Dot, offline-to-online (O2O) commerce and fintech platform founded by entrepreneur and PayU India’s ex co-founder Shailaz Nag today announced that it has raised an initial seed funding of around US$8 million. PayU, the payments and fintech business of Prosus, and Fosun RZ Capital led the seed funding round, which also saw participation from Info Edge Ventures and other well-known angel investors in the country. Dot is a technology start-up, providing novel digital transformation and commerce solutions to brick & mortar outlets, which serve 1.3 billion Indian customers with market size of US$ 1 trillion [1].

Dot aims to revolutionize the offline-to-online market space by combining its fintech capabilities with extensive customer engagement offerings and smart tech innovations. Dot, with its unique product offerings, is expected to have the first-mover advantage & will be well-positioned to capture the strong growth from the market.

“There is a huge potential in the offline-to-online commerce and fintech sector, offering immense opportunities for the right product. India has the second largest number of internet users in the world and a rapidly increasing smartphone user base. This, coupled with the recent digitisation push both from the government and the private sector is generating tremendous demand for digital transformation solutions by brick and mortar stores. I personally see a significant potential in this space, which has led to the conception of Dot,” said Shailaz Nag, founder, Dot.

Tej Kapoor, co-executive president of Fosun RZ Capital, said, “The Dot team has a deep and intrinsic understanding of the Indian fintech space and a proven history of creating and running successful companies, be it PayU or Ibibo. The current digital experience of offline merchants is broken at many levels and the engagement with customers is non-existent. Dot will change that and consequently create immense value.”

Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder and Executive Vice Chairman, Info Edge, said, “We believe that Dot has identified an important untapped market segment. It is founded by a stellar team and has the first-mover advantage, which is a winning combination.”

Dot is Shailaz Nag’s second stint as an entrepreneur after PayU. A doyen of the fintech space, he co-founded PayU India. Under him, India became the largest market for PayU’s global operations, accounting for more than 50% of its business. Shailaz helped PayU grow as the largest online payment solution provider and played a vital role in making it a profitable enterprise.

Dot is led by an experienced team, three ex-PayU employees - Shailaz Nag, Gyanesh Sharma & Anurag Gupta, all having proven expertise and knowledge of the fintech e-commerce space as well as experience in building and managing companies.

Global fintech leader Airwallex today announced the launch of the Airwallex Borderless Card for businesses, in partnership with Visa, the world’s leading digital payment technology company.

Launched at Pause Fest 2020, a leading innovation festival held in Melbourne, the new card will enable Airwallex account holders to pay suppliers in seconds and empower their teams to make corporate purchase decisions. As a result, businesses will be able to save time, cost and the hassle involved in managing these types of transactions.

The Airwallex Borderless Card is debuting in Australia and will become available in other markets around the world, including the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, later this year.

The new strategic partnership with Visa is a significant milestone for Airwallex. The collaboration focuses on innovative multi-currency cross-border payment solutions for businesses, bringing together Airwallex’s market-leading international foreign exchange rates with the security, benefits and convenience of paying with Visa.

The Airwallex Borderless Card will be rolled out in two key phases. From today, Airwallex customers in Australia will be able to instantly generate and issue multi-currency virtual payment cards to pay suppliers in seconds. With the ability to make payments to merchants globally where Visa is accepted, the new card will provide greater efficiencies and improved financial oversight for business operators. Both single use or multi-use cards are available with individual transaction limits across currency and merchant types, providing total control and visibility over payments.

More features will be introduced in the coming months, including the ability to set daily, weekly or monthly spending limits and time usage limits, as well as access to enhanced reporting and reconciliation.

The second phase, due at the end of Q1 2020, will see the Airwallex Borderless Card expand to offer multi-currency corporate cards for business owners and their employees, further empowering them to make every-day corporate purchase decisions. Airwallex customers will be able to generate individual corporate cards instantly, bypassing traditional processes that require extensive paperwork, hefty annual fees and bank queues. The corporate cards will first be available in physical form, with a virtual rollout later in Q2 2020 in digital wallets and via the Airwallex corporate card mobile app.

Airwallex and Visa’s partnership will revolutionise the cross-border payments experience for businesses that need to make payments to multiple parties across different geographies, such as online marketplaces, online travel agents and businesses who work with gig economy workers.

“Airwallex’s goal has always been to set up a global financial infrastructure that helps businesses to grow and scale. In the last few years, we have cemented a growing reputation as one of the world’s leading cross-border payments providers. This partnership with Visa takes us to a new level, where we can now offer businesses an end-to-end financial services solution. We have evolved to become a business account that will support the financial needs of today’s modern business,” said Jack Zhang, CEO and Co-founder of Airwallex.

