The upcoming year will see investment firms wrestle with restless offspring and technologies that have moved from “emerging” to “almost there.” In other words, 2025 will feel like a centuries-old industry has just hit its teens. The impact of continuing wars, the “great wealth transfer,” and the US election will reverberate well into the new year. Uncertainty and change will inspire wealth management firms to try innovative digital approaches to keep younger investors, embrace AI (finally!), and go “all in” on tokenized assets. Forrester believes that forward-looking wealth management executives will see these predictions as opportunities and be ready to act on them in 2025: AI is ready for prime time, and a firm will acquire an upstart focused on AI-driven advice. Last year, we said that AI is not yet ready for prime time in wealth management. As 2025 approaches, AI technologies and their underlying large language models continue to mature and become more explainable. Startups in this space are leveraging AI as a way to give advisors more “intelligence” by pulling together external and internal research to create natural language explanations for their investment recommendations. Incumbent wealth management firms are now believers that “there’s an AI for that” when it comes to optimizing advisor effectiveness and will target a startup with AI-driven advisory strategies. Money is in motion, and digitally savvy investment firms will have the customer experience needed to keep it “in the house.” The “great wealth transfer” is underway, as approximately $84 trillion will pass from Baby Boomers to their children in the United States alone in the next 20 years. The challenge for wealth management firms is that younger investors are more digitally savvy, conduct their own research, and make impact-oriented investing decisions. Our research shows that firms offer a fragmented user experience, including a long, clunky, paper-heavy process when assets transfer from one generation to another. During this “moment that matters,” inheritors will find it frustrating and increasingly seek out firms that seamlessly integrate human and digital touchpoints. As a result, firms that mistakenly segment customers based on assets, rather than financial behaviors and attitudes about digital, will struggle to keep the money “in the house.” The number of major banks issuing tokenized assets on blockchain will double. Driven by new digital asset regulations, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UAE have set clear requirements for managing the risk of this technology, and we expect that the EU and US will follow suit in 2025. HSBC launched a digital “Gold Token” in Hong Kong that’s accessible to millions of customers with just a few clicks on their smartphones. This initiative and others are likely to spur other banks to join the race. To stay competitive, forward-thinking banks will prioritize tokenized assets and develop teams, processes, and technologies to support them. Read our full Predictions 2025: Investing And Wealth Management report to get more detail about each of these predictions and read additional predictions. Set up a Forrester inquiry or guidance session to discuss these predictions or plan out your 2025 strategy. If you aren’t yet a client, you can download our complimentary Predictions guides, which cover more of our top predictions for 2025. Get additional complimentary resources, including webinars, on the Predictions 2025 hub. source

A new report from cloud security company Zscaler sheds light on the growing mobile threats on Android operating systems, as well as IoT and OT devices threats. The findings come as more than 60% of the global Internet traffic is now generated by mobile devices and financially-oriented mobile threats have grown by 111% over the last year. A list of mobile malware threats Zscaler’s ThreatLabz witnessed a 29% rise in banking mobile malware over the previous year, with banking malware representing 20% of the total Android threat landscape. Most active banking malware families to date include: Vultur, which is primarily distributed through the Google Play Store. Hydra, distributed via phishing messages, websites, and malicious Google Play Store applications. Ermac, designed to steal financial data from banking and wallet apps. Anatsa, also known as TeaBot Coper, also known as Octo Nexus, primarily targets cryptocurrency accounts Most of these banking malware record keystrokes, hijack credentials, and intercept SMS messages in order to bypass Multi-Factor Authentication. SEE: How to Create an Effective Cybersecurity Awareness Program (TechRepublic Premium) Spyware threats soar by more than 100% In addition to banking malware, spyware threats have also grown, with researchers indicating that blocked transactions increased by 100% over the previous year. The most prevalent spyware reported are SpyLoan, SpinOk, and SpyNote. SpyLoan has the ability