Published
- 09:00 am
Samsung Electronics today celebrates the continued growth and enthusiasm for Samsung Pay around the world by expanding in four markets over two days. Samsung Pay officially launches in Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and enters early access in Hong Kong and Switzerland.
With these market expansions, Samsung Pay continues to both bring mobile payments to new regions of the world and expand to new markets in regions where the service is already available. Launches in the UAE and Sweden showcase Samsung Pay’s first markets in the Middle East and the Nordics respectively, while Hong Kong and Switzerland demonstrate continued commitment and strength in Asia and Europe.
“Less than two years ago, Samsung Pay came to life in Korea with a simple mission: To empower customers with mobile payments that are simple, secure and available almost anywhere,” said Thomas Ko, VP and Global General Manager of Samsung Pay. “Today, Samsung Pay is so much more. Our launches in different parts of the world demonstrate governments’ and consumers’ changing attitudes towards progressing to a cashless society. It is through the interest and support of our partners that we are able to answer their needs by offering Samsung Pay in these markets. We are incredibly proud of our rapid expansion and growth in such a short period of time, and look forward to bringing the most comprehensive digital wallet to all our users around the world.”
With the availability of the Galaxy S8 and S8+, users will be able to exclusively take advantage of several new features for an enhanced experience with Samsung Pay.
In addition to the existing authentication methods, Galaxy S8/S8+ users can make use of iris scanning as a new form of biometric authentication to access Samsung Pay, enabling a secure, yet more convenient way to pay.
To continue the evolution to a digital wallet, Samsung Pay continues to expand its availability beyond smartphones by introducing Samsung Pay on the Gear S3 in three additional markets. Beginning in April, Samsung Pay is newly supported on the Gear S3 in Russia, Sweden and the UAE, in addition to the US, Singapore and Australia, enabling an even more convenient way for users to pay with their smartwatches. Details on additional Gear S3 support elsewhere will be available soon.
Attaining the Vision of a Digital Wallet
Since the initial launch of Samsung Pay, Samsung has remained committed to the vision of building more than just a mobile payment solution through the introduction of value-added services tailored to local audience preferences.
Samsung Pay continues to enhance and add even more value-added services worldwide, bringing custom solutions and partnerships to users wherever they are.
With the latest launches, Samsung Pay now also integrates loyalty and membership cards in Sweden and the UAE, which can be added to users’ mobile wallets without requiring physical cards. In Switzerland, pre-paid cards will also be supported, allowing users to pay from their preferred cards outside of the normal credit and debit options.
Value-added services continue to be a critical differentiator for Samsung Pay in the mobile payments market. More custom services for users around the world will be made available in respective markets shortly.
- 01:00 am
The Western Union Company (WU), a leader in global money transfer and payments services, is teaming up with the Department for International Trade (DIT) to host 16 ‘RegTech’ industry leaders in a ‘RegTech’ Lunch and Learn session in New York.
‘RegTech’, which refers to a group of companies that use technology to help businesses comply with regulations, has been on the increase in the years since the 2008 financial crisis as more technology-driven products to enhance the customer experience and engagement are sought after by financial institutions.
International Trade Minister, Mark Garnier, said:
“UK firms are leading the way in finding innovative technology solutions to help businesses comply with regulation. Following hot on the heels of the UK-India FinTech conference in Mumbai and the International FinTech conference in London, my department is working with Western Union to ensure the UK is well represented at RegTech in New York and together we will ensure UK tech companies take advantage of the global opportunities in this growing sector.”
The collaboration comes at a time when regulation, compliance and global trade are of a key focus for small to medium businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. The recent Western Union International Trade Monitor* revealed nearly a third (30%) of UK SMEs, and nearly a fifth (18%) of US SMEs are concerned about the impact of changing international regulation and compliance.
The research also highlighted that in light of the EU referendum, while businesses showed little sign of increasing their company’s international operations, over 80% of UK SMEs are placing an increased focus on international vendors and supply chains, emphasizing the shift towards global trade partnerships rather than a direct physical presence abroad.
