Today in the Connected Economy: Instagram Previews NFT Sharing

Today in the connected economy, Meta’s Instagram platform begins a pilot program that lets NFT creators and collectors share their work.

Also, cryptocurrency platform Wirex unveils a new Visa card, U.S. Bank and LiquidX join forces to fast-track the supply chain, and Deluxe and Codat team up to make accounting easier for Deluxe’s business customers.

Instagram Trials NFT Sharing With Select Creators, Collectors

Creators and collectors of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will soon be invited to share their collections or their works as part of a pilot run by Instagram.

“At Meta, we’re looking at what creators are already doing across our technologies in order to improve the experience, help them create more monetization opportunities, and bring NFTs to a broader audience,” Instagram’s parent company said in a news release.

Meta said it will begin testing digital collectibles with a select group creators and collectors from the U.S. Features include connecting the digital wallet where the NFTs reside, sharing collectibles or collections, and automatic tagging of the creator and collector.

U.S. Bank Partners With LiquidX to Fast-Track Supply Chain Transactions

U.S. Bank is collaborating with trade finance FinTech LiquidX to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers in an effort to create faster, easier supply chain dealings.

“With so many supply-chain challenges for businesses, we want to help make the financing process as smooth as possible,” Dan Son, head of global banking division at U.S. Bank.

He added that the partnership will deliver a single, intuitive interface that connects suppliers, buyers and the bank in the supply-chain ecosystem. The bank’s high debt ratings will allow it to unlock working capital for its clients, Son said.

Deluxe, Codat Team Up to Improve Accounting

Payments technology firm Deluxe is working with small business data API provider Codat to let customers who use Deluxe’s payroll and HR solutions to automatically reconcile their accounting data back into their accounting software.

“Seamless in-platform integration to a business’ accounting software is not common with payroll providers today,” the companies said in a news release. “Historically, owners of small- and medium-sized businesses using accounting software, such as QuickBooks, had to export their payroll data from their current payroll provider’s platform, and then manually import it into their accounting software.”

This offering is available for customers who use QuickBooks Online (QBO), the release said.

Wirex, Visa Team on Crypto-Backed Visa Card

Six weeks after its launch, cryptocurrency platform Wirex has more than 150,000 registrations on its app, and now plans to work with Visa on a crypto-backed card to offer a suite of payment and crypto-related services.

“Regardless of age, background or experience, we’re endeavoring to enable mainstream users to take advantage of the benefits of crypto in the everyday,” said Wirex USA Managing Director Harold Montgomery.

Wirex’s U.S. product will let users buy, hold, exchange and sell U.S. dollars and 37 cryptocurrencies from its app, the company said.

Entersekt, Capitec Team to Improve eCommerce Security

Device identity and authentication solutions firm Entersekt is partnering with South Africa’s Capitec Bank to offer more secure eCommerce payments.

Entersekt’s solution employs behavioral analytics from NuData Security to deliver risk-based authentication technology, the companies said in a news release, noting they have worked together for the last two years.

“eCommerce or ‘card-not-present’ fraud remains unacceptably high in South Africa, accounting for 80% of credit card and 53% of debit card fraud last year, according to SABRIC,” said Entersekt CEO Schalk Nolte. “Entersekt’s EMV 3-D Secure solution combines our strong authentication technology with the latest in behavioral technology to address exactly this security issue.”