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.

VR Payment, the payment specialist of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network, presents a world premiere at EuroShop: ‘payfree’ is a payment method that is fully integrated into the purchasing process and does not require stationary checkouts.

The ACI Financial Markets Association (ACI FMA) has today announced a partnership with Axiom Global Advisors (Axiom) to help Market Participants around the globe implement and adhere to the FX Global Code.

The two partners will collaborate in the delivery of services and tools for Market Participants to embed the principles of the FX Global Code in their daily practices, particularly leveraging their respective education and consultancy offerings. A specific focus will be to raise professional standards in financial markets globally by working together in promoting ethical behaviour and integrity.

ACI FMA and Axiom will also organise events to raise awareness of the Code and offer guidance to support both adoption and implementation. 

Kim Winding Larsen, President Delegate of ACI FMA, commented: “Since the inception of the FX Global Code, a priority for ACI FMA has been the further education of market participants on the Code and ensuring its implementation across the market. In fact, our ELAC portal has been recognised by Market Participants as a fundamental tool to assist the objectives of staff ongoing adherence to the Code.

“To support this goal, we are very pleased to be entering into a partnership with Axiom Global Advisors, who share our vision and mission of market wide adoption and education of the FX Global Code.”

Julian Gladwin, Founder of Axiom Global Advisors, said: “We set up Axiom with the mission to help Market Participants understand the FX Global Code and the principles that need to be applied in order to best meet practices, promoting conduct and ethical behaviour. Partnering with ACI FMA will allow us to meet our shared goal of educating the FX industry in the most effective ways of implementing and monitoring the effectiveness of the Code.”

Fast-growing British digital bank Monzo plans to hire up to 500 people and forecasts it will get 5.5 million users this year, as it prepares to have another crack at charging some customers to turn a profit.

The loss-making firm has burned through cash to fuel growth and launch in the United States, but has had no problems raising capital and is valued at over 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion).

Launched in 2015, Monzo has attracted 3.8 million customers in Britain with its bright coral card and spend-tracking data.

Some younger customers in particular have become fierce advocates, with the digital bank ranked as the most likely brand in Britain to be recommended to a friend in a YouGov survey in November.

Tom Blomfield, the 34-year-old founder and CEO, told Reuters he expected Monzo to top 2,000 staff this year, up from 1,500.

The bank has run into problems, however, including the abrupt cancellation of a premium paid-for account in September after only a few months. It has also been hit by a flurry of complaints, including from customers who said they had been locked out of their accounts for no reason.

Blomfield said Monzo planned to relaunch the paid-for accounts in the first quarter of this year, implementing lessons learned from complaints following its botched attempt in 2019.

“We learned that things that seem a universal truth when you are 50 people, launching iteratively as no one is paying attention, when you do that with 3.5 million customers it’s foolish,” Blomfield said.

PROFIT PROBLEM

Blomfield said Monzo’s plan was to float within three to four years and he expected the firm to be profitable by then.

The bank, which reported a loss of 47.2 million pounds in 2018, is in talks with investors to raise between 50 to 100 million pounds. Blomfield declined to comment on the talks.

“Our real focus is on monetization,” he said. “We’re looking to drive revenue and do it in a way that’s transparent and fair.”

Monzo wants to do that by lending more and rolling out paid-for services like the premium account.

It currently lends out 120 million pounds, compared with deposits of 2 billion pounds.

Blomfield said the bank would learn from rivals that had failed to replicate success at home in new markets, including Germany’s N26, which quit Britain last week.

“In the U.S. we are laying the groundwork, but not looking for explosive growth,” he said.

“The lesson there is if you take a product and just move it across unchanged it doesn’t do well – N26 didn’t connect”.

N26 blamed complications of obtaining a license after Brexit for leaving Britain.

Monzo has no interest in selling up to an incumbent bank, Blomfield said.

“We’ve been rude enough about them in the past that they’ve stopped trying.”

Reporting by Iain Withers and Lawrence White; Editing by Mark Potter.

