Self-Service Banking Asia returns to Thailand on 3^rdand 4^thApril 2019. RBR’s flagship Asian conference will explore how the rapid growth in demand for banking services is being addressed with innovative new technology. Presentations will cover the latest developments in cloud-based ATMs, cash recycling and integration of mobile, as well as the ongoing challenges of financial inclusion and rural access to cash.

Thailand and southeast Asian countries face unique challenges

With large unbanked populations and often vast geographic areas as well as island communities, banks in Thailand and southeast Asia face challenges when it comes to financial inclusion and ensuring access to cash. Despite these challenges, economic development combined with government initiatives are creating ever greater demand for banking services.

At the same time as expanding their estates, banks are taking advantage of the latest technological advances to meet this increasing demand. ATM solutions are becoming more innovative, with banks experimenting with recycling, multivendor software and omnichannel integration, for example, in order to maximise the full potential of the ATM.

2019 marks the second time this conference has been held in Thailand; Self-Service Banking Asia 2019builds on the success of RBR’s other Asian conferences, in Jakarta, Manila, Beijing and Mumbai. RBR’s Managing Director, Dominic Hirsch, comments:“Self-Service Banking Asia is the leading conference of its kind in the region, and presents a unique opportunity for local and regional banks and industry stakeholders in the region to gather and learn about the latest industry trends and solutions. With slowing growth in India and China, attention is now increasingly focused on southeast Asia”. 

Speaker agenda centred on local and international bank case studies

Several leading regional banks will share their experiences at the conference, including GSB, TMB Bank, DBS Bank, Bank Muamalat, Maybank and PBCOM, while experts from Bank of Thailand and Ernst & Young will provide thought-provoking industry perspectives. Further learning opportunities come from the extended networking breaks and a dedicated exhibition area, which will showcase the latest self-service technology from leading international suppliers*.

Bank delegates in Asia have a powerful desire to learn

Self-Service Banking Asiaattracts over 350 delegates from southeast Asia and beyond. Amanda Hardy, Conference Manager, reflected on the event’s atmosphere: “RBR’s Asian conferences generate a real buzz – banks flock from all over the region and are enthusiastic about the chance to to learn”. She continued, “Exhibition booths are selling quickly, but if any companies would like to get involved they should contact me as soon as possible, and we will do our best to accommodate them. No one should miss out!”

To find out what the future holds for ATMs in Asia, don’t miss Self-Service Banking Asia 2019. For more information, please visit www.rbrlondon.com/ssba. 

* Exhibitors include: Abloy, Brink's, bvk, dormakaba, Emerico, ESQ, Evolis, Glory, KAL ATM Software, REINER, Renovite Technologies, Sargent and Greenleaf and TMD Security.

Bittrex International has joined a coalition of leading blockchain organizations, including Uphold, Cred, Blockchain at Berkeley, Brave in support of a universal transparent reserve and custody standard that mints and burns Proxy tokens via the Universal Protocol Platform (UP Platform). The UP Platform, which plans to introduce the Universal Dollar and Universal Euro later this month, serves as the hub for the creation and management of ‘proxy’ tokens and user features that will drive mass user adoption of cryptocurrencies. 

“We’re thrilled to join an Alliance of like-minded blockchain companies dedicated to incubating blockchain-based technologies and helping projects go mainstream,” said Bill Shihara, Bittrex International.  “The blockchain industry needs technology that can build trust and transparency, and the platform the Alliance has built should help drive mass utility and adoption.”

The founding members include:

• Uphold  – Founded in 2014, Uphold has over 1 million users around the world and has traded over $4 billion on its digital money platform and reserve ledger.
• Cred – Founded by a group of former Paypal executives with over $300 million in lending capital, Cred has introduced a revolutionary lending and earning platform for digital assets.
• Brave  – From the creator of JavaScript and co-founder of Mozilla and Firefox, Brave radically improves internet browsing and leadership in the realms of privacy and digital advertising with the Basic Attention Token.
• Blockchain at Berkeley - An academic organization at University of California, Berkeley, that provides educational resources, consultancy, and R&D to some of the biggest blockchain projects in the world.

“The UP Platform solves real usability and familiarity problems faced by the next hundred million users of digital assets,” said Brendan Eich, co-founder of Brave and creator of JavaScript.

