Payful, a new startup dedicated to eradicating late invoice payments across B2B transactions has secured its place on Enterprise City’s ‘Exchange Support Scheme’. As part of the selection, the fledgling Manchester-based FinTech will now move its offices to the city’s famous Bonded Warehouse.    

The ‘Exchange Support Scheme’ will help Payful as it begins to scale and grow operations ahead of an imminent pre-seed fundraise. The accelerator is now in its third year, having supported 44 businesses in the past year alone. Moving forward, Payful will benefit from this experience and gain access to new networking opportunities. The company’s selection also confirms its place among other exciting startups in Manchester’s emerging FinTech scene.

The transformational business, started by founder, Andy Taylor, has been designed to address late invoice payments, a real challenge within the world of B2B transactions. Unfortunately, the issue continues to affect the economic viability of many businesses. In fact, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) recently warned that as many as 50,000 businesses could go bust in the near future as a direct result of late payments.

By building innovative proprietary technology, which can score invoice payment performance, Payful is offering an inventive solution to this long-standing problem. With the company’s service, businesses can showcase an independent assessment of their invoice payment performance. In turn, companies can then demonstrate a proven track record to prospects, clients, and suppliers, which helps to build trust.

Speaking on the company’s growing success, founder and CEO, Andy Taylor commented: “Payful’s selection on the ‘Exchange Support Scheme’ is affirmation of our growing reputation and underlines the level of interest in our groundbreaking invoice payment scoring solution. As a business, we’re devoted to tackling the challenge of late payments head-on and have made it our mission to eliminate the issue across the globe by 2032.”

Alice Glover, Community Outreach Lead at Exchange at Enterprise City, said: “Payful is a brilliant addition to the scale-up community and cluster of fintechs we have created at Department Bonded Warehouse. The team’s ambitions match that of ours in creating a generation of tech businesses that will change the current status quo in their respective industries. Andy and Payful also share our desire to support SMEs and enable them to thrive. We’re excited to see what is next and support them as they scale and grow throughout the next six months.”

Following the aforementioned selection, and its move to the Bonded Warehouse, Payful is now planning an official global launch later this year, which will see its service go live in 180 countries. This expansion will be supported by the ‘Exchange Support Scheme’ and bolstered by a recent beta program in Britain and Cyprus, which verified the company’s ability to accurately identify businesses that can be relied on to pay invoices on time.

For more information about Payful and its 2022 plans, please visit: https://trypayful.com/

Klarna, a leading global retail bank, payments, and shopping service, today announced that its UK customers will soon be able to build a positive credit history by using Klarna’s Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) products. Klarna will begin reporting use of BNPL products with UK credit reference agencies (CRAs) to protect customers, provide the industry with greater visibility of BNPL use, and give UK consumers one less reason to use high-cost credit cards. Klarna’s BNPL products in the UK are interest- and fee free, and have inbuilt controls to prevent the accumulation of debt, making them a fairer alternative to traditional credit. 

“It is alarming that UK consumers are still being forced to take out high cost credit cards to demonstrate they can use credit responsibly and build their credit profile,” said Alex Marsh, Head of Klarna U.K., “That will start to change on 1 June this year as the vast majority of the 16 million UK consumers who make Klarna BNPL payments in full and on time will be able to demonstrate their responsible use of credit to other lenders.” 

Klarna will report UK consumer purchases paid on time, late payments and unpaid purchases for Pay in 30 and Pay in 3 orders made on or after 1 June, 2022 to both Experian and TransUnion. As part of Klarna’s long-standing commitment to its consumers’ financial wellbeing, this will give the financial industry greater visibility on UK shoppers’ use of Klarna’s BNPL products, help to improve affordability assessments, and means Klarna consumers who make payments on time can build a positive credit history, showing lenders they use credit responsibly.

Klarna has long championed greater visibility on the use of BNPL products in the UK, alongside other products they may use, as key to supporting better outcomes for consumers. However, the UK’s credit reporting infrastructure was built with traditional credit in mind, so Klarna has partnered closely with the CRAs in the UK over the past two years to help them update their systems to the point where they are now able to receive and process BNPL data in a fair and balanced way.

