Leading global fintech firm, Finalto, is proud to be a mega platinum sponsor for the prestigious Finance Magnates London Summit 2021. Scheduled to be held at Old Billingsgate, London, on November 16-17, the event is one of the most awaited in the fintech sector. Finalto is also a sponsor for the Speaker Hall at the London Summit and will be available at Booth #5 to showcase their offerings.

The Finance Magnates London Summit is a premier event for the financial industry, attracting both prominent and upcoming fintech firms, retail brokers, payment services providers, banks, and crypto companies from across the world. The gathering provides excellent networking opportunities, insights into the latest trends in the industry and future outlook, innovations and challenges. This year, two of Finalto’s brightest minds will be speaking at the summit.

Matt Maloney and Andy Biggs to Speak at the London Summit

Featuring among industry leaders on the speakers list will be Matt Maloney, CEO of Finalto’s regulated B2B division. He will be speaking on the topic, The Future of Online Trading, at the Leader’s Roundtable on November 17. The session will be held in the Speaker Hall, starting 10:55 am. The discussion will feature executives from the largest firms in the industry and will address important questions such as:

• What trends will shape 2022?
• What keeps CEOs busy and paving their future direction?
• The impact of the surge in retail trading volumes on brokers’ strategies.
• What impact does the rise of trading apps and PFOF have on the sector?
• How does the regulatory stance on cryptos impact trading?

Also speaking at the event will be Andy Biggs, Head of Liquidity at Finalto. Mr. Biggs will be participating in a discussion on Choppy Waters: Liquidity in FX and Beyond in 2022, to be held on November 17 in the Speaker Hall at 16:20 – 17:10. The panel will address various topics based on the complex world of liquidity operations in the fragmented FX market.

Both representatives from Finalto will also speak about future analytics tools that brokers need to leverage to navigate the uncertain landscape.

Finalto: A Market Leader at the London Summit  

Finalto is the financial division of Playtech PLC, a listed entity on the FTSE 250 of the London Stock Exchange. Recognised as an industry leader, Finalto specialises in providing state-of-the-art technologies in trading, multi-asset liquidity, CRM tools, trade management tools, back-office, and business intelligence systems to firms in the financial services sector. The company extends comprehensive liquidity channels through a network of ECNs, Tier-I banks, and non-bank liquidity pools.

Featuring among its award-winning liquidity services is a single-margin account, which provides access to over 800 financial instruments in 7 asset classes through API connections. These assets are fully cross-margined and accessible through each broker’s choice of technology partner. Finalto offers world-class expertise through its in-house analytics and liquidity management teams, who enable a high level of execution, along with competitive spreads.

Clients also benefit from bespoke trading platforms, designed to take their existing trading environment to the next level. With wide experience in the financial sector, especially trading, the company has a deep understanding of the needs and objectives of fintech firms and brokers in today’s challenging and rapidly changing regulatory environment.

It offers complete end-to-end solutions. Apart from front-end platforms, Finalto provides clients with back-office tools, enhanced connectivity, and powerful CRM technology that can be readily integrated into their system, and strengthen their existing capabilities. The award-winning CRM and back-office solution is an end-to-end modular software platform for multi-entity brands and multi-entity brokerages to run smoothly.

Finalto also offers a wide range of platforms that are customisable by partners in the form of white-label solutions. The company’s robust infrastructure helps its partners to find reliable and real-time solutions to their technical and financial challenges.

Seeking New Partnerships at the London Summit 2021

Finalto aims to secure new partnerships, discuss market events, and stay abreast of cutting edge innovations at the Finance Magnates London Summit 2021. The event will kick-start with the much-awaited Networking Blitz on November 16, 2021. The Finalto team will be present at this event as well as at Booth #5.

Finalto is proud to be a sponsor partner for such a prestigious event, which hosted over 1,400 companies in 2019, with almost 38% of its participants being C-level executives, Directors, Founders, and VPs.

Get in touch with us at the event to learn how we can support your business for growth. Contact us to set up a meeting at the summit.

