Vermeg, the leading global provider of regulatory reporting and collateral management solutions, announces that Bank North, the UK's first truly regional business bank of the modern era, has signed a multi-year licence for its flagship regulatory reporting platform, AgileREPORTER.

Bank North is a new regional business bank which was granted a banking licence (Authorised with Restrictions or ‘AWR’) by the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority (‘PRA’) in August this year.  The bank operates via seamlessly-integrated, cloud-native banking technology, which powers a network of regional ‘Pods’, where experienced bankers and relationship managers will deliver committed finance to businesses. It will start lending to SMEs later this year with the opening of its first lending ‘Pod’ in Manchester. Lending services will then be rolled out across the UK.

Working closely with Bank North since 2020, Vermeg has been helping to establish the bank’s reporting processes, so it has robust and thorough systems in place to ensure regulatory compliance. With the implementation of Vermeg’s flagship regulatory reporting product, AgileREPORTER, Bank North is benefiting from an automated, scalable and AWS cloud-based reporting system. The intelligent software ensures the most accurate and efficient reporting possible, and through a user-friendly interface, the finance team is able to manage approvals and workflows, enabling a more efficient finance function and clear oversight for senior management.

David Broadbent, CFO, Bank North said: “With ambitious growth plans and a unique de-centralised model, where loans are tailored to the circumstances of each business at a local level, Bank North needs regulatory reporting software that can scale and integrate seamlessly with our cloud-native systems. AgileREPORTER meets this need perfectly and access to Vermeg’s experts in the UK is invaluable in helping to ensure we are implementing all the right processes.”

Malcolm Arnold, ‎Global Head of Regulatory Product, Vermeg said: “It’s very rewarding to see Bank North secure its banking licence after working to ensure they have all the required reporting systems in place. Our UK-based Regulatory Strategy team have delivered a regulatory reporting solution that supports the bank’s advanced banking model and can be easily scaled up as the business grows. We look forward to a long and successful partnership, working to ensure the Bank North compliance team has the highest level of confidence and control over its reporting at all times.”

Financial prudence appears to be the current theme in the UK cards market with spending down and percentage of payments to balance up – but will this positive attitude remain as COVID savings dwindle?

Highlights

• September sees third decrease in spend in 2021, falling £3 month on month – although £49 above pre-pandemic levels
• Percentage of payments to balance increases to a new eight-year high
• Missed payment rates also continue to drop year on year
• The pattern for increased cash usage continues – 6.5 percent month on month increase although still 56 percent below September 2019 levels

Global analytics software provider FICO today released its analysis of UK card trends for September 2021 and the contrasting conditions that have been seen throughout 2021 continue. The month saw average spend fall, growth in payment levels and falling missed payment rates, all suggesting a current state of strong financial prudence. For lenders, however, focus needs to remain on reacting quickly to consumer changes in spend and payment behaviour which might indicate whether they can service their debt.

UK Card average spend falls for third time in 2021

The average spend on UK credit cards in September 2021 decreased £3 to £708. However, it was still £49 on September 2019, suggesting that consumers are still relying on lockdown savings.

An eight-year high in percentage of payments to balance

Another indicator of the continuing role of pandemic savings is the eight-year high in the percentage of payments to balance. Year on year it is 22 percent higher and 26 percent above 2019 levels.

While average card balances grew £1 in September 2021, they remain 4 percent lower than a year ago and 11 percent below pre-pandemic levels (in September 2019).

This September, credit card holders moved from paying less than the amount due or the amount due to paying more than the amount due or the full balance (over a two-year high). This created the highest ratio of percentage of payments to balance in eight years.  

Missed payment rates fall to new over two-year lows

The percentage of accounts missing payments fell 2.2 percent in September 2021. Their associated balance as a percentage of total balance decreased 2 percent, indicating the power of the savings and perhaps consumer restraint with an uncertain few months ahead.

The percentage of accounts missing payments is 30 percent lower than two years ago, and the percent of total balance is 17 percent below.

