Yolt, the smart thinking money app, has today announced it has reached 500,000 registered users since launching in June 2017.

Yolt empowers people to take control of their finances by enabling them to view their accounts, credit cards and pensions together in one place. From the beginning, Yolt has been on a mission to change the way people think about money through easy budgeting, spending categorisation and deal finding. 

This half-million milestone comes during a huge period of growth for Yolt, both for the app and the company as a whole. With the announcement of two new markets, Italy and the imminent launch into France, Yolt has made its first steps to becoming a pan-European platform empowering more consumers to be smart with their money. In the UK, Yolt remains at the forefront of Open Banking becoming the first third-party provider (TTP) to successfully complete Application Programming Interface (API) connections with nine of the biggest high street banks in the UK (CMA9). As a result, Open Banking APIs enable users to view their bank accounts and credit cards in a fast, seamless and secure way.                                                                                                                                                       

Yolt’s mission to empower users to take control and make better financial decisions has also seen the app completely refresh its design based on user feedback. The top bar changes simplified the design to give users a quick, simple and customisable feature focusing solely on showing users the sum total balances across their accounts.

Yolt’s continued to realise its vision to become the only money app consumers need on their phone as it builds towards an ecosystem of partners across three key sectors: utilities & bills, financial products and leisure & experience. This has included integrations, with independent life insurance adviser, Anorak, hassle-free home insurance platform, Homelyfe and the pensions consolidation tool PensionBee. Additional partners are soon to be announced, alongside Yolt’s ambition to launch into the payments space.

Frank Jan Risseeuw, CEO, Yolt, said:

“Our community is at the heart of everything we do and we’re absolutely thrilled to announce we are now empowering over 500,000 registered users to be smart with their money. Entering the Italian market in September was a huge highlight as we extend our mission across Europe, giving more people the tools to manage their money with confidence, and we are looking forward to joining the strong Fintech community in France.

“It’s been a very exciting year at Yolt however, reaching these achievements would not have been possible without the feedback and suggestions shared by our community. We will continue to work closely with users as we explore exciting plans to expand the Yolt marketplace and adding payment capabilities in the app.

The leading retail and commercial bank, Santander, has gone live on SWIFT’s global payments innovation (gpi) service in Spain, the UK, Argentina and Poland. It will go live in Chile and Mexico before the end of the year, with further countries planned for 2019.

With SWIFT gpi, Santander can now offer a rapid cross-border payments service – with real-time payments tracking and transparency on bank fees and foreign exchange rates.

The widespread adoption of SWIFT gpi has been driven by demand for faster, more transparent cross-border payments. Nearly half of gpi payments are credited within 30 minutes, many within seconds – and almost 100% within 24 hours. The service also enables end-clients to track the status of their payments from end-to-end, and provides an unprecedented level of visibility into each payment – including information about each bank in the payment chain and any fees that have been deducted.

Since the launch of SWIFT gpi in 2017, Santander and SWIFT have worked closely on a global project with local implementations geared to the requirements of customers in each of the geographies in which Santander is present.

“For us, SWIFT gpi represents a good opportunity to improve the experience provided to our clients in their international payments, making the process faster and more transparent while simultaneously making our internal processes more efficient. We are looking forward to advancing in the following phases in order to achieve the best possible service in our payments offering.” – Eva Bueno Velayos, head of GTB Spain, Santander Spain.

“In simple words, transparency brings trust, and trust brings longstanding fruitful relationships with our clients; this is why we love gpi. It is a big step forward for the payments industry and I have no doubt that Santander will continue to lead this transformation by delivering transparency, trust and the best customer experience to our clients.” – Bart Timmermans, head of GTB UK, Santander UK.

“We are delighted to count Santander among the major international banks that are live on SWIFT gpi. By working together to roll out gpi across multiple geographies in parallel, most of Santander’s customers are already able to reap the benefits of what is fast becoming the new industry norm for cross-border payments.” – Alain Raes, Chief Executive EMEA & Asia Pacific, SWIFT.

To date, more than 270 financial institutions around the world have signed up to SWIFT gpi, with over USD 100 billion in SWIFT gpi payments being sent daily across 600+ country corridors. Following the SWIFT community’s recent endorsement of global gpi adoption, SWIFT gpi will be the standard for all cross-border payments by the end of 2020.

Open Banking Expo has confirmed a full complement of speakers for its one-day conference and exhibition, with more than 35 thought leaders, three streams and 15+ hours of original content. The event, headlined by OpenWrks, takes place on 27 November at America Square Conference Centre, London and promises to be the UK’s largest marketplace for ideas, connections and deals in Open Banking with representation from incumbent banks, challenger banks and specialist fintechs.

