Published

  • 08:00 am

New brand will unify acquired companies, aiming to illuminate overseas payments and focus on customer goals   

Foreign Currency Direct (FCD) today launches as Lumon, bringing together customers from recent acquisitions including Infinity International and Earthport FX under one distinctive, forward-thinking brand. In the crowded overseas payments space, Lumon combines the companies’ expertise to bring bank-beating rates and cutting-edge technology together to provide clarity on moving money across borders for both business and personal customers across the portfolio.

The new name is inspired by light. Lumon shines an expert light on overseas payments and reveals the overseas payments landscape to customers. Its strength lies in its focused support, dedicated to helping customers understand the options open to them to achieve their goals.

Alongside an effortless payment process and bank-beating rates, Lumon offers true expertise and a relationship-based approach. Optimising the power of the latest payment technologies, coupled with the laser-sharp focus and personal service of the European-wide team and partners, Lumon unites people, technology and expertise to meet the needs of existing and new customers.

Shamus Hodgson, Chief Executive Officer at Lumon, said:

“The overseas payments industry is rapidly evolving and yet we believe it’s crying out for reinvention. Through a period of economic market volatility and rapid development of digital first offers, we’ve always had our customers’ end goals in mind.”

Following extreme volatility in the currencies market caused by global events such as Brexit and COVID-19, Lumon’s new strategic direction seeks to disrupt the world of overseas payments. Lumon’s state-of-the-art payment platforms and sophisticated hedging and commercial strategies help customers move their money effortlessly, analyse currency risks and understand the myriad of options available to them, leaving them to focus on their day-to-day business needs and individual aspirations. The team’s deep sector expertise and continuous focus on customer goals mean that Lumon can provide clarity. By working with them to manage risk end-to-end, Lumon can create an overseas payments strategy that makes business goals and individual aspirations a reality.

Shamus continued:

For too long businesses and individuals have been left in the dark; there’s been a lack of transparency from the overseas payments sector about the solutions available and the costs involved. Lumon is our challenge to the market.”

“By consolidating our resources and expertise under one brand and one team, our distinctive offering gives our customers sector-leading service that is always tailored to their goals – from purchasing a new property overseas to expanding a business internationally – and is always underpinned by our values. Like our previous brands, Lumon will be unashamedly customer-led. We see value in focusing on tomorrow’s plans, not just daily foreign exchange rates”.

Lumon is part of Pollen Street Capital's portfolio of companies. An independent, alternative investment management company, Pollen Street Capital specializes in driving digitally-led high-growth businesses in the financial and business services sectors.

 

Related News

  • 05:00 am

Also provides updates on developmental progress 

ELEMENTARYb, the intelligent financial management platform providing complete control to MMEs, has appointed Shuab Akhtar as Director of Product.  Shuab will drive the development, delivery and ongoing evolution of the company’s business management software platform.

He brings considerable relevant experience, from a 20-year career in successfully developing innovative software products within the banking and FinTech industries. 

Most recently, during four years with Handelsbanken, as Senior Business Analyst he quickly rose to be instrumental in the delivery of its newly-commissioned greenfield mortgage lending platform, where he shaped value streams, customer journeys and championed the user experience.  

Prior to this, Shuab focused on Account Opening and On-Boarding at Barclays and further experience includes similar initiatives at BT and Towergate Insurance, as well as Bentley Motors, the BBC, Panasonic and FT Group.

ELEMENTARYb also announces that it has appointed Accedia as its technology partner. Accedia has a strong track-record in hosting and maintaining large SaaS platforms and will provide ELEMENTARYb with software and data analytics development services as its platform develops and scales. It has also appointed experienced designers to optimise the user experience (UX) and a specialist cloud engineer to its development team.

Shuab Akhtar, ELEMENTARYb’s Director of Product said: “I’m delighted to join the company at such an exciting time in its development.  We share the same ethos and passion to deliver great software solutions to make businesses more efficient and more profitable.  

“ELEMENTARYb has a clear purpose and I look forward to contributing to its core mission, to provide MME’s with a business management software platform that makes running their operations infinitely easier and more predictable.”

Karen Rudich, CEO of ELEMENTARYb, said: We’re thrilled to welcome Shuab and see the incredible impact his background will add to the Eb proposition.  In all his previous positions he has far exceeded his roles and his entrepreneurial spirit has led him to deliver visionary innovations in a rapidly developing field.  His commitment to customer experience, coupled with his hands-on expertise in building and managing complex FinTech platforms made him the perfect addition to our highly experienced and driven team.”

