The travel industry is seeing signs of recovery as the vaccine rollout builds momentum across various regions globally. With International borders opening up, travel is set for a rebound as people are hungry to get out and see the world again. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), it has been predicted that in 2021, passenger numbers are expected to grow to 2.8 billion. But with continued uncertainty and the rise of new COVID-19 variants, the rebound is by no means straightforward.

As such, we’re noticing that existing consumer trends are becoming more intensified And are impacting how travel businesses interact with their customers during this complex rebound. In particular, these trends create a redefined role for the travel payments provider, as they focus on offering more choice, enhanced fraud protection, better technology infrastructure and payment efficiencies for customers.

Demand is soaring for more travel payment choices

We’re seeing a clear demand from travel customers for greater flexibility on how and when they pay for travel. As a result of this, the appeal for Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) schemes and payment installment options are on the rise. According to IATA’s recent market report, BNPL services have enjoyed special attention both from merchants and consumers since the start of the pandemic.

Given this backdrop, payment providers will need to invest in their technology stack in order to help travel companies meet this increased demand for flexibility; those providers that can offer the most choice to their customers will be the most competitive in the post-pandemic world.

Travellers need greater security against payment fraud

While consumers reduced their travel spending in 2020, fraudsters didn’t cut back. Based on data from Sift’s Q1 2021 Digital Trust & Safety Index, fraud attempts increased across a range industries to take advantage of the changes occurring in many of them. The online travel segment alone saw a 20% increase in fraud attempts. This, in turn, has heightened the need for payments providers to offer protection and security that travel businesses need to reassure their customers and get them back to travelling.

While the use of Virtual Cards (VC) was already on the rise pre-pandemic, demand is set to accelerate as its benefits can help travel companies build trust among their customers. Virtual Card Numbers (VCNs) offer an attractive alternative to traditional cards and have features to protect against fraud. For example, VCNs can be set-up to only be used once, so even if the data is subject to a breach, the card cannot be used again if the supplier has already processed the payment. In addition, with VCNs, parameters can be set to control the types of purchases accepted, the maximum purchase amount, and when the purchases can be made. This prevents any charge other than that which is specified. And is a great safeguard against fraud.

Greater demand for cloud infrastructure

As travel rebounds, the on-and-off nature of global restrictions and complex travel rules means that businesses need to be as agile and flexible as possible to reassure their customers. For payment providers, cloud-based solutions have been recognized for their agility and reliability and ‘always on’ nature that businesses need to rely-on to manage workflows during this time.  Synergy Research Group found that cloud spending is up and has not been hampered by the ongoing COVID crisis. Q1 2020 spend on cloud infrastructure services reached $29bn, up 37% over the same time last year. It is likely that travel companies will be looking to payment providers that can offer this reliable technology and remain agile during times of continued uncertainty.

Payment providers can make things easier for travel businesses

With parts of the world reopening, the increased travel demand presents great opportunities for OTAs and booking providers. But as the priority for these businesses will be getting people out of the door and on holidays, there’s an opportunity for payment providers to step up and help travel intermediaries meet the demand across their entire supply chain.

How? By providing end-to-end payment solutions, payment providers, can offer businesses greater efficiencies, help them benefit from automating back-end payment processes, and support them mitigate against the risks that manual, cash-based payment systems present. All of this will be critical for industry recovery. In addition, we are now seeing virtual cards for general accounts payable and other key areas, helping businesses get paid on time - and at this crucial time, that is the engine keeping the economy going.

A brighter future is on the horizon for the travel industry, and the travel payments providers that support them. With the industry now bracing itself for the rebound, partnering with a payment provider such as WEX, and the use of Virtual Cards, can help make payments and processes safer and easier. Ultimately allowing travel companies to focus on what they do best – ensuring their customer gets their dream trip, hassle free.

Proceeds to fuel further global growth and new capabilities

Eventus Systems, Inc., a leading global provider of multi-asset class trade surveillance and market risk solutions, today announced that it has closed on a $30 million Series B funding round, led by Centana Growth Partners. Also participating in the round were DRW VC, an arm of principal trading firm DRW, CMT Digital, existing investors Jump Capital and LiveOak Venture Partners, along with several new strategic investors.

