Zaggle, a leading B2B SaaS FinTech providing spend automation solutions and corporate cards, launched XPNS, India’s first do-it-yourself (DIY) SaaS-based employee expense automation platform. XPNS has been developed to help growing businesses optimise expense processing costs, improve cash flow planning, and drive bottom-line savings.

India’ is among the fastest digitizing economies globally and home to a flourishing start-up ecosystem, the third largest in the world. In today's rapidly digitizing economy, many businesses still rely on outdated manual expense processes, resulting in inefficiencies and increased costs. In fact, 90% of businesses continue to use expensive and time-consuming manual methods, spending up to 10 hours each month and over US$5 per receipt to process expenses.

XPNS revolutionizes expense management by empowering growing businesses with a fully digitalized platform that simplifies the entire process from filing to reimbursement. With an easy-to-access, self-service interface, XPNS allows businesses to migrate from a manual to a fully automated expense workflow in less than 30 minutes, reducing the time and costs of managing expenses by 75 per cent. 

Speaking on the occasion, Raj N, Chairman and Founder, Zaggle, stated; “XPNS represents another significant step forward in our commitment to providing impactful financial automation solutions that generate bottom-line savings for businesses. Do-it-yourself applications have transformed the consumer payments space and our customers, especially tech-savvy businesses, expect similar intuitive consumer-grade solutions to manage business payments. With XPNS, we’re excited to redefine our industry in terms of innovation and customer expectations. We want to provide the best and most intuitive expense processing solution to streamline expenses, strengthen financial controls, and achieve a healthy bottom line.” 

Speaking on the launch, Avinash Godkhindi, MD & CEO, Zaggle, said; “In today’s digital economy, many businesses are still managing expenses manually. There is a significant demand for innovative technology solutions to modernise expense management and maximise efficiencies. However, businesses are caught between either traditional manual methods or automation solutions primarily designed for large-scale enterprises with complex functional requirements and integrations that are ill-suited to their needs. With XPNS, our primary focus is to empower growing businesses with solutions that deliver speed, simplicity, and employee delight.”

The platform combines the power of the core expense management software with XPNS prepaid cards, seamlessly integrating the two. Businesses can issue and manage cards directly from the system and define spending limits, to manage budgets and minimise the incidence of fraud and overspending. 

 XPNS offers a range of benefits to customers, including:

• improved compliance backed by a powerful rule-based engine for defining, policies, compliance checking expenses, and flagging real-time policy violations. 

• accurate expense records and fewer exceptions through machine learning-based optical character recognition (OCR) that "reads" receipt images and submits detailed, line-item expenses without manual data entry.

• enhanced decision-making agility with real-time insights into operations and expenditure patterns.

• reduced reconciliation overheads, faster end-of-month closing, and effortless auditory compliance.

• Increased employee satisfaction with the companion XPNS app, enabling convenient expense submission and approval, card account management, mileage recording, and reimbursement tracking.

Thunes, the global B2B payment infrastructure platform, today announced that it has achieved remarkable growth milestones and secured a highly successful Series C funding round to support its vision. The Series C funding round, exceeding $60 million, is led by London-based hedge fund Marshall Wace with support from Bessemer Venture Partners and a newly raised Southeast Asian private equity firm 01Fintech.

Thunes, founded in 2016, is set to solve the problems of global inefficiencies in moving money internationally. The company is looking to create a next-generation payment system that is able to make payments instant, quick and secure – just like sending a text message. This would open up more opportunities for businesses and people around the world, allowing them to take advantage of international commerce.

Commenting on the firm’s growth plans and aspirations, Peter De Caluwe, CEO, Thunes, said: 

“We want to challenge the status quo in global payments. Our ambition is to provide everyone – businesses, entrepreneurs or individuals – with access to cross-border money movement at high speed and with absolute efficiency. In today's mobile-first world, digital wallets have revolutionised financial empowerment and rendered the traditional banking system obsolete. Thunes has already connected 3 billion wallet users in our network – almost half of the world’s population.”