For everyday users, the platform introduces groundbreaking new types of safeguards that render cryptocurrencies significantly more practical and convenient to own, such as private key recovery and inheritability.

Currently, digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum exist on separate blockchain platforms and cannot interact with one another. This results in significant inefficiencies as separate blockchain projects are unable to collaborate in any meaningful way, without complex and often costly work-around solutions. To date, this has greatly hindered innovation in blockchain and the realization of its vast potential to fundamentally disrupt a wide array of economic, social and industrial sectors. The UP Platform looks to solve this issue and allow all cryptocurrencies to become accessible on a single network through the introduction of Proxy Tokens.

Proxy Tokens are digital representations of their underlying assets and can exist on other blockchains. Using these Proxy Tokens, the UP Platform creates a common universal language that allows distinct blockchains and token-based projects to interact freely and frictionlessly with each other.  This technology enables Proxy Bitcoin, for example, to exist on Ethereum and be reasoned with directly by Ethereum’s preponderance of decentralized applications, decentralized exchanges and smart contracts.

“The early days of the internet were very similar to the world of blockchain today, with many different technology platforms fragmented and incapable of communicating with one other,” said JP Thieriot, President of the UP Alliance and Co-founder of Uphold. “We believe that the Universal Protocol Platform is a technology that has the potential to connect blockchain technologies, much like the breakthrough of the TCP and IP protocols that drove the internet towards mass adoption. “

The platform will enable a new world of tokenized digital assets - ranging from Proxy blockchains such as Bitcoin, to Proxy securities and Proxy private equity – and will facilitate the instant and seamless conversion of different forms of value. In doing so, the UP Platform will unlock the vast and untapped full potential of blockchain to transform how individuals and businesses store and transfer value, with Proxy Tokens representing the next generation of digital money. 

“The Universal Protocol Alliance is coalition of companies promoting a new technology that gets stronger as the network of members and use cases gets bigger,” said Dan Schatt, Chairman of the UP Alliance and Cofounder of Cred.  “We are actively seeking partners that would like to benefit from this new technology that we believe will set the standard for transparency, convenience, and make an unprecedented amount of liquidity available for the ecosystem.”

Opus, the leading provider of global compliance and risk management solutions, announces the launch of Clarity KYC, its new Know Your Customer (KYC) workflow automation and risk intelligence solution. The product is aimed at financial services clients, providing a modern, easy-to-use SaaS solution that reduces the time and cost of client onboarding and improves the speed and accuracy of the customer due diligence process.

Regulations such as the Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5MLD) and FinCEN’s CDD Final Rule place more stringent requirements on global financial institutions, while the associated costs and time to onboard new clients continue to rise. Clarity KYC supports financial institutions in achieving a clear, comprehensive view of risks that’s intuitive, integrated and adaptable, allowing them to stay compliant and realize opportunities even as the landscape continues to shift.

Clarity KYC integrates business entity identification, screening and due diligence, reporting and monitoring into a single, easy-to-use solution. Built on a proven, enterprise-grade cloud platform that supports the world’s largest financial institutions, Clarity KYC enables global banks to conduct the most comprehensive KYC checks in a fraction of the time it used to take.

Clarity KYC provides one of the most comprehensive sources of risk data, leveraging the most modern and innovative AI-powered technologies to access both traditional and open source content. Clarity KYC reduces the amount of effort needed to conduct research, due diligence and identify hidden risks. Tasks that were formerly done manually or required multiple steps can now be completed quickly, simply and automatically.

“Our banking customers have asked us for a faster and easier way to meet their due diligence and compliance needs in KYC, AML and other related areas,” said Emanuele Conti, CEO of Opus. “We worked with them to design this new solution, pulling in advanced entity resolution and workflow capabilities into a more modern and intuitive user experience.  We are looking forward to helping all of our customers simplify their processes, save time and reduce their risks.”

SafeCharge (AIM: SCH), the partner of choice for businesses who demand more from payments technology, is cementing its US expansion by offering real-time ACH payments in partnership with Mazooma - the trusted source for verified bank payments in online sports betting and iGaming. Through Mazooma’s eCheck Select Payment Technology, SafeCharge aims to support both its US customers and its international customers wanting to roll out in the region.

eCheck Select verifies bank-level data in real-time, including customer identification and account information. At the time of transaction, eCheck Select confirms a person’s account balance and processes the payment or terminates it if there are insufficient funds.