Kerry Agiasotis, President at Western Union Business Solutions said, “In an ever changing regulatory landscape, the role of compliance has never been more important. As world leaders in technology and innovation, this trade mission is a fantastic opportunity for US firms to learn from some of the UK RegTech industry’s brightest minds. This initiative, in addition to our new ‘WU® EDGE’ platform, demonstrates our dedication to providing SMEs with the tools necessary to engage with global trade.”
Western Union Business Solutions is one of several other financial companies including the five major banks - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Santander, and four consultancies - EY, KPMG, Deloitte and PwC, who are all helping potential exporters make the most of international trade opportunities through a partnership with the Department for International Trade.
- 08:00 am
InvestCloud Inc., a global FinTech firm, has been appointed by MASECO Private Wealth to provide client and advisor portals to its clients in the UK and the US. InvestCloud will deliver comprehensive client communication and reporting capabilities, including the automation and consolidation of client reports online.
MASECO specialises in managing the wealth of US citizens living abroad, supporting their cross-border wealth management needs and utilising its knowledge of multi-jurisdictional tax and planning issues to provide expert advice. Established in 2008 by Joshua Matthews and James Sellon, MASECO has more than $1.2 billion in assets under management.
Joshua Matthews, Managing Partner at MASECO Private Wealth, said: “MASECO was designed to bring a sophisticated service to help Americans living overseas. We deal with complex situations and our clients’ needs are demanding, requiring custody of assets to be managed on multiple platforms. So, we sought a solution that served our business but would also assist client engagement and give each client a clear picture of all their assets. InvestCloud will allow us to do this with ease and flexibility.”
MASECO is recognised as an innovative, forward-thinking wealth firm catering to professionals and entrepreneurial wealth creators. As part of this approach MASECO has pioneered the introduction of sustainable investing, started a new venture into Alternative Credit, and won a PAM award for Investment Product Service Innovation. It was also the first financial services firm in the UK to be awarded B Corporation status, which recognises companies pursuing social good.
Will Bailey, EVP for Europe and Innovation at InvestCloud, said: “MASECO is a great customer for InvestCloud. It is a forward-looking and innovative firm that serves clients who have high expectations of the online customer experience. Together, we can help MASECO provide a rich, integrated digital experience to its customers, while also realising the operational benefits of digital transformation within its own business.”
- 05:00 am
Leading digital money transfer service WorldRemit announced today it has partnered with Millicom’s subsidiaries Tigo Money to open up new remittance routes to El Salvador and Guatemala, enabling Salvadorans and Guatemalans abroad to send money transfers instantly to more than one and a half million Tigo Money users in those countries, directly from the WorldRemit app.
Tigo Money is a leading provider of mobile financial services for customers across Latin America and is today the largest bill payments platform in El Salvador. There is one Tigo Money transaction per second in El Salvador, of which international remittances make a significant contribution. In Guatemala, Tigo Money covers 92% of the total territory, becoming the second largest physical distribution network in the country.
WorldRemit users abroad will now be able to make secure, instant money transfers back home from their mobile phone to any Tigo Money user in El Salvador and Guatemala, who, no matter where they are, will have instant availability and capacity to resend money domestically, buy top ups, pay bills, or simply have the possibility to cash out partially or totally their money in Tigo Money’s extensive agent network.
Tigo Money is the only mobile money provider in El Salvador and Guatemala currently receiving international remittances from WorldRemit, reaching more customers with mobile phones. Remittances play a very important role in El Salvador’s and Guatemala’s economies –receiving almost $4.1 billion & $7.1 billions in remittances respectively in 2016 according to the local Central Banks in both countries, primarily from the United States and Canada.
With WorldRemit, people in more than 50 countries can send instant, secure transfers to more than 140 destinations. Known for its mobile-first approach, WorldRemit makes sending money as easy as sending an instant message. More than 70% of the international remittances sent to mobile money accounts in December 2016 were sent via WorldRemit, according to the latest data published by the GSMA.
