Finastra has announced BANK OF AFRICA, a pan-African financial group, has selected Conpend’s TRADE AI app from its open innovation platform, FusionFabric.cloud. The app extends the functionality of Finastra’s Fusion Trade Innovation technology and enables users to reduce document and compliance checking time. It digitizes trade finance processes, using optical character recognition (OCR), natural language processing (NLP) and progressive machine learning to reduce the risk and cost of trade finance operations.

“The solution will improve our trade finance operations by speeding up the approval of trade finance documents. We expect it will digitize manual, paper-based processes, reduce processing time by 30 per cent, and reduce trade finance risk levels by up to 80 per cent. Having access to third-party apps was a clear differentiator when looking at trade finance solutions,” said Leila Bahoum, Board member in charge of Trade Finance Operations from OGS Subsidiary of BANK OF AFRICA.

Conpend TRADE AI extracts unstructured data from scanned paper documents and can also process already digitized data. The data is then screened and analyzed, using rules and advanced analytics, to empower business users to make informed business decisions quickly and accurately. It is fully compliant with all major global regulations and automatically performs all necessary compliance checks for a trade transaction. This includes money laundering screening and handling alerts during the screening process, which dramatically reduces false positives and time spent on decision-making. The solution also enables vessel checking and voyage tracking to support goods in transit.

Marc Smith, Founder and Director, Conpend said, “We’re so pleased that BANK OF AFRICA has chosen to plug our innovative technology into its systems. This is one of the big benefits of us making our app available on Finastra’s FusionFabric.cloud. We’ve been able to build our solution out quickly on the platform and make it available to banks around the world in support of Finastra’s vision of openness and collaboration.”

Anastasia McAlpine, Principal Product Manager, Trade and Supply Chain Finance at Finastra said, “This is another great example of banks and fintechs collaborating to bring innovative technology to market fast. We are confident BANK OF AFRICA will realize great results with the Conpend Trade AI app and look forward to other banks tapping into this opportunity to further enhance the functionality of our Fusion Trade Innovation.”

For more information about Conpend’s TRADE AI app on FusionFabric.cloud visit: https://store.fusionfabric.cloud/details/tradeai/

Global technology provider Arrow Electronics has expanded its extensive portfolio of business solutions for the data centre by entering into a distribution agreement with NVIDIA, which enables Arrow to offer its customers NVIDIA networking solutions.

The agreement means that Arrow will be one of the key distributors in the UK with access to the entire NVIDIA solutions portfolio.

Arrow will distribute NVIDIA high-speed Ethernet and InfiniBand solutions, which increase data centre efficiency by providing high throughput and the lowest latency, delivering data faster. The new agreement will allow Arrow to provide its customers with broader offering and more choice.

Dan Waters, country manager of Arrow’s enterprise computing business in the UK said, “Modern workloads can put massive performance demands on the data centre, and NVIDIA networking products provide performance, speed, low latency, high efficiency and resilience. Our strength as an aggregator lies in providing our channel customers with unrivalled access to complementary, best-in-class technologies. NVIDIA has quite broad and well-established relationships with the largest industry vendors, all of whom also work with Arrow.”

Syd Virdi, senior director of EMEA Channel Sales at NVIDIA Networking, said, “Arrow’s experience and broad customer network enable NVIDIA solutions to reach a wider audience. NVIDIA InfiniBand and Ethernet networking for server and storage fabrics, Open Networking solutions for edge and cloud, and other accelerated networking solutions for AI and enterprise data analytics all offer customers the latest most advanced technology available in today’s market.”

Avelacom, the low latency connectivity, IT infrastructure and data solutions provider for global financial markets, today announced the acquisition of ITDN Ltd, an IT trading infrastructure specialist, headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The acquisition supports Avelacom’s expansion in Brazil, and further into the Mexican and South American markets, as a part of its strategy to develop a comprehensive and market leading low latency portfolio across emerging markets.

ITDN, founded in 2012, helps local financial services firms and vendors design, implement and operate their IT infrastructure, including support for large-scale fiber deployment projects in Brazil.

Avelacom has purchased a controlling stake in ITDN. ITDN will be rebranded Avelacom and operate as a part of the company’s global team, becoming the San Paulo office, alongside Avelacom’s existing offices in Raleigh, NC, London and Singapore.

Aleksey Larichev, CEO of Avelacom said: “We continue to invest for the long-term in low latency infrastructure across new and developing markets. We believe this is essential to facilitate algorithmic trading and to make markets more accessible for both international and local players. ITDN helped us deploy the lowest latency route between the Brazilian stock exchange, B3, and North American FX and derivatives markets when we entered Brazil in 2020. Now we are excited to work with ITDN as one team and provide our clients with deeper local knowledge and technical support capabilities. Also, with ITDN’s connections we plan to increase our market share with local financial services firms.”

