Provenir, a global leader in data and AI-powered risk decisioning software, today announced that Andrea Fassari has been appointed Country Manager in Italy. Fassari will lead Provenir’s sales operations in the region, responsible for implementing new strategies to enhance the company’s plans to further expand their risk decisioning solutions to financial services businesses in the region.

Fassari brings more than fifteen years’ experience in sales, marketing and operations, with strong expertise in overall sales performance,  as well as closely aligning sales objectives with a companies’ core strategy. He’s held senior roles at UNGUESS, CONNEXIA and Accenture, where he successfully implemented new target-market initiatives by coordinating large teams to meet client needs.

Provenir is experiencing significant demand for its industry-leading data and AI-powered risk decisioning platform that blows past traditional credit decisioning software by letting businesses harness the power of decisioning, data and AI from one unified, no-code user interface.

“Financial services firms worldwide are increasingly looking for a credit risk decisioning platform that allows them to make smarter decisions, faster,” said Frode Berg, Provenir’s Managing Director of Europe. “As a recognised industry leader, Provenir is helping its clients to be more competitive, more agile and ready to rapidly respond to evolving business needs, but we won’t stop there. Andrea will form an integral part of our expansion into Italy, as we continue on our journey to delivering our unified risk decisioning ecosystem. We’re excited to have him onboard!”

Tarabut Gateway, MENA’s leading open banking platform, announces the completion of a US$32 million Series A fundraise.

The funding round was led by Pinnacle Capital, a leading alternative investment firm that focuses on KSA investments to provide unique alternative investment opportunities. Pinnacle Capital partners have extensive transactional experience in the venture capital industry with a proven track record, including leading the first Saudi unicorn tech startup, Jahez, to a public listing. The raise also saw participation from  Aljazira Capital, Visa, Tiger Global, and other leading existing investors.

The proceeds raised bolster Tarabut Gateway's footprint in the Saudi market, with a focus on attracting top talent and fostering strategic partnerships within the Kingdom. Tarabut Gateway has assembled an expert team of senior hires to build on the region’s recent Open Banking developments.

Abdulla Almoayed, Founder and CEO of Tarabut Gateway, said:

“Open banking is reshaping the financial landscape in KSA and the wider Middle East, and we, at Tarabut Gateway, are proud to be at the forefront of this innovation. This fundraise reflects the potential of open banking, our advanced technology, and the trust placed in us by our partners both in KSA and globally. Tarabut Gateway’s mission is to create an open financial services sector that delivers open banking benefits to MENA's consumers, banks, and fintechs - and the proceeds of this fundraise will help us execute our strategy and contribute to realising the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious vision 2030.”

Tarabut Gateway takes pride in its diverse investor base, which highlights the company's regional leadership in open banking, and operational achievements. The team is looking forward to the partnership with Visa and its extensive expertise, experience, and network in the payment services sector, while also welcoming the continued investment from Tiger Global. The participation from Aljazira Capital, a bank affiliate institutional investor, is a testament to the importance of open banking in the region.  

In KSA, Tarabut Gateway has achieved over 60% market coverage through partnerships with leading banks such as Alinma Bank, Arab National Bank, Saudi National Bank and Riyad Bank. The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has included Tarabut Gateway as one of the first participants in its Regulatory Sandbox, which is a key component of the open banking framework rollout.

Abdulwahab Al Betairi, Founding Partner of Pinnacle Capital said:

"We're thrilled to be backing Tarabut Gateway's ambitious growth plans. Their innovative approach to open banking and their strong focus on Saudi Arabia make them a perfect partner for us, and we're excited to see them grow to new heights and contribute to the growth of the Saudi Arabian fintech space as part of the Vision 2030 strategy."  

Andrew Torre, Regional President of Visa CEMEA, said:

“Next-generation digital experiences and innovation are driving the future of financial services, and open banking is a growing movement that can help consumers better access and manage finances. We look forward to partnering with Tarabut Gateway, combining our global payments network and proven local solutions with their open banking platform to allow innovative financial services across the region.”

