Partnerships 

Refinitiv expands collaboration with Microsoft to launch market-data powered AI Assistant in Microsoft Teams

Refinitiv, an LSEG business, announced the launch of Refinitiv AI Alerts, a market-data-powered intelligent assistant available in Microsoft Teams. Refinitiv AI Alerts seeks to provide personalized, timely, and actionable market insights for financial professionals, in collaboration with ModuleQ, a leader in human-centered artificial intelligence.  User-specific content suggestions and alerts are driven by ModuleQ’s proprietary algorithms and Refinitiv’s Intelligent Tagging service and are linked back to Refinitiv Eikon and Workspace for deeper analysis and action.

Sokin partners with Visa to bring innovative digital accounts to Asia Pacific

Sokin, the next-generation payments provider, has partnered with Visa as the London-based fintech prepares to roll out its inclusive Global Currency Account and debit cards across the Asia Pacific. Founded in 2019, Sokin is committed to supporting economic migrant workers across the world by making moving and managing money across borders cheaper, transparent, and convenient. Sokin has already enjoyed success in over 32 countries since the launch of its digital wallet and debit card in August 2021 with 120,000 registered users and 175,000 on its global waiting list.

ITV partners with Ecospend to offer ‘pay-by-bank’ services for ITV Win Competition

ITV has announced that it is partnering with Ecospend, a leading UK provider of open banking technology, to offer customers the ability to ‘pay-by-bank’ for its ITV Win competitions, which feature on headline shows. Ecospend’s open banking payment method will launch on the ITV Win website and could potentially later offer an off-the-screen QR code functionality to let viewers pay for an ITV win entry directly from the screen.

As a result of the partnership, payment processing times will become instant and bypass all card processing fees, acquirer fees, and issuer fees. As such, ITV will be able to significantly reduce the cost of processing payments. It will be ITV’s most cost-effective payment solution to date, allowing them to pay a fraction of the cost of regular card transactions.

SETL and Digital Asset join forces to create a regulated network for tokens

London-based SETL and New York-based Digital Asset announce that they are entering into a partnership to create a new protocol that can be used by regulated institutions to launch interoperable tokens. The new protocol, modeled on the Regulated Liability Network (RLN) initiative first proposed by Citibank’s Tony McLaughlin, will be developed and operated as a part of that global RLN, and enable banks, central banks,and other regulated institutions to create tokens for their customers. Each token will represent a promise from the issuer to the holder of the token. Transferring tokens between banks will be handled by the network which will mint, burn and transfer tokens in a coordinated single operation to achieve a real-time settlement between the customers of any regulated institution.

UK fintechs Fnality, Nivaura, and Adhara collaborate with Natwest and Santander to execute firsts cross-chain pilot debt transaction

Three UK FinTechs, in collaboration with two major European banks, announced the successful completion of a pilot proof of concept (POC) involving the issuance of a tokenised security on a public blockchain, with the payment leg conducted through a new, DLT-enabled payments system.

Hodge and Modulr partner to deliver superior payments experience for customers 

Modulr and Hodge announced a new partnership that sees the FinTech provide the Cardiff-based bank with the underlying payments and accounts infrastructure to deliver a market-leading, real-time digital banking experience to its customers. Powered by Modulr, Hodge customers will now get all the benefits a digital banking experience and superior customer service bring. Including the ability to see their balance and payments in real-time for increased control and reassurance. Likewise, Hodge’s customers also benefit from Modulr’s Confirmation of Payee service, ensuring when the customer sends funds to their Hodge account number, the sending bank recognizes the account as their own.

GHD partners with Silta to help develop new DeFi lending solution for infrastructure

GHD, the leading professional services company, has partnered with Silta Finance to help develop Silta’s collateral bridge between infrastructure developers and decentralized finance (DeFi) by experimenting with the technology solution and providing feedback and improvement suggestions. Silta’s vision is to be a collateral bridge between project companies and DeFi, enabling the provision of on-chain collateral for infrastructure projects. This way, borrowers can access the billions of dollars worth of liquidity locked in the DeFi market to fund sustainable infrastructure projects. 

With its 10k-strong workforce and 200 offices spread across five continents, GHD is working closely with its clients to drive forward the clean energy transition. As Silta’s partner, GHD will be focusing on reviewing the Silta borrower portal, the scoring algorithm, and the monitoring system for contractor performance and loan repayments.

