Featurespace^™, the world leader in financial crime risk management for fraud and Anti-Money Laundering, has announced that Enfuce - Finland's biggest fintech start-up with more than 8 million end-users in their platform – has selected the ARIC Risk Hub to protect its clients from existing fraud and new attacks.

Fraud prevention techniques are constantly evolving. The global financial cost of fraud is an estimated £3.89 ($5.13) trillion¹ and as this threat continues growing, it is vitally important to protect customers and businesses against fraud and scams.

Enfuce was seeking a flexible fraud prevention solution for their banks, merchants and financial operators that could quickly integrate with its cloud-based payments platform. They required scalable multi-tenancy functionality delivering customizable controls at every level - even down to individual organizations.

"Our clients deserve industry-leading services that allow them to freely and fully concentrate on the success of their core business, without worrying about ever-evolving fraud," said Monika Liikamaa, cofounder and Chair, Enfuce. “With ARIC Risk Hub, we remove that worry. It's an extremely intuitive, futureproof risk solution that allows us to protect our clients' transactions across all verticals, facilitates faster onboarding and supports our growth."

Powered by Adaptive Behavioral Analytics, a Featurespace invention, ARIC Risk Hub delivers real-time transaction monitoring for fraud and financial crime. This allows financial institutions to spot more fraud and suspicious activity as it happens, while also reducing genuine transactions declined.

“Risk exposure and criminal behavior is constantly growing and we must collaborate more effectively to outsmart them,” said Martina King, CEO, Featurespace. “We are thrilled that Enfuce selected us. They're innovators that are committed to providing their clients with stellar service and our partnership will keep driving the industry forward.”

Checkout.com, a leading global payment solutions provider, today announces the acquisition of technology startup ProcessOut. This represents the first acquisition for the London-based financial technology firm and follows their 2019 announcement of a record-breaking $230 million Series A funding round. This valued the company at nearly $2 billion, in Europe’s largest fintech Series A round ever.

ProcessOut, an alumnus of Techstars NY and 50 Partners accelerator programs, works with a number of leading businesses, including Glovo, Dashlane, Rakuten and Veepee to optimize their international payment processing. ProcessOut’s technology provides a dashboard for businesses to monitor and benchmark payment processing capabilities. Meanwhile, a smart router optimizes payment processing in real-time to improve performance and reduce costs.

Guillaume Pousaz, Founder and CEO of Checkout.com said, “Whilst we always believe in organic growth, we respect businesses who have built great tech and managed to generate momentum. With over $20bn worth of transactions analyzed in 2019, ProcessOut fits in this category and as such we are delighted to make them our first acquisition. Combining their expertise and features with our platform will allow us to offer our global merchants a deeper set of actionable insights to improve their acceptance rates and maximize the cost efficiency of their payments.”

“Furthermore it was clear from day one that their team closely aligned with our values to create a fairer and higher-performing payment ecosystem for businesses - with increased transparency and greater control. Given that we believe unconditionally that a business is only as good as its people, we are really excited to bring the ProcessOut team onboard to contribute to our mission of building the future of banking.”

Manuel Huez, Chief Product Officer & Co-Founder of ProcessOut said: “We are excited to be joining Checkout.com at such a pivotal moment. I’d like to thank the dedicated team behind ProcessOut and our investors and mentors who have helped and supported us throughout the journey to make the business what it is today. We are looking forward to the next chapter of this journey and to continue working with some of the largest merchants to optimize their payments.”

Founded in 2015 by a team of six French entrepreneurs, the proprietary ProcessOut platform empowers merchants by providing actionable insights through greater access to processing performance data.

ProcessOut will join the broader Checkout.com business to expand its service offering for enterprise merchants processing payments globally. Together, this will offer global merchants better performance and more options to manage their ever-evolving payments needs, whilst retaining the convenience of a single integration and unified reporting.

The ProcessOut team of 14 will join Checkout.com's growing Paris and London offices. In September 2019, Checkout.com announced that it had been awarded an Electronic Money Institution license by French regulators. Checkout.com, which has eleven offices globally, also announced plans to scale the company from 600+ employees to 1000 over the next year.

OpenDoor Securities , the continuous order book for less liquid US Treasuries, has named Carson Wong as Chief Technology Officer. Wong joins OpenDoor from Fidelity Capital Markets Technology, where he was most recently Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. As OpenDoor’s CTO, he will work closely with Co-founder, CEO and President Susan Estes to drive the product vision and roadmap for the Company.

