ING Group (“ING”), the global financial institution with a strong European base, has partnered with Tradeteq to distribute its commodity trade finance exposures to non-bank institutional investors.

Tradeteq operates the trade finance industry’s first electronic trading platform, which allows banks to package their exposures into standardised, investable notes for non-bank institutional investors.

Federated Hermes (formerly Federated Investors) is a leading global investment manager with $575.9 billion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2019. Federated Hermes was an early investor in trade finance assets; its role as a counterparty in the trade highlights its intention to diversify its portfolio and generate yield on behalf of clients.

Trade finance has a lower risk profile compared to other financial markets. It is based on tangible flows of goods and services, making it less susceptible to bouts of volatility, while default rates for trade finance products are lower. This presents a compelling investment opportunity for institutional investors seeking stable, long-terms yields. The Tradeteq platform now makes this asset class accessible to institutional investors.

ING leads several other bank and non-bank institutions, which have joined Tradeteq’s platform and begun trading in recent and coming months. It offers an end-to-end solution covering three essential components: portfolio management and trading automation; risk analytics that provide greater transparency; and securitisation-as-a-service. These components ensure trade finance assets receive accurate risk scores, allow investors to access and transact these instruments in an efficient and standardised form.

Anthony Van Vliet, global head of trade and commodity finance at ING, comments: “This transaction shows how Tradeteq’s electronic platform facilitates the distribution of an asset class with short duration in an efficient manner, something not possible until now. The distribution of trade finance assets is a natural evolution of the trade finance market and Tradeteq’s technology is instrumental in helping us achieve this.”

Chris McGinley, Head of Trade Finance at Federated Hermes, comments: “In line with its long history of innovation in the asset management industry, Federated Hermes is excited about this novel approach to introducing part of the trade finance asset class to financial investors and looks forward to using it as an important tool in its broader trade finance offerings.”  

Christoph Gugelmann, CEO of Tradeteq, comments: “ING and Federated Hermes’ use of Tradeteq provides a clear example of how the trade finance market is being transformed. Tradeteq is opening up the trade finance market to institutional investors and offering access to an alternative asset class with high levels of transparency and yield opportunities. At the same time, the platform enables banks to reduce their risk exposures and tackle the US$1.5 trillion trade finance gap. Any new marketplace needs both originators and investors; as this transaction shows, Tradeteq is attracting both market makers and market takers to the platform.”

Today five°degrees, a global banking technology company, announces the appointment of Wilco Jiskoot as Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

Mr. Jiskoot joins five°degrees following an extensive career in banking, including 32 years at ABN AMRO in which he occupied the role of Vice Chairman of the Managing Board. He is currently an advisor to leading investment fund companies; a member of the Supervisory Board at Jumbo: one of the largest supermarket chains in the Netherlands; and Chairman of HEMA: the Dutch global department store with branches across western Europe and the Middle East.

Mr. Jiskoot succeeds Loek van den Boog who recently accepted the position of Senior Advisor and Chairman of General Atlantic Netherlands. Mr van den Boog has made a significant contribution to five°degrees Supervisory Board over the last 8 years, and will continue to advise during a period of transition.

Martijn Hohmann, CEO, five°degrees said: “ We are excited to welcome Wilco Jiskoot as Chairman. Wilco is an authority in the banking sector with a wealth of experience and an outstanding track record. He will add tremendous value and I look forward to working with Wilco in the coming months, to continue to build the company and leverage the many opportunities open to us.”

Wilco Jiskoot said: “The banking sector is going through tremendous transformation. five°degrees is uniquely positioned to provide the right technology and guidance to the key players in this rapidly changing industry.”

 Yooz, the intelligent P2P automation software provider, today announced the expansion of its global strategic partnership with Sage Intacct, the leading accounting software, in the UK. The new partnership will increase the business value of companies’ Finance and Accounts departments by providing better visibility into payables at any time and make more informed decisions with real-time data.

Today, at the digital age, finance leaders are facing many challenges: paper-based manual inefficient and costly AP process, long invoice approval time, late payment penalties and lack of visibility. 

