Molo Finance has partnered with the In Partnership Group, a growing community of over 500 investment, mortgage and protection advisers delivering high-end services to their clients.

This partnership allows Molo to expand its intermediary distribution and offer the best in unique digital mortgage services while expanding its reach to a larger pool of customers.

As a fully digital lender, Molo Finance uses technology to speed up the lending process and provide a seamless experience that’s completely paperless.

Molo will now feature in the In Partnership’s mortgage options, giving members and their customers more choice when looking for the right mortgage option.

Speaking about the partnership, Francesca Carlesi, CEO and Co-Founder of Molo, said: “We are delighted to partner with In Partnership, who provide expert advice and services in the financial industry, including to anyone seeking new buy-to-let mortgage opportunities. In Partnership is another excellent addition to the partners we already have here at Molo".

Tim Coghill, Head of Strategic Partnerships said “We are delighted to partner with Molo Finance. In Partnership prides itself on offering members access to the best deals in the market in order that they can fully satisfy their clients’ needs. Molo Finance’s innovative mortgage offering is a valuable addition to our lender panel.”

• d prepaid): 57 percent, or 20 payments per month in 2020. 

• Also last year, 31 percent of all payments per month were executed using electronic devices; 14 percent of all bill settlements were made using a mobile phone.

According to a recently published study by the U. S. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Georgia, debit cards and credit cards are the most commonly used payment instrument by number for purchases among U. S. consumers. Electronic methods linked to a bank account are used for almost half of bill payments by number. 

In the pandemic year 2020, online or mobile purchases of goods and services in the U. S. increased to 24 percent of all purchases (as a share of in-person and not-in-person) from 17 percent. Of acquisitions not made in person, forty percent were accomplished via a smartphone.

The analysis “The 2020 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice” by the U. S. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Georgia, also revealed that debit cards and credit cards are the most commonly used payment instrument by number for purchases among U. S. consumers, accounting for about one-third of purchases each.

Irreversible trend

Marianne Bregenzer, CEO of cashless pay-tech provider Nets Switzerland SA, said: “The trends in the world’s biggest economy towards non-cash, contactless methods of payments show that there is no ‘return to normal’ or a pre-pandemic love for cash: cashless s the new normal.”

U.S. consumers made more than half of their payments with payment cards (debit, credit, and prepaid): 57 percent, or 20 payments per month in 2020. Also last year, 31 percent of all payments were executed using electronic devices; 14 percent of all payments per month were made using a mobile phone.

Compared with 2019, the volume shares of cards and electronic instruments increased and the volume shares of paper instruments declined; only the decline in the share of payments per month made by paper instruments is statistically significant. The study does not reveal the share of virtual cards (credit or debit cards not out of plastic but only existent online on the PC, tablet, or smartphone) which have been on the rise in the wake of the pandemic. 

Nothing alchemist

Of the average 35 payments per month that U.S. consumers reported, 12 were for everyday purchases (groceries, pharmacies, stores, and online shopping); six were for food consumed away from home (including restaurants, bars, and fast food, down from eight in 2019); three were at petrol stations; and three were related to financial services companies (including insurance; IRA and mutual funds; credit card, mortgage, and other loan payments).

Ms Bregenzer: “Kissing cash good-bye is not dedicated to youngsters alone – it is a phenomenon visible across the generations.”

“Although cards were used more frequently than electronic payments, the total value of payments made electronically exceeded that of payments within every four weeks made by cards: $1,476 compared to $1,269”, said the study. In relation to value, payments using electronic instruments were 34 percent of the monthly total, compared to 29 percent for cards and 27 percent for paper instruments. “None of the changes in share by dollar value were statistically significant.”

Debit cards, cash, and credit cards remain the ways to pay used most often, 6 with debit cards used most by number of payments. Twenty-eight percent of payments per months were with debit cards, 27 percent with credit cards, and 19 percent with bank notes. 

Digital lion’s share 

In order to sum these observations up, consumers made 75 percent of their payments using debit cards, cash, and credit cards. The distribution by value is different. Cash, debit, and credit payments accounted for 34 percent of the value of their payments per month: 6 percent in cash, 12 percent in debit cards, and 16 percent in credit cards. “The difference between the distribution by volume and by value reflects that consumers tend to use cash and payment cards more often, but for relatively low-value payments, and they tend to use checks and electronic payments less often, but for relatively high-value payments.” 