to steal personal data from devices, such as accounts, device information, call logs, installed apps, calendar events, metadata, and more. SpinOk spyware collects sensitive data and files from various locations on the infected device and exfiltrates the data to an attacker-controlled server. SpyNote, also known as CypherRat, provides additional remote access capabilities so that the attacker can control execution of software on the mobile device. According to Zscaler, most mobile malware targeted India (28%), the U.S. (27%), and Canada (15%), followed by South Africa (6%), The Netherlands (5%), Mexico (4%), Nigeria (3%), Brazil (3%), Singapore (3%) and the Philippines (2%). Top 10 countries targeted by mobile malware. Image: Zscaler Impacted sectors include technology (18%), education (18%), manufacturing (14%), retail and wholesale (12%), and services (7%). Most targeted sectors. Image: Zscaler Mobile malware are distributed via various methods. One method consists of using social engineering techniques. As an example, Zscaler reports that attackers deployed the Copybara mobile malware by using voice phishing (vishing) attacks, where the victim received voice instructions to install the malware on their Android phones. QR code scam is also common, where victims are tricked into scanning malicious QR codes leading to malware infections or, in some cases, to phishing pages. Some malware is also available on the Google Play Store. This includes Joker — which silently subscribes users to premium services without their consent to generate charges — followed by adware malware type and facestealer, a Facebook account stealer. Most prevalent malware families in the Google Play Store. Image: Zscaler Overall, despite an overall decrease in Android attacks, financially-oriented mobile threats have grown by 111% over the last year. Must-read security coverage IoT and OT threats Internet of Things and Operational Technology environments keep expanding and are increasingly targeted by attackers, according to the report. The researchers indicate that the number of IoT devices interacting with them has grown by 37% year-over-year. IoT malware attacks have grown by 45% over the past year, with routers being the most targeted type of device, with more than 66% of attacks aimed at these devices. The leading malware families hitting IoT devices are Mirai (36.3%) and Gafgyt (21.2%). Botnets built with these malware on IoT devices can be used to launch large Distributed Denial of Service attacks. IoT devices most targeted by malware attacks. Image: Zscaler Regarding the geographical distribution, more than 81% of IoT malware attacks are aimed at the U.S., followed by Singapore (5.3%), the United Kingdom (2.8%), Germany (2.7%), Canada (2%), and Switzerland (1.6%). Most targeted countries – IoT malware attacks. Image: Zscaler Top sectors impacted by IoT malware attacks are manufacturing (36.9%), transportation (14.2%), food, beverage, and tobacco (11.1%). On the OT side, 50% of the devices in many deployments use legacy, end-of-life operating systems. Protocols prone to different vulnerabilities are also often exposed in OT environments, such as SMB or WMI. As an example, ThreatLabz analyzed the OT content of a large-scale manufacturing organization, comprising more than 17,000 connected OT devices across more than 40 different locations. Each site contained more than 500 OT devices with end-of-life Microsoft Windows operating systems, many of which had known vulnerabilities. 67% of the global traffic to the OT devices was unauthorized or blocked. Risky internal traffic protocols in a manufacturing OT environment. Image: Zscaler What will the future look like? According to Zscaler, IoT and OT devices will remain primary threat vectors, while the manufacturing sector will remain a top target for IoT attacks, including ransomware. Zscaler also suspects artificial intelligence will be increasingly used to deliver high-quality phishing campaigns targeting mobile users. However, AI will also help defenders automate critical functions and better prioritize their efforts. How to protect IoT and OT devices from cyber attacks To protect from threats on IoT and OT devices, it is necessary to: Gain visibility on IoT and OT devices is a priority. Organizations need to discover, classify, and maintain lists of all IoT and OT devices used in their full environment. Keep all systems and software up to date and patched to prevent being compromised by common vulnerabilities. Network logs must be collected and analyzed. Suspicious user account access and system events must be particularly monitored. Multi-factor authentication must be deployed when possible, and default passwords and accounts must be changed or disabled. Zero-Trust device segmentation should be enforced for IoT and OT assets to minimize data exposure. How to protect mobile devices from cyber attacks To protect from threats on mobile devices, it is important to: Install security applications on the devices, to protect them from malware and possible phishing attempts. Any link arriving on the mobile phone, no matter the application, should be cautiously examined. In case of suspicious