“With the backing of our current investors, reinforced by Marshall Wace, Bessemer and 01Fintech, we will be able to further scale our capabilities, launch new solutions, open new segments and make the network even more robust, resilient and efficient. We will deepen our presence in strategic markets, including China, Latin America, Middle East, enabling a better payment experience for businesses and people around the world.”

As part of today’s announcement, the company also revealed:

• It has quadrupled the reach of its mobile wallet network from 720 million to 3 billion accounts since its Series B;
• It now connects 4 billion bank accounts across the globe;
• It has processed circa $50 billion of transactions since inception;
• 90% of Thunes’ transactions are instant;
• It continues to strengthen its senior leadership team with experienced industry veterans.

The firm’s advanced technology, combined with its robust network of customers and financial institutions including Visa, PayPal, Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Revolut and Finastra, has positioned it as a key player in the global payments ecosystem.

Since its Series B funding round in May 2021, Thunes has also acquired the European payment methods platform Limonetik, as well as an AI-driven Anti-Money Laundering and Compliance technology leader Tookitaki to help reduce the cost of transferring money across borders for customers. 

In November 2022, the firm announced a strategic partnership with Tencent Financial Technology, Tencent’s fintech arm, giving Thunes customers the ability to make fast and easy payments to the WeChat users. In April 2023, Thunes was granted a new Payments Institution licence by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) in France, which enables the company to send payments worldwide on behalf of its French or EU customers and partners. 

Last month, the firm also announced a partnership with Saudi Arabian digital bank D360 Bank to allow D360 Bank’s customers to make fast and secure cross-border remittances and B2B business payments, as well as to move money instantly to beneficiaries overseas using the D360 Bank’s app.

Mitigram, the leading digital platform in global trade financing, today announces it has secured an additional $11m from its latest funding round, bringing the total amount raised to $38m.

In 2014, Mitigram launched the world’s first digital exchange in global trade financing. Its advanced and interoperable digital platform is designed for corporations and financial institutions to price check and execute risk cover and financing transactions in cross-border trade. Current clients include Louis Dreyfus Company, Bridgestone, Vale, Ericsson, ArcelorMittal, Trafigura, Siemens Healthineers and over 150 banks.

The investment will enable Mitigram to move into its next phase of growth, executing its product roadmap, maximising the Software as a Service opportunity and drive further competitive advantage through network scaling.

As part of the firm’s next chapter, Milena Torciano will be stepping down as CEO to take on a new role as Founding Partner of a new private equity impact fund. Milena will remain a key member of the company board.

Malin Bäcklund, CEO of Moor Holding will take on the role of CEO on an interim basis.

Milena Torciano, Former CEO of Mitigram, comments: “We founded Mitigram with the mission to open up a closed market, and to streamline and augment global trade and I am incredibly proud of the tremendous growth that we have achieved since I joined six years ago. Today, we are trusted by more than 300 multinational corporations, leading commodity traders and financial institutions, and have facilitated $100bn+ in flows currently across 185 markets. This investment is an excellent opportunity to further build on the strong foundations we have established, and to deliver best practice for digitalized trade finance.”

Malin Bäcklund, Interim CEO of Mitigram, comments: “The lack of connectivity is trade finance’s biggest cost. Around 4 billion paper documents are manually generated, checked and transported in trade each year, which creates the perfect storm for high operating costs and a spiraling lack of control. At Mitigram, we are passionate about closing the gap that is estimated to cost the industry $4tn in total each year. This new funding round will allow us to continue doing exactly that.”

In addition, Kaj Head, an experienced entrepreneur and investor within the finance sector, joins as Chairman of the board, providing strategic guidance for the company’s financial objectives.

Kaj Hed, Chairman of Moor Holding and Mitigram, adds: “I am thrilled to be joining Mitigram at what is such an exciting time for the company. Mitigram is already the first market network by scale and the most interoperable trade finance platform by design, but with addition of fresh capital and the expertise of our global team, we are confident in our ambitions to be the number one network for trade finance professionals worldwide.

We express our gratitude to Milena for her outstanding contributions to Mitigram over the past six years, and wish her all the very best for her next adventure.”

