Bolero International, the leading global trade finance digitisation expert, has announced an important new partnership with Mitigram, the premier online global platform for funding and hedging trade risk.

The two fintechs will provide corporates and banks with a one-stop shop for trade transactions, combining the advantages of Bolero’s highly advanced Galileo trade digitisation platform and electronic bill of lading, with the world’s largest pricing discovery and collaboration network from powered by Mitigram.  For corporate clients the benefits will be substantial, enabling them to bring together two linked, but currently separate, operations, powered by Bolero’s vision to bring seamless end-to-end experiences to the corporate treasury function and banks alike.

Creating immediate value for customers, this will provide a complete, end-to-end service through the entire lifecycle of an import/export deal. For the first time, from within Galileo a corporate customer wishing to conduct a transaction will be able to request and compare quotes from multiple banks on the pricing of risk mitigation and financing. This seamless service will continue through to the handling of the trade finance with the selected bank and the conduct of the transaction using paper and/or electronic documents on Galileo. Likewise, from a pre-trade request tendered on Mitigram to assess banks’ availability for risk cover and financing, a corporate customer will be able to issue instructions to its partner banks on Galileo achieving straight through execution.

Andrew Raymond, CEO, Bolero, said: “This partnership with Mitigram will deliver substantial added value for customers on both sides in a vitally important area. Bolero customers will find it far easier to access competitive financing and risk mitigation for special transactions and Mitigram customers will be able to conduct transactions on Galileo, enjoying all the huge advantages of Bolero’s advanced trade digitisation solution, which is safer, smarter and faster.”

Milena Torciano, CEO, Mitigram, said: “Combining Mitigram’s world-leading market network with Bolero’s new Galileo platform will bring customers what they have long wanted from the digitisation of trade, making day-to-day conduct of trade easier for corporates and banks alike and existing technology solutions interoperable. Our partnership with Bolero joins up two adjacent, but previously siloed processes, providing a genuinely seamless experience for corporate treasuries. By combining our two very extensive networks of partners and customers, we will drive adoption, removing the admin burden and lack of transparency from finance and risk in world trade.”

Bolero, an acknowledged expert in trade finance digitisation, launched its cutting-edge Galileo platform in February. Through advanced functionality, Galileo future-proofs digital trade services for corporate treasuries, transforming efficiency by enabling management of all credit lines with multiple banks through a single, consolidated view with a highly intuitive interface.

Seamless integration with banks and other third-party systems delivers end-to-end visibility enabling treasuries to use just one log-in to create, edit and manage multiple letters of credit, electronic presentations and guarantees, as well as open account transactions and electronic bills of lading.

Users can also opt to subscribe to value-added services in areas such as compliance and e-certificates of origin, reducing discrepancies, transforming financing, collaboration, pricing and reporting.

Dr. Christian Schiebl, formerly Chief Operating Officer of SmartStream and CEO of the Corona reconciliations business, has joined leading global fintech Gresham Technologies plc (Gresham) as Group Business Development Director. 

Christian brings strong technical knowledge and extensive experience in the development, sales, implementation, and support of complex software solutions for the finance sector. He is expected to play a key role in the next stage of the company’s growth.

Following the acquisition of Management Data by SmartStream, Schiebl transformed the flagship reconciliation solution Corona into the industry’s first packaged offering for cash and securities reconciliations. He formed the Corona business unit, growing the client base to include 1500 institutions across both banking and investment management in over 100 countries across the globe. During his almost-20 years at SmartStream, he held a variety of roles including Managing Director, Sales and Service, EMEA & APAC, Managing Director, as well as sitting on the Executive Board of SmartStream Group for more than 14 years.

Since leaving SmartStream in 2018, he has focused on the application of artificial intelligence and machine-learning to post-trade operations working with financial institutions across Europe.

Ian Manocha, CEO Gresham Technologies, commented: “As a pioneer in the post-trade reconciliations software market Christian brings a deep knowledge of the space and shares our vision and passion to fundamentally change the industry with modern AI-enabled technologies. We’re delighted to welcome Christian to our team.”

