Spotcap, a multinational fintech, and Cembra Money Bank have partnered to launch a new digital lending service for Swiss small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) named Cembra Business.

In addition to its consumer finance services, Cembra Money Bank will now offer loans of up to
CHF 250,000 to SMEs, which, according to The Swiss Federal Council, make up more than 99% of companies and are responsible for two-thirds of the available jobs in Switzerland.

Businesses can apply online in 15 minutes and receive a credit decision within one working day. Funds are available to approved borrowers in 48 hours.

Régis Lehmann, Head of Cembra Business said: “As Cembra Business, we take pride in meeting our customers’ needs with secure and simple financing. Spotcap’s lending technology has played a key role in extending our customer promise to the business segment, because it enables us to provide fast credit decisions and the optimal loan offering for each case.”

Jens Woloszczak, Spotcap co-founder and CEO, commented on Cembra’s move into small business lending, saying that "it demonstrates what financial institutions can achieve by partnering with fintechs. Cembra was able to leverage our innovative technology and analytics and launch a new service in a matter of months, rather than years. Despite how strong Switzerland’s financial market is, there is still untapped demand for digital lending services, and we are honoured to accompany Cembra Business in its expansion."

ABAKA and Avaloq have announced a strategic partnership where ABAKA will join the Avaloq.one Ecosystem to collaborate on building new AI platforms and digital solutions for client banks of Avaloq around the world. This latest addition to the ecosystem follows ABAKA’s successful Series A funding round which saw the firm raise USD 6.5 million – one of the biggest investments in technology for the pensions and retirement market.

ABAKA, the London-based digital retirement solutions fintech, will partner up with banking software provider Avaloq and join its Avaloq.one Ecosystem. The tech firms will now collaborate to build artificial intelligence (AI) powered solutions to help international banking clients improve their customer experiences. Starting today, Avaloq banking clients can connect with ABAKA over the www.avaloq.one marketplace and further extend their Avaloq Banking Systems with ABAKA using industry grade secure Rest APIs and sandboxes in realizing their Open Banking ambitions.

ABAKA uses AI-powered technologies, such as its conversational chatbot AVA and intelligent nudges, to improve the ways financial services providers engage with their customers and help them financially plan for the future. We live in an age of WhatsApp communicators, Netflix streamers and Alexa enquirers. Those customers are used to slick digital services across the board and managing their finances is no exception. In recent years, the number of adults banking on their smartphones has grown rapidly across the world. But if banks are to keep pace with the ever-changing expectations of the consumer, digital innovation must not stop at innovation labs and SMS alerts.

Fahd Rachidy, founder and CEO of ABAKA said: “ABAKA works with banks and savings providers around the world to build digital banking solutions that create outstanding customer experiences. We’re excited about the potential of what we can help banks achieve in 2020. Joining the Avaloq.one Ecosystem will provide ABAKA further access to Avaloq banks worldwide and will accelerate the innovation push in this space.”

Martin Greweldinger, Group Chief Product Officer of Avaloq, said: “While we have seen increased demand from banks for AI-powered, digital banking solutions and cloud-based platforms, many remain constrained by legacy and outdated systems. We are impressed with the AI-powered solutions ABAKA is bringing to the market to help meet these challenges. Coupled with our expertise in building SaaS, BPaaS as well as on premise solutions for private banks and wealth managers, we are confident this latest addition to the Avaloq.one Ecosystem will put us both at the forefront of digital banking innovation for our clients.”

News of the partnership with Avaloq follows a successful Series A funding round for ABAKA last year, where the fintech firm raised USD 6.5 million in new investment. ABAKA plans to use the money for continued research and development into AI applications for the banking sector, as well as its expansion into Asia and the USA.

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Mashreq today announced the region’s first blockchain data sharing platform, now live in production, to support licensed businesses and corporates opening digital bank accounts instantly.

