Chainalysis, the leading provider of cryptocurrency compliance and investigation solutions, today announced the launch of Chainalysis Know Your Transaction (KYT) for stablecoins, a real-time anti-money laundering (AML) compliance solution for monitoring stablecoins across every transaction through their full lifecycle, including issuance and redemption. 

Chainalysis KYT is the first solution of its kind to be applied to stablecoins, cryptocurrencies designed to minimize price volatility, usually by pegging or backing their value to other assets. The move signals the company’s commitment to providing market-leading compliance technology across a comprehensive suite of cryptocurrencies and tokens, and comes at a time when stablecoins are rapidly growing in popularity, with over $3 billion in market value. 

“Chainalysis exists to build trust in cryptocurrencies among institutions and users,” said Jonathan Levin, COO, Chainalysis. “The repeated knock against cryptocurrency is its volatility, and trust in stablecoins could lead the way to increased commercial use. Chainalysis KYT for stablecoins further supports this vision by raising the bar for accountability and providing compliance teams with the technology they need to meet AML requirements.”

Traditionally, it was difficult for cryptocurrency businesses to enact proper AML controls, making it challenging to establish banking relationships and exposing them to regulatory and reputational risk. Chainalysis KYT enables them to monitor large volumes of cryptocurrency activity and identify high risk transactions on a continuous basis. Now stablecoin issuers can also meet higher AML compliance standards that support broader adoption.

Paxos Chief Operations Officer Andrew Chang said, “We created Paxos Standard (PAX) as a stable, digital currency that can be used for payment on transactions around the world. That’s why it was key for us to find a partner that could automate the process of screening for illicit activity. Chainalysis KYT is the first solution that can screen PAX transactions. Since PAX is the first regulated stablecoin, it's important that we operate responsibly, reduce risk exposure for our entire ecosystem, and maintain the integrity of our stablecoin."

“Working with Chainalysis helps us set a new standard for trust in the marketplace,” said Alex C. Levine, Chief Regulatory Officer and Head of Legal at TrustToken. “Chainalysis KYT not only provides important AML checks, but also strengthens our banking relationships, which ultimately enables us to be transparent with our customers about our holdings and show one-to-one parity with our TrueUSD token and the US dollar.”  

Chainalysis KYT applies global AML standards to each transaction across all users within an organization’s user base. Stablecoin issuers can integrate with Chainalysis KYT via an API to immediately begin monitoring large volumes of activity and identify high risk transactions on an on-going basis. They can also leverage the user interface to quickly understand the risk profile of each stablecoin holder with the latest data and filter them by level of risk exposure to identify those that require the most immediate attention. 

Chainalysis KYT is now available select for ERC-20 stablecoins, and will become available for additional tokens in the coming months. 

The Global Alliance for YOUth has announced today its ambition to impact 6 million young people, helping them build employability skills.

The Global Alliance for YOUth is a business-driven movement of like-minded organizations passionate about working together to help young people around the globe get the necessary skills to thrive in the world of work, today and tomorrow.

According to The World Economic Forum, over 60% of children entering primary school today will have jobs that do not exist yet. At the same time, the World Bank estimates that 60% of the world’s population remains excluded from the ever-expanding digital economy. Four billion people around the globe still lack access to the internet.

Traditional education, if available, no longer prepares young people for the current and future world of work. Convinced that companies have a huge opportunity to develop and draw from the largest pool of talent and human capital that has ever been available in human history, 20 international private companies have decided to join their forces in a Global Alliance for YOUth to build a better future for younger generations.

“The Global Alliance for YOUth represents our joint effort to provide youth with the knowledge and skills needed to work in the 21^st century. Our companies are committed to support, develop and advocate for programs that enable young people to successfully transition from education and training to employment, and to develop an entrepreneurial mindset” said Laurent Freixe, Nestlé CEO for Zone Americas.

According to Ajay Banga, CEO of Mastercard, “We need to create the kind of environment where the sparks of curiosity get fanned into full-blown passions and career choices. It’s not something a school, organization or business can do on their own. It’s a collective effort that gives kids permission to explore, experiment and have fun with STEM from the very youngest ages. That’s how we will impact the leaders of tomorrow.”

