Freedom Finance, one of the UK’s leading digital lending marketplaces, is delighted to announce that it has entered into a new partnership that will see it power Money Expert’s consumer credit proposition. 

It will provide its wide selection of secured and unsecured lending products to Money Expert customers from credit cards and personal loans to second-charge mortgages, all through Freedom Finance’s proprietary soft search technology. 

These products will be delivered through Freedom Finance’s proprietary matching technology which uses soft search technology and open banking to match consumers only to credit products that they are eligible for. The platform ensures consumers are able to shop around to find more products that suit their individual circumstances at the best rates available to them, improving their access to the credit market. 

Freedom Finance partners with over 100 of the UK’s leading lenders and service providers, making it one of the UK’s leading digital lending marketplaces.  

Money Expert was established in 2003 and is one of the UK’s leading comparison sites, working for customers to make sure they get the best deals on a wide range of financial products, from loans to car insurance.  

Michael Davidson, Chief Revenue Officer at Freedom Finance, commented: “Increasing access to the credit market and helping consumers find products that best suit their circumstances is core to Freedom  Finance’s mission. Being selected by Money Expert to power their consumer credit service will allow us to support even more borrowers through our innovative technology which gives them a great customer experience and drives positive lending outcomes. Money Expert has a long-standing track record in the  market and our values are well-aligned making this a perfect match.” 

Liz Hunter, Commercial Director at Money Expert, commented: “In uncertain economic times, the financial services industry has a responsibility to look after its customers, strengthen their finances and help to improve their confidence in the borrowing sector. Partnering with Freedom Finance will help us to achieve these objectives by ensuring consumers have the access and support they need to secure products that are right for their individual profile. With its seamless onboarding process, impressive  technology and industry-leading range of credit products Freedom Finance is best placed to support and  empower customers’ financial decision-making.” 

Commenting on her appointment, Priya says: “Joining Kani Payments at such a pivotal point in its dynamic growth journey is hugely exciting, and the opportunity to bring its outstanding services to more companies is tailor-made for me. I’m passionate about helping businesses to visualise all the ways that their data can be made to work harder and smarter to unlock growth. I can’t wait to show clients all the features and functionality of the platform, and how to access and filter all the data insights they need with as few clicks as possible.

 

“It’s so important to make complex data processes easy to understand, as often in-house teams might not be familiar with technical or transaction data terminology. That’s the beauty of the Kani Payments platform. By simplifying and standardising data from multiple sources, businesses can utilise its easy-to-use dashboard and customisable workflows to accelerate data reporting and reconciliation processes, save huge amounts of time and money, and free up in-house teams to create exceptional products and services for their end customers. I’m looking forward to building a range of demos that will showcase the power and flexibility of Kani’s platform, forging new client relationships and opening up new use cases for more companies.”

Aaron Holmes, founder and CEO of Kani Payments, says: “We’re thrilled to welcome Priya to Kani Payments - her hugely impressive track record and renowned skills in building client demos, identifying client needs and her intrinsic understanding of their data reporting and reconciliation challenges will be invaluable for us. Priya has a rare ability to speak in the client’s language, taking out complicated jargon to make the client’s onboarding process quick, smooth and hassle-free, something that’s increasingly important to us as we experience unprecedented demand for our services.

 

“Kani Payments has been built by fintech experts to do the heavy lifting of making complex data simple and standardised, helping growth-hungry fintechs to achieve effortless compliance with scheme and industry regulations, and generate smarter business intelligence insights that will fuel future growth.”

Banks are expected to increase their lending this year as the UK economy swerves the predicted and the housing markets shows small signs of some revival, according to a panel of leading economists.

Total loans in the UK are expected to rise 1.2 per cent this year, a net increase of £29bn, upgraded from a 0.1 per cent fall forecast in February, according to the EY ITEM Club UK Bank Lending Forecast. Falling inflation, lower-than-anticipated energy bills and a resilient jobs market mean UK GDP is expected to increase by 0.2 per cent in 2023 rather than contracting, driving an increase in consumer and business borrowing.

Responding to the forecast, Laimonas Noreika, founder of HeavyFinance said: “With the UK’s improved economic set to see bank lending surging, companies have a new opportunity to invest, grow and develop more sustainable business models. As the global race to increase low-carbon green investment continues, UK firms need to think again about the steps they can take to reduce C02 emissions.

“The wider industry needs to consider how to use external finance to further improve key areas like agriculture and farming, modernising processes as well as saving time and money,” he added.

