Published
- 09:00 am
Today Mitratech, a market-leader providing Enterprise Legal and Risk Management solutions for companies globally, announced it has agreed to a strategic investment from HgCapital, a leading world growth private equity firm with offices in London, England and Munich, Germany. TA Associates, which invested in Mitratech 18 months ago, will continue to retain a minority interest in Mitratech.
Since TA Associates' investment in 2015, Mitratech has seen tremendous success in the U.S. and international markets driven by its strong financial profile, investment in its award-wining software portfolio, and multiple strategic acquisitions. In that time, Mitratech's footprint has expanded to include operations in the United Kingdom and Melbourne, Australia. Over the same period, Mitratech's global user community has more than doubled while client retention has stayed consistently above 95%.
Founded in 2000, HgCapital is a technology sector expert that invests in high-growth private companies with the goal of supporting management teams to help companies grow faster than their market, create employment and become the leader in their industry. Today, the firm has a current portfolio of 35 companies around the world and has more than $10.5 billion in funds under management.
"TA Associates has been a strong partner for us over the past 18 months, and an important part of our unprecedented recent growth. We look forward to continuing this relationship for years to come," said Jason Parkman, Mitratech CEO. "Our new partnership with HgCapital brings us additional strength to fuel our growth in legal and risk management generally, as well as the focus to accelerate our current momentum of international expansion. The combination of these two strategic investors provides more access to global resources and enables us to invest even more to deliver innovation and value for our clients."
"We are delighted to be working with Jason Parkman and his talented management team, alongside TA Associates," said Jean-Baptiste Brian, a Director in the HgCapital TMT team. "HgCapital has a strong track record of successful investments in regulatory compliance-driven software companies. We are impressed with the excellent progress Mitratech has made in establishing itself as a global player in this sector, and we look forward to supporting their continued growth going forward."
"Since forming our strategic partnership with Mitratech in September 2015, it has been a pleasure to partner with Jason Parkman and his team," said Hythem El-Nazer, a Managing Director at TA Associates. "The business has more than doubled during our partnership and, more importantly, Mitratech has solidified itself as a leader in the Enterprise Legal and Risk Management software market. We look forward to continuing to support Mitratech and partnering with HgCapital as the business continues to expand globally."
Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed. Lazard and Marks Baughan Securities acted as financial advisors to TA Associates and Mitratech during the transaction. Goodwin Procter LLP provided legal advice to TA Associates and Mitratech.
- 07:00 am
Conotoxia Sp. z o.o., a licensed payment oganization and a subsidiary of the biggest private company in Poland - Cinkciarz, has joined the European Payments Council (EPC). Conotoxia has been granted with an opportunity to contribute to the design and development of European payment systems.
The EPC’s mission is to support and promote the integration and development of payments in Europe, notably SEPA. The primary task of the EPC is to manage the SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) and SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) schemes in close dialogue with all stakeholders. SEPA payment schemes can be regarded as instruction manuals which provide a common understanding of how to move funds between payment accounts within SEPA (34 countries). Transaction services by both Cinkciarz and Conotoxia are consistent with SEPA standards. Membership in the Council means that Conotoxia representatives will be contributing to drive further harmonization and innovation in the field of payments in Europe.
- 04:00 am
Today MYPINPAD Asia, an enabler of secure multi-factor authentication for touchscreen devices such as smartphones and tablets, has announced a new partnership with Mswipe, India’s largest independent mobile POS merchant acquirer & network. Under the partnership, Mswipe will integrate MYPINPAD’s Software PIN Entry Solution (SPES) into its new mPOS devices to meet the mandate of the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) to increase the deployment of secure PIN enabled acceptance devices into the Indian market.
Mswipe is one of the most successful and fastest growing companies in India’s payment processing industry, providing card processing and financial services to SMEs throughout more than 500 cities and towns across India.
Mswipe’s mPOS devices will use touchscreen technology, secured and hardened by the MYPINPAD SPES, for the capture of cardholder PIN; removing the need for a separate PIN pad device, resulting in reduced support and manufacturing costs and an improved cardholder experience.
Manish Patel, Mswipe Technologies, CEO & founder said: “As a payments processor, our priority is to make transacting easier for SMEs in India and MYPINPAD is helping us achieve this. MYPINPAD’s SPES solution allows us to produce a new generation of POS terminals that are more secure. This also brings the added benefit of reduced production costs, faster time to market and overall, enables us to improve user experience for both our merchants and their consumers.”