Chris Clark, regional president, Asia Pacific, Visa, said on the announcement, “Today, cross-border B2B payments remain a cumbersome and costly affair, which can impact small businesses and corporates who are time-starved and need to keep a close eye on their cashflow. This is why we are excited to partner with Airwallex to help businesses make seamless, secure and convenient international payments, all linked to a Visa account. By leveraging our network and scale, businesses on the Airwallex platform can now make payments to any merchant that accepts Visa”.

Airwallex’s partnership with Visa marks the latest stage in the fintech’s growth, following the office openings in Japan and India and its integration with Xero in Q1 2020.

In 2019, Visa’s commercial card solutions generated more than US$1 trillion in payment volume, making Visa the largest card payment network for B2B payments in the world. As fintechs continue to be a key enabler in driving new payment flows and creating new ways to pay and be paid, the Visa and Airwallex partnership speaks to Visa’s commitment in partnering with fintechs to scale their payment innovations around the world, with increased safety and speed.

India FinTech Festival (IFF) 2020, India’s first homegrown global platform to drive Fintech innovation in the country has opened applications for its marquee show ‘FInD the next Unicorn’, giving a chance to Indian consumer fintech startups to spot raise pre Series A up to $1M.

IFF 2020 is being presented by Mumbai Fintech Hub (Government of Maharashtra), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) on March 4 and 5 at MMRDA grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex. The event is supported by Department of Financial Services, NITI Aayog, Invest India, Digital India, World Bank and UNCDF (United Nations Capital Development Fund). Medici is the program partner for the IFF 2020.

Similar in concept to the popular American TV series Shark Tank, ‘FInD the next Unicorn’ is a fast-paced, business reality event to showcase India's top ten early-stage FinTech startups looking to raise funding from a panel of five marquee investors.

The eligibility criteria for the application includes:

·         Must be an India-based start-up

·         Should be looking for less than or equal to $1M

·         Must have a consumer-facing product

·         No ideation stage, must have a product

·         Must have some positive revenue generation

A five member jury is to shortlist 20 applicants for a closed door semifinal, slated to be held in mid-February in Mumbai. Of the 20 startups, 10 will be selected to present their idea at the finale to be held at the India Fintech Festival on March 5.

“India has been home to 25 Unicorns and we believe that the zest from the fintech startup ecosystem will help us discover more start-ups that can take the number to 100 by 2025. FInD the next Unicorn is borne out of this zeal to discover such ideas and people and take them to the next level. In addition to the spot funding commitment, FInD the Next Unicorn will also give a massive exposure to these startups by bringing them to the centre stage of the fintech ecosystem and help them get noticed by more investors who are willing to support them,” said Suniti Nanda, Fintech Officer, Mumbai Fintech Hub, Government of Maharashtra.

During the finale each of the 10 shortlisted startups will get 10 minutes to present their ideas to an audience of 1,500 people and spot pitch to a marquee investor panel of 5 members including the likes of Mr. Amrish Rau, India CEO of PayU and Mr. Sanjay Mehta, Founder and Partner of 100x.vc.  An on-the-spot funding commitment of up to $1M will be made by the panel in the startup whose idea is found to be the most convincing.

For more information is available on the FInD the next Unicorn webpage.

With 100+ speakers, 5000+ attendees, 25+ participating countries, India FinTech Festival 2020 is the biggest homegrown fintech event in the country. The event serves as a representation of the best of the innovations of over 2000+ Indian startups working to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2024, due to the critical aspect financial services play in the progress of an economy.

Integral (www.integral.com), the technology partner trusted by leading banks, brokers, and asset managers to help them outperform their competition in the foreign exchange market, reported today average daily volumes (ADV) across Integral platforms totaled $35.5 billion in January 2020. This represents an increase of 2.3% compared to January 2019.

No other platform reaches as many, as varied, and as comprehensive a set of FX products and participants as Integral OCXTM. Banks, brokers, and asset managers now share direct access to OCX and use this unique liquidity to win market share from their competitors.

OCX is directly cross connected with more than 250 liquidity sources supplying more than 3,000 market making streams in NY4, LD4, and TY3. OCX’s award-winning advanced market design delivers the ultimate in execution performance by combining resting limit orders, market-making streams, and midpoint interest in a single integrated high-performance venue.
 
 

 MuchBetter, the award winning iGaming payments company, today announced the launch of MuchBetter cash, a unique cash-to-iGaming-account transaction service. Enabled by the MuchBetter API, MuchBetter cash allows customers to make free cash payments at offline retail locations directly into their iGaming accounts.

MuchBetter already offers customers the ability to top up their wallets with cash at participating points of sale in selected markets. The new solution will now enable cash payments to be instantly made to a designated player account, rather than deposited to the MuchBetter wallet. The MuchBetter cash service is free to customers, and the company hopes it will disrupt the cash payments monopoly that currently exists in iGaming payments.

