As part of its Shop Owners Benefit Program, PayNearby - India’s leading branchless banking and digital payments network - has launched a unique insurance solution ‘Poorna Suraksha’ for its retail community. In a first of its kind initiative, this exclusive and holistic insurance solution will ensure the safety and security of PayNearby’s 15+ lakh retail partners across 17,500+ PIN codes. This pocket-friendly, 3-in-1 offering is designed in partnership with IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited (IndiaFirst Life) to safeguard PayNearby’s retailers during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond to assure they have access to a safety net anytime, anywhere. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in lives and livelihoods of many. While the second wave has gripped the country, PayNearby’s Digital Pradhans have been aiding their communities as frontline Corona warriors ensuring relief disbursements reach the hands of the intended. To help the nation combat this pandemic, they have been at the forefront and have been serving the citizens tirelessly with essential financial and digital services. Today, not only are they doubling up to create vaccination awareness in their local communities but are also handholding people through the registration process. 

PayNearby is determined to ensure that the Digital Pradhans grow and prosper and are protected from future obscurities. Echoing this sentiment is PayNearby’s innovative and one-of-its-kind holistic solution - Poorna Suraksha insurance. It provides coverage across all aspects of insurance - Life, Health & Disability at an affordable premium. Ensuring ‘complete protection’, this cost-effective policy can be availed by retailers at a premium of just ₹3 per day, and an enrollment fee of ₹111.   

Available exclusively for PayNearby retailers, Poorna Suraksha offers a life cover of ₹2 lakhs, disability cover of ₹1 lakh and hospital cash of ₹15,000. There are no waiting periods involved for life insurance and hospitalization due to accident. Additionally, to combat the mayhem of the pandemic, the COVID-19 hospitalisation cover starts after the 15^th day of enrollment.  

Speaking on the development, Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby said, “Our Digital Pradhans have shown great resilience and a spirit of selfless service throughout the pandemic and provided uninterrupted service to ensure citizens had access to essential financial resources to fight the deadly virus. To guarantee their safety and to protect them from future ambiguities, we are elated to partner with IndiaFirst Life Insurance, to offer Poorna Suraksha. This offering cements PayNearby’s commitment to providing its Digital Pradhans with innovative and need-based solutions for a tension-free today and a better tomorrow. Since the entire journey is digital, the processing happens in a couple of minutes with immediate issuance of the cover, protecting our retailers instantly."

Commenting on the partnership, Rushabh Gandhi, Deputy CEO, IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited said, “With an endeavor to offer “Insurance to All”, IndiaFirst Life is delighted to associate with PayNearby to secure its Digital Pradhans (retailers). This association with PayNearby further strengthens our strategic alliances foray wherein we embed bite-sized insurance with the core proposition of our alliance partners.” 

Anand Kumar Bajaj further added, “It has always been our priority to empower our retailers and now we are adding an umbrella of protection to it, too. As the name suggests, Poorna Suraksha will provide complete protection against expenses related to all kinds of life exigencies and give peace of mind to our retailers and their dear ones. Our retailers are indispensable to us, and we recognise their determination that has made our work a success. We would like to stand tall by our retailers in times of both illness and wellness, equally to fulfill our promise of Zidd Aapki Suraksha Ki and Zidd Aage Badhne Ki.” 

Chetwood Financial (“Chetwood”) announced today the appointment of Simon Allsop as Chief Financial Officer. Simon who will be based in Wrexham, joins from OneSavings Bank where he was Group Director of Capital Markets. Prior to this he held senior positions at Fitch Ratings and Charter Court Financial Services, where he was a key member of the management team that led the company through its 2017 IPO and merger with OneSavings Bank in 2019.

Andy Mielczarek, CEO of Chetwood said, “We are delighted to welcome Simon to the Chetwood team. Simon’s extensive knowledge of the financial services industry is going to be invaluable as we continue to grow the business in new high-priority markets and develop digital products that support our mission of making people financially better off.”