To date, 20 multinational companies have joined the alliance as founding members: ABB, Adecco, BBVA, Cargill, Cemex, Engie, EY, Facebook, Firmenich, Mercer, Mastercard, Microsoft, Nestlé, Nielsen, Publicis, Rockwell Automation, SAP, Starbucks, Vodafone and White & Case. The Alliance is proud to work with non-private sector partners such as the World Bank, Solutions 4 Youth Employment’.

Nestlé founded the Alliance for YOUth in Europe in 2014 with the purpose of helping prepare young people to enter the professional world. After its successful launch, the alliance was expanded to the Pacific Alliance countries in 2017 (Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru) and the Mercosur countries in December 2018 (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).

ViViPAY (ViVi), a subsidiary of ViVi Holdings Inc. and a leading provider of “Fintech” financial technology solutions, announced today results of a survey it commissioned addressing how members of the unbanked population receive income as well as check cashing trends. 

According to Pew Research, fewer people are utilizing the use of cash and checks. The center recently reported that almost 30% of adults make zero purchases with cash in a typical week – up from 24% in 2015. However, the unbanked population, with no access to traditional financial services, remain heavily reliant on cashing paychecks to live in a mostly-cash society.

The online survey was taken by roughly 250 unbanked individuals in early January 2018, and the results show that 41.8% of individuals receive their income by paper check or money order. More than half, 58.3% cash their checks at a check cashing store, and 31.3% cash their checks at a supermarket or local store with check cashing services. 

More than half (53%) spend between $20 and $40 when cashing a check, and some individuals reported spending nearly $100 on check cashing services. If an average of five checks are cashed in a given month, that number could total $500 or higher for the average unbanked individual who relies on check cashing for access to funds.

Pew also reported that 46% of Americans aren’t concerned with having cash on hand because there are other methods of payment. Keeping cash on hand just in case is something about 53 percent try to do, which is down from 60 percent in 2015.

Stephen Harkey, Chief Marketing Officer at ViVi stated, “ViVi is building a financial FinTech ecosystem that will offer similar financial freedoms to the unbanked. Furthermore, Marco Scabia, Global President of ViViPAY added, “We’re going to offer virtual bank-like services without the need for a traditional bank account, so people can make online purchases, as well as transfer money, pay bills, and deposit money, all tied to a ViVi Mastercard or Visa.”

The UNLOCK Company DMCC, a platform that provides information, intelligence, insights and news pertaining to the Blockchain sector held its UNLOCK Blockchain forum in Dubai on Jan 15-16, 2019 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel DIFC.

The UNLOCK Blockchain Forum was a great success with 350 participants from around the region. Osman Sultan, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company (EITC), the parent company of du, presented his keynote at UNLOCK which talked about the Blockchain Platform as a Service (BPaaS) that du is now offering and how it plays an essential role in the formulation of the Smart City Vision alongside technologies such as AI, Internet of Things as well as human influence.

Mr. Walid Abou Zaki, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of UNLOCK also announced the formation of a blockchain fund “We are pleased not only to be holding our second series of UNLOCK on the 10th year anniversary of Bitcoin & Blockchain but we also hope to continue to build the ecosystem and as such we are working with many partners to launch a $50 million fund in 2020 to further develop the blockchain ecosystem in the region. Regional private and family offices are keen to invest in the technology and digital assets but under proper terms and well-structured strategy.”

In addition to the very interesting panels and keynotes that covered the two-day event, more and more governments across the region are starting to carry out huge blockchain implementations. In the government panel on day one, Dr. Khalid Tahhan, CEO of Blockchain Solutions and services talked about Oman government strategy to implement blockchain use cases across 21 Ministries. Mr. Ali Hashmi Director of Technology & AI Lead at Deloitte talked about the importance of Blockchain adoption and alluded to a huge governmental blockchain project that Deloitte is participating in within the MENA region. In addition, Dr. Hesham Bin Abbas, Blockchain Technology Advisor, Ministry of ICT and Communications also discussed the KSA strategy for introducing blockchain across governmental and private entities, and the importance of building the talent base, the use cases, as well as better understanding of technology and investment environment.

According to Toufi Saliba CEO of Toda Network, “today Blockchain has only 0.2% penetration across the world and until all five attributes which include implementation, security, efficiency, confidentiality, scalability and interoperability are made available, blockchain implementations will not become widespread so we must work on this in the upcoming year.”

In addition to the panels that raised awareness on blockchain as a technology and its implications, du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), and Dhonor healthTech, a leading national company focused on global healthcare blockchain solutions, announced they were entering into a collaboration to build the UAE’s first Patient Safety Blockchain Solution.

