SunTec Business Solutions, the world’s #1 relationship-based pricing and billing company, today announced the appointment of Michael (Mike) Yesudas as Chief Technology Officer.

Mike will be part of the company’s leadership team and will be based out of the USA. He will drive and head the technology and engineering functions, including platform engineering, product engineering, and release engineering teams. He will particularly focus on the development of the company’s next-gen, platform that will seamlessly integrate with third-party APIs and is built with a focus on architectural excellence, to provide flexibility and extensibility for an open banking environment.

On his appointment, Nanda Kumar, CEO and Founder of SunTec said, “Mike joins us at a very crucial time when business ecosystems across the world are getting rapidly digitized, creating a conducive environment where we can move closer to our dream of delivering multi-industry products that can manage the value chain of these evolving business ecosystems. His diverse experience across AI applications, cloud, big data, and mobile technologies will help us enhance our core product strength and our software development capabilities, using Software 2.0 as well as cloud and edge computing for faster processing. His leadership will be significant for us as we widen our reach in high-volume transaction industries. I am confident that Mike will enable us to transform our current platform into a brilliant cognitive platform of tomorrow.”

Mike Yesudas said, “I am glad to be a part of a forward-thinking organization such as SunTec. I believe my years of experience of driving innovation globally will help me establish the next phase of growth for the company and our customers. Collaboration will be key to offer this next-gen experience. It requires building a marketplace, partner infrastructure, governance and security policies, and a robust, best-of-breed, and scalable platform. It is this combination that will enable our customers to leapfrog ahead using technology as an enabler.”

Mike comes with nearly three decades of experience across organizations, including IBM, Sterling Commerce, GE, and HP where he has played several significant technology leadership roles. In his previous role in IBM, he was an IBM Distinguished Engineer and the CTO of IBM Sterling and AI Applications Expert Labs. He was responsible for developing and executing the technology vision for retail and non-retail solutions, driving innovations and services, and helping customers become more competitive with improved technology solutions worldwide.

Mike did his BTech at IIT Kharagpur and has an MS in Engineering from the University of Houston and MS in Computer Science from Monash University. He holds several U.S. and International Patents and has been a CISSP Certified Security Expert for 15 years.

SunTec operates globally across 45 countries such as, USA, UK, Germany, UAE, Singapore, Canada, Australia, and India.  The company has more than 130 clients in the banking, telecom, and travel industries.

• e-bot7 is named on the AIFinTech100 list as one of the most innovative AI companies worldwide.
• The companies were chosen by a panel of industry experts and analysts who reviewed a study of over 1,000 FinTech companies undertaken by FinTech Global.

e-bot7, one of the leading providers of Conversational AI, is listed on the AIFinTech100 list amongst the world’s most innovative solution providers developing artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to solve challenges and improve financial services’ efficiency.

The use of AI and data analytics has grown tremendously over the last few years as financial institutions move towards digital operations and aim to unlock new revenue growth opportunities, minimise operating expenses, and automate manually intensive processes. Given the huge increase in demand for artificial intelligence technologies in the sector, the AIFinTech100 was set up to identify the 100 most innovative companies developing AI applications in financial services that every financial institution needs to know about as they develop their digital transformation strategies.

The unique advantage e-bot7 offers

Being stuck for minutes or even hours in a waiting loop to contact the bank regarding a transfer or change the address for your bank account is not only time consuming but can also be a dealbreaker for clients. Consumers can often wait for hours on a hotline or even days to get an answer to a simple query via email. e-bot7’s hybrid Agent+AI solution can answer general questions about account models or transfer orders, and, if integrated onto the CRM, also individual questions about standing orders or account statements. The more questions the chatbot is asked, the more it trains itself. If a customer’s question is passed onto a service agent, the bot learns the question and the response. Simultaneously, the service agent can gather more insights concerning customer requests. Thus, the Conversational AI benefits both the customer and the service agent, which enables efficiency. 

