SOLMate has announced the launch of its newly branded SOLMate prepaid debit cards. In its ongoing effort to offer clients a fully-fledged financial ecosystem in their pockets, SOLMate has further enhanced its solutions with the launch of this new generation debit card.

In addition to the host of payment services housed in the SOLMate app, customers can now tap or swipe at thousands of retail stores countrywide, withdraw cash from any ATM, cash in and out at selected points of sale, while also shopping safely online. 

“By launching our prepaid debit cards, we have answered the call from our customers for a more sophisticated card solution that offers the same or better capabilities than conventional bank cards”, says Jonathan Holden, Chief Operating Officer of SOLMate.

Holden says that the journey into the SOLMate ecosystem starts with the ability for its customers to get paid directly into their wallets by third parties or employers. Customers are then free to use the funds free of charge to buy services such as airtime and electricity and other vouchers, or transfer funds directly to their card: “This reduces the need to travel from home, stand in queues and ultimately risk their hard-earned money.”

SOLMate has also addressed a burning need in unbanked communities with this launch.  Holden says that customers are now a part of a growing digital revolution and are a step closer to real financial inclusion: “We will add to our offering in the coming months to enable access to more sophisticated products that protect and serve our customers financial interests.”

Follow the SOLMate journey to find out more.

The fund, which aims to offer a reliable option for crypto investing, recorded a net return of 215% in 2020 and 205% in the first ten months of 2021

Private market exchange ADDX has launched its first cryptocurrency product, with the listing of a digital asset fund by investment manager Trovio Capital Management (TCM). The fund aims to provide accredited investors with a reliable option for crypto investing and has put in place institutional-grade safeguards in relation to the trade execution and custody of the fund’s underlying digital assets.

The TCM Digital Asset Fund takes a diversified approach to crypto investing. On top of core positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum, the fund invests in a set of seven other top-performing cryptocurrencies that are identified and reviewed regularly through a proprietary method of quantitative analysis. The fund recorded a net return of 215% in 2020 and 205% in the first ten months of 2021.

Relying on an institutional-quality infrastructure, the fund has an independent administrator, auditor and custodian. It is among the first digital asset funds to be audited by KPMG. Custody and trading services are provided by the Nasdaq-listed Coinbase. Investors on the ADDX platform can subscribe to or redeem units each month with the fund manager. The fund’s minimum investment size is US$10,000.

Founded in 2017, the Australia-based Trovio Group is led by veteran bankers Jon Deane and Bob Tucker. Trovio CEO Jon Deane has more than 15 years of experience managing large complex risk positions for investment banks, including JP Morgan and UBS AG. He was Managing Director and Head of Asia Commodities Trading at JP Morgan from 2014 to 2018. 

Mr Deane said: “It has been a fantastic experience bringing our flagship fund to ADDX’s MAS-regulated platform. We are continuing to witness significantly wider adoption and appreciation of digital assets as a standalone asset class in a diversified portfolio. ADDX’s platform is enabling investors to seamlessly access these asset classes, whilst reducing friction often experienced via traditional channels. We look forward to working with the ADDX team on launching our other products over the coming months.”

Oi Yee Choo, Chief Commercial Officer of ADDX, said: “Cryptocurrencies are very likely the digital gold of our age. There is robust demand among investors for exposure to these digital assets. The traditional world of finance tried to keep a cautious distance initially. But today, major financial institutions either have a crypto offering or are seriously considering one. We believe the time for discussing whether cryptocurrencies have a place in an investment portfolio is all but over. The more relevant question now is around how one should manage the risk of crypto investments, from an asset custody as well as a price volatility standpoint. Professionally managed crypto funds with a good track record can potentially address these risk concerns for investors.”

Ms Choo added: “ADDX is pleased to work with Trovio on this first crypto offering to investors on our platform. The team led by Jon Deane has deep expertise in both traditional finance and the crypto space, and this is reflected in their rigorous approach to conceptualising and bringing to market this institutional-grade fund. As Singapore establishes itself as an important global hub for regulated crypto activity, ADDX seeks to make a positive contribution to the crypto landscape of the city, by adding to the rich diversity of high-quality offerings available to investors.”