The use case in question will empower and enrich lives through the country’s first patient-centric safety verification blockchain solution.  This solution is designed on du’s BPaaS in order to provide authenticity and compliance traceability that delivers the transparency and trust that has eluded the healthcare industry to date.

Finally, Lara Abdulmalak, project lead for UNLOCK Blockchain stated, “We are very proud to have held our second edition of UNLOCK despite the bearish conditions in the market today. We thank once again our esteemed speakers, our sponsors du, DarkMatter, Avanza Innovations, Deloitte, Centurion & Co. and our 20 plus startups for being with us this year. We hope to continue to grow the community and improve on UNLOCK year after year.”

To view the videos of the panels and check out pictures please visit www.unlock-bc.com/events/unlock/2019  

As we start 2019, it is an opportune time to reflect on the year that was and forge the way forward. The cryptoeconomy celebrated its 10^th  birthday in 2018, reaching a total market capitalization of approximately $138.6 billion (KSh 14.2 trillion). 

In spite of a fluctuating market, a leading global peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace, Paxful (www.Paxful.com), saw an upswing in activity, driven by African consumers in which servicing the underbanked resulted in significant gains. Africa conducted 6.5 million trades in 2018—an average of 17 000 trades a day. Paxful aims to change the perceptions that held back consumers in Africa by reassuring Kenyans that its trade principles place security at the center of all operations to cultivate confidence in Bitcoin trading. Paxful’s Co-founders are optimistic about 2019 and share their expectations about the crypto world on a Paxful blog entry (https://bit.ly/2S3F0eF).

Ray Youssef, Paxful Co-founder, and CEO said:

1. Africa will continue to lead: The aim of the cryptocurrency revolution is to make the global economy more accessible. Africa has emerged as a leader in this space, with the highest number of new subscriptions at Paxful last year. Africa accounts for the highest number of new subscribers to the Paxful portal per month with the total number of transactions from African consumers at roughly KSh 7 billion per month, culminating in an increase of 225% new users in the last 12 months. Africans are using cryptocurrency to satisfy both personal finance needs and entrepreneurial ventures; transferring goods, services, and money domestically as well as globally. There is also an emerging generation of Africans buying crypto as investment vehicles into promising blockchain start-ups. A relatively small number of Africans trade digital currencies speculatively for profit.
2. Increased humanitarian focus: At Paxful, we aim to continue leading the charge in demonstrating how bitcoin can be used for good. We plan to grow our pioneering #BuiltWithBitcoin charitable program to encourage the cryptocurrency sector to contribute funds for humanitarian projects with a focus on building schools and providing bursaries for disadvantaged children.
3. Governments will pay closer attention to crypto: Countries around the world are now taking a closer look at how to contend with the rise of the crypto-economy. We expect more activity in the policy development space in the next few years in line with digital currency acceptance. From a Kenyan point of view, technology and productivity intertwine, and this offers the convenience that the underbanked seek in digital banking.  

Artur Schaback, Paxful Co-founder and COO on Paxful’s plans for the year ahead: “We remain passionate about facilitating financial inclusion to the underbanked and are awed by the progress made this year in achieving this goal. With only a small percentage of the global internet-active population currently trading in the crypto-space, the potential for expansion is great. The encouraging number of new users gained in 2018 in Africa alone proves the appetite for this technology. We’ve only just begun making inroads and are excited about the future.” 

SafeCharge (AIM: SCH), the partner of choice for businesses who demand more from payments technology, today announced the opening of its new office in China less than four years after launching in the country. The new office is based in Shenzhen’s PingAn International Finance Center, a 115-storey supertall skyscraper in the Futian business district. This latest expansion marks SafeCharge’s growing footprint across the APAC region, where it already has offices in Singapore and Hong Kong with an overall team of nearly 20 people.

“Considering the increasing business with Chinese merchants and the closer relationships with Chinese payments giants Alipay, Tencent and Unionpay, establishing local customer support is a natural next step as we provide the highest quality of service to our partners,” explains Yoav Chernitz, China Business Development Director at SafeCharge. “Demand more is SafeCharge’s motto: we deepen our presence in China in order to deliver more to our customers, to interact more with them and to align our product development more with Chinese customers’ unique requirements”

“A strong presence in China is key to support both Chinese clients aiming to expand their business internationally and for non-Chinese companies looking for effective channels to deal with Chinese customers,” adds Willy Kwa, Regional Director APAC at SafeCharge. “All customers want the same, no matter where they are located: they want to be supported closely, especially when they are entering unknown markets”.