"We're pleased to make our ACH technology available via the SafeCharge Payments Engine," said Jamie MacKay, CEO, Mazooma. "With eCheck Select, iGaming operators entering the newly-regulated US market can offer players in the US a positive gaming experience.”

Following a successful expansion across US and Asian markets in 2018 - with the most recent opening of a new office in China earlier this month - SafeCharge is rapidly consolidating its global presence to support local merchants operating across borders. With one of the largest portfolios of local payment methods and card acquiring options, SafeCharge Payment Engine is enabling merchants to take back control of their payment processing capabilities securely and effectively on a global scale.

“The US is one of the largest markets in the world. There’s a growing requirement from both customers and businesses to enable seamless local payment acceptance, boosting conversion. By making eCheck Select available to provide real time ACH payments, we aim to support our customers successfully expanding into the US, further enhancing our innovative omnichannel Payments Engine designed to maximize payment conversions,” said David Avgi, CEO, SafeCharge.

ACA Technology Solutions, a division of ACA Compliance Group and a leading provider of investment management and regulatory compliance technology solutions, is marking a successful year of regulatory technology (“RegTech”) product innovation, global team expansion, and client growth in 2018.

Through ACA’s acquisition of Cordium and its product suite, we continued to build our global team of experienced financial technologists, including the expansion of our dedicated U.K. team to better serve our European clients. In 2018, we gained more than 500 new clients on our ComplianceAlpha and ACA Regulatory Reporting platforms for a total of more than 660 clients globally.

We were also selected for the 2019 RegTech 100 by RegTech Analyst, a specialist research firm that recognizes the most innovative tech companies transforming compliance, risk management, and cybersecurity.

In 2018 we continued to demonstrate our commitment to developing a best-in-class RegTech platform that helps our clients meet their regulatory obligations while optimizing workflows and efficiencies. Notable enhancements to our RegTech solutions included:

• The addition of code of ethics, personal trading, and employee management functionality to ComplianceAlpha through the incorporation of Compliance ELF (Employee Level Filing) solution.
• The release of Decryptex® version 3.0, ACA’s trade surveillance solution, including integration with ComplianceAlpha, single sign-on (SSO) support, a redesigned user interface, and bulk actions for multiple Items of Interest (IOIs).
• The addition of enhanced vendor management functionality to the ACA Aponix® cybersecurity and risk module, including an expanded vendor risk dashboard, tailored vendor due diligence questionnaire (DDQ) templates that include over 300 proprietary questions customized for each vendor type, and enhanced notifications and alerts.
• Enhancements to the Compliance Management Platform (CMP) module, including WORM-compliant storage in compliance with SEC Rule 17a-4, the ability to manage and control content visibility across multiple geographic affiliates, and updates to the ACA Master Reference Library of risks, controls, and activities for designing your compliance program.
• Enhancements to the Marketing Review Solution (MRS) module, including performance, usability, and workflow improvements, as well as continued improvements for defining custom submission forms and workflow routing.
• The release of ACA Regulatory Reporting version 5.0, including a redesigned user interface, a new dashboard for centralizing regulatory reporting deadlines and filings, the ability to file Form 13F independently or in conjunction with Form PF, and enhanced validations to meet regulatory guidelines across jurisdictions.

“Our experience with Compliance ELF has been greatly beneficial to our firm,” said Ronald R. Juskiewicz, Partner and Chief Compliance Officer at Avanath Capital Management, LLC. “We have been working with ACA’s Code of Ethics team since mid-2017, and in 2018 we transitioned to ACA’s Compliance ELF platform from a previous system. This transition was made seamless with the help of ACA’s experienced team. Compliance ELF’s functionality, especially the feed aggregator, better serves our firm’s needs by reducing the manual process of entering transactions.”

“We are pleased to provide our clients with new features and solutions that will help them meet their regulatory obligations more efficiently,” said Glen Froio, Partner at ACA Technology Solutions. “By adding personal trading/code of ethics management, integrated trade surveillance, enhancements for CMP and MRS, an enhanced regulatory reporting user experience, and improved vendor management functionality to the platform in 2018, we continue to evolve our RegTech solutions to meet our clients’ needs. I’d like to thank the ACA team for their continued dedication and hard work in 2018, as well as our clients for their support.”

