive organizational agility, build people-centric cultures, lead workplace innovation, enable global performance, and deliver enhanced candidate and employee experiences. Organizations were selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants that demonstrated a strong commitment to HCM excellence.

As the Talent at Work Award Winner, Academy Bank was recognized for driving continuous improvement and performance across the talent journey, creating greater efficiencies, optimized resources, and an enhanced experience for candidates and employees. ADP determined Academy Bank stood out from the large field of companies competing for the award by demonstrating exceptional leadership in workplace innovation, agility and people-centric culture.

“At Academy Bank, people are at the heart of everything we do,” said Jane Strohm, senior vice president of human resources. “While AI and technology continue to evolve, banking remains a relationship-driven industry. The strides we’ve made in reducing turnover, increasing retention, and enhancing our core HR systems are all designed to attract and retain top talent. These efforts wouldn’t be possible without the right tools and a commitment to innovation.”

A key initiative in Academy Bank’s talent strategy was the redesign of its career website, developed in partnership with ADP. The revamped platform showcases the bank’s brand and culture to potential applicants, offering a professional and engaging experience that aligns with the organization’s brand promise.

The upgraded platform also integrates real-time recruiting and compensation benchmarking tools, allowing Academy Bank to track job openings, hiring timelines and salary competitiveness at the national and regional levels. This data-driven approach ensures Academy Bank is offering competitive wages for top talent in a particular area, which undoubtedly contributed to the organization growing 25% over the past decade.

“I’m incredibly proud of this recognition,” said Teresa Ascencio, executive vice president, chief administrative officer. “It reflects the dedication of our HR team in driving meaningful change within our organization. By continuously innovating, we are not only strengthening our workforce, but also enhancing the experience for both our employees and our clients.”

Academy Bank remains committed to fostering a dynamic and inclusive workplace, where top talent is supported with forward-thinking tools and strategies. As the organization looks to the future, it will continue investing in initiatives that elevate the employee experience and position Academy Bank as an employer of choice in the financial industry.

For more information about Academy Bank’s career opportunities, visit https://myjobs.adp.com/academybankcareers/cx.

About Academy Bank
Academy Bank is a full-service commercial bank with $2.9 billion in assets and more than 75 banking centers in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri. Academy Bank provides a wide range of financial solutions for business and individuals, including commercial and business banking, treasury management and mortgage services. Academy Bank is privately held and family-owned by Dickinson Financial Corporation, a $4.0 billion holding company headquartered in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Academy Bank’s sister bank, Armed Forces Bank, headquartered in Leavenworth, Kansas, proudly serves active and retired military and civilian clients around the world with more on-base locations than any military bank in the country. For more information, visit www.academybank.com

Member FDIC

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SOURCE Academy Bank

Technology

Hexagon Composites ASA: Eirik Løhre appointed permanent CFO

Published

25 minutes ago

May 5, 2026

OSLO, Norway, May 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Reference is made to the stock exchange announcement dated 11 November 2025, where Eirik Løhre was appointed interim CFO in Hexagon Composites.

The Company is pleased to inform that Eirik Løhre has been appointed permanently to the role of CFO in Hexagon Composites, effective today.

Eirik Løhre has been with the Company since 2021 and prior to his role as interim CFO, he served as EVP Corporate Development on the Executive Team.

“Eirik has demonstrated strong financial leadership and execution, and he has been instrumental in strengthening our financial performance. I look forward to continuing our work together to develop and position Hexagon in this next phase of growth,” said Philipp Schramm, CEO, Hexagon Composites.

For more information:
Berit-Cathrin Høyvik, Senior Director, Communications, Hexagon Composites
Tel: +47 988 92 161, berit-cathrin.hoyvik@hexagongroup.com

About Hexagon Composites ASA
Hexagon delivers safe and innovative solutions for a cleaner energy future. Our solutions enable storage, transportation and conversion to clean energy in a wide range of mobility and industrial applications. Learn more at www.hexagongroup.com and follow @HexagonASA on LinkedIn.

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

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Technology

LONGPORT Whale Enters Malaysian Market with Next Generation Trading Infrastructure for Local Brokerages

Published

25 minutes ago

May 5, 2026

LONGPORT Whale, with proven track record across 100+ institutional clients in Asia, makes its Malaysia debut at Bursa Malaysia Stockbroking Trade Fair 2026

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, May 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — LONGPORT Whale, a provider of AI-Ready securities trading infrastructure, is making its entry into the Malaysian market at the Bursa Malaysia Stockbroking Trade Fair 2026. The move comes as Malaysia’s Capital Market Masterplan 2026–2030 (CMP4) continues to hone in on local brokerages to modernise core systems, balancing investor experience, regulatory compliance, and operational resilience simultaneously.

Malaysian brokerages are increasingly confronted by a challenge that goes beyond front-end upgrades. Legacy architectures struggle to keep pace with digital-native investor expectations, rising cybersecurity standards, and the demand for multi-market expansion simultaneously. For many such brokerages, the question is no longer whether to modernize, but how to do so without adding complexity or disrupting the business continuity that clients depend on.

