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Global fintechs and web3 giants unite to increase blockchain-based cash assistance for humanitarian crises

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Humanitarian Council members include the Algorand Foundation, Circle, Worldpay, Mercy Corps Ventures, HesabPay, the United Nations Development Programme, and others

BARCELONA, Spain, June 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, in a move led by the Algorand Foundation, a coalition of fintech, web3, and humanitarian organizations announced the formation of a council seeking to increase access to blockchain-based cash assistance during humanitarian crises. The council’s objective – among other activities – is to advise UN agencies and NGOs on using blockchain technology for aid payments, and to develop a roadmap for the successful piloting of blockchain-based cash programs in distressed areas.

Over the past decade, the United Nations and NGOs have begun to offer more cash-based assistance (vs. in-kind or service assistance). According to the CALP Network, a thought leader in humanitarian cash and voucher assistance, this form of assistance now comprises 21% of all international humanitarian aid, reaching $10 billion in 2022, and there is potential for that proportion to be much higher (source). Humanitarian organizations are working to deliver this kind of aid as rapidly and economically as possible whilst navigating ever more complex financial regulations. Given this, the projects under the purview of this council will explore the potential benefits and opportunities of blockchain-based payment solutions in addressing these particular constraints.

The aim in using blockchain is to first offset the lack of financial and technological infrastructure in aid locations such as Afghanistan and others. In these regions, applying blockchain technology could bring more efficiency and ease to the delivery of cash-based aid, making it possible to respond on an even larger scale.

Scaling cash-based aid also requires transparency. Cash aid programs need to be traceable and auditable without infringing on the rights of its beneficiaries. By using blockchain, organizations can maintain an immutable, unchangeable record of how cash was distributed, without disclosing how it is used by the recipient. This model protects the privacy of those in crisis while maintaining the traceability and verification that aid programs, donors, and governments need.

Built on Algorand, global payment app HesabPay is already proving the effectiveness of merging blockchain and aid delivery. It facilitates the world’s largest humanitarian project ever to be run on a public blockchain, bringing support to more than 14,000 families in Afghanistan in collaboration with United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and supported by the WFP Innovation Accelerator.

Bernhard Kowatsch, head of the WFP Innovation Accelerator, added, “The success of HesabPay in Afghanistan highlights the significant impact and scalability of this technology. We are eager to extend these innovations globally to revolutionize aid delivery.”

“Direct cash-based humanitarian assistance has been growing rapidly and is the future thanks to the extraordinary benefits cash provides for recipients. To be effective, humanitarian payments must meet several requirements: instant settlement, easily scalable to thousands if not millions of recipients,  and transparent and traceable,” said Matt Keller, director of impact at the Algorand Foundation. “Blockchain checks all of these boxes, and one reason we invested in HesabPay, which delivers humanitarian aid payments in Afghanistan without sacrificing time or accountability.”

“At Circle Impact, our mission since 2021 has been to empower underserved communities and reach people who have traditionally been excluded from financial systems. We are excited to be part of the Humanitarian Council, where we can cultivate a new generation of financial inclusion aimed at powering humanitarian aid and disaster relief,” said Mercina Tillemann-Perez, Vice President of Circle Impact.

“Launching 16 crypto pilots in 10+ countries over the past 4 years, Mercy Corps Ventures has been actively deploying first-of-a-kind real world use cases in the humanitarian and development context leveraging blockchain technology. We’re now building out a Humanitarian Venture Lab with a pipeline of humanitarian pilots, use cases, and insights that show where the challenges Algorand Foundation is addressing are playing out – and getting solved – in real time,” said Sandra Uwantege Hart, Humanitarian Venture Lab lead at Mercy Corps Ventures.

“Humanitarian crises demand faster, more transparent aid solutions. Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize aid delivery through unparalleled traceability. If this initiative can match the speed and efficiency of the 40 billion+ transactions Worldpay processes annually, there is an opportunity to provide life-saving support to the millions facing humanitarian crises, ensuring funds reach those in need without delay,” said Ahmed Zifzaf, head of crypto/web3 partnerships for Worldpay.

