Engine B, a next-generation AI-driven professional services technology company, today announced it has created its first scalable Copilot, using the latest tools from Microsoft and the Azure OpenAI Service. Engine B has used its expertise in providing firms with broad and deep client data to build a unique platform on which Copilots can be quickly and accurately created to solve audit, tax, internal audit or accounting use cases.

The first Copilot has been designed to save its clients time in the audit process as well as reducing risk in the audit industry. The Copilot acts like an extra audit team member rather than a simple analytics tool, with the auditor ready to approve the Copilot’s decisions and rationale before they move on to tasks requiring their human skill and experience. 

Designed with the user in mind

The company consulted with 20 accounting and audit firms in July 2023 to better understand which of their issues and challenges could be helped with the creation of a Copilot infrastructure. This process resulted in the development of plans for more than 20 Copilots, all of which will help accountants and audit professionals significantly reduce time spent on tasks that are ripe for automation. As Copilots are built for different use cases they will be able to interact with each other to add value across engagements, clients and firms. Copilots will mean professionals will spend more time making higher-value decisions, based on intelligent data insights, their expertise and their professional training. 

Michael Izza, Chief Executive, ICAEW said, “Accounting firms are rapidly exploring generative AI solutions to drive efficiencies and improve quality for clients. We believe these new technologies should sit alongside and support the user, which is why we welcome the development of Copilots. Providing they are secure and built using the best technologies available, Copilots can simplify complex tasks, accelerate processes, and provide valuable guidance and support to users. When integrated with widely available products, such as those from Engine B and Microsoft, Copilots are available to all firms regardless of size, allowing them to deliver cost-efficient and quality-led services to clients.”

Engine B’s first Copilot has been designed to address the Lease Accounting process. While other tools have been used before for elements of this, the Copilot responds to complex questions using the latest generative AI advancements. The Copilot reads client leases before making judgements based on appropriate standards and methodologies, and then uses the client’s financial data from the Integration Engine to ensure the lease has been accounted for correctly. Responses are given to the auditor and their working papers tools with explainable evidence for how decisions have been made. This represents a huge time-saving and allows the auditor to get on with auditing rather than manually comparing data. 

Andrew Paul, Audit Software and Technical Manager, Baker Tilly international said, “We believe an audit is not just a legal necessity but an opportunity to provide additional value to stakeholders. As a network, we are exploring Generative AI and Copilot technologies as we believe that these tools can support our intelligent and robust approach to auditing. We are particularly interested in the ability of these technologies to analyse huge amounts of data that would have taken previous products hours and days. We look forward to vendors such as Engine B bringing these solutions to the market and exploring how they can be applied across a wide range of use cases.”

A roadmap for the future

Further Copilots are already in development at Engine B including related parties and due diligence, going concern and resilience, analysing disclosures, and others that support Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) assurance and tax advice.

Uli Homann, Corporate Vice President and Distinguished Architect, Cloud and AI, Microsoft said, “We believe that chat interfaces and large language models can empower professionals to ask for what they want in natural language and get the best possible assistance. At Microsoft, we call this having a Copilot for any task, in any industry. Engine B is a pioneer in applying this technology to the accounting industry, with their secure and standardised data platform. We are proud to partner with them and support professional services firms globally to explore the potential of Copilots for audit and tax engagements.”

Only 14% of UK adults have taken advantage of bank switching deals before, according to new research from personal finance comparison site finder.com. The study explored the reasons why so many Brits are not switching, and revealed that younger generations are more sceptical about the ease of switching accounts, whilst older generations are less likely to switch due loyalty to their current banking provider.

Younger generations think switching bank accounts is too time-consuming

Switching bank accounts is too time-consuming for younger generations. Around 18% of gen z (18-26) and 13% of millennials (27-42) said switching bank accounts takes up too much time. Around 12% of gen x (43-58) also finds switching bank accounts too time-consuming. However, baby boomers (59-77) and the silent generations (78+) find time less of a concern, with 7% of the former and 4% of the latter citing it as a reason for not switching bank accounts.