Google’s renowned former managing director, Dan Cobley, will open the event with a keynote address, offering a unique insight on the future of Open Banking. Now MD, Fintech at Blenheim Chalcot, Dan has always been ahead of the technology curve and will empower delegates in their Open Banking journeys.

The morning sessions include an incisive panel debate featuring C-level representation from Citibank, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, CIFAS, Open Banking Implementation Entity and Tandem Bank, who will slice and dice progress so far and if Open Banking will be the sea change predicted. With Open Banking at various stages of the ‘disruption cycle’ in different markets, stakeholders from across the globe will discuss if there can be a global Open Banking standard in another of the morning sessions.

The agenda features speakers from high street lenders ready to share the first case studies since Open Banking’s rollout in January this year. Nationwide, Lloyds Banking Group and First Direct will present their Open Banking journeys so far, giving delegates a unique opportunity to refine their own strategy and avoid the pitfalls others have experienced.

Challenger banks have been well documented in stealing a march on high street lenders in terms of product innovation and Starling Bank’s CEO Anne Boden will reveal her vision for Open Banking; where the real opportunities exist, how customer expectations will change and what the banking landscape might look like for the next generation. Tandem Bank’s Chief Technology Office will also host a session, exploring how artificial intelligence and machine learning can support Open Banking.

Open Banking Expo is the only event to address issues beyond API development and the associated revenue opportunities; one of the key themes is to address how the industry can increase consumer adoption and ensure the best possible outcome for each customer. Consumer advice experts from Money Advice Trust, Money & Mental Health Charity and the Lending Standards Board will share their optimism on how Open Banking can help the most vulnerable customers and aid their financial rehabilitation.

Open Banking is also set to have a major impact on the SME financing sector, opening new ways for small firms to connect to innovative fintech services to get better access to credit and ensure financial flexibility. The Expo will bring together a panel to discuss what business opportunities exist and what businesses can learn from Open Banking implementation in the consumer space.

The event will close in a special champagne keynote session hosted by visionary Dr. Louise Beaumont, who will fast-forward delegates to a future in which Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple have taken a controlling stake in financial services; a prediction of many within the industry.

Final tickets now remain to attend the Open Banking Expo, to view the agenda and book visit www.openbankingexpo.com. 

For more information please contact: adam.cox@openbankingexpo.com or visit www.openbankingexpo.com

• However, 78% agree that the implementation of technology will add strategic value to the business
• 1 in 2 believe that advanced analytics has the potential to transform the finance function

Over two thirds of millennial finance professionals in the UK (67%) believe that automation of core processes and strategic decision support in the finance function is a threat to their role, according to new research revealed today by Metapraxis, the leader in financial analytics technology. However, whilst respondents may feel their role is threatened by this technology, over three quarters (78%) agree that it will enable the creation of more strategic value in the finance department and overall business, a more optimistic opinion from the generations before them.

The survey, which questioned millennials in the finance function of large businesses in the UK and US as part of Metapraxis’ ‘Future of Finance’ research, found that between the two jurisdictions, US millennials felt more secure in their role, with 27% disagreeing that they felt threatened by automation – 11% higher than those in the UK. A potential explanation behind US respondents’ higher sense of security may be due to UK finance departments being more advanced in their adoption of automation, with over 64% of finance departments based in the UK already using aspects of this technology, compared to only 52% in the US.

Whilst millennials agree that technology has the potential to transform the finance function and add value, there is discrepancy over which technologies will have the most impact. Over half (52%) of those surveyed consider advanced analytics to be the most transformational for the sector. 47% felt cloud services still carries the most opportunity for transformation, even though this technology is already well used by most businesses. However, perhaps more surprisingly given the current hype around its capabilities, only a quarter think that blockchain will be the most transformational for the department, less than both data visualisation (39%) and AI and machine learning (33%).

Simon Bittlestone, CEO of Metapraxis says:

“For years it has been known that finance employees feel threatened by the impact that new technologies will have on their day to day role and job security. It is no huge surprise that even digitally native millennials feel the same; however, what our research shows is that unlike their predecessors, these individuals clearly understand the value that data and analytics can bring to the finance function, which is particularly encouraging. By harnessing the power of advanced analytics, finance functions will be better equipped to make quicker, more effective decisions and truly drive the strategic direction of the business.”

Kasasa, an award-winning financial technology and marketing provider, announced today that it has partnered with CUneXus, a provider of advanced loan acquisition and automation technology for banks and credit unions. 

Basware, the global leader in networked source-to-pay solutions, e-invoicing and innovative financing services, is celebrating after its long-standing client Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) claimed the ultimate accolade at the 2018 CIPS Supply Management Awards Europe.

