LEAD Consult, a specialist in providing business and IT consulting services to the financial sector, is proud to announce a new partnership with additiv to meet the growing demand for wealth management services embedded into context-relevant user-journeys.

The collaboration with additiv, a leading SaaS and Embedded Finance provider to the wealth management industry, comes in response to the increasing need for out-of-the-box state-of-the-art hybrid client wealth management advisory services alongside other financial products. Together, fast and efficient implementation is ensured to enable platform solutions, such as for independent financial advisors (IFAs), to realize the value of embedded wealth – an opportunity estimated to be worth $100billion globally.  

In addition, the partnership ensures that additiv clients will benefit from LEAD Consult’s experience in integrating and onboarding trading and risk management systems for Tier 1-3 financial institutions.

Eric Andersson, General Manager Europe at additiv said “LEAD Consult are a great addition to our broad range of ecosystem partners.  They are an ideal partner to support our clients when implementing our award winning DFS orchestration platform.”

Eric continues “LEAD Consult’s ability to analyze business issues, processes and requirements, support system and product design and undertake quality assurance is second to none.  We have no doubt that this partnership adds even further value to the broad range of support that our clients already experience though our network of leading partners.” 

Dragomir Stanchev, Founder, CEO and Principal Consultant at LEAD Consult said “We are delighted to support additiv as it leads the way in making embedded wealth a reality.  The importance of combining additiv’s DFS orchestration platform with core banking, regulated services and financial planning through a streamlined approach cannot be underestimated.”

“Our deep industry knowledge together with excellent skills in management consulting, technology and innovation allows us to challenge conventional thinking; which is crucial at this time when traditional finance models are being disrupted through embedded finance.  Add to this our ability to deliver exceptional results that have a lasting impact on businesses and companies worldwide and we believe we are the perfect partner to implement end-to-end embedded wealth services to platforms including private banks and IFAs.”

Timo, Vietnam’s first digital bank, has announced it is partnering with SaaS banking platform Mambu to leverage the benefits of a cloud native core banking platform to significantly scale its business.

Timo, one of Vietnam’s most innovative banks, offers a unique, user-friendly ‘banking-on-the-go’ experience to customers, and was named both Fastest Growing Digital Bank and Most Innovative Digital Bank at the 2020 Global Economics Awards.

“We selected Mambu’s market-leading cloud banking platform as we understand the value in leveraging a cloud-native, true SaaS core banking platform as we look to scale our business,” explained Henry Nguyen, CEO of Timo. 

“The fact that Mambu’s platform utilises AWS’ comprehensive suite of services also gave us an additional layer of confidence and allowed us to envisage the true potential of what Timo can become. Our collaboration with both Mambu and AWS enables Timo to reap the benefits of a range of best-for-purpose technologies and will position us at the forefront of Vietnam’s digital banking revolution.”

The Vietnamese banking and financial services industry is ripe for disruption and innovation, with low rates of formal financial inclusion but very high rates of smartphone ownership and internet penetration, and a young, digitally-savvy population. The Vietnamese government is also proactively pushing for innovation, aiming for 80 per cent of the adult population to be ‘banked’ by 2025.

“Mambu strives to work with organisations that are truly focused on improving financial inclusion and making banking better, and we have certainly found that with Timo,” said Myles Bertrand, Managing Director APAC at Mambu. “We are delighted to be partnering with Timo, an innovative and forward-thinking organisation that has already made such a significant positive impact in Vietnam. We look forward to working together to enable rapid growth for Timo and to make a real difference to the way banking services are delivered in Vietnam.”

There is currently significant opportunity for Vietnam to attract FDI in the digital banking space, with the Vietnamese market proving very attractive to overseas banks and private equity firms due to digital-savvy Vietnamese consumers. The rise of digital banking in the country will also enable financial institutions to tap the unbanked as well as provide customised solutions to the rising middle class.

“Vietnam is an incredibly important market for Mambu,” concludes Pham Quang Minh, General Manager Vietnam, for Mambu, “and we are very proud to have formed this partnership with Timo, one of the country’s leading digital banks. Mambu is committed to continuing our investment in Vietnam to extend our help to established banks and financial institutions to help them transform their legacy infrastructure, enhance their digital capabilities and deliver tailored customer experiences.” 

Introduction of a single API solution offers a holistic approach to fraud and risk, covering the customer lifecycle across enrolments, payments, change events, compliance, to ongoing KYC and due diligence

Refinitiv, one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure, today announced that the EPIC Platform from GIACT and World-Check are now together and accessible via a single API. The integration brings together the comprehensive risk intelligence from World-Check with the unprecedented capability of GIACT to deliver a multi-dimensional view of consumer and business identity, payments, and compliance risk, across the customer lifecycle.

