Envoy has partnered with leading trade digitalisation technology provider Bolero International to use Bolero’s electronic bill of lading (eBL)  as-a-service in its highly-advanced digital trade platform built on R3’s Corda.

Envoy employs blockchain technologies to bring significant efficiencies to global supply chain and trade finance – while injecting vital and once-unobtainable liquidity into the system by decentralising finance (DeFi) and smart contract controlled escrow on R3’s corda.

The partnership is the most recent solution added to Envoy’s tech stack as it approaches pilot phase. This news follows a recent announcement of Envoy joining the R3 Venture Development program in October.

The pilot phase, expected in Q1 2021, will see Envoy engage with R3 Enterprise’s vast network of potential customers and financial institutions to fund and process real-world trades through the Envoy platform.

Envoy will also be launching its dedicated SME payment rail and listing its NVOY Token on Liquid exchange imminently, which will facilitate the movement of funds on the platform and enable cross-border payments. The NVOY token is built on Stellar, the same blockchain used by the likes of IBM’s World Wire for its speed and security. 

Bolero is the number one provider of eBLs to blockchain-based trade and supply chain finance platforms.

As part of Bolero’s ambitious broader strategy to establish itself as the platform agnostic, interoperable eBL service specialist, Bolero continues to invest in global partnerships with trade platforms across all leading blockchain platforms such as Hyperledger, Corda and Ethereum. Bolero provides eBL as a service to Contour, a leading trade finance network, and earlier this year, became part of the Marco Polo Network, the world’s largest and fastest-growing trade finance and working capital network.

Lee Tarone, CEO of Envoy, commented: “Bills of lading are an everyday, but incredibly essential part of global trade. Hundreds of thousands of non-descript boxes and containers travel thousands of miles every single day – the bill of lading is there to identify and validate each package and trade.

“However, these paper documents aren’t at all effective in making the process fast, accurate, or secure. Bolero’s solution perfectly replicates the real-world contractual and receipt functions of a bill of lading, while also enabling much tighter monitoring and security of transfer of rights between parties.

“The integration, therefore, will allow all relevant stakeholders to have a completely transparent view of the location of goods. Envoy is then able to automatically execute contractual agreements upon the electronic confirmation of receipt and transfer of rights.

“This is one of many processes that Envoy has automated – bringing the archaic, unsecure and inefficient world of trade and trade finance into the modern day. We are confident that our pilot phase in Q1 will prove to be a success, and that we can help revive and expediate global trade - which has been severely damaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Small businesses in emerging markets have struggled due to lack of trade finance being offered by banks and financial institutions. Envoy are here to bring alternative means of finance while automating and de-risking the process for everyone involved.”

As part of Bolero’s ambitious broader strategy to establish itself as the platform-agnostic, interoperable eBL service specialist, Bolero invests in global partnerships with trade platforms across all leading blockchain platforms such as Hyperledger, Corda and Ethereum.

Andrew Raymond, CEO of Bolero, said:  “As evidenced by our recent release of an integrated LC Multibank and eBL proposition, Bolero is continuously investing in new technologies and innovating to keep pace with evolving business models in digital trade. The partnership with Envoy reinforces Bolero’s strategy of easing the adoption of eBL services globally and will help grow the Bolero network of banks, corporate and carriers. This collaboration is very exciting because Envoy shares our vision of fully digital global trade finance flows with streamlined processes benefiting all parties.”

Wealth Dynamix, a global leader in Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) solutions, has announced year-end performance results that indicate strong growth during the twelve months to September 30, 2020. Wealth Dynamix has worked with new and existing wealth management clients to deliver the critical capabilities required to support remote working and business continuity. Most notably, clients are benefiting from a true 360-degree client view, actionable and intelligent automation and best practice workflows that eliminate manual tasks and boost productivity, and mobile-ready client and advisor-facing tools that increase usability and access.

Since October 2019, Wealth Dynamix has expanded European operations, opened a new office in Paris to further support private banks, wealth and investment management firms in France and Switzerland, and acquired a number of significant global clients including a major global bank headquartered in Singapore and a large European private bank headquartered in France.

In the UK several of the leading wealth managers and private banks including Charles Stanley, Ruffer, Quilter and Rothschild & Co completed major projects to upgrade to the latest version of the Wealth Dynamix CLM solution.

