Today, leading payment orchestration platform BR-DGE launches BR-DGE Vault, a state-of-the-art Network Tokenisation product to deliver industry-leading transaction performance and security to its merchants and payments partners. Amid disruptive innovation in payment technology, BR-DGE is leading the way with a ground-breaking product which enables merchants to leverage the benefits of an independent and enhanced tokenisation solution.

A recent survey by BR-DGE found that 83% of consumers are concerned about their payment security when shopping online, highlighting an increasing need for merchants to protect consumers’ data at all costs with the best fraud tools in the market.¹ To stay ahead of rapidly rising demand for seamless, secure payments, BR-DGE is now offering a cutting-edge tokenisation solution.

BR-DGE Vault

A new level in data security for credit and debit card transactions, Network Tokenisation is a solution where a customer card’s primary account number (PAN) is replaced by a unique payment card scheme token, restricted to only be used with a certain device, merchant, transaction type or channel. Network tokens also come with the additional ease of use for secure, repeat purchases and subscriptions, with cards automatically updating when they expire. As the tokenisation is initiated by BR-DGE, directly at card scheme level on behalf of the merchant, Network Tokens can be used across multiple payment processors. This gives full flexibility to the merchant enabling them to process Network Tokens via their existing payment integrations or allow BR-DGE to handle the full payment flow, with the additional benefit of BR-DGE’s full payment orchestration product suite.

With Network Tokenisation anticipated to be a major catalyst in payment innovation, BR-DGE Vault differentiates itself through its Hybrid PAN and Network Token model, a unique token vault proposition that promotes the most relevant token for the payment being made and the processor being used. This helps to ensure Network Tokens are used whenever possible, but not restricting payment optimisation when unavailable.

The game-changing product, which removes significant levels of friction in the payment flow and benefits from high rates of scheme participation, can be consumed standalone to uplift an existing payment stack. Alternatively, it can be utilised as part of BR-DGE’s wider orchestration offering, enabling the use of intelligent routing and other market-leading features.

Network Tokenisation

The need for stronger fraud management tools and wider optimisations of payments drove BR-DGE to offer Network Tokenisation as a standalone product, giving merchants and payment providers a variety of additional benefits, including:

• 2-7% uplift in authorisation rate
• A reduction in fraud as scheme-issued tokens are trusted and known
• Immediate token updates for expired, stolen or fraudulent cards
• No resubmission of a CVV, reducing consumer friction at checkout

By building integrations directly into the payment schemes and leveraging BR-DGE’s Vault product, merchants will now see significant authorisation uplifts, improving the customer payment experience without needing to manage the integrations themselves. Alongside this, Vault ensures that consumers’ credentials are always kept up to date, reducing friction, merchant declines and overall fraud rates.

Network Token is the cornerstone for new industry-wide payment innovation, including Click to Pay and Device Binding, which will be included in future iterations of BR-DGE’s Vault offering.

Brian Coburn, Chief Strategy Officer at BR-DGE said: “We’re delighted to announce our stand alone Vault service which marks the first of a number of exciting products to be released over the next year by BR-DGE, providing greater access to some of the most cutting-edge tools within our platform.

The shift towards subscription-style fee plans from merchants elevates the demand for better fraud protection, authorisation rates and lifecycle management. Vault perfectly demonstrates BR-DGE’s ability to meet these demands, quickly delivering the latest payment solutions to our merchants.”

Growing with merchants

This comes as a first step in BR-DGE’s new productisation strategy which aims to give merchants access to standalone products, allowing them to select specific solutions within BR-DGE’s wider orchestration system. Tokenisation opens up the opportunities for enhanced purchasing experiences across all channels, with an immediate global impact on a merchant’s payment suite.

As an independent technology provider, BR-DGE is able to implement token requests to each merchant’s market, personalising the tool to their specific requirements. With BR-DGE Vault, merchants can now leverage BR-DGE’s innovative technology to meet their specific business needs, delivering better commercial and customer outcomes.

