Sylq, the French e-payments leader, and ThetaRay, a leading provider of AI-powered transaction monitoring technology, today announced a new collaboration to implement high-performance AI transaction monitoring and automated customer screening to support company growth. 

Sylq acquired ThetaRay’s newly released AI customer screening solution to boost its unique, fully digital onboarding process for KYB (Know Your Business) and KYC (Know Your Customer). ThetaRay’s API-driven and AI-based solution enables Sylq to introduce high automation to monitor transactions and screen merchants against sanctions lists, watchlists and third-party databases such as politically exposed persons (PEP) and adverse media. 

Sylq is the first European all-in-one merchant payment platform, the result of the merger of French payment leader Synalcom with innovative payment fintech Qori. The company provides businesses with a unique integrated payments offering, from the terminal supply with 24/7 support services to payment processing services supporting card payments, open banking payments and crypto to fiat transactions on any payment terminal or Android and iOS device, while also enabling remote and online payments. 

“We are on a mission to simplify business for French and European merchants by revolutionizing the payment offering. One of our core objectives is to achieve a highly scalable end-to-end process to screen customer identity as well as transactions,” said Daniel Maurice-Vallerey, CEO of Sylq. “ThetaRay’s sophisticated SaaS screening and transaction monitoring solution embeds a pre-built infrastructure that helps us optimize our workflow. The cloud-based architecture enables easy scalability as our business grows.” 

“We are excited to announce our partnership with a leading European payment provider that is revolutionizing digital financial services, driving business growth, and fostering increased competition," said Mark Gazit, CEO of ThetaRay. "With our  advanced  AI and machine learning technology, payment fintechs can instill trust in new financial partners by safeguarding their networks against money laundering and other financial crimes, while improving customer experience and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements."

Global information and insights company TransUnion is working with personal credit platform Monevo and incuto – a fintech for social good – to offer UK consumers improved access to credit and a broader range of affordable credit products.

This joint initiative helps credit unions and community development finance institutions to offer their products to a wider audience via comparison websites, increasing competitiveness in the credit space and promoting financial inclusion.

It also aligns with consumer preferences, as the majority (58%) of UK consumers who check their eligibility for finance before applying for credit products rely on price comparison platforms as their main go-to source for credit options.

James Robinson, managing director of consumer interactive at TransUnion in the UK, said: “In line with TransUnion's mission of using information for good, our work with Monevo and incuto marks an important step forward for the industry, driving broader access to credit for UK consumers. We’re happy to support credit unions and community development finance institutions in harnessing data and insights to enhance consumers’ financial wellbeing and foster a more inclusive financial landscape."

Importantly for incuto and its customers, the power of the Monevo technology allows product updates to be implemented within seconds, meaning the offers shown to consumers are real rates which they are eligible for.

Dawn Wood, Monevo UK territory director, said: "Monevo, incuto and TransUnion share the same mission of good customer outcomes. This partnership ensures credit unions and community bank offerings are available to consumers on credit comparison websites. The Monevo technology bridges the gap between these institutions and consumers seeking affordable credit solutions, ultimately driving financial inclusion."

This exciting new collaboration brings together the unique capabilities of each partner: TransUnion provides comprehensive credit data, incuto enables community lenders to reach more potential customers, while Monevo helps them to host, manage and distribute their credit offers.

Andrew Rabbitt, CEO of incuto, added: "We’re committed to providing community lenders with all the necessary tools and technology to thrive in a competitive financial landscape, connecting more people with affordable finance products. We think it's crucial that credit unions are presented on credit comparison websites sites, allowing consumers to have better choices when looking for a suitable credit product."

On Friday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), in collaboration with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC), held an invitation-only conference in Sydney for participants in the Australian Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot project. In a live demonstration, Monoova’s CTO Nicholas Tan, successfully completed the first real-world, cross-border settlement using the pilot CBDC.

The pilot was established last year to explore potential use cases and economic benefits of a CBDC in Australia. From 142 industry submissions by banks, fintechs and payments companies, 14 use cases were announced by the RBA in March.

Monoova’s use case explores cross-border settlement and custody. The trial has been established with an existing FX client, NexPay, a specialist provider of inbound remittance services for international students in the $30 billion education market. 

As part of the live demonstration, the conference participants witnessed the settlement of the domestic leg of an inbound FX remittance payment.  

