STICPAY, a leading global e-wallet service provider and payment gateway, today announces a new strategic partnership with Ness LAB, a pioneering research company dedicated to building a blockchain-based information economy. 

Under the new partnership, STICPAY will support the deposit and withdrawal of Ness LAB's tokens, NESS, to its more than one million users within its e-wallet service. STICPAY will also add NESS as a payment method, providing an opportunity for NESS to become a widely recognized payment method within a major payment network. 

As a result of the partnership, participants in the NESS ecosystem will be able to gain easier access to the Web3 economy through STICPAY’s payment solutions. Similarly, STICPAY users who are unfamiliar with crypto wallets and token transfers can be introduced to the crypto industry through Ness LAB. 

STICPAY provides a borderless, online e-wallet and a global payment gateway that has acquired licenses from regulators around the world, such as the UK Financial Conduct Authority, the Labuan Financial Services Authority and the Mauritius Financial Services Commission.  

Its more than one million users are located in over 200 countries and STICPAY also supports several fiat and cryptocurrencies as payment methods for some 5,000 corporate clients. Notably, STICPAY is also working with numerous partners in the foreign exchange (forex) and online gaming industry, providing cashback services and more. 

To mark the launch of the partnership, STICPAY plans to hold a promotional event where all payments and deposits made in NESS on the STICPAY e-wallet will be exempt from service fees.  

Sean Park, STICPAY CEO, said: 

"The trend of widespread Web3 adoption is in full swing in the e-wallet and payment gateway industry. Our strategic partnership with Ness LAB will enable us to support a wider range of cryptocurrency payment methods for our customers and strengthen our Web3 capabilities." 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and 11 states announced today that Prehired will provide more than $30 million in relief to student borrowers, for making false promises of job placement, trapping students with “income share” loans that violated the law, and resorting to abusive debt collection practices when borrowers could not pay. The CFPB partnered with Washington, Delaware, California, Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois, South Carolina, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Wisconsin to bring the enforcement action against Prehired and two affiliated companies. The order approved by a federal court requires Prehired to cease all operations, pay $4.2 million in redress to consumers that were affected by its illegal practices, and voids all of its outstanding income share loans, valued by Prehired at nearly $27 million.

“Prehired lured student borrowers into debt with false promises of job placements and claims that students wouldn’t have to pay until they got a job,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “Today’s action with our state partners ensures that borrowers harmed by Prehired can receive redress and have their illegal loans canceled.”

Prehired was a Delaware-based company that operated a 12-week online training program claiming to prepare students for entry-level positions as software sales development representatives with “six-figure salaries” and a “job guarantee.” Prehired offered students income share loans to help finance their costs of the program.  Today’s order also names two affiliated companies, Prehired Recruiting and Prehired Accelerator, that pursued collection on defaulted income share loans.

In July 2023, the states and the CFPB sued Prehired to void the illegal loans and facilitate consumer redress. The states and the CFPB alleged that Prehired:

• Deceived borrowers by claiming its loans were not loans: Prehired’s marketing falsely claimed that its loans did not create a debt because the loan was contingent on job placement with a yearly salary over $60,000. But the company also deceptively buried terms in the loan that required graduates to pay even if they never got a job.
• Kept borrowers in the dark about key loan information: Prehired hid important loan terms from borrowers, including the amount financed, finance charges, and the loans’ annual percentage rate.
• Tricked consumers with deceptive debt collection practices: Prehired Recruiting and Prehired Accelerator pushed borrowers into converting their income share loan into a revised “settlement agreement” that required them to make payments even if they had not found a job, and which contained more burdensome dispute resolution and collection terms. Prehired Recruiting and Prehired Accelerator also falsely represented the amount of debt owed by consumers and stated Prehired could collect more than the consumer legally owed.
• Sued students in a faraway location: Prehired Recruiting filed debt collection lawsuits in a jurisdiction far away from where the consumers lived and were not able to be physically present when they executed the financing contract. Many consumers were unaware that Prehired Recruiting could file an action in Delaware because Prehired’s income share loans did not provide for venue in Delaware or the consumers had little or no opportunity to review or negotiate that provision.