ADDX, previously known as iSTOX, is a full-service capital markets platform with Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) licenses for the issuance, custody, and secondary trading of digital securities. Launched in 2017, the financial technology company raised US$50 million in its Series A round in January 2021. Its shareholders include Singapore Exchange (SGX), Temasek subsidiary Heliconia Capital and Japanese investors JIC Venture Growth Investments (JIC-VGI) and the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ). Individual accredited investors using the ADDX platform today come from 27 countries, spanning Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Americas (excluding the US).

The new report provides in-depth insight into cash reporting, cash forecasting, and technology practices and expectations across hundreds of treasury teams

GTreasury, a treasury and risk management platform provider, and Strategic Treasurer, which delivers consulting services for treasury management, security, technology, and compliance, today announced the release of the 2021 Cash Forecasting & Visibility Survey Report.

The survey of nearly 250 treasury professionals from across industries and continents sheds light on the current state of corporate treasury’s cash reporting practices, cash forecasting methods, technology strategies, and expectations around technology spend.

Highlights from the 2021 Cash Forecasting & Visibility Survey Report include:

• Treasurers want real-time global cash position updating. The majority of treasurers are seeking global cash positions that can update on a real-time or intraday basis, but many report being stuck with weekly (or less frequent) updates. Just seven percent of survey respondents are currently achieving real-time cash position updates.
   
• Generating cash positions is three times harder without a TMS. Only 10% of treasurers using a treasury management system report difficulty generating their cash position, compared to 33% of those who use other methods.
   
• The use of AI and ML in cash forecasting is nascent but accelerating. While just 6% of respondents are currently using AI/ML for forecasting, the report indicates that number should swell to 27% of organizations within the next two years.
   
• More budget is being allotted for treasury and forecasting technology. Over the next year, more than 35% of companies plan “extremely heavy spending” on treasury systems and forecasting.
   
• Generating cash forecasts is difficult for half of all treasurers. Just 23% of treasurers report that building cash forecasts is a simple process within their organization, compared to the 48% of respondents indicating difficulty with this task.
   
• Excel forecasters are more dissatisfied than their TMS/ERP-using peers. Compared to treasurers relying on TMS/ERP technologies, treasurers using Excel spreadsheets for forecasts are more than three times as likely to be dissatisfied with their forecasting output: 23% of those relying on Excel report discontent, compared to 8% leveraging TMS/ERP solutions.

“The findings in this year’s Cash Forecasting & Visibility Survey Report provide a clear view into what matters to corporate treasury right now, and the areas that are particularly ripe for modernization,” said Craig Jeffery, Managing Partner at Strategic Treasurer. “AI and ML is arguably the biggest sea change coming to treasury teams, and it will move quickly. Treasury teams are realizing the challenges of building AI/ML-infused capabilities internally, and are instead adopting AI/ML forecasting capabilities within their existing systems. The rapid anticipated adoption here will empower corporate treasurers with transformative new practices and approaches, from treasury management to FX to payments.”

“The treasury ecosystem is constantly evolving, and this survey illuminates not just how treasury operates today, but how treasurers want – and expect – it to tomorrow,” said Michele Marvin, VP of Global Marketing at GTreasury. “From CFOs to treasury and accounting teams, the results of this report are revelatory when it comes to navigating the current treasury technology landscape, adopting best practices, and capitalizing on the most advantageous opportunities going forward.”

Those interested in further results and analysis from the 2021 Cash Forecasting & Visibility Survey Report can view a recorded webinar, hosted by GTreasury and Strategic Treasurer, analyzing the results of this report: https://resources.gtreasury.com/Cash-Forecasting-Report-On-Demand-Webinar-Request.html

The downloadable report is available at: https://resources.gtreasury.com/Cash-Forecasting-Visibility-Report-Request.html

LiquidX’s Digital Trade Credit Insurance platform was selected for recognition at the annual awards, which celebrate groundbreaking solutions that transform industry practices.

 The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has named LiquidX Insurance Services (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. a finalist for the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) Global FinTech Awards 2021 in the Singapore Financial Institution category. The awards are a highlight of the annual festival, which takes place November 8-12, 2021.

The SFF Global FinTech Awards, supported by PwC Singapore, recognize ground-breaking solutions that have enabled the financial sector to rebound from the impact of the pandemic, including initiatives that have helped create new growth opportunities, transform industry practices, and promote financial inclusion. The theme for this year’s Awards is “Emerging from a pandemic, the road to recovery.”

