Published

  • 07:00 am

One of the leading providers of macroeconomic and financial time series solutions, Macrobond, has appointed Klaus Holse as new Chairperson to support further growth and expansion. Klaus has a background as CEO of SimCorp, Corporate VP at Microsoft, and Senior VP at Oracle. 

Klaus Holse is currently Chairperson of open banking firm Tink AB, cloud platform SuperOffice AS, vertical software company EG A/S and payroll firm Zenegy A/S. In addition, he is also Vice Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of Industriens Arbejdsgivere in Denmark and Dansk Industri. He has previously held the positions of CEO of SimCorp for eight years, Corporate VP at Microsoft for eleven years and he has also been Senior VP at Oracle. At Microsoft, he was President of Western Europe, leading the largest area outside of the US. 

“Macrobond is on a very strong growth trajectory, and I’m looking forward to supporting the company with my experience in software, technology and entering new markets. I am delighted to be appointed Chairperson and I’m looking forward to working with CEO Tomas Liljeborg, the management team and with Nordic Capital as owners, to support further growth and expansion,” says Klaus Holse.

With his impressive experience and excellent track record from the IT and software industry, Klaus Holse will act as Chairperson for select Nordic Capital portfolio companies within the technology and financial services sectors, including Macrobond and Vizrt, a global leader in software for live video production.

"Nordic Capital is excited to be part of Macrobond’s development, supporting the business through its continued international expansion strategy whilst also strengthening its offering within financial software. Klaus has a remarkable experience of international technology companies, including a great knowledge of vertical software solutions, growth and value creation, which makes him an excellent Chairperson for the continued growth journey of Macrobond. Nordic Capital’s network of Senior Advisors plays an important role in supporting the successful and sustainable development of the portfolio companies and we are confident that Klaus will bring very valuable expertise to further support Macrobond on its growth journey, says Emil Anderson, Principal, Nordic Capital Advisors.

Klaus will succeed John McAdam as Chairperson. “Nordic Capital would like to take this opportunity to thank John for his contributions as Chairperson of Macrobond,” Emil Anderson, adds.

Today, Macrobond has approximately 220 employees in Europe, Asia, and the United States and has revenues of approx. EUR 25 mn. Nordic Capital acquired Macrobond in 2018 and has, in close partnership with the management team, supported its continued expansion and invested to further strengthen its service offering and position across several jurisdictions.

Technology & Payments is one of Nordic Capital’s focus sectors where it has a long and extensive history and experience of investing and supporting sustainable growth in technology software companies. Nordic Capital has significant experience in software as well as payments and has deployed more than EUR 5.6 billion of equity across 24 technology companies since 2001, including former and current investments such as Bambora, Cint, Trustly, Conscia, Siteimprove, Board International and Signicat.

Related News

  • 03:00 am

Accounting app Binderr has tapped into Nordigen’s freemium open banking platform to gain account information for their client operations.  

Binderr is a Malta-based business finance and automated accounting platform, created with freelancers and SMEs in mind. Binderr opts for simplified processes and options that save time for their clients, such as quick invoice creation, expense reports updated with photographed receipts and clear real-time financial insights. The platform also boasts an innovative tax system, with automatic updates to VAT and income tax returns with every transaction. 

“The main objective of our platform is to create a solution for business owners and freelancers that removes accounting worries and automates the process instead. This way entrepreneurs can focus on their ideas, growth and development, rather than performing a repetitive process that can be performed through our algorithms, technology and Nordigen’s APIs,'' explains Jacob Appel, CEO of Binderr. 

Nordigen enables Binderr to perform automated accounting procedures by providing an interface whereby client's data is safely sourced from their bank account and communicated securely to the platform. This information includes transactions, as well as all surrounding information in relation to dates, names and context. 

“Binderr has created a way to adjust the usual accounting process into a simplified task for busy business owners and self-employed individuals. The priority here is saving time and removing the necessity for manual input. We’re delighted that Nordigen is able to support Binderr on their journey to easier budgeting with real-time financial data.” noted Rolands Mesters, co-founder and CEO of Nordigen.

