Company’s NWASSA financial technology platform more than doubles revenue year-on-year

Tingo Inc, (OTC Markets: TMNA) (“Tingo” or the “Company”) has filed its annual report on Form 10-K, wherein the Company reported its audited financial results for the year ended Dec. 31, 2021. Given that the Company’s audited results reflected a partial operating year resulting from the acquisition of its principal operating subsidiary, Tingo Mobile plc (“Tingo Mobile”), in August 2021, the Company’s annual report also included proforma financial results for the entire year for Tingo Mobile.  

On a proforma basis, the Company reported 2021 revenues and operating income for Tingo Mobile of $865.9 million and $327.1 million, respectively, compared to 2020 revenues and operating income of $585.3 million and $201 million, respectively. The Company also reported, on a proforma basis, strong growth of 48% in year-on-year revenues and 63% growth in year-on-year operating income.

The Company’s ESG-empowering agri-fintech marketplace platform, NWASSA, recorded significant growth of approximately 101%, from $98.6 million in 2020 to $198.6 million in 2021. NWASSA comprises several fintech solutions, including the Company’s proprietary Agri-Fintech platform, access to airtime top-ups, mobile insurance, utility payments and brokerage on loans. The Company believes that such growth is a demonstration of the value and impact that its Agri-Fintech services offer the Company’s 9.3 million existing customers. These customers have access to the NWASSA platform on the smartphones that they lease from the Company over three years through the cooperative associations of which they are members. Based on the fees charged for its suite of Agri-Fintech services, the Company estimates that Tingo Mobile processed more than $4 billion in customer transactions on its platform during 2021.

At the operating subsidiary level, Tingo Mobile reported no external debt financing and the generation of strong cash flows that can be used to expand the Company’s business and financial technology services, including an investment in the Company’s recently announced ‘SuperApp’ that will seek to combine NWASSA with its new ‘Tingo Pay’ digital wallet powered with a Visa card, the launch of which is intended in the second quarter of 2022.   

The announcement of the Company’s financial results comes as the Company is seeking to list its shares for trading on the New York Stock Exchange, evaluate potential strategic acquisitions and gain further exposure in international markets. The Company’s strategy is to become Africa’s leading Agri-Fintech business, delivering strong and measurable financial results while also empowering social upliftment, gender equality and financial inclusion as core objectives.   

The Company also announced the engagement of Lazard Ltd as corporate and financial advisor. Lazard is advising the Company regarding its plans to list its shares for trading on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as other strategic growth and development initiatives.

Commenting on the financial results of the Company and Tingo Mobile for 2021, Dozy Mmobuosi, Chief Executive Officer, stated: “We are pleased to report strong operating performance for the year 2021 and the continued growth of our Agri-Fintech business. With our recently announced financial technology partnership with Visa, we expect to expand our Agri-Fintech services to generate more commercial opportunities for our existing customers, as well as incentivize more rural farmers and communities to become subscribers and utilize our financial technology platform. We also look forward to working with Lazard to advise the Company on its future strategy.”

Dakshesh Patel, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, added: “Our financial results for 2021 demonstrate the effectiveness of the adoption of NWASSA, our Agri-Fintech platform, by our customer base. The rapid growth of this high-margin component of our business represents the future of Tingo as we continue to expand our ESG-empowering model of ‘device as a service’ through the use of smartphones by members of rural farming communities.”

Financial services leader selects nCino to streamline origination, underwriting and portfolio management within its Small Business Banking Business

 nCino, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCNO), a pioneer in cloud banking and digital transformation solutions for the global financial services industry, today announced that Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) will expand its use of the nCino Bank Operating System® to accelerate digital transformation within its Consumer and Small Business Banking division to deliver a premier, cutting-edge technology experience. Previously, Wells Fargo selected nCino as the technological foundation to transform its commercial lending operations.

“The pandemic has certainly changed the way our customers want to work with us,” said Derek Ellington, Head of Small Business Banking at Wells Fargo. “Providing more access to digital banking options that are fast, safe and convenient is important and has spurred additional investments in technology. Collaborating with nCino is expected to provide our customers with a more streamlined lending experience, reducing the sometimes tedious back and forth that sometimes occurs when applying for and obtaining a loan, and it provides our employees a single view of each customer, making the end-to-end lending experience quicker and more efficient.”

For Wells Fargo, a leading financial services company that proudly serves one in three U.S. households and more than 10% of small businesses in the U.S. and is the leading middle market banking provider in the U.S., a key component to its digital transformation strategy was selecting an end-to-end, flexible, cloud-native platform that could scale as the business required. As small business owners increasingly seek quicker access to capital, as well as digital experiences without having to visit a branch, nCino's Small Business Banking Solution offers a single platform to streamline the entire lending process for origination, underwriting and portfolio management.

