Free Tax Calculator Simplifies Estimated Taxes Owed for Quarterly or Annual Tax Filings
For 1099 Self-Employed Individuals

FlyFin, a fintech provider, unveiled a free 1099 income tax calculator ideal for individuals who receive 1099 Forms. Powered by FlyFin's proprietary A.I. and M.L. technology, FlyFin’s 1099 Tax Calculator makes it easy for 1099 self-employed individuals to compute their quarterly or annual income taxes owed quickly. Individuals who receive 1099 Forms are self-employed, sub-contractors, independent contractors, gig workers, freelancers, and creator economy workers. To use the free, self-employed tax calculator, a self-employed individual needs to download and install FlyFin’s mobile app and spend 10-to-15 minutes to obtain a self employment tax rate and calculation. FlyFin squarely addresses 1099 self-employed individuals and independent contractors’' tax preparation pain, including accounting and tax filing uncertainties and knowing what 1099 deductions qualify. With FlyFin, users can meet deadlines to avoid tax penalties.

1099 Form: What, When, and Why

A 1099 Form is a record that an entity or person reports about money paid to an individual during the tax year. Trades or businesses make payments for rents, services provided, attorney fees, interest and dividends to investors, prizes and awards, or other income payments. When these payments are at least $600, the IRS requires that the trade or business (Payer) complete a 1099 MISC Form and send copies to the individual and IRS --  typically before January 31st, for the previous year's income.
FlyFin: Like Autopilot for your taxes

FlyFin helps users stay on top of expenses as they occur -- year-round. FlyFin’s continuous expense tracking is a fundamentally different paradigm shift for the tax preparation industry that focuses on a once-per-year basis. FlyFin's Man + Machine tax engine works in the background 24/7, 365 days per year, automatically scanning expense accounts daily to suggest which category to classify each expense based on profession. FlyFin's A.I. and CPAs find all possible self employment tax deductions. Users also have access to the domain expertise of tax CPAs, who review each 1099 self-employed individual's tax information and provide expert help to maximize 1099 tax deductions. Users have the option to consult FlyFin’s team of CPAs within the app and have its CPAs file their taxes for just $192. FlyFin ensures 100% accurate tax review and tax preparation, or users can also export their data in an IRS-ready format.

A guide to how Fintechs can work with the existing financial system, and how disruptive startups can partner with Banks

Today Payhawk, the growing platform that combines expense, payment and invoice management in one solution, and Curve, the fast-growing financial super app, announce Fintechs and Big Banks: How innovation is shaping finance for businesses and consumers, a guide on how fintechs work alongside the established financial services sector, and in particular banks, to offer greater trust and value to both businesses and consumers.

For companies just starting out, or those moving towards adopting fintech, it can be difficult to access reliable information that gives a realistic picture of both the benefits and considerations of using fintech in business.

Fintechs and Big Banks: How innovation is shaping finance for businesses and consumers was written by experts from both Payhawk and Curve who wanted to deliver a resource that can educate and inform readers; explaining how fintechs and traditional financial firms can work together and summarising the main regulations that enable fintechs to thrive. It uses case studies from both Payhawk (B2B) and Curve (B2C) to demonstrate the benefits that fintech offers to both customers and the individual economy.

Fintechs and Big Banks: How innovation is shaping finance for businesses and consumers shares information on how fintechs fit within the wider financial system, regulations relating to financial technology, and two case studies of fintechs working alongside banks. Company case studies featured in the guide include Payhawk clients GtmHub, Viking Life and ATU, as well as Curve partners Samsung, Huawei and Swatch.

The guide is aimed at companies and consumers who want to educate themselves on the fintech sector, and understand how both streams work together in order to create innovation and build trust. The ebook is now accessible via the Payhawk website.

Hristo Borisov, CEO and Co-Founder of Payhawk, says, “We are delighted to partner with Curve to deliver a practical resource that benefits companies adopting fintech solutions in order to drive their businesses forward, as well as consumers who wish to know more about the systems that influence their financial lives. Payhawk and Curve share a purpose: to empower our customers to understand and control their finances. Therefore whilst it is important to offer a product solution, it is also of paramount importance to provide accessible and informative education too.”

