Pires Investments plc (AIM: PIRI), the investment company focused on next generation technology, is pleased to provide an update on its investment in Pluto Digital Assets plc ("Pluto"), a technology company that is operating in the exciting digital assets sector.

Since Pluto's recent equity funding, which raised in excess of £20 million, the company continues to make excellent progress. It is now involved with a further nine digital asset projects and is also in discussions with several other early-stage decentralised technology projects; some of which the company expects to be signed in the coming weeks.

In particular, Pluto recently participated in the latest FTX (a cryptocurrency exchange) project, Oxygen Protocol ("OXY"), a decentralised finance ("DeFi") Prime Brokerage Protocol. The new OXY token created as part of this project has recently successfully listed. Pluto holds 2,000,000 OXY tokens, acquired at a price of US$0.10 per token.  Currently, OXY tokens are trading at around US$3 per token. 

In addition, YOP, one of Pluto's other projects, has announced the addition of non-fungible tokens ("NFTs") to its launchpad aggregator.  This will also allow YOP holders to gain access to new token projects.  Furthermore, YOP NFTs can now be purchased on the secondary market or farmed by staking YOP tokens.  This demonstrates the continuing innovation of decentralised technology and new ways of using digital assets. 

As announced on 9 March 2021, Pires holds 32,518,876 shares in Pluto which, prior to Argo Blockchain plc's further investment of circa £7 million, represented a circa 6.4% shareholding in Pluto. In addition, Pires has warrants over 24 million new ordinary shares in Pluto.

Peter Redmond, Chairman of Pires, commented:

"We are very pleased to note Pluto's progress following its equity fundraise earlier this month. Pluto is extremely well-positioned to capture early-stage opportunities within the decentralised technology sector, which is growing rapidly."

"We look forward to updating the market on Pluto's growth and the developments relating to its pipeline of projects in due course."

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) has announced that it has appointed Vincent Georgel-O’Reilly as regional segment head for alternatives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). 

In this new role, O’Reilly covers hedge funds and private markets and is responsible for advancing the investment services strategic direction, product structuring, sales and operations in EMEA. He reports to Paul Fleming, global head of alternatives and Joerg Ambrosius, chief executive officer of EMEA.

State Street has a strong history of innovation in the alternatives industry and is committed to supporting alternatives clients with best-in-class expertise, processes and technology. O’Reilly will work closely with Fleming and Ambrosius, to ensure strategies are well-coordinated at a global level, while also tailored to the local market in EMEA to meet clients’ needs and bring market-leading solutions to clients.

“Vincent is an excellent leader who has a deep understanding of the market and our business, and brings with him an impressive track record of delivering results across various asset classes,” said Fleming. “He is strongly positioned to lead our alternatives business in EMEA, and work together with clients to be a true value-added partner as they look to expand into new markets, asset types and attract different investors.”

During his 14 years at State Street, O’Reilly has held senior positions including global head of the financial institutions group, global head of strategic initiatives, chief operations officer for the EMEA sales team and international head of the mergers and acquisitions group. He has been the driving force for several key initiatives across the business including building strategic vision, securing external growth and driving new revenue. Prior to joining State Street, he held positions at Aéroport de Paris Management, Rothschild Nomura JV and AXA IM.

Payvision, global omnichannel payment specialist, reports that by 2022 more than one billion people will use Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.

Contactless payments are becoming a necessity, both for customers and businesses. Every week 11% of online shoppers worldwide buy via smartphone, and 34% of them claim making this their primary payment method. In its report commissioned by Payvision, Kaleido Intelligence foresees that 50% of the wearable devices will include a payment functionality.

“Contactless payments reign supreme in a world where strict health regulations call for people to avoid physical interaction. It is certain that people who have discovered the benefits of convenient, contactless online shopping will want to continue enjoying them. More businesses, if not all, will need to allow online payments to keep up with this demand.” says Ellerd Liem, Director POS at Payvision.