“Cash-based payments in online gaming has been a monopoly for years”, said MuchBetter co-founder, Jens Bader. “It is a highly regulated area with strict KYC and AML requirements in all jurisdictions, making it hard for anyone to disrupt the status quo until now. MuchBetter Cash is a unique new service for participating iGaming merchants and a simple mechanism for them to collect cash payments with zero technical integration, since this is done directly via their existing MuchBetter API. They just need to opt-in to the new product. For regular players, MuchBetter Cash means direct cash deposits to their gaming accounts, with no additional steps or loading of intermediary accounts or entering voucher codes. Furthermore, customer pay-outs of winnings go back directly into their MuchBetter account and are immediately accessible with the MuchBetter MasterCard. This method will add substantial savings to payment processing costs for iGaming merchants while giving them another cash payment solution. It’s simply MuchBetter.”

The new MuchBetter cash service will initially be available in some selected European countries and available to all Operators accepting the MuchBetter wallet service.

Getting a company off the ground has never been easier. Using the existing “UBS Start Business” platform, UBS and Zurich are launching a comprehensive offering that goes beyond traditional banking and insurance. In addition to the extensive banking package which includes a free capital payment and business account, co-working opportunities, and mentoring programs, we are now offering the kinds of insurance policies that are either mandatory for companies or cover important risks that many start-ups can’t take on themselves.

This innovative offer helps entrepreneurs get excellent banking and insurance solutions efficiently and without the complications. Instead of spending a lot of time on appointments, the online platform streamlines the process and recommends transactions crucial to success of start-ups in the founding stages. Compulsory insurance such as occupational retirement planning and accident insurance are explained in simple terms, and company founders receive an offer with just a few clicks. The tool also intuitively guides through key voluntary coverages such as daily sickness benefits insurance. You can sign up immediately or delve into these offers later on.

Axel Lehmann, President UBS Switzerland, comments: “With the combined offer from Zurich and UBS, we’re pleased to support young entrepreneurs during the crucial stages of start-ups. For the first time, start-ups now have a one-stop shop for quick, easy and coordinated access to key banking and insurance products”.

Juan Beer, CEO of Zurich Switzerland, says: “We’re proud to be working closely with UBS in launching an innovative new product for SMEs. This draws on our experience as a world leader in bancassurance with over 70 partner banks in 17 countries”.

One factor driving considerable, sustainable success in a number of countries around the globe is the cooperation between banks and insurance companies. In Switzerland, the potential is just as great.

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR), a global Fintech leader and part of the S&P 500® Index, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Chris Perry as President of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., effective March 2, 2020. Mr. Perry is assuming the title of President from Broadridge’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Gokey, who remains Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the Company. Mr. Perry currently leads Broadridge’s Global Sales, Marketing and Client Solutions organization. Following this appointment, Mr. Perry will expand his current responsibilities to take a stronger role leading Broadridge’s top clients and partners, overseeing Broadridge International, and coordinating Broadridge’s overall growth strategy.

“Chris is a proven leader who has been a driving force behind Broadridge’s record sales growth over the past six years, providing both strategic vision and practical insight in cultivating client relationships, developing client solutions, and fostering an award-winning associate culture,” said Mr. Gokey. “I look forward to working with Chris to continue to transform Broadridge into a leading SaaS provider leveraging next-generation technology to deliver industry solutions for critical infrastructure underpinning governance and communications, capital markets, and wealth and investment management. I am confident that with Chris’ appointment, we will create even greater growth for our clients, investors, and associates.”

Mr. Perry joined Broadridge in 2014 and has more than 25 years of experience in banking, brokerage and financial information services. He oversees all client and market-facing activities globally and is responsible for delivering the Company’s annual sales targets spanning all business units and product lines. Broadridge has enjoyed six years of consecutive record-setting sales under Mr. Perry’s leadership.

“Broadridge is a special company with a ‘best place to work’ culture where our associates’ strong commitment and dedication delivers results for clients and investors. I am excited to work more closely with Tim and across the organization, bringing to market world-class solutions that support our clients’ growth and associates’ development, while driving the innovation roadmap through Broadridge’s ABCDs of Innovation™,” said Mr. Perry. “As we remain focused on helping clients get ahead of today’s challenges and capitalize on what’s next, I look forward to further developing our technology, broadening our products, continuing our M&A success, and enriching our outstanding culture to create more value for clients and greater growth for Broadridge.”