Enforcement Action

Under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), the CFPB, state attorneys general, and state regulators have the authority to take enforcement action against institutions that violate federal consumer financial laws, including the CFPA’s prohibition of deceptive acts or practices and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Under the order approved by the court, Prehired will:

• Refund $4.2 million to student borrowers: Prehired will pay $4.2 million to student borrowers who made payments on income share loans between May 2019 and March 2023.
• Cancel all outstanding income share loans: All outstanding loans, which Prehired valued at nearly $27 million, are permanently voided and cannot be sold or collected on by Prehired or anyone else.
• Shut down permanently: Prehired is permanently banned from offering income share loans in the future, or any activities related to vocational education. The company has already filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and ceased operations, and under the terms of this order it will stay shut down for good.
• Pay a civil money penalty: In addition to the direct consumer redress above, Prehired will make a $1 payment to the CFPB victims relief fund. The payment will make it possible for the CFPB to use that fund to provide additional compensation to borrowers harmed by the company’s illegal conduct.

Financial institutions and organizations should fortify their defenses in 2024, as threats will surge driven by AI and heightened automation according to Kaspersky experts. In it’s crimeware report and financial predictions for 2024, the cybersecurity company anticipates an increase in cyberattacks, exploitation of direct payment systems, the resurgence of Brazilian banking trojans, and a rise in open-source backdoored packages. The report also includes a comprehensive review of the accuracy of last year's predictions, emphasizing trends like the rise in Web3 threats and increased demand for malware loaders. Adapting to the evolving landscape, 2024 demands proactive cybersecurity strategies, sector collaboration, and innovative defenses.

Last year, Kaspersky experts accurately predicted the rise in Web3 threats, increased demand for malware loaders, and the shift of ransomware groups towards destructive activities. Notably, the foresight on "Red Team" frameworks and a Bitcoin payment shift remained unfulfilled.

Looking ahead, 2024 predicts an AI-driven surge in cyberattacks that mimic legitimate communication channels, leading to a proliferation of lower-quality campaigns. Moreover, the Kaspersky experts expect cybercriminals to capitalize on the popularity of direct payment systems, resulting in the emergence of clipboard malware and increased exploitation of mobile banking Trojans. Families like Grandoreiro have already expanded abroad, targeting over 900 banks in 40 countries.

Another concerning trend in 2024 could be the rise in open-source backdoored packages. Cybercriminals will exploit the vulnerabilities in widely used open-source software, compromising security and potentially leading to data breaches and financial losses. And the experts forecast affiliate groups in the cybercriminal ecosystem will exhibit a more fluid structure in the coming year, with members frequently switching between or working for multiple groups simultaneously. This adaptability will make it more challenging for law enforcement to track them and combat cybercrime effectively.

Other important predictions include:

• Global adoption of Automated Transfer Systems (ATS). The global adoption of mobile ATS will extend beyond Brazilian borders, allowing cybercriminals worldwide to exploit these systems for financial gain.
• Decrease in zero-days, increase in one-day exploits. Crimeware actors will shift to more reliable one-day exploits due to the scarcity of zero-days, aiming for increased accessibility.
• Exploitation of misconfigured devices and service. An increase in the exploitation of misconfigured devices and services, providing cybercriminals with unauthorized access for launching attacks.

"In the ever-evolving landscape of financial cybersecurity in 2024, we anticipate a surge in threats, heightened automation, and the unwavering persistence of cybercriminals. To stay ahead, financial institutions and organizations must proactively adapt their cybersecurity strategies, fortifying defenses to safeguard assets and sensitive data. The key to success lies in fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors, forging a united front against the escalating risks that define the financial cybersecurity terrain in the year ahead," says Marc Rivero, lead security researcher at GReAT.

PayPoint is pleased to announce that it is expanding its partnership with Yodel and Vinted across its Collect+ network, the leading Out of Home parcel pick up, drop off and send service in the UK.

The multi-year agreement will see significant transaction growth processed through the recently launched Collect+ Store to Store service, leveraging the superior in-store consumer experience delivered via PayPoint’s retailer partners in over 10,000 locations across the UK. The deal will also see retailer partner earnings increase significantly, with PayPoint committing additional investment in technology and operational support to help retailers make the most of this growth opportunity.

