Company builder FinLeap is committed to reshape the insurance industry. The company is introducing a fully digital platform, going upstream in the value chain to custom-build the very core of insurance and enable products and services that meet demands of the modern age.

The name intentionally refers to chemistry, where bringing together the right combination of elements results in creation of something new and advantageous. By combining various insurance services and partners, the business model of Element will create useful and unique insurance propositions. Hence, Element is going to fulfil customers’ requirements individually and will hopefully also improve the “chemistry” between consumers and their perception of insurance.

Element is focusing on B2B2C distribution, and the list of possible partners that will be able to integrate Element products ranges from established digital companies to InsurTech ventures that build new protection-focused business models and brokers who want to extend their portfolio with digital services. Furthermore, even incumbent insurance companies can partner up with Element in order to modernise their processes and bring innovative products to market faster.

Insurance distribution is often limited by the way products and services are provided by traditional insurance businesses. Currently, the industry is not able to provide solutions that deliver to a generation of smartphone users while fully meeting their expectations and distributors’ requirements. With Element, FinLeap is now introducing an "insurance-as-a-platform" service in order to meet these requirements.

“The infrastructure that we offer to our partners will enable them to create innovative and digital solutions. They know their customers’ needs and any solutions created out of those needs are naturally the most promising ones,”  Ramin Niroumand, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at FinLeap, states.

Element submitted a license application under the German law on the supervision of insurance companies (VAG) to the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) to become a risk carrier offering private property and casualty insurance products for home, liability and accident lines that enable a large portfolio of retail protection products.

Element’s steadily growing team consists of digital entrepreneurs, industry experts, and technologists. Wolff Graulich joined Element’s executive board as a founder, bringing in experience from AXA, Roland and ARAG. The engineering side of the challenge is managed by Henning Gross, founder and CTO, who previously had a leading position in technological innovation at Axel Springer.

• 20.03.2017 -- 10:02 am

DataPath, Inc., is a leader in providing remote field communications and information technology solutions to the aerospace, broadcast, government, and infrastructure markets. Today it announced opening a new office in Dubai.

The company already serves customers in the area but identified greater interest and requirements for DataPath's critical communications solutions than previously supported.

The Dubai office opening is part of an extended DataPath initiative to invest in infrastructure expansion. To enhance customer and partner relationships, the company has also recently opened offices in New Delhi, India; Washington, D.C.; and Singapore.

"DataPath has proudly supported customers in the Middle East with reliable communications for decades, first through SWE-DISH Satellite Systems, continuing on through its evolution and integration into DataPath," said David Myers, President and CEO of DataPath. "We are excited to be able to better serve both existing and new customers in the area with solutions tailored to the local market's requirements."

Today IBM InterConnect and SecureKey Technologies have unveiled a new digital identity and attribute-sharing network based on IBM Blockchain. The network will be designed to make it easier for consumers to verify they are who they say they are, in a privacy-enhanced, security-rich and efficient way. After launch later this year, consumers can use the network to instantly verify their identity for services such as new bank accounts, driver's licenses, or utilities.

To create a highly secure, global and enterprise-ready ecosystem for sharing identity requires both advanced federated identity technology and blockchain technology specifically designed for regulated industries. Together SecureKey and IBM are developing a digital identity and attribute sharing network using IBM's Blockchain service which is built on top of the Linux Foundation's open source Hyperledger Fabric v1.0. As a permissioned blockchain, the Hyperledger Fabric is an essential component in delivering services that comply with regulations where data protection and confidentiality matter.   

The network is currently in the testing phase in Canada, and once it goes live later in 2017 Canadian consumers will be able to opt-in to the new blockchain-based service using a mobile app. Consumers – or network members – will be able to control what identifying information they share from trusted credentials to the organizations of their choice, for those organizations to quickly and efficiently validate the consumer's identity and arrange new services. For example, if a consumer has proven their identity with their bank and a credit agency, they can grant permission to share their data with a utility to create a new account. Since the bank and the credit agency have already gone through extensive verification of the consumer's identity, the utility can choose to rely on the fact that the information is verified, and the consumer can be approved for new services.