Announced at yesterday’s celebratory dinner event in Prague, Basware’s work with DWP was not only chosen as the ‘Most Innovative Use of Technology’ but also the ‘Overall Winner’, triumphing over 10 other well-deserved category winners.  

The winning project was a nationally-scalable and innovative Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) to support a light-touch procurement regime that helps unemployed people get back to work faster.

Since the DPS went live in October 2016, over 1300 accredited suppliers have been added to the contract, 75% of which are SMEs. 22,954 training places have been purchased by Jobcentre Plus, helping claimants move into employment. The system has also enabled DWP to make significant efficiency savings.

“An innovative and impressive project with massive benefits, in a well-presented and clear entry,” said the judges.

Recognised as a benchmark for excellence, a CIPS Supply Management Award is the most prestigious recognition an organisation or individual in the procurement and supply chain profession can receive. 

Lindsay Maguire, Senior Category Manager at DWP said, “The win is fantastic news for everyone at Basware and the DWP. Having a project reach first place in this category is testament to the team’s hard work. We are very proud of the system and the Marketplace of providers who have helped our customers into work ”. 

“Basware and DWP are delighted to win these awards. Throughout our 10 year relationship we have built solutions to meet the innovative needs of DWP to deliver procurement and efficiency compliance. Equally as important, these solutions have supported the provision of services to those in the community that need the help and assistance that DWP provide,” said Darryl Owen, Director of Customer Relationships, Basware.

Progress , the leading provider of application development and digital experience technologies, today announced that BlueBay Asset Management, a leading fixed income asset management firm, is leveraging Progress® DataDirect® OpenAccess™ SDK to deliver accurate and analytics-friendly data for its financial institutions and high-net-worth individuals.

Based in the UK and with offices across the globe, BlueBay provides asset management services to institutional clients, including pension funds, insurance companies, financial institutions and more. With an increasing demand for data and analytics from investors and regulators, BlueBay needed to provide access to their huge volumes of data in a graphical and interactive way that would enable insights and intelligent decision-making. While Tableau met the reporting needs of the business users, its packaged connectors couldn’t support the customisations and governance rules that BlueBay built on top of their database over the years. BlueBay chose to work with the Progress DataDirect OpenAccess SDK to build a custom ODBC driver that enabled seamless integration with Tableau, while still leveraging the database customizations important to their business.

“Data is at the heart of every business. To meet investor and regulatory requirements, as well as our internal reporting needs, our data must be easy to manage, re-use and scale. We wouldn’t have been able to achieve that without Progress,” said Andy Archer, CTO, BlueBay Asset Management. “With Progress we did something we couldn’t do with many other vendors–we jumped very quickly from testing to a production environment, significantly boosting our developer team’s productivity and delivering a very quick return on investment.”

Progress DataDirect OpenAccess SDK enabled the BlueBay’s developer team to rapidly develop Tableau connectors from their existing APIs. Through the extensive .NET capabilities of Progress DataDirect OpenAccess SDK, the team was able to easily integrate the solution with its existing .NET systems without any additional training or resources. With the timely customer support from Progress and the available product documentation including examples and detailed instructions, BlueBay managed to move from testing to production in just a few months.

Business users can now seamlessly access BlueBay’s data and quickly deliver it in their favorite dashboard to all stakeholders. The ability to fully leverage Tableau Business Intelligence functionality and the availability of accurate and sustainable data at any given moment empowers BlueBay’s investors to be more effective at portfolio management and reduce operational risk.

“More than 10,000 organizations worldwide leverage Progress DataDirect to achieve high-performing, reliable and secure data connectivity for better data gathering and analysis,” said John Ainsworth, SVP, Core Products, Progress. “Companies with complex data formats and requirements like BlueBay find that the Progress solution gives them a strong advantage helping them to leverage their data to drive positive business results.”

Brazio, a secure digital asset for Brazil, is now listed on SouthXchange.

The Brazio cryptocurrency (www.braz.io) offers a solution to the unbanked problem in Brazil; users will enjoy increased assurance of the security of their personal funds and decreased costs to transact. Brazio has been developed by Online Blockchain plc (LSE:OBC), which has partnered with ADVFN Brazil for the project. 

The listing of Brazio on SouthXchange will aid proliferation of the cryptocurrency in the South American market. Brazio is part of Online Blockchain’s strategy to address the opportunities in emerging markets worldwide where cryptocurrencies are gaining ground.

SouthXchange is a fast, secure and real-time cryptocurrency exchange platform for bitcoin and other digital currencies.