“We’re incredibly proud to expand our relationship with Wells Fargo two quarters after they first selected nCino to transform their commercial lending operations,” said Pierre Naudé, CEO of nCino. “Wells Fargo clearly sees the value of the cloud as an enabler in their continued evolution and transformation, and we are confident our best-in-class cloud platform will help drive additional efficiencies and unlock even more value for their employees and small business clients.”

AppTech Payments Corp. (“AppTech”) (NASDAQ: APCX) a Fintech company powering commerce experiences, today announced results for its Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year ended December 31, 2021. The financial statements and 10-K are available on sec.gov.

Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2021 Financial Highlights

• 4Q21 revenues were $95,136, a 3.0% increase versus 3Q21, driven by larger processing volumes.
• Fiscal year 2021 revenues were $353,824, a 7% increase versus Fiscal Year 2020, driven primarily by the addition of new accounts.
• Cash balance as of December 31, 2021 was $8,026, however, the public offering was executed on January 7, 2022 netted the Company $13.4 million.

Recent Business Highlights

• Successfully uplisted onto NASDAQ on January 7, 2022.
• Onboarded a seasoned development team of experts who have expedited the platform launch date. In addition, the Company onboarded its new sales director and head of business development who will be tasked with building the foundation for the Company’s planned expansion.
• Inaugural Strategic Summit was held March 22-23, 20022 where management team gathered to discuss the Fintech platform architecture and go-to-market plan. The initial demos were also showcased.
• Developed key system functions, including CI/CD pipelines, go-forward scalable and secure AWS infrastructure, POC for Text2Pay Invoice System, and POC for Crypto Payments Invoice System.
• Researched, identified, and vetted partnership with digital asset platform partners for blockchain and cryptocurrency use cases.
• Co-developed end-to-end, automated product and opportunity intake process to streamline, categorize and prioritize new products/features and business development opportunities.

Management Commentary

Luke D’Angelo, CEO of AppTech commented: “2021 was a transformational year for AppTech as we developed the partnerships and overall strategic vision that will pave the way for our highly anticipated launch in 2022. Our strong balance sheet will allow us to properly execute our plans to become a premier Fintech platform that powers commerce experiences for our backlog of clients and their customers. We are excited that our clients are eager to onboard, gaining the tools to execute payments in today’s digital and crypto market. In addition, we look forward to forming additional partnerships with strong organizations to support integrations of digital banking and business payment acceptances.”

Next-Gen Supply Chain Explorer platform delivers instantaneous transparency, allowing companies and government agencies to meet the urgent imperative to protect global supply chains from
sanctions, ESG, and cyber risk at unprecedented speed and scale

Exiger, the global leader in AI-powered supply chain and third-party risk management solutions, today announced the launch of Supply Chain Explorer, Exiger’s proprietary real-time supply chain risk detection SaaS platform that empowers companies and government agencies to rapidly surface, understand and mitigate critical threats to their immediate and extended supplier networks.

Purpose-built in response to market and client demand, Supply Chain Explorer was developed in close collaboration with some of the largest corporations and critical government agencies. Supply Chain Explorer allows users to visualize, prioritize and escalate high risk relationships. A modular three-in-one solution, Supply Chain Explorer discovers supplier networks across digital footprints, global shipping data and contract awards data in a centralized application, delivering unparalleled transparency into supplier risk for government agencies and critical infrastructure sectors, including the Defense Industrial Base.

Exiger’s customers have already battle-tested the software throughout some of the most volatile geopolitical, industrial and supply chain issues in history. Over the last six months, Exiger has been working with customers to ensure the relevance and accuracy of the product to their mission. The product has been used to detect, quantify and mitigate risk in under 24 hours across a number of different supply chain crises and cyberattacks. Supply Chain Explorer is currently used by corporations and federal government agencies to analyze Russia-Ukraine war supply disruptions, prioritize and understand Log4j impacts on their enterprise, and most recently, to assess their vulnerability to the Okta breach.

One beta customer of Exiger’s Supply Chain Explorer noted, “My team was tasked with identifying high-impact vendors in a specific region. Exiger’s commerce Supply Chain Explorer quickly gave us visibility not only [into] risk with direct suppliers, but [also] allowed us to work into the sub-tiers. Given the quick turnaround time of the request, Exiger’s tool proved invaluable to providing a timely and thorough answer to our [stakeholders].”

In a recent global market study of over 300 risk management professionals, Exiger, in partnership with Stax Inc., found that 77% of large companies indicated the need to monitor risks of suppliers down to Tier 3 or deeper.

“The turbulence of the market has given us unique insight into the challenges our clients face in trying to understand their supplier networks in both their day-to-day work and in a crisis,” said Brendan Galla, Exiger’s Chief Product Officer.

Reflecting on the last two years of product development and supply chain analytics work, Brendan added, “For instance, ideating how you could use our cyber Supply Chain Explorer to identify the impact of a compromise in your software environment went from theoretical to mission-critical overnight as the Log4j news broke last year. The creation of this product was a unique opportunity to both understand our clients’ needs and help them resolve real-world issues – this effort was an embodiment of Exiger’s mission to make the world a safer place through technology.