For example, U.S. consumers on average made fewer electronic-instrument payments per month than cash settlements (four compared with seven), but they used electronic payments for settlements that were higher in average value than cash settlements ($350 compared with $42). The average value when using payment cards fell between the two, at $64. ***

Mars Growth Capital, a fund division of the Fintech company Liquidity Capital and MUFG Fund, has announced the closing of a $5.5M financing agreement with the Australian-based sports performance tech company Fusion Sport to drive their international expansion.

Mars Growth deployed Liquidity Capital’s DYNAMiCS omni corporate credit machine learning platform to perform a comprehensive due diligence process in 24 hours. Mars Growth leverages the platform to analyze high potential companies, and quickly and flexibly provide access to capital. This is the 12th transaction completed by the fund this year alone, with an average turnaround time of 14 days.

Launched in 2003, Fusion Sport is a globally recognized technology company that builds human performance and health analytics platforms that are used by over 1,500 organizations, including USA Basketball, British Gymnastics and the United States Air Force. Their Smartabase platform centralizes performance information securely in the cloud and analyses this data to provide training, nutrition and treatment recommendations. Their suite of products support more than 250,000 competitive athletes and soldiers, including delegations in the recent 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Fusion Sport will use the growth financing from Mars Growth to further fuel its international expansion, capitalizing on the growing demand for data analytics and technology to optimize human performance.

“Data analytics technologies such as Fusion Sport’s Smartabase platform has been quietly transforming the world of sports, and enabled professional sports clubs to improve their performance by making data-driven decisions. Through meeting with the Fusion Sport team, coupled with the analysis using our DYNANiCS platform, we quickly recognized that Fusion Sport is a leading human performance innovator, with tremendous growth potential. We are excited to play a role in supporting international expansion plans as they work towards transforming the future of sport,” said Yaron Primovich, Managing Director of Mars Growth Capital.

“Liquidity Capital was founded by a team that understands technology and are entrepreneurs themselves,” said Markus Deutsch, CEO and CO-Founder of Fusion Sport. “This means they can offer capital that fits our growth trajectory as we enter this next phase of expansion. We’re excited to bring tech-augmented human performance to more markets and organizations globally.”

“Our business is focused on helping high potential companies with proven products and track records to realize their ambitions,” said Ron Daniel, CEO and Founder of Liquidity Capital. “Our investment process is what sets us apart and helps us to easily and quickly identify companies that fit with our criteria.  We are committed to making smart investment decisions, deploying capital quickly, and helping the companies we work with benefit from the flexibility to move forward with their strategies.”

With ICE integration complete by Baton, clearing firms will be able to automate collateral management across 5 Major CCPs, together comprising more than 73% of margin, placed by U.S. registered FCMs. 

Citi became first FCM to connect to ICE Clear Europe

Baton Systems (“Baton”), the market solution transforming asset movements and settlements, today announced that it has completed connecting to Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, making ICE Clear Europe the 5th major global CCP available on the Baton network. All FCMs using Baton will now be able to automate and optimise collateral holdings and expedite the movement of cash and securities with the CCPs of greatest strategic importance to their business. These firms include the world’s largest financial institutions, responsible for managing 43% of the funds held by global CCPs.

Citi recently became the first FCM to connect to ICE Clear Europe and benefit from the extended CCP network. 

The Baton network is trusted to facilitate the movement of billions of dollars every day, connecting the world’s largest exchange operators, FCMs, custodians and banks. Using Baton for automated collateral management allows market participants to access CCP account balances and acceptable collateral lists on-demand and view all assets deposited at external custody banks and CCPs. FCMs can also be automatically alerted to changes and introduce zero-friction workflows to optimise allocation and accelerate productivity by instructing multiple cash and securities movements via the Baton interface. 

Mariam Rafi, Managing Director, Americas head of Clearing and FXPB and Global head of Financial Resource Management, Futures, Clearing and FXPB, Citi said “With Baton we have been able to accelerate our innovation agenda and drive efficiencies throughout our entire clearing process. Our Collateral Management team can now access information in real-time and dynamically manage our inventory of eligible collateral across the network of CCPs we interact with the most, which enables us to better serve our clients.”  