Many Wealth Dynamix clients accelerated digitisation projects throughout the second half of the year, spurred by the requirement to manage client relationships seamlessly from any location, sustain high levels of client interaction via digital channels, increase the speed and agility of onboarding and ensure ongoing compliance. In doing so there has been increased demand to deploy and upgrade to the newest version of the firm’s WDX1 solution and to leverage cloud-based services more effectively.

WDX1 is the flagship, multi-award winning digital CLM solution from Wealth Dynamix, designed to support the complex requirements of wealth management companies from a single unified platform. Its capabilities span the entire client lifecycle, including client acquisition, client engagement, digital onboarding, regulatory compliance, relationship management, and ongoing client servicing.

Gary Linieres, CEO and Co-founder at Wealth Dynamix, said: “This has been a year of two halves in which firms focused initially on digitisation to optimise operational efficiency and improve cost-income ratios, then quickly switched focus to ensuring they could continue to serve staff and clients effectively whilst remote working. Technology has never played a more vital role in enabling business continuity and empowering advisors and the success of Wealth Dynamix through this trying period is testament to our many years of wealth management domain expertise and the flexibility of our solutions.

“Moving into 2021,” Linieres continues, “wealth managers will need to provide all internal stakeholders with an integrated view of client journeys, so they can make proactive and intelligent recommendations that match client requirements. They will need to build agility into their technology platforms, so they can adapt to change quickly without interrupting service quality. And there will be a permanent shift in the way people do business, requiring fully effective and secure digital communications, while all the time meeting regulatory obligations.”

According to WTO experts, platforms built on decentralized technologies can help world trade not only overcome the current crisis, but also accelerate market development  while helping us  better prepare for and manage the inevitable crises of the future. A big part of helping make that happen through  2020 and beyond is  blockchain. It has not only revolutionized digital money, but will further revolutionize international trade This has already happened inan explosion in global trade after the widespread adoption of container shipping in the second half of the 20th century.

Factorin’s decentralized technology platform facilitates seamless and secure interaction between banks, suppliers and buyers. It is one of many tech platforms out there for all kinds of services, but within Factorin’s advanced framework, transaction information is only ever available to the platform’s participants unlike other platforms where data has been collected, mined and potentially misused. And, as the latest WTO report shows, there are practically no next-generation solutions that would process a significant number of transactions. Factorin is one of the few fully commercially operating supply chain finance platforms. The platform addresses the key issue of complex workflows, data privacy and security which have combined to interfere with the financing of small and medium-sized businesses. Two major retailers, Magnit and Dixy, with USD $20 and $5 billion annual turnover respectively, became Factorin’s clients within the first year of operation. The company is further increasing the number of large corporations using the platform such as large retail chains, marketplaces, and has also entered the telecoms market.

With the Factorin network consisting of 57 commercial nodes, with over 1.4 million transactions processed, large platform participants can easily integrate Factorin with their core IT systems using an open API. Other participants can access the network without integration through either a web interface or a mobile app, which is crucial for small and mid-sized businesses.

Andrei Maklin, co-founder and CEO of Factorin, explained: “Blockchain enables you to create fundamentally new services and business models that cannot be implemented on traditional IT architecture. In 2020, this means traditional platforms are intermediaries that increase the cost of services and make money from their users' data. The decentralized platform Factorin allows all participants to communicate directly with each other and decide what data is shared and with whom they share it. The demand for Factorin’s services, which are such a unique SCF product, is at an all-time high, which our continued fast growth ably demonstrates. Since January, the monthly turnover of financing processed through the platform has increased fivefold and in October amounted to over $165 million USD."

The Factorin platform and its sustainable fast growth was built in partnership with the UK-based venture builder Digital Horizon, which creates breakthrough innovations for the financial market and other industries from scratch.

Beyond Analysis, the leader in GlobalTech, AI & Machine Learning, announces the launch of its sister company Beyond AML; which has been built to revolutionise the regulated sector. Beyond AML deploys the latest in AI technology and synthetic data techniques, to build insights into client & transaction activities and behaviours to fix and optimise end-to-end AML processes. Beyond AML provides the security for financial institutions to implement technologies to drive automation and speed, while maintaining a robust AML compliance programme.  

Reliable systems are essential for all banks and financial institutions to systematically monitor suspicious financial activity and remain compliant within the regulated sector; yet, regulators and financial institutions recognise a variety of underlying issues that impact the effectiveness and efficiency of their systems. By optimising and tuning their AML processes, Beyond AML enables customers to improve effectiveness and efficiency, reducing noise and delivering time & cost savings, without impacting regulation or compliance.