In continuation of the consortium formed back in July 2019 between DIFC and Mashreq, the initiative known as Know Your Customer (KYC), along with the DIFC incubated FinTech firm, norbloc, was unveiled as a market-first of its kind in the Middle East. DIFC and Mashreq took a strategic decision to harness this promising technology by focusing on a specific use case to enhance both the quality and integrity of corporate KYC information as well as quality of customer experience when opening bank account, which complement the ease of doing business in DIFC.

The platform is now live and available to all UAE-based corporates and banks. DIFC and Mashreq take the recent KYC consortium announcement forward and announce the region-first live connection, built on the same chosen platform norbloc Fides.

Growing from an initial “Proof of Concept” to confirm the possibility of using cutting-edge blockchain technology, the KYC platform is now ready and open to all licensing authorities and financial institutions in UAE to join DIFC and Mashreq’s live blockchain experience for full-scale adoption under a unified nation-wide umbrella. The platform will make it easier and faster for new companies to do business in the UAE, removing existing paper-based KYC processes.

This first-to-region digital account-opening product for businesses and corporates provided through partnership between DIFC and Mashreq, is a testament of the great potential of using blockchain technology. DIFC prepares the KYC record during the corporate license application and is shared electronically via blockchain with Mashreq, with customer consent, simplifying the process of opening a bank account. This single KYC solution for corporate entities, is a scalable ecosystem solution, available to all qualified financial institutions/licensing authorities and supports connectivity with other similar initiatives when they follow the footprints of DIFC and Mashreq into production.

As part of leading innovation in the region, DIFC and Mashreq transformed their business operations and IT platforms to ensure seamless connectivity between the two organizations and digitized the entire front and back end onboarding and KYC processes, to provide a true digital experience to customers.

To achieve this milestone, DIFC and Mashreq collaborated to define the business and operating framework, technical architecture, customer data protection schedules, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plan and set-up the blockchain connectivity. Norbloc provided the Blockchain platform (Fides), Gowling WLG assisted in drafting the legal agreements, while Deloitte supported Mashreq with the overall governance and program management.

As part of DIFC’s legal framework, its Data Protection Law embodies international best practice standards, and is consistent with EU regulations and OECD guidelines. It is designed to balance the legitimate needs of businesses and organizations to process personal information while upholding an individual’s right to privacy.

Based on the experience and learnings from the production implementation, DIFC and Mashreq have also conceptualized a consortium framework covering key tenets required for large-scale adoption by other participants joining the ecosystem. Key aspects around consortium governance (ownership structure, oversight, decision making process), business model (participation criteria, commercial model) and operating model (technical considerations, operating guidelines, change management, data confidentiality, dispute management, liabilities and indemnities etc.) are defined and ready for ecosystem scale up.

DIFC and Mashreq invites all other banks and licensing authorities to join the ecosystem and take advantage of the efforts and learnings to provide a seamless best-in-class experience to their clients. A new technology architecture that has the ability to be faster, more secure, more efficient than the current onboarding verification procedures with enhanced transparency.

With gold prices jumping in February as the stock market tumbled amid the worsening coronavirus crisis, one UK investor used their smartphone to buy almost £1 million of gold in one trade, a new record for market-leader BullionVault's mobile apps.

Total activity both online and by smartphone rose to its strongest since Donald Trump won the White House in November 2016, with the value of client bullion – stored and insured in each user's choice of London, New York, Singapore, Toronto or (most popular) Zurich – setting new all-time highs above £1.9bn.

Making gold cheaper, safer and easier since April 2005, and the largest provider of securely-stored bullion for private investors online since 2008, BullionVault added trading apps for Android and iPhone devices in 2012, enabling its users to buy or sell precious metals 24/7 from wherever they are.

Last month's record purchase saw an Android user purchase just over 23 kilos of gold (747 Troy ounces) in the Zurich vault for a price of £949,967.

That beat BullionVault's previous largest buy order by smartphone, again for Zurich gold, of €695,845 matched in June 2017, but behind the record $1.4m gold sale of July 2019.

Now used by nearly 80,000 customers worldwide, the platform saw an average £7.4m of gold, silver and platinum traded each day in the last week of February, up by 173.2% from the prior 52-week average.

