Published
- 09:00 am
Hazelcast, the leading in-memory computing platform that delivers radically fast application performance at scale, today announced the expansion of its Series D round due to over-subscribed interest from global investment entities.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), via its Venture Capital Investment Programme, and the German development finance institution Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG) join C5 Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Earlybird Venture Capital and Capital One Growth Ventures in this round, while Comerica Bank has provided a growth debt facility.
Digitization has cast a bright light on the criticality of eliminating application latency. According to recent research1 in collaboration with Intel, 58% of organizations now measure application latency in milliseconds or microseconds. These same organizations see the greatest profit opportunity coming from accelerating the performance of cloud applications, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). With macro trends like AI, ML and edge computing all requiring instantaneous application response times, the demand for a cloud-native in-memory computing platform is multiplying.
“The world’s largest and leading enterprises are leveraging in-memory computing to power a new breed of business-critical applications,” said Kelly Herrell, CEO of Hazelcast. “Whether they are gaining their competitive advantage from real-time fraud detection, payment processing, risk analysis, predictive maintenance, connected cars or any application to better serve customers, the ultra-low latency delivered by Hazelcast is at the root of business success for these digitally-inspired applications.”
The Hazelcast in-memory computing platform is the only software system capable of ultra-fast performance at massive scale in a simplified, cloud-native package. By powering any application that uses stored and streaming data, including ones leveraging AI/ML, Hazelcast’s innovative platform gives the world’s largest customers a sound foundation upon which to build key elements of their future competitiveness. Whether delivered from the data center, major clouds, or at the edge for 5G and IoT applications, Hazelcast’s unique technology capabilities enable previously unthinkable applications.
The additional capital will further accelerate the company’s expanding roadmap for supporting enterprise cloud, edge and machine learning initiatives, including the previously announced co-engineering initiative with Intel and the reselling agreement through IBM. Hazelcast will also expand its global footprint to better serve its customers in the financial services, telecommunications, e-commerce and other key industries.
- 06:00 am
With the UK having left the European Union, N26 has announced that it will be leaving the UK market. The timings and framework outlined in the EU Withdrawal Agreement mean that the company will in due course be unable to operate in the UK with its European banking licence.
Thomas Grosse, Chief Banking Officer at N26 said: “While we fully respect the decision that has been taken, it means that N26 will in due course be unable to serve our customers in the UK and will have to leave the market.” Customers with accounts in other markets will not be affected.
“Although we will be leaving the UK, we will continue our mission to radically transform the global banking industry through innovation and the power of technology. This means growing within the European Union, where we recently crossed the 5 million customer mark, building our presence in the US, one of the most attractive global banking markets, and expanding into new countries.”
Following the closure of the company’s UK operations, the majority of N26’s UK staff will move into new roles within the business as the Mobile Bank continues to grow its global team.
Will Sorby, General Manager, N26 UK added: “We would like to thank all N26 customers for their support.
We’ve planned the next steps carefully to ensure this process is as smooth as possible for every customer in the UK.”
All N26 accounts in the UK will be closed on 15 April 2020. Until then, accounts will work as normal, including all card payments and direct debits. Customers with money in their N26 accounts are asked to transfer their deposits to an alternative bank account.
- 06:00 am
Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) today announces that it has partnered with Ping Identity to provide intelligent access for customers and brokers.
This market leading platform delivers 24/7 monitoring, optimization and alerting extending security outside of HTB operating hours. The software helps HTB provide a seamless user experience and will be rolled out across services throughout 2020.
Russ Fitzgerald, CIO at HTB said: “This is another great example of HTB delivering best in breed technology and innovation that makes better banking a reality for our customers and brokers. We are constantly evolving our digital proposition in line what the best in the market place can offer. We chose Ping Identity as it provides a range of services that will underpin our significant growth plans over the next few years.”
James Belcher, Account Manager for Ping Identity added: “We are pleased to be working closely with HTB to deliver the Ping Intelligent Identity™ platform that is trusted by the majority of the CMA 9 along with major banks, building societies and financial service providers. Ping helps to establish backend workflows that comply with the Open Banking Security Profile, while also eliminating the need to build the technology from the ground up.”
Chris Michael, Head of Technology at Open Banking stated, “We’re delighted to share that Ping Identity is the first platform to pass all the mandated and optional security tests and could be considered as the ‘gold standard’ that others should seek to emulate.”
- 07:00 am
Fast growing and acquisitive ZEDRA has announced its latest acquisition, this time in Poland.
With a focus on local entrepreneurs and medium sized companies, Awans Corporate Services is a leading provider of accounting, human resources and payroll management services to companies based in Poland. The company also offers traditional corporate services, including incorporation services, cash management and business advisory.