With its multi-cloud, multi-regional architecture, the product is highly scalable, allowing it to respond to merchant demands and support rapid expansion or growth in transaction volume. The modular nature of productisation enables close ties to the option to immediately access the much wider suite of BR-DGE orchestration technology, running through a single point of API integration.

Clara, the leading end-to-end spend management solution for companies in Latin America, today announced that it has closed $60M USD ​ in an equity financing round led by GGV Capital. In addition, GGV Managing Partner Hans Tung will join the company’s Board of Directors. 

The additional capital will be used to boost the technological development of its spend management and payment platform and consolidate its market leadership throughout Latin America. Clara is also deepening its leadership bench with new executive hires across its engineering, product, and risk functions.

The company also announced new executive hires, Raquel Hernández, former Engineering Manager at Meta, who has been named VP of Engineering. Eduardo Moore, formerly at Bitso and Nubank, has joined as Director of Product for Clara Brazil. Alberto Ramos and Nicolas Caccaviello have been named Director of Operations & Revenue and Director Fraud & Acceptance, respectively. Tina Reich, formerly Chief Credit Officer at American Express, joins as Board Observer and Risk Advisor.

“GGV Capital is one of the world’s great venture investors, with a truly global mindset since inception. Hans, in particular, has been an ally to some of the greatest success stories of our generation. We jumped at the opportunity to welcome him to our Board,” said Gerry Giacomán Colyer, Clara CEO and co-founder. 

Today, about 10,000 companies in Latin America are using Clara’s product suite to automate and simplify their daily operations, while taking advantage of its innovative spend management software that provides real-time reports for better financial decision-making. Clara exists to empower customers by simplifying an otherwise complex topic - spend management - such that it becomes one less thing to think about. So that companies can focus all their energy on unlocking their true value and unleashing their competitiveness.

Clara has become the most flexible technological ally of companies in the region by delivering an agile solution that can be integrated into ERP platforms, saving up to one year in financial processes while allowing companies to cut expenses considerably. Clara brings autonomy to every company’s teams while providing the possibility to control resources and maintain healthy finances. With over two years of operations in the most important Latin American markets, including Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, Clara has secured $160M in equity financing and reports over five million credit card transactions, equivalent to $1 billion at an annualized rate. 

“The Clara team is amongst the strongest that we have seen in Latin America,” mentioned Hans Tung, Managing Partner at GGV Capital. “Expense management is a huge category globally, and Clara is the first to use software to build solutions in LatAm. The team had encountered spend management challenges as operating executives themselves and understood the problem well. We are excited to support Gerry, Diego, and the Clara team on their mission to become one of the most impactful startups in the region.”

New investors Acrew Capital, Citius, Citi Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, Ethos, Commerce Ventures, Goanna Capital, Bayhouse Capital, Fluent Ventures, and LAGO Innovation Fund joined the round. Existing early investors monashees, Coatue, Picus Capital, DST Global Partners, Alter Global, General Catalyst, and over a dozen angel investors, also participated in this round.

Ecospend, the UK’s leading Open Banking technology provider recently acquired by Trustly, today announces its membership of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Open Banking and Payments. Formed in 2020, the APPG seeks to highlight the benefits of Open Banking to parliamentarians and ensure that the technology supports economic growth for the UK.

As a member, Ecospend will provide expertise to support the development of legislation shaping payments in the UK, fulfilling its role as a leader in global banking technology. As a new member of the APPG, Ecospend will be participating in upcoming panel discussions and advisory meetings with HM Treasury, the Payments System Regulator and the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE). This involvement marks a significant milestone in Ecospend’s reputation as an industry leader in British Open Banking and payment technologies.

Since 2021, Ecospend has been the provider of ‘Pay-by-Bank' technology to HMRC, the relationship marking the first time that an Open Banking payment method had been embedded within a government department’s systems. As of February 2023, over 4.5 million payments have been made using Ecospend’s ‘Pay-by-Bank’ technology to pay nearly £12.5bn worth of tax payments to HMRC, with £2.3bn processed in January 2023 alone ahead of the deadline for Self Assessment. 