“Brazio’s inclusion on SouthXchange is instrumental in getting traction in this exciting market,” said Michael Hodges, Chairman of Online Blockchain. “Brazio will be an exemplar for the standards of which cryptocurrencies are implemented for the good of developing and unbanked countries.”

“Brazio employs all of the robust features of the bitcoin blockchain such as excellent security, fast transactions and decentralised governance, but has been customised and improved with the interests of the Brazilian people and economy in mind,” said Oscar Chambers, Lead Developer of Brazio.

The movers and shapers of the financial technology (fintech) world will return to Dubai on 30^th October 2018 for the third annual Fintech Summit, organised by leading regional deal facilitation company Naseba.

With the region’s financial landscape rapidly evolving as disruptive technologies and the drive towards digitisation reshape business practices, activities and economies, this year’s event will once again provide a solid platform - and timely update - for banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) decision makers looking to remain agile amid a shifting topography.

Held under the banner theme of Enterprise Grade. Real World. Now, an influential line-up of over 20 high profile speakers will lead an intensive schedule of presentations, panel discussions, tech talks and round table discussions, alongside more than 15 solutions providers, with a supporting calendar of pre-scheduled business meetings and deal facilitation opportunities.

“Fintech is gaining momentum across the region, with governments and private sector companies adopting next generation technology in their eagerness to support sustainable economic development and establish a competitive advantage. The UAE, and Dubai in particular, is accelerating investment and implementation in support of the National Innovation Strategy set out by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who has expressed his vision to make the UAE a global leader in innovation. Against this background, today’s BFSI C-suite need to be ahead of the curve when it comes to implementation.” said Sandeep Chauhan, EVP, Global Head, Operations and Technology, Mashreq Bank.

Digital disruption is unavoidable. It’s happening because multiple technologies are rapidly evolving all the time. While this very human approach to business may seem at odds with Mashreq’s digital backbone, it does in fact drive every choice the business makes – even the creation of what Chouhan calls his ‘Digital Workforce’

The global banking industry will spend US$519 billion on technology this year, an increase of 4.1% on 2017 spend, with legacy system updates and next-generation back office solutions leading investment.

Recent research by Gartner put a figure of US$155 billion on MENA region IT spending in 2018, with banking and securities firms leading spending growth in the last 12 months (+3.6%), followed by insurance (+2.9%); and making significant investment into analytics, blockchain, artificial intelligence and software applications.

A recent Ernst & Young survey found that banks were primed to invest anywhere from US$5-20 million for digital initiatives and the BFSI sector in the Middle East is turning its attention to digital transformation, with Emirates NBD alone committing Dhs1 billion (US$272.3 million) over the next three years.

In its Redrawing the lines: FinTech’s growing influence on Financial Services report, PwC found that 82% of financial services companies plan to increase fintech partnerships in the coming three to five years, with an expectation of 20% ROI on their innovation projects.

An AT Kearney report also noted that consumer e-commerce activity is set to quadruple in the region by 2020 with performance marketing technology company Criteo reporting that 43% of e-commerce transactions in the MENA region are made through mobile devices.

Commenting on the regional landscape, Christopher Fernandez, CEO and Co-Founder of Block Gemini  said that “blockchain is going to play a key role in the success of financial companies in the near future. The world banking sector will save up to $20 billion by 2022 through implementing blockchain. The GCC banks have already started using blockchain in remittance, trade finance, Islamic banking, and soon we are going to see a lot of applications and services on blockchain. We are very excited that the agenda issues facing BFSI decision makers are fast reaching a decision crunch point, and the summit is a proven catalyst in supporting action and facilitating effective partnerships and deals’

Taking place on board the Queen Elizabeth 2 at Port Rashid, the summit will open with a keynote presentation by Nasir Zubairi, CEO, The Luxembourg House of Financial Technology, examining artificial intelligence applications in the real world and the impact on banking.

This will set the scene for a packed schedule of hot topics delving deeper into issues surrounding blockchain implementation, cybersecurity and data storage, next generation retail banking and customer-centric digitisation, along with case studies including Singapore’s transformation into a global financial hub and the importance of driving innovation.

Speakers at the 2018 event include Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer, Monetary Authority of Singapore; Alice Hlidkova, CEO, New Economies Pvt Ltd; Bryan Stirewalt, Managing Director, Supervision, Dubai Financial Services Authority; Nick Lee, Authorisation Director, BFSI, Abu Dhabi Global Markets; Abdul Malik Al Sheikh, Senior Advisor, Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority; Max Liu, Co-Founder & CEO, EMQ.

To learn more about the Fintech Summit please contact Amir Abdin – amirabdin@naseba.com