Thanks to its comprehensive business relationships with Alipay, Tencent and Union Pay, SafeCharge aims at developing further support for Western clients accepting payments from Chinese customers and marketing their product and services to local customers.

“China is taking a leading role in the global economy, specifically in the field of e-commerce and payments innovation” says David Avgi, CEO at SafeCharge. “Besides providing local support to new Chinese international players, we have expanded our footprint in China to learn and develop strong partnerships as we believe Chinese companies will play a very important role in the future of fintech innovation.”.

With the goal of empowering banks in the MENA region to lead the world in digital banking services, Almoayed Technologies, the Kingdom’s first officially confirmed open banking AISP/PISP, today announced a strategic partnership with Moven Enterprise, the turnkey smart-banking technology platform founded by financial services’ renowned futurist and author, Brett King.

Under the terms of the partnership Almoayed Technologies will make Moven’s innovative smart-banking technology available to banks across the MENA region, empowering them to launch next-generation digital banking services that reduce customer attrition rates, drive new revenue streams and lower customer acquisition costs.

“With open banking already mandated by the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Kingdom’s banks have a chance to ‘Advance to Go’ in this space and develop banking services that are the envy of the world,” comments Abdulla Almoayed, CEO, Almoayed Technologies. “Our partnership with Moven Enterprise will enable banks to apply Moven’s proven AI-driven technologies to the payment and account information flows generated by open banking. Banks can then use these insights to power a new generation of personalised and context-based digital banking experiences for their customers, enhancing financial literacy and generating new revenues at the same time.”

“Brett King, executive chairman and founder, Movencorp, Inc., comments: “Almoayed Technologies has created a national open banking account aggregation platform in Bahrain that will enable banks to deliver unique customer experiences. This is a serious achievement and we’re really excited to be integrated into this platform so Moven can play a part in supporting the digital transformation that will follow. 

“Bahrain is emerging as a serious regional player from a regulatory reform and Fintech ecosystem perspective. It has a small and agile economy, a forward-looking regulator, a digitally literate population and a close-knit banking industry that supports co-opetition. It’s going to be fascinating to see how quickly Bahrain, and the wider MENA region, can develop its digital banking capabilities.” 

In mid-December, 2018, Almoayed Technologies was confirmed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Kingdom’s regulator, as the nation’s first AISP/PISP, having graduated from its regulatory sandbox providing account aggregation services. It is now working with Bahrain’s banks to support their creation of open banking action plans by the regulatory deadline of 30th January, and to ensure smooth and secure implementation of open banking ahead of the final compliance deadline of June 30^th, 2019.

“Moven’s platform is a key component in our drive to help banks take advantage of these unique market conditions,” adds Almoayed. “Our strategy is to partner with the world’s foremost fintech innovators and combine their skills and technologies with our domestic experience, localising their platforms and using them to empower our financial services industry to better serve the local population.”

Almoayed Technologies has localised Moven’s platform in line with regulation and the requirements of banks in the region. By offering a common digital banking infrastructure to all banks, starting with Bahrain, Almoayed Technologies aims to enable banks to develop connected digital open banking payment and information services faster and more efficiently than elsewhere in the world, with the ultimate goal of enabling positive social and economic change.

Wirecard, the global innovation leader in digital financial technology, together with the Swedish FinTech P.F.C. - Personal Finance Co., formerly Betalo, have introduced a new digital banking proposition aimed at hundreds of thousands of Swedish consumers. The cooperation between Wirecard and P.F.C., which was founded in May 2012 and belonged to the 50 fastest-growing Swedish technology companies in 2017, has enabled P.F.C to launch Sweden’s first neobank, a digital, mobile-first financial service for Swedish customers. The two companies have announced a Mastercard debit program, which is combined with a highly personalized app to help people manage their personal finances. 

Sweden is at the forefront of the transformation towards a cashless society with only 13 percent of payments being made using cash, according to Sweden’s central bank. Digital payments via cards or apps are so widely accepted that many Swedish people no longer carry cash. Thanks to the ever-expanding capabilities of mobile devices, combined with the banking industry’s wholesale transition to digital, the market has seen cashless payment applications increase. 