The Singapore Financial Institution award is granted to a regulated Singapore institution whose Singapore office must have contributed to the implementation/deployment of the solution in at least one ASEAN country in the past three years.

The LiquidX Digital Credit Insurance solution is a platform for Trade Credit Insurance policy quoting, policy management, and risk monitoring, saving policyholders, carriers, and brokers time and effort. LiquidX digitizes and optimizes the management of Trade Credit Insurance policies by cross-referencing policy terms and conditions, authenticating the eligibility of endorsed buyers, and automating policy reporting requirements to help ensure policy compliance.

“On behalf of the entire LiquidX team, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to the panel for recognizing our achievements,” said Alex Bursak, Director and Regional Head of Insurance Asia Pacific at LiquidX. “We are really proud of our momentum in Singapore in 2021. In June we were granted our insurance brokerage license by MAS, in August the first Singapore-based insurer joined our platform, and in October we launched the pilot of our groundbreaking InBlock Digital Trade Credit Insurance solution. We are confident our innovative solutions will benefit companies, insurers, and insurance brokers in Singapore and across the region.”

Todd Lynady, Global Head of Insurance, added, “We are especially proud of this recognition given Singapore’s position as a major hub for FinTechs and InsurTechs globally. InBlock Digital Policy Management is truly a game-changer for the Trade Credit Insurance industry.”

Winners of the Singapore FinTech Festival Global FinTech Awards 2021 will be announced November 11.

• Klarna’s new all-in-one shopping app is being launched to all markets globally.
• App provides Klarna customers with a single destination to carry out all of their online shopping: shop at all stores online, unlock deals and price drop alerts, manage payments and view delivery tracking. A space to collect loyalty cards, additional money saving tools, live shopping events, and integrations powered by third parties will be added soon.
• App continues to be a growth engine for partner merchants, with more than 18 million consumers shopping through the app every month.

Klarna, the leading global payments provider and shopping platform has today revealed its new all in one shopping app across Klarna markets.

As the app economy grows, today consumers face an increasingly cluttered and confusing landscape of e-commerce apps - this is frustrating and time-wasting for the consumer. Klarna solves this by launching the only app consumers need. Today consumers can shop at all online stores through the app, explore exclusive deals and personalised shopping collections, save items and unlock price drop notifications, view items' delivery tracking, manage payments and returns, and more. With Klarna’s interest-free shopping feature consumers can now use Klarna's payment methods at all online shops, regardless of whether they are directly partnered with Klarna or not. The new Klarna app will fundamentally change the end to end shopping experience, placing consumers firmly in control with an app that meets their real needs.

The app has been tested in a few markets for some time, including the UK, but is now being launched in ten new markets. With the updates, Klarna's app, with its more than 18 million monthly users globally, continues to be a growth engine for Klarna - affiliated merchants.

Mobile commerce continues to grow at a tremendous rate, with retail app downloads in the UK increasing by 36% in the last two years and in-app purchases by 54%*. While the rise of e-commerce has made shopping more accessible than ever before, it has also created friction throughout the shopping journey. Today people want streamlined, integrated experiences that respond to their specific needs while also saving them time and money. 

Additional features will soon become available that will further bridge the gap between shopping and payments. This includes a collective loyalty card space, additional money-saving tools, social features such as live shopping events and product data that will make price history, reviews, and store availability visible; and much more. Klarna will also enable third-party integrations going forward to provide even more solutions and services that will make Klarna the ultimate shopping browser of the future. 

A recent global survey conducted by Klarna revealed that 70% of consumers would choose a single shopping app that allows them to perform multiple actions in place of having to switch between apps. Over 68% of respondents rated simplicity in the shopper journey and time saving as the two most significant benefits. The new Klarna shopping app answers this call, giving consumers everything they need right at their fingertips - eliminating the need to switch between several apps. 