Lexmark, a global imaging solutions leader, today announced it is bringing its enterprise scale strengths to a new line of printers designed for the SMB market. The Lexmark Two Series is designed for micro-workgroups looking to simply and securely print, copy, fax and scan, all within a compact and easy-to-use device.

Typically ranging from two to four people, micro-workgroups include small businesses, start-ups, and branch offices or franchises. Two monochrome products in the line were launched today—the single function Lexmark B2236dw and the multi-function Lexmark MB2236adw with additional scanning, copying and faxing functionality. 

“No matter the size of the organisation, Lexmark is committed to helping our customers minimise the cost and IT burden of their printers,” said Sammy Kinlaw, Lexmark vice president, worldwide channel and OEM sales. “Small businesses can’t afford to waste time or money updating their IT equipment every year. Lexmark intentionally engineered these devices to be tough workhorses, packed with power and speed, and built to last.” 

Micro-workgroups and small businesses remain an important growth segment in the UK. The Federation of Small Businesses estimates that 2018 saw the number of small businesses grow by 31,000. Marking Lexmark’s entry into this segment, the printers launched today feature rapid monochrome output up to 34 pages per minute, plus standard two-sided printing. Standard Wi-Fi offers enhanced connectivity and support for mobile users, while Lexmark’s full-spectrum security ensures the same level of award-winning security and protection typically reserved for enterprise-class devices.  

Together, the two devices provide high performance in a lightweight, compact design. Easy to move or tuck into tight spaces, the Lexmark B2236dw comes in at just under 7kg, while the multi-function Lexmark MB2236adw weighs 10kg. In addition to printing, the MB2236adw also scans up to 23 pages per minute.

“Despite their small size and weight, we’ve retained the signature Lexmark features that our customers know and love. This includes extending Lexmark’s enterprise-class full-spectrum security to the SMB market, as well as standard Wi-Fi and mobile connectivity,” said Chris White, Lexmark director of product marketing. “With energy management features to reduce power consumption, these printers are friendly both to the environment and small business budgets.”

These devices will be sold through the Lexmark Global Partner network and can be ordered directly from global distributors. Lexmark expects to announce availability of additional Two Series devices later this year.

We’d like to provide a brief update on Alipay mini programs, which were launched in September 2018. With an increasingly diverse portfolio of services, a convenient user interface and low barriers to entry for merchants, Alipay mini programs have seen high user conversion and retention rates, underscoring Alipay’s position as the super-app for payment, lifestyle and commerce.

In addition to its consumer applications, Alipay mini programs also provide business applications, including supply chain management, loyalty program management and precision marketing, utilizing Alipay’s expertise in financial and commercial services.

Since the launch:

• Alipay mini programs now have 230 million daily active users, nearly doubling its initial user base of 120 million
• The platform has grown from 20,000 to over 120,000 mini programs that cover approximately 290 sectors and sub-sectors ranging from dining and ride-hailing to healthcare and housekeeping
• Alipay mini programs have expanded beyond major cities, and are now available in most provinces and cities across China
• The average seven-day retention rate stands at 43%, an indication of high user loyalty
• Post-bookmarking user revisits have increased more than 20x over the past month after an additional access point was added on the app homepage, allowing for easy bookmarking and navigation of mini programs and indicating high user retention
• The top three categories for Alipay mini programs are: Retail, Errands (e.g. paying utility bills and picking up dry cleaning) and Travel (e.g. accommodations, transportation and tourist attractions).

Alipay remains committed to building an open ecosystem with its partners. Alipay mini programs are designed to be easily deployable and affordable for small merchants. Alipay has also co-developed sample mini programs with its partners so that merchants are able to implement them easily at price points as low as RMB 9.9 per program.

Excluding social media apps, Alipay was the top app in the world in terms of monthly active users (MAU), according to App Annie. In China, Alipay ranked as the second most used app in 2018 by MAU among all categories, according to TrustData. 