Payroll services provider Zelis has been targeted by the MOVEit cyber breach, confirming that data from eight client firms has been stolen.

British Airways, the BBC, Boots, and other major organisations, have also had personal data and bank details compromised following the exploitation of a zero-day flaw in file transfer system MOVEit.

The BBC has warned employees of stolen data including staff ID numbers, home addresses, national insurance numbers and dates of birth, while other firms have warned of bank details being compromised following the breach.

Reports of the attack first surfaced last week following a zero-day vulnerability in MOVEit, built by Progress Software, with organisations continuing to discover the extend of the breach and warning staff of potential data loss.

Thousands of firms have been impacted by the breach.

Achi Lewis, Area VP EMEA for Absolute Software, commented: “Prevention of cyber-attacks is always the preference, but supply chains add additional risk to an organisation’s cyber protections, providing threat actors with an extra way in beyond internal defences. Supply chain attacks can be a lucrative attack method for cybercriminals due to the knock-on impact a breach can have on multiple targets and represents an area of risk that organisations must factor into detection and prevention strategies.”

“The MOVEit attack highlights once again the ongoing threat of ransomware and the need for organisations to ensure not only cyber resiliency, but the capacity to avoid downtime and repair critical IT systems. Utilising remote controls can enable centralised teams to freeze, and shut off, compromised devices and applications to prevent further access to a network, while self-healing technology offers a means of repair.”

“Through self-healing technology, organisations can lock vulnerable devices, automatically updating core systems, including cyber protections, in order to help get back online quickly and safely. Ensuring ongoing protection against recurring attacks is an important step in recovery, allowing staff to continue operations while protected and preventing weeks, months, or even years, of continual system damage” Lewis continued.

A spokesperson from the National Cyber Security Centre, said: “We are working to fully understand UK impact following reports of a critical vulnerability affecting MOVEit Transfer software being exploited.”

“The NCSC strongly encourages organisations to take immediate action by following vendor best practice advice and applying the recommended security updates.”

TS Imagine, the leading global, cross-asset provider of trading, portfolio, and risk management solutions for financial institutions, is pleased to announce the following momentum indicators for fixed-income electronic trading.

Notable uptick in fixed-income electronic trading volumes and users

• TradeSmart Fixed Income EMS has seen exponential month over month growth in electronic bond trading volumes over the past 12 months, with average notional volume up sevenfold.
• Total electronic bond trading volumes via TradeSmart Fixed Income EMS surpassed $500 billion during the same period.
• TradeSmart Fixed Income EMS has seen a 300% increase in the number of users since the start of 2021, with over 500 traders at 45 firms now using the technology.

Expanded direct dealer connectivity

TradeSmart Fixed Income EMS users can connect directly with eight leading fixed-income dealers, with more dealer connections expected during the coming months. In addition to directly connecting to eight dealers, users can also access twenty venues via the TradeSmart Fixed Income EMS.

“All indicators point to an increase in the speed of adoption of electronic trading by sophisticated fixed-income investors,” said Rob Flatley, CEO of TS Imagine. “Fixed income traders have become acutely aware of the impact electronic trading can have on their individual performance and their company’s bottom line through transaction cost savings. It’s simple: when they trade electronically, their workflow and quality of life improves dramatically.”

New products and next-gen features

TradeSmart Fixed Income EMS has expanded its capacity to support the trading of additional fixed-income products, including: all cash and derivatives for Rates and Credit, Munis, Government Sponsored Entities (GSEs), Emerging Markets, and Money Markets. The ability to support the trading of Mortgages, Loans, CLOs, and Repos will be added during the coming months.

“We are pleased to support even more products as adoption of fixed income electronic trading continues to accelerate,” said Spencer Lee, Chief Markets Officer and Head of Fixed Income. “Challenging market conditions over the past two years have driven traders to seek out the best and most user-friendly technological solutions that allow them to cope with volatility and other unprecedented market dynamics.”

TS Imagine recently announced several next-generation features of its TradeSmart Fixed Income EMS, including Liquidity Snapshot, Liquidity Aggregator, Best Dealer Algo, Automated Leave Order Tracking, and E-mail Parser.