The growth in Vinted follows a dramatic rise in popularity of selling and sourcing pre-loved fashion, with consumers making more sustainable choices and demanding more convenient and greener delivery services.

Nick Wiles, CEO of PayPoint said:

“We are delighted that Collect+ will be playing a key role in this expanded partnership with Yodel and Vinted. As consumer channel shift continues to move towards OOH and greener delivery choices, our fantastic retailer partners will now have an even greater opportunity to serve the needs of their customers in communities across the UK through our leading OOH network.”

“We remain fully committed to investing further in the in-store consumer experience, through technology and operational support for our retailer partners, as well as continuing to grow our Collect+ network to service the strong growth in this area.”

Form3, the cloud-native account-to-account platform, is delighted to announce it will be providing Klarna, the AI-powered payments network and shopping assistant, with SEPA connectivity to bolster its customer offering in Europe as part of its wider international growth strategy.

The new agreement sees Form3 providing Klarna with direct technical access to STEP2 and RT1 via its cloud-based, single API account-to-account platform. This will enable Klarna to process these payments directly rather than being dependent on third-party banks. The addition of SEPA Instant as a payment flow will also create new payment use cases and ensure that Klarna stays ahead of the incoming mandate*.

Mike Walters, Form3’s CEO, says: “Providing SEPA connectivity to Klarna, one of the biggest, most technically advanced fintechs in the world, further demonstrates Form3’s ability to process payments at scale, as this becomes critical for market leaders. This partnership also reinforces the ongoing trend in Europe for more organizations to connect directly to payment schemes to improve resilience and their end customers’ experience.”

Form3’s platform will process and manage all of Klarna’s inbound and outbound SEPA payments across these schemes and fully automate some of the manual payment processes typical to many banks, such as returns, recalls and refunds. This will drive efficiency gains and significant cost savings. In addition, Form3’s technology is designed to future-proof Klarna against regulatory changes such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).

Felix Würtenberger, Head of Banking at Klarna, comments: “We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Form3 and untilize their SEPA connectivity to enhance our customer offering in Europe. This partnership holds the potential to drive efficiency gains, cost savings, and ultimately improve the overall experience for our customers and merchants in Europe. We enthusiastically embark on this transformative journey with Form3, exploring the immense benefits it brings.”

nCino, Inc., a pioneer in cloud banking for the global financial services industry, today announced that Alba Bank (Alba) has made a significant step towards supporting the UK’s small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by adopting the nCino Cloud Banking Platform.

As a secure cloud-based solution, the nCino Cloud Banking Platform will help to ensure Alba has a streamlined end-to-end lending process from loan application to fund disbursement. As Alba grows and evolves, it will offer a scalable, cutting-edge SME lending framework that complements its commitment to providing quick lending decisions.

Integrating with Alba’s core banking engine, the nCino platform will enable the submission of loan applications, the monitoring of progress and the digital sharing of loan decisions, helping to reduce the time from application to review by Alba’s team of underwriters, and approval.

Alba was earlier this year, granted its banking license by the UK Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) and the FCA, allowing it to move into mobilization, during which time it is focused on building out its team, operations and infrastructure. 

With full regulatory approval pending, Alba’s partnership with nCino will help to ensure that the Bank is technically and operationally ready to begin lending on day one.  

Andrew Lewis, Chief Risk Officer for Alba Bank said: "To build Alba, we partnered with the very best technology providers in their fields to offer our customers a first-class banking experience. Partnering with nCino underlines this approach. nCino’s highly regarded Cloud Banking Platform will support our end-to-end lending needs, helping our expert underwriters to make quicker lending decisions for our customers, and allowing us to scale with speed and agility as we introduce more products and build our customer base.” 

"We’re proud to partner with Alba Bank in their endeavor to revolutionize SME banking,” said Charlie McIver, Managing Director, EMEA at nCino. “Our technology is robust and adaptable, designed to support both emerging banks like Alba, and large established incumbents seeking to innovate and modernise. We’re excited to be on this journey with Alba as they scale and work to fulfill their mission.”

