According to a survey of industry leaders, ‘Utilizing technology to perform day-to-day finance processes’ was rated as the top challengeof the year (SSON, 2019). As organizations begin to realize the value-driving potential of technology, the extent to which finance leaders prioritize this will determine whether their organization will gain or lose its competitive edge.

Banks no longer want merely to comply; they want to compete and win. Due to the post-crisis reporting obligations mandated by regulators globally, financial institutions have spent the past decade investing in improvements to their regulatory data management and reporting processes. Banks are discovering that this data represents a kind of raw material that can be used to add value to their core banking activities, and that now is the time to leverage it.

Wolters Kluwer’s Finance, Risk & Reporting (FRR) business has released research showing that the vast majority of banks active in Singapore are still in the data gap analysis stage of preparing for upcoming regulations MAS 610 / 1003 - with 76% of banks surveyed stating that they still in the preparatory phase.

 Ivalua, a leading provider of global Spend Management cloud solutions, today announced that it has raised $60 million in growth equity funding to further accelerate its rapid growth. This capital raise values the company at a ‘unicorn’ level of more than $1 billion, making Ivalua one of only a handful of unicorns founded in France.

CryptoCompare, the leading provider of cryptocurrency data and indices, today announced that Thomas J Lee, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Fundstrat Global Advisors, will be giving the afternoon keynote speech at this year’s CryptoCompare Digital Asset Summit, taking place on the 12th June in London.

 KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest security awareness training (SAT) and simulated phishing platform, today announced the acquisition of CLTRe —pronounced “Culture”— a Norwegian company focused on helping organisations assess, build, maintain and measure a strong security posture. CLTRe will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary of KnowBe4, and service customers globally.

 PrePay Solutions (PPS), subsidiary of Edenred, the global leader in payment solutions for the working world, is powering the Rugby Football Union’s (RFU) gift card programme.

In partnership with Voucher Express, a specialist gift card provider, PPS is launching a one-stop closed loop gift card that can be used for purchases at the England Rugby Store. The new gift programme includes both physical and digital cards.

 ONPEX, a leading provider of multi-currency IBAN accounts, has partnered with UK-based digital money solutions provider, Wirex. The partnership will help Wirex offer International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs) to deliver effective cross-border payments.

Cryptomathic, the global specialist in secure server and payments solutions, today announces the strategic acquisition of end-to-end EMV® card lifecycle, transaction processing and PIN management provider, Aconite Technology.

Both Cryptomathic and Aconite Technology are widely respected for their long standing and deep expertise in the provisioning of secure infrastructure for EMV payments. The acquisition will enable the two firms to leverage their combined expertise to drive innovation in the space and better answer global demand for their services.

YellowDog, the world’s only predictive and intelligent cloud scheduling and orchestration platform, has appointed James Stevens as its new Chief Commercial Officer, as part of its plan to scale up and enter the UK, Europe & US Financial Services (FS) markets.