Phos by Ingenico, the global leader in software point-of-sale (SoftPoS) orchestration for businesses, has partnered with NatWest to launch their Tap to Pay solution for its payments service Tyl by NatWest on Android devices. 

NatWest, the leading UK bank that serves 19 million customers, has launched its Tap-to-Pay solution for a small cohort of Tyl by NatWest merchant customers, with plans to roll-out a full launch later this year.

The new Android solution will allow businesses to offer quick and seamless payments to their customers. Phos’ Tap to Pay solution uses its innovative SoftPoS technology to help merchants securely accept transactions using a mobile device, including debit and credit card payments as well as digital wallet transactions. 

This comes at minimal cost to merchants which can make use of the existing hardware they already own, rather than having to invest in costly traditional payment terminals. This supports small businesses to boost their sales potential by rapidly increasing the number of payment acceptance points and offering their customers more ways to pay.  

With consumer expectations around payment flexibility and convenience continuing to grow, SoftPoS solutions have rocketed in popularity among small and mid-sized merchants. By bringing its Tap to Pay solution to Android devices, Tyl by NatWest will enable customers to accept card payments in a secure and contactless fashion on any NFC-enabled Android smartphone or tablet.

Mike Elliff, CEO of Tyl by NatWest, said: “Our new Tap to Pay solution will give customers the flexibility to accept in-person payments on mobile, anytime, and anywhere. We want to help business owners use the power of technology to help them boost sales, simplify their payment processes and give their customers the very best experience. In Phos, we selected a partner that demonstrated the flexibility to work with Tyl and help us deliver a market-leading Tap to Pay solution that best meets the needs of our merchant customers.”

Brad Hyett, CEO of Phos by Ingenico, added: “Tyl by NatWest’s new Tap to Pay offering is a huge endorsement of our solution and the growing market potential for SoftPoS technology. We look forward to assisting them in deploying a solution to their customers nationwide and help their merchants keep pace with growing customer demand for fast, simple and contactless ways to pay.” 

Phos currently has 21 certified acquirer connections, as the fintech continues to expand globally. It plans to increase this number exponentially to satisfy the needs of tier-one providers and requirements across international markets. Additional acquiring certifications are currently in progress and will be announced this year.

Its latest partnership with Tyl by Natwest comes amid growing market interest in SoftPoS and Tap to Pay technology. Phos has recently been acquired by Ingenico, the global leader in payment acceptance solutions.

Global fintech SumUp has today announced the appointment of Hermione McKee as Chief Financial Officer, effective as of May.

On joining SumUp, McKee said: “I am excited to get going at SumUp - it’s an inspiring company and one which I have admired for some time. SumUp is a global leader with a strong track-record in delivering for merchants and the company mission is particularly compelling. SumUp’s range of products and solutions are time tested as well as profoundly popular on the market, and I relish the opportunity ahead of me.”

McKee joins from leading language learning platform Babbel, where she was CFO. McKee has also been CFO at game software company Wooga. Previously, she worked at HelloFresh, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Unilever. McKee is a graduate of the University of Canterbury and INSEAD.

Welcoming McKee to SumUp, co-founder Marc-Alexander Christ commented: “I’m delighted that Hermione has joined SumUp. We’re at an important point in our journey and her experience will be vital in our quest to continue to make business simple for merchants. As our product ecosystem continues to evolve and we expand as a company, her expertise will be all-important as we continue to provide merchants with all the tools they need to conduct business.”

SumUp was founded in 2012 to help small merchants start, run and grow their business through a fair, easy, and reliable payment solution. Today, its financial services Super App provides merchants with a free business account and card, an online store, and an invoicing solution, as well as in-person and remote payments seamlessly integrated with SumUp’s proprietary card terminals and point-of-sale registers. More than 4 million businesses ‒ from taxi drivers and coffee shop owners to large sports stadiums ‒ trust SumUp to deliver when it matters. 

SumUp’s team of over 3,000 people supports merchants in 35 countries worldwide. In recent years, SumUp has also expanded into point-of-sale solutions, and with the acquisitions of Goodtill, Tiller, and Fivestars, the company is rapidly expanding its footprint within the restaurant and retail sectors.

