TransUnion has announced Kelli Fielding as its new chief product officer for the UK. As part of her new role with the global information and insights company, Kelli will focus on product innovation, leveraging TransUnion’s global capabilities and maximizing key partnerships.   

As part of the UK executive team, Kelli will drive the product strategy, maintaining quality and delivery of existing solutions, as well as propelling further development of TransUnion’s market-leading products in the UK and Europe.

“I’m thrilled to take on this new role as we continue to enhance our solutions – maintaining our reputation for innovation and incorporating new data assets so we can provide valuable analytic insights to help businesses and consumers transact with confidence,” said Kelli Fielding, speaking of her appointment. “Through our range of products spanning credit risk and affordability, fraud and identification, customer experience and more, we aim to enable safe, tailored consumer experiences, whilst also delivering on our goals of increasing financial inclusion and business opportunity.”

TransUnion’s UK CEO, Satrajit “Satty” Saha said: “Kelli brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, thanks to her long tenure with the company and has an excellent track record in growing the business and delivering complex solutions. We’re delighted to have her leading the product team and developing our partnerships to support our growth strategy.”

Having been with the business for more than two decades, Kelli most recently held the role of head of consumer interactive internationally, where she was responsible for strategy and performance of the consumer business across all TransUnion’s international markets.

Prior to that Kelli was the driving force behind TransUnion’s investment in personal credit platform and API, Monevo. She currently serves on the board of Monevo to help leverage TransUnion's global relationships and market-leading decisioning and analytic capabilities.

Exactly.com, the specialist open banking payment solutions platform, has officially partnered with Wix.com Ltd., a leading global SaaS platform to create, manage and grow an online presence, providing Wix’s UK merchants access to Exactly.com's full-service offering.

Through the partnership, Exactly.com will provide Wix’s UK merchants to conveniently manage transactions, schedule customisable payouts, promptly process refunds and chargebacks, accept payments from desktop or mobile, and have access to robust payment security as well as 24/7 customer support.

Through the partnership, Exactly.com will also improve merchant checkout conversions by offering a quick and easy UX via different channels, including online checkout, payment by SMS, chat or email, and QR codes for static or dynamic payment content - reducing payments to just three clicks.

Merchants also have access to Exactly.com’s merchant portal, featuring advanced reporting capabilities, as well as enabling merchants to filter transactions, make refunds, check payment statuses, reconcile payments, and settle funds to their bank account.

Each merchant has the ability to customise their dashboard to suit their specific needs and goals for the business, all with the advice of an Exactly.com dedicated account manager to help them through the process.

Elene Bazhenova, Business and Sales Operations Manager, Exactly.com, says: “A good PSP partner like Exactly.com will advise and help implement changes and technology to smooth the payment journey.”

“By helping merchants understand where you are in the world, on what piece of technology, what browser you are using we can best understand the likely payment methods that would suit you and present these at checkout.”

“This is an exciting step on our journey to create a system that redefines the payment experience for merchants and consumers alike. It’s made even easier by our dedicated account managers who strive to make the transition to new payment platforms as seamless as possible.”

“We’re excited to be working alongside Wix to help many merchants overcome the barriers to market, with our unique, holistic, low fees platform, and our desire to build long-term partnerships that benefit the merchant and customer.”

“We are always working to provide Wix merchants with a variety of convenient and innovative payment solutions tailored to local and global business needs. The integration with Exactly.com gives our merchants in the UK more choice and flexibility in the payment methods they offer their customers, enabling them to remain competitive, increase conversions and ultimately grow their revenues,” said Amit Sagiv and Volodymyr Tsukur, Co-Heads of Wix Payments.

Iceberg Data Lab (“IDL”), the independent green fintech providing science-based environmental data solutions for financial institutions, today announced the launch of the world’s first ESG AI assistant “Barbatus”. The new product harnesses generative AI technology to generate real-time, text-based and fully sourced explanations in response to questions regarding the ESG data of portfolio companies.

Barbatus is trained to extract and provide structured information from unstructured text sitting within IDL’s diversified, comprehensive dataset, which covers over 2,300 different products and services. The ESG AI assistant offers a number of solutions for professionals in the financial services industry, including allowing ESG Analysts to interpret results more effectively, improve benchmarking and enhance their understanding of how corporates can decrease their environmental impact. CSR teams can also analyse their own business’ or sector’s environmental impact to answer regulators’ requests.