Supply Chain Explorer draws on an aggregated blend of internal and external open data sets, including over 31 million direct unstructured and structured data sources, 1.3 billion contract records, 7 billion source records of supply chain installations, and 16.8 million unique supply chains. This solution also provides a comprehensive view into supply chain risk across 50 different categories and subcategories, including sanctions, trade embargoes,  enforcement, state owned flags, cyber, modern slavery, and adverse media. The platform will ultimately include other macro risks, such as disruption for raw materials, natural disasters and more.

Data from Supply Chain Explorer is available in a streamlined, user-friendly interface, removing the noise and complexities that come with traditional manual due diligence and risk identification methods. The most sophisticated technology of its kind, Supply Chain Explorer leverages cutting-edge artificial intelligence and natural language processing backed by a hyper scaling database infrastructure.

“Exiger envisioned Supply Chain Explorer to simplify and democratize supplier and supply chain research,” said Brandon Daniels, President of Exiger. “However, over the last two years, it became more than that.  It was an opportunity to help the U.S. and our allies identify the impact of sanctions on Russia.  It helped our clients rally against Uyghur Forced Labor.  It has helped Exiger support the COVID-19 effort to safely procure the supplies healthcare workers desperately needed to save lives.” He continued, “The other issue we realized in working with our customers to develop this product is that risk management and procurement professionals are swamped in this environment. Supply Chain Explorer was designed to help our customers focus, prioritize and triage risk proactively. With single-click supply chain detection, high-level due diligence and risk analysis, everyone can now join the fight to secure our global supply chains. For the first time, customers can not only see their risk and solve the issues that have already happened, but spot potential disruptions before they impact their supply chain –– in a cost-effective and scalable way."

The launch of Supply Chain Explorer follows a period of accelerated growth and investment in Exiger’s technology and people. The company continues to recruit nationally recognized risk management experts to its executive leadership team, most recently appointing Bob Kolasky, Founding Head of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s National Risk Management Center, as Senior Vice President of Critical Infrastructure. Kolasky joins Exiger Government Solutions President Carrie Wibben, former Principal Deputy for Counterintelligence, Law Enforcement, and Security for the Department of Defense.

Supply Chain Explorer will be available as a standalone product and marks the latest in Exiger’s ongoing development of solutions to address the growing need for end-to end third-party and supply chain risk management –– including its foundational AI-powered technologies, DDIQ and ScreenIQ, used by the world’s largest banks for years to transform the fight against financial crime.

Mastercard today announced that Chad Wallace has joined the company’s Global Product and Engineering organization as Executive Vice President of B2B Solutions and a member of the company’s Management Committee. He will oversee the company’s industry-leading commercial product offering, including its corporate travel and expense (T&E) management products, purchasing cards, virtual cards, B2B payments, and fleet card products, with a focus on enabling the digital transformation of corporate payments across accounts payable, procurement and treasury.

“Chad is joining Mastercard at an exciting time where B2B and commercial solutions are essential in enabling the shift to a digital economy for corporates,” said Craig Vosburg, Mastercard’s Chief Product Officer. “Chad’s diverse leadership experience across the industry will provide significant value for our customers around the world. His digital products expertise, proven track record and high energy will support our continued focus to drive innovation in the B2B space.”

Chad joins Mastercard from Goldman Sachs, where he was the Global Head of Digital for Transaction Banking within its Investment Banking division. In this role, he led the digital product and design organization responsible for building the cash management offering inclusive of liquidity and payment solutions to support the launch of Transaction Banking in various markets around the globe.

Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, he was the Head of Digital Experiences for the Commercial Bank at Capital One, where he led a team responsible for migrating the treasury management digital experience to the cloud. Chad also previously held leadership roles at TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE Financial, and SunTrust. He earned a B.A. in Business Administration at Sam Houston State University. Chad is a passionate leader in the LGBTQ+ community with experience leading Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs to accelerate commercial opportunities, expand global partnerships, and assist partners in establishing their own DEI activities.

Credit Card Challenger Yonder Emerges From Stealth With £20M Seed Funding

Yonder, a new credit card startup from ClearScore alumni, announced a £20M seed round ahead of its launch in the UK. The round was co-led by Northzone and LocalGlobe, with Seedcamp participating alongside a host of angels, including Sharmadean Reid, Marshmallow founders Oliver and Alex Kent-Braham, and Rio Ferdinand. The concept for Yonder was born of CEO Tim Chong’s frustration with the struggle of accessing a quality credit provider as an Australian in London - despite a successful career and excellent credit score back home.

HubSpot Partners with Pipe to Help Startups Unlock up to $100m in Fee-Free Funding

HubSpot, the customer relationship management (CRM) platform for scaling companies, announced its partnership with alternative financing platform Pipe in which Pipe will provide access to a total of $100 million in fee-free funding for HubSpot for Startups customers, while Pipe customers will receive a 30% discount on HubSpot's CRM Suite. The partnership enables startups to pursue business growth with HubSpot's market-leading CRM platform while accessing growth capital through Pipe. For founders who are looking to scale their businesses, the prospect of raising capital while managing the operations of their companies can feel especially daunting.