Related News

  • 07:00 am
  • Hiring for risk and compliance specialists in banks up 98.9% year-on-year
  • Overall banking jobs in UK hit all-time monthly record in January 2022
  • Credit analyst (560%) and KYC compliance (193%) roles in fastest growth
  • Nationwide and NatWest experience rapid growth in R&C jobs

Banks are publishing record numbers of risk and compliance jobs in the UK following an unprecedented year of regulatory initiatives and a flurry of upcoming changes expected in 2022, a new report says.

According to research by global recruiters Morgan McKinley and data analysts Vacancysoft, banks sought 8,750 risk and compliance (R&C) specialists in 2021, representing a 98.9% year-on-year increase and up 67.3% on pre-pandemic levels.

Jobs rose further in 2022 with banks publishing 850 R&C vacancies published in January, 87.6% more than the same month in 2019. Overall banking vacancies, meanwhile, hit an all-time monthly high of 2,990 new jobs — breaking the previous record, set in October 2021, by 3.1%.

Ben Harris, Associate Director, Head of Governance, Compliance, IA and Risk Management, Morgan McKinley, said: "The start of 2022 saw a dramatic improvement in risk, compliance and financial crime recruitment. Hiring for permanent risk and compliance professionals was busy at the end of 2021 and showed no signs of slowing down — to the backdrop of what people called “The Great Resignation” and the post-pandemic bounce-back predicted for financial services.

“With the easing of coronavirus measures banks, having made significant cuts to their staff, needed talent to join their teams again. The recruitment market is candidate-led, with job-seekers in 2022 being offered multiple options. In addition, the onset of bonus season will flood the market with talent that wasn’t previously looking, requiring institutions to move quickly on offering roles."

Credit analyst and KYC compliance roles experience the fastest growth

Out of specialist roles within R&C, functions focusing solely on compliance have made up the bulk of all hiring since at least 2019, totalling nearly 1,800 jobs in 2021. This accounts for 29.1% of all R&C roles — and an uptick of 57.4% year-on-year.

The most notable surges in recruitment, however, were for KYC compliance and credit analysts, with hiring levels up 192.7% and 560% year-on-year, respectively. Vacancies for KYC specialists were the most resilient in 2020 — the first year of the pandemic — with numbers up 21.7% year-on-year while hiring for other R&C functions floundered.

Citi publishes most R&C jobs; Nationwide & NatWest with fastest growth in hiring

 Citi finished 2021 as the dominant hirer of R&C specialists in the UK, publishing nearly 920 vacancies, a rise of 84.7% year-on-year and 470.2% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Jobs at Santander were up 185.8% year-on-year (82.3% up on 2019). JPMorgan, second in 2021, recorded nearly 500 new R&C jobs.

 Top 20 companies, professional R&C vacancies in banking, UK, 2019-2022* 

#

Company

2019

2020

2021

2022*

YOY 21/20

1

Citi

161

497

918

72

84.7%

2

Santander

243

155

443

64

185.8%

3

Barclays

242

176

409

54

132.4%

4

NatWest Group

134

65

278

46

327.7%

5

JPMorgan Chase & Co

155

166

492

32

196.4%

6

Nationwide Building Society

180

46

326

30

608.7%

Vacancies at Nationwide saw the biggest year-on-year surge out of the top 20 banks, with R&C hiring levels up 608.7% year-on-year and 81.1% in relation to 2019. The smallest rise was at Deutsche Bank, where recruitment grew by only 12.8% year-on-year.

Ben continued: "There has been a general increase in salaries across risk disciplines as demand for specific skill sets increases, leading to average pay increases of 20-25%, and even higher in some cases. We have also noted some very aggressive counteroffers, as firms do all they can to hang onto key talent. We expect this trend to certainly continue well into the second half of 2022."

Related News

  • 05:00 am

~Will be using the funds to accelerate mission to make banking easier for 30 million users~ 

Niyo, the consumer neo-banking platform, has raised $100 million in its Series C round of funding. The company will be using the funds to accelerate its mission to transform banking in India, and to provide convenient and hassle-free financial services to digital native customers. 

This Series C round of funding was led by Accel & Lightrock India with participation from Beams Fintech Fund. Existing investors Prime Venture Partners, JS Capital are also participating in this round along with others. 

Niyo offers digital savings accounts and other banking services in partnership with banks. The company currently serves about 4 million customers across its banking and wealth management products with over 10,000 new users added daily to its platform. Niyo is processing over US$3 billion of transactions making it the largest consumer neo-banking platform in India. 

