Financial services providers rely on identity verification for seamless and secure customer onboarding

Trulioo, the global identity verification leader, today announced four new customers in the banking industry: Bambu Systems, Guardian Gold, Nerve and Simba. With Trulioo GlobalGateway, the world’s largest network of identity data and services, financial institutions can deploy identity checks that help them satisfy Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance requirements.

“Expectations are at an all-time high when it comes to digital experiences and Trulioo is proud to help organizations meet their customers’ needs,” said Steve Munford, CEO, Trulioo. “At the onset of the pandemic, we examined consumer perceptions around digital account opening. We found that when a financial services firm incorporated real-time identity verification as part of their onboarding, 83% of people were less likely to abandon the account creation process.”

In addition to adverse effects on customer acquisition, poor onboarding experiences detrimentally impact brand perception, with Trulioo research revealing that 80% of consumers held greater trust in brands that use identity verification as opposed to those who didn’t. 

“Both legacy and challenger banks trust Trulioo and its range of solutions to scale innovative global compliance programs while delivering positive customer experiences. We’re pleased to partner with these organizations to continue to support their compliance and risk mitigation initiatives and to help them onboard customers around the world,” added Munford.

The following financial services providers are amongst Trulioo’s growing roster of customers around the globe:

• Bambu Systems, a digital bank advancing financial inclusion by offering services and products for the unbanked.

• Guardian Gold, a subset of Guardian Vaults, provides a seamless solution for buying and storing physical gold and silver bullion.

• Nerve, the embedded banking platform for the creator economy. 

• Simba, a digital bank with a focus on financial products for immigrants in the U.S., offers a mobile platform, no fee banking and free international transfers. 

GlobalGateway provides access to over 400 data sources to reliably and securely verify the identities of over 5 billion individuals around the world through one API.

Sovcombank closed the acquisition of Vostochny Bank on April 14, 2021. The operational integration of the banks was completed in 2021, and on February 14, 2022, Vostochny Bank accessed into Sovcombank, which became the legal successor to its assets and liabilities.

The integration of the two banks was one of the largest in Russia. During the integration, almost all the 3 million clients, depositors and borrowers of Vostochny Bank became clients of Sovcombank. 1 million loans totalling 76 billion roubles and a deposit and current account portfolio of 116 billion roubles were transferred to Sovcombank. Fifty-five percent of the staff of Vostochny Bank, 5 thousand employees, from branch employees to the management staff, joined Sovcombank.For example, the  Far Eastern, East Siberian and Ural Directorates of Sovcombank headed by a graduate of Vostochny Bank Kirill Durnikov, Dmitry Mayevsky and Tatiana Shevkunova. Sovcombank increased the availability of the bank's products and services in key regions of its presence, including Siberia and the Far East, by expanding its retail network by 264 branches of Vostochny. 

Sergey Khotimsky, First Deputy Chairman of Sovcombank's Management Board, said:

"Sovcombank has unique M&A competence, at the level of the best in the world. We know how to select an asset for the purchase not only by price but also by the expertise it brings us, which means we can save a lot of time on its creation. We know how to due diligence the quality of an asset quickly and reliably, to carry out fast transactions and even faster to integrate acquisitions into the group with minimal risk and concern for millions of customers and employees. The acquisition of Vostochny Bank is another confirmation of that."

End-to-End Banking Solution to Massively Expand Universe of Existing and Potential Customers Creating Multiple New Channels for Revenue and Eliminating The Need for Multiple Financial Platforms

GreenBox POS (NASDAQ: GBOX) ("GreenBox" or the "Company"), an emerging and rapidly growing FinTech company announced today that it has entered into a licensing partnership with Cross River, a respected technology driven infrastructure provider that offers embedded financial solutions.

Cross River, known for merging the innovative capabilities of a state-of-the-art technology company with the traditional expertise of an established bank, currently powers scores of leading FinTech companies across the United States. GreenBox’s partnership with Cross River will bring to fruition the launch of their first banking-as-a-service initiative and ushers GreenBox into the arena with the likes of well-known, major financial technology-driven brands.

