WL Payments, the trusted white-labelled global payments platform that consolidates multiple features like transaction routing and reconciliation, brings its customers Apple Pay. Apple Pay is now part of WL Payments Hosted Payment Page, which provides one-click integration for online merchants using a WL Payments partner as their payments provider. With Apple Pay on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac, customers can make fast and convenient purchases through the payment pages of our clients' merchants. Consumers using Apple Pay can complete an online purchase quickly by using biometrics, such as a fingerprint or a face scan. 

The integration means online purchases can be made via express checkout on Apple Pay, especially relevant considering the significant rise in e-commerce purchases due to COVID-19 restrictions.

"We are thrilled to announce Apple Pay is here for all WL Payments partners," said Sunil Jhamb, CEO of WL Payments. "WL Payments' Platform integration with Apple Pay is a magnificent addition to WL Payments' unique payments platform. It superbly compliments WL Payments' commitment to simplify payments and increase merchant success ratios. We keep on enabling even more ways for customers to pay with one of the most rewarding and feature-packed payments platforms on the market." 

"We have seen a dramatic change in consumers moving online for shopping. Looking at the consumer demands in online payments, it is important to be able to deploy secure, user-friendly options quickly at the online checkout, like Apple Pay. Being agile in payments is one of the ways payment companies can gain an edge in an increasingly competitive market. And we will make sure that WL Payments will help them with that." said Lennard Sigling, CMO of WL Payments.

TransferGo, one of the world’s fastest growing money transfer companies, today announced that its global customer base has surpassed two million and continues to grow by thousands each day. The company is also announcing that it has launched in 11 new markets, with the service now available in countries including Japan, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Ghana.

Based in London, UK, TransferGo’s customer base is predominantly made up of migrants who send money home to their families. It is the quickest, most reliable remittance company in Europe and has built a much-loved brand based on transparency, trust, and user experience, which is reflected in its Trustpilot score of 4.8 and an NPS of 76.

TransferGo CEO and co-founder, Daumantas Dvilinskas said, “We are thrilled that so many people across the world are using TransferGo to send money overseas. We strive to put our users at the forefront of everything we do and reaching this milestone is testament to the customer-centricity of our business.”

Since launching, TransferGo has facilitated over seven million transactions, with the number of remittances made daily increasing significantly since many countries went into lockdown earlier this year. 

Dvilinskas continues, “With footfall decreasing dramatically in high-street financial services companies, anyone looking to send money abroad to friends and family has become reliant on digital-first money transfer services. With a continued march towards a cashless society, our service is becoming more vital than ever, and we’re working diligently to support the evolving needs of both new and existing customers in these challenging circumstances.”

iProov, the world leader in spoof-resistant opt-in biometric authentication technology, today announced that its technology will be used to improve the speed and safety of train travel.

Rail passengers using Eurostar services will be the first to take advantage of a facial biometric corridor to enable contactless journeys. The walk-through system will allow customers to complete ticket checks and border exit processes at St Pancras International station without needing to come into contact with people or hardware.

The concept, already trialled in airports to increase speed and safety and manage immigration, is now being brought to train travel as part of the First of a Kind (FOAK) competition run by Innovate UK and funded by the Department for Transport. The initiative supports research, development and innovation in the UK rail industry.

Andrew Bud, Founder and CEO, iProov, said: “This is a world first. iProov is enabling train passengers to choose to travel without tickets or documentation in a way that is safe and secure. What started off as a project to reduce travel congestion and keep passengers moving is now going to help keep people safe in a pandemic world through social distancing and contactless interaction. It’s yet another example of how opt-in facial verification is making life easier and safer for people around the world.”

Passengers planning to travel on Eurostar services would be offered an accelerated pre-boarding option. Prior to travelling, they would use the Eurostar app to scan their identity documentation before iProoving themselves. The iProov facial biometric check uses patented controlled illumination to authenticate the identity of the user against the ID document.

