Options, the leading provider of cloud-enabled managed services to the global capital markets, and Finastra, the largest pure-play software vendor that serves the entire financial services industry, today announced the availability of Fusion Invest in the cloud, powered by Options’ technical infrastructure.

As part of its multi-cloud offering, Options has been working closely with Finastra to host the Fusion Invest product, which has been available on the cloud since the start of the year.

Cloud-based Fusion Invest enables Finastra customers to access its innovative investment management solution without deploying hardware on-premises. It is designed to help portfolio and investment managers perform better in a market that is becoming ever more complex and highly regulated. The solution provides increased agility to scale, grow and utilize new products and services at greater speeds. Users also benefit from access to integrated portfolio and risk management, based on advanced analytics for faster and better investment decisions, cross-asset coverage and front-to-back processing capabilities designed to increase efficiency, as well as a flexible operating model around a real-time investment book of record.

Options’ SVP, Managing Director, EMEA, Samuel Farmer said, “We are delighted to be working with Finastra to offer Fusion Invest within our hybrid cloud environment. As a trusted Azure partner and long-time collaborator with Finastra, we are excited by this development which will enhance the breadth of our joint offering to clients. This advancement has formed a scalable model between the Options and Azure cloud environments, allowing cross-platform compatibility with a market-leading security wrapper.”

Younes Guemouri, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Fusion Invest at Finastra, added, “Cloud-based Fusion Invest eliminates challenges around cost, scalability and infrastructure support. In collaborating with Options, a company we have been working with in a private cloud environment for many years, we enable our customers to benefit from Options’ infrastructure expertise as well as fast onboarding and access to robust and secure, real-time investment management technology.”

Options and Finastra have been industry partners, bringing hosted offerings to the financial services market together, for over five years.

Four years of data from Visma | Onguard’s Fintech Barometer finds growing confidence in blockchain technology

65% of organisations have either adopted blockchain technology or worked out the first ideas for future adoption in 2021, up from 51% in 2018. Of this 65%, almost a third are already utilising the technology – a significant 12% increase on last year’s levels.

These are the latest findings by Visma | Onguard, a leader in cutting-edge software solutions for the order-to-cash chain. Fresh analysis of four years of data from its annual Fintech Barometer has indicated the growing market trend towards blockchain adoption.

Blockchain’s uptake is likely to be closely linked to the variety of opportunities it presents to the financial sector. Enhanced data security was flagged as a key benefit by 28% of respondents, while 25% highlighted the greater ease with which international and corporate payments could be made.

The study found that while some hurdles remain on the journey to blockchain adoption, fewer respondents are identifying the biggest hurdle – security - as a challenge (from 40% in 2018 to 35% in 2021). This points to a rising confidence in blockchain’s decentralised security features and its built-in protections against cybercrime.

Finance professionals are also growing increasingly aware of where the biggest hurdles lie in relation to blockchain technology. The drop in respondents claiming to be ‘unsure’ of the challenges (from 12% in 2018 down to 9% today) is another indicator of blockchain’s rising credibility in fintech circles.

Blockchain is forecast to be more than a flash in the pan. In fact, growing numbers of financial organisations are now integrating it into much longer-term plans. With blockchain and robotic process automation (RPA) capable of working together, results from 2021 show that 40% of businesses are developing ideas on how to incorporate robotisation into their adoption of blockchain – a large jump from last year’s 25% and another indicator that blockchain technology is here to stay.

“The story of blockchain adoption has truly moved into its next chapter”, said Tim Blok, CTO of Visma | Onguard. “Only three years ago, many financial organisations discredited blockchain as a passing fad, but that’s certainly not the case now. Our 2021 study shows an improved awareness and understanding of how the technology works, which is driving its increased adoption. Blockchain looks set to become a key solution in the toolkit of financial organisations moving forward.”