Shachar Bialick, CEO and Founder of Curve, says, “As a platform, Payhawk works in a similar way to Curve, joining the dots between different parts of the financial system in a way that greatly benefits the customer. Curve is the financial super-app that helps customers take control of their financial lives. Whilst we work for consumers, Payhawk has extensive knowledge of how to simplify payments for business clients. So it made sense for us both to partner, to share what works with companies and to give a broad view of fintech across industries.”

The leading global market research company Forrester has included Vilja, as the only Nordic digital banking platform vendor, in their newly published report: Now Tech: Digital Banking Processing Platforms (Retail Banking), Q1 2022, authored by Forrester vice president and principal analyst Jost Hoppermann.

The overview is based on market presence and functionality. Vilja’s core banking platform is identified in the New School vendor functionality segment. Vendors in this segment offer “state-of-the-art technology.”

The report defines digital banking processing platform (DBPP) as: “A comprehensive but modular/componentized set of banking applications designed to cover areas such as retail or corporate banking. Further, digital banking processing platforms comprise core banking functions and support processes in near real-time, provide insightful information, allow rapid product development, and expose their business capabilities via APIs.”

According to the report, the digital banking platforms help banks and fintech companies to “prepare their application landscapes for continuous change… deliver new banking capabilities fast and build on them to differentiate…[and] seamlessly support business processes.”

“We are delighted to be recognized in the New School vendor functionality segment by Forrester. As the only Nordic player included in this report, we are convinced that to succeed you need to have an end-to-end digital solution that enables banks and fintech companies to offer innovative, flexible and scalable products. To allow this, a rock-solid API first strategy is vital. Being strong in the Nordic region, our next step is to get a bigger footprint in Europe.” says Fredrik Ulvenholm, CEO at Vilja.

Download the full report here.

NATWEST LAUNCHES CARBON TRACKER PILOT TO HELP SMES GO AND GROW GREENER

●        New research from NatWest reveals 87% of UK SMEs are unaware of their businesses carbon emissions

●        Almost half (45%) say it’s important to lower carbon emissions in the next five years 

●        NatWest Carbon Tracker app being piloted with eligible SMEs in the manufacturing and transport sectors

●        Pilot follows bank’s £100bn Climate and Sustainable Funding and Finance ambition and Springboard to Sustainable Recovery report

NatWest research has today revealed that 87% of UK SMEs are unaware of their business’s total carbon emissions, despite good intentions - with almost half (45%) of UK SMEs recognising it is important to lower their emissions in the near future.

These stark statistics follow NatWest’s publication of the ‘Springboard to Sustainability’ report, which detailed that, with the right support the UK’s six million SMEs can contribute to up to 50% of the UK’s Net Zero decarbonisation goals by 2030 worth an estimated £160 billion in revenue.

To help address this crucial gap between intent and knowledge, the bank has launched the NatWest Carbon Tracker app which provides SMEs with an estimate of their carbon footprint. The app, developed in partnership with carbon tracking expert Cogo, will be piloted with eligible SMEs in the manufacturing and transport sectors to allow those SMEs to trial the app, with no fee being payable for use, before NatWest looks to roll the Carbon Tracker out to eligible SMEs more widely. This will help to address the need outlined by almost half (46%) of SMEs who stated they would find an emissions tracker tool helpful.

On downloading the app and linking it to their business accounts, SMEs will be able to review their transactions and estimated carbon footprint, see their estimated emissions over time, and compare them month-on-month. The app also suggests ways that SMEs may be able to reduce carbon emissions and learn more about the support available to help them go and grow greener. These suggestions include switching to electric vehicles and moving to renewable energy and other changes that could reduce emissions and could save SMEs money on their energy bills.