Dr Christian Schiebl added: “In the last few years, I’ve watched Gresham evolve from a disruptive new market entrant into a leading player in the industry. Technology, market economics and regulation are re-shaping how firms address data quality, reconciliation and control, with Gresham offering the solution that many need. I’m excited to join the team and help capture the significant opportunity that lies ahead.”

This announcement follows the appointment of two senior sales hires across APAC and Europe, and the news that notable fintech leaders Jenny Knott FCCA and Dr Ruth Wandhöfer joined Gresham’s board as Non-Executive Directors.

Chargeback dispute management specialist, Chargebacks911, has launched a new ebook to help merchants navigate emerging fraud and chargeback risks during this year’s seasonal sales days, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The ebook, entitled “The Chargeback Holiday Handbook, Minimizing Fraud and the Impacts of COVID-19 During the Peak Sales Season” offers insight into the shopping, fraud and chargeback trends which have been driven by the pandemic, including the current threats to merchant revenues.

It gives readers a clear action plan for mitigating payment disputes, explaining best practices for putting preventative measures in place, identifying the cause of chargebacks and challenging friendly fraud. It also gives them practical advice on how to adapt their businesses so data is used for effective protection against chargebacks. 

Chargebacks911 has released the ebook at a time when some industries have been left facing 10 times the number of payment disputes than prior to the outbreak, while non-fraud chargeback issuances were up 23% globally in June when compared with the same time last year. As highlighted by the ebook, the sudden spike in chargebacks, friendly fraud and criminal fraud throughout the pandemic has taken place for several reasons.

With lockdown restrictions in place and customers buying goods from the safety of their homes, companies across all industries have been forced to go digital and there has been a 74% growth in online shopping since COVID-19 began. As a result, the bustling online space has become fertile ground for criminal fraud and chargebacks – with growing levels now remaining higher than usual due to increased online spending.

The problem has been exacerbated by changes in consumer behaviour that took place during the pandemic, as panicked consumers impacted by furlough or job losses, are now turning to chargebacks to recoup money. What’s more, as they are shielded by online anonymity, while there is no-one to confirm that a package arrived safely at the point of exchange, friendly fraud has become increasingly easier to commit and is a growing problem.

These trends will be prevalent throughout this year’s seasonal period including during and following peak sales days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The practical tips and advice throughout the ebook aim to help merchants defend themselves against these risks.

Don Bush, VP of Sales and Marketing at Chargebacks911, explained: “We’re going into the 2020 ‘golden’ season under completely different circumstances. Consumer shopping habits are different, transaction volumes have been bolstered in unusual ways and fraud trends are morphing. While there’s great opportunities to be had, it’s also a highly risky environment for merchants and adds another layer of complexity to their planning for the period.”

He continues: “Higher online order volumes often mean higher online fraud rates and increased chargebacks, and we’ve seen industries across the board suffering losses as a result of that this year. It’s vital merchants don’t sit back and accept these losses as simply a cost of doing business. We expect the rise to continue, even as the world attempts to return to some form of normality – and merchants need to do everything they can to protect revenues and ensure that this usually profitable time of year doesn’t become a costly disaster.”

To gain access to the ebook and be automatically registered for the webinar on the 17^th November click here.

Mastercard has welcomed 10 fintechs from around the world to participate in its award-winning startup engagement program, Start Path, to scale the future of commerce. From bridging the digital divide to addressing the needs of the underbanked and beyond, Mastercard is helping fintechs accelerate the way they change the world.

Mastercard will work with these companies through a six-month program to co-innovate and uncover opportunities that leverage Mastercard’s technology, expertise and network to drive the future. Mastercard’s collaborative approach to innovation means investing in solutions that bring more people into the digital economy, instill trust, and secure every transaction and interaction.

With the accelerated shift to digital experiences and rapidly evolving consumer behaviors, COVID-19 has created an immediate need for innovative technology solutions, and partnership opportunities abound. In both developed and developing areas of the world, technology can be the difference between merely surviving and thriving.

“We all thrive when fintechs have access to the technology they need to reach scale and democratize finances,” said Ken Moore, Chief Innovation Officer at Mastercard. “We are partnering with the newest fintechs joining Start Path to drive inclusion, innovation and trust with alternative ways to pay and authenticate, powerful solutions for small businesses, new ways to create efficiency for business payments, as well as address the wealth gap."