Zhong Hua, CEO, LONGPORT Whale, said, “Core trading infrastructure must support continuous evolution — in investor experience, compliance, and AI readiness — without adding unnecessary complexity. The brokerages that lead the next decade won’t be the ones with the best system today; they’ll be the ones whose systems are designed to keep getting better. LONGPORT Whale aims to bring its Asia-proven experience to help Malaysian brokers strike that balance.”

Built on a cloud-native microservices architecture and trusted by more than 100 institutional clients in Asia, Whale’s platform is engineered by industry professionals and refined through years of first-hand operational experience. For the Malaysian market, it addresses four priorities: a best-in-class trading experience validated across competitive, highly regulated markets in Asia; system resilience and performance built for institutional scale, with high system performance and output, real time risk management, and low system latency; global market connectivity spanning Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, US, and Japan without requiring system rebuilds; and an API-first, data-unified architecture that gives brokerages a practical foundation for AI adoption.

Hong Kong SAR and Singapore, where Whale serves online brokers, traditional banking firms, banks and wealth management institutes in a stringent regulatory environment, serve as the primary reference market for its Malaysia expansion. The company said it aims to work with local industry participants as both an infrastructure partner and a contributor to broader conversation on responsible modernization under CMP4.

About LONGPORT Whale

LONGPORT Whale provides integrated securities trading infrastructure to brokers, banks, fund houses, wealth managers, and family offices across Asia. Its cloud-native platform supports multi-market, multi-asset trading across front-, middle-, and back-office workflows, with a deployment model designed for regulatory alignment and long-term scalability. Website: www.longportwhale.com

Media Contact
LONGPORT Whale PR Team
Email: media@longportwhale.com

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SOURCE LONGPORT Whale

Technology

Thunes and Vodacom Tanzania Unite to Power Cross-Border M-Pesa Payments Across China and Uganda

Published

25 minutes ago

May 5, 2026

Collaboration revolutionises trade & financial convenience for Tanzanian merchants and consumers

SINGAPORE, May 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Thunes, the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world, has joined forces with Vodacom Tanzania, the country’s leading telco company, to transform cross-border trade and digital financial inclusion with Vodacom’s new M-Pesa Global Payment solution. Thanks to the collaboration, Vodacom customers in Tanzania can now seamlessly pay merchants in Uganda and China directly from their mobile phones.

This milestone solution responds to growing demand from Tanzanian traders who engage in commerce with Ugandan and Chinese markets but often face challenges with costly, slow, and insecure payment methods. With this innovation, leveraging the Thunes Direct Global Network, Vodacom aims to bridge those gaps, offering secure, real-time digital payments across borders and reinforcing its leadership in mobile money innovation in Africa.

The solution supports trade with two key markets for Tanzania. For eight consecutive years, China has been Tanzania’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade hitting $8.8 billion in 2024. In the same year, bilateral trade between Tanzania and Uganda reached approximately $2.23 billion, an increase of 64% on the previous year.

Epimack Mbeteni, M-Pesa Director at Vodacom Tanzania said: “This is more than just a payment feature, it is a catalyst for economic empowerment and a gateway for small and medium businesses and entrepreneurs in Tanzania to compete and thrive in regional and global markets. Through Thunes’ expansive and trusted Network we are enabling seamless, secure, and affordable cross-border payments that empower people, fuel trade and place M-Pesa at the center of Africa’s digital commerce future.”

Through Thunes’ Direct Global Network, customers can now send payments to merchants in Uganda using MTN MoMo and to Chinese merchants through the Alipay network, all through the M-Pesa USSD menu or the M-Pesa Super App. The process is secure, user-friendly, and eliminates the burden of traditional banking barriers for everyday traders and businesses.

Dawei Wang, SVP Network at Thunes, added: “Vodacom Tanzania joining the Thunes Direct Global Network to digitise cross-border payments is a game changer for local businesses. By combining Vodacom’s technology with Thunes’ trusted and proprietary Network, Tanzanian customers can pay partners in China and Uganda in real time. This innovation accelerates interoperability along with international trade and business growth and supports our vision of connecting the next billion end users to the global economy.”

This initiative stands as a strategic enabler for consumers and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) who need reliable and quick financial tools such as mobile money. A 2025 GeoPoll survey on Tanzania Financial Services and Usage found that 94% of the survey’s respondents use mobile money.

The Thunes and Vodacom Tanzania alliance is set to transform the lives of millions of consumers by dismantling cross-border barriers. By hyper-connecting Tanzania to global powerhouses like China and streamlining intra-African trade, the collaboration is helping to build an inclusive economy and grow Tanzania’s role as a force in the global market.

About Vodacom Tanzania

For more information, visit: https://www.vodacom.co.tz/

About Thunes

For more information, visit: https://www.thunes.com/

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