Only average balances on accounts missing one payment increased during the month, although these were 3.1 percent below September 2019. However, average balances on card users missing two or more payments are above pre-pandemic levels.

Compared to September 2019:

• Average balances for cardholders with two missed payments are 7 percent or £150 higher.
• Average balances for cardholders with three missed payments are 16 percent or £404 higher
• Average balances for cardholders with four or more missed payments are 15 percent or £406 higher.

This indicates that although a lower proportion of consumers are missing payments, those that do have higher average balances.

Spend over card limit stabilises

Compared to two years ago, far fewer cardholders are spending over their card limit, but those who do are spending even more over their limit than cardholders in September 2019. The percentage of accounts going over their limit stabilised, perhaps due to the drop in average spend, and remains 54 percent below September 2019 levels. The average amount being spent above limit remained the same month on month, however this is 12 percent higher than two years ago.

Cash usage long way from reaching pre-pandemic levels

The percentage of consumers using cash on their credit cards increased a further 7 percent in September 2021. However, cash usage is still 56 percent lower than pre-pandemic levels.

Looking Ahead

October could be a pivotal month in consumer spending and payment behaviours. It was the first month with no furlough support and also marked the end of extra benefit payments, plus the increase in the energy cap level and continuing rises in fuel and food prices are all likely to have an impact. The contactless limit increase that was implemented mid-month, from £45 to £100, may also influence consumer use of credit.

Although lenders will be working on their 2022 strategic approach and perhaps getting back to business as usual in customer management, collections will remain at the forefront, along with ensuring any available or new credit is affordable for their customers. 

These card performance figures are part of the data shared with subscribers of the FICO® Benchmark Reporting Service. The data sample comes from client reports generated by the FICO® TRIAD® Customer Manager solution in use by some 80 percent of UK card issuers. Issuers wishing to subscribe to this service can contact staceywest@fico.com.

New Macrobond Viewer gives Aviva Investors the ability to share ‘live’ research across its organisation instantly

Macrobond, a leading provider of global economic, aggregate financial and sector data for finance professionals, has teamed up with Aviva Investors (“Aviva”), to develop the Macrobond Viewer, a new way to seamlessly disseminate information across business lines using the Macrobond platform. 

The tool allows Aviva Investors economists and portfolio managers to confidently share ‘live’ charts with one another, knowing that everyone will be viewing the same data at any given moment in time. The Macrobond Viewer has proved particularly valuable to portfolio managers monitoring key positions.

Sharing and analysing vast amounts of data and charts across multiple teams can be challenging for large organisations. With information and models updating constantly, it can quickly lead to loss of version control and compound inefficiencies. Knowing that everyone has the same up to date information across the organisation has eliminated this time-consuming process. 

To drive better collaboration across the company, Aviva Investors asked Macrobond to develop a solution, which resulted in the Macrobond Viewer. 

Michael Grady, Head of Investment Strategy and Chief Economist at Aviva Investors, said: “What's really been the game changer for us is the way in which we've been able to engage the portfolio management teams. It has allowed us to get that ‘single source of truth’ and because it's live, we have the confidence to know that we are looking at the most up-to-date information. This really matters when you're trying to make those investment decisions.”

Grady added, “One of the biggest benefits that Macrobond provides to somebody like me who is undertaking the research and the analysis, is the incredible efficiency gains over using other spreadsheet-type packages. I see this with all the new hires who come into my team who may not have come across the product before. They just see how much efficiency they can gain.”

Howard Rees, Chief Commercial Officer, Macrobond, said: “Listening to and acting on feedback has always been core to our success, so actually partnering with a key client to address a workflow challenge they had felt like a natural next step. It’s been a great pleasure to work with Michael and the guys at Aviva, to realise their vision of bringing better collaboration and increased efficiencies to their teams. We are incredibly excited to now be able to provide Macrobond Viewer to all our customers so they too can collaborate more effectively with their teams.”

finova, the leading mortgage and savings tech provider, today announces its partnership with Quantum Mortgages – an intermediary-only specialist lender supporting landlords across the UK. finova and Quantum expect to launch formally by Q1, 2022.

finova acquired BEP Systems and its SaaS originations platform, Apprivo², in October 2021. Quantum will leverage finova’s Apprivo² platform to initially support buy to let lending before considering other types of lending.