Global Research from NTT DATA Finds Half of Corporates want More Investment in Sustainable Banking Products and Services

NTT DATA, a digital business and IT services leader, announced the results of its annual global banking research report. The report compared the latest demands from the largest corporate businesses with current investment priorities of global banks. It found a shift in post-pandemic corporate banking towards more integrated, digitized, sustainable banking aligned to the new generation of millennials taking up senior positions in corporate businesses. The research was conducted across 12 countries and interviewed 880 senior decision-makers across banks and corporates to gain a deep understanding of how corporate banks must futureproof themselves.

Dapio Raises $3.4M to Bring ‘Tap to Pay’ to Android Users in UK and Europe

Dapio, the cashless payment solutions provider for businesses, announced it has raised $3.4M in growth funding to fuel the launch of its ‘Tap to Pay’ solution for Android users in the UK and Europe. The funding was led by Flutterwave alongside Techstars, PactVC and Daniel Gould, venture partner at Asymmetry Ventures. Dapio, formerly Paymob, makes it easy for businesses to accept cashless payments quickly and securely in store, over the phone or on the move, anywhere in the world. Its technology transforms any Android smartphone into a payment terminal able to accept contactless payments.

Douugh Secures Up to $20m in Discretionary Equity Funding from US Investment Fund Long State

Douugh Ltd (ASX: DOU) & (OTCQB: DOUUF), the banking ‘super app’ on a mission to help customers manage and grow their money, announced it has entered into a $20 million equity placement facility agreement with Long State Investments Limited. Based in New York City, Long State has significant experience in investing in disruptive early-stage public companies in high growth-oriented sectors, including fintechs. The Agreement will provide Douugh with a fully flexible, on demand funding facility.

ProjectPay Announces Investment Round to Disrupt Construction Sector Payments

Global construction payments fintech ProjectPay has launched its first investment round, having recently joined forces with Lloyds Bank in the UK to protect and streamline UK Construction Sector payments. The company plans to raise at least £5.6m to accelerate ProjectPay’s UK expansion and launch into the US, to become the main global payments provider for building projects. ProjectPay helps small and medium-sized contractors release immediate payments from approved invoices - providing payment certainty even in the event of a contractor collapse higher in the supply chain.

ArK Kapital Raises €165m to Help Startups Grow Smarter Through AI-powered Financial Forecasts and Non-dilutive Funding

ArK Kapital – the data-driven precision finance company enabling startups to grow faster and smarter through long-term loans, maintaining control for founders and reducing risk for investors – announces it has raised €165m in seed funding. A combination of debt and equity, the round was led by Local Globe, with participation from Creandum and angel investors including Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen, iZettle founder Jacob de Geer, and EQT Ventures founding partner Hjalmar Winbladh. Beyond investing in promising companies, the new capital will be used for R&D and doubling the 20-person team within 2022.

Fintech Zimpler Raises Funding to Accelerate Its Growth Within A2A Payments

Zimpler, a leading Swedish fintech within the payments space, has raised new equity funding from Nordstjernan Growth, an arm of an established Swedish investment house focused on long-term quality growth. The investment will enable Zimpler to further drive its exponential growth journey and accelerate the company’s commercial development by broadening its customer base and investing in developing new customer verticals. It will also allow Zimpler to continue the march toward expanding its geographical network, both in Scandinavia and worldwide.

Modern Treasury Raises Additional $50 Million From SVB Capital, Salesforce Ventures in its Series C Round

Modern Treasury, a software platform that enables firms of all sizes handle money confidently, announced a $50 million Series C financing led by SVB Capital and Salesforce Ventures. The round garnered $135 million at a valuation of over $2 billion. A new category of payment operations is emerging, updating the way organizations move and manage money, and facilitating the creation of new products that fuel growth in key industries like healthcare, real estate, and finance. Modern Treasury customers now reconcile over $2.8 billion per month, up from $1 billion a year ago. 

Partnerships 

Ratepay, Part of Nexi Group, Enters Payment Partnership with PayPal

Ratepay, part of Nexi Group, enters payment partnership with PayPal: the white label payment by invoice from Ratepay can be offered by any German merchant who works together with PayPal and has been checked accordingly. Ratepay takes over the complete processing with the buyer in the background as well as the default risk. The connection is made possible by Ratepay's new Payment API 2.0, which allows Ratepay payment methods to be integrated flexibly, scalable and easily with online payment service providers such as PayPal.