Merchant Case Study: How an Alipay mini program helps China’s largest convenience store chain increase customer loyalty

Meiyijia, China’s largest convenience store chain, has more than 10,000 stores across China, accounting for 22% of the country’s total stores, excluding those in gas stations, according to the China Chain Store & Franchise Association. Like many brick-and-mortar retailers, Meiyijia faces challenges of capturing foot traffic and building customer loyalty. The company previously attempted to launch its own mobile app, which only attracted a few hundred new members per day and incurred high operational and marketing costs. 

In September 2018, Meiyijia launched its Alipay mini program embedded with a membership function and promotional benefits, sparing users the hassle of registration and enabling them to store benefits like coupons within the mini program. Between September and November 2018, Meiyijia’s Alipay mini program added over 800,000 new members, or an average of 5,000 new members per day.

In early January 2019, Alipay added an additional access point that allows users to easily bookmark mini programs on their app homepage via an additional access point. After this was introduced, the ratio of users bookmarking the Meiyijia Alipay mini program after the initial visit almost tripled from the low single-digits to more than 15% over the past month. Later this year, Meiyijia will join Alipay mini programs’ pilot initiative for precision marketing that personalizes promotions for individual customers. 

By integrating an Alipay mini program, Meiyijia has been able to accelerate its digital transformation and leverage a much more efficient, effective and easier-to-use digital channel to engage with existing and future customers.

Turnkey open banking platform provider, Token.io, today announces that Gaurav Kohli has joined the company as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

Based at Token’s San Francisco headquarters, Gaurav is responsible for Token’s open banking platform, which enables banks, merchants and third-party providers to build PSD2-compliant payment and data aggregation services based on a single, universal API. He oversees international technology teams in London and San Francisco and will play a fundamental role in shaping Token’s vision for the future of open banking and payments, including launching new digital money solutions. As more markets and players look to capitalise on the opportunities presented by open banking and digital money, Gaurav will also support Token’s partner and customer relationships, drawing on his experience executing and leading large-scale, global projects for traditional and non-traditional payment companies.

Commenting on his new role, Gaurav Kohli said: “The clear vision for open banking from founders Steve Kirsch and Marten Nelson is what first attracted me to Token. They saw the problems facing the ecosystem and developed a solution that helps all parties connect quickly, securely and at a low cost. I’m now working with technology teams to expand on Token’s achievements, with new solutions that will continue to evolve the global payments landscape and support the next stage of Token’s journey.”

Founder and CEO, Steve Kirsch, comments: “Token has transitioned from being a small start-up in a large ecosystem to a leading enabler of open banking with a network of customers and partners across the world. The first step on our journey was the release of TokenOS, which is fast becoming the world’s leading open banking platform. We’re now looking at new ways to innovate payments with digital money and ID solutions, which will change the movement of money for everyone. Gaurav has proven success in driving operational and process maturity for global companies and, combined with his senior management experience and technical ability, will help us realise our vision for the future.”

Token’s technology team combines years of highly successful execution and innovation in the technology, banking and security sectors. Gaurav brings over 15 years of leadership experience in technology and payments, including over five years at Visa as Vice President of Product Development, Architecture and Platform Engineering, where he was responsible for merchant and acquirer processing, and nearly two years at Renew Financial as Executive Vice President of Technology. He will report directly into Token’s founder and CEO Steve Kirsch.

UK FinTech Week (UKFW) will launch across the country from April 29^th to May 3^rd 2019, with Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, set to speak at the flagship event – the Innovate Finance Global Summit (IFGS). 

UKFW will be a week-long series of events, showcasing the UK as an epicentre of innovation. The events will explore, debate and try to solve some of the most important issues of our time by taking a think-tank and collaborative approach, sharing insights, fostering collaboration, and celebrating the UK’s position as a global capital of FinTech. UKFW partners include HM Treasury, Innovate Finance, The Department for International Trade, the Financial Conduct Authority, the London Stock Exchange, London & Partners and The City of London.

Key themes will include ensuring that the UK remains an investment friendly environment for FinTech in the wake of Brexit, continues to attract a diverse pool of talent to fuel the FinTech sector and that it is promoted as a market open for FinTech businesses scaling.

UKFW is an opportunity to demonstrate why the UK will remain a world-leading FinTech hub. Taking place just one month after the UK’s proposed exit date from the European Union, the five days will focus on championing the country’s commitment to innovation, collaboration and openness.

