The prevailing winds point to a strong year for the UK’s credit finance brokers in 2016. For example, in the secured loans market ‘completions’ rose by a whopping nine per cent in quarter three of 2015. However, despite this buoyant outlook most know that it isn’t going to be plain sailing all the way.

Leeds-based managed service provider, Fantastic Cloud Services (FCS), has been awarded the highly valued ISO 27001 certification after establishing international best practice in the Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) field.

ISMS is a systematic approach to managing sensitive company information so that it remains secure. It includes people, processes and IT systems by applying a risk management process.

It can help small, medium and large businesses in any sector keep information assets secure.

TransferTo, a leading global Mobile Money hub, has partnered under a framework agreement with Vodafone Group to enable real-time international money transfers to M-Pesa Mobile Money accounts worldwide.

Powered by TransferTo’s cross-border Mobile Money network, the global partnership will make it faster and easier for consumers and organizations to send money to multiple M-Pesa accounts, in real time.

 Bell ID, the mobile payments specialist recently acquired by Rambus Cryptography Research, today announces it will support international issuing banks, payment schemes and processors to integrate with Android Pay. Bell ID customers can utilize its Token Service Provider (TSP) software to enable and secure near field communication (NFC) payments functionality on Android phones.

Kyc.com, the joint venture between Markit Ltd. (Nasdaq: MRKT) and Genpact Limited (NYSE: G) today announced the expansion of its service to Hong Kong and Singapore. This roll out is in addition to jurisdictional coverage in the US, UK and Australia which launched in 2014.

 BrickVest is announcing the launch of its online direct real estate investment platform.The London based Fintech platform allows investors to invest as little as EUR 1,000 in institutional quality real estate that previously was only accessible to large institutions such as pension funds, insurance companies and large family offices.

 Santander InnoVentures, the $100 million fintech venture capital fund of Santander Group, in partnership with IE Business School and Accenture, today announced PayKey as the winner of the ‘Pitch Slam’ competition at the first Fintech Venture Day, held in Tel-Aviv.

Earthport plc (AIM: EPO.L), the leading payment network for cross-border payments, is pleased to announce that John B. McCoy, the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bank One Corporation, has agreed to join Earthport’s Board as a Non-executive Director.

John McCoy retired as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bank One Corporation in 1999, the fourth-largest bank in the United States at the time, where he had been CEO since 1984. In 2004, Bank One merged with JPMorgan Chase, creating the largest bank in the United States. 

Fiserv announced that Robert Hau will join the company as chief financial officer on March 14, 2016.

Exari, the leading provider of cloud-based contract lifecycle management solutions, today announced it has acquired CMA Contiki, a leading provider of enterprise contract management software. The combination will create the new gold standard for end-to-end enterprise contract management platforms. The acquisition was an all cash transaction.