Published
James Stickland
CEO at Veridium
According to UK Finance, over two-thirds of British adults now use online banking, and 48% use mobile banking. This means financial institutions are under pressure to implement the latest identity see more
- 09:00 am
RIMES, the global leader in Managed Data Services for financial institutions, has today announced a deal with global investment firm EQT.
EQT will make a significant growth investment and together with Christian Fauvelais, RIMES’ CEO, President and Co-Founder, EQT will support and accelerate execution of the Company’s strategic vision.
Founded in 1996, RIMES provides the most valuable and connected data insights to the investment industry, working with more than 350 asset managers, owners, servicers and banks and 500 data partners globally. Its clients include 60 of the top 100 global investment managers by AUM and 9 of the top 10 asset servicers in the world.
RIMES uses technology-enabled, people-powered data services to provide around the clock tailored insight to clients of its Managed Data Services (MDS) and RegTech (RegFocusSM) solutions. MDS provides the buyside with timely high-quality data to meet their unique operational requirements, while RegFocus ensures regulatory compliance via an automated system calibrated to specific requirements.
The investment from EQT allows RIMES to expand its RegTech and data management solutions and extend its existing partnerships and capabilities as well as serve new clients across the investment industry.
Christian Fauvelais, CEO, President and Co-Founder of RIMES, said: “We are excited to partner with EQT for the next stage of our growth. EQT’s values strongly align with ours, and their expertise in data, software and services businesses makes them a great partner as we move to deepen our client relationships and further grow our presence in the data management space across all regions. The partnership will accelerate our ongoing commitment to our existing clients across data management and RegTech and allow us to increase the pace at which we can invest in new technology and infrastructure to bring new solutions to the market, including in areas such as ESG and ETF data.
We are committed to developing the best people and technology to provide the most valuable and connected data insights to the investment industry anytime, anywhere. This partnership with EQT takes us one step further towards our vision of a global investment industry able to rely on quality data management.”
Victor Englesson, Partner at EQT, commented: “RIMES is perfectly aligned with EQT’s thematic investment approach and focus on software, data and services. EQT is excited to partner with Christian to support the continued development of RIMES and to help it achieve its full potential.”
Robert Maclean, Managing Director at EQT, concluded: “We have been very impressed by RIMES’ achievements, and EQT looks forward to working with the team during the next stage of the Company’s growth, driven by continued investment in core solutions, support for the recently launched services in ESG and ETF data, and further enhancement of RIMES’ RegTech and broader data management offerings.”
The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as exclusive financial advisors to RIMES Technologies Corporation.
Otabek Nuritdinov
Head of Business Development at Safenetpay
Your business involves cross-border payments. Why should you consider a payments provider that is not a bank? see more
- 08:00 am
Leading payments provider Klarna is excited to announce its London Fashion Week collaboration with British designer Olivia Rubin.
Known for her joyful designs in signature colours, Olivia Rubin aligns perfectly with the fintech giant who also believes in standing out from the crowd with their unmistakable pink branding – a world away from the traditional ‘bankish blue’.
Commenting on the collaboration Olivia Rubin said; “I am super excited to team up with Klarna for London Fashion Week in February. Having recently launched Klarna on our website it is going to be a great way to commence our partnership and introduce some rainbow happiness into all the attendees this season.”
To celebrate the partnership and London Fashion Week, Klarna will host an exclusive Klarna x Olivia Rubin pop-up salon at the TOWNHOUSE, Fitzrovia from Friday 14th-Monday 17th February. Guests of the salon will be treated to complimentary manicures, with the added option of an exclusive nail design created by Olivia Rubin and inspired by Olivia’s pastel palette.
During London Fashion Week, Klarna x Olivia Rubin Tuk Tuks will roam central London, sustainably chauffeuring London Fashion Week goers between shows and the salon. Those lucky enough to hail a free ride will receive a limited edition Klarna x Olivia Rubin tote bag, an exclusive design that reflects Olivia’s signature rainbow stripe.
