Panxora, the digital asset treasury management service, announced it will support ClinTex, a pharmaceuticals industry solutions provider, in raising and managing $7 million USD for a blockchain-powered clinical trials solution to accelerate access to medicines for patients. Panxora will provide a management framework, determining when capital raised is released into the project, which will enable ClinTex to strategically grow its business.

Currently, efficiency issues in clinical trials are costing between $600,000 and $8 million per day and are significantly delaying the delivery of new medicine to patients in need. ClinTex’s data analytics platform aims to transform the medicin development industry through the application of predictive analytics, machine learning, and the novel use of blockchain technology and smart contracts in clinical trials. Its mission is to bring down the cost of, and improve the speed to market of new medicines for the people with unmet clinical need. This is achieved by a Clinical Trial Intelligence (CTi) platform  to identify and predict the main areas of cost over-runs, delays and data quality issues in clinical trials, thus reducing development costs for the global pharmaceuticals industry, and helping get medicines to patients faster.

As well as investing in the project, Panxora also provides the necessary framework for capital to be held and hedged appropriately against market risk for the life of the project. Panxora’s AI-based risk management software allows token founders to focus on successfully building their businesses, safe in the knowledge that their capital is being effectively protected against cryptocurrency volatility. It safely and responsibly manages the capital that token projects raise during their token sales and generates returns from funds which are surplus to business requirements. The service takes a professional approach to safeguarding assets, which is becoming a requirement as conventional investors start to look for opportunities in alternative asset classes including the cryptocurrency markets.

Brendan Mannion, ClinTex’s co-founder, said: “Our main priority has always been to meet patients’ needs. Recent circumstances have exposed the pharmaceutical industry’s flaws and reluctance to share data. However, with the use of blockchain here for this project, not only will the technology spread information quickly, but the structure of the token industry provides opportunity for many to participate in bringing essential products to market. We’re excited to work closely with Panxora who will provide the necessary guidance in this space. Through streamlining the clinical trial process with blockchain, we aim to normalise this collaborative culture in pharmaceuticals for the benefit of all.”

Gavin Smith, CEO at Panxora, commented: “Panxora is committed to steering professional institutions in the safest direction throughout their token fundraising journey. Right from the outset, we saw the potential in ClinTex’s use of blockchain to improve a very fragmented and inefficient industry – the project team has a responsible long-term plan for growth and we plan to support this every step of the way. With our backing and the use of our treasury management system, we’re able to offer our expertise to project founders so they can focus on meeting their goals. We’re delighted to be part of this project as ClinTex has a solid plan for the funds raised for its demonstrable prototypes.”

Panxora will invest in ClinTex’s project to raise $2 million USD by September 2020 to develop regulatory compliant prototypes. Then, they will look to raise a further $5 million to pilot with large pharmaceutical companies, refine algorithms and then further deploy these within the industry.

Clydestone Ghana (GSE: CLYD) a leading payments system and fintech solutions provider has partnered with Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) (www.ThalesGroup.com) a global leader in digital identities and security to provide TheOne authentication as a service platform.
 

The platform will offer a multi-tenant ready environment to host financial institutions and payment service providers to offer Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) across multiple channels.
 

With the rise of digital banking and mobile money services in Ghana and across the region, financial regulators have mandated banks and payment service providers to offer multifactor (MFA) authentication with a minimum of two factor(2FA) to secure customer transactions, and to combat fraud.
 

Deployment of authentication solutions has been lacking across the financial services industry due to the extremely high costs of acquisition and maintenance. TheOne offers cost effective Authentication as a service with end to end authentication capabilities such as One-time Password (OTP) and transaction signing as a standard function, amongst many other strong authentication features.
 

TheOne service platform provides push notification to end customers to remotely sign and confirm transactions. The platform includes Thales Dynamic Code Verification (DCV) suite ‘Card Not Present’ Security Solution, which replaces the static security cryptogram (CVV) at the back of the card traditionally requested for online purchases, with a dynamic code displayed on the customer’s mobile application. The CCV is traditionally requested for online purchases but with a temporary and dynamic code it makes it impossible for hackers to reuse stolen static card CVV data for fraudulent transactions. Moreover, end customers can choose to secure the access to their stored cards using a pin code or biometric authentication on their mobile phone.
 

