Themed ���Building with Purpose,��� QGC 2026 will bring together Christian technology professionals, founders, creatives, and innovators for conversations around faith, technology, business and the responsibility that comes with building solutions that create meaningful value.

The gathering will feature speakers drawn from different parts of the technology, business and creative ecosystem. Their varied experiences across entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, technology solutions, creative enterprise, innovation, and people development will bring different perspectives to the central conversation around building with purpose.

For attendees, the experience will extend beyond listening to conversations on stage. QGC 2026 will provide a space to meet other builders, exchange ideas, form connections, and consider how faith can influence how businesses, products, communities, and ideas are created and developed.

The referral raffle adds another dimension to the registration process. After registering, participants will receive a unique referral link that they can share with friends, colleagues, and members of their networks. Every 10 successful registrations generated through an individual���s referral link earns that participant one raffle ticket.

There is no limit to the number of raffle tickets a participant can earn. As more people register through their referral link, participants accumulate more tickets and more entries into the draw for a chance to win a brand-new laptop and other gadgets.

The opportunity also lets attendees bring their communities into a conversation about purposeful building. A technology professional can invite fellow developers, a founder can bring other entrepreneurs, and a creative can introduce peers who are exploring how faith and their work can intersect.

The countdown to October 17th has officially begun. Don’t wait until registration closes. Secure your ticket, claim your referral link, and start locking down your entries before time runs out.

Register now at .

That balancing act is exactly how Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers approaches investing.

Rule Number One: Don���t Chase Hype

If you���ve ever wondered why your pension isn���t invested in every trending opportunity you see online, here���s why.

The Stanbic IBTC team believes retirement money should never be used to gamble.

Instead, every decision is guided by five things:

• Can it generate sustainable long-term returns?
• Can contributors access their money when and as regulation permits?
• Is the risk of the investment properly understood?
• Are contributors��� capital protected?
• How diversified are the investments?

Simple. Because retirement money is too important for shortcuts.

Think of Risk Like Brakes on a Car

One of the most interesting analogies from the investment team compares risk management to brakes.

A fast car without brakes isn���t impressive – it���s dangerous.

That���s exactly how investing works.

You don���t just ask ���How much can we make?���

You also ask, ���What could go wrong?���

That question shapes almost every investment decision they make.

They Don���t Just Watch Nigeria

Markets around the world influence each other.

That���s why Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers combines local expertise with insights from across the Standard Bank Group and research teams spanning different markets and sectors.

It means decisions aren���t based on headlines alone ��� they are backed by data and institutional experience.

Technology Is Changing Investing Too

The investment team relies on world class systems and advanced analytics to screen opportunities and monitor risk.

Even Artificial Intelligence supports research and portfolio analysis.

Yes – your pension manager is data-driven.

So, What Should Contributors Know?

Probably the most important lesson is this:

Don���t panic over short-term market movements.

Investing for retirement is about decades – not weeks.

Markets rise.

Markets fall.

But disciplined investing combined with strong risk management has historically rewarded patience.

And that���s exactly the philosophy Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers says continues to guide every investment decision it makes.

Because the goal isn���t simply higher returns.

It���s helping Nigerians retire with confidence.

It was a problem Adetoun Adele-Muraina and Adetola Abolarinwa kept encountering through their work with growing businesses, and one that would eventually lead them to build PeoplePulse Africa.

Through their work at Bridgemead Consulting, the two founders worked closely with growing businesses across recruitment, payroll, performance management and other HR processes, where they began to notice surprisingly similar problems. As these businesses grew and their teams became more complex, the systems they used to manage their people had often not grown with them.

It wasn���t that these founders didn���t care about their employees or want to build good workplaces. Many did. The problem was that managing people had become a patchwork of WhatsApp messages, spreadsheets, manual processes and different tools that didn���t necessarily speak to one another.

Who is on leave? When was this employee last reviewed? Is their information up to date? What happened during their onboarding? Has payroll been updated? Who actually has access to that spreadsheet?

The obvious answer was to get HR software, except that created another problem.

A lot of the available options simply weren���t built for businesses like these. Some were made for much larger organisations with full HR departments and bigger budgets. Others fixed one problem at a time, so you could still end up with different platforms for payroll, performance, employee records – a workbook with different sheets.

For a growing business trying to make things simpler, the ���solution��� could quickly become another complexity to manage.