Simon Allsop said, “I am excited to be joining Chetwood for the next phase of the company’s journey, bringing innovative financial products to the thousands of individuals who are currently underserved by the banking system. I look forward to supporting Andy and the Chetwood team to achieve this goal.”

·       Challenger digital bank goes live on The Temenos Banking Cloud, creating a unique digital service that simplifies banking, rewards customers and helps them achieve their financial goals

·       Successful launch of new digital bank paves the way for a transition to The Temenos Banking Cloud solution for all retail brands under the Bank of Queensland umbrella

Temenos, the banking software company, announced that Virgin Money Australia is live on The Temenos Banking Cloud, enabling the digital bank to innovate fast and differentiate with an ecosystem of partners to create a unique digital service that simplifies banking, rewards customers and helps them achieve their financial goals.

As part of Bank of Queensland (BOQ), the successful launch of Virgin Money on The Temenos Banking Cloud paves the way for other retail brands under the BOQ Group umbrella to transition to Temenos’ cloud-based core banking platform. BOQ’s stated long-term goal is to leverage the Temenos platform to achieve its overall digital transformation. With Virgin Money, BOQ and ME Bank[1] all operating in the cloud on a shared data architecture, the Group can accelerate innovation for its customers.

The Temenos Banking Cloud brings the unmatched breadth of Temenos front-to-back banking services, an innovation sandbox, and the most complete fintech Marketplace, powered by an Explainable AI-enabled engine - all through an easy-to-access, self-service portal.

Virgin Money has ambitions to disrupt the Australian banking market with a new kind of digital bank for millennials, one that embraces simplicity and rejects financial complexity. With Temenos, Virgin Money has created a frictionless and fully integrated digital banking experience, bringing together credit cards, transaction and savings accounts, plus a loyalty program and personal financial management tools in a single, native mobile app. Customers can create a new account in minutes and start saving or spending immediately via the app.

The Temenos Banking Cloud is a SaaS banking solution that gives Virgin Money Australia total control to deploy banking services that are easy to consume, configure and integrate with external applications. Using open APIs, the bank can also collaborate and extend its banking services with other fintechs and developers.

Today, the SaaS banking solution combines the Temenos Infinity customer onboarding banking service and the Temenos Transact saving accounts banking service. Partner applications for credit card management, payments and its innovative loyalty and rewards program are all connected via an API framework and real-time event architecture.

With a digital banking platform and integrated partner ecosystem running in the cloud and delivered as SaaS, Virgin Money Australia can launch products much faster and scale based on customer demand. The bank can also test and iterate products in rapid innovation cycles to deliver experiences that truly delight its customers.

The next phase of the digital bank is underway, which includes new products such as home loans and new deposit options.

Max Chuard, CEO, Temenos, said: “We are proud to partner with Virgin Money Australia to power its ground-breaking digital bank. With The Temenos Banking Cloud, we are putting banks in control of their business models and innovation cycles, giving them the agility and speed to build great customer products and profitable business. It is incredible what Virgin Money Australia has achieved in such a short timeframe. The pace of innovation reflects the passion and commitment of the Virgin Money team and shows what is possible with an agile cloud-based solution. We look forward to building on this success to support the digital bank in its continued evolution and with Bank of Queensland as it seeks to leverage The Temenos Banking Cloud across its retail brands.”

Greg Boyle, CEO, Virgin Money Australia, said: “With Temenos, we aim to set the new standard for Australian banking-customer relationships. The Temenos Banking cloud makes it easier to integrate with third parties and we have an agile platform that easily scales up or down depending on business demands. With all the banking technology we need at our fingertips and all managed in the cloud by Temenos, we can focus our energy on what matters most - delivering the amazing digital banking experience our customers will love.” 

• 09.06.2021 -- 09:41 am

Unlike traditional Banks, Chetwood Financial is not looking to build a customer base and then cross-sell to them. Instead, focus on distinct customer segments that are underserved by the market, creating innovative products to meet their needs. Chetwood Financial does this through different brands, not one, because what works for one customer isn’t necessarily right for all customers. Chetwood Financial also does this for other industries and companies too, offering them white-labelled products with no upfront investment. Chetwood Financial's business model is focused on keeping costs low, with state-of-the-art, cloud-based technology, and digital distribution with partners such as ClearScore and MoneySuperMarket.