As is their tradition at this time of year, Apple announced a new line of iPhones last week. The promised centrepiece that would make us want to buy these new devices was AI – or Apple Intelligence, as they branded it. Yet the reaction from the collective world of consumer technology has been muted. The lack of enthusiasm from consumers was so evident it immediately wiped over a hundred billion dollars off Apple’s share price. Even the Wired Gadget Lab podcast, enthusiasts of all new things tech, found nothing in the new capabilities that would make them want to upgrade to the iPhone 16. The only thing that did seem to generate some excitement was not the AI features, but the addition of a new camera shutter button on the side of the phone. If a button is a better selling point than the most hyped technology of the past couple of years, something is clearly amiss. The reason is that AI has now passed what tech blog The Media Copilot called its “wonderment phase”. Two years ago, we were amazed that ChatGPT, DALL-E and other generative AI systems were able to create coherent writing and realistic images from just a few words in a text prompt. But now, AI needs to show that it can actually be productive. Since their introduction, the models driving these experiences have become much more powerful – and exponentially more expensive. Nevertheless, Google, NVidia, Microsoft and OpenAI recently met at the White House to discuss AI infrastructure, suggesting these companies are doubling down on the technology. According to Forbes, the industry is US$500 billion (£375 billion) short of making back the massive investments in AI hardware and software, and the US$100 billion in AI revenue projected to be made in 2024 is not even close to this figure. But Apple still has to enthusiastically push AI features into their products for the same reason that Google, Samsung and Microsoft are doing it – to give consumers a reason to buy a new device. Tough sell? Before AI, the industry was trying to create hype around virtual reality and the Metaverse, an effort that probably peaked with the introduction of the Apple Vision Pro headset in 2023 (a product that incidentally was barely even mentioned in last week’s announcement). After the Metaverse failed to take off, tech companies needed something else to drive sales, and AI has become the new shiny thing. But it remains to be seen whether consumers will take to the AI-based features included in phones such as photo-editing and writing assistants. This is not to say that current AI is not useful. AI technologies are used in billion-dollar industry applications, in everything from online advertisement to healthcare and energy optimisation. Apple’s Visual Intelligence allows the phone camera to be aimed at something, like a restaurant, to obtain information without doing a search.Heiko Kueverling Generative AI has also become a useful tool for professionals in many fields. According to a survey, 97% of software developers have used AI tools to support their work. Many journalists, visual artists, musicians and filmmakers have adopted AI tools to create content more quickly and more efficiently. Yet most of us are not actually prepared to pay for a service that draws funny cartoon cats or summarises text –- especially since attempts at AI-supported search have shown to be prone to errors. Apple’s approach to deploying artificial intelligence seems to mostly be a mishmash of existing functions, many of which are already built into popular third-party apps. Apple’s AI can help you create a custom emoji, transcribe a phone call, edit a photo, or write an email –- neat, but no longer groundbreaking stuff. There is also something called Reduce mode that is supposed to disturb you less and only let through important notifications, but it’s anyone’s guess how well that will work in reality. The one forward-looking feature is called Visual Intelligence. It allows you to aim the camera at something in the surroundings and get information without explicitly doing a search. For instance, you might photograph a restaurant sign, and the phone will tell you the menu, show you reviews – and perhaps even help you book a table. Although this is very reminiscent of the Lens in Google’s Pixel phones (or ChatGPT’s multimodal capabilities) it does point towards a future use of AI that is more real-time, interactive, and situated in real-world environments. In the extension, Apple Intelligence and the Reduce mode could evolve into so-called “context-aware computing”, which has been envisioned and demonstrated in research projects since the 1990s, but for the most part has not yet become robust enough to be a real product category. The