The global market for fintech products and services is expected to hit $310 billion by 2022, and not even the current crisis has dampened the industry’s prospects. As a partner of choice for fintechs worldwide, Mastercard is committed to driving what’s next and building new solutions with partners such as those in the Start Path network.

Mastercard Start Path scours the globe to identify and partner with emerging players, and the following have been selected to join the program:

• Carry1st is bridging the digital divide by leveraging mobile technology, payment gateways and culturally relevant content to serve the first generation of African smartphone users.
• FISPAN is a contextual platform that embeds business banking services within Enterprise Resource Planning and Accounting applications that clients can rely on to run their businesses.
• Lendio provides a full-service approach to small business financing, from technology infrastructure for financial institutions to access to growth capital.
• LISNR connects online to offline customer journeys globally using ultrasonic data-over-sound technology that enables proximity verification and contactless transactions for merchants, financial service providers and mobility companies.
• Mocafi is a financial services platform designed to help the underbanked with digital banking and credit building along with personal wealth coaching.
• Mo Technologies offers an innovative credit scoring model for financial and non-financial institutions that helps to extend more credit products to more customers in all segments.
• Panda Remit is building a global financial platform where money is borderless, allowing for safe, convenient and low-cost money transfers.
• Paycode provides a low-cost biometric online and offline banking and payment system that solves the three key challenges of the unbanked last mile: identity, connectivity and cost.
• Fanbank/Plink is a commerce automation platform created to help grow small businesses by increasing customer lifetime value, attracting local shoppers and transforming point-of-sale terminals.
• Subaio offers a white-label subscription management service for banks, allowing users to track and cancel subscriptions directly from their own bank.

Start Path companies will have an opportunity to connect to partners in Mastercard’s global ecosystem of banks and merchants as well as technology and digital players with the goal of scaling their businesses and delivering transformative solutions. With more than 250 startups in the Start Path program since its founding in 2014, these companies have gone on to raise $2.9 billion in post-program investments and are delivering solutions that are transforming the future of commerce.

Judopay, a leading mobile-centric payments provider, today announces it has been appointed to the UK Government’s Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) Payment Acceptance Framework, which will help all public sector entities reduce their costs and create better, seamless payment experiences. In a successful bid in the RM6118 Payment Acceptance framework, Judopay is now offering its payments solutions to all of the customer organisations that fall under the CCS framework.

Working in the public sector, and funded by the taxpayer, these entities required access to not only a broad range of digital payments but a high-quality, secure, reliable and cost effective payment service. Judopay is looking to help all public sector entities improve their payments experience while reducing costs, to make everything from tax payments to donations to charities more adaptable both during and post-COVID. Additionally, Judopay’s “acquirer agnostic” approach will allow public sector entities to benefit from innovative payment solutions without having to uproot existing acquiring relationships.  

The CCS is part of the UK’s Cabinet Office, providing policies, advice and commercial services to the public sector that manages the procurement of common goods and services, so public sector organisations with similar needs achieve value by buying as a single customer. It also increases savings for taxpayers by centralising buying requirements for common goods and services, and bringing together smaller projects.

Judopay's CEO, Jeremy Nicholds, commented: "It is a real honour to be selected by Crown Commercial Service as the only British fintech in the framework and have that recognition for how our innovative payment solutions can help deliver a great customer experience at lower cost."

He added: "We were very impressed with CCS's framework and its forward-looking perspective on the requirements around payment acceptance. We feel that as a leading digital and mobile-centric payment service provider, we are perfectly placed to assist in the framework and contribute to the public sector payment offering."

Having championed the partnership from the start, Judopay's Frederick Becker, explained more about the partnership's plans for the future: "Payments are fast becoming cashless – especially following the COVID-19 outbreak. Moving forward, with the CCS, we will help public entities adapt to this environment, with digital and mobile-centric solutions that drive innovation in the sector.”