In these volatile times, many would prefer to handle their customer service inquiries online. There is no longer a need to visit a bank branch to speak to a service agent physically, nor is there a need to wait on hold for an extended period when chatbots are available. e-bot7 offers a solution that eases the customer service journey by handling requests around the clock and a reliable, fast response rate. The way of communication is rapidly changing, and it is vital to keep up with customer expectations. e-bot7’s solution empowers customers by providing a personalised experience while enhancing Conversational AI technology through digitisation.

The nomination process

The standout companies were chosen by a panel of industry experts and analysts who reviewed a study of over 1,000 FinTech companies undertaken by FinTech Global, a data and research firm. The solution providers making the final list were recognised for their innovative use of technology to solve a significant industry problem or to generate cost savings or efficiency improvements across the financial services value chain.

FinTech Global director Richard Sachar explained, "Now, more than ever, established financial institutions need to be aware of the latest AI and data analytics technology innovations in the market to ensure they deliver competitive financial products and reach new customers. The AIFinTech100 list helps senior management filter through all the solution providers in the market by highlighting the most innovative artificial intelligence companies in areas such as Insurance, Banking, Investment & Trading, Lending, Customer Experience, Compliance and Fraud Prevention.”

A complete list of the AIFinTech100 can be found at www.AIFinTech100.com. More detailed information about e-bot7 and the AIFinTech100 is available to download for free on their website.

EFA, a leading provider of administrative services to the fund industry in Luxembourg, has selected NeoXam’s Impress Regulatory Edition (hosted with NeoXam as a Service) to help meet its regulatory goals. A calculation engine and advanced visualization interface were key factors behind EFA’s decision to select NeoXam.

The regulatory environment around funds has drastically increased in recent years and this trend is expected to continue. As a leading provider of the fund industry in Luxembourg, EFA is committed to providing its clients with the best service and the most up-to-date tools to respond to their existing and future regulatory requirements. To this end, EFA wanted to adopt a dedicated platform to industrialise the operations of its teams of experts.

This decision both reinforces and expands the long-standing relationship between EFA and NeoXam initiated with the adoption of the back-office investment accounting tool NeoXam GP.

Gary Janaway, COO at EFA, said: “The ability to provide our clients with a full range of regulatory reports with increasing demand for digital output led EFA to extent our partnership with NeoXam. Primary factors that influenced our selection were the ability to manage the integrity and quality of data from internal production systems and to import data from external sources. Impress Regulatory Edition facilitates our clients’ need for high quality branded regulatory reports and provides EFA with a high capacity production capability.”

Florent Fabre, COO of NeoXam, added: “The future of reporting is undoubtedly industrial and digital. We develop high-performance and innovative solutions that meet the demanding expectations of the market to support our customers. We’ve worked closely with EFA for over a decade now and look forward to continuing to support them in their growth.”

Leading Integrated Payments and Leading Building Software company announce partnership to enhance user experience, efficiency, and security for clients in the building industry

Paya, a leading provider of integrated payments and commerce solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Paradigm, a software company focused on helping organizations throughout the building industry supply chain increase efficiencies and profitability. Through the partnership, Paradigm will launch Paradigm Payments™, which will offer contractors, dealers, distributors, and manufacturers the ability to collect and process payments real-time, leading to greater back-office efficiencies and the opportunity to increase on-site sales.

“Through our partnership with Paradigm, we’re able to provide our innovative integrated payments solution to more companies in the building industry, as well as in-home service tech professionals,” said Brock Robertson, Paya’s Head of Partner Relationships. “Our integrated payments platform offers increased efficiency and ease-of-use, allowing companies in this space to more easily collect and process revenue and, ultimately, support their bottom-line growth.”

“As a result of our partnership with Paya, and the launch of Paradigm Payments, our clients will have the ability to offer a streamlined payment process in a cost-effective way,” said Matt Davis, Paradigm Product Director. “We’re excited to launch this service with a partner who is not only a leader in integrated payments, but also shares our vision of simplifying how money moves in this industry.”