The information provided here is only for general information and dissemination. Our offering includes products that are traded on margin and carry a high degree of risk to your capital. It is possible to incur losses that exceed your initial investment. You should ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary. Any information provided shall not be considered as investment advice and has been prepared without taking your individual objectives, financial situation or needs into account.

Finalto Financial Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FRN: 481853.

• Suppliers: A quarter of SMEs reported prices have almost doubled over the past 6 months as costs of raw materials increase around the world 
• Reaction: The majority of SMEs are absorbing the increased costs and only a fifth are passing on the additional cost to their customers  
• Outlook: Majority of SMEs are grateful to be in business and generating revenue despite the increased costs, and are prepared to accept up to a 20% drop in revenue

Supply chain issues and increasing costs have impacted SMEs countrywide and yet they seem to be handling it in their usual resilient stride. Fintech business lender MarketFinance asked 1,000 SME owners across the UK how they are managing rising supplier prices, what measures they have put in place and sought their long term outlook on the increasing costs of doing business. 

Supplier costs 

Four out of five (79%) SMEs have faced increased prices from suppliers over the past 6 months. An increase of cost of raw materials was the top ranked rationale for price increases by suppliers, most keenly felt by businesses in the north west of England (85%). This was followed by staff shortages, the ongoing impact of the pandemic slowdown and supply chain disruptions owing to a shortage of truck drivers. Across the UK, a quarter of SMEs reported supplier prices have almost doubled over the past 6 months. 

Impact 

A third of SMEs (32%) have been able to absorb the increased costs without passing them on to customers, suggesting that these businesses have the necessary cash reserves to handle the impact. Only a fifth (21%) are passing a portion of the increased costs onto customers. Businesses in the south west of England and Northern Ireland are least likely to absorb the costs while businesses in the north west and Yorkshire are the most likely to do so. Their customers are proving to be equally understanding of the wider supply chain situation with only a fifth (20%) challenging business owners about the price rises. 

Outlook 

Looking ahead to the festive season, SMEs feel they will be able to manage the situation but some could increase prices if the pressure gets too much. Two fifths reported they could increase their prices by as much as 10% in the run up to Christmas. Longer term, three quarters (73%) of SMEs are already preparing for the current higher prices to be the norm until at least the end of 2022. A third of SMEs (34%) have taken out loans or are using other finance facilities to manage the increased cost of doing business. 

Anil Stocker, CEO at MarketFinance, commented: “The current economic environment with rising costs is presenting some headwinds and headaches for SME owners but they are proving to be as resilient as ever.  The vast majority have been thinking ahead and accounted for the longer term scenario, which will hold them in good stead to do business. It’s great to see that SME owners are taking the long view and preserving their customer relationships and managing suppliers by having a finance facility in place to deal with the overhead for now. 

The British Business Bank announced last week that it will extend its Recovery Loan Scheme to June 2022. This extension will give SMEs easier access to more affordable finance they need to continue running and growing operations in the face of ongoing challenges such as staff shortages and supplier price increases.” 

MOHANOKOR Microfinance Institution Plc., a leader in the provision of inclusive financial services in Cambodia, has launched an in-house processing centre using the open development payments platform, TranzAxis, from Compass Plus. The move will allow MOHANOKOR to continue its expansion into rural areas and further develop its range of products and services to meet the needs of its customers.

The project was initially launched to enable MOHANOKOR to integrate with the Cambodian Shared Switch (CSS) following regulatory changes made by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC). CSS was introduced as part of an initiative from the NBC to increase financial inclusion, modernise its payments infrastructure, reduce cash circulation, enhance the efficiency of payments services and promote interbank transfers in the country.

MOHANOKOR MFI selected Compass Plus and its open development payments platform, TranzAxis, to be the foundation of its in-house processing centre, and enable it to connect to CSS, due to the platform’s flexibility and ability to support both the MFI’s current needs and its requirements long into the future. Compass Plus drafted in its regional partner, eCam Solution, to ensure the integration went smoothly.

MOHANOKOR, Compass Plus and eCam Solutions worked closely together throughout the project, which went live in just six months. “Despite the challenges faced with implementing the project in the midst of the pandemic, through excellent collaboration and the expertise and professionalism of all teams involved, we ensured a smooth and seamless project was delivered on time,” said Vithou Pen, Managing Director of eCam Solution Co., Ltd.