"What IBM is building with SecureKey and members of the digital identity ecosystem in Canada, including major banks, telecom companies and government agencies, will help tackle the toughest challenges surrounding identity," said Marie Wieck, general manager, IBM Blockchain. "This method is an entirely different approach to identity verification, and together with SecureKey, we have a head start on putting it on the blockchain. This is a prime example of the type of innovation permissioned blockchain networks can accelerate."

Hyperledger Fabric is by far the most advanced permissioned-blockchain technology available today, in my opinion, both in protecting user data and allowing us to work within the context of industry and country privacy laws," said Greg Wolfond, Founder and CEO, SecureKey Technologies. "Among the many contributors to Hyperledger Fabric including SecureKey, IBM is a standout innovator that has proven that they can rapidly bring blockchain solutions to production. We are very excited to enter into this formal agreement that will benefit consumers around the world.

Today IBM InterConnect has revealed the launch of the IBM Cloud for Financial Services. It offers the essential building blocks for the creation of financial services apps on the IBM Cloud.

More than 100,000 individual and enterprise developers from the financial services industry already turn to IBM monthly for insight and support. Now these and more will have access to APIs, data, and content to build and monetize cognitive-enabled financial services apps quickly and at scale for FinTechs, banks, wealth management firms and insurance companies.

Initially available in beta, developers will also have the ability to build in customer insights, regulatory compliance analytics, security, privacy and compliance readiness to help reduce the time needed for development and testing. The new tools can simplify the time-consuming tasks of selection, mapping and data integration, allowing developers to use IBM services or combine them with their own data. "We have extensive expertise in financial services with 97 percent of the world's largest banks relying on IBM. At the same time, IBM has become the leading AI platform for business," said Bridget van Kralingen, Senior Vice President, Industry Platforms. "Our experience across financial services and in the commercial deployment of AI with enterprise and start up builders has informed these new tools. We're excited to see how they put them to work to quickly create the latest solutions powered by cognitive computing and blockchain for everything from new payments directives support, and even regtech solutions."

With the support of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the central bank of Singapore, IBM also developed the Singapore FinTech Hub, which is linked to IBM's financial services developer cloud. The Hub will serve as a catalyst to support Singapore FinTechs by providing information about local policies and developments in the ecosystem, access to cognitive and other APIs, insight to accelerate innovation, and a platform to showcase made-in-Singapore solutions to the world. "The launch of the hub will help accelerate the growth and influence of Singapore-based FinTech companies to be part of the worldwide ecosystem of API providers. Their solutions and APIs will become available to the global developer community, expanding their market reach beyond Singapore," said Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS.

ZeroStack, Inc. is the leader in providing self-driving private cloud services that are affordable for all companies. Today the company announced that it has signed a reseller agreement with M5 Technologies. M5 is an IT infrastructure expert, headquartered in Singapore, adept at both traditional and cutting edge technologies, with activities currently spanning and increasing across Asia South.

“Our region is going through a rapid economic shift to cloud services, requiring on-premises options that can also be integrated with local hosting, managed services providers and public cloud providers,” said Joel Norton, ZeroStack’s Regional Manager Asia South at M5 Technologies and assigned to positioning ZeroStack’s cloud platform. “This service delivery landscape is an ideal opportunity for M5 to position ZeroStack’s leading integrated solutions as fundamental and foundational to a business’ digital transformation.”

“Global demand for ZeroStack’s self-driving cloud solution is growing rapidly,” said Ajay Gulati, CEO of ZeroStack. “Singapore represents one of the key business and financial hubs for South East Asia, where the innate synergy between businesses, hosting companies and managed service providers (MSPs) will help us bring our unique offering to the vast Asia Pacific market.” 

As retail banking goes through a period of unprecedented change, banks are looking more than ever to cut costs and streamline processes, while discerning customers continue to demand the highest standards in customer care. Self-Service Banking Europe 2017 provides a crucial forum for banks, independent deployers, solutions providers and industry experts to share knowledge and best practice, in order to navigate a course through this challenging but exciting time for the industry.