Whilst reporting on the use of BNPL products will be reflected in UK consumer credit files from June 2022, they will not initially impact UK consumer credit scores as this requires further updates to the scoring mechanisms used by the CRAs; however it is an important step towards this goal which both Experian and TransUnion are fully committed to progressing during 2022. Klarna will continue to ensure that consumer needs are central to everything decided throughout this process.  

This development should support wider efforts to drive better visibility of consumer borrowing and affordability assessments to help ensure consumers are not building up unsustainable debt with multiple providers. “We are pleased to help protect our UK customers and continue to cement our leadership in responsible lending, now the credit reference agencies are in a position to accept our data. This was a key area of concern highlighted in the FCA’s Woolard Review and we very much took to heart the advice from Chris Woolard at the time to, ‘not wait for regulations before making changes,’” Alex continued. 

Klarna has previously announced a suite of changes in the UK designed to proactively address areas of concern highlighted in The Woolard Review, including:

• Updated text at the checkout to make it absolutely clear that BNPL options are credit products, with consequences for missed payments.
• Partnered with the consumer group, Fairer Finance, to make sure that BNPL terms & conditions are clear, simple and easy to understand.
• Improved real-time credit decisions and affordability checks by providing consumers with the option to share their bank details using Klarna’s world-leading open banking network. 
• The introduction of an internal complaints adjudicator which acts as an interim step until the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Services is extended to include Buy Now Pay Later products. 

Klarna will ensure UK consumers are fully aware of the change in policy before they take effect in June 2022 through the following measures:

• Updated text in marketing disclosures, the purchase flow and post-purchase communications clearly signposting these changes
• Updated merchants’ marketing guidelines
• Information in the Klarna app
• Training for customer support staff to answer questions on the matter
• Additional resources and information on the Klarna blog and consumer newsletters

Woodford Green-based firm, Ruddocks and Co. Chartered Certified Accountants has solidified their commitment to paying the Living Wage, by signing up to the foundation in April 2022.

Ruddocks and Co. Chartered Certified Accountants is the only accounting firm in the London Borough of Woodford to have been recognised as an accredited Living Wage employer, marking it as one of only five businesses in the entire borough to have made that commitment.

The company is committed to demonstrating the powerful impact ethics in business can make and believes that this is an important step in creating a fairer society. Ruddocks and Co. join a growing number of businesses that are committed to ensuring their employees are paid a fair wage.

The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually, calculated according to the real costs of living. It provides a voluntary benchmark for employers who wish to ensure their employees can live comfortably on their earnings.

Ruddocks and Co. Managing Director Rohan Ruddock said:

"We want to be a force for good in society and paying the Living Wage is one important way we can do that. We want our employees to tangibly feel valued and supported, and we believe that no one should have to go without the essentials in life."

Katherine Chapman, Director of the Living Wage Foundation stated in her March 2022 announcement

"The global pandemic has shone a spotlight on decades of global inequality. Putting human dignity at the heart of business practice, including tackling poverty and providing decent living standards, will reduce inequality and underpin social cohesion and sustainable economic growth. We are delighted to be joining BCTI to work together to drive change - now is the time for action.’‘

This announcement comes as part of a wider commitment from Ruddocks and Co. to tackling inequality and promoting social mobility. The company has also committed to increasing the proportion of employees from under-represented groups and is constantly dedicating resources for personal and professional growth through their training program for their staff. With this news Ruddocks and Co. is setting an example for businesses across the country, showing that ethical practices and paying a fair wage go hand-in-hand. We hope that other companies will follow their lead and join the Living Wage movement in ensuring that all workers are valued and compensated fairly.

UTP, an award-winning provider of card and other payment solutions, has partnered with leading fintech, phos, to create the latest industry innovation, tapeeno, enabling smartphones to be transformed into a payment device in an easy and convenient way.

This technology is an industry first, with existing solutions only able to process same-day payments if it is onto a specific debit card, typically provided by the solution provider. tapeeno allows quick access to payments to any UK bank account and provides a fast, easy, and convenient alternative to cash payments. 

Customers were at the forefront of tapeeno’s creation. With tapeeno, merchants can take card payments without the fixed monthly payments that are normally associated with card payment hardware. tapeeno has no set-up fees, no monthly charges and no binding contract. This allows customers to cancel whenever they like. 