Industry expert Sjuul van der Leeuw, CEO of Deployteq said: “With banks increasing access to finance, UK businesses will have the opportunity to access the funding they need to invest and grow the skills of their workforce. As confidence in the economy recovers, key to SMEs achieving rapid growth will be looking again at key tools like automation and effective marketing platforms to empower staff and win new customers.

“Ambitious businesses cannot afford to operate a ‘business as usual’ approach when it comes to important areas of development like marketing and new business. Turbocharging growth requires the latest technology platforms, enabling businesses to reach new customers and increase their market share.”

Net mortgage lending is now expected to grow 1.2 per cent in 2023, up from 0.4 per cent in the February Forecast, according to the EY forecast.

Anna Anthony, UK financial services managing partner at EY, said the UK is “still on the path to economic recovery” but we are “in a more optimistic place than we were a few months ago”.

“The recession that many thought was inevitable is now likely to be avoided and energy prices have fallen, boosting consumer and business sentiment,” she said. “Despite recent volatility in the global banking sector, the EY ITEM Club has been able to upgrade its growth forecasts for UK bank lending this year, which is positive news.”

The crisis rippling through the US banking sector has also so far had “limited impact on the UK’s highly capitalised lenders”, EY’s economists added, though they said risks to the downside are “present within the forecast”.

Simpl, India’s foremost merchant-first checkout platform, today announced a partnership with Zolvit (formerly Vakilsearch), India's largest legal services platform, to provide reliable and personalised legal solutions for the Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) merchants across the country. The partnership aims to provide a one-stop platform for legal, tax and compliance needs of D2C merchants and solves for a critical pain point, enabling them to focus on their core business. 

As D2C merchants work with a host of vendors across the value chain, they tend to invest a lot of time in compliances and approvals and the process is fraught with friction. With this partnership, merchants will receive a complete portfolio of Zolvit’s Legal, Tax and Compliance support along with a host of additional services at affordable rates, enabling them to bring more efficiencies in their businesses. 

According to the “Beyond E-commerce 3.0” report by Kalaari Capital, at least 50 million new users have been added to the Indian e-commerce platforms over the last two years as a result of the pandemic's rapid digitisation. Along with this, India is anticipated to have 1.1 billion internet users by 2025, with 30% of them engaging in online shopping. This opens up a huge opportunity for D2C merchants that are expected to generate $50 billion in sales by 2025 and therefore, becomes imperative to support them on multiple fronts including legal support, credit access, discoverability and seamless payments and Simpl aims to be at the forefront of enabling this change.

Speaking about the partnership, Nitya Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO of Simpl, said, "As a merchant focused organisation, we are committed to solving the critical pain points for them, given our nuanced understanding of the industry over the years. In this endeavour, we have instituted a ‘Booster Package’ which brings together services from allied sectors which are necessary for business growth. From credit to digital marketing and now legal and compliance services with Zolvit, we are enabling D2C merchants to focus on their offerings in a cost effective manner. We are excited about our partnership with Zolvit and aim to utilise our synergies in fulfilling the evolving requirements of D2C merchants across the country”. 

Simpl works with over 26,000 merchants across the country and is building a fledgling D2C ecosystem as part of its community efforts under its D2C Simplified initiative. As part of this initiative, Simpl’s Booster Package has been actively empowering the ecosystem by actively partnering with associated businesses.

“Our mission at Zolvit is to empower entrepreneurs and small businesses by providing them with personalised legal solutions. Partnering with Simpl is an excellent opportunity for us to expand our reach and help  D2C merchants across the country with their legal, tax, and compliance needs. By working together, we can create a seamless and reliable ecosystem that supports the growth of the D2C sector in India,” said Hrishikesh Datar - Founder and CEO, Zolvit. 

Over the last few years, Simpl has aggressively collaborated with a host of ecosystem partners to bring together services which solve for nuanced pain points of D2C merchants under the umbrella of Booster Package. This is part of its larger vision is to empower  the entire D2C ecosystem, from product discovery to checkout, by providing a comprehensive suite of tools and services that make it easier for D2C businesses.

Copper.co, a leading provider of institutional digital asset custody and collateral management, today announced the appointment Jim Turley as a Non-Executive Director and the appointment of Dr Stephen Strickland as Chief Compliance Officer. Both appointments are effective immediately.

Jim joins the Copper Board following three years as Executive Chairman of Fnality International, a bank consortium start-up which looked to produce a regulated digital payment leg for wholesale financial markets using blockchain technology.

