Security Bank has entered a new partnership with Avaloq, a leading provider of wealth management technology and software. The bank aims to digitalize its wealth management business with the Avaloq Core Platform and to roll out Avaloq’s Relationship Manager (RM) Workplace solution to strengthen its front office. The new partnership will further streamline the bank’s operations while creating an enhanced client experience.

Security Bank is one of the Philippines’ best-capitalized private universal banks, providing bespoke financing, leasing, foreign exchange, stock brokerage, investment banking, and asset management services. Since launching its Wealth Management business in 2017, the bank has grown its wealth management assets under management by a CAGR of 44% and has expanded its client base by a CAGR of 40%. For these results, Asiamoney has recognized Security Bank as Best for HNWs (high net worth) in the Philippines for three consecutive years in 2023, 2022 and 2021. To address the growing demand for bespoke wealth management services, Security Bank has partnered with Avaloq to drive the digitalization of the bank, optimize its front office, and create a solid operational foundation for its continued growth over the long term.

The bank’s new wealth management platform will automate and standardize workflows and enable Security Bank to offer a full spectrum of bespoke investment advisory services and products for its high-net-worth and affluent clients. Thanks to the native automation capabilities of the Avaloq Core Platform, Security Bank can benefit from high straight-through processing (STP) and service accuracy rates for payments, securities, and fund processing, which will improve operational efficiency. This means that Security Bank can focus more resources on providing personalized service, creating new innovative offerings, and expanding into new markets and client segments.

Avaloq’s intuitive RM Workplace solution will provide Security Bank’s relationship managers with a complete overview of client profiles and portfolios, ensuring more targeted communication and simpler transaction management to boost productivity and foster closer client relationships. This will also enable the bank’s relationship managers to offer tailored investment advisory services to a larger, more diverse client base. The solution can be fully customized based on the bank’s needs and is seamlessly integrated with the Avaloq Core Platform.

Arnold Bengco, Financial Markets Head at Security Bank, said: “The bank’s strategic partnership with Avaloq will strengthen our wealth management capabilities even further. We continue to innovate our financial markets products to meet the evolving needs of our clients. With this acute focus to deliver tailored solutions and distinct BetterBanking service, we’re confident our new platform will attract incremental investment AUM and help deepen customer relationships with our Bank.”

Lucose Eralil, Executive Vice President Head Enterprise Technology & Operations at Security Bank, said: “This new partnership with Avaloq reflects our commitment to digitally transforming our bank to deliver exceptional value to our clients and stakeholders and to become the most customer-centric bank in the Philippines. With Avaloq’s specialized wealth management platform and RM Workplace solution, we can further expand our wealth management business to help individuals and businesses in the region grow and preserve their wealth. I look forward to strengthening our partnership with Avaloq over the years to come.”

Pascal Wengi, Managing Director for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa at Avaloq, said: “We are firmly committed to supporting Security Bank on its digitalization journey across the front, middle and back office. By automating end-to-end processes, from order entry to reporting, the Avaloq Core Platform will provide the operational foundation for the future growth and success of the bank’s wealth management business. At the same time, our RM Workplace solution will empower the bank’s relationship managers, helping them to build lasting relationships with their clients. We are proud to work closely with Security Bank to support the growth of the Philippines’ wealth management sector.”

TerraPay, a leading global cross-border payments network company, and Diamond Trust Bank Uganda (DTBU), a prominent member of the Diamond Trust Bank Group, today, announced a strategic partnership to expand international money transfers and strengthen financial inclusion in Uganda. Together, both firms will deliver unparalleled benefits to customers worldwide. The key attributes of this partnership include the ability to facilitate direct account deposits from any part of the world and leverage DTB's renowned brand name to optimize advantages for customers across the globe.