The AUD payment to NexPay, from a client in Japan, was settled by Monoova to NexPay’s pilot CBDC wallet providing irrefutable proof of balance of the $25,000 payment backed by the RBA. This step, which represented the domestic leg of the transaction, was the first use of the pilot CBDC to settle a real-world, cross-border payment.

“We have been running our use case on a pilot ecosystem blockchain to demonstrate the value we can deliver to our clients,” explained Tim Stanley, Head of Product, Monoova. “We’re incredibly proud to have been part of the project pioneering the use of CBDC in Australia.”

“The trial enables us to identify potential opportunities to improve the transparency and speed, and minimise the counterparty risks, of FX transactions into Australia,” Stanley said. “We see enormous value in increasing our exposure to blockchain technologies, in contributing to the research process and in demonstrating our commitment to innovation and thought leadership across the payments industry worldwide.

“For example, a Monoova FX client may need to disburse U.S. dollars into Australia. Normally, to complete this process, a client would exchange U.S. dollars for fiat Australian dollars, with Monoova working with a banking partner to complete the payout or holding the funds on account until the client issues disbursement instructions.”

Under the CBDC pilot, instead of providing fiat Australian dollars in a balance in its platform, Monoova provides clients with Australian dollars in pilot CBDC on its platform.

“This enables us to settle instantly for any funds that come to Australia. Clients can independently verify account balances on the blockchain rather than rely on reporting from intermediaries, and if clients need to hold money for a period of time before making disbursements, they can do so without counterparty risk,” Stanley said.

Piew Yap, CEO, NexPay commented: “Our collaboration with Monoova in this pioneering CBDC trial has allowed us to delve into the immense potential of blockchain technology for international education remittance payments. The ability to transfer and track CBDC balances via the Monoova platform enhances security and transparency, which is vital for the high-volume settlements that NexPay manages into Australia. This innovative use of the eAUD signals a transformative shift in cross-border transactions.”

While the RBA has not made a decision on whether to issue a CBDC, there is excitement about the opportunities the initiative presents to Monoova. 

Stanley concluded: “A CBDC opens up new horizons for us. We can minimise counterparty risk at scale in trust-based use cases in regulated industries and undertake FX more efficiently and transparently than with international SWIFT payment rails where money goes through a number of intermediary banks. More broadly, we can stay ahead of the curve on payment innovation.”

“With OCR Labs we set out to develop an identity verification solution, from scratch. The birth of IDVerse means we’re now ready to go to the next level to make user verification effortless with Zero Bias AI™,” said John Myers, CEO at OCR Labs.

“Our diversity of background, skills, and experience allows us to build the future of identity verification – a single point of access for everything your customers want to do online, across all devices, everywhere in the world they happen to be.”

“As the world evolves into a digital future, IDVerse is the most universal, diverse and secure solution to identity verification, and we’re on a mission to make the digital future secure and accessible for everyone, from everywhere in the world, anytime as needed,” says Myers.

• Diversity – proprietary Zero Bias™ AI guarantees that each individual is seen for who they are, regardless of the shape or color of their face, is recognized with 99.99% confidence, 0% bias. IDVerse sees more of what makes us human, to create an online identity that is reliable, real and trustworthy. 

• Universality – with a single point of access, the 100% purpose-built AI solutions make the IDV frictionless, secure point of entry to the digital space for everything customers want to do online, across all devices, regardless of geographic boundary.

• Versatility – Powered by AI, IDVerse is built to respond and adapt nimbly. There is no once-and-for-all for IDVerse; whenever threats arise, we are ready to react and rise to challenges, always staying a step ahead with identity intelligence in motion.  

Mangopay, the platform-specific payment infrastructure provider, announces the appointment of Michal Jedraszak as Chief of Staff. In this newly created position, Michal Jedraszak will oversee project management and governance, and drive cross-functional initiatives. Michal will also work closely with the C-suite to develop and implement strategic plans to support Mangopay's global growth. 

Michal’s appointment reflects Mangopay's continued momentum and global expansion ambitions, which was further strengthened by the recent acquisition of payment orchestration fintech WhenThen in March 2023. 