The ai Corporation (ai) and Ignixxion Technologies Limited partner to launch the World’s first EMV (open loop), fuel payments and digital fleet management solution

The ai Corporation (ai), an expert in fraud prevention and payment solutions, and Ignixxion Technologies Limited, an innovative fintech fleet solution provider, announced the launch of the World’s first integrated, EMV open loop, fuel payment and fleet management solution. Utilising ai's world-leading fuel payments platform, aiEazyFuel, and Ignixxion's cutting-edge cloud digital fleet platform, the new solution will enable payments providers and fuel card issuers to offer their fleet customers the choice of purchasing and paying for their fuel and other vehicle and driver-related expenses from any retailer, anywhere, at any time.

BVNK Partners with Simple to Unlock Cryptocurrency Banking Services for 2,000 Family Offices

BVNK, the crypto-powered banking platform for global businesses, announces a partnership with Simple that will bring cryptocurrency expertise and knowledge to 2,000 member family offices based in the European Union. Based in Copenhagen, Simple is the next-generation market intelligence, data and insights lab focused on helping family offices and private investors to professionalise and be future-ready. With BVNK’s flagship Yield service family offices can enjoy returns that typically range between 4% and 8% APY in USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT).

Lemonade Finance Partners with Currencycloud, Adding Fizz with a Multi-currency Solution

Oakland-based financial services company Lemonade Finance has partnered with Currencycloud, the experts simplifying business in a multi-currency world, to offer immigrants and businesses a more streamlined experience when sending money home to Africa. By partnering with Currencycloud and providing business and consumer customers with multi-currency wallets, Lemonade Finance can make sending money home much easier for Africans living in North America and Europe. Now, Lemonade’s customers can not only hold multiple currencies but also settle to Lemonade Finance who then make onward payments to local African-based partners like Flutterwave.

Nuvei and XT.COM Team Up to Enhance the Onboarding of New Users

Nuvei Corporation announced its partnership with XT.COM to facilitate the onboarding of new users. The collaboration between Nuvei, via its Simplex cryptocurrency on/off ramp solution, and XT.COM, one of the leading global cryptocurrency exchanges, will make it easier for users to fund their accounts through convenient payment methods. The partnership between Nuvei and XT.COM is expected to introduce many new users to the XT.COM platform as they can fund their accounts with credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and bank transfers, allowing for quick and seamless access to over a hundred crypto assets.

PCI Pal Partners with Five9 to Provide Secure Payments on the Five9 CX Marketplace

PCI Pal, the global provider of secure payment solutions, announces it has joined the Five9 CX Marketplace as an approved Secure Payments partner. The PCI Pal solution has been accredited and listed on the Five9 CX Marketplace. Five9 is an intelligent cloud contact centre provider, which facilitates billions of call minutes annually, and the Five9 CX Marketplace offers current and prospective customers a user-centric hub in which customers can browse Five9’s innovative partnerships with the goal of delivering or purchasing an ever improving, superior customer experience.

PXP Financial Partners With Award Winning Booking Engine Platform, Profitroom

PXP Financial, the expert in acquiring and payment services, announces a new partnership with Profitroom, a leading provider of online sales and marketing services that seeks to drive revenue and increase profits for leisure hotels and resorts around the world. At the forefront of serving the global hospitality industry since its launch in 2008, Profitroom has cultivated expertise in exceptional customer service through longstanding relationships with hundreds of hotel industry experts and operators.

Blockpass, Lykke Partnership Integrates Zero Fees Exchange, Adds $PASS/USD

Blockpass announced that the long-standing association between Blockpass and cryptocurrency exchange Lykke will be strengthening. As the first step in this process, the PASS/ETH pair was delisted and replaced with the brand new opportunity of PASS/USD. Lykke's mission is to build a new ecosystem for the outdated finance industry by leveraging the power of the blockchain. As a cryptocurrency exchange, Lykke has drawn acclaim and attention with its incredible zero trading fees and tiny buy-sell spreads for high-frequency trading.

Temenos and Mastercard Join Forces to Accelerate the Adoption of Request to Pay

Temenos, the cloud banking platform, announced a collaboration with Mastercard, a leading global technology company in the payments industry, that will help banks to accelerate their introduction of Request to Pay services in the UK. This new initiative combines pre-composed solutions on the Temenos Banking Cloud with market-certified Mastercard services, making it easier, faster and cheaper for financial institutions to introduce Request to Pay services.

CellPoint Digital Appointed by Virgin Atlantic and Holidays as Payment Partner

CellPoint Digital, a leading global provider of Digital Commerce and Payment Orchestration solutions, announces a new partnership with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays. The airline and holiday package provider will use CellPoint Digital’s full payment orchestration platform to seamlessly integrate new payment methods, new acquirers and stored card facilities, enabling reduced costs, increased acceptance rates and a better customer experience.  

Launches 

Citi Launches Latest Digital Money Index: The Rise of an Entrepreneurial State

Citi, in partnership with Imperial College Business School’s Centre for Financial Technology, has launched its latest Digital Money Index. The index, now in its eighth year, tracks 113 countries (up from 84 in previous years) in terms of their development of digital money readiness. The index continues to classify countries into four clusters – Incipient, Emerging, In-transition and Materially Ready - according to their levels of digital readiness. This year’s revamped index includes new indicators and profiles the progress made by several developing economies in driving digital money readiness.

