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.

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.”

• 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.

By supporting existing paper-based trade finance processes as well as electronic documentation, automation enables business needs to be met now, and in the future, enhancing trade finance capabilities and easing financial organisations’ transition to digital

Automation is key to accelerating trade finance organisations’ digital journeys, according to a new whitepaper – ‘Trade finance document checking and data management: the case for automation’ – from leading banking software specialist Conpend. The paper explores the transformative potential automation has for the global trade finance supply chain, and showcases ING Bank as a notable example of what can be achieved with automation powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).

According to the ICC, almost 80% of world trade relies on trade finance, which in turn, depends on accurate documentation to run smoothly. Yet, despite rapid technological advancement and an increased appetite from organisations to shift to digital in recent years – especially so during the Covid-19 pandemic, large volumes of paper-based documents persist in the supply chain. In fact, 45% of bank respondents in an ICC survey reported that physical paper for documentary transactions had been removed “to no extent”[1].

With many yet to start their paper to digital trade finance journeys – and electronic documentation not currently viable for certain supply chain markets and participants – the reliance on paper-based documentation is likely to continue within the supply chain for some years to come. But this does not change the fact that today’s global supply chain is in urgent need of a more efficient and reliable method to manually check and process the sheer volume of paper-based trade finance documents that go through the system every day. A solution that bridges both paper-based processes and electronic documentation is therefore key to driving digital change, while enhancing the processing of paper and continuing to support the trade participants that use it.

Automation converts scanned, paper-based documents into digital documents, with AI applications then able to ‘read’ the content and check it against pre-defined rules – for example, compliance requirements and legal specifications. ML enables such applications to build ‘knowledge’ from all the transactions and data it has processed, thereby generating continual improvement.

Marc Smith, founder and director of Conpend, said: “Such solutions enable trade finance processes to be transported into the future – today. With our TRADE AI app, we aim to help banks automate previously laborious, manual-only processes, such as document authentication and identity verification. Automation drastically cuts the time it takes to perform checks, driving operational efficiencies while also helping to reduce errors and optimise resources so that higher value work can be prioritised instead.”

Torben Sauer, CEO at Conpend, added: “Whether banks are dealing with paper or digital documentation, TRADE AI can traverse seamlessly between the two, thereby perfectly complementing existing trade finance processes while simultaneously driving a bank’s digital journey. Our customer, ING Bank, is a perfect example of a leading bank that sought to innovate the manual checking process of paper documents. By leveraging TRADE AI, ING Bank successfully achieved faster turnaround times, reduced errors and improved its interaction with clients for day-to-day activities.”

With charities facing intense pressure during the pandemic, a local business coach is offering support in 2021. Jamie Goral, a London-based business coach at ActionCOACH, is searching for a local charitable organisation to help achieve their operational and financial goals through his gifted coaching sessions.

“The pandemic has been challenging for charities to say the least,” said Jamie. “And many have really struggled to survive as typical fundraising activities were cancelled and volunteers were blocked by restrictions. As restrictions begin to ease, it’s about getting back out there with even more vigour than ever before but also making smart moves. This is why I’m calling for local charities to get in touch if they would like to be considered as my next partner. Business coaching will help you to become more effective when it comes to financial management, marketing, operational processes and bringing the people in your teams together.”

Jamie understands the importance of charities needing to treat their operations like that of a typical business. Team should recognise the impact that streamlining a service and becoming a lot more strategic can have on a charity - with his wealth of growth tactics at his fingertips, Jamie is ready to help them take action.

“There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing the people I coach develop into confident leaders and successful teams. Right now, I’m looking for a local charity to make a difference by using these same principles. Whether you’re a local charity or business owner interested in taking some positive strides through the second half of 2021 and beyond, please get in touch.”

A very British success story is the continued growth of the street food scene. Once a subset of the food and drink industry, street food - and the culture, the ever evolving menus, and offerings across the nation - is now a market itself.