Naif Almesned, the CEO & Managing Director of Aljazira Capital, highlighted:

“We believe in the importance of open banking and open data as transformative enablers empowering individuals and facilitating better financial inclusion. We are excited to support Tarabut Gateway and look forward to working together to provide Saudi individuals with better access to financial services.”

Tarabut Gateway is building an open banking infrastructure across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain, with plans for further MENA expansion. This capital infusion reflects the strong belief from Global investors in Tarabut Gateway's potential to continue leading the open banking landscape in the MENA region. 

The potential opportunities for banking-as-a-service (BaaS) in Europe could lead to a revolutionary shift in the financial service industry, a report reveals by research firm WhiteSight as commissioned by fintech SaaS provider Toqio. According to “The State of Banking-as-a-Service in the UK & Europe”, changes have already begun and are gaining momentum, indicating a rapid evolution of BaaS and BaaS-powered business models.

Regulation changes leading to the rise of BaaS providers have rapidly altered the financial landscape throughout the last decade. The market has seen a surge of challenger banks, neobanks, and embedded finance providers seeking to bring about positive change to the financial service sector — the global BaaS platform market is poised to expand at 15.7 percent CAGR between 2021 and 2031.

The report lists five big trends on the horizon, including the role incumbent banks play in betting on BaaS to become a key driver of growth and innovation, the expansion of use cases, heightened regulatory scrutiny, sector consolidation, and ecosystem collaboration.

The study highlights a substantial rise of BaaS across Europe. The UK and Germany continue to be the largest markets for BaaS platforms, representing around 60 per cent of the market share. However, the research also shows BaaS gaining a foothold in several other European countries, including Lithuania, Sweden, Finland, Spain, and France. 

While a few major players currently dominate the European BaaS market in terms of market share, mid-sized to large incumbent banks are gradually expanding their market presence by forging alliances with technology providers to offer new propositions.

Eduardo Martinez Garcia, CEO and Co-Founder of Toqio, commented: “One of the main use cases for BaaS has always been to enable early-stage innovation. Yet, it seems that with fewer early-stage businesses set to participate in the market over the next 12-24 months, new use cases need to be identified to drive growth. As more mature businesses, specifically those outside of financial services, look to take advantage of BaaS, we expect this to drive a shift in player make-up.”

The report states BaaS unlocks two significant market opportunities in the financial industry: embedded finance and fintechs. The first pertains to the growing integration of embedding financial services into the customer journeys of non-financial companies with large customer bases, such as those in the retail and e-commerce industries. The second centres on niche-focussed fintechs emerging that offer targeted financial products for specific customer segments through technology and business model innovations.

Sanjeev Kumar, Founder and CEO at WhiteSight, said: “Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) has experienced remarkable growth, transitioning from a budding idea fueling niche fintech ventures to a driving force empowering major brands in offering financial services. WhiteSight’s commitment to providing well-researched insights, combined with our collaboration with ecosystem enabler Toqio, allows us to thoroughly assess the shifts in BaaS business models driven by recent regulatory hurdles, industry consolidation, and increased participation of incumbent banks. We trust that this report will provide a comprehensive understanding of the industry’s trajectory, helping stakeholders navigate the evolving landscape and capitalize on emerging opportunities.”

The experts interviewed for the report think the top three most critical factors to accelerate the adoption of BaaS in Europe are regulatory clarity and guidance, ecosystem collaboration, and more licenced players. When it comes to the top three use cases enabled by BaaS in the short to medium term (one to three years), experts believe digital payments, embedded bank accounts, and card issuance will lead on the retail side of operations, while embedded credit, embedded bank accounts, and digital payment acceptance will lead on the business side.

Companies that were interviewed for the report include Alviere, BBVA, ClearBank, Currencycloud, Enfuce, Griffin, SEB, Standard Chartered, and Thistle Initiatives.

Download the full report here.