“This is a great opportunity for us to grow and be a part of one of the most active and successful companies in the fintech landscape. Avelacom has an impressive footprint, with unmatched low latency routes across global exchanges, and some of the world’s largest banks and financial institutions are among its clients. By combining ITDN’s experience and Avelacom’s global reach and technical expertise and access to 80+ trading venues, both international and local market players will benefit,” added Marcos Guimaraes, CEO and founder of ITDN.

Temenos, the banking software company, today announced that Barko Financial Services (BFS), a leading microfinance institution in South Africa, has gone live on Temenos Software-as-a-Service to make it faster and easier for South Africans to access finance remotely during Covid-19. The Temenos solution combines Temenos Infinity digital banking platform and Temenos Transact next-generation core banking. BFS can now originate loans for customers via mobile, without them ever having to visit the branch, in just 4½ minutes.

Pre-pandemic, BFS issued around 1.5 million loans a year through its network of more than 190 branches to support everyday South Africans coping with financial hardship, often those on low incomes. With lockdown restrictions due to Covid-19, BFS needed a new way to help its customers access the finance they need.

Using Temenos Infinity, BFS was able to reimagine the customer experience, designing and building a new lending service within 12 weeks, completing all customer trials and tests, and launching a final product just three months later. BFS processes more than 125,000 loans per month and with Temenos, its customers can now apply securely via their mobile and receive loan funding almost instantly.

With its digital banking platform delivered by Temenos as a service, BFS can focus on its core business and devote capital and resources to better banking solutions. BFS is in process applying for a banking license and has ambitions to go beyond microfinance with a range of banking services aimed at the underserved and unbanked. With out-of-the-box banking solutions, Temenos SaaS provides the perfect launch pad for BFS to challenge the incumbent banks with new retail banking services that are fast, efficient, and competitive.  

Kobus de Wet, Chief Executive Officer, Barko Financial Services, said: "While the pandemic has increased our service demand, it has impacted our physical operations and customer access to our branches. With Temenos Infinity, we can offer a personalized and digital lending service that gives our customers instant access to the funds they need when they need them without visiting a branch. Our ambition is to provide more banking products. With Temenos SaaS, we will be able to launch new capabilities faster and provide innovative products which are simple to use and tailored to add value to our target customers."

Jean-Paul Mergeai, President - APAC and MEA, Temenos, commented: "Temenos is proud to partner with Barko Financial Services to make banking better for everyday South Africans. Our SaaS and cloud-native technology enable BFS to increase dramatically the speed, efficiency, and agility of its banking operations. This end-to-end platform modernization with Temenos will help BFS elevate customers' experience and grow its business sustainably. Temenos is the world number one banking software company. With a strong presence in South Africa, we have been able to ensure a smooth implementation as well as provide valued expertise to support BFS in their journey to expand their banking proposition."

Colt Technology Services has today announced an expansion of its VoiceLINE(v) service to Japan, making this offering now available in 14 countries globally.

Colt VoiceLINE(v) delivers direct ISDN to a customer’s TDM-based PBX alongside enhanced geographic coverage via Next Generation IP technology, utilising SIP Trunking to be delivered over a variety of IP-based access points. VoiceLINE(v) will replace Colt’s existing VoiceLINE ISDN, with customers now being able to continue to use their TDM or hybrid IP-TDM PBX.

For more than 20 years, Colt has offered high-quality voice services underpinned by the most comprehensive network, with its ISDN and SIP interfaced voice offering serving thousands of customers throughout Europe and Japan. With the launch of VoiceLINE (v) in Japan, customers can now benefit from traditional ISDN infrastructure with modern SIP trunking delivered over the Colt IQ Network - ensuring they are able to meet the challenging demands of the modern workplace.

Masato Hoshino, Colt Technology Services President and Head of Asia, says: “Last year, many companies around the world activated their business continuity plans, triggering dramatic growth in voice traffic. As new work styles were adopted, the demand for voice traffic among call centres, conference service providers and large enterprises continued to grow. We are proud to support our customers with market-leading voice services that can be delivered under any circumstances.

“We are excited to expand our VoiceLINE(v) into Japan, putting us in the best possible position to support our customers’ business objectives in Asia.”

While delivering ISDN services over SIP, Colt provides the opportunity to transition easily, from both a commercial and technical perspective, to SIP Trunking whenever enterprises are ready. Delivering a futureproofed VoIP-based ISDN telephony service, which offers more features than traditional TDM voice, allows enterprises to continue using their current PBX and telephone devices without having to invest in their own IP network. This gives enterprises flexibility in planning the evolution of their IP and voice infrastructure and prepare for a simple transition to cloud-based telephony or pure SIP Trunking.

In addition to Japan, Colt’s VoiceLINE(v) is  already available in 13 European countries. They are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. With this, Colt can offer similar services to global players across the world.