���We knew we didn���t want to build another HR platform that assumed every business already had a large HR team or the resources of a big organisation. A lot of the businesses we had worked with were being run by founders, operations teams or one person handling several responsibilities. The technology we proposed had to make sense too. It needed to be simple, affordable and built around how growing African businesses actually work,��� said Adetoun Adele-Muraina.

PeoplePulse Africa is an HR technology platform built to help SMEs manage their people and establish more structured HR systems without needing the resources or infrastructure of a large organisation.

And the people it is designed for are not necessarily HR professionals.

In a growing Nigerian business, ���HR��� might be the founder. Or the operations manager. Or an administrator handling payroll, employee records and leave requests alongside several other responsibilities. Sometimes, it is a very small HR team trying to keep up with a company that is hiring faster than its internal processes can evolve.

That reality shaped how PeoplePulse was built, creating a platform that could work for the people actually managing growing teams, whether or not they had an established HR department behind them.

The company has participated in the Providus Bank SME Programme and the Village Capital x Standard Chartered Women in Tech Accelerator 2026, and is currently participating in a founder programme by Antler Nigeria, gaining access to a wider network of investors and founders as the business continues to grow.

Adetoun and Adetola are looking to take PeoplePulse to more growing businesses across Africa, betting that as these businesses scale, the systems supporting their people will scale with them.

A First-of-Its-Kind Rear Screen Experience: Interactive Innovation for a New Generation

itel A300+, coming with an interactive rear display, is a rare feature in this price category, designed to deliver a smart entertainment experience for young generations. Far from being a cosmetic gimmick, the rear screen offers practical functions tailored to real-world scenarios. Users can frame selfies with the higher-quality rear camera, view a live preview on the rear screen, glance at incoming messages and alerts without waking the main display, and play, pause, or skip tracks directly from the rear screen. The rear display also supports customizable clocks, photos, and designs, giving users a personal window to express their individual style. Complementing the rear screen, the A300+ features a 6.78-inch immersive punch-hole main display, offering a cleaner, more expansive viewing experience for streaming, gaming, browsing, and social media.

Performance and Value in Balance: Delivering Fresh Technology Despite Industry Pressure

Even amid rising industry costs, itel has chosen to introduce new technology across its products while continuously improving performance and keeping prices accessible. The A300+ is powered by a 7000mAh marathon battery engineered for long-term reliability, supporting up to 1,200 charging cycles ��� far exceeding the industry standard, and designed to retain healthy capacity. AI Charging Protection intelligently manages charging patterns to reduce battery degradation, while Smart Power Management optimises power consumption across apps and hardware to extend usage time between charges.��

The device also features 300% ultra-volume DTS stereo speakers, delivering rich, room-filling sound for music, videos, FM radio, and everyday entertainment. Built to withstand daily life and beyond, the A300+ carries IP65 water and dust resistance certification and meets military-grade durability standards, resisting splashes, dust, and accidental drops. Notably, the A300+ includes satellite communication capability, ensuring users can still send basic messages via satellite when cellular networks are unavailable ��� a safety net in remote areas, during natural disasters, or in other critical situations, setting it apart in its price segment.

The A300+ is built on a clear product philosophy; rather than relying on a single headline feature, it combines its key strengths into one complete product story. The rear screen captures attention first, while battery life, durability, and practical usability make the overall value proposition convincing. With the A300+, itel once again demonstrates its commitment to using innovation to meet the needs and desire for novelty among young users in emerging markets.

The itel A300+ is available in two variants: the 64GB ROM and 128GB ROM, and they are both available in all phone retail stores in Nigeria or via online store <.

But the pension contribution on your payslip? You might not give that one much thought beyond, ���We���ll meet when I retire.���

So, what happens to that money in the meantime? According to Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, a lot of research, investment decisions and asking, ���What could go wrong?���

Here���s what that looks like.

1. Ignoring the ���investment opportunity��� everybody is shouting about

You know that investment someone on your timeline swears will double your money before Friday? Your retirement savings cannot be following them to find out.

Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers’ investment approach prioritises sustainable long-term returns, understanding risk, protecting contributors��� capital and ensuring money is available when regulations permit access.

There���s also diversification, which is investment English for not putting all your eggs in one basket.

The goal is to grow your retirement money without treating it like money you found in your pocket while doing laundry.

2. Asking the questions excitement makes people forget

���How much can we make?��� is a lovely question. Everybody likes that one.

But ���What could go wrong?��� is just as important.