Helping banks, financial institutions and non-bank finance companies (NBFCs) to better assess micro, small and medium enterprise (MSMEs) for credit solutions, Mswipe announced an industry first hybrid credit score in partnership with Equifax.

The score adds a quintessential layer of credible alternative data - transaction variables, merchants customer profile, loyalty base and other payment related parameters in addition to traditionally available demographic data and credit bureau rating.

The new tool will make assessment of MSME creditworthiness easier and provide the opportunity to differentiate risks thereby opening possibilities of dynamic pricing of credit solutions.

In addition to making it easier for MSMEs to avail credit with the new score, Mswipe is also providing retailers with the most affordable loan repayment facility through daily settlements on POS loans.

MSMEs, which comprise 95 per cent of businesses in India, typically face challenges in availing credit from traditional lenders. Lack of regular banking habits, financial and income statements of MSMEs limit banks and NBFCs in their credit testing ability to provide credit lines or loans as they continue to rely heavily on demographic data or bureau footprint for decision making process.

Amit Mande, Head – Lending Business, Mswipe said, “We have created an extremely powerful tool to differentiate risk and not only expedite decision making for banks and NBFCs but also offer risk based pricing for credit solutions. The credit score enhances Mswipe’s ability to allow our  lending partners to extend credit products like loans, credit lines, loans against POS to MSMEs in a quick and affordable manner.”

Equifax has strengthened the credit score by back testing  merchants’ credit behaviour in the past and identifying different risk variables, basis transaction history and merchant credit behaviour.

Nipa Modi, Country Head, Fintech, Insurance & WFS, Equifax said, “Over the years, Equifax, as the leading credit bureau in the country, has worked with the Indian financial services industry to help maintain highest levels of underwriting standards. Now, with its partnership with Mswipe, Equifax brings a unique blend of differentiated data and analytics thereby assisting MSME lenders and Fintechs navigate through crests and troughs of the lending cycle, further promoting responsible lending in these times. Equifax will facilitate lending of business loans to merchants backed by a statistical scoring mechanism using Mswipe POS data and merging it with the bureau performance data.”

The Mswipe credit score will be available for industry partners to offer credit solutions to MSMEs who have been hit badly owing to continued lockdowns amid the second wave of COVID-19.

Leading anti-money laundering specialist SmartSearch has warned many businesses may be at risk of being in breach of GDPR rules, due to a lack of secure data hosting.

The end of May marked the third anniversary of GDPR becoming law in the UK, yet according to the RegTech specialist, regulated businesses in the housing chain risk non-compliance if they rely on manual customer records.

John Dobson, CEO at West Yorkshire-based SmartSearch said that even three years after the law was introduced, a lot of firms do not have procedures in place to protect customer details, which has been exacerbated with the disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

In response to the concern, SmartSearch has enhanced its data hosting capability which updates customer details automatically when something changes, both increasing due diligence and data security.

Dobson adds: “Customer data hosting is something that can be overlooked, or businesses think the processes they have in place are good enough. But the fact is, even three years after the introduction of GDPR, a lot of firms still have manual records in the office, which poses a genuine GDPR risk.

“If you have a digital platform in place to carry out ID verification for AML purposes when onboarding new customers, it’s crucial that the data is hosted so that it updates automatically. And if there is a knock on the door from the auditor, a fully hosted system will make it quick and easy to pull a report which has everything on it necessary for compliance.

“Once the customer inputs their client data, they don’t need to do anything with it from an AML perspective, which enables them to forget about it and get on with the job of running their business.”

Qumulo, the breakthrough leader in radically simplifying enterprise file data management across hybrid cloud environments, today announced the expansion of its executive team through the appointment of Jonathan Maltos as Vice President of People, effective immediately. In this role, Maltos is responsible for expanding global hiring and spearheading employee engagement and development initiatives at Qumulo, and will play a key role in accelerating the company’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives (DE&I).