Landmark Information Group today announces a strategic partnership with B2B payment solutions provider Shieldpay, to instil certainty, confidence and simplicity in the conveyancing payments process for the benefit of conveyancers, house buyers and sellers alike.  

This partnership with Shieldpay creates a new path to transaction due diligence, decreasing the burden of administrative tasks for conveyancers, creating increased transparency throughout the conveyancing process and reducing the risk associated with managing and distributing funds.  

This announcement follows the launch of LandmarkConnect, a series of digital hubs aimed at integrating and streamlining the home buying and selling process across the whole industry, from estate agency and conveyancing to lending and valuations.  It extends the principle of increased digitalisation, risk mitigation and collaboration across the house-buying process to bring enhanced certainty, security, and speed for everyone involved. 

Shieldpay’s well-established digital platform, which has processed over $6.5bn transactions, will allow conveyancers with access to LandmarkConnect to have transparent and verifiable control of funds management at dates and times of their choosing. This brings a whole new opportunity for secure and pre-planned funds transfer, reducing the well-known administrative burdens and stress around completion days, as well as full financial and legal regulatory compliance.  

Robert Gurney, Managing Director of Ochresoft, a Landmark Information Group company, said: “It is no secret that the UK’s home moving process isn’t working well, and there are systemic challenges facing every property professional. Conveyancers in particular grapple with increased workload burdens due to ongoing compliance tasks, and lack of timely upfront information due to the challenges of connecting cross-industry stakeholders. This partnership with Shieldpay will considerably help speed up the home-moving transaction process by ensuring well prepared fund transfers to avoid unnecessary and time-consuming back and forth between lenders and conveyancers. More broadly, this is another vital step in the ongoing evolution of the LandmarkConnect offering and our vision to improve the whole of the home moving market for everyone involved.”

Claire Van der Zant, Director of Strategic Partnerships from Shieldpay said: “The heart of the Shieldpay mission is to disrupt the high-value, complex payments ecosystem with simple, seamless and secure solutions for the transactions that matter the most. The opportunity to work with Landmark Information Group in facilitating a fast, transparent and safe conveyancing solution is exciting from a payment innovation perspective, particularly because this partnership aims to bring the entire industry together to make the home moving process more efficient. Conveyancing is complex. Landmark’s approach to bring every part of the process together to drive change is paving the way for meaningful and lasting industry change.”

Amplifi Capital (U.K.) Limited, the fintech disruptor behind the brands My Community Finance and Reevo Money, has secured £50m in debt funding from M&G plc.

Amplifi Capital’s technology has revolutionised the credit union sector in the UK. As a credit broker, it has helped credit unions to issue savings and loan products to over 100,000 customers in the UK with a total loan book of over £350,000,000.

Since its launch in 2018, Amplifi Capital’s innovative fintech platform, My Community Finance, has collaborated with two of the fastest-growing credit unions in the UK, helping thousands of credit union customers with its superior technology platform.

The support from M&G is a pivotal moment for Amplifi Capital because its primary objective as a credit broker is to facilitate access to credit products to the estimated 20 million consumers in the UK that are underserved and unable to access credit from high-street banks.

The backing of M&G means Amplifi Capital can support the growth of credit unions in the UK, making them a viable alternative for savers and borrowers, empowering more consumers by providing access to affordable credit products, which in the future will include credit cards and car loans that are often out of reach for many underserved households.

Vincent Charles-Gervais, ABS portfolio manager, M&G Investments, said: "M&G is pleased to have supported Amplifi Capital's mission to provide affordable credit to underserved communities in the UK. We firmly believe that Amplifi Capital's innovative credit approach will have a significant influence on the credit union sector in the UK, and we eagerly anticipate the company's ongoing success."

Tobias Gruber, CEO of Amplifi Capital (U.K.) Limited said: "We’re thrilled to receive the backing of M&G as we continue to expand our operations and enhance our product offerings. With this investment, we will extend our support of the credit union sector in the UK, helping it to reach its full potential."