Photo by Hanny Naibaho on Unsplash

CrowdStrike Offers $10 Gift Card As Apology For Massive Outage

• Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
• Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor

The cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, responsible for the recent major glitch in Microsoft Cloud affecting millions across the world, has offered a $10 Uber Eats gift card to partner companies as an apology for the incident.

According to TechCrunch , the company sent an email to third-party workers last Tuesday and the gesture went viral across multiple social media platforms this Wednesday.

The voucher was addressed to members of partner companies in recognition of “the additional work that the July 19 incident has caused.”

One user on X , shared the image of the email and added “Crowdstrike crashed millions of computers with a glitch and then sent an apology to partners in the form of a $10 Uber Eats gift card.”

lol Crowdstrike crashed millions of computers with a glitch and then sent an apology to partners in the form of a $10 Uber Eats gift card pic.twitter.com/6ZaYdf1TS6 — Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi) July 24, 2024

In the email, CrowdStrike explained the actions taken to solve the problem and informed about a platform created to provide information, updates, and solutions called “Remediation Hub.” At the end of the letter, they shared a code for the gift card. “To express our gratitude, your next cup of coffee or late-night snack is on us! Access your UberEats credit by using code,” states the message.

However, many have reported that the promo code no longer works. “It errors out when one goes to redeem it, saying it has been canceled,” explained another X user . Other users considered it an insult or a scam.

As reported by CNN , a spokesperson from CrowdStrike said the email and the code were legitimate, but they stopped working because “Uber flagged it as fraud” because of the high number of requests to claim it.

According to Parametrix, an insurance and cloud monitoring firm, the outage is estimated to have cost around $5.4 billion to Fortune 500 companies in gross profit and revenue. There are companies, like Delta Airlines, still struggling to repair and restore services.

Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash

Revolut Finally Gets Its Banking License In The UK

• Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
• Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the United Kingdom has granted the fintech startup Revolut a banking license today.

According to TechCrunch , Revolut had requested the license in 2021, the neo bank had been waiting for three years to become a licensed UK bank.

“We are incredibly proud to reach this important milestone in the journey of the company and we will ensure we deliver on making Revolut the bank of choice for UK customers,” said Nik Storonsky, CEO of Revolut, through the company’s official statement .

Revolut has 9 million customers in the UK and around 45 million across the globe. The company has shared with the app users that no significant changes have been made and that there’s nothing that customers have to do at the moment.

The fintech is expected to announce updates and new services for customers soon. “Today’s announcement is a significant step forward for Revolut and for our customers. It is a tremendous responsibility to be a bank in the UK and we will work relentlessly to offer products and services that improve the financial lives of everyone who uses Revolut,” added Francesca Carlesi, UK CEO of Revolut.

Revolut will go through a “mobilisation” phase, also known as ‘Authorisation with Restrictions’, while the company complies with PRA requirements. This process—common among neobanks that gain licenses— could take months.

According to CNBC, this new status in the UK will allow Revolut to offer new services in the region like issuing loans and credit cards, and taking customer deposits.

This is not the first license in the European Union. Revolut has a banking license in Lithuania— accomplished with the help of the Bank of Lithuania— and has been operating in the European Union—complying with each country’s regulations— with this benefit.

Revolut has achieved a significant milestone, especially during times when other fintech companies like Synapse have shut down and failed customers and government institutions.