Cross River’s infrastructure and access to the payment rails will enable GreenBox to open custodial, reserve, and operating accounts for their customers, who can manage their accounts with a full suite of tools, all powered by Cross River. This offers numerous distinct advantages that create a vast array of new channels to add customers, any of which may well lead to robust revenue growth.

By combining existing technology with Cross River’s infrastructure, GreenBox will provide additional services to existing clients on one seamless platform while also offering a full suite of services to a completely new and vast customer pool such as strategic partners, enterprises looking for a white label solution, and, of course, current customer’s customers who presently only utilize GreenBox for payment processing on the blockchain. The Cross River partnership single-handedly closes the gap toward GreenBox becoming a vertically integrated end-to-end financial technology solution.

The initial phase serves as the foundation for a banking as a service solution which will offer customers the benefit of a superior experience via a centralized hub all under one user-friendly platform. This comprehensive offering, set to roll out in multiple phases, delivers the exceptional advantage of efficient, secure, rapidly settled financial transactions across a wide variety of capabilities. By leveraging all these features, GreenBox can further its Banking as a Service platform resulting in businesses minimizing their dependence on using multiple financial platforms to garner the same services, with a streamlined process and best-in-class user experience that enables businesses to focus on building growth.

“This was an important and necessary first step towards the launch of banking as a service which we believe will be a game changer for GreenBox as it will radically expand our capabilities and the vast universe of potential customers, with a customer-inspired, technology driven and combined offering,” said Fredi Nisan, Chief Executive Officer of GreenBox POS. “Not only will we eventually be able offer all our existing merchant clients cutting edge banking services, but we can also open these solutions to strategic partnership, and enterprises seeking white label solutions. We expect this to be a significant driver of revenue growth.”

“Cross River is the perfect partner to launch this ambitious initiative with given their expertise in banking technology,” continues Nisan. “This represents yet another example of us executing against our master plan for expansion, with a trusted, tech-forward bank whose mission is aligned with our own. Together, we will be a disruptive force in the FinTech landscape, enabling the sustainable, long-term value our shareholders expect.”

“Joining forces with GreenBox highlights Cross River’s ability to do what we do best: empower innovative and responsible fintech companies to provide their customers with access to transparent, secure and reliable financial solutions,” said Adam Goller, EVP, Head of Fintech Banking at Cross River. “We’re elated to be leading the way with GreenBox in advancing the digital finance landscape into a hassle-free, all-inclusive and technology centered experience, for businesses and consumers, alike.”

 MFS Africa, Africa’s largest digital payments network, today announces that it has joined the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) network, which is the newly established African cross-border and financial markets infrastructure facilitating the payment, clearance and settlement for intra-African trade payments. MFS Africa will extend the reach of the PAPSS network to over 320 million mobile money and last mile users across 35 African markets, enabling borderless and seamless possibilities for transactions and trade.  

The partnership will empower the millions of semi-formal small and micro-African businesses who are too often left behind. This collaboration marks a new phase in driving the transformational potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). 

Founder and CEO of MFS Africa, Dare Okoudjou, said: “At MFS Africa we have always believed that Africans are not limited by borders and that their money should not be either. The interchangeability of African currencies is still very limited after decades of independence, meaning that intra-Africa trade too often relies on hard currencies, hampering the growth of intra-African trade and our continent’s economies. By making cross-border payments affordable and easier, PAPSS gives Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurs and traders easier access to the formal payments services that will help them grow their businesses. Direct currency tradability and interchangeability removes many of the barriers to intra-African trade and investments, facilitates the natural directions of trade flows amongst African countries and regions, and makes borders matter less.” 

CEO of PAPSS, Mike Ogbalu III, said: “Africa is the global leader in mobile money services. A recent study found that 64% of the daily global transactions through mobile money platforms in 2020 happened in sub-Saharan Africa. This demonstrates how mobile money services play a key role in the economic growth of the continent and facilitates financial inclusion. To that end, partnering with MFS Africa will open the way to millions more cross-border mobile money transactions and mark a new phase in driving the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area. 