J. Christopher Giancarlo, Senior Advisor to Baton and former Chairman of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commented, “What we are now seeing is a real shift in the collateral management landscape. The world’s largest FCMs are connecting directly with the world’s largest CCPs - this means that for the first time in history it will be possible for a significant proportion of the total collateral held with CCPs globally to be automatically optimised.” adding “As the network expands the benefits derived by all participants are only likely to increase. This presents huge potential for the industry as a whole to eliminate unnecessary risks.”

“We are always focused on how we can help our customers bring efficiencies to their processes,” said Chris Edmonds, Global Head of Clearing and Risk at ICE. “With Baton completing a connection to the ICE Collateral API, our clearing members can further optimize their collateral and margin management processes. We are now facilitating additional ICE CCPs with Baton, so we can assist more of our clearing members globally across the numerous asset classes we clear.”

ICE Clear Europe is the first member of the ICE Group to go-live on the Baton platform. Baton is now working on a structured roll-out plan that should see ICE Clear U.S. and ICE Clear Credit connected in coming months.

Tucker Dona, Head of Business Development and Client Success at Baton Systems added “The market coverage that’s now possible via the Baton network is remarkable - as is the speed that we can bring new participants on-board. We can now get new clearing firms live on the platform, with full access to our extended CCP network, in a matter of weeks.” 

Katz Brings 20 Years of POS, Fintech, Technology, Investment and Leadership Expertise to the Regulatory and Operational Compliance Software Company as It Prepares to Launch the Cannabis Industry’s Most Compliant, Cyber-Secure B2B and Retail Consumer Payment Solution

Simplifya, the leading regulatory and operational compliance software platform serving the cannabis industry, announced the appointment of Jeffrey (“Jeff”) B. Katz to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. The two-decade point-of-sales (“POS”), fintech and technology pioneer is the Cofounder of Mercury Payment Systems Inc. (“MPS”), which was sold for $1.6 billion to Vantiv, Inc., and then, acquired by Worldpay Inc., a subsidiary of Fidelity National Information Services, and MassPay Incorporated, a fintech company that provides the largest number of payout options.

Katz, who is an investor in Simplifya, will advise the Company on the expansion of its operational footprint, as well as the launch of its newest product offering, TENDR™, a payment processing solution that utilizes the Automated Clearing House in collaboration with an Originating Depository Financial Institution (“ODFI”) in order to ensure a compliant, lasting, payment solution for participating cannabis-related businesses (“CRBs”).

“As a fintech industry pioneer, Katz fundamentally changed the way the POS sector generated revenue by aligning with POS developers and resellers to deliver payment processing to restaurateurs and retailers,” said Simplifya CEO and Co-Founder Marion Mariathasan. “As we expand into new cannabis markets and prepare to launch our latest product offering, TENDR™, Jeff’s decades of expertise in compliant cyber-safe POS and fintech will be an invaluable asset to our Company. We’re thrilled to welcome him to Simplifya’s Board of Directors, and look forward to working closely with him as we continue to deliver a comprehensive suite of regulatory and operational compliance solutions to cannabis businesses, regulatory bodies and the banking, financial and payment-related services sectors.”

“As an investor in Simplifya, I have seen the Company help countless cannabis and related businesses seamlessly remain compliant in this incredibly complex regulatory environment,” said Simplifya Board Member Jeff Katz. “Under Marion’s leadership, Simplifya continues to execute on its vision to bring cost-effective solutions to help financial institutions and CRBs build and maintain compliant, profitable cannabis banking programs. I believe TENDR™ is not only well positioned to be one of the industry’s most cyber-secure B2B and retail consumer payment solutions, but that it also has the potential to solve many of the burdensome challenges, which are currently facing cannabis’ payment services ecosystem. In my role as a Board Member, I look forward to bringing my decades of fintech, POS tech expertise to the Company, and working closely with Simplifya’s leadership team to make a powerful, game-changing impact on how business is done in the emerging cannabis sector.”

In 2001, Jeff Katz co-founded MPS and aligned with POS developers and resellers to deliver payment processing to restaurateurs and retailers. In doing so, he forever changed the way the POS industry generated revenue. Silver Lake Partners, the leading private investor in technology and technology-enabled industries, recognized the continued growth potential of these innovations and made a strategic investment, acquiring a 61% interest in 2010. In 2013, because of MPS’s impact on the POS industry, Jeff, along with his brother, Marc Katz, were inducted into the Hall of Fame of RSPA, North America's largest community of VARs, software developers, vendors and distributors in the retail, restaurant, grocery, and cannabis verticals.