As the public is discouraged from using cash, m-commerce and mobile payments are in fact the best solution throughout COVID-19 and beyond. They guarantee a safe, contactless option that meets the needs of both businesses - which are increasingly mobile based, and their customers. As Visa observed in April 2020, cardholders touched a checkout terminal 50% less than usual.

The overall impact of this drove the total m-commerce spend for digital services and physical goods onto an upward trajectory that will reach USD3.16 trillion in 2021 and USD3.79 trillion by 2022.

Ellerd Liem of Payvision explains: “Now that people have discovered the benefits and convenience of online shopping, they’ll continue relying on this method. To beat out the competition and keep up with the innovation, businesses must prioritize an omnichannel strategy, that brings faster processes, personalized service, and 24/7 support.”

To read more on the rise of online shopping and contactless payments, download the Payvision report at: https://www.payvision.com/payment-insights/retail/mobile-payments-report

Zopa has today announced that it has raised an additional £20m from existing investors. This represents a significant vote of confidence following the initial success of its bank launch and growth of its latest products. 

Only nine months on from gaining its full bank licence, neobank Zopa has successfully launched Fixed Term Savings accounts and an innovative credit card to UK consumers. These products are in addition to its award-winning personal loans and pioneering auto finance solution.  

The digital bank has already attracted over £250m in deposits and become a top 10 credit card issuer in the UK in terms of new customers originated. Alongside the continued growth of its personal loans business, the launches put Zopa in a uniquely strong financial position. Zopa has seen annualised revenue per customer almost doubling across the period since launch. Unique among digital neo banks, Zopa’s focus and proven capabilities in lending provide a clear path to profitability.  

The funds will be used to further fuel Zopa’s growth at a time when the company believes there is even more demand for its products. As a result of Coronavirus and the accompanying periods of lockdown, customer’s needs and behaviors have changed. However, Zopa has seen a sustained need for access to credit as people look to carry out home renovation, buy cars and revive postponed wedding plans. And even more positively, the credit quality of these loans has been better than expectations. Similarly, many people have managed to accrue savings during the pandemic due to decreased opportunities for discretionary spending – and are now looking for competitive rates on their savings – which Zopa’s fixed term savings product provides. 

Jaidev Janardana, Zopa’s CEO said: “Less than a year since launching our bank, we have exceeded our plan for growth, both in terms of customers and balance sheet. This capital injection will enable us to continue on this accelerated path. Our strong entry to the UK savings and credit card markets shows the organic appeal of our products and we are happy to have investors who share our excitement at the opportunity to serve more customers across more product categories.” 

To date, Zopa has lent out over £5bn to low-risk UK customers via its unsecured loans, credit cards and car finance products.  
The round was led by IAG Silverstripe, with participation from a number of investors including Augmentum, Waterfall managed Alternative Credit Investments and Venture Founders.

At least 13.9 million Canadians could be at risk of being left vulnerable in society due to an inability to use digital payment methods, despite a drop in the use of cash, new data shows.

Analysis has revealed that if this reduced access to cash continues, 13.9 million vulnerable Canadians would suffer due to their dependence on physical payment methods - including 6.7 million people suffering with mental illness that may restrict their day-to-day activities. 

Global Payment Trends collates official data from payment reports and demographic statistics to reveal the potential societal repercussions of digital exclusivity, whereby coins, dollar bills and checks are replaced by eWallets, credit transfers and debit cards. 

Data reveals that cash use fell by 21.9% across North America as a percentage of point-of-sale (POS) transactions on top of the online decline, while mobile wallets gained substantial popularity at the end of 2020 as a preferred contactless payment method.

A noticeable decline in cash use around the world appears to have been accelerated during the pandemic, as the latest data reveals cash usage as payment for online orders has dropped by 75% over the past year and now accounts for less than 1% of transactions. 