Laurel Wolfe, VP Marketing “We are delighted to welcome Olivia to the Klarna family and collaborate on such an exciting array of activations for London Fashion Week. Like us, Olivia believes everything is better with a splash of colour. Our recent partnership will help customers invest in the cost of a statement purchase over three monthly payments making LFW more accessible for everyone.”
- 06:00 am
Path Solutions, the global Islamic banking software provider, today announced that Bank Assafa has gone live with the latest version of iMAL in its headquarters in Casablanca as part of its strategy to bring cutting-edge Islamic banking services to its new customer base.
Bank Assafa is a wholly owned subsidiary of Attijariwafa Bank in Morocco, specialising in participative finance. Founded in July 2017, the bank offers a range of ethical banking products, which are compliant with the Higher Council of Ulema guidelines. Among all Islamic banks in Morocco, Bank Assafa has the widest network in the country with 40 branches in 20 cities.
With the rollout of the AAOIFI-certified iMAL core banking platform, Bank Assafa will be empowered to not only realize its growth strategy in a cost effective way, but also to offer a complete array of Sharia-compliant products and services to its corporate and retail customers, and to continue working towards the bank’s vision to become the country’s leading Islamic bank.
Youssef Baghdadi, General Manager of Bank Assafa, said, “The project implementation has delivered a multi-award winning Islamic core banking platform that includes a comprehensive model bank enabling us to be fully compliant with local regulations. The market potential here is immense and we believe that the flexibility and scalability provided by the system will support Bank Assafa in its ambitious strategy to take innovative products and differentiated services to market rapidly”.
Today, Bank Assafa is the largest French user of iMAL. This latest successful implementation combined with a local support presence and commitment to the region will contribute to increasing the footprint of Path Solutions in Morocco and North Africa by extending participative finance services to a broader community of clients.
Mohammed Kateeb, Group Chairman & CEO, Path Solutions, commented, “Morocco is embracing inclusive Islamic finance and Bank Assafa will definitely be a key contributor in expanding this segment in the country and in West Africa as a region; therefore, we are delighted to be their strategic technology partner. As technology becomes the strategic driver in the financial industry, we believe that our AAOIFI-certified core banking platform, which is built on the latest advancements in technology, will contribute tremendously to the innovation while speeding up time to market for interest-free products and services to satisfy the Moroccan customers”.
As part of the project scope, the following interfaces have been implemented onsite; Cheque and Bill Clearing interfaces with PROCHECK and GSIMT, HR interface, UTRF, Credit Bureau, CCB, DGI, CNSS, PPR, Incident Payment, Security Document (Cheque Printing), Compliance (Siron), and Office des Changes.
Furthermore, Path Solutions’ project team has ensured a successful transition of legacy data into the new iMAL system including Customer Creation, Account Creation, Islamic Deals, Standing Orders, Voided Cheques, Certified and Banker’s Cheques, Standard and ATM Hold of Funds.
Paul Marcantonio
Head of UK/Western Europe at ECOMMPAY
The cashless revolution is here, and it’s happening all over the globe: from Malaysian village market stalls to the London high street. There can be no revolution without controversy, of course. see more
- 02:00 am
Ian Smith, Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Virgin Money UK PLC, will join Nordea as Group CFO and Head of Group Finance. He will also become a member of the Group Leadership Team.
- I am pleased to welcome Ian to Nordea. He brings leadership, expertise and a strong track record. With his background and experience in the financial services sector focused on finance, treasury, business planning, cost management and M&A he is the ideal CFO for Nordea. The appointment supports Nordea’s new phase and our key priorities - optimise operational efficiency, drive income growth initiatives and create great customer experiences - and I look forward to working with him across the business and in the Group Leadership Team, says President and Group CEO Frank Vang-Jensen.
- Nordea is the leading bank in the Nordic region. I am excited to join Nordea’s new phase and look forward to working with the Group Leadership Team to drive financial performance and help unlock the potential of the bank, says Ian Smith.
The appointment is subject to regulatory approval.
Ian will remain in his role at Virgin Money UK PLC to support an orderly transition until a date after Virgin Money’s interim results announcement (due to be on 6 May 2020) to be agreed.
