FullCircl, the Customer Lifecycle Intelligence (CLI) platform that helps financially regulated businesses do better business, faster, has announced the acquisition of W2 Global Data Solutions, a provider of real-time digital solutions for global regulatory compliance. The acquisition strengthens FullCircl’s compliance suite and accelerates the company’s ambition to become the market leader in smart customer onboarding solutions for regulated businesses.

Speaking about the acquisition, Andrew Yates, CEO at FullCircl, commented: “Today we are excited to announce the latest milestone in the growth of our company, with the completion of our acquisition of W2. W2 shares our vision to help regulated businesses mitigate risks and deliver next-generation onboarding that meets both customer expectations and the compliance requirements of our rapidly changing world. This is great news for customers of both W2 and FullCircl, who will benefit from enhancements that will transform their compliance and risk management processes. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues and together building on our combined expertise to deliver something truly game-changing.”

“We are thrilled to become part of the FullCircl family,” said Warren Russell, Founder and CEO of W2. “This is the culmination of 12 years' work building innovative technology to simplify complex regulatory requirements in customer onboarding. From our initial discussions with the FullCircl team, it was clear that we held the same values and mission, with commitment to our people, innovation, customer success, and growth. We are absolutely delighted to join FullCircl and embark on the next ambitious chapter with our clients and partners. Together we look forward to not only continuing our mission but amplifying it, as we leverage shared resources and expertise.” 

Today Thales announces the launch of Thales payShield Cloud HSM, a subscription-based digital payments security service built on its market-leading payShield 10K Payment Hardware Security Module (HSM) technology to help customers accelerate the adoption of cloud-based payments infrastructure.

Taking payment HSM expertise to the cloud

For more than 30 years, Thales’s payment HSMs have helped protect cryptographic keys and sensitive data to facilitate secure payment processes – both online and in person. Leveraging the long-term success of Thales’s on-premises payment HSM deployments globally, the new service offers rapid deployment, improved flexibility, and seamless integration with leading cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

The payShield Cloud HSM service can be used in hybrid deployments, enabling existing customers to move any application to the cloud at their own pace while avoiding disruption to their on-prem HSM infrastructure. The service can be deployed in minutes, delivering instant security, trust, segregation of duties, and functions that support the needs of leading payment brands such as American Express, Discover, JCB, Mastercard, UnionPay, and Visa.

Flexibility without compromising on security

The payShield Cloud HSM service is an alternative way for businesses to fulfil their payment security needs. It simplifies the sharing of production HSMs across multiple locations and applications, allowing more HSMs to be added quickly for resilience, backup or capacity.  The service is currently supported by multiple data centres across the US and EU regions, with more in the pipeline - helping businesses with the growing complexity of data sovereignty. These data centres comply with critical data security audit standards including PCI PIN security essential for payment processing.

“Across industries and geographies, digital services are steadily transitioning from on-premises to cloud-based offerings. Payment solutions are no exception,” said Todd Moore, vice president of data security products at Thales. “Our cloud-based payShield 10K HSM service provides a new, flexible and fully-compliant solution for facilitating digital and face-to-face payments. This new offering delivers the exceptional performance customers expect from our payment HSM platforms, including low-latency operations with leading cloud platforms.”

“Continuing our decades of collaboration with Thales, Prime Factors has successfully tested our Bank Card Security System (BCSS) with the Thales payShield Cloud HSM service”, said Jose Diaz, VP, Products & Services at Prime Factors. “Not only are our BCSS customers able to leverage the full functionality of payShield in the cloud, but they can seamlessly do so with payShield HSMs across hybrid environments. BCSS allows easy and flexible control over using Thales payment HSMs on premises and in the cloud – designating specific functionality in one environment or another or load-balancing functionality across cloud and local payShield HSMs.”

Availability

The payShield Cloud HSM service is available now to existing Thales customers migrating to a multi-cloud environment or adopting a hybrid approach as well as new customers seeking a cloud service payment security approach. For existing payShield customers, the service offers full backward compatibility with on-premises payShield HSMs, including any existing custom code. 

