Finance
Audit and Finance seeks more input before voting on board and commission changes – Austin Monitor
The City Council Audit and Finance Committee on Wednesday deliberated scaling back about two dozen of the city’s boards, commissions and other governmental bodies but ultimately took no action pending further input from the affected groups.
The discussion centered on a City Council-approved resolution to consolidate or dissolve up to 36 citizen groups, although Council Member Ryan Alter, who sponsored the initiative, reduced the number to 26 after hearing feedback from commissioners and other volunteer members.
After lengthy consideration, Committee Chair Mayor Kirk Watson summarized the conversation by asking staff to gather more feedback from the existing bodies that would be impacted by merging with other citizen groups. A sunset review process should also be used for dissolving those governmental bodies that have been rendered inactive, Watson said.
The city clerk’s office, working with the city manager’s office, received only a few responses to each of the questions posed in an online survey, as part of the resolution’s direction. But Audit and Finance members, along with other Council members, have heard a lot from individual board members and commissioners.
The most vocal opposition came from members of the Resource Management Commission, which had been slated to merge with the Zero Waste Advisory Commission. Alter has since removed that merger from a list of proposed consolidations.
Additionally, the Urban Transportation Commission opposed merging with the Bicycle Advisory Council and the Pedestrian Advisory Council.
Alejandro de la Vega, vice chair of the Bicycle Advisory Council, told the committee that merging the UTC with the bicycle council “would actually diminish, not amplify, cyclist representation” in Austin. He noted that his group had received over 300 signatures in the last five days in support of keeping the Bicycle Advisory Council as a single entity.
Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes said she had heard negative feedback from several of her commissioners about the potential changes.
“I certainly cannot support merging some of these commissions and would like further consideration of how that should look … and more time for the community to weigh in,” she said.
Council Member Chito Vela said he couldn’t see the logic of folding the Bond Oversight Committee into the Planning Commission.
“I consider those kind of two completely different functions,” he said. He said a more understandable scenario would be to merge the Planning Commission with the Zoning and Platting Commission; however, Alter countered that the Planning Commission already has a full plate.
Indeed, when City Council formed the two commissions in 2001, the Planning Commission was struggling to consider zoning cases while also trying to plan a future Austin with a more visionary mindset.
While the duties of both commissions have morphed over time, one recommendation under consideration is reassigning the two commissions’ roles, with ZAP taking up all zoning cases citywide while the Planning Commission focuses on planning, code amendments and capital planning.
Other potential changes include merging the Downtown Commission with the South Central Waterfront Advisory Board and the Tourism Commission, plus updating membership requirements for the Airport Advisory Commission.
Another direction from the resolution has already been completed: an online tracker that monitors all the recommendations made by city boards and commissions.
Alter stressed that his resolution would be a continuing conversation and suggested moving forward at a future meeting on any proposed changes that have consensus.
“I think that the staff has really laid out a great process for us to review these bodies, whether it’s for future consolidation or just scope adjustment,” he said. “It will allow for these boards and commissions to ultimately be more effective, and that’s the goal … not to get rid of anybody’s board or commission but to make their work more effective and to make it so that staff is not having to go to three different bodies and make the same presentation.”
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Digital payments are becoming an increasingly common part of everyday life in Uzbekistan, helping bring more consumers into the formal financial system and increasing demand for services beyond basic transactions.
According to a financial inclusion survey conducted by the Central Bank of Uzbekistan with support from the Asian Development Bank, 71.17% of respondents reported making or receiving at least one digital payment in 2025, compared with 39% in 2021.
The increase follows several years of policies aimed at expanding financial inclusion, encouraging electronic payments and introducing digital tools such as remote identification systems for banking customers.
Interviews conducted by Euronews on the sidelines of the Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF) suggest that the rapid adoption of digital payments is now beginning to influence wider parts of the financial sector, from lending and insurance to investment products and banking services for businesses.
Digital payments enter the mainstream
Industry executives point to a combination of demographic, technological and regulatory factors behind the growth of digital financial services.
Nikolay Seleznyov, co-founder of Uzum, a company active in e-commerce, digital payments and financial services, said the expansion is bringing more people into the banking system.