The data seems to indicate that younger generations value their time more, perhaps due to the fact that they are more likely to be in full-time employment and caring for children, than baby boomers and members of the silent generation.

Stress and fear is holding back younger generations

Gen z and millennials have more concerns than older generations when it comes to fear and stress around switching bank accounts. 1 in 6 (16%) members of gen z said that it is too stressful to switch bank accounts, closely followed by 1 in 10 millennials (11%). Meanwhile, older generations are less stressed, with 9% of gen x and 7% of baby boomers giving this as a reason for not using switching deals.

Younger generations are also more sceptical when it comes to losing direct debits and standing orders. Around 12% of gen z cited this fear as a reason not to switch bank accounts, closely followed by 9% of millennials. Meanwhile only 4% of gen x and 2% of baby boomers cited fear of losing direct debits and standing orders as a reason to not switch bank accounts. 

Older generations are more loyal to their banking provider

Across all generations, loyalty to their banking provider was the main reason (34%) for people not switching bank accounts despite switching offers. However, older generations were found to be consistently more loyal than their younger counterparts. Over half (54%) of the silent generation and nearly half (46%) of baby boomers said they did not switch bank accounts, because they are loyal to their current banking provider. 

Meanwhile, just 36% of gen x said they were too loyal to their current banking provider to switch. Loyalty decreases again for millennials with only 1 in 4 (26%) citing it as a reason not to switch, followed by gen z at less than 1 in 5 (19%). 

Global digital currency payment institution Triple-A announces their US$10 Million Series A funding round today. Leading the round are repeat investors Peak XV Partners (formerly known as Sequoia India & South East Asia), along with the strategic backing of Shorooq Partners, one of MENA’s leading technology investors. 

Founded in 2017 by serial fintech founder Eric Barbier, Triple-A has pioneered digital, stablecoin and blockchain led payments, enabling global businesses to pay and get paid faster, 24/7, and without any currency volatility risk, all while upholding the highest regulatory compliance standards. 

Triple-A is licensed by MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) as a Payment Institution. The company also holds a Payment Institution Licence from the central bank of France, allowing them to execute payment transactions across all EU member states. Triple-A is also registered with the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). They will continue to strengthen their regulatory framework in countries across the globe to ensure merchants using Triple-A operate in a safe and compliant environment. 

The company's mission is to build a more efficient global payment ecosystem by bridging the gap between traditional finance and blockchain backed payments.

Triple-A recently partnered with Singapore’s largest Apple products reseller, iStudio, to allow customers to pay using cryptocurrencies at selected iStudio stores. Merchants such as Farfetch, Charles and Keith, Singapore Red Cross, Razer and Reap also use Triple-A to offer cryptocurrency as a form of payment. Dominant currencies include USDT, USDC, ETH and BTC.

Triple-A has also seen growing demand from enterprise clients seeking trustworthy and licensed digital currency payment solutions for purchases and cross-border business to business flows. 

A little over a year ago, the startup raised $4 million in seed funding, an investment that laid the foundation for its platform. Several existing investors who recognised Triple-A's potential early on also participated in the current Series A round, reaffirming their confidence in the company and team.

Triple-A has a diverse team of over 70 employees and maintains a global presence with offices strategically located in Singapore, Miami, Hong Kong, Paris and Barcelona. 

“We believe that stablecoins and other digital currencies are transforming cross-border transactions, with instant, 24/7 transfers. Triple-A is building a full suite of products for businesses to receive, manage and transfer funds globally.” said Eric Barbier, Founder and CEO of Triple-A. 

Eric is a third-time fintech founder, having created immense value in both his prior companies including Thunes. His expertise lies in identifying key problems and building solutions in growing markets. Eric has spent over 15 years specialising in Fintech and in cross-border payments. Eric also serves on several boards of Fintech startups. 

Joining Eric in the mission is veteran payments executive Elodie Trichet as COO at Triple-A. Elodie has decades of experience in payments, including executive roles at global payments company Adyen and fintech start-up Airwallex. 

