Business

Why Hiring The Right Employees Is Crucial, With Virtual Hiring Platform Premier Virtual

Published

4 years ago

March 1, 2022

Today’s job market is an ever-changing, evolving, and rather difficult to navigate place for both employers and job seekers. Employers struggle to find reliable, qualified candidates, and for employees, finding an employer that is going to support them the right way is also a challenge. Creating that perfect match of a perfect employer and ideal employee is a challenge that has been at the forefront of the motivation that drives the team behind Virtual Premier. CEO Steven Edwards has worked in the job and career fair and event industry for over a decade, connecting companies with candidates, both in person and in the virtual space.

Edwards successfully embarked on the path of entrepreneurship and business ownership himself over a decade ago and knows firsthand how vital having the right team is. Employees can make or break a business, as they are representatives of both the brand and the owner. These are trusted individuals who are there not only to better their own lives, but to help your company run efficiently, and thrive. Recruiting, hiring, and retaining the right employees, keeping them motivated to continue to work for your brand and organization, and moving the business forward starts with how accessible the job is, and how many qualified candidates one can reach. This means not simply throwing an ad up on online job boards. Career fairs have long been the best place to find a large pool of candidates and going online with that concept has only broadened the range of people an employer can connect with.

A good hire can increase productivity, build a positive company culture, inspire innovation, and connect with the team that already exists. It is more than a process of simply looking over a resume or checking an online profile. Social skills, personality, and long-term goals and aspirations all play a part in who an employee is and how well they will serve your company. Happy employees drive revenue and can reduce operating costs, and are the lifeblood of driving your brand, reputation, and customer loyalty. On the opposite foot, the wrong candidate, or simply settling for the first person who seems like a fit can lead to a catastrophe down the line.

There are some things that employers can do when looking for a new hire that can streamline the process and yield a higher number of well-rounded potential candidates. The first part of that is crafting a candidate-centered job description. This is not a one-sided process, and any prospective employee wants to know that they are a good fit as well and are getting involved with an organization that is aligned with their values, goals, and long-term career trajectory.

Relying on free, local, and mass job sites is not going to yield the best candidates, so investigate hosting your own career fair or job event. With platforms like Premier Virtual, employers can create a customized event, with assessments, tasks, and pre-event vetting processes, ensuring that they find and meet with candidates that have true potential and fit what the company needs. Every candidate will have unique strengths they can contribute and getting to know them properly during the hiring process fosters a better connection, and a happier workplace in the long term.

Premier Virtual is the number one workforce development site in every state, dedicated to building the strongest connections between employers and top job candidates. As a veteran Edwards has long been dedicated to helping others and continues to do so through his company, “Our platform is opening up opportunities for people, those that might not have been able to apply for these jobs, people from all over the world, connecting companies with top-level talent. This is bettering people’s lives, every day.”

Connect on the company website, https://premiervirtual.com to learn more about how Premier Virtual leads the way in employee recruitment and hiring for companies large and small worldwide.

Business

Inside the $4.3B Quarter: What’s Fueling Black Banx’s Record Revenues

Published

6 days ago

January 16, 2026

Matthew Wiles

Every quarter brings fresh headlines in fintech, but few make the kind of impact achieved by Black Banx in Q2 2025. The Toronto-based global digital banking group, founded by Michael Gastauer, reported an extraordinary USD 4.3 billion in revenue and a record USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, while improving its cost-to-income ratio to 63%.

These results not only highlight the company’s operational efficiency but also mark a pivotal moment in its journey from challenger to global leader. The big question is: what’s fueling such impressive financial performance?

Customer Growth as the Core Driver

One of the clearest engines of revenue growth is Black Banx’s expanding customer base. By Q2 2025, the platform had reached 84 million clients worldwide, up from 69 million at the end of 2024. This 15 million net gain in six months demonstrates both the attractiveness of its services and the scalability of its model.

Unlike traditional banks, which rely heavily on branch expansion, Black Banx leverages digital-first onboarding that allows customers to open accounts within minutes using just a smartphone. This approach is especially effective in regions underserved by legacy institutions, where access to affordable financial tools is in high demand.

More customers don’t just mean higher transaction volumes—they generate a compounding effect where network size, brand trust, and service adoption reinforce one another.

