Projective Group, the international consulting firm, has today announced its acquisition of London-based DTSQUARED, the specialist data consultancy. 

Funded by recent investment from Gimv in April this year, this acquisition is a key part of Projective Group’s European expansion and provides a significant addition to the Group’s capabilities and existing team of 35 consultants in London.  

DTSQUARED’s team of 85 data experts will bring a wealth of experience in all aspects of data as well as access to an impressive client base across multiple sectors and strategic relationships with DTSQUARED’s global technology partners. This complements Projective Group’s current management consulting offering from Projective and Exellys, to provide a truly end-to-end consultancy package to clients. 

Stefan Dierckx, CEO, of Projective Group, said: 

“With our clients increasingly demanding advice and consultancy around data, we firmly believe that DTSQUARED’s knowledge and expertise around data management and governance is complementary to Projective Group’s current service offering provided by Projective and Exellys. Together with DTSQUARED, we can now better serve our current and future clients in answering business problems and creating value in a complex market with even more demanding regulations. This partnership represents the start of the next phase of growth for Projective Group and we are delighted to welcome DTSQUARED to the team.” 

The overall Projective Group offering will be strengthened by the mutual benefits of the acquisition, with all parties gaining additional capabilities and expertise. DTSQUARED’s knowledge and experience enables Projective Group to expand into the important and evolving data industry via the creation of a new Data Management & Governance offering for Projective Group’s clients. Projective Group can now support clients with all their strategic data requirements; to design, establish and implement the most beneficial, efficient, and profitable data solutions that provide real business value. 

Toby Pearson, CEO of DTSQUARED, said: 

“We have a strong record of growth whilst delivering the Power of Data for our clients these past eight years, but when Projective Group approached us, it was an excellent opportunity to combine forces and further strengthen our respective offerings. Together, our shared knowledge, expertise and ambitions uniquely position us within Europe to cater to all client demands both now and in the future. We will scale, affording all our employees a greater breadth of opportunities across a wider geography which will ensure that we continue to maintain and attract the highest of standards.  The coming months will be spent planning to deliver the best solutions and advice possible for our clients as we build excellence across Projective Group’s six major European centres.” 

DTSQUARED’s established positioning in the market means that the brand and operational management will remain unchanged by the acquisition, and it will now be able to scale at pace to meet ever-changing client demands. Toby Pearson, CEO of DTSQUARED, will also become the sixth member of the Projective Group board.  

Sber named world’s strongest banking brand and – for the fifth year running – Russia’s most valuable brand

With a brand value of RUB 730.6 bn and AAA+ rating, Sber has been recognized as Russia’s most valuable brand for the fifth year running in the latest Brand Finance Russia 50 2021 report. According to Brand Finance, Sber is worth more than all brands ranked 26th to 50th in this year’s league table put together. In addition to measuring brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance. According to these criteria, Sber has increased in brand strength year-on-year to reclaim the titles of the strongest brand in Russia as well as the world’s strongest banking brand, and to become the third strongest brand in the world across all sectors in the Brand Finance Global 500 2021 ranking. With a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 92.0 out of 100 and the coveted AAA+ brand strength rating, Sber ranks only behind the iconic Ferrari and China’s WeChat. According to Brand Finance, Sber commands very high levels of customer loyalty, which can only be boosted by its recent rebranding into an ecosystem brand. In Brand Finance’s Global Brand Equity Monitor, Sber posts top market research results for reputation and brand awareness – it is widely known, always top-of-mind, and well-regarded. Its ubiquitous presence and – in consumers’ eyes – by far the best digital offering ensure high availability, which are strong foundations for brand strength. Sber brand is an asset which allows us to develop new services and products for our ecosystem. The brand ensures they are reliable and advanced – the qualities our clients value. Brand investment contributes to a rapid growth of our new businesses, and we are happy to retain leadership as the strongest and most valuable brand both in Russia and globally. Vladislav Kreynin Senior Vice President, Director of the Marketing and Communications

Department, Sberbank

Sber’s innovative and committed approach to its brand can be an example to all Russian companies. Despite being an undisputed market leader, Sber is not afraid to put itself in the position of a challenger and pioneer completely novel strategies. Its brand audacity helps it power through tough times, anticipate market disruption, and – ultimately – consolidate its dominance further.