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna: “Today people seek simplicity that solves for their specific needs in one place and enables a range of activities across their shopping journey. Switching between apps is something we as consumers find more and more frustrating. Today we are announcing a major milestone on our journey to helping people save time and money and giving them more control over their finances. With the introduction of our new app, Klarna becomes an end to end shopping service that caters to many needs - from inspiration and discovery to seamless post-purchase experiences. Meanwhile, we’ve made transparent and flexible payments a possibility everywhere because we believe no one should ever have to pay credit card fees or high-interest rates.” 

The new Klarna app provides a shopping browser with a broad range of solutions and features that makes shopping easier and more enjoyable:

• Shop at all online stores through the in-app shopping browser
• Klarna’s new shopping feature empowers users with interest-free flexible payments at all online retailers, regardless of whether they’re partnered with Klarna or not. Powered by virtual one time cards, these are free to use and can be used at any online store
• Curated content based on consumers’ interests and their favorite stores
• Unlock exclusive deals and price drop notifications 
• Delivery tracking on all Klarna and non-Klarna bought items
• Spending overviews and monthly budgeting 
• One-click payments, report issues, and returns

The new Klarna app is available to download for iOS and Android mobile devices. The new Klarna app is available in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Poland and France. 

• Fundraise: Fin VC and Barclays Bank invest £5.1m into fintech insurance startup Nimbla 
• Growth: Nimbla expands to offer a fully flexible model from single invoice to whole book and scales operations to support more businesses while targeting the £2.6tn embedded fintech opportunity
• Embedded Insurance: Launch of Nimbla API into banks and lenders provides opportunity to offer invoice insurance at the point of issue
• Opportunity: Nimbla in front seat to help as UK company debt levels hit £6.6tn in 2021 with half of UK businesses carrying ‘toxic debt’ that may never be repaid 

Fintech business insurance startup Nimbla has today announced a £5.1m funding round led by Silicon Valley venture fund Fin VC with participation from Barclays Bank. The funding comes as Nimbla seeks to scale its operations with increased demand from embedded credit risk solutions through its API with banks and alternative lending platforms. 

Founded in 2016, the Nimbla platform has given businesses the confidence to trade with a peace of mind using invoice insurance with quotes provided within seconds. Their proprietary digital automated credit risk platform is able to process requests immediately and provide real time quotes. Nimbla has processed over 67m invoices worth £2.5b. During the pandemic, volumes of invoices tripled as economic uncertainty and supply chain concerns increased and Nimbla continued writing new business.    

Flemming Bengtsen, CEO at Nimbla commented: “We have been growing steadily over the past few years, ramping up our technology and team to better understand businesses, the nature of B2B debt and to make faster decisions to serve our growing customer base. 2020 was a seminal year for Nimbla, at a time of global crisis, we were there for businesses enabling them to trade with a peace of mind and giving them confidence to carry on. This funding round will enable us to expand our platform, grow the team as we enable a confident and trusted trading environment for businesses across the UK and beyond”.

Nimbla has worked directly with businesses and brokers to provide invoice insurance cover and more recently has launched a new API for Banks, fintech lenders and B2B platforms to enable more business to access the service. Nimbla partnered with Barclays Bank in 2020 to give their one million small business customers the ability to take out insurance against individual invoices, rather than the whole book.

“We have built a powerful and robust credit risk model, automated large parts of the process and have now launched a new API to enable others to embed seamless credit risk solutions into their platforms” added Flemming Bengtsen. 

On investing in funding round Henry Cashin, Head of EMEA at Fin VC, commented: “Nimbla is giving businesses the confidence to trade again. They have a proven credit risk model and its tech is being adopted by top tier banks and a host of lending platforms. We believe this will scale their reach and help more businesses benefit long term”.    

Looking ahead, Flemming Bengtsen commented: “UK companies have added £1.9tn debt in 2020 to their balance sheets, taking the total amount outstanding to over £6.6tn. This number was inflated by the various government loan schemes. Over half of them are carrying ‘toxic debts’ which carries enormous risk for their trade creditors, there is a huge opportunity and responsibility for Nimbla to give companies a peace of mind and insure their invoices against insolvencies”. 

Raisin DS turns Raisin Bank into one of the first German cloud banks. Mambu’s flexible technology strengthens Raisin Bank’s position as a BaaS provider for fintechs.

Raisin Bank, the company-owned servicing bank of fintech Raisin DS, has publicly launched its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) offering using Mambu's SaaS cloud banking platform. All of Raisin Bank’s existing customers have been migrated to the Mambu platform and can now leverage state-of-the-art digital solutions for business models that require a banking licence. 