As announced earlier, the current CFO Christopher Rees has decided to relocate to the UK and will leave Nordea and step down from the Group Leadership Team at the latest when Ian joins. The exact transition date will be announced later.
- 04:00 am
Today, Scotiabank announced a donation of $750,000 to the University of Ottawa to launch the Scotiabank Fund for the AI & Society Initiative.
"At Scotiabank, our investment in AI goes beyond the implementation of new tools and technologies," says Lora Paglia, Senior Vice President of Global Risk Management, Analytics. "We are committed to being leaders in the development of principles, guidelines and training for the appropriate application of this powerful technology. This partnership with the University of Ottawa allows us to help our future leaders as they build the future of AI."
"uOttawa is pleased to accept this generous gift from Scotiabank, which will further strengthen our proven capacity to provide Canadians with leading-edge research and regulatory guidance for the ethical use of AI in business, in medicine and elsewhere in our daily lives," Says Jacques Frémont, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ottawa. "As we shift more and more of our social decision-making to intelligent algorithms, it is vital that we also critically assess the implications of these tools to ensure that they are designed and managed for the benefit of all. By supporting this work, Scotiabank's gift will ultimately benefit all Canadians."
The Scotiabank Fund for the AI & Society Initiative will help to identify solutions to essential issues related to ethical AI and technology development, and will offer students opportunities to gain experience in an emerging field that will have profound implications for Canadian society in the years to come.
Scotiabank believes that this investment in education is an investment in the long-term security, stability and growth in the future of our communities. Investments in academic institutions position young people to acquire the skills and resources necessary to support their success in the digital economy and Scotiabank looks forward to witnessing the resulting accomplishments and milestones in the years ahead.
"The rapid pace of AI development adds to the challenges facing modern societies, their citizens and raises multiple ethical, legal, and policy issues. For 20 years, uOttawa has been a global leader of the conversation technology law, ethics and policy for the benefits of Canadians and the rest of the world. Building on those previous successes, the new initiative will help shape a more inclusive digital society," says Dr. Florian Martin-Bariteau, who will lead the new AI + Society Initiative.
- 02:00 am
Infosys has signed a multi-year, multi-million euro contract with ABN Amro Bank to accelerate its cloud and DevOps transformation journey. The Dutch bank has also signed a separate cloud migration and DevOps deal with fellow Indian vendor Tata Consultancy Services.
Specifically, the Indian vendor will train the workforce on Microsoft Azure, and other cloud native tools including the ABN Amro Bank proprietary toolset, with a focus on security and code quality.
Christian Bornfeld, chief innovation & technology officer at ABN Amro says: "Infosys’ strategic investment in cloud, digital and DevOps has helped create best in class solutions and we are confident that this partnership will help us transform our IT environment in a timely and cost-effective way.”
Infosys is a long-time strategic partner of ABN Amro. In March, the bank sold a 75% stake in its mortgage administration joint venture Stater to Infosys. Stater provides services for over 1.3 million mortgage loans to more than 30 mortgage providers in the Dutch market.
Retaining a 25% interest in the business, the Dutch bank remains onboard as a minorty shareholder.
The agreement with TCS will further speed up the bank's transition to a DevOps environment, leveraging the vendor's Location Independent Agile model to enhance collaboration between business and IT.
Additionally, TCS has been called on to help the bank reduce its technology debt and build a scalable, future-proof IT core by rationalizing the technology stack, rearchitecting critical systems using microservices and APIs, adopting cloud-native architectures as the default for new system development and migrating workloads to a public cloud.
- 07:00 am
Mastercard has made a strategic investment in AI-generated identity authentication company Trust Stamp.
Trust Stamp's technology maps biometric identity data which is translated into a proprietary hash, which can then be used to analyse and attach trust or preference to business interactions.
Trust Stamp CEO, Gareth N. Genner says the initial work with Mastercard has been focused upon enhancing privacy and data security in environments with low connectivity.
Shashi Raghunandan, Mastercard's senior vice president for humanitarian and development programmer. says: "This is part of our commitment to make the digital economy work for everyone, everywhere. Trust Stamp's AI-powered technologies help us to provide our development sector partners with robust authentication solutions."
The size of the investment was undisclosed.