In his most recent role at Fidelity Capital Markets Technology, Wong headed the firm’s US trading technology division, spearheading the execution of strategic initiatives in partnership with clients across business channels that included Equities Trading, Primes Services, Securities Finance, FX, and Fixed Income Trading. While at Fidelity, Wong also oversaw the technology development of the Luminex Trading and Analytics consortium, working alongside Mike Cashel, who was then the CEO of Luminex. Mike was named OpenDoor’s Chief Operating Officer last September.

“We are excited to welcome Carson to our senior leadership team as we continue to invest heavily in our information technology infrastructure,” said Susan Estes, CEO, President and co-founder of OpenDoor. “Carson’s ability to leverage his deep technical skills to achieve business goals is paramount to our future success as we advance our capabilities, building on our strong foundation to further enhance the speed, simplicity, and reliability of our platform. We are thrilled to have a leader of Carson’s caliber joining OpenDoor at such a pivotal time in our expansion.”

Prior to Fidelity, Wong spent six years at Lehman Brothers as Vice President & Global Head of NASDAQ/OTC Equities Trading Systems and as a software engineer for the Equities Trading Technology division.

“For the last few years, OpenDoor has carved out an important spot in the US Treasury market, addressing both the technology and structural issues that this market has been facing for decades,” said Wong. “I’m excited to be joining the team during such a time of rapid growth for both the Company and the industry.”

OpenDoor’s current CTO Michael Sacks will retire in April 2020. He joined OpenDoor Securities in September 2013 as one of the Company’s first full-time employees.

Estes added, “Michael has been an integral part of OpenDoor’s success. His unwavering dedication and commitment to the Company and the platform established the foundation we will continue to build on in the years to come. We wish him nothing but the best in his retirement.”

OpenDoor launched its continuous order book for off-the-run US Treasuries and TIPS on January 6 and the platform currently has over 70 buy-side firms along with numerous dealers trading for their own accounts.

Last Wednesday, SIX and Omniex signed a partnership agreement. The partnership will provide a gateway to digital exchanges (including crypto currency exchanges) and OTC market makers worldwide for SIX and its clients. This will create the basis for new business opportunities along the value chain of existing and future asset classes. The collaboration will allow clients of SIX to get a standardized and secure access to trade crypto currencies. As part of the partnership, SIX will become a shareholder in Omniex. The parties have agreed not to disclose the amount of the investment.

Omniex is a financial technology company that provides an institutional grade investment and trading platform specifically built for the needs of digital assets and crypto currencies. The Omniex platform has been live and in use by clients since 2018, providing global connectivity to exchanges and OTC providers with sophisticated algorithmic solutions for digital assets and crypto currencies.

Hu Liang, CEO and Co-Founder Omniex: “The Swiss market leads other major financial markets in the adoption of legislation and regulation supporting digital asset trading and settlement. Together with SIX we aim to offer an end-to-end solution for the trading and settlement of digital assets, including the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX), once operationally live. It will still take some time, but the cornerstones are in place to accelerate the broader adoption of natively digitalized assets.”

Thomas Zeeb, Head Securities & Exchanges, member of Executive Board, SIX: “We see a growing need in the market to access crypto currencies. Our new collaboration will provide a standardized and secure gateway via SIX as the trusted partner of the financial industry. With SDX as the digital exchange infrastructure in development, the collaboration with Omniex to deliver the front end for clients, both for existing crypto currencies, as well as in future for SDX-listed assets, is an important addition to the digital ecosystem.”

Mastercard (NYSE: MA) today announced that Ajay Banga, President and Chief Executive Officer, will transition to the role of Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mastercard Incorporated on January 1, 2021. Mastercard’s Board unanimously elected Michael Miebach, Chief Product Officer, to become Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors on January 1, 2021 and, as part of the transition, he will become President of the company, effective March 1, 2020. As President of the company, Miebach will oversee the sales, marketing, products, services and technology organizations.

“As the company moves into this next phase of growth, we have a deep leadership bench–with Michael at the helm–to take us to the next level,” said Banga. “He has a proven track record of building products and running businesses globally. Over his career, Michael has held leadership positions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and in the U.S. across payments, data, banking services and technology. During the course of Michael’s 10 years at Mastercard, he has been a key architect of our multi-rail strategy–including leading the acquisition of Vocalink and the pending transaction with Nets–to address a broader set of payment flows. He’s also a visionary who kickstarted much of the work behind our financial inclusion journey. I am excited to continue working closely with Michael and supporting Mastercard’s success when I become Executive Chairman.”