To learn more about the Judopay, please visit: judopay.com

Google Cloud and Avaloq, a leader in digital banking solutions, today announced a new strategic partnership to help financial services organizations in their digital transformation using cloud technologies. This new partnership is set to enable financial institutions to use the Avaloq Banking Suite and other Avaloq platforms on Google Cloud.

“The financial services industry is undergoing rapid shifts, as banks seek to deliver strong, digital-first experiences to customers,” said Avanish Sahai, Vice President, Partnerships at Google Cloud. “Avaloq provides core and digital banking solutions for many of the world’s leading banks and financial institutions, and we are delighted to partner with Avaloq to support cloud-based transformation for these customers.”

Due to its in-depth experience with Avaloq implementations, Orbium (part of Accenture) was the partner selected to support the testing and implementation procedures in Google Cloud.

Samir Gherbi, Orbium Managing Director, said: “We are pleased that the Avaloq Banking Suite in connection with Google Cloud can deliver the performance needed to support the demanding requirements of financial institutions. We used Google’s native services and emerging cloud native approaches – such as infrastructure as code – to install Avaloq Banking Suite in a highly efficient and cloud-native manner.”

Bringing the Avaloq Banking Suite to Google Cloud is providing customers with significant benefits including being able to rapidly provision infrastructure for deployment of their mission critical Avaloq applications, combined with the flexibility provided by the cloud including Bare Metal solutions to meet the unique needs of each customer.

Additionally, customers will also obtain the benefits of high levels of security and performance, along with improved scalability. With Google Cloud’s global presence, as well as Avaloq’s Sensitive Data Segregation services, Google Cloud and Avaloq will also enable customers to store their data close to home, helping banks adhere to local data residency requirements.

Thomas Beck, Group Chief Technology Officer at Avaloq, said: “Many businesses are accelerating their digital transformation due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. That includes financial services institutions, which are increasingly seeking to use critical IT infrastructure and platforms in a cloud-based environment. We are truly impressed by Google Cloud’s innovative solutions and are excited to partner with this distinguished firm. This strategic partnership builds on Avaloq’s multi-cloud strategy, which allows our clients to pick and choose from a wide range of state-of-the-art IT infrastructure solutions.”

Kickstart Innovation, one of Europe's leading innovation platforms, announced the initiation of 48 Proofs of Concepts (PoCs) and other partnerships between start-ups, scale-ups and established companies and institutions. Since 2015, a total of over 170 such collaborations have been initiated in the fields of Circular Economy, EdTech & New Work, FinTech & InsurTech, Food & RetailTech, HealthTech, Smart City & Technology and others, with great success. "This year many companies were challenged to change their operating processes and digitalize applications in a very short time. The partnerships established this year indicate that transforming processes early on using digital and other innovative solutions is a competitive advantage. For this purpose, large companies are increasingly interested in collaborating with high-growth start-ups," explains Katka Letzing, Co-Founder and CEO of Kickstart Innovation. These collaborations have gained even more importance if Switzerland is to maintain its innovation engagement on local and global levels.

Over the past ten weeks, well-known Swiss companies and institutions such as AXA, Coop, Migros, Swisscom, die Mobiliar, Stiftung Mercator Schweiz, the City of Zurich, PostFinance, Holcim Switzerland, Energie 360°, Credit Suisse and other partner organizations have formed valuable partnerships with scaleups from more than 11 countries. The partnerships were announced during the Online Ceremony yesterday.

A new Kickstart partnership is confirmed with Sanitas, one of the largest health insurance companies in Switzerland. "We are excited to collaborate with Kickstart in 2021! Based on the two test POCs performed earlier this year, I am confident that we are able to develop new and innovative offers for our clients in collaboration with start-ups in the Kickstart environment. Furthermore, our corporate values to make things simple, drive innovation and act in an open collaborative way build a strong foundation for successful POCs," says Andreas Schönenberger, CEO of Sanitas.