This partnership is poised to significantly narrow the financial inclusion gap, streamlining the processes of money transfer, savings, and credit accessibility for individuals. By forging this collaboration with TerraPay, Diamond Trust Bank Uganda will witness an expansion in its customer base for international money transfers, consequently bolstering direct international investments within the nation. Notably, this initiative will greatly benefit customers and expatriates residing in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Kenya, Germany, Qatar, Canada, and Europe, granting them the capability to execute real-time money transfers to their loved ones in Uganda, a pivotal hub within this partnership. Simultaneously, TerraPay will extend its global outreach through this association with DTBU, simplifying digital cross-border money movement for both individual consumers and businesses alike. As a result, individuals will enjoy swifter and more seamless person-to-person remittances, while businesses can anticipate streamlined payouts spanning an extensive network of 140 recipient countries. This strategic partnership is set to fuel the anticipated growth in digital transactions within Uganda, a market projected to surge to a staggering USD 1.3 billion by 2027.

Talking about the partnership, Willie Kanyeki, TerraPay's Vice President, East and South Africa, said, "We are excited to partner with Diamond Trust Bank Uganda to expand our reach in East Africa and make it easier for people to send and receive money across borders. This partnership will help us achieve our goal of providing everyone with access to affordable, reliable financial services. Diamond Trust Bank Uganda is a well-respected bank with a strong track record of providing excellent customer service. We are confident that this partnership will be a success and will help promote financial inclusion in the region, by simplifying global money movement for both individuals and businesses, making it easier than ever to connect with loved ones and also, empower global commerce."

Commenting on the collaboration, Varghese Thambi, Managing Director, Diamond Trust Bank Uganda said, "We are committed to providing our customers with the best possible banking experience. This partnership with TerraPay will allow us to offer our customers faster, more convenient, and more secure money transfers, with lower fees. We are confident that this partnership will be a win-win for both, our organizations and the people of Uganda. TerraPay's agile technology will allow us to reach a wider network of customers, making it easier for them to send and receive money across borders. We are certain that this partnership will have a positive impact on the lives of many people in Uganda."

The rise of fraud in the United States continues apace, costing a huge $159 billion in one year alone, according to new research released today by Feedzai in partnership with the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA). 

The 2023 State of Scams report shows that nearly a quarter (23%) of US citizens parted with their money after falling victim to fraud despite an overwhelming majority (69%) saying they felt confident in their ability to spot a scam before reaching that stage.  

This highlights the sophistication of tactics deployed by scammers and, with further data from the research showing the volume of such scams is also high, there is a great risk to consumers. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of those surveyed encountered a scam at least once a month, with a shocking 15% saying they encountered one every single day.  

Gmail and Facebook were by far the most prominent sources of threat, with 53% and 52% of respondents respectively identifying these platforms as the ones on which most scammers tried to contact them last year. With Instagram (22%), WhatsApp (16%), and Google (17%) following closely behind, it is clear that all related parties – big tech, banks, telcos regulators and consumers themselves – must work together to combat and overcome malicious actors. 

With each victim losing an average of $2,663, amounting to 0.6% of total U.S. GDP, more must be done. Urgency and clarity on approach is key. 

Nuno Sebastião, Co-founder and CEO at Feedzai, said: 

“Scammers are relentlessly targeting consumers and, as much as we need and want all our online services from online banking to social media, they do present more opportunities for fraudsters. There are simply more areas of vulnerability for them to exploit. More should be done to both protect and reimburse victims of fraud, and it’s true that banks and financial institutions play a big role here, but this responsibility cannot solely fall on their shoulders.  

“If we are going to stand a chance in the fight against scams we need a collaborative approach – big tech companies, regulators, software providers and consumers must all work together to put measures in place from all angles.  

“It feels like a big job, but it needn’t be hard. Using technology that can continuously provide customer-centric risk-scoring as well as biometric and behavioral pattern analysis, we can learn each consumer’s unique approach and use it to more effectively identify suspicious activity – we can prevent scams before they even happen, and without the consumer even realizing. We’re proud to be partnered with GASA to highlight such an important issue, and to be at the forefront of the fight.” 

