Profile Software, an international financial solutions vendor, announced today that CNP Cyprus Insurance Holdings (CNP Cyprus) has selected the IMSplus solution to deploy, so as to effectively manage its assets and fund management requirements and achieve operational efficiency.

CNP Cyprus is one of the largest and strongest Insurance Groups in Cyprus and its subsidiaries, CNP Cyprialife Ltd offering Life, Health and Accident insurance business and CNP Asfalistiki Ltd offering General insurance business, are both leaders in their respective sectors. Key important factors for this success have been the constant use of modern technology, the wide network of Insurance Intermediaries and Agents all over Cyprus and the provision of integrated and innovative insurance products, which fully cover the insurance needs of every individual and business.

CNP Cyprus selected IMSplus due to its flexible, customisable and functionality-rich environment. The insurance investment management functionality inherent in the IMSplus platform has been widely recognised by the industry, based on the number and diversity of implementations. Following an international evaluation process, CNP Cyprus chose IMSplus to automate and streamline its investment management tasks from transactions to accounting entries and achieve risk efficient operations. 

IMSplus for Insurance Investment Management provides comprehensive portfolio structure definitions and multi-level analysis features that will enable CNP Cyprus to easily monitor the invested financial assets, while complying with the policies set by the Group.

The system’s customisable reporting will support the respective demanding requirements and along with the specialised asset management tools and the wide support of financial metrics, will allow investment officers to perform comprehensive gain/loss and risk exposure analysis on the company’s investment products (including cash & term deposits, equities, bonds and mutual funds), while being able to provide instant cash flow projections. IMSplus, by automating reporting and data exports of the investment’s accounting entries, will reduce the manual tasks of internal accounting requirements.

CNP Cyprus’ selection emphasises the expertise Profile Software has in the insurance market, for delivering advanced and easy to use platforms in the demanding investment management domain.

The ai Corporation (ai), an FCA approved expert in payment and risk management, today announced the addition of exploratory data analysis (EDA) and impact analysis functionality to its automated machine learning solution.

The enhanced learning functionality builds on ai’s award winning, self-service, fraud detection solution. Enabling more organisations to create an end to end, automated fraud strategy, and giving existing users the opportunity to test their entire fraud strategy, before production and deployment, in an industry first.

Dr. Mark Goldspink, CEO at The ai Corporation, says: “ai has raised the bar by combining EDA and Impact Analysis with our automated fraud detection solution. The combination is unique and provides our users with a self-service solution, which detects more fraud, reduces false positives and greatly improves back office efficiency for fraud strategy definition.

“Payment fraud is a growing global problem, with card fraud loss expected to rise to $45 billion by 2025. ai’s enhanced solution allows organisations to benefit from fully automated fraud detection, that compliments their existing systems. While helping them to become more profitable. Driving back-office efficiencies and reducing fraud losses.”

How ai combines EDA and Impact Analysis

EDA is the first process in the automated fraud strategy definition journey. EDA finds fraud hotspots and problem areas. Suspicious patterns can then be detected in a live system with ai’s SmartScore® model or SmartRule® rule set generator tools. EDA streamlines the manual data discovery task, finding fraud-rich data sets in hours, realising huge savings over the manual task/generator tools.

Impact Analysis shows how SmartScore® neural models and SmartRule® rule sets behave together in a safe offline environment, so the fraud manager can be assured of their performance. The tool enables fraud managers to quickly build, and test, new fraud strategies, without the threat of affecting fraud losses.

How ai’s machine-learning technology works

ai’s SmartSuite of machine-learning technology gives banks the power to automatically create effective fraud rules which can be implemented into any fraud platform, including ai’s rules engine RiskNet®. By using machine-learning, banks can automate their fraud prevention, mitigating ACH fraud regardless of how it is perpetrated including account takeover, ‘man in the middle’ fraud and/or social engineering.

SmartScore®, one of six products within ai’s SmartSuite, creates neural models using artificial intelligence and automated machine-learning techniques, to recognise patterns and trends in fraud. Providing transaction risk scores to be used in conjunction with user-defined rules.
 
With its unique multi-model capabilities, SmartScore® enables users to create Neural Models specific to a fraud type, customer segment or payment method, including ACH. By constantly refreshing the data available, SmartScore® provides an up to date and accurate risk score based on current trends, ensuring that RiskNet® or any third-party fraud platform users are not reviewing unnecessary alerts.
 

Retail finance technology provider Deko has teamed up with Free2Cycle – a new health, wellbeing and environmental initiative – to get more people on the road and help to combat a lack of productivity which costs the UK economy over £27 billion a year.

In need of a finance solution that seamlessly integrated with the initiative, Free2Cycle looked to Deko’s unique technology to enable the innovative offering and provide a seamless customer journey.

