James of Indigo Swan commented: “At the heart of our business is doing the right thing – both for our clients and for the UK’s green economy. We want to give businesses the tools and know-how to embrace a greener future and support them on their decarbonisation journey. Our new ‘Swan Sustainability’ project is a great example of doing just that. 

 

“We’re very proud of the work we already do, but we know that to build on our success, we need to innovate and evolve.”

James, added: “As a small business it’s been challenging to secure the funding we need from traditional lending routes, and for us it felt important to partner with a funder that listens to, understands, and has confidence in our ambitions. From our first conversation with Time Finance, we knew they were the ideal funding partner to do just that.”

Rob Walters, Business Development Manager at Time Finance, added: “We are very proud to be working alongside James and the team at Indigo Swan as they continue to drive positive change within the energy industry. Our experience within this sector allowed us to swiftly get a good grasp of the business, how they operate, their funding requirements, and plans for growth.

 

“By building in essential headroom for growth we can ensure that Indigo Swan are able to move quickly to keep up the pace with ever-evolving technologies and processes, and in turn give them the confidence to make a real impact in the future of sustainability.” 

Jack Henry™ announced today that First Community Bank, Sunrise Bank and Today's Bank have selected Jack Henry's modern core infrastructure to provide better service to retail and business customers.

Michigan-based First Community Bank, Florida-based Sunrise Bank, and Arkansas-based Today's Bank were looking for an open and flexible technology provider capable of serving their accountholders with a single, sophisticated user experience. They selected Jack Henry for its forward-looking technology vision, which will help differentiate them from other players in their communities. The banks are particularly excited about the launch of Banno Business, Jack Henry's scalable digital banking solution for businesses of all sizes, which will help them grow their business accounts with the personal approach and trust that sets them apart and becomes generally available in July 2023. 

$450-million asset First Community Bank serves both metro and rural communities across Northern Michigan, where many larger financial institutions have left consumers and businesses in need of financial support. The bank plans to grow by 10% annually for the next three years, with much of the growth concentrated on business and commercial opportunities. "With many big banks leaving our area, we see a real opportunity to step up for our community and help people and businesses in their moment of need," said CEO Daniel J. Clarke. "Jack Henry's robust technology infrastructure will help us by bringing all our systems under the same umbrella, automating processes, keeping us better connected with our customers, and improving risk management."

Sunrise Bank has a strong business customer base, serving small- and medium-sized companies in both metropolitan and beach town areas of Central Florida. The new leadership team of the $450-million asset bank aims to boost assets by more than 30% in the next couple of years while maintaining its personal approach and reputable customer service. "The automation and efficiency we will gain with Jack Henry will completely transform our bank," said Nancy Dooley, executive vice president and chief operations officer at the bank. "It will help us save time, increase accuracy, and reduce risk, while supporting an outstanding customer experience. The scalable and customizable business banking solutions will help us expand our client portfolio and reach our strong growth goals."

Today's Bank is a $300-million asset community bank serving Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas River Valley region. "We needed a modern and open technology provider that was able to support our digital service strategy," said Brittany L. Thompson Little, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Today's Bank. "Jack Henry ticked all the boxes and was also a great cultural fit for our bank. They are positioned to help us strengthen our product base both on the retail and commercial side while allowing us to maintain the fintech relationships we've already built."

"Community financial institutions like First Community Bank, Sunrise Bank, and Today's Bank are keeping the economy alive, and providing their communities with the financial support they need to thrive," said Stacey Zengel, senior vice president of Jack Henry and president of Bank Solutions. "We're proud to support Main Street America by providing unified user experiences for businesses and the people behind them."

GTreasury, a treasury and risk management platform provider, today announced Vision 2023, the company’s annual user conference. Aptly themed this year around “Navigating Change,” Vision 2023’s mission is to connect treasury and finance professionals with the strategic outlook and technology acumen it takes to thrive during an uncertain economy. Vision 2023 takes place at the Swissotel in Chicago from Sunday, April 30^th through Wednesday, May 3^rd. Register here.

The Vision 2023 agenda is built to ensure attendees will return to their organizations with a clear understanding of modern treasury best practices and how to optimize critical processes with technology and automation. The program includes ample opportunities for treasury and finance professionals to network and learn not just from GTreasury, but from one another. Attendees should expect particular depth around cash management and forecasting, risk management, inter-company netting, and hedging in the face of a rapidly changing and unpredictable global landscape.