kicker to all this is that Apple Intelligence is not yet really available for anyone to try, as the new iPhones do not yet include them. Perhaps it will turn out they are more valuable than the limited information seems to indicate. But Apple used to be known for only releasing a product when it was well and truly ready, meaning that the use-case was crystal clear and the user experience had been honed to perfection. This is what made the iPod and iPhone so much more attractive than all the MP3 players and smartphones released before them. It is anyone’s guess if Apple’s approach to AI will be able to claw back some of the lost stock price, not to mention the hundreds of billions invested by them and the rest of the tech industry. After all, AI still has amazing potential, but it may be time to slowdown a bit, and take a moment to consider where it will actually be the most useful. Lars Erik Holmquist, Professor of Design and Innovation, Nottingham Trent University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. source

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Just in time for Halloween 2024, Meta has unveiled Meta Spirit LM, the company’s first open-source multimodal language model capable of seamlessly integrating text and speech inputs and outputs. As such, it competes directly with OpenAI’s GPT-4o (also natively multimodal) and other multimodal models such as Hume’s EVI 2, as well as dedicated text-to-speech and speech-to-text offerings such as ElevenLabs. Designed by Meta’s Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team, Spirit LM aims to address the limitations of existing AI voice experiences by offering a more expressive and natural-sounding speech generation, while learning tasks across modalities like automatic speech recognition (ASR), text-to-speech (TTS), and speech classification. Unfortunately for entrepreneurs and business leaders, the model is only currently available for non-commercial usage under Meta’s FAIR Noncommercial Research License, which grants users the right to use, reproduce, modify, and create derivative works of the Meta Spirit LM models, but only for noncommercial purposes. Any distribution of these models or derivatives must also comply with the noncommercial restriction. A new approach to text and speech Traditional AI models for voice rely on automatic speech recognition to process spoken input before synthesizing it with a language model, which is then converted into speech using text-to-speech techniques. While effective, this process often sacrifices the expressive qualities inherent to human speech, such as tone and emotion. Meta Spirit LM introduces a more advanced solution by incorporating phonetic, pitch, and tone tokens to overcome these limitations. Meta has released two versions of Spirit LM: • Spirit LM Base: Uses phonetic tokens to process and generate speech. • Spirit LM Expressive: Includes additional tokens for pitch and tone, allowing the model to capture more nuanced emotional states, such as excitement or sadness, and reflect those in the generated speech. Both models are trained on a combination of text and speech datasets, allowing Spirit LM to perform cross-modal tasks like speech-to-text and text-to-speech, while maintaining the natural expressiveness of speech in its outputs. Open-source noncommercial — only available for research In line with Meta’s commitment to open science, the company has made Spirit LM fully open-source, providing researchers and developers with the model weights, code, and supporting documentation to build upon. Meta hopes that the open nature of Spirit LM will encourage the AI research community to explore new methods for integrating speech and text in AI systems. The release also includes a research paper detailing the model’s architecture and capabilities. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, has been a strong advocate for open-source AI, stating in a recent open letter that AI has the potential to “increase human productivity, creativity, and quality of life” while accelerating advancements in areas like medical research and scientific discovery. Applications and future potential Meta Spirit LM is designed to learn new tasks across various modalities, such as: • Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR): Converting spoken language into written text. • Text-to-Speech (TTS): Generating spoken language from written text. • Speech Classification: Identifying and categorizing speech based on its content or emotional tone. The Spirit LM Expressive model goes a step further by incorporating emotional cues into its speech generation. For instance, it can detect and reflect emotional states like anger, surprise, or joy in its output, making the interaction with AI more human-like and engaging. This has significant implications for applications like virtual assistants, customer service bots, and other interactive AI systems where more nuanced and