CultureAI, the number one human risk management platform for security and awareness teams, today announces it has raised £7 million in seed funding, with investment from Conviction VC, Passion Capital; Senovo; and angel investors Paul Forster, founder of Indeed; and Guntram Friede, formerly Head of Marketing EMEA at Mulesoft.

The investment will be used to improve the platform further and double the size of the company’s team, with a strong focus on R&D and new GTM strategies. This builds on a period of impressive growth. To date, CultureAI has helped to manage the security behaviours of more than 250,000 employees across customer organisations. This includes NatWest, Three and Dojo, and more recently Royal Mail Group and business banking platform Tide. CultureAI also opened a second UK office in London in February, ahead of its plans to expand internationally.

Most corporate cybersecurity breaches are a result of employee security behaviour, such as clicking on phishing emails, using the same passwords across multiple applications, or storing corporate data in unapproved SaaS apps. Typically, organisations are unable to capture or measure this, because they lack visibility of employee security behaviour, beyond running phishing simulations. CultureAI is a data-driven, cloud-based human risk management and automation platform for security and awareness teams that helps organisations measure, reduce, and respond to all cyber risks created by their workforces.

The platform integrates with an organisation’s existing tech stack to surface actionable employee security behaviour insights. This data drives personalised security awareness coaching to reduce risky behaviours, reinforced by automated technical interventions if the behaviours persist, and security nudges to empower employees to fix their own security risks all in a single click.

James Moore, CEO and Founder of CultureAI, said: “Despite organisations investing heavily into content-based security awareness training, most security incidents are still caused by human mistakes. IT and security teams use our platform to surface behavioural data, spot these mistakes and empower employees to resolve them. Our clients are empowered to prevent any recurrence of these mistakes much more effectively than they would with traditional security awareness training.”

James added: “An important goal with this investment is to accelerate our market growth and reach new domestic and international customers. We’re expanding our research and development efforts, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the field of human risk management, and creating new solutions that will help our customers stay ahead of emerging threats and move beyond security awareness training into end-to-end human risk management.”

Since first launching in 2018, CultureAI has quickly gained recognition from prominent organisations in various sectors, including finance and government, seeking to transform their security cultures. In the last 12 months, CultureAI has quadrupled revenues and moved from being a founder-led business to a growth business driven by a best-in-class sales and marketing function. The team has more than tripled in size (to 35) attracting talent from prominent cybersecurity organisations.

Andrew Jenkins, Founder and General Partner at Conviction VC, said: “CultureAI is disrupting cyber security awareness with a new category of human-risk management. We’ve been hugely impressed by its growth. In less than five years, its platform has been adopted by enterprise organisations across multiple sectors and shows no signs of slowing. We look forward to watching the company expand and solidify its position as a leader in the field of human risk management.”

TS Imagine, the leading global, cross-asset provider of trading, portfolio, and risk management solutions for financial institutions, today announces the launch of TS One, a cross-asset class, SaaS-based solution designed for investing teams who are seeking access to global markets, advanced execution management tools, battle-tested risk management models, and comprehensive accounting software through a single intuitive interface. 

TS One was designed for hedge funds with ambitions to scale, who are seeking to remove the distractions and costs associated with disparate systems and on-premises technology. TS One unites and empowers the entire investing team, including during hybrid and remote work, and eliminates the need for multiple investment management software systems. With TS One, hedge funds can scale without the need for significant headcount increases or investments in disparate trading technology. 

TS One contains several of TS Imagine’s signature attributes: 

• Comprehensive multi-asset coverage: TS One allows clients to access any asset class with sophisticated trading tools and protocols, including equities, OTC, futures, fixed income, and derivatives. 
• Cultivated risk models: TS One includes powerful risk models built on thirty years' experience. Users are therefore able to run complex stress tests and visualize risk across asset classes, an essential feature during periods of volatility. 
• Configurable, scalable, SaaS architecture: TS One is a scalable, configurable, SaaS solution which continuously evolves as clients grow AUM.    