MANGOPAY, the platform-specific payment infrastructure provider, today announces that it has been selected by Maisons du Monde, a renowned home decor and furniture retailer, to offer seamless payment experiences to its marketplace customers. The integration of Mangopay’s modular payment infrastructure marks a significant step forward in improving digital transactions for Maisons du Monde’s marketplace, ensuring greater customer satisfaction while creating growth opportunities. 

As a global leader in home furnishings, Maisons du Monde holds exceptional customer experiences at the heart of its mission. In line with this commitment, the company sought a payment partner with a significant international presence that could seamlessly manage online transactions and support the business as it scales further. By integrating Mangopay's cutting-edge technology, Maisons du Monde's platforms will benefit from a flexible and robust payment infrastructure, ensuring customers’ transactions are both convenient and secure. 

"In the digital experience, payment is the cornerstone, the last and most important sequence for a fluid customer experience," said Constance Fouquet, Digital Chief Executive at Maisons du Monde. "That's why we are committed to strengthening our payment base: having the right partners to ensure the robustness and activity of our customers' experience is fundamental for Maisons du Monde." 

Through the new partnership, Mangopay will support Maisons du Monde with its payment needs to expand into new geographies and grow its business in line with its ongoing expansion plans while retaining its focus on delivering an exceptional customer experience. 

“We're thrilled to collaborate with Maisons du Monde, an industry leader that continually innovates in the home decor and furniture market. The company’s strategic foresight and dedication to excellence resonate with our own goals at Mangopay," said Luke Trayfoot, Chief Revenue Officer at Mangopay. “Through our flexible and innovative payment infrastructure and international reach we are looking forward to supporting Maisons du Monde’s growth journey, both ‘at home’ in France and around the world.” 

Sumsub, a full-cycle verification platform, today announces the latest advancements to its Global Database Verification solution, designed for businesses seeking reliable, efficient, and cost-effective user verification. Global Database Verification caters to a wide range of both regulated and non-regulated industries and businesses looking to ensure the legitimacy and accuracy of user data on a global scale. With an average onboarding time of 4.5 seconds, the expected pass rate growth for companies using Global Database Verification is around 37%.

Sumsub is one of few players in the market streamlining identity verification and eliminating manual document review with three essential features: 

• Identity Verification: Verifies the authenticity of user ID documents and personal data by matching them against recognized and secure sources

• Age Verification: Verifies users’ date of birth and personal information, ensuring they meet specific requirements regarding age-restricted content and services

• Address Verification: Ensures the legitimacy of customer residence information by cross-referencing trusted global sources

Sumsub’s Global Database Verification combines these features to eliminate document-based processes while maintaining highest onboarding security standards on a global level. The solution can work both as a standalone verification method or in combination with other Sumsub products to enable a complete user onboarding journey.

Last but not least, Global Database Verification helps businesses ensure that customer data is accurate and up to date, preventing errors and synthetic identity fraud while improving operational business risk management.

“Businesses are constantly seeking more efficient ways to onboard users. By eliminating time- and resource-consuming verification steps such as multiple document uploads, Sumsub’s regulated customers will be able to streamline their KYC processes, resulting in a smoother onboarding journey and a significant pass rate increase. For non-regulated businesses, Global Database Verification will boost security by checking personal data through reliable sources without disturbing users,” comments Vyacheslav Zholudev, co-founder and CTO of Sumsub. “In terms of business development, this will help both regulated and non-regulated companies expand their global reach with confidence, efficiently scaling operations into new markets backed by reliable, diverse databases spanning 45+ countries”.

Today, Payhawk, the global spend management platform, announces the launch of its new Purchase Orders system. The solution streamlines procurement operations by integrating purchase requests, approvals, Purchase Order creation, three-way matching, and the ability to pay in local or cross-border transfers in one seamless platform.

In the past, procurement processes have often involved tedious manual data entry, scattered documentation, and multiple tools. These inefficiencies can slow down business scaling and increase operational costs.