Unveiling the acquisition, Ivo Hemelraad, CEO of ZEDRA said: “This latest deal will mark our first move into the vibrant and fast growing Central European markets. With a population of nearly 38 million, together with a strong tradition for business startups and growth, we see Poland as a dynamic and important new market for ZEDRA. I am looking forward to welcoming the staff and clients of Awans Corporate Services to ZEDRA.” Piotr Augustyniak, founder of Awans Corporate Services, who is to become ZEDRA’s Head of Central Europe at completion, stated “As one of Poland’s oldest providers of high quality corporate services solutions, we will be bringing a unique depth of knowledge and expertise to ZEDRA.”
Bartek Bielski, Managing Director of Awans Corporate Services, which will be renamed ZEDRA Poland following completion, added “Our nearly 20 staff have always focussed on providing best in class solutions to our clients. The opportunity to become part of ZEDRA, with its proactive and positive ‘do more, achieve more’ approach, and getting access to its international network of professionals is one which we found compelling and certainly in the best interest of our staff and clients”.
The deal will bring ZEDRA’s existing headcount to over 550 industry experts and expand its global footprint to 14 countries, spanning Asia, Oceania, the Americas and Europe.
- 09:00 am
Tourmaline Partners, LLC, one of the world's leading outsourced trading solutions firms, today announced the hire of Joe Hodgkins as a senior trader. He will be based at the firm’s Asia-Pacific office in Sydney.
Tourmaline opened its Sydney office in January 2018 in response to increasing demand for outsourced and supplemental trading services in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Since that time, the company has seen growing interest from APAC-based institutional investors that are finding value and opportunity in partnering with an unconflicted, unbiased, highly transparent buy-side trading firm.
Hodgkins comes to Tourmaline with extensive markets experience, spanning over 18 years of trading in Asia across senior buy- and sell-side roles. He was most recently at Citigroup, where he oversaw trading as Head of Thai Equities. Prior to his sell-side time, he spent eight years with Janus Capital in Asia, ultimately as Regional Head of Trading for five years. In that role he was responsible for all Asian trading across public equities, derivatives and futures.
Hodgkins’s specific areas of expertise include electronic and program trading, block trading and utilization of transaction cost analysis (TCA) to develop and improve trade implementation strategies.
“Joe is a natural addition to our deeply experienced Australia team,” said James Santo, Managing Director at Tourmaline in Sydney. “His nearly two decades of experience in Asia-Pacific markets speaks for itself. In addition, his strong TCA background and senior roles on both the buy- and sell-sides are exactly the skills most buy-side firms are looking for when selecting an outsourced trading provider, making him a perfect fit for us at Tourmaline.”
“In just two years, our Australia office has become one of Tourmaline’s biggest success stories,” said Aaron Hantman, Tourmaline’s Chief Executive Officer. “Hiring industry veterans like Joe helps us meet the demand increasingly coming from large asset managers and is emblematic of our ongoing commitment to provide clients unparalleled service and expertise by bringing in talent with vast experience in all aspects of trading.”
Tourmaline’s hiring of Hodgkins follows the appointment of Lincoln Wong as Head of Asia-Pacific Operations in 2019. A specialist in fund structuring, trade operations and the Asia-Pacific regulatory environment, Wong joined Tourmaline after ten years at asset manager PIMCO as Head of Operations in Australia, where he established and oversaw the middle office, fund operations and responsible entity teams. Earlier in his career, Wong spent five years at State Street overseeing fund accounting and custody operations for a range of large institutional and boutique hedge fund clients.
Tourmaline Partners provides trading solutions and expertise to over 300 institutional investment clients ranging from emerging hedge funds to the largest asset managers. Tourmaline’s Sydney office spearheads trading across the Asia-Pacific region, providing U.S. and European and regional firms a dedicated highly experienced Asian team to leverage.
- 08:00 am
ACH Alert, an award-winning provider of electronic payments fraud prevention technology for financial institutions of all sizes, today released its latest white paper, “Providing a Pleasant Banking Experience with Electronic Payments.” This white paper outlines how advances in electronic payments can give consumers more convenience and control, while positioning financial institutions to increase revenue, prevent fraud and reduce costs.
In effort to limit risk, potential fraud and the expense of dealing with problematic transactions, financial institutions apply certain stipulations with retail clients initiating online wire transfers or disputing ACH transactions. This could include requiring the consumer to physically enter the branch to initiate a wire transfer. Additionally, consumers are still subject to the inconvenience, hassle and delays associated with reporting disputes and receiving refunds. Between the cumbersome nature of the initiation and dispute process, consumers may lose confidence in electronic payments, negatively impacting their banking experience and leaving financial institutions at risk of losing account holders.