Colt’s VoiceLINE (v) became available in Japan from April 1st.

VCOIN, the first transferable digital currency designed for the metaverse and Xsolla, the video game commerce company that helps developers and publishers market, sell, connect and optimize their games globally, today announced a partnership that will support the metaverse for all gamers and creators by expanding the usability of VCOIN. VCOIN first launched in IMVU, the leading friend discovery metaverse and social app, in order to let users buy, gift, earn and convert earnings to real money for the real world. Both VCOIN and IMVU are owned and operated by Together Labs.

VCOIN and Xsolla reached an agreement to explore multiple product integrations in order to support and scale the metaverse for gamers and creators around the world.

“We know that Metaverse users and gamers play on many different platforms. With this announcement, our users will soon be able to earn VCOIN on the IMVU platform and directly use that to purchase other in-game credits through Xsolla’s vast commerce platform. This makes VCOIN one of the first digital assets to connect users’ experiences across the metaverse,” said Nancy Beaton, VP of Strategy of VCOIN.

“Xsolla aims to be wherever the gamers are, from mobile to PC to VR and now the metaverse. We want to provide our partners with the tools and services that help them scale and monetize their products worldwide,“ said Anton Zelenin, Head of Game Commerce at Xsolla. “We look forward to working with IMVU to advance the usability of VCOIN and exploring the integration of additional products to support players around the world.”

VCOIN, launched in January 2021, enables secure, global peer-to-peer transactions on IMVU's high-velocity economy which currently sees more than 27 million transactions and 14 billion Credits changing hands each month.  With the addition of VCOIN, users can now easily and instantly pay for goods and services on the platform -- no complicated crypto wallets, or even bank accounts required -- and then convert their earned VCOIN into cash at an established rate. 

The global trend toward metaverses sparked exponential growth, which was driven by the pandemic and the evolution of social media to fulfill the need for human connections online, and the desire for additional sources of income. However, this growth exposed the shortcomings of many digital platforms, which are limited to single-use virtual good economies, lack peer-to-peer service capabilities, and allow users to earn in-game credits without any way to convert earnings into fiat for real-world use. VCOIN solves these problems, unlocking the full potential of virtual economies and setting a new standard for the future of the metaverse, powered by easy, secure, and global peer-to-peer payments across the metaverse and into the real world. Additionally, partnering with Xsolla extends these capabilities to more users, allowing them to transact securely and build communities with gamers around the world.

VCOIN is an ERC-20 token, built on Ethereum, the most widely adopted blockchain technology,  that can be exchanged both inside the IMVU platform and for the first time, off of the platform. IMVU received no-action relief from the Staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). With the no-action letter, IMVU can sell VCOIN as a transferable non-security. It is currently available now on the IMVU desktop, mobile web, and web platforms. 

For more information about VCOIN and IMVU, please visit https://therealvcoin.com/. 

Horizon Software (Horizon), the leading provider of electronic trading and algorithmic technology, today announced that Korea Investment & Securities Asia Limited (KISA), one of the leading Korean securities brokerage houses in Hong Kong, has deployed Horizon’s Platform for ETF Market Making connecting to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK).

KISA first established a relationship with Horizon in 2019 to market make covered warrants on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange as part of its strategy to expand and upgrade its services across the APAC region. Horizon’s reputation in the region and experience with exchanges in Vietnam made it the perfect choice for KISA.

Due to the success of the relationship, the following year KISA enlisted Horizon Software for ETF market making in October 2020. After 5 months, the project has been completed and successfully went live in March 2021.

This collaboration is in line with the SEHK strategy to develop Hong Kong’s ETF market. The Asia-Pacific index fund market is forecasted to grow from $1.5trn to $5trn over the next five years and the ETF market is expected to grow in tandem, with Hong Kong ideally placed to benefit from this growth.

Jangwon Seo, Executive Director and Head of Global Derivatives at KISA, says: “We are delighted to have successfully implemented Horizon ETF Market Making, which offers a highly efficient, scalable solution to help drive connectivity to SEHK. To reach our ambitions, we need a flexible end-to-end market-making platform. We appreciate Horizon’s professional team and its supports, and we trust the strength of Horizon’s platform particularly its business-coverage, stability, flexibility, and scalability. The successful go-live of our new ETF Market Making platform will support our business growth in ETFs.”

Emmanuel Faure, Head of APAC Sales at Horizon Software, added: “We are honored to support KISA’s development in APAC, especially for the market making in Hong Kong. Our software has been the top choice for ETF market making for many years thanks to our long expertise, reliability, complete configuration as well as our ability to offer architecture with a managed service and co-location option. This marks another big step in our journey to transform and digitalize businesses by bringing more innovative services for all our customers across regions. We will continue to develop the next generation of sophisticated platforms to provide our clients a single cross-asset, algo-powered platform for both principal and agency trading.”