New Green Paper, ‘new era for GBP’, to be launched in February 2022

The Payments Association (formerly The Emerging Payments Association (EPA)) today announces the formation of an Innovation Hothouse Bridge (‘the Hothouse’ or ‘the group’) bridging the gap between today’s established payment systems and the new breed of blockchain based solutions, to stimulate debate on a new era in finance. The newly formed alliance is creating a Green Paper exploring multiple use cases across the digital currency landscape that could arise from the creation of a new digital currencies infrastructure for financial markets.

The consortium is led by top-level fintech experts from The Payments Association, Boston Consulting Group, one of the world’s foremost management consulting companies, and paywith.glass, a Dutch-based FinTech company working extensively with artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technology. The consortium will publish its recommendations and use cases in a green paper, on the 4^th February 2022.

Currently financial processes ranging from retail payments to international trade and capital markets infrastructure have inefficiencies that can be solved through digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, distributed ledger and smart contracts. Although the proposed ‘Central Bank Digital Currencies’ (CBDCs) could solve these problems and many more, their full implementations may be a decade or more away for most countries, so the question becomes how to make the most of the UK’s financial infrastructure during the interim period between now and the implementation of fully digital currencies. The new Bank of England Omnibus Account is seen as something that could potentially form the basis of a modernised financial markets infrastructure as it is the first BoE account to provide 24/7 access.

The aim of the use cases would be to reduce the ‘friction’ in the financial world, giving financial institutions, merchants and ultimately consumers much greater flexibility and control over their money. Following on from the publication of the Green Paper, a plot will commence which is led by paywith.glass who will use its interoperable iDC/EP platform to enable a bridge between the old payment rails and the new CBDC world.

The Payment Association’s Director General, Tony Craddock, says: “The UK will soon be entering a world where some countries are using digital currencies, much of the current financial infrastructure will soon be in place and consumers are using a mixture of traditional currency, cryptocurrency and stablecoins. Our aim with this project is to bring together a consortium of the best minds in payments to find the best way to link the old world and the new, and we believe that modernised settlement accounts at central banks are needed to enable this. They would form the lynchpin of a new financial infrastructure that could offer services that would impact everyone, from the largest financial institutions to individual consumers.”

Kunal Jhanji, Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group, comments: “This project has the potential to form part of a new era for the GBP. After the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, the creation and growth of blockchain solutions for payments, new data standards like ISO 20022, the increasing focus on the billions of unbanked people across the world and the focus on reducing cash use since the pandemic the financial world is in clear need of modernisation, and the UK can be leading this effort. This consortium has the potential to be a stepping stone to a new world of financial technology that can enable change throughout the established world of finance.”

Paul Sisnett, Chief Executive Officer at paywith.glass, adds: “Our unique collaboration brings together heterogeneous but ultimately invaluable expertise to seed true innovation. We support the initiative to make the UK an innovation-led economy but we are convinced that innovation must go hand in hand with public-private collaboration and regulatory considerations. Embedding this perspective from the very beginning has enabled us to develop pragmatic solutions that can actually be implemented in the real world, whilst pushing the envelope on what is possible with the next generation of financial markets infrastructure.”

UnionPay, the card scheme with the world’s largest cardholder base, today announces that it has signed a new market development agreement with Nets, a leading payment services provider in the Nordics with a strong footprint across Europe as part of leading European PayTech Nexi Group.

The agreement will enable UnionPay contactless acceptance throughout Nets’ Nordic merchant portfolio, adding a significant increase on top of the existing over 100,000 POS terminals in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. And further UnionPay acceptance will be extended to more than 6,000 ATMs in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, resulting in almost full ATM acceptance across the entire Nordic region. UnionPay and Nets also expect to reach a new agreement to extend UnionPay’s existing POS merchant acceptance rate in Finland.

As international travel recovers, UnionPay cardholders visiting the Nordics will be able to use their card or mobile phone to pay at POS terminals by contactless and complete the payment swiftly and securely. The Nordic region has been an increasingly popular destination for UnionPay cardholders in recent years, welcoming over 1.5 million in 2019. 

Nets and UnionPay International have enjoyed a long and successful partnership dating back to 2007. Since then, consistent progress has been made towards achieving complete acceptance of UnionPay cards throughout the Nordic region’s POS network. 