Payhawk’s entry into the Procure-to-Pay market addresses these challenges head-on. Building on its existing accounts payable solution, it introduces a Purchase Order system that allows for streamlined creation and approval of purchase requests, two- or three-way matching between invoices, Purchase Orders (POs), and Goods Received Notes (GRNs), and easy identification of discrepancies. This cohesive solution eliminates the time spent on manual data entry and approvals, and reduces errors, duplicate payments, and unnecessary costs, while providing an overview of committed spend, reinforcing Payhawk's commitment to optimizing business spend management.

Payhawk's ongoing growth and strategic updates — including the recent implementation of its global payments solution, in partnership with Wise — underscore the company's commitment to providing comprehensive, integrated spend management solutions.

Hristo Borisov, CEO and Co-Founder of Payhawk says, “Payhawk’s vision has always been to simplify and streamline our customers’ financial operations. With the introduction of our Procure-to-Pay solution, we're further optimizing our customer’s experience of the Payhawk platform. This solution, coupled with our free local transfers and the most competitive FX rates for International Business Payments with Wise, enhances our automated accounts payable offerings. It's about giving businesses the tools they need to manage their spending more effectively, reducing errors and saving valuable time. It's more than just a new feature, but a testament to our commitment to driving the future of spend management." 

SME working capital provider TRIVER has raised a further £20m to revolutionize how small businesses can access finance.

The deal – a £20m debt facility with Luxembourg-based Avellinia Capital – will enable TRIVER to offer over £200m of funding annually to help small businesses in the UK and further its product development.

Leveraging Open Banking data and sophisticated AI, TRIVER funds small businesses’ short-term working capital needs, underwriting the risk of small businesses borrowing instantly and automatically. Faster and more easily than high street banks, it can provide advances on a business’s client invoices 24/7, offering peace of mind of simple access to capital when needed.

The £20m raise follows £7m equity funding announced in April 2023 involving Andreessen Horowitz, Stride VC, Axeleo Capital, Motive Partners, and Sequoia Capital. TRIVER subsequently launched its prototype in May and a commercial proposition with paying customers in August. It has already advanced invoices with a combined value of more than £1m. The average invoice size is £12,000 and the average duration of funding is 30 days.

Jerome Le Luel, Founder & CEO, said: “The vast majority of SMEs we interact with are willing to grant us access to their bank data via Open Banking. They’re familiar with this tool because it is commonly used with their accounting software. They see the benefit of a simpler process than manually providing bank statements and other data. Nor do they have to make personal guarantees when applying to us.”

With TRIVER, small businesses are granted a new facility within 3 hours of starting their application, and invoices typically take 2.5 minutes to fund. In the coming months, TRIVER plans to reduce this to sub-10 minutes to open a new facility, and less than 1 minute to advance an invoice. In comparison, banks typically take up to 4 weeks to open a facility and 24 hours to advance an invoice because of their manual processes.

Christoph Pfundstein, Partner at Avellinia Capital, said: “We are proud to support TRIVER in its journey to become a significant funding provider to UK SMEs. TRIVER has by now a proven model that is set to transform the SME finance market in terms of user experience, decisioning speed, and attractive pricing. Credit provided by banks is slow to be approved and typically costs between 2% and 4% for a 30-day term versus 1.8% offered by TRIVER. There is enormous potential.”

Le Luel added: “In the current economic climate, we see significant demand from SMEs to access short-term cash flow financing as payment terms extend and banks tighten access to credit. Thanks to continuous access to Open Banking data, we are confident we can manage the credit risk of our customers over the short horizon of their invoices.”

TRIVER is designed to be embedded within digital service providers already serving SMEs. These providers benefit from easy-to-integrate, automated processes that make it simpler to provide a short-term working capital solution to support their customers. They can also receive a value-share back when their customers use TRIVER’s service.

TRIVER has already signed 11 distribution partners since launching, spanning commercial brokers and lending platforms. These include Funding Options by Tide, Newable, Swoop, Clear Business Finance, and Capitalise.

Steve Green, Director at Clear Business Finance, said: “Our customers that have used TRIVER tell us they highly appreciate the experience. The process to access working capital is slick and they love the speed and great value on offer. With this very robust proposition, we believe instant capital delivered through TRIVER will quickly grow in popularity.”

TRIVER is in conversations with prospective partners in other sectors including banks, accounting software, insurance, utilities, and FX, and plans to launch more partnerships in the coming months.