tell.money, the fintech platform that delivers innovative and rapidly deployable Open Banking solutions for banks and other account providers, has closed its growth funding round of £2m. Enabling further expansion and commercialisation of the platform, the investment round was led by serial fintech investor Craig Dewar.

tell.money has quickly become established as a leading option for banks and fintechs looking to integrate PSD2 compliance and open banking API functionality into their systems.

The investment is positioned to accelerate the development of tell.money and extend its contracted client base.

Former Co-founder and CEO of Tuxedo, and now Co-founder and CEO of tell.money , David Monty commented, “Successfully closing our investment round is a key step in our expansion. Since our launch just two years ago we have made great progress in establishing the tell.money brand as an attractive offering for both established banks and fintech-based account providers. The technology that we have built is market leading, and the liquidity that we now have available to us gives us the opportunity to move forward with the next stage of our growth plans at an even greater pace, as we build out our team and look towards expanding into the EU regions and beyond.”

Leading the funding round Craig Dewar added his support, “We see tell.money as an incredibly strong investment opportunity. The business is already growing rapidly, receives excellent endorsements from its early-stage clients, and looks set to grow into a major player in its field.”

tell.money serves Account Providers, Third Party Providers, and Account Holders through a dedicated and fully-compliant cloud -based API Gateway which is fast, scalable, resilient and instantly actionable. To support the regulatory and compliance components, the platform additionally has built in testing, monitoring and dynamic reporting capabilities that significantly reduce client regulatory reporting overheads.

iMerit, a leading data solutions company for artificial intelligence applications, announced that it has been certified as Great Place to Work 2022-23 by the Great Places to Work Institute (India). iMerit was recognized among many prominent global companies for building a High-Trust, High-Performance Culture™.

Over the years, iMerit has introduced several path-breaking policies, practices, and initiatives for various segments of the workforce. The company has been constantly innovating and pioneering people practices in the realms of hiring, engagement, diversity & inclusion, rewards & recognition, employee relations, social security, and a commitment to employee welfare. 

iMerit believes that under-served populations can be instrumental to digital transformation. As a company, over 80% of iMerit’s employees come from underserved communities, with women accounting for 54% of the workforce, marking a significant milestone in the technology industry.

Radha Basu, CEO, and Founder of iMerit, said, “It is a proud moment for us to be recognised as a Great Place to Work for the second time. We have undertaken a path of cultural transformation to be a future-ready organisation. This journey has instilled a sense of pride in our employees for the organization and this certification is a testament to our people creating a supportive, diverse, inclusive, and empowering work culture.”

Commenting on the occasion, Anirban Roychowdhury, iMerit's Vice President, Human Resources, said, “At iMerit, we have always strived to nurture a workplace that maximizes human potential based on a strong foundation of values and culture. iMerit offers its people global opportunities to work with large corporations while collaborating and learning from experienced, tenured professionals. This also helps in retaining and attracting great talent. Together, these will drive performance in our quest of winning in the market.”

Fintech Paylink Solutions has expanded its senior team by a new head of operations and head of information security.

Joe Clarke is now Head of Operations and is responsible for overseeing Paylink’s operations and IT services, managing key projects and delivering the performance management framework and new graduate scheme.

Susan Rann, Paylink’s CEO, said: “Since joining our team four years ago, Joe has become an integral part of our operations and team development. He’s a fantastic advocate for the business and I’m delighted he’s progressed into this role.”

Becky McClory has also been welcomed to Paylink as Head of Information Security and is now responsible for implementing, designing, managing and allocating all technology security measures across the business. 

Becky joins the team after 14 years at the British Army where she carried out intelligence operations, information management and threat analysis.

Susan continued: “Both appointments have been made at a really exciting time for Paylink following the development of our products and welcoming numerous high street banks, building societies and lenders on board. 

“Digital affordability journeys are essential to providing financial assistance to people who have been impacted by the cost-of-living crisis quickly and easily. Our strengthened team put us in a fantastic position to market our software across new sectors and support customers in financial difficulty.”