Eventus will use the proceeds to further scale across the organization, including growing its sales, product and engineering teams, building further on its flagship Validus platform, expanding its product suite across asset classes and introducing new financial risk applications to the platform.

Centana Partner Ben Cukier has joined the Eventus Board of Directors.

Eventus CEO Travis Schwab said: “Following our investment round early last year, we continued to show strong topline revenue growth, nearly quadrupling our staff across every facet of our business, building on our presence in Europe and Asia-Pacific, attracting a wide range of new clients and adding hundreds of new features and enhancements to our Validus platform. With a strong foothold in all of the major asset classes, we became the leading trade surveillance solution for the major digital asset exchanges globally and expanded our reach into the fixed income and foreign exchange markets. This new investment positions us to achieve our ambitious plans for further growth and penetration into new markets, as well as our never-ending quest for delivering market-leading solutions and support across the capital markets ecosystem. We’re delighted to welcome our newest investors and grateful for the continued support of those who believe in our vision.”

Matt Alfieri, Principal at Centana Growth Partners, said: “The past year has demonstrated the increased need for automating and strengthening regulatory compliance. We’ve been incredibly impressed by the deeply experienced team and efficient, scalable and powerful trade surveillance and market risk system that Eventus has built.  Its clients are truly passionate about the platform and quality of service. As the focus of trade surveillance widens to other asset classes like crypto, Eventus is poised not only to set the standard for compliance and transparency but to further accelerate its growth trajectory."

Kim Trautmann, Head of DRW VC, said: "As a firm committed to using sophisticated technology to drive efficiency, fairness and transparency in global markets, DRW is a strong believer in the importance of the solutions that Eventus has developed to enhance market surveillance and market risk. We're excited to offer our insights and expertise to help the firm continue to revolutionize this space."

With the new investment round, Eventus has raised $48.5 million to date, including the $10.5 million Series A growth capital funding round in February 2020, led by Jump Capital and LiveOak Venture Partners.

Eventus has earned 15 global awards and honors since late 2018 for its technology, innovation and client service, including four in the past six months alone: the Risk Technology Award for Trade Surveillance Product of the Year, WatersTechnology’s Sell-Side Technology Award for Best Sell-Side Market Surveillance Product, the WatersTechnology Asia Award for Best Market Surveillance Tool and the Markets Media Markets Choice Award for Best in RegTech.

Switchboard offers institutional trading access to OTC Crypto and FX liquidity via a unified API or UI at zero cost to takers

Reactive Markets, provider of Switchboard, the cutting-edge cross-asset trading and price streaming network, today announced the launch of its OTC market utility for disclosed trading, supported by five of the leading institutional Crypto Liquidity Providers (LPs).

The LPs are Cumberland DRW, Flow Traders, Galaxy Digital, Genesis Trading and Wintermute.

Switchboard is the first open and transparent liquidity network for Crypto and FX trading, where clients can trade on a fully disclosed basis with their relationship LPs at no cost, connecting via a single high performance API or front end trader desktop.

“As institutional Crypto trading volumes continue to rise, we have seen a sharp increase in clients looking to improve their execution by trading directly with their Liquidity Providers using our Switchboard network,” said Phil Morris, CEO of Reactive Markets. “By offering simple, free, access to leading OTC liquidity providers via our unified API and trader desktop, we enable clients to rapidly connect to the best liquidity in the market.”

He added, “If clients have a relationship with our LPs they can begin to trade with them on Switchboard immediately, benefitting from our cutting edge institutional trading network and a highly cost effective way to trade.”

“Flow Traders is excited about the launch of Reactive Markets Switchboard and is delighted to be engaging as an early adopter Liquidity Provider on Switchboard. This low latency platform via a single harmonised API will enable Flow Traders as a leading Liquidity Provider to provide competitive disclosed OTC FX and Crypto liquidity and execution,” said Folkert Joling, Chief Trading Officer at Flow Traders.

"Wintermute is delighted to be partnering with Reactive Markets as they launch their liquidity network with a single cross-asset API for trading," said Jonathan Chan, Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Wintermute.