Mr. Chhun Sopheak, Chief Executive Officer at MOHANOKOR, said: “By implementing TranzAxis, we now have a reliable payments platform with the flexibility and scalability to support the expansion of our business in Cambodia. We look forward to using its innovative functionality to develop and bring new products and services to our customers.”

“The financial services community, alongside the National Bank of Cambodia, is taking its mission of reducing the number of unbanked and underbanked individuals in the country seriously, and this initiative is certainly a huge step forwards,” said Igor Simonov, AVP, Business Development and Sales Manager at Compass Plus. “As a leading microfinance institution in Cambodia, we’re extremely pleased MOHANOKOR decided to launch its processing centre on TranzAxis. We’re excited about what the future holds and working together on further projects.”

Through Citi’s latest offering, the bank will support clients as they advance their

ESG priorities and improve the resilience of their supply chains

Citi has launched its first Sustainability-linked Supply Chain Finance (SSCF) program in Asia Pacific with the aim of supporting clients as they advance their ESG priorities, improve the resilience of their supply chains and manage their working capital needs. 

Supply Chain Finance (SCF) programs benefit companies and their suppliers as they prioritize their working capital positions respectively. In using Citi’s SCF program, for example, the bank would provide financing to a client’s suppliers from the date of collection of specific goods/provision of services to the date on which payment is owed to these suppliers. The cost of this financing is borne by suppliers at a rate lower than their usual cost of funds. As a result, suppliers benefit from cash flow acceleration, quicker payment and improved financing costs.

Citi’s first SSCF program has been implemented for German chemical and consumer goods company, Henkel. The program was first launched with suppliers in Australia and will be expanded to include suppliers in additional markets over the coming weeks.

The program is also a first for Henkel in Asia Pacific and is targeted at existing or new suppliers who demonstrate strong or improving sustainability performance. Qualifying suppliers can access Citi’s supply chain financing at preferential rates on a tiered basis with rates improving as a supplier’s sustainability score improves. Henkel, with the support of a global leading sustainability assessment agency, will assess the sustainability performance of suppliers.

“Sustainability is at the heart of Henkel’s strategic priorities. We are convinced that sustainability-linked supply chain financing can help improve sustainability across Henkel’s large supplier ecosystem in Asia Pacific,” said Christoph Wenner, Henkel Regional Head of Finance, Asia Pacific. “This program demonstrates Henkel’s commitment to creating a virtuous cycle of economic, environmental and social value.”

Citi’s SSCF program in Asia Pacific aligns with the bank’s ESG commitments.  To help accelerate the transition to a global low-carbon economy, Citi launched its updated Sustainable Progress Strategy in July of last year, which includes its global US$500 Billion Environmental Finance Goal. Citi also recently established a commitment to US$1 trillion in sustainable finance by 2030, which includes the environmental finance goal and a US$500 Billion Social Finance Goal.

“We are proud to be collaborating with Henkel in this first for Citi in Asia Pacific. Like Henkel, our ESG commitments are an essential part of our firm’s strategy and these commitments are deeply integrated into our business and long-term priorities,” said Ernesto Pittaluga, Asia Pacific Corporate, Commercial and Public Sector Sales Head, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi.  “We are committed to introducing new and innovative ESG-linked solutions for our clients in Asia Pacific and look forward to expanding the use of our SSCF program in the region.”

• Growing the business is the most important reason cited by SMEs accessing finance, overtaking ‘managing day to day cash flow’ for the first time this year.

• Prior to the Recovery Loan Scheme being extended, nearly 40% of brokers saw client demand for the scheme increase compared to Q2.

• iwoca’s SME Expert Index provides regular snapshots of the lending market from the perspective of industry experts .

Small business owners are feeling optimistic about economic conditions for growth, according to iwoca’s quarterly SME Expert Index of UK brokers. 

The Index reveals that over a third (35%) of brokers reported the top motivator for applying for unsecured finance was to ‘grow the business’ – a 12 percentage point increase from the previous quarter. 