“The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System will be the enabling infrastructure to spur the growth of intra-African trade and commerce, with the active participation of central banks, financial institutions, regional economic communities, the private sector and other stakeholders.”  

According to Afreximbank, over 80% of African cross-border transactions originating from the continent’s banks are currently cleared and settled offshore, creating inefficiencies, and increasing the cost of African cross-border payments. PAPSS, an initiative spearheaded by Afreximbank and supported by the African Union, is a centralised payment and settlement infrastructure that aims to increase intra-African trade and commerce by simplifying and reducing the cost of clearing and settling between African countries. PAPSS enables both payment and settlement to be made in the respective local currencies of the buyer and seller. It will also result in a reduction in the cost, administration and time taken to make cross-border payments, resulting in estimated US$5 billion saving in transaction costs every year for Africa.  

MFS Africa’s network provides mobile money interoperability at scale in Africa. Mobile money and last mile users - who are often underbanked semi-formal small and micro businesses trading across borders - stand to gain the most from this partnership. Digital cross-border trade using local currencies will enable more of these businesses to use formal, affordable and convenient channels for trade payments and collections. 

• Southeast Asia’s largest SME digital financing platform raises US$144 million Series C+ equity and US$150 million debt lines from financial institutions in Europe, the United States, and Asia.
• The round is led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from VNG, Rapyd Ventures, EDBI, Indies Capital, Ascend Vietnam Ventures and existing shareholders like Sequoia Capital India and BRI Ventures.
• Operating across five countries in Southeast Asia, the FinTech has disbursed over US$2 billion in business financing to MSMEs through more than 5 million loan transactions.

Funding Societies (which goes by Modalku in Indonesia), Southeast Asia’s largest SME digital financing platform, today announced that it has raised* US$144 million in an oversubscribed Series C+ equity round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with new investors notably Vietnamese tech giant VNG Corporation, Rapyd Ventures, Asia-based global investor EDBI, Indies Capital, K3 Ventures, and Ascend Vietnam Ventures. The company also received US$150 million in debt lines from institutional lenders across Europe, the United States, and Asia, some of which have been drawn down since 2021. This comes on the back of its US$45 million Series C raised between 2020 and 2021.

The funds solidify Funding Societies’ position as a market leader in digital financing, and propels its expense management, and B2B payments services for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across Southeast Asia. Its latest fundraise also provides US$16 million to former and existing employees via the company’s stock option plan, in the form of share buyback.

Funding Societies was founded in 2015 by Kelvin Teo and Reynold Wijaya out of Harvard Business School to empower MSMEs in Southeast Asia. The FinTech company solves MSMEs’ key pain points for growth, starting with the region’s US$300 billion financing gap. Although small enterprises make up almost 99% of total enterprises in Southeast Asia, they also face many hurdles in obtaining business loans from traditional financial institutions due to a lack of a credit track record or collaterals to pledge. Funding Societies offers micro loans from US$500 up to US$1.5 million, which can be disbursed in as fast as 24 hours, answering in a timely manner to MSMEs who face the pertinent challenge of accessing business funds.

Instead of using a traditional corporate supply chain approach to financial inclusion, Funding Societies has differentiated itself as a one-stop shop in SME financing with an AI-led credit model and value-added products to under-served businesses. A recent impact study**, with calculations using methodology by the Asian Development Bank, revealed that Funding Societies-backed MSMEs contributed US$3.6 billion in GDP.

Seven years in, the FinTech company is now licensed and registered in four countries across the region - Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and operating in Vietnam. To date, it has disbursed over US$2.1 billion in business financing to MSMEs through more than 5 million loan transactions in Southeast Asia.