The platform will be fully integrated to various APIs from launch, including:

• Docu-sign (e-signatures)
• GB Loqate (Address and bank account look ups)
• Barclays payment gateways

In addition to this, finova will be working with BCM Global, which is acting as the mortgage servicer for Quantum. Other digital services and APIs will be added post-launch to provide further automations.

Jason Neale, Managing Director at Quantum Mortgages, comments:

“Although common sense, human underwriting is at the heart of our proposition and we wanted to combine this with the very best and latest technology to create a unique experience for intermediaries and their clients”.

“Our partnership with finova allows us to do this and we were really impressed by the power of the Apprivo² platform as well as its remarkable intuitive interfaces. finova’s determination to deliver out-of-the-box processes, combined with the benefits of Apprivo², will provide us with the flexibility to customise our offering going forward. These are exciting times for the business, and we look forward to further consolidating our partnership with finova.”

Chris Little, Commercial Director (Core Banking Platform) at finova, comments:

“We are delighted to add Quantum Mortgages to our ever-growing list of Apprivo² users. Once again, we have demonstrated the power of the Apprivo² platform and our ability to grasp our clients’ growing requirements. Our partnership with Quantum symbolises another great step forwards for finova, as we expand our efforts to provide seamless digital journeys.”

VoxSmart Ltd., the global leader in communications surveillance, has today cemented its APAC presence with the opening of a new office in Queenstown, New Zealand, further building on the global growth of the firm over the last year.

Based in the heart of Queenstown, the city is an ideal location for VoxSmart’s presence on the ground in the APAC region due to the investment that the city has put into the new innovation hub, with the goal of turning the city into a global leader in technology. This new office will be headed by VoxSmart COO & kiwi native, Adrienne Muir.

VoxSmart currently has employees across the region, including offices based in Singapore and Melbourne, as well as New Zealand. The opening of a new central office in Queenstown further builds on the expertise already being delivered to local clients, and better positions VoxSmart to take advantage of the expanding role of regtech in the region.

Commenting on the new office, Adrienne Muir, COO of VoxSmart said: “With New Zealand fast becoming a hotspot for tech innovation, and Australia on our doorstep, it makes sense for us to be serving our clients locally on the ground. Having our team dispersed in Singapore, Melbourne and now New Zealand is fantastic for our growing number of clients in APAC. As the region enters a period of tech revolution, our job is to ensure clients have direct access to our expertise as and when they need it.”

Olivia Wensley, CEO at Queenstown Lakes further added: “We're thrilled to have a company the calibre of VoxSmart establish an office in our region. The tech companies who have established offices here enjoy the unparalleled lifestyle the Queenstown Lakes region has to offer. Having an office here has been a great way for our tech sector to attract talent because of our region's desirability.”

Oliver Blower, CEO of VoxSmart, pointed to the global vision of the firm: “The opening of our new APAC office is central to our long-term strategic vision and global management model. Not only will it help us to serve our local clients to an even higher standard, but also demonstrates our ongoing commitment to having a truly global reach and presence.”

This news marks a period of rapid growth for VoxSmart, following a $25 million growth equity investment injection from Toscafund and senior hires in North America earlier in the year, in addition to the recent acquisition of GreenKey Technologies.

This strategic partnership will combine Bain’s industry leading management consulting with Aura’s innovative global luxury blockchain solutions

The Aura Blockchain Consortium, founded by LVMH, Prada Group, and Cartier, part of Richemont, and OTB Group, are pleased to announce that they have entered a Global Strategic Partnership with Bain & Company. The addition of Bain & Company as the exclusive knowledge partner will guarantee a world-class onboarding as well as strategy development for luxury brands working with the Aura Blockchain Consortium.  