The experienced data professionals behind Beyond Analysis and Beyond AML, have worked with leading retailers, financial institutions and international bluechip companies for over 20 years, delivering trusted behavioural analytical techniques, data products and Machine Learning solutions to drive performance and operational efficiencies. Their platform approach implements knowledge and expertise across the regulated sector.

“Where issues have been identified in the AML process, we step in to uncover what is causing the problems and importantly provide a resolution, making savings to time and cost and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the business,” Paul Alexander, Group CEO of Beyond AML, said.

“Beyond AML enables banks and financial institutions to mitigate risks in the regulated sector and gives the confidence in the ongoing ability to be compliant and to reduce risk,” comments Justin Holder, CEO, AML Analytics.

LexisNexis® Risk Solutions and UK Fintech startup Nuggets have today announced a formalised partnership working together to enable the implementation of self-sovereign digital identity (SSI) solutions.

SSI solutions are one of a number of emerging technology-led innovations that are transforming how organisations authenticate an individual’s identity digitally, when they transact online.

Right now, if someone wants to open a bank account, or apply for a financial product or service, consumers often have to manually send personal documentation to authenticate themselves, either physically or electronically. This is repeated each and every time an application is made.

Self-sovereign digital identity represents a fundamental shift in the way personal data is owned, shared and controlled; consumers choose when their data and identity documents are accessed and by whom, and it scraps the need for documents to be sent away and stored physically or electronically in data silos.

The partnership between LexisNexis® Risk Solutions – one of the largest protectors of private and confidential data in the world – and Nuggets – an award-winning, self-sovereign identity and payment platform – will help to validate the benefits and strengths of the self-sovereign identity model.

As well as giving consumers ownership and control over their data, SSI is designed to protect organisations against the financial and reputational cost of privacy breaches and promises quicker processing and lower compliance costs for businesses.

The two organisations have been working collaboratively since 2019, running discovery initiatives culminating in a joint go-to-market commercial arrangement.

Steve Elliot, MD, LexisNexis® Risk Solutions UK & Ireland, said: “Effective solutions that can digitally identify and authenticate a person more quickly, more accurately and more securely, can have wide-ranging benefits for individuals, organisations and society as a whole, from reducing the time it takes consumers to acquire goods and services, to widening access and reducing fraud and money laundering. It’s really exciting to think that innovations like these could help reduce the increasing prevalence of large scale breaches of consumers’ personal data. We’re really excited to be working with Nuggets to explore how SSI can help achieve those benefits whilst maximising data privacy and security for consumers.”

Alastair Johnson, CEO & Founder of Nuggets, said: “Customers need to take back control of their data. Relentless data breaches prove that the existing model of personal data storage is broken. Through this partnership, we’re helping to fundamentally change the way personal information is shared with and used by financial institutions and we’re enabling individuals and businesses to advance their privacy and security protocols for the benefit of all. We’re thrilled to be working with LexisNexis® Risk Solutions on innovations that have the potential to shape the future of this space.”

As nearly half of 16-25 year olds could be plunged back into ‘lockdown loneliness’, supporting human connections is critical during pandemic.

• Mental Health Foundation data: 44% of 16-25 year olds experienced loneliness during lockdown

• 1 in 4 UK adults felt lonely during lockdown, way up from 1 in 10 before the pandemic

• Paysend money transfers aiming to connect friends and families during lockdown to help this

As several countries across Europe head into a second lockdown, concerns have been raised about the potentially damaging effects of loneliness during the period of limited social interaction. UK-based mental health charity the Mental Health Foundation discovered that during the first lockdown in the United Kingdom, one in four adults experienced loneliness, rising to 44% of young people aged 16-24. Shortly before the global pandemic and lockdown restrictions came into place, the rate of loneliness amongst UK adults was much lower, at 1 in 10.

Despite the clearly damaging effects of widespread loneliness on a country’s population, governments across Europe have inadequately provided support for those at risk, resulting in spikes in loneliness and mental issues rates. With countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, Greece and Spain either in or heading into full or partial lockdowns, the threat of loneliness and depression is once more evident.

“Clearly the biggest threat throughout the pandemic has been that of infection, but we also need to look after our mental and financial wellbeing,” Ronnie Millar, CEO of Paysend said. “Loneliness is a serious issue in the world at the moment as people are cut off from their loved ones. It’s essential that people find ways of staying connected with friends and family, and tech companies need to lead that through simple and convenient services. Many will also be suffering financial strain, and at Paysend we are focused on making it simple for family members to support each other through affordable and efficient global money transfer.”

