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About Karen Joy

Karen Joy Bacudo mugshot photo
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

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PayNuts broadens offer for SMEs as surcharging reforms loom

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PayNuts widens its Australian SME offer with a new POS platform and partner services as RBA payment reforms heap pressure on fee-based models.
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Australians trade down to smaller treats, Experian says

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Experian data shows Australian households are trimming big-ticket discretionary purchases but still spending on personal care, digital goods and travel.
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Paymentology enters Australia via Change Financial deal

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Paymentology teams up with Change Financial to tap Australia's booming digital payments market, as mobile wallets and card programmes gain pace.
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Lydian launches Visa Platinum card for digital assets

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Lydian rolls out Visa Platinum card that lets customers spend more than 300 digital assets at 150 million merchants worldwide.
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Ideally raises AUD $13.4m to expand US market research

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Ideally's AUD $13.4 million raise backs US growth and a new subscription product as brands seek faster, cheaper consumer insights.
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Accounting software faces AI rivals in bookkeeping shift

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Intuit's QuickBooks is under pressure as AI start-ups push automated bookkeeping, forcing accounting software to prove it can do more than digitise ledgers.
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Xero launches AI-native operating system for small firms

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Xero unveils AI-native finance platform and JAX assistant to cut admin for small firms, with accountants and bookkeepers also in line for gains.
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Mastercard & Lobster.cash team up for AI agent payments

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Mastercard and Lobster.cash to let OpenClaw users authorise AI agents to spend on existing cards, backed by Verifiable Intent.
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Companies change incentive plans faster, report finds

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CaptivateIQ survey finds 91% of firms changed incentive strategy in the past year as AI, budget pressure and wider plan use speed up redesigns.
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CIQ launches Linux compliance platform ahead of deadlines

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CIQ rolls out Enterprise Linux compliance stack as federal cryptography, defence contractor and post-quantum rules tighten from 2026.
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spektr raises USD $20 million to expand AI compliance

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Spektr lands USD $20 million Series A from NEA as Copenhagen AI compliance platform targets manual checks at banks and fintechs.
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Tether backs Drift Protocol relaunch with GBP £150m

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Tether leads USD $150 million recovery plan as Drift Protocol seeks to restore user balances and restart trading after April exploit.
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Blackhawk launches digital wallet for unified stored value

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Blackhawk Network has unveiled a Digital Wallet API that lets brands pool gift cards, refunds, loyalty rewards and promo credit into one spendable balance.
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Global study finds 78% use AI for investment insights

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Study finds AI now shapes investment research for 78.3% of users, with strongest enthusiasm in the Middle East and Latin America.
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Paymentology enters Australia with local payments ties

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Paymentology launches in Australia with Cuscal and Constantinople alliances, tapping the nation's fast-growing digital payments market and domestic rails.
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Gr4vy launches toolkit for ChatGPT agentic payments

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Gr4vy unveils Agentic Development Kit to help merchants sell inside ChatGPT and other AI platforms without overhauling their payment systems.
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Aryza acquires Umbrella Tech in AI collections push

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Aryza buys Toronto-based Umbrella Tech to add voice AI, speech analytics and autonomous agents to its collections and recoveries software.
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Banks test stablecoins for faster cross-border payments

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Banks and multinationals trial tokens to slash cross-border settlement times, as clearer rules and backing bolster wider business use.
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Tether backs USD $134 million Stablecoin Development

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Tether invests USD $134 million in listed stablecoin platform as stablecoin use surges past USD $300 billion and eyes public market access.
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Visa launches Tempo validator node in blockchain push

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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.