Enhanced Capabilities Enable Financial Institutions to Streamline Consumption of TruSight Data and Gain Efficiency

TruSight, the financial industry’s leading provider of third-party risk data, today announced that it has completed its enhanced customer consumption project, including the creation of a new assessment execution platform, customer API integration, and custom template functionality.

TruSight’s new platform is purpose-built to enable the company to conduct assessments and interface with third parties and customers efficiently and effectively. The platform structures assessment data in a way that supports maximum flexibility in meeting customer needs while driving operational efficiency. Launched in April, the TruSight platform is a radically new data model that serves as the foundation for the implementation of its API interface and customized product templates.

The TruSight API, introduced in May, allows customers to connect programmatically to TruSight and retrieve assessment data in a highly structured way. The company is now working with GRC system providers to bring additional connectivity capabilities to the platform.  

The final component of TruSight’s enhanced customer consumption solution is the Custom Product functionality, released in June. This capability enables users to create their own customized products by selecting the specific questions they want to review and pay only for what they consume. Functionality is enabled through TruSight curated tag collections as well as customer-defined tags on questions, which can be used once or applied to all products purchased.

“TruSight has built a truly customer-focused platform that gives banks greater access to and control over the valuable third-party risk data that the utility collects,” said Taryn Thompson, Chief Procurement Officer of Bank of America. “As a TruSight board member and a client, we have seen first-hand that the added functionality and connectivity capabilities will deliver significant efficiency gains to financial institutions’ TPRM programs.”

“The work done by the TruSight team to develop the new platform has been phenomenal. The underlying technology paves the way for TruSight to create innovative new data products and functionality not seen in the third-party risk management space before,” said David Hayman, Vice President of Technology at TruSight. “We are excited to work with our customers and third parties to leverage these new capabilities to bring even greater efficiencies to the industry.”

Offering builds upon FICC’s existing Sponsored Service, enabling Sponsoring Members and their Sponsored Member Clients to execute repo transactions with each other on BNY Mellon’s triparty platform

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced the launch of its Sponsored General Collateral (GC) Service, a new offering from its Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC) subsidiary, and that the first trades have been executed by BNY Mellon, Federated Hermes and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC.

The new Sponsored GC Service allows Sponsoring Members and their Sponsored Member Clients to submit triparty repo transactions executed on a general collateral basis across U.S. Treasury securities, agency debentures and agency mortgage-backed securities collateral to central clearing. Users benefit from a reduction in operational and counterparty risk, potential balance sheet and capital relief, and access to greater market liquidity. The new service has been launched in collaboration with BNY Mellon and with the support of Broadridge.

“We are pleased to work with BNY Mellon, Federated Hermes and J.P. Morgan Securities in making this new service a reality,” stated Murray Pozmanter, Head of Clearing Agency Services at DTCC. “FICC’s Sponsored Service has become an integral part of the U.S. repo market, and the new Sponsored GC Service will enable us to further enhance risk management through broader access to central clearing. We look forward to welcoming clients to the service while also continuing our work with Broadridge.”

As part of this offering, cleared repo transactions will settle on the triparty platform of BNY Mellon, similar to how triparty repo transactions are handled outside of central clearing today. By enabling access to FICC via BNY Mellon’s triparty repo platform, users benefit from an operationally efficient way to clear their repo transactions – including overnight and term repo transactions. BNY Mellon will also act as a Sponsoring Member for Sponsored Member Clients seeking to participate in cleared repo via the new Sponsored GC Service.