The iProov solution is unique in assuring the Genuine Presence of the passenger. As well as checking that the user is the right person, matching the identity portrayed in the passport, the illumination process checks that the user is a real person, rather than a photo, video, or mask, and, uniquely, that the user is authenticating right now. This protects against large-scale criminal attacks using deepfakes. 

The passenger would then receive a message confirming that their identity document had been secured and a ticket or passport would not need to be shown again until they reached their destination. On arrival at St Pancras International, the passenger would enter the contactless travel corridor and proceed in distanced fashion before boarding the train.

A kiosk solution at the station would allow passengers without access to smartphones to complete the same process.

The iProov solution will be developed in close partnership with Eurostar, the UK’s only operator of high-speed rail services, and with Canadian travel and immigration solution specialists WorldReach Software. It is planned to be in live operation by March 2021.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “I am delighted to announce the winners of this year’s First of a Kind competition, which will support better, more environmentally friendly journeys. Crucially, these pioneering projects will also ensure that passengers have a more efficient, reliable and responsive railway, making their journeys simpler and easier.”

Ian Campbell, Executive Chair of Innovate UK, said: “These high-quality projects illustrate the appetite of UK organisations to develop new and exciting innovations for rail transport that improve customers’ user experience, that optimise railway efficiency, and are environmentally sustainable.”

Gareth Williams, Strategy Director and Company Secretary at Eurostar, said: "We are very pleased to be working with iProov on this important innovation. We’re convinced it will enhance our passenger experience and offer a live illustration of how innovation can benefit the high-speed rail and international transport industries." 

iProov has been enabling global banks and other regulated organisations to meet Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations for several years, before extending into biometric traveller verification for the Department of Homeland Security in the US.

GFT, a global IT services and software engineering provider driving the digital transformation of the world’s leading companies across the financial services, insurance and manufacturing industries announces the appointment of three new executive directors for the Atlantic region. These include New York based Soheil Negahbani, together with Leon Orr and Elliot Wright who are both based in the London office.

Soheil is Head of Cloud and Engineering Services for North America and has played a key role in forging strong relationships with the firm’s technology and cloud provider partners. Many of these relationships have created a wealth ofnew business development opportunities in growth areas such as mainframe modernisation, High-Performance Computing and Google Cloud Managed Services and Support. Additionally, GFT is also increasingly being invited to participate in a growing number of ground-breaking innovations, such as the Google Cloud sponsored Connected Car IoT initiative. Soheil continues tolead all business development activities as well as supporting the firm’s talent management capabilities across this important region.

As the Chief Delivery Officer for the UK business, Leon has been responsible for client delivery for over three years, leading a highly experienced team of dedicated delivery specialists. Leon’s unrelenting mission is to ensure the firm consistently provides an exceptional client delivery experience throughout every aspect of the service. This is integral to ensuring its fast-growing client base derives maximum value from their investments in GFT’s proven core engineering skills and its rapidly expanding portfolio of technology and cloud-driven offerings. Leon joined the firm in 2004 as a programme manager before heading up the programme management practice running client projects for a range of top tier financial institutions, including HSBC, Deutsche Bank, RBS and ABN Amro. 

London based Elliot is the Finance Director for the Atlantic region, leading the financial teams in the UK, Poland, US and Canada. He is also responsible for the finance group’s digitisation agenda which will enable the business to continually improve productivity and efficiency through data driven decision making capabilities. Elliot works very closely with the Atlantic region senior management team and provides active support to other units across the organisation and has been with GFT for over ten years.

David Collins Board Member and Managing Director for the GFT Atlantic region commented: “The GFT Atlantic team, in line with the rest of the business, shares a common goal which is to be known across industry as a customer-focused, quality-obsessed firm. Soheil, Leon and Elliott have all demonstrated an unwavering commitment to this goal and consistently go beyond the call of duty to ensure our exacting client service standards are never compromised. Therefore, on behalf of the GFT executive board, I am delighted to announce these well-deserved promotions and thank them for their combined contribution to the continuing success of the business.”