“Blockchain-based digital infrastructure provides real value in cross-border payments in terms of speed and liquidity of flows. These infrastructure rails including stablecoins and centrally backed digital currencies (CBDCs) have the potential to transform how global businesses transact money more efficiently. Licensed by major regulators in Singapore and Europe, Triple-A is building a compliant and steady foundation to enable this future,” Aakash Kapoor, Vice President at Peak XV added. 

Bottomline, a global leader in business payments, today makes its B2B payment network available to approved financial institutions, fintechs and others looking to increase payment acceptance.

This is the first time Bottomline’s business payment network has opened access to its proprietary Premium ACH supplier network and is another milestone in the company’s mission to transform the way businesses pay and get paid.

Partners can connect to Bottomline’s growing 550,000+ authenticated and validated suppliers and provide payers with high-end, rebate-friendly ACH payments, complementing their existing virtual card program and providing a new revenue stream.

Offered as a network-as-a-service solution, this latest innovation from Bottomline enables financial institutions, fintechs and others to expand their payment networks, driving multiple benefits that further deliver accounts payable (AP) automation and effortless network expansion for their customers, the payers.

Payers can digitize more of their AP files, benefiting from increased automation, more rebates and better security, resulting in significant time savings, improved cashflow and a reduction in risk.

By receiving more payments digitally, suppliers on the network will experience less portal fatigue, lower payment acceptance costs and less risk.

“Bottomline’s Paymode-X is one of the largest and most established business payment networks, enabling billions of secure, compliant payments and delivering high value to its trading partner members for many years,” said Andrew Bartolini, Founder and Chief Research Officer, Ardent Partners, a leading ePayables research and advisory firm. “The decision to open the payment network to new partners creates a huge opportunity for financial institutions and technology providers alike to seamlessly deliver a market-leading payments solution and help their customers automate the last mile of their B2B transactions.”

“Opening the Bottomline business payment network recognizes the role we play in expanding a connected ecosystem,” said Craig Saks, President and CEO, Bottomline. “Transforming business payments means connecting banks and fintech partners across the system to expand the reach of their corporate payments and to offer their business customers more access to more suppliers without the additional investments required to achieve scale.”

Connection to the Bottomline Paymode-X business payment network is now available. To learn more visit: https://www.bottomline.com/us/solutions/paymode-x/partner/network-as-service.

Money20/20, the world’s leading fintech show, and the place where money does business, announced the inaugural class of the Money20/20 Startup Network at its Las Vegas show, on Oct 23^rd. 

Money20/20 has always supported startups at the heart of the fintech community, but this is the first time Money20/20 has officially chosen a group of companies it believes will revolutionize the world of money. 

They may not be the most famous or most obvious. But Money20/20 believes that they’re ready to create new categories and fundamentally impact the wider world of fintech. 

Each member of the inaugural class has been evaluated across a number of key criteria, including: 

• Utility - They demonstrate an intuitive understanding of a problem not being solved
• Founder Market Fit - They are (or they have on staff) THE top expert in their chosen field and have demonstrated an ability to execute 
• Creative Destruction / Disruptive - They’re actively creating new categories or new category entry points
• Counterintuitive - And most importantly, they’re doing something counterintuitive - something outside the norm - and breaking boundaries as they do

“We are thrilled to announce seven startups with huge potential in gigantic markets founded by extraordinary founders,” said Zach Anderson Pettet, US Content Director at Money20/20. “Each one of these companies not only represents an important piece of the digital finance landscape, but a number of them will have reach beyond finance. Fintech companies don’t look how they did in years past - these seven are all poised to add real value in a sustainable manner that doesn’t only encompass burning huge VC dollars, but building real businesses.” 

The seven inaugural member of the Money20/20 Startup Network are:

Kamino – included for reimagining banking and corporate credit cards for small and mid-sized businesses. Growing companies face difficulties in financial organization, resulting in decentralized and disorganized information. Kamino automates and centralizes payments without complications.

“Kamino is pleased to be recognized by Money20/20 as one of the seven most exciting fintechs in the Americas, representing LatAm in their inaugural Startup Network cohort. This acknowledgment underscores our dedication to providing the premier Spend Management Platform for SMBs in the region,” said Gonzalo Parajo Navajas, Founder and CEO of Kamino. 