With the MSCI World Index dropping 8.6% – its worst 1-month plunge since May 2012 – gold prices rose for a 3rd month running, up 1.6% to set new 7-year highs in US Dollar terms, up 1.7% to 40-year highs against the Japanese Yen, and rising 2.5% and 4.2% against the Euro and British Pound respectively to set fresh all-time records.

Despite February's new highs however, the number of private investors using BullionVault to buy gold across the month rose 15.7% from January, while the number of sellers slipped by 2.4%, snapping the more price-sensitive pattern seen at New Year.

Together that pushed the Gold Investor Index, a unique measure of private trading activity in physical bullion, up to 55.1 from the 6-month low of 53.5 seen in January.

The index would read 50.0 if the number of net buyers equalled the number of net sellers exactly. It peaked at 71.7 in September 2011, and fell to 49.1 last June.

Commenting on the data, BullionVault director of research Adrian Ash said:

"Gold demand among private investors is again rising alongside prices, repeating the bullish pattern seen during last summer's downturn in global growth forecasts. The coronavirus crisis is driving more money into gold because, by bringing fears of recession forward, it's directly hurting equities, higher-risk currencies and low-grade debt.

"Gold's appeal as a store of value is also likely to keep broadening as central banks cut rates and expand QE asset purchases. Even aggressive monetary easing will struggle to offset the kind of quarantines and shutdowns we've seen in China, but they're sure to worsen the already negative real returns paid to cash savers."

February's count of first-time BullionVault users worldwide beat the West London-based fintech's previous 60-month average by 32.9%, led yet again by Eurozone investors now facing steeply negative bond yields in real terms, plus increasingly widespread negative interest rates on bank deposits.

The number of first-time BullionVault users living in the 19-nation currency union rose 87.1% last month from the 2015-2020 monthly average.

With silver prices meantime rising nearly 5% in February before tumbling to 6-month lows last week, the number of people selling the metal rose to the most since August, up 10.0% from January's figure.

The number of silver buyers rose faster however, jumping 27.7% to also reach a 6-month high. Together that pulled the Silver Investor Index up to 54.7 from the reading of 52.6 given in January.

Silver demand was also positive by weight on BullionVault, with net inflows of 3.9 tonnes taking total client holdings up to 833.4 tonnes, the 9th new all-time record of the last 12 months.

Gold demand, net of client selling, totalled 85 kilograms across the month, reversing one-third of January's liquidation, when customers as a group took profits using BullionVault's live 24/7 marketplace.

That took client gold holdings – stored in each user's choice of London, New York, Singapore, Toronto or (most popular) Zurich – up to 39.1 tonnes, 0.4% below December's record high.

Together with an additional 70 kilos of platinum – of which BullionVault users ended February with a new record above 0.9 tonnes – that took the total value of client property to a new all-time high above £1.9bn.

NatWest has today reaffirmed its commitment to supporting UK SMEs by removing the minimum monthly fee from its Business account and launching its free ‘Business Builder’ digital coaching programme for start-ups and entrepreneurs,

NatWest is now the first high street bank in the UK to offer a business banking account without a monthly fee, and a truly ‘pay for what you use’ tariff. The monthly account fee removal will also apply to existing business account customers, meaning over 280,000 UK businesses will be better off as a result of the change. NatWest will write to all affected businesses from 9 March to inform them of this improvement to the offering.

The bank also offers 18 months of completely free banking to all new start-ups, meaning companies in this initial phase of growth won’t be charged for making transactions either, providing additional support for businesses at a critical stage. These changes mark the first stage in a series of planned improvements that the bank will make to its SME proposition this year as it aims to become the biggest supporter of start-ups in the UK.

NatWest has also today relaunched its digital initiative for start-ups and entrepreneurs as Business Builder. Previously called ‘Pre-Accelerator’, the programme is free-of-charge, and provides a series of online learning modules, augmented with regular newsletters, networking events and access to a digital network of like-minded individuals.