Matthieu Maurin, co-Founder and CEO of Iceberg Data Lab, commented: “We’re extremely proud to be launching our innovative Barbatus product, the first AI assistant of its kind dedicated to ESG analysis, which we believe will be game-changing for the finance industry.

“The name Barbatus, a near-threatened bird of prey, reflects the greater threat we are facing on planet Earth: a potential sixth mass extinction. At IDL, we name all of our tools after endangered animals to symbolize that the survival of all species, including humanity, will depend on the actions we take today towards making the sustainable transition a reality.

“Whilst financial institutions are demonstrating increased interest in ESG issues, reporting frameworks have simultaneously become increasingly complex. With Barbatus, we are responding to these issues by helping clients to analyse complex ESG data more quickly, transparently and effectively, so they can better understand the impact of their investments on the environment, whilst directly enabling and accelerating their own transition journeys.”

Barbatus is the latest product developed by IDL, which was founded in 2015 by CEO Matthieu Maurin and CTO Pierre-Olivier Haye in response to the growing demand from financial institutions for quality and science-based environmental company data. IDL’s proprietary impact calculation platform simplifies data to provide a holistic life cycle analysis of the environmental impact of portfolio companies (including Scope 1, 2 and 3, upstream and downstream).

Pierre Olivier-Haye, co-Founder and CTO of Iceberg Data Lab, added: “Every day, new use cases are born out of generative AI. Our Barbatus product is one of the latest leading examples and we believe this technology has significant potential to change the future of financial services. By integrating our powerful new tool, our clients can improve the quality of their reporting and decision-making, spending less time carrying out lengthy, repetitive tasks, and more time focusing on quality control and qualitative analysis.

“Whilst generative AI has seen significant breakthroughs in the past year, one of our main issues with existing products on the market is the lack of transparency they offer. Barbatus represents a new generation of generative AI, letting our clients know exactly the page, the paragraph and the source from which our chatbot has extracted information to answer any question. Our team of tech experts ensured transparency remained a priority feature when building the product, which is crucial for corporate governance responsibilities as well as responding to industry allegations of greenwashing with substantiated data.”

IDL’s existing suite of products measures and monitors crucial environmental metrics of portfolio companies, such as carbon and corporate biodiversity footprints, across all sectors and geographies. This analysis supports clients to drive investment and risk management strategies, build indexes and funds, develop Environmental Impact Reporting, manage stewardship responsibilities and more.

Barbatus has been in pilot phase since September 2022.

GoCardless, the bank payment company, has announced a partnership with embedded finance solution provider UNIPaaS, who will be the latest payment service provider (PSP) to tap into the fintech's global bank payment network via a white-label integration. 

Through GoCardless Embed, UNIPaaS will be able to offer payment methods such as direct debit and open banking payments, in response to high customer demand. This will eliminate the need for customers to work with another PSP for bank payments. 

Customers will gain access to an easy, secure and cost-effective payment method within a platform they already know and trust. In addition, GoCardless Embed can help them grow in existing markets and expand into new verticals and use cases where bank payments are preferred.

David Avgi, CEO and Co-founder at UNIPaaS, said: “We're excited to use Embed to offer bank payments as a new B2B payment option for our customers. UNIPaaS' one-contract, one-integration solution makes it easy for our platform customers to offer additional payment methods using our embedded UI suite. We're confident that this will help us meet the growing demand for bank payments, and we expect strong take-up based on previous demand.”

Eva Ducruezet, Chief Expansion Officer and MD of GoCardless Embed and Bank Account Data, said: “We’re proud to be a trusted partner to UNIPaaS, adding a much-requested feature to its strong embedded finance offering. Through our simple integration, UNIPaaS can fast-track its way to accessing bank payments in more than 25 countries, giving customers exactly what they want.”

GoCardless Embed is a new integration, which comes white-labelled as standard, that allows payment providers to integrate GoCardless’ global bank payment network straight into their platform through a single, simple API. The integration provides access to:

• bank payment schemes in the UK, Eurozone and US, with more to come in the near future

• end-to-end payment processing capabilities for bank payments including reconciliation, mandate management, reporting and refunds

• open banking-powered features, including instant one-off and recurring payments in the UK and account verification and fraud prevention across the three markets

GoCardless Embed allows providers to tap into the burgeoning account-to-account market, valued at around USD 225 trillion in transaction volumes worldwide.

