TrueLayer today announces its Payments Platform Programme, a comprehensive partner programme that brings together players across the payments ecosystem and pushes open banking payments to thousands more merchants across the globe.

Partners who have already joined the programme include Stripe, Thunes, Nuvei and Airwallex.

The programme will give payments platforms access to TrueLayer’s full suite of APIs, integration tools and specialist support. Partners will be able to offer TrueLayer’s instant payments, payouts, and data capabilities to their customers across 20+ markets.

For merchants, this will make accepting instant bank payments quicker and easier, enabling them to seamlessly integrate through their existing provider. That’s as well as using TrueLayer’s existing plugins with platforms such as Magento, Shopify and WooCommerce.

Today’s announcement follows several recent TrueLayer partnerships. TrueLayer recently onboarded UK retailer Topps Tiles, which is now using open banking as a payment method both online and in its brick-and-mortar stores. Credit management app Incredible chose TrueLayer to reduce the risk of borrowing with variable recurring payments (VRPs). And in November, it teamed up with cryptocurrency giant Coinbase to enable Easy Bank Transfers — fast and secure in-app deposits.

The news also comes after TrueLayer released Signup+ in January, streamlining customer onboarding using open banking APIs, and an industry-first partnership with Natwest to provide VRPs as a payment option.

The open banking industry is now worth over £4 billion to the UK economy, and surpassed 7 million active users in January. Open banking payments have more than doubled year on year in the UK reaching 9 million transactions in April, with TrueLayer driving almost 40% of that growth. TrueLayer processes more than 30% of all open banking traffic in the UK and several European countries including Ireland, Spain and France.

Commenting, TrueLayer CEO and Co-Founder Francesco Simoneschi said:

“Our goal is to make it as convenient as possible for both merchants and consumers to access our payments network.

“Our Payments Platform Programme enables us to do just that. By partnering with major payment platforms, we are making it easier and quicker to integrate open banking payments into websites, apps and even in-store.

“Today’s announcement means that TrueLayer’s products and services will be available via a selection of best-in-class payment platforms servicing different verticals and business needs. And means everyone can benefit from safer, smarter and faster payments. The network we are building will power the next decade of payments.”

Commenting, Airwallex Head of Sales, Enterprise, EMEA, Ryan O’Holleran said:

“We selected TrueLayer for its coverage and world-class open banking technology to further support our global customer base.

“Our integration will benefit our clients by providing them with the most innovative modern infrastructure to enable businesses of all sizes to grow beyond borders.”

Commenting, Thunes Managing Director, Christophe Bourbier said:

“At Thunes we are really excited about this new value proposition that we will be able to offer to our extensive network of merchants and partners.

“Open banking payments are gaining momentum not only in the UK but also in the rest of Europe, and we really believe that this strong partnership with TrueLayer, a leader in the field, will help to move forward and make this new definition of smart payment a reality for all.”

Capital.com, the high-growth global online trading platform, has today announced a number of significant enhancements to its trading app. With a focus on providing an exceptional user experience to help clients trade with confidence, Capital.com introduces the ability for clients to customise their homescreens in line with their preferences, leverage a range of dynamic widgets to save time and access efficient pricing for greater transparency. 

Dana Massey, Chief Product Officer, Capital.com, said:

"The new personalised homescreen interface enables our clients to easily see the day's top and trending stories, seamlessly switch between accounts and keep an eye on their favourite markets. By making the homescreen more customisable,  our clients can conveniently access the information they need without navigating away from their page, saving them time and enabling them to focus on making strategic trading decisions. This update to the Capital.com platform is part of our commitment to harness technology to help our clients make better, faster decisions under pressure.”

Key features of the update include:

Personalised Homescreen: Clients can now curate content on their homescreens based on their preferences.  Clients can add, remove and reorder their content the way they want, while the introduction of new dynamic banners will help clients to easily track their trading journeys from registration to exploring markets. The personalised homescreen will also include a summary of a client's individual current trading status and account balance, while prominently displayed ‘account’ tabs will allow clients to easily navigate between multiple accounts.

