Today it’s been announced that fintech workplace pension and savings provider Cushon has won Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Award for its Net Zero Now pension. 

Cushon’s Net Zero Now pension was selected as a winner from a pool of around 3,000 global entries from sectors including transportation, education, food, politics, technology, health, social justice.

Cushon’s research shows that the average UK pension finances 23 tonnes of CO2 per year, equivalent to running nine family cars annually. While 99.5% of people are unaware of this impact, there is also a demand to make pensions more sustainable, over two thirds of employees (69%) are concerned about their company pension being invested in businesses that are contributing to climate change.

Cushon research showed that 62% of employees would engage more with their pension if they knew it was having a positive impact on climate change. The fintech connected these two issues - lack of engagement with pensions and the climate crisis - and launched the world’s first net-zero pension scheme to help create a future worth saving for.

Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards honour innovative initiatives and other creative works that are supporting the growth of positive social innovation, tackling social inequality, climate change, and public health crises.

Cushon’s impact-led investment strategy is at the heart of its Net Zero Now pension offering, diverting investments into companies that generate less carbon whilst also targeting higher potential returns for pension savers through green investments which should perform better in the long run as the focus on sustainability heightens around the world.                                                                                                                                

Ben Pollard, CEO Founder and CEO at Cushon said, “It’s an honour to be named as a winner of Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards and receive recognition for the vital role pensions can play in tackling climate change. Pensions should be a force for good, helping both people and the planet. We know that the vast majority of employees want their pensions to align with their values and benefit the planet, however, too many pension schemes make this almost impossible. Net Zero Now is our solution to create a pension with purpose.

“Whilst other providers have set targets to become net zero in the next few decades, or offer simply ‘greener’ options, we have not only already delivered this innovative product but through our latest investment strategy are reducing emissions and the environmental impact of our investments even further.”

Former CIA officer Mike Castiglione leads group to bridge public/private sectors on critical blockchain national security issues

The Association for Digital Asset Markets (ADAM) and Eventus today announced that ADAM has just appointed Eventus Director of Regulatory Affairs, Digital Assets and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer Mike Castiglione as Chair of its new National Security Working Group. ADAM created the working group to serve as a bridge between the public and private sectors by acting as a go-to resource for the executive and legislative branches to interface with industry experts on blockchain national security issues.

The ADAM Board of Directors approved Castiglione’s selection based on his broad national security experience and Eventus’ industry-leading technology in trade surveillance, risk monitoring and transaction monitoring for digital assets.

ADAM CEO Michelle Bond said: “We are very excited to have Mike as the Chair of our National Security Working Group. ADAM has a very deep bench, and we know Mike will add to this, leveraging his experience to guide the working group. He will enable us to continue public-private information sharing to the utmost degree, and we’re looking forward to working with him.”

Joseph Schifano, Eventus Global Head of Regulatory Affairs, said: “Mike has delivered clear, objective insights on national security challenges during a 15-year career in the U.S. federal government. Eventus is proud to play a role in this working group – which will be a key resource to government and the industry alike – and to collaborate with other experts throughout ADAM’s membership to ensure digital asset markets are safe and trusted.”

ADAM’s National Security Working Group aims to leverage private sector knowledge and expertise to empower policymakers and regulators with insights on anti-money laundering (AML) capabilities and to ensure blockchain technology promotes global growth, open markets, and stability.

“Public-private partnerships are a cornerstone of sound regulation that encourages rapid adoption of emerging technologies. ADAM members are positioned to learn from each other and to build the next suite of products that advances digital assets,” Castiglione said.

The ADAM National Security Working Group builds on previous ADAM efforts in the national security space, including its recent comments to FinCEN on Bank Secrecy Act modernization and its testimony to the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy.

• Next generation payment infrastructure already provides seamless web and mobile payments, supporting 6k merchants across 12 markets
• Funding will be used to almost double the size of  team and launch into new markets

kevin., the Lithuanian fintech startup providing an advanced A2A (account-to-account) payment infrastructure to replace costly card transactions, today announces that it has secured $65 million in Series A funding.