Free2Cycle turns traditional product payment methods upside down, by providing cyclists with bikes in exchange for ‘pedal power’. If cyclists meet their mileage commitment, they shouldn’t pay a penny, with their sponsor – often their employer – being responsible for the expense. In return, the sponsor receives reports on carbon savings achieved, while benefitting from a more active and productive workforce.

Deko is providing the finance platform by which the initiative will operate. Once the cyclist has chosen their new bike, they enter a finance agreement with one of Deko’s lending partners, but will not part with any money then or at any stage, providing they meet their mileage commitment. Instead, their sponsor will be responsible for the Free2Cycle service fees, which covers the provision of the bike, rewards and behavioural change elements of the offering.

Eric Craig, CEO of Free2Cycle, said: “We were looking for a solid solution that minimised the impact on the customer journey, while conforming to FCA regulations. Deko not only provided the technology, but also provided us with access to the finance provider within one simple commercial relationship. In doing so, Deko has taken months off our speed to market.”

The aim of the initiative is to encourage more people to become active, while saving money on travel, and work towards a cleaner environment. Meanwhile, employers benefit from measurable Co2 savings, as well as a more energised, productive workforce, reduced sick days and improved CSR credentials. Sponsorship is typically rewarded with a positive cost benefit ratio of around 10:1.

As well as providing the finance technology behind Free2Cycle, Deko has signed up as a sponsor of the initiative itself, meaning the company – and its employees – can reap these benefits.

Peter Mansfield, CEO at Deko, said: “Free2Cycle, like us, are true innovators. The initiative to get millions more people to live an active lifestyle is something we are very proud to be a part of and we’re thrilled that the technology we’ve built can be put to use in such a positive way.

“The initiative truly does benefit all involved and helps us as a society to improve wellbeing, raise productivity and reduce our carbon footprint – and we can’t wait to see where the partnership takes us over the next few years as more and more organisations come on board.”

The mobile payments company Fortumo is today launching its global Messaging Platform.

Nordea has established Nordea Ventures to make strategic investments in fintech start-up companies. This further supports Nordea’s strategy of building a truly agile, digital bank.

- We want to play an active role in developing new technologies for the financial sector from early on, says Casper von Koskull, President and Group CEO of Nordea. - It’s not just about providing capital, but also about engaging with start-ups and sharing our expertise. This will benefit Nordea and the companies we invest in, but most of all our customers.

To meet changing customer expectations, Nordea has already partnered with and invested in fintech companies in order to develop new solutions faster than it could alone. Nordea Ventures will enable the bank to accelerate bringing innovative products and services to market for its 10 million household and 540,000 corporate customers. 

- We need to be where the innovation is taking place. That’s why we’ve already been very active in the fintech space. Establishing Nordea Ventures is a natural next step toward engaging with and supporting the wider financial ecosystem, says Ewan MacLeod, Chief Digital Officer at Nordea. 

Nordea Ventures will focus on investments offering mutual strategic value, scalable business models and unique solutions. Investments are mainly, but not exclusively, expected to be in companies which have a Nordic focus. The number and size of investments will vary according to our aim of supporting and accelerating innovation in order to strengthen our offering. 

One example of a fintech company Nordea has already invested in is Tink, a financial aggregator based in Sweden, which allows customers to better understand what they spend their money on and how this changes over time. This partnership will improve the mobile banking experience for our customers, making daily banking even easier and more convenient.

Nordea will actively engage with each portfolio company, involving senior business leaders in sponsorship roles, and is prepared to take a long-term ownership approach.

Businesses are being warned to carefully check their cyber insurance policies and their appropriateness as many do not provide important cover for common attacks, such as the damage to revenue and profits from ransomware attacks.

Analysis by Cyber|Decider, the cyber insurance comparison engine that covers policies accounting for 80% of the UK market, found that the variability of policies meant many businesses will be getting insurance that does not cover them for such key risks.

For instance, Cyber|Decider’s research shows that about a quarter of cyber insurance policies reviewed would not adequately cover businesses for the loss of revenue from such attacks, yet for many organisations this is likely to be by far the biggest cost.

A recent Lloyd’s of London report “Closing the gap: Insuring our business against evolving cyber threats” found that ransomware was one of the three biggest cyber threats to businesses in such sectors as: IT, professional services, healthcare, public sector, education, media, transport, hospitality and utility sectors.

Neil Hare-Brown, the CEO of Cyber|Decider said: “Businesses and their insurance brokers face a challenge from the wide variability of cyber insurance policies as to what they cover. In some areas the coverage provided by policies is similar and reasonably comprehensive, such as the costs from data breaches and forensic investigations, as well as meeting third party claims and any legal defence costs.

“But where ransomware causes a major interruption to the business, as it did with WannaCry, the coverage of insurance policies is highly variable.  This coupled with the practice of many brokers of recommending only one policy means many businesses will not be covered for the business interruption costs from cyber attacks even though it is a high risk for them.”