Paysend is an international money transfer service that focuses on building connections between people across borders, and it has seen huge growth since the beginning of lockdown in March. Over 1 million new users have joined the service in the last 6 months, pushing Paysend past the 2.5 million customer milestone. At the start of the pandemic, Paysend offered exclusive zero-fee transfers to people in countries most affected, including China and Italy, and continued its drive in the following months as more and more expats found themselves isolated from their communities. That was able to support hundreds of thousands of people living away from their families in countries like Philippines, Nigeria, Turkey and more. As the second lockdown affects more people in more countries, Paysend has pledged to boost its efforts in helping people to stay connected with their friends and family living far apart.

“Paysend has worked hard to save people money on transfers over the past months through a combination of special offers, exclusive rates and education in the benefits of switching to digital money,” Mr Millar added. “As we move into more uncertain times with the second lockdown, we will be continuing to provide fast, low-cost and hassle-free money transfers that keep people connected and keep loneliness at bay.”

Scottish fintech company, AutoRek, a leading software provider to global financial services firms announces its partnership with iSoftware4Banks, a US-based provider of services to support effective financial reporting and compliance.
 
AutoRek and iSoftware4Banks are joining forces to meet their common goals of improved automation and delivering ROI in the financial services space. Combining highly experienced consultants with leading data management technologies will help achieve this.
 
The partnership stemmed from the unprecedented events of 2020. The historically office-based financial services industry has moved from the environment it has always known, to company-wide working from home within a matter of days. This resulted in various operational issues surfacing across banks, credit unions, investment managers and insurance firms, thereby requiring IT infrastructure, systems and outsourced services to be reviewed globally to future proof robust operational resilience strategies to ensure uninterrupted service.
 
Head of Partnerships at AutoRek, Marc McCarthy, stated: "Our partnership with iSoftware4Banks comes at a crucial point of this year. As financial services firms consider their 2021 budgets after a turbulent year of operational risk, they will inevitably seek optimal value, which together we are confident in delivering.”
 
Vincent Raniere, Chief Executive Office, iSoftware4Banks, commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with AutoRek to offer excellence in financial and operational controls to meet regulatory and compliance requirements. In-depth market research confirmed AutoRek’s solution is the best on the market, and we look forward to working together.”

Specialist online financial wellbeing service CredAbility has announced the release of its mobile app, developed using the OutSystems application platform.

The UK start-up helps hundreds of thousands of customers gain a better understanding of their finances by demystifying financial affairs and providing easy access to critical information like credit scores and loan eligibility.

The ability to evolve rapidly and deliver new services and capabilities to customers was key to CredAbility differentiating itself in the very competitive financial wellbeing market. With only a small IT team of seven, CredAbility needed to avoid duplicating development effort – despite the need to deploy web, iOS and Android applications – and chose the OutSystems application development platform, as it offered the ability to build and launch new products in a short timeframe.

Nikolaos Charalampous, Head of Product, CredAbility, said: “We wanted to move fast and work in an iterative and agile way to launch our product as quickly as possible, and OutSystems helped us achieve that. In addition, it’s made it easier for us to deliver the services that enable CredAbility to stand out in a crowded marketplace, including incorporating other products, for example from lenders or energy companies, and create a seamless digital experience for our customers.“

In addition to being able to develop for different platforms simultaneously, the fast pace of development was helped by taking advantage of the library of pre-built components in the OutSystems Forge repository. These helped CredAbility integrate data into its data warehouse for analysis and facilitated a more personalised customer experience, for example selecting a custom app icon. The team estimates that it would have taken at least 33 percent longer to develop the web app using traditional methods, compared to using OutSystems. 

Willem van Enter, Vice President EMEA, OutSystems, said: “Our development platform gave CredAbility the speed to launch new products in a short timeframe, and then quickly and easily evolve them as its customers’ needs changed. We are thrilled with the advantages CredAbility realized with the OutSystems platform. This is another great example of our mission to help customers build applications fast, right, and for the future.”

CredAbility is continually updating its apps based on customer feedback, which, from reviews by some of its hundreds of thousands of users, has given it an average rating of 4.7/5 on Google Business. However, it is also planning to provide something different, in the form of ‘CredaBots’ - new and fast-evolving chatbots that will help users create individual action plans to achieve goals like improving their credit score or getting on the property ladder.