Klarna Launches Nationwide SME Roadshow to Bring SME Leaders Together

Klarna, a leading global retail bank, payments, and shopping service that helps consumers save time and money, and be informed and in control, has launched its nationwide SME Roadshow to host panel discussions, networking events and drinks to bring small and medium retailers together. The roadshow’s announcement coincides with UK FinTech Week, one of the world's leading FinTech events which showcases innovation in the financial service sector.

Visa Announced Launch of NFT Programme

Visa has created a scheme to help non-fungible token artists expand their businesses. The company estimates that 50 million artists, musicians, designers, filmmakers, and other creators work full- or part-time to support a $100 billion economy. The new Visa Creator initiative will enable artists who want to use NFTs in their business model. Those chosen for the cohort will receive technical and product coaching from Visa's crypto experts, as well as access to other members, industry thought leaders, clients and partners.

CYOTC: Brand New Store Launch at Yuen Long

CYOTC has launched their store in Yuen Long, with free consultation seminars to help investors solve problems and assess risks. CYOTC provides exchange services for USD Tether and Hong Kong dollar and holds regular talks for beginners to gain knowledge of cryptocurrency investment. According to CoinGecko's data, as of March 8, the circulation of stablecoins on the entire network has exceeded $187.2 billion, of which USDT ranks first with $80.2 billion, and USDC ranks second with $52.6 billion.

BingX Introduces Innovative Spot Grid Copy Trading to Let Anyone Execute Consistent Trading Strategies

BingX, the leading crypto social trading platform, has introduced a new Spot Grid Copy Trading feature, offering unprecedented flexibility to users. As the name suggests, the system combines the benefits of Grid trading with that of Copy trading, using strategies from professional traders to earn money from crypto asset volatility. Grid trading is similar to providing liquidity on AMM DEXs, as it sets up gradual buy and sell orders in a defined range of prices. As long as the price oscillates within the band, users can make reliable profit from these fluctuations.

Klarna Launches ‘Klarna Kosma’ Sub-brand and Business Unit to Harness Rapid Growth of Open Banking Platform

Klarna, the leading global retail bank, payments, and shopping service that helps consumers save time and money, be informed and in control, launched ‘Klarna Kosma’, a sub-brand and business unit to harness the rapid growth of its world-leading Open Banking platform. By providing simple access to more banks than any other Open Banking provider, Kosma rapidly reduces the time for new fintech services to reach global scale and provides the essential building blocks for innovation in financial services. 

KPMG and Volante Technologies Launch Strategic Alliance for Real-Time Payments and ISO 20022 Modernization

Volante Technologies, the global leader in cloud payments and financial messaging, and KPMG are joiningforces to offer financial institutions comprehensive ISO 20022 and real-time payments (RTP) readiness diagnostics. The strategic alliance will offer banks a winning combination of cloud-native payment solutions and related advisory, enabling banks to modernize their payments processes and operations faster than ever. As a result, banks and payment service providers can start their real-time payments journey immediately with The Clearing House RTP®, and prepare for new instant payment schemes such as the FedNowSM Service as they become available.

CME Group Announces Launch of Micro-Sized Bitcoin and Ether Options

CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, launched options on Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether futures, further expanding its suite of cryptocurrency derivatives offerings. Options on Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether futures will complement CME Group's diverse slate of more than 20 Micro products, which, together, have traded more than 1.2 billion contracts since their introduction.  

Merger & Acquisition

Medius Acquires US-Based OnPay Solutions to Strengthen ‘Last Mile’ Payment Automation

Medius, a leading provider of accounts payable (AP) automation solutions, announced the acquisition of OnPay Solutions, an invoice payments provider, for an undisclosed sum. The deal will enable Medius to integrate payment processing – AP automation’s ‘last mile’ – directly into its source-to-pay platform, enhancing its customers’ operational efficiency and strengthening their anomaly, fraud and risk detection capabilities.Founded in 2009 with a mission to improve the lives of accounting professionals globally, and lead by Neal Anderson and Juliet Negrete-Anderson, OnPay Solutions helps its clients streamline AP processes and lower costs by automating invoice payments.

Deutsche Börse Group acquires leading fund data manager Kneip

Deutsche Börse Group is expanding its offering in the data services space by acquiring Kneip Communication S.A., a leading European fund data specialist. The companies have reached an agreement through which Deutsche Börse will acquire 100 percent of the Luxembourg-based fund data manager. Further terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of March this year.