“It has been a privilege to be a part of Mastercard’s transformation as a company,” continued Banga. “Thanks to the efforts of the entire leadership team, we are well-positioned for future success as we continue to embrace emerging and new technologies, making every device a device of commerce. We’ve built a growth-oriented mindset and operated with a sense of urgency, delivering a 13% compound annual revenue growth from 2009 through 2019, and an ~16X increase in our stock price during my tenure with the company. Driven by disciplined organic and inorganic investments, we have enhanced our technology, data and analytics, and cyber-security capabilities, while also building our position in real-time payments. These efforts have diversified our revenue base and expanded our addressable market. And, the partnerships we’ve developed with governments around the world continue to open doors for operating locally in key markets. All of this has been enabled by our brand and, most importantly, by our incredible people.”

“Mastercard has outstanding people, leading technology and tremendous potential. I am honored to have the opportunity to lead this great company with a team by my side that is second to none,” said Miebach. “I’ve dedicated the last decade of my career to payment innovation and will continue to evolve and execute Mastercard’s strategy. I would like to thank the Board of Directors for their confidence and trust, and I am excited to continue to partner with Ajay, our leadership team and all of our employees to build solutions that address the current and future needs of the ecosystem as well as pursue new growth opportunities for our company.”

Mastercard’s current Chairman, Richard Haythornthwaite, will retire from the Board after more than a decade of exceptional service when Banga assumes the role of Executive Chairman.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank Ajay for his outstanding leadership and commitment to Mastercard. We will continue to benefit from his experience and expertise,” Haythornthwaite said. “Ajay has led the strategic and cultural transformation that has enabled the company to thrive. Michael shares the values Ajay fostered and has played a pivotal role in the company’s transformation. The Board has full confidence in Michael’s leadership, experience and capabilities to build on the extraordinary platform developed under the leadership of Ajay and his predecessors.”

Current Board member, Merit Janow, Dean of the faculty of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), was unanimously elected by the Board to become Lead Independent Director on January 1, 2021. She will continue to serve as Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee when Haythornthwaite retires. Janow is a globally recognized expert in international trade and investment with extensive experience in government and regulatory bodies. Her career and public board service provide significant insights on technology innovation and digital matters, including cybersecurity. She joined the Board in 2013.

“I would like to thank Rick for his many contributions to Mastercard. He has been instrumental to our growth, leading us through important milestones, including our IPO. I’m grateful for the relationship we have built – one of trust, friendship and guidance, coupled with clear lines of accountability,” added Banga. “Merit brings a wealth of expertise to the table and I look forward to continuing to work closely with her as Lead Independent Director.”

The Board of Directors of Expert System announced today that Walt Mayo has been appointed Group Chief Executive Officer. Walt joins Expert System with more than 20 years of sales, marketing and channel development leadership working with high-growth technology and scale-up businesses across the globe. He will be instrumental in expanding Expert System’s expansion in the US as well as responsible for driving a new phase of growth globally.

“I am thrilled to welcome Walt to the Expert System Group,” said Stefano Spaggiari, Expert System SpA CEO. “With Walt’s leadership background and his deep experience in global strategy, we are well placed to ensure continued momentum, take advantage of the opportunities to scale our Artificial Intelligence platform and accelerate our growth.”

Prior to joining Expert System, Walt Mayo led the growth of Endeavor, an impact capital organization focused on scale-up businesses, more than tripling its global market reach and developing major new sources of revenue. Endeavor’s global network includes investors and entrepreneurs in more than 30 countries around the world and in virtually every business sector. Walt previously worked at Dell across a range of sales, marketing, software, and channel management roles and in accelerating the company’s international growth as General Manager for Southern Europe, Australia, Japan and Asia. He began his career after graduating from Harvard University as a Foreign Service Office and served in US diplomatic missions, the White House and the US Congress. He has an MBA from the University of Virginia and lives in the Boston area.

“I am excited to join Expert System and deliver on the Group’s commitment to give our customers even more ability to realize value while building our next phase of growth,” said Walt Mayo, Expert System Group CEO. “Thanks to our practical and explainable AI that ensures a clear and strong return on investment, we will reinforce recurring revenue and further focus on building out the scalability of our platform. By providing a full range of on-premise, private and public cloud offerings, we will expand our marketing and sales capacity starting from the US to become the global layer of choice across a range of advanced Natural Language Understanding and Processing use cases.”