She added: “Shuab’s appointment is just the latest step in our development.  In recent weeks we’ve also appointed a great-fit technology partner, Accedia, to deliver automated financial forecasting, planning and analysis functionality our complex clients require.  Also, we’ve added to our development team with a specialist cloud engineer and two designers to concentrate on the UX of our platform.  We continue to work hard to tailor the platform to meet the needs of mid-sized organisations, a class of businesses which is so important to our economy, but so underserved by existing technologies.”

Eb is currently offering investment and test-client opportunities.

Related News

  • 09:00 am
  • Total customers reached 16.7m in 2Q’21 (2Q’20: 11.2m)
  • Total revenues grew 37% to RUB 65.0 bn in 2Q’21 (2Q’20: RUB 47.4 bn)
  • Non-credit business lines reached 44% of revenues
  • Net profit rose 57% to RUB 16.1 bn in 2Q’21 (2Q’20: RUB 10.2 bn)
  • ROE reached 46.1% in 2Q’21 (2Q’20: 40.0%)

TCS Group Holding PLC (LI: TCS, MOEX: TCSG) (“Tinkoff”, “We”, the "Group", the “Company”), a leading provider of online financial and lifestyle services via its Tinkoff ecosystem, today announces its consolidated IFRS results for the three months and six months ended 30 June 2021.

Oliver Hughes, CEO of Tinkoff Group, commented:

“We had another strong quarter and we are proud to report that Tinkoff is now serving more than 16.7 total customers and is continuing to grow rapidly. We showed excellent performance across just about all of our business-lines and cross-sell is clearly becoming a major driver of our business as we unlock the power of our ecosystem.

We continue delivering profitable growth with net profit rising 57% year-on-year to a new quarterly record of RUB 16.1 bn. ROE climbed to 46.1% in the period, underpinned by well-diversified revenue streams.

During 2Q we enhanced our partnership network by acquiring a 5% stake in SPB Exchange, an important partner for Tinkoff Investments. Also, we bought a controlling stake in the loyalty app Koshelek, which has substantial synergies with our core business and a market-leading position with 11 million monthly active users of the app.  We believe that there is significant scope for further partnerships and bolt-on acquisitions as we search for businesses that have strong fit with our ecosystem, in particular, in the areas of brokerage, payments and SME.   In line with this logic, we also launched a new Service Partner Program, aimed at seeking out top start-ups and technology projects. As part of this program, Tinkoff Group aims to become a strategic partner to companies that show stable growth and have the potential to be integrated into the business-lines of the Tinkoff ecosystem.

As previously communicated, the Company is currently engaging with regulators to explore licensing options and market entry strategies in a number of key markets in South and Southeast Asia. We plan to provide the market with an update on this important component of Company’s strategy in Q4 2021.

Finally, we plan to announce the second wave of TCSGH Board expansion in the coming weeks to further enhance our corporate governance.  Please look out for the announcement.”

Stanislav Bliznyuk, Chairman of the Tinkoff Bank Management Board, added:

“I’m pleased to highlight that our non-credit revenue continued rising steadily and accounted for 44% of total revenue in Q2 2021.

During the second quarter, we surpassed 100,000 daily deliveries of our Tinkoff Black products, the backbone of our ecosystem, setting a new daily record for us. Tinkoff Black now boasts 10.6 million total customers as of the end of June. At the same time, our Tinkoff Pro subscription service is taking off, with over 750k customer accounts activated only 8 months from its launch, which demonstrates a new level of engagement by our core client base.

In 2Q, we also launched our BNPL business – which is one of the more existing and faster-growing segments globally.  Our Dolyame offering became Russia’s first digital BNPL (buy-now-pay-later). The new platform facilitates combines the advantages of online acquiring and installment plans. Buyers can pay for goods in installments without incurring interest, and sellers can immediately receive the full purchase price in their account without delays. We believe this has tremendous market potential.

Tinkoff Investments, Russia’s leading brokerage by active customer base, expanded to serve 2.3 million total customers by the end of 1H 2021.  Most recently, Tinkoff Investments has appointed Ilya Oprenko as Head of Private Banking to lead this new offering at Tinkoff. He will focus on developing our advisory and lifestyle offerings, as well as Private Equity and alternative investments not previously available to Tinkoff Investments customers.

In July, we completed our debut securitisation transaction, which involved an offering of mortgage-backed securities. Going forward, securitisation will be an important mechanism at our disposal to balance capital requirements and manage liquidity.

Tinkoff Acquiring is capturing market share, reaching approximately 15% of Russian ecommerce acquiring in the first half of 2021 and securing our place as one of the top three Russian banks in this segment. We are confident that the rapid growth of Russian ecommerce will present us with many opportunities to further expand this business line.