Over the last twenty years, Bain & Company has earned the reputation as the absolute market leader in management consulting in luxury. The firm has worked on hundreds of projects globally for luxury brands both upstream and downstream especially with regards to the industry’s push towards sustainability. Bain offers expertise underpinned by proprietary tools and the Future of Retail Framework across every facet of the value chain. Bain also publishes closely watched reports on the evolution of the luxury market, including the annual Bain-Altagamma luxury market monitor that is one of the most quoted and recognised reports on the industry. 

The Aura Blockchain Consortium is a non-profit organization created with the vision that collaboration can coexist within a competitive environment, driven by common objectives for the greater good. Aura through its innovative blockchain technology has built a comprehensive suite of solutions that covers the entire luxury lifecycle, upstream and downstream. The customer journey and experience is at the heart of the solutions which include provenance sourcing, tools to communicate authentication, sustainability, digital tokens and NFTs, providing a personalized service that creates a new layer of engagement for luxury brands direct to their consumers.

The Consortium develops standards and provides tools to enhance transparency and trust through sustainable blockchain solutions and related technologies. 

Founded by luxury brands, Aura strives to make these technologies easily accessible to all luxury brands irrespective of size and location. Through its activities focused on leveraging blockchain technology throughout the manufacturing and supply chain process, Aura promotes innovation and authenticity within the luxury sector. 

Daniela Ott, Secretary General of Aura Blockchain Consortium, said: “Bain & Company has long been recognised as the leading management consultancy that is helping companies transform and define the future of luxury and fashion brands. Today Aura is the only blockchain solution that covers the entire lifecycle of luxury production and consumption. We share a common goal and are delighted to welcome them as our newest global strategic partner.  Our members will now have access to world-class management consultancy to support them as they embrace the opportunities to transform their business using our blockchain solutions”.

Federica Levato, a Bain & Company Partner and Head of EMEA Luxury Practice commented, “We are delighted to join the Aura Blockchain Consortium as the exclusive knowledge partner. The advent of blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFT) has led to a whole new paradigm of how brands engage with their customers. As a company at the forefront of innovation and change for the luxury industry, we look forward to work hand in hand with members of the Aura Blockchain Consortium to navigate the myriad of opportunities presented by this technology and help them craft and execute their strategy for this exciting new frontier of luxury”. 

 Smartpay K.K. today announced the launch of its new "Buy Now Pay Later" (BNPL) service, which combines an all-in-one payment experience and interest free payment solution, designed to solve Japanese consumer payment issues and improve merchant conversion rates.

Built out of a passion for enabling Japanese merchants to succeed in e-commerce, Smartpay aims to remove the anxiety of shopping online for Japanese credit card users with the first completely free and secure, seamless, fully automated, online payment experience.

The company is backed by several high-profile investors including SMBC Venture Capital (SMBC-VC) and Global Founders Capital (GFC), the largest global investor in BNPL.

A series of new BNPL innovations for consumers and merchants in Japan

Japan has an e-commerce cart abandonment rate of over 80%, which is one of the highest in the world. Smartpay aims to increase the conversion rate for Japanese merchants by removing the friction that exists between cart and order completion.

Smartpay has redefined the e-commerce payment experience by addressing Japanese consumer anxiety about interest, hidden fees, sharing personal data and the time needed to fill in online forms to complete the transaction.

Smartpay is the first free of charge BNPL payment option for Japanese consumers who have credit cards. There are no sign-up fees, interest fees, settlement fees, or late charges. The payment experience is also Japan's first cross-merchant, cross-platform, and single-click checkout BNPL service, allowing consumers to checkout in as little as 10 seconds. The BNPL payment solution is simple to understand, structured on 3 equal installments over 8 weeks. This means that unlike the existing BNPL services in Japan, customers do not need to go to the convenience store to make payments or pay any bank transfer fees.