Job Moves

Bybit Appoints Alphan Gogus As Its First General Manager For The Turkey Market

Bybit welcomed senior management executive, Alphan Gogus, as the regional general manager for Turkey. This appointment is part of Bybit's global expansion to support the emerging markets and develop a stronger presence locally with the crypto communities and regulators. When it comes to driving growth for the crypto business, and the development trajectory towards Web 3.0, in his words, "Turkey is fast emerging as a strategic market in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space. The local community has adopted not only mainstream coins but also embraced other utilities such as NFTs, fan tokens and gaming in the metaverse," said Gogus.

Saurabh Puri Joins Zaggle as the Chief Business Officer - Credit Cards

Zaggle, a profitable SaaS FinTech company and a pioneer in digitizing business spends, announced the appointment of Mr. Saurabh Puri as its Chief Business Officer - Credit Cards. Mr. Puri's appointment comes at an opportune time as the company prepares to enhance its product line by adding innovative offerings as part of a holistic service proposition for its users. He will work towards developing and leading the credit card business in partnership with Banks and NBFCs.  

DTCC Appoints Two Leaders In Financial Technology Innovation To Its Board Of Directors

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade infrastructure for the global financial services industry, announced that two new members were elected to its Board of Directors during the firm’s Annual Shareholders Meeting. The Board plays a critical role in setting the strategic direction of DTCC, providing oversight and offering guidance on topics including risk management, regulatory matters, technology, innovation and the development of new products and services. The new directors are William (Bill) Capuzzi of Apex Fintech Solutions and Kelley Conway of Northern Trust.

DataGuard Appoints Michelle Schrey as VP of Finance

DataGuard, the compliance software company with a focus on data privacy and information security, has hiredMichelle Schrey as VP of Finance. Schrey has over 10 years of experience in investment banking, corporate finance, enterprise SaaS, and digital payments. At DataGuard, Schrey will head the Finance and Business Intelligence teams. In her new role, London-based Schrey will help DataGuard solidify its position as a leading player in the field of Privacy, InfoSec, and Compliance (PIC).

Synchtank Appoints Janet Kirker as Chief Product Officer

Synchtank, a B2B SaaS company that provides asset and rights management and royalty accounting solutions for the music, media and production industries, announces the appointment, effective immediately, of Janet Kirker as Chief Product Officer. Kirker brings to Synchtank more than 20 years of entertainment industry experience in creative and administrative systems delivery, with a focus on intellectual property rights management and integration of rights with financial operations. Kirker will lead the company’s product roadmap and report to Rory Bernard, Chief Executive Officer.

Modern Treasury, a software platform that enables firms of all sizes handle money confidently, announced today a $50 million Series C financing led by SVB Capital and Salesforce Ventures. The round garnered $135 million at a valuation of over $2 billion. A new category of payment operations is emerging, updating the way organizations move and manage money, and facilitating the creation of new products that fuel growth in key industries like healthcare, real estate, and finance. 

Modern Treasury customers now reconcile over $2.8 billion per month, up from $1 billion a year ago. Modern Treasury clients include Gusto, TripActions, and Marqeta. Each year, customers send approximately $300 million in Real Time Payments (RTP) over the Modern Treasury platform. RTP is the first new payment rail in 40 years.

The Modern Treasury solution is attractive, easy to adopt, and scalable, said Katie Thiry, managing director, Salesforce Ventures. Innovating in the business-to-business payments area will enable organizations move money with trust. The complaints include sluggish payments, high payment failure rates, refunds, and data quality mistakes, according to a recent Harris Poll survey. Payment operations manage the whole payment cycle, from commencement to reconciliation and reporting. Modern Treasury automates every stage. 

We will continue to develop our ties with organizations who want to modernize money movement as well as banks that assist the world's most innovative companies,” stated Dimitri Dadiomov, Modern Treasury CEO and co-founder. “Salesforce Ventures and SVB Capital are long-term and valuable partners for Modern Treasury's future growth.” Modern Treasury provides a banking API and software to serve finance and treasury teams. It helps organizations design new products, manage payments through dashboard or API, and reconcile cash across numerous bank accounts. 

“Our ecosystem has seen increased adoption of payment operations, driven in part by Modern Treasury's platform and market vision,” stated Tilli Bannett, Managing Partner, SVB Capital. The company has swiftly become the gold standard for companies trying to better operationalize how they move money with certainty and scalability. Artisanal Ventures and NewView Capital also joined the round. 

New York and San Francisco have recently launched offices for Modern Treasury. With Ledgers and Virtual Accounts, direct bank interfaces, and different payment methods, customers can reconcile payments, track balances, and transactions for users within apps and goods. Modern Treasury has become a one-stop shop for companies looking to modernize their finance operations.

Citi, in partnership with Imperial College London revamp index to provide further insights into what is driving digital money readiness

Citi, in partnership with Imperial College Business School’s Centre for Financial Technology, has launched its latest Digital Money Index. The index, now in its eighth year, tracks 113 countries (up from 84 in previous years) in terms of their development of digital money readiness.

