Mollie and WooCommerce build long term partnership to grow global footprint together

Mollie, one of the fastest growing payment service providers in Europe, today announced the launch of Mollie Payments for WooCommerce in the UK. The plug-in offers UK SMEs with a WooCommerce webshop a seamless way to support both domestic and European payments. Mollie and WooCommerce, one of the world’s most popular open-source ecommerce solutions, already work closely together in other European countries and are now engaging in a long term partnership to grow their global footprint together. 

Mollie Payments for WooCommerce provides customers with critical success factors - it’s easy to install, easy to use, and supports businesses with UK and global payment methods such as debit and credit cards, PayPal and Apple Pay as well as more than 20 local payment methods including iDEAL, Sofort and Bancontact. All of which can be easily toggled on and off in the Mollie dashboard.

British ecommerce SMEs expanding into Europe risk making a major misstep if they can’t accept the payment types European customers favour. Mollie can support them with market knowledge, local payment methods, and key local integrations, such as bookkeeping software. The fully bespoke checkout system supports effortless payments, helping users increase conversion rates.

"WooCommerce research shows that 56% of UK merchants have added multiple or new payment gateways to offer their customers more options and better checkout experiences,” said Keala Gaines, General Manager Payments at WooCommerce. “Sellers should be implementing the preferred payment methods in the countries they're hoping to gain traction in. WooCommerce merchants love Mollie’s simple integration, international options, and hyper-localization.”

Mollie’s personalised dashboard allows access to real-time data and insights at any time, with flexible pay-outs to ensure businesses keep a healthy cash flow. The WooCommerce plug-in is already available to Mollie’s Dutch, French, and German customers.

Paul Falla, Co-Owner at UK heritage brand and launching customer of Mollie Payments for WooCommerce, Ernest Wright says, “I’m a fan of Mollie’s human style of customer service. On the one hand, Mollie is top-notch and modern, but it also has a personal touch. And the personal touches for me are much more important than the last penny. Although I want the last penny as well, of course — but solving the customer’s problem is more important.”

“We’re delighted to engage in a long term partnership with WooCommerce and grow our footprint together,” said Ken Serdons, Chief Commercial Officer at Mollie. “We’re supporting an increasing number of UK businesses with their domestic payments, in addition to helping them succeed cross-border in this post-Brexit world. Mollie’s ethos is to deliver the easiest online payments for our customers and through our partners. We look forward to continuing to deliver high conversions to allow ecommerce businesses to stay focused without having to worry about the payments side of things.” 

Sumsub is ready to share the results of their partnership with Bybit.

Sumsub, an internationally-acknowledged identity verification and KYC/AML compliance provider, is ready to present the results of their partnership with Bybit, a global crypto trading and staking platform with over 6 million users worldwide.

Bybit became Sumsub’s customer in July 2021, and the entire integration process took around a month. By offering an automated KYC system, Sumsub helps Bybit reduce its consumption of human resources, so that their employees could focus on complicated cases identified by the system itself. Moreover, Sumsub’s solution is able to stop fraudsters from passing onboarding while detecting forged documents and duplicates.

Sumsub has provided Bybit with two levels of verification. The first level of verification — ID verification and a facial biometric check (liveness) — is enough for users who wish to withdraw up to 50 BTC. The second level applies to those who wish to operate with larger sums, and involves a proof of address (PoA) check to verify that users aren’t coming from crypto-restricted countries.

As a crypto exchange, Bybit is famous for their care for customers and the client experience, which is reflected in their approach to KYC. They provide fast feedback on each case of unsuccessful verification so that the end users know what’s wrong and can get onboarded quickly and successfully.

One of the greatest benefits that Sumsub brings to Bybit is a user verification process that usually takes about one minute. The average pass rate is 78% for first-level verification — that is, liveness + ID check. Plus, Sumsub detects up to 99% of forgery attempts targeting Bybit.

With Bybit’s future development and global expansion, Sumsub will do its best to remain their long-term KYC/KYB partner, creating any updates necessary to sustain growth in the fast-moving world of crypto.

InvestEngine, the low-cost investment platform set up by Gumtree co-founder Simon Crookall, is opening a £700,000 crowdfund via Crowdcube today.