The Partnerships 2020 at a glance:

(Details on the Kickstart Website)   

Partnerships in the EdTech & New Work Vertical:

• PostFinance and Innential are happy to announce a joint proof-of-concept of the 360° feedback feature developed by the Berlin-based startup.
• The City of Zurich is verifying the technical and data protection requirements in order to use Coorpacademy's learning solution in a PoC project for the further training of municipal employees.
• Coop and Sharpist are collaborating to bring digital employee development to the next level.
• The Human Resources department of Coop and Gravity Global AG are joining forces to test the value of an in-app performance support solution.
• Klubschule Migros and SkillGym will partner up to empower soft skill development in the context of leadership trainings, using Digital Role Play methodology.
• Swisscom and Gravity Global will pilot an innovative learning solution that allows embedding tips, tricks and important news into any application.
• Swisscom is piloting Sharpist’s coach & learn proposition to foster personalized and digital employee development.
• Swisscom and alumni Area9 Lyceum  scaled their pilot engaging 250 sales representatives with focus on their skills. The collaboration with Area9 Lyceum out of the Kickstart program led to a pre-learning self-assessment and algorithm-driven adaptive learning that created self-awareness and maximized every minute spent learning in a blended learning approach with impact on all ends. The project also has boosted the upskilling of Swisscom’s L&D function and has won multiple prestigious and international Learning Awards.

Partnerships in the FinTech & InsurTech Vertical:

• Swisscom and decentriq are partnering to build “Confidential Insights”, a web application for running probably anonymous surveys and peer group analyses.
• The City of Zurich and decentriq are exploring specific use cases in order to realize the potential of anonymized data analytics for the city administration.
• During a proof-of concept with Yova, PostFinance will test their client’s interest in sustainable investment solutions offered on the Yova impact investing platform.
• Mobiliar, PostFinance and decentriq will work towards a prototype of a Swiss Data Ecosystem, leveraging the latest advancements of confidential computing.
• Credit Suisse together with decentriq will explore the advantages of confidential computing around open banking, Machine Learning models and data ecosystems.
• MotionsCloud and LAMIE Direkt  are in partnership to implement an AI computer vision driven automated pre-inspection of used smartphone insurance in the online purchasing process to evaluate the pre-existing conditions and  improve the quality of the policies as well as else dispute at the point of claims.
• Health insurer Helsana and digital platform provider alumni, Fjuul,entered a commercial partnership to support the Helsana+ loyalty and bonus program.
• Swisscom and alumni Fintechdb entered a commercial partnership, following participation in the Kickstart innovation program in 2018. The goal has been to bring Swisscom's "Swiss FinTech Startup Map", that was launched six years ago, to the next level, using Fintechdb's unique expertise in data digitization and visualization. The fruit of the collaboration can be seen on www.fintechmap.ch. The Swiss Fintech Startup Map is published on a monthly basis and is recognized today as a valued tool in the Swiss Fintech community. This technology can now be used by other industries to build and publish maps of their ecosystems. A Female Founders Map is one example that will be published in the near future by Impact Hub Zurich and ZHAW that have joined forces for an Innosuisse mandate. Fintechdb and Swisscom are proud to support this initiative, along with new maps that will be published in the near- to mid-future.
• Alumni Veezoo, a Zurich-based ETH spin-off, developed an artificial intelligence based conversational solution, which can analyze large amounts of data, by using the myAnalytics platform, in seconds. In 2016 Veezoo entered a partnership with AXA to develop a sales intelligence solution. This year AXA rolled out Veezoo over 1800 agents all over Switzerland. By  September 2020 Veezoo had over 15'000 queries from AXA employees.

Partnerships in the Food & Retail Tech Vertical:

• The City of Zurich and Prognolite consider to collaborate in a joint PoC to reduce food waste at the City Hospital Triemli (location Triemli).
• Coop and the Singapore-based startup Ai Palette are collaborating to predict trends for the Convenience Food Category.
• Coop and Greendeck will work together to help Coop improve their pricing and promotions. 
• Coop and Boost Biomes, alongside Knup, are working on a research project to test how long Boost's biofungicide product can extend the shelf-life of strawberries.
• Coop and Alpengummi have scoped a pre-proof of concept to conduct an expert tasting in order to assess the market potential of natural chewing gums.
• In the scope of a pilot project, Coop and Prognolite intend to join forces to reduce food waste and optimize staff planning in the Coop restaurants.
• Vyv and Migros-Industry are evaluating the efficacy of antimicrobial lighting on food production premises.
• Migros-Industry, the farmer’s organization IP Suisse and Boost Biomes are testing a new and innovative biological active ingredient - as a replacement for chemical-synthetic fungicides - in potato cultivation.
• livealytics and the Genossenschaft Migros Zürich are partnering to learn more about shopper behaviour by testing how display set up influences shopping behaviour and experience in a non-food application.
• Migros-Industry is collaborating with iSense, using their flavor mapping capabilities to provide transparency and comparability between flavors used in Migros-Industry.