Jorjj Abraham, Managing Director at GASA adds: 

“The findings are an important reminder of the scale of the fraud problem facing us all, and this is not just a problem in the U.S. Consumers are savvy, but fraudsters are increasingly sophisticated in their approach, and that means we need an increasingly sophisticated solution to match. Technology is really the only way forward if we’re going to get ahead of the game. If we combine cutting edge tech that prevents scams before they happen with an approach in which we’re not afraid to work together to share insights and knowledge around scams, we can tackle the alarming statistics revealed in our research. We’re proud of the work we’re doing, and Feedzai is crucial in helping us lead the fight so we’re confident of a brighter future.” 

Visa, a world leader in payments, today announced the opening of its transformed Singapore Innovation Center, a dedicated space for partners, clients, and businesses in Asia Pacific. As the payments landscape evolves rapidly, the center enables stakeholders to engage with Visa technologists to co-create payments solutions ahead of demand, deliver scalable innovation, and address the biggest challenges and opportunities in digital payments in the region.  

The Visa Singapore Innovation Center represents Visa's vision of shaping tomorrow's payment possibilities. Showcasing the transformative power of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) in retail and payments, and reimagining modern credentials for enhanced security and convenience, it also serves as a springboard for thought leadership in decentralised and embedded finance, offering tailored solutions for businesses and fostering innovative collaborations with startups. The transformed center exemplifies Visa's commitment and investment to pioneering the future of smarter, more efficient, and inclusive payment systems.

"At Visa, we're bringing ideas to life in a way that's truly unique to the Singapore Innovation Center, a dynamic hub where we transform innovative concepts into practical solutions. We're dedicated to helping businesses discover valuable insights early so they continue to stay ahead in the rapidly digitalising payments landscape. By combining our expertise with cutting-edge technology and solution architecture, we work alongside our partners to materialise solutions that address payment challenges, driving real business value and growth for our clients," said Stephen Karpin, President, Asia Pacific, Visa.

"The Visa Singapore Innovation Center deepens the longstanding partnership between Visa and Singapore, and enables Visa to tap into our vibrant innovation ecosystem to develop new solutions and create new business opportunities for the global market. We look forward to strengthening and expanding this close partnership with Visa and also hope to encourage more global companies to undertake such activities in Singapore." said Png Cheong Boon, Chairman, Singapore Economic Development Board.

Payments innovation designed to drive greater business impact

Visa's Singapore Innovation Center is at the forefront of developing advanced payment technologies, with a sharp focus on delivering significant business benefits. In its role as a pivotal partner in early product development, the center offers essential insights that influence and inform the early stages of product development, helping to identify potential growth opportunities alongside clients.

The center's strategy for shaping the future of payments encompasses a broad range of business needs and is constantly updated to keep par with the ever-evolving payment trends of the region. At launch, the four key highlights include:

1. Speed and convenience of biometric payments: Pay-by-palm is the next-generation payment technology that uses unique palm signatures for identity verification, a significant leap from the widely used fingerprint and facial recognition systems of today. Visitors to the innovation center can experience hovering their palm over a reader, linking their unique signature to their payment card for a transaction. While still in the early adoption stages, it's already making waves in urban mobility in China and the retail sector in the United States. But it's not just about convenience. Using Gen AI to analyse anonymised biometric and payment data, businesses can also gain valuable insights for personalised recommendations.
2. Shop online offline with AR and AI: While many still view augmented reality (AR) as a novelty, this technology has been in use in finance and retail to create immersive shopping experiences that has helped businesses connect with customers. From in-store displays and activations to virtual try-on experiences and navigation, AR and AI can be harnessed together to capture the opportunities that come with the evolution of e-commerce and the growing comfort of consumers with online shopping as well as contactless payments. AR combined with the predictive power of AI, supports a range of use cases, including AR-powered virtual shopping, navigation systems for brick-and-mortar stores, and even virtual fitting rooms, something that can be experienced at the new Visa Singapore Innovation Center.
3. Modernising business payments flow for growth: Business payments have some catching up to do. With the help of technology and digitisation, Visa is investing in commercial payments solutions that can help businesses not just to have centralized financial management and reporting, but also analyse real-time data for a better understanding of finances and insights that can lead to growth opportunities. The next transformation will see mass adoption of embedded finance for business payments, and Visa is driving this change with anchor partnerships like SAP as well as working with fintechs and startups through the Visa Accelerator Program.   
4. Unlocking competitive advantage with data: Harnessing data is fundamental in today's business landscape, as it drives informed decision-making and strategic planning. Valuable insights into customer behaviour, market trends, and business performance can help businesses optimise their processes, improve efficiency, and enhance customer experiences. The Visa Innovation Center is a sandbox, helping businesses harness data assets to anticipate market changes that can allow them to make proactive adjustments to stay ahead of the competition.