With over 10 years of experience in the financial industry, Michal has a proven track record of managing and scaling fintech companies and projects across European markets. He will be responsible for planning and implementing strategic plans to drive Mangopay’s growth and overseeing the company’s project portfolio's performance. Reporting directly to Mangopay’s CEO, Romain Mazeries, Michal will serve as a liaison between the CEO and other executives.  

Based in Paris, Michal Jedraszak, who is 31 years old and a native of Warsaw, Poland, holds a master's degree in engineering from Imperial College London. Prior to joining Mangopay, he led the international expansion of Moss, a German fintech specializing in expense management automation. Before that, Michal served as CEO of Straal, an international payment optimization and fraud prevention solutions provider. He also worked for Boston Consulting Group as a consultant for four years, serving clients in various sectors, including financial services, technology, retail, and industrial goods. 

Romain Mazeries, CEO, Mangopay, says: “We’ve started 2023 really strongly with our second acquisition in 4 months. Building a world-class payment company for platforms and marketplaces is no small task and has its own unique set of challenges, which we need talented people to help us achieve our objectives. As a former CEO and advisor for fintech companies, Michal will be a key asset in supporting our growth, structuration, and coordination plans. We are excited to have him join us as we look forward to continuing our successful trajectory and delivering value for our customers and stakeholders." 

"I am thrilled to be joining Mangopay at such an exciting time”, said Michal Jedraszak, Chief of Staff, Mangopay. The company has already achieved great success in the payments infrastructure space, and I am looking forward to working with the team to build on that success and help drive the company's growth and expansion forward. I am eager to collaborate with the C-suite and other executives to develop and implement strategic plans, optimize resource allocation, and facilitate effective communication and collaboration across departments and teams.” 

Mia-FinTech, the fintech startup that enables banking and financial institutions to evolve towards open finance, and Mambu, a leading cloud banking platform, embark on a new partnership to accelerate the delivery of digital financial products and services.  

A combination of Mambu’s SaaS, API-driven technology with Mia-FinTech’s open, composable and modular platform will be available to financial organisations seeking ways to introduce digitized customer solutions. Mia-Fintech will act as a system integrator, providing an orchestration layer to underpin Mambu’s cloud banking platform.  

Victor Indiano, Mambu’s Commercial Manager, said: “To compete in today’s fast-paced landscape, financial organizations need a modern technology infrastructure that scales with them. The composable approach to banking that Mia-FinTech and Mambu provide ensures our joint customers don’t outgrow tech stacks and can instead seamlessly build the digital solutions that customers demand.  

“With Mia-Fintech’s expertise in system integration, cloud infrastructure and kubernetes management, and our core banking engine, we are teaming up to accelerate change for the financial sector.” 

Launched in 2022 as a vertical solution under Mia-Platform, an end-to-end platform builder that allows businesses to build modern cloud-native applications, Mia-FinTech is focused on working with partners such as Mambu in developing capabilities and solutions specifically for the financial market.  

Mambu works with customers around the globe, including Western Union, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Bank Islam and BancoEstado, to provide a SaaS platform built specifically for cloud banking. 

To be competitive in today’s market and to generate value and revenue for stakeholders, companies need to be flexible and responsive to change. While, on the one hand, digital transformation has enabled the creation of increasingly advanced, resilient, and adaptable software architectures and IT services, it is important for businesses to acquire the tools to take advantage of these capabilities. 

The composable approach offers flexibility in IT organizations and businesses. The system design principle provides software components that can be reused and assembled in various combinations to meet specific user requirements.  

“We strongly believe that collaboration is key to success, and this is especially true in the financial world. Banking and financial institutions are increasingly relying on cooperation with multiple partners to drastically reduce delivery cost and time to market for new digital products. Thanks to the composable approach fostered by Mia-FinTech and Mambu, our customers can accelerate digital transformations and create new digital solutions,” comments Bruno Natoli, CEO at Mia-FinTech.  

Bibby Asset Finance, the asset finance division of Bibby Financial Services (BFS), has announced a new senior hire in the next stage of its refocused growth strategy to increase lending throughout the UK. This latest appointment follows a series of hires across the team, announced in February of this year.

With 15 years of experience in the financial services sector, Martin Bugden joins Bibby Asset Finance as Senior Business Development Manager from his previous role at PCF Bank.