Ismail Ahmed, founder and CEO at WorldRemit, comments: “Our partnership with Tigo Money in Central America will give more choice to millions of Salvadorans and Guatemalas living and working abroad, giving them a simple, safe way to support their friends and family without having to wait in line at a money transfer agent. Offering our customers the option to send to Tigo Money accounts supports the transition from costly offline remittances via high street agents, to faster, safer and lower cost online transfer methods”.
Ronald Alvarenga, Director of Mobile Financial Services for Millicom says: “The Alliance with WorldRemit is one of our first 100% digital alliances. It responds to our focus of placing our customers in the center of all our services, providing the best customer experience they can get through their mobile phones. This will benefit our Salvadoran and Guatemalan community abroad as well as their relatives who live and receive remittances in El Salvador and Guatemala. We are connecting lives in a digital world, offering a convenient, fast, secure and affordable way for customers to receive their money.”
- 01:00 am
Ingenico Group, the global leader in seamless payment, announced today the acquisition of the payment activities of its Ukrainian partner BKC (BANCOMZVJAZOK JSC).
With 40 employees, SST is Ingenico’s portal to Ukraine, through its extensive knowledge of the local market and its strong relationships with leading Ukrainian banks. SST also provides software development services to various entities within Ingenico Group, most specifically in Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Africa. SST will be integrated within the Banks & Acquirers business unit.
With an installed base of more than 200,000 terminals, the Ukrainian payment terminals market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. The Ukrainian government has taken several initiatives to promote digital transactions and gradually decrease the use of cash in the economy.
Luciano Cavazzana, SVP EMEA (Banks and Acquirers business unit), declared: "We are delighted to welcome the SST team as part of Ingenico Group. Their knowledge of the local market will be key to unlock the Group’s growth in Ukraine, and their expertise in software development will be a valuable asset for the Banks and Acquirers business unit."
Oleg Zhukov, Director of SST, said: "We have been working hand-in-hand with Ingenico Group for years. Becoming part of the Group will increase our ability to serve Ukrainian banks and retailers with a complete payment offering, leveraging on Ingenico Group’s cutting-edge portfolio of products and solutions."
- 05:00 am
In response to increasing customer demand for its payments, gift, loyalty and membership card services,Thames Card Technology has invested £2m+ in state of the art personalisation equipment. The equipment increases Thames’ card personalisation capacity by 60%, brings loyalty keyfob encapsulation in-house and delivers greater efficiency. The investments follow success in 2016, where Thames doubled its budgeted profit expectation.
“Contactless multi-interface cards have proven to be so successful in the payments market that we are now seeing demand across sectors like gift and loyalty,” comments Paul Underwood, Managing Director at Thames. “This investment allows us to meet this increasing demand and puts us at the forefront of RFID contactless card personalisation. We can now personalise every interface of a card, at high-speed and in one pass, delivering greater efficiency for us and a faster service for our customers.”
Cards with more than one interface – such as contact-based chip, contactless, magnetic stripe and barcode – offer flexibility and convenience for consumers, encouraging greater usage and engagement for brands.
Two new Atlantic Zeiser Persomaster machines offer a high-speed drop on demand (DoD) card personalisation system for all types of plastic card. They streamline and expedite the card production process by encoding data on the magnetic stripe, contact chip and contactless interface, printing information onto both sides of the card, attaching scratch labels and performing camera-automated verification in a single pass, on one machine.
Further investment has also been made in an AutoFeeds Cartan Card System encapsulation machine to support card-based use cases like loyalty and membership. The equipment is capable of encapsulating and punching shaped cards or keyfobs, again, in a single pass.
Three Entrust Datacard MX6100 Card Issuance Systems will also improve card personalisation capacity and services for the banking market by optimising smart card personalisation and delivering edge-to-edge printing and more efficient insertion of cards and carriers into envelopes.
“These investments come on the back of a big year for the company,” concludes Paul. “Financial success gave us the confidence to invest, we completed a phase of recruitment to our senior team and have been working to introduce new systems to maximise efficiency and customer service. These machines build on that work and position Thames to capitalise on the latest technologies and market opportunities.”