“In UNDP, we are exploring with Algorand how digital payments can bring transparency while making payments with more speed and trust to support the lives in countries without a strong banking ecosystem. Special attention is being paid to supporting the work of civil society organizations, such as through our Tadamon network of 4000 CSOs,” said Robert Pasicko, Innovation Team Leader a.i. at UNDP.

Serving council members currently include:

Sandra Uwantege Hart, Humanitarian Venture Lab Lead at Mercy Corps VenturesMercina Tillemann Perez, Vice President, Circle Impact at CirclePaula Gil Baizan, PoliSync Centre for International Policy EngagementAhmed Zifzaf, Head of Crypto/Web3 Partnerships at WorldpayHasan Fallaha, Livelihoods and Economic Recovery programme Analyst at UNDP SyriaAli Theyab Al-Zuhairi, Economic Reform (FFER-FED) Project Coordinator at the UNDP Iraq Country OfficeRobert Pasicko, Innovation Team Leader a.i., United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)Henri de Jong, Chief Business Development Officer at QuantozRory Crew, Technical Advisor on Data & Digitalization at the CALP NetworkNigel Pont, Senior Advisor at HesabPaySuzana Moreno, Blockchain Technology Strategy and Portfolio Project Manager at WFP Innovation AcceleratorKelly Stablein, Independent Humanitarian Consultant

About Algorand Foundation
Algorand’s mission is to power a world where information has integrity and innovative ideas can scale. The Algorand Foundation supports Algorand’s rapidly growing ecosystem by providing a best-in-class developer environment, supporting key infrastructure and setting technical standards, offering comprehensive support to builders and entrepreneurs, and providing the infrastructure for decentralized governance.

Founded by Turing Award-winning cryptographer Silvio Micali in 2019, Algorand has grown into a vibrant ecosystem of developers, entrepreneurs, and enterprise partners that benefit from institutional-grade certainty and resilience, while features like low fees, instant finality, and a minimal carbon footprint also appeal to the protocol’s millions of retail users. Builders of all kinds can use common programming languages like Python to develop advanced apps and protocols that solve important problems at a global scale: instant payments in war and disaster zones, self-sovereign identity for the disenfranchised, supply-chain traceability for global commerce, permissionless protocols addressing financial inclusion, and the creation of entirely new markets through tokenization, to name a few. To learn more and start your journey on Algorand, visit algorand.foundation.

About Circle
Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of digital currencies and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Circle is the issuer of USDC and EURC – highly liquid, interoperable, and trusted money protocols on the internet. Circle’s open and programmable platform and APIs make it easy for organizations to run their internet-scale business, whether it is making international payments, building globally-accessible Web3 apps, or managing their internal treasury. Learn more at https://circle.com.

About HesabPay
HesabPay is a global payment app at the forefront of global financial inclusion, targeting the 2 billion unbanked individuals worldwide. With exponential growth, HesabPay now boasts over half a million users, facilitating $35 million in peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers monthly. The platform serves 250,000 households in managing their bill payments and supports over two dozen donors in distributing humanitarian cash assistance. HesabPay’s impact is evident in its expansive reach and the vital financial lifeline it provides. Discover the full extent of HesabPay’s services at hesab.com.  

About Mercy Corps Ventures
Mercy Corps Ventures invests in and catalyzes venture-led solutions to increase the resilience of underserved individuals and communities. Founded in 2015 as the impact investing arm of global development agency, Mercy Corps, we’ve supported 50 early-stage ventures to scale and raise over $465 million in follow-on capital. 44% of our portfolio has at least 1 female co-founder and centers around climate adaptation and resilience-building solutions in adaptive agriculture and food systems, inclusive fintech, and climate-smart technologies, so that those living in frontier markets can withstand disruption and plan for the future. Through capital and support, piloting new approaches, action-oriented insights, and rigorously managing impact, we catalyze the ecosystem toward smarter, more impactful investments. Learn more at www.mercycorpsventures.vc.