Dynamic Widgets: Capital.com introduces an array of new widgets that clients can add to their homescreens, providing quick access to relevant data and tools. These widgets include real-time market updates, personalised watchlists, education resources, financial news feeds, and more. With these widgets, clients can seamlessly navigate between their homescreen and other sections of the platform, or trade directly from the news articles or watchlist, saving them valuable time. 

Volume-Weighted Average Prices (VWAP): Capital.com introduces a new feature designed to provide greater price transparency for clients who trade large volumes. The VWAP feature calculates the average price of a security over a specified period, taking into account both the trading volume and the prices at which trades were executed during that period. This enables clients who trade large volumes to see the depth of the order book and get a more accurate picture of the true market price of a security.

These new platform features are available to all Capital.com clients who trade Contracts for Difference (CFDs) and spread bet (applicable to the UK only) on the platform. They are accessible via the trading interface on mobile formats.

Jack Henry™ announced today that Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution (SBSI), a mutual savings bank founded in 1827, selected Jack Henry to modernize its technology infrastructure and grow small business banking.

The $1.3 billion-asset bank was looking for a forward-looking technology provider that offered best-in-class solutions for all areas of the bank; it wanted to improve integration and automation, while providing customers with a wide array of banking services. To reach their goals, SBSI invested in a full suite of Jack Henry products including core processing, digital banking, lending, payments, and cash management solutions. The bank appreciates Jack Henry’s technology modernization strategy, which redefines traditional core processing by unbundling services and making them easily available as standalone modules in a public cloud.

Bob Quentin, CEO at SBSI, said, “As a mutual organization, we are keenly focused on providing financial services that meet the ever-changing needs of our customers and communities, while also facilitating a rewarding work environment for our employees. We knew Jack Henry was the right choice for our technology plans after hearing accolades from peers, seeing their open and scalable platform in action and learning about their commitment to bringing their solutions to the public cloud. What they are building is different from other vendors; they will drive our efficiencies while celebrating our high-touch approach. This puts us in the best position to take on the future.”

SBSI’s strong retail practice is complemented by a steadily growing small businesses market, with a particular focus in the hospitality sector. The bank is focused on growing small business banking capabilities and expanding their commercial loan portfolio. Quentin adds, “Jack Henry’s flexible cash management and lending solutions will equip our business customers with the tools they need to thrive, while improving efficiency, customer service, regulatory compliance, and keeping us competitive in the marketplace for future growth.”

Stacey Zengel, senior vice president of Jack Henry and president of Bank Solutions, said, “Historic community banks like SBSI want to preserve their culture and community approach while keeping up with the evolving demands of their accountholders and continuing to grow. Jack Henry’s innovative approach to technology, paired with our commitment to deliver solutions fitted for each institution’s needs, will help position SBSI as a leader in their community for another 200 years.”

fumopay announces today that it has successfully closed its first seed-funding round from three highly accomplished FinTech private investors. This round of financing enables the brand to further develop its launch plan, rooted in financial social impact.

The brand intends to accelerate its sales and communications strategy to elevate its organic growth since its inception in 2021. With a keen eye on helping SMEs improve their cash flow and reduce operational costs, the fumopay multi-channel payment solution brings immediate benefits to this sector.

fumopay Founder and CEO, Kevin Ludford says “The most important aspect of this raise is that we’ve been joined by highly experienced payment & FinTech investors with proven track records. They are aligned with our growth ambition and equally, bring a wealth of experience and added value to our business.”

One of the three esteemed investors, Matthew Bruton, says “The exciting thing for any business is when they have the ability to enable large scale disruptive change to global multi trillion dollar markets. There are few occasions that these types of investment opportunities occur, fumopay is one of them.”

fumopay was developed in-house as an API payment platform to support multiple payment use cases via a common user experience. It can be added as a payment option for e-commerce businesses allowing their consumers quick and frictionless online settlement without requiring them to divulge any sensitive data, eliminating the fraud related to sharing card details.