 IPC, a leading global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the global financial markets, today announced a strategic partnership with OpenFin, the operating system for the financial community. Through IPC’s “App Store” environment, traders and other regulated users will be able to:

• Leverage IPC-developed applications seamlessly and efficiently alongside proprietary, client-developed applications without the need for native integration.

• Access market data and trade lifecycle services available in IPC’s Connexus Cloud platform through any OpenFin-enabled desktop, any of IPC’s terminals or any IPC ‘soft’ trading communications solution. 

• Integrate third-party applications available within the OpenFin ecosystem directly into IPC-powered trading communications workflows.

“A shared and open tech stack is critical in helping financial institutions in their digitalization journeys,” stated Jefferies Financial Group. “This partnership between IPC and OpenFin is a constructive step toward ensuring the interoperability of our applications that are revolutionizing how trading desks share data and communicate with each other.”

The partnership will be rolled out in multiple phases. The initial phase will allow all users to consume Blotter, a pioneering data visualization solution that structures and digitizes voice communications sent over IPC’s innovative IQ/MAX Touch terminal, through OpenFin. When running within the OpenFin environment, Blotter can organically share data across multiple applications and vendor platforms to enable automation of complex trading workflows.   

“Our strategic partnership with OpenFin embraces an open platform approach and is a game-changing proposition that transforms how financial institutions consume applications, share data and optimize workflows,” said Bob Santella, Chief Executive Officer, IPC. “Our global community of 110,000+ users and 6,600+ market participants can rapidly exchange information across platforms and devices by leveraging the interoperability and technological flexibility that OpenFin brings.” 

“Financial market participants across the spectrum are racing to modernize their legacy technology and empower users with new productivity tools. Digital workspaces and contextual workflows are the future, and voice is a crucial information source within this. We are excited to enter into this partnership with IPC in order to help their large and diverse client community further unlock the power of voice,” said Mazy Dar, Chief Executive Officer, OpenFin. 

Altaworld announced all women speaker panel for its upcoming Women in Insurance Tech Virtual Conference celebrating insurance industry's foremost women of influence and leadership. All women speaker panel consist leader from companies such as Cover Genius, Auto Club Group, OCC, Anthemis, Akur8 and more.

Scheduled to be hosted virtual on 29 July 2020, the conference will bring 100+ decision makers, both men and women, to learn lessons, forge strategies and tackle the biggest digital transformation challenges encountered by the insurance sectors.

The conference agenda has been shaped in an effort to cover trending aspects of insuretech including women & leadership in insurance world, key customer engagement models, Insurance against long-run volatility risk, office work insurance, technological disruption and role of AI-ML, Big Data & IoT in insurance industry.

The conference agenda has been curated to empower the insurance world with influence of women leaders who have been working to better customer experiences, leverage disruptive technologies, strategize and exchange ideas addressing technology challenges of insurance industry.

The event has been supported by organizations like Cover Genius, OCC and Toronto Insurance Women's Association (TIWA) along with media coverage from organizations such as Insurance Edge, Financial IT, Digitalscouting and Smart Money Match.

Inviting 15+ women insurance tech leaders across the globe, the event will witness a perfect blend of decision makers across the insurance sector who are looking to gain insights and wish to stay ahead in their digital transformation journey. The attendee mix will observe CIOs, CTOs, CEOs, VP, Directors, Heads, and managers from the insurance domain including brokers/agents, retail agents, claim adjusters, underwriters and actuaries.

Attendees can register for the conference at https://events.altaworld.tech/women-insurance-tech-virtual-conference.html or write to marketing@altaworld.tech.  

NYMBUS®, a provider of the world’s most advanced financial services platform, today announced Jim Modak has been appointed President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). In his new role, Mr. Modak will oversee all aspects of finance, business development and investor relations while helping to develop and execute the Company’s continued growth strategy.

