About Karen Joy
Karen Joy Bacudo
Finance Editor
Karen wears two hats at TechDay, balancing her role as an editor while assisting with finance tasks. She bridges writing content and reconciling numbers to support the team, with the same level of accuracy and precision.
Stories by Karen Joy
CIQ launches Linux compliance platform ahead of deadlines
Today
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hybrid cloud
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digital transformation
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it automation
CIQ rolls out Enterprise Linux compliance stack as federal cryptography, defence contractor and post-quantum rules tighten from 2026.
Companies change incentive plans faster, report finds
Today
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data analytics
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digital transformation
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planning
CaptivateIQ survey finds 91% of firms changed incentive strategy in the past year as AI, budget pressure and wider plan use speed up redesigns.
Mastercard & Lobster.cash team up for AI agent payments
Today
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fintech
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risk & compliance
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open source
Mastercard and Lobster.cash to let OpenClaw users authorise AI agents to spend on existing cards, backed by Verifiable Intent.
Anthropic's Mythos AI sparks UK bank cyber stability alarm
Yesterday
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dr
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digital transformation
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network security
Banks and regulators race to assess Anthropic's controlled Mythos access, as AI cyber testing raises fears over payments, trading and wider financial stability.
Raindrop reunites GBP £447 million in lost pensions
Yesterday
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fintech
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cx
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risk & compliance
Raindrop says a surge in demand helped it trace GBP £447 million in forgotten pensions in the first quarter, with use still skewed towards men.
Lua raises USD $5.8 million seed round led by Norrsken22
Yesterday
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digital transformation
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fintech
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partner programmes
London's Lua secures USD $5.8 million seed backing from Norrsken22 as it expands its platform for businesses to manage AI agents.
payabl. launches Visa Click to Pay for European merchants
Yesterday
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fintech
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cx
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martech
payabl. adds Visa Click to Pay across Europe, aiming to cut checkout friction, lift authorisations and reduce fraud for merchants.
UK CFOs say manual spend management lags modernisation
Yesterday
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digital transformation
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fintech
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risk & compliance
Most UK Chief Financial Officers say manual spend processes are slowing change, as new research flags lingering reliance on paper-heavy payments and invoices.
spektr raises USD $20 million to expand AI compliance
Yesterday
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digital transformation
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fintech
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erp
Spektr lands USD $20 million Series A from NEA as Copenhagen AI compliance platform targets manual checks at banks and fintechs.
British Business Bank backs Apposite with GBP £100m
Yesterday
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healthtech
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it industry
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smb
British Business Bank makes GBP £100 million first close commitment to Apposite Healthcare Growth I, aiming to fill the UK's life sciences scale-up gap.
Tether backs Drift Protocol relaunch with GBP £150m
Yesterday
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crypto
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blockchain
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cybersecurity
Tether leads USD $150 million recovery plan as Drift Protocol seeks to restore user balances and restart trading after April exploit.
Blackhawk launches digital wallet for unified stored value
Yesterday
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fintech
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cx
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payment technologies
Blackhawk Network has unveiled a Digital Wallet API that lets brands pool gift cards, refunds, loyalty rewards and promo credit into one spendable balance.
Global study finds 78% use AI for investment insights
Yesterday
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digital transformation
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fintech
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genai
Study finds AI now shapes investment research for 78.3% of users, with strongest enthusiasm in the Middle East and Latin America.
Gr4vy launches toolkit for ChatGPT agentic payments
Yesterday
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crypto
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fintech
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cx
Gr4vy unveils Agentic Development Kit to help merchants sell inside ChatGPT and other AI platforms without overhauling their payment systems.
ControlUp tops USD $100 million ARR & becomes unicorn
2 days ago
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digital transformation
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hcm
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it automation
ControlUp crosses USD $100 million ARR as enterprise demand, channel growth and AI-driven endpoint management push the London firm into unicorn territory.
Aryza acquires Umbrella Tech in AI collections push
2 days ago
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saas
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uc
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devops
Aryza buys Toronto-based Umbrella Tech to add voice AI, speech analytics and autonomous agents to its collections and recoveries software.
WealthArc launches AI agent to structure portfolio data
2 days ago
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digital transformation
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fintech
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it automation
WealthArc unveils AI Agent to turn messy custodian records into structured portfolio data for wealth managers, backed by human review.
Banks test stablecoins for faster cross-border payments
2 days ago
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crypto
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fintech
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supply chain
Banks and multinationals trial tokens to slash cross-border settlement times, as clearer rules and backing bolster wider business use.
Tether backs USD $134 million Stablecoin Development
2 days ago
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crypto
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fintech
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blockchain
Tether invests USD $134 million in listed stablecoin platform as stablecoin use surges past USD $300 billion and eyes public market access.
Visa launches Tempo validator node in blockchain push
3 days ago
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firewalls
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network security
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crypto
Visa takes a direct stake in Tempo's blockchain operations, joining an early group of outside validators as it deepens its stablecoin and payments push.