“TheOne authentication as a service platform will ensure that institutions can offer secure authentication to their customers without incurring infrastructure and licensing costs which can be prohibitive to offering SCA.” Paul Jacquaye, Founder and Group Chief Executive of Clydestone
 

“The evolution of digital banking and the extension of banking and payment channels create new opportunities for banks in Ghana. Thales is offering a range of solutions in partnership with Clydestone to support the rise of Digital banking needs. The complete offering include Thales Authentication Mobile App, Mobile security, eCommerce transaction authentication (DCV) and Strong Customer Authentication.” Nassir Ghrous, SVP Banking and Payments services for Africa, Middle-East and Eurasia at Thales.
 

Please visit: www.iam-theone.com for more information.

Global Digital bank FV Bank International Inc. today announced the launch of its online FV Bank, which will offer individual and business accounts to international clientele through an online-only banking platform. FV Bank will focus on providing reliable online banking solutions to fintech customers including digital asset service providers seeking access to the U.S. dollar and tailored to ecommerce and international trade.

Licensed by Puerto Rico’s OCIF (Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions), FV Bank was created to meet a growing demand from international businesses who are in need of reliable and technology-driven U.S. banking services. Fintech and the explosion of e-commerce, digital assets, and global trade have modernized many business sectors, but financial services available to these entities have largely been limited to legacy banking services, despite efforts in Europe and other markets to provide more open access. These businesses have found it difficult  to find reliable banking, especially U.S. dollar-based banks that  also have the technology and compliance systems to support them.

“We are excited to be one of the first U.S. digital-only banks focused on international clientele. Many businesses need access to innovative banking and technology solutions and we are well-positioned to meet this rising demand,” said Miles Paschini, CEO of FV Bank. 

FV Bank has deployed a state-of-the-art digital banking platform that is free from the constraints of legacy banking systems. FV Bank will include a digital and automated onboarding system that leverages artificial intelligence, mobile phones and machine learning to quickly onboard customers. The platform takes a short video of customers, captures identity information and provides automated screening against various sanctions and anti-money laundering (AML) systems. 

Customers  can open accounts in as little as 10 minutes, while preserving FV Bank's adherence to the strictest KYC and AML standards. FV Bank is compliant with the US Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and other stringent international regulations.

“Our ability to quickly and efficiently onboard customers from a variety of jurisdictions is a clear competitive advantage. We are excited to offer an international audience a modern regulated product that has historically not been accessible to most. The technology we have deployed ensures we can offer a great customer experience while maintaining a high standard of compliance.  We have an exciting roadmap that includes issuance of network-branded payment cards, investment products, and instant merchant settlement services,” added Paschini.
 

FV Bank is available to U.S. and international customers. Customers can apply online at https://www.fvbank.us for a personal or business account.

Stratifyd, a technology company that democratizes data science and artificial intelligence (AI) through self-service data analytics, today announced a revolution in data analytics with the launch of its next generation platform. This powerful analytics engine was re-designed from the ground up to be intuitive and easy-to-use, enabling business users – regardless of education, skill, or job function – to harness the power of proprietary and third-party data to easily reveal and understand hidden stories represented within the data, thus delivering the benefits of a data science team to every organization.  

The Stratifyd platform now provides the functionality to meet the demanding data science needs of an organization, but is specifically designed to be easy to use for those with limited data analytics experience. It empowers users of all skill levels to connect data sources to the platform, perform in depth analysis and data modelling, and discover insightful stories faster and more easily than previously possible. Through a graphical user interface, pre-built and customizable data analytics models, and simplified dashboards, the platform enables business users to extract insights (i.e., stories) that are hidden in the data and essential in helping companies improve customer service, better understand customer requirements, deliver product enhancements that address gaps in the market, solve problems experienced by customers, rollout new product and service offerings that deliver a competitive advantage, and more.