expressive communication is essential. A broader effort Meta Spirit LM is part of a broader set of research tools and models that Meta FAIR is releasing to the public. This includes an update to Meta’s Segment Anything Model 2.1 (SAM 2.1) for image and video segmentation, which has been used across disciplines like medical imaging and meteorology, and research on enhancing the efficiency of large language models. Meta’s overarching goal is to achieve advanced machine intelligence (AMI), with an emphasis on developing AI systems that are both powerful and accessible. The FAIR team has been sharing its research for more than a decade, aiming to advance AI in a way that benefits not just the tech community, but society as a whole. Spirit LM is a key component of this effort, supporting open science and reproducibility while pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve in natural language processing. What’s next for Spirit LM? With the release of Meta Spirit LM, Meta is taking a significant step forward in the integration of speech and text in AI systems. By offering a more natural and expressive approach to AI-generated speech, and making the model open-source, Meta is enabling the broader research community to explore new possibilities for multimodal AI applications. Whether in ASR, TTS, or beyond, Spirit LM represents a promising advance in the field of machine learning, with the potential to power a new generation of more human-like AI interactions. source

Perez, who has been CIO of Salesforce for over two years, also sits on the board of directors for The Hershey Co. He sees leadership increasingly expressing the need for different business results, and “they are clinging to technologies to drive those business results. Of course, some of that push is coming down to the CIOs,” he observes. From Perez’s perspective, two major problems with those expectations. First, CIOs — like so many in the IT industry — lack the experience to know what gen AI can actually do. CIOs view gen AI as a technology that is here to stay, and they are excited about innovating with it, but it will take time and extensive experimentation to deliver value from AI responsibly. Top brass, however, wants to see outcomes faster. Perez says he’s fortunate because his team is learning quickly what works and what doesn’t as they implement AI directly into the company’s CRM offering. Many other enterprises are juggling to innovate and deliver value to the business without industrywide guardrails or proven methods for implementing responsible AI. source

By Nadia Dreid ( October 23, 2024, 9:51 PM EDT) — The Federal Communications Commission said it is not approving nine applications for new low-power FM stations because the entities that applied for them appear to actually all be part of the same organization, which violates the agency’s rules on owning multiple stations…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

Banks need to get ready for a major challenge in 2025: a simultaneous decline in customer experience (CX) and worsening profitability. But fear not, because there is a solution to this double whammy: innovation. After a turbulent 2023 marked by three bank failures, we saw more stability in 2024, if not exorbitant returns. Larger institutions were able to bolster narrowing net interest margins with investment banking and wealth management fees, but no one expects profits to return to 2022 and 2023 levels. 2024 also saw bank CX quality decline: US banking CX quality fell for the third year in a row, Australia banking CX quality was the lowest ever, and banking CX quality in the EU dropped significantly from 2023. This matters, because as CX quality declines, so does customer loyalty. Banking executives must step up their game on product and service innovation, particularly in the areas of conversational banking and deposit offerings, if they want to stay competitive and earn customer loyalty. It won’t be an easy ride, as legacy infrastructures and vexatious regulatory compliance issues will put a damper on the innovation party. But with determination, strategic thinking, and investments in next-generation digital platforms, banks can overcome these obstacles and pave the way for a more innovative and customer-centric banking experience. In 2025, we foresee that: Conversational banking will finally take off. 2025 will be a breakthrough year for conversational banking: Leaders will use AI capabilities to make their in-app bots smarter and more useful to customers. Features such as helping customers navigate the app, providing assistance, and offering personalized financial guidance will become more common. Banks will need to design their conversational assistants well, implement AI governance, and invest in rearchitecting their conversational AI systems to mitigate implementation risks. Deposit innovation will emerge, by way of “save now, pay later.” The adoption of “save now, pay