Utilising their unique experience in onboarding Open Banking technologies for private and public sector organisations, Ecospend will be providing guidance on the ways the UK can establish a stronger regulatory landscape for future growth. Maintaining the UK’s prominence as a leader in this space is paramount, especially as advancements in payments legislation are made by other economic zones.

James Hickman, CCO of Ecospend comments:

“Ecospend’s membership of the APPG is testament to our hard-earned market position and high standing within the open banking space. We’ve seen Open Banking technology advance dramatically since its first inception and we’re pleased to take a formative role in the policy discussions which will define the next stages of payment evolution.

“By sharing our expertise, we hope to provide a valuable perspective to help raise the efficiency of payments for the public sector, consumers and businesses. Open Banking has great potential and the APPG demonstrates the UK’s ambition to further its leading position in banking technology.”

Ian Liddell-Grainger MP, Chair of the APPG on Open Banking and Payments, comments:

“The APPG on Open Banking and Payments was formed to ensure that Open Banking delivers maximum benefit and value to consumers, business and government, and we are delighted to have Ecospend join the APPG and work with us to achieve this goal. Ecospend’s existing collaboration with government organisations highlights its commitment to implementing effective payment solutions and I look forward to working with them to build on the success that Open Banking has already seen in the UK.”

Data from Nexi Group, the European PayTech, and BVA Doxa has revealed Italian merchant preferences for digital payments, focused on safety, speed and customer experience. According to the survey, Italian merchants now prefer accepting card payments using a point-of-sale (POS) device over using cash. They also value the benefits of mobile payments and are interested in accepting payments via a smartphone.

The survey interviewed a sample of small and medium-sized retail and restaurant merchants and freelance professionals in Italy. The questions analysed the sample’s preferences, needs and expectations in accepting payments at the POS and away from the POS.

Findings from the survey showed that the majority (86%) of merchants now rely on POS devices for payment acceptance in Italy. Respondents valued the security (81%), speed (71%), functionality (79%) and convenience (70%) offered by card payments. Merchants also felt that the ability to accept card payments gives their business a more modern (64%) and attractive (55%) image with consumers.

While merchants prefer accepting card payments at the POS, over a quarter (26%) of payments are conducted away from the traditional in-store POS. Of these transactions, most (88%) are conducted using digital payment methods.

“The BVA Doxa survey confirms that more and more Italian merchants are aware of, and leveraging, the benefits of a digital payment experience,” says Vanessa Maneo, Nexi’s Head of POS Marketing. “However, there is a need for a solution that offers merchants these same benefits while accepting digital payments away from the POS. This could be for sales during a market or fair, or at bars or restaurants where payments are made at the table.” 

While SoftPOS solutions are just beginning to gain traction, almost a third of the sample (29%) expressed interest in the possibility of using a smartphone to receive payments. The majority of merchants, particularly SMEs and freelancers, see the value of SoftPOS for its sustainability (62%) and low maintenance (55%). Meanwhile, around half think it brings convenience (50%) and increased payment acceptance opportunities (45%).

To meet merchant preferences and drive payment digitisation in Europe, Nexi will launch its SoftPOS service in Italy after the summer. In addition to offering the core benefits of a portable digital payment experience while on the move, merchants will benefit from the Nexi micropayments initiative. Under this scheme, merchants will be reimbursed fees on transactions of 10 Euros or under until the end of 2023, even when accepted via SoftPOS.

Tembo – a London-based digital-mortgage platform which provides a one-stop shop for the available mortgage schemes to help customers struggling with affordability has today announced that it has secured £5 million of investment.

Tembo welcomed two new investors as part of this round. Love Ventures, a specialist FinTech, PropTech and ConsumerTech investment fund, and the McPike Family Office who have made a number of successful UK investments including Starling Bank and Acre Platforms. Existing investors Aviva Ventures and Ascension Ventures both also invested again into Tembo as part of the round.