Fime has been qualified by EMVCo to support 3DS Directory Server (DS) and Software Development Kit (SDK) testing in line with the latest version of the EMV®* 3-D Secure (EMV 3DS) Specifications. Its laboratory and testing platform can now be used by vendors wanting to migrate to EMV 3DS v2.3.1.1, which includes improved support for Secure Payment Confirmation (SPC) and automated out-of-band (OOB) authentication features. This enhanced version of the specification aims to promote more secure and convenient e-commerce authentication and further reduce cart abandonment.

The new qualification builds on Fime’s existing stack of EMV 3DS services, including support for 3DS Server and Access Control Server (ACS) testing against EMV 3DS v2.3.1.1. With this latest achievement, Fime provides comprehensive testing services for all four core EMV 3DS modules in line with the latest specifications. Vendors can also work with Fime’s experts to achieve compliance with version 2.2. of the EMV 3DS Specifications.

Noël Catherine, VP Services at Fime, comments: “As consumer demand for a simple payment process increases, merchants must provide a seamless checkout experience to combat cart abandonment without compromising security. Recently market adoption of EMV 3DS has seen huge growth, so now is a great time for stakeholders to migrate to EMV 3DS v2.3.1.1 and improve the customer experience.

“As an EMVCo Associate and member of FIDO Alliance and W3C, Fime is proud to contribute to the evolution of payment authentication specifications. This work gives our experts a comprehensive view of the ecosystem and allows us to support stakeholders to meet industry best practices.”

Delta Capita, a leading global Capital Markets consulting, managed services and technology provider has been selected by Citi to scale and commercialise its proprietary digital communications workflow management software capability, QMA. 

QMA is an intelligent workflow management tool specifically designed to enable operations and service teams to seamlessly manage and prioritise high volumes of email, chat and other digital communications. QMA enables enhanced management of team capacity and highlights opportunities for process improvement. 

Citi has a significant user base that leverages QMA in multiple business lines across 63 countries to deliver measurable improvements to client experience, significant reduction in email volumes through auto-assignment, and rapid response to client enquiries.  

This transaction accelerates Delta Capita’s aim to deliver superior mutualised managed services and technology tools to the financial services industry and demonstrates Citi’s leadership in driving innovative solutions that are reshaping the way business is done. Delta Capita and Citi recognise QMA’s potential to benefit the broader industry by providing a solution to navigate multiple digital communications channels and drive efficiency.  

Citi will continue to use QMA, and as part of the transaction, will be a minority investor in the Delta Capita majority-owned subsidiary formed to commercialise the product, and take it to market. 

Joe Channer, CEO Delta Capita commented, “Thanks to this new partnership, QMA will be developed into an industry-wide, scalable product allowing multiple clients to leverage its capabilities whilst benefiting from a price and efficiency that can’t be achieved by any one bank developing it on their own.   This transaction is part of Delta Capita’s continued commitment to deploy capital for commercialising proprietary technology assets, in doing so we are accelerating our strategy for delivering mutualised managed services across the capital markets value chain. 

Jon Lofthouse, Head of Markets Technology at Citi commented, “We developed QMA because we saw there was a gap in the solutions available for our team to manage workflow across communication channels. We believe the development of QMA will be well served by Delta Capita’s forward-thinking perspective and we look forward to seeing it expand beyond Citi and into the financial services industry.” 

Emily Turner, Head of Business Development for Citi’s Institutional Clients Group added, “We are very excited to work with Delta Capita in this next chapter of QMA. For certain products and services, our first choice is very much to partner with external companies, but it is not always possible to find solutions in the market. This was the case for QMA and as a result we built a market-leading, innovative solution. We look forward to Delta Capita’s development of the technology with Citi continuing to benefit as a customer and investor.”  

QMA complements Delta Capita’s existing range of specialist-managed services and technologies across Client Lifecycle Management/KYC, Derivatives and Structured Products, Post-trade, Market Infrastructure and Pricing & Risk. 

Philip Ellin, Group Managing Director at NHC Holdings, comments: “We know that buying health and wellbeing equipment can be a major investment – and that means its important people feel confident they’re choosing a product that’s right for them and their unique circumstances. We believe in making things as straightforward as possible, and that’s why we’ve partnered with etika. They really stood out to us with their strong, ethical focus on making large-value items more affordable, backed by a finance platform that can be customised to our exact requirements.