Tidal energy pioneer Nova Innovation has secured £6.4 million from the Scottish National Investment Bank to fund manufacturing and distribution of its innovative subsea tidal turbines. The investment will see Nova increase its presence across the UK and expand into new global markets.

The Edinburgh-based company’s innovative 100kW tidal turbines have been transforming the power of the sea into clean, predictable energy in Shetland since 2016. By focusing on scalable solutions, Nova has been able to install, adapt and enhance its technology on site, creating a reliable and replicable product for mass production.

Nova’s turbines can be used to generate tidal energy within small projects in coastal communities or scaled up to large developments that power the national grid.

As well as strong domestic opportunities for tidal energy in the waters around Scotland and the UK, Nova’s technology has global potential as there are strong tidal currents on every continent.

Simon Forrest, CEO of Nova Innovation, said: “We are passionate about creating sustainable energy solutions and have proven that our tidal turbines meet all our client requirements in the toughest of environments. Our products deliver clean, predictable power with no visual impact or negative effects on the environment. We have been successfully powering homes, businesses, and the grid in Shetland for over five years. We now look forward to delivering our product to new markets around the world.

“We would like to thank the Scottish National Investment Bank for this significant investment in mass manufacturing and distribution of Nova’s tidal energy technology – supporting Scotland’s transition to net zero and tackling the climate emergency.”

The Bank’s investment will support Nova in meeting growing global and local demand for its tidal turbines. Core technology will be manufactured in Scotland and supply chain benefits will be passed on to other Scottish businesses. The company has already experienced strong global demand for their technology with current projects across the UK, Europe, Asia and North America.

The Bank’s investment will also fund ongoing research and development into marine energy. By harnessing innovation and improving accessibility to renewable energy in remote rural communities, the investment in Nova Innovation aligns with all of the Bank’s missions.

Eilidh Mactaggart, CEO of the Scottish National Investment Bank, said: “Nova Innovation is a great example of Scottish engineering finding new solutions to the climate crisis. Its tidal technology has the potential to sustainably meet the energy needs of remote communities globally.

“This innovative business has proven that its tidal technology works successfully commercialised its technology with a growing order book for its turbines both locally and globally.

“I am very proud that the Bank’s investment will enable Nova to develop new facilities to expand its manufacturing capacity and increase the supply of its tidal turbines to Scotland, the UK and the world.

“Nova’s recent development of tidal powered electric vehicle charging points underlines the company’s ability to develop and expand the use of its technology creatively. Nova’s focus on the supply to island and coastal communities who were previously heavily dependent on fossil fuels has been a key driver in its success to date.”

The year 2020 was probably one of the most challenging years for the London Stock Exchange, as the total number and the value of companies listed in London plunged to an all-time low.

Although their combined market value is still below pre-COVID-19 levels, the last few months have witnessed a significant recovery, and tech companies have had a huge role in that.

According to data presented by BuyShares.co.uk, the combined value of the five largest tech companies listed in the London Stock Exchange hit $173.6B in the first days of September, a $21B increase since the beginning of the year.

IBM's Market Cap Rose by $14.2B YTD, Just Eat Takeaway Up by $1.7B

The combined value of companies trading on the London Stock Exchange has taken an enormous hit during the early months of 2020, primarily due to a mass sell-off of shares caused by the fears surrounding the COVID-19, and tech giants were no exception.

The total number of technology companies trading on the London Stock Exchange also dropped, falling from an all-time high of 160 in June 2018 to 144 in November last year. However, the negative trend was finally stopped in the first months of this year.

As the leading tech company listed in London, the computer technology and IT consulting corporation, IBM has witnessed a 12% market cap increase since the beginning of 2021. In January, the combined value of shares of the US tech giant amounted to $110.6bn, revealed the YCharts data. This figure jumped to $124.8bn on September 2nd, a $14.2bn increase in nine months.

Statistics show the market cap of Just Eat Takeaway, the second-largest tech company trading on the London Stock Exchange, rose by $1.7bn in this period. In January, the combined value of shares of the leading European food delivery app amounted to $18.1bn, a massive 223% increase YoY. One of the biggest drivers of the company's growth was its acquisition of the top food delivery service in the United States, Grubhub, as a part of the plan to develop the world's largest food delivery company outside China.