The round was led by Accel, with participation from Eurazeo and all existing investors, including OTB Ventures, Speedinvest, OpenOcean, and Global Paytech Ventures. Additional investors in the round include Harry Stebbings, Founder of 20VC, Ilkka Paananen, CEO & Co-founder of Supercell, Amitabh Jhawar, Ex-CEO of Venmo, and other angels.

The Series A funding comes just six months after the company secured its $10M seed round and brings kevin.’s total funding to $77 million. Since the seed round, the team has grown to more than 170 employees working from 30 countries and the number of employees is set to almost double by 2023.

Pavel Sokolovas, kevin.’s co-founder and COO said: “When building a game changing product and ramping up a start-up, time is precious. The Accel team appreciated this and their deep fintech expertise ensured they understood our business and what we’re trying to achieve from the offset. Our partnership progressed quickly as a result and we’re excited about the future!”.

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Vilnius, kevin. has a clear mission — to offer innovative and convenient payment solutions that remove unnecessary intermediaries in the payment process. The company has leveraged the huge opportunity provided by open banking and  proven itself to be the leader in web and in-app A2A payments in the European Economic Area, where it has the broadest PSD2 bank API coverage on the market. Recently, the startup also stepped into POS terminal payments in physical stores by introducing the first-ever NFC A2A payments solution with a seamless user experience comparable to a card payment experience.

The uniqueness of kevin.’s A2A in-store payments offering lies in the fact that it does not require any changes on the merchant’s technical side: it uses existing POS terminal infrastructure and widely used and most intuitive NFC payment technology.

Tadas Tamosiunas, kevin.’s co-founder and CEO said: "We’re thrilled to receive such overwhelming support from everyone around us andhaving Accel and the team’s sector knowledge on board will help us achieve great results and grow even more. With this investment, we’ll  continue expanding our international team of experts and developing products that are transforming  the payment industry.We have big plans for the future andI’m confident that our full suite of next-generation infrastructure for web, mobile and in-store payments will help businesses gain a competitive edge. Given the fact that the implementation of the A2A in-store payments solution is quick and cost-effective, we forecast rapid roll-out and scale. By the end of this year, we aim to secure 35% coverage of POS payment terminals across Europe and look toachieve more than 85% by the end of 2023. This is equivalent to the current coverage of major card schemes."

Luca Bocchio, Partner at Accel, said:

"Tadas, Pavel and the kevin. team are powering the future of payments with their next generation payments infrastructure.“Offering a fast, seamless payment experience, with reduced costs and increased authentication rates, the time for A2A payments is now and kevin. has already had impressive momentum with its offering. With the launch of its unique POS payments product, the opportunity ahead is huge and we’re looking forward to partnering with the team on their journey!”

Chloé Giard, Eurazeo Investment Director, said: “We have been following all the innovations in the account-to-account payment market for a while, and we have been truly impressed by kevin.’s uniqueness and global ambition. Since 2018, they have laid the technological foundation for a European-wide payment infrastructure scheme, changing the game in terms of speed, transparency, and fees. Over the past few months, kevin.’s commercial hypergrowth has proved the strength of its value proposition.”

Josh Gunnell, director of fraud & ID at TransUnion in the UK, comments on the recent ONS fraud statistics: 

“The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics affirm that fraud levels remain concerningly high. The data shows an increase of 41% in fraud overall, compared with the year ending December 2019. Advanced fee fraud and consumer and retail fraud were of particular concern, as fraudsters take advantage of shifts in consumer behaviour due to the pandemic.

“Phishing is confirmed as one of the main methods used to commit fraud, with over half (53%) of respondents surveyed[i] saying they had experienced attempted phishing in the last month alone. This aligns with the findings in our Global Digital Fraud Trends report, which highlighted phishing as one of the biggest concerns for UK consumers – the majority of whom now manage all their transactions online[ii].