The company will utilize the funds for product innovation, marketing and branding, increasing its distribution footprint, and hiring top talent across functions. Niyo is also looking to provide comprehensive financial services to over 30 million users through both organic and inorganic expansion over time making banking a delightful and secure experience.  

Niyo has launched India’s first fully digital salary account this month and is in the process of launching personal loans, credit cards, integrated forex. and other banking products in the next three months. The company was founded in 2015 by Vinay Bagri and Virender Bisht who are veterans in the banking and technology domains.  

Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to Niyo on the transaction. 

Niyo Co-founder and CEO Vinay Bagri said, “We have always strived to offer tangible value and a delightful experience to our customers. In the process, we are transforming the way India banks. We are excited to partner with Accel, Lightrock & Beams on our journey as we look to accelerate the mission of taking pathbreaking digital banking products to millions of users in India and positively impact their financial well-being.” 

Anand Daniel, partner at Accel, said, “We are excited to back the fastest growing neo-bank in India, Niyo. Vinay, Viren and team have built a fantastic product with a clear value prop for customers which is reflected in their phenomenal growth. We look forward to partnering with Niyo in changing the way India banks.” 

Ashish Garg, Principal at Lighrock India said, “We are extremely excited about the potential of Niyo in re-imagining the banking experience for millions of users in India across the income pyramid. Neobanks are an emerging asset class in India and believe that the quality of Niyo’s team, customer understanding and technology stack will enable them emerge as the leader of the space.” 

Niyo Co-founder and CTO Virender Bisht said, “We are seeing massive tailwinds for digital financial products since COVID. Launched less than a year ago, our first-of-a-kind product offering “NiyoX” is democratizing the superior digital banking experience for users, and has witnessed tremendous user adoption. With this raise, we aim to expand the product suite for our customers and meet their growing expectations.” 

Related News

  • 07:00 am

While AI and Machine to Machine (M2M) technology are nothing new, they are being deployed with greater speed and efficiency, and in more contexts within the South African payments and e-commerce environment. According to Andrew Springate, CEO of tech and financial gateway service provider PAYM8, the real potential of these technologies is just starting to be realised.

Says Springate, “We’ve known for some time how AI helps businesses enhance the experience of their customers by offering a method of data analysis assisting with model and trend analysis. This has been vital for payment brands in generating repeat business and building a loyal customer base. Use of AI and M2M is undoubtedly on the increase which is good news for end-customers and for businesses too.”

Now that AI and M2M are fast becoming more entrenched, merchants are reaping the benefits of ever more integrated and secure payment solutions. “On a practical level this technology can provide merchants such as debit order collectors with real insight into, by way of example, a debtors’ employment sector and the best debit order collection dates.” 

Springate says having factual insight into specific trends is the entryway to increased operational efficiencies and accurate decisions. “Armed with critical data trends and other valuable information using M2M and AI learnings, organisations are empowered to make systematic payment processing decisions. For example, switching between primary and secondary payment channels in order to minimise the risk of bounced debit orders.”

PAYM8’s own intelligent payments platform, AXIS, gives businesses greater control over their payments journey. The platform allows choice in the transaction method that is the most suitable and the one that makes the most economic sense.

“The e-commerce and payments industry demands choice and flexibility. Solutions that deliver on the need for interoperability between transaction types will win out over those that do not. Merchants require a complete remit of transaction processes from collections to digital commerce to daily transaction management in a way that is simple, seamless and frictionless,” notes Springate.

From an industry that barely existed just two short decades ago, Springate says e-commerce, and with it, online payments, have skyrocketed to occupy a commanding position in today’s connected global economy. “The entire payments and retail ecosystem continues to transform before our very eyes. The opportunities in South Africa and the rest of the continent are immense as smart technologies, like AI and M2M, are put to good use in best of breed payment solutions.”

Related News

  • 04:00 am

Identity verification leader surpasses $100M revenue and 150 million cumulative verifications, adding Volkswagen Financial Services, DBS Bank, and Orange as customers

Onfido, the global identity verification and authentication provider simplifying identity for everyone, today announced a breakthrough year for 2021. The company grew revenue 90% year-over-year to over $100 million, and achieved 134% year-over-year growth in the US.