Rob Flatley, CEO of TS Imagine, said: "Over the past thirty years, technology has emerged as a defining factor in investing teams’ success. TS One reflects the vision we had when we decided to combine TradingScreen and Imagine Software two years ago - we had always set out to empower entire investing teams with a full suite of risk and investing tools through a single intuitive interface.” 

Andrew Morgan, President, and Chief Revenue Officer said: “In challenging markets investing teams do not have time to navigate disparate technology and systems – TS One solves this, and gives teams everything they need in one place, allowing them to focus on protecting and generating alpha. TS One is a game changer that will allow ambitious, sophisticated investment firms the ability to scale and tailor their trading technology to their specific needs, and level the playing field with competitors of all sizes.”

This is the second product launch for TS Imagine in 2023. In March, the company launched RiskSmart X, a highly sophisticated cross-asset class, real-time risk solution for banks and prime brokers. 

TS One is a product of the May 2021 merger of Trading Screen and Imagine Software, which was named middle-market deal of the Year by Mergers & Acquisitions.  

Delta Capita, a leading global capital markets consulting, mutualised managed services and technology provider, today announces that it has partnered with Reg X Innovations, a regulatory technology start-up, to launch a new regulatory readiness assessment platform.

Specifically designed to prepare clients for the EMIR Refit, Delta Capita’s assessment platform is built on proprietary technology that leverages algorithms to analyse new and existing reportable data against the EMIR Refit ruleset.

The platform processes data from firm’s trading platforms and trade repositories to analyse reportable fields and data reporting errors and provides an automated report that highlights data gaps and mappings for the new EMIR Refit fields, and visual representations of data lineage.

This product launch comes at an important time. The EU EMIR Refit reporting deadline has been recently confirmed for the 29th April 2024, with the UK implementing its regime months after this date on the 30th September 2024.

The revised regulation will impact all firms trading derivatives on a trading venue, or over-the-counter, in the EU or UK, as well as central counterparties and trade repositories.

Karan Kapoor, Head of Risk and Regulatory Consulting at Delta Capita, comments: “We’re beyond excited to be bringing to market an innovative new platform to help firms prepare for the EMIR Refit. With only 12 months to go until the first reporting deadline, now is the time for firms to start reviewing their current processes, identifying where the gaps are, and working alongside industry experts, such as Delta Capita, to make sure they are fully compliant.”

Kalyan Deshpande, Founder of Reg X Innovations, adds: “Like all data intensive reporting regulations, such as the EMIR Refit, the consequences of poor implementation can be costly. Delta Capita’s platform offers firms the opportunity to complete a thorough assessment of their current reporting so that they can avoid these expensive penalties.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Delta Capita, a firm who is as dedicated as we are when it comes to innovation and going above and beyond the call of duty for clients.”

Research from smart money app Plum has revealed an ambitious generation of women who anticipate becoming ISA millionaires one day.

The research, which explored attitudes to saving and investing among young people aged 18-44, showed one in three women believing they had the potential to become a millionaire via astute investments in an ISA. 

When it comes to investing, the research showed that women on the whole are more keen on the most well-known and accessible forms of investing when compared with their male counterparts. The most popular investment methods considered by women were buying property (32%) and stocks and shares ISAs (29%).

Women were less likely to consider riskier and more unconventional methods, such as investing in single stocks (17% vs 34% of men), cryptocurrency (14% vs 37% of men) and gold (13% vs 25% of men), suggesting that they are more comfortable with tried-and-tested avenues to growing their money.  

A factor in their investment choices is the current cost of living crisis, with almost three-quarters (72%) of women agreeing the economic climate is making them less likely to take risks. In the face of this, they are choosing to take a cautious approach, which could equip them well to ride out any short-term volatility. 

Better education and availability of investment advice online is having a positive impact on women’s interest in investing too, with close to two-thirds (60%) of those surveyed finding financial information available online helpful.