After falling to $15.2bn in March, the market cap of Just Eat Takeaway recovered to $19.8bn in September, a $1.7bn increase since the beginning of the year.

Sage Group Witnessed the Biggest Growth Among the Top Five Tech Companies

As the third-largest tech company listed in London, Sage Group witnessed the most significant market cap increase this year. The YCharts data showed the combined value of shares of the British enterprise software giant jumped by $2.7bn or 30% in the nine months of 2021, growing from $8.8bn to $11.5bn.

However, during the three years of share price growth, Sage Group saw its earnings per share (EPS) drop 3.6% per year.

Statistics show Aveva Group witnessed the second-largest market cap increase among the top five tech companies listed in London. Between January and September, the combined value of the company's shares jumped by 26% to $9bn.

The market cap of Auto Trader Group, the fifth-largest tech company listed in London, hit $8.5bn in September, showing a 7.5% increase in nine months.

Wealthify, the multi-award-winning online investment service, today announces its latest partnership with leading wealth management firm, LGT Vestra. The deal will enable advisers to offer a low-fee investment alternative to clients whose capital does not warrant its standard advice fees. 

By directing these clients to Wealthify’s digital platform via a co-branded user journey, advisers can service a whole new segment of clients.

Taking form as a non-advised, discretionary investment solution, the offering will consist of a Model Portfolio powered by the investment experts at LGT Vestra. Customers will be given a choice of five risk profiles which invest in a range of either passive mutual funds or active ethical funds.

Both the asset allocation and fund selection will be carried out by LGT Vestra, with the platform and customer care provided by Wealthify.

Simon Holland, Chief Product Officer at Wealthify, commented: “As a purpose-led business, we are committed to inspiring anyone to build their future wealth. Our latest partnership with the well-respected LGT Vestra helps us do just that, by making investing accessible and affordable to those who might not have been serviced by the brand previously. From the outset, LGT Vestra recognised the challenges faced by advisers in terms of how to service smaller clients, and how to engage with the next generation. Together, we’ve built the perfect solution, mapping exclusively to their models, with our proven technology and customer-centric focus at its heart.”

Tony Allan, Partner and Head of Business Development at LGT Vestra, added: "We are excited to partner with Wealthify to provide advisers with an investment solution for next generation clients. Sharing our investment expertise via the Wealthify app will allow advisers to retain future clients who they may otherwise not have been able to service. We're committed to servicing the IFA community and are excited to leverage the technological developments provided by Wealthify."

Nokian Tyres plc Stock Exchange Release September 8, 2021 at 12:00 a.m.

Nokian Tyres’ Board of Directors has approved the company’s revised mid-term strategy and updated financial and non-financial targets. Nokian Tyres aims for organic growth ahead of the market, and increasing market share in all key markets.

The Board of Directors has approved the following mid-term financial targets:

• Growing faster than the market: Net sales EUR 2 billion
• High returns and profitability: Segments operating profit and segments ROCE at the level of 20%*
• Growing ordinary dividend: Dividend above 50% of net earnings

“Our large investment phase is completed, and we are well positioned for organic growth and strong performance. With our current manufacturing capacity, a valued brand and a world-class team, we are now ready to take an ambitious leap forward to become a EUR 2 billion revenue company. We will continue to improve operational and commercial performance, which, together with the growing markets, will propel our company to the next level in the years ahead”, says Jukka Moisio, Nokian Tyres’ President and CEO.

Growth will be driven by new products and smart Go-To-Market strategies

The global tire market is expected to grow by approximately 5% annually by 2024 (source: LMC Tyre & Rubber). Nokian Tyres’ mid-term target is to exceed the market growth and reach EUR 2 billion in net sales. Macro trends, such as an increasing number of new car models, rising SUV and CUV penetration and climate change mitigation, are driving demand for sustainably produced, innovative tires.  