To use the service, customers will need to complete a simple online application form with most applications being approved within 24 to 48 hours. Once approved, customers can download the tapeeno app from the Google Play Store to start taking contactless card payments. Payments will be processed and funded within one hour. 

The software enables transactions to be refunded and voided, as well as sending e-receipts to the cardholder via email or SMS. tapeeno uses a highly secure software to process payments and is certified to the latest security standard. 

The tapeeno app is available now with further details available at www.tapeeno.com.

Michael Ault, CEO of UTP added: “We are delighted to be launching the tapeeno proposition. By launching a product which is tailored to individuals as well as merchants, we are making card acceptance accessible to the widest possible audience. As an alternative to existing peer-to-peer payment solutions and hardware-based card acceptance products, our collaboration with phos has allowed us to bring a unique and exciting solution to the market. 

UTP and Faster Processing have ensured the process of customer sign-up is hassle-free to enable merchants to access the solution as quickly and seamlessly as possible. 

Brad Hyett, CEO of phos added: “We are thrilled to be partnering with UTP on an industry-first solution. At phos, we take pride in developing the best solutions that meet the needs of business today. Merchants are increasingly demanding more efficient and convenient ways to accept payments and we are glad to be bringing them this same day settlement capability, along with collaborators at UTP and Faster Processing. It is indeed a great time to be in the fintech business.”

Today Finastra announces the launch of Finastra Managed Services (FMS) on Amazon Web Services (AWS) to enable banks and financial institutions to access FMS in the AWS cloud. FMS being available in the AWS cloud has already demonstrated its benefits, helping a large multi-national U.S. bank on the West Coast roll out its lending solution.
 
Users of FMS in the AWS cloud benefit from increased efficiency and scalability, which improves spending and reduces carbon footprint. AWS empowers organizations to modernize their infrastructure, meet rapidly changing customer behaviors and expectations, and drive business growth.
 

Neil Budd, VP Finastra Managed Services said, “The move to bring our customers high quality managed services with AWS is a great step for Finastra. We’re committed to helping drive efficiency and reduce total cost of ownership (TCO), so this move aligns closely with our strategy to help our FMS customers specifically to accelerate their move to the cloud and access the benefits it affords, including scalability and security. It is also a commitment to our FMS multi-cloud strategy which enables us to support customers who value a choice of cloud vendor.”

Yves Dupuy, Leader for Global ISVs, Financial Services EMEA/APAC at AWS said, “We are pleased to provide Finastra with the capability to bring Finastra’s Managed Services customers a secure and resilient global cloud infrastructure that will enable them to differentiate themselves today and adapt to the needs of tomorrow.”

SmartStream Technologies, the financial Transaction Lifecycle Management solutions provider, today announces a new solution, Eligibility API for Collateral Management Optimisation – a faster and more efficient way to get eligibility information contained within collateral agreements like CSA, GMRAs and OSLA’s*, for both pre- and post-trade collateral optimisation.

With the impending UMR (Uncleared Margin Rules) phase 6 regulatory regime being implemented in September 2022, volumes of margin calls are expected to increase and there will be an inevitable squeeze on assets being pledged as collateral. This will result in a rise in demand for High Quality Liquid Assets (HQLA). In addition, with Interest rates forecast to rise – firms are looking at pre- and post-trade optimisation so as to efficiently use scarce HQLA and Cash. With this new solution SmartStream will provide firms with a way to publish eligible collateral for each legal agreement, which can then be consumed by their optimisation engines.

To achieve optimisation, a key component is the ability to access eligibility schedules from OTC and repo collateral systems quickly and easily. Seamlessly accessing what is eligible, and what haircuts apply to instruments across all agreements is fundamental. SmartStream’s new API allows fast and easy access to collateral, including the ability to upgrade seamlessly. In addition, the new solution allows the sourcing of eligibility information in real-time.

Jason Ang, Program Manager, Collateral Management, SmartStream, states: “We realise the UMR deadline is fast approaching, and we have made it easy for clients to deploy our new solution, and to manage future versions without the need for lengthy implementation projects. Furthermore, having a public API strategy, lowers the cost-of-ownership of the collateral solution. The demand for this new API is high and we are having conversations with the major banks on how they can use our eligibility to optimise their collateral in preparation for the future”.