“The UK is a world-leading and unique ecosystem for FinTech. It has deep reserves of entrepreneurial and tech talent, progressive regulators and policy-makers, steadfast financial institutions, investor and professional expertise, and a supportive government. All of this combined ensures it will remain the capital of FinTech, despite the challenging and changing political and economic landscape." says Charlotte Crosswell, CEO at Innovate Finance, UKFW Partner. 

“Events like UK FinTech Week, where pioneers and thought-leaders from around the world come together to fuel conversation and change, reinforce the UK’s position as an industry leader. We are proud to have the Innovate Finance Global Summit 2019 (IFGS) as the week’s opening and flagship event.

UKFW will showcase the strength of technological innovation and financial services across the entirety of the UK. Events will be taking place in major cities during the week and businesses are invited to host their own events in celebration of UK FinTech.

“UK FinTech Week 2019 provides a great opportunity to celebrate the UK’s position as a leading global hub for FinTech – showcasing the best of British FinTech firms, innovation and talent. There is significant potential to export the impressive FinTech products and services we see developing here in the UK to the benefit of consumers and businesses internationally. By working closely with industry and partners we are much more likely to succeed in that ambition, and it is exactly this kind of collaboration that is embodied in the Innovate Finance Global Summit and UK FinTech Week.” says Tomas Helm, Head of FinTech at Department for International Trade, UKFW Partner

Other speakers at the Innovate Finance Global Summit Summit 2019 (FIGS) include Anne Boden, CEO of Starling Bank, Nikhil Rathi, CEO of London Stock Exchange plc, Kaushalya Somasundaram, Head of FinTech Partnerships & Strategy at HSBC, and many more. Visit the IFGS website for more information and tickets.

The pilot of Scotland’s new Fintech Skills Academy initiative, announced in September last year, has been hailed as a success. An ‘Introduction to the Retail Card Payments Business’, run in a collaboration between Dunfermline payment specialist Renovite Technologies and Fife College, concluded on Friday.

Participants with varying levels of experience, from trainees through to seasoned software developers, took part in the course. Its objective was to provide a solid foundation in retail card payments which could then be applied directly to a work environment.

Jim Tomaney, chief operating officer at Renovite Technologies said:

“It is fantastic to see the fintech and education community coming together to promote STEM skills development and pre-empt the potential for a skills gap emerging. After all, demand for people with the right skills is only going to increase as Scotland’s international reputation for fintech excellence grows. I hope organisations and individuals with an interest in working in the sector continue to support and take part in the initiative and help build on its success.”

Stephen Ingledew, chief executive of FinTech Scotland, said:

“The Fintech Skills Academy in Fife is a great example of an ecosystem coming together to address a sector issue. We're proud to have been part of this initiative alongside Fintech firms, established businesses and the teams at Fife College and Fife council. We believe it will bring more inclusion to the fintech sector by bringing more young people to consider fintech as a career but also allowing experienced professionals learn new skills and stay relevant to the industry's rapid transformation.”

The Fintech Skills Academy syllabus is aimed at both young people about to enter work for the first time and adults with a background in IT wishing to upskill or retrain specifically for employment in financial technology environments.

Sharon Burns, Curriculum Manager at Fife College said:

“We are delighted to be working closely with local businesses who are leading the way in fintech and payments technologies. At Fife College, we are committed to providing a high level of training to ensure businesses have the cutting-edge skills they need to drive their businesses forward. We recognise it is vital for Fife College to develop close relationships with industry to inform our curriculum and prepare our students for the skills required in the workplace. Fife College is committed to being a leading provider of computing and technology skills.”

The skills academy is being driven by a consortium of International Fintech companies, Fife Council, Fife College – representatives of Opportunities Fife - and Fintech Scotland. Its overarching objective is to provide a steady flow of highly qualified applicants for the growing number of specialist roles in Fintech in the region and to avoid the potential of a skill gap developing.

Matt Kennedy, solutions development manager at Ingenico commented:

“The Introduction to Retail Cards Payment business course is a fantastic learning opportunity for those looking to get involved with the growing Payments industry in Fife. As one of the largest employers in the area, Ingenico is delighted to support this initiative. As well as providing direction for the Fintech Skills Academy, we have also enrolled several employees on its first course. The knowledge gained will complement the existing skills of our employees and equip them to continue delivering for our customers.”