However, men were more confident in their ability to save, with two-thirds (65%) saying they found saving easy, compared with just below half (48%) of women. This may be in part due to a lack of role models available to women, with one in five (18%) women saying they were not given any financial advice at all by their parents growing up, compared with less than one in ten (8%) of men. 

On the other hand, women are less likely to be swayed by the influence of wealthy online entrepreneurs, with just one in ten (10%) finding them very inspiring, compared to one-third (30%) of men. 

These insights into the financial attitudes and behaviours of men and women highlight the need for banks and other financial institutions to tailor their products and services to better meet the needs of different genders.

Commenting on the findings, Plum’s Investment Product Manager Elise Nunn said: “Risky investors tend to grab the headlines, but our research into the investment habits of younger people has revealed that you don’t have to take loads of risks to feel optimistic about your financial future. In fact, younger investors, especially women, are well aware that slow and steady can be a profitable strategy, especially in a volatile environment.” 

“Women in particular are seeing the potential of investing to build their wealth, which is great as they’ve been traditionally underserved by investment providers. These results point to a more long-term and strategic approach to investing, which may actually make women better investors overall. They’re less likely to be distracted by gimmicky trends and more focused on what’s important, which is building financial resilience and meeting their goals. At Plum, where a majority of our customers are female, we aim to help them do this via a diversified set of portfolio options.”

Finastra, a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, today announced that Loughborough Building Society has selected Essence, deployed on Microsoft Azure cloud, to increase its operational efficiency and future-proof its offering. With Finastra’s SaaS solution and Retail Analytics module, the Society can innovate and scale at speed, seamlessly integrate third-party applications and reach new customers through digital channels. Loughborough Building Society also selected Fairmort, a provider of software solutions for financial services, to manage its data migration and regulatory reporting. 

“We’ve been helping our members buy homes and save for the future for more than 150 years, and we are proud of our success across the UK,” said Gary Brebner, CEO at Loughborough Building Society. “As industry and customer demands continue to evolve, we recognized the need to increase the speed at which we can adapt our services whilst ensuring the Society’s future growth. We selected Finastra due to the robustness, openness and security of its SaaS offering, as well as the flexibility this gives us to offer new services in future. With Finastra, we can continue to make decisions by putting our member’s interests first, and help more consumers get the most out of their money to achieve their life goals.” 

Essence is a cloud-first, next-generation digital banking solution that combines sophisticated functionality and advanced technology to increase enterprise agility, reduce costs and improve operational efficiency. Powered by open architecture, Essence's rich, broad and deep retail and commercial banking functionality enables institutions to rapidly deploy market-leading products and services. Finastra’s Retail Analytics is a module that delivers a 360° view of performance metrics and turns raw data into actionable insights.  

“Loughborough Building Society’s mission is closely aligned with some of Finastra’s core values: putting the customer at the heart of what we do and unlocking the power of finance for everyone,” said Siobhan Byron, EVP Universal Banking at Finastra. “Our solution is designed to help our customers adapt and implement new technologies quickly, whilst providing their customers with seamless onboarding, hyper-personalized and omnichannel banking experiences. With the addition of Retail Analytics, the Society can access data-driven insights to continue enhancing its services. We are excited to support Loughborough Building Society as it embarks on a journey of innovation and growth, both today and tomorrow.” 

Fintech revenues are projected to grow sixfold from $245 billion to $1.5 trillion by 2030, according to a report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and QED Investors.

The fintech sector, which currently holds a two per cent share of the $12.5 trillion in global financial services revenue, is estimated to grow up to seven per cent. Last year, 2022 proved a challenging year for fintech companies, which on average lost more than half of their market value. However, the new research showed this was a short-term correction in an otherwise long-term positive trajectory.

The UK and European Union combined represent the world’s third-largest financial institution market and are expected to see substantial fintech growth through 2030, estimated at more than fivefold over 2021 and led by the payments sector.

The report revealed that Asia-Pacific is set to outpace the US and become the world’s top fintech market by 2030, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27%. This growth will be driven primarily by emerging economies such as China, India, and Indonesia that have the largest fintechs, voluminous underbanked populations, a high number of small and medium-sized enterprises, and a rising tech-savvy youth and middle class.