For in-store payments, fumopay has a customisable QR code feature – or API for EPOS integration – speeding up payments for both parties and again, eliminating the laborious and risky barriers of sharing card data. For in-app purchases or remote-based payments, the fumopay platform is also designed to be white-labelled to support organisations that simply want to add payment processes to their services.

Matthew Bruton goes on to say, “fumopay is uniquely positioned to deliver change in the merchant payments space and become the market leader. The raise will enable the team and the technology to start rapidly scaling the services to merchants and enterprise clients across the country and beyond. We’ve seen payments in the UK go through a first wave of change, digitisation of the existing services. Now the second phase is just beginning with bank-to-bank instant payments, completely transforming the way we pay.”

With their recent XERO partnership announcement, fumopay is constantly looking at how it further supports the SME community by providing them with a platform that enables them to receive instant invoice settlements and allowing them seamless and quick payment reconciliations, taking out the need for laborious monthly remittance.

Reflecting on the journey to date, Kevin says “It’s been an exciting journey to reach this important milestone. We’ve learned so much along the way as the Open Banking sector continues to evolve. We have a very clear focus and direction on the next stage of growth and with the combined experience of our new payment sector investors, we look forward to expanding and scaling our proposition.”

"Artificial Intelligence Business Incubator" is the international incubation program promoted by Sella and implemented by its Venture Incubator dpixel with the support of the Fintech District, which aims to support the initial phase (pre-seed) of startups, researchers, entrepreneurial teams, university spin-offs, companies and the most innovative projects in the field of artificial intelligence applied to finance.

The program

Artificial Intelligence Business Incubator is a one-of-a-kind program. In addition to the incubation process – with its one-to-one mentoring cycle and masterclasses for business consolidation – it will offer the opportunity to develop the selected projects within Banca Sella and together with the Group companies most in line with the solutions identified, providing innovative tools and networking in order to increase market opportunities. The program will also allow access to the skills and support of professionals, entrepreneurs and founders belonging to Fintech District, the open ecosystem that promotes and guides innovation within the Italian fintech community.

Areas and projects

The aim of the program is to research Italian and international projects that develop solutions applicable to banking and financial processes and products, based on technologies such as deep learning, machine learning, generative models and synthetic data. These include financial prediction, automated coding, predictive analytics, document processing, custom finance, direct lending, market research, compliance and fraud detection, and credit scoring, among others.

The program, step by step

The initiative is divided into 4 phases into a period of 7 months. The first involves the collection of the applications followed by the scouting & selection phase during which a committee composed of experts from dpixel, Banca Sella and the Fintech District, will select the 10 projects that will access the incubation program. The third phase is the so-called "sprint period" which consists of participation in masterclasses, individual mentorship sessions and technical advice. During the "demo day", the presentation and entry of the 10 projects into the Sella Group's innovation ecosystem is scheduled for November, with the possibility of access to vertical communities, investments, acceleration programs, investor days and matchmaking with companies.

"Artificial Intelligence Business Incubator is a global initiative that aims to develop concrete solutions through the convergence of talent, innovation and AI – said Andrea Tessera, Chief Innovation Officer of Banca Sella -. To realize the potential of synergy between teams and AI applications, the program brings together the skills of the Sella group, offering the most promising projects in Italy and abroad an unprecedented program, which goes beyond incubation, to shape the present and direct the future".

Nutanix has announced that Hamburger Pensionsverwaltung (HAPEV) has deployed Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) to, in just a few weeks, successfully complete the rollout of a new cloud-native customer platform on AWS. In doing so, the organization, one of the largest service and consulting companies for occupational pension plans in Germany, is demonstrating its innovative strength and sustainably advancing its plans for a hybrid multicloud IT infrastructure on its own terms.

