Handepay, PayPoint Group, and their partner YouLend, an embedded finance platform, today announce that the partnership has supported over 750 fundings to businesses over the last year worth more £12.5 million.

The funding, which is open to any business which meets the criteria, is designed to free up funds enabling them to focus on growth, buy stock or simply assist with cash flow. This has proved incredibly popular amid the UK’s difficult economic conditions through raising interest rates and tightening credit conditions.

Instead of paying a fixed monthly repayment, a small percentage of every card transaction is used to repay the funding, giving businesses peace of mind that repayments will be proportional to their income from card sales.

Mark Latham, Managing Director, Card Services, PayPoint, said: “As lending conditions have become tougher recently, YouLend’s business finance product is very much open for business, with rates mostly unchanged since this time last year. As a result, we are seeing even more businesses using the facility for a wide range of purposes such as buying new stock, refurbishing the premises, boosting cash flow, or even expanding their business with new equipment and new locations.”    

Tom Longhurst, Head of Strategic Partnerships, YouLend, said: “Our partnership with PayPoint and Handepay has enabled us to widen access to much-needed, fast, flexible, and affordable capital for UK businesses. Our aim is to continue to support eligible businesses with the financing required to grow and thrive.”

Iain Case, DIGISEQ Solution Integration Manager, says: "We are delighted to share the exciting possibilities of our wearable tech solutions with fans of Caged Steel. The seamless speed of contactless payment, coupled with sustainable fobs that eliminate the need for plastic cards or tickets, is precisely what banks and non-bank brands require to establish more profound and interactive connections with their customers. DIGISEQ's pioneering wearable tech is opening up new avenues for millions of people to immerse themselves at their favourite sports events, offering a stylish and aspirational payment technology that remains with them wherever they go.

 

“DIGISEQ's wearable tech has already been adopted by esteemed luxury brands including Philippe Starck, and prestigious events such as the Golden Globes Awards. As Caged Steel joins the ever-growing list of major sporting events effectively employing our solutions to create unforgettable fan experiences, we are witnessing a surge of interest from clubs and venue operators who are keen to enable secure contactless payments and digital ID verification through wearable items."

Dominic Gibbs, Caged Steel CEO, added: "We are excited to collaborate with DIGISEQ and drive innovation in our industry. Caged Steel and DIGISEQ both value exceptional customer experiences and aim to elevate them to create memorable moments for our fans. With DIGISEQ's pioneering technology, we believe we can make a meaningful impact in the MMA world, providing our fans with a convenient payment solution, and creating additional engagement activities throughout fight night to enhance their event experiences. We look forward to a successful partnership that pushes the boundaries of what's possible in our field."

ClearScore, one of the UK’s leading financial services marketplaces, today announced the launch of ‘Clearer’, a product that automatically repays people’s existing debt when taking out a debt consolidation loan. The first-of-its-kind technology behind Clearer ensures that funds for debt consolidation go directly to paying off debt, thereby ensuring better outcomes for borrowers. Automated debt repayment also reduces risk for the lender, resulting in greater likelihood of being accepted and lower rates for borrowers.

Clearer works by linking a debt consolidation loan provider directly with a ClearScore user’s existing debt provider(s), which would typically be credit card, personal loan and car finance companies. The funds from the debt consolidation loan go automatically from the loan provider to repay the existing debts, bypassing the borrower altogether. The net result is that the borrower ends up with one manageable monthly repayment, saving money over the term of the loan, and making finances clearer, calmer and easier to understand.

By utilising ClearScore’s technology, lenders can align with the imminent Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Consumer Duty requirements, scheduled to come into effect on 31 July 2023, ensuring customers consistently receive suitable products that yield positive outcomes. Lenders also benefit from more accurate affordability assessments which can boost volumes significantly and reduce credit risk.

Andy Sleigh, UK CEO at ClearScore, said: “ClearScore’s new integrated debt repayment technology ensures that borrowers can tackle their outstanding debts with confidence, knowing that they can reduce their overall monthly outgoings. Traditional debt consolidation solutions come with inherent risk attached that borrowers may not choose to use funds to repay existing debt, but our automated repayment solution negates that risk and diverts funds directly to the existing lenders. This is a win-win for borrowers and lenders, whereby the reduced risk for lenders means they can charge lower interest rates, saving borrowers money in the long run.”