Maltos brings more than 20 years of human resources leadership experience with talent acquisition, learning and development, retention, employee relations, and more. He joins Qumulo from gaming company, Big Fish Games, where he served as the Vice President of HR and led the company’s people operations through several business transformations and acquisitions. Jonathan has also held numerous HR leadership and consulting roles at distinguished corporations such as Aon Hewitt, Darigold and Washington Mutual Bank.

“Jonathan’s wealth of employee development experience will be a key addition to our global leadership team,” said Bill Richter, CEO of Qumulo. “His passion for building creative, culture-driven and diverse teams and scaling globally make him a natural fit to scale Qumulo in service of our customers. With his track record of empowering and developing people, I know he will make a great impact here.” 

“I look forward to building upon the incredible culture and people team that already exist within Qumulo,” said Maltos. “Qumulons are passionate – they like rolling up their sleeves to build a great company, a great culture and a great product. My interest in joining the team was immediate because these are things I’m also very passionate about. I’m thrilled to start my next chapter at such a mission-driven company.” 

Maltos holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Political Science from the University of Washington. 

Clearwater Analytics, a global SaaS solutions provider, announced today that it was named Best Client Reporting Solution in the 2021 FTF News Technology Innovation Awards. According to FTF News, the award recognizes solutions that have advanced the complex process of client reporting with customization, look and feel, automation, and data quality. 

Clearwater is the premier solution for client reporting for investment management firms. Clearwater provides a high-quality digital experience that enables investment managers to report on client portfolio performance with an intuitive interface featuring clean, accurate, and timely investment data.  

“At Clearwater, we are highly focused on helping investment managers tell their story,” said Subi Sethi, Chief Client Officer at Clearwater Analytics. “Investors have greater expectations and are more sophisticated than ever before, with increasingly complex asset allocations and a hyper focus on knowing more about their portfolios. Consequently, we have seen our investment manager clients successfully increase AUM and hone their investment strategies with Clearwater’s reporting tools. We are honored to be recognized by the FTF News Technology Innovation Awards.” 

Clearwater provides flexible solutions for client reporting with an expanding number of tools devoted to performance, attribution, composites, projections, compliance, billing, and more. Using automated reporting tools, investment managers and their clients create, customize, and share easy-to-read reports to transform their data and go beyond holdings reports and simple portfolio summaries. Users can also create customized, professional-quality reporting packages using Clearwater’s Enhanced Statements tool. 

“As we celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the FTF Awards and the 15th Anniversary of FTF, it has proven to be one of the most competitive to date. Not only did we get more than 220 nominations, but we also had a staggering number of voters from the industry — 20,000+,” said Maureen Lowe, founder and president of FTF and FTF News. “Congratulations to all of the nominees and especially to the winners who continued to innovate, stay connected and work so incredibly hard to keep their clients moving forward and adapt during not only very challenging period professionally, but personally. We are continually impressed with the dedication of so many in a highly competitive and rapidly-changing industry. And many thanks to our clients who have worked with us over the past 15 years and helped shape FTF today. We hope everyone stays in good health and we look forward to a joyous reunion when we can safely meet again in person.”   

Slovenia-based SKB banka (SKB) has today announced its partnership with Engagement Banking technology provider, Backbase, to accelerate its digital transformation and ensure a seamless banking experience for all new and existing customers. The partnership will see SKB adopting Backbase’s Engagement Banking Platform, enabling it to provide digital banking and digital sales solutions to its retail, SME and corporate banking customers, enabling frictionless self-service and digital onboarding capabilities.

As a member of the OTP Group (OTP), a Hungarian-based banking group providing services across Central and Eastern Europe, SKB will be the first of many collaborations between Backbase and other members of OTP – with plans to expand across eight countries. This partnership will lay the foundations for a single, unified Engagement Banking Platform that will support the harmonization of multi-channel architecture across OTP’s various subsidiaries in Central and Eastern Europe. Deployment across further banks within the group will enable accelerated time to market for new digital solutions, as well as a lower cost of technology ownership. All while operating on a secure, efficient, and sustainable platform that is agile and scalable.

