Growing use of an instant money transfer app leads to express kidnappings in the Brazilian city of São Paulo – a crime that now only requires a password and the push of a button to steal large sums to victims.

In an interview with BBC News Brazil, Tarcio Severo, an official with São Paulo Police’s anti-kidnapping unit, said law enforcement has seen an increase in express kidnappings in which victims are forced to transfer money through Pix, an instant payment system. created by the central bank of Brazil which was launched in November of last year.

He said the criminal gangs involved in thefts can be sophisticated and work as a team. A group leads the assault, monitoring and assaulting the victim, who is often taken hostage. The other cell receives banking information and money from Pix transactions.

SEE ALSO: Brazil News and Profile

According to the BBC, a victim was hit on the head and then tied up. Using his stolen cell phone, the criminals transferred over 100,000 reals (approximately $ 20,000) in three hours.

Another round of Pix-related thefts in late August involved a gang targeting carpool drivers, Globo reported. A driver said he was attacked while dropping off a couple in the south of the city. When the woman got out of the car, the man grabbed the driver as a third person approached with a gun. The shooter asked the driver to transfer 4,000 reals (approximately $ 764).

The driver said he was told to “collaborate” and that “the goal is just the Pix”.

“After that, I gave them the password, and they ended up doing this transaction,” the driver said.

InSight Crime Analysis

The Pix money transfer app not only helps speed up express kidnappings, which have been happening for a long time in a number of Latin American cities, but also entices more criminals to participate in the violent trade.

The São Paulo police official said gangs involved in other crimes, such as break-ins, migrate to express kidnappings after “finding out that Pix allows them to transfer a large sum of money in a short period of time. of time “.

In the past, this type of express kidnapping took place overnight. Typically, criminals masqueraded as taxi drivers or pushed targets – often businessmen or travelers – into nearby cars. The victims were then forced to make maximum withdrawals from ATMs. They were often held until midnight, after which a new withdrawal limit takes effect. The withdrawal process then resumed.

SEE ALSO: Increase in “express” kidnappings is a sign of Colombia’s criminal development

In Colombia, the crime has become so common that it has been given a nickname – paseo millionaire (the millionaire’s race). In Ecuador, a presidential candidate became the target of this extortion tactic while campaigning in 2013.

Another form of express kidnapping sees victims being caught and then detained for prompt ransom payment by loved ones. These kidnappings were commonplace in the early 2010s in a number of Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and others.

In Brazil, the increase in express kidnappings using Pix has led banks to ask Pix to change their regulations to combat extortion and theft targeting their customers. Among the demands is the reduction of early morning transfer limits. They also demand that Pix allow banks to stop transferring large amounts of money if they don’t match their customers’ spending habits.

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TORONTO, Aug. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – KOHO is making every day a payday for individuals across the country. Continuing its commitment to putting all Canadians in control of their finances, Toronto-based Fintech launched Instant payout with selected partners and users. Breaking the mold of today’s payroll infrastructure, Instant Pay allows employees to access a portion of their paycheck on a daily basis. The goal of this new feature is to help revolutionize the way Canadians access their paycheck by allowing them to budget for their daily needs. This is particularly important for the most 50% of the nation who live from paycheck to paycheck, and the numerous Canadians who resort to predatory payday loans just to cover their necessary expenses like bills and groceries. The added flexibility for unforeseen expenses is also a benefit for Instant Pay users who can sign up and have immediate access to their money to use as needed. No traps, no gimmicks, just financial freedom, made easy.

“From its inception, KOHO aimed to make quality financial services more accessible and transparent to Canadians,” said KOHO CEO and Founder Daniel Eberhard. “The more we look at current personal finance offerings, the more it becomes clear that they just aren’t enough. Instant Pay is a simple way to empower your employees financially without disrupting your current payroll process. Everybody wins.

With the release of Instant payout, KOHO is making a bold change to payroll infrastructure creating a movement towards fairer and more equitable wealth management practices. Instant Pay is free for employers to implement and does not disrupt current payroll processes while allowing employees to access up to 50% of their daily earned pay at the end of each working day. Access to pay on demand is a new concept for much of Canada, with the power to revolutionize the way Canadian businesses manage payroll, allowing employees to have greater control and flexibility over their jobs. personal finances. With a mitigated need to look to loan providers who prey on financially vulnerable Canadians, Instant Pay will have a positive impact on wealth management and creation, allowing Canadians to keep more of their hard-earned money. instead of paying off the high interest debt cycles.