ClearScore’s Clearer product is available to all ClearScore’s directly integrated loan partners, the first of which to sign up to provide debt consolidation loans is Abound, the UK credit technology platform. Abound provides personalised loans based on income and spending patterns, whereas most loans providers only consider credit score as a basis on which to assess suitability to lend. Abound therefore takes a more rounded view of credit risk and affordability based on Open Banking technology. Abound is one of a small but growing number of credit providers in the UK to include Open Banking data in its underwriting process and that data is powered by ClearScore’s leading Open Banking technology stack.

Gerald Chappell, CEO and Co-founder of Abound, said: “We’re very proud to join ClearScore on its journey to make paying off debt as easy as possible. The combination of ClearScore’s automated debt repayment technology and Abound’s AI-led technology make it easier for borrowers to manage their debts and reduce the risk of them staying in debt for longer. We look forward to working with ClearScore as this consumer-focussed technology initiative has the potential to make a huge impact on debt consolidation and management.”

Today, TrueLayer, Europe’s largest open banking payments network, launches payment links, a new feature that enables businesses to offer instant payments, powered by open banking, directly from an email, text message or a QR code.

To use payment links, a customer scans a QR code or clicks an online link - whether that’s through an email, chatbot conversation, text message - which takes them straight to their online bank accounts to make the payment directly to the business. This functionality can be used either online or as part of the in-store shopping experience.

Payment links are part of a new generation of innovative instant payment tools, all built to transform the payments experience and further expand the use cases for open banking in retail, e-commerce and beyond. Combined with TrueLayer’s reach across Europe, this new feature will accelerate the growth of open banking payments further into the mainstream. 

Payment links simplify the process of building a payments page by letting businesses create checkout pages within minutes, without the need for a website or third-party e-commerce platform integration.

For example, retailers will be able to use payment links in email remarketing to target cart abandonment, businesses can use them for smoother invoicing, and charities can use them to streamline in-person donations.

Payment links are already live with TrueLayer customers, including Topps Tiles, which has over 300 stores nationwide, and Southampton’s Solent Wholesale, one of the South West region’s leading carpet wholesalers. Both are using TrueLayer’s new product feature to improve invoicing by automating the process via email, reducing payment processing costs and simplifying the payment for their customers,  in turn increasing their cash flow. 

Michael Brown, Head of E-commerce at TrueLayer, said: 

“Legacy payment options such as cards simply haven’t kept up with the experiences customers and businesses have come to expect when making a purchase. These methods take days to settle, are highly frictional and often require a lot of resources to build payment infrastructure. 

Powered by open banking, payment links are an easy-to-implement, instant-to-settle solution that will allow merchants to accept open banking payments anywhere: across their marketing channels, emails, texts and even in-store. 

TrueLayer’s payment links are yet another proof point of how open banking can be used to transform business payments and consumer experiences. It once again demonstrates TrueLayer’s commitment to pushing what’s possible with open banking payments.”

Luke Crooks, Director at Solent Wholesale Carpets, said: “With TrueLayer’s payment links, we can automatically send invoice payment requests from our CRM, and the payments settle in real-time. By using TrueLayer, we’ve been able to save on payment processing costs vs cards. Plus, the end-to-end integration time took less than 48 hours.

We chose TrueLayer because of their responsive support team, extensive online documentation and GitHub tools which made the integration process quick and easy.”

Global fintech company Unlimit and the world’s fastest-growing online ride-hailing service inDrive today announced their global partnership, which will see inDrive leverage Unlimit’s proprietary payment infrastructure to strengthen its global expansion with local payments solutions in new markets, including processing payments in local currencies and via alternative payment methods. 

Unlimit is a global, award-winning all-in-one fintech offering advanced payment capabilities through an evolving financial interface to startups and businesses worldwide, with 16 offices across four continents. inDrive, which is the second most downloaded mobility app in the world, provides the mobility needs of users in over 700 cities and across 47 countries. The app has been downloaded more than 150 million times. 

Unlike its competitors, which utilise dynamic pricing based on pre-established algorithms, the cost of inDrive’s services is negotiated and agreed upon by both passengers and drivers, which requires flexible payment solutions developed to adapt to local and international markets with ease. Unlimit will provide inDrive with one of the world’s largest proprietary payment infrastructures, which supports a wide array of different payment methods, including mobile and cash payments, global and local card schemes, digital wallets, and direct transfers. This will allow inDrive to accept payments in local currencies and through alternative payment solutions 

Research by Statista shows that the revenue in the ride-hailing and taxi segment is projected to reach over £250 billion in 2023 with the number of users expected to amount to 1.45 billion by 2027. Figures from PwC show the market for embedded finance applications is projected to grow fivefold, from $54.3 billion USD (£41 billion) in 2022 to $248.4 billion USD (over £189 billion), by 2032.