This is where Yooz, the multi award-winning AP automation provider comes in: a powerful yet affordable cloud solution, integrating into over 200 accounting and ERP software programs worldwide, based on AI, machine learning and deep learning technologies that is easy to set up and use in less than 24 hours. The solution streamlines the AP workflow into a few automated steps: capture, enter, approve, pay and export invoices, cutting the processing time from weeks to days and decreasing administrative costs by 70%.

Through this partnership, Yooz and Sage Intacct are offering a unique solution cost-effective, simple and smart, that integrates seamlessly with the Sage Intacct ERP, allowing Finance and Accounts departments to capture all documents in one place, update purchasing data in real-time, and send invoice images directly to the Sage Intacct platform to be automatically processed – offering a ‘no touch’ solution for invoice processing. The combination of the implemented solutions also provides an unrivalled level of invoice automation on the market, with AI and machine learning technologies that are able to automate over 80% of all invoices.

Customers that have already witnessed the advantages of the Yooz, Sage Intacct partnership outside of the UK include the government department of the City of Cleburne, Texas, consulting firm Deutser and commerce platform Bridgevine. Each business has benefitted from a connected end-to-end AP workflow, a solid handle on and clear visibility into the payment process and greater employee satisfaction with more value-added, strategic contributions.

Magali Michel, Director of Yooz, said of the deal: “We deliver unique value to more than 3,000 customers and over 100,000 companies around the world, including UK businesses that are making the move to Sage Intacct. Becoming the preferred cloud-based AP partner of Sage Intacct reflects the unique solution and competitive advantages Yooz provides to the invoicing process. We are looking forward to a long, successful collaboration and further combine our team of experts and cutting-edge technologies to produce solutions specifically tailored to increasing the productivity of finance departments.”

Pooja Dey, Product Marketing Manager at Sage Intacct, continued: “We are always looking for the best solutions for Sage Intacct customers to improve their operational performance. Yooz offers a very efficient, agile, simple and quick solution to implement regardless the size of companies and volume of invoices.”

SumUp (www.sumup.co.uk), the UK-based financial technology company, has today announced the launch of its first-ever card for business payments, in partnership with Mastercard. The card will allow merchants easier and quicker access to their funds, give them the ability to closely monitor their finances, and help them make essential business payments in a quick-and-easy manner. 

With the launch of the ‘SumUp Card’, SumUp is able to facilitate both the making and taking of payments, becoming the first complete toolkit for UK small business owners.

This new addition to the product suite will allow payments taken by merchants via SumUp readers to flow directly to their SumUp Card. The card also guarantees next-day payouts, even on weekends, providing smaller merchants with vital access to funds when convenient - with all purchases and balance being monitored through the SumUp App.

The card is available to SumUp merchants with no upfront cost or monthly fee, as well as free overseas payments. Online, contactless, and Chip-and-PIN payments are fully available.

SumUp’s latest figures show that 2 million merchants currently rely on SumUp’s technology worldwide (with an extra 5,000 joining every day), from beauty salons, to taxi drivers, to parish priests. The card will be available in the UK, Italy and France as of today, with plans to extend the service to further territories in the next 12 months.

 The new card has been built to streamline the process from point-of-sale, to payment, to accessible funds - following direct consultation with their network of small businesses and successful beta-testing with a sample of over 25,000 merchants.

Ian Young, Taxi Driver and SumUp Card user, comments: “This card provides all the benefits a small business like myself is looking for. When taking payment for trips around Cheshire, it’s incredibly helpful to switch between my bank account and the SumUp Card to ensure that I always have access to the funds I need the very next day. I’d be lost without it now.”

Marc-Alexander Christ, Co-Founder of SumUp, comments: “This is a small card, for big ideas. Since launching our first reader, we have been dedicated to empowering merchants so they can focus on making their business as successful as possible. We had this in mind when we designed our latest product, with the SumUp Card being a smart solution so we can continue being the driving force behind small businesses across the globe.”

Jason Lane, Executive Vice President Market Development Europe at Mastercard, comments: “We are delighted to be building on our partnership with SumUp with the launch of a business card. This extended partnership brings more innovation to micro, small and medium-sized businesses offering a convenient way for them to pay and be paid using the simple, speedy and secure payment experience they’ve come to expect from Mastercard anywhere in the world.”