Sean Taylor, Head of National Broker Sales, Bibby Asset Finance said: ‘We’ve made great inroads into our growth strategy so far in 2023 and we’re delighted to be expanding our team to match the needs of our now much larger client base. As we continue in our growth mode, we’re in a prime position to support the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses with their asset finance needs, and helping these businesses survive - and thrive - is our utmost priority.’

As part of its refocused strategy, Bibby Asset Finance is bolstering its offer for brokers by increasing the headcount of the sales team and recruiting experienced industry operators across the country to provide accessible, regional coverage for its brokers. Martin will support and develop asset finance transactions with brokers throughout the South East.

Sean Taylor, Head of National Broker Sales, Bibby Asset Finance added: ‘I’m delighted to welcome Martin to the team. Bibby Asset Finance is experiencing a really exciting time, and his hire is a testament to our ambition and growth trajectory. Martin brings valuable experience working with both brokers and sales teams, and I look forward to seeing what we achieve in the rest of 2023 and beyond.’

Martin Bugden, Senior Business Development Manager, Bibby Asset Finance commented: ‘Bibby Asset Finance is going from strength to strength, and I am thrilled to be joining this exceptional team on its growth journey. I look forward to bringing my knowledge and experience of the asset finance market, and working with the valued broker network to support SMEs in what promises to be an exciting time at BFS."

BFS supports nearly 8,500 SME clients globally through its asset finance and invoice finance solutions. Its product range also covers Foreign Exchange, Export, and Trade Finance.

Zambia the south-Central African Country is ready to embrace the concept of Islamic Finance. Islamic Finance Industry potential is increasing day-by-day not only in Muslim-dominated markets, although in non-Muslim markets. It is a positive gesture towards the growth of Islamic finance industry in Africa. The Market Penetration for Islamic Finance is more in East and West Africa, then in Central Africa. In south part of Africa South Africa was the pioneer for Islamic finance in Africa and after Zambia has huge potential for Islamic finance. The adoption of Islamic finance will bring more opportunities for the socio-economic development of the country through foreign direct investments and internal resource utilization. AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE) working in Africa for the development of Islamic Finance Industry through consultancy and advisory and capacity building to emerging and potential markets. Now, AlHuda CIBE is devoted for the development of Islamic Finance in this market. 

The Zambian financial market is well equipped with 17 local and international Commercial Banks, 27 Microcredit, 7 Micro deposit taking intuitions, 6 leasing companies, few rural saving and credit bodies, 1 credit bureau and 1 development bank. These are institutions regulated by Central Bank of Zambia. Zambian Insurance market has 34 Insurance and Re-insurance companies regulated by Pension and Insurance Authority of Zambia. The market size and combination of local and international players reflect the spirit of financial adoptability of Zambian Market. Alternative financial products in the financial sector will play a significant role in financial diversity, inclusion and sustainable economic growth. 

Mr. Muhammad Zubair, Chief Executive Officer AlHuda Centre if Islamic Banking and Economics during his visit to Zambia said that Socio-Economic aspects of financial industry together are the best solution for sustainable development of economy, and Islamic Finance is the best alternative. He also said that he with his dedicated team of experts is devoted to design ideal products for Banking, Microfinance, insurance, capital market and other financial institutions. AlHuda CIBE organized two days specialized training workshop on “Islamic Banking, Takaful and Islamic Microfinance”, Central Bank of Zambia, Islamic Supreme Council of Zambia, Commercial Banks, Insurance and investment companies and microfinance institutions participated. It was a good gesture for from industry for the appetite of Islamic Finance in Zambia. 

Islamic finance is not a religious product, it is an alternative for the interest-oriented financial system, which is a hurdle for the growth of social aspects of human lives with economic growth. Islamic financial system reflects the equal distribution of wealth, uplifting of middle and lower middle class of society, entrepreneurship and sustainability in human lives. AlHuda CIBE is working from last 18 years for the development of Islamic finance in Asian, European and African continents and always dedicated to explore new markets.  

Thirdfort, a client-risk management platform combining Know Your Client (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Source-of-Funds (SoF) verification, has been downloaded by more than one million users since its launch 4 years ago, or around 2.5% of all adult smartphone users in the UK.* The fast-growing app has seen notable growth in demand, fuelled by fears of fraud and money laundering, alongside Government efforts to encourage the use of digital ID tools.