Originally appeared on https://www.reuters.com/article/us-monzo-strategy/uk-digital-bank-monzo-plans-to-hire-500-and-relaunch-paid-accounts-idUSKBN20B0CN

Ian Bradbury, CTO for Financial Services, Fujitsu UK:

“As customers continue to hunt for the best digital experiences and new and improved services, the banking sector is being quickly revolutionised. New entrants, such as Monzo, Starling and Revolut are diversifying their offerings, and increasingly moving towards paid-for accounts. But for fintechs it isn’t all plain sailing. Following last year’s issues when Monzo had to reverse a product rollout after complaints, it will be interesting to watch customers’ reactions now when the fintech relaunches its paid-for accounts.

 “For Monzo, the issue is that although it has the growth and a healthy customer base, the company is not generating profit yet. Unlike traditional banks, most of its deposits sit in the Bank of England, which provides fantastic security, but generates little return. As a result, Monzo needs to look for other ways to generate a profit – for example paid-for accounts. But the company has got something right – it is acquiring customers quickly, and recently was recognised as Britain’s most recommended brand by a YouGov survey. 

 “Monzo’s challenge is to now monetise this brand value by getting its customers to voluntarily pay for its services - rather than take the traditional bank route of making good returns from investing its deposits. This will be a challenge in a world where many banking services are still ‘free’. This is particularly important as challengers are still navigating the question of customer trust - UK consumers are the least trusting of challenger banks, with 40% saying they don’t trust them at all and only 12% admitting they completely trust their challenger banks.”

Currencies Direct, the leading UK-based international payments service, has today announced the adoption of an innovative customer engagement platform, in partnership with German-based firm Userlane.

Userlane is a cutting-edge user navigation system, providing clear and actionable directions directly to users. The solution will allow users to seamlessly navigate Currencies Direct’s range of online features without the need to move away from the task they are doing.

The service will sit alongside Currencies Direct’s suite of customer engagement points, with phone, email and online chat with a customer service representative still available.

“Providing the highest level of service to our customers remains our top priority and therefore we’re always finding ways to better support our customers,” explains Hardik Shah, Group Head of Product at Currencies Direct.

“Many organisations have switched to virtual support through a chatbot. Our goal is to provide a frictionless and easy journey for our customers. After thorough testing, we found Userlane to be a more appropriate solution than the use of chatbots – particularly for customers who may not be digital natives. Our preference is to provide our customers with a range of support channels that suit their needs and Userlane is ideally placed as a complementary channel to the existing ones in place.

“We’ve currently steered away from chatbots as they can add an extra barrier for users who may already be frustrated with their experience and are then forced to go through a chatbot screening process before being connected with a real human.”

Currencies Direct aims to use Userlane’s functionality to increase customer satisfaction and improve overall retention. The new feature will also be used to reduce query calls, allowing the customer service team in creating in creating additional value for customers.

The Userlane functionality will initially be rolled out to help customers with making transfers, adding recipients, and viewing previous transactions.

The organisation plans to run an ongoing evaluation process to assess the solution’s impact and iteratively develop the offering to maximise the customer experience.

“As AI technology advances, digital service channels will continue to grow and may become mainstream – but we’re not there yet,” explains Shah.

“Currently, combined with chat and phone support, Userlane offers our customers the most clear and concise help process – ultimately providing them with the highest standard of service, which is always our goal.”

Improving data and the quality of decisions are two of the top strategic priorities for credit management professionals in the next three years. A new study of credit management professionals from Equifax Ignite reveals nearly three quarters (72%) believe there is scope for future improvement of data analytics at their current companies.

The study, in collaboration with Coleman Parkes, takes a deep dive into the views of credit management professionals across retail banking, finance and debt management/recovery sectors. The research reveals Artificial Intelligence (AI) is considered to be the most important investment for these sector specialists in order to improve the quality of decision-making. Two thirds (66%) said they are currently using or are planning to use AI to improve credit decisions.

The study also revealed AI and machine learning (46%) is a top three technology investment for credit businesses in the next three years followed by mobile/5G (44%) and blockchain (42%).

The need for more accurate decisions is a central priority for credit management professionals. The study found more than a third (36%) of respondents said they want better data analytics to make more accurate future predictions. Nearly a third (32%) said they wanted the ability to report on real-time activities and 31% want to augment traditional analytics with contextual information.

Credit management professionals are confident that the investment in improving data will deliver dividends to their businesses. The study found three quarters (74%) of respondents believe enhanced data analytics has the potential to dramatically increase product innovation rates.