From global to local

The Singapore Innovation Center is part of Visa's network of eight regional innovation centers worldwide. It plays a pivotal role in driving regional payments innovation in Asia, addressing the local market needs of Visa's Asia Pacific clients, and ultimately driving forward the company's global mission and strategy to deliver innovative, future-proof, and secure payments that enable individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive.

New research commissioned by AutoRek, a leading software provider to companies in the global financial services sector, has revealed the most current problems facing payments firms today, as well as their perceptions on regulation, compliance, and payments reconciliation. According to AutoRek’s latest annual payments survey, 84% of UK and US payment firms rely heavily on manual tasks and spreadsheets to perform the reconciliation control process, while 86% say their data lacks the transparency and standardization required.

The findings show that while reconciliations are a fundamental control mechanism for finance and accounting, many firms across the financial services sector continue to rely on Excel spreadsheets to carry out this crucial process. This is especially prominent in the US, where 88% of US respondents acknowledge that their company relies heavily on spreadsheets for critical financial control processes.

As a result, manual processes can lead to inefficiencies, with 69% of US firms noting that the cost of their payment operations rises in direct proportion to increased payments processing. This is also reflected in the UK with 63% of payment firms seeing a direct correlation between back-office costs and payment volumes.

The expansion of the digital economy, rising transaction volume, and ever-changing regulatory obligations mean that spreadsheets are no longer fit for purpose. These findings show the need for more education around reconciliation, and how it can help businesses automate manual processes and achieve 50%+ cost reduction and save 75% of time. Especially when more than half (55%) of transactions are settled instantly within a payment firm in the US, compared to 45% in the UK.

The research also highlighted the number of payments organizations expecting their cost of compliance to increase over the next 12 months has doubled since 2023, jumping from 38% to 80%.

Some 50% of respondents said higher levels of automation would allow them to save time and support growth objectives. And 50% said it would support their growth objectives, while 45% said it would cut operational costs.

AutoRek’s Payments Lead Nick Botha comments: “In the payments industry, there is a clear trend towards streamlining operations by minimizing manual processes, yet significant investments remain to be taken. Our recent payments report supports the persistent challenge posed by legacy systems within the market, a challenge that we see across firms globally. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the requirement for businesses to streamline their operational frameworks to effectively navigate potential disruptions. However, companies need to also ensure that they maximize the profitability of their business, especially in today’s increasingly fast-paced and competitive environment.”

Bottomline, a global leader in business payments, launched enhancements to its technology to help banks and non-banking financial institutions monitor, detect, and prevent fraud from happening inside the business. The enhanced solution supports organizations to better use data visualizations, threat profiles, and advanced case management strategies in fighting insider fraud. 

Already making headlines, Bottomline’s Internal Threat Management Solution (ITM) was recently named the market leader in Quadrant Knowledge Solution’s 2023 Spark Matrix™ for Insider Risk Management. The enhanced solution builds on its “record and replay” screen capture technology for non-invasive insider monitoring by creating dashboards that illustrate critical data and core financial system access attempts and track them back to unauthorized users. It also provides information technology and security professionals with more than 100 potential threat profiles based on Bottomline’s extensive experience in detecting and defending against the scope of insider fraud. 

A bigger challenge than most institutions recognize, data violation, and theft by employees, consultants, and those with access to insider credentials is on the rise. And the ramifications can be devastating. A 2023 report by the Ponemon Institute suggests that companies admitted to underfunding their insider risk programs and spending more money on remediation than prevention. 

