VC Innovations, a leading marketing services agency with a global community of over 200,000 digital transformation leaders from across financial services, fintech, and a broad range of non-financial brands, has announced the launch of FTT Payments in London.  

Although a launch, the event will be co-located with three well-established brands from VC Innovations: FTT Embedded Finance & Super Apps, Customer Alpha, and Future Identity Customer. The co-located events will bring together 600+ attendees at etc. venues, 155 Bishopsgate, London on 21 May. 

FTT Payments will feature in-depth discussions of the technologies, changing customer behaviors, regulatory drivers, and new business models shaping the future of payments. The topics and experts sharing their experiences will be a delight to all with a passion for payments. 

“Whilst the existing co-located events bring together those who live and breathe a desire to deliver for customers, whether that is in the B2C or B2B space, we believe the addition of the modern payments’ ecosystem rounds off the content and the community in an important way. Payments are central and essential to businesses and consumers, as well as the broader economy”, said Lisa Moyle, Chief Strategy Officer, at VC Innovations. “We are very excited to add FTT Payments to this group of industry-leading events”.  

 Additional benefits of FTT Payments and the co-located events include: 

• Speaking sessions featuring over 120 industry leaders 
• Over 600 attendees made up of a disruptive community of banks, payment processors, payments gateways, payment networks, and other payment facilitators, as well as retailers, manufacturers, e-commerce companies, vertical SaaS providers, insurers, telcos, financial institutions, fintechs and tech innovators.  
• The opportunity to make connections through networking sessions and to apply to be part of the expanded VIP Hosted Meetings Programme.  

 Registration is now open, and the full range of ticket options is available here.

DKK Partners FZE, based in the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), a subsidiary of DKK Partners, a leading FinTech company specializing in Emerging Markets (EM) and Foreign Exchange (FX) liquidity, has been granted Initial Approval by the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) to offer Virtual Asset Broker Dealer Services. DKK Partners FZE will continue to work towards acquiring a full Virtual Asset Service Provider Licence from VARA.

DKK Partners empowers corporates & institutions in emerging markets with expert FX solutions. They manage currency risk, secure optimal liquidity, & streamline local collections, driving business growth.

The VARA initial approval allows DKK FZE to move forward in the licensing process as they look to offer corporate and institutional customers in Dubai and the UAE access to stablecoin blockchain technology, utilizing USDT and USDC.  

Khalid Talukder, Co-Founder and CEO of DKK Partners, said:

"It is an incredibly exciting time for DKK in the Middle East and securing the VARA Initial approval will enable us to continue making a splash in the region. Our expansion to Dubai last year was a huge success and we’re looking to extend our influence in the market by strengthening our compliance and innovation in the Virtual Asset space. This license is a game-changer for DKK and the digital asset landscape in Dubai empowering businesses to confidently engage in blockchain technology, benefiting from the stability of stablecoins and the regulatory framework."

Victoria Albergini, Head of Partnerships for DKK Partners FZE in Dubai said:

“Since our launch last year, DKK Dubai has gone from strength to strength and is now in a prime position in the rapidly evolving digital asset landscape. The VARA initial approval enhances our ability to serve the unique needs of corporate and institutional customers.”

The VARA Initial Approval furthers DKK Partners’ overarching digital asset strategy, establishing Dubai as a pivotal hub for their operations in the Middle East.

R3, the enterprise distributed ledger technology (DLT) and services firm, has appointed Bob Wigley, to its board as a Non-Executive Director. 

Wigley, who has Chaired UK Finance for the last six years, joins R3 after leading the UK Finance digital tokenization task force, which produced the report Unlocking the power of securities tokenization. Wigley was previously EMEA Chairman of Merrill Lynch where he took a keen interest in market infrastructures as a member of the boards of the Bank of England, Euroclear, and LCH Clearnet. He is an Honorary Fellow at Judge Business School within Cambridge University’s Centre for Alternative Finance. 

In his role at R3, Wigley will strengthen the company’s strategy with his expertise in digital finance and help drive further adoption of R3’s new product offering, R3 Digital Markets, amongst financial institutions across the globe. The company recently launched R3 Digital Markets, an end-to-end suite of digital solutions designed to help firms adopt and drive value across digital assets and digital currencies, from initial exploration to full-scale implementation. The new suite future-proofs asset transfer and integration, instantly adding value to existing systems and enabling quicker, more efficient workflows.