Paul Heywood, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Equifax, said: “The credit management industry is in a state of progressive flux, with improved decision-making processes and models being rapidly evolved through the implementation of technological advances. The quality of data will be central to credit companies’ business strategies in the coming year. There is an explicit understanding within the industry that investing in AI will deliver more accurate decisions and better efficiencies at an individual businesses level.

“Equifax Ignite enables firms to make smart decisions faster, providing advanced tools to deliver more predictive insights. This enables companies to improve the quality of decision making based on quality data.”

 Despite banks playing a fundamental enabling role in the development of national digital ID schemes to date, their uniquely strong position in the field is under increasing threat from web giants and other globally networked firms. This is the view expressed by Mobey Forum’s Digital ID Expert Group in a new research report launched today.

The report, entitled How to Make Digital Identity a Success: Insights and Learnings from Seven Digital ID Schemes, is the product of an in-depth, collaborative study conducted in 2019 with seven digital ID schemes across Europe and North America. The report presents a comparative overview of the different models being applied around the world and provides insights, and comments for banks and financial institutions on their evolution, together with a range of other factors such as their varying models and management, technical underpinnings and services they provide to users.

“As our collective reliance on technology continues to grow so too does our need to establish robust, secure and user-friendly ways of verifying our individual identities, digitally,” comments Jukka Yliuntinen, co-chair of the Digital ID Expert Group, Mobey Forum. “Banks have mastered the ability to operate at scale in highly regulated environments, under conditions that require rigorous and stringent security and identity verification procedures. This has enabled them to play a key role in the evolution of national digital ID schemes and also makes them prime candidates to be future guardians of digital identities, supporting services that stretch far beyond banking and generating new revenues as a result. This advantageous position could change quickly, however, as other powerful networked stakeholders move into the space. Banks must be aware that the window of opportunity to adopt these critical roles may be closing, perhaps faster than they think.”

 Launched in a new interactive, all-digital format, the How to Make Digital Identity a Success report gives banks and other stakeholders a chance to refer to a detailed comparison of Alastria, e-Estonia, Itsme, NemID, BankID, Verimi and Verified.Me.

“Like in so many other industries, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Alibaba/Alipay and other hugely powerful digital players have serious potential to upend the global market for digital ID,” adds Elina Mattila, Executive Director, Mobey Forum. “That said, the success of a digital ID scheme is rooted in trust and collaboration - between users, governments and regulators, telcos, banks and other key service providers. While they can move quickly and at scale, the ‘GAFAs’ are unlikely to be afforded bank-beating collaborative relationships with all of these stakeholders any time soon.”

“This collaborative model is here to stay,” adds Mattila. “It’s only through close collaboration that banks can both address the challenges and seize the opportunities presented by digital identity.”

The report also charts the opportunities and challenges posed by cross-border integration of digital ID schemes and examines the role that regulation can play to assist. It contends that, as digital ID schemes continue to mature, the issue of cross-border interoperability will gather momentum and, while regulation can provide the framework for interoperability, much work remains before the schemes can be harmonised to enable a seamless flow of digital identity usage over the borders.

Solactive concluded its strategic investment in scientific climate data start-up right. based on science. The Frankfurt-based company’s software enables clients to measure the contribution of a company or a portfolio to climate change. Backed by the peer-reviewed XDC Economic Climate Impact Model, results are expressed tangibly and easy to interpret in °C. The software features scenario analysis and a variety of use cases ranging from portfolio and product design to climate reporting and risk management.

right. based on science’s XDC (X-Degree Compatibility), which allows the start-up to measure a company’s individual contribution to global warming, pushes an open door in the current market and regulatory environment. As policymakers incite investors to reallocate their portfolios to meet the criteria of the Paris Agreement and the Bank of England recently announcing the undertaking of climate stress tests for UK lenders and insurers, the XDC Economic Climate Impact Model, which will be open-source by 2021, of right. based on science has its green thumb right at the pulse of time.

 “A coherent and stress-tested model to precisely compute a company’s ecological footprint is a precious asset and of significant importance for our society,” says Steffen Scheuble, CEO at Solactive. “When we first heard of right. based on science, we were fascinated immediately by their model’s outstanding degree of sophistication and its simple and straightforward output. It is astounding to see the share of a company’s contribution to global warming in such a tangible and accurate manner.”

Solactive’s minority stake allows right. based on science to accelerate software development and expand its audience through Solactive’s ties within the financial industry while staying independent to provide objective and unbiased analyses for its clients and Solactive as the strategic partner in the indexing space.