Partnerships in the HealthTech Vertical:

• iMpuls and Klubschule Migros join forces with mementor to assess the readiness of Switzerland’s self-pay market for digital health solutions, aiming to improve sleep and wellbeing in life.
• By combining iMpuls’ comprehensive expertise in preventive health offerings and Uplyfe.io’s AI-platform for clinical-quality health programs, together they will provide highly specific nutrition strategies and digital health coaching.
• The City of Zurich and HelloBetter are examining a possible collaboration focusing on stress management as part of the employee health care program.
• AXA and the mental health start-up, Klenico, are launching a pilot project with the aim of helping those suffering to overcome mental illness so they can return to work.
• Coop will execute a partnership for personal data portability requests with Pryv.io, a privacy, consent and personal data lifecycle management software which helps organizations to manage customer data from creation to use, sharing and disposal.
• Three Panter customers plan to integrate Pryv into their services to enable clients in the healthcare, insurance and banking sectors to integrate leading "must-have consent" and auditing tools into their digital services to comply with existing and future privacy regulations.
• A project has been initiated by growpal, in which Roche, Domo Safety and SMA Schweiz (patient association) will collaborate in order to develop and test an e-health service for people with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy), combining wearable devices and ambient sensors.
• Uplyfe.io and HelloBetter partner to offer integrated direct digital diagnosis and therapy solutions for people at risk of burnout in collaboration with a major Swiss health insurance company to significantly improve access to care.
• AXA started a first pilot project with Selfapy in the end of 2019 for B2B customers, offering online therapy for employees of SMEs. The successful trial phase convinced AXA of the programs’ positive effects on mental health. The current situation with COVID-19 reinforced our decision to set up a new pilot offering together with Selfapy, which will be launched soon – this time also addressing B2C customers and AXA employees.
• Health insurer Sanitas launched a pilot in cooperation with alumni Selfapy to make access to healthcare as simple as possible, by offering its customers online therapies from Selfapy free of charge.
• It is important to have mental health programs that offer straightforward and anonymous help, and that is what alumi Sanitas will provide its customers through a partnership with alumni Braive – a provider of online psychological therapies.

Partnerships in the Smart City Vertical:

• In cooperation with Faaren, AXA is piloting the establishment of Swiss car dealers as car subscription providers; that will enable car dealers to offer their own fleet of vehicles as a car subscription.
• The City of Zurich plans to cooperate with Mobbot and to test Mobbot's 3D printing with sprayed concrete in selected civil engineering projects before the end of 2020.
• Holcim Switzerland and HeatNeutral are partnering up to advance the decarbonisation of production plants by using clean tech combustion as a heating alternative.
• Holcim Switzerland and Neustark share the vision of carbon neutral and circular concrete production - the companies move one step closer towards this goal by engaging in a joint material test program.
• Holcim Switzerland and Mobbot are jointly working on the integration of recycled building materials into 3D printing technology.
• Energie 360° and HeatNeutral are evaluating a collaboration to test the start-up's innovative burner and fuel technology that replaces fuel oil heaters, delivers CO2-neutral heat and can potentially offer customers another option for CO2-neutral peak load coverage in district heating networks during winter months.
• In addition, Kickstart’s technology partner, CSEM, is proud to support participating startups with the Deep Tech Journey Award, this year the prize goes to Mobbot focusing on a unique approach to 3D concrete printing.
• Cognizant and alumni Oxygen at Work further expanded their partnership following the successful projects in Switzerland and Germany. Using Oxygen at Work's holistic indoor air quality solution they are planning the further roll out across various European locations, supporting the provision of healthy and sustainable work environments, also in regards to COVID-19.