TodayPay – included for revolutionizing the way customers can receive refunds on their purchases. The company’s CEO, Jeremy Balkin, recently unveiled their coming out of stealth following two years of preparation. 

"This is the world’s most important fintech show. It is a true honor to present here on this stage. The speed of a payment can change someone's life," said Jeremy Balkin, Founder & CEO of TodayPay. "That's why I built TodayPay - to democratize consumer payment acceptance for everyone,everywhere." 

Themis – included for improving compliance and risk management tools for banks and fintechs. 

"We are honored and excited to be announced as part of the Money20/20 2023 Startup Network cohort . Themis is committed to accelerating partnerships and creating tools that make compliance and risk management easier and more collaborative for both banks and fintechs. We thank Money20/20 for this fantastic opportunity and for giving us an amazing platform to reach so many in the industry to help solve the real pain points of regulatory compliance," Neepa Patel, Founder, CEO, Themis.

Skipify – included for its game changing Digital Wallet connects merchants, shoppers and financial institutions in a previously unimaginable manner. 

“Money20/20 has been a spectacular catalyst for the entire Fintech ecosystem. As an event, it’s invaluable to attend. Seeing them now expand into additional products is so exciting," said Founder & CEO of Skipify, Ryth Martin. "We started Skipify to build a more open Digital Wallet to support and grow the success of the entire ecosystem. These same shared values are what makes Money20/20 such a great partner for us, and for so many others." 

Ansa – included for its payments platform that lowers payments costs while increasing transaction value for business. Their “wallet-as-a-service platform” embeds consumer balances that allows merchants to process small payments and offset high credit card fees on small transactions. 

“Money2020 has been a huge part of Ansa’s founding. In 2021, I’d just left my job to start a company and was hunting for a Co-Founder. The people I met here led me to my now Co-Founder and CTO, JT Cho. The following year, we were heads down, building in stealth, and the network we’d built through Money2020 helped us build. This year, we’re out of stealth, live with customers, and excited to share with everyone what we’ve been up to,” said Sophia Goldberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Ansa. 

TripleBlind – included for offering an unrivaled level of data privacy and security without hindering the ability to employ cutting edge AI strategies. Their technology instills clients with a level of confidence in their data security to better train and deploy AI models.

“"The financial industry is being transformed by AI. This will fuel $5T in value creation by 2030, but only if we create a responsible marketplace of AI models and data that ensures privacy and trust of all stakeholders. TripleBlind's mission is to unlock this opportunity with automatic end-to-end privacy.” said Prat Moghe, CEO.  

Hypercard – included for launching the first ever consumer credit card powered by employers. This revolutionary new card is transforming company financing by offering instant expense management, access to benefits and high perk adoption. 

"For over a year, our team has been quietly crafting the first consumer credit card powered by employers. The privilege to reveal our vision at Money20/20 was a business defining opportunity that gave us a stronger platform than traditional media to break the news on our fundraise, our burgeoning partnerships, and our impressive client traction.” said Mark Baghadjioan, Co-Founder and CEO of Hypercard. 

Bankjoy, a leading digital banking provider, today announced its partnership with Fraud.net, the first end-to-end fraud management solution specifically built for digital enterprises and fintechs globally. 

Through the partnership, Bankjoy will offer new real-time fraud prevention technology designed to help financial institutions combat fraud and keep account holders secure throughout the digital banking experience. With Fraud.net, banks and credit unions using Bankjoy’s end-to-end digital banking platform can detect and prevent fraud in real time with behavioral analytics, consortium data, customizable alerts and actions, and more. Together, these solutions enable banks and credit unions to proactively stop fraud, decrease risks, and exceed account holders’ expectations for a modern digital banking experience. 

Bankjoy’s real-time fraud prevention technology also features advanced authentication and fraud detection measures that flag brute force login attempts, as well as sign-ins from unknown devices, locations and IP addresses. With Bankjoy’s digital banking platform and its integrated fraud prevention technology, financial institutions can offer a frictionless online and mobile banking experience for their account holders while protecting their institution from the financial and reputational risk of fraud. Several of Bankjoy’s existing clients have already signed up to use its new real-time fraud prevention technology. 