Co-founder and Group CEO, Kelvin Teo, said, “We’re honoured by the faith of our new and existing shareholders. We started Funding Societies | Modalku to empower SMEs by solving their biggest problem, access to financing, especially unsecured financing. A common misconception is that we compete with banks. The reality is we ‘compete’ with savings, friends and families, and personal credit cards. There is a huge unsecured financing gap because it takes patience and focus, or you risk losing a lot of money. Having proven our AI-led credit capabilities in an unprecedented financial crisis, we look to serve SMEs even better with neobanking and deeper regional presence in Southeast Asia.”

“SMEs across Southeast Asia have historically struggled to access institutional finance and instead been forced to mainly rely on personal funding to support growth”, said Greg Moon, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. “Funding Societies is establishing a bridge for these companies to access more sustainable and cheaper financing by building unique data sets on their performance and using AI-led technology to assess their creditworthiness more effectively than traditional models. We are delighted to partner with Kelvin Teo and the team to support their mission to improve societies in Southeast Asia by funding worthy and underserved SMEs.”

Funding Societies’ annualised loan origination has exceeded US$1 billion in Q4 2021. Separately, a portion of the Group’s outstanding loan exposure comes from Europe-based institutional lenders.

Since 2019, Funding Societies has expanded its suite of financial services beyond lending and plans to bring its operations to more locations in Southeast Asia within the next 12 months.

• UK second only to US when it comes to overseas hiring
• However, businesses risk missing out, as appetite for global hiring lags the wider workforce

New findings from Deel, the leading global hiring, compliance and payroll platform, show that UK businesses are embracing the shift to remote working following the pandemic and ‘great resignation’. However, they also reveal the need for more employers to follow suit, and adopt global hiring policies or risk missing out on new opportunities to access talent anywhere.

 Deel lets businesses hire people in another country, and handles all associated onboarding, compliance and payroll activity. According to data from its customer base, the UK is second only to the US globally when it comes to the number of overseas worker hires over the last six months. Canada, Germany and France make up the top five.

However, research conducted by Deel finds a potential missed opportunity for the wider business community as they rethink their hiring strategies. Three in four UK adults under 35 (74%) say they are open to the idea of working for a company based overseas, if they can do so remotely i.e. from home*. But this is in stark contrast to the outlook of UK business leaders, 79% of whom do not currently believe that hiring remote workers will be a central part of their future hiring strategy.

Among UK employers who are hiring remote talent, Deel’s platform data reveals that Argentina is the top destination for remote employees. The US, UK, Spain and Philippines complete the top five. The UK is also the fifth most popular destination globally for businesses seeking remote talent, with the Philippines, US, Argentina and India above it in the list.

Sharp global rise in demand for crypto payments

As businesses begin to look abroad for talent, data from Deel’s platform reveals that they are also embracing new forms of paying their people. In response to demand from workers, 10% of payments by UK employers through Deel in January were withdrawn via the crypto exchange platform Coinbase – a new monthly high.

Globally, the volume of payments being made via crypto has risen 50% since July 2021, and the number of workers asking for crypto payment is currently increasing by almost 10% every month.

At the same time, though, Deel’s research finds there is still room for improvement in UK employers’ knowledge of cryptocurrencies and their potential. When asked if they supported the idea of workers receiving salaries as cryptocurrency, one in four (28%) said they don’t yet know enough to be sure. 

Deel allows businesses to hire, pay and manage remote contractors and employees in 150 countries. This includes onboarding, contracts, expense management, benefits, payroll and built-in compliance. Through Deel, remote workers are employed by its local legal entities who handle the entire local employment process including compliance, payroll and HR admin.

Commenting on the findings, Alex Bouaziz, CEO and Co-founder of Deel, said:

“The world of work is evolving, and it’s great to see a growing community of UK employers open to new ways of hiring and paying their teams. But a bigger mindset shift is required – and quickly. The challenges of the pandemic and ‘great resignation’ have created enormous new opportunities. Companies are no longer constrained to hiring candidates that live within commuting distance to the office, and job seekers are now free to search for jobs anywhere they want.