Backbase’s Engagement Banking platform will further enable SKB to unify its online and mobile experience onto a single platform, creating a frictionless and highly personalized experience for its customers, while simultaneously empowering its employees to deliver improved service through increased efficiency, transparency and connectivity.

In addition, the partnership will enable SKB to realize its goal of achieving greater control over the development, optimization and customization of its entire digital banking offering, helping it to provide an enhanced end-to-end journey for its customers, and allowing it to orchestrate every step of the customer lifecycle across all touchpoints – from seamless, instantaneous online onboarding to enhanced customer service and personalized offers.

Anita Stojčevska, Chief Executive Officer at SKB banka comments: “We were looking to partner with a trendsetter in the digital banking world to help us achieve our goal of providing the best digital banking experience in the market – and Backbase was the natural fit. With Backbase as our partner, we will be able to provide the solutions our customers expect and continuously meet their needs as they grow. We are confident that this is the beginning of a longstanding relationship with Backbase, and that the partnership will be crucial to not only our evolution and expansion, but also that of many other OTP Group member banks.” 

Matthijs Eijpe, Regional Vice President EMEA at Backbase: “SKB banka consistently strives to maintain its best-in-class status, as evidenced by repeated external recognition of its outstanding business results. We are delighted that SKB selected Backbase as its partner to support the seamless growth of its digital banking solutions. We look forward to supporting not only SKB, but also the wider OTP Group, to help them to continue to provide the outstanding banking services that customers have come to expect”.

Lumi, the global specialist in delivering compliant shareholder and member Annual General Meetings, today announces a key new appointment to the senior team following an unprecedented period of growth. 

Lumi works with over 5,000 businesses around the world and all the FTSE100, including BP, HSBC, EasyJet, IBM and Marks and Spencer, to deliver member and shareholder events with patented virtual AGM technology. The Lumi service delivers authenticated attendance, live polling and managed Q&A sessions for virtual and in-person AGMs, enabling organisations to run compliant meetings that improve transparency and increase engagement. Lumi supports the full gamut of shareholder and member events, including investor days and results presentations.  

The first half of 2021 has been the busiest ever period for Lumi, with its team hosting over 2,600 virtual or hybrid meetings globally for more than 128,000 stakeholders, more than double the number of events and attendees from the same period in 2020.  

This follows the widespread shift from the world’s largest companies to run virtual meetings and AGM events online due to the pandemic. This change, as well as a growing focus from businesses on reducing their carbon footprint, means many organisations are rethinking the format of AGM and member meetings and shifting to virtual events.  

Marc Harper joins the company’s UK head office as CTO to develop further technology innovations for Lumi’s customers, expanding Lumi’s offering beyond AGM and member meetings into the broader investor relations landscape. Marc brings extensive experience leading technology strategy and programmes for Motorola and The White Company, delivering new business-enabling technology and security solutions.   

Richard Taylor, CEO of Lumi, comments: “I’m thrilled to be announcing our new CTO at such an exciting time for the business. The role of shareholder and member meetings is more important than ever, and as a business we are investing heavily in our service. As the leader in the market, it’s a perfect time for Lumi to capitalise on the increased digitisation of compliance meetings. 

“We are going through a time of exponential growth, and the shift to virtual and hybrid meetings shows no sign of slowing. With Marc bolstering the team, our focus will be on positioning Lumi as an integral part of any large company’s operations, as well as continuing to be the standard for compliance meetings.” 

Marc Harper, CTO Lumi, comments: “I am delighted to be joining Lumi at a period of unprecedented growth as companies and governments alike embrace digital solutions as a new way of conducting critical and compliance-driven meetings. This shift creates fantastic opportunities for the business - gone are the days where executives would fly across the world for meetings, and the Lumi digital solutions can offer a service to achieve this in an engaging way, whilst helping companies to reduce their carbon footprint. 

“The company demonstrates passion, commitment and desire to deliver an outstanding service for clients, always prioritising attention to detail.”