“The challenging events of the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis have significantly impacted the cybercrime environment. This means it’s essential for finance providers to ensure they are mitigating digital fraud risks to guarantee customer protection over a potentially challenging next few months.”

The acquisition will include an initial controlling stake in Radiflow with a phase 2 planned for Q1 2025. “We are confident that this transaction will enable Radiflow to continue its growth in the fast-growing OT Security market,” said Ilan Barda, CEO of Radiflow.

Radiflow, an Israeli OT cybersecurity startup, announced that it is being acquired in a two-phase process by Sabanci Group, market leaders in the financial services, energy, and industrial sectors. The initial phase entails a $45  million primary and secondary investment in several installments to reach a majority stake in Radiflow. In the second phase, Sabanci intends to acquire a 100% stake in Radiflow by 2025.

A recent increase in demand for comprehensive OT cybersecurity solutions has allowed for Radiflow to rapidly expand across the US and Europe, doubling its sales in 2021. This growth was based on the launch of a first-of-its-kind platform, CIARA Risk Management, which provides OT facilities with data-driven digital risk assessment by conducting breach attack simulations without having an impact on physical operations. Common in the IT world, this new digitized capability allows for cybersecurity officers (CISOs) to monitor their cyber risk posture in multiple facilities simultaneously and prioritize their security roadmap plans.

Winning multiple awards and contracts from private and government organizations, CIARA has grown Radiflow’s business to protect critical government infrastructure and manufacturing facilities. “This acquisition will allow us to enhance our portfolio and strengthen our positioning in critical industries,” said Ilan Barda, CEO of Radiflow. “We are excited that Sabanci selected Radiflow to materialize its digital transformation growth plan, and we are confident that this transaction will enable Radiflow to continue its growth in the fast-growing OT Security market.”

This acquisition provides Radiflow with a unique position in the OT security market. By leveraging the extensive industrial footprint of the Sabanci Group, Radiflow plans to further optimize its OT security offering. Barda added, “We believe that the next phase in OT Risk Management is based on industry benchmarks, and our collaboration with the Sabanci group subsidiaries will provide us in-depth insights to various industrial sectors and will enable us to continue and provide our customers leading-edge solutions.”

Sabanci Holding plans to create a digital business pillar focused on Advanced Analytics, IoT, and Cybersecurity. “We will strengthen Sabanci Group companies' global position through the power of technology. We will pioneer projects and practices that will make a significant global impact in the 'new economy’, particularly in digital technologies. The acquisition of Radiflow, a global player in cyber security with a proven track record, is a key step in the materialization of our strategic plan in the digital sphere. We, as Sabancı Group, are very pleased to add a global cyber security company serving in various markets with great human capital and strong partnerships in our portfolio.” said Kıvanç Zaimler, chairman of Dx Technology Services and Investment BV (DxBV), a newly established subsidiary of Sabancı Holding.

Cheq, the fintech enabling easier cryptocurrency payments, has raised a $2 million pre-seed round led by Connect Ventures, alongside Semantic Ventures, firstminute Capital, and 30 angels including former leadership from Monzo, Revolut and Tide. The funding will enable Cheq to establish itself as the primary option for taking payment with stablecoins that are pegged to the US dollar, removing price volatility for both merchant and consumer. The result is a user experience similar to traditional payment platforms but without intermediary fees and cumbersome approval requirements.

Chris Butcher (formerly co-founder and CTO of Portify) founded Cheq in December 2021 after his crypto side-project Token Alerts found success in Latin America. He realised many consumers in the region are turning to stablecoins as a way of protecting their wealth against hyperinflation that their native currencies may be prone to. Traditional payment infrastructures can be less effective in some regions, and crypto payments present the solution for these regions. However, existing crypto payment solutions do not deliver a user experience that is accessible to the mass market.

With Cheq, users can connect a crypto wallet to the platform and instantly access a user interface similar to a modern neobank. Cheq instantly creates payment links that can be embedded on a website or shared on social media so customers can pay with crypto in a single click. Cheq is able to collect information including names and addresses from the buyer and can be configured to perform follow-on actions with other services for merchants to fulfil orders.