Tembo has had a very strong start to 2023 helping homebuyers who are struggling with affordability.  The investment will be used primarily to continue to develop Tembo’s powerful proprietary, decisioning and affordability technology, providing users with an instant comparison of affordability and costs for all the available options and buying schemes to help them buy or remortgage their home. This includes innovative family mortgages which leverage either income, property equity or savings to boost affordability, as well as a growing number of specialist part buy, part rent and shared ownership schemes for those without family or friend support.

Tembo will also invest in growing its strategic partnerships with a range of trusted wealth managers, house builders and lenders including Barratt Homes and Aviva. 

Commenting on the investment Richard Dana, CEO and founder of Tembo said: “We’re delighted to have the ongoing support of such incredible investors  - who bring with them expertise and insight into property, mortgages and intergenerational wealth. This investment gives us the resources to continue to help thousands more customers fulfil their dreams over the coming years.”

Evidence suggests that over the medium to long term, homeowners are £185k better off than those who rent. But rising house prices, stagnating salaries and stricter lending rules have made homeownership unachievable for many.

“The market for the unaffordables is continuing to grow, as large swathes of the population have been locked out of homeownership.” Dana continues, “Owning a home is still a dream and aspiration for so many people but the existing market is not set up to help those who are unable to save a deposit or meet affordability on a standard mortgage.  Over 80% of the customers that we have helped to date have been turned down by a lender or mortgage broker before they reach us. Many customers who would otherwise be trapped in a rental cycle without the support of our products  end up paying less money each month for their mortgage than they do for their rent.” 

Global Screening Services (GSS), a RegTech innovator focused on financial transactions screening, has today announced that Ruth Fletcher will be appointed COO and CFO of the business. Fletcher brings a wealth of experience in C-suite roles, on both sides of the regulatory fence, to the GSS team.

Prior to joining GSS, Fletcher served in the same joint COO/CFO role at international money transfer provider CurrencyFair.com and B2B specialist venture capital firm Frontline Ventures. In addition to these roles, she served as CFO and Board Member at Fenergo and Group Financial Controller at Detica NetReveal (formerly Norkom Technologies), both in the Regtech sector.

Fletcher's extensive experience in providing Regtech services for companies involved in online payments and financial investments, as well as those utilising these services, will play a vital role in the growth of GSS' finance and operations functions. This expertise will prove invaluable as the company prepares to launch its core product to the market in 2023.

In her role, Fletcher will be reporting to company CEO Tom Scampion and the GSS Board.

Ruth Fletcher, COO and CFO of GSS, comments:

“Throughout my career, I’ve seen the challenges faced by financial institutions caused by inefficiencies in the system, whether from screening or other processes. The leadership at GSS has built a fantastic team and I’m excited to lend my experience to make our finance and operations functions the building blocks for our future growth.”

Tom Scampion, CEO at GSS, comments:

"Ruth Fletcher brings with her a wealth of expertise in scaling technology businesses, making her a perfect fit for her role as GSS' new Chief Financial and Operating Officer. Her deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities that come with our industry will be instrumental in guiding GSS as we continue to innovate and grow. Ruth's strategic insights and operational acumen will undoubtedly propel our organisation to new heights, and we are excited to have her on board as we continue our journey."

Today the British Business Bank publishes a list of 30 additional companies in which the Future Fund holds an equity interest taking the total to 529 as at 31 March 2023.

The level of conversions began to decline in Q4 2022/3 compared to the previous quarter, and conversions in January and February remained low but began to increase slightly in March. The number of administrations also began to grow in this quarter which in part was driven by the weakness in the wider UK market and the banking crisis.

Companies in which the Future Fund now holds an equity interest include Birmingham-based Eyoto Group Limited, an optical manufacturer and university spinout from Aston University focused on lens inspection platforms and tele-optometry (remote eye care) platforms; Invicibles Studio Ltd, a mobile games developer based in Preston; and Northen Ireland based Skurio Limited, a digital risk protection platform that detects data breaches by monitoring the dark web. Whilst conversions remained lower in this quarter, 15 conversions took place in companies based outside of London.