Mr. Modak brings more than 40 years’ experience in high growth businesses to NYMBUS, raising over $1 billion in total equity capital including two public offerings. Previous to NYMBUS, he held the Chief Operating Officer and CFO roles at companies such as DWL, a privately held provider of enterprise software which grew from $5 million in revenue to over $35 million in four years, where he ultimately helped negotiate and lead the sale of the company in 2005 to IBM.

Additionally, Mr. Modak was the CFO at Tradex Technologies where he helped build the business into one of the leaders in developing digital marketplaces. Together with his executive team, the company was ultimately sold to Ariba in 2000 and signified one of largest software M&A transactions at the time totaling nearly $6 billion.

Mr. Modak has led further financial accomplishments for such companies as Datapath and Suniva. He began his career with KPMG where he spent 12 years after graduating from the University of Notre Dame.

“We’re excited to welcome Jim and his proven leadership as NYMBUS enters a next phase of growth,” said Scott Killoh, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NYMBUS. “His career successes in capital raising, business and corporate development, and strategic initiatives are an ideal fit as our rapid-deploy, digital-first products and services are increasingly being preferred by banks and credits unions over the legacy banking model.”

The executive appointment follows a $12 million new financing round NYMBUS recently completed to support rising market penetration for its SmartEcosystem™ that is in overwhelming demand as more financial institutions are in the critical position to digitize their banking operations and customer-facing channels that consumers depend on now more than ever.

Furthered Mr. Modak, “NYMBUS’ unique approach to digital transformation represents a tremendous opportunity for financial institutions to sustain and thrive in today’s market. I am thrilled to join the team and help capitalize on this foundation for success and growth, both on behalf of the Company and its growing list of banks and credits unions served.”

ConsenSys Codefi is launching an Ethereum 2.0 staking-as-a-service platform with institutional functionality for exchanges, custodians, funds, wallets and other potential customers. Today, Codefi revealed its first batch of Pilot Program participants, designed to incorporate feedback and feature requests while designing and building the Codefi Staking API ahead of the Ethereum 2.0 launch. Through the completion of the pilot program, partners gain a deeper understanding of Ethereum 2.0 and have the opportunity to be first to market in providing their customers with Ethereum 2.0 staking capabilities. 

Codefi Staking is built on top of a trusted software stack built by ConsenSys. The mission is to provide a white-label institutional grade API, with easy and efficient access to the Ethereum 2.0 network to enable enterprises to safely and profitably engage with the next phase of Ethereum’s evolution.

Preparing for a Protocol Upgrade

With the first phase expected to launch in 2020, Ethereum 2.0 marks a long-anticipated upgrade to the Ethereum public mainnet. The launch of Ethereum 2.0 is especially significant compared to past upgrades because of the implementation of a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism, moving the network away from its existing Proof of Work architecture. With Proof of Stake, a network of validators effectively place a security deposit of 32 ETH in special accounts on the network, as a guarantee they will follow and enforce the network rules. Ethereum 2.0 will remain decentralized, and anyone willing to stake 32 ETH can become a validator (a minimum of 16,384 Validators staking 524,288 Eth are needed for Ethereum 2.0 to launch).

For people who hold ETH, Proof of Stake marks a more inclusive way to maintain the security of the Ethereum 2.0 network compared to Proof of Work, along with comparatively high rewards for participants. Yet for the average crypto enthusiast, staking can be complex; hence, platforms like exchanges, funds, and wallets offering staking will be differentiated from their competitors in lowering the barriers to participation in staking networks.