Vision 2023 speakers and intra-conference events are organized around three themes that collectively offer fresh perspectives for achieving optimal treasury operations. These themes include:

• “Navigating accelerated change” – exploring topics such as acquisition integration, international expansions, risk management, strategic-driven growth, and market and economic outlooks.
• “It's all about interoperability and connectivity” – deeper understanding as to how a single treasury and risk management platform can unlock CFOs and Treasurers ability to scale and create strategic advantages.
• “Putting it together” – exploring peer-to-peer success stories, best practices, actionable insights, managing accelerated volume, and leveraging acquired expertise.

Vision 2023’s industry keynote on “Effectively Managing Adversity in Challenging Landscapes” will be delivered by Jeff B. Evans, author of Climbing Through Storms. Other treasury leaders delivering talks on how they have achieved treasury transformation and modernization at scale will include Catherine Portman, VP Treasurer at Palo Alto Networks; Priya Kurian, AVP, Treasury Operations and Risk Management at Canadian Tire; and Chris Swiss, VP, Treasurer at Micro Focus.

Vision 2023 also offers networking events, client awards, and the ultimate client celebration party—the Tiki & Treasury Party—at a speakeasy tiki bar. In addition to gaining new insights that inform critical business decisions during this time of accelerated change, Vision 2023 attendees will also have opportunities to earn valuable CPE credits during the educational breakouts.

“Treasury professionals continue to navigate choppy waters and rapid sea changes when it comes to current and forecasted economic turmoil,” said Renaat Ver Eecke, CEO, GTreasury. “Vision 2023 gives treasurers an opportunity to network, attend expert-led sessions, and gain insights into the latest technology and best practices for optimizing their treasury operations and capitalizing on change. We’re excited to see our treasury and finance colleagues at the conference, and to help them learn to unleash the full potential of their organizations.”

GTreasury invites interested treasury professionals to register today and be part of the leading treasury community driving the future of digital treasury transformation.

Just last month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a “click-to-cancel” provision to their Negative Option Rule, requiring retailers to make it just as easy for their customers to cancel a recurring subscription as it was when they initially subscribed. According to dispute experts at Chargebacks911, the world’s first chargeback and remediation technology platform, merchants should take action now to streamline their subscription cancellation process and invest in tools that provide more self-service options for reactivating subscriptions and managing automated billing schedules. 

The 411 on this relevant topic indicates consumer behavior trends are aligned with reduced friction when it comes to canceling subscriptions.  Whether or not the proposed FTC regulation becomes a reality, improving the customer experience in a way that allows them to self-manage their account is not only forward-thinking, but a growing market demand, according to executive leadership at Chargebacks911.

The rule proposal is part of the FTC’s review of their Negative Option Rule, a 50-year-old legal framework that requires sellers to disclose the terms of sale before consumers subscribe, and provide information about how consumers can go about canceling.

The FTC website states that the rule change would also require businesses to make it at least as easy to cancel a subscription as it was to start it.

“For example, if you can sign up online, you must be able to cancel on the same website, in the same number of steps,” read an excerpt from an FTC press release.

According to the FTC, the Negative Option Rule does not go far enough, as the regulatory agency receives thousands of complaints from consumers each year who have either been billed without their consent for recurring or subscriptions services, or have dealt with a retailer who makes it incredibly difficult—or sometimes impossible—to cancel a subscription.

“Some businesses too often trick consumers into paying for subscriptions they no longer want or didn’t sign up for in the first place,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan as to the agency’s rationale for the proposed regulation. “The proposed rule would require that companies make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up for one. The proposal would save consumers time and money, and businesses that continued to use subscription tricks and traps would be subject to stiff penalties.”

Another indication of the growing consumer demand for convenience and efficiency is the heightened growth rate of friendly fraud or first-party misuse, cited by Visa as being 75 percent of digital eCommerce chargebacks. Friendly fraud commonly happens to subscription retailers when consumers contact their bank rather than the merchant to cancel a subscription. These retailers are often unaware that an irreversible, negative chargeback will be raised against them in effort to cancel a recurring subscription on the consumer’s behalf. 

First-party fraud is a growing industry concern, with subscription retailers shouldering a significant share of this burden.  According to LexisNexis True Cost of Fraud Report, every $1 in chargebacks costs the merchant approximately $3.75 and evokes a negative reputational statistic that even if contested, is never removed from their record.

Despite the industry advocating for retailers to exchange more feedback on these types of chargebacks and educate consumers of the harmful effects of their often accidental or unintentional actions, the process is laden with complexities and can require significant resources for merchants to address.