Online fraud and FinCrime prevention technology expert, SEON has released its latest report, titled ‘Neobanking Index: The State of Neobanks in 2023’.

The report provides an up-to-date overview of the neobanking sector, leveraging recent research to assess growth and future growth trends, while also identifying the most common types of fraud affecting the space.

Key findings from the report include:

·          In terms of received capital, the three most successful neobanks are Robinhood, NuBank and SoFi. The latter of which was recently named on CNBC’s list of the top 200 global fintech companies, alongside SEON.

·          Around 43% of Brazil’s population is currently signed up to a neobank, which is the highest adoption rate in the world. In the next few years, rates of neobanking adoption are expected to grow fastest in the Philippines.

·          Fraud rings, identity theft, money laundering and account takeover fraud remain a huge problem in the sector and could affect the long-term viability of sustained growth in the neobanking industry.

The neobanking industry has grown immensely over the past decade, with the rise of businesses like Revolut, Robinhood and NuBank attaining considerable user adoption rates and attracting significant levels of venture capital investment. As detailed in SEON’s new report, this success is expected to continue, with some estimates predicting the neobanking market will reach a total transaction value of $2.6 trillion by 2027.

SEON’s latest report delves deeper into what this growth looks like, breaking down the geographical nuances of neobanking adoption around the globe. According to some estimates, almost half a billion people are using neobanking solutions in Brazil and India alone. Within Europe, Ireland leads in terms of overall adoption levels, with some 22% of the population using a neobanking service.

While these countries clearly lead the digital finance revolution of today, others are following quickly behind. SEON’s new report provides a country-specific percentage rate of neobank adoption based on the gap between observed neobank users of 2023 and predicted neobank users by 2027 to identify the nations predicted to have the greatest rise in neobank adoption rates. Here, the Philippines, Mexico and Portugal are leading the charge.

However, to ensure this positive performance can be maintained in the long-term, neobanking companies must do all they can to mitigate against the growing threats of online fraud and financial crime. As SEON’s latest report indicates, while neobanks provide distinct advantages in terms of lower fees, faster onboarding, and more accessible services they also suffer from shortcomings that can make them as susceptible to fraud as traditional financial institutions.

Speaking on the report, Tamas Kadar, CEO, and co-founder of SEON commented: “Our latest ‘Neobanking Index’ shines a light on a thriving sector and highlights why we believe neobanks are here to stay. While there’s a lot to be excited about, those in the field must remain vigilant to the effects of online fraud and financial crime, which have the potential to cause monetary and reputational losses.”

To this end, SEON’s latest report identifies the specific types of fraud that most threaten neobanks, including account opening fraud, identity theft, fraud rings and account takeover attacks. Similarly, the FinCrime prevention experts detail the heightened risk to certain types of financial crime, such as money laundering experienced by neobanks, which can end up resulting in significant penalties, such as fines and even deregistration.

To assist those in the neobanking sector to avoid such difficulties, SEON concludes its latest ‘Neobanking Index’ by providing insightful and practical guidance on how companies can best protect themselves and their customers from these risks. Broken down into four key levels, the FinCrime prevention experts provide comprehensible but expert advice that is sure to put neobanks in good stead against the risks they face today and in the future.

To read the full report, please visit: https://seon.io/resources/neobanking-index/

Following 12 years of continuous growth and in preparation to support future expansion plans, alternative finance lender Reward Finance Group has moved its national headquarters to new Grade A office space in the heart of Leeds’ thriving business district.

Previously housed in Central House, Reward has relocated to the recently refurbished 12 King Street, where the team in Leeds now occupies 4,000 sq. ft. on the 1st floor. The landmark building underwent an £11m investment last year, to introduce a futuristic workspace with enhanced features such as a cycle spa, roof terraces and a sky lounge.