“More and more people are becoming bank customers. And this trend is irreversible.”
Oliver Hughes, chairman of TBC Uzbekistan, a digital bank operating through the TBC UZ and Payme applications, pointed to the country’s young population and widespread use of mobile technology as factors supporting the shift towards digital services.
The trend is also affecting established lenders. Dmitry Sapronov, deputy chairman of Ipoteka Bank, which became part of Hungary’s OTP Group in 2023, said customer demand for digital services has increased significantly in recent years, requiring banks to rethink how they deliver products and interact with clients.
Regulation and infrastructure
Executives said the growth of digital finance has been supported by both regulatory changes and investment in digital infrastructure.
The Central Bank and other institutions have introduced measures aimed at expanding financial inclusion and encouraging electronic payments, while digital identification systems have made it easier for consumers to access banking products remotely.
“The digital ID product was one of the biggest enablers here for all the players in the financial services industry,” Seleznyov said.
Anne Arundel County is preparing to launch a new finance and e-procurement system to modernize county operations and improve how businesses interact with local government.
The new platform, called Harbor, is scheduled to go live in July and will replace the County’s legacy procurement system with a centralized cloud-based platform built on Oracle Fusion Cloud.
County officials say the new system is designed to streamline procurement and financial processes while making it easier for both existing and prospective vendors to do business with the County.
From the press release:
“Harbor is a much-needed upgrade that will streamline services for our county agencies and those who do business with the county,” said Anne Arundel County Chief Administrative Officer Christine Anderson.
The platform will serve as a single portal for supplier registration, bid opportunities, invoicing, payment tracking, and contract management, consolidating what had previously been spread across multiple systems. County leaders say the transition is part of a broader effort to modernize operations, improve efficiency, and lower barriers for businesses seeking to compete for county contracts.
For counties, procurement modernization remains an important operational priority as local governments look to improve transparency, strengthen vendor engagement, and simplify access for businesses of all sizes. Anne Arundel County has encouraged interested suppliers to review training materials and registration information ahead of the July launch.
Finance
Quadient Recognized as a Leader in the 2026 SPARK Matrix for Accounts Receivable Applications
Quadient demonstrates continued innovation in AI-driven invoice-to-cash automation and unified finance operations
Paris
Quadient (Euronext Paris: QDT), a global automation platform powering secure and sustainable business connections, announced today it has been recognized for the fifth consecutive year as a Leader in the 2026 SPARK Matrix™ for Accounts Receivable Applications by technology analyst and advisory firm QKS Group. Quadient strengthened its position in the report year-over-year, with a notable improvement in Technology Excellence, reflecting continued innovation in its AI-driven invoice-to-cash solution.
According to QKS Group, Quadient’s leadership position highlights its evolution into a comprehensive, AI-powered platform that delivers strong predictive accuracy and straight-through processing. The analyst firm also emphasized the capability of Quadient’s solutions to unify accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP), offering finance leaders greater visibility and insights into their business finances to make faster, better decisions on working capital management.
Earlier this month, Quadient announced the release of its new cash dashboard capability for AR and AP that allows finance teams to bring together traditionally siloed data in a single view. An AI assistant summarizes key metrics and provides analysis that helps finance leaders accelerate cash on hand, improve forecasting, reduce risk and uncover opportunities to optimize working capital.
“Quadient has established a strong position in the 2026 Accounts Receivable Automation market through its focus on intelligent automation, cash flow optimization and integrated financial operations,” said Sanjeevi C R, associate vice president, Enterprise Research at QKS Group. “The platform’s evolution from predictive analytics to AI-driven autonomous collections execution represents a meaningful step forward in reducing manual effort across the invoice-to-cash cycle. What differentiates Quadient is its ability to combine collections management, cash application, and payment processing with a unified accounts receivable and accounts payable ecosystem, providing finance leaders with a more holistic view of working capital performance. By enabling greater automation, enhanced cash flow visibility, and more efficient receivables operations, Quadient continues to deliver measurable value for organizations seeking to modernize their financial processes and improve liquidity management.”
QKS Group highlighted the following key strengths for Quadient AR:
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