Tinkoff Business continued growing its customer base, with particularly strong performance in the medium-sized business segment. The SME business line reached 547 thousand total customers at the end of the second quarter.

Our efforts have not gone unnoticed. Tinkoff has been named Central and Eastern Europe’s Best Digital Bank of 2021 by Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence, one of several important accolades we received this year.”

FINANCIAL AND OPERATING REVIEW

RUB bn

2Q’21

2Q’20

Change

1H’21

1H’20

Change

Net margin

33.1

26.8

+23%

62.3

52.4

+19%

Net margin after provisions

28.4

14.6

+94%

52.8

24.7

+114%

Profit before tax

20.4

13.1

+55%

38.4

24.8

+55%

Net profit

16.1

10.2

+57%

30.3

19.3

+57%

Return on equity

46.1%

40.0%

+6.1 p.p.

44.7%

38.4%

+6.3 p.p.

Net interest margin

16.6%

19.5%

-2.9 p.p.

16.1%

19.7%

-3.6 p.p.

Cost of risk

4.5%

12.5%

-8.0 p.p.

4.5%

14.3%

-9.8 p.p.

 

RUB bn

30 Jun 2021

31 Dec 2020

Change

Total assets

966

859

+12%

Net loans and advances to customers

507

377

+35%

Share of NPLs

8.7%

10.3%

-1.6 p.p.

Cash and treasury portfolio

337

375

-10%

Total liabilities

819

732

+12%

Customer accounts

707

627

+13%

Total equity

147

127

+16%

Tier 1 capital ratio

18.1%

17.9%

+0.2pp

Total capital ratio

18.1%

17.9%

+0.2pp

CBR N1.0 (capital adequacy ratio)

12.2%

13.1%

-0.9pp

In 2Q’21, the Group’s total revenue grew by 37% y-o-y to RUB 65.0 bn (2Q’20: RUB 47.4 bn). Gross interest income increased by 22% y-o-y to RUB 39.9 bn (2Q’20: RUB 32.7 bn), driven by the continued growth of our loan portfolio, customer base, and credit product range.
Gross interest yield decreased y-o-y to 25.6% in 2Q’21 (2Q’20: 29.8%), mainly as a result of the declining interest rate environment and changes in the loan mix. The interest yield on the Group’s securities portfolio increased slightly to 5.5% (2Q’20: 5.4%).

In 2Q’21, in connection with the increase in our funding base as we continued to grow our customer base and account balances, interest expense rose only by 11% y-o-y to RUB 6.2 bn (2Q’20: RUB 5.6 bn). This was driven by a continued decline in our cost of borrowing from 4.5% in 2Q’20 to 3.4% in 2Q’21, due to a gradual decrease in deposit rates (consistent with market rate decreases) and a growing share of current accounts in the funding mix.

In 2Q’21, net margin grew by 23% y-o-y to RUB 33.1 bn (2Q’20: RUB 26.8 bn), primarily as a result of solid y-o-y net loan portfolio growth.

Cost of risk fell to 4.5% in 2Q’21 from 12.5% in 2Q’20. Our risk-adjusted net interest margin rose from 13.3% in 1Q’21 to 14.2% in 2Q’21 (2Q’20: 10.6%).

Our non-credit business lines continue to deliver an increasing share of our revenue and bottom line thanks to growth of the customer base, our widened range of product offerings and continued monetisation efforts. In 2Q’21 non-credit revenue represented 44% of the Group’s revenue and 18% of the Group’s profit before tax.

At the end of 2Q’21, the Group had:

  • 10.6 mn total retail current account customers with a total balance of RUB 375 bn
  • over 547k total SME customers, with a total balance of RUB 93 bn
  • over 2.3 mn total Tinkoff Investments customers and over RUB 500 bn in customer assets under custody

In 2Q’21, operating expenses increased 90% y-o-y to RUB 24.1 bn (2Q’20: RUB 12.7 bn) driven by continued investment in marketing and advertising for our new, growing business lines.

The Group reported robust quarterly net profit of RUB 16.1 bn in 2Q’21 (2Q’20: RUB 10.2 bn), supported by new customer acquisition and monetisation. As a result, ROE for 2Q’21 stood at 46.1% (2Q’20: 40.0%).

In 2Q’21, the Group continued to maintain a healthy balance sheet with total assets growing by 12% since the end of 2020 to RUB 966 bn (31 Dec’20: RUB 859 bn).