“Triparty sits at the heart of BNY Mellon’s collateral management offering, providing operational efficiencies and promoting collateral optimization and mobilization for more than $3.6 trillion in balances on our platform,” adds Andrea Pfenning, President & COO of BNY Mellon Government Securities Services Corp. “In addition to our existing settlement role for FICC’s Sponsored Service where trades settle bilaterally, BNY Mellon will now provide settlement for FICC Sponsored GC Service transactions via triparty. We are pleased to be playing an integral role supporting this product for FICC and the broader market.”

To make this trade a reality, DTCC worked closely with Broadridge to support the connectivity of J.P. Morgan Securities and other Sponsoring Members into central clearing, enabling these Members to submit and process their Sponsored activity at FICC.

“We’ve worked very closely with DTCC and BNY Mellon over the past few years to bring DTCC’s recent enhancements to the Sponsored Service to life by helping to connect Broadridge users with FICC,” said John Garahan, Head of North American Fixed Income at Broadridge. “Broadridge is excited to roll out this latest offering under FICC’s Sponsored Service umbrella to enable clients to take full advantage of these programs.”

Today, 29 Sponsored Members and over 1800 Sponsored Member clients use FICC’s Sponsored Service, representing approximately $240bn-$300bn in daily volumes. Additional Sponsored Members are expected to join the service in the coming months, including firms representing agency lending activity, foreign clients, supranationals, municipalities and home loan banks.

CTERA Achieves Outstanding Ratings in GigaOm Radar Report, Designated “Leader” and “Outperformer”

CTERA today announced it has been named the leader in the GigaOm 2021 Radar Report for Distributed Cloud File Storage. CTERA received outstanding scores from the GigaOm analyst team against well-defined criteria to become the sole vendor to achieve both “Leader” and “Outperformer” designation in the Radar.

According to the report, “CTERA is the leader of this radar and also leads the innovation/platform-oriented solutions pack thanks to a comprehensive and well-balanced approach to addressing the challenges of distributed cloud file storage and collaboration. The solution achieves outstanding ratings amongst a majority of key criteria and evaluation metrics.”

The GigaOm Radar further praised CTERA as “the absolute leader in terms of edge deployment capabilities, providing organisations with the highest flexibility, enabling simplified edge data access and offering comprehensive edge deployment options.”

Distributed cloud file storage represents a rapidly growing market as IT organisations restructure how corporate users access, share, and collaborate on files in an increasingly hybrid work environment. CTERA helps enterprises close the gap between the limitations of traditional file storage and today’s requirements for fast and secure user and application data access anywhere. The CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform is the only distributed cloud file storage solution to unite core, branch, and home offices under a single namespace, extending the corporate file system to the far edge of the network while maintaining centralised data control and maximum security.

“With a singular focus on enabling simplified and secure edge access anywhere to a global file system, CTERA demonstrates a highly innovative and flexible approach to distributed cloud file storage and is well-positioned to lead the enterprise transition to a new era of work,” said Enrico Signoretti, Research Analyst, GigaOm.

“Our GigaOm Radar leadership position is predicated on offering distributed organisations unparalleled freedom of choice over their file infrastructure from edge to cloud,” said Liran Eshel, CEO and co-founder, CTERA. “It’s a terrific honour to be recognised for extending the corporate file system to the far edge and enabling HQ-grade experiences for any user and any device.”

To learn more, download the GigaOm Radar for Distributed Cloud File Storage.

Read the CTERA blog – GigaOm: CTERA is the Distributed Cloud File Storage Leader.

Live Oak Bancshares (Live Oak) announced today it successfully converted Live Oak Bank deposit customers from its legacy core system to the Finxact cloud-based core.

The conversion of more than 60,000 customer accounts, the largest conversion Finxact has made to date, is a major milestone in converting all Live Oak Bank customers to Finxact’s leading core as a service platform, giving Live Oak Bank an unencumbered banking foundation that allows it to build products and services using next-generation technology.