In September 2021, Onfido’s digital identity checks surpassed 100 million, and just five months later, increased 50%, hitting 150 million, marking another major milestone for the company. To meet the increasing demand for Onfido’s verification and authentication services, the company expanded its workforce by 50%, to 600 employees, investing in research and development, advanced AI-powered fraud detection capabilities and customer success for enterprises worldwide.

With Goode Intelligence predicting that the number of identity verification checks will grow from 1.1 billion last year to 3.8 billion in 2026, it is clear that the demand for digital identity verification services is set to continue its explosive growth.

"Our strong year reflects the continued shift towards the critical adoption of digital environments where businesses are adapting to meet their users online," said Mike Tuchen, CEO at Onfido. "With $56bn lost to identity theft in 2020 alone1, a fast, simple and secure online journey is imperative when it comes to building customer trust, which is why we are continuing to invest in our workforce, technology, research and development."

Other 2021 highlights:

Product innovation

Onfido launched Face Authenticate, adding a fast and seamless biometric face authenticator as well as new security tools, including Onfido Private Key Encryption to its product offering. Leveraging its award-winning AI technology, users simply take a photo of their government-issued identity document (ID). Onfido then verifies the ID and matches it to the document data provided when their real identity was established at registration. This way, companies can now go beyond safely onboarding new users for Know Your Customer (KYC) or compliance purposes by providing a safe and frictionless way for trusted users to re-access existing accounts within seconds. Face Authenticate quickly re-grants access for times such as updating personal account information, initiating high-value transactions, or accessing new products and services.

Earlier in 2021, Onfido announced the acquisition of EYN, whose industry-first acoustic liveness technology uses audible sound and ultrasound wavelengths from a mobile device to actively probe for the presence of a live person, much like a sonar system. It adds an additional layer of security to image-based biometric anti-spoofing capabilities to give customers greater assurances that their remotely onboarded users are who they say they are. The technology is currently being integrated into Onfido’s existing image-based liveness detection solution.

Continued customer momentum

As demand for fast and secure digital access increases, Onfido had a number of new customers and expanded partnerships in 2021. Some highlights of global customers added included financial services: Volkswagen Financial Services, DBS Bank, Lemonway, and BUX; gaming providers: Soft2Bet and Games247; telecommunications company Orange; and healthcare unicorn Doctolib.

"Scrive and Onfido bring the experience and expertise we were looking for to provide a thoroughly modern, secure financing experience for our dealerships and their customers," said Titus Ackah-Sanzah, Product Owner at Volkswagen Financial Services UK. "The response from our dealers is very positive: a clear, easy-to-follow process that streamlines the purchase experience and expedites the payout time."

"Our vision is to become a digital-first telco offer and provide new experiences for our customers," said Artur Stankiewicz, Chief Marketing and Digital Officer, Orange Poland. "Nowadays, customers are looking for solutions and services that are easily available – just the way they need them and whenever they need them, fully online. Onfido helps us bridge that gap, enabling us to know our customers in a fully online manner."

Following the successful launch of Onfido’s Salesforce integration, Cala Homes integrated Onfido’s AppExchange solution to accelerate the purchase of a new home. The Nottingham, a UK building society (credit union), also implemented the solution explaining that it reduced customer friction in its customer onboarding process:

"We’re 164 years old and still very paper-based," said Scott Devereaux, Head of Innovation, The Nottingham. "Onfido lets us take away paper and form filling by bringing in facial recognition and doc verification which really speeds up the onboarding process and helps build trust with our customers."

Expanded leadership team

In 2021, Onfido bolstered its leadership team with a number of strategic hires including Alex Valle as Chief Product Officer (former GM at Criteo; Head of Mobile Ad Products at Google); Faisal Chughtai as Chief Financial Officer (former CFO of Inxeption and Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase); Nello Franco as Chief Customer Officer (former Managing Director of Customer Operations at Vista Consulting Group and SVP Customer Success at Talend); Nate Skinner as Chief Marketing Officer (former SVP of Global Marketing for Oracle’s Advertising and Customer Experience business). Onfido also appointed two new board members in Sue Barsamian (also a board member at Auth0, Symantec, Norton Lifelock) and Bill Losch, former Chief Financial Officer at Okta.