Set up in 2019 with co-founder Andrey Dobrynin, InvestEngine is looking to grow and capitalise on the wave of ETF popularity, as savers look to park their pandemic savings in places where they have the chance to outpace rising inflation.

The team behind InvestEngine is made up of ex-BlackRock, HSBC, L&G, FNZ, Investec, Plum and Nutmeg employees, and is led by Gumtree co-founder Simon Crookall and his co-founder chief executive Andrey Dobrynin. Crookall scaled and sold Gumtree to eBay in 2005 and the duo repeated the feat with Eastern European classifieds company Slando to global internet group, Naspers, in 2011.

Given the pair made buying and selling online more simple and accessible via Gumtree and Slando, they are now looking to do the same with investing.

A year on from the Kalifa review and the jury is still out on the true impact its recommendations have had over the last twelve months. The independent review, commissioned by the government and led by former Worldpay chief executive Ron Kalifa, found that the UK’s fintech sector was at a ‘pivotal moment’ but required additional support to realise its potential. 

Although several recommendations have been implemented, including the establishment of the new industry-led Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT), as well as regulatory initiatives such as the FCA’s sandbox and the Bank of England’s extensive work on digital currencies, we still haven’t seen fintech-specific regulations as a result of the review. In fact, industry-wide calls have been loud and clear – as almost 70 Innovate Finance members penned an open letter to the UK government calling for more to be done in the name of progress in this area. 

However, if the fintechs demanding more progress are seeing the bigger regulatory picture (and they must!) they should remember: with every piece of red tape cut to stimulate sector growth, the FCA will be considering the impact this has on the consumer as well as the industry as a whole. Innovation doesn’t simply stem from a relaxation of rules, but rather a push and pull balancing act that promotes progress, while ensuring tighter regulation is in place so that the UK remains an attractive location for IPOs. 

Therefore, the success of the emerging fintech landscape lies in the balance of the regulatory framework that applies to it. While the Kalifa review is designed to promote innovation within the fintech sector, regulations that protect consumers and the fragility of the markets will also be at the top of the agenda for the UK regulator this year – and should not be eclipsed by the narrative surrounding the Kalifa review. 

Up until now, fintechs have considered themselves largely unconstrained by regulatory requirements more closely associated with that of their traditional counterparts – or have questioned their place within existing regulatory frameworks. But the fintech industry has transformed at breath taking speed since the Competition and Markets Authority decided the industry would benefit from competition in 2016. Four years later and the services on offer are beginning to mirror those typically associated with large financial institutions, in some instances acting as direct competitors. 

Fintechs are now unbundling the suite of services typically offered by traditional banks to offer often superior payments and lending products to consumers.  The outcome is that fintechs are increasingly playing an intrinsic role in the day-to-day lives of consumers. As such, it’s unsurprising that, alongside innovation, tighter regulation and compliance are following closely behind. 

A preview of times to come is the regulators’ latest crackdown on the booming buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector. In 2020 alone, the use of BNPL products tripled to £2.7bn, and as the industry has soared to new heights the regulator has – understandably – closed in. In this instance, the FCA has pulled up certain businesses around the ‘potentially unfair and unclear’ terms within BNPL products, such as repayment plans. 

This has now been successfully addressed by the companies in question, but this is just the start. The FCA’s statement that ‘we do not yet have the powers to regulate these firms’ – in reference to emerging fintechs – should be seen as a wake-up call as the UK government reviews regulatory options for the sector as a whole. Fintech providers offering financial services products need to ensure they are providing their already overworked compliance teams with the resources and tools to be able to navigate the next twelve months effectively. 

And in this case, two heads may not be better than one. Adding more manpower to the equation won’t necessarily streamline inefficiencies facing compliance teams in this space. Instead, fighting fire with fire – or, in this case, fintech with fintech – may be the answer. 

For some fintechs, regtech might be just another accolade better suited to their traditional counterparts, however, failure to use technology to navigate the successful growth and future of embedded finance could be fatal. 

Regtech is not a tick-box exercise for compliance requirements, it can support fintechs with customer acquisition, product creation, and ensuring they can expand globally. Without this edge, can these firms ever truly be disruptive? 