The implementation of KOHO Instant payout provides a competitive advantage to employers who may also know

• Increased retention
• Reduce absenteeism
• Have a higher eNPS among employees.

KOHO has previously partnered with Ameego to provide Instant Pay nationwide. Through this partnership, approximately 75,000 employees of companies such as Tim Horton’s, Boston Pizza and Moxie’s Grill & Bar will be able to access pay on demand.

About KOHO
KOHO is a FinTech company whose mission is to create transparent and intuitive financial products. KOHO offers a full-service spending and savings account with no hidden fees that can get cash back on every purchase, as well as a built-in app that helps users spend smart and save more. KOHO is a Fintech company, not a bank. KOHO partners with a variety of federally regulated banks and financial institutions to offer our products.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Gia Senese
[email protected]
For more information, please visit www.koho.ca

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) sets the annual dollar limit for the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) and the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). Canadians who use one or both of the accounts have new opportunities to increase their disposable income each year.

Most investors in TFSAs and RRSPs prefer high yielding stocks because money growth is tax free or tax sheltered. Likewise, if the goal is to create passive income through them, higher dividend payouts mean instant pay increases.

In 2021, TFSA and RRSP users can consider taking positions in two Dividend Kings: Keyera (TSX: KEY) and Foreign exchange income fund (TSX: FEI). Besides high yields, energy and industrials stocks pay monthly and non-quarterly dividends.

Best performing income stocks

Keyera is a leading oil and gas company in Canada. The $ 7.31 billion energy infrastructure company explores and produces oil and gas, then refines and markets the finished products. The TSX’s energy sector is the best performing to date in 2021. This dividend king is also outperforming with his gain of 51.4% year-to-date.

The current stock price is $ 33.08, while the dividend yield is a juicy 5.8%. A compelling reason to hold Keyera in your investment account is its long history of steady dividend growth since its IPO in 2003. Last year, management paid out $ 423 million in dividends, an increase of 7% compared to total payments in 2019.

Despite negative crude oil prices for most of 2020, Keyera has once again shown resilience. The company generated record annual distributable cash flow and maintained a strong balance sheet. With commodity prices stabilizing, if not steadily rising, Q1 2021 (quarter ended March 31, 2021) net income increased 0.25% to $ 85.8 million from Q1 2020 .

Keyera’s primary goal is to become the most efficient operator in the industry and for customers. By reducing costs and improving efficiency, the end result is higher profitability.

Inherent resilience

Foreign exchange income has only grown 10.01% year-to-date, although market analysts recommend a buy rating. They forecast a potential upside of 37.2% to $ 53 over the next 12 months. The industrial stock trades at $ 39.34 per share and pays a generous 5.8% dividend.

The $ 1.49 billion Winnipeg-based company operates in the aerospace and aviation industries. Like Keyera, Exchange Income is part of the distinguished Dividend Aristocrat group. Due to the diversified business model, the cash flow is stable and sufficient to support high dividend payments. Over the past 18.42 years, the total return is 2,634.27% (19.67% CAGR).

While first quarter 2021 (quarter ended March 31, 2021) revenue edged down 2%, foreign exchange income showed net profit of $ 7.12 million compared to a net loss of $ 5.29 million in the first quarter of 2020. Notably, net free cash flow ($ 20 million) rebounded almost to pre-pandemic level during the quarter.

However, declining travel demand remains the biggest threat to the business in 2021. The reduction in passenger volumes is impacting revenues in the aerospace and aviation segment of Exchange Income. Fortunately, strong freight, charter and rotary wing operations offset or mitigate these reductions.

Mike Pyle, CEO of Exchange Income, maintains a positive business outlook. The business model successfully passed the test last year and has demonstrated inherent resilience. With the additional cash, management will take advantage of looming opportunities and pursue profitable acquisitions.