Richard Haigh
Managing Director, Brand Finance
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy with offices in over 20 countries. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organizations of all kinds make strategic decisions. Drawing on expertise in strategy, branding, market research, visual identity, finance, tax and intellectual property, Brand Finance helps brand owners and investors make the right decisions to maximize brand and business value.

Today, Baird Capital, the global private equity and venture capital arm of Baird, announced its portfolio company Aura Futures (“Aura”), a leading provider of workspace technology solutions to mid to large-size enterprises, has acquired Reflex Limited (“Reflex”). Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Established in 1983, Reading-based Reflex is a full-service audio-visual integrator. Since its founding, Reflex has strived to be at the forefront of AV technology, aiming to bring pioneering new solutions to market. The company’s expertise includes technical design, project management, complete installation services and post-installation training and support.

“I am so pleased to welcome the Reflex team to Aura,” said Alpesh Unalkat, Aura CEO. “Their technical expertise and strong reputation in higher education, corporate and public sector markets will further strengthen Aura and enable us to continue growing our footprint. We see lots of potential growth for Aura, especially with Reflex’s capabilities and similar deep commitment to meeting and exceeding customer expectations. I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together in partnership with Baird Capital.”

“We are delighted to continue our support of the Aura team with this important acquisition,” said Michael Holgate, Partner with Baird Capital’s private equity team. “The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the focus on how technology can improve productivity and collaboration in an agile working environment. As workforces return to the office, Aura’s broad range of capabilities can provide the solutions businesses need to be successful in a post-pandemic world.”

Baird Capital announced its investment in Aura in March of 2020 bringing together two independent businesses simultaneously, Karlson and Intevi, which form the group's core platform. At that time, Baird Capital Partners Andrew Ferguson and Michael Holgate joined the Aura board of directors.

In its first year of operation, the team at Aura was awarded Print IT’s Dealer of the Year 2020 for their work in building a workplace technology provider and created a unique ‘connected workspace’ facility in London. Reflex adds to Aura’s capabilities in the AV space and will enable the business to offer the widest range of office solutions to its client base. Aura’s proposition directly addresses the key questions around workplace configuration as enterprises return to the office post-pandemic.

This acquisition news follows closely on the heels of Baird Capital’s private equity team closing its second Global Fund with over $340 million in committed capital. Learn more here.

• Addition of Atome, LayBuy, Sezzle and Tamara demonstrates the growth of APEXX’s BNPL Connect
• APEXX will have integrated over 20 global BNPL providers by 2022, enabling merchants and PSPs to offer BNPL as a payment method in over 40 countries

APEXX Global, (“APEXX”), the multi-award-winning global payments platform, announces that four new Buy Now Pay Later (“BNPL”) providers, Atome, LayBuy, Sezzle, and Tamara have signed on to use BNPL Connect globally. These are in addition to the five market-leading BNPLs APEXX announced in February this year – Arvato AfterPay, ClearPay, OpenPay, Tabby, and Zip Co.

BNPL products have surged in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic, with consumers around the world attracted by the flexible nature of paying for goods in instalments with no interest charges. BNPL providers have flooded the market and, in the process, revolutionised the online retail and consumer credit market, however this has led to a proliferation of different options for merchants and consumers.

To address this, APEXX launched BNPL Connect in March this year and the product has seen huge take up from merchants and payment service providers (PSPs) globally. BNPL Connect allows PSPs and merchants to access multiple BNPL solutions through one consolidated API, and in turn, consumers can choose from a range of different BNPL options. This significantly reduces the time to market and cost for Merchants and PSPs in offering these services globally.

Together, Atome, LayBuy, Sezzle, and Tamara are amongst the largest BNPL providers globally and offer coverage across the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, UAE, the UK, and 12 countries across Asia-Pacific.

Rodney Bain, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder at APEXX, said: “We’re delighted to welcome four more of the world’s leading BNPL providers onto BNPL Connect. The reception since we launched has been incredible and the addition of these leading names onto the platform demonstrates the surging popularity and growing significance of BNPL solutions in the global payment industry.