Han Wang, Deputy Head of UnionPay International European Branch, said “We are delighted to have signed this significant new agreement with our long-term partner Nets, which substantially increases UnionPay acceptance across the entire Nordic region. As we see international travel begin to normalise, the Nordics will once again become a key destination for UnionPay cardholders to Europe. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our partnership with Nets over the coming years.”

Robert Hoffmann, CEO Merchant Services Nets, said “We are excited to be offering a significantly larger number of our merchant clients the opportunity to accept UnionPay. Expanding the array of payment means at the point of sale enables merchants to better accommodate the payment preferences of their customers which is known to be an important revenue driver. Our partnership with UnionPay is particularly important for merchants located in the many popular tourist destinations across the Nordic region. As UnionPay cardholders start to return, merchants will be well set to provide them with a preferred and easy payment option.” 

With over billions of cards accumulatively issued worldwide, UnionPay is the card payment organisation with the world’s largest cardholder base. Meanwhile, its global network has extended to 180 countries and regions with issuance in 70 countries and regions. 

The certified software development kit (SDK) focuses on in-app authentication, helping to reduce fraud and minimise cart abandonment

Judopay, the leading mobile centric commerce enabler, today further strengthens its SCA strategy by announcing that its mobile software development kit has become one of the first in the world to be EMVCo Certified for 3D Secure 2 (3DS2); alongside giants like Adyen, Stripe, Microsoft and Sony. This is a critical step to help app based merchants maximise their sales, as processing 3DS2 authentications within a mobile app requires a certified SDK.

The new certified 3DS SDK creates an encrypted connection between the customer's device and the Issuer’s server. This is essential, as studies suggest that the way consumers complete their purchases is changing with a dramatic increase in eCommerce and mobile transactions during the pandemic.

Judopay’s new SDK allows merchants to offer the best authentication process for consumers and maximise authorisation rates for merchants through the advanced device data collection and built-in security checks. If consumers are asked to authenticate, through Judopay’s native technology they will not need to be redirected to an external page, a step that results in significant drop-off. To maximise conversion and user experience, the new SDK will allow merchants to customise the authentication screen to match their app format, providing a consistent look and feel throughout the checkout journey.

While many PSPs have built or are whitelabelling 3DS2 solutions, mobile EMVCo 3DS certification has been low, despite the further significant increase in mobile usage since the pandemic. In the third quarter of 2021, 27.6 billion apps were downloaded from Google Play alone, with Apple’s app store seeing consumer in-app spending reach $21.5 billion during the same period. Judopay is ensuring that this rise in demand for mobile payments is met with a seamless in-app authentication when merchants enable 3DS.

Judopay, as mobile payment specialists, knew the importance of creating a seamless 3DS2 mobile experience and decided to build its own SDK. It enables both browser-based and native 3DS2 authentication in-app for its merchants. In addition, Judopay will also offer its leading solution to other payment providers to white-label and use.

Speaking on the news that Judopay is one of the first companies around the world currently certified, Jumaane Hutchinson, Head of Products at Judopay, said: "With mobile in our DNA, we know the complexity of getting payments right in App Commerce. Our goal was to help our merchants maximise their sales whilst minimising the disruption to their checkout flow in an SCA world. We saw that traditional 3DS2 solutions negatively impacted authentication rates which led us to build our own EMVCo certified SDK – something many other payment providers have opted not to do.”

He added: “Having full control of our own EMVCo IP will allow us to innovate faster and ensure our customers are using leading-edge technology.”

The largest asset manager in the Nordics will implement Temenos Multifonds to administer €100+ bn in assets

Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the banking software company, today announced Nordea Investment Funds SA, the largest asset manager in the Nordics, and part of the Nordea Group, has chosen Temenos Multifonds to transform its investor servicing activities in Luxembourg. Replacing existing on-premise systems with a modern technology solution in the cloud will enable the firm to scale and future-proof its operations. In Luxembourg, Nordea Investment Funds provides in-house administration for €100+ bn in AUM (Assets Under Management),

According to ALFI (Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry), the Luxembourg market has continued to show strong AUM growth of over 20% in the last 12 months[i], despite global market volatility, making it an ideal market for Nordea Investment Funds to continue its growth strategy. Embracing new technology underpins the firm’s ambitious growth plans and vision to be one of Europe’s leading asset managers. 