SmartStream’s TLM Collateral Management is a comprehensive, automated data management solution that helps financial institutions lower the operational risks associated with collateral management programmes. It offers a variety of functions, with coverage for cleared and non-cleared, OTC derivatives margining, repo margining and securities lending margining.

The Government Blockchain Association (GBA) published the Blockchain Maturity Model (BMM). This model was developed over the past two years to give acquisition professionals the tools they need to evaluate blockchain solutions when making purchasing decisions. It also provides a standard to distinguish legitimate blockchain solutions from hype-filled promises. Without this knowledge or framework, acquisition professionals will always choose traditional government contracting partners. The lesser-known, innovative solutions rarely get selected, stifling competition and progress.

The model describes eleven characteristics that should be considered in evaluating any blockchain solution. They are:
- Distribution
- Governance
- Identity Management
- Interoperability
- Performance
- Privacy
- Reliability
- Resilience (Fault Tolerance)
- Security
- Infrastructure Sustainability
- Synchronization

Get BMM Training

The first qualified GBA assessor to lead a BMM team is Mr. Dino Cataldo DELL'ACCIO (www.unjspf.org/person/dino-cataldo-dellaccio/), Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF). He has developed a blockchain solution for the United Nations and was one of the authors of the BMM. The BMM Team will begin formally training new BMM assessors at the GBA Blockchain & Sustainable Economic Growth Conference (https://gbaglobal.org/2022-bcseg-schedule/) on May 25-27 in Washington, DC. Other events are posted on the BMM Events Calendar (https://gbaglobal.org/events/category/bmm/).

"Many vendors need ways to demonstrate that their solutions are reliable and can be trusted.
They operate in environments lacking integrity and plagued by broken promises, hype, and corruption. The BMM is a way that vendors can differentiate their reliable solutions from those of snake oil salesmen," says Gerard Dache, CEO, GBA.

BMM Assessments Being Schedule Now

The first organization that has registered for a BMM assessment is Axes, a blockchain-based information management platform that licenses actionable intelligence and applications to the global gaming & amusement industry.

For more information about the BMM please visit https://gbaglobal.org/blockchain-maturity-model or send an email to Support@GBAglobal.org.

GoCardless, a leader in direct bank payment solutions, today announced the appointment of Paul Stoddart as President. Stoddart joins from Mastercard where he was President of its New Payment Platforms, Executive Chairman of Vocalink and a Member of the Mastercard Management Committee. In his new role at GoCardless he will have global responsibility for the Go-To-Market organisation including the Strategy, Sales, Product, Marketing and Customer teams, with a view to accelerating growth and achieving the company’s ambition to become the world’s bank payment network. 
 
Stoddart brings a wealth of experience to GoCardless. He was named as Chief Executive Officer of Vocalink after its acquisition by Mastercard and subsequently promoted to President of Mastercard’s New Payment Platforms where he led the establishment and growth of a business unit that expanded Mastercard’s role in payments beyond cards to account-to-account payments. Prior to Vocalink he was Co-Head of Corporate Finance at Barclaycard. He also spent 10 years at NatWest where he held a number of senior roles including in their merchant acquiring and e-commerce business, Worldpay. 
 
His appointment comes as the company broadens its offering of direct bank payment solutions for both one-off and recurring payments and builds out its suite of payment intelligence products to help businesses manage their payments more effectively. GoCardless will benefit from Stoddart’s expertise as it doubles down on account-to-account payments, with plans to release its Variable Recurring Payment feature shortly in the UK and expand Instant Bank Pay, its solution for one-off payments, across Europe.

Hiroki Takeuchi, co-founder and CEO at GoCardless, said: “This year marks an inflection point at GoCardless as we expand beyond recurring payments to serve a broader range of customer segments and payment use cases. Having the right people to lead us on this journey is critical as we scale our business, develop new products and services with open banking and explore new markets. Paul has a unique depth of experience across both card and non-card payments and is well-positioned to help us seize the opportunities that will make GoCardless a force to be reckoned with in the payments space.” 