later” (SNPL), also known as “save now, buy later,” has been growing in countries like India, offering customers an alternative way to earn returns on their savings. Its uptake in Western markets has been limited so far, however. We anticipate that Klarna’s new SNPL offering will inspire other companies with robust merchant ecosystems to introduce SNPL options in Western markets. With intense competition for customers’ savings, banks must innovate and explore new solutions to provide economic value. Failing to do so could lead to being left behind, as we’ve seen with the “buy now, pay later” trend. Real-time processing will become the norm but won’t drive innovation on its own. By 2025, real-time processing will be the default worldwide for financial transactions such as payments, funding, open banking, fraud assessment, and cross-border money movement, but its widespread adoption won’t immediately lead to innovative products and CX improvements. Financial institutions need to prioritize the development of value-added products and services on top of real-time infrastructure to meet customer expectations, gain a competitive edge, and shape the future of real-time processing. Read our full Predictions 2025: Banking report to get more detail about each of these predictions and read additional predictions. Set up a Forrester inquiry or guidance session to discuss these predictions or plan out your 2025 strategy. If you aren’t yet a client, you can download our complimentary Predictions guides, which cover more of our top predictions for 2025. Get additional complimentary resources, including webinars, on the Predictions 2025 hub. source

以香港為基地的國際電訊營辦商及電訊和信息通信技術(ICT)方案供應商HGC環球全域電訊剛公佈2024年度英文數據，表現穩健。公司在香港擁有30年的電訊業及資訊及通訊技術經驗，在全球龐大的電訊基礎設施為基石，推動發展ICT技術，並且積極參與數字化革命的進程。公司的信念是透過持續投資於ICT基礎設施，強化對香港數字發展的承諾，旨在提升各行各業的數字能力，從而進一步提升香港作為區域領先樞紐的地位。 HGC業務表現有如下摘要： 在消費市場方面，HGC環電現共有71%的家居寬頻用戶正使用1,000M或以上的光纖入屋（FTTH）連接，實現同比增長六個百分點。家居用戶數量超過40萬，使用HGC環電服務客戶群超過100萬，滲透率位居香港龍頭之一。 在大型企業業務方面，HGC環電的一站式託管服務的營業額在2024財年相比2019財年增長了33%。 ICT解決方案毛利增長了306%，與2019財年相比。此外，互聯網絡服務方面表現亦甚強勁，線路數量自2019財年起大幅增長27%。 在中小企業務方面，中小企客戶使用光纖寬頻數量同比上升28%，連續三年實現增長。 在國際業務方面，HGC環電會繼續以香港為發展中心，並積極在亞洲新興市場進行擴展及投資；在菲律賓成功鋪設超過1,500公里的光纖基礎設施，安裝了超過6,000個戰略接入點，並持續擴展；在亞洲已成功建置數據中心互聯網絡（DCI）集群；將成熟的數據中心樞紐，如香港和新加坡，與菲律賓、泰國和馬來西亞等新興樞紐連接，目前已連接超過55個數據中心。 HGC環電推出由AI推動的安全營運中心（SOC），提供真正24×7全方位數碼化和網絡安全服務，旨在為企業客戶提供網絡安全服務及中小企客戶的商業寬頻服務。   HGC環電集團行政總裁郭詠邦（相片中間位置）表示：「有賴集團上下所有員工的共同努力，HGC環電於本年度獲得穩健的業務表現及増長。集團採用可持續發展的長期業務模式，致力以香港為發展中心，持續增強電訊及ICT基礎建設，提升各行各業的數字能力，從而進一步提升香港作為區域領先樞紐的地位。HGC環電將持續密切關注國際市場的需求及趨勢，加強與海外地區的互連互接。 「我們堅信HGC能在香港面對未來挑戰的過程中發揮重要作用。我們擁有專業的人才、成 熟的經驗和國際視野，最重要的是，我們擁有必要的投資資金，以推動我們的各項計劃向前發展。」 LinkedIn Email Facebook Twitter WhatsApp The post HGC環電營運表現穩健，現金充足擴展本地和國際網絡 appeared first on VeriMedia. source

Novo Novo is a fintech company; not a bank. Deposit account services provided by Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A., Member FDIC. Physical debit cards issued by Middlesex Federal Savings or Patriot Bank, N.A., Member FDIC; virtual cards issued by Patriot Bank, pursuant to licenses from Mastercard® International Incorporated. is a financial technology company that offers business checking services for small business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. With account features like seamless integration with various business tools and a fee-free structure, Novo has a mission of simplifying the banking process for modern businesses. Novo’s fast facts Our rating: 4.8 out of 5 Starting price: Free for basic business checking services. No monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements. Key features: No monthly fees Unlimited free invoicing Access to integrations like Stripe, Slack, QuickBooks, and more No fees for ACH transfers, mailed checks, or incoming wires Image: Novo Novo Business Checking is gaining traction in the small business community as a reliable option for freelancers and small business owners looking for an easy-to-use and low-cost banking solution. Unlike traditional bank structures, Novo’s simple, online-first approach removes much of the complexity and high costs associated with standard business banking procedures. With a streamlined mobile app that integrates accounting, payments, and expense management tools, Novo is designed for business owners that value automation and efficiency for their business. Let’s continue to explore Novo’s standout features, pricing structure, and how it compares to other business banking services. 