Cheq is designed for SaaS companies that would like to add a crypto option alongside the existing fiat payment processor, or international freelancers who want to avoid losing revenue in transaction fees. Cheq has also proven popular with event organisers who want to accept crypto but need to tie payment to the identity of the person attending. Cheq’s early success with event organisers has already seen the three-month-old startup process nearly $100,000 in crypto payments in this area alone.  

Cheq’s mission is to bring cryptocurrency to the mainstream. To date, crypto payments are often a complex process that excludes them from being used by the general public. Cheq’s platform is designed to minimise this complexity and provide a user experience that is on par with leading consumer fintech apps that have simplicity at their core. 

Cheq can be used with any wallet and supports payments on the Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain or Polygon chains

Chris Butcher, Founder of Cheq commented: “While cryptocurrency has its diehard fans, many people still find them complex and lacking tangible value in a day-to-day setting. We believe a crypto wallet has the potential to be an amazing business bank account, and stablecoins provide the means to trade across borders without the costs typical of card payments. Emerging economies where online payments frequently fail and business bank accounts are hard to open could massively benefit from this revolution. All that’s missing is a quality user experience layer, and that’s what Cheq provides.”

Rory Stirling, General Partner at Connect Ventures commented: “Chris and his team have a unique perspective on building a web3 company, insisting that the mass market wants a clean and easy product that removes the complexity and confusion typical of the sector. I’ve been blown away by how quickly they’ve executed. In December 2021 Chris was pitching me an idea. By March they had built a stunning product and were processing tens of thousands of dollars every week.”

Mike Hudack, former CPO at Monzo and investor in Cheq commented: "In the future, a big portion of e-commerce will be paid for with crypto. Cheq makes this possible today, for businesses anywhere in the world. They're providing real utility for real people; the promise of crypto & web3 with the user-centrism of web2 fintech."

Allica Bank has appointed two new Business Development Managers, Alex Fowler and Tracy Millsom, to further strengthen its asset finance broker channel in the South East and South West of England.

The appointments come as the bank revealed it lent more in the first quarter of 2022 than it did in the entirety of 2021. And the momentum continues to grow, with it consecutively breaking its monthly lending record in January, February and March. Alongside bringing in new hires to manage the uptick in demand, Allica also recently announced that it has doubled the maximum customer exposure for its asset finance to £1 million.

Alex Fowler, BDM for London and the South East will manage all new and current broker partnerships in the region, supporting them to deliver SMEs with the funding they need to grow. Alex joins Allica with ten years’ financial services experience, including five years in stock brokerage investments, and a five-year career in asset finance.

“Allica are the most exciting bank to enter the market in years,” says Alex. “It’s a great opportunity to make a real difference in the industry and help Allica become a dominating player in the asset finance sector. Their innovative use of technology and relationship-driven banking is a breath of fresh air. The feedback I’ve had from brokers in the time I’ve had here already has been astonishing.”

Tracy Millsom, who will manage broker relationships in the South West, brings with her 30 years’ experience working in asset finance for key players in the industry, alongside being a broker herself. 

“Allica entered the market at a time when high-street banks were tightening their appetite for owner-managed UK SMEs, with many also operationally overwhelmed by the government’s covid support schemes. Having experienced record levels of demand so far this year, Allica’s doors have been – and continue to be – wide open.

“From my own experience as a broker, I could see what a game-changer Allica’s proposition is. Their mix of human expertise and technology makes for an unbeatable broker experience.”

Brandon Hall, Head of Sales for Asset Finance at Allica Bank says the team at Allica is rapidly expanding: “Each new member brings a unique skill set to the table. Alex and Tracy’s years of experience, as well as their knowledge of the asset finance industry and working with brokers, make them hugely valuable additions to our business as we continue to grow. And they’ll be hugely valuable to the brokers in their patch, too.

“It’s been a fantastic start to the year for Allica, and I’d like to extend my gratitude to all our broker partners for their support.”

