Partnerships 

Microsoft and Nexi Drive Payments Digitisation in Europe

Nexi announces a strategic collaboration with Microsoft aimed at innovating digital payments solutions and helping digitalization of SMEs, Corporates, Public Administrations and Financial Institutions across multiple European markets through vertical value-added solutions to respond to specific needs for small businesses, secure scalable payment cloud-based infrastructures for public entities, for corporates to optimize payment and cash operations and for financial companies.

Worldpay from FIS Extends Partnership with Chargebacks911 to Help Reduce Chargebacks for Merchants

Financial technology leader Worldpay from FIS® is extending its partnership with a dispute technology provider, Chargebacks911, by launching an enhanced range of Disputes Deflector products. These products will provide merchants with a broader range of solutions to help reduce chargebacks, lower costs and combat fraud. Chargebacks continue to be a big issue for merchants, with a recent survey finding that 65 per cent of merchants had reported an increase in chargeback fraud in 2022.

Ondato Partners with Creditinfo Malta to Enable More Informed, Faster Lending Decisions

Ondato, the leading tech company that streamlines KYC- and AML-related processes, and Creditinfo Malta, the only company recognized by the Maltese government for credit checks, have established a new partnership to further deepen their understanding of clients’ credit history. Financial services are being transformed in many countries across the globe, but there are still a number of structural challenges that pose difficulty for smaller countries.

Shieldpay and Western Union Business Solutions Partner to Provide Foreign Exchange (FX) on International Transactions

Shieldpay, the market leader in secure digital payments, announced its partnership with Western Union Business Solutions, a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments to provide customers with secure online payments and Foreign Exchange (FX) capability when trading internationally or dealing with foreign currencies.

Temenos and Wipro Announce Global Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Digital Transformation in Banking

Temenos and Wipro Limited announced an expanded partnership to help banks of every size accelerate their modernization journey. This expanded partnership will enable banks across varying scales to accelerate their go-to-market strategies in regions including the United States, the U.K and Australia. Incumbent banks have to contend with complex legacy technology that can include multiple core capabilities, disparate systems and product silos.

Airbank Chooses Klarna Kosma Open Banking Platform for International Expansion

Klarna Kosma, Klarna's financial technology platform for banks, fintechs and innovative retailers, announcedits collaboration with Airbank, a digital financial management platform for businesses. Klarna Kosma's open banking platform provides Airbank with access to the world's largest international network of banks, significantly accelerating the Berlin-based fintech's expansion into Europe and further markets.

Monite Partners with Codat to Enable any App to Embed Invoicing and Bill Payment Features

Embedded finance startup Monite has partnered with the universal API for small business data, Codat, to make it faster and easier to integrate accounts payable and accounts receivable capabilities into existing apps. On average, small businesses use more than 40 separate applications to manage their finances and operations, from accounting, expenses and sales, to forecasting and analytics and this number is growing around 30% year on year.

Purpl Partners with Mambu to Ease Money Transfers to Lebanon

Purpl, a remittance and cash-out aggregator combined with a digital wallet for Lebanon, announced it has selected Mambu to scale operations in the region. Purpl recognised the need for an ecosystem designed to leverage new technologies. Mambu’s cloud platform will underpin the fintech’s offering as it evolves products and services based on customer needs.

Santander CIB and SAP Join Forces to Accelerate Digitalization of Global Transaction Banking Services

Santander Corporate and Investment Banking (Santander CIB) and SAP Spain reached a strategic partnership with the aim to boost digitalization across Global Transaction Banking services by co-innovating in solutions around the concept of invisible banking, improving client-to-bank connectivity, providing financial tools to help its clients worldwide navigate supply chain disruptions and accelerating the decarbonization of their industrial activities.

Simpl Partners with Nicobar to Enable Pay-in-3

Simpl, India’s leading 1-click checkout network, has announced a partnership with Nicobar, a popular Indian lifestyle brand with products ranging across clothing, home, and travel. This association offers Nicobar’s customers a split payment option through Simpl’s Pay-in-3 feature. ‘Pay-in-3’ is a unique offering from the Simpl product family that benefits D2C brands such as Nicobar. 

BlueSnap Partners with Dalenys, Part of Groupe BPCE, to Help Businesses Achieve Higher Authorization Rates in the EU and France

BlueSnap, the global payment orchestration platform that helps businesses accept payments globally, has partnered with Dalenys, the Merchant Acquirer specialized in payments performance and part of Groupe BPCE, to bolster its global network of acquiring banks, which allows merchants to benefit from local card processing in France. Businesses are likely to see increased sales and revenue as local acquiring helps them to achieve higher authorization rates and reduce cross-border fees.

Crassula Partners with Salt Edge to Deliver a Full Spectrum of Open Banking Solutions

Crassula, a Cloud Banking SaaS software platform, joins hands with Salt Edge, a leader in offering open banking solutions, to help banks, EMIs, and fintechs launch advanced PSD2 and open banking solutions in the UK and EU. The modern financial sector is changing rapidly under the influence of digital technologies. Innovation has raised the stakes for all the market players including banks, EMIs, and fintechs.