Olsam Group, which acquires and scales category leading e-commerce businesses, has completed the acquisition of MarketFleet, a US-based incubator and aggregator of e-commerce brands. This is the second “aggregation of aggregators” by Olsam - the first being Flywheel Commerce in November 2021. 

MarketFleet was founded in 2015, by a group of ecommerce experts including serial entrepreneur Chris Friedland, with the thesis around creating brands in markets where customers were being overcharged. With a focus on outdoors categories, MarketFleet has 11 brands that will be combined with Olsam, alongside its entire operational team who collectively bring on an additional 15 years+ in Amazon FBA and ecommerce. 

The acquisition complements Olsam’s existing expertise following the recent arrival of Steven Wait, previously Head of UK eCommerce at Mountain Warehouse, a UK based outdoors retailer and the acquisition of Colapz, a camping accessories brand previously featured in Dragons Den. 

The consolidation of the aggregator market is still relatively young, though now building up pace. This is yet another example of market consolidation in the Amazon aggregator space, in which Olsam continues to lead the way. Those that can leverage scale and operational capabilities to grow not just via acquisitions, but organically as well through international expansion, paid social, affiliate marketing and D2C, are more likely to succeed in the long run.

Chris Friedland, co-founder of MarketFleet, said: “We started MarketFleet under the premise that there was an opportunity to manufacture high quality products while eliminating the costs associated with the supply chain between the factories and our customers.  Olsam is the perfect company to take MarketFleet forward. They offered fair value for our business and carried over the talented team we have built over the years.”

“MarketFleet entered the e-commerce space 8 years ago as an incubator for brands. We have always aimed to cut out the fat that pads the retail cost of other online sellers and remove  all supply-chain parties between us and our customers. Olsam is the perfect company to take MarketFleet forward. They offered fair value for our business and carried over the small, but talented team we have built over the years.”

Sam Horbye, Co-founder of Olsam and former Business Marketplace Manager at Amazon UK, said: “The acquisition of the brands within MarketFleet represents another significant milestone for Olsam as we continue to deepen our presence in the US and lead the way in the consolidation of the ecommerce space. Olsam’s operational expertise and successful track record continues to attract strong deal flow from the US and we look forward to working with many more US based sellers and aggregators seeking an exit.”

Steven Wait, Director of Ecommerce at Olsam, said: “The whole Olsam team has thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Chris and the MarketFleet team during the acquisition process and we’re delighted that they will all be moving over with the business. We see enormous growth potential in the camping and outdoors space, in which MarketFleet has a strong presence.” 

MCO (MyComplianceOffice), a global provider of conduct risk and compliance technology, today announced that the company has finalized its acquisition of Schwab Compliance Technologies (SCT), a solution that automates monitoring employee trading activity and administering a firm's Code of Ethics. The closing of the deal marks a meaningful step toward the company’s expansion and position as a leading authority on conduct risk and compliance technology.

 The SCT team is now part of MCO and will continue to deliver exceptional service as well as ensure a smooth, effective transition for SCT clients. Additionally, as part of the sale, the Schwab Compliance Technologies (SCT) product name was changed to MyComplianceTechnologies (MCT).

 The close of this acquisition:

·       Brings MCO’s client firms to more than 1300 in 105 countries

·       Increases staff numbers to over 250 people dedicated to serving a growing customer base from offices located in US, Ireland, India and Singapore

·       Opens a new Chicago office from which to best serve our newest clients

·       Creates a highly complementary set of products, customers and employees to accelerate MCO growth

Brian Fahey, CEO, MCO, said: “We are excited for the next phase of our business and to officially welcome SCT and its team to the MCO family. It cannot be overstated how important the expertise of our newest MCO employees is to delivering value to SCT clients. Their knowledge and passion will help to bring together the best of both products, quickly and effectively, and ensure best-in-class KYE compliance for all. Today underscores MCO’s commitment to expanding and investing in this market. Our history of product innovation and strong client focus will help to cement the success of this acquisition and drive product growth for years to come.”