Paul Stoddart, President at GoCardless, said: “GoCardless is in an incredibly exciting place right now. Hiroki and the team have already built a successful business by solving real customer problems. They have the foundations of a global bank pay network that will go from strength to strength as more businesses and people embrace account-to-account payments from bank debit to open banking-enabled payments. We will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in payments. In this new role at GoCardless I’ll have the opportunity to be part of the team building the new generation of payment solutions to do just that, with customer needs at the forefront.” 

Stoddart’s appointment comes as GoCardless continues to accelerate its growth following its latest funding round of USD312 million in February. In the intervening months, GoCardless released its second open banking-enabled feature, Verified Mandates, in the UK and Success+, its ‘payment intelligence’ product which uses machine learning to identify the optimal day to recover failed payments, in the US. 
 
In the UK, GoCardless recently signed its first Variable Recurring Payment customers and plans to introduce VRPs in both ‘sweeping’ and ‘non-sweeping’ forms over the coming months. By mid-2022, GoCardless will also integrate PayTo into its global bank payment platform in time for the regulated launch in Australia.

Global Shop Solutions, a leading provider of ERP software with more than 3,000 successful implementations around the globe, has launched a new Fast Track ERP Implementation to reduce the time it takes manufacturers to Go Live with ERP software and achieve a quicker return on investment. Developed after analysis of why some companies lose momentum during implementation, the Fast Track ERP Implementation process provides a blueprint based on best practices for helping manufacturers stay on course and Go Live faster.

“The time it takes to Go Live with an ERP system can vary depending on the customer’s goals, time frame, available resources and other factors,” says Chris Pinaire, Director of Consulting & Implementation for Global Shop Solutions. “Our data shows implementations completed within three to four months generally produce the best results for customers that meet certain criteria. Based on that data, we developed the Fast Track ERP Implementation process to help new customers roll out the implementation process, stay on track, and go live with Global Shop Solutions in 120 days or less."

This simplified process focuses on the fundamentals every new ERP user needs to know to get started. No customization, no advanced functionality – just the basic, core processes that facilitate a smooth transition from the company’s previous business management system to Global Shop Solutions. New customers that don’t meet the requirements and prefer to launch their ERP system with more capabilities can opt for Global Shop Solutions’ standard implementation process. These implementations require more preparation and often include advanced functionality and customizations, which can take additional time and resources for a successful Go Live.

Fast Track ERP Implementation overcomes obstacles by focusing on the core functionality of the system and using a detailed training schedule to keep the implementation moving forward. Taking the manufacturer’s business requirements into account, the Global Shop Solutions implementation team strategically aligns the training schedule to coincide with specific goals and milestones that need to be met during implementation.

This approach offers several advantages. Achieving the interim goals and deadlines sustains focus while laying a solid foundation for using the software to full advantage. The implementation doesn’t drag on for months or even years. Manufacturers can go live with the software within a few months and see their return on investment shortly thereafter.

“We understand that manufacturers still have to run a business while learning to use ERP,” says Pinaire. “Fast Track ERP Implementation customers will Go Live in 90 to 120 days, resulting in an implementation completed on time and on budget. From there, the customer can work with our continuous improvement team to build on their progress and achieve all they want to do with the software.”

The Smart Saver is a “hybrid” (easy access / notice) savings account aimed at users at the beginning of their savings journeys. It currently offers up to 1.45% AER.
 
With rising inflation, energy prices, and rent increases adding considerable pressure on consumers’ finances, Zopa’s ambition is to make the £225 billion “zombie money” sitting idle in UK current accounts work harder.
 
More context and some figures:

 • The Smart Saver has attracted £115m in two months
 • Just under 20,000 customers have opened an account
 • Over half (54%) of the funds are sitting with “Boosted” pots
 • We anticipate Smart Saver deposits to reach £750m by the end of the year 
 • Some of the most popular pots include saving towards Christmas, rainy days, holidays and new homes
 
Since launching a bank in 2020, Zopa has attracted £1.2 billion in deposits, more than £1.5 billion of loans on balance sheet, issued circa 250,000 credit cards becoming a top 5 credit card issuer in the UK, and tripled (3x) our revenue per customer.