Philip King, MYPINPAD Asia Ltd, Executive Chairman and CEO, said: “We are delighted to announce our partnership with Mswipe. India is a major market with a rapidly evolving payments landscape. To ensure that the evolution and growth of mobile payments is sustainable, security is paramount. MYPNPAD and Mswipe will provide a solution that addresses the growing demand for secure mobile payment methods in a scalable, cost effective and secure environment.
MYPINPAD’s product set is borne out of extensive work across the payments ecosystem to address industry security requirements for mobile payments. Our goal is to solve a broad range of digital commerce issues through the power of strong, secure multi-factor authentication including, but not limited to, the use of our patented PIN entry solution. Mswipe will build a next-generation card acceptance platform for POS transactions in India that will play a key role in creating a safer payments environment for secure mobile transactions. We are delighted to work with Mswipe and look forward to a long and successful partnership.”
- 07:00 am
International FX and derivatives broker Sucden Financial has selected BSO to provide clients with unrivalled low-latency connectivity to execute derivative trades between London and Hong Kong. The deal enables Sucden Financial to deliver continuous network uptime between the two financial districts, as well as seamless access to its electronic trading platform STAR, which is used to trade futures and options on the major exchanges. BSO’s experience in navigating the highly complex Asian landscape, coupled with its highly stable trading circuits, were the two key factors behind Sucden Financial’s decision.
Commenting on the partnership, Gavin Parker, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Sucden Financial said: “We wanted a provider that not only understood the nuances of the Asian market, but could also provide the flexibility to adjust to ever-changing market dynamics. A combination of BSO’s reliable low-latency connectivity and proactive team constantly assessing trading routes, made them the ideal fit for our business.”
Fraser Bell, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) of BSO added: “As demand for derivatives trading increases between London and Hong Kong, delivering network reliability has never been more important for global financial markets. With market appetite for trading futures and options particularly strong, Sucden Financial needs the most reliable network to ensure its clients have consistent access to its electronic trading platform.”
Sucden Financial, currently live on the BSO network, is now well placed to ensure its clients can reach more derivatives markets than ever before. For BSO, the partnership reinforces its continued commitment to providing network expertise to the emerging markets.
- 07:00 am
Payveris, a provider of next generation API centric digital payment solutions designed to empower U.S. banks and credit unions to stay relevant with their customers by transforming the way they deliver digital payment and money movement services, announces Brigham City, Utah-based Members First Credit Union (MFCU) has selected and launched Payveris’ digital payments platform to support MFCU’s digital payments and money movement strategy.
Members First Credit Union selected Payveris’ digital payments platform for its complete line of services including consumer bill pay, external or account-to-account transfers (A2), and person-to-person (P2P). MFCU has launched the Payveris digital payments platform as a white label service into all its digital channels, including desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, all of which are currently provided by Sandy, Utah based CMC Flex.
Payveris’ cloud-based open API digital payments platform enables MFCU to not only enhance its member experience for traditional digital payment services like bill payment and P2P transfers, but the platform also positions the credit union for the future of digital payments as Payveris continues to add new services and use cases to its ecosystem of payment and money movement applications.
“We selected Payveris’ digital payments platform because it provides our members a much better online and mobile user experience and it allows us to easily add additional digital payment services in the future at a much lower cost than our previous solution. We are excited about the innovative services Payveris can bring to a credit union our size with $113,676,000 in assets and 14,815 members,” said Darryn Hodsgon, CFO, Members First Credit Union. “We look forward to offering our members the best in payments technology through this partnership.”
“We designed our payments platform to scale for any size institution and we’re pleased we can bring modern payments technology to the local community credit union,” said Ron Bergamesca, CEO of Payveris. “Payveris will enable Members First to offer its members the same type of innovative digital payment services that our multi-billion-dollar credit unions and banks offer their members and customers. We’re grateful to have Members First as a client and look forward to building a great partnership.”
Through its suite of open APIs and widgets, Payveris provides financial institutions and their Fintech partners with unlimited control, extensibility and flexibility of the digital payments and money movement user experience across any digital channel or application, enabling money to be moved to anyone, anywhere, anytime and with any device.
- 04:00 am
Today Opus, the leader in compliance and risk management SaaS technology, announced the launch of Alacra Compliance Professional (ACP), the new plug-and-play KYC (Know Your Customer) compliance solution. ACP is an entry-level, preconfigured version of ACE (Alacra Compliance Enterprise), the leading SaaS KYC workflow solution.
Requiring no hardware, software or IT resources, the solution needs only simple configuration of your data sources to be up-and-running. ACP is the perfect fit for banks with less complex requirements, for whom speed and ease of deployment are of critical importance.
