Stockwinners Market Radar for January 14, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:16 EDT Visa begins pilots of new biometric payment card - Visa announced it has initiated pilots with Mountain America Credit Union and Bank of Cyprus of a new EMV dual-interface payment card, making these the first commercial pilots to test an on-card biometric for contactless payments. With biometric authentication gaining momentum and the EMV migration well underway, the biometric payment card pilots will test the use of fingerprint recognition as alternatives to PIN or signature to authenticate the cardholder. Both pilots are being managed through the Visa Ready for Biometrics program, a new vertical supporting the growing demand for biometric authentication solutions. In a recent survey of 1,000 Americans about perceptions of biometric authentication, Visa found that consumers continue to have a strong interest in new biometric technologies, with 86% of consumers interested in using biometrics to verify identity or to make payments, and more than 65% already familiar with biometrics. Consumers were most familiar with fingerprint recognition, with 30% having used it once or twice and another 35% using it regularly. Of all the biometric authentication techniques queried, fingerprint recognition ranked the highest in terms of desired payment authentication method for in-store usage. The Bank of Cyprus and Mountain America Credit Union pilots will begin in early 2018 to assess the cardholder experience and the technology of the biometric cards in different retail environments. The Bank of Cyprus pilot utilizes technology from Gemalto, and the Mountain America Credit Union pilot is being supported by technology from Fingerprint Cards and Kona-I.

17:32 EDT CGI Group launches new CGI Retail Xp360 platform - CGI launched its new CGI Retail Xp360 platform, that enables retail and consumer services organizations to deliver a seamless, real-time customer experience across all channels, while accelerating their digital transformation. Based on 1,300 face-to-face interviews with business and technology leaders across industries, the 2017 CGI Client Global Insights reveal that becoming a digital organization is the number one trend for the retail and consumer services industry. The insights also reveal that the top business priority is improving the customer experience. Smartphones, wearables and other digital technologies create an immersive digital customer experience equally important as the in-store physical experience. CGI's perspectives demonstrate that in order to drive competitive advantage, leading retail and consumer services organizations are focused on customer-centric programs. These programs integrate digital and physical channels and leverage data analytics to deliver a precise, informed, and seamless retail experience in real time. Retail and consumer services organizations also are focused on optimizing operations and IT modernization to improve time to market and the overall customer experience.CGI Retail Xp360 enables retail and consumer services organizations to easily enhance the customer experience in alignment with their business objectives and priorities. Supported by a strong collaborative framework, the solution is configurable by each client to meet its unique requirements, deliver quick and sustainable benefits, while continuously improving the customer experience over the long term.