This paired with the World Health Organization’s earlier concerns that the virus could be transmitted via banknotes could leave millions of people without vital access to cash.

Vulnerable members of Canadian society

Among those who may struggle to make payments in a cashless society are the 6.7 million Canadians who are living with a mental illness that may impair their ability to manage or monitor their money, as outlined by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. 

It’s never been more important for policymakers to ensure adequate provisions are in place to support vulnerable people - especially given that a recent Statistics Canada survey found that Canadians aged 15-24 had seen a 20% decrease in their mental health quality during the pandemic - despite previously being the least likely to experience mental health issues.

Helen Undy, Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Institute, said: "When you’re struggling with your mental health it can be much harder to stay in work or manage your spending, while being in debt can cause huge stress and anxiety – so the two issues feed off each other, creating a vicious cycle which can destroy lives.

“Ensuring that money advice is routinely offered to people using mental health services would increase recovery rates, as well as improving the financial wellbeing of the millions of people currently dealing with this terrifying combination of problems."

To find out more about the impacts of digital exclusion in the Global Payment Trends study, visit: https://a2zcasinos.org/global-payment-trends/ 

BTON Financial, the independent, broker-neutral dealing desk technology for investment managers, has today announced the appointment of electronic trading expert, Ray Tierney, as Non-Executive Director. Ray will play a key role in shaping the direction of the company and expanding BTON Financial’s U.S. footprint and plans to bring its technology and data-driven dealing desk solution to the global investment management community en masse.

Investment managers are increasingly looking to electronification and workflow automation to generate returns for end investors, while meeting increasing regulatory obligations and dealing with profit margin compression. By using BTON Financial’s independent, broker-neutral insourced dealing desk technology, investment managers are able to focus on identifying alpha generating trading opportunities through automated workflow processes and streamlined operations that vastly improve execution outcomes.

Ray joins BTON having held a variety of leadership roles in the financial markets industry including Global CEO of Trading Solutions at Bloomberg LLP where he oversaw 600+ employees across 3 business units and all aspects of the firm's OMS business, including product innovation, sales and strategy. Prior to Bloomberg Ray served as Global Head of Trading and Execution for Morgan Stanley Investment Management. 

Commenting on the announcement, Ray Tierney, said: “I am looking forward to working with BTON Financial’s team as it pursues its expansion plans in the U.S. The industry is evolving rapidly and is now ready for cutting edge data-driven technology to both reduce friction in the trading process and retain alpha. Cost pressures are at an all-time high and asset managers are ready to implement and adopt innovative financial solutions such as ours. BTON Financial makes it straightforward for investment managers to automate workflows and connect to all brokers through its proprietary Smart Broker Router, which is driven by machine learning, data and analysis to both provide and evidence best execution.”

Dan Shepherd, CEO & co-Founder said: “We are delighted to be joined by Ray in an advisory capacity. He brings tremendous expertise and specific industry knowledge to help us grow our business. Ray’s pedigree as an industry leader, driving product innovation, sales and strategy within electronic trading capabilities will be invaluable as we scale up and expand our footprint into North America to meet the considerable industry demand. We have made a number of strategic hires over the past months as the investment management industry is waking up to the potential that our technology can offer to automate workflows and evidence best execution to really add a great deal of value to the trading function at asset managers.”

BTON Financial is well positioned to help investment managers digitise, its smart broker router® is open source, cloud based and delivered as SaaS, making it easy to integrate into existing technology stacks and workflows. 

EBANX, a fintech unicorn company specialized in payments for Latin America, has started its expansion throughout Central America, launching operations in Costa Rica and going live in El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic by the first half of 2021. The company is also growing its reach in South America, by adding operations in Paraguay. 

In this movement, EBANX reaches 15 countries in Latin America, in a push to expand its business throughout the region, one of the fastest-growing digital commerce markets in the world.