Prior to Fnality, Jim enjoyed a prominent senior management career in financial services, primarily with Deutsche Bank where his roles included Global Chief Operating Officer for the Global Transaction Banking business, Global Head of Foreign Exchange and Commodities trading and Global Head of Institutional Client sales. Jim joins the Board alongside other board roles across the retail and charity sectors. 

Dr Strickland comes to Copper from Elements Digital where he was Chief Compliance Officer. His previous roles include the Global Anti-Money Laundering Officer/ Head of Financial Crime Compliance for Sotheby’s auction house, Head of Financial Crime Operations and Nominated Officer for Deutsche Bank Operations International and Head of Anti-Bribery & Corruption for Barclaycard.

Dr Strickland has worked globally with many central, regional and global banks, regulators, national FIU’s, anti-corruption bodies and public and private partnerships assisting them in building and enhancing their capability to combat economic crime locally. He is an accomplished public and academic speaker and has spoken at the House of Commons on the use of technology in combating fraud in economic crime.

These hires further bolster Copper’s senior executive leadership team following the recent appointments of Lord Phillip Hamond as Chair, Sam Goh as Chief Financial Officer and Stefano Maestri as Chief Technology Officer and John Willian as Advisor alongside the promotion of Mike Roberts to Global Head of Sales and the addition of Sascha Rangoonwala as Managing Director, EMEA.

Dmitry Tokarev, Chief Executive Officer, Copper, said: “I’m delighted to be welcoming Jim and Stephen as we move into an exciting phase in Copper’s journey. Both of them bring outstanding experience and wisdom to Copper and I look forward to working with them as we reinforce Copper’s position as a leader in the digital asset sector.”

Jim Turley, Non-Executive Director, Copper, said: “This is a truly exciting time for the digital assets sector as the world looks to adopt digital and blockchain technology to underpin financial markets. I have no doubt that Copper is well-positioned to seize the opportunities that will be presented as a result of the ongoing shifts in financial services, and I look forward to assisting the Company as it executes its strategy.”

Dr Stephen Strickland, Chief Compliance Director, Copper, said: “Throughout my career I have sought to implement the highest industry standards for compliance and anti-corruption. At such a critical time for the digital assets sector, I look forward to upholding best practices for digital assets institutional digital asset custody and trading solutions compliance at Copper.”

Capital.com, the high-growth global fintech for the leveraged trading industry has today announced that its Australian Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Laura Lin, has been named one of the Top 25 Leaders in Financial Technology by the Financial Technology Report 2023. Laura Lin was recognised for her proven ability to lead others, her expertise and overall impact on the fintech sector.

Laura Lin has been instrumental to Capital.com’s success since joining the company in 2021. Under her leadership, Capital.com’s Australian business has gone from strength to strength, contributing to the Group's overall growth. 

In 2022, Capital.com Australia reported a rise of over 1300% in client trading volumes. The upward trend has continued so far into 2023 with Capital.com Australia reporting a 53% rise in client trading volumes Q1 2023 compared to Q4 2022. Testament to its growth, Capital.com Australia has been ranked the fastest-growing leveraged trading broker in Australia, according to the 2022 Australia Leverage Trading Report released by Investment Trends.

“I am honoured to be named one of the Top 25 Female Leaders in Financial Technology by the Financial Technology Report and is testament to the hard work of the entire Capital.com team. This recognition coincides with a 87% growth in active traders and a 1300% rise in trading volumes during 2022, reflecting Capital.com’s growing reputation as a platform of choice among Australian retail traders,” said Laura Lin, CEO of Capital.com Australia.

Capital.com is an online trading platform on a mission to make trading accessible and intuitive. Powered by technology, it offers access to thousands of financial markets, including indices, commodities and stocks. The platform is known for its user-friendly interface and extensive trading and education tools, which helps traders of all levels to trade with confidence. 

corfinancial®, a leading provider of specialist software and services to the financial services sector, announces the implementation of its Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR) software, SureVu®, at Man Group, a global active investment management firm with $144.7 billion of AUM (as of 31^st March 2023).

SureVu® enables buy-side firms to manage failed trades and cash penalty fees, as defined by the Settlement Discipline Regime, in one single solution.

“We were impressed by the speed with which SureVu went into production. Within three months, we had 90% of our custodians and prime brokers on-boarded and expect to have 100% of these parties live by the end of April,” said Antonio Dos Santos, Head of London Investment Operations at Man Group. 