Undoubtedly, this sector will see regulatory changes that promote innovation over the next twelve months. However, the reality that some fintechs have not yet realised, is that the result will be a push and pull of cutting the red tape and cracking down on a sector that has largely flown under the regulatory radar. 

 Chain of Events, an innovative conference organizer hosting multiple high-level events across Europe and internationally, is pleased to announce consecutive conferences, Paris NFT Day and Paris Blockchain Week Summit (PBWS), to be held April 12-14 at the historic landmark Palais Brongniart in the heart of Paris.

“We are pleased to welcome the world to the Paris Blockchain Week Summit and Paris NFT Day. These two events will bring together a diverse group representing the brightest minds, game changers, creators and regulators, along with business professionals, leading investors and venture capitalists,” said Arnaud Damien, Head of Global Marketing for Chain of Events. “The renowned presenters will share their stories and insights on the market and its prospects. Paris NFT Day is a journey into the business of NFTs and the Web3 ecosystem, while Paris Blockchain Week Summit will provide those who attend with the knowledge they need to navigate through the blockchain industry.”

Paris NFT Day will take place at the Palais Brongniart on April 12. Those who attend can take a deep dive into the basics of NFTs and blockchain technology, with the event expected to bring together over 1,500 attendees and more than 70 speakers. With the NFT space changing rapidly on an almost daily basis, this event will link attendees and pioneers of the technology who will be exploring metaverses and the endless possibilities that come with it. In addition, the event will offer a platform for collectibles projects to explain why and how they became so successful.

Prominent industry actors will have the opportunity to share their vision for the NFT space and highlight the hottest use cases and most promising ones. Speakers will include Sebastien Borget, co-founder and COO of the Sandbox; Rayan Boutaleb, founder of Cyber (Metaverse); Julien Bouteloup, founder of Blackpool Finance; and Jenkins The Valet, founder of The Writer’s Room.

Highlights of the Paris NFT Day will include the opportunity to physically print NFTs thanks to the partnership between the event’s owners and Solid NFT. There will also be a virtual reality gallery where attendees can discover and immerse themselves in the future of museums and art exhibitions through a carefully curated gallery of NFTs.

Paris Blockchain Week Summit is the flagship event of Paris Blockchain Week and will take place on April 13-14 at Palais Brongniart. The gathering is expected to bring together more than 3,000 attendees, 70 sponsors, 250 speakers and 100 media partners.

For two days, PBWS will host sessions discussing traceability, leveraging blockchain on the innovation journey, digital governance, what's been built in 2021-2022, the state of digital asset liquidity, international regulatory cooperation and much more.

PBWS will feature keynotes, panels, conferences, workshops, hackathons and parties to enhance attendee engagement. Whether you are involved in open finance, public policy, enterprise blockchain or tech building, the event will cater to all participants’ needs. Some of the discussion topics that participants should expect include: “Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) - How to Implement Corporate governance”; “The role of Stablecoins in a Decentralized ecosystem”; “Regulation of digital assets - How to protect Stakeholders”; “Blockchain as a tool towards a carbon-neutral ecosystem” and many more.

The event will also feature well-known speakers such as Tim Draper, founder and Managing Partner of Draper Associates, DFJ and the Draper Venture Network; Ryan Selkis, CEO and co-founder of Messari; and Matt West, Yearn Developer and Democratic candidate for Oregon's 6th U.S. House District. In addition, renowned speakers from the best blockchain and digital asset companies globally will share their stories and insights on the market and its prospects.

Exabel, a data and analytics platform for investment teams, has today announced its partnership with Gridwise to deliver a powerful new insights capability for Gridwise’s investment clients. Gridwise Analytics for Investors will provide hedge funds and asset managers with curated insights based on the most comprehensive gig mobility dataset that exists.  This offering will provide users with easy to navigate dashboards, visualizations and KPI monitoring capabilities, and aid in the idea generation process by flagging trend shifts in Gridwise’s datasets. Joining forces with Exabel provides alternative data vendors with a value-added presentation and monitoring layer and is powered by Exabel's market leading Al analytics, financial modelling and data science platform. 