For merchants, Smartpay also addresses key cost and administration pain points by covering all payment fraud risks and managing all consumer-led chargebacks. Smartpay integration has been built to reduce merchant integration time and therefore resource cost and can be integrated onto merchant websites in one day with the highest quality SDKs and APIs. In addition, to specifically help small and medium sized merchants, Apple Pay and Google Pay are automatically integrated into the Smartpay solution. Research shows that Smartpay will improve sales conversion for e-commerce merchants by more than 10% over a 12-month period.

Built specifically for Japan

Smartpay was co-founded by Pieterjan Vandaele (ex-Paidy) and Sam Ahmed (ex-Facebook). The Smartpay team brings together 80 years of e-commerce, Fintech and payment experience specifically relevant to Japan. Brought together by a passion for the quality, precision, and creativity of Japanese merchants, as well as an understanding of the unique obstacles that Japanese merchants and consumers face with online retail, Pieter and Sam formed Smartpay to unleash the potential of e-commerce in Japan.

Pieter has held roles at Fintech companies including Stripe and Coiney. He specifically leverages the experience from his former role as Head of Engineering for Paidy, the BNPL service which was acquired by Paypal earlier this year, to identify the pain points that no BNPL service in Japan has addressed until the creation of Smartpay.

Sam is a Harvard Business School Alum and in 2018 was recognised on the Digerati APAC list of the top 50 people in the digital industry by The Drum. He was formerly Head of Payments and Fintech APAC and Japan at Facebook, held senior roles at Mastercard and Standard Chartered Bank. In 2015, Sam wrote a white paper on e-commerce in Asia/Japan where he identified that the key to success for Japanese merchants was about making the online check-out experience as smooth as possible. Smartpay addresses this through its single-click, multiplatform checkout function.

The company is led in Japan by Naoya Otsubo, a highly recognized and experienced digital and FinTech leader. As Japan Country Manager for AppsFlyer, he built the team and the business from scratch and expanded the market share from 0 to 51%. As Director of Mid Market, APAC at Critero, Naoya created and managed teams in Japan, Korea and Australia, and at Yahoo! Inc. (Overture) and Yahoo! Japan he led multiple teams including Online Sales, Key Accounts and Global Sales.

Key investors

SMBC Venture Capital (SMBC-VC) has invested in Smartpay as its BNPL service of choice in Japan. As a leading banking institution in Japan, the investment by SMBC-VC enables Smartpay to help Japanese merchants succeed with e-commerce.

Global Founders Capital (GFC) are the global leaders in BNPL and consumer finance investments and provides Smartpay with deep operational support to build to scale. Smartpay and GFC will work together to bring global BNPL best practices to Japan in order to accelerate the growth and success of e-commerce across the country.

Accelerating e-commerce in Japan

Naoya Otsubo, Smartpay Country Manager explains that "Smartpay recognizes the anxiety of merchants in Japan will cause some retailers to potentially invest in the wrong areas. We believe that we can help merchants increase online sales conversions and revenue by 10 to 20% without having to invest in costly advertising or infrastructure builds."

Co-founder Sam Ahmed added that "Our team has been passionate about Japan and its e-commerce journey for many years. We are seeing more consumers enjoying purchasing online and we'd like to help connect these consumers to the merchants in a more efficient manner."

Co-founder Pieterjan Vandaele said that "We are extremely proud to have built an exciting and unique service specifically for Japan. For consumers, we focused on taking away the worries around fees, providing simplicity for signups, and delivering the smoothest user experience. For merchants, we provide an accessible service that focuses on revenue growth."

Smartpay's purpose is to enable all Japanese merchants to succeed in e-commerce. From December 2021, Smartpay will be providing a free e-commerce training for 10,000 Japanese merchants to learn e-commerce best practices for onsite conversion, attracting new customers and revenue expansion.

• Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with affordability checks - unlike many unregulated ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ offers 
• Easy and flexible payments – with just one amount to pay each month across multiple plans, with an app to track and manage payments
• Credit account helps customers to build credit rating and to use their account for multiple purchases, available across retailers that offer Newpay

NewDay, one of the UK’s largest providers of consumer credit, has launched Newpay, an instant access digital credit account designed to help consumers spread the cost of bigger online baskets and purchases. Newpay fully integrates into the retailer’s checkout experience, offering seamless access to credit for customers.

Newpay offers customers a credit limit of up to £5,000, which can be used across a range of online retailers. The digital credit account allows customers to break down the cost of online purchases into monthly payments, with just one amount to pay each month, even if an individual has multiple payment plans. There is just one account for all purchases, allowing customers to see their Newpay purchases in one place, either online via the Newpay website or in the Newpay App.

A credit product regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Newpay uses the same standard of affordability checks as NewDay’s other consumer credit products, with an individual’s ability to repay considered at the application stage. Checking eligibility for Newpay does not impact an individual’s credit profile, with a quick no risk check carried out. If a customer passes the eligibly check and decides to apply for a Newpay account, a more detailed check, which will show on their credit file, will be conducted.

As a credit account, Newpay can help customers to build their credit score over time, provided that they remain within their credit limit and make their monthly payments on time. This is a key differentiator for customers, unlike some unregulated Buy Now Pay Later products in the market.

Newpay customers only need to be approved once and receive a credit limit that will apply to all current and future purchases made via their Newpay account, rather than have each transaction approved individually. Customers can use their Newpay account for multiple purchases, provided that the outstanding balance across all purchases remains within their credit limit.

Newpay has been built with flexibility in mind. It allows for a range of payment plans - from monthly instalments with fixed payments over periods from six to 24 months on purchases over £100 at the customer’s standard rate of interest, monthly instalments with fixed payments from six to 24 months at 0% interest with selected retailers, or revolving credit. Customers simply pick which of these payment plans they want when making their purchase. The Newpay App allows customers to track and manage payments easily.

Ian Corfield, Chief Commercial Officer at NewDay, said: “We believe Newpay can help meet customer needs in the evolving e-commerce space. Many unregulated Buy Now Pay Later providers offer products that require customers to make multiple payments across those plans each month. With Newpay, we wanted to offer customers the ability to choose payment plans and timeframes that suit them, with customers paying just one amount each month, even if they have multiple payment plans in place across their purchases.

“As a consumer credit company, we believe our regulated offering and expertise in understanding and assessing an individual’s credit profile positions us to offer customers meaningful products. Newpay helps people to move forward with credit, provided that they remain within their credit limit and make their monthly payments on time.”

Smart Engines scientists have developed multi-code and continuous session scanning in anticipation of a challenging epidemiological situation worldwide. In particular, now the mandatory Covid-19 QR code scanning required for entering certain premises in some countries is greatly simplified for staff and customers. If identity confirmation is necessary for the QR code, the Smart Engines solution also allows ID scanning.

Smart Engines developed a new version of a barcode scanning system to read 1D and 2D barcodes data suitable for a wide range of bills, receipts, taxes, and AAMVA-compliant IDs. The new version can scan barcodes when several codes are present in the frame simultaneously and when it is necessary to read these codes one by one in a video stream in real-time. The technology improves work with QR, AZTEC, and other codes for quick payment of utility bills, making tax and budget payments, optimizing and automating warehouse logistics, and performing marking control using a mobile application.

Watch how it works 

The Smart Code Engine software delivers a next-level user experience when scanning any barcode. The user does not need to focus on the barcode to extract data — everything is performed automatically: search, type detection, and reading. The barcode scanner is also resistant to poor lighting conditions, camera angles, and geometrical distortions and can accurately scan damaged and inverted barcodes.

Using Smart Engines Green AI-empowered private GreenOCR® technology allows extracting barcode data on devices with limited processing power: from cheap smartphones (Android, iOS) to tablets, thin clients, data collection terminals, and mobile terminals, etc. The barcode scanning is performed automatically, in real-time, and on-device — from video or a single photo without data transmission. Smart Engines is a GDPR, CCPA, PCI DSS compliant solution.