The company also added to its policy team with the appointments of Matt Peake as Global Director of Public Policy (former Head of Regulatory and Public Policy UK and IE at Verizon) and Amy Shuart, Head of US Government Affairs (former committee member on Ways and Means at the U.S. House of Representatives).

Achievements and Awards

Onfido’s leadership team expansion comes amidst a number of product achievements and industry recognition. In a study conducted by leading analyst firm, Forrester, The Total Economic Impact™ of Onfido revealed that organizations experience benefits of up to 261% ROI and a net present value (NPV) of $9.86M, with the solution paying itself off in 6 months.

Onfido was named a 2021 CB Insights Fintech 250 for the fourth consecutive year, earned the 2021 Cybersecurity Breakthrough Award for "Fraud Prevention Innovation of the Year," and won "Security Innovation of the Year" in the National Technology Awards.

Register to join the upcoming webinar on Wednesday 9th March 2022, with experts from Tesco Bank, HSBC, 11:FS and Onfido to hear about the evolution of onboarding and how customer demand is changing.

 

Related News

  • 04:00 am

FCA and PRA authorised GB Bank procures TruNarrative technology to deliver its onboarding and transactional risk strategies

GB Bank, a new bank focussed on getting Britain building again, has today announced it has chosen Leeds-based regtech innovator TruNarrative, a LexisNexis® Risk Solutions company, to provide its full suite of customer onboarding and transactional risk compliance capabilities.

GB Bank aims to support under-served SME property developers and is the first UK tech-driven lender to exclusively provide SMEs, construction companies and property developers access to finance up to £5 million.
 

GB Bank, a new bank focussed on getting Britain building again, has today announced it has chosen Leeds-based regtech innovator TruNarrative, a LexisNexis® Risk Solutions
company, to provide its full suite of customer onboarding and transactional risk compliance capabilities. GB Bank aims to support under-served SME property developers and is the first UK tech-driven lender to exclusively provide SMEs, construction companies and property developers access tofinance up to £5 million.

With a focus on supporting regional projects and businesses, GB Bank is set to lend £3 billion across the next five years, building a £1 billion-plus balance sheet by funding construction of 20,000 homes and several million square feet of commercial space.
TruNarrative is a trusted supplier to numerous financial institutions, being a vital part of their financial crime prevention and compliance strategies. The TruNarrative platform enables banking, lending, ecommerce and payments firms to safely onboard customers, detect fraud and identify risk via a single API.

With a requirement to make rapid, high-value lending decisions central to its overall proposition, GB Bank went to market for a solution to facilitate low-friction customer journeys, robust compliance, and risk mitigation across its customer base.

With a requirement to make rapid, high-value lending decisions central to its overall proposition, GB Bank went to market for a solution to facilitate low-friction customer journeys, robust compliance, and risk mitigation across its customer base.

Using TruNarrative, GB Bank will be able to build a complete risk profile for each customer using transactional monitoring with risk visibility over applications, deposits, withdrawals, and repayments.

With access to over 50 third-party data providers within the TruNarrative App Store, GB Bank will be able to build bespoke and compliant customer journeys for its multiple products, allowing the team to make lending decisions with the full customer picture in view.

TruNarrative will integrate with GB Bank’s state-of-the-art technology stack, including core banking systems, front-end user interface and reporting framework, delivering a seamless experience for both the bank’s operational teams and its customers.

GB Bank will be able to access a full case management system for manual reviews and referrals, a natural language rule builder allowing for rapid strategy changes, and a comprehensive audit trail with instant recall of data for regulatory purposes.

“GB Bank has a strong focus on technology and automation, and we are always on the lookout for new innovative businesses to partner with,” said Edward Vaughan, Head of Banking for TruNarrative. “I am delighted that GB Bank has selected TruNarrative for compliance and financial crime technology, and we look forward to continuing to support the growth of the Bank.”

“GB Bank has a strong focus on technology and automation, and we are always on the lookout for new innovative businesses to partner with,” said Edward Vaughan, Head of Banking for TruNarrative. “I am delighted that GB Bank has selected TruNarrative for compliance and financial crime technology, and we look forward to continuing to support the growth of the Bank.”