Ken Cooper, Managing Director, Venture Solutions, British Business Bank said: “The Future Fund was created to ensure a flow of capital, at the height of the pandemic, to companies that would otherwise have been unable to access government support schemes, while ensuring long-term value for the UK taxpayer. The Future Fund is now entering the maturity phase, which signals three years since the first loans were executed. This is likely to increase the level of transactional activity rapidly over the coming months.”

Launched on 20 May 2020, and open for applications until 31 January 2021, the Future Fund issued 1,190 companies with convertible loans worth £1.14bn in total. Third-party investors were required to at least match the Future Fund’s investment.

The Future Fund supported UK companies that typically rely on equity investment to fund their growth. By creating a bridge to the next equity funding round, the Future Fund supported these companies through a period of considerable economic disruption and now the recovery.

The scheme used a recognised financial instrument known as a convertible loan. Unlike an equity investment, there wasn’t a requirement under the convertible loan to value the company or the price of its shares, at a time when company valuations had been significantly impacted by Covid-19. Instead, the convertible loans are designed to convert into equity either at the next equity funding round or if the company is acquired through a sale or IPO.

Breakdown of the total portfolio as at 31 March 2023

Reconciliation of equity interests since last quarterly update

MODIFI, a leading European fintech company specializing in cross-border payment solutions and provision of liquidity for exporters around the world, announces the opening of its new office in Singapore. The expansion is part of MODIFI's strategy to strengthen its global presence and better serve customers in Asia.

The company's Chief Commercial Officer, Matthias Hendrichs, will relocate from Germany to Singapore to lead the new office and oversee the company's growth in the region. Hendrichs brings over 16 years of experience in Asia and has played an instrumental role in driving MODIFI's global expansion to date.

"We are thrilled to announce the opening of our new office in Singapore, which marks an important milestone in our journey to expand our global footprint," said Nelson Holzner, CEO of MODIFI. "With this new office, we aim to deepen our relationships with customers in Asia and provide them with the best cross-border payment solutions available."

Singapore's strategic location at the intersection of major shipping routes has made it a crucial port of call for ships travelling between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Moreover, with a well-developed air transport network and Changi Airport serving as a major hub for international flights, Singapore is an efficient location for businesses to transport goods and connect with global markets. Additionally, Singapore has recently surpassed Hong Kong and now ranks as the third-largest financial centre in the world.

MODIFI's expansion to Singapore comes at a time when the company is experiencing rapid growth and increasing demand for its services in Asia. The company's innovative platform offers exporters the No 1 payment method in cross-border business: With MODIFI, exporters get paid instantly while buyers can pay up to 180 days later. MODIFI's solutions have already helped over 1,500 businesses around the world grow their business and expand into new markets.

"We are excited to be part of Singapore's vibrant fintech ecosystem and collaborate with local partners to provide our customers with the best service," said Hendrichs. "Our goal is to help businesses in Asia thrive by providing them with the support they need to succeed in today's global marketplace."

MODIFI's new office is in Singapore’s financial district and will serve as the company's regional headquarters for Asia.

Global Processing Services, a next-generation global payments platform behind the leading fintechs, digital banks, and embedded finance providers across the UK, Europe, Asia, Middle East and North America, has today rebranded as “Thredd,” to reflect the company’s pivotal role in weaving together the different ‘threads’ of the global payments ecosystem to fuel the growth of electronic payments. 

With a new leadership team comprising of industry veterans coupled with the backing of future-focused investors, this rebranding signals the next phase of customer partnership and product innovation to bring the aspirations of innovative payments visionaries to life.