Cyber security frontrunner inspired to raise as much money as possible after Polish colleagues became refugee hosts.

Moved by the plight of Ukrainian refugees and inspired by the efforts of colleagues in Poland, VikingCloud, (formerly Sysnet), a leading provider of cyber security and compliance solutions, has joined forces with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

VikingCloud has pledged to match donations made via the UNHCR website up to $500,000*, which means a potential $1 million could be donated to aid people impacted by the conflict in Ukraine. The money raised will help UNHCR provide emergency shelters, repairs for homes damaged by shelling and emergency cash assistance.

Commenting on the initiative, Robert McCullen, Chief Executive Officer of VikingCloud, said: “We are deeply saddened by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. As a cyber security provider, we can help businesses to protect themselves from the increased malicious cyber activity related to the conflict, but we also want to help protect people. That is why we are calling on our fellow industry players to make donations to UNHCR through this initiative, which we will match up to a total of $500,000* for a potential total donation of $1 million plus.

“The lives of countless Ukrainians have been lost or forever disrupted by the war with Russia. The threats they face – hunger, loss of shelter, lack of medical care, loss of loved ones – are very real. We are incredibly proud of our team members in Poland who have taken in refugees from Ukraine, and to show our solidarity with them, VikingCloud is helping to cover the associated costs. It is their generosity that has inspired us to work with the UNHCR to provide relief from this terrible situation.”

With teams across Ukraine and in neighbouring countries hosting refugees from Ukraine, UNHCR is providing protection and humanitarian assistance.

Emma Cherniavsky, Chief Executive, UK for UNHCR, added: “We are grateful to the whole VikingCloud team for their support and generosity. We urgently need this help to continue providing life-saving protection to families forced to flee their homes. UNHCR has stepped up its operations and capacity in Ukraine and neighbouring countries and remains firmly committed to supporting all affected populations in Ukraine and countries in the region.”

This is yet another example of how the tech community has mobilised to use their skills to help people in Ukraine affected by the war, including remote work platforms, a voluntary Airbnb service for hosting refugees and websites matching tech professionals and companies to NGOs to help digitise their work.

VikingCloud announced the launch of the initiative at the recent ETA Transact event in Las Vegas and has been overwhelmed with the support received so far. The campaign with UNHCR is ongoing and will continue to support refugees from Ukraine. To donate, visit https://donate.unhcr.org/int/en/ukraine-emergency-viking-cloud-emg

To learn more about this initiative visit https://www.vikingcloud.com/ukraine/

*VikingCloud will match donations up to a total amount across all donations made under this initiative of $500,000. All Donations made via the links provided are made directly to UNHCR. VikingCloud’s donation match applies ONLY to donations made to UNHCR via the dedicated links provided.

• Money20/20 Europe announces agenda and speaker line-up
• Money20/20 Europe will take place at RAI Amsterdam on 7-9 June

Money20/20 Europe, Europe’s largest fintech show taking place on 7-9 June 2022 in Amsterdam, has announced its 2022 agenda alongside headline speakers.

Bringing together the most innovative people in payments, fintech, and the broader money ecosystem, Money20/20 Europe is a showcase for some of the industry's fastest-growing and biggest household names. With over 4,000 people from 1,900+ companies attending in 2021, this year’s event at RAI Amsterdam promises to be bigger and better, with leading names already confirmed like HSBC, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe.

“We are thrilled to welcome such powerhouses to our stages and throughout the show this year. These companies are coming to lead, transform and flip the script on every front of our fintech expectations. And the speaker line-up is just the tip of the iceberg, the entire show will be one to remember” said Money20/20 President, Tracey Davies.

She continued: “Money20/20 Europe is giving participants new content formats, new stages, and key experiences embedded throughout the show that will connect, inspire and inform them. We have worked hard to make sure we exceed everyone’s expectations with big opportunities, powerful learnings and unparalleled networking.”

Below are some of the industry leaders who will be speaking on this year's agenda themes. Money20/20 runs a diverse show and in 2022, more than 40% of the speakers will be female subject matter experts or of a diverse background.