“Stratifyd is a company with data science in our DNA. We were founded with a bold but simple mission to enable everyone within an organization to not only uncover but also understand the hidden stories within their data,” said Derek Wang, founder and CEO of Stratifyd. “This release of our next-gen platform is a giant leap in bringing to life our vision of putting the power of data science into the hands of business users.” 

The platform was developed with the goal of helping employees from across an organization tackle real-world business challenges by analyzing and visualizing structured and unstructured data from a variety of sources, including third party and social media channels, to discern the most complete stories about a company and its products based on customer insights. 

Use Cases Highlight How Data Frames the Narrative

“Data is at the forefront of every decision a business makes and frames the narrative,” says Wang. “To better understand the stories hidden in data, it needs to be viewed from the lens of the business user as they are the storytellers that can consider the data in the appropriate context.”

If customers signal their unhappiness with a product or service through reviews or on social media, a business user can analyze the data to pinpoint the problem, making it easier to fix. Conversely, if customer churn rate has decreased, data can be used to connect the dots to see the bigger picture and the insights leveraged to replicate the successful outcome in other areas of the business.

A financial services company may lean heavily on call center conversations, customer surveys, operational data, and complaints to help them identify pain points and improve the end-user experience. Auto manufacturers might look to social media, external user forums, and blog posts to help them understand issues related to the quality of their vehicles and overall perception of their brand. In both of these scenarios, the business user has the context with which to analyze the data and drive the necessary action.

By enabling “citizen data scientists” to gather and analyze structured and unstructured data from more than 100 sources, these business users can leverage their expertise to see patterns and anomalies within context to derive a holistic narrative of customer feedback. 

Data Storytelling Flywheel Puts the Power of Data Science into the Hands of Business Users

The Stratifyd data analytics platform is the only truly end-to-end solution in the market helping organizations analyze and extract insights from omni-channel data. Its data storytelling flywheel includes everything that business users need to easily connect data, analyze data, discover insights, identify stories, and continually listen to empower data driven decisions as stories unfold:

• First-time users can take advantage of the Quick Start Guide to accelerate their time to insights. The guide leads them, step-by-step, through the process of connecting data, deploying analytical models, and visualizing insights as they build their first dashboard.  

• The platform includes a library of over 100 Data Connectors that make it easy to analyze structured and unstructured data – from public sources such as Amazon reviews, Google Play and iTunes Store app reviews, and social media channels, as well as internal company data such as call center conversations, customer survey results, and chat conversations – without the need for time-consuming, manual data cleaning.

• Auto-learning Models analyze data and determine the best customized model(s) based on the data available; while advanced models enable data analysts to customize models based on use cases and specific data available.

• In addition to making it easy to share insights across teams and departments, the platform includes Task Management features that enable customers to identify key findings in their data which require action, capture tracking tasks, and assign them to a relevant team or individual who can then take the appropriate action and track progress through to completion.

Additional information on the all-new, next generation Stratifyd data analytics platform is available online. 

MayStreet, the industry’s leading market data infrastructure provider, today announced it has added Fenics USTreasuries (Fenics UST) to its US cash treasury data portfolio. Owned and operated by BGC Financial, L.P., Fenics UST is a low-latency, fully electronic U.S. Government securities trading venue that delivers displayed liquidity calibrated to the industry’s tightest tick increments.

The addition of Fenics UST data rounds out MayStreet’s cash treasury offering, which also includes data feeds for CME’s BrokerTec and Nasdaq Fixed Income, a simplified, transparent liquidity platform for transacting U.S. Treasuries.  Over the coming months, MayStreet will be adding dozens of new datasets as it works to further enhance – from both an asset class and geographic perspective – its platform following its recent funding round.