The Group’s gross loan book grew by 30% since the end of 2020 to RUB 580 bn (31 Dec’20: RUB 447 bn), while the net loan book increased by 35% to RUB 507 bn (31 Dec’20: RUB 377 bn).

The Group’s NPL ratio decreased to 8.7% (31 Dec’20: 10.3%), while our loan loss provision coverage stood at 1.44x non-performing loans.

The Group’s customer accounts increased by 13% since the end of 2020 to RUB 707 bn (31 Dec’20: RUB 627 bn).

Tinkoff’s total equity rose by 16% to RUB 147 bn at the end of 2Q’21 (31 Dec’20: RUB 127 bn). As of 1 July 2021, the Group’s statutory N1.0 ratio stood at 12.2%, its N1.2 ratio stood at 11.9%, and the N1.1 ratio stood at 10.0%.

upgraded GUIDANCE FOR FY’21

While some uncertainty remains, we believe we have enough visibility to upgrade our guidance for the financial year of 2021 under the assumption of a gradual recovery in economic activity:

  • We now expect our net loan portfolio growth to be 50+% (was previously more than 30%)
  • We expect cost of risk to be in the 5% area (was previously 7-8%)
  • We expect cost of borrowing to be 3-4% (unchanged)
  • We expect the share of non-credit revenues to be more than 40% (unchanged)
  • We expect net profit to be at least RUB 60 bn (was previously RUB 55 bn)

EXTENSION OF THE BUYBACK PROGRAMME TO 2022

The Board approved an extension to the current GDRs buyback programme launched April 2021 expiring 31 August 2021 of up to an additional 1.05M GDRs (programme aggregate 1.5M, of which approximately 450K have been purchased) in the period to 30 June 2022, up to a maximum programme expenditure of USD125M (conditional upon the approval of the shareholders for the period after the 2021 AGM).  The purpose of the Programme remains to fund the Company's long-term management incentive plan MLTIP, as notified in earlier disclosures in April 2021. The GDRs repurchased by the Company will be held in treasury pending cancellation or other permitted use.

The Programme will be conducted consistent with the general authority to repurchase shares/GDRs granted by the Company's shareholders at the 2020 annual general meeting, and otherwise in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Details of any purchases made under the Programme will be provided via RNS announcements and published on the Company's website.

2Q’2021 AND POST-REPORTING PERIOD OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS

Customer base and engagement growth has led to increased market share

  • The Group had over 10.6 mn total Tinkoff Black customers as of 1 July 2021.
  • As of 1 July 2021, Group MAU stood at 12.5 mn, Group DAU stood at 4.2 mn.
  • Tinkoff Bank’s credit card market share increased to 14,6% as of 1 July 2021, further solidifying its position as Russia’s second largest credit card issuer.

The market and industry associations recognised Tinkoff’s strong performance

  • In May, Tinkoff Mobile was named Russia's most innovative mobile operator in a survey conducted by TelecomDaily – a leading Russian media covering telecom market.
  • In July, Voice assistant Oleg won in two categories in Chatbot Rank 2021 ranking organised by Markswebb, scoring the first place both in the Best Customer Experience in Chats ranking out of all digital companies and in the Quality of Customer Experience in Chats ranking among Russia’s top 15 banks.
  • In July, Tinkoff was named Central and Eastern Europe’s Best Digital Bank at Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence 2021. In this category, Euromoney looked for true leadership in a bank’s digital offering as well as evidence that the company’s technology benefits not only the efficiency of the institution, but also customers themselves.
  • In July, Tinkoff received Quality Recognition Awards by J.P. Morgan in three categories, in recognition of its operational excellence in processing customer payments in foreign currencies in 2020.
  • In July, Tinkoff won four out of seven CEMEA categories in the 2020 Visa Global Service Quality Awards – an annual client performance program honoring the world’s highest-performing acquirers, issuers, and issuer processors.
  • In July, Frank Cards & Reward named Tinkoff’s Superapp the best daily mobile banking app among its 2021 awards recipients.
  • In August, Brand Finance Magazine announced its 2021 Brand Finance Russia 50 rating, in which Tinkoff rose by 7 spots to 32nd place, in addition to being included in the top 5 most valuable banks in Russia.