Partnerships and projects in the Intrapreneurship Vertical:

• Swisscom and a leading Swiss bank have entered a PoC with The Ginius Way to explore the potential of giving people a helping hand with their daily chores and therefore giving them back time.
• AXA Mobility Services AG (AMS) started as an internal start-up project of AXA Switzerland with a digital mobility platform and the two products "UPTO – the fleet management" and "UPTO – the car subscription" at Kickstart. With UPTO's fleet management and car subscription, AMS offers entrepreneurs and private individuals new mobility services that help to reduce costs in the long term and save valuable time. Since then, AMS has successfully scaled and positioned both products on the B2B and B2C market. It currently manages hundreds of cars, effectively and sustainably reducing the mobility costs of its customers. The company, which started as a project with ten employees, has 25 employees now, who successfully pursue their goals and actively shape the future of mobility.

nCino, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCNO), a pioneer in cloud banking and digital transformation solutions for the global financial services industry, today announced that leading alternative mid-sized business lender, ThinCats, is expanding its use of the nCino Bank Operating System® across its wider SME lending processes. The extension follows the successful deployment of nCino’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) workflow this summer.

The CBILS programme highlighted the ever-increasing importance for fast loan processing as small and medium-sized businesses endeavor to restart trade. In response to the pandemic, ThinCats quickly embraced a digital-first mindset and a new technology solution. By adopting nCino’s cloud-based platform, ThinCats has been able to manage CBILS loans from the initial application through drawdown and beyond, including ongoing monitoring and customer servicing. 

By implementing additional features and functionalities of nCino’s cloud-based technology, all of ThinCats’ SME clients will now have an enhanced digital lending experience, not just those applying for CBILS loans. Through the next phase of implementation, ThinCats will utilise nCino to manage and improve the time-consuming process of collating documents through nCino’s Document Management, Collateral Management and Covenant features.

“After carefully considering other solutions available in the Salesforce ecosystem, we are delighted to be working with nCino for a wider rollout of the nCino Bank Operating System across our operations,” said Steve O’Neill, Chief Technology Officer at ThinCats. “We pride ourselves on delivering a personal, local and flexible service to businesses and their advisers through our regional network. Our partnership with nCino means that we can spend more time shaping the right funding solution for our clients and less time on manual administration. nCino’s technology is tried and tested in the business lending sector and we look forward to maintaining a long-term partnership.”

Edward Lane, VP Sales at nCino – EMEA, said: “The power of technology and cloud operations has been put under a spotlight during the pandemic. Through our CBILS partnership, nCino enabled ThinCats to provide its clients with loan decisions and funding quickly and across any digital channel. We’re pleased that this evolution of our relationship will provide ThinCats the opportunity to realise even more benefits for its staff and clients and are excited to be working with them in this additional capacity.”

Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the banking software company, today announced that BlueShore Financial, a boutique full service financial institution, has signed for Temenos Infinity Engage delivered as SaaS to offer personalized support to its clients over digital channels.

Temenos Infinity Engage is an innovative financial messaging solution that helps build 1-to-1 relationships between associates and advisors with clients using a mobile messaging app that is familiar and intuitive to users. Temenos Infinity Engage will enable BlueShore’s clients to select their own personal BlueShore Solution Centre associate or connect digitally to their financial advisor banker, and conduct highly secure, personalized conversations in order to answer questions and discuss financial plans. Temenos Infinity Engage allows call centre associates to ‘parallel process’ – helping multiple clients at the same time, reaching up to a 1,000 clients per call centre associate, as well as allowing clients to connect digitally to their financial advisor. The digital banking solution will initially be rolled out as a standalone application across BlueShore’s retail and business banking clients in order to better manage personal relationships in a time when COVID-19 has increased digital banking adoption.

Temenos Infinity Engage enables financial institutions to launch the first phase as quickly as five weeks from project kick-off. BlueShore will leverage the agility of the cloud to take advantage of Temenos Infinity Engage quickly, and to streamline communication channels to its clients. Temenos Infinity Engage is part of Temenos Infinity, the leading omnichannel digital banking product covering customer engagement from acquisition, to account servicing, through to long-term retention.