The collaboration with Temenos will enable Nordea Investment Funds to consolidate multiple systems on a single, cloud-native global platform, increasing efficiencies, reducing risk, and digitalizing operations and client interfacing. In particular, the firm can leverage a flexible retrocessions engine that can be customized to meet changing investor needs, with flexible accrual calculation and payment functionality, as well as fully integrated SWIFT connectivity to send and receive messages directly.

With Temenos’ cloud capabilities and a sophisticated API framework, Nordea Investment Funds will be able to scale efficiently, with agility and flexibility, to cater to the needs of the asset management industry now, and into the future.

Nordea Investment Funds will use the Temenos migration tool and benefit from its expertise serving 9 of the top 15 transfer agents in Luxembourg to deliver a rapid implementation and time to value.

Markku Kotisalo, Head of Fund Administration, Nordea Investment Funds, said: “At Nordea Investment Funds, we are committed to our clients’ success with services and solutions that adapt to their evolving needs. Improving our technology infrastructure with key partners such as Temenos is core to this strategy. Temenos open technology, built on cloud-native components, will allow us to bring new services to market faster to enhance the client experience and scale efficiently to support increased volumes. We look forward to our collaboration with Temenos on this important project.” 

Oded Weiss, Managing Director, Temenos Multifonds, commented: “We are proud to support Nordea Investment Funds in transforming its transfer agency capabilities in Luxembourg. They share our belief in the power of open technology and the cloud to unlock innovation and drive growth. With Temenos, Nordea is future-ready to continue to enhance client service and scale efficiently for the digital era.” 

Third acquisition in first year of operation to “save big banks from Big Tech”

Partly acquiring London-based FairXchange, United Fintech makes third acquisition in first year of operation to “save big banks from Big Tech.” And according to its Danish CEO Christian Frahm, the fintech platform is becoming an increasingly desired “one-stop-shop” for big banks in need of technological innovation, prompting additional acquisitions to emerge on the horizon: “The City and Wall Street will see bigger disruption in the next 10 years than they have seen in the past 100 years,” says CEO.

As a first transaction in a multi-stage acquisition towards full ownership, United Fintech has acquired a 25% stake in London-based FairXchange (the “Company”) for an undisclosed amount in a transaction integrating the Company, its products and employees onto its digital platform. Trading firms use FairXchange’s state-of-the-art analytical tools to facilitate data-driven dialogue with their counterparties, bringing clarity and transparency to execution performance through the provision of independent data. And according to United Fintech CEO Christian Frahm, FairXchange fits hand-in-glove with United Fintech’s strategy of acquiring state-of-the-art Capital Markets software products ready for scaling and global roll-out on United Fintech’s platform.

“FairXchange’s business critical, data-driven product, Horizon, is already being used by an extensive client base including a number of global financial institutions, and with the onboarding to United Fintech’s platform, we look forward to enabling FairXchange to continue its growth journey and scale with us. As United Fintech will onboard the Company’s clients and FairXchange will get an opportunity to grow within our clientele, this is a mutual win for both parties - and a milestone for United Fintech, completing its third transaction in just one year,” says Christian Frahm, noting that the acquisition won’t have any impact on everyday business for FairXchange’s clients or employees, adding that ahead of the transaction, United Fintech showed Horizon to six major global banks, aligning it with their product roadmaps.

From start-up to scale-up

Over the next few years, it is United Fintech’s ambition to complete multiple strategic acquisitions of ready-to-scale fintechs with proven Capital Markets products, positive cash flow and growth potential; to build a fintech “one-stop-shop” that global banks can benefit from - and become market leader in this niche. The ambition is to help big banks and financial institutions accelerate the implementation of innovative digital technology, and according to FairXchange’s Founder and CEO, former Morgan Stanley executive Guy Hopkins, United Fintech’s platform is the market’s most suitable candidate to fulfil that exact mission.