About Worldpay
Worldpay is a leading payments technology and solutions company with unique capabilities to power omni-commerce across the globe. Our processing solutions allow businesses of all sizes to take, make and manage payments in-person and online from anywhere in the world. Annually, we process over 40 billion transactions across 146 countries and 135 currencies. We help our customers become more efficient, more secure and more successful.

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SOURCE Algorand Foundation

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Sapient Insights Group Reveals the HR Technology Solutions Ranking Highest in Vendor Satisfaction and User Experience for 2026

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October 21, 2026

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Voice of the Customer badges awarded across 23 HR technology categories, based on 10,000 responses to Sapient’s 2026-2027 Annual HR Systems Survey

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Sapient Insights Group today revealed the HR technology solutions ranking highest in vendor satisfaction and user experience in its 2026-2027 HR Systems Survey, now in its 29th year. This year Sapient awarded 630 Voice of the Customer badges across 23 technology categories and three company sizes. The rankings are based on responses from HR professionals representing 6,038 organizations.

Stacey Harris, Chief Research Officer and Managing Partner at Sapient Insights Group, presents the HR technology solutions ranking highest in vendor satisfaction and user experience for 2026.

To help buyers find the providers that fit their organization, the rankings are split into three company sizes: small, mid-sized, and enterprise. Respondents rate their satisfaction with their current solution in each technology category on a scale of 1 to 5, with attention to support and service. Sapient also ranks solutions on user experience. The top five solutions in each category and size earn a badge for vendor satisfaction and a badge for user experience. Three categories with smaller sample sizes (Time Labor Budgeting, Contingent Workforce Management, and Skills Management) are ranked in aggregate across all company sizes.

The survey continues to grow with the HR technology market. New this year, the survey adds Compliance Management to the HR Blueprint, application-level outcome questions, payment models for applications and AI, and finance applications covering Core, Expense, and Planning. It also asks more “why” questions throughout, so the results show not just what organizations are doing but the reasons behind their choices.

“Our Voice of the Customer rankings come straight from HR practitioners, with no sponsorship involved, which is why buyers and vendors both pay attention to them,” said Stacey Harris, chief research officer and managing partner at Sapient Insights Group. “This year we expanded the rankings to cover more of the HR technology landscape, which gives buyers a clearer view of how solutions perform for the specific work they need done, not just at the suite level. It also gives vendors honest feedback from the people who use their products every day.”

The highest-ranking solutions for vendor satisfaction are listed below. Rankings include point solutions, modules within technology suites, and in some cases service providers.

Payroll
Dayforce – Enterprise
isolved – Mid-sized
BambooHR – Small

HR Management
Dayforce – Enterprise
HiBob – Mid-sized
BambooHR – Small

Benefits
Businessolver – Enterprise
Fidelity NetBenefits/PSW – Mid-sized
HiBob – Small

HR Service Delivery: Portal
Dovetail – Enterprise
Workday Help – Mid-sized
isolved – Small

HR Service Delivery: Content Management
Dovetail – Enterprise
DocuSign – Mid-sized
isolved – Small

HR Service Delivery: Employee Help Desk
Dovetail – Enterprise
ServiceNow – Mid-sized
isolved – Small

HR Service Delivery: Engagement Survey
Dovetail – Enterprise
isolved – Mid-sized
BambooHR – Small

Time and Attendance
Darwinbox – Enterprise
isolved – Mid-sized
isolved – Small

Absence Management
Darwinbox – Enterprise
isolved – Mid-sized
BambooHR – Small

Leave Management
Darwinbox – Enterprise
isolved – Mid-sized
isolved – Small

Workforce Scheduling
Darwinbox – Enterprise
isolved – Mid-sized
isolved – Small

Labor Budgeting
isolved – All sizes

Learning
Cornerstone – Enterprise
OpenSesame – Mid-sized
isolved – Small

Recruiting
Indeed – Enterprise
Greenhouse – Mid-sized
BambooHR – Small

Onboarding
Dayforce – Enterprise
isolved (ApplicantPro) – Mid-sized
BambooHR – Small