Nearly half (47%) of U.S. consumers were impacted by identity theft in the past two years, with resulting losses increasing 42% year-on-year to $712.4 billion in 2020, according to Aite Group. Concurrently, both traditional and emerging fraud risk, alongside complex compliance requirements, has delivered record financial losses and reputational risk to organizations across almost every industry. 

The integration announced today is set to address all manner of fraud and risk-related threats and inefficiencies by combining industry-leading solutions into a single API that can be deployed across an organization. 

“For over a decade, legacy solutions have failed to adequately protect financial institutions, businesses and consumers from identity and payments fraud,” said James Mirfin, Global Head of Digital Identity and Fraud Solutions at Refinitiv. “Until today, no one has been able to deliver a fraud and risk mitigation solution that spans the customer lifecycle. Refinitiv responded to the industry’s calls by combining the power of the EPIC Platform and World-Check into a single comprehensive solution that eliminates gaps in the fraud prevention process; helps protect financial institutions, businesses, government entities and others against the latest fraud threats; and improves customer experience through real-time, fact-based decisioning.” 

Through a customizable, single API, organizations will be equipped with the following advances: 

• Refinitiv’s cutting-edge technology and access to an unparalleled real-time network of identity verification, authentication services and compliance screening
• Access to a holistic set of enrollment, payment, identity, compliance, screening, and mobile solutions built on a single platform
• Ability to proactively identify and mitigate both traditional and emerging risks, including payments, identity and vendor fraud; money laundering, bribery and corruption; as well as enforcements and fines
• Ability to address newer, more sophisticated fraud threats, including identity theft; synthetic identity fraud; true name fraud; account takeover; business email compromise; and others 
• And the capability to better attract and retain customers, safeguard their reputations, and protect supply chain and vendor relationships.

To learn more about the combined power of the EPIC Platform and World-Check, click here. 

Goal Group, the global fintech leader in withholding tax reclamation and securities class action recovery services, is delighted to announce that Vicky Dean has been promoted to Managing Director, EMEA and Global Head of Client Services with immediate effect.

As Managing Director, Vicky will have oversight responsibility for key functions and activities at the company’s EMEA headquarters including sales, client services and operations. The dual role reflects Goal’s newly centralised client services delivery model, designed to maintain excellence in service standards and promote consistency across EMEA, the Americas and APAC as the business enters a phase of strong growth.

Vicky joined Goal Group in 2014 and quickly progressed to senior leadership positions in both the EMEA and Americas businesses.

Stephen Everard, Chief Executive Officer, Goal Group, said: “Vicky’s dedication and meticulous work is often remarked upon by our clients. Her appointment to the roles of Managing Director, EMEA and Global Head of Client Services recognises the high standards she sets herself, her wide-ranging capabilities and outstanding contribution to our company over the years. Bringing the global management of our client services function under the remit of one Managing Director makes perfect sense as we win a growing number of new mandates and take on increasing volumes of business in both withholding tax reclaims and securities litigation recoveries.”    

Commenting on her appointments, Vicky Dean said: “I am thrilled to be appointed as Managing Director, EMEA in such an exciting and dynamic company. We look forward to further cementing and enhancing relationships through the global centralisation of Client Services, ensuring that we continue to exceed the expectations of our valued clients and that they receive nothing but the best. Goal Group is undergoing a period of rapid growth and I’m excited to be a key part of it.”

Bryan Gray, Brand Ambassador for Goal in the APAC region will report to Vicky, alongside the other client services managers across EMEA, the Americas and APAC.

Goal’s worldwide client base includes five of the top ten global custodians, six of the top ten global fund managers and all four US depositary banks.

Forecast, the leading AI-native platform for project and resource management, today announces the hire of Simone Goodman as Chief Financial Officer.

Simone’s appointment at Forecast is a new role for the business, intended to support the acceleration of growth and entry of Forecast into the US market, following the successful $19M series A investment led by Balderton.

As chief financial officer of Peakon, Simone led the finance team and supported a 30x valuation growth in under four years, from Series A to its eventual $700M sale to Workday.  Previously a director at King Digital - the creator of Candy Crush - she supported the company to achieve explosive revenue growth, an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, and a subsequent $5.9 billion acquisition by Activision.

AI-native project and resource management platform, Forecast, is the only such platform to unite projects, resources, financials and business intelligence in one easy-to-use tool, enabling transparency on all business operations.