Tink and Youtility partner to deliver embedded subscription and carbon management tools

Leading European open banking platform Tink, and subscription technology platform Youtility, have entered a strategic partnership to provide UK retail banks with embedded subscription and money management tools.

The combination of Tink’s Money Manager product and Youtility’s subscription technology enables banks to deliver frictionless and hyper-personalized customer journeys. Through real-time categorized transaction data, people can set budgeting goals, and achieve meaningful savings on household contracts such as energy, broadband, TV, landline, and mobile – while reducing their carbon footprint. Through this partnership, banks can help users take these crucial savings actions and make more sustainable choices on core household costs without leaving their banking app.

Accern and LPA partner to deliver enhanced AI-powered investment research for capital markets

Accern, the leading no-code artificial intelligence (AI) platform for financial services, announced a new strategic partnership with LPA, the software and consulting firm focused on technology for the capital markets. The partnership will drive additional growth for both firms by combining LPA’s deep capital markets expertise with Accern’s platform, driving the adoption of AI-powered investment research among clients in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Shopoff Realty Investments partners with Alternative Investment Exchange (AIX) platform

Alternate Investment Exchange (AIX), the platform making it easy to buy, own, and sell alternative investments, has partnered with and onboarded Shopoff Realty Investments ("Shopoff") to the AIX platform. As a result, AIX is enabling all of Shopoff's funds to be seamlessly subscribed digitally across RIA, independent broker-dealer, and direct investor channels. Shopoff Realty Investments is a national real estate investment firm that focuses on transforming underutilized, undervalued, or mismanaged real estate into more attractive and valuable assets, realizing untapped appreciation and profitability for their investment partners. The firm focuses on three areas of real estate, the entitlement and repurposing of land, the repositioning of commercial assets, and development.

Launches 

Apple empowers businesses to accept contactless payments through the tap to pay on iPhone

Apple announced plans to introduce Tap to Pay on iPhone. The new capability will empower millions of merchants across the US, from small businesses to large retailers, to use their iPhone to accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards seamlessly and securely, and other digital wallets through a simple tap to their iPhone — no additional hardware or payment terminal needed. Tap to Pay on iPhone will be available for payment platforms and app developers to integrate into their iOS apps and offer as a payment option to their business customers. Stripe will be the first payment platform to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to their business customers, including the Shopify Point of Sale app this spring. Additional payment platforms and apps will follow later this year.

Equilend launches bespoke ESG data analysis and validation service

EquiLend, the global financial technology, data, and analytics company for the securities lending, collateral, and swaps industries, has launched an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data analysis and validation service for the securities finance market participants. 

The service enables firms to submit ESG-related data to EquiLend’s specialist data analytics team, who will then perform an independent analysis and validation. The service comes in response to a clear industry need for higher-quality ESG evaluation options, particularly in securities finance. The service builds on EquiLend’s bespoke reporting offering whereby clients partner with EquiLend’s award-winning Data & Analytics division to develop customized performance analytics to best fit their program.

TCS launches three sustainability solutions on Microsoft’s Azure IoT cloud platform to help enterprises achieve net-zero

Tata Consultancy Services now offers its suite of sustainability solutions consisting of TCS Clever Energy, Intelligent Power Plant, and TCS Envirozone on Microsoft’s Azure IoT platform to help organizations gain insights into energy usage and reduce waste and emissions to accelerate towards their net-zero goals. The award-winning TCS Clever Energy platform leverages IoT, AI, machine learning, and cloud to help organizations understand intricate energy performance factors, enabling them to become more sustainable and empowering leaders to make informed decisions without compromising business needs.

BVNK launches insured, custodial crypto yield service with integration of copper clearloop

BVNK, the digital asset-powered banking platform for global businesses, will offer its clients the ability to allocate cryptocurrencies to earn yield, benefiting from the underlying technology of ClearLoop, Copper’s unique instant settlement trading network. Businesses worldwide are facing growing demand from customers, prospects, and partners to incorporate digital assets into their treasury functions. With traditional finance providers unable to accommodate these requests, BVNK launched in October 2021 to address this gap in the banking market. Through the BVNK banking platform, BVNK clients can bridge between fiat currencies and digital assets to manage payments, yield, trading, and custody.