“Some of the risks associated with running your own validator include theft or loss of withdrawal keys, incorrect transfer of funds to the Eth 2 deposit contract, and not to mention hardware or internet connectivity failures which result in a loss of validator rewards. With ConsenSys Codefi, validator keys are held in a secure vault with online signing capability, and there will be multiple layers of gatekeepers validating transactions preventing unauthorized usage. We know the importance of onboarding as many validators to Ethereum 2.0, and for that reason have built a turnkey solution for enabling large exchanges and institutional crypto funds to have an always-on and dependable access point to stake the ETH they hold for their customers,” said Tim Lowe, Product Lead of Codefi Staking. 

Codefi Staking Pilot Program

Binance, Crypto.com, DARMA Capital, Huobi Wallet, Matrixport, and Trustology are the first companies to join the Codefi Staking Pilot Program.

“With staking on Binance, users can receive staking rewards without needing to set up nodes, or worrying about minimum staking amounts, time lengths, or any catches. Users deserve the rewards that their coins can earn them. With the eventual launch of Ethereum 2.0, we are excited to support staking for all of our ETH holders on Binance,” said Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO at Binance.

“Ethereum’s upgrade to proof-of-stake will be a pivotal moment for both Ethereum and the Web 3.0 ecosystem. We look forward to teaming with ConsenSys as they support the technological progression and DARMA addresses the financial impact of ETH locked assets and rewards staking through staking-swaps and collateralization,” said James Slazas, CEO of DARMA Capital.

Alex Batlin, “We believe that ETH2.0 represents a step change for decentralised finance, both in terms of performance and scalability, that will spearhead the long awaited mass adoption, along with the opportunity to earn interest on ETH via staking. ETH2.0 brings to the forefront the need for bank-grade secure, but lightening fast, custody solutions.  Thanks to our custom HSM firmware in HSM, we are able to lead the market in offering a fast and scalable custodial wallet solution both for investors looking to stake on ETH2.0, and for validators involved in staking operations.”

ConsenSys Codefi Offers Flexible Features and Services

Codefi Staking will offer direct API integration or a white-labeled UI, both providing detailed metrics and reporting whilst ensuring a minimum 99% uptime for validators confirming blocks on Ethereum 2.0. And importantly, there will be 24/7 support and a professional customer service team available. 

Codefi Staking was built using PegaSys Teku, the Ethereum 2.0 client empowering businesses to stake on the next evolution of the Ethereum network. Written in Java and maintained by the same team behind Hyperledger Besu, Teku is making it easier to bring staking services to businesses. Codefi Staking will also support other Eth2 clients to maintain flexibility and 99% uptime for validators, as the development phases of Eth2 further develop. 

Early Adopter Program 

Codefi is accepting  Early Adopter customers to partner with prior to the Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain launch. Early Adopters stay ahead of the competition with a low risk, low barrier to entry way to provide feedback on the service as well as learn directly from Eth2 teams building the next generation of Ethereum and begin staking ETH. To sign up, click here. 

Payments testing and consultancy expert, FIME has announced its acquisition of CETECOM U.S.’s payment activities. FIME’s expanded expertise and services will enable the U.S. payment ecosystem to define, design, deliver and test innovative, secure and digital payments products.

The acquisition sees key payment experts and state of the art testing equipment incorporated into FIME’s existing San Jose testing and consultancy offerings. The combined teams will support the acceleration of digital payment technologies in the U.S, from authentication solutions around biometrics and EMV^®* 3DS, through to card, mobile and softPOS contactless payments.

“Digital and contactless payments were already gathering momentum in North America and the current crisis has seen projects step up,” comments Lionel Grosclaude, CEO of FIME. “I am really excited about this acquisition to accelerate innovation by providing our clients end-to-end services. FIME is now in position to offer a unique range of testing and consulting services.”

“While we are strategically focusing on providing fast and secure market access for devices with radio technologies, it was important to us that our U.S. payment customers continue to receive the same level of quality of services.” adds Wilfried Klassmann, CEO of CETECOM.

To learn more about how FIME U.S. can support your pioneering payments projects, visit the FIME website.

*EMV® is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries and an unregistered trademark elsewhere. The EMV trademark is owned by EMVCo, LLC.