”FairXchange has seen rapid, exciting growth in recent years; however we are still a small team and as we scale up we recognise the importance of choosing the right partner to help us accelerate that growth. From the first conversation, we knew United Fintech was the perfect fit; a compelling vision, an innovative business model and a very impressive management team with deep expertise in financial markets. We’re looking forward to joining the United Fintech platform, increasing our own reach while also contributing to the wider success of the group,” says Guy Hopkins, who will continue to lead the Company as the designated Trading Analytics product on United Fintech’s platform. 

Banks at slow motion in a lightspeed world

With more than 100 employees in Copenhagen, London, New York, Berlin and Romania and having completed three acquisitions already, it may come as a surprise that United Fintech launched just a year ago in November 2020 during the Corona crisis. However, United Fintech has been a long way coming for Danish-born Christian Frahm, who in 2016 sold his first fintech firm CFH Group to British-listed Playtech Plc. Although the discreet deal made Frahm a familiar face in fintech, it didn’t fulfill the native Dane’s ambition to “save big banks from Big Tech” - a phrase which has become the informal mission slogan of United Fintech. And according to Christian Frahm, fintech is what all of the financial industry is currently scrambling to get ahead of; to compete with the emerging threats from startups and scaleups like Stripe, Revolut etc. as well as Big Tech and Silicon Valley.

"The City and Wall Street will see bigger disruption in the next 10 years than they have seen in the past 100 years. The whole industry desperately needs to access the most innovative minds and products globally, but the onboarding at all bigger institutions is killing any chance of new products actually getting into the banks in the first place. We are born as a partner for banks to help them transition quickly from slow motion into this lightspeed world. The next 10 years is all about speed for the banks. And they no longer have the luxury to do it by themselves. Banks need partners. United FIntech unites founders of the most innovative fintech businesses globally and brings them to the big banks under one central umbrella - an innovation platform where banks feel comfortable taking risk on new products; so that they can faster and more seamlessly onboard new technology. And the acquisition of FairXchange is a great example of doing exactly that,'' concludes Christian Frahm.

Bank acquires £0.6 billion SME lending portfolio from AIB Group Plc (AIB) 

Allica Bank excited to offer a secure and sustainable home to AIB SME lending customers in  Great Britain 

Acquisition brings forward Allica Bank’s target profitability date to the middle of 2022, with total  combined lending book to be over £1 billion 

• Allica Bank, the fintech challenger bank, makes its first major acquisition with an agreement to acquire  c.2,000 SME customers and c.£0.6 billion of associated lending from AIB Group (UK) Plc following  AIB’s exit from the SME market in Great Britain. The transaction will build on Allica Bank’s positive  momentum since launching in March 2020 and accelerate the bank’s ambition to become the leading  SME challenger bank for the decade ahead. 

• 2,000 SME borrowers will transfer to Allica Bank and benefit from the bank’s distinctive customer focused proposition, built around tailored lending expertise supported by proprietary modern  technology and genuine local relationship banking. 

• Since first opening its doors to SME lending in March 2020, Allica Bank has launched a new network  of local SME relationship managers offering tailored SME lending expertise able to fully support AIB’s  SME customers. 85% of Allica Bank’s existing lending is to businesses outside London. 

• The acquisition of AIB’s SME lending book in Great Britain will: 

- fuel the development and expansion of Allica Bank’s existing award-winning service and  proposition, including wider lending products, with Allica Bank also poised to launch its innovative  Business Rewards Account early next year. 

- bring forward Allica Bank’s target date for reaching profitability to the middle of 2022 upon full  completion of the transaction, given Allica Bank’s continued organic growth combined with the  quality of the AIB SME lending portfolio. 

- Post completion of the transaction, Allica Bank is expected to have a combined total lending  book of more than £1 billion. 