Commenting on the office move, Reward’s group managing director, Nick Smith said; “We had a tremendous journey in our latest Leeds office for more than eight years. At Reward, we’re always looking towards the future, so this move is a major milestone in our expansion plans. The transition into state-of-the-art offices represents 12 years of continuous growth in Leeds and it sets the stage for our plans to further expand the team in the coming months.

“We outgrew our previous space due to rapid business growth across the UK, therefore the new office ticks every box. We also place a high priority on the wellbeing of all our teams, so the availability of breakout spaces, improved facilities and enhanced sustainability credentials allows us to provide the ideal environment for all our staff.

“Ben Johnson did a fantastic job with the interior design and fit out of the new space, we’re delighted to call 12 King Street our new Leeds home and very much looking forward to the next chapter for our business.”

Launched in 2011, Reward provides SMEs with tailored business finance loans and asset-based solutions up to £5m and employs 70 staff across five regional offices. The company also recently broke through the £200m loan book milestone for the first time, underlying the need for this relocation to larger premises.

The 2nd edition of our flagship event calls upon 500+ of India’s brightest financial industry experts, fintech innovators and financial services stakeholders to explore the role of fintech and emerging opportunities in shaping the future of the Indian economy. With a renewed focus on fintech innovations, and emerging financial technology disruptions, 2nd Fintech India Summit & Awards will bring an expert speaker lineup and an interactive event experience to all the attendees. 

This year’s celebration of the fintech industry will be hosted as a two-day event on 9 and 10 of November in Mumbai, with a Co-located FinTech Awards track on day one. 

While, the financial technology industry is rapidly changing, the event promises an incredibly relevant conference agenda which will exemplify value and unmatchable solutions and learning experience. At the heart of the 2nd FinTech Summit & Awards, is the line-up of diverse industry thought leaders – from across Banking, Insurance, Fintech, VCs and allied industries. Some of the 50+ speakers announced so far are: 

• SAIREE CHAHAL, Founder & CEO, SHEROES and Mahila Money 

• RAJ KAPOOR, Founder & CEO, India Blockchain Alliance

• VINEET SUKUMAR, Founder & MD, Vivriti Capital

• RUPESSH GOEL, Managing Director Head of Credit Administration, SVB India.

• CYRIL MOHAPATRA, Senior Vice President & Head - Digital Banking – SDG, IndusInd Bank

• HITESH SACHDEV, Head — Startup Engagement & Investments, ICICI Bank Limited

• KV DIPU, Senior President, Bajaj Allianz GIC

• RAJA DEBNATH, Managing Director, Veefin Solutions Ltd

• ROOPESH CHANDRAN, Chief Operating Officer, BOB Financial Solutions Ltd

• SANJAY JAISWAL, AVP - Head of Application & IT security, Nuvama Wealth Management

• SONAM SRIVASTAVA, Founder, Wright Research

• AMEY SUBHASH LAKESHRI, Director, Cyber Forensics, Privacy and IR, Ernst and Young LLP

• VIKRAM PANDYA, Director - Fintech S P Jain School of Global Management

• ANUJ SHARMA, Chief Operations Officer -India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation

• DR. JASMIN B GUPTA, Global Specialist - Fintech Frontiers

And our Jury Members evaluating the 2nd Fintech India Awards nominations are:

• ABHISHANT PANT, FOUNDER, THE FINTECH MEETUP

• SUGANDH SAXENA, CEO OF FINTECH ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMER EMPOWERMENT (FACE)