Figures from SumUp (www.sumup.co.uk), the London-based fintech, illustrate several key market trends:

• The number of street food vendors has increased in the UK since 2019. SumUp, for example, has seen 124% growth between 2019 and 2021 in the number of vendors using their payment technology.
• Merchants are experiencing increasingly consistent business. SumUp has seen growth of 134% in the average number of transactions through SumUp devices.
• Payment technology is now central to the success of street food vendors’ stalls. According to SumUp, 92.6% of street food vendor merchant sales were made by card payment in 2021, up from 90.2% in 2019. 
• Thursdays and Fridays tend to be the hottest days for sales - no surprises there - and July is the strongest month for sales. No single weekday or month can be picked out as underperforming.

As the sector goes from strength to strength, there is even a supportive and highly coveted set of annual awards that the best vendors battle it out for each year. The British Street Food Awards (www.britishstreetfood.co.uk) hands out prizes for categories ranging from ‘Best Main’ to regional winners and set themes, and last year a SumUp merchant emerged victorious.

Pellizco

Pellizco (www.pellizco.co.uk), a Mexican food vendor operating in the Sheffield area, took home the award for ‘Best Newcomer’ and, talking to SumUp, described how payment technology is there for when they need it, helping them earn their crust, and is a large part of the reason for the growth they have seen in the industry. Founder and chef Daniel Pinch said that:

“Street food is so much more than just a few vans at a big event that keep people fed, it has turned into its own culture, expanding into being the focus of their own events, popping up at pubs, breweries and pretty much anywhere with a car park.

“We digitised our business in order to make taking payments faster, easier, more accessible with the benefits of no cash handling, streamlined ordering and payments. We chose SumUp because of its reliable service and competitive commission rates. We have seen a shift from maybe 80% cash to 80% card payments; people love the ease of it, a lot of people have smart watches now so don’t even have to go into their pockets.

“Having competed in the British Street Food Awards last year, I feel it gave us a confidence boost, knowing we could hold our own with the best in the country. It definitely gave us a talking point too, people would come up and congratulate us after and I believe it made people want to try our food.”

This year’s contest

Facing off in the northern semi-final in Leeds 20th-22nd August were SumUp merchants Seitan's Kebab, Colombo Street Kitchen, Broke ‘n Bone BBQ, Vegan House, Greidys Wings and Strips, Bao Bros 23, South Manny Flavaz Group and Pellizco.

Eat The Farm, ROK Kitchen and Carne N’ Carvao are competing in the southern semi-final in Portsmouth on 28th-30th August.

At stake, aside from prize money, is the serious acclaim that comes with an award of this stature. The winners will be crowned in Hull 3rd-5th September in what promises to be an exciting and closely fought contest.

On the technology underpinning the sector’s continued success, Richard Johnson, the founder of the British Street Food Awards, said:

“Running live food events in the present climate is no small feat and as well as having the best people, we are supported by the best technology. SumUp’s range of solutions have boosted the sector in what could have been a very tough time, and we are delighted to continue celebrating the British street food scene with them.”

Umberto Zola, Country Growth Lead UK at SumUp:

“The street food scene exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit that drives the booming British economy. Through innovation and hard work, vendors are delivering new and exciting foods to people the length and breadth of the UK and we at SumUp are only too happy to support this growing industry through our payment technology.”

BroadSim Solo Brings Advanced GNSS Scenario Creation to Every Engineer’s Desk

Orolia Defense & Security, the leader in M-Code solutions for Resilient PNT, has released the latest addition to its GNSS simulator family, BroadSim Solo, today at the Institute of Navigation’s Joint Navigation Conference being held in Covington, Ky. The Solo joins the BroadSim line of Skydel-powered GNSS simulators, which includes models suited for Hardware-In-The-Loop and Multi-Element Antenna/CRPA testing. 

•    See the BroadSim Solo Demo LIVE at #JNC2021: BroadSim Solo will be demonstrated in the JNC Exhibit Hall at Orolia Defense & Security booth No. 117 today through Aug. 26.

BroadSim Solo shares the same Skydel Simulation Engine that runs on a standard BroadSim, BroadSim Anechoic and BroadSim Wavefront. It supports advanced scenario creation features and the benefits provided by a software-defined architecture such as high-dynamics, 1000Hz iteration update rate and ultra-low latency of 5ms. Nearly all civilian GNSS signals can be generated through its single RF output (one frequency band at a time), along with GPS AES M-Code, jamming or spoofing signals.