As part of her role in accelerating the growth of the company, Simone will also head up the HR and people management function at Forecast, with a focus on hiring for growth in the US market.

Simone’s appointment builds on important momentum for Forecast, following the series A investment, record growth and key hires and appointments, including former Informatica CEO Sohaib Abbassi as Chairman and ex-CEO and founder of FinancialForce Jeremy Roche to its Board of Directors.

Simone Goodman said of her appointment: “I’m delighted to have joined Forecast and the opportunity to help fuel the growth of the company and enter the US market with confidence. I’m impressed with the leadership and board that Dennis has assembled and am extremely pleased to be working with him as well as new and old team mates and associates. As a CFO, I’m excited our product is so attractive to finance leaders and I look forward to building relationships and the development of our market leading platform.”

Dennis Kayser, CEO & co-founder at Forecast said: “I’m personally very excited to welcome Simone to the team. She brings deep experience and insight to Forecast, further bolstering our incredible leadership group. She’ll play a pivotal role in accelerating Forecast’s growth in a healthy and sustainable way, ensuring that our series A round is used responsibly to power growth and to aid us in reaching our ambitious revenue targets. Her experience in working with leading VCs and in developing smart, mission-driven people will all be great assets to Forecast.”

Summary: With a common aim to promote digital innovations in the African BFSI sector, Huawei and Oracle to define the required road map at the 7^th Edition of WFIS 2021: Africa, organised by Tradepass.

Amidst the phenomenal disruptions happening in Africa within the BFSI sector in terms of Fintech, Mobile Money and Digital Banking, corporate giants like Huawei and Oracle have decided to take the center stage at the most premier BFSI virtual summit in Africa on 10-11 August, 2021.

Not only has Africa become the leader in Mobile Money but the continent’s high-spirited Fintech startups have also garnered a whopping US $350 million in investments in 2020. As per a report by International Monetary Fund, sub-Saharan Africa has become the world leader in mobile money adoption, usage, and innovation.

The virtual summit will attract 1500+ technology and business heads from 200+ leading Banks, Insurance & Micro-Finance institutions across Africa to virtually connect, collaborate and explore a wide range of new-age-future-tech solutions curated for the growing BFSI sector.

Through the many insightful presentations and panel discussions with the leading experts, the summit aims to throw light on the most pressing topics in BFSI like ‘AI in Banking’, ‘Cloud Banking’, ‘RPA in BFSI’, ‘Open Banking Innovation’ and many others.

BFSI innovations are finally bringing financial inclusion in the continent providing the vast underprivileged population access to financial services. There are close to 150 mobile money providers operating in sub-Saharan Africa which are witnessing a rampant growth like never before.

It’s also the golden period for the African fintech ventures as during the first quarter of 2020, African countries like South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt raised a staggering $112m, $74m, $62m and $51m in investments, respectively. Moreover, fintech companies in Africa are further facilitating banks with their operations as banks are now able to provide digital banking services to the vast underserved population.

Organiser and the CEO of Tradepass, Sudhir Jena expressed that “The 7^th WFIS 2021: Africa will be an important milestone in the changing paradigm of the continent’s BFSI sector as it aims to promote the new-age financial innovations in Africa”.

Some of the confirmed speakers include:

• Dr. Konstantinos Tsanis, Digital Transformation and FinTech Specialist, IFC World Bank
• Ronald Raffensperger, Senior Transformation Expert Financial Industry, Huawei
• Raghav Prasad - Division President, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mastercard
• Agrippa Mugwagwa, Managing Director, Xarani Fintech
• Alberto Sessa, Senior Director Financial Services, Oracle
• Olayinka Situ, CTO/Group Head, Corporate Transformation, FirstBank Nigeria
• Stanley Mwangi Chege, Group Chief Information Officer, Jubilee Insurance
• Mohamed Fathy, Chief Information Officer, EFG Hermes
• Onyebuchi Akosa, Group, Chief Information Officer, United Bank for Africa Plc
• Tendai Chavarika, Head customer experience, Steward Bank Zimbabwe
• Ubong Nkanta, Head, Customer Experience Governance, United Bank for Africa Plc
• Uzo Mkparu, Group Head CRM, Customer Analytics & Insights, First City Monument Bank
• Marcia Ujobolo, Senior Specialist: Customer Experience, South African Revenue Service (SARS)
• Jennifer Jemedafe, Founder & CEO, Retention Concierge
• Anna Collard, SVP - Content Strategy & Evangelist, KnowBe4
• Sudheer Prabhu, CTO, CIM Finance
• Motunrayo Ajayi, Head, HC Projects & Digital Transformation, Sterling Bank PLC
• Gloria Njiu, Head of Digital Business, NCBA Bank Tanzania Limited
• Nyong Inwang, Head Channels & Digital Banking, Nova Merchant Bank
• Chukwuma Osahor, Head, Digital Partnerships, Access Bank Plc
• Glenn Lazarus, CEO, ATS Network Management Pty LTD
• Makabelo Malumane, Head of Transaction Banking, Kenya and East Africa, Standard Chartered Bank
• Robert Kariuki, Digital and Transaction Banking Specialist, Sidian Bank Limited
• Sam Mohatle, Head of Digital Banking, First National Bank - Lesotho
• Shehryar Ali, Country Manager - East Africa, Mastercard
• Shina Atilola, Divisional Head, Retail & Consumer Banking, Sterling Bank Plc
• Vitumbiko Gubuduza, Head of Compliance, NBS Bank Plc
• Evans Odhiambo, Assistant General Manager & Head of Transactional Banking, I&M Bank
• Bharat Soni, CISO, GT Bank Plc
• Albert Yirenchi - CISO, Stanbic Bank Ghana
• Faheem Ali, CRO, Musoni
• Dr Peter Kamau Njuguna, CIO, Co-Operative Bank of Kenya
• Kumar Dandapani, Formerly Head of Retail Banking, Bank Africa
• Naana Araba Abban, Head Consumer Banking, Ecobank

