In just 12 months the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation trend by almost half a decade. Tech businesses have had to scale rapidly, and many are looking for investment to meet the market demand. Tech businesses have also proved their resilience during the market shocks of the last year, meaning that investor interest in growing tech businesses is strong. 

Ignition, the global provider of advice technology, has launched into the UK market offering digital advice solutions to enable its financial services clients to help people make better financial decisions. The Ignition engine is a white-label, multi-currency, bank grade digital financial advice platform that is compatible with the current legacy and migrating technology environments of large financial institutions.

Both online retail and fraud are growing quickly. While e-commerce sales worldwide are set to increase from $4.9 trillion in 2021 to $6.5 trillion by 2023, it’s estimated that retailers operating online could lose almost $130 billion in revenue to fraud worldwide by 2023.

Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has become the latest institution to join Contour’s global network of banks, corporates and ecosystem partners working together to transform trade finance.

Having been a member of Contour’s beta network since last year, transitioning to the full production network signals SMBC’s commitment to digitising trade finance. In doing so, SMBC will be able to provide its customers with a fully digital end-to-end Letter of Credit (LC) settlement process, vastly improving cost and time-saving benefits.

Cashflows, the platform that makes it easy for merchants to accept payments, today announces two additions to its leadership team to support its ambitious growth strategy. Ron Shteinberg joins as Senior Director of Product Delivery and Gary Allinson as Head of Product go-to-market for Marketplace, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Payment Facilitators (PayFac). 

In a joint project, Commerzbank, Evonik and BASF successfully tested a shared blockchain platform to efficiently handle bilateral supply chain processes between companies in a live environment. During the test, payments between Evonik and BASF were checked, paid and booked in a fully automated and digital manner by means of a programmed payment process. “Programmable money has enormous potential to further digitalise supply chains.

Today MultiPay Global Solutions is announcing its new partnership with anti-counterfeiting blockchain technology provider Luxochain. By combining forces, Luxochain and MultiPay will help businesses maintain and enhance their reputation by ensuring product authenticity without impacting the customer experience.

Fime’s Global+ test tool has b

Manchester-based security technology firm, Avesta, has secured a £200,000 Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) loan from NatWest, to safeguard the future of the business.

The funding from NatWest has enabled owners and brothers, Javid and Hamid Aria, to invest in a steady stream of security supplies to support growth throughout the pandemic.