The investment team compares risk management to brakes on a car. A car that can fly down Third Mainland Bridge is impressive until you discover there���s no way to slow it down.

That���s why assessing potential losses matters alongside assessing potential returns. Future you deserves more than ���We thought it would work.���

3. Looking beyond whatever is happening in Nigeria

Nigeria already provides enough plot twists to keep anyone occupied. But financial markets don���t mind their business. What happens in one part of the world can affect another.

Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers combines local expertise with insights from across Standard Bank Group and research teams covering different markets and sectors.

So, investment decisions involve looking beyond the headline everyone is currently arguing about and examining the data behind it.

4. Putting technology to work

Excel and vibes? There���s more to it than that.

The team uses investment systems and advanced analytics to screen opportunities and monitor risk. It also uses artificial intelligence to support research and portfolio analysis.

The point is to help the people managing your pension make better-informed decisions and keep track of potential problems.

Because ���We didn���t see that coming��� is not something anyone wants to hear about their retirement money.

5. Thinking further ahead than the next payday

You���re trying to get through this month. Your pension manager has to think about the years after your final work email from Uche.

That means taking a long-term view instead of treating every market rise or fall as a reason to change direction.

Markets fluctuate, and returns aren���t guaranteed. Disciplined investing and strong risk management guide Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers��� approach through those movements.

Retirement investing requires patience. Admittedly, a difficult sell when waiting three minutes for a bank alert already feels personal.

6. Keeping future you in the conversation

Present you has bills. Future you will also have bills, even if the plan is to spend retirement relaxing and offering unsolicited advice.

That���s who all the research, risk checks and investment decisions are ultimately for.

For Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, the aim is to grow retirement savings responsibly and help Nigerians retire with confidence.

Because one day, you should be able to say, ���I���m not working today,��� without immediately opening LinkedIn.

Remita, one of Nigeria���s leading payment solutions companies, has launched a new super mobile app that brings multiple bank accounts, everyday payments and personal money management into one place.

The app was unveiled at Nigeria Fintech Week 2026 in Lagos on Tuesday, September 22, marking a new phase in Remita���s consumer offering after more than two decades of providing payment infrastructure and services to businesses, governments and financial institutions.

For many Nigerians, managing money means keeping track of different bank accounts, apps and payment channels. Salary may come into one account, savings may sit in another, while electricity bills, subscriptions, family transfers and other expenses are handled elsewhere. Remita���s new app brings these different activities together, giving users a single place to view and manage more of their financial lives.

Commenting on the launch, ���DeRemi Atanda, Managing Director/CEO, Remita Payment Services Limited, said the app represents a major step in the company���s move into the consumer and retail market.

���We have been in the business of making everyday payments easier for people for over 20 years, and this represents a landmark for us as we move boldly into the consumer and retail space. While other platforms innovate around products, we are innovating the ecosystem, bringing everybody together to serve the customer’s full financial life.���

Users can connect supported bank accounts and carry out everyday activities, including transfers, airtime and data purchases, electricity and other bill payments, recurring payments, budgeting and spending tracking. The app also supports transfers to other African countries through Remita���s partnership with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).

Adedayo Adewale, Head, Consumer and Retail Business, Remita, said the app was developed in response to the fragmented way people currently manage their finances.

���Today, they have different apps for different needs, but would rather do away with the stress of moving between multiple applications. They want to be able to start and complete their financial transactions from one place.���

Remita also sponsored Nigeria Fintech Week 2026, where it unveiled the app and participated in conversations on the development of Nigeria���s fintech industry. The sponsorship provided an opportunity for the company to engage with industry players while introducing its expanded consumer offering.

The company says the app will continue to grow as new capabilities and services are introduced through its banking and financial partners.

‘DeRemi Atanda, Managing Director/CEO, Remita Payment Services Limited, at the launch of the Remita App during Nigeria Fintech Week, held at the Wole Soyinka Centre, Lagos, on Tuesday, September 22, 2026.

Members of the Remita team pose for a group photograph during the launch of the Remita App.

Businesses often tell their stories through launches, milestones and growth figures. The less visible part is what happens in between: decisions that must be reconsidered, lessons only experience can teach, and moments when a founder has to step back and ask whether the business still reflects the person behind it.

Mwanga 2.0 returned with a clearer understanding of those questions.