“By next year, we will have integrated over 20 BNPL providers onto BNPL Connect, offering our PSP partners, merchants and ultimately consumers BNPL as a payment method in over 40 countries. Deferred payment schemes have an opportunity to create a consumer credit environment that is easier to access, fairer, and more transparent.”

Horizon Software, a leading provider of electronic trading solutions and algorithmic technology, have chosen to partner with Business France Middle East, to expand the range of services on offer to clients based in the MENA region.

The choice to collaborate with Business France is strategic, and fits into the wider business goals of Horizon, supporting the growth and development of their global presence. Business France will play a major role in strengthening client relationships and facilitating business opportunities for Horizon in the MENA region. This will allow Horizon’s technology to be deployed on a larger scale, providing sophisticated services to a wider range of clients.

For the past four years, Horizon Software have invested a tremendous amount of energy in developing the region, led by Damien Jenner, Managing Director and Head of Sales. Becoming the FinTech provider of reference in the MENA requires dedication, professionalism, commitment, and values which are at the heart of Horizon. As such, Horizon has chosen to collaborate with Business France to enhance their presence in the region. This decision works in conjunction with the next key milestone, which will be to open an office to support clients on a local basis.

Headquartered in Dubai, Business France Middle East is part of a national agency that supports the international development of the French economy through fostering expert growth of French businesses, and facilitating international investment.

Mrs. Anne-Laure Bouhadef, Key Account Manager at Business France said: “We are delighted to begin collaborating with Horizon Software, and are excited to work together to support their regional expansion. Horizon’s expertise has already contributed significantly to the growth and dynamism that we see in the financial technology sector in the MENA Region.”

Mr. Damien Jenner, Head of Sales at Horizon said: “We are honoured to work with Business France Middle East and we look forward to exploring how our technology services can benefit our clients based in the MENA region.”

He added “Understanding the challenges of the financial markets in Middle East is our top priority, and working with Business France will ensure that we address them efficiently.”

Industry authority Roger Coles to lead ambitious global partner network scale out  

Gravitee.io, the open source API management platform, today launched its first partner programme. The company is actively seeking technology partners, system integrators, consultancies, SaaS and cloud providers across Europe, the Americas and APAC, to collaborate on seizing the opportunities of the thriving API management market - predicted to be worth $22 billion by 2028. 

The new partner program is being led by Roger Coles, VP Channels and Alliances at Gravitee. Coles, a seasoned specialist in building global partner networks, joined Gravitee from SnapLogic, having previously led teams at Informatica, HP Software, and TIBCO. Coles’ appointment and the channel programme launch follow Gravitee’s recently announced $11M Series A funding round.

Coles commented: “The opportunity for partners with Gravitee is enormous. In the past, many organizations have embedded the Gravitee Open Source edition. There is now a large ecosystem of these existing clients that are maturing. With Open Source and Enterprise Editions of the market leading API Management and Access Management modules, alongside Alert Engine, Business Friendly API Designer, and Cockpit, partners have access to a game-changing platform that can be either deployed on-premise, or consumed via the Cloud - complete flexibility for the modern enterprise”.

The API Management Opportunity 

Business applications are now interconnected by a web of APIs, the complexity of which is increasing as demand for real time data ushers in new protocols, and as new data sources become available. Gravitee delivers effortless API management and integrates Identity and Access Management, which is currently a $12 billion market annually.  

For technology partners (and ISV’s), such as ERP, Core Banking, Commerce, CRM/CX vendors, adding Gravitee will deepen and accelerate API ecosystem connectivity, whilst improving security and accessibility; driving more consumption of their core software and services and enhancing the customer’s experience of the integration process.

With Gravitee, Consulting partners, SI’s, and Boutiques gain the opportunity to offer a range of managed, advisory, and implementation services, demonstrate leadership with key customers and prospects, and build a Cloud API & Access Management solution offering that can be sold as an advanced subscription service. Plus, there are a plethora of open-source customers in existence who need access to support and API transformation services. 