 

“By working together, we’ve made the customer journey so much easier and smoother. The feedback from our sales reps has been glowing. They really appreciate the great support etika provide, and the helpful staff they have on hand to immediately deal with any questions that our sales reps or customers might have.”

Adam Kirkby, UK Country Manager at etika, comments: “We are delighted to work with NHC Holdings and the opportunity to bring their high-quality, medical products within reach of more customers through our affordable and transparent POS finance solution. At etika, we only work with other ethically-aligned businesses that share the same values as us – to improve people’s wellbeing, make a positive difference in our communities, and improve financial inclusion, especially for people in vulnerable groups, such as the elderly. That’s why we’ve made accessibility of our platform and web portal a priority.

 

“Our expert developers have worked hard to customise the platform to NHC’s customer journey. etika’s entire focus is making finance more accessible and affordable, with fairness and transparency embedded in everything we do. We believe in making more than just sales – we want to leave our partners’ customers satisfied. We’re thrilled with the initial results of our partnership with NHC and we’re committed to ensuring it becomes a long-standing relationship.”

16 million people in the UK are still unaware you can get into debt using ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) services*, according to research from responsible lender, Creditspring. 

A third of people (31%) still don’t think that BNPL purchases can lead to debt, however, this jumps to over half (51%) for those aged 18-24 who are 29% more likely to use BNPL than then UK average.  

Almost one in three (29%) of people remain unaware that BNPL is a form of borrowing, similar to a credit card. Again, this is significantly higher for younger people, with four in ten (39%) 18-24s not unaware of the risks.  

Awareness of the risks of BNPL remains low across the board: 

·        Half (50%) of younger people also did not know that BNPL providers can add extra costs or late fees if payments are missed – compared to a UK average of 41%.  

·        Nearly half (46%) of all people were still unaware that they could be referred to a debt collector for missing a BNPL payment. 

·        Just 44% of people using BNPL were able to repay loans without issue with one in ten (9%) admitting that it pushed them into debt. 

·        Just a quarter of BNPL users (23%) feel in complete control of their spending when using these products.  

With the FCA’s guidance on BNPL regulation still unpublished and reports that it may be put on hold, it remains unclear if and when legislation and implementation will come into force. In the meantime, Creditspring is calling for lenders to ensure they are protecting borrowers and lending responsibly, especially with Consumer Duty guidelines coming into force.  

Creditspring is also concerned that BNPL could have a disproportionate impact on more vulnerable users who are uncertain what their financial position will look like in a couple of months’ time. As a result, although they may be able to afford BNPL payments currently, they run the risk that they won’t be able to in future – putting them at risk of being hit with late fees.  

Neil Kadagathur, Co-Founder and CEO of Creditspring, comments: “Despite increasing usage, there is still a severe misunderstanding of how BNPL works. After around a year of rising costs, household finances have been stretched to breaking points – many are using BNPL as a crutch until payday without being fully aware of the risks of doing so. The onus has to be on lenders to ensure that borrowers understand the risks and support them before they rack up huge debt piles.  

“If used correctly, BNPL offers more flexibility to UK shoppers - however, the issue is often in the way they are offered or promoted with little information around the risks of missed payments or multiple BNPL purchases until it’s too late. 

“Regulation of this sector can’t come soon enough yet we’re unlikely to see it this year, meaning households will be at risk of BNPL debt throughout the expensive summer holidays and into – what is set to be – another challenging Autumn. Borrowers urgently need lenders to improve their communications so people understand what they are signing up to and the risks inherent with using credit products such as BNPL.” 

Creditspring is an FCA-regulated, credit subscription service offering affordable, responsible credit to borrowers. Members pay a fixed membership fee every month to allow them to access two no-interest loans per year with clear repayment terms, capped costs and no hidden charges, late fees or confusing interest rates. 

Crypto Oasis Ventures the inceptor of the fastest growing Blockchain ecosystem in the world, the Crypto Oasis, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading financial hub in Dubai. 

Under the terms of the MOU, Crypto Oasis Ventures will support the DIFC Innovation Hub with subject matter expertise for their ongoing and upcoming start-up accelerator programmes. The announcement coincides with Crypto Oasis Ventures official opening of its second office in the DIFC Innovation Hub for its Venture Studio. The move signifies Crypto Oasis Ventures' commitment to expanding its presence in Dubai and further strengthens its position as a key player in the global Blockchain ecosystem.