Katz also serves as: the CEO of MassPay Incorporated; the chairman of REACH.ai and CardFree; and is a growth investor in companies including Simplifya, CODE Technology, Bluedot Innovation and CardFree.

Three year deal will make supporting Real Betis a simpler and more rewarding experience

MuchBetter, the award-winning e-wallet has entered a three-year sponsorship agreement with Spanish La Liga team Real Betis Balompié. 

MuchBetter is the Green and White club’s Official Digital Wallet Provider across five leagues in total: the men and women’s football teams, the Cream Real Betis esports team as well as the Real Betis basketball and Futsal teams. 

“MuchBetter is the smart digital wallet that makes life simple,” says MuchBetter Co-Founder and CEO Israel Rosenthal.  “We’re excited to work with Real Betis to bring a secure, easy and simple payment solution to their fans. As the official digital wallet provider, we look forward to finding creative ways to improve the fan experience whether they are at Estadio Benito Villamarin, their favourite retailer or online.”

As La Liga returns, Real Betis supporters and MuchBetter customers will see the MuchBetter logo on the shorts of the men's football kit. Followers of Real Betis’ esports team, Cream Real Betis, will see the MuchBetter logo prominently on the team’s jersey. 

And throughout the season the agreement will bring to life a progression of exciting developments, activities and opportunities which will make following Real Betis a more rewarding experience.

Both Real Betis and MuchBetter are passionate about putting their fans and customers first, be that through innovative technology that makes everyday life simpler or delivering the unforgettable events that make for long lasting memories. Through this partnership, both brands are committed to driving extraordinary experiences for their communities and beyond.

MuchBetter makes managing your payments easier and more secure by giving its users greater control, flexibility, security and rewards. Customers in the EEA can also request contactless payments fob and a range of payment-enabled wearables for a quick and secure way to pay for things on the go that fits with their lifestyle.

Enforce helps WestStar implement nCino platform to increase speed and simplify loan origination process

nCino, Inc. , a pioneer in cloud banking and digital transformation solutions for the global financial services industry, today announced that $2.5 billion-asset WestStar Bank is now live on the nCino Bank Operating System®. WestStar is utilizing nCino’s Commercial Banking Solution, which provides the bank with a robust, flexible, and highly configurable solution for its employees and commercial clients. WestStar worked with Enforce Consulting to implement nCino’s cloud-based digital platform in a matter of months.

“As a leader in our region for commercial banking, we needed a top of the line, best in class solution that we knew could grow with us and keep up with the pace of change in the industry,” said Raymond Baer, Chief Commercial Banking Officer at WestStar. “nCino has supplied us with efficient, relevant business processes that have supported growth and adaptability to enhance our employee and client experience, and better serve our communities. We’re thrilled to have partnered with nCino and look forward to future integrations across the platform.”

For more than two decades, WestStar Bank has relied on paper intensive, disparate systems to complete work for their commercial clients. Through its unique nCino Delivery Center, Enforce Consulting offered an industry-leading implementation to the community financial institution to support its efforts to transform and digitize its banking practices.

The nCino Bank Operating System is now empowering more than 330 WestStar employees with true insights into the bank through an end-to-end platform that spans business teams and combines customer relationship management, onboarding, loan origination, and instant workflow reporting capabilities to provide WestStar’s clients with a premier experience. Upon realizing nCino’s impact on connecting disjointed systems, creating efficiencies, and supporting the customer journey through any channel, WestStar will be implementing nCino’s Retail Banking Solution with Enforce later this year.

“When we embarked on this implementation process, we wanted to ensure WestStar fully adopted nCino’s best-practice solution. To accomplish this, we needed top-level support to ensure the change was well received by the entire bank,” said Danielle Guille, Executive Vice President at Enforce Consulting. “We were able to leverage our nCino delivery expertise, which enabled us to quickly bring a highly effective, customer-centric solution to deliver an elite user experience for the people and communities WestStar serves.”

“It's important to us to offer the right combination of high-touch personalized banking expertise and high-tech capabilities,” said Will Cameron, SVP of Community and Regional Banking at nCino. “Clients continue to demand their financial institutions become more innovative and digital-savvy to meet their ever-changing needs. We look forward to our continued work with WestStar to help them achieve the scale and agility they need to stay ahead of the competition in the region.”