“Electronic fixed income trading platforms have been crucial in helping the industry manage risk throughout the extreme volatility we’ve seen these past five months,” said Patrick Flannery, MayStreet CEO and Co-Founder. “Fenics, with its ultra-tight spreads, provides market participants with a valuable source of cash treasury liquidity, so we’re excited to expand our fixed income offering with the addition of data from one of the market segment’s leaders.”

“MayStreet has quietly developed a reputation as one of the leading marketing data infrastructure platform providers, providing extremely high-quality data across a range of asset classes,” said Rich Winter, Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Fenics Market Data and Information Analytics. “MayStreet’s clients include some of the industry’s most sophisticated banks, asset managers, trading platforms and regulators, and we look forward to them gaining access to a low-latency feed of our deep pool of streamed treasury liquidity.”

MayStreet clients interested in adding the Fenics UST data feed should contact sales@maystreet.com to learn more.

EDM Council, the leading trade association for data management, has launched the Cloud Data Management Capabilities (CDMC) Best Practices Work Group. This new group includes participation from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, as well as over 20 leading financial industry firms. The Work Group has been formed to develop an open source CDMC Best Practice Framework to accelerate Cloud adoption and automate the associated controls. The EDM Council Work Group is being co-chaired by Morgan Stanley and Refinitiv, with project management provided by Capco.

Cloud implementations typically face a common series of complex data, technology, operational and control challenges. Industry also lacks a common end-to-end Cloud data management best practice framework. This Work Group will address these gaps by developing an open-source best practice framework based upon the EDM Council’s Data Management Capability Assessment Model (DCAM®). DCAM is a formal framework used to assess a firm’s data management capabilities and is maintained by the EDM Council. DCAM utilizes a consistent scoring model which has been adopted by 60% of financial organizations globally that use data management frameworks.

While the initiative is currently focused on the financial services sector, it will expand cross-industry to help firms in multiple verticals to navigate the growing complexity of Cloud adoption. Data security and privacy rules have become an even greater focus worldwide as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced firms to work remotely and reassess business strategies. This has increased cost and margin pressures, driving companies to accelerate Cloud adoption and leverage new data management practices. 

“We’re experiencing a transformational moment in data management. Industry is rapidly evolving the need to securely access and extract value from exponential volumes of data via the Cloud,” said John Bottega, President, EDM Council. “It’s imperative that firms implement data management best practices in their Cloud strategies. We’re confident that the CDMC Work Group will play a major role in crafting this best practice framework to benefit all industries.”

TIBCO Software Inc., a global leader in enterprise data, empowers its customers to connect, unify, and confidently predict business outcomes, solving the world’s most complex data-driven challenges. Today, TIBCO announced it has further enhanced the metadata capabilities of TIBCO’s Unify offerings, helping clients improve their data literacy, with the full integration of its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) TIBCO Cloud™ Metadata offering. With this evolution, TIBCO adds functionality to its Unify solutions to assist customers in embracing a data-driven approach where they can enhance the collection, synthesis, management, and governance of data.

By using the SaaS-based metadata management offering, clients also benefit from the unique self-service data provisioning capabilities of TIBCO® Data Virtualization. Added functionality for TIBCO Data Virtualization users now includes the ability to search the catalog and provision access to data sets from hundreds of data sources, and further features enable a user to add data governance and data catalog features to their integration pipelines.

“Today, the enterprise needs a simpler way to maintain a comprehensive view of relevant data assets across the organisation for operational applications, analytics, and compliance,” said Mark Palmer, senior vice president and general manager, engineering, TIBCO. “TIBCO Cloud Metadata provides a one-stop SaaS solution that combines data governance, data catalogs, and enterprise metadata management capabilities. This further extends the capabilities of our Unify portfolio and provides customers complete visibility into their data landscape.”

In this era of data centricity, a key challenge facing organisations is data literacy, whereby they can ensure everyone understands the data assets they possess. This can be solved by the application of effective metadata management by augmenting TIBCO’s Unify line of data management capabilities with TIBCO Cloud Metadata. The company is providing capabilities that support the management of enterprise-wide metadata by blending data governance, data catalog, and enterprise metadata management proficiencies.