The mid-term growth strategy builds on Nokian Tyres’ competitive strengths, including high-quality products and a premium brand, effective supply chain, leadership in sustainability and a strong Nokian Tyres team. The company has launched a record number of new products in 2020–2021 and will continue to accelerate innovation to further strengthen its competitiveness and unique positioning in the premium tire segment. This expanding product offering, together with smarter Go-To-Market strategies and improving commercial capabilities, will drive top-line growth. Reinforcing Nokian Tyres’ brand in the regions will be a key element in closer collaboration with customers. Profitability improvement will be driven by increasing volumes and operational efficiency. 

New non-financial targets set the bar higher

As a frontrunner in sustainability, Nokian Tyres has set the bar even higher by introducing new, ambitious non-financial targets and embedding them throughout the core operations.

Non-financial targets focus on bringing new environmental and safety innovations to products, reducing CO₂ emissions in line with the Science Based Targets, further improving workplace safety, and monitoring the sustainability of suppliers.

Nokian Tyres will, for example:

• Increase the share of either recycled or renewable raw materials in tires to 50% by 2030
• Reduce CO₂ emissions from both raw materials and tires by 25% between 2018–2030
• Decrease accident frequency (LTIF) yearly by 20%
• Sustainability audit 100% of critical active suppliers by 2025

All non-financial targets can be found at https://www.nokiantyres.com/company/sustainability/environment/our-targets-and-achievements/.

Nokian Tyres was the first in the tire industry to receive official approval for its climate targets from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBT) and has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for four consecutive years, ranking it among the most sustainable publicly traded companies in the world.

Along with the revised growth strategy, Nokian Tyres has defined its purpose, which is to empower the world to drive smarter. The company has for decades safeguarded people’s lives and is committed to continuing this effort through even safer, smarter and more sustainable driving.

 Payments 20 (P20), the leading voice of the global payments industry, has collaborated with some of the largest payment firms and law enforcement organisations to develop a standard approach which will help firms defend themselves against the growing, global cyber threat.

The advocacy group, alongside organisations including American Express, Elavon, Hogan Lovells, J.P. Morgan Chase, the UK National Cyber Security Centre and New York State Department of Financial Services, has created a new report entitled ‘20 Best Practice Recommendations for Improved Cyber Security Protection’.

Aimed at non-cyber professionals, the report emphasizes the urgency of implementing more efficient and comprehensive cyber security frameworks in response to the increasing capabilities of cyber criminals, scammers and other nefarious actors since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The uncertainty and disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has presented cyber criminals with a wealth of opportunities to attack. Since March 2020 cyber crime has rocketed with 74% of banks experiencing a rise in cyber attacks and three out of four financial institutions worrying about the historic rise in criminal activity and what will happen going forward.

The cyber security problem now represents a serious systemic threat to the global financial system, a sentiment echoed by Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, who in April 2021 said he worried that a cyber attack may result in the next great financial crisis. This highlights the need to a collective global, standardised approach towards counteracting the threat.

The best practice actions cover five areas: 

• Network security 
• Data handling 
• Employee awareness 
• Actions before a cyber attack occurs 
• Actions immediately after a cyber attack occurs 

Duncan Sandys, Chief Executive Officer at P20, said: "As businesses across the globe embraced remote working and shifted operations online, the state sponsored and professional criminal gangs exploited the weaknesses of security apparatus and the fears of individuals. At P20, we believe everyone has a part to play in protecting their organisation and its reputation against this threat. This is why we joined forces with leading financial institutions, cyber security experts and government officials to compile standardised, easy to implement actions for non cyber experts which will go a long way in strengthening their organisations’ defences and protecting their customers.”

Michael Papay, EVP, Technology Risk & Information Security at American Express, said: “The greatest vulnerabilities in the payments network are those hidden third-parties or fourth-party suppliers that nobody has identified as a risk. A lot of the big companies involved in payments networks understand the challenges -- they understand information security; they know how to approach these problems and how to tackle them.  It's the smaller companies that are providing some critical service that we haven't fully solved for yet.”

JF Legault, Managing Director, Global Head of Cyber Security Operations at J.P. Morgan Chase, said: “You can have the strongest controls in the world, the best cyber security program but one thing that organizations continuously need to work on is improving their crisis management processes.”