North America, which currently has the world’s largest financial-services industry, will remain a critical fintech market and innovation hub, projected to grow fourfold to $520 billion in 2030, with the US accounting for a projected 32% of global fintech revenue growth.

Commenting on the findings, Laimonas Noreika, co-founder and CEO, of fintech company HeavyFinance said: “The fintech industry is playing a crucial role in driving global economic growth, creating jobs and powering businesses. These projections show exponential growth in the coming years, and yet so many key sectors have yet to fully benefit from the power of fintech.

“As our industry moves forward, we need a much wider conversation about the importance of protecting the environment, offering companies the opportunity to access sustainable climate investments, and driving cleaner, greener businesses by reducing CO2 emissions,” added Noreika.

Steve Hadaway, Chief Revenue Officer for Encompass Corporation, added, “The FinTech sector has huge potential for rapid growth, which is being reflected in the banking sector in particular. Today, every bank I speak to is wrestling with the same problem: How to meet increasing Know Your Customer (KYC) demands, regulatory and operational, in a way that is effective, efficient and helps to transform the organisation in a way that has tangible long-term benefits. The answer is technology, which will be a key driver in the growth of the sector.

“An increasing number of banks are embarking on digital transformation journeys, highlighting the need for solutions that are key to improving efficiency and customer experience to boost business growth. By utilising dynamic KYC process automation, for example, organisations are realising that they can unlock the value of their KYC data to win more business and reduce time to revenue. This is just one area of the industry that is perfectly placed to boom, as the technology, regulations and business strategy continues to closely align,” said Hadaway.

The report suggested that the payments sector will grow fivefold to $520 billion, driven by cross-border payments, “payment-plus” models (bill pay and payment apps offering adjacent services such as wallet services), and the proliferation of use cases driven by real-time payments.

Deepak Goyal, BCG MD and senior partner and co-author of the report said: "The fintech journey is still in its early stages and will continue to revolutionize the financial services industry as we know it.

"Customer experience remains poor. More than half the world’s population remains unbanked or underbanked, and technology continues to unlock new use cases in leaps and bounds. All stakeholders must therefore seize the moment. Regulators need to be proactive and lead from the front. Incumbents should partner with fintechs to accelerate their own digital journeys."

Tools for Brokers, a leading technology provider for retail brokers and hedge funds, announced the appointment of Michael Levine as the company’s Head of the UK office. 

The new appointment aligns with the company's internal restructuring and focus on streamlining global operations. Michael joined TFB in June 2022 as Vice President of Sales in the UK office. In the new role, he will continue to work with key regional clients and partners, building strong long-term relationships. The UK office opened its doors in 2019 and is currently a central hub for managing business in the UK, the Americas, Scandinavia, and some other European countries.  

Commenting on the new role, Levine said, “I am thrilled to move into the new role at TFB. The UK team is full of driven and talented individuals, and I am very excited to help everyone continue to grow and drive the UK office's success even further. The UK, the Americas, and several key European countries are the markets we will be focusing on that hold a lot of potential for us. We have many ambitious goals that we are looking forward to starting to work on.” 

Commenting on the promotion, Albina Zhdanova, the COO at TFB, said, “Michael is a great asset to the team. This promotion will enable him to put all his knowledge and expertise in building and empowering teams into practice. I cannot wait to see the UK office transform under Michael’s thoughtful leadership.”

Michael joined Tools for Brokers after an over 15-year-long successful career in the financial sales market, where he rose to become the Head of Sales. Over the years, Michael has worked with financial enterprises, including Avanza Bank and GE Capital, helping them build sales departments and enhance their existing teams. Some of Michael’s responsibilities included key relationship management, developing the sales team’s structure, and overseeing quarterly and annual sales targets. In 2017, Michael founded an independent consulting firm, advising corporations for over four years before joining TFB.