The business was born from a deeply personal desire for happiness. Following one of the darkest seasons of her life, she wanted to create something that could bring light into everyday spaces. That idea eventually became Mwanga, built around fragrances, candles, diffusers and flowers, with the belief that beauty could do more than decorate a room; it could change how people feel within it.

���Creating happiness one scent at a time,��� remains the philosophy at the heart of the business.

Yet building a business around an emotional idea does not make the business itself simple. Questions of sustainability, operations, people, leadership, money, and the discipline required to turn an idea into something that can last remain.

Those realities have shaped Omoyeni’s thinking.

She speaks openly about the need for African entrepreneurs to have more honest conversations about what happens behind successful businesses. Funding and financial literacy matter, but so do operational struggles, the mental and emotional demands of entrepreneurship, ethical business practices and the ability to build for the long term.

For her, the lessons have been as personal as they are professional.

Losing her parents early in life shaped her understanding of resilience and responsibility. She describes one of the difficult truths she learnt as knowing that ���no one is coming to save me���. This perspective helped her build the strength to keep moving, but it has also made her reconsider what strength should look like.

She no longer sees constant pushing as the only evidence of ambition.

���I can be ambitious and still rest. I can be firm and still be kind. I can lead and still be feminine. I can ask for help. I can allow myself to be cared for,��� she says.

That shift in perspective matters for a founder rebuilding a business. Mwanga’s new chapter is not simply about doing more. It is about doing things with greater intentionality.

That intentionality extends to her understanding of African business. Omoyeni wants Mwanga to be proudly African without being restricted by geography. She believes African brands can create refined, world-class lifestyle experiences while remaining connected to the cultures and stories from which they emerged.

���I am intentionally building a brand that is proudly African yet globally relevant,��� she says, describing African narratives as ���expansive, refined and worthy of global recognition���.

This position reflects a wider shift in the African consumer market. Businesses in fashion, beauty, food, hospitality, fragrance and lifestyle are increasingly being built with audiences beyond their immediate surroundings in mind. The ambition is not simply to export products, but to create experiences and brands that can hold their own in different markets.

For Mwanga, scent is one way Omoyeni wants to achieve that. She sees fragrance and flowers as part of the everyday experience of living well, rather than luxuries reserved for special occasions. Her own relationship with beautiful spaces is similarly personal. She gravitates towards colour, art, water, travel and environments that allow her to slow down.

That slower approach has become part of the woman she is becoming.

���A beautiful life to me now is actually a very simple one,��� she says, describing a life filled with God, peace, love, laughter, meaningful relationships and work she genuinely enjoys.

It is also changing the way she thinks about ambition. She acknowledges a difference between building to prove something and building because one genuinely loves creating. She is moving towards the latter.

The distinction matters because Mwanga’s next chapter is being shaped by a founder less interested in proving she can build and more interested in building something that means something.

She also sees success as carrying a responsibility beyond personal achievement. Successful founders, in her view, should open doors, share knowledge and create systems that allow others to grow. What matters in the end is not only the business left behind, but the standard and possibilities it creates for people who come after.

The September 19 relaunch therefore carried two stories. There was the visible return of Mwanga Africa and the business it is becoming. Then there was the quieter story of a founder who has changed through the process of building it. 

Omoyeni���s return is not to the same place she left. She brings a deeper understanding of resilience, a softer approach to ambition, and a clearer belief in what an African lifestyle business can become.

1. The vendor gets stuck in traffic 

Your caterer has been “just around the corner” since 8 a.m. You have called four times, and she keeps saying the same thing. Meanwhile, your guests are seated, smiling and wishing you and your partner a happy married life on empty stomachs. 

2. The groom is stuck in traffic, too

He left at 9 for a 12 o’clock ceremony and called it “plenty of time.” Reader, it was not. Now you’re at the altar, the pastor is checking his watch, and your groom is sending you a WhatsApp voice note that begins with “Babe, don’t panic.” That sentence has never once calmed anyone. Your mother is fanning herself, the choir is singing the same song for the third time, and the groom is on a bridge, negotiating with a bus driver about a lane that does not exist.

3. “Don’t worry, my friend has a car���

Every family has that one man who “knows someone,” and this time, that someone has a car, one that has been through trials and tribulations. It starts, but only after a short prayer and hitting the engine exactly 12 times. The AC doesn’t work, and the door only opens from the outside. This is the worst type of car to show up in for your wedding.