Gridwise Analytics for Investors is part of Exabel’s growing partnership program, in which data vendors can use the platform to discover valuable insights in their datasets, demonstrate that value to prospective customers, and deliver a new Insights product that is attractive to a broad audience of financial buyers. In partnering with Exabel, Gridwise’s clients are now able to more easily connect the dots in a less expensive and time-consuming manner between data and investable insights about driver supply, earnings, wages, work hours as well as driver efficiency metrics for all the major players in the Food-Delivery and Ridesharing markets. 

Every month, Gridwise ingests and processes millions of anonymized records covering driver trends, odometer data (working shift time and mileage), trips & earnings, and consumer demand from its diverse first party network of ride-hail and delivery drivers who work across over 50 gig platforms such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Grubhub, Instacart, Amazon Flex, and others. This gives Gridwise Analytics users an unparalleled view into both the supply side and demand dynamics of gig-mobility activity across the US making Gridwise Analytics the go-to provider for analyzing how people and goods move across ride hail and delivery services.

Commenting on the partnership, Neil Chapman, Exabel CEO said: “The gig mobility industry has swiftly established itself as a permanent fixture in the modern economy, meaning investors are now motivated to garner insights into the activities of the major players, and track second order effects. Gridwise have made themselves the obvious choice for investment teams seeking enlightenment, especially on the supply side of this growing industry. Exabel is thrilled to be able to help facilitate this value extraction process.

“The use of data, including alternative data, in financial markets is vital. Modelling data in-house has become a prohibitive burden in time and cost, and we are on a mission to change that. Exabel’s SaaS delivered platform enables discretionary managers to complement their fundamental strategies with more data-driven techniques. It is the missing piece that allows asset managers to benefit from alternative data immediately.

“We are looking forward to working with Gridwise to create actionable insights on its data. Dashboards, intelligent screening KPI prediction models and company drill down tools are just some of the features the platform can generate – all via an easy-to-use cloud interface.”

Ryan Green, CEO from Gridwise commented: “Since launching Gridwise Analytics, we’ve been able to make gig mobility data more accessible to corporations, researchers, and cities. We’ve continued to realize strong adoption and continued demand for the insights we provide from buy-side and asset management firms.  Over time we’ve had more and more firms request finance-specific insights tied to what is reported publicly by companies each quarter, out of the box backtesting, metric correlations, and more. Rather than trying to squeeze all of these requests within an already aggressive roadmap, we turned to Exabel. 

“Through the partnership with Exabel, we’ve been able to leverage a team of experts and a technology platform to create a suite of actionable metrics for firms that cover the gig mobility ecosystem. We’re excited to combine our unique gig mobility data set with Exabel’s AI-driven platform to become the standard leading indicator of gig mobility activity for the financial sector.”

• Revolut strengthens its commitment to the region with the appointment of Charles Debonneuil to APAC General Manager.
• Charles will focus on building customer numbers in the region as Revolut further expands its operations in the region including across India and New Zealand. Currently, Revolut is present in Singapore, Australia and Japan.

Revolut, the global financial superapp with over 18 million customers, has appointed Charles Debonneuil as APAC General Manager as it continues to focus on growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

Debonneuil will focus on building out Revolut’s local Growth teams and developing the business’ growth strategy, driving rapid new user acquisition in the APAC region.

Prior to joining Revolut’s APAC team, Debonneuil was the President of Intrepid Group, a leading ecommerce solutions company for global brands, overseeing the growth of the company to over 300 employees across Asia.

Debonneuil is also a co-founder and former Chief Marketing Officer of Lazada, a leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia which was acquired by Alibaba in 2016. He oversaw the growth of the business which today boasts approximately 160 million Monthly Active Users across 6 countries.

On the appointment, Revolut Global General Manager and Head of Marketing, Ankit Khemka, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Charles to Revolut as we double down on our commitment in the APAC region. As we continue to deliver more of our core products to the region, Charles’ extensive expertise is a valuable addition in helping us scale our presence in the Asia-Pacific market and getting our global superapp into the hands of more customers.”

Charles Debonneuil, Revolut APAC General Manager, said: “I’m delighted to join the Revolut team. Revolut’s mission to build a global financial superapp is very exciting, and I’m looking forward to enabling more users in APAC to benefit from Revolut’s product, which is at the forefront of global fintech.”

Debonneuil holds a Masters in Management from HEC Paris, during which he also studied at the Wharton School of Business (USA) and Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (China). He is also a Board Member of Intrepid Group.