ACP is rapidly deployed and addresses the operational and regulatory requirements of KYC at all stages of the client lifecycle. Built on the Alacra SaaS foundation relied on by banks globally, it is the pre-configured, simple and effective option for best practice KYC workflow, ongoing monitoring and managerial oversight. It is designed to deliver a highly-optimized, risk-based approach to KYC with simultaneous searches of beneficial ownership, watchlists, adverse media and more from proprietary data providers and open sources, along with on-going monitoring to detect changes in risk. ACP can be easily upgraded to ACE as clients’ needs become more complex.
Kelvin Dickenson, Head of Compliance and Data Solutions at Opus, commented: “The rapidly- changing shape of financial crimes and the pace of regulatory change, combined with rigorous enforcement, mean that financial institutions of all sizes are under more pressure than ever. Banks can no longer rely on lengthy, infrastructure-heavy IT projects and are increasingly seeking agile, intelligent solutions which can hit the ground running for faster client onboarding and ongoing monitoring. The best compliance practices are based on the best technology, and now Alacra Compliance Professional makes the best technology available to banks for whom quick deployment and cost control are paramount.”
- 05:00 am
ING is launching the latest phase of its next generation professional development programme, the Wellbeing Quotient (WQ), which aims to support its Financial Markets staff in a changing business environment.
The WQ approach builds on the success of the Emotional Quotient (EQ) programme, which over the last three years brought social aspects of emotional intelligence into leadership, communication, performance and consequence management to enhance the performance of both the business and its staff. WQ is being pioneered with 350 staff in Financial Markets Sales across 30 countries.
The WQ programme provides education, monitoring and coaching over a six-month period. The programme has been designed to help staff actively manage their wellbeing, and drive measurable changes in how they eat, move, sleep and relax. Each team member wears a watch that provides key feedback on these metrics and helps them understand their progress and make sustainable changes. The WQ takes a holistic approach, looking at the individual’s lifestyle, and is tailored to his/her own requirements.
The programme is fully integrated into the Financial Markets strategy and culture, and backed by its leaders, who have prioritised investing in the wellbeing of their employees. The wellbeing culture will include the immediate community, extending the invitation to join to family, friends, colleagues and clients.
ING has partnered with technology provider TomTom Sports and health experts from Lifeguard, market leaders in executive wellbeing, who provide top-level personal support from a team of diverse experts, including Olympic athletes.
95% of global FM Sales staff have already signed up to the programme. The WQ journey consists of four key components:
· A device measuring steps, heartbeat, calories burnt, activity and % body fat
· Captive WQ app – transforming device input into a personalised Wellbeing Quotient. Regional/product WQ available too (N > 15)*
· Content delivery for 4x6 weeks blocks around Eat, Sleep, Move and Relax, influencing device metrics
· Access to Expert group (Former Olympic athletes, professors, coaches)
All information is personal and will not be shared (unless by invitation) or stored, and participation is optional.
Mark Pieter de Boer, ING’ Global Head of Financial Market Sales and leading the role out of the programme: “We’ve seen a lot of enthusiastic uptake of corporate health programmes, however, corporations have generally outsourced them while focusing on metrics like sick days taken or health insurance costs. The focus of ING FM’s programme is the growth of personal and professional wellbeing. As our wellbeing is influenced by our environment too, we have opened up the journey for friends, family, colleagues and interested clients, giving it a wonderful purpose. “
Tanu Tandan, Head of business development and corporate wellness at TomTom added: “Participants in the WQ programme will be able to use the TomTom wellness solution to help them to stay engaged and motivated. The device will also enable them to monitor their personal progress towards becoming a corporate athlete. Once the programme is over, participants will be able to continue to take advantage of our app and technology to continue their energy management moving forward.”
Folef Bredt, Founder of Lifeguard, commented: “We believe that energetic people perform better and live better, more complete lives. Vitality is about possessing the energy to be successful and bring out the best in yourself. For any organisation, vitality is a powerful instrument to achieve measurable and manageable goals. In a vital organization employees are energetic, engaged, resilient and able to perform at their best. The teams have shared goals and mutual trust and the leadership encourages people to actively manage their vitality and enables them to do so.”
- 06:00 am
Today the SBI Group hereby declares that it has reached the conclusion to reorganize its subsidiaries, including SBI AXES Co., Ltd., a subsidiary listing on South Korea's KOSDAQ Market, which leads to aggregation of the Group's FinTech businesses.
Also, upon the reorganization, SBI AXES has begun preparation for changing its corporate name.