In an April 2020 Gartner research report1, Guido De Simoni, senior director analyst, Mark Beyer, distinguished vice president analyst and Alan Dayley, vice president analyst, Gartner wrote, “When using metadata management, data and analytics leaders must take a well-planned approach by addressing use cases that align with business outcomes. Four key use cases have emerged that drive the most crucial capabilities required of any solution in this market: data governance, security and risk, data analysis, and data value.”

Learn more about metadata management, data catalog, and data governance delivered as a service with TIBCO Cloud Metadata.

1. “Emerging Market Scenarios Are Driving a Renewed Focus on the Capabilities of Metadata Management Solutions,” Guido De Simoni, Mark Beyer, and Alan Dayley, April 2020

Xero, the global small business platform, will host a free to watch content series called Xero On Air in September, designed to connect, inspire and share information with its accountant and bookkeeper partners and small business customers around the world. 

Taking place from 14-17 September 2020, Xero On Air is themed “Behind Small Business” and will bring new insights, announcements and inspiring customer stories from Xero, our customers, guests and community members to help advisors and their small business clients. 

Each day, Xero will release new ‘episodes’, allowing viewers to tailor their viewing schedule to their interests with more than 30 episodes being released over the week. 

Xero Chief Customer Officer Rachael Powell said: "In a year of so many uncertainties and challenges, Xero On Air is an opportunity for everyone in the Xero community to connect, be inspired and gather insights to help navigate the current environment. Xero On Air was designed from the ground up to help accountants and bookkeepers as well as small businesses to deal with what's happening now and prepare for what's coming next."

People tuning into Xero On Air will hear from experts about the impact of COVID-19 on small businesses globally, what the advent of open banking means for business financial services, and how artificial intelligence will augment the way businesses operate today, along with other topics important to technology, accounting and small business. 

Sessions will be led by Xero CEO Steve Vamos, Xero chairman and business leader David Thodey, professional mentor and leadership coach Ben Crowe, as well as many familiar local leaders and more throughout the week.

The content schedule and free pre-registration is available now at XeroOnAir.com. 

Xero On Air episodes include:

Welcome to Xero On Air: Now.New.Next

Xero CEO Steve Vamos opens Xero On Air to explain why connecting and sharing in the face of change is the key to finding a pathway to a better future and how our global community continues to support small businesses all over the world. 

We've got your back - Xero data guides recovery
Xero launches unique data on the state of the global small business economy with a focus on lessons learned to guide recovery.

The Global Economy - What we know & what we are learning. In conversation with Xero Chair David Thodey and a US economist

Tune in to David Thodey and BofA Global Research Head of US Economics Michelle Meyer discussing the impact COVID-19 is having on the world’s economy across key markets, focusing on the impact on small businesses and consumer behaviour.

Xero for accountants and bookkeepers: Your future practice experience

See the latest product innovations and the vision for your future practice experience with Xero.

Towards 2030 - The technology that will shape the small business economy
As the small business digital revolution picks up pace with COVID-19 proving a catalyst for cloud migration, Xero’s Chief Technologist Mark Rees looks to 2030 and envisions the most significant technology for small businesses: Augmented intelligence - its impact and the opportunities. 

BNP Paribas Personal Finance will use Experian’s Open Banking technology and Aryza’s Debtsense digital platform to provide round-the-clock online account reviews to customers who have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Consumer finance specialist BNP Paribas Personal Finance has moved quickly with its partners to put the solution in place inside six weeks so that it can meet changing regulatory advice. Debtsense from Aryza uses Experian’s Open Banking service to allow people to share their account and transaction data, giving a clear and detailed picture of affordability, financial circumstances and commitments in rapid time.

The insights will enable BNP Paribas Personal Finance to accurately assess people whose finances have been affected by the pandemic and who may now be vulnerable. They can then be offered a payment break or an affordable payment plan based on their specific circumstances. The app uses the lender’s credit decision policy rules to create a personalised payment plan.