UK FinTech company iAxept today launched the World’s first Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) compliant payment method using contactless payments cards for Internet shopping. iAxept Online Contactless is as quick, easy and secure as using a contactless card at a point of sale. One Tap.

This revolutionary solution brings multiple benefits for everyone in the card payment value chain. 

Shoppers no longer need to type any card information, usernames, passwords or register to anything. Just one tap of their contactless card on the back of their own smartphone is needed to make the payment. If the purchase is above the contactless limit, the cardholder enters their usual PIN code on their smartphone. 

Acquirers are struggling to cope with the EU’s Payment Service Directive 2 (PSD2) requirement for the SCA, which demands two-factor authentication. iAxept Online Contactless is the perfect solution for SCA using the combination of a contactless card and its PIN code for the authentication. 

Merchants and their payment service providers will no longer be liable for Card-Not-Present fraud related financial losses and chargeback costs as the transaction is classed as Card-Present. The simplicity and familiarity with iAxept Online Contactless increases the conversion rate, generating more transactions and revenue. The merchants don’t necessarily need to do anything, their payment service provider adds the ‘Pay Online Contactless’ button on their payment page to enable the online merchant to receive Card-Present contactless card payments.  

The card schemes and issuer banks benefit from higher transaction volume and lower fraud rate.

According to a recent consumer survey conducted by Kantar TNS, the world’s second largest consumer research company, 94% of online shoppers have abandoned their shopping cart due to complex checkout process, 55% of shoppers do not want to either key in their card details or store them online and 33% would buy more online if there were a secure and easy checkout process.  Interestingly, more than 83% of consumers interviewed found iAxept Online Contactless to be both the fastest and easiest solution to use and a whopping 59% of consumers said they would shop more online with iAxept Online Contactless because of its ease and security.

“We have received massive interest from merchants,  acquirers and PSPs from all over the world,” said Doug Gray, Chief Commercial Officer at iAxept, “iAxept Online Contactless solution is a perfect solution for the SCA requirement and the EU payment industry needs to act now in order to fulfil the SCA deadline by end of the year without completely disenfranchising their merchant clients with an inferior customer experience and lost sales.”

iAxept UK Ltd is registered in England and Wales and based in Canary Wharf, London.  iAxept has worldwide patent filings for its pioneering technology. 

In a move that is expected to boost the worldwide use of smartphones and tablets as point-of-sale terminals, First Data, now part of Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV), is enabling merchants to use their own devices to accept payments of any amount without any additional hardware.

This is ground-breaking for small businesses and service providers that operate remotely due to its first-of-its-kind PIN on mobile capability, which facilitates secure PIN entry on a consumer-grade mobile device. This simplifies payment acceptance by allowing merchants to accept PIN-based contactless transactions without the need for a separate card reader or PIN-entry device, opening new market opportunities for merchants and allowing even micro-businesses to accept non-cash payments.

Fiserv, a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, recently completed the first PIN on mobile payment via the app-based solution. Following security testing, the solution, developed jointly with Visa, Samsung, and PayCore, is being piloted in Poland, with plans to expand in the EMEA and APAC regions.

“The way people want to pay is changing,” said John Gibbons, executive vice president and head of EMEA at Fiserv. “Contactless CHIP and PIN payments are common, yet over 23 million* micro merchants in Europe alone may lack terminals to accept them. We’re making sure no merchant is left out and helping them do business in the cashless economy by turning the smartphone into a card acceptance device.” 

The flexible, cost-effective solution, which is currently available on select Samsung devices, utilizes embedded near-field communication (NFC) functionality. A payment can be made with contactless cards, NFC-enabled mobile phones, or other NFC-enabled devices such as wearables.

“This innovative service is a milestone for modern entrepreneurs. It will allow Samsung mobile users to do more than just pay with their phones; it will let them accept payments in places and situations where it might have been impossible otherwise,” said Marcin Garbarczyk, Marketing and Strategy Director at Samsung Electronics Polska.

Visa approved the solution to authorize contactless payments with PIN capture through its Visa tap to phone program.

“With Visa tap to phone technology with PIN capture capability merchants of any size, especially those operating outside of their premises – like plumbers, landscapers or couriers – will now be able to accept digital payments on their phones in a fast, safe and convenient way,” said Katarzyna Zubrzycka, Head of Merchant Sales & Acquirer, Central Eastern Europe, Visa.