For the first time since the Index was launched, ‘managing day to day cash flow’ was not the most requested reason for applying for unsecured finance, dropping by 6 percentage points on the previous quarter. There was also a decline in the number of SMEs citing ‘recovery from lockdown or closure’ or to ‘bridge occasional cash flow gaps’ as a reason for needing finance. 

iwoca’s Q3 SME Expert Index is based on insight from UK brokers who collectively submitted over 1000 applications for unsecured finance on behalf of their SME clients over a four-week period in August.

Demand for government-backed finance increases

Prior to the extension of the government-backed Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), almost 40% of brokers report that they saw an increase in demand for the scheme compared to Q2. One in seven brokers (14%) saw demand increase significantly – submitting 50% or more applications compared to the previous four weeks. 

Broker respondents collectively had approximately 1800 of their customers specifically requesting an RLS loan over the four-week period in August.

With more fintechs and banks receiving RLS accreditation, 75% of brokers submitted a client application to an accredited RLS lender. This compares to 20% in Q2, when brokers opted instead to wait for more lenders to be accredited or applied for a non-government backed product.

Growing demand for unsecured finance 

A third (33%) of brokers said that they had submitted more lending applications for unsecured finance compared to the four weeks prior, suggesting that more businesses are looking to finance their growth. 

The Index found that demand for loans under £25,000 had almost doubled compared to the second quarter, making it the most requested amount in Q3 (32%). Just over half (51%) of respondents said that they had applied for less than £50,000 on behalf of their clients.

Colin Goldstein, Commercial Growth Director of iwoca, said: “The latest findings from our SME Expert Index are encouraging; it’s great to hear from brokers that the small businesses they work with are beginning to feel more confident about their future.”

“SME owners, brokers and lenders will welcome the decision by the Treasury to extend the Recovery Loan Scheme, particularly as demand continues to increase. Our economic recovery relies heavily on our six million small business owners, so it’s key that companies like iwoca continue to provide them with access to finance, including the government- backed Recovery Loans.”

Broker Sam Jones from NGI Finance said: “Growth now seems to be the main driver for our clients: they’ve made it through all the lockdowns and the furlough scheme has ended, so they’re now in a position to regroup and plan ahead with a more positive mindset on how their businesses will perform. Growth inevitably costs, so using external finance to fund that keeps SME owners in control of their businesses and allows them to stay on top of the all important cash flow.”

“The first quarter of the year was really busy with the end of CBILS and – whilst I wouldn’t say demand is close to approaching the level of requests we saw then – we’re certainly having more conversations with clients and fielding an increase in enquiries than we were during the summer months.”

“After a slow roll out of RLS there’s an increased availability across the market which has naturally increased awareness and demand for the product. We’re also now seeing clients needing to repay Bounce Back Loans and CBILS, so they’re considering their options for further funding or refinance.”

SME Expert Index

This SME Expert Index from iwoca provides a snapshot on what’s driving small business owners to borrow, the trends seen in the types and value of finance being accessed, and how these patterns change as the country emerges from the pandemic. iwoca publishes this index every quarter to capture the experience of brokers working with small businesses. 

iwoca is accredited to the Recovery Loan Scheme, having distributed nearly £400 million to small businesses through the Government's Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). In June 2020 the lender launched iwocaPay – an online buy now pay later invoice checkout to help small businesses get paid. iwoca is reaching 1.8 million businesses across the UK and Germany through its embedded lending technology, which allows businesses to access loans through a range of platforms such as accountancy software apps and digital neo-banks. The company has also recently launched free mental health support for all small businesses in the UK, in partnership with online therapy platform Spill.

Veteran HR expert will oversee company’s continued team expansion and growth 

Trulioo, the leader in global identity verification, today announced the appointment of Shradha Mittal as Senior Vice President of People & Culture. In this role, Mittal will lead all aspects of people operations and talent acquisition strategy, including employee retention and engagement, employment branding, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and professional development programs aligned with business goals.

“We are very excited to welcome Shradha to the team,” said Steve Munford, Trulioo CEO. “She  brings the right set of skills and experience to attract and retain top talent as we continue to build a diverse, engaged, and high-performing team across the globe.”