Stephen Hunt, CEO of BNP Paribas Personal Finance, said: “It’s clear that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are having a far-reaching effect on consumers and the wider economy. Throughout this situation our focus has been supporting our customers as most of them have been impacted in one way or another by the coronavirus crisis and subsequent lockdown measures. This collaboration with Experian and Aryza is a great example of companies coming together to innovate using the latest tech so we can help our customers quickly and easily set up a payment arrangement based on their affordability. Through launching this fully automated service to our customers, we believe this will be helpful, convenient and provide reassurance and control for our customers who need support as we emerge from this pandemic.”

Lisa Fretwell, Managing Director of Data Services at Experian, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic is having a significant effect on the economy and people’s household budgets. As we move towards the recovery stage of the crisis, it’s crucial lenders and financial providers have accurate and insightful information about their customers. Debtsense gives users the ability to assess someone’s affordability almost instantly, providing a 360-degree view of their financial circumstances. We’re pleased to be working with BNP Paribas Personal Finance so the tool can support their customers during this challenging time.”

Colin Brown, CEO of Aryza Group, said: “We are passionate about making consumer finance more accessible using technology. Over the years we have developed tools that allow consumers to re-engage on their own terms in a fully digital experience. We are delighted that BNP Paribas Personal Finance has embraced our technology and is using it to help those customers that are affected by Covid-19.”

More than 200 organisations are currently using Experian’s Open Banking service, many to help resolve financial hardship as a result of Covid-19 pandemic. Charities including Citizens Advice Liverpool and Mental Health & Money Advice are using the service to support clients through the pandemic, tailoring advice based on the individual’s situation.

Experian has been at the forefront and a leading innovator in the development of Open Banking technology. Its Open Data platform underpins more than 52 million API requests a month.

BNP Paribas Personal Finance will be using the Debtsense app via credit and debt recovery software specialist Aryza. The platform will help to support those in arrears as customers can set up affordable repayment plans and make payments in real-time using a mobile phone.

Global analytics software provider FICO has named Louise Lunn to lead its newly created Global Analytics Delivery organization. Lunn, who is based in the UK, will oversee the teams of data scientists worldwide that develop custom analytics solutions and exploratory analytics projects for the world’s top banks, as well as retailers, telecommunications firms, insurance companies and other businesses.

“Superior analytics are at the core of FICO’s DNA,” said Will Lansing, CEO of FICO. “As demand for our AI, machine learning, optimization and other analytics has increased, we have created a central organization for analytics services that will accelerate our innovation and deliver the best solutions faster to our customers worldwide. Louise has transformed our analytics team in Europe, and she brings a wealth of leadership experience to this new role.”

As head of EMEA analytics, Lunn has led the team responsible for delivering analytics projects to customers throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and for bringing advances in analytics technology to customer projects. In her new role, she will oversee regional delivery teams in EMEA, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and North America, as well as the company’s Global Analytic Delivery Center based in Bangalore, India, applying the latest breakthroughs in analytics to solve specific customers’ challenges.

“FICO has been a global leader in analytics for more than 60 years, ever since it brought the first credit scoring systems to market,” said Louise Lunn, vice president of Global Analytics Delivery. “The explosion in data and the increasing use of AI and machine learning have brought the power of FICO analytics to more businesses worldwide, in every industry. I’m proud to be on the front lines of this effort, and to lead a global team of data scientists addressing the specific challenges of businesses worldwide.”

Prior to joining FICO, Lunn was a partner at Radar Risk Limited, an independent credit risk consultancy. She previously held leadership positions in Experian’s Decision Analytics group, and at Scorex. Lunn has a BSc (Honors) in Systems Modelling from Sheffield Hallam University.

Lunn is shortlisted for this year’s Women in Credit Awards, in the Team Leader of the Year - Data, Risk & Analytics category. She is one of 20 women featured in FICO’s award-winning video on the importance of diversity in analytics.

FICO holds more than 195 patents related to advanced analytics and decision management technology.