The solution providers who will be showcasing their technologies over the two days include –

Huawei, Mastercard, Oracle, KnowBe4, ATS Network Management, Freshworks, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd, Finacle(Infosys)

Integration of complementary technologies to boost collection process for auto dealers and bill pay experience for consumers

BlytzPay, a text-based payments and communications platform, today announced an integration partnership with Auto Master Systems, Inc., a leading dealer management system, to empower auto dealers to invoice, communicate with, and collect from their customers securely and in real-time via text.

“Partnering with BlytzPay just makes sense,” said Mike Downey, Vice President, Sales & Marketing at Auto Master Systems. “By integrating with BlytzPay, we’ll help our dealers improve their collection process by shortening their payment cycles and reducing their collection costs. Our dealers demand choices in the payment processing side of the buy here, pay here and self-financing market. We’re allowing them to choose without losing integration features and costly hoops to jump through.”

The integration between BlytzPay and Auto Master Systems will allow both technology platforms to communicate seamlessly, providing dealers the ability to digitally manage the payments side of their business. Consumers will be able to do the following via their mobile devices:

• Receive invoices and pay their bills
• Schedule bill payments
• Set up auto-payments
• Pay one bill with multiple payment sources and different financial institutions

“We’re thrilled to partner with an organization as well respected as Auto Master Systems,” said BlytzPay CEO, Robyn Burkinshaw. “We’ve watched the world change drastically over the past year and a half, and consumers now expect a bill pay experience that caters to them. By employing BlytzPay technology, dealers can meet their customers where they are (on their digital devices) and engage with them in an easy, effective way.”

For more information, or to schedule a complimentary demo, visit BlytzPay.com.

The Liquality Wallet Introduces a New Standard to Support Growing Demand for Cross-Chain Swaps and Dapp Integrations

Liquality, the first multi-chain browser extension wallet with built-in swap capabilities, announces the close of a $7 million funding round led by Hashed and Galaxy Digital, with participation from White Star Capital, Accomplice, Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research, and more.

Founded in 2018, Liquality provides user-friendly access to popular blockchains and their unique applications. The open-source wallet acts as a unified solution for users who previously had to manage multiple incompatible wallets and use centralized exchanges to swap between different blockchains.

“We look to partner with founders who are building the future. Liquality’s team is mission-driven and the product vision is big – from secure cross-chain swaps to frictionless multi-chain functionality,” said Mike Novogratz, CEO and Founder of Galaxy Digital. “Fundraising for a wallet requires partners who are mission-aligned and share a vision for the future of the industry, and given this is our first wallet-focused investment, we’re especially excited to partner with Liquality on this investment,” said Jon Kol Co-Head of Galaxy Digital Principal Investments.

Today, Liquality users can manage crypto assets, swap between them, and access dApps on Rootstock, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, Near, and Arbitrum, with more integrations on the way.

“Most, if not all, crypto activity will happen directly through users’ wallets. By unifying blockchain communities within one wallet, we can offer a range of decentralized technologies and jointly create the fabric of the digital world,” explains Liquality Co-Founder, Thessy Mehrain.

The globally distributed, remote team is exploring mechanisms to move governance and network incentives towards the community, including encouraging developers to extend the wallet’s capabilities and participate in the benefits.