ACH Alert’s white paper reveals how financial institutions can leverage actionable online banking solutions to create a better banking experience for clients, ultimately increasing their satisfaction and loyalty to the institution. With the right solution in place, financial institutions can also generate more revenue while reducing costs and minimizing online banking fraud. ACH Alert shares how automated ACH transaction dispute and wire transfer verification solutions can benefit both institutions and consumers alike. By giving consumers a more pleasant banking experience, financial institutions can not only retain accountholders, but also attract new ones, enhancing their earnings.
“The value of providing a more positive client experience is an intangible benefit that is difficult for financial institutions to measure,” said Deborah Peace, chief executive officer of ACH Alert. “Modern technology solutions combined with the prevalence of digital devices has given financial institutions an opportunity to deliver a frictionless client experience without compromising on security. With automated wire verification and ACH dispute solutions, financial institutions can give consumers more convenience, control and confidence when making electronic payments, resulting in a more satisfying banking
experience overall.”
- 05:00 am
Esker, a worldwide leader in AI-driven process automation solutions and pioneer in cloud computing, today announced the integration of Stripe Connect, the technology infrastructure powering the world’s most ambitious platforms, to its core product. This integration will expand Esker’s order-to-cash (O2C) solution by offering secure online payment capabilities globally and help businesses get paid faster.
Stripe Connect seamlessly integrates with Esker’s solution, giving Esker customers the convenience of working with a single payment provider across the globe, instead of having to pick from different local providers. Esker customers can now collect payment on their invoices using credit and debit cards (e.g., Visa, Mastercard or American Express) and direct debit methods (e.g., ACH, SEPA) in more than 40 countries and 135 currencies within Europe, the U.S., Canada, Latin America and Asia.
“As the most innovative player in financial technology, Stripe was the clear choice for us. Stripe’s PCI Service Provider Level 1 certified solution offers the stringent payment protection our customers worldwide expect,” said Jean-Michel Bérard, CEO at Esker. “By enriching our O2C solution with online payment, we increase businesses’ operating efficiencies and help them get paid faster, particularly in the collections process. This will also accelerate the launch of new Esker products and simplify the onboarding of our customers.”
“We’re proud to support the global ambition of Esker,” said Guillaume Princen, Stripe General Manager for Continental Europe. “By integrating with Stripe, Esker will move much faster, provide better customer experience and develop their business across the world. This is exactly what Stripe is about: giving time back to its customers so they can focus on what they do best.”
About Stripe
Stripe is a technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet. Businesses of every size — from high-growth technology companies like Deliveroo and Doctolib, to public companies like Uber and Amazon — use the company’s software to accept online payments and run technically sophisticated financial operations in more than 120 countries. Headquartered in San Francisco, with 13 global offices in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia, Stripe helps new companies get started and grow their revenues, and established businesses accelerate into new markets and launch new business models. Over the long term, Stripe aims to increase the GDP of the internet.
About Esker
Esker is a worldwide leader in AI-driven process automation software, helping financial and customer service departments digitally transform their procure-to-pay (P2P) and order-to-cash (O2C) cycles. Used by more than 6,000 companies worldwide, Esker’s solutions incorporate technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) to drive increased productivity, enhanced visibility, reduced fraud risk, and improved collaboration with customers, suppliers and internally. Esker operates in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific with global headquarters in Lyon, France, and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information on Esker and its solutions, visit https://www.esker.co.uk. Follow Esker on LinkedIn at Esker – Northern Europe, or on Twitter at @EskerNEurope and join the conversation on the Esker blog.
- 09:00 am
Pelican, a leading provider of payments and financial crime compliance solutions for banks and corporates, today announced that it has expanded its global sales reach by partnering with CMSoft Co., Ltd in South Korea.
The strategic partnership will enable Pelican, experts in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning technologies, to bring its PelicanSecure Trade Compliance solution to the financial services industry in South Korea. CMSoft, an established and well-respected supplier of compliance software including audit, FATCA and AML solutions and services in Seoul, will market, sell and help deploy and support the solution in the local market.
Commenting on the partnership agreement signed in Seoul, Parth Desai, CEO of Pelican said: “We are excited about the potential for our PelicanSecure Trade Compliance solution in South Korea and delighted to be forming this strategic partnership with CMSoft to help banks tackle the increasing burden of trade-based money laundering.”
Jong Hoon Lee, CEO of CMSoft stated: “We see a growing need from banks for technology that can automate and streamline their trade processing and compliance functions. Pelican stood out in comparison to other vendors globally given their focus and proven expertise in this area. We are very enthusiastic about the potential for PelicanSecure in South Korea and are already engaging with a number of local banks to discuss the benefits of the solution.”