Superior and innovative product offering combined with targeted marketing activities secure Tinkoff’s place as a leading fintech brand

  • In April, Tinkoff acquired a majority stake in Beskontakt LLC, the developer of Koshelek digital wallet, an aggregator of banking cards and retail loyalty programs. The Koshelek app is a leader in its field, reporting the highest number of users of any app in Russia and the CIS
  • In June, Tinkoff launched a beta version of its free voice assistant Oleg which became available to subscribers of all Russian mobile operators. Oleg is not just a personal assistant but also a “defender" protecting customers from spammers and fraudsters.
  • In June, Tinkoff launched a new program to assist startups and technology projects, as part of which it will become a strategic investor or partner to companies that show stable growth and have the potential to be integrated into Tinkoff’s services, product lines or its wider ecosystem.
  • In June, Tinkoff adopted AI technology developed by Anodot – the autonomous business monitoring company – to help safe-proof the way customers experience payments and trading on the Tinkoff platform.
  • In July, Tinkoff’s voice assistant Oleg was a winner in the Increase in Productivity category and a finalist in the Cost Reduction category of the first national award AI Russia Awards’21 – the first national award in the field of effective use of artificial intelligence for business.
  • In August, Tinkoff and Yandex announced a partnership through which Tinkoff will offer online loans of up to RUB 200k to customers on the Yandex.Market ecommerce platform.

Commitment to further improving our Investor Relations (IR) disclosure and ESG practices

  • Tinkoff’s senior management will continue its series of virtual Strategy Days for analysts and investors throughout the second half of the year, where they will present detailed information on Tinkoff’s business lines and exciting new strategic initiatives.

Corporate governance enhancements and new management appointments

Other corporate developments

  • In June, Tinkoff acquired 5% in the St. Petersburg Exchange – a major platform for trading international securities in Russia.
  • In July, Tinkoff completed its debut mortgage securitisation, placed by mortgage agent TB 1. The placement included class A and class B bonds secured by a mortgage loan portfolio. The order book was 1.5x oversubscribed.
  • In July, Tinkoff announced it would open 9 new development hubs across Russia and Belarus. The company intends to hire 800 employees to staff the development hubs by the end of the year.

UK MAR

This announcement is released by TCS Group Holding plc and contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal Act) 2018 ("UK MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of UK MAR.

CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

The Tinkoff management team will host an investor and analyst conference call at 14:00 UK time (16:00 Moscow time, 09:00 US Eastern Daylight Time), on Thursday, 26 August 2021.

The press release, presentation and financial statements will be available on the Tinkoff website at https://www.tinkoff.ru/eng/ir/financials/quarterly-earnings/

To participate in the conference call, please use the following access details:

Conference ID

 

8259392

 

 

Russian Federation

Toll-free

+7 495 646 9190

8 10 800 2867 5011

United Kingdom

Toll-free

+44 (0) 330 336 9434

0800 279 7209

United States of America

Toll-free

+1 323-794-2588

888-394-8218 

 

Related News

  • 04:00 am
  • Singaporeans can save with super deals from 30 popular local and international merchants including Taobao, Amazon SG, iHerb, Lazada, Nike and Klook
  • Users can now stack even more savings on overseas purchases, in addition to enjoying the best exchange rates offered by the debit card 

YouTrip, Singapore's leading multi-currency wallet, is giving Singaporeans more value when they spend by introducing YouTrip Perksa one-stop platform to discover the best deals and promos from their favourite local and international brands.

In this rollout, the company has partnered 30 merchants spanning e-commerce marketplaces, beauty, fashion, travel, streaming services, food and beverage as well as health and wellness to offer exclusive discounts and cashbacks to users when shopping with them online and in-store.

"At YouTrip, we're always looking for ways to give our users the most cost-effective way to pay - from promising the best exchange rates when transacting in multi-currency, and now sealing the best deals for them on YouTrip Perks," said Jeremy Lim, Country Manager, YouTrip Singapore.

He added, "this is also timely as Singaporeans prepare their shopping carts for the year-end shopping season, and the in-store discounts relevant for those heading out during the easing of measures. This is only the start, and Singaporeans can look forward to more deals from online shopping options and local retail brands in the months to come."

Slash your spendings with YouTrip Perks

The merchants featured in YouTrip Perks are also a reflection of Singaporeans' current lifestyles and their well-loved merchants at home and abroad.

  • Stack rebates when shopping internationally. Singaporeans love their foreign brands, and the numbers show it, with YouTrip registering a close to double growth in online overseas purchases among Singaporeans in the past 12 months[1].

    To give users more of what they love, YouTrip Perks has brought on board top international shopping sites[2] iHerb to offer 15% off health products beginning today, as well as discounts on Taobao purchases this September. Those stocking up on global beauty items and apparel can also start saving up to 25% when shopping from online skincare retailers Look Fantastic, Mankind as well as global streetwear label, HBX.