• PRASANNA LOHAR, CEO, BLOCK STACK

• K SRINIVASA RAO, SENIOR ADVISOR (PAYMENT SYSTEMS AND BANKING TECHNOLOGY), INDIAN BANKS ASSOCIATION

• SUNIL KULKARNI, CEO / BCFI

• ABHISHEK KOTHARI, CEO PEPPER MONEY INDIA

• VAIBHAV JOSHI, CO-FOUNDER, CBO & GLOBAL HEAD BFSI, AYEKART FINTECH

• VIKRAM PANDYA, DIRECTOR - FINTECH S P JAIN SCHOOL OF GLOBAL MANAGEMENT

• AMIT JAIN, PARTNER & CO-HEAD, IBS INTELLIGENCE

2nd Fintech India Summit & Awards content will be spread across five sessions: from FinTech in India, Enabling FinTech Innovation, FinTech India Awards, Impact of FinTech on SME Growth, FinTech Start-Up Showcase; covering key topics like Digitization of the Indian Economy & Financial Inclusion Outlook; The Future of FinTech & the Emerging Trends; Digital Finance & The Change;  FinTech & ESG; Women in FinTech; Web 3.0 & the Future of Money; Technology & Innovation Round up Enabling FinTech, there is sure to be a track for everyone. The amazing lineup of speakers and top-quality content will be combined with interactive sessions, networking, exhibiting, start-up showcases, gala invite-only dinner throughout both days. 

A range of 2nd Fintech India Summit & Awards participating opportunities are now available to suit your preferences, from showcasing your solutions, or if you are a start-up who wants to connect with VCs, or you want to exhibit your product or services, book business meetings or just attend to hear from the speakers. Early bird registration ensures best-customized partnership packages. To register just go to https://fintechindiasummit.com/register/

On 28^th August, Scottish fintech Know-it, led by CEO and Founder Lynne Darcey Quigley, will embark on the 2023 UK Fintech Trade Mission to Australia’s Intersekt Festival.

The purpose of the mission will be to demonstrate the very best of what UK fintech can offer Australia and its ever-growing appetite for fintech offerings. Australia continues to nurture fintech services as demand for digital and automated services continues to rocket.

Taking the Know-it platform global is the next step. Beginning the journey in the Australian market makes perfect sense given its burgeoning demand for fintech services. The backdrop of the trade mission is the ideal environment to not only launch, but to tap into the Australian fintech talent market as well. With a planned lauch of the Know-it platform in Australia in Q1 of 2024, it’s a very exciting few months ahead for the Scottish fintech.

Intersekt conference is the largest gathering of Australian fintech groups and industry leaders. The 2023 edition of the conference will host international guest speakers, thought leaders, roundtables and collaborative networking sessions.

CEO of Know-it, Lynne Darcey Quigley, comments on the upcoming expedition: “Having the opportunity to showcase the Know-it platform as part of the UK Fintech Trade Mission is an exciting prospect and is a testament to the hard work everyone at Know-it has made since our inception in 2019.

“The plight of late payment culture and outdated manual credit control processes is not exclusive to UK businesses. Now is the time for Australian businesses to gain access to ensure their cash flow and financial processes are secured and automated from end-to-end. There is real appetite in Australia with the likes of Xero and MYOB making it easy for businesses to connect their accounts package to our automated credt control solution” 

The 2023 Intersekt festival will take place from 30^th August – 31^st August – in Melbourne. An optional extra leg will take place in Auckland, New Zealand, from 4-5^th September – Know-it will be in attendance.

Lynne continues: “Here at Know-it, our long-term goal is to take our offering global and help organisations worldwide wake up to why automating the credit control process is vital to not only business survival, but success too.

“Having this opportunity would not have been possible without our partners at Fintech Scotland and Scottish Enterprise; providing the necessary support startups like ourselves require to be a part of crucial events such as Intersekt conference.”

Nicola Anderson, CEO at Fintech Scotland comments: "It is fantastic to see Know-it embark on the 2023 UK Fintech Trade Mission to Australia's Intersekt Festival. This is a great opportunity to showcase the platform as part of this mission and it recognises the excellent work everyone at Know-it has put in under the leadership of Lynne Darcey Quigley. International growth is the next step for scaling-up fintechs and Australia is a great choice, taking advantage of the UK-Australia fintech bridge which align regulations in both countries. We're looking forward to witnessing the launch of the Know-it platform in Australia in 2024 and hope it will serve as a model for many other Scottish fintechs."