Paul Maddinson, Director for National Resilience & Strategy at the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said: “There are several things that we recommend for small organizations to get those basics right. One is about backing up data and making sure you're doing that properly. The second is using passwords appropriately. The third is keeping your devices updated and making sure that the software is patched. The fourth is putting some protections in place against malware and then trying to avoid phishing attacks through email and how your staff respond.”

The publication of the report comes ahead of P20’s annual Global Payment Conference, taking place on 28-29 September 2021 where cyber security will be a key talking point. The conference will bring together hundreds of industry leaders, politicians, government officials, regulators, thought leaders and others to highlight trends, debate industry priorities and shape the future. Keynote speakers include Andrew Bailey, Governor of Bank of England, Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of The Commonwealth, Christopher Woolard CBE, ex-Interim CEO, UK Financial Conduct Authority, Michael D’Ambrosio, ex-Assistant Director, US Secret Service and former US Ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young. 

Portfolio of industry-tailored solutions helps financial services firms navigate their cloud journey; balances risk and reward to boost colleague and customer experience

BT today announced a portfolio of industry-tailored solutions to help financial services firms take a controlled approach to adopting cloud. BT Cloud Control for Financial Services helps customers’ IT teams address the challenges they face in balancing the risks and rewards of moving their applications and secure data to the cloud; it helps chart the path to growth and delivering outstanding digital experiences.

The portfolio combines BT’s deep expertise and extensive capabilities in cloud, networking and security services. It builds on the company’s partnerships with leading public cloud providers, flexible connectivity into hyperscalers and regional datacentres and decades of experience providing cyber security services and industry-specific solutions. This includes operating the BT Radianz Cloud, one of the world’s largest secure, financial markets cloud communities.

BT’s security-first approach helps customers determine how to protect, enable or prevent access to applications and data in line with business and regulatory needs. Experts help customers understand what to move to the cloud and consider all operational, security and regulatory factors so migration can be done in a secure and resilient way with minimal or no impact on end-user experience. If a customer needs to maintain its own data centre services, BT can deploy a software-defined solution to deliver cloud-like agility, automation and improved performance.

The end result for customers is a secure, multi-cloud environment managed by BT with certified staff, auditable processes and contractual assurances to optimise costs, protect applications and data and deliver the best digital experiences for customers and colleagues alike.

“Digital transformation in financial services is accelerating at a breath-taking rate and the cloud is playing a huge role in making it happen,” said Louise O’Neill, director, banking & financial services, BT. “Backed with decades of experience in managing cloud, security and networking services for leading banks and insurers, and with a full ecosystem of hyperscale partners, this is a compelling proposition from a trusted partner to help firms on their digital transformation journey.”

SquaredFinancial, the FinTech brokerage firm, has announced today, a strategic partnership with Lusis AI Lab to offer AI-based Forex trading strategies to its customers. This is part of SquaredFinancial’s ambitious expansion program to bring together the best technology and people to deliver world-class global service to clients. SquaredFinancial has seen a 400 per cent increase in clients on their platform in the 12 months to June.

Two AI strategies, benchmarked during 2020/2021, will be launched on the SquaredFinancial platforms in the coming months. The first uses the past days price action and indicators combined with the London opening price to take a single decision every morning. The second uses the Tokyo and London Session intraday price action and indicators combined to take a decision for the New York Session. Further AI strategies will be introduced once developed.

SquaredFinancial is a next generation multi-asset, multi-jurisdiction firm which provides a global investment gateway for a full range of financial products and services with world-class customer support. It is led by serial entrepreneur Philippe Ghanem whose team has years of experience and is well-versed in scaling businesses.

Lusis is a French software provider offering advanced software solutions and platforms enhanced by applied artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Philippe Ghanem, Executive Chairman of Squared Financial, said:

“Our partnership with Lusis is fantastic news for our clients. It enables us to take advantage of the latest AI developments in algorithmic trading to provide them with the best execution possible. We look forward to a long-term partnership with Lusis as we continue to develop further AI strategies.”

Philippe Préval, CEO of Lusis, said:

“We are proud to partner with SquaredFinancial, they are changing perceptions of how a FinTech company should be operated. AI is key in our strategy for the coming years in trading as in other business areas such as payment fraud, credit scoring, loyalty or recommendations. We look forward to growing our partnership further as we introduce new products to market.”