Cardless to Launch Co-Branded Credit Cards on the American Express Network

Cardless, a financial technology firm, announced a new agreement with American Express. The agreement empowers some of the country’s most celebrated brands – including travel providers and retailers – to seamlessly launch digital-first cards leveraging the Cardless platform, backed by the benefits, offers, and security of the American Express network. The company also received a significant investment from Amex Ventures, American Express’ strategic investment group.

Launches 

Portage Launches Late-Stage Portage Capital Solutions Fund

Global fintech investor Portage announced the launch of a late-stage, fintech-focused Portage Capital Solutions (“PCS”) Fund. Co-Heads Daniel Ballen and Devon Kirk will lead the strategy, focusing on global structured opportunities in fintech and financial services companies and targeting investments over $50 million.Devon Kirk has nearly two decades of experience in private equity and structured solutions with a focus on financials. 

PayPoint Launches ‘Refer a Retailer’ Scheme

PayPoint has launched a ‘refer a retailer’ scheme to reward PayPoint One retailers and encourage new retailers to sign up for the company’s PayPoint One offering. The promotion, which began on Monday 25 July, offers existing PayPoint One retailers one free month’s service credited to their account for each successful referral they make. In addition, referees will be eligible to claim back their first month’s service fee.

Ayoconnect Launches Direct Debit with 7 of Indonesia’s Biggest Banks

Ayoconnect, Southeast Asia's largest open finance platform, has launched an open finance API that provides Indonesian companies including non-banking financial institutions such as insurance companies and lenders, with recurring capabilities that can instantly debit from customers’ saving accounts across multiple banks. The API can be integrated with minimum effort and businesses can save on the considerable time and effort.

WizarPOS Releases Smart Kiosk D22 to Enable Self-Service Omni-Payments

WizarPOS, the trailblazer in Android terminal and payment systems, announces that its Android kiosk D22 will be serving clients by end of this year. Certified under PCI, EMV, and mainstream contactless payment networks, the smart D22 accepts omni-payments either on a multi-touch screen with an EMV card reader and a virtual PIN pad or through barcode scanning, enabling seamless transactions within seconds on one device.

Virgin Money Announces BNPL Credit Card

Virgin Money is entering the buy now, pay later arena through the launch of a credit card that lets customers spread repayments over instalments while building their credit scores. Virgin becomes the latest bank to move into BNPL, a fast-growing but controversial sector that has recently been buffeted by rising interest rates and the general economic downturn. A waitlist has been opened for the product, called Virgin Money Slyce, ahead of a launch later this year.

Virgin Money Launches Marketplace – a New Online Service for Small Businesses

Virgin Money has launched a new online service called Marketplace where small business banking customers can access a number of different useful services offered by best-in-class digital providers. Following on from the successful launch of M-Track* earlier this year, Marketplace is the next step in the ecosystem that Virgin Money is developing, offering digital services to help customers run their businesses successfully.

EquiLend Launches Regulatory Technology Solutions Division

EquiLend, the global financial technology, data and analytics company for the securities finance industry, announces the launch of EquiLend RegTech Solutions, a new division developed to support clients in meeting global regulatory requirements. The EquiLend RegTech Solutions group was launched as part of a company-wide strategic initiative to best serve the evolving needs of securities finance industry participants.

iDenfy Announces its New Cyber Insurance by Landing a Massive Contract with Lloyds

iDenfy, the Lithuanian-based global identity verification and fraud prevention platform, announced a new collaboration with Lloyd’s, the leading insurance and reinsurance marketplace. iDenfy selected the Technology Errors and Omissions Coverage insurance as well as the Cyber protection package to meet the highest security standards.

GoCardless Launches VRP Offering, Announces Customer Pillar

GoCardless, a global leader in direct bank payment solutions, has launched its Variable Recurring Payments offering, enabling developers and financial service providers to prepare for VRPs as the CMA deadline for ‘sweeping’ approaches. This means GoCardless’ ‘Instant Bank Pay’ feature will now support one-off and recurring transactions through open banking. Developer docs are live. 

Sage Intacct Manufacturing Launches in the UK

Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses, has launched Sage Intacct Manufacturing in the UK as part of an Early Adopter programme. The cloud-native solution extends Sage Intacct to deliver industry capabilities for businesses specialising in discrete manufacturing and distribution, enabling them to streamline end-to-end operations and increase productivity.  

Merger & Acquisition

PeP Acquires Simapka Owner Team4U to Boost Mobile and Financial Services Offer in Poland

Polskie ePłatności (PeP), part of leading European PayTech Nets / Nexi Group, has acquired a majority stake in Team4U, the owner of Simapka – an app for owners of shops and service points. The move follows several acquisitions made by PeP over the past five years, including NeoTu, PayUp, TopCard, Billbird and PayLane, as part of its drive to become the leading provider of cashless payments in Poland.

InCred and KKR India Financial Services Complete Merger

InCred and KKR announced the conclusion of the strategic merger of InCred  Financial Services Limited (“InCred Finance”) and KKR India Financial Services Limited (“KIFS”). The closure of the transaction creates a leading Indian non-banking finance company with the enhanced resources to better meet the needs of retail borrowers and micro, small and medium enterprises (“MSMEs”). 