“A cultural commitment to insulate our customers from financial crime is a tightly woven component in our business payments DNA,” said Omri Kletter, Vice President of Risk Solutions, Bottomline. “Whatever the motivations, including bad actors plotting ransomware attacks while disguising themselves as insiders, the ever-growing threat is real. Our newly enhanced Insider Threat Management solution brings this reality to the forefront. We work closely with the industry, our customers, and partners to deliver broad fraud prevention capabilities to address increasing use cases across all sectors.” 

Bottomline’s next-generation internal threat technology combines the power of technology and data to provide financial institutions with both on-premise and SaaS-based solutions to tackle fraud. Instead of relying on log files for post-fact manual audits, risk teams can use screen-by-screen record and replay technology along with hundreds of analytical scenario rules. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, in 2022, a typical case of insider fraud lasts 12 months before detection and results in an average loss of $117,000. By combining data from different systems, risk experts can investigate, triage, and report potential frauds within an expansive ecosystem rather than in isolated cases.

Using data enriched by machine learning and years of experience protecting some of the world’s largest corporations and financial institutions, Bottomline’s technology helps to rapidly spot anomalies, speeding up investigations by identifying unusual behavior or risks. Whether an internal threat is malicious or unintentional, the technology visually maps connections between unusual activities and users, expediting the detection of insider activity, including external fraud initiated from within.

Smartflow Payments Limited (brand name Sends) got the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) certification, which is vital for secure payment processing. Smartflow offers financial solutions such as Internet acquiring and multicurrency business accounts, so it must comply with data security policies and procedures.

PCI DSS certification is crucial for securing credit and debit card transactions mitigating risks related to cardholders' data and the potential misuse of their personal information. It safeguards card data by imposing specific requirements. Smartflow Payments Limited must also control access to cardholder data and monitor network resource access to get PCI certified. Achieving PCI compliance is no easy task, but it serves as a straightforward security badge, assuring customers of the business's trustworthiness, while noncompliance can incur both financial and reputational costs.

"Security is our number one priority as a financial institution. Daily Smartflow processes the personal data of thousands of customers, and we are responsible for its safety. That is why receiving PCI DSS certification is an important step for our team", commented Anastasiia Pervushyna, Director/MLRO in Sends.

One of the shareholders Smartflow Payments Limited is Alona Shevtsova, a businesswoman, philanthropist, and active participant in the Ukrainian and UK FinTech community.

“Smartflow Payments Limited has always been driven by the desire to innovate and provide cutting-edge solutions to our customers. As we navigate the digital landscape, security remains at the heart of everything we do. PCI DSS certification is a recognition of our dedication to safeguarding financial transactions of our customers,” said Alona Shevtsova.

All companies handling credit card data, particularly those involved in accepting or processing credit card payments, must comply with PCI DSS. Today, data breaches occur frequently, impacting both large and small companies. The primary objective of PCI-DSS is to prevent such breaches. The information about Smartflow PCI DSS certification can be found on the website.

It is important to mention that Smartflow Payments Limited (Sends) is about to launch the first version of the financial app to the Apple Store and Google Play. The release is planned for April 2024.

Zūm Rails, the all-in-one payments gateway that merges open banking with instant payments, today announced the close of a $10.5 million CAD Series A funding round. The round was led by Arthur Ventures, a Minneapolis-based growth equity firm that specializes in B2B software.

Compared to other markets around the world, the U.S. has been slower to standardize practices around open banking and instant payments. While this is now changing with forthcoming data-sharing regulations and new programs such as FedNow, the options for businesses to offer these experiences to their consumers are still fragmented. This means that businesses have to weave together individual capabilities from across the payments ecosystem in order to provide consumers with a holistic transaction experience that doesn’t compromise speed, flexibility or security.

Zūm Rails integrates open banking and instant payments into a single gateway that powers the entire transaction journey. This includes everything from verifying a customer’s identity to linking directly with their bank account to reduce fraud and failed transactions, to facilitating payments via the method of the customer’s choosing. Zūm Rails’ ‘omni-rail’ approach to payments includes both traditional credit, debit and electronic funds transfer (EFT) options, as well as real-time options through partners such as Visa Direct, Mastercard, MX and Canada’s Interac network.