Dan Argent, GB Bank’s Head of Financial Crime, added: “TruNarrative enables GB Bank to access a wide range of data providers and deliver real time end-to-end decision making via a single, simple to use platform."
 

Related News

  • 05:00 am

Recognises Colt’s Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute

Colt Technology Services, has today announced that it has been named in the 2022 Gartner®  2022 “Magic Quadrant™ for Network Services, Global, as a Visionary based on its Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute.

This is the third year in a row that Colt has been named as a Visionary in the Gartner®  2022 “Magic Quadrant™ for Network Services, Global.

Colt believes this positioning recognises its Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute, and highlights its focus on understanding where the industry is heading and market changes, as well as ensuring its products and services are aligned to what its customers need to meet their business objectives – both now and in the future.

Keri Gilder, Colt’s CEO, commented: “Our focus is clear – we strive to deliver the products and services our customers need to navigate the challenges that they face in today’s ever-evolving business landscape. At the heart of that is innovation, which allows us to deliver the extraordinary connections customers need to digitally transform and succeed.”

“We feel being recognised for the third time as a Visionary in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant really highlights how our strategy sets us apart and is delivering what customers need now and will need in the future, and shows we’re pushing the boundaries of our industry as we work towards becoming the modern telco.”

The Colt IQ Network, which comprises more than 900 data centres and over 29,000 on net buildings, paired with its growing partner ecosystem of Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) and Systems Integrators (SIs), puts Colt in the perfect position to enable organisations’ digital transformations.

Access the complimentary report here.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Network Services, Global, Neil Rickard, Bjarne Munch, Danellie Young, Karen Brown, 21st February 2022.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organisation and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Gartner and Magic Quadrant are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Related News

  • 02:00 am

Sweden-based buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Klarna launched its rewards program in nine countries, including the UK and Canada, per a press release. Klarna also brought its Pay Now feature to the same countries, plus Australia.

More on this: Klarna’s rewards program, which it launched in Australia and the US in 2020, lets customers earn points when they make on-time payments. Points can be redeemed at brands in the Klarna app. The BNPL provider also introduced “Missions”—small tasks that users can complete to earn points and discover different features in the app.

 

Pay Now has already been available in the US and the UK and lets customers make payments in full. It’s part of Klarna's wider plan to create a consistent, simplified checkout flow for customers—Klarna also added a review screen that gives customers an overview of their order, installment plan, and chosen payment method.

Klarna’s opportunity: The provider can use the rollouts to tighten customer relationships.

  • Expanding Pay Now could help Klarna mitigate financial concerns related to BNPL. Letting customers pay their balances immediately might help decrease the chances of missed payments—an issue regulators have been investigating. Pay Now can help increase flexibility by letting customers pay when it's convenient for them.
  • Making its rewards program more widely available can increase Klarna’s customer engagement. The program can encourage spending and it may also decrease the likelihood of missed or late payments by rewarding customers for on-time payments. The program also helps Klarna stay top of mind for customers: Klarna was the 10th-most-downloaded shopping app in the US last year, per Apptopia, and the provider's rewards program likely helped it achieve this.

The bigger picture: Klarna’s not alone in beefing up app features to help bolster customer and merchant loyalty.

  • Australia-based Zip is also using its app to boost loyalty and spending. It recently launched a feature that lets merchants showcase their latest deals in the home screen of the Zip app. This could make customers who want to take advantage of promotions more likely to spend on the app.
  • As competition grows more intense, BNPL incumbents like Klarna and Zip are facing tighter profitability pressures. This might be what’s driving them to branch out: Last month, Klarna launched physical cards in the UK, and a year ago, it introduced bank accounts in Germany.

Related content: Check out our Q&A with Sezzle’s co-founder and president to learn more about tactics that BNPL providers are using to boost customer engagement.

Related News

  • 01:00 am

Latest Sage Intacct release leverages AI to fully automate key financial processes, shifting Time from manual processing to higher-value tasks 

]Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses, today announced the availability of Sage Intacct 2022 Release 1 (Release 1). The latest release provides businesses with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools that support finance leaders to make the best use of digitalized data to help identify anomalies and automate key processes. 