“An example being the recent ransomware attack on container shipping company A.P. Moller Maersk who estimate an impact of $300 million in lost revenue due not only to direct IT outage but also to contingent logistical problems including delayed delivery and operational supply chain failures.

“Similarly, whilst telephony fraud continues to hit many organisations of all sizes substantial losses, some insurers do not currently provide cover.” 

Examples of problems organisations and their brokers currently face when dealing with cyber insurance policies:

• Policies often use different definitions and terms for the same thing, or include the same thing under different headings and sections    - making policy comparison both time-consuming and laborious.
• Often policies use different definitions, right down to the most basic elements like “what is a computer”.  For instance, some policies include industrial control systems in their definition and some don’t, a pretty vital distinction for many businesses!
• There is a high and surprising variability of what is covered between different policies.  For instance, while most policies are pretty similar in their coverage of privacy issues, there is a lot of disparity around business interruption issues.

The WannaCry ransomware attack in May of this year was reported to have infected more than 230,000 computers in over 150 countries (Wikipedia), it was followed in June by the ransomware NotPetya, which also severely disrupted numerous large organisations internationally (Wikipedia).

Path Solutions is proud to announce that it has been selected as ‘Best Technology Solution Provider to Islamic Microfinance’ at the ‘2^nd International Islamic Microfinance Awards 2017’, held in conjunction with the region’s most prestigious microfinance gathering, the ‘Global Islamic Microfinance Forum’ on 25^th November in Turkey.

The ‘2^nd International Islamic Microfinance Awards’ honor organizations that have made significant contributions and effort in implementing financial inclusion and increasing outreach, and are poised to make considerable market impact in the future. They are designed to recognise the reforms, consolidation, integration and expansion of the Islamic microfinance segment across the globe. 

Reacting to the award, the Group Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Path Solutions, Mohammed Kateeb expressed profound gratitude to AlHuda CIBE, the organizers of the awards; noting that the company’s flagship product iSHRAQ*Microfinance was developed based on microfinance and community banking best practices, delivering the necessary control, efficiency, productivity and scalability at a low cost for Islamic microfinance companies.

“We are very pleased by this recognition because of what it represents. One of our main objectives at Path Solutions is to utilize technology advancement to expand financial inclusion by empowering Islamic finance which specifically targets the unbanked and low-income individuals. This award confirms our role as a key player in the future of Islamic microfinance and encourages us to continue to invest in deepening our knowledge and contribution to the microfinance segment, and incites us to continue to bring the latest technology breakthroughs to change the face of banking and its unconventional approach”, Kateeb said.

Path Solutions provides cloud-ready and on premise Islamic microfinance software solutions with a robust set of capabilities to help Islamic microfinance companies enhance their most distinctive operations. iSHRAQ*Microfinanceprovides unlimited, secured, reliable and convenient access to Islamic financial services that enable customers to withdraw and make deposits into their accounts; repay their loans; check their account balances, and transfer funds remotely, in the most customer centric and Sharia-compliant manner.

The award came on the heels of Path Solutions been recognized as the gold category recipient of the ‘Islamic Finance Technology Provider of the Year’ award at the IFFSA 2017 Awards hosted by UTO EduConsult and held in Sri Lanka last month.

Accellion, Inc., the leading platform that enables organizations to securely share sensitive information with the outside world while maintaining the controls and visibility needed to demonstrate compliance, today announced a new partner program.

The program's aim is to identify and collaborate with leading resellers and independent software vendors (ISVs) that are closely aligned with Accellion's focus on protecting sensitive information to minimize risk and demonstrate compliance.

Accellion recognizes the tremendous value partners provide in connecting organizations to technology solutions that best meet their needs. When the solution addresses an enterprise-wide challenge like securing sensitive information or demonstrating compliance with regulations like GDPR, that value is enhanced. 

"Accellion sees a new reality for enterprises, namely more data, more risk, and more oversight," commented Laureen Smith, Vice President, Worldwide Business Development for Accellion. "With kiteworks, we have a unique opportunity to support partners in helping their customers protect their most valuable digital assets. We look forward to developing long-term, growth-oriented relationships with partners who share this vision."

Accellion is currently developing a robust network of partners that are focused on security, particularly in highly regulated industries like healthcare, financial services and government. For partners who share Accellion's commitment to enhancing an organization's security and compliance posture, Accellion offers an innovative margin program that exceeds industry norms and market development funds (MDFs).

"We view partners as a crucial extension of our sales efforts, particularly in Europe and the Middle East," said Harry Zorn, Vice President of EMEA Sales for Accellion. "By expanding our existing partner network, we are able to extend our reach into new markets and help more customers send sensitive information securely. We look forward to working with additional partners to identify new business opportunities and accelerate our revenue growth." 

Accellion is already forging strong relationships with partners who have a successful track record of addressing complex cybersecurity challenges for their customers. With cyber attacks increasing in frequency and severity, followed by tightening regulations and rising fines for compliance violations, organizations will continue to look to their partners for a solution.