“Companies that want to move money instantly need to adjust for risk, and open banking is the greatest gift to payments in this regard,” said Marc Milewski, co-founder and CEO, Zūm Rails. “We’ve brought open banking and instant payments together in an omni-rail solution that enables companies to check off all of their payment needs from a single gateway. With Arthur Ventures’ investment, we’re positioned for further expansion of our solution through the addition of Banking-as-a-Service and other new capabilities.”

Since its founding in 2019, Zūm Rails has self-funded its way to profitability, establishing itself as a leading payment gateway across North America. Now, the company is setting its sights on continued expansion in the U.S, where it’s working with financial service providers such as Fiserv to democratize access to open banking capabilities and real-time, FDIC-insured payments for businesses.

“Payments are the lifeblood of every business, but too often, keeping up with the ever-evolving array of services needed to process payments quickly, efficiently and securely stands in the way of success,” said Jake Olson, Vice President, Arthur Ventures. “Zūm Rails’ explosive growth is validation of its ability to solve this problem. Having already transformed the Canadian payments landscape, the company is well-positioned to increase this growth with the investments it's making in its product and scaling its presence across all of North America.”

In addition to scaling its U.S. growth, Zūm Rails will use the funding to further expand its payment offerings, including the introduction of new Banking-as-a-Service features for merchants. The company is additionally working on a forthcoming FedNow offering in the U.S. that will enable businesses to send and receive FDIC-insured payments within seconds.

“From open banking to instant payments, Zūm Rails has been on the front lines of the biggest payment technology advancements before many of them were even a thought in businesses’ minds,” said Miles Schwartz, co-founder and Chief Sales Officer, Zūm Rails. “Our long-term vision, however, goes far beyond the individual capabilities we offer. Integrating these capabilities into a single solution that makes businesses’ lives easier will continue to be our focus as we double down on our expansion in the U.S.”

Zūm Rails processes more than $1 billion in payments through its platform each month for companies including Questrade, Coinsquare and Desjardins, the largest federation of credit unions in North America.

spektr, a Copenhagen-based fintech company, has raised €5 million in a seed round led by Northzone, Seedcamp, and PreSeed Ventures, enabling them to introduce advanced automation to compliance teams worldwide.

spektr was founded by the team that previously developed an entire no-code platform, HelloFlow, for securely onboarding customers globally. Following the acquisition by Trulioo, the leader in global identity verification, the company took a step back to understand the true needs of the industry.

After talking with over 400 compliance and risk experts and drawing from experience in client onboarding, it's clear that companies struggle with ongoing monitoring and risk management after the initial setup of digital onboarding processes, largely due to a lack of automation. Many services still depend heavily on manual monitoring and alert resolution, which can be resource-intensive.

Due to the early trust and support of the investors, the vision of the company to address ongoing due diligence challenges and drive revenue through automation-led compliance measures has become a reality.

"We are incredibly excited to partner with spektr. They are an exceptional team with a very clear product vision, and we believe they will be able to leverage their experience from HelloFlow to build spektr into a category-defining company within the compliance space," says the principal at Northzone, Maxine Rior.

Joining Northzone are PreSeed Ventures and Seedcamp, both backers of an initial venture at HelloFlow. Alexander Viterbo-Horten, General Partner in PSV Tech01, one of the funds in venture house PreSeed Ventures, says: “Their execution power and strategic understanding of the financial compliance market are profoundly impressive.” He adds:

"This makes spektr one of the best bets on a future unicorn out of Denmark. It’s a true testament to that, that we’re several investors from the first journey who decided to invest again."

Tom Wilson, partner at Seedcamp shared the same beliefs in the team and product: "We're delighted to have the opportunity to back Mikkel and Ciprian as they go again with spektr. The HelloFlow journey gave us a taste of the market-leading products they can build, and we're excited to see where they can take spektr, building on that experience".

In response to the rapid growth and escalating costs in the compliance sector, spektr presents a no-code solution that automates risk processes, sets up monitoring, resolves alerts instantly, and integrates easily with vendors.