4. Your makeup artist is on the way

Your makeup artist has been “on the way” for over an hour. The location she just sent is a bus stop. You are sitting in a robe, jumping every time your phone rings. Meanwhile, your videographer is fast asleep, also waiting for the makeup artist so that he can shoot content. 

5. ���I now pronounce you husband and���.���

Your car breaks down on the way to church, and nothing seems to be able to start it. By the time you finally arrive at the church, the wedding has already happened because the church has a strict timing policy, and it has never met a bride it was willing to wait for. And there, standing next to your groom at the altar, is a chair. It represents you. Everyone has accepted this. The chair is calm, dignified, and has not once complained about the heat. Your husband is looking at it the way people look at a very expensive mistake. The chair, unlike you, did not need a ride.

Some things are too important to leave to chance. Your wedding day is one of them, and so is how you get there.

That’s why people who don’t want to gamble on it use . Weddings, airport transfers, corporate events, or any day that can’t afford a “small mistake”. We make sure you show up on time and in comfort.

 Premium Mobility for Every Journey. Book Patjeda for your next big day!

The diagnosis is not in dispute. Tony Okwoju, SWAN���s Director-General, estimates the annual revenue loss to government at ���428 billion, arising from smuggling, counterfeiting, tax evasion and products circulating outside regulatory channels. He cited a 2024 Euromonitor survey estimating that illicit products account for about 40 per cent of spirits and wines sold in Nigeria, two in every five bottles. Each represents excise duty, customs revenue and VAT forfeited while compliant manufacturers pay all three. Counterfeit products, a smaller share of the illicit market, carry most of the danger, being made entirely outside controlled manufacturing systems.

SWAN President Michael Ehindero put it plainly. ���Illicit trade in spirits and wines is not just an industry issue; it has assumed a national concern.���

The law is not biting

Nigeria has no single anti-counterfeiting statute. Enforcement is spread across the Merchandise Marks Act, the Trade Malpractices Act, the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs Act, the Customs Service Act 2023 and the FCCPC Act 2018, each with its own agency and procedure. The penalties are the deeper problem. The Merchandise Marks Act dates from the colonial era and has never been substantively amended. The Trade Malpractices Act sets a minimum fine of ���50,000. The Counterfeit and Fake Drugs Act caps the fine for manufacturing or distributing counterfeit products at ���500,000, though it also provides for five to fifteen years��� imprisonment. Against a ���428 billion market, a half-million-naira ceiling is not a deterrent; it is an operating expense.

There is a clear need for the National Assembly to review the laws on counterfeiting, smuggling and adulteration, raising penalties to a level proportionate to the trade and closing the gaps between overlapping statutes.

Enforcement without coordination

Nigeria does not have a single body coordinating enforcement against illicit goods. NAFDAC, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Customs, the FCCPC, the Police, the EFCC and the revenue authorities each hold part of the mandate; none holds all of it. One consignment of counterfeit products may involve a forged trademark, an unregistered product, an evaded excise liability and a laundered payment. Investigated separately, it yields five partial cases; jointly, one prosecutable network.

Operation OPSON (an international law enforcement initiative to combat counterfeit and substandard food and beverages worldwide), coordinated by INTERPOL and Europol, works precisely by assembling police, customs, regulators and industry into a single framework: in its tenth round, 72 countries ran close to 68,000 checks, seized more than 15,000 tonnes of illicit product and opened over a thousand criminal cases, with alcoholic drinks the most frequently counterfeited category. The Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT), an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization under US tax code 501(c)(6) that focuses on reducing the global harms of illicit trade, urges governments to appoint a national coordinator and a permanent inter-agency task force. Nigeria���s Customs Service has said much the same. What is missing is not willingness but a mandate.

Here again, there is a need for the Presidency to establish a standing inter-agency mechanism against illicit trade, with a national coordinator, a shared intelligence platform, joint operational targets and published reporting.

The fiscal question

A third factor sits inside government. This is not an argument against excise duty; it is about calibration. Under measures effective 1 July 2026, spirits attract 30 per cent ad valorem plus ���75 per litre, rising to ���85 by 2028; wines attract 25 per cent plus ���70; beer moves from ���72 to ���80, on top of currency depreciation and compressed purchasing power. Where legal products move out of reach, demand migrates. Analysis from an earlier Nigerian excise review found spirits and wines here highly price-sensitive, with the low-price segment carrying most of the volume, and warned that a disproportionate price rise could push consumption into the illicit market. Unrecorded alcohol is estimated at around 63 per cent of consumption in Kenya and 50 per cent in Ghana.