For OEM & Cloud partners, Gravitee enables increased consumption of apps and services, enhanced customer success, and the opportunity to generate new revenue streams, plus rapid time-to-value, instead of coding/scripting. It also enables partners to focus their R&D team on the core line of business functionality, and gain access to a world-beating, feature-rich APIM solution. 

Gravitee has expanded the Gravitee Partner Community to now include AppyThings (based in the Netherlands), APIZR, (France), Fit Ideas, (Colombia), Miriade, (Italy), Finnova (Switzerland), Bloom (India), IWConnect (US and Macedonia) and Syssoft (Russia).

Tom Hendrix, Sales / Alliances Director at AppyThings commented: “Gravitee's focus on developer experience translates into capabilities that give developers and citizen integrators unprecedented control and transparency over their API ecosystem. With API connectivity at the heart of any modern IT landscape, we believe this is a future-proof approach to IT integration and development.” 

Oscar Lopez, Co-Founder at Fit Ideas added:​​"Since the earliest versions, Gravitee has been the API Management Solution with our clients. Its robustness, scalability, and ease of implementation make Gravitee one of the best platforms for API Management in the business. We are beyond excited and proud to become a Gravitee Partner in Latin America, and we are sure this partnership will bring new opportunities to our customers to leverage their API platforms and help them to better adapt to the ever-changing market."

MoonPay, the global payments solution for cryptocurrency, has announced it has partnered with Flow, the consumer and developer-friendly blockchain powering the next generation of games, apps, and digital assets. The partnership will for the first time integrate a fiat-onramp for Flow’s stablecoin, FUSD, for US customers to access the rich experiences built on Flow, in addition to offering coverage to over 150 countries.

MoonPay’s unique fiat on-and-off-ramp infrastructure democratizes blockchain access by allowing users to participate directly via traditional fiat payment methods. Through this new partnership, customers will now be able to seamlessly interact with the Flow ecosystem, accessing a range of blockchain powered games, entertainment, sports and news with the comfort of credit card onboarding.

Created by Dapper Labs, the team behind NBA Top Shot and CryptoKitties, Flow’s consumer-centric mission is to bring NFTs to the mainstream at scale in a sustainable way by empowering developers to build amazing experiences. The partnership with MoonPay, who shares their sustainable goals and developer empowerment vision, will allow any team building on Flow the ability to offer direct fiat on-ramp functionality to their audience globally from day one, including US consumers.

The partnership allows users to  be able to purchase the first stablecoin on Flow issued by Prime Trust, FUSD, which launched in June. This is the first FUSD on-ramp in the US. Elsewhere, users, excluding those in the US and Canada, will be able to purchase FLOW, the native token of the Flow network. 

Ivan Soto-Wright, co-founder and CEO of MoonPay said, “NFTs are revolutionising how we interact with our favourite games, sports stars and with wider culture, so it’s vital that everyone can access them without any barriers. Flow has changed the game and we are looking forward to collaborating with the team to create a seamless NFT experience and bring it to the mainstream.”

Peter Siemens, Developer Experience Lead, Flow, “It was vital that we found a partner who could not only provide a solution but also shared our mission of providing a high quality user experience with minimal friction for both developers and consumers. With MoonPay’s impressive infrastructure, consumers can unlock the magic of NFTs across the whole ecosystem safely, and with  the knowledge that they are simultaneously supporting more sustainable integration across the crypto economy.”

Strategic hire with wealth of scaleup fintech experience will help drive ambitious revenue strategy as open banking payment solution provider ramps up growth

 Vyne, the account-to-account payments provider for merchants, has today announced the appointment of Luke Flomo as its new Chief Revenue Officer. The strategic hire brings with him a wealth of scaleup experience having previously held senior roles with fintech challenger brands including Laybuy, Trustly and Klarna.

Founded in 2019 by true payments industry experts, Vyne’s full-stack open banking solution brings together decades of combined industry experience to ensure direct, secure, faster payments. Flomo’s hire comes at a pivotal time for the scaleup as it ramps up its ambitious revenue strategy which has included signing new clients across the retail, travel and fintech sectors. 