Speedinvest has its headquarter in Vienna and operates from multiple offices in major cities across Europe. From these offices the team has proven to be successful in identifying promising ventures early on. This has resulted in numerous success stories in their current portfolio’s such as Wefox, Curve, Tide, Billie and Tier Mobility, as well as strong exits like Payworks, Iyzico and Shpock.

“SI’s is well embedded in the European early stage venture community and is a reputable and rapidly growing seed-stage VC investor with a pan-European presence. SI’s platform approach has enabled them to capture and build value across Europe effectively since the launch of their first fund. We have been working closely with the team and think highly of their value creation approach through extensive company-building and operational support which unlocks great opportunities for seed and early stage ventures. It is amongst others the capability to do this at scale that makes Speedinvest unique and a great partner.” said Jeroen van Doornik, partner at RFV.

Speedinvest is unique in its kind through the combination of a high volume investment strategy (80 to 100 portfolio companies per fund) combined with a operational platform that provides hands-on assistance, experience, network and operational support in order to help founders and add value. This combination together with the quality and experience of the investment- & operational teams make Speedinvest a perfect partner for ventures in seed and early stage. RFV will work closely together with Speedinvest in order to search for interesting technology companies that are disrupting or influencing the current business of Rabobank.

Oliver Holle, founding partner of Speedinvest adds, “Our ambition has always been to provide highly relevant value for founders in their daily work. Our partnership with RFV goes clearly beyond the traditional LP – GP relationship, as it provides our founders with direct access to one of the most innovative financial services players in Europe while giving RFV insights into some of the best startups in the booming European ecosystem.

Leadership team Speedinvest: Michael Schuster: Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner, Marie Muhr: COO and Oliver Holle: CEO and Managing Partner.

Rabo Frontier Ventures
RFV is a €150 million investment fund of Rabobank, focusing globally on innovative Fintech and Agtech companies. RFV aims to invest directly in the early growth stage (series B) of companies that are disrupting or influencing the current business of Rabobank and indirect in leading general tech funds.

Fenergo, the leading provider of digital transformation, customer journey and client lifecycle management (CLM) solutions for financial institutions, today announced it has been awarded “Best KYC and Client Onboarding Solution” by the Asian Private Banker Technology Awards. This accolade is testament to Fenergo’s powerful technology suite and ability to ensure compliance with regulations relating to KYC and customer onboarding for financial institutions in APAC.

Fenergo is recognized for its end-to-end CLM regulatory onboarding and entity data management processes, which includes a secure document exchange channel that allows input from client and internal stakeholders. This removes data silos and centralizes required materials, while reducing the number of requests to the client. The proprietary intelligent rules-driven solution ensures compliance across multiple jurisdictions, and seamlessly integrates with a bank’s client relationship management (CRM) system. Fenergo’s CLM solution enables institutions to onboard clients 82% faster, improving the time to revenue while enhancing the overall client experience. With partnerships with Salesforce, Capgemini, PWC, Accenture, Refinitiv and many more, Fenergo has created a healthy ecosystem to provide clients with the best services and support available globally.

Fenergo’s presence in APAC has grown exponentially in the past years with new clients such as HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of China, ICBC, Macquarie, CBA and ANZ, and offices opening in Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney and Melbourne.

Greg Watson, Head of APAC at Fenergo, said:

“APAC financial institutions are still grappling with the ever-increasing regulatory burden of complex due diligence rules. To alleviate this, Fenergo’s CLM streamlines the collection, centralization and sharing of client and counterparty data and documentation across the institution to help onboard new clients faster. This recognition is a testament to Fenergo’s continued commitment to providing financial institutions with innovative and end to end onboarding solutions. We are honoured to be recognized by Asian Private Banker.”

Steve D'Souza, Global Head,Private Banking and Wealth Management said:

“We are delighted to be recognized by Asian Private Banker for our proven track record in streamlining client onboarding and KYC compliance for APAC private banks. The industry has reached a crossroads where customers expect and demand digital experiences yet evolving regulatory compliance and an over reliance on manual processes prevents this. Working with our client community and regulatory experts, Fenergo is committed to delivering solutions that meet the regulatory and technology requirements specific to private banks across APAC.”

The Asian Private Banker Technology Awards are judged by their editorial team, and recognise the most successful and powerful technology solution providers enabling digital transformation and business process change within Asian private banks and wealth managers. The accolade marks another honour for Fenergo, which has recently been awarded for Best Solution in Regulatory Change Management by Regulation Asia, won the ASIA Fintech Exporter of the Year by Deloitte and named category leader in Chartis Research RiskTech100® 2020 Report.