An increase imposed without regard to affordability and enforcement capacity raises the rate while shrinking the base. Tax policy here is an enforcement variable, not merely a revenue instrument; future adjustments should be evidence-led, phased and assessed for their effect on illicit substitution before they are gazetted.

An industry can secure its supply chain, authenticate its products and educate its consumers. It cannot legislate penalties, direct agencies of state to share intelligence, or set excise policy. Those levers belong to the National Assembly, the Presidency and the fiscal authorities. Two in every five bottles is the measure of how long they have gone unused.

That shift shows up on the business side too. found that 100% of surveyed Nigerian SMEs consider digital and online payments vital to business growth, while 42% already accept online payments and 57% operate across both physical and online channels.

More of the businesses you buy from are operating online, which means more purchasing decisions happen on a screen. The easier shopping becomes, the more important it is to know how to shop and pay with confidence.

The good news is that staying safe does not have to make every purchase complicated. It starts with a few simple rules.

Before You Pay, Know Who You’re Buying From

A polished website, social media page or attractive offer does not necessarily mean that the business behind it is legitimate. Fraudsters are becoming increasingly skilled at creating fake websites, social media profiles and believable offers.

found that scam-related website fraud increased by 56% in 2024, while financial losses from scams increased by 121%.

Nigeria���s own digital-payment data reinforces why consumers need to remain alert. NIBSS reported that digital-payment fraud losses fell 51% to ���25.85 billion in 2025, but e-commerce and internet banking remained among the channels most affected. Fraud incidents also fell from 123,918 in 2021 to 67,518 in 2025.

Before making a purchase, check the merchant���s website and contact details. Look for independent reviews rather than relying only on testimonials on the seller���s own page. Be cautious of offers that seem unusually cheap or create pressure to pay immediately.

If a seller asks you to move away from a recognized checkout process or share sensitive payment information through an unfamiliar channel, pause before proceeding. The goal is not to be suspicious of every online purchase. It is to make an informed decision about who you are trusting with your money.

Your Card Number Doesn’t Need to Travel With You

Most of us never see how much payment security happens behind the scenes. is one example. Instead of sharing your actual card number during a digital transaction, tokenization replaces it with a unique digital token, helping protect the underlying card credentials when shopping online, using an app or storing a card with a merchant.

More than four billion Mastercard transactions are tokenized globally each month, representing around 30% of Mastercard transactions worldwide. Mastercard is targeting 100% tokenization of its online transactions by 2030.

For shoppers, the important point is simple: better security does not necessarily mean more steps at checkout. Much of the protection can happen within the payment infrastructure, allowing the experience to remain smooth while payment information stays protected.

Don’t Let Convenience Make You Careless

Online shopping is designed to be convenient. Saved cards, digital wallets and faster checkout experiences mean you can complete a purchase without entering your payment information repeatedly.

But convenience should not mean switching off your attention. Use strong, unique passwords for shopping accounts and enable multi-factor authentication where available. Keep transaction notifications turned on so you can quickly identify activity you do not recognize.

Before confirming a payment, check the merchant, amount and currency. These may seem like small steps, but they become increasingly important as more everyday purchases move online.

AI Is Changing Shopping and Trust

Artificial intelligence is making online shopping more personalized. It can help consumers discover products, compare options and find recommendations more quickly. But the same technology can make scams more convincing.

AI can help fraudsters produce realistic websites, messages and images at scale. The lesson for shoppers is to look past how professional something appears and ask whether the source itself can be trusted.

This is why trust cannot sit entirely with the consumer. Payment providers, financial institutions, merchants and technology companies all have a role to play in creating safer digital environments.

Mastercard, for example, combines network intelligence, cyber and identity capabilities and analytics through to help payment providers identify potentially risky merchants, while allowing trusted businesses to operate with less friction

Secure Should Also Feel Simple

Shopping online should never require you to become a cybersecurity expert. Consumers have a part to play by knowing who they are buying from, protecting their accounts and paying attention to what they authorize. The technology behind every transaction has to carry its share too.

Globally, Mastercard has invested , while its Safety Net technology has prevented $77.4 billion in fraud to date. 

The new rules of online shopping are straightforward:

Know the merchant.

Protect your information.

Pay attention to what you authorize.

Use payment experiences designed with security built in.

The best online shopping experience is one you can enjoy without a second thought because you know what is protecting you while you shop.