And as for the themes, they all are packed with something to take away.

Back end is out, front end is in

This theme is all about how the customer is driving innovation to the front end of fintech. Speakers will explore what a best-in-class customer journey looks like, and what the ‘customer-first’ approach means for new products and services.

• Andrew Ellis, CEO Mettle, Head of Digital Assets, NatWest Group
• Valentin Stalf, Co-founder and CEO, N26
• Louise Hill, Co-Founder, GoHenry

Champions are out, interoperability is in

It’s official, the barriers to entry are down thanks to a mainly standardized technological layer across Europe. As such, this theme will seek to understand how the payments engine is set to become the most critical piece of infrastructure of all.

• Charlotte Hogg, CEO Europe, Visa
• Lucy Demery, Managing Director, Barclays
• Matt Henderson, EMEA Business Lead, Stripe

Acquisition is out, distribution is in

This theme will tackle the topic of large end-user platforms and who will win the race for the customer. Forget the marketing budget, it’s all about user experience and how it can integrate with the distribution channels of the future.

• Anne Boden, Founder & CEO, Starling Bank
• Babs Ogundeyi, CEO, Kuda
• Daniel Marovitz, Vice President Global Payments, Booking.com

Proprietary is out, standardisation is in

This theme will take a closer look at how the unification of financial infrastructure will start in the heart of Europe and spread - using open source and a back-to-basics approach, it’s time to get ready for the rise of the orchestration layer.

• Jessica Rusu, Chief Data Information & Intelligence Officer, FCA
• Liudas Kanapienis, Co-Founder & CEO, Ondato
• Gabriele Columbro, Executive Director, FINOS

Ownership is out, permission is in

This theme is all about how ownership is changing hands from entities to individuals. It will also tackle that murky grey area between CeFi and DeFi and what is virtual and real - where the best of both worlds can merge.

• Erica Stanford, Founder, Crypto Curry Club
• Catherine Zhou, Global Head of Ventures, Digital Innovation & Partnerships, HSBC
• Mariana de la Villa, Center of Expertise Lead Distributed Ledger Technologies, ING

You can access the full agenda here and all the confirmed speakers here.

Choose your pass for Money20/20 Europe by Friday, 6 May to save €500 on your ticket.

Agiloft, the global standard in no-code contract lifecycle management (CLM) software, today announced the appointment of Kerry Desberg as Chief Marketing Officer.

Desberg brings more than 30 years of experience in B2B and B2C marketing with some of the world’s top Fortune 500 corporations and agencies, including Procter & Gamble, Owens Corning, Danaher, Lockheed Martin, and Fleishman Hillard. Most recently, Desberg was CMO of SaaS channel technology leader Impartner, helping the company drive exponential growth and be named a leader in key analyst reports from Forrester, G2, and Research in Action, among other key accomplishments.

“We are truly excited to have Kerry join our team and add octane to our growth plans,” says Eric Laughlin, Agiloft CEO. “2021 marked a record year of growth and development here at Agiloft, with a 100% increase in new customer sales and 60% growth in ARR while we maintained a 95.5% customer satisfaction score. In the wake of this success, we started off 2022 with the introduction of a new brand identity and core message. Kerry’s lauded channel marketing skills and brand-building horsepower make her perfectly suited to build on this and amplify our message in the market.”

“Agiloft is an irresistible combination of award winning, transformative technology that customers love, an absolutely exponential market opportunity to transform the way companies manage their contracts, and a deeply thoughtful company culture,” said Desberg. “I simply could not be more excited to join this team and help Agiloft continue its amazing growth trajectory.”

Desberg is a graduate of Georgia State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism/public relations and a minor in marketing. She is a member of the Forbes Communications Council, is a regular speaker at channel and marketing industry events, has served widely on women’s leadership councils, and has won multiple national and international awards including 2020 CRN's Women of the Channel Award and Global CMO of the Year Award by Enterprise IT World.