• Allica Bank’s fast-expanding SME proposition has already gained significant traction and recognition  across the industry, receiving a range of high profile industry awards and accolades: o Bridging and Commercial magazine named Allica Bank ‘Commercial Lender of the Year’ in  their 2021 awards 

o Leasing World crowned Allica Bank ‘New Entrant of the Year’ at their 2021 Gold Awards o Shortlisted for five awards* at the forthcoming NACFB 2021 Patron Awards 

o Business Moneyfacts Awards rated Allica Bank ‘Highly Commended’ for: 

Best Business Fixed Account Provider 

Best Service from a Commercial Mortgage Provider 

Best SME Technology

Allica Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential  Regulation Authority (FRN: 821851). Registered office: First Floor, Eldon House, 2-3 Eldon Street, London EC2M 7LS. Registered in England  and Wales with company number 7706156. Copyright © Allica Bank Limited. All rights reserved. 

Private and confidential 

Richard Davies, Allica Bank CEO, said: 

“We are thrilled to be welcoming AIB’s SME lending customers to Allica Bank, following AIB’s decision to  withdraw from the GB SME lending market. 

“We’re working closely with AIB to ensure a smooth and seamless transition for AIB customers who we  look forward to providing with a secure and sustainable home. We’re proud of the strong technology and  tailored personal service we’re able to offer Allica Bank customers and are delighted to be able to extend  this service to AIB’s customers. 

“Allica Bank is fast becoming the SME lender of choice, not least due to the investment we continue to  make in developing both our direct relationship with SMEs and via our broker channel. This acquisition  enables us to support and scale even more of Britain’s established SMEs and growth companies at a time  when SMEs are looking for more tailored support from their bank. 

“As we said at our recent trading update, we’re laser focused on growing our lending to multiple billions  over the coming years as we seek to support the underserved and overlooked SMEs across the UK.” 

• Starting on 1 November 2021, Atom bank introduced a four-day working week for all employees
• Employees’ salaries will not be changed, despite a reduction in working hours from 37 to 34 per week
• Atom’s move to a four-day working week is to support improved employee mental and physical wellbeing together with improved business productivity
• Atom will continue to offer customers multi-award winning support, seven days a week
• Atom is taking a lead in reshaping the nature of work to take account of longer working lives, the positive impact of technology and flexible working and the need to live and work more sustainably.

Atom bank, the North East fintech and first app based bank, has introduced a four-day working week for all of its 430 employees, with no change in salary. The new four-day working week commenced on the 1^st November 2021, with the majority of Atom’s employees choosing to adopt the new working week.

Atom introduced this change in recognition of the strong preference workers have for the opportunity to work flexibly, something which has been emphasised throughout the COVID-19 pandemic that has changed the way we live and work forever.

The move allows all Atom employees to choose to move to a 34 hour working week over four days, paid at the same contracted salary rate as their former five day, 37.5 hour week. Mondays or Fridays are expected to be the default days off for the majority of employees, except for those working in operational and services roles whose day out of the office may vary to ensure a continuous and uninterrupted level of service for Atom’s customers.

Atom’s introduction of the four-day week follows a robust review process which confirmed that there would be no risks to customer service or operations. The review assessed a range of factors, including productivity, effectiveness, available resources, and impact on external partners and stakeholders. These measures continue to be captured as part of a business-wide assessment of both commercial and wellbeing benefits of this change.

Atom believes that the world of work needs to change, and that progressive businesses will get ahead of the curve by making the five day week becoming as unnecessary as permanent office working and the daily commute has proved to be for many people.

Mark Mullen, Chief Executive Officer at Atom, said:

“Since March 2020, Atom, along with almost all workplaces around the world, has had to adapt rapidly to new ways of working.  Our experience has exploded many of the myths of the modern workplace.  It has happened at a time when we all need to become more aware of the impact of work on both our mental and physical wellbeing.  We now know that many jobs can be done as efficiently and productively from peoples’ own homes as from the office. But why stop there?  More can be done - more needs to change.

“The five day week was popularised in the US by carmaker Henry Ford in the 1920s, and it was formally adopted throughout the country during the Great Depression. In the UK, Boots the chemist officially adopted the five day week in 1934 after it was found to increase productivity and employee wellbeing, with the rest of the country following suit.