"We are thrilled to partner with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a renowned financial hub known for its regulatory excellence and commitment to fostering innovation," said Faisal Zaidi, Co-Founder and CMO of Crypto Oasis Ventures. "By establishing our office within the DIFC Innovation Hub, we aim to leverage The Centre's vibrant ecosystem, collaborate with like-minded organisations, and explore new opportunities for growth."

DIFC is a leading global international financial centre that plays a pivotal role in driving economic diversification and innovation in the region. As a strategic partner, DIFC will provide the Crypto Oasis Ventures ecosystem with access to a network of global investors, industry experts, and regulatory resources. This collaboration will facilitate the development of cutting-edge blockchain solutions, positioning Crypto Oasis Ventures at the forefront of the digital transformation in the financial sector.

Mohammad Alblooshi, Chief Executive Officer of DIFC Innovation Hub commented: "The DIFC Innovation hub has a long history of partnering with leading and visionary institutions to enable business growth for our start-up ecosystem. This partnership will bring immense value to start-ups participating in our various accelerator programmes this year who will be able to leverage on Crypto Oasis's expertise to amplify their existing business models."

"We are pleased to see Crypto Oasis expand their presence here in Dubai at the DIFC Innovation hub as they continue to innovate and drive growth in collaboration with our vibrant community of tech and innovation disruptors," he added.

The strategic location of the Crypto Oasis Studio, at DIFC Gate Avenue, will enable Crypto Oasis Ventures to enhance its operations and strengthen its relationships with key stakeholders. By establishing a physical presence within DIFC Innovation Hub, the company aims to attract top talent, collaborate with industry leaders, and forge partnerships that drive Blockchain adoption globally.

Primer, the payments automation platform offering the infrastructure for effortless commerce experiences, today announces its new partnership with Volt, the company building the global infrastructure for real-time payments, enabling access to instant bank payments to Primer’s customers. 

The tough economic climate in the UK, driven by high inflation and a cost of living crisis, has made many businesses look at ways in which they can optimise costs. This partnership will help merchants during market downturn by offering instant bank payment options (account-to-account payments) using Volt’s open banking network. As a result, merchants will benefit from significantly reduced fees associated with traditional payment methods - as well as providing them with faster settlement. Funds will therefore be available in a merchant’s bank account more quickly, allowing them to reinvest or allocate resources as needed. 

The technical integration with Volt, which began in May, enables merchants to accept real-time account-based payments via Primer’s platform. The partnership also aims to alleviate pain points for merchants by improving online check-out and in-store payments experiences for both consumers and merchants alike using first-class open banking technology.

A key objective for Primer is to offer breadth and depth of payments services for global merchants to adapt to the ever-changing needs of consumers. Within a few clicks, merchants have the ability to add an instant payment option directly onto their checkout, enabling better choice for their customers. 

Primer’s clients will be able to integrate Volt's real-time payments network in the UK, EU, and Brazil giving them the opportunity to offer a ‘Pay by Bank’ experience to their customers, while benefiting from faster settlements, lower transaction fees and no chargebacks. 

Commenting on the partnership, Gabriel Le Roux, CEO of Primer said “The addition of Volt to Primer’s ecosystem demonstrates our ongoing commitment to global payment innovation and flexibility for our merchants. It’s clear that open banking adoption is only set to continue with recent research highlighting that 10-11% of digitally-enabled consumers and small businesses used open banking in December 2022, an increase from 9-10% in March 2022. Undoubtedly, the demand for open banking payments is growing. As the world of payments evolves, it’s essential for merchants to be able to offer a plethora of different payment options, leveraging open banking technology to give consumers as much choice as possible when it comes to making payments. Our partnership with Volt makes this possible.

Richard Drury, VP Partnerships at Volt said: “We’re thrilled that Primer has selected Volt as a provider of real-time open banking payments. Partnerships such as this enable merchants to benefit from account–to-account technology at scale, and we look forward to helping many more capitalise not just on their benefits, but the expansion opportunities that our geo coverage facilitates. Primer and Volt share a commitment to payment optimisation and innovation, and I look forward to seeing what we can achieve together.