The SME pilot follows the successful rollout of the carbon footprint tracking feature to retail customers last year in partnership with carbon tracking expert Cogo to help them understand the environmental impact of their spending and to give tips on how they can cut their carbon footprint. More than 150,000 retail customers have used the carbon tracker since launch in November 2021.

The NatWest Carbon tracker is the latest product innovation introduced by the bank, empowering SMEs to play their part in meeting the critical climate challenge facing the UK. In February, NatWest launched Green Loans and Green Asset Finance propositions for qualifying SMEs, with no arrangement fee, which will allow businesses to invest in sustainable energy, transport, buildings and agriculture.

This follows the partnership launched in 2021 with green energy provider Octopus Energy to help businesses transition to greener transport by offering NatWest customers electric vehicle (EV) chargers at discounted rates and access to Octopus Energy’s public charging network.

Andrew Harrison, Head of Business Banking, NatWest Group said:
“As the UK’s biggest bank for business, we know many SMEs are unsure about where to start on their sustainability journey, and many don’t have the time or resources needed to understand their environmental impact.

“However, with the right support, our research shows that by 2030, it will make financial sense for up to 70% of UK businesses to reduce emissions.

“Opportunities exist across all sectors of the economy, but the Transport and Industrial sectors provide the most urgent and immediate positive business cases.

“At NatWest, we want to lead the way in helping businesses across the UK to tackle climate change and to grow greener. A free and quick view of their carbon footprint can help businesses move in the right direction to cut emissions, gain a competitive edge, grow and future proof their business as the UK works towards making a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030.”
Emma Kisby, UK and Europe CEO at Cogo said: "SMEs are absolutely vital to the UK economy. Making up half of turnover in the private sector, they are a key player in addressing the climate challenge.

“As a small business ourselves, we know the challenges and opportunities faced when it comes to making meaningful change in this area. It can be daunting and complex. SMEs need quick and easy solutions that will help them understand their carbon emissions, whilst also highlighting the changes that can make a material difference to reducing their emissions.

“The launch of the SME pilot programme marks an important extension of our already successful partnership with NatWest, with our carbon tracking now available to 8 million of its customers.

“This shows the power of collective action and the magic that can happen when big players in the financial industry partner with sustainability experts. Greater industry collaboration will help us to deliver the scale and pace of change that is needed for our planet.”

To sign up for the pilot, eligible businesses must:

●        Have a NatWest Business current or credit account and be registered for Online Banking or Mobile Banking

●        Operate in one of the following sectors and sub-sectors:

o   Manufacturing (textiles/food and drink/construction/ building materials)

o   Transport (automotive sales/maintenance and repairs/automotive rental/transport and logistics)

●        Have an annual turnover of less than £2m

●        Be either a sole trader, partnership or limited company registered and/or with a principal place of business in the UK

●        have an iPhone 6 and above

NatWest uses Open Banking to connect your account and analyse your transaction data. Terms and conditions apply.

To apply, SMEs should contact a NatWest Relationship Manager to confirm their eligibility or go to www.natwest.com/business/green-banking/carbon-tracker.html  

Climate Hub – aiming to help SMEs go and grow greener

The NatWest Climate Hub features tips, insights and tools aiming to help all UK SMEs act now to tackle climate change, by reducing emissions and unlocking green growth opportunities. It brings together resources, products and services that address some of the gaps identified in NatWest’s A Springboard to Sustainability report, as well as educating SMEs around the financial benefits of transitioning towards Net Zero. Businesses can find out more at www.natwest.com/climatehub

●      Climate tech company Lune has announced a funding round led by Crane, with participation from 15 angel investors

●      Lune’s API and low/no code tools enable companies to integrate emissions calculations and carbon removal into their existing products and services

●      By making climate impact a part of the customer experience, it fundamentally shifts the narrative from ‘climate impact as a cost centre’ to ‘climate impact as a growth driver’

●      The funding will be used to expand the team: the company is hiring across several functions

Delivering climate impact initiatives is often seen as a cost centre and a big undertaking, which has led to businesses being slow to act. Lune aims to change this by offering an API and software tools to make it easy for any business to integrate climate impact into their customer experience – starting with carbon emissions calculations and carbon removal. By making it a seamless part of the customer experience, businesses can turn real impact into a growth driver.