“There’s a gap between what workers tell us they want, and what the majority of employers’ are doing. Businesses are going to have to rethink their entire hiring strategy, and think beyond old geography or compliance based boundaries as they compete for the best talent. Those that adapt quickly will win the race to hire the brightest and the best people.

“With a surge in salaries being withdrawn in cryptocurrencies, it’s becoming increasingly evident that benefits such as instant crypto payments are becoming ways to attract global talent. For many businesses, all that's missing is having the right infrastructure in place.”

CEO Alex Bouaziz launched Deel in 2019. Following its Series C fundraise it became a unicorn with a valuation reaching $1.25 billion in just under 24 months. Its series D fundraise in October 2021 brought Deel’s valuation to $5.5 billion, making it the highest valued company in the global hiring, payments and compliance space.

The platform currently supports over 6,000 customers in over 150 countries and has over 600 employees across 60 countries.

Cabital, a leading digital assets institution, has announced the launch of Cabital Connect, a secure fiat on-ramp and off-ramp gateway for cryptocurrency exchanges that require a simple and easy solution for their users to buy leading cryptocurrencies.  

 Cabital Connect is a business solution for cryptocurrency platforms that allow their users to use fiat currencies to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. When cryptocurrency companies integrate with Cabital Connect, their users will have a high-quality service option to purchase top-tier cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, with great convenience and security. 

“Cabital Connect’s purpose is to provide a seamless experience for people around the globe to buy and sell cryptocurrencies through our unique and secure off-chain solution between both wallets,” said Raymond Hsu, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cabital. “Cabital Connect offers cryptocurrency exchanges a safe and compliant fiat-to-crypto gateway for their users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.” 

“As fiat on-ramp is the first step in a crypto investor’s experience, Cabital Connect offers an easy-to-use entry point for cryptocurrency exchanges looking to provide their users with another straightforward way to buy crypto. We look forward to providing many cryptocurrency exchanges with a new and exciting way of helping their users on and off ramp with fiat currencies,” said Hsu. 

Cabital Connect is integrated with multiple leading cryptocurrency exchanges to provide customers with the most competitive rates in the industry. When our partners’ users buy crypto through Cabital Connect, they will not have to pay hefty gas fees because Cabital transfers the crypto from its platform to their own wallets through an off-chain settlement solution. Cabital’s off-chain settlement mechanism will save our partners’ users a lot of fees on every transaction. 

Cabital’s streamlined and industry leading KYC processes allow our partners’ users to be onboarded swiftly with us, providing them with access to our interest-bearing crypto deposit products and connectivity to traditional financial institutions, while allowing you to focus on what you do best: developing innovative products and services in the fast-growing cryptocurrency space. 

Cabital Connect’s on-and-off-ramp solution provides a seamless experience for converting between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies using euro and pound sterling bank transfers. Cabital Connect will continue to incorporate major fiat currencies such as U.S. dollars, Swiss francs, and Brazilian reals into its capabilities, allowing more people across the globe to buy cryptocurrencies. 

On February 8th, 2022, Cabital announced that one of the fastest growing cryptocurrency exchanges Bybit became its first client to integrate Cabital’s fiat on-ramp solution into their platform, allowing their users to use fiat to buy their crypto at some of the most affordable rates in the market. 

CFOs need to reshape their role through tech implementation new survey of 250 UK finance leaders reveals

 An organisation’s financial data should be a driving factor in its decision making process, but new research by MHR International, the HR, payroll, finance, and learning experts, has found that 47% of finance leaders never get around to advising on strategic decisions.

The figure reflects the frustration faced by 44% of CFOs who are not getting the chance to reshape their role to take on more strategic functions due to being weighed down with other time-consuming and manual tasks. Even jobs such as long-term scenario planning, which is crucial when many industries remain volatile as a result of the pandemic, are falling by the wayside for 46% of stretched CFOs.