“According to an analysis by McKinsey & Company, operating income for financial institutions has decreased by more than 10% since 2009 while regulatory fines have increased by nearly 45X. This means having strong security and compliance measures in place is more important than ever, which is why our partnership with Bankjoy is so valuable for the financial services industry,” said Whitney Anderson, founder and CEO of Fraud.net. “Together, we can empower banks and credit unions to deliver a superior digital experience while mitigating the risk of fraud and lost revenue.”

“Digital fraud is on the rise. Last year, digital fraud attempts in the U.S. rose 122%, according to TransUnion data and we expect this trend to continue as more consumers transact using digital channels, such as their mobile banking app,” said Michael Duncan, CEO of Bankjoy. “Preventing fraud in real time is crucial in today’s fast-paced, digital-first world. Not only are we helping our clients elevate the digital experience for their account holders, we’re also elevating their fraud prevention measures, keeping both the institution and their account holders secure.”

“Customer expectations are evolving more rapidly now than ever before. With so many banks still operating on legacy core systems, it’s hard for them to keep pace,” said Charbel Safadi, President, Transformation and Modernization at Zafin. “These new offerings will enable banks to undergo business transformation initiatives and leapfrog the competition all while beginning their core modernization journey.”  

DLocal Limited, the technology-first payments partner for global companies expanding into emerging markets, has partnered with ACE Money Transfer, a UK-based online international remittances service provider, to strengthen payout services across APAC and EMEA. 

EMEA countries recorded $79 billion in remittances in FY22, which is 19% higher than the preceding year (FY21). On the contrary, APAC countries observed a mere 0.7% increase in remittances, reaching $130 billion in FY22. Strategic collaborations between financial institutions like ACE Money Transfer and dLocal can foster significant growth in remittance inflows to these regions through streamlined, secure, fast, and convenient processes. 

Using ACE Money Transfer and dLocal, customers in the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland, can instantly transfer money to several corridors across APAC and EMEA through payment channels such as Bank Transfers and Wallet Payments. The new partnership furthers dLocal’s mission to build the best payment infrastructure in emerging markets, fostering fast, convenient, secure, and economical remittance solutions for expatriates. This is key to addressing digital divides in developing regions and supporting people at a local level. 

As trusted partners to expand financial services into frontier markets, dLocal and ACE Money Transfer are set to revolutionise faster, compliant, and efficient remittance capabilities for expatriates from the said countries. Both organisations see the regions in question as areas for growth due to the increased demand for international remittances. 

Agustin Cerisola, Head of Asia & Africa, Global Remittances at dLocal said: “We are passionate about improving payments at a local level, playing on regional nuance to ensure people are financially included, but also empowered, and benefit from technological developments in the payments space. Remittances can mean different things to each individual, for example, a lower income household may rely on remittances to finance the purchase of consumer goods, housing, education, and healthcare. For others, remittances may provide capital for entrepreneurial activities or cover business costs such as imports or debts. The key is that remittances and international payments need to be reliable and secure.” 

Rashid Ashraf, the CEO of ACE Money Transfer expressed: “It is important to have a like-minded partner when you move into new territories. We found dLocal’s approach aligned with ours and was invaluable when we explored new markets. ACE Money Transfer provides fast and secure money transfers to over 100 countries and moves quickly to address payment gaps globally, ensuring our customers can transfer money abroad without friction and delays. I look forward to seeing where the partnership with dLocal takes us next.” 

The groundbreaking partnership between dLocal and ACE Money Transfer marks a pivotal advancement in the financial technology sector, particularly concerning cross-border transactions. This alliance not only stands to bolster the economic links between APAC and EMEA and the diaspora communities in the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland, but it also promises a future where financial inclusivity is within reach for global citizens. By prioritising speed, security, and accessibility, the collaboration is setting a new standard for remittance services worldwide, ensuring that expatriates can support their families and contribute to their home economies with unprecedented ease and confidence. As you watch this partnership unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that dLocal and ACE Money Transfer are not just redefining the remittance landscape – they're fostering a more interconnected world. 