 

Connected to the Sage Digital Network, Sage Intacct allows work, information, and money to flow smoothly between Sage customers, and the suppliers, banks, and government bodies they do business with. The enhanced flow of trusted information and digitalized data provided by Release 1 enables AI to extract insights and patterns across key financial processes. This supports customers to better understand friction points, identify patterns, and review anomalies from across their business - all without the user or the data leaving Sage Intacct. 

 

“Sage Intacct customers are highly digitally determined, with over 70 percent of their financial workflows already automated. More than ever before, Sage is committed to building platforms and systems that empower customers to run smarter, more digital organizations,” said Dan Miller, EVP of Sage Intacct. “We’ve listened to our customers and understand their drive towards digital transformation, this release is yet another example of Sage delivering on those needs.” 

 

Accounts Payable Automation 

  • Automated AP processing all within Sage Intacct - Reducing the need for the user, or the data to leave Sage Intacct, enabling a smoother user experience, and a lowered, single system cost for customers 
    • New scanning and vendor payments capabilities enable an automated end-to-end AP workflow from receive, process, pay, and reconciliation without leaving Sage Intacct -including bill creation, paperless approvals, payment processing, reconciliation, and reporting. 
    • Additionally, bills and payments for multiple business entities can be processed from within Sage Intacct.  
  • Manual tasks managed by AI - shifting focus from data entry to higher value, strategic work. 
    • Customers can access an intelligent digital assistant, to scan vendor bills, match them to the right vendor, and create a draft bill record  
    • Use AI to identify duplicate and erroneous bills. Bills that require manual intervention are highlighted to empower users to quickly identify and address exceptions. 
    • Run daily reconciliation in minutes with automated bank downloads and auto-matching between payments and bank statements, all while eliminating manual data reconciliations between systems. 
    • Digitally connect to banks, vendors, and payment processors using Vendor Payments powered by Corporate Spending Innovations (CSI) to automate payments for U.S. and multi-national companies paying U.S. vendors  

 

“We’re thrilled about this strategic partnership, which combines CSI’s advanced payments processing technology with market leader Sage Intacct’s financial management solution,” said David Disque, President of Corporate Spending Innovations. “CSI’s fully embedded integration will leverage CSI’s robust API library and result in a frictionless user experience. Accounts payable teams will have a complete solution of secure payment workflow and efficient digitization of all B2B payments without having to leave the product." 

 

Miller goes on to say, “We know that AP teams still enter invoice details manually. This end-to-end automation means customers can receive, process, pay, and reconcile a bill without leaving Sage Intacct. This removes friction from their business and the risk of fraud from the process. Our customers have a more accurate view of their cash flow, and the supplier gets paid quicker. This is digital transformation in action.” 

 

Outlier Detection for General Ledger  

 

Following the launch last year of Outlier Detection for General Ledger, Sage is the first and only mid-market cloud accounting solution to use AI to increase confidence in the accuracy of general ledger transactions. Auto-generated flags appear for entries that don’t match past transaction patterns, enabling errors to be caught before making their way into financial reporting and reaching stakeholders. 

 

Release 1 updates to this feature include customizable approval routing to send outliers back to the originator to be fixed. This routing enables the GL Outlier Assistant to be used by more Sage Intacct users, not just those who route to journal entry approvers. For those that do route to an approver, entries can now be sent back to the originator first.  

 

Contract renewal 

 

Sage Intacct provides deep capabilities for software and SaaS companies to scale their accounting, subscription billing, and revenue recognition while providing crucial visibility into SaaS metrics.  

 

Release 1 updates to this feature include: 

 

  • Contract renewal forecasting provides customers with forward-looking visibility and a more complete forecast for recurring revenue. Customers can analyze billings, revenues, and payments for upcoming contract renewals, and decision-makers can see what is booked and what is expected to be booked.  
  • Customers can use Sage Intacct Custom Report Writer, Interactive Customer Report Writer, as well as Interactive Visual Explorer, to report, slice and dice, as well as visualize forecasted contract renewal information for greater data-driven insights. 

 

Availability 

Bill scanning is in the Early Adopter phase in the US, with additional regions coming in March.  

Vendor Payments is Generally Available in the US, with more regions to come.  

Outlier Detection for General Ledger and Contract Renewal is available for all Sage Intacct geographies. 

Related News

Pages