Rare finds

Dividend Kings is the best option for Canadians who want to increase their disposable income. Plus, monthly income stocks are a rare find. You can incorporate the income from Keyera and Exchange Income into your expense budgets.

Foolish contributor Christopher Liew has no position on any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends KEYERA CORP.

(Image: Adobe)

Kroger began thinking about adding an earned salary access benefit – which allows employees to receive a portion of their earned salary ahead of their scheduled salary – in 2019 to “meet the needs of our associates who are paid weekly and who typically live paycheck to paycheck, ”says Theresa Monti, vice president of total rewards for Kroger. It initially planned to pilot a program before rolling it out to a large number of its employees.

Then COVID-19 hit. The pandemic, which has seen many employees struggling financially with layoffs, time off and reduced hours, has caused Kroger to quickly rethink his plans for slow deployment.

“When the COVID pandemic hit, we took a step back and said, ‘What can we do to help our associates quickly? We knew we had to implement [instant pay] quickly, ”Monti said at the Spring HR Technology Virtual Conference and Exhibition on Wednesday. The grocer has partnered with DailyPay, an app that tells workers how much they’ve earned since their last paycheck and gives them access to their earned pay before their next check.

Read all of HRE’s Spring HR Tech coverage here.

“A lot of times if you’re in an hourly role – with overtime, with staggered shifts, with different hours – you’re not really able to know for sure how much your paycheck is going to be,” Jeanniey Walden, chief innovation officer and head of marketing at DailyPay, said during the session. “But with access to earned wages, employees log into the app to see how much they’ve earned from their employer, so they can tie that to their budget and bill. For example, if I’ve earned $ 417 so far and only have three days left until payday, but I know I need $ 500 to pay my rent and other expenses, I could decide to take another shift.

Instead of a long-term pilot program as it had originally planned, Kroger rolled out the app to all of its employees in stores across the country in a matter of weeks early last year, one of the deployments of fastest benefits the company has ever achieved.

The employer also made sure to market and communicate the new benefit by putting up signs in grocery stores, adding information about the benefit on the company’s intranet page, and training managers and workers in its use.

The DailyPay app has been a welcome relief for Kroger’s more than 400,000 employees, said Monti: “Overall, the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. People see it as insurance. “It’s there if I need it, I have the app, I downloaded it, I don’t use it all the time, but I know it’s there if I absolutely need it” , she said. The app has also been of great help recently during snowstorms in the South. With many Texas workers struggling to get their paper checks in the mail during storms, many workers turned to DailyPay for payment.

Related: COVID-19 vaccine incentive trend gathers momentum with Kroger

Access to earned wages is a growing HR technological tool and has been an advantage for employees for several years. But COVID-19 is rapidly accelerating its growth due to the changing economic situation of the pandemic, Mike West, vice president of Visa Direct at Visa, said during the panel.

“COVID quickly disrupted labor markets,” he said. “We have seen millions of people put on leave or lose their jobs; others have had to adapt to working from home. Many others deemed essential continued to function. Workers with access to cash can be essential in making ends meet. “

Even before the pandemic, 78% of workers were living paycheck to paycheck, he said, referring to a Harris poll. And 44% of those workers had saved less than $ 500 for unforeseen expenses. Now, the financial vulnerabilities are even worse because of the pandemic.

As a result, “access to earned wages or on-demand pay has grown in popularity, particularly over the past year,” West said.

Walden said satisfaction is high among employees who use the app and it increases their loyalty to their company. Employers, meanwhile, see “huge benefits in terms of productivity and a significant reduction in turnover, saving them money on recruiting and onboarding costs when you don’t. you don’t have to hire constantly, ”she said.

For this reason, she expects profit to become an even bigger trend in the years to come.

“For employees, we see the future of access to earned wages not as if but as when,” she said. “There is no reason why you cannot access your money as you earn it. The only thing that really holds us back are paydays and traditional payroll systems.

Kathryn Mayer is EDHBenefits Editor and Chair of the Health & Benefits Leadership Conference. She has covered performances for nearly a decade, and her stories have won numerous awards, including a Jesse H. Neal Award and accolades from the American Society of Business Publication Editors and the National Federation of Press Women. She holds a BA and MA from the University of Denver. She can be reached at [email protected]