Reward Finance Group, which provides SMEs with tailored business finance loans and asset-based solutions of up to £5m, has secured an additional £50m to its credit line from the alternative investment manager, Foresight Group. The opportunity will enhance its lending capabilities, fostering further business growth.

This increase reflects Reward’s swift expansion - the lender currently supports over 500 SMEs from six regional offices and has recently surpassed a £200m loan book milestone for the first time. Furthermore, several senior-level appointments have been made to enhance its regional UK presence.

Nick Smith, group managing director for Reward Finance Group, said; “This opportunity supports not only our business but also our clients in a challenging industry landscape. It emerges as a genuine positive for SMEs, who often find it difficult to secure funding from high street banks, especially while still recovering in a post-COVID climate, hit by rising inflation, interest rates and corporation tax. The support Foresight has provided over the last six years has been pivotal to our growth ambitions. This latest £50 million increase, taking the total lending facility from Foresight to £180 million, further solidifies our shared confidence and vision for the business and fuels our aspirations to expand even further – in the next three years, we aim to surpass £350 million in our loan book.”

Amy Crofton, director at Foresight Group, commented; “We’re pleased to extend Reward’s credit line by an additional £50 million. The business has not only achieved 12 years of continuous growth but has also proven to be indispensable to numerous UK based SMEs.

“Reward’s responsible, common-sense approach to lending has been a cornerstone of its success to date and is integral to ensuring firms secure the working capital needed for growth and job creation. We’re delighted to support Reward in offering even greater speed and flexibility in providing funding solutions to firms, especially in an increasingly challenging business environment.”

David Harrop, group finance director at Reward, added; “The £50 million increase is not only a major development for the business, allowing us to further enhance our lending capabilities, but also a significant boost for SMEs needing to borrow amidst prevailing economic and political uncertainty. We’ve invested significant effort into regional expansion over the last two years, and the latest investment from Foresight is a recognition of our progress. In this period alone, we’ve transitioned from being a highly-recognised lender in Yorkshire and the North West, to financing the growth ambitions of SMEs across nearly all corners of the UK.”

Since its inception in 2011, Reward has supported over 2,000 businesses across the UK by providing over £1 billion of the working capital necessary to help SMEs elevate revenue, create jobs, innovate and navigate through difficult trading periods.

Foresight’s Private Credit strategy provides secured wholesale loan facilities to alternative lenders; designing bespoke facilities to enabling innovative finance businesses to scale and better serve its customers.

exactly., a leading payment service provider, has announced a new integration with Google Pay - allowing merchants to provide a simpler, safer payment journey for customers. 

The addition of this digital wallet will significantly improve the checkout experience for customers, offering faster speeds (with buyers taking advantage of saved card details) and increased biometric and transaction security - including face and fingerprint recognition. 

Transactions can be completed in a single touch or click, without manually entering card details.

The new partnership allows exactly. merchants to increase customer reach and reduce cart abandonment rates by improving merchant checkout conversions.

Elene Bazhenova, Business and Sales Operations Manager, exactly., says: “We are excited to collaborate with Google Pay to bring an enhanced level of convenience and simplicity to our users. 

“It has always been our belief that customer experience should be a number one priority, and this partnership provides our users with the combined best features of Google Pay and the exactly. payment platform. 

“For our merchants, more methods of payments leads to more customers, merchants can integrate their loyalty programs to further incentivise customers, and faster hassle-free checkouts through easily accessible devices leads to fewer abandoned carts. 

“We want our merchants to be where the customers are, and supporting in-app payments with this new integration allows us to be in the palm of the consumer’s hand. The partnership will also allow for increased security across all payments; with Google’s tokenization to protect sensitive card information, this limits the actual card data that is shared, therefore reducing data breach risks. 

“The partnership between Google and exactly. represents a significant step forward in simplifying the way consumers handle their finances, and proves exactly.’s commitment to providing innovative, user-centric solutions within the world of open banking.”