“We have accomplished a remarkable feat. Converting onto a next-generation core is akin to replacing a combustible engine with an electric one – it takes inventiveness, time and determination – and we have done it,” said Live Oak Bancshares Chairman and CEO James S. (Chip) Mahan, III. “Finxact, along with the ecosystem that includes Apiture, Savana, Payrailz, and DefenseStorm, is the fundamental bedrock on which Live Oak is building the bank of the future to better serve our customers.”

Finxact is a high performance, highly scalable, real-time position platform that includes a comprehensive and extensible financial services model exposed as APIs. By accessing its open platform, Live Oak Bank can invent, curate, and launch products at the speed required to meet customer expectations in today’s marketplace.

“Live Oak is a story of innovation and bold decision making. Because of its leadership the bank will be more adaptive and able to compete at a different level. But there will be broader implications of their actions. Through their vision and determination, Chip Mahan and the Live Oak team have pioneered a critical improvement in the way core banking will be done in the US going forward,” said Frank Sanchez, CEO and founder of Finxact.

The conversion to Finxact took place over the weekend of August 20, and the process was punctuated by several highlights that illustrate how impactful the platform is:

• Conversion process was completed 16 hours ahead of schedule
• Total end-to-end conversion and validation process took 44 hours
• 100% balance and account accuracy achieved
• More than 60,000 deposit accounts were converted
• More than 69,000 Live Oak Bank accounts now sit on the Finxact core (PPP loans were originated on Finxact)

“Living on an API-first platform gives us the ability to build on the fly, offer products quickly, measure results instantly and scale in a matter of minutes instead of days or weeks,” said Mark Moroz, head of product at Live Oak Bank. “The flexibility of our platform’s architecture allows us to deliver custom products tailored to our customer. This is how banking should be done and it is rewarding to know we can meet customer needs in new and exciting ways now that we are live on Finxact.”

Live Oak began its journey to usher in a new core banking system five years ago when Live Oak and other banking leaders asked Finxact founders to create a core as a service platform that allows banks to do what they currently cannot do today – seamlessly make changes to products and services to give customers the best banking experience possible. Live Oak knew there was a better way and found incredible team members and partners who believe in fundamentally overhauling the system to break the outdated position many banks are in.

“Every bank CEO and CIO in the country should be sitting up and taking notice,” Mahan said. “The days of running on traditional mainframes are ending. To deliver customers the best experience, and to have the ability to create banking solutions that give customers what they need in an agile way, is only possible with cloud-native technologies on open platforms. The banking industry is recognizing the power of open banking, and Live Oak is proud to lead the way in setting the stage for a new era.”

Important Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are based on other than historical data or that express Live Oak’s plans or expectations regarding future events or determinations are forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements based on historical data are not intended and should not be understood to indicate Live Oak’s expectations regarding future events. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations or forecasts of future events or determinations. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or determinations, nor should they be relied upon as representing management’s views as of any subsequent date. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those presented, either expressed or implied, in this press release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements include a reduction in or the termination of the Company's ability to use the technology-based platform that is critical to the success of its business model, including a failure in or a breach of operational or security systems; the impact of heightened regulatory scrutiny of financial products and services and the Company's ability to comply with regulatory requirements and expectations; and the other factors discussed in Live Oak’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and available at the SEC’s Internet site (http://www.sec.gov). Except as required by law, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update any factors or to publicly announce the result of revisions to any of the forward-looking statements included herein to reflect future events or developments.

Customer-Focused Connectivity Across Europe, Innovative Technology, Experienced Local Teams

Mastercard today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Aiia, a leading European open banking technology provider offering a

direct connection to banks through a single API, allowing its customers to develop and launch new digital solutions that meet the needs of everyday life, work and play.

Open banking is democratizing financial services by putting consumers at the center of where and how their data is used to provide the services they want and need. Fintechs and banks use this consumer permissioned data to provide easier and more inclusive access to credit, personal financial management, digital wallets and payments services. Mastercard plays a central role in this

ecosystem as a trusted intermediary and secure data network.