Today, the company announces a $4m funding round led by early-stage VC Crane, with participation from 15 reputable angel investors, including Maximilian Tayenthal (co-founder of N26), Fredrik Hjelm (co-founder of Voi) and Tony Jamous (co-founder of OysterHR & Nexmo). 

In many industries today, such as payments and banking, it is almost impossible to find any climate-friendly services – despite consumers actively searching for visibly climate-friendly products. Lune’s research shows that over 70% of European consumers want a “green payment method” that tackles climate change. And in the retail space, three in four consumers are more loyal to brands that offset the carbon footprint of a purchase.

To address these challenges, Erik Stadigh, formerly a VC investor at Crane, and Roberto Bruggemann, most recently a Principal Engineer at Freetrade, co-founded Lune on a mission to make every product and service climate positive by default.

Erik Stadigh, co-founder of Lune, explains: “The status quo today is to create a Sustainability Report, which will be buried somewhere on a company’s website – far away from the eyes of most customers. As such, the business never sees any commercial return in this area. Sustainability remains a cost centre and struggles to compete with revenue-generating initiatives.

“We founded Lune to make prioritising climate impact a no-brainer for growth-minded businesses. By integrating it into their customer experience, businesses increase customer acquisition, engagement, and loyalty – while having a measurably positive impact on the planet. And with Lune’s API and low/no code tools for emissions calculations and carbon removal, we aim to make it so easy that there’s no excuse not to do it.”

Lune partners directly with carbon project developers across the world to curate a diverse list of high-impact and innovative projects. With Lune’s API, a retailer can automatically calculate carbon emissions of a purchase and pay to neutralise it, while transparently allowing consumers to engage in the choice of carbon project. In a similar manner, payments companies can allow their merchant customers to contribute to removing CO2 from the atmosphere with every transaction.

Lune is still in the early stages of commercialisation but is already experiencing strong user uptake. Lune’s customers include payments and fintech companies TrueLayer and Yapily, retail and logistics firms Apex Rides and Budbee, and global design company IDEO, among others.

Francesco Simoneschi, co-founder & CEO of TrueLayer, explains: “It is essential that every business becomes more climate friendly. For TrueLayer, doing right for our planet is important, an ethos shared by both our customers and our employees. Lune was the easiest way for our business to take the first steps, have a real impact, and continue building the future of the payments industry.”

Roberto Bruggemann, Lune’s co-founder, describes an additional benefit in integrating carbon removal into products: “An individual payments or software company’s carbon footprint is relatively small. They should put effort into reducing it but, in the grand scheme of things, the impact on fighting climate change will be small. However, by giving all of their customers an easy path to contribute to carbon removal, the positive impact is exponential – and far more effective than going it alone.”

Scott Sage, Partner at Crane comments: “Lune’s innovation has come at the right time. There’s never been more interest in climate and sustainability – from consumers and businesses alike. As investors, we've seen how every company has become a software company over the past decade. Similarly, we believe that Lune will enable every company to become a climate company.”

The majority of the funding will be used to expand the team, enabling Lune to build more products to better serve its customers. The company is currently hiring across several functions spanning tech, product, commercial, and carbon markets.

• The new solution makes it easier for businesses to manage cash flow, expands payment options and helps suppliers get paid on time
• Nearly two-thirds of suppliers experienced increased payment times from large businesses during the pandemic, and 50,000 small businesses go under each year due to late payments
• Mastercard Track™ is a suite of products and services that are already benefiting businesses around the world, with HSBC the first issuer to bring the Card to Account Transfer solution to the UK

Today, Mastercard launches a new business-to-business (B2B) payment solution in the UK - Mastercard Track Card to Account Transfer – which allows businesses to use their commercial card programme to make payments to any supplier, regardless of whether the supplier accepts card payments.