Job Moves

DFSA Appoints New Chief Executive

The Board of Directors of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has accepted the resignation of F. Christopher Calabia, effective 31 August 2022. Chris joined the DFSA in October 2021 and is stepping down to return to the United States for family-related reasons.Ian Johnston, who served as the DFSA’s Chief Executive from 2012 to 2018, will reprise his role on 1 September 2022.

Travel Fintech Startup SanKash Onboards Anshul Bawa as Vice President for Growth and Alliances

SanKash, India’s only travel fintech brand and a BNPL aggregator that facilitates online and offline travel operators to provide innovative payment plans to their customers has appointed Anshul Bawa as Vice President for Growth and Alliances. With an experience of over 20 years in the travel industry, Anshul will spearhead new alliances for business expansion and deeper market penetration. 

TS Imagine Expands Executive Team with Chief Operating Officer Appointment

TS Imagine, a global leader in trading, portfolio, and risk management solutions for capital markets, has appointed Thomas Bodenski as COO as the firm expands its executive team to support its rapid growth.Based in New York, COO, Thomas Bodenski will lead the firm’s business operations across TS Imagine’s integrated trading, portfolio, and real-time risk solutions. Thomas was previously Chief Transformation and Data Officer for TS Imagine.

PayU Appoints Industry Heavyweight as Global Payments CFO to Drive Further Business Growth

PayU, the leading online payment service provider operating in 50 emerging markets, has today announced the appointment of Attila Kulcsar as the new Global Payments Chief Financial Officer. With over 20 years of experience as a senior finance and business executive, Attila has worked across payments, healthcare and retail businesses, including most recently as Regional Finance Director for EMEA and Americas at Euronet Worldwide. 

Atom Appoints Rebecca Cartwright as Chief Risk Officer

Atom has appointed Rebecca Cartwright as the bank’s new Chief Risk Officer, replacing Chris Sparks, who is retiring after almost 7 years at the app-based bank. Rebecca joins Atom from Midlands-based Wesleyan Bank, where she was Chief Risk Officer for over three years. Prior to this, Rebecca spent three years as the Chief Risk Officer at The Melton Building Society, and she has held a number of compliance and risk roles.

Incode Expands Executive Team Amid Rapid Global Growth

Incode, the next-generation identity verification and authentication platform for global enterprises, announcedtwo new strategic hires, Andrew Stewart as Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Shane Moore as Vice President, North America. The additions of Moore to Incode’s executive team underscore the company’s commitment to building its global go-to-market operations.

Versana Hires Industry Veteran David Kamp as Chief Technology Officer

Versana announced that industry veteran David Kamp has joined the firm as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In this role, Kamp is responsible for Versana’s technology strategy, while building and managing its engineering and development teams. He will also collaborate closely with the company’s senior management team and client base to ensure Versana’s platform meets the high standards and technical specifications needed to create solutions for the complex syndicated loan asset class.

VoxSmart Welcomes New Faces to the C-Suite

VoxSmart Ltd., a global leader in communications surveillance, has announced the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Robert Forrest, and a Chief Marketing Officer, Morgan Martins. Forrest gained invaluable experience in finance leadership positions with AirBnB and Salesforce, helping to rapidly scale both businesses during crucial periods of growth.  He joins global tech leader Softonic in Barcelona where he will continue to be based while frequently travelling to VoxSmart’s global offices in London, Madrid, New York, and Queenstown.

Trovata Adds Two Open Banking Executives to Lead UK/EU Expansion

Trovata, the leading fintech in automating cash workflows through multi-bank API data aggregation for corporate finance and treasury teams, announced the appointment of Vladimir Pintea as VP of Open Banking Engineering and Lisa Gutu as VP of Business Development. Vladimir and Lisa join the company’s senior team to expand the Trovata platform with thousands of new bank integrations and Pay by Bank services to broaden its reach from the U.S. to the UK and EU marketplace.

Muse Finance Announces New Advisory Board

Muse Finance - a bespoke SME finance provider - announced that it has finalised the appointment of its advisory board, which will support Muse with strategic advice for its growth. The advisory board members bring over 150 years of collective expertise in commercial finance, financial services, law and operations working at premier global institutions.

Mastercard Names Ellen Jackowski Chief Sustainability Officer

Mastercard announced Ellen Jackowski will join the company as Chief Sustainability Officer starting July 25, 2022. In this role, she will be instrumental in further integrating Mastercard’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy into the organization. Mastercard established its ESG efforts more than a decade ago with a focus on financial inclusion, inclusive growth and data responsibility.

Trovata Adds Two Open Banking Executives to Lead UK/EU Expansion

Trovata, the leading fintech in automating cash workflows through multi-bank API data aggregation for corporate finance and treasury teams, announced the appointment of Vladimir Pintea as VP of Open Banking Engineering and Lisa Gutu as VP of Business Development. Vladimir and Lisa join the company’s senior team to expand the Trovata platform with thousands of new bank integrations and Pay by Bank services to broaden its reach from the U.S. to the UK and EU marketplace.