Performance
Dayforce – Enterprise
HiBob – Mid-sized
BambooHR – Small

Compensation
Dayforce – Enterprise
Payscale Payfactors – Mid-sized
Insperity – Small

Succession
Dayforce – Enterprise
Microsoft Glint – Mid-sized
Paylocity – Small

Rewards and Recognition
Awardco – Enterprise
isolved – Mid-sized
Gifted – Small

Analytics
Visier – Enterprise
Visier – Mid-sized
UKG People Analytics – Small

AI/ML
Visier Vee – Enterprise
Grammarly – Mid-sized
Anthropic Claude – Small

Contingent Workforce Management
ServiceNow – All sizes

Skills Management HiBob – All sizes

The complete Voice of the Customer results, including the top five solutions for vendor satisfaction and user experience in every category and company size, are available here (https://sapientinsights.com/top-vendors/).

Sapient Insights Group will publish detailed survey findings and analysis in its annual HR Systems Research Report on November 6, 2026. The report will be available to purchase here (https://sapientinsights.com/shop/).

About the 2026-2027 HR Systems Survey

Now in its 29th year, Sapient’s HR Systems Survey is the longest-running, most comprehensive survey of the HR technology landscape, and the only fully objective, non-sponsored study of its kind. This year, HR professionals representing 6,038 organizations around the globe took part. The survey now covers 23 technology categories. The annual report includes an in-depth look at each category, along with current and future adoption rates, customer retention, replacement plans, and projected vendor growth.

For more information about the survey and report, schedule a call (https://calendly.com/summerorellano/schedule-a-call-with-sapient-insights-group).

About Sapient Insights Group Sapient Insights Group is a certified women-owned, privately-owned consulting, research, and advisory firm. The company works with organizations in the areas of HR and finance technology; HR strategy and transformation; leadership and culture; change management; talent management; mergers and acquisitions; and project management. The company’s HR Systems Survey is the HR profession’s most trusted source for objective data on the HR technology market and insights to guide buyer investments and vendor product development and marketing. For more information, visit www.sapientinsights.com.

Media Contact

Allison Williams, Sapient Insights Group, 1 4043044748, Info@sapientinsights.com, https://sapientinsights.com/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/sapient-insights-group-reveals-the-hr-technology-solutions-ranking-highest-in-vendor-satisfaction-and-user-experience-for-2026-302915884.html

SOURCE Sapient Insights Group

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SAJ Debuts First CEC-Approved Systems under Australia’s New Battery Standard at All Energy 2026

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October 21, 2026

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EK70 HS5 and EK90 HS5 on show at Stand M143, with Australia’s Strongest Man at Stand E01 and the SAJ range across three distributor stands

MELBOURNE, Australia, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SAJ will exhibit at All Energy Australia 2026 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 28–29 October. At Stand M143, installers can get their first hands-on look at the EK70 HS5 and EK90 HS5, the first products approved under Australia’s new SA TS 5398 standard.

At 2pm on Wednesday 28 October, DEKRA and CCS will present SAJ with the CEC certificates for the EK70 HS5 and EK90 HS5 on the stand, making SAJ the first brand listed under SA TS 5398. SAJ and DEKRA will also sign a strategic cooperation agreement covering safety, quality and compliance.

On the stand

EK70 HS5 – the all-in-one home energy system, combining hybrid inverter, LFP battery and whole-home backup in one unit. Modular 6, 7 and 9 kWh battery blocks stack to suit the household.EK90 HS5 – the premium tier, with 12,000-cycle cells, nine-layer safety protection, edge AI and a 15-year warranty.B2S and H2 – modular storage and the latest from SAJ’s residential range.elekeeper 5.0 – SAJ’s energy management app, with AI-assisted design, five-minute app commissioning and remote diagnosis.C&I – SAJ’s latest commercial and industrial solutions.