The survey of 250 finance leaders in the UK and Ireland also found that over half (51%) are still relying solely on Excel for most of their finance processes. This suggests that a lack of investment in technology, and in particular solutions which deploy automation and ensure greater visibility of data across an organisation, is denying finance leaders the opportunity to flex in their role and provide business-wide strategic insights.

Mark Jenkins, CFO at MHR, commented: “Finance leaders have a pivotal role to play within any organisation, and their knowledge is crucial to driving overall strategy. Implementing tech solutions to lighten their load will allow CFOs to properly claim their seat at the decision-making table and reshape their role from within, providing forward-thinking advice as opposed to solely fulfilling a reporting function.”

The research also highlights where automation could be most valuable in freeing up time for finance leaders. Revenue forecasting is seen as the most important process to automate by 40% of respondents, while publishing accounts (39%) and audits (32%) are similarly attractive automation prospects. There is also a need for greater visibility of data across the wider organisation, so that access is not restricted or siloed.

“Finance teams need to move on from relying on IT alone”, continued Jenkins. “By becoming drivers of tech implementation, leaders can secure the best solutions to meet their needs while they craft their vision for the evolving role of finance.”

Leading audit firm Grant Thornton announces an extended partnership with Validis to enhance their audit services for thousands of Australian businesses, powered by leading Open Banking capabilities.

Grant Thornton’s partnership with Validis will take advantage of the new Consumer Data Right (CDR) access model that has been developed in response to the government’s recent amendments to the CDR rules to encourage increased participation in Open Banking. This access model allows for existing unrestricted accredited data recipients, such as Validis, to act as a principal for trusted advisors, and therefore allows access to data with the banking customer’s consent.

The latest Open Banking capabilities and using third party software such as Validis, enables Grant Thornton’s audit practice to boost audit quality becoming more efficient by improving the quality of banking transactional data and information on account balances that are critical to validating existence of assets or the occurrence of cash in/out flows.

Global fintech Validis supports a wide-range of large banks, lenders and top audit firms who use its platform to instantly access business data from major accounting packages. This latest innovation of integrating Open Banking data into the audit process is the first of its kind in the sector.

Paul Thomas, CEO of Validis said, “We’re thrilled to be building on our successful partnership with Grant Thornton and embedding a unique Open Banking capability into their already advanced digital audit process. Australia is seeing a continued growth in the SME market with almost 2.5m incorporated businesses operating across the country and following the events of the last two years, businesses and audit teams now have a higher expectation and need to interact remotely. We’re now in a new era of normality and Grant Thornton are investing in innovation to deliver an enhanced audit experience that meets this expectation. Alongside instant access to accounting data, Grant Thornton will have secure, consent-driven connectivity to bank transactional data through a single portal. We’re delighted to be supporting them on this innovation journey.”  

Liam Te-wierik, Partner and Head of Data Assurance at Grant Thornton Australia, said: “Open Banking affords us the opportunity to streamline internal processes, improving the audit experience for our clients and people, and leveraging deeper analysis of external data to provide additional insights to clients. As a successful and respected service provider to financial services entities, we recognise the immense value in engaging with CDR as the regulations mature and barriers to entry decrease.

“Over the last 12 months we have been working with Validis to access and analyse accounting data from our clients’ internal systems for which we have seen great success. The extension to Open Banking was a natural fit thanks to the single API access for both accounting and banking transactional data. We’re excited to be working with Validis to launch this additional capability and continue to push the industry forward through digital transformation that delivers enhanced audit quality and efficiency.”

Andrew Rigele, National Managing Partner - Audit & Assurance, said: “As technologies advance in the sector, fintech regulations can become even more challenging, however there is an increased need for ease of access to information by financial services to create efficiencies. The Phase 3 launch of the Consumer Data Right (CDR) this month has allowed customers from a wide range of banks to share information on overdrafts and business finance, which in turn provides exciting opportunities for us to implement bespoke data solutions for our clients. Grant Thornton’s ethos encourages our people to think creatively and explore fintech offerings to deliver our core accounting services more effectively.”