Avast and cyber insurance specialist OSR launch Cyber Safety Insurance for UK households

Avast, a global leader in digital security and privacy, and Optimum Speciality Risks (OSR), a leading cyber insurance provider, have launched a brand new multi-generational cyber safety policy to protect UK households from cybercrime. The service, OSR: Home Cyber Plus, provides protection for digital and physical assets, data loss, breaches of privacy, identity theft and wellbeing for victims of online harm and malicious content. The policy includes a 12-month subscription to Avast Premium Security for up to 10 devices, and an emergency response helpline to contact dedicated cyber security experts if a security issue occurs.

WealthKernel launches instant matching deposits, powered by Clearbank

WealthKernel, a provider of digital investment services and infrastructure, launched Instant Matching Deposits powered by ClearBank, the cloud-based clearing bank. Instant Matching Deposits allows investors to instantly fund their accounts and begin trading without waiting days for payments to clear and benefit from additional consumer protections and improved reliability. ClearBank is powering the service by providing access to the Faster Payments Service scheme to speed transactions and Client Money Accounts to allow WealthKernel’s clients to automate reconciliations.

Receivables SaaS platform Chaser launches SMS invoice chasing to help users reduce late payments 

Chaser, the global accounts receivables SaaS platform and credit control service provider, released SMS invoice chasing functionality to allow users to send invoice payment reminders to their customers that are otherwise hard to reach by email. On average, emails receive a 25% open rate, whilst SMS messages have an average open rate of 98% (Tyntec). With the average business owed $300,000 in late payments (QuickBooks), businesses need to do what they can to ensure that their payment reminders get noticed and customers can pay their invoices easily.

HELPFUL and Mastercard launch Recycle Pilot to help Scottish go digital in fight against single-use plastic

Today, HELPFUL and Mastercard launch the first-ever digital wallets and micropayments for the Scottish Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) pilot. The digital innovation, designed to make it easier to collect rewards for returning single-use plastic bottles, will reward users with 20p for each bottle collected. The scheme is set to reduce Scotland’s CO2e emissions by 160,000 tonnes a year, the equivalent of taking 83,000 cars off the road.

Mphasis launches focused cloud ecosystem channel organization to accelerate cloud innovation

Mphasis, an information technology (IT) solutions provider specializing in cloud and cognitive services, has launched a focused cloud ecosystem channel organization,  to enable enterprise clients globally with personalized and specialized solutions, to accelerate enterprise-wide cloud-enabled transformations. Mphasis has been at the forefront of accelerating cloud innovation and enterprise-wide adoption in its existing client base, by partnering with cloud providers, leveraging its 200+ open-source solutions and assets.  This has enabled its clients to leverage the cloud to expand rapidly in international markets, launch new products faster, deliver hyper-personal experiences and improve service delivery through efficient business operations.

Aliaswire launches new bank account validation solution 

Aliaswire, a provider of digital payment and credit solutions, announced the addition of a new bank account validation (BAV) solution for banks and their commercial clients. The news comes in advance of the pending enforcement of a new web debit rule which requires ACH originators to make account validation an explicit part of their fraud detection efforts.

The regulation was first announced by Nacha in March 2021 with a one-year grace period for compliance. As of March 19, 2022, ACH originators must use account validation as a “commercially reasonable fraudulent transaction detection system” to screen web debits for fraud. This applies to the first use of an account number, or changes to the account number.

Regtech platform, Sekuritance ($SKRT) launches platform to simplify business compliance needs from evolving cyber risks

Sekuritance will enable individuals, businesses, and governments to use blockchain as a regulatory solution to identify, verify and transact safely online. Sekuritance, the first multi-dimensional RegTech ecosystem delivering compliance-as-a-service, announced its launch to Mainnet, opening up the platform’s ecosystem for all CeFi and DeFi users interested in the Sekuritance solution for identity management, regulatory compliance and transaction monitoring.

Merger & Acquisition

Trulioo acquires no-code orchestration solution Helloflow to accelerate digital onboarding

Trulioo, the leader in global identity verification, announced it has acquired HelloFlow, the innovative no-code, drag-and-drop builder of client onboarding, monitoring and digital workflow solutions. As consumers increasingly interact and transact online, the demand for reliable and robust identity verification services and technology continues to surge. The acquisition accelerates the delivery of an enhanced end-to-end identity platform by combining Trulioo GlobalGateway, the world’s largest data and identity services network for both business and individual verification, with a full suite of orchestration, onboarding workflow and risk management capabilities.