“With this funding round, Liquality will be able to expand on its value proposition by integrating new chains, creating native dApp experiences in the wallet, and improving the broader crypto landscape’s user experience and accessibility,” says other Liquality Co-Founder, Simon Lapscher. “We are excited to have attracted a group of investors who bring incredible experience and are ready to work with us toward our shared vision.”

Customers including Ardevora, Berenberg, and Magellan discuss value of fully integrated platform to support modern approach to research management

Sentieo, the leading next-generation financial research platform provider, today announced the successful first annual Customer Advisory Board meeting for investment managers. More than a dozen customers came together to learn more about the innovative product enhancements planned for the coming year and key areas of investment across Sentieo’s cloud-based platform to support the needs of today’s investment analysts. Customers including Ardevora, Berenberg, Hodges Capital, Magellan, and others, heard firsthand how Sentieo is transforming the way investment research is done. To learn more about how leading institutional and individual investors rely on Sentieo, please visit HERE.

Led by CEO, David Lichtblau, Co-Founder and President, Naman Shah, and CRO, Mark Coriaty, the two-day event showcased the breadth and depth of the platform with particular emphasis on how Sentieo uniquely mirrors the typical workflow of investment analysts. Developed by analysts themselves, Sentieo was designed to serve as the central hub where analysts work. Featuring deep integrations with broader workflow and systems, Sentieo seamlessly brings together the disparate research tools analysts rely on in one platform. As a result, Sentieo saves customers hundreds of hours of time, empowers investors to discover new insights, facilitates increased collaboration, and modernizes the research workflow to drive smarter investment decisions. Armed with the insight gained over the course of the event, Sentieo customers are in a better position to confidently harness the full potential of the platform and gain a competitive advantage.

“Sentieo has been a great tool for our investment team so we were pleased to join the Customer Advisory Board and learn more about planned product enhancements, discuss best practices, and advise on further development to extend our use of the platform,” said Vihari Ross, Head of Research, MFG Asset Management. “Clearly designed by people who deeply understand the fundamental research workflow, Sentieo solves the key issue of research aggregation, plus delivers significant productivity benefits, affording our analysts more time to uncover insights and do the analysis that is core to delivering quality results for our clients.”

“We greatly value Sentieo’s comprehensive, intuitive platform and appreciate the company’s continued commitment to product innovation,” said Matthias Born, Co-Head Wealth and Asset Management and Head of Investments, Berenberg. “As part of the Customer Advisory Board, we look forward to the ongoing opportunity to offer our insight on how Sentieo can evolve to uniquely meet the needs of our portfolio managers and support our team in delivering winning strategies for our clients.”

“We are grateful to work with some of the brightest minds in the investment industry and were thrilled to provide a forum for productive discussion around the future of financial and corporate research,” said Lichtblau. “We will continue to strive for excellence in product development to become the place where analysts work and underscore our commitment to delivering the insights, speed, and confidence our customers need to make strategic investment decisions.”

PCI Pal, the global provider of cloud-based secure payment solutions, has today confirmed that it has been selected by Essex County Council, to manage the security of the organisation’s telephone-based payment transactions by reducing the need for any sensitive payment card information to be entered from within the Council’s IT infrastructure.

Working with PCI Pal’s partner, Pay360, Essex County Council will utilise the cloud-based Call Secure Plus solution to ensure all payments handled by the Council’s 250 telephone-based employees are completed in the most safe and compliant way, to help meet the requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) and reduce related risk to the Council.

The Call Secure Plus solution will enable Essex County Council’s customers to input payment information in an anonymous way using their telephone keypad, yet the agent remains on the line, able to assist callers in seamlessly completing the transaction. Importantly, no payment card information will enter the Council’s systems and will instead be sent directly to the payment merchant for processing.

The solution integrates with the Council’s existing telephony and contact centre systems, in addition to its existing payment gateways.  

Ben Quick, Sales Director at Pay360 said “Today, the risks presented by cybercrime are significant and it’s important that organisations have systems and processes operating in the most safe and secure way.  We therefore recommended the integration of the Call Secure Plus solution, for a number of reasons: the first being that payment information will not enter the Council’s system at any stage, meaning no customer credit card data will be stored, therefore greatly reducing overall risk.  Secondly, it will enable the Council’s agents to remain in full conversation with customers, providing a seamless payment experience.”

Darren Gill, Chief Revenue Officer for PCI Pal said, “We are delighted to have been selected by Essex County Council, via our partner Pay360, to help the organisation secure all payments that are managed by its 250 employees.”