Jan Robertson, Director of Global Trade at Scottish Enterprise said: “As a result of our financial services heritage, world-class universities and skilled talent base, Scotland is a global leader in the fintech sector.

“Scottish Enterprise and our globally-based SDI colleagues, including those based in Australia, are committed to supporting innovative Scottish fintech companies to grow in international markets. We’ve been pleased to support Know-it with its plans to enter the Australian market and we are confident the company’s presence at Intersekt will raise its profile with potential customers and partners alike, helping the company achieve its export ambitions.”

Prior to Intersekt, Know-it will also be attending Xerocon Australia (23-24^th August) in Sydney. Xerocon will offer the first taste of what the Australian fintech and accountancy landscape has to offer. Following Know-it’s attendance at Xerocon London in 2022, the event is set to be the ideal starting point to get a real feel for Know-it’s worth to Xero users in Australia.

Lynne concludes: “Making the journey to Australia and exporting UK fintech offerings is the next big step in our journey towards going global. We want to show Australian business owners and Accountants – particularly SMEs – how fintech can help protect business continuity during the turbulent economic conditions currently threatening organisations on a global scale.

“The purpose of this trip for Know-it is to not just demonstrate what we can offer, but to settle and begin building our brand down under. Our team are excited to begin partnering with local businesses to help them increase thier cash flow by combatting late payments, reducing debtor days and automating their entire credit control process.”

Recent data compiled by high-growth global trading platform Capital.com, revealed a strong correlation between Google search trends and the trading behaviour of its UK clients. The number one most traded market on the Capital.com platform in the first half of this year— the Nasdaq—was also one of the most searched-for terms on Google over the same period. These findings affirm how the news cycle is influencing popular trading decisions among UK traders.

Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst, Capital.com, said: 

“Our findings show that traders are using a multitude of platforms, including google search engines, to help them decide what markets to trade and when to enter into a position. Mobile technology, 24-hour news channels and widely available information on the internet have made it easier than ever for traders to keep track of events and trade the news.”

According to an analysis of over 7,000 active UK traders in 1H 2023 , a spike in Google search activity for ‘Nasdaq’, ‘Gold’ and ‘Tesla’ corresponded with a substantial rise in the number of trades executed on the Capital.com platform. 

Single-day trading of Tesla on the Capital.com platform jumped by 37% in one day on 16 February (Thursday), the day Tesla announced plans to recall 362,000 US vehicles due to safety concerns. On the same day, Google searches for ‘Tesla’ spiked in popularity to reach 69*. Tesla was among the top-10 most traded markets in the UK on the Capital.com platform in 1H 2023 [see Table below].

Commenting on Tesla’s popularity with UK traders, Hathorn, said: 

“Regardless of whether it is good or bad news, traders expect Tesla to be in the news. When a company dominates the news cycle like this, it results in more price action and potentially more trading opportunities. This explains why Tesla continues to be the most popular stock to trade on the Capital.com platform.” 

Similarly, UK client trading activity across the Nasdaq jumped by 60% in one day on 13 March, the same day Google searches for ‘Nasdaq’ hit its highest peak for 1H 2023. The Nasdaq was the number one most-traded market on the Capital.com platform in 1H 2023.

“Both the Gold markets and the Nasdaq were strong performers in 1H 2023, driven in part by wider news events centred on central bank action and tech earnings.The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite jumped 31.7% in the first half of this year, marking its best first-half performance since 1983. Traders may have been following the news closely to find opportunities to ‘buy the dip’ and profit from the Nasdaq's rally, which was evenly spread across the first half of the year,” explained Hathorn.

Meanwhile, trades executed on Gold markets peaked by over 90% in mid May, coinciding with heavy Google search activity for ‘Gold’ over the same period [ see Chart 1].