Worldline, a global leader in payment  services, is partnering with MYRA, one of the world’s premier providers of self-check-in solutions both online and at kiosks, to develop a state-of-the-art customer payment  solution specifically tailored to the hospitality sector.  

The solution will be showcased through a pilot project currently being undertaken with leading international hotel chain, Leonardo Hotels, encompassing over 200 hotels in 90 countries. The collaboration will see MYRA’s kiosks working alongside Worldline’s unattended payment  terminals and acquiring services to help ensure every guest has the best payment experience. After the current hotel pilot with Leonardo, the new solution will ultimately be available and rolled  out across more than 10 European markets. 

Having worked together on various joint initiatives since 2020, one of the principal objectives of  this new collaboration between MYRA and Worldline is to ensure that the customer will only  need to interact with a single self-service payment station and deal with only one solution  provider. The solution enables hoteliers to complement their existing pay at the desk and online  payment offerings with contemporary self-service offering, thus delivering a frictionless,  integrated payment experience for all their guests.  

A key element in the collaboration is the need for an all-in-one payment terminal for the MYRA  self-service kiosks. Worldline’s VALINA unattended terminal meets this requirement and can be  seamlessly integrated into MYRA kiosks. In addition, Worldline acquiring services cover all  hospitality payment needs such as omnichannel use cases, top ups, and allowing walk-in guests  to check-in, thereby providing a much-enhanced guest payment experience. Thus, MYRA can  benefit from Worldline’s expertise as their 360°payment partner.  

The Covid-19 pandemic brought about a change in customer demands and needs – especially within the hotel sector. While some guests still prefer personal interaction, others are expecting convenient frictionless solutions that reduce contact with hotel staff while maintaining the same  high service levels. To meet these needs, new solutions have become necessary throughout all  hotel areas including the front desk, enabling self-check-in/out; through to the restaurant and  bar with pay at the table solutions; and in ‘food to go’ areas inside the hotels, amongst others. 

Chris Lanckbeen, Global Sales Director Travel & Hospitality at Worldline, said: “We are  delighted to be extending our relationship with our partners at MYRA with this exciting pilot  project. Together, our solution is very much at the cutting edge of what discerning hotel  businesses are looking for, and need, in order to get and stay ahead in the dynamic hospitality  space. It clearly positions Worldline as a key player in the self-service payment space for the 

sector and is a value-added service which neatly complements our WL Hospitality Suite  solution.”  

Jack Tan, MYRA’s Chief Marketing Officer, added: “By partnering with Worldline we can focus  on our core business – the provision of self-service kiosk solutions, including all additional  required features - leaving the acquiring services element to be handled securely and effectively  by Worldline. This will give our hotel customers and their end-users the ability to interact with a  single self-service payment station through a simple and individual solution provider.”

prando cloud solutions s.l. has tapped into Nordigen’s open banking technology to enhance their financial management procedures. 

prando is an IT firm based in Spain aimed at consulting and advising small and medium-sized enterprises in the adoption of cloud solutions through targeted and tailored approaches. They further support their clients through the use of their in-built web application “prando business”, through which customers can manage various aspects of their company. 

The features on the platform include sales and purchase management, inventory organisation, and invoice and document creation and storing. Additionally, users benefit from customer bases within which they can input and organise client details, as well as receive reports on their business activities. 

“The needs of our clients are very important to us and we want to give them the most tech-forward and user-friendly experience, which is why we wanted to enrich our business management tool with enhancements such as open-banking powered automation and aggregation. To bring our idea to life we partnered with Nordigen,'' explains Antonella Procopio, representative of prando.  

The collaboration with Nordigen was the next step for prando, giving their customers the opportunity to connect their bank accounts directly to the platform. From there the users can manage their finances in one place and have a full overview of transactions and order payments, establishing an easier process from order entry to delivery. 

“Properly managed business processes are vital to the maintenance and growth of a company and open banking is able to take some of the manual toil away from business-owners through automation and streamlined procedures. We are pleased to see prando turn to open banking for this and we are even more delighted to be the platform they chose to help enhance their services,” says Rolands Mesters, co-founder and CEO of Nordigen.