This move makes Raisin Bank, which was founded in 1973, one of the first German cloud banks. Since its acquisition by Raisin DS in 2019, the bank has focused on offering the most advanced digital solutions in account management, payments and lending for financial vendors and start-ups. In the last two years Raisin Bank has established itself as a leading European BaaS provider, with a German banking license passported in every country in the European Union.

Andreas Wolf, Chief Commercial Officer at Raisin Bank, explains, "Migrating all of our services to Mambu’s platform enables us to add real value to our many partners and clients as well as to Raisin DS. For our continued growth as a Banking-as-a-Service provider, we now have one of the most modern and agile IT platforms among European banks. With Mambu, we have multiplied the speed with which we can scale processes and develop new applications. This step positions us to meet the rapidly increasing demand for digital banking solutions."

Mambu’s SaaS banking platform offers maximum flexibility and speed, enabling financial institutions to rapidly configure and deploy new products, giving them a unique competitive edge.

By building with Mambu, Raisin Bank has the flexibility to swap out components as required, avoiding vendor lock-in and wholesale re-platforming. The bank has additionally created its own architecture on top of Mambu, developing interfaces for embedded banking solutions and automating previously complex processes for more efficient customer onboarding, credit decisions, repayments and real-time notifications.

Raisin Bank offers BaaS products for platforms and ecosystems, and utilizes these within Raisin DS itself for all banking operations. This means that customers profit directly from the improvements of the Raisin DS integration. With Mambu, the bank has future-proofed its IT stack. As an API-first and cloud-native platform, Mambu aligns with Raisin Bank's customer-first philosophy, empowering the bank to create transparent, real-time customer experiences for their partners' business models. All of Mambu’s core banking processes and interfaces are cloud-based, allowing Raisin Bank’s customers to innovate and integrate services faster in a low-maintenance set-up. 

Eelco-Jan Boonstra, Managing Director EMEA at Mambu, added, “The future of modern servicing banks lies entirely in the cloud. Building a licensed BaaS offering and migrating all customers is a fantastic achievement and we are proud to have supported Raisin Bank in becoming one of the first cloud banks in Germany. Their customers and partners now benefit from innovation, security, and resilience of the platform, all at scale. We know this is just the beginning for the Raisin Bank team and are looking forward to being part of their story as they keep revolutionising banking services across Europe.”

Finastra is teaming up with WTax, a world leader in withholding tax recovery services, to support asset management firms in recovering withholding tax on behalf of their clients. By introducing Fusion Invest customers to WTax, Finastra will help portfolio and investment managers around the world to deliver net savings for end clients, recovering tax that has been levied on income from securities investments in territories where they are non-resident.

“Finastra’s work with WTax benefits all parties and is a great addition to our Fusion Invest value proposition,” said Younes Guemouri, Senior Vice President and Managing Director Fusion Invest, Finastra. “By outsourcing the withholding tax recovery process, asset managers are freed up from the onerous and complex administrative process involved in reclaiming tax across multiple jurisdictions for clients. Since WTax operates on a ‘no win, no fee’ model, it only charges on the basis of successful reclaims, delivering value to asset managers and end customers alike.”

The scale of withholding tax that’s unclaimed is significant. In 2017, the European Commission reported an estimated cost of unclaimed withholding tax recovery of EUR 8.4 billion per year in the EU alone. Often the beneficiaries of the dividends and interest being taxed are institutional investors. The withholding tax can reduce their return on investment and can add up to as much as 35% of the gross income amount. The process of recovering the tax is complex – involving knowledge of double taxation agreements, domestic legislative provisions and precedents.

Available globally, WTax’s ISO 27001 compliant technology makes claims more efficient to process and more transparent for clients. Automating the claims process is faster and more effective and eliminates human error.

"WTax is thrilled to collaborate with Finastra and join the Fusion Invest ecosystem,” said Daniel Ginsburg, CEO of WTax. "Fusion Invest users can be assured that WTax will streamline the process for recovering withholding tax globally since we assign specialist teams who understand the unique complexity of each jurisdiction to ensure maximum recovery in the shortest possible time.”