    More importantly, these rebates come on top of existing savings from the best exchange rates and no markups in over 150 currencies when checking out with the YouTrip card.
  • Local discounts for every lifestyle. YouTrip Perks also offers a diversity of local deals to suit any shopper. In time for the upcoming mega sale days, bargain hunters can already earn 2% in cashback on Lazada, and another 6% on Amazon SG next month. Likewise, fashion gurus get up to 30% off the latest pieces at Zalora; whereas locals embarking on a 'Singapoliday' will enjoy 10% off staycations with Booking.com, Agoda and Klook.

    Lastly, for those looking to further their fitness journey, stock up on health supplements from MyProtein at a discounted rate of 55%, and receive cashbacks when refreshing that activewear wardrobe at Nike and Adidas. 
  • Ready to head out and about. As Singaporeans gradually return to the office, YouTrip Perks is shaving a few bucks off that much-needed cuppa at homegrown cafes The Lokal and Huggs Coffee, and giving diners a sweet end to their meal with discounted sweets at Ice Bar or drinks at craft beer bar Almost Famous.

"At YouTrip, we look at data to inform every step of our product development. By understanding our users' purchase behaviour, we were able to select a list of merchants that they care about, and help them develop meaningful savings in their shopping journey," said Jeremy.

The full list of merchants can be found on YouTrip Perks.

Make the best out of YouTrip Perks today

  1. Visit YouTrip Perks, and enter the unique Y-number located on your YouTrip card to start accessing the list of deals.
     
  2. Click on the deals you'd like to redeem from that particular merchant and start shopping.
     
  3. When you're ready, pay with your YouTrip card either in-store or on the merchant's respective website.
     
  4. Discounts are either applied immediately upon payment in-store or online, applied after the promo-code is inserted, or in the form of cashback to your YouTrip wallet[3].

Related News

  • 04:00 am
  • A global study of asset management professionals reveals investment over the coming 12 months will focus on technology and data infrastructure, and ensuring ESG compliance
  • Data analytics, robotic process automation, and AI are the most critical technologies for business development, and 62% say cloud-native solutions will have a pivotal role in their IT strategy
  • To improve levels of operational efficiency, 83% of asset managers say they will extend their strategic alliances with asset servicing and tech partners                                                                                                    

Investment in technology and data infrastructure sit at the top of asset managers’ priorities as they position themselves to deliver business growth in the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. 56% say their investment will focus on these areas over the next 12 months and for almost half (47%) on ensuring ESG compliance across their product range. These are the finding of a new report by Funds Europe - The Future of Investment Operations - for Temenos, the banking software company.

The survey of global investment professionals across the asset management sector also reveals Covid-19 has pushed firms to review their IT strategies and transition to the public/hybrid cloud. 62% of respondents say cloud-native solutions will play a key role in their IT strategy, followed by the importance of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions (48%) and the use of open API (application program interface) technology (46%).

To improve levels of operational efficiency, firms are seeking seamless interconnection between functions along the investment value chain. In the survey, 83% of asset managers say they will extend their strategic alliances with asset servicing and tech partners, enabling connection of middle- and back-office services straight to their front office tools and investment book of record (IBOR).

AI and Machine Learning are set to play a growing role in delivering insights, both predictive and ex-post analytics, across the investment lifecycle. The top applications for AI are portfolio analytics and performance measurement (60%), data sourcing, cleansing and enrichment (57%), and improving the operational efficiency of middle- and back-office processes (56%).

However, augmenting human expertise into AI models will be a priority in applying AI models, according to 60% of respondents. This capability is essential to deliver business intelligence in a way that is explainable to product teams, customers and financial supervisors.

Barry Lee, Business Solutions Director, Temenos Multifonds, comments: “In mapping out the road to recovery, asset servicing firms and fund managers are increasingly looking to take advantage of the tools, analytics and scalability of the cloud. Temenos’ SaaS-based Explainable AI (XAI), for example, enables our fund administrator clients to use AI to reduce manual interventions, detect potential breakdowns in workflow, and speed up exception management related to price movements. This future-proofs their operations against black-swan events and increases overall efficiency and productivity.”

 

Related News

  • 03:00 am

iQSTEL, Inc. today reiterated the company’s commitment to pursuing an uplisting to Nasdaq.

Earlier this year, On June 28, 2021, the company expanded the Board of Directors (BOD) to establish the Board as an Independent Board of Directors in conjunction with requirements for an exchange uplisting.

Now we are establishing an Independent Audit Committee (IAC) as a next step in our preparation for an exchange uplisting.

Our IAC will consist of our three current independent members of our Board: Raul Perez, Jose Antonio Barreto, and Italo Segnini. Raul Perez will lead the Audit Committee as the Financial, Controller and Compliance expert of the BOD.