Currently, Unlimit is the main payments solutions provider for inDrive in Mexico and is also supporting the company’s payment processing needs in Colombia, Jamaica, Peru, and Chile, where it is used by the drivers on the platform to refill their personal accounts. However, the two companies are looking to further expand their collaboration to other new markets later in the year. 

Commenting on the partnership, Irene Skrynova, Chief Customer Officer, at Unlimit said: “We are very excited to be partnering with inDrive, a customer-centric company that is driven to empower people and ensure prices are fair. They have chosen to partner with us because we provide world-class payment solutions that are flexible, dynamic, and adaptable to any market, whether local or international. We believe we can help them unlock the full potential of their app by making payments faster, easier, and more convenient for both passengers and drivers alike, wherever they are in the world.” 

Commenting on the partnership, Alexander Afanasov, VP, Fintech, at inDrive said: “inDrive's partnership with Unlimit represents a powerful alliance that seamlessly combines cutting-edge technology and innovative financial services. This collaboration will specifically benefit drivers, offering them a seamless and efficient method to quickly and securely refill their accounts, ensuring uninterrupted services and enhancing their overall experience on the road. The Unlimit team has been very responsive to our diverse payment requirements. They have played an instrumental role in assisting us with designing, developing, and successfully launching complex payment scenarios across our product range spanning various geographies.” 

VeUP, a specialist technology and investment consultancy which drives growth for AWS ISV partners, has launched Re:Sell, an innovative disruptive AWS billing management service offering 45-day payment terms to customers to assist cash flow.

The Re:Sell bundle will provide VeUP customers with market-leading support and value, with revolutionary 45-day payment terms, simplified billing processes and initial value checks that promise to enhance their growth potential and enable their success in the AWS Partner Network.

re:Sell will also welcome customers into the VeUP VC Club, bringing together like-minded founders to network with other partners and investors in events in London, set for September, with Austin Texas and New York to follow.

As part of the offering, Re:Sell customers will be able to collaborate with Solutions Architects and attend AWS Partner Network bootcamps.

VeUP Re:Sell acts as a gateway to its other technology consultancy services, as well as potential access to a $100 million investment fund, to help ISV businesses scale globally.

Simon Turner, Head of Services for VeUP, said: “Re:Sell enables customers to break the mould when growing their businesses through access to 45-day payment terms for AWS services, providing flexibility for our customers. Re:Sell will help connect businesses with our game-changing experts, offering consultancy that builds better solutions, creates market impact and introduces founders to our partner network and investors. This is an exciting opportunity for fast-growing businesses in, and looking to enter, the AWS marketplace.”

The news comes following VeUP’s AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner status accreditation after just eight months of trading. VeUP works with AWS Startup SaaS and ISV partners across the AWS Partner Network to support rapid growth through bespoke technology services.

Clausematch, an award-winning technology company developing solutions for regulatory compliance and now a part of the Corlytics Group, is pleased to announce a partnership with RiskInk, a boutique risk management consultancy with unrivalled expertise in policy drafting.

With clients including HSBC, Mizuho, SMBC, Bank of the Sierra, Amherst Pierpoint (Santander), RiskInk is recognised as a leader in policy creation and development, providing documents that can withstand scrutiny from board members, executive teams, employees, clients, and regulators. RiskInk backs up this current thought leadership with publications in GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals), PRMIA (Professional Risk Management International Association) and the RMA (the Risk Management Association).

This synergistic partnership will complement Clausematch's platform, which is at the centre of policy management, enabling businesses to collaborate, create, manage, and review various compliance documents in real-time, with a full audit trail and real-time insights. By forming an introducer partnership, both Clausematch and RiskInk will be able to benefit from the customer referrals of one another, highlighting the expertise and technology where applicable.