Prior to joining Trulioo, Mittal was the Head of Talent and People Operations at Framework Venture Partners, where she supported companies in the development of strategies aimed at attracting and developing world-class talent to help them scale. She specializes in encouraging companies to foster their core values and in turn invigorate their growth and people strategy. She has extensive experience in people strategy and HR transformation, including talent acquisition, on-boarding, retention, re-recruiting, employment branding, performance management, and defining and maintaining culture. She holds a Bachelors in Management Studies with a specialization in Business and Human Resources.

“I’m thrilled to join Trulioo, the market leader in identity verification, and look forward to contributing to the company’s impressive growth and important mission that aligns with my values,” said Shradha Mittal, Trulioo SVP People & Culture.

Trulioo has grown from a team of 130 in 2020 to more than 275 today and is continuing to hire for roles across the company. For more information or to explore current job opportunities, please visit: www.trulioo.com/company/careers. 

 Evida, the Swedish financial advisory company, is delighted to confirm their new collaboration with additiv to meet the growing demand for hybrid investment advisory services. 

The partnership with additiv, a leading SaaS and embedded finance WealthTech provider, has been formed in response to the increasing need for end-to-end client wealth management advisory services, including personal interactions.  By utilizing additiv’s Hybrid Wealth Manager, Evida will offer a ‘hybrid’ selection of full investment services via a SaaS model, enabling clients to be advisor assisted, use self-service solutions, or a combination of the two.

August Schmitz, Founder and CEO at Evida said: “Offering a transparent and visually engaging customer experience, 24/7, is essential to realize the true value of financial advice.”

August continues: “By partnering with additiv, with its highly intuitive and engaging wealth solution, we can offer an intelligent and efficient platform to our advisors and clients. The look and feel for us internally, and for our end clients, is something we wouldn’t imagine possible one year ago. With additiv, Evida can reach the forefront of the Swedish market.“ 

Eric Andersson, General Manager Europe at additiv, said: “The combination of additiv and Evida addresses the need for a fully digital, hybrid Wealth Management-as-a-Service offering, targeted at any Nordic country.“

Eric added: ''Our platform enables independent wealth managers to offer compliant end-to-end financial services in the most efficient way. With this launch additiv entered the Everything-as-a-Service value proposition which helps independent financial advisors to deliver financial services at the highest international standards. Additionally, we partnered with Kidbrooke, Bricknode and Signicat to deliver this value proposition. This is part of a wider initiative to launch the Wealth Management-as-a-Service platform; a unique offering providing embedded wealth to non-financial brands, digital banks and asset managers.”                                                                                

 Klarna, a leading global retail bank today announces it has signed an agreement to acquire PriceRunner. PriceRunner will bring new features in the form of product reviews, rich product discovery and price comparisons to the Klarna app to enhance the shopping, payments and banking experience for consumers globally.

Klarna’s seamless shopping experience from inspiration and product selection, to flexible payments and delivery, tracking and returns will be elevated by PriceRunner’s daily price updates, reviews, professional tests and intelligent filtering options. This will enable a more engaging experience for Klarna’s consumers. Klarna will add PriceRunner’s functionality to its offering while Klarna’s retail partners will benefit from enhanced behavior insight, increased website traffic from high intent consumers and optimized marketing opportunities to further drive their growth. 

David Fock, Klarna’s Chief Product Officer commented: “At Klarna we constantly strive to make the banking and payments experience the best it can be, empowering consumers from product discovery to paying in a way that suits them. The acquisition will serve to strengthen our bank, card and payment services and support a competitive global landscape. It also further cements that Klarna will not be a marketplace but a viable and competitive alternative for retail partners vs Amazon, Google and Facebook. The PriceRunner team is a talented, passionate group, which will be a perfect fit and we are excited about what we can achieve together.” 

Mikael Lindahl, PriceRunner’s Chief Executive Officer commented: ”We have spent the last five years rebuilding PriceRunner from scratch to create a best-in-class comparison shopping service while helping retail partners improve their business. We see Klarna as the ideal partner to accelerate growth and achieve our long-term vision to become the most loved comparison shopping service in the world.”

The acquisition is subject to approval by regulatory authorities.