“Gold saw increased interest towards the end of 2022 as markets anticipated a recession in the new year. This led to increased safe-haven demand, and despite the economy being more resilient than expected, there have been a few high-impact events which have shocked the markets, including the banking crisis in the US, the drop in consumer prices and expectations for the end of Fed tightening,” added Hathorn.

Responding to clients’ preference for free and easily available news and information, the Capital.com platform is enabled with personalised watchlists, education resources and financial news feeds and alerts. These features help clients trade directly from a news article or watchlist, saving them valuable time.

The analysis of over 7,300 active UK clients looked at the number of trades opened on Capital.com and Google search data to establish a correlation between search activity and trading patterns between 1 January 2023-30 June 2023.

Tabled 1 : Most traded markets on Capital.com in 1H 2023 , in the UK

Chart 1 :Gold markets: Correlation between trading activity and Google search activity

Source: Capital.com and Google Trends, 01/01/2023-30/06/2023

Chart 2: Correlation between trading activity on the Nasdaq and Google search activity

Source: Capital.com and Google Trends, 01/01/2023-30/06/2023

Currencycloud, the experts in simplifying business in a multi-currency world, has partnered with South Korea-based cross-border payment company MOIN to expand its global coverage while delivering faster processing times, lower transaction costs, and enhanced security measures to its customers every time they make cross-border payments.

MOIN’s goal is to empower its individual and business customers by reducing unnecessary remittance-associated costs. The collaboration with Currencycloud will help MOIN achieve this by enabling them to respond to fluctuations in the FX market 24/7. Thanks to Currencycloud’s competitive FX rates, MOIN will be able to save FX costs and pass the savings to customers. Furthermore, MOIN can now process more than 33 currencies through Currencycloud instead of a range of providers, allowing a faster, more cost-effective remittance service.

Says ILSEOK SUH, CEO of MOIN, “Our strategic approach is to enhance our services to improve customer satisfaction and be an innovative provider of cross-border payments and foreign exchange. Collaboration with Currencycloud not only provides a fast remittance at low cost but also offers MOIN significant peace of mind concerning global regulatory compliance and anti-money laundering measures as we expand and enhance our services. By aligning with such stringent criteria, we can ensure the safety of our global customers' remittances and uphold our commitment to secure transactions.”

Rohit Narang, Managing Director of APAC, at Currencycloud, commented, “MOIN  is continuously investing in innovation and strengthening its payment network to deliver superior quality services to its customers. We are delighted to be part of their solution as they continue on their path of global expansion.”

WealthKernel, a leading provider of digital investment infrastructure, today announces the appointment of Aqsa Tariq as its new Chief Financial Officer. 

Having held key positions at FNZ Group, Goldman Sachs International, and EY LLP, Aqsa brings extensive financial and investment experience to the FinTech industry, covering business intelligence, strategic business planning, investment banking and risk management. 

Aqsa is a qualified Chartered Accountant and was previously appointed as the Group Head of Business Intelligence at FNZ Group, where she spearheaded the development and implementation of reporting infrastructure and played a pivotal role in board reporting and the company’s growth strategy. Before that, Aqsa worked at Goldman Sachs International, covering valuations and reporting of Equities, Derivatives and ECM business. 

As CFO of WealthKernel, Aqsa will play a fundamental role in shaping the company's financial strategy, driving growth and improving WealthKernel’s ongoing processes and organisational procedures to ensure optimal efficiency and productivity. 

Aqsa Tariq, CFO, WealthKernel says, 

‘I’m delighted to join WealthKernel and build upon its infrastructure to achieve sustainable growth, ensure compliance, and develop data-driven strategies. WealthKernel has a dynamic team pushing the boundaries of wealth management, and I look forward to collaborating and supporting the company’s growth.” 

Karan Shanmugarajah, CEO, WealthKernel says, 

‘We’re excited to have Aqsa join us as our Chief Financial Officer. Her extensive experience and proven track record in financial strategy will be a catalyst in driving WealthKernel’s vision forward.’