Live demonstrations of the EK70 HS5 and EK90 HS5, elekeeper 5.0 and the C&I range run at 10am on both days and again at 3pm on Wednesday.

Visitors can also play the claw machine on the stand throughout both days to win tennis balls signed by SAJ brand ambassador Alex de Minaur.

Beat Australia’s Strongest Man of 2026 at Stand E01

At Stand E01, near the hall entrance, visitors can take on Bradman Houston, Australia’s Strongest Man 2026, on the high striker. Bradman will be there each day. Anyone who beats his score wins!

Bradman recently partnered with SAJ and Sydney Solar & Electrical on a video series about lifting technique and fitness for solar installers, now on SAJ’s Instagram.

SAJ across the floor

The SAJ range is also on show with the company’s three national distribution partners, for stock, pricing and account conversations:

One Stop Warehouse – Stand EE113, with the EK90 HS5 on displaySupply Partners – Stand L135Tradezone – Stand S113

“All Energy is where the industry sees what’s next, and for SAJ that’s the EK70 HS5 and EK90 HS5,” said Alan Li, the Sales Director of SAJ Electric Australia. “Installers told us they want one integrated system that’s faster to install and that they can stand behind. Being the first brand listed under SA TS 5398 is the proof. We’d love installers to see both systems up close at Stand M143, and to try their luck against Bradman at E01 while they’re there.”

Visit SAJ

Where: Stand M143 (Beat the Strongest Man at Stand E01), Melbourne Convention and Exhibition CentreWhen: Wednesday 28 – Thursday 29 October 2026More information: au.saj-electric.com

About SAJ

Founded in Guangzhou in 2005, SAJ (Guangzhou Sanjing Electric Co., Ltd.) is a specialist in smart energy storage, delivering integrated solutions across solar generation, battery storage, energy management and EV charging for residential and commercial customers. SAJ has operated in Australia since 2013 and works with three national distribution partners – One Stop Warehouse, Supply Partners and Tradezone – backed by local technical support and warranty infrastructure.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/saj-debuts-first-cec-approved-systems-under-australias-new-battery-standard-at-all-energy-2026-302915502.html

SOURCE SAJ

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Starvia Automotive Expands Used-Car Exports to Afghanistan and Iran

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October 21, 2026

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GUANGZHOU, China, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Starvia Automotive has added Afghanistan and Iran to the destinations covered by its used-car export business, the company said on Oct. 21, as it focuses on used vehicles built to Chinese-market specifications. Buyers in both markets can now request an assessment of a specific vehicle before an order is confirmed.

What the review covers

For a used vehicle, the model name alone does not determine whether an export order can proceed. Year of manufacture, vehicle identity, condition, ownership documents and destination import rules are reviewed for each request, together with carrier acceptance, transit requirements and payment restrictions, according to the company.

Starvia cited two listings in its online used-car catalog as examples of the process: a 2023 Volkswagen Polo and a 2021 Volkswagen Tharu. The company said the listings show published stock and do not confirm that either unit is available or eligible for import into both markets. Stock, vehicle records and destination suitability are confirmed before a model is presented as an order option.

How an inquiry is handled

Inquiries are submitted through the company’s online form, which asks for destination city, importer details, preferred vehicle, quantity and purchasing timeframe. Starvia said the information is used to identify suitable vehicles, check documentation and seek a transport option, and that alternatives can be discussed if the first model does not meet the requirements.

An Arabic-language version of the site is available at https://www.starviaauto.com/ar?utm_source=prnews for buyers who prefer Arabic.

Any vehicle offer, freight estimate or shipment timing remains subject to commercial, regulatory and logistics checks, the company said. Buyers should obtain destination-side import approval before committing to a purchase.

About Starvia Automotive

Starvia Automotive is a Guangzhou-based exporter of new and used vehicles. Its online catalog lists used cars with vehicle history and inspection information for buyers in multiple regions.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/starvia-automotive-expands-used-car-exports-to-afghanistan-and-iran-302915298.html

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