Mr. Iglesias commented: “The Independent Audit Committee is one of the corporate governance prerequisites for both the OTCQX and Nasdaq. At the same time, the IAC will serve as a resource that can bolster investor and shareholder confidence in the company’s transparent management.”

Mr. Iglesias added: “We are updating our website in conjunction with our governance updates in addition to providing more details on our recently announced B2B IQSTelecom and B2C EVOSS organizational updates and how the two divisions apply different strategies to pursues one goal maximizing shareholder value.”

iQSTEL Inc. (OTCQB: IQST) (www.iQSTEL.com) is a US-based publicly-listed company with an Independent Board of Directors offering leading-edge Telecommunication, Technology and Fintech Services for Global Markets, with presence in 15 countries.  The company provides services to the Telecommunications, Electric Vehicle (EV), Financial Services, Chemical and Liquid Fuel Distribution Industries. iQSTEL has 5 Business Divisions: Telecom, Electric Vehicle (EV), Fintech, Technology and Blockchain, with worldwide B2B and B2C customer relations operating through its subsidiaries: Etelix, SwissLink, QGlobal SMS, SMSDirectos, Global Money One, IoT Labs and itsBchain. The Company has an extensive portfolio of products and services for its clients: SMS, VoIP, international fiber-optic connectivity for 5G, Cloud-PBX, OmniChannel Marketing, EV Batteries, EV Chargers, EV Battery Management System, EV IoT Connectivity, Mobile App For EV Connectivity, EV Dashboard Display, Visa/Mastercard Debit Card, Cryptocurrency Exchange Services, Money Remittance, Mobile Top Up, IoT Smart Gas Platform, IoT Smart Tank Platform, Mobile Number Portability Application MNPA (Blockchain Platform) and Settlement & Payments Marketplace SPM (Blockchain Platform).

Safe Harbor Statement: Statements in this news release may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express our intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions or any other statements relating to our future activities or other future events or conditions. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may, and are likely to, differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release, and iQSTEL Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release.

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  • 07:00 am

Danish financial services market entrant utilising the cloud-based nCino Bank Operating System® to accelerate SME growth

nCino, Inc. pioneer in cloud banking and digital transformation solutions for the global financial services industry, today announced that Denmark’s newest business bank, kompasbank, is operating on the nCino Bank Operating System. A data-driven bank with a mission to help fuel the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Danish financial institution launched with a cloud-only architecture, providing it with key efficiencies, flexibility and scalability as it works to deliver effortless experiences to clients.

“The nCino platform gives us a unified platform to manage our business clients. We chose nCino because of its configurability and fit into our cloud-only approach to consume business processes, which we expect will give us significant advantages over the incumbent banks operating in Denmark”, said Carsten Smith, COO of kompasbank.

With nCino, from day one kompasbank will be able to deliver the personalised, high-tech, digital banking experience clients have come to expect. Clients and employees will be able to access the platform anytime, anywhere and from any internet-enabled device, increasing engagement and enhancing communication. Through its use of nCino, the bank will be able to provide clients with greater visibility into their loan process, and employees will be armed with streamlined loan origination workflows and insights into the entire client journey, allowing them to place clients’ needs first and focus on strategic initiatives.

“kompasbank’s digital approach positions it to compete with incumbent institutions as clients look to financial organisations that can truly deliver speed and convenience while providing great service and products,” said Jens Treskatis, Area Vice President at nCino GmbH.kompasbank is leading the charge in demonstrating the business benefits of the cloud, all while putting the SME clients at the forefront of its strategy. We are proud of our role in the bank’s development and look forward to seeing the positive market impact it is bound to make.”

With the continued international expansion, nCino is providing industry-leading expertise to kompasbank as it enters the Danish market as a fully cloud-based financial institution.

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  • 03:00 am

Leading mortgage technology provider Twenty7Tec is pleased to announce that it has completed an investment in AI technology firm Meet Parker.

Twenty7Tec has invested an undisclosed amount in Meet Parker, a technology firm that has developed an “AI Chatbot” for the mortgage, insurance, and property sectors.  The Meet Parker chatbot will be integrated into the Twenty7Tec platform over the next 12 months and will enable the technology provider to deliver better solutions to both its lender and adviser customers.

As part of the investment, Twenty7Tec Sales Director Phil Bailey will be seconded to Meet Parker in the role of Managing Director for a period of 15 months from 1st October 2021.

To ensure continuity in Twenty7Tec’s relationships with its key customers, Niki Cooke and Nathan Reilly will be promoted to the positions of Director of Intermediary Relationships and Director of Lender Relationships respectively.