Karl MacGregor, CEO at Vyne, said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming Luke to the Vyne team and I’m personally delighted to be working with him once again. Luke brings with him exceptional experience of driving and managing revenue streams in high growth environments across the payments sector, and it is this expertise that we will be leveraging to full effect as we continue to use open banking technology to simplify payments and empower our growing merchant customer portfolio.”

Luke Flomo, Chief Revenue Officer at Vyne, added: “I’m delighted to be joining Vyne at such an exciting time in the company's growth trajectory. The credibility of the leadership team, many of which I have worked with previously, and their stand out investment partners means Vyne is primed to scale at pace. I firmly believe my experience over the last ten years within the likes of Worldpay, Klarna and a number of high growth scale ups means I am well positioned to help the team realise their vision of democratising payments to the true benefit of their merchant customers.”

Last month Vyne announced its integration with the leading global, technology and business services firm for the remittance world, RemitONE. The deal gives RemitONE’s 100+ remittance clients instant access to Vyne’s payment solution, becoming the fastest, most cost effective way for their customers to send remittances globally.

Half of Financial Services and Insurance (FS&I) businesses are missing the opportunity to implement technology which is vital to supporting risk management and compliance in line with regulatory standards, new figures from Atos reveal.

A new report based on an in-depth, independent survey of 800* senior decision makers reveals how leaders in the FS&I industry widely acknowledge the importance of modernizing and transforming their approaches to risk management and compliance, as well as cyber security, business model reinvention, and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) – but that many are still deciding how to approach these challenges.

Opportunity to embrace digital risk management practices

The report, titled ‘The realization for change: accelerating action now’, found that 79 per cent of leaders within the global FS&I industry view technology investments as the most important contributors to business resilience, while a similar percentage (80 per cent) view digital activity as key to risk management, recognizing that the right technologies enable better monitoring of regulatory compliance and enhance the quality of risk decisions.

About half of businesses could still benefit from adopting tech solutions, however, with 51 per cent having so far developed digital products and services and 50 per cent having moved data and processes to the cloud, while almost half (48 per cent) have changed how they store and process customer data.

This suggests that business leaders know the benefits of digital risk management practices, but many still need to invest in the necessary tools in order to ensure business resilience and enable growth.

Meeting cyber security challenges

Cyber security is a major current focus for FS&I businesses within the area of risk management with 70 per cent of those surveyed agreeing that cyber security is the single biggest component of their risk management strategy. While almost half (44 per cent) have automated security and compliance policies, and 41 per cent have undertaken a threat assessment of existing or potential compliance risks, a majority of businesses still need to improve their technology in these areas.

Business model reinvention is a low priority

For years, the financial services and insurance market has faced constant digital disruption with new competitors emerging. Over half (55 per cent) of those surveyed named innovation and competition from challengers/disrupters as their greatest threat, yet fundamental change to business models is unlikely, with 42 per cent of leaders citing this as their lowest priority for the next year.

Asked about the difficulties business leaders face in accelerating business transformation, over two fifths (42 per cent) cited a lack of customer insight and a similar proportion (41 per cent) listed difficulties innovating and developing new propositions as a barrier to transformation – a sign that many business leaders are still deciding on the best approach to protecting their market share from disruptive competitors in the future.

Untapped digital opportunities to meet ESG goals

In recent years, ESG issues have become an increasingly important area of focus for business leaders, with 8 in 10 (81 per cent) viewing digital transformation as an opportunity to meet ESG and sustainability goals and almost three quarters (74 per cent) planning to stop investing in or lending capital to brown assets.

There is clear ambition among business leaders to meet decarbonization goals, with over half (54 per cent) citing difficulties reducing their carbon footprint or meeting ESG targets as a key threat to their business in the next two years.

At the same time, many recognize that there is much more to be done to tackle these issues, with a large proportion of insurance (69 per cent) and financial (68 per cent) businesses acknowledging that their current workplace processes and operations practices - fundamental to the employee experience - are not environmentally sustainable, showing that adoption of low-carbon digital strategies can still improve substantially.