John Thackeray, Founder at RiskInk, says: "You can't underestimate what good policies mean for a business. They are the window into the corporate governance of the company. If policy and procedures are not documented then the implication is that the underlying task and controls do not exist. On a regular basis, I'm contacted by companies that neglected the importance of policy creation and maintenance. Moreover having policies that don't work, that aren't followed can be worse than having no policies at all. RiskInk completes this remediation quickly and at a high standard, much like a surgical strike."

Claudia Coutinho de Somma, Account manager at Clausematch, commented: "We're delighted to start our collaboration with RiskInk. Good policy writing is what sits at the core of compliance and policy management. The audience should be made fully aware of the purpose of the policy, who it affects, its principal terms and conditions, the situations in which it applies, and how it should be properly carried out. At the same time, as a result of constant regulatory change and multiple internal factors, policies and procedures also frequently go through considerable revisions. The use of technology here is crucial. This partnership is  an excellent opportunity to empower customers with professional solutions to these challenges."

"Absolutely thrilled by the opportunity to partner with a recognized leader in policy management automation. As opposed to Clausematch, who work throughout regulated industries, at RiskInk, we have been focusing on the low-hanging fruit by dealing with financial services. This partnership presents us with fresh chances for growth and development in other industries, applying the same techniques and consistent standards of policy and procedure writing," Thackeray added.

Clausematch has a proven track record as a RegTech global leader and has been actively growing its partner network. Earlier this year, the company signed partnership agreements with Solitaire in the Channel Islands, the Connector in Benelux and Várri Consultancy in the Middle East.

Kandle.xyz, a crypto fantasy GameFi project from Singapore, has announced a USD 1.7 million seed round led by Saama. The funding will be used to develop the platform further and expand its user base, featuring their flagship product ‘Crypto Fantasy Leagues’ - a game that allows players to choose crypto coins as their battle tokens and face off against other players in a battle of the portfolios. Kandle has established its presence in Indonesia, Vietnam, Nigeria, and India and plans to expand its footprint across Asia and North America. 

The seed funding round was led by Saama, with participation from PointOne Capital, Cloud Capital, Good Capital, Founder’s Room, Seeders Fund, and Mr. Sumit Gupta (CEO- CoinDCX), amongst other individual investors in the gaming and financial services industry.

Kandle.xyz offers innovative fantasy games using crypto coins, where players compete to win rewards. Kandle.xyz plans to release its project roadmap on token issuance, token utility, and a Play-and-Win model that looks promising to reimagine the Play-to-Earn ecosystem. 

In a statement expressing his excitement, Kandle's founder, Jaideep Yadav, said, "There is a massive opportunity at the intersection of gaming and crypto, and we're excited to be at the forefront of this evolution in crypto fantasy gaming. Super grateful for the unwavering support of our investors as we forge ahead in bringing the vision of Kandle to fruition. " 

He further added, “Instead of focusing on project tokens, we’ve taken the time to build a fully functioning sustainable gaming product based on sound gaming principles. By intermarrying gamification and web3 with a successful product trial, Kandle plans to integrate smart contracts to ensure that games are transparent, secure, and fair.”

Mr. Ash Lilani, Managing Partner at Saama – the lead investor in the seed round – expressed his enthusiasm, stating, "We were impressed by the innovative approach of the Kandle team in combining gaming and crypto. As the crypto industry continues to evolve, we must make it safe and free from the fear of outsized risk for the next tranche of users. Kandle’s gamified approach does exactly that – it offers a unique and timely tool for users to engage with crypto without taking direct exposure to any of the coins.”

Mr. Sumit Gupta, CEO of CoinDCX and an investor in Kandle, shared his confidence, stating, "I firmly believe that Kandle has the potential to emerge as a leading player in the crypto gaming industry, and I am excited to support their ongoing innovation and growth."

Speaking on the occasion, PointOne Capital’s GP, Mr. Mihir Jha, added, "Kandle not only has the potential to disrupt the traditional crypto trading industry, but they have also brought to market a new line of product that meets the needs of existing novice crypto traders and the next batch of web3.0 users. Super excited to be a part of their journey as Kandle soars to the moon.”

Kandle has already garnered a significant following among early adopters who seek an alternative to the volatile world of crypto trading. Over the past months, the platform successfully completed beta testing, attracting a staggering 80,000+ players during its soft launch. 

Kandle has launched exciting games ranging from Crypto Fantasy Leagues to Play-2-Earn format. There are more exciting games in its product roadmap based on user feedback. An industry first, Kandle is at the cusp of crypto trading skills and fantasy gaming.