Andrew Harrison, MD, Business Banking said: ‘As part of our revised strategy, NatWest has committed to helping create 50,000 new businesses across the UK by 2023, and to support over half a million people to consider entrepreneurship as a career. Today we’ve launched the first in a series of improvements to transform how we support businesses of any size, by removing the monthly account fee and relaunching our digital coaching initiative.

Business Builder will provide budding entrepreneurs with the skills they need to get started with confidence, and combined with the account changes we’ve announced today, we’re proud to be able to provide a completely free platform on which the entrepreneurs of the future can build their own success stories.’

Interested businesses can visit www.business.natwest.com

SmartStream Technologies, the financial Transaction Lifecycle Management (TLM®) solutions provider, and Luxoft, a DXC Technology Company (NYSE: DXC), today announced an agreement to help financial institutions digitally transform the entire post-trade lifecycle, enabling more efficient, streamlined and cost-effective middle- and back-office operations.

The new partnership promises to accelerate and expand the delivery of SmartStream’s solutions, leveraging Luxoft’s deep financial services domain expertise, market coverage, and premium consulting, integration and implementation credentials. According to Pierre Castagne, Global Head of Alliances, Luxoft Financial Services: “Together, SmartStream and Luxoft will help financial institutions improve operational control, build new revenue streams, mitigate risk and comply accurately with regulations”.

“Based on our successful partnership model and proven onshore/nearshore delivery expertise, Luxoft is building a powerful alliance network with market leaders and innovators across the trade lifecycle value chain,” Castagne said. “This will provide clients with specialised skills and tailored solutions that unlock agility, modernisation and cost savings”.

Günther Ruf, Director, Partner and Alliances, SmartStream commented: “Luxoft is exactly the type of organisation we were looking to partner with. They have the necessary global footprint, plus the knowledge and experience needed to help financial institutions utilise our solutions in optimising their back-office functions. It’s the perfect complement to our offering. Now it will be easier than ever for a business to increase automation levels, which results in a dramatic rise in STP rates and a lowering of the overall cost of processing. This, coupled with a significant reduction in the amount of overall errors, can greatly improve a financial firm’s customer service efforts and add to their reputation”.

Analysis of global startup hubs by Outlier Ventures, as part of London Blockchain Week has revealed that London may be one of the most preferred hubs for blockchain start-ups to headquarter themselves. 

A remarkable 450 blockchain companies call London home. Inflow of talent from the EU (prior to Brexit), low barriers to company incorporation and active involvement of the FCA combined with the broader fintech ecosystem around London is considered to be the key reasons behind this. 

Since 2013, blockchain startups in the United Kingdom have raised a collective $503 million between themselves in equity raises. 1 in 3 blockchain companies in the region manage to raise funding. Of the total capital allocation, $95 million has been invested in seed stages alone. London also dominates as a preferred hub for startups to set themselves up in comparison to other regions in the EU like Berlin and Zug in spite of their thriving ecosystem.

Potential access to capital does not necessarily mean rampant scaling or growth. The power laws for blockchain firms in the UK are similar to those found elsewhere. Only 13 percent of all firms that raise funding go on to raise a Series A and a mere 3% witness a Series B. Challenges around regulations, attracting the right talent post-Brexit, targeting ideal markets and improving user experiences plague startups in the UK too. One of the challenges faced by startups is that while blockchain technology could see substantial adoption in another part of the world, regional regulations being laggard and strictly enforced could restrict how fast firms can react to changes.

From the research it is evident blockchain as an ecosystem continues to be unwelcoming to women. According to the limited data available on Crunchbase, a mere 13% of employees in blockchain startups are women and only 10.4% of founders with investments are women. 

Dr Jane Thomason, CEO Fintech Worldwide:

"We need to do more to facilitate the involvement of women in the blockchain ecosystem, and improve their access to capital. These statistics are appalling."  

The United Kingdom beats its peers by far but if the ecosystem needs to grow, more needs to be done in terms of diversity. The United States had slightly more female employees (at 14.2%) but considerably lower number of female founders with backing. 