"We are very excited to start our expansion in Central America, a region that is growing quickly in terms of e-commerce and digitization, and which has a great unknown potential for global companies," says André Boaventura, partner and CMO at EBANX. "The arrival of EBANX in the region will not only allow these companies to expand their addressable market, but will also have a positive impact by expanding this population's access to digital products and services."

At the same time, the launch of EBANX's operations in Paraguay strengthens the company's presence in South America, where it already reaches a market of over 500 million people. "More and more, EBANX is helping global companies to seize Latin America's full potential," adds Boaventura.

Central America in the spotlight

EBANX started to offer its payments solutions outside Brazil, its home country, back in 2015, with the launch of operations in Mexico and Peru. Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia and Uruguay came within the following years. With the expansion throughout Central America, the company adds an approximate USD 12 billion e-commerce market to its operations. 

Costa Rica, the first EBANX's market in Central America, has led the region's e-commerce over the last few years. The country has over 80% of internet penetration, and a high level of educational attainment and financial inclusion. Approximately 70% of its population is banked, according to World Bank data, and 27% are online consumers, which makes Costa Rica a go-to market in the region. 

Panama is another high spot in the region: it has the highest GDP per capita in Central America and one of its largest e-commerce markets, of around USD 700 million (according to Visa). However, only 10% of the population has ever made an online purchase, as stated by a World Bank report.

El Salvador also has a lot of room to grow when it comes to e-commerce: 72% of the population has access to the internet via smartphones (data from GSMA Intelligence), but only 6% of the adults make online purchases, according to the World Bank. Salvadoran consumers are highly receptive to international brands, due to its dollarized economy and the proximity with the United States – which represents a great opportunity for global companies that want to be first comers to this market. 

The Dominican Republic is another market with high proximity to the United States: approximately 70% of its consumer goods are from the North American country, says a report from the American Department of Commerce. The country is the largest economy in the Caribbean region, and has a growing digital commerce market: approximately 75% of the population uses the internet, but only 12% makes online purchases (data from the World Bank).

Finally, Guatemala, the most populous country in Central America, has been seeing a rapid growth in e-commerce, despite its market still in early stages: only 7.6% of its population makes online purchases, as stated by the World Bank. New generations (that represent the vast majority of the population, whose median age is 19 years old, according to the UN) are embracing technology and moving away from traditional retail, while access to financial services is gaining traction. 

Paraguay, a new market for global enterprises

The start of EBANX's operation in Paraguay is not less significant. In this South American country, 93% of online consumers started to order online in the last four years, as reported by the Paraguayan Chamber of Electronic Commerce – which makes Paraguay a brand new market for global companies. Over 90% of online transactions are cross-border, and most of them are done through mobile phones, owned by nearly 97% of the population, according to Statista.

EBANX's launch in Paraguay increases its presence in South America, and consolidates the fintech company as a leader in payment solutions in the region.

Objectway, a leader in the Digital Wealth & Asset Management software, released the survey report “Are you ready for ESG?”, revealing a glimpse of the market on ESG investments, one of the greatest areas of change that wealth firms expect. A field that the crisis triggered by the pandemic has highlighted as playing a crucial role in economic recovery, in addition to the importance of establishing efficient risk management.

The report is based on the results of the web-based survey that Objectway conducted in March 2021, and filled in by UK and European Wealth & Investment Management firms. The sample of opinion leaders was composed by 70% of small-medium businesses and 30% of large enterprises.

The survey report investigated what stage is reached in terms of ESG integration within a risk aware investment process, and its implications on the digital experience.

Firms seem to be not properly ESG ready yet, with only 39% of respondents who has already implemented a specific ESG policy, while 22% lacking a policy and 39% in progress of developing it.
Early adopters that are integrating ESG in their strategy will then have a competitive advantage.

This benefit will be reflected both in terms of client engagement and of higher efficiency and returns.