The index continues to classify countries into four clusters – Incipient, Emerging, In-transition and Materially Ready - according to their levels of digital readiness. This year’s revamped index includes new indicators and profiles the progress made by several developing economies in driving digital money readiness.

Naveed Sultan, Chairman ICG, commented: “Driving digital money readiness and adoption has not been easy, as has been evident in our previous reports.  It requires collaboration across economic stakeholders around a common digital vision, as well as a holistic digital policy. Such a holistic digital policy can enable countries to reap the full benefits of a digitized economy.”

The report explains that a holistic digital policy rests on four pillars, digital infrastructure, digital adoption, service innovation, and digital trust, driven by a clear vision and supported by robust regulations and governance. 

It advises that as a first step, governments must establish a digital vision that aligns with their larger goals, such as promoting growth, improving service delivery, and increasing public involvement, among others.

This year, results showed that countries that have augmented a holistic digital policy with targeted investments have performed particularly well. This was particularly evident in countries such as Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Estonia, and Uruguay, which have all outperformed their peers.

Ronit Ghose, global head of banking, fintech and digital assets commented: “It is evident in our latest findings that policymakers that played an active role, beyond enacting policies, have made considerable progress in driving digital adoption compared to peers. These entrepreneurial markets have had a bold vision, enacted favorable policies, and made investments to drive the vision.”

Deeph Chana, co-Director of the Centre for Financial Technology at Imperial College Business School commented: “I'm delighted to see the publication of this year’s Digital Money Index, which is a core element of our multi-year collaboration with Citi here at the Centre for Financial Technology. This latest version represents a significant advance in our research and development since the DMI was last published, with a refactored data ingestion and processing engine at its heart. The result is a DMI that uses machine learning methods to provide enhanced accuracy and timeliness, a greater ability to process new datasets as they emerge and establishes the basis for further improvements in the years to come."ф

Wealth8 has expanded its investment offering with the introduction of a J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) sustainable ETF to the platform’s current line-up. As of 1 April 2022, Wealth8 customers will be able to access the JPM Carbon Transition Global Equity UCITS ETF (ticker: JPCT).  

JPCT will offer investors at least 30% less carbon intensity than the MSCI World Index, and a year-on-year decarbonisation target of at least 7%, in line with the European Union’s Climate Transition Benchmark framework for sustainable investing.  

With the financial performance of sustainable investment opportunities and better understanding of the role companies can play in positively impacting society, Wealth8 believes their community will benefit from having access to these investment options as the new ISA season approaches. 

Edward Malcolm, Head of UK ETF Distribution at JPMAM, said: “We’re excited to be working with Wealth8 and supporting the sustainable investment goals of Wealth8 customers. As a growing number of investors explore the carbon transition readiness of their investment portfolios, many are keen to embark on this journey while maintaining broad diversification, a low tracking error and cost-efficiency. Our carbon transition global equity ETF has been designed to unite these needs as part of a sustainable ETF solution.” 

There is ample evidence that there needs to be greater awareness and understanding among the British public, and in our institutions, of the inextricable links between climate change, race and ethnicity. Climate change disproportionately impacts black and brown people and communities around the world. According to academic research by Friends of Earth, air pollution in the UK is concentrated in the 20% of the poorest neighbourhoods in England and areas with a greater proportion of black people. By investing in funds such as JPCT, consumers can affect the impacts of climate change on people of colour in a positive way while still simultaneously achieving their financial goals. 

Bimpe Nkontchou, Co-founder of Wealth8, said: “At Wealth8, we aim to close the wealth gap in the UK, and eventually on the African continent, by using fintech to promote financial literacy and provide easy access to investment solutions to an under-served community of black and multi-ethnic people. Our message is that everyone should have the ability to build wealth, even by starting with as little as £8.”  

At the end of last year, Wealth8 closed a £350,000 pre-seed round to help build up its resources for expansion in the UK. Starting with a focus on serving the UK and its large African and Caribbean community, the start-up’s plan is to expand into major economies on the African continent such as Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, to serve a wider range of people who have not previously been able to access these global funds due to various barriers. Investors in the pre-seed round included Tokunbo Ishmael of Alitheia Capital, Ventures Platform, Rising Tide Africa, Bold Angel Fund and a number of notable angel investors.  

As the first black-owned investment platform in the UK, Wealth8 was recently nominated for Fintech of the Year at the Black Tech Achievement Awards, which champions black achievement within the technology landscape in the UK.  

David Fisayo, Co-founder of Wealth8, adds: “We bring investment and wealth creation services to under-served communities while challenging the misconceptions that wealth management should be limited to individuals with significant amounts of money. J.P. Morgan has a long history of supporting the financial health of under-served communities through their Advancing Black Pathways and other programmes, recognising the importance of tackling conversations around wealth, equality and inclusion. We're excited to have J.P. Morgan on board and to benefit from their experience and expertise to support our mission.” 

Wealth8 offers an iOS and Android mobile app. Visit www.wealth-8.com to download the app or search ‘Wealth8’ in the App Store.