Gaurav Chandra
Product Manager at AxiomSL
In recent years, we have seen an increasing number of regulatory requirements that firms need to comply with, in particular when it comes to trade and transaction reporting. see more
Keith Tilley
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- 07:00 am
Dubai, 27 April 2017. Enterprise Financial Crime Management software product company CustomerXPs along with Finesse, their premier technology partner, will be showcasing their acclaimed product Clari5 at the Seamless Middle East 2017 expo scheduled to be held at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre on 1 and 2 May.
The expo is being held under the patronage of HH Deputy PM & Minister of Interior Lt. Gen. Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and in partnership with Arab Federation for E-commerce, League of Arab States and Council of Arab Economic Unity.
Spanning over 22,500 sqm at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Seamless Middle East is expected to have over 400 exhibitors and over 10,000 attendees. The expo brings together the Middle East fintech ecosystem to debate and evaluate the future of money.
Across 2 days of keynotes, panels, case studies, interviews, demos, roundtables and workshops, attendees will experience the trends, disruptors and innovations that are revolutionising the Middle East fintech industry.
At Seamless Middle East, CustomerXPs will be demonstrating Clari5 - the real-time, cross-channel banking enterprise fraud management innovation declared Best Fraud Detection Product by Risk.net. Clari5 consolidates relevant intelligence from across all channels and business-critical systems of the bank to deliver real-time, contextual and actionable interventions at split-second speed.
CustomerXPs will be showcasing Clari5 at S62, Za’abeel Hall 6. The company will also be demonstrating how banks in the Middle East can combat fraud with a collaborative ecosystem and how a ‘central nervous system’ based anti-fraud shield can help Islamic Banking.
“We are definitely excited to be at Seamless once again. Banks in MENA are attracting attention from global fraudsters and hence there is a need for an ‘anti-fraud’ shield.” said Rivi Varghese, CEO of CustomerXPs. “Leading banks in MENA have already begun adopting our ‘central nervous system’ based cross-channel approach for fighting financial crime via our acclaimed Clari5 suite.”
Sunil Paul, Co-Founder & COO, Finesse added, "Our long-standing partnership with CustomerXPs for taking Clari5 to banks in MENA has proven to be a success. We expect to further consolidate Finesse’s leadership in the region with our association. Together we expect to have an impactful presence at Seamless Middle East."
- 05:00 am
InvestCloud Inc., a global FinTech firm, has been appointed by MASECO Private Wealth to provide client and advisor portals to its clients in the UK and the US. InvestCloud will deliver comprehensive client communication and reporting capabilities, including the automation and consolidation of client reports online.
MASECO will also use InvestCloud’s Digital Warehouse. The Digital Warehouse aggregates data from multiple systems and custodians and integrates it into meaningful information that is securely stored. This information includes external news and social media sources, alongside market and portfolio data. It also provides apps for real-time analytics.
MASECO specialises in managing the wealth of US citizens living abroad, supporting their cross-border wealth management needs and utilising its knowledge of multi-jurisdictional tax and planning issues to provide expert advice. Established in 2008 by Joshua Matthews and James Sellon, MASECO has more than $1.2 billion in assets under management.
Joshua Matthews, Managing Partner at MASECO Private Wealth, said: “MASECO was designed to bring a sophisticated service to help Americans living overseas. We deal with complex situations and our clients’ needs are demanding, requiring custody of assets to be managed on multiple platforms. So, we sought a solution that served our business but would also assist client engagement and give each client a clear picture of all their assets. InvestCloud will allow us to do this with ease and flexibility.”
MASECO is recognised as an innovative, forward-thinking wealth firm catering to professionals and entrepreneurial wealth creators. As part of this approach MASECO has pioneered the introduction of sustainable investing, started a new venture into Alternative Credit, and won a PAM award for Investment Product Service Innovation. It was also the first financial services firm in the UK to be awarded B Corporation status, which recognises companies pursuing social good.
Will Bailey, EVP for Europe and Innovation at InvestCloud, said: “MASECO is a great customer for InvestCloud. It is a forward-looking and innovative firm that serves clients who have high expectations of the online customer experience. Together, we can help MASECO provide a rich, integrated digital experience to its customers, while also realising the operational benefits of digital transformation within its own business.”