Nutanix Cloud Clusters gave the company the advantage of meeting a wide range of requirements with a single solution. HAPEV developed a new business-critical customer platform and used cloud-native container technology hosted by AWS for this purpose. Some time ago, the Hamburg-based company migrated its on-premises data center to a more agile, scalable and easily managed hyper-converged infrastructure using Nutanix Cloud Platform and the AHV hypervisor.

In order to ensure the timely implementation of the new customer platform, HAPEV planned to first move essential support services from its on-premise datacentre to the same AWS environment. As a result, changes and updates to the code would have been necessary, as well as the development of expertise in the areas of management, support and development. With their experience as a specialist in hybrid multicloud computing, Nutanix convinced the team at HAPEV to look at a different solution. By choosing Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2), they were able to effortlessly move on-premises virtual workloads to the public cloud unchanged on an NC2 cluster with AHV as the hypervisor. Instead of investing months, the completion was now in weeks and it was possible to manage the project using the same Prism console as for their own on-premises platform.

"We considered the solution a real game changer and we were not disappointed," said Keven Hamann, IT Solution Architect, HAPEV. “Following an intense proof of concept trial, it took a few weeks to move all the workloads across with no need to re-architect or make any significant changes. In terms of performance, too, Nutanix Cloud Clusters met our expectations. Combined with Nutanix's support, this made the whole project remarkably easy and stress free.” The team working with Hamann treats NC2 on AWS just like any other Nutanix cluster. This allows for the management to remain within the small IT team and the same Prism interface as the on-premises environment.

Although the central motivator behind the decision, seamless migration of existing workloads wasn’t the only reason for buying into Nutanix Cloud Clusters. HAPEV also took the opportunity to add much-needed resiliency and disaster recovery capabilities to their remaining on-premise infrastructure, again at minimal cost and no need for re-skilling. "Our backup and DR capabilities are now at a new level, providing maximum protection for all of our mission-critical applications," Hamann added.

Downtime is no longer a concern as using the tools and technologies included in the Nutanix software stack, HAPEV has been able to implement a much more robust data protection strategy. A strategy that includes replicating workloads across both its on-premise datacentre and AWS and automating failover and failback processes for complete peace of mind, again, all managed from the same integrated Nutanix Prism console.

Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) is available for use with AWS globally and with Azure in North America and several European countries – with more Azure regions to follow. 

A release on Azure would also provide HAPEV with additional opportunities to further spread risk and make platform choices based on the workload – still deployed and managed from the same Nutanix console.

That’s an approach echoed and applauded by Peter Goldbrunner, Vice President & General Manager Central Europe at Nutanix.

“On behalf of customers like HAPEV, we have always worked to make IT so simple that it's invisible,” Peter commented. “Moreover, as the industry has evolved, our focus has inevitably expanded beyond the datacentre to help those customers manage the complexity of multiple clouds, whether private or public. Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) is the latest realisation of that vision, enabling complete flexibility for businesses to write code once and use it anywhere as well as taking full advantage of scale, integration, and pricing of multiple options no matter where located. It’s the true vision of the hybrid multicloud approach.”

Nutanix has announced that Hamburger Pensionsverwaltung (HAPEV) has deployed Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) to, in just a few weeks, successfully complete the rollout of a new cloud-native customer platform on AWS. In doing so, the organization, one of the largest service and consulting companies for occupational pension plans in Germany, is demonstrating its innovative strength and sustainably advancing its plans for a hybrid multicloud IT infrastructure on its own terms.

Nutanix Cloud Clusters gave the company the advantage of meeting a wide range of requirements with a single solution. HAPEV developed a new business-critical customer platform and used cloud-native container technology hosted by AWS for this purpose. Some time ago, the Hamburg-based company migrated its on-premises data center to a more agile, scalable and easily managed hyper-converged infrastructure using Nutanix Cloud Platform and the AHV hypervisor.