“One of the big drivers to implement SureVu was the changes introduced by the CSDR, but we also saw T+1 on the regulatory horizon and knew that we needed to be on the ‘front foot’ regarding failed trade management. With 15,000-20,000 allocations per day, we needed a clear picture of our pending trades,” explains Dos Santos. “With CSDR, it is important to have failed trade monitoring and cash penalties in the same solution.”

“SureVu helps firms stay in control and manage trade settlement along with high volumes of data associated with cash penalties, applying effective governance across the processes. Companies need a solution in place quickly, without major overheads in IT and operational staff. Man Group has noted the ease and speed with which our solution starts to add real benefits to the business,” said David Veal, Senior Executive at corfinancial. “Such efficiencies are critical when considering the operational pressures envisaged when T+1 goes live next year.”

Taranis Capital, An ethical, fintech-focused investment fund envisaged by its founding members, who each bring knowledge and experience suited to the objective of the business. Having a combined 50+ years of industry experience in fund management, Fintech and business strategy, has announced the formation of its Advisory Board as the company embarks on the next phase of its global launch.

The new Advisory Board will consist of internationally recognised leaders from diverse professional backgrounds and specialities, including banking, financial services, capital markets, and technology. The Advisory Board members will work closely with Taranis Capital’s leadership team to offer strategic help and advice that supports the ambitious investment goals.

The members of Taranis Capital’s Advisory Board include:

• Andrea Dunlop, Angel investor, M&A Expert, Regulatory professional, Cross boarder financial services

• Amjad Shacker, An innovative leader, Government advisor, Management professional, Strategist.

• Daniel Roubeni, International Trade, Financial Management, Early-Stage VC Investment

• David Birch, Digital financial services, One of the top 100 global Fintech influencers, Forbes contributor

• David Parker, Global all-round Fintech specialist, Ex Saatchi, Keynote presenter

• Derek Stewart, Founder of Paysme, Fintech super App, Ex BNY Mellon Fund $2 billion AUM, Financial Services 39 yrs.

• Jack Hollander, Capital Markets New York, Master of Law, Raised over $3 billion in alternative investment. 

• John W “Jack” Crook, Regulatory Compliance, NED, Government Compliance

• Mike Chambers, Chairman of answer pay, Pioneered the UK’s fastest payments scheme, Ex-CEO for BACS, Experienced NED/Advisor

Nicholas S. Bingham, founder and chief executive of Taranis Capital, said: “The formation of our Advisory Board is another significant step forward in Tarsnis Capital’s launch journey. I’m delighted that we have been able to attract such a diverse and inspirational group of business leaders. I look forward to drawing on their decades of collective expertise, which will be invaluable as Taranis continues to expand our operations on a global scale.”

Zimpler, a fintech company providing seamless and secure account-to-account (A2A) payment solutions, announced today the launch of instant cross-border payouts. The feature will allow Zimpler’s customers to instantly send Euros to all 20 Eurozone countries through SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area), with no hidden fees or complex administrative work. 

SEPA was created to streamline and simplify euro-denominated electronic payments across Europe, making them safer, quicker, and simpler, enabling businesses to avoid using conventional methods like checks or wire transfers by sending payments straight to a recipient's bank account. By offering a larger geographical coverage, Zimpler will now be able to cater to more European merchants. The solution will be available both for B2C and B2B clients.

Nicolas Köllerstedt, Chief Growth Officer at Zimpler, said: “We are thrilled to expand our offerings and provide both existing and new clients with instant, safe, and cost-effective cross-border payouts that are compliant with the highest Anti Money Laundering standards. Zimpler's cross-border payouts launch marks a significant milestone for the company, establishing a truly pan-European presence. The feature has multiple use cases in segments Zimpler already operates in such as lending, salary payouts or cashback. It is exciting to see Zimpler continue to expand and build momentum from the successful B2B payments and the paylink product launch of last year.” 

Joan Migioia, Internationalisation Manager at Zimpler, said: “We recognize that SEPA payout is a highly sought-after solution for businesses operating in Europe as it offers a cost-effective, swift and secure way of sending payments. Because it is standardised, businesses can use it to make payments in the same way across countries. Furthermore, our API-based solution enables companies to seamlessly integrate payout functionality into their software systems, allowing for swift and streamlined processes such as salary payments, reimbursements, and lending transactions.

“As an A2A payments provider, currently expanding our reach into new markets and seeking to attract new clients, launching instant cross-border payouts was one of our priorities. I am looking forward to seeing how this addition will allow us to drive Zimpler forward.”