Job Moves

Form3 hires ex-Swift Chief Executive for US market expansion

Form3, the leading cloud-native payment technology provider, announced that it has strengthened its Executive Management team to expand its geographical footprint and product offering in the US, to capture market opportunities in payment technology. Dave Scola joins as Chief Executive for the US to lead the company's expansion into the US market as Form3 builds out its production capability to include Real-Time Payments and Automated Clearing House connectivity with both the Federal Reserve and The Clearing House.

Dave has over 20 years experience in transaction banking and payments services and has extensive experience leading large, multifunctional teams in financial services. Dave joins from SWIFT, where he was Chief Executive of the Americas, UK, and Ireland. Previously, Dave was Head of Financial Institutions for Barclays Corporate Bank based in London and New York and has also worked in transaction banking at Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York.

Volt recruits General Manager with a wealth of global payments experience

Volt, the leading open payments gateway, has hired Nathan Marion as General Manager LATAM, to lead its strategic expansion in Latin America (LATAM). This follows the fintech’s innovative integration of Brazil’s instant payments system, Pix. Marion joins from digital commerce platform VTEX. There, in his role as VP Growth Enablement, he helped the firm grow from a little-known Brazilian fintech to a New York Stock Exchange-listed unicorn serving more than 2,500 online stores.

Embedded finance startup Falcon appoints ex-banker Chinmaya Desai as a Chief Business Officer ahead of its next growth phase

Embedded Finance Startup Falcon announced the appointment of Chinmaya Desai as Chief Business Officer. In this critical role, he will be responsible for leading sales, business development, and increasing the company’s strategic presence across the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (APMEA) region. With an aim of achieving $30B in total payments value, the global embedded finance platform has roped in the former banker and ex FIS leader to bolster the startup’s capabilities.

Mphasis appoints Dave Cassie as Head of Canada Operations 

Mphasis, an information technology (IT) solutions provider specializing in cloud and cognitive services, announced the appointment of Dave Cassie as the new country head for Canada. Dave will partner with the leadership team to drive growth and expand Mphasis’ footprint in the Canadian market.

Dave has a long history in consulting, technology solutions, outsourcing, and large transformation programs in multiple industries across North America. He has led major transformation programs for leading banks, insurance companies, investment managers, and wealth managers in the US and Canada. Beyond financial services, he has also worked in a range of industries including transportation, high tech, automotive, and consumer products.

Colt strengthens sales team with new appointments

Colt Technology Services has announced changes to its Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success team. As part of the updates, Mimmo Zappi is having been formally appointed Vice President, Enterprise and Capital Markets, and Herve Jost takes up the role of Director of Eurotunnel/Getlink Connectivity Solutions. As Director of Eurotunnel/Getlink Connectivity Solutions, Herve will oversee a newly created team of specialists and consultants, responsible for delivering Colt’s objectives for the agreement with Getlink which was announced last year. Colt and Getlink signed a 25-year contract, which sees Colt install its IQ Network through the Channel Tunnel, allowing a transfer capacity of several Terabits per second per fibre pair.

Moneyboxx Finance appoints Vikas Bansal as Chief Risk Officer to drive tech-led underwriting, AI, and risk analytics 

Moneyboxx Finance Limited, a BSE-listed NBFC which provides small-ticket business loans to micro and small enterprises in Tier-III towns & below places, announced the appointment of Mr. Vikas Bansal as Chief Risk Officer from Feb 2022. Mr. Bansal served as National Credit Manager – Emerging Business and Digital Lending in his previous role at TATA Capital. He brings with him over 20 years of rich experience in the financial services industry, including over 15 years at TATA Capital where he was instrumental in building a high-quality portfolio across emerging businesses, supply chains, equipment finance, and mid-market. Vikas’s areas of expertise include credit underwriting, risk assessment, portfolio management, strategic planning, and digital lending across the Retail and MSME space.

Fintech EBANX appoints Paula Bellizia in new role of president to lead the expansion of its global payment services

EBANX, a payments fintech company with a global presence, announced the appointment of Paula Bellizia as the Brazilian unicorn’s new partner and president of Global Payments. She will lead the fintech's global teams of Sales, Marketing, Operations and Expansion, currently located across the Americas, Asia and Europe. 

With more than 29 years of experience and coming from Google, where she was VP of Marketing for Latin America, Bellizia will focus on further expanding the range of EBANX services used by giants of the digital economy around the world. Prior to Google, she held high-level executive positions at companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Facebook. Now, at EBANX, she will focus on growing the fintech's global customer portfolio and consolidating the company's brand – recently reinforced by bringing in Alexandre Dinkelmann as CFO in 2021.