LucaNet AG, provider of software and consulting for financial performance management, is gaining a new CFO. Elias Apel, formerly Head of International Operations and Channel, will succeed founding member Oliver Schmitz on May 1, 2022.

How can finance be simplified? This was the question that the two founders Oliver Schmitz and Rolf-Jürgen Moll asked themselves over 20 years ago. With the goal of simplifying tasks for finance managers, the two founded LucaNet in 1999. Today – with more than 500 employees and 14 locations worldwide – the internationally active software company is still very successfully pursuing this goal.

At his own request, founder Oliver Schmitz is now retiring after more than two decades and will hand over to Elias Apel on May 1, 2022. As a new member of the board, he wants to contribute to LucaNet's ability to meet the demands of the market in the future.

New executive board team as of May

With Elena Aubell (COO) and Alexander Domene (CTO) joining, there was already some change in the management team last year. After Rolf-Jürgen Moll retired in January 2021, his co-founder Oliver Schmitz now follows. On May 1, 2022, he made way for his successor Elias Apel, who will, as the new CFO, complete the executive board surrounding the future CEO Dominik Duchon. However, Schmitz will continue to be available in an advisory role.

Since joining the company in 2018, Elias Apel has made a decisive contribution to the successful internationalization as well as the strategic repositioning and further development of the partner ecosystem and thus also of LucaNet. As CFO, he will continue to lead the International Operations and Channel business units in addition to Finance.

"I am looking forward to the new role and to further developing LucaNet with my fellow board members," explains the Freiburg native. “Our customers constantly have to adapt to changes in the market or new regulatory requirements. Therefore, our goal is and remains to always be a reliable partner for our current and future customers in central financial matters and to offer software that allows our users to quickly and flexibly respond to the changes of the market. Although we are already excellently positioned on the market, we are nevertheless driven by our commitment to continuously develop ourselves as a company and our product accordingly," Elias Apel adds.

Focus on further growth

According to Apel, LucaNet is going to focus more on expanding the international business, entering new markets, as well as partner sales. “In these fields, we see clear potential that we can and want to exploit," adds Elias Apel.

With the generation shift in the executive management, LucaNet is therefore continuing the process that was already started in 2018. The handover to Elias Apel had been planned for some time and was well prepared thanks to the many years of cooperation between Schmitz and Apel. "Elias Apel is the right person in the right place at the right time," says Oliver Schmitz about his successor. "Not only does he know our company and the business very well, Elias Apel is also very knowledgeable in Finance. With him as a board member, we are redistributing the emphasis of our business areas. The fine line between internationalization, partner business, and the German-speaking market is thus even more balanced."

Temenos, the cloud banking platform and member of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), today announced that Temenos Explainable AI (XAI) will be offered on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).  The collaboration enables Oracle's global customers, including financial services organizations worldwide, to deploy Temenos' powerful Explainable AI and machine learning capabilities via Oracle Cloud Marketplace.

Temenos' patented XAI technology addresses one of the critical issues for organizations using AI applications; namely, they typically operate as 'opaque boxes' offering little if any real insight into how they reach their decisions.  Temenos XAI brings cutting-edge innovation to provide transparency, helping businesses explain clearly, in plain language, to customers and regulators how AI-based decisions are made.  Temenos is one of the first to bring transparency and explainability of AI automated decision-making to the banking industry.

Temenos XAI is a platform-agnostic, stand-alone product that integrates through an easy-to-use interface or APIs with any third-party product.  Having undergone thorough testing and validation on OCI, Temenos customers can now leverage XAI capabilities with the enhanced resilience, data privacy, security, and SLAs of OCI.  With a wide variety of use cases, Temenos XAI offers a compelling solution to financial and non-financial customers, helping them create smoother customer journeys and automating manual processes to generate novel financial services and applications with explainable AI capabilities.