“I’m delighted to join R3 at a time when R3 Digital Markets is transforming the way global financial markets operate,” said Wigley. “R3 is the catalyst behind pioneering CBDC and other real financial asset tokenization projects, and I look forward to working with the team and its customers to continue driving adoption in new geographies and asset classes.”

“We’re excited to welcome Bob to the R3 board of directors. His extensive experience in progressing regulated financial infrastructure is crucial as we build the foundations for interoperable regulated networks,” said David E. Rutter, CEO at R3. “His insight and strong industry connections will be an invaluable addition to our board, at a time when R3 is working with financial institutions and FMIs to digitize global markets.” 

Dyce Energy, a gas and electric provider for UK businesses, has announced today that it will be renewing its relationship with GoCardless, the bank payment company, for another three years. The new contract will see Dyce Energy continue a six-year relationship with GoCardless to collect recurring payments through Direct Debit.

Currently, 96% of Dyce Energy’s customers pay their monthly energy bill through GoCardless. The automatic Direct Debit payments, which pull the funds from a customer’s bank account on the day they’re due, have helped Dyce Energy stay in control of its cash flow through the COVID-19 pandemic and global energy crisis.

The simplicity of managing recurring payments through GoCardless offers Dyce Energy greater visibility and security around cash flow and helps their customer service and finance teams save time. Moreover, customers get a consistent and smooth payment experience.  

Carl Fisher, Managing Director at Dyce Energy, said:  “We’re pleased to continue our partnership with GoCardless to keep providing our customers with fast and convenient Direct Debit payments. GoCardless ultimately gives us more control over when and how we get paid, and the round-the-clock support we receive from the GoCardless team has given us greater confidence in the solution. Getting the tech to do more of the work of managing and reconciling payments is vital to keeping our costs low, so we can offer competitive prices and maximize available resources to invest in growth.” 

Pat Phelan, MD of UK & Ireland and Chief Customer Officer at GoCardless said: “After a transformative few years for the energy industry, we’re proud to have helped Dyce Energy gain more control of their recurring payments, and are excited to continue this relationship. We look forward to supporting Dyce Energy’s growth by helping them not only get paid on time but also to win and retain more customers.”

 This signing strengthens GoCardless’ footprint in the utility industry and its position as an industry player in open banking. By offering both Direct Debit for recurring bill collection and Instant Bank Pay, its open banking-powered feature to collect instant, one-off payments, GoCardless acts as a full-service provider for any merchant who wants to take regular and ad hoc payments.

Ebury, one of the world's largest fintech companies specializing in transactions for SMEs, today announced its partnership expansion with Nium, the leader in real-time global payments, to deliver a groundbreaking global remittance service in Brazil.

The announcement follows regulatory approval of Ebury's acquisition of Brazilian fintech Bexs, which includes the businesses Bexs Banco (foreign exchange) and Bexs Pay (payments), in October 2023. The institution is known as Ebury Bank in Brazil, reflecting the local FX banking license held in the country.

Together, Nium and Ebury will enable businesses to send or receive fast, reliable, and affordable cross-border payments to and from Brazil. This builds on the duo's existing partnership in Europe, in which London-based fintech Ebury leverages Nium's global payments infrastructure to send international supplier and payroll payments around the world.

Nium's bulk cross-border payments solution for banks and financial institutions will be integrated into Ebury's high-scale payment flows to improve the speed, efficiency, and cost of international business transactions. The partnership will also enhance Brazil's connection to new emerging markets that would otherwise be out of reach. Currently, Nium's payment network supports payouts in over 100 currencies to more than 190 countries, 100 of them in real-time.

"Our mission is to connect Brazilian consumers to the world and the world to Brazil's consumer ecosystem. And the best way to do this is to use high-technology solutions and global coverage, such as those offered by Nium, which bring security and effectiveness to transactions. This is a game changer for us. The product demos gave our team a lot of confidence and the technological integration process was seamless and conclusive, reflecting a great start for the partnership," said Luiz Henrique Didier Jr., Executive Director at Ebury Bank in Brazil.

Building on its global customer base and breadth of coverage across APAC, the U.S. and EMEA, Nium is focused on LATAM as a strategic growth market. The fintech has been operating in the region for some time but marked its formal entry with the opening of a local office in Sao Paulo in August 2023. Nium's agreement with Ebury is its first bank partnership in Brazil.