Eli Daniel Keren, founder and CEO of P.F.C., commented, “Today, people expect financial services to be personal, transparent and simple. We want to do just that with P.F.C. We rely on strong partners like Wirecard to bring our products to market. In the long run, the solution that P.F.C. and Wirecard provide enables people to gain financial health, and that’s no small feat.” 

Julian Weste, Vice President Sales, Financial Institutions and FinTech Europe, at Wirecard, added, “The fully digital Mastercard debit card program issued by Wirecard helps users of P.F.C. to keep tabs on their everyday financial life. In addition, the mobile wallet solution will be enhanced to a real multi-currency card program in the near future. Together with P.F.C. we guarantee an innovative and comfortable way of financial management and are looking forward to further digitalizing processes globally.” 

Wirecard and P.F.C. offer a complete digital solution for personal finance, which can be downloaded via Android and iOS. The app enables users to make purchases, set a personal budget, track expenses and create savings goals. Moreover, P.F.C. is a licensed Payment Institution in Sweden according to Payment Services Act (2010: 751) and is under the supervision of the country’s Financial Supervisory Authority (FI). 

Two new IDC MarketScape reports name FICO TONBELLER, a division of leading analytics software firm FICO, a Leader in financial crime compliance:

• FICO^® TONBELLER™ Siron™AML was named as a leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Anti–Money Laundering Solutions in Financial Services 2018 Vendor Assessment (doc # US40133316, September 2018).
• FICO^® TONBELLER™ Siron™KYC was also named a leader in in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Know-Your-Customer Solutions in Financial Services 2018 Vendor Assessment (doc # US44292018, September 2018).

More information:

https://www.fico.com/en/fico-named-a-leader-in-financial-crime-compliance-in-aml-in-the-financial-services-2018-vendor-assessment-idc-marketscape

https://www.fico.com/en/fico-named-a-leader-in-financial-crime-compliance-in-kyc-in-the-financial-services-2018-vendor-assessment-idc-marketscape

The reports note that the FICO TONBELLER Siron AML and KYC products are “mature, proven solutions with substantial out-of-the-box features including configurability, data connections, and analytics. FICO has done a great job incorporating TONBELLER into the family and infusing experience, size, and analytics capabilities into the Siron product line.”

“Our reports examine not just product quality and innovation but customers’ experience using the products to stop financial crime,” said Steven D'Alfonso, research director, IDC Financial Insights. "To reduce operating expenses and risk, financial institutions should consider KYC and AML solutions that apply advanced analytics to improve customer life-cycle management. We found that in both the quality of the solutions and the customer experience, FICO TONBELLER is a leader.” 

About Siron AML, the report says: “Siron's AML solution is a very rich, standard product, inclusive of AI and ML, that exceeds its peers and allows for a simplified upgrade experience along with compatibility and compliance. Customer references cited excellent customer experience from scoping and implementation to continuous support.”

Describing the Siron KYC solution, the IDC MarketScape report says, “The solution provides a risk-based customer segmentation and classification using multiple levels of customer data. High flexibility and always compliant are key characteristics of Siron KYC. A configurable risk classification model and standard connection to data providers for PEP, sanctions, adverse media, beneficial owners, and leaks (ICIJ) guarantee a secure approach at low total cost of ownership.”

The reports note that FICO TONBELLER should appeal to all sizes of financial institutions requiring AML or KYC solutions.

“We have been evolving our financial crime solutions for nearly 20 years, first as TONBELLER and now as part of FICO," said Sebastian Hetzler, vice president for compliance solutions at FICO. “These reports validate our success and our ability to serve businesses of all sizes with a reliable compliance solution available in the cloud or on-premise.”

The FICO^® TONBELLER™ Siron^™ Anti-Financial Crime Solutions Suite includes a comprehensive modular portfolio with high functionality, thereby meeting customers‘ demands for protection against criminal abuse and non-compliance under one roof. The building-block design allows variable combination of the products. This enables FICO to offer tailor-made solutions against money-laundering, fraud, terrorist financing, and to fulfill custom requirements for Governance, Risk and Compliance in the best possible way.

In December, FICO announced that it has been named a category leader in enterprise fraud in the Financial Crime Risk Management Systems: Enterprise Fraud; Market Update 2018 report from research firm Chartis. Among other themes, the report considered the rise of technologies such as machine learning (ML) in fraud detection.