1. Background of the reorganization of subsidiaries
While technological innovation in financial services is gathering universal attention, the SBI Group incorporates subsidiaries that conduct various FinTech-related businesses, such as online settlement, social lending services and international remittance as well as cloud services of back-office operations, respectively. Among these subsidiaries, there are businesses that have high affinity in client attributes and service providing means, and in this context, by aggregating those businesses, SBI Holdings, Inc. (hereinafter “SBIH”) believes that it is possible to enhance corporate value and continuously grow by further exploiting synergies. Therefore, SBIH has decided to reorganize a portion of its subsidiaries.
As for the reorganization, the whole issued shares of each of SBIH’s subsidiaries, namely SBI Social Lending Co., Ltd., SBI Remit Co., Ltd. and SBI Business Solutions Co., Ltd. (hereinafter collectively “Companies Concerned”), will be transferred to SBI AXES from SBIH and others, and become SBI AXES’ wholly owned subsidiaries. Meanwhile, in order to procure some of the funds for the said share acquisition, SBI AXES plans to issue new shares by third-party allotment of JPY 1,300 million in total with SBIH as the allottee.
2. Change of SBI AXES’ corporate name
In accordance with the reorganization, SBI AXES, which is SBIH’s subsidiary, will form a business group that affiliates multiple FinTech-related businesses of the SBI Group. Going forward, SBI AXES will endeavor to further enhance corporate value by accelerating its growth from placing these FinTech-related businesses at the heart of its business as well as developing services with high customer benefits through the aggressive adoption of new elemental technologies, including blockchain.
Therefore, SBI AXES has begun preparation for changing its corporate name as stated below. The change of corporate name will be resolved upon the approval from the 6th General Meeting of Shareholders that is scheduled to be held on June 22, 2017.
- 07:00 am
Today Cardtek, an advanced international payment solutions provider, is delighted to announce its partnership with Emcredit, a subsidiary of the Dubai Economic Department (DED). The purpose is to launch the secure mobile payment platform, emPAY, offering United Arab Emirates residents a national mobile wallet solution.
As a part of Dubai’s Smart Government Initiative, emPay will bring together a number of service providers including commercial banks, government departments, exchange houses, retailers, educational institutions, and transportation companies, into a common platform where consumers are easily able to access and pay for a wide variety of services from a single mobile wallet platform. Through the collaboration, consumers in the UAE will be able to make retail payments (in-store and remote payment), initiate money transfers, pay for government utilities, telecommunication, and school fees, among many other options, from a single mobile wallet.
Cardtek will provide Emcredit the payment infrastructure, along with mobile industry knowledge, operational services and product enhancements to support future needs. The solution uses NFC technology and allows consumers to use both mobile devices and wearables.
“We have great confidence that this partnership will ease UAE’s citizens’ life in terms of payments and bring new opportunities and benefits to the UAE’s economic development,” said Ayse Nil Sarigollu, the CEO of Cardtek. “We have had resounding success in the international arena with numerous accomplishments with clients in four continents through proactively following the changes in the Fintech sector. Utilizing our industry foresight, we continue to offer a dynamic competitive edge to our customers and partners.”
“The collaboration to launch this unique initiative of DED will simplify the life of consumers and merchants alike, creating a better, safer, and faster payment eco-system for all,” said Muna Al Qassab, the CEO of Emcredit Limited. “With emPay, our goal is, and will always be to push the boundaries of innovation to give the people of UAE smarter yet simpler ways to conduct financial and non-financial transactions. emPay is poised to change the very way we transact, offering speed and security like never before."
- 08:00 am
Today WEX Inc., a major provider of corporate payment solutions, reported that it will begin issuing virtual credit cards in Singapore, expanding its program in the Asian region that currently includes Hong Kong and Thailand.
WEX’s single-use virtual credit card (VCC) technology, assigns every transaction a unique card number, and provides companies with additional controls for security. Additionally, the VCC technology can deliver efficiencies by reducing reconciliations, queries and invoice processing.
“We are proud to have achieved this important milestone to support the growth of the WEX virtual product in the Asia Pacific region. Singapore is an important market for us and coupled with the fact that it is a global financial centre, this endorsement marks our commitment to the region,” said Jim Pratt, SVP and GM for Virtual Payments, WEX Inc.
“Obtaining an issuing license in Singapore is a tangible demonstration of our commitment to growing our issuance capabilities in Asia.” said WEX’s Managing Director for Asia Pacific, Jeff Ames from WEX’s regional headquarters in Singapore. “WEX’s continued focus on providing increased access to new markets in in Asia, and globally, positions us strongly and enables us (WEX) to better support our customers.”
WEX’s subsidiary, WEX Finance Inc., was granted an issuing license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore on 14 February 2017 which enables it to issue credit and charge cards in Singapore under the Banking Act.