1m+ transactions 

Thirdfort’s mission is to protect society from fraud and money laundering. The platform automates digital ID and source of funds checks for anyone conducting high-value transactions such as buying a house, drafting a will or instructing a financial advisor. Overall, Thirdfort has now verified more than 1m people on behalf of more than 1,000 conveyancers, lawyers, estate agents and other regulated professional services firms. This accounts for around 2.5% of all adult smartphone users in the UK.*

The scale of the problem

Demand for Thirdfort has risen off the back of growing fraud and money laundering risks, a problem that shows no sign of abating. Money laundering now costs the UK economy £100bn annually, whilst the UK Government reportedly lost £21bn to fraud between 2020-2022 according to the National Audit Office. 

Consequently, regulated professionals face an ever-growing risk and compliance burden and are increasingly turning to technology to automate client ID and source of funds verification. At the same time, there has been growing focus in Westminster about the use of digital ID tools to meet these challenges and the Government’s UK Digital Identity & Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF) has introduced a set of rules designed to establish trust in digital identity products. The framework will support the ability to share digital identities, unlock improved user experience in the digital world, increase security and boost economic growth.

Olly Thornton-Berry, co-founder and Managing Director at Thirdfort, said: “This is a significant milestone for us. We’ve reached around 2.5% of adult smartphone users in the UK, which is a huge number for a business of our scale, but represents just the tip of the iceberg when you consider the problem we are trying to address. 

“When we launched Thirdfort, conveyancers were at the forefront of changing regulations and fraud risk, with 6,500 businesses acting as guardians and facilitators to £240bn worth of transfers. We’re now seeing the same requirements coming in for all regulated professionals, across property, legal and finance.”

Digitising high-value transactions  

Thirdfort estimates its platform has generated an 80% time saving for regulated professionals. When regulated professionals can spend up to half their time on compliance, this potentially saves lawyers, conveyancers and estate agents millions of pounds of fee-earning time. 

During a typical transaction such as buying a home or drafting a will, consumers can be asked to repeat the same manual identity, AML and funds checks numerous times. This involves their professional advisers manually collecting and verifying ID documents such as passports, bills and bank statements. But this slows down transactions and creates a bad experience for all. It is also insecure and prone to human error.

Using AI, biometric verification and Open Banking, Thirdfort’s web and mobile app automates such verification, enabling clients to securely confirm their ID and source of funds via their mobile phone. As a result, Thirdfort has transformed a cumbersome process that has historically taken weeks into one that takes just minutes. 

* Analysis by U Switch states: “As of March 2021, the UK digital population accounted for approximately 40 million unique users on smartphones, compared to 21.6 million tablet users, and 30.4 million desktop users.” 

AAZZUR, an innovative embedded finance integrator, has collaborated with Salt Edge, a leading open banking platform, to enrich its open banking offers and accelerate go-to-market for its clients.

The collaboration will see Salt Edge’s cutting-edge open banking technology and compliance solution integrated into AAZZUR’s embedded finance ecosystem. This integration will enable AAZZUR to broaden its open banking offerings even further while providing its clients with better financial insights, risk management capabilities, and financial data security.

Salt Edge offers AAZZUR a unique opportunity to help its clients meet the strictest open banking requirements while delivering innovative solutions faster than ever before. AAZZUR’s clients will benefit from Salt Edge’s superior financial API platform, its PSD2 Compliance Solution, making the innovation more secure. In the end, the final user enjoys an upgraded customer experience which includes enhanced onboarding and risk assessment capabilities, enriched financial data insights, comprehensive financial data security, and overall fairer services.

“I am thrilled about our collaboration with Salt Edge and the integration of their exceptional open banking gateway into our smart finance ecosystem. Salt Edge is a company that has started in aggregation but has taken things to the next level. Salt Edge impresses on growth, resilience and ingenuity. We are truly excited about joining forces and deploying their solutions to our customer base.” - Philipp Buschmann, CEO of AAZZUR

“Here at Salt Edge, we’re thrilled to join forces with AAZZUR, an innovative platform for embedded finance, both sharing a common goal to build a world where better financial well-being is effortless. We double our forces to bring innovations to the financial landscape through seamless open banking solutions. Now more banks and EMIs will become open banking compliant while having at the core a perfect match between customer safety and convenience.” - Alina Beleuta, Chief Growth Officer at Salt Edge