With startups like Blockchain.info and Revolut in the region, London is home to some of the biggest names in both fintech and the digital asset ecosystem. With regulators like the Bank of England being active proponents of Central Bank Digital Currencies and regional investment funds scaling up their activity, London appears to be in good shape to continue being a dominant hub for blockchain startups to set themselves up in. 

Joel John, Outlier Ventures Analyst: 

“London remains impressive for its ability to enable startups to incorporate and raise within short periods of time. A major contributor towards this is the well established financial ecosystem in the region. London absorbing blockchain projects is an indication of the region’s evolution.”

Outlier Ventures are looking to continue to grow, develop and support London startups working in the open data economy. Outlier run a 3 month accelerator program called Base Camp with £35k immediate funding, office space, legal and back-office support for early stage projects. 

If you are an early stage startup in London building emerging technology or want to learn more about how you or your company could be involved, drop in an email to Scott Collen who runs the program: scott@outlierventures.io 

To read the full report on our website: https://outlierventures.io/research/london-blockchain-firms-raise-over-500-million-in-equity-funding-since-2013/

TurnKey Lender, an award-winning provider of decision management and lending automation solutions, has closed a deal with the leading financial institution in Cambodia, SAMBAT Finance.

TurnKey Lender is pleased to welcome a fresh addition to its fast-growing client roster. SAMBAT Finance, a Phnom Penh-based financial institution is aiming to bring real-time decisioning for their loan application processing with the best in breed lending solutions to their customers in Cambodia. SAMBAT Finance’s endeavors are supported by TurnKey Lender’s Unified Lending Solution which will enable them to swiftly respond to their clients’ needs and generate greater value for all stakeholders.

“Sambat Finance is one of the early adopters of the fully digital approach to banking in Cambodia and we’re happy to support them in this exciting journey with our technology and expertise.” – Dmitry Voronenko, CEO of TurnKey Lender is quoted.

“Our digital journey has been nothing short of amazing! The recent adoption of TurnKey’s Unified Lending Solution is a major milestone in our digital journey and truly a testament to our commitment to deliver digital financial services to our customers,” said Harvey Poh, Managing Director, SAMBAT Finance PLC. “We are proud of our pioneering endeavors to revolutionize the digital financial services sector in Cambodia and with the full support from TurnKey, we are confident of realizing our aspiration of being the leading digital financial institution in Cambodia.”

Miranda McLean, Senior Director and Global Head of Marketing at Banking Circle has been listed as a finalist in the Women in Credit Awards, from Credit Strategy. Now in their third year, the Women in Credit Awards are the only awards programme dedicated to recognising and championing the inspirational work of women from across the credit and financial services industry.

Winners will be announced at a gala dinner hosted by stand-up comedian, actor and writer, Suzi Ruffell, at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in London on 19th March.

Miranda joined Banking Circle prior to its launch, in 2015, to spearhead marketing for the business. From the outset she led a highly successful launch campaign which exceeded all targets and quickly reached a level of engagement in the top tier of B2B marketing benchmarks. Miranda created the brand identity and marketing strategy which took the financial utility to a multi-million-dollar business in less than three years and helped it to secure its Banking License in 2020.

Focusing beyond her own career, Miranda also serves on the Executive Board of the European Women Payments Network (EWPN), which focuses on championing the skills and expertise of women in the burgeoning FinTech and payments sectors. EWPN is providing the opportunity for women to learn, network, share and celebrate their achievements, and appointed Miranda to help extend its reach and influence throughout the European business community.

Anders la Cour, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Banking Circle commented: “Miranda is a highly successful marketer consistently delivering above and beyond expectations. A highly valuable member of the team behind Banking Circle, Miranda was instrumental in the launch and gaining FCA approval for our brand name even before we had secured our banking licence. Not only is Miranda playing a pivotal role at Banking Circle, but she is also using her expertise, inside knowledge and contacts to drive change which benefits other women across the industry, and to encourage a new generation of women into financial careers. This award nomination is a credit to Miranda, and all of us at Banking Circle believe her dedication to the industry today and in future generations means she truly deserves to win.”

For accompanying photo, please click on the link below: Miranda McLean