Brazil's digital payments market is projected to grow to a total transaction value of US $170 bn in 2024. Government statistics indicate there are over 21 million SMEs in Brazil today, with a total estimated population of over 215 million people.

"Brazil has tremendous potential to set a global example in digital payment innovation. But today, businesses and individuals here continue to face costly hidden fees, significant delays, and uncertainty every time they send or receive international payments via traditional wires or legacy banking systems. We are thrilled to expand our existing collaboration with Ebury in Europe to help Brazil's underbanked SME and consumer population access more affordable and efficient ways to send and receive money. This is another great example of how cutting-edge cross-border payment solutions are having a meaningful impact on the lives of millions of people around the world," said Christina Hutchinson, General Manager, Brazil and Head of Business Development, LATAM at Nium.

Numeral, the payment technology provider, today announces the support of Swift payments, enabling companies and financial institutions to automate cross-border payments with their partner banks to more than 200 countries, in addition to local European SEPA as well as UK Bacs, FPS, and CHAPS payments, from a single platform.

“At Numeral, we enable any company processing large volumes of payments to build the perfect payment infrastructure for its specific needs on top of the partner banks of its choice. Enabling our customers to leverage the Swift payment capabilities of the banks connected to Numeral dramatically expands their payments reach while keeping the benefits of managing all their payments from a single platform,” says Édouard Mandon, co-founder and CEO at Numeral.

With the addition of Swift payments, Numeral customers can now benefit from Swift’s global reach combined with the speed, lower cost, and high local reach of local payment schemes. With Numeral, companies can programmatically manage payments through the banks and schemes that best fit their needs without building multiple integrations.

Numeral capabilities for Swift payments include:

• Sending and receiving Swift payments through partner banks

• Automatic reconciliation of Swift payments with corresponding bank account transactions

• Programmatic access to currency account statements, including latest available balances

“Numeral will pursue this more global, more local strategy in the future. We aim to support more European payment schemes and integrate with more European banks while adding more global payment options to our platform through global networks like Swift and global banks like J.P. Morgan, BNP Paribas and HSBC,” says Édouard Mandon.

Finastra has today announced UNITAS as a strategic partner for Finastra’s Kondor treasury solution in South Korea. The combination of Finastra’s best-of-breed trading system with UNITAS’s local expertise and deep experience in providing risk and compliance solutions to financial institutions will enable more banks in the country to digitally transform and grow their business.

“After many years helping banks in South Korea to digitally transform their treasury operations, we are excited to combine our experience with UNITAS – a leading name in South Korea’s financial risk and compliance market,” said Richard Zhu, Managing Director, Treasury & Capital Markets, APAC, Finastra.

“With its experience and reach in the market, working alongside UNITAS will enable us to bring an even more comprehensive offering to Korean financial institutions and help grow their businesses.” “With our common client profile, this partnership presents clear synergies and enables us to offer Finastra’s best-of-breed trading system to our existing and new clients, as well as opening up a new revenue stream,” said Dooho Lee, Director, UNITAS.“We look forward to working with Finastra to help more banks transform their treasury operations.”

Finastra Kondor enables financial institutions to trade high volumes of treasury while offering the flexibility to support more complex derivatives, options, and structured trades. The solution can be easily integrated with existing systems and applications, enabling simplification, lowering costs, and creating a single source of truth – all while ensuring that the organization remains compliant.

CLARA Analytics, which offers a claims intelligence platform, has received an investment from Nationwide Ventures, the investment arm of Nationwide. CLARA has raised a total of $64 million, including its recently announced Series C.

Founded in 2016, CLARA’s product suite applies image recognition, natural language processing, and other AI-based techniques to unlock insights from medical notes, bills and other documents surrounding a claim. Some of its clients include Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies, AmTrust, Amerisure, QBE, and Amazon.

“The Nationwide investment is a huge vote of confidence from a leading voice in the industry. We have more than doubled our annual recurring revenue in the past year as carriers recognize the value of AI in claims management. We expect our rapid growth to accelerate even further as AI becomes a mainstay in modern claims management organizations.” – Heather H. Wilson, CEO of CLARA Analytics.

“Since partnering together in 2022, Nationwide has seen the very substantial benefits that this technology can offer. We’re excited to expand this relationship and look forward to what’s to come between our two companies.” – George Williams, Chief Operating Officer of Commercial, E&S and Specialty at Nationwide.