The new solution can help businesses manage cash flow, eliminate manual work and expand payment options as suppliers receive card payments from buyers directly in their bank account.  Mastercard issuers will be able to offer the solution to their corporate and business customers.

HSBC is the first issuer to launch the solution in early 2022. HSBC business customers can use Card to Account Transfer to reduce payment friction and improve efficiency in accounts payable processes. They will be able to generate insights on company-wide spend to make better decisions, manage risk more effectively, and optimise liquidity and working capital in a cost-effective way. The early payment option of Card to Account Transfer will also help to enhance corporate responsibility and supply chain resilience by supporting smaller suppliers.

During the pandemic, average payment times for large companies to pay suppliers increased to over 37 days, while the share of invoices paid later than 60 days has reached a four-year high. ¹ As a result, 62% of small businesses say they’ve experienced either an increase in late payments or had payments frozen completely². This delay can have a significant impact on their ability to thrive, with FSB estimating that 50,000 small businesses fold each year due to late payments³.

Card to Account Transfer is one of many solutions within the Mastercard Track suite of products and services for businesses that address payment and collection challenges for buyers and suppliers by reducing complexity and risk, cutting costs, and automating processes. Card to Account Transfer also allows banks and issuing customers to offer businesses a working capital solution providing greater efficiency in cashflow and accounts payable processes.

“Mastercard is focussed on putting an end to the operational and financial challenges created by inefficient processes in B2B payments. With the new Mastercard Track Card to Account Transfer solution we are offering even more choices to banks in how they provide and adapt value-added services to their business customers,” said Kelly Devine, Division President, Mastercard UK & Ireland. “Particularly in these difficult times, it’s critically important for businesses to have flexible and dependable payment options to smooth cashflow throughout the supply chain.”

Brian Tomkins, Global Head of Commercial Cards at HSBC, said: “This enhancement is a further step forward in the convergence of B2B Cards and traditional payments. Mastercard Track Card to Account transfer combines the security and working capital benefits of HSBC’s Virtual Cards with real-time-payments. Allowing our customers to make early payments while utilising the credit terms on their underlying card account, for extended days to pay. A number of customers are already benefiting from the service and we expect to see continued growth in this space more Mastercard Track ecosystem use-cases to come.”

TrueLayer, Europe’s leading open banking platform, today announces that former Amazon executive David Exposito has joined the firm in the newly created role of VP of EU Sales, where he will manage commercial operations and development, including the company’s European Country Managers.

A highly experienced commercial manager, with more than a decade working in payments and ecommerce, Madrid-based David joins TrueLayer as it continues its rapid European growth. The company recently expanded its open banking platform for data, verification and account-to-account payments with connectivity to leading banks in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Portugal.

“Payments are undergoing a fundamental shift, driven by changing consumer expectations, merchant demand and technologies that can deliver a better experience. Open banking is a catalyst for change with higher acceptance rates, lower fraud and instant settlement,” commented Exposito. “TrueLayer is at the forefront of that evolution and I'm excited to be on that journey as we look to change the way the world pays.”

David joins TrueLayer from Amazon where he worked for eight years across several senior positions, most recently as a EU Head overseeing physical distribution and managing multiple payments products including the firm’s EU  Branded Currency Portal. Prior to that role, he was Amazon’s Head of B2B channel in France, Italy and Spain, having previously been Amazon’s Head of Corporate Partnerships in Spain where he collaborated with major brands to help them achieve their digital transformation objectives using different Amazon corporate tools.

An entrepreneur at heart, David has held senior leadership roles in multinational companies including Transcom and the European Space Agency. He is also a successful founder having built and sold AdFiedlia, a Spanish incentive portal that developed the first Facebook app for P2P gift distribution and a B2B platform for employee rewards. 

Max Emilson, Chief Revenue Officer at TrueLayer, added: “TrueLayer is attracting the top talent from across the payments industry, bringing together experts from the likes of Adyen, Amazon, Klarna and others to take open banking payments mainstream. David’s commercial mindset coupled with his experience of working with complex, multinational merchants will be crucial for us as we accelerate our European expansion.”