Hani Hagras, Chief Science Officer at Temenos, said: "Temenos has adopted a partner-first strategy to drive open collaboration and innovation in the industry.  Temenos Explainable AI on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is a great example, extending the reach of our powerful solution to more banks and businesses on Oracle Cloud.  With increasing reliance on AI and machine learning technology to automate decision-making, there is a real need and opportunity for businesses to adopt true explainable AI models.  We help organizations to deliver unbiased, safe and fair AI applications, helping them identify issues as they arise and build trust with customers and regulators alike."

Abiy Yeshitla, VP ISV and Cloud Solutions, Oracle, added: "Our partnership with Temenos brings dynamic XAI technology to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, enabling businesses to store and process vast quantities of data, securely and reliably.  With Temenos XAI, our customers now have an additional trusted solution to leverage their data to improve efficiency and automated decision-making in a transparent way.  Our goal is to minimize risk and create value from data, accelerating business innovation and therefore performance."

Oracle Cloud Marketplace is a one-stop-shop for Oracle customers seeking trusted business applications offering unique business solutions, including ones that extend Oracle Cloud Applications.  Oracle Cloud is an enterprise cloud that delivers massive, non-variable performance and next-generation security across a comprehensive portfolio of services, including SaaS, application development, application hosting, and business analytics.  Customers get access to leading compute, storage, data management, security, integration, HPC, artificial intelligence (AI), and Blockchain services to augment and modernize their critical workloads.  Oracle Cloud runs Oracle Autonomous Database, the industry's first and, to date, only self-driving database.

Equifax Canada officially launched the final stage of its cloud transformation with the migration of key partner Borrowell Inc.’s products and services to the new Equifax Cloud™. The result of Equifax, Inc.’s $1.5 billion technology and security transformation, the Equifax Cloud is a world-class enterprise-wide infrastructure tailored to highly regulated data workloads.

Borrowell, the country’s leading financial marketplace and credit education company, is one of Equifax Canada’s largest data contributors and partners. To date on the Equifax Cloud, Equifax has processed more than 9 million transactions that enable delivery of free Equifax credit scores to Borrowell’s more than 2 million members. With the power of the Equifax Cloud, Canadian consumers subscribing to Borrowell’s services will receive scores that reflect the most up-to-date and comprehensive information available, helping them reach their financial goals and live their financial best.

“Borrowell provides access to credit education, innovative digital tools and personalized experiences designed to help all Canadians feel in control and optimistic about their future,” said Andrew Graham, Borrowell co-founder and CEO. “While there are many benefits to being on the cloud, we're most excited about the new products and features this technology will enable us to provide to our members."

The Equifax Cloud is built using cutting-edge cloud technology to strengthen performance, security and speed of innovation. The new Equifax data fabric will help customers make smarter decisions in real time by enabling more nimble analytics and insights. The Equifax Cloud is designed to ingest and analyze data at scale, with an enhanced ability to convert streaming data into actionable insights, all in accordance with strict governance and security standards. Further, advanced keying and linking capabilities will allow creditors to access a variety of datasets in real-time, dramatically decreasing the wait time for consumer approvals and removing friction from the lending process.

“We are a New Equifax — enabled by the Equifax Cloud to drive new innovation and solutions that can help consumers live their financial best,” said Sue Hutchison, Equifax Canada President. “Our work with Borrowell has been a true partnership, with a shared goal of leveraging Equifax cloud capabilities and data fabric to deliver new products - with assets from multiple data sources — to Borrowell customers in ways that we could only imagine before.”

Migration to the Equifax Cloud has provided Borrowell members with faster, even more efficient experiences when applying for credit. Borrowell transactions are processed lightning fast in milliseconds via the cloud-enabled Equifax data fabric for secure, real-time access to information critical to credit decisioning. By accessing more data points and with advanced keying and linking, search matching has also been increased by 50 basis points, meaning 5 million more Canadian credit applications will receive a consumer's credit file.

Equifax, Inc. expects to substantially complete North American cloud migrations in 2022. For more information on the Equifax Cloud, please visit: www.consumer.equifax.ca/business/equifax-cloud/