Prior to joining Broadridge, Mr. Perry held numerous leadership roles at Thomson Reuters, and its predecessor, Thomson Financial. There he served as Global Managing Director of Risk for the Financial and Risk Division, where he was responsible for overseeing Governance, Risk and Compliance, as well as Pricing and Reference services. He was accountable for approximately $700 million in annual revenue and associated P&L during an active acquisition and growth phase. Previously, he served as President of Global Sales and Account Management of the Financial and Risk Division overseeing nearly $6 billion in revenue with 4,000 professionals worldwide. Earlier in his career, Chris worked in institutional trading and retail brokerage.

Mr. Perry currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Financial Services Institute (FSI). He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for NPower, an organization that provides underprivileged youths and military veterans with the opportunity to build technology skills and achieve their potential. In addition, he is a sponsor of the Women on Wall Street Association, a New York-based business leadership organization that helps accelerate careers of women in financial services, and he is a board member of The Community Food Bank of New Jersey, a non-profit aiming to eradicate hunger in New Jersey. Mr. Perry has previously served as Chairman of British American Business (BAB) and currently serves as Secretary of the Board of Make-A-Wish New Jersey.

SteelEye, the compliance technology and data analytics firm, has appointed Rob Bernstein as its new Chief Financial Officer, effective from February 3, 2020.

Rob was most recently CFO at RegTek Solutions, which was acquired by Bloomberg in August 2019, and prior to that CFO at TIM Group.

Throughout his career, Rob has successfully led both organic and acquisition growth strategies and debt and equity financing, executing on three trade sales of tech-enabled fast growth businesses: a telecommunications business and more recently, RegTek Solutions and TIM Group.

As CFO, Rob will lead SteelEye's financial operations, reporting directly into SteelEye’s CEO, Matt Smith.

“Rob has a proven track record of building successful FinTech companies and solutions, bringing invaluable experience to our financial management, strategic planning and future fundraising,” says Matt Smith, CEO of SteelEye. “As we enter our next phase of growth, we are delighted to have Rob on board.”

“This is an exciting time to join SteelEye, as the company continues to pave the way for financial compliance and data management,” says Rob Bernstein. “I am thrilled to be leading SteelEye’s finance organisation, supporting the company’s ambitious plans for growth and development and building on SteelEye’s future success.”

As a testament to his success, Rob was recognised as one of the top 20 “hottest” financial directors in the TMT sector in 2013 by a panel of industry leaders and financial services firms.

Unique global alternative legal and compliance services provider, Konexo, a division of Eversheds Sutherland, has forged an innovative and strategic collaboration with leading business and financial adviser Grant Thornton UK LLP and DXC Technology to provide an integrated solution to the Interbank Offered Rates (IBOR) transition. 

The evolving IBOR transition is amongst the most critical business, risk, legal and market driven change programs financial services companies will face over the next two years.

This carefully crafted, and mutually reinforcing collaboration will ensure that each team brings core capabilities to help clients meet the FCA’s 2022 deadline, and transition to a replacement rate before the IBOR rate discontinues.

IBOR, most prominently LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate), was the globally accepted key benchmark of interest rates that indicate borrowing costs between banks for major currencies and tenors. The benchmark has increasingly lost validity due to the rigging scandal that disrupted the city and because the market effectively shut-down through the financial crisis.

Brett Aubin, Head of Regulatory Response at Konexo, commented:

“As Financial Services organisations continue to deal with the consequences of the 2008 crisis, amongst unprecedented levels of commercial, regulatory and customer pressure, it is paramount that we service our clients differently. We recognise that for ‘wide problems’ like the IBOR transition, no single organisation can responsibly deliver an integrated solution out of their core strengths alone.

“This new, dynamic and innovative collaboration lets go of corporate ego to ensure clients receive effective, pragmatic, risk managed and cost optimized solutions. The teams combine specialist lawyers with the latest legal technologies and each participant delivers only to its greatest strengths.”

John Da Gama-Rose, Partner and Head of Capital Markets and Financial Services Business Consulting at Grant Thornton UK LLP, added:

“The challenges facing the financial services market in transitioning away from the long-established IBOR benchmark are paramount, and each organisation’s needs and response to this will vary. The forward-looking expertise in strategy, advisory and delivery within our financial services team helps ensure our clients are not only prepared for change, but best placed to capitalise and compete. 

“Our Expert Led model actively engages in building alliances within the ecosystem amongst legal firms, technology providers and Fintech innovators to deliver holistic solutions which add the right value to our clients.“

Rich Evans, Industry General Manager, Banking and Capital Markets at DXC Technology, said:

“The sheer multiplicity of IBOR-referencing products, stretching from OTC derivatives through syndicated loan portfolios to retail mortgages and automotive loans, means that most financial services organisations will be faced with complex and far-reaching technology change requirements over an extended period of IBOR Transition. DXC is enabling an important transformation in the legal services industry with the latest machine learning, AI and robotic automation technologies to deliver the complex system enhancements needed to carry out the changes demanded for IBOR transitioning.”