In order to ensure the timely implementation of the new customer platform, HAPEV planned to first move essential support services from its on-premise datacentre to the same AWS environment. As a result, changes and updates to the code would have been necessary, as well as the development of expertise in the areas of management, support and development. With their experience as a specialist in hybrid multicloud computing, Nutanix convinced the team at HAPEV to look at a different solution. By choosing Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2), they were able to effortlessly move on-premises virtual workloads to the public cloud unchanged on an NC2 cluster with AHV as the hypervisor. Instead of investing months, the completion was now in weeks and it was possible to manage the project using the same Prism console as for their own on-premises platform.

"We considered the solution a real game changer and we were not disappointed," said Keven Hamann, IT Solution Architect, HAPEV. “Following an intense proof of concept trial, it took a few weeks to move all the workloads across with no need to re-architect or make any significant changes. In terms of performance, too, Nutanix Cloud Clusters met our expectations. Combined with Nutanix's support, this made the whole project remarkably easy and stress free.” The team working with Hamann treats NC2 on AWS just like any other Nutanix cluster. This allows for the management to remain within the small IT team and the same Prism interface as the on-premises environment.

Although the central motivator behind the decision, seamless migration of existing workloads wasn’t the only reason for buying into Nutanix Cloud Clusters. HAPEV also took the opportunity to add much needed resiliency and disaster recovery capabilities to their remaining on-premise infrastructure, again at minimal cost and no need for re-skilling. "Our backup and DR capabilities are now at a new level, providing maximum protection for all of our mission-critical applications," Hamann added.

Downtime is no longer a concern as using the tools and technologies included in the Nutanix software stack, HAPEV has been able to implement a much more robust data protection strategy. A strategy that includes replicating workloads across both its on-premise datacentre and AWS and automating failover and failback processes for complete peace of mind, again, all managed from the same integrated Nutanix Prism console.

Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) is available for use with AWS globally and with Azure in North America and several European countries – with more Azure regions to follow. 

A release on Azure would also provide HAPEV with additional opportunities to further spread risk and make platform choices based on the workload – still deployed and managed from the same Nutanix console.

That’s an approach echoed and applauded by Peter Goldbrunner, Vice President & General Manager Central Europe at Nutanix.

“On behalf of customers like HAPEV, we have always worked to make IT so simple that it's invisible,” Peter commented. “Moreover, as the industry has evolved, our focus has inevitably expanded beyond the datacentre to help those customers manage the complexity of multiple clouds, whether private or public. Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) is the latest realisation of that vision, enabling complete flexibility for businesses to write code once and use it anywhere as well as taking full advantage of scale, integration, and pricing of multiple options no matter where located. It’s the true vision of the hybrid multicloud approach.”

Bybit, the world's third most visited crypto exchange, has announced a strategic partnership with the leading global business district, the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) to accelerate the mass adoption of crypto in Dubai and deliver on its promise of investing in the Web3 ecosystem in the emirate. The collaboration will see Bybit become an official Ecosystem Partner for the DMCC Crypto Centre, the largest concentration of crypto and Web3 businesses in the MENA region.

Bybit and DMCC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support the growth of the crypto community in the region. The agreement follows the unveiling of Bybit's global headquarters in Dubai on April 17 when it alluded to further localization efforts in the region.

The MOU includes Bybit's pledge of financial support in the amount of AED 500,000 to kickstart the growth journeys of 15 new Web3 companies at the DMCC Crypto Centre. To qualify for this opportunity, start-ups must successfully pass the standard compliance and due diligence checks required by DMCC.

Bybit will also serve as DMCC's crypto listing partner and assist in other blockchain-related projects. The exchange will play an active advisory and guidance role at the DMCC Crypto Centre, sharing first-hand insights and technical know-how to help young projects succeed and get listed on the Bybit platform. Currently on the roadmap are two hackathons in the DMCC's crypto and gaming centers. These hackathons will convene developers, entrepreneurs, and industry experts to collaborate and foster ground-breaking ideas to shape the crypto and Web3 industries.