“We believe the 20^th century concept of a five day week is, in many cases, no longer fit for purpose for 21^st century businesses. Its introduction originally allowed for the establishment of the weekend, with all the benefits for employees this entailed. At Atom, we feel the time is right for the next evolution in the world of work.

“A four-day week will provide our employees with more opportunities to pursue their passions, spend time with their families, and build a healthier work/life balance. We firmly believe that this will prove beneficial for our employees’ wellbeing and happiness and that it will have an equally positive impact on business productivity and customer experience.

“While we appreciate a four-day working week will not be right for all workplaces, the move to working from home has proved that working practices that may have seemed years away can be introduced rapidly.  We are proud to be one of the first businesses to introduce a four-day week for all our employees, and we hope many others follow suit. With COVID 19 causing vast numbers of people to reconsider how they want to live their lives, anything that leads to more productive, healthier, and, crucially, happier colleagues, is a win for everyone.”    

TPAY MOBILE company Payguru partners with leading Turkish virtual POS provider to enable first-ever digital wallet top-ups via DCB

Payguru, a TPAY MOBILE FZ-LLC company, today announces the launch of a new use case for Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) in partnership with Iyzico, the leading provider of virtual Point of Sale solutions (POS) in Turkey. Turkish consumers will be able to top up “Pay with Iyzico”, the most popular mobile wallet in the country, by DCB - improving financial access for consumers who do not have credit or debit cards.

Despite Turkey having an unbanked population of 16 million, things are now improving thanks to agile digital solutions. Iyzico provides online payment services and AI-based payment technologies to businesses and enterprises. Consumers will be able to top up Pay with Iyzico Wallet via bank transfers, credit cards and mobile balance transfer, quickly and securely. 

Iyzico provides services to more than 70,000 member businesses and over 900,000 sub-members with an annual transaction volume of 18 billion Turkish Liras. Payguru, the leading payments aggregator in Turkey, offers DCB services through three mobile network operators and bank transfers and ATM payments via eight major banks. With over 84 million subscribers in the region, Payguru has brought DCB to household names including Burger King and Tencent. Payguru currently has over 1400 merchants on its platform and has processed over 104.5 million transactions in the past year.

The first-ever digital wallet top-ups via DCB are now available in Turkey. Nike, Puma, Yves Rocher and intimissimi are among the international brands that have chosen Iyzico as a trusted partner in Turkey. This new use case for DCB will improve financial access for consumers with limited access to traditional banking infrastructure by enabling them to make digital payments without needing a bank account or credit or debit card. The technology will enable local merchants to reach and accept payments seamlessly, transforming the way businesses and individuals pay and receive money in Turkey. This single integration will enable Turkish merchants to connect to 87 payment channels, helping them grow their business by expanding their reach to new and even unbanked customers, and offering innovative services such as bundling with operators’ tariffs, and loyalty and incentive programmes.

Payguru’s Co-Founder and Chairman CEO Işık Uman comments: “The partnership with Iyzico represents another significant milestone in Payguru’s journey. The move is firmly in line with our strategy of collaboration being the best route for making an impact in the age of DCB. It reinforces our commitment to continuously invest in and to unlock the value of digital commerce and financial inclusion and access across Turkey. It also signifies our improved ability to scale implementations, following the acquisition of Payguru by TPAY MOBILE in June 2020.”

Barbaros Özbuğutu, Co-Founder & CEO of Iyzico, adds, “Mobile is enabling consumers all over the world to not only communicate more effectively, but pay remotely. Together with Payguru, we are breaking new ground in payments by using the power of mobile to increase financial inclusion – which is vital to stimulating economic development. 

“By cooperating with operators, we make financial access possible for consumers who do not have a credit or debit card by enabling them to transfer balances to their Iyzico digital wallets via telephone operators. This is a historic step in the payments landscape that combines Iyzico's democratised approach with Payguru's fast and dynamic structure. We’re looking forward to continued collaboration with Payguru and its parent company TPAY MOBILE.”