PayCore provides EMV software to facilitate transactions that are enabled by the Fiserv solution.

“At PayCore, we are delighted to be a technology provider for this innovative solution,” said Turgut Güney, CEO of PayCore. “We are sure that this disruptive technology will boost the use of smartphones and tablets as POS terminals in the market, enabling card-present transactions of any amount to be carried out in a secure environment.”

The global leader in secure customer authentication solutions, MYPINPAD, last week firmly took the reins in educating the wider fintech market about a new global opportunity in mobile payments. The business kicked off its industrywide ‘I Love SPoC’ campaign at a private event on Thursday 13^th February at Level 40 of the iconic Gherkin in London.

Launched the day before St Valentine’s Day, the aptly named ‘I Love SPoC’ initiative has been designed to inform the payments industry, and other related sectors, of the benefits SPoC can offer. Put simply, how everyday smartphone and tablet devices are now able to take card payments simply and securely, and single-purpose POS devices could be a thing of the past.

Having been amongst the world’s first to achieve certification for its innovative SPoC-approved technology for iOS, MPP mPOS, MYPINPAD was perfectly placed to host this industry event.  Its PIN on Mobile solution is a major enabler for the predicted expansion into the number of payment acceptance devices globally.

The unique event brought together industry leaders to discuss how the PCI Security Council’s SPoC certification and just published CPoC (tap on phone payment) will benefit acquirers, PSPs and merchants of all shapes and sizes globally. This was highlighted through a series of presentations from industry specialists on the many benefits of PIN on Mobile and tap on phone, followed by hands-on demonstrations of MPP mPOS and MPP SoftPOS. The demos were brilliantly received by attendees and left a great impression that showed the valuable application of the capabilities of this technology for all merchant sectors: micro-merchant to tier 1 retailers.

Nigel Dean, Head of Marketing at MYPINPAD, says: “One of the founding principles of MYPINPAD is to promote authentication on everyday smartphones and tablets. Seen by many in the industry as the founder of PIN on Mobile we predict our technology to be deployed across the globe in the coming year. We’re proud to not only be playing a major role in showcasing the benefits that SPoC and CPoC offer, but also to be highlighting our own technology with those that the solution will benefit the most.”

“The Gherkin was the perfect location to hold this important event” continues Nigel. “This iconic piece of British architecture overlooks the epicentre of the UK’s payment industry in London. It perfectly reflects how SPoC and CPoC will overlook and revolutionise every aspect of payments going forward to help the industry to embrace a new age of security.”

Leading UK-based fintech Paysend launches fee-free mobile money account with multi-currency wallet and new payment features

UK-based fintech Paysend has launched the Global Account, its international mobile money account. The Global Account aims to help consumers save up to £2bn in currency conversions when spending money abroad or on overseas websites.

Analysis from Paysend reveals that consumers could save up to £1.25bn in fees when spending abroad and up to £996m when buying from overseas websites every year, using a traditional bank card.*

The Global Account enables users to pay, hold and spend their money when travelling through a multi-currency wallet, removing many of these fees.

Abhishek Tripathi, Head of Business for Paysend Global Account, said: “We have been working hard to enable the best Paysend technology to really deliver an amazing product experience. That’s why our new Global Account, which makes it easier for people to pay, hold and spend money globally is a truly innovative product. The multi-currency wallet transforms the Paysend Mastercard into a local currency card wherever users are.”

Paysend’s Global Account incorporates a multi-currency wallet, which now consisting of the world’s top six currencies including Chinese Yuan. It makes it simple to switch value between currencies using the mid-market exchange rate and pay in local currency using the Paysend Mastercard or in-app virtual card.

The new Global Account also enables customers to transfer money internationally from within the app directly to other Global Account users. This seamlessly integrates Paysend’s popular global money transfer service, Global Transfers, into a single app. The Global Account also includes the a paylater feature that provides users with up to £200 credit to make purchases, with interest-free repayments over 14-days.

Alberto Macciani, CMO at Paysend, said: “We live in a world which seems to want to put up new borders, so we need innovative ways of helping people to overcome those. Millions of people travel each day and struggle with the cost and complexity of traditional products and services. Our new Global Account gives everyone the opportunity to manage their money more efficiently and seamlessly in a global world.”

