Layered Tech's Steve Chu Judges $70,000 E-pay Innovation Awards

PLANO, Texas, May 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Layered Tech, a leading global provider of secure and PCI-compliant cloud and hosting services, was proud to have sales executive Steve Chu once again judge the E-Pay Innovation Awards at the Electronic Transactions Association's (ETA) Transact 14 conference in early April.

As vice chair of ETA's Technology Committee, Chu was heavily involved with the competition from call for entries and returned as a judge for the second time. The competition, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, recognizes organizations building innovative financial services solutions with the potential to make a profound impact on unserved / underserved individuals or communities.

Social Trade Organization (STRO) won the 2014 first place prize of $50,000 for its online banking solution, Cyclos. Cyclos is core banking software for financial institutions that work with micro-merchants and individuals. The software is offered free as open-source or at very low cost through an enterprise version, making modern banking available in areas where industry resources and capital investment are scarce.

"We thought Cyclos was the most robust, applicable and innovative solution of all the entries we reviewed, with the greatest potential for broad impact for underserved people and communities," Chu said.                        

Social Trade CEO Henk van Arkel said the E-Pay Innovation Awards are crucial for organizations like his.

"Smaller independent companies and foundations depend on these types of platforms to highlight their results," van Arkel said. "This kind of recognition provides us a kick start to get the product into markets."

A $20,000 second prize was awarded to Mowoza, a platform designed primarily to help independent female traders in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through its mobile phone-based marketplace, Mowoza allows these small and micro businesses to access pricing information, order and pay for inventory, access credit information and more.

This was the second annual E-Pay Innovation Awards and next year's competition is already in the works. Chu will serve as the competition chair and looks forward to watching the award grow.

"The passion the entrants have for applying technology to improve our world is absolutely inspiring," Chu said.

About Layered Tech

Layered Technologies (Layered Tech), a leading global provider of compliant and secure cloud and hosting services offers PCI-, HIPAA- and FISMA-compliant hosting solutions, managed dedicated hosting and cloud computing services, including Compliance Guaranteed, which ensures that all Layered Tech compliance services are guaranteed to pass 100 percent of every IT audit or assessment. By providing high-quality technology, infrastructure and support, Layered Tech enables clients to eliminate capital expenses and save on operating costs so they can focus on core initiatives. Layered Tech's scalable infrastructure powers millions of sites and Internet-enabled applications, including e-commerce and SaaS solutions. Clients include federal, state and local government agencies; large enterprises with advanced data security, compliance and uptime requirements; and leading-edge Web 2.0 startups. For more information, visit http://www.layeredtech.com.

Contact: Nate Brancato
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