Adrian Gregory, SEVP, Global Head of Financial Services & Insurance at Atos, said: “Most businesses acknowledge the vital importance of digital transformation, but ambition needs to be matched by action. A significant number of financial business leaders are seizing the advantage of technological solutions to industry headwinds, but others know they still need to make fundamental changes to reduce risks, ensure regulatory compliance, and keep up with digital-native competitors and net-zero initiatives.

“With inaction no longer an option, investment in digital technologies and partnerships with like-minded organizations will help to counter these threats.

“The financial services and insurance industries are facing a growing number of complex challenges, including cyberattacks, disruptive digital-first competitors and of course Covid-19 to name just a few. With ESG objectives increasingly on the agenda of companies as part of broader climate goals to be achieved by 2030, it has never been more urgent for businesses to address decarbonization issues.”

Digital services are a key enabler of decarbonization, and Atos has developed unique expertise to shape new decarbonization value propositions to customers ranging from decarbonization assessments to the introduction in large contracts of CO2 reduction commitments through Decarbonization Level Agreements to reduce the impact of business processes, supported by Atos OneCloud.

*The survey in this press release was independently carried out over May and June 2021 by Atos. There were 800 respondents, all of whom are senior decision makers within the global financial services and insurance industries across eleven countries including USA, Canada, France, UK, Germany and Italy.

• Colin O’Flaherty joins Barclaycard Payments from American Express as Managing Director, Head of Small Business
• O’Flaherty brings almost 20 years’ experience in payments, card services, business development and customer rewards to the role
• Appointment comes at an integral moment for the UK’s largest payments provider as it focuses on making it easier, faster and more rewarding for its small business customers to pay and get paid
• Reporting to CEO, Rob Cameron, O’Flaherty will be key to delivering Barclaycard’s Unified Payments strategy to small businesses

Barclaycard Payments has announced the appointment of Colin O’Flaherty to head up its growing small business customer offering. He will take up the newly created position of Managing Director, Head of Small Business, and will play an integral part in scaling the businesses and accelerating the alignment of Payments across the wider Bank.

O’Flaherty joins in September from American Express, where since 2004, he has held a number of senior leadership roles, most recently as General Manager for Commercial Services covering the UK, Russia and Central Eastern Europe.

With almost 20 years’ experience in payments, card services, loyalty and business development, O’Flaherty brings a truly global outlook of the payments landscape, having conducted business in more than 50 countries.

Reporting to CEO, Rob Cameron, O’Flaherty will take a seat on the business’ leadership team and will assume overall responsibility for Barclaycard Payments’ growing portfolio of 350k Small Business customers. He will ensure these clients receive maximum value from Barclaycard’s investment in its Unified Payments offering; from accepting payments in-store, online or on the go and making payments with its award winning credit cards, in addition to providing access to comprehensive banking and lending services from Barclays UK, being a partner of growth to our business customers.

Small businesses are looking for simplicity and faster and easier ways to pay and get paid. Barclaycard Small Business offers flexible products and services alongside new business tools, for example through software vendors such as Big Commerce, and better rewards such as its new market–leading, 1% cashback card  launched in April. The team has also been named Best Business Card Provider by Business Moneyfacts for eight years running*.

Rob Cameron, CEO of Barclaycard Payments, said: “Small businesses underpin the UK economy and it’s critical Barclaycard provides them with payment solutions to support their needs and those of their customers. As their payment requirements evolve so too have our products and services, which now include partner solutions like Big Commerce, to help them sell online, and rewarding commercial card offerings like our new 1% cashback credit card.  

“Colin’s expertise and global leadership capabilities will be invaluable to ensure we continue to make it easier, faster and more rewarding for small businesses to pay and get paid.”  

Colin O’Flaherty added: “Barclaycard Payments is uniquely positioned to offer end-to-end payments and banking services to help small businesses achieve their ambitions. I’m delighted to be joining the company at this pivotal time for small businesses and the opportunity for continued growth and innovation presents an exciting challenge.”

O’Flaherty studied at Trinity College Dublin where he gained a First Class honours degree in Economics in addition to completing several executive education programmes at Harvard Business School and The University of Oxford.

Earlier in his career, O’Flaherty also worked as a Business Analyst for McKinsey & Company for a number of years.