RBR’s Managing Director, Dominic Hirsch commented: “It has never been more important for retail banks to understand the needs of their customers and to learn about the latest technology at their disposal. This event provides the perfect opportunity for them and other industry stakeholders to learn, network, and share expertise.”

Vibrant speaker programme features visionary keynotes and expert insights

A packed two-day speaker programme features thought leadership addresses from some of the most important players in the banking and payments sectors, including the CEO of Diebold Nixdorf, Andy Mattes, on how to win customers in a connected commerce era, Microsoft on empowering financial services in the digital economy, Bank of America on designing a user-friendly self-service channel, and Google on the role of mobile payments in the emerging self-service ecosystem.

The programme also includes a wide range of bank case studies from across Europe and further afield, with leading institutions such as Barclays, Citibank, Santander and UniCredit sharing their experiences. Key themes include next-gen ATM transactions, digital transformation, ATM outsourcing, contactless, streamlining self-service operations, and machine learning.

Major expo showcases the newest self-service banking technology

In addition to its world-class speaker programme, the event features a sold-out expo area, with exhibitors* showcasing cutting-edge banking technology, from the latest ATM and self-service hardware and software to payments platforms and security solutions. 

 essDOCS today announced the acquisition of eCertify Pty Ltd, the inventor of the electronic Certificate of Origin (eCO). eCertify provided the first eCO solution in 2008. Today, its eCOs are used by 13,000+ companies and 120+ Chambers of Commerce in 6 countries.

eCertify provides Chambers of Commerce, Authorizing Bodies, exporters and freight forwarders an online solution for application and issuance of eCOs, enabling them to eliminate time-consuming and inefficient, manual paper-based processes. eCertify is the leading eCO solution globally, with Chambers across Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, the United States and South Africa.

“With the additional resources now available to eCertify, we are planning to grow our eCO footprint extensively” said Carman Rossi, eCertify Founder and Chairman of the Board. He continued, “we will add Dutch eCOs later this year, and are planning an aggressive expansion to take us to 25 countries over the next couple of years organically and via partnerships.”

Based in Adelaide, Australia, eCertify will continue to operate as a separate company, but will be supported by essDOCS’ global footprint. The acquisition was completed through essDOCS Ventures, the Group’s investment and partnership arm.

“eCertify is an incredible company”, said Alexander Goulandris, essDOCS CEO and eCertify Director, “and I am excited to be able to assist in its continued growth. For me, electronic certificates of origin are key to a complete paperless trade solution, so this acquisition will provide a more holistic solution for our customers.”

Dutch online discount broker BinckBank has acquired robo-advisory startup Pritle for EUR12.5 million.BinckBank says the acquisition provides the momentum for the firm to expand its digital wealth management activities and geographic reach.

Founded by former ABN Amro executive Thomas Bunnick, Pritle helps users to define and track their financial operations through automatic portfolio re-balancing and personalised recommendations.

In 2015, the firm acquired Fundix, the broadest funds supermarket and largest independent online wealth manager in The Netherlands. In 2016 Pritle launched its services in Belgium, Switzerland and Austria.

Pritle has 6,500 customers with approximately €60 million in assets and a team of 28 employees who will transfer to BinckBank upon closing.

CreditEase, a $1 billion Chinese FinTech investment fund operating abroad, has announced a series of investments in US-based financial technology startups.

It was founded in December 2015 by former Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette investment banker Ning Tang, has participated in a series C financing round in US electronic bond trading platform Trumid, and a series B round in capital markets corporate access firm, WeConvene. It has also joined a seed round in US-based P2P insurance outfit WorldCover.

An offshoot of the CreditEase marketplace-lending platform, the fund has so far made a total of eight investments since its launch, including the new financing rounds announced today. Other portfolio investments include Blockchain-based payments firm Circle, Tradeshift and car finacing startup DYCD.com

Anju Patwardhan, senior partner of CEFIF, says: “We believe the Chinese fintech market will continue to grow in 2017 and beyond, as many 3-5 year-old companies have grown into large-scale operations. We expect many of these to mature into high-quality, mid-to-late stage companies. Similarly, we anticipate a slew of promising early and mid-stage growth companies in the US market, due to the improving climate for investment, as well as the more sustainable development of fintech sector.”