The team headed by the two founders Hannah Helmke and Dr. Sebastian Müller, who established the start-up in 2016, shares Solactive’s vision of utilizing technology to give their clients a real added value. This mindset gains special importance in an age where capital markets are more and more subjected to investors’ conscious decisions in terms of their asset’s impact on climate change and their overall ESG strategy.

Hannah Helmke, CEO of right. based on science comments: right.’s mission is to increase transparency on climate-related risks and opportunities within the market so that capital can be steered in the right direction. With its minority stake, Solactive is a partner that has excited us through its incredible agility, the team’s fresh, entrepreneurial, and tech-focused mindset and its profound financial expertise. We believe that together we can take the XDC Model to the next level and make it a valuable instrument for everyone looking for an open-source standard for climate impact measurement.

Copper.co, the London-based custodian for digital assets, has raised a USD $8 million Series A to grow globally by expanding its commercial team and launching new products.

Institutional investors in this round include leading international investment firm  Target Global, which backed Auto1, Delivery Hero, wefox and Rapyd; LocalGlobe, which is known for successful investments in the likes of Zoopla, Transferwise and Citymapper; and MMC Ventures, which backed Gousto, Interactive Investor and NewVoiceMedia among many others.

This fundraise follows a previous Seed round that saw Copper raise $1.3 million in 2018 to build its custody and prime brokerage solutions and onboard institutional and HNW clients. The firm’s Walled Garden now covers 96% of global crypto liquidity and is seeing over £500 million in transactions each month – with that figure growing steadily.

Copper will use the funds to develop regional client facing operations in key geographies around the world such as North America and Asia. It will also accelerate the launch of new products that give their institutional clients more investment options. Since launch in 2018, Copper has quickly grown its client base with crypto funds, institutions and HNW private traders.

This fundraise follows Copper’s announcement that it will provide prime brokerage services for Europe’s leading UK-regulated institutional manager of digital assets, Nickel Digital Asset Management, on its second fund Digital Gold Institutional. Fidelity Digital Assets was selected as prime custodian for the fund.

“Copper was always designed to be a global offering. Since 2017, we have seen many crypto custody solutions emerge that don’t fully meet the needs of institutions. Instead, they have built for an institutional framework that doesn’t exist yet, and is unlikely ever to, leaving institutions discouraged”, said Dmitry Tokarev, Founder and CEO of Copper. “Our Walled Garden and Prime Brokerage infrastructure truly looks after the security and trading needs of institutions, regardless of their investment strategies and goals. We are seeing volumes increase as our clients see the advantage of our prime brokerage solution, which allows them to make transactions across many trading venues securely and efficiently.

“This venture funding round is a real vote of confidence from investors. Their support will allow us to accelerate our scale up, hiring teams in key regions and introducing new products and services to better meet their needs.”

Dmitry Tokarev is the former CTO and Partner at Dolphin Wealth Management. He founded Copper after witnessing the increased demand from institutions to enter the digital asset space but finding there were not any appropriate services to enable them to do so effectively and securely.

“We believe that the crypto market is lacking infrastructure enabling secure storage, seamless transfer and settlement of digital assets”, said Mike Lobanov, General Partner at Target Global.” Unlike many startups in the crypto market, Copper is built for asset managers by asset managers themselves. Copper’s infrastructure provides institutions with traditional prime brokerage services for the crypto world. Being the first in the market, Copper’s Walled Garden allows secure and instant trades across different exchanges, which is a fundamental breakthrough in the market.”

Oliver Richards, Partner, MMC Ventures, said:

“Following some extensive Blockchain research we are incredibly excited to back Dmitry and the Copper team as our first investment in this space. This team has achieved impressive progress to date driven by their deep understanding of the finance industry and their technology expertise. Institutional interest in digital assets is growing and we believe Copper offers a compelling and unique solution to firms looking to invest.”

Remus Brett, Local Globe, commented:

“At LocalGlobe, we have first-hand experience of the challenge of managing digital assets to the standards required of institutional investors since our first exposure in 2018. Whilst crypto is still far from a mainstream asset class, growth in global institutional demand is only going to increase. Copper's founders’ deep understanding of its clients’ challenges, needs and existing references provides a great platform for market leadership.”