The launch of the Global Account builds on the success of Paysend’s Global Transfers service, now used by more than 1.5m people globally. With fixed, transparent and low fees, Paysend is on a mission to ensure that more of its users’ money reaches they people they care about, rather than being lost in additional charges and hidden fees.

PPS, formerly PrePay Solutions, and a subsidiary of Edenred, the everyday companion for people at work, is delighted to have been recognised three times at the Card and Payments Awards, the UK and Ireland’s leading industry awards. 

PPS won the award for Best Achievement in Payments Processing, a clear acknowledgement of the company’s ongoing work delivering innovative solutions via its payments processing platform and driving fintech across Europe. The award secures PPS’ reputation as the leading payment provider in the industry.

PPS also shared in the successes of several of its clients at the prestigious awards ceremony. Tide was Highly Commended for the Best Service to Businesses award, and Countingup was Highly Commended in the Best Payments Industry Newcomer category. Another leading PPS client, Monese, was nominated in the Best Prepaid Product of the Year category for its powerful inclusive banking service.

The awards’ esteemed judging panel recognised Tide’s achievements in revolutionising business banking with a comprehensive and inclusive offering. Supported by PPS’ infrastructure and banking technology platform, Tide increases accessibility to banking services, while saving members time, increasing efficiency and lowering their operating costs.

Ray Brash, CEO at PPS, said: “To win a Card and Payment Award is a great achievement for PPS, our people, and our customers. It’s a real honour to be recognised by our peers in the industry in a very competitive category. And, of course, I’m incredibly proud of the role PPS has played in helping continually drive innovation within the industry globally.”

The Card and Payments Awards provide a forum to recognise customer service, excellence, and innovation in the UK and Irish card and payments industries.

The winners were announced on 6^th February 2020 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s Park Lane.

PSD2 technology platform and interface provider, Openitio, partners with identity and regulatory checking solution provider Konsentus to offer Financial Institutions a quick and easy way to comply with PSD2 MCI publishing requirements, and the imminent March 14 deadline in UK.

London headquartered Openitio delivers ready to install PSD2 interface technology as required under the PSD2 regulation. Their Modified Customer Interface (MCI) can be configured with no impact or dependency on existing systems and, set up in days.

Konsentus is the only SaaS solution in the market providing Financial Institutions with real-time Third Party Provider (TPP) identity & regulatory checking services. Konsentus consolidates data across 70+ Qualified Trust Service Providers (QTSPs), 31 National Competent Authorities (NCAs) and EBA Registers, providing it in real-time to Financial Institutions through a simple cloud-based API. This enables Financial Institutions to ensure they only ever give known and regulated TPPs access to end user accounts.

Together Openitio and Konsentus offer Financial Institutions across the UK and Europe a simple, quick and easy way to comply with PSD2 regulatory requirements whilst also ensuring they are reducing their exposure to risk and potential fraud.

Brendan Jones, CCO Konsentus said “The combined Openitio and Konsentus offering removes any barriers to being PSD2 compliant. The plug and play pre-integrated solution gives Financial Institutions the confidence they need to continue innovating and growing their business without needing to worry about regulation and risk”.

Bhupinder Saini, CTO Openitio said “We are delighted to collaborate with Konsentus. Our combined solutions are easy and fast to integrate with existing systems and processes. Financial Institutions can be compliant quickly in the Open Banking ecosystem whilst knowing their customers’ data is being protected.”

About Konsentus:

Konsentus protects Financial Institutions for PSD2 Open Banking. Their Software as a Service (SaaS) solution consolidates data from a multitude of databases and registers, deploying the information to their customers in real-time enabling them to comply with PSD2 Open Banking access to accounts. Issued through simple cloud-based RESTful APIs, the easy to implement service helps Financial Institutions reduce risk, limit liability and fight fraud by ensuring data is only ever given to legitimate and regulated Third-Party Providers (TPPs).

Headquartered in the UK, with operations across Europe, Konsentus’ world-class TPP identity and regulatory checking solution gives Financial Institutions the confidence they need to grow their business whilst knowing their customers are protected and they are delivering against regulatory requirements.