BroadSim Solo’s compact form factor is designed to do away with bulk, fitting nicely at a typical desk or workstation without taking it over. But it’s more than just convenience – the Solo addresses the permanent challenge that engineers face with laboratory capacity and availability.

“Creating complex test scenarios can be a tedious process, especially when emulating challenging environments,” said Tim Erbes, director of engineering for Orolia Defense & Security. “Having the ability to create scripts at your desk significantly frees up lab time and space for running these important simulations. Also, scenario creation is no longer limited to one person fixed to one system. Imagine a team of engineers, each with a BroadSim Solo, simultaneously building tests. Having a whole fleet of BroadSim Solos? It’s game-changing.”

BroadSim Solo with the Skydel Simulation Engine offers an intuitive user interface, comprehensive API (supporting Python, C++ and C#), automation tools and custom plug-ins that will speed up development cycles, increase performance and ultimately drive innovation. What’s even better is the BroadSim Solo’s remarkably affordable price-point.

“In an effort to enhance the customer experience and expand the reach of advanced GNSS simulators, we wanted to offer an affordable solution with all of the same core features as our most advanced BroadSim systems,” said Tyler Hohman, director of products for Orolia Defense & Security. “This gives our customers the opportunity to place more simulators in the hands of engineers and scientists without sacrificing capabilities. Our hope is that customers will find value in having a simulation ecosystem that is scalable based on their requirements.” 

New HR and Operations Features Help Small Business Owners Take Better Care of Their Teams, Stay Organized

Invoice2go, a one-stop-shop solution for small business owners and freelancers, announced today that its users can now access Gusto’s payroll and employee benefit features and Bench’s online bookkeeping service. Both are available through the Invoice2go Integrated Apps hub.

Gusto offers an integrated platform that automates HR, payroll, and benefits, and is trusted by more than 200,000 companies worldwide. Bench is America’s largest professional bookkeeping service for small businesses, making it easy to connect financial data, stay on top of monthly bookkeeping, and file taxes at the end of the year.

The common thread in these new partners is simplicity and productivity for small business owners, for whom time can be the most valuable commodity. As businesses begin to grow their employee and contractor base, having access to Gusto’s HR tools and services and Bench’s bookkeeping platform will save administrative time and energy so small business owners can focus on their passion and still take care of their teams and finances.

“As small business owners bounce back from the hardships of this past year, taking care of employees is going to be essential, now more than ever, to the health and success of a business,” said Mark Lenhard, CEO of Invoice2go. “Partnering with industry leaders like Gusto and Bench helps us to continually expand our offering to meet even more of our users’ business needs and better support their entrepreneurial endeavors.”

Through this partnership, Invoice2go users can seamlessly set up an account with both Gusto and Bench directly through the Invoice2go Integrated Apps hub, with users offered a 30% discount for their first three months of Bench’s service and first month free for Gusto’s service. While in Gusto, whether setting up benefit deductions, creating payroll cycles and reporting, or calculating payroll taxes, users can quickly jump between tasks via a single customizable and intuitive platform. With Bench and their expert human bookkeeping teams, users get easy bookkeeping and tax filing. Invoice2go users can get started at https://bench.co/partner/invoice2go/, receiving 30% off their first three months following a free trial.

“We were inspired by Invoice2go’s commitment to helping small businesses succeed and are excited to provide small business owners and employees the peace of mind they need to do their best work,” said Somrat Niyogi, Head of Partnerships at Gusto. “By joining forces with Invoice2go, we can help small businesses scale successfully and thoughtfully manage their hardworking teams.”

“With Invoice2go, we see a partner aligned with our mission to make a profound difference in the lives of small business owners,” said Ian Crosby, Bench’s CEO. “Invoice2go and Bench present a unique combination of services enabling entrepreneurs to effectively run and grow their businesses, and ultimately thrive.”

This new integration builds upon Invoice2go’s recent feature expansion, giving its users access to more resources to make their lives simpler through a comprehensive platform. Gusto and Invoice2go recently announced plans to build an embedded payroll experience through Gusto Embedded Payroll, with more details to be announced later this year.