1 Rippling Spend Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features Automated Accounting, Bill Pay, Cash Back Rewards, and more Novo Reviews: What Users Think of Novo 4.75/5 Novo’s customers often rave about its clean, intuitive interface and the ability to integrate with a wide variety of business tools. Freelancers and small business owners particularly appreciate Novo’s no-fee structure, which eliminates the worry of unexpected banking charges. The ability to manage invoices, track expenses, and link accounts to apps like Shopify, Stripe, and QuickBooks make Novo a top choice for entrepreneurs who want to streamline their finances. Some user reviews mention that the lack of cash deposits and limited customer support options can be downsides, but for businesses that operate mostly online and don’t rely on in-person banking, Novo performs exceptionally well. TrustPilot: 4.7 out of 5 starsForbes: 4.6 out of 5 starsNerdwallet: 4.5 out of 5 stars Many users praise the fast account setup process, noting that it only takes a few minutes to open a Novo account online. One business owner shared that Novo’s invoicing system saved them hours of manual work each week, while another highlighted the fee-free ACH transfers as a huge benefit for managing their cash flow. However, some customers pointed out that Novo does not offer interest-earning accounts, which might be a downside for businesses looking to grow their savings over time. While Novo excels at providing the basics, it might not be ideal for companies seeking more advanced financial services, such as lines of credit or loans. Novo’s Pricing Structure 4.9/5 One of Novo’s greatest advantages is its cost — or lack thereof. Novo offers a completely free business checking account with no monthly fees, no minimum balance requirement, and no hidden charges. This makes it an attractive option for small business owners who want to avoid the often prohibitive costs of traditional banking. Free Plan: No monthly maintenance fees. No minimum balance required. Free ACH transfers. Unlimited invoicing and bill pay. Free incoming wires and mailed checks. Free integration with third-party tools like Xero, Shopify, Stripe, and Slack. There are no upgrade tiers with Novo; all users receive the same free services regardless of the size of their business. While Novo doesn’t charge fees for many basic banking services, it should be noted that businesses cannot deposit cash through Novo’s platform. This might be a limiting factor for those who handle large amounts of physical currency. Novo’s Key Features 4.8/5 Novo’s standout feature is its comprehensive suite of integrations that allow users to connect their accounts to popular business tools, making it a highly efficient platform for managing finances. Here’s a closer look at the key features that set Novo apart: Seamless IntegrationsNovo integrates with over a dozen third-party business apps, including Stripe, Shopify, QuickBooks, and Zapier, allowing users to sync their financial data across various platforms. This integration-friendly approach makes Novo a powerful tool for entrepreneurs who want to automate their finances and streamline operations. Invoicing and PaymentsNovo offers unlimited invoicing at no extra cost. Users can generate professional invoices directly from the app and accept payments through various channels, including ACH transfers and credit card processors like Stripe. This feature is especially useful for freelancers and service-based businesses looking to track payments in one place. No Monthly Fees or Minimum Balance RequirementsOne of the biggest draws of Novo is its truly fee-free structure. There are no monthly maintenance fees, no minimum balance requirements, and no charges for basic services like ACH transfers, bill pay, or incoming wires. For small businesses on a budget, this is a huge win. Free ATM AccessNovo refunds all ATM fees, meaning users can withdraw cash from any ATM without worrying about additional charges. Mobile-First PlatformNovo’s mobile app is highly rated for its user-friendly interface and the ability to manage finances on the go. From categorizing expenses to sending invoices, everything can be done through the app, making it a convenient option for business owners who are always on the move. Would Our Expert Use Novo? 5.00/5 We highly recommend Novo for small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs who want a low-cost, tech-friendly banking solution. Novo’s intuitive interface, no-fee structure, and wide range of integrations make it a perfect fit for business owners who value efficiency and automation. Our favorite feature is the seamless integration with business tools like Shopify and QuickBooks, allowing users to manage everything from accounting to inventory in one place. The unlimited invoicing and fee-free ACH transfers are also

 Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry. In today’s special episode, we’re featuring a conversation between the TNW Podcast co-host Andrii Degeler and our old friend, former colleague, and current freelance contributor, Callum Booth, about the future of publishing — particularly in the space of tech journalism, but also in general. This fireside chat was recorded with live audience at Rome Startup Week. Music and sound engineering for this podcast are by Sound Pulse. Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at [email protected]. source