Real-Time Payments and Cross-Border Solutions

A major contributor to Q2 revenues is the platform’s real-time payments infrastructure. Black Banx enables instant cross-border transfers across its 28 supported fiat currencies and multiple cryptocurrencies, helping both individuals and businesses bypass the traditional bottlenecks of international banking.

For freelancers, SMEs, and multinational clients, this means faster liquidity, reduced foreign exchange costs, and simplified global operations. The demand for real-time financial services is growing rapidly—Juniper Research projects global real-time payments turnover to hit USD 58 trillion by 2028—and Black Banx is strategically positioned to capture a significant share of this market.

Crypto Integration as a Revenue Stream

Another key revenue driver is crypto integration. While many traditional institutions remain hesitant, Black Banx embraced digital assets early and has built infrastructure to support Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the Lightning Network. In Q2 2025, 20% of all transactions on the platform were crypto-based, reflecting strong customer appetite for hybrid banking services that bridge fiat and digital assets.

Revenue comes not only from transaction fees but also from value-added services like crypto-to-fiat conversion, staking yields (4–12% APY), and blockchain-enabled payments. For customers in markets with unstable currencies, these services act as a financial lifeline, further expanding the platform’s relevance.

AI-Powered Efficiency and Risk Management

Record revenues would be less impressive if costs ballooned at the same rate. But Black Banx has proven adept at balancing growth with efficiency. Its cost-to-income ratio improved to 63% in Q2, down from 69% a year earlier, thanks to heavy reliance on AI-powered automation.

AI now drives fraud detection, compliance, and customer onboarding—areas where traditional banks often struggle with cost inefficiencies. By automating these processes, Black Banx can process millions of transactions securely while maintaining profitability at scale. This level of efficiency is rare in fintech, where high growth often comes at the expense of margins.

Regional Expansion and Untapped Markets

Geography also plays a role in fueling revenues. Much of the Q2 growth came from Africa, South Asia, and Latin America—regions where demand for mobile-first banking continues to soar. In 2024 alone, Black Banx reported a 32% increase in SME clients from the Middle East and Africa, signaling the strength of its positioning in underserved markets.

By extending services to populations previously excluded from formal banking—migrant workers, rural communities, and small businesses—Black Banx taps into vast pools of latent demand. The strategy proves that financial inclusion and profitability are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing.

Diversified Revenue Streams

Another factor behind Q2’s record revenues is Black Banx’s diversified business model. Income is not tied to a single service but spread across multiple streams, including:

Transaction fees from cross-border transfers and payments.
Crypto trading and exchange services.
Premium account features for high-net-worth clients.
Corporate services for SMEs and international businesses.

This diversification insulates the company against volatility in any single segment, creating stable revenue growth even in shifting market conditions.

Michael Gastauer’s Strategic Blueprint

Behind these results is Michael Gastauer’s long-term strategy: scale aggressively but with efficiency, innovation, and inclusion at the core. His vision has always been to create a borderless financial ecosystem, and Q2 2025’s performance is evidence that this vision is not only achievable but sustainable.

By balancing mass-market accessibility with premium features, and by blending fiat with digital assets, Gastauer has positioned Black Banx as a category-defining player in global finance.

The Road Ahead: Toward 100 Million Clients

Looking forward, the company’s goal of reaching 100 million customers by the end of 2025 will likely be the next catalyst for revenue growth. More customers mean more transactions, more data insights, and more opportunities to refine and expand its service offering.

If current momentum holds, the USD 4.3 billion quarterly revenue milestone could be just the beginning of an even larger growth story. The challenge will be ensuring systems scale securely while maintaining trust in an environment where privacy and compliance are paramount.

A Record That Signals More to Come

Black Banx’s Q2 2025 performance—USD 4.3 billion in revenue, USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, 84 million clients worldwide, and a lean 63% cost-to-income ratio—is more than a financial milestone. It is a signal of how the future of banking is being rewritten by platforms that are borderless, crypto-inclusive, and data-driven.

What fueled this record-breaking quarter is not one innovation but a combination of strategies—scalable onboarding, real-time payments, crypto integration, AI efficiency, and expansion into underserved regions. Together, they form a model that doesn’t just challenge traditional banking but actively builds the foundation for global dominance.

For Black Banx, the road ahead is clear: the $4.3 billion quarter is not an endpoint but a launchpad for even greater scale and profitability.