Temenos clients have seen an average 65% uptick in Temenos Infinity Engage usage during the pandemic, showing that banking customers are still seeking human connection in a physically distant world. Because a customer stays with the same financial advisor between conversations, relationships can be nourished. Meanwhile, the assigned advisor can pull in other experts, schedule meetings in the system, and maintain conversational history so that agents can pick up where they left off, and regulators have access to an auditable trail.

BlueShore is a long-standing Temenos customer and a pioneer of digital transformation. The boutique financial institution has raised the bar in managing client relationships by using Temenos Analytics, and capitalizing on technology to create a high-tech, high-touch experience. BlueShore has an exceptional financial track-record as a high-performing organization. As of the end of 2019, it had grown its assets under administration to $6.3 billion – roughly a fourfold increase since 2008. Leveraging Temenos technology, BlueShore has enabled its clients to achieve financial well-being, even during the economic downturns and socioeconomic uncertainty of 2020.

Fred Cook, CIO, BlueShore Financial, said: “It is very important that we uphold the premium brand promise and highly personalized financial experience for our clients during these turbulent times when in-person interactions have been reduced. Being able to connect with your dedicated advisor any time, anywhere, or anyplace, is a level of service not seen in the industry yet. To be agile and respond quickly to the changing environment and the financial needs of our clients is imperative.  As part of our digital transformation strategy, the implementation of Temenos Infinity Engage will allow us to humanize the digital client experience and help us coach our clients to financial stability and wellness in the face of uncertainty.”

Alexa Guenoun, President, Americas and Global Head of Partners, Temenos, said: “We are pleased to expand our relationship with BlueShore, and to help the team take their organization to the next level. BlueShore recognizes that in order to grow and continue to be successful, you must always push the boundaries of how things have always been done. Temenos Infinity is a unique ‘human digital banking’ platform. With Temenos Infinity Engage, BlueShore can provide the intimacy and engagement its clients love, in a secure, always available, fully digital way. We’re delighted that we can help them increase their agility, resilience, and enhance the customer experience with this latest expansion of the relationship.”

PPS, formerly PrePay Solutions and subsidiary of Edenred, the everyday companion for people at work, today announces its partnership with the Austrian-based card manufacturer, exceet Card Group.

The news comes as PPS ups its environmentally friendly and sustainability programmes, in line with demand from customers that are interested in providing end-users with green, plastic-free cards made out of alternative materials such as wood of r-PETG. The partnership enables PPS to provide its customers with an access to a wider range of card manufacturers within both the UK and European market.

Approximately six billion payment cards are produced each year - most of them made from non-biodegradable plastics such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride), and are replaced every 3-4 years, which collectively contributes around 5.7m tons of excess plastic in landfill around the world. The relationship between PPS and exceet demonstrates a commitment from both parties to deliver pioneering card-based solutions with wellbeing for the environment at the forefront of both companies’ business operations.

There are currently several PPS programmes in production with exceet which will offer customers’ end-users 100% sustainable wooden cards which are EMV-compliant and dual interface-capable, so that both contact and contactless payments are possible. As part of exceet’s commitment to sustainability it also uses 100% renewable energies (hydropower and photovoltaic) during the card production.

Ray Brash, CEO of PPS, commented on the partnership: “As the driver behind leading fintech solutions, we are delighted to announce our integration with exceet as part of our commitment to offer responsible programmes to our customers. We recognise the impact our industry can have on the environment, and it is our obligation to provide cards that can play a part in the global progress towards sustainability. There’s a lot of important activity in the pipeline of this partnership and together, we look forward to providing the latest innovations in alternative green card solutions.”

Sueleyman Tasdemir, CEO of exceet, added: “With more than 350 million exceet cards produced per year, we are the leading service provider for smart cards in the banking, loyalty or transport sector. As the preferred partner for many fintech companies and established banking brands, we are delighted to partner with PPS who is at the forefront of innovation within the fintech space. With PPS’ wide ranging customers, we are proud that a huge portion the payment industry will benefit from our sustainable product offerings.”

To find out more about PPS, visit: https://www.pps.edenred.com/.

To find out more about exceet, visit: https://www.exceet-card-group.com/en/.