Monica Eaton, founder of Chargebacks911 comments, “With the rise of banking apps and digital communication platforms, innovative technology has forever shifted the behavior and expectations of consumers. The drive to digitization requires experiences to be safe and secure, but also faster, better, and more transparent.  Providing customers with a tool that allows them to cancel a subscription is only part of the challenge. To remain competitive and address growing demands, users require a more comprehensive self-service experience. Today’s consumer wants intuitive flexibility, payment scheduling options, and frictionless convenience; otherwise, retailers face steep competition with their customers’ banks and credit card companies—many of which supply a concierge-like service to efficiently address their customers’ needs and wants. And unfortunately, in the absence of information (exchanged between the customer and retailer), an open door for first-party fraud becomes a permanent wedge.”

Whether or not this proposed rule change is adopted by the FTC, it has been suggested for decades that merchants should have clearly-stated terms and conditions when it comes to recurring billing.

Eaton adds, “While no retailer wants to see their customers cancel services, having a tedious cancellation process could push customers to file a chargeback, or file a complaint with entities like the FTC or Better Business Bureau—even if the retailer is fully compliant and following all payment processing guidelines that govern their merchant account.”

It has been widely published by the largest card networks that year over year, the growth of chargebacks is largely attributed to disputes filed on subscription products and services, with the vast majority of these disputes considered to be first-party fraud or misuse. Compared to the growth of e-commerce transactions in the U.S., the growth of chargebacks has surged ahead by nearly 20 percent, according to a study conducted by Chargebacks911. This is a worrying statistic that not only penalizes retailers with guilty-before-innocent fines and fees, but depending on volumes, can even lead to a merchant’s account being revoked or terminated, where the company loses the ability to process card payments altogether. 

Consumers, however, are hit worst by this problem, suffering losses and policy restrictions as a result of inflation, low margins, and unfair market pressures.

Chargebacks911 advises that companies should include recurring billing information, as well as terms and conditions, within the checkout process and to make sure the information is easily accessible for customers. They also suggest that companies increase the frequency of reminders and billing confirmations ahead of renewal dates.

The FTC has detailed its proposed changes to the Negative Option Rule in a fact sheet, and is seeking input from the public on the proposed rule changes. Members of the public looking to provide feedback can do so at https://www.regulations.gov.

• 48% of people surveyed say they only look for products that are interest free
• 31% of people say that the length of any interest free period was important to them
• 24% of people would be more likely to take out a finance agreement if they knew they were eligible up front

As the financial landscape continues to rapidly evolve and industry players rethink their business models to establish the digital infrastructure required to drive future growth, International Data Corporation is delighted to announce that the Middle East edition of its IDC Financial Services Congress 2023 will take place at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre on June 13. 

Addressing the theme 'The Adoption and Utilization of All Things Digital', the event will present exclusive insights from respected industry thought leaders as they discuss the latest trends and strategies shaping digital transformation in the BFSI space.

"Across the Middle East, financial institutions are embracing global industry trends to create a new ecosystem," says Cyrus Daruwala, managing director of IDC Financial Insights Asia/Pacific, who will present the congress's opening keynote, 'Simplification in an Age of Complexity'. "The adoption of digital transformation is the key strategy that will propel the industry forward and enable institutions to meet tomorrow's challenges.

"Traditional financial institutions are facing stiff competition from digital banks and insurers that use data to deliver innovative products and services. To overcome these challenges, they must look to embrace an organizational culture that prioritizes trust, resiliency, transparency, sustainability, productivity, and efficiency for the digital-first BFSI organization."

The IDC Financial Services Congress 2023 will feature keynote speeches, presentations, and panel discussions on a variety of critical topics, including open banking, cloud management, AI/ML integration and industrialization, digital core systems, innovation excellence, cybersecurity risk typologies, frictionless banking, financial wellbeing, financial inclusion, employee empowerment, digital trust, and customer consent.

The event will also showcase first-hand end-user perspectives from senior representatives of prominent financial institutions, including:

• Somnath Sarkar, Executive Vice President & Group CISO, Mashreq Bank

• Saud Al Dhawyani, Chief Technology Officer, Emirates NBD

• Barrak Al Mattar, General Manager, Information Technology, Kuwait International Bank (KIB)

• Haroon Durrani, Head of Dubai First Cards & Digital, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

• Salil Ahuja, Head of Products, Portfolio & Value Proposition, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

• Evren Altiok, Chief Operating Officer, Commercial Bank International (CBI)

• Muhammad Rashid, Chief Compliance & Risk Officer, Jingle Pay

• Samy Massoud, Regional Head of Technology Delivery, PayTabs

The IDC Financial Services Congress 2023 will present a unique opportunity for BFSI organizations to learn, network, and gain insights into the Middle East's latest digital transformation developments. For more information about the event, please visit click here or contact Sheila Manek at smanek@idc.com / +971 4 446