Colin Camp, Senior Director, Business Development, APAC at Pelican added: “We are now working closely with CMSoft to help them provide the best services to local banks around our solution. We have been very impressed by the CMSoft team and look forward to building a long and successful partnership in the region.”
Pelican’s PelicanSecure Trade Compliance solution utilizes AI, Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, OCR and imaging technology to digitize paper-based documents and automate the subsequent trade compliance workflow, including sanctions screening, DUG screening, document data consistency checks and red flag alerts, thereby reducing the reliance on manual effort, improving efficiencies and making trade operations and compliance more cost-efficient.
- 01:00 am
Onfido and Mode, the UK’s new mobile banking app for everyday investors to buy, store and manage Bitcoin, have announced their partnership, empowering Mode’s mobile application to seamlessly verify and connect UK and European citizens to a thriving Bitcoin market.
Through the new partnership, Mode expands its network of industry-leading financial technology partners, each sharing Mode’s core values of security, compliance, and technological innovation. By using Onfido’s AI-enabled verification technology, during its customers’ onboarding and 'Know Your Customer’ (KYC) process, applicants simply take a photo of their government-issued ID and a selfie; Onfido checks the ID seems genuine and matches it to the user’s face. This ensures the person presenting the identity is its legitimate owner and is physically present. Mode is able to verify applications and users anywhere, anytime, with the highest degree of compliance with KYC requirements.
In addition to identity verification, Mode has worked with Onfido to simplify and automate one of the biggest pain points in fintech: the address verification process. This will reduce the need for Mode customers to navigate complicated onboarding procedures, providing a frictionless user experience.
“Creating a seamless user experience has been critical in the makeup of our mobile application,” said Janis Legler, Head of Product and Partnerships at Mode. “We are proud to work with Onfido, who closely align with our values and ambitions in this evolving space. Since inception, Onfido has been a true pioneer in the “RegTech” field, bringing credibility to the industry as a whole through its best-in-class AI-driven approach. We are thrilled to be able to show the world how we have integrated this solution and how it provides a unique user experience.”
“We are excited to be supporting Mode’s aim to build a truly secure and efficient digital banking app,” said Husayn Kassai, CEO and co-founder at Onfido. “We bring trust to digital interactions worldwide, securely verifying a user identity at the onboarding and ongoing management of that identity. Service providers shouldn’t have to compromise on user experience or security, and we’re thrilled to be working with Mode who demand both as they build a next-generation financial ecosystem.”
- 05:00 am
UBS Wealth Management USA has launched an entirely redesigned UBS Financial Services iPhone® app (”the app”) in close collaboration with UBS clients and financial advisors. The new app is designed to help clients gain a more complete picture of their total wealth, and get insights and research in new ways through their mobile device.
“At UBS, we’re proud to give clients an all-new experience that reflects their immediate and future financial needs and goals,” said Kraleigh Woodford, Head of Digital Client Experience at UBS Wealth Management USA.
The app, which was developed in collaboration with Deloitte, focuses on asking important, real-life questions, to shape a personalized user experience for clients: What are you passionate about? Who are the people you care about most? What do you really want to do with your wealth and life?
Clients uncover tailored insights that help them visualize their financial journey in new ways. The app also encourages clients to have more informed and enriched conversations with their UBS Financial Advisor to help them reach their personal financial goals.
"At Deloitte Digital, we understand that taking a human-first approach to design enables deeper and more impactful engagements,” said Gordon Smith, US Digital Wealth Management Leader at Deloitte Digital, Deloitte Consulting LLP. “We are proud to have collaborated with UBS to create an award-winning digital experience that looks beyond account balances to get to the heart of what clients care about most. By doing so, UBS is able to provide a more personalized and holistic experience that enhances their clients' financial futures."
"To design an individualized experience for each client, we worked closely with our clients and financial advisors as part of the design process," added Woodford. "These efforts enabled us to create a slate of unified, digital experiences centered around our clients. We’re presenting new features to enable clients to have deeper conversations and help them fulfill their own financial goals."
The app also introduces functionality that lets clients set and track financial milestones, alongside enhanced online account management features.
The redesigned UBS Financial Services iPhone app features:
- A personalized experience formed by simple, real-life questions
- On-the-go simplicity to help manage their wealth
- One-click connection to their Financial Advisor
- Simple payments, transfers and card security management
- A more holistic view of their finances, whether at UBS or elsewhere
- Clearer milestone visualization to help plan for the future
- New tools for managing personal cash and viewing banking-related activities at a glance