CEO James Tucker noted “Since we opened our doors in 2015, we have relentlessly pursued our mission to make mortgages simpler, faster, and more efficient, and our investment in Meet Parker will allow us to make gains in all three of these areas.

“These are exciting times for our mortgage industry, as technology advances allow us to better collaborate and innovate, and Phil and I in particular look forward to working closely with Freddie and the team at Meet Parker”.

Phil Bailey, the new Managing Director of Meet Parker added “It’s a great honour to be part of the Twenty7Tec family, and I am looking forward to the challenge of leading and growing the business at Meet Parker. The opportunity to run such an innovative business, with the backing and blessing of Twenty7Tec was too good to pass up”.

Freddie Savundra, Founder of Meet Parker, added “I’ve always been an admirer of Twenty7tec. We share the same goals and ethos of making markets more efficient and improving customer service. They’re clear in what they’re going to do and then they deliver.

“Our ambition is to apply augmented intelligence technology to every stage of the property buying journey, from helping buyers find the right property, to escalating complex enquiries that fall out of traditional criteria to the right team at the right lender. We’re at the foothills of something genuinely very exciting, and our long-term partnership with Twenty7Tec means we are working alongside the very best in class.”

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  • 05:00 am
  • Russia's most decorated esports club teams up with the go-to platform for crypto lovers
  • Bybit closes its fourth professional gaming sponsorship deal this summer

Bybit, a crypto exchange growing in popularity and recognition, is rapidly expanding its esports portfolio. It brings on board a new partner, Virtus.pro ("VP"), one of the most influential and time-tested professional gaming clubs in the CIS region, with a global reach.

Founded in 2003, VP is the most prestigious pro league in its native Russia, dominating the country's most popular game DOTA 2 with 25.6 million viewing hours in 2020. VP teams' achievements in nearly two decades have been rewarded an awe-inspiring $16m in prize money globally.

Bybit is having its own "Grand Slam" moment in building esports clout. The crypto exchange branched out to the competitive gaming community in 2021 and has struck four high-profile esports partnership deals to date.

The outfits captivate global audiences with the most coveted divisions and athletes in this genre, winning international tournaments and championships in virtually every popular video game on the planet. As of Aug. 25, Bybit's esports portfolio cover three out of the top five teams in the CS:GO World Ranking according to HLTV.org[1].

With the latest addition of VP, the sponsorships will get the Bybit name across to a combined global fanbase of over 28.7 million.

Winners Take All: Esports Teams and Crypto Traders to Divide $7.5m Prize Pool

The announcement makes official Bybit status as VP's NFT Partner and exclusive Official Cryptocurrency Platform Partner of VP, backing VP's formidable DOTA 2 and CS:GO teams.

Apart from logo displays on branded platforms and team jerseys, the partnership spans across a diversity of engagements and activations, with a focus on impact-driven community initiatives — including social causes and inclusive financial education, NFT developments, and player participation in the crypto trading competition of the year.

VP's esports sensations will be competing with traders worldwide in Bybit's flagship crypto trading event, the World Series of Trading (WSOT) 2021. Each team in Bybit's esports family is presenting their best players in the trading competition, leading cohorts towards victory for a lion's share in the record prize pool of $7.5m this year.

With the advancements in software, hardware and mobile technologies, and accelerated by societal changes brought upon us by the ongoing global pandemic in every corner of the globe, esports is on an unstoppable course to challenge competitive sports and entertainment as we know it.

"The coming of age of esports is testament to technology's ability to touch our lives, redefine entertainment and inspire our imagination in only a few decades. Crypto and its underlying technologies tell a similar tale — the potential of digital assets has transformed our thinking of value and wealth. We are witnessing only the beginning of profound changes for generations to come," Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit, explained his fascination with esports.

"Esports is now as much a spectator sport as it's a participation sport, and WSOT will also be such an occasion for crypto lovers everywhere. We want to build an arena where anyone who believes in crypto and enjoys trading can achieve their personal best," said Zhou.

VP will be curating content on crypto and financial education across the club's channels during the three-year partnership, expanding the intersection between the esports and the crypto communities.

"Both digital financial assets and esports are relatively new industries. Despite their fast growth and the fact that everyone is talking about it, a lot of people may still find it complicated and not easy to understand. That is where our goals with Bybit are aligned: we are constantly improving and trying to make what we do best as simple as possible to understand for the audience. We are delighted to have Bybit joining esports with their large-scale projects and proud to be their partners in Russia!" said Sergey Glamazda, CEO of VP.

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