Thredd is known for its customer-centred approach to enable payments innovators to launch new card programmes quickly, easily, and cost-effectively. Thredd has created a unique niche as a hands-on, modern processor providing reliable digital payment processing capabilities, including real-time, bespoke card management tools, reporting, and world-class fraud prevention technology.  

Certified by both Visa and Mastercard, and supporting debit, prepaid and credit programs, Thredd has enabled modern payments issuer processing since 2007 and has earned a reputation as a trusted, reliable and scalable platform.

Today, Thredd’s next-gen platform processes billions of transactions annually and powers over 100 customers across 44 countries and a broad range of use cases. Thredd is the processing partner of choice for an array of verticals, including digital banking, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), Travel, and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS). 

One of Thredd’s fastest-growing customers today is “financial super app” Curve which allows customers to combine most debit, credit, and loyalty cards into one platform and a linked smart card for payments. Thredd has provided the issuer processing firepower for Curve’s platform since it was founded in 2016, supporting the innovative fintech as it has scaled to over 4 million customers, diversified its products, and expanded into international markets.

“Our rebranding to Thredd marks a new era for our company as we begin the next phase of our growth.  We’ve spent the last six months building our management team with industry veterans to expand our platform capabilities and deepen our commitment to serving the needs of the most innovative fintechs and banks in the world, said Kevin Schultz, Chief Executive Officer of Thredd.

“Our new brand reflects our renewed focus on enabling our clients to create a more interconnected, accessible, and seamless payments ecosystem. With our experienced team and owners, we’re confident in our vision to bring our partnership approach to modern payments processing to innovators worldwide.”

Explaining why the name Thredd was chosen, Betsy Samuel, Chief Marketing Officer of Thredd, said: “Our clients, partners and team members have told us that we are the ultimate connector, bringing true partnership to the world of payments. This is our DNA, and we wanted a new name to reflect this special identity as well as our expanding position as a pivotal modern payments processor at the heart of the constantly evolving digital economy. We are proud to relaunch with a name which reflects our unique role and reputation as a critical ‘thread’ of the fabric in the ecosystem.”

Thredd is backed by an experienced private equity consortium with specialist experience in scaling payments-related tech businesses, including Advent International, Viking Global Investors, Temasek, and MissionOG; with institutional investors including Mastercard and Visa.

PPRO, the leading digital payments infrastructure provider, has signed a strategic agreement with NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) to offer global partners access to Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India’s fastest-growing, real-time payment system, for cross-border transactions. Today’s agreement, supported by a new framework co-developed with NIPL, paves the way for the first merchants to go live in the coming months.

By connecting directly to UPI via PPRO’s digital payments infrastructure, international payment service providers (PSPs) enable merchants to tap into India's huge online consumer base easily and securely, without the need for setting up a legal entity in India, settlement to an India-based bank or for uploading invoices to clear funds. For consumers, this means they can seamlessly make cross-border purchases in Indian Rupees using their favourite payment method.  

Launched in 2016, UPI is India’s most popular instant payment system, already processing 60% of all domestic payments. It has over 325 million active users, supports 390 banks and 100 third-party apps within a single mobile application. In March 2023 alone, UPI processed over 8.7 billion transactions, the highest since its launch.

Simon Black, CEO at PPRO, said: “International payment service providers and their merchants can now easily tap into an e-commerce market that is expected to reach an estimated $111 billion next year, and predicted to almost double to $200 billion by 2026. By integrating UPI into PPRO’s digital payments infrastructure through a single connection, we have removed all the operational complexity for our partners to sell cross-border into India at scale.” 

Ritesh Shukla, CEO at NIPL, said: “UPI has revolutionised the digital payments landscape in India and is respected globally for its role in simplifying and democratising payments. By partnering with PPRO, a market leader in the payments infrastructure space, which powers a vast PSP and merchant network, Indian consumers will now be able to shop online with merchants around the world and pay safely and easily using UPI.” 

Today’s announcement follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding by both parties in 2021 when PPRO was first mandated by NIPL to enable global PSPs and merchants to expand into India’s e-commerce market by offering UPI.