The DMCC Crypto Centre will provide Bybit with another avenue for collaboration with innovative crypto and Web3 entrepreneurs and founders. Bybit will also contribute to the Centre's efforts in knowledge sharing and capacity building in the digital economy through webinars, curated courses, educational content, and awareness campaigns. As the world's "Crypto Ark," Bybit will be available to DMCC Crypto Centre members' companies where appropriate to help them bring their ambitions to fruition.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive of DMCC, said: "Dubai has truly cemented its position as a global hub for crypto and Web3, with the DMCC Crypto Centre boasting the highest concentration of crypto firms in the region. This status has only been bolstered by Bybit's presence in the emirate, so we are excited to have them on board as an official Ecosystem Partner. Thanks to Bybit's industry-leading expertise and financial contribution, this partnership will see the acceleration of the impact that Dubai's game-changing crypto and Web3 businesses are having on the industry."

The MOU underpins the partners' shared vision to develop a vibrant hub of blockchain-based activity and connectivity. It also gives Bybit access to the broad membership of DMCC as an Ecosystem Partner, which includes technology partners, government bodies, investors, incubators/accelerators, and service providers.
 

"We are delighted to be partnering with such a prestigious organization as the DMCC," said Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit. "We are committed to enriching the Web3 ecosystem on our journey to become the world's 'Crypto Ark' and want to do our part in advancing innovation and competition in the digital economy. We look forward to bringing our own brand of next-level opportunities to the UAE's burgeoning crypto community."​​

"Congratulations to the partnership. I am very pleased to have a part in this momentous partnership between Bybit and DMCC. This partnership is a classic example of what Web3 collaboration and support looks like. I'm excited to see how this partnership will add value to the web3 ecosystem. My core focus has always been to enrich and interconnect the Web3 ecosystem in the UAE and will continue to give my support by leveraging our immediate network," said Feras Al Sadek, Managing Partner, Ghaf Capital Partner & Ghaf Labs.

Monika Liikamaa, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Enfuce, says: “Enfuce exists to relieve pain from payments globally and make life flow more easily, and our brand evolution underscores that renewed purpose. With our ability to create unique use cases, fewer complications and frustrations when trying to make purchases, we create happier customers and stronger revenues for our clients. Our new brand captures these moments of joy and serves as an ongoing promise to our customers thatEnfuce is truly where happiness is delivered. Our unwavering commitment to improving financial inclusion ensures that the solutions that we are putting out into the marketplace are beneficial, not only for businesses and consumers, but also wider society. That is very genuine and heartfelt in terms of where the business is coming from, and is a key element informing our rebranding.”

Denise Johansson, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Enfuce, says: “The timing simply felt right to evolve the Enfuce brand. Our growth and evolution as a business needed to be reflected in a tangible way. Enfuce is where happiness is built-in, and delivered to the world, one payment solution at a time and our brand needed to reflect that. When businesses work with us, they can be confident of getting the very best strategic expertise, compliance strengths, and unmatched levels of customer support. That is at the heart of everything we do, and is the core of our new identity and brand purpose.”

Vanessa Schotes, Chief Marketing Officer of Enfuce, says: “Our brand evolution embodies our vision to bring the brightest minds and the best technology together so that we can exceed customer and industry expectations. Our brand strategy development process reaffirmed that what customers love about Enfuce is our entrepreneurial spirit, the trust and confidence we inspire in them, and our strategic collaborative partnership approach. The challenge was to bring these things to life with a captivating visual identity and a new logo that embodies the feeling of Enfuce in one elegant package. We went beyond just “putting a new coat of paint on” and really dove into what our customers, partners, stakeholders and internal teams see as the very best elements of Enfuce and worked with an agency to help bring our new identity boldly to life.´

Andrew O’Sullivan, EMEA Creative Director of Transmission: It's one thing to say you want to differentiate as a brand, but to commit to brave thinking and then execute on it is what we all as marketers should be seeing as best practice. Enfuce has allowed us to push them, and the work we are creating together is a great example of why allowing for creativity and pushing boundaries pays off.”