“The value of open banking comes through empowering consumers and businesses to use their own data to obtain financial services solutions simply, securely and quickly. The addition of Aiia anchors

our European open banking efforts and allows us to continue to meet our customers where they are,” said Craig Vosburg, Chief Product Officer, Mastercard. “As open banking continues to ignite

innovation, we’re committed to providing a unique set of technology platforms, data connectivity and infrastructure combined with data privacy and security principles. This will help fintechs and financial institutions innovate, gather feedback and scale faster and more effectively than ever to power smarter, more meaningful experiences.”

Today, Aiia’s open banking platform and expertise, including strong API connectivity and payment capabilities, has shown significant growth coupled with a relentless focus on quality. Aiia has brought

to life a unique model for open banking in Europe, driven by data privacy, security, quality and access. Its customer-centric approach and ambition to create open banking that simply works complements

Mastercard’s existing distribution channels, technology and data practices.

“For the past decade, we have worked to build Aiia into a leading and quality-driven open banking platform, which has onboarded hundreds of banks and fintechs onto safe and secure open banking

rails. We have worked closely alongside banks, customers and local authorities to ensure that our APIs show the true effect of open banking. We’re excited to become a part of Mastercard and progress

our journey of empowering people to bring their financial data and accounts into play - safely and transparently,” said Rune Mai, CEO & Founder, Aiia.

Solidifying a Foundation for Innovation

Mastercard was an early advocate of open banking across the globe. The company has made bold moves to blend its proprietary technology and multi-rail payments expertise with strong partners

offering complementary services. In 2019, Mastercard launched its first open banking connectivity offering in the UK and Poland through a partnership with Token.

With the acquisition of Finicity in 2020, Mastercard bolstered a strong commitment to its customers by bringing together top-tier technology platforms, dedicated resources and a global infrastructure

to catalyze innovation and continue to deliver localized customer service. This commitment continued earlier in 2021 with Mastercard Payment Services, a broader set of account-to-account payment and open banking capabilities gained in the acquisition of the majority of Nets’ Corporate Services business.

Aiia’s expertise in providing safe and secure data access complements Mastercard’s data responsibility principles, continuing to put the individual at the center of the process. This relationship

reinforces work led by Mastercard’s Finicity team to extend data-related best practices across multiple industries. The connectivity of Aiia in Europe will enable Mastercard to deliver the credit

decisioning and credit scoring applications of Finicity to European clients. Similarly, the connectivity of Finicity in the U.S. will help deliver the account information services and payment applications of Aiia

to U.S. clients – giving customers globally easier, faster and safer access to open banking services.

“We have been very satisfied with our co-ownership and partnership with Aiia, which has helped to create user-friendly open banking solutions for the benefit of our customers. We are pleased that

Mastercard sees the potential in Aiia and are convinced that they will be the right future owner to support the development of the company and Aiia’s ambitions for European expansion. We look

forward to the continued collaboration with Mastercard/Aiia on solutions that support open banking and that provide real value for Danske Bank’s customers across the Nordic markets,” said Glenn

Söderholm, Head of Personal & Business Customers, Danske Bank.

Benjamin K Golding, Group Executive Vice President, Payments & Innovation, DNB also added, “DNB Ventures aims to contribute growth and value in companies that with time can succeed within areas

relevant to DNB. We have been investors in Aiia since 2018 and DNB is also an important customer of the company. We are very pleased with Aiia’s development, while with the company entering a

new phase it is natural for us as venture investors to exit, given our focus on early-stage investments and value creation through capital, knowledge and input to strategy and business development. With

Mastercard as owners, Aiia will benefit from a strong global platform positioned for continued growth, and we are looking forward to continuing our business relationship with Mastercard/Aiia

going forward.”

Aiia is a licensed Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP) and Account Information Service Provider (AISP) and operates under the supervision of the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA).

The transaction, which is anticipated to close by year’s end, is subject to customary closing conditions. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.