Investors see ESG as a real differentiator between firms. Many would consider leaving their wealth manager, based on the quality of their ESG offering and how it is delivered to them.
Coherently, 45% of respondents affirmed that ESG are primarily adopted to satisfy clients’ requests, proving that now more than ever ESG is at the top of their priorities.

When asked if the investment process was supported by a fully integrated platform, just 7% answered positively, while a remarkable 87% declared they do not have a vertically integrated risk management solution.

“Survery’s results highlight how investors demand was the main driver for wealth managers to implement sustainable investing. Fulfilment of these preferences is therefore a golden opportunity to engage with them,” commented Alberto Cuccu, Objectway CEO International, on the survey results. “Such a process requires an end-to-end ESG & RISK aware investment system, which 87% declared not to have. We provide a solution where the ex-ante analysis of risk and sustainability are tested and validated by ex-post monitoring, resulting in stronger returns and higher quality of investments, relied on processes that take into account risk tolerance and the characteristics of the end customer, respecting the sustainability criteria.”

The full survey report is available for download here: objectway.com/insights/

Community Bank, based in Joseph, Ore., has selected Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions’ Paycheck Protection Program Supported by TSoftPlus™ to help expedite Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications for its small business customers.

For more than 20 years, Wolters Kluwer’s TSoftPlus technology has helped lenders facilitate Smal Business Administration (SBA) loans for their customers. However, the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting CARES Act stimulus program in early 2020 necessitated major modifications to the software to help affected small business clients access this critical funding. In April 2020, Wolters Kluwer launched an enhanced TSoftPlus offering to accommodate PPP requirements and, with its recent acquisition of eOriginal, now offers a digital loan platform that enables SBA electronic signature and record retention mandates for digital loans.

Collectively, Wolters Kluwer and eOriginal technology have enabled almost 500 SBA lenders in the initial rounds of the PPP program, ensuring a contactless borrower experience and, in the process, helping small businesses save more than 10 million U.S. workers’ jobs.

“We were already familiar with Wolters Kluwer’s extensive regulatory compliance and financial technology capabilities through our use of its CRA Wiz® solution, which helps us manage our community reinvestment obligations,” said Tom Moran, President and CEO, Community Bank. “They’ve proven to be a trusted partner.  And that strong relationship continues with our adoption of TSoftPlus, a system that is working slick and really helping out our PPP process in a number of different areas.”

Lenders who use TSoftPlus for PPP loan originations by accessing Wolters Kluwer’s online applications tool will experience upwards of a 30 percent efficiency gain. This productivity gain is in addition to the 20x lift on lender workflow efficiency experienced when using TSoftPlus PPP instead of manual processing.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to help lenders like Community Bank support main street businesses through our TSoftPlus offering, which has played a key role in enabling lenders to help their clients navigate the complexities of the PPP loan application and forgiveness process,” said Steven Meirink, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions. “TSoftPlus functionality has provided an appealing, reliable alternative to applying directly via the SBA’s system through manual loan applications. Through this technology, we are contributing in a substantive, meaningful way to help lenders and their small business clients manage through this difficult period.”

Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions is a market leader and trusted provider of risk management and regulatory compliance solutions and services to U.S. banks and credit unions, insurers and securities firms. The business, which sits within Wolters Kluwer’s Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) division, helps these financial institutions efficiently manage risk and regulatory compliance obligations, and gain the insights needed to focus on better serving their customers and growing their business.

Wolters Kluwer’s GRC division provides an array of expert solutions to help U.S. financial institutions manage regulatory and risk obligations. Compliance Solutions’ OneSumX® for Regulatory Change Management helps financial institutions more effectively manage the significant volume, scope and breadth of changing laws and regulations impacting their businesses. Wolters Kluwer Lien Solutions’ iLien Motor Vehicle solution provides for the processing and management of motor vehicle titles and liens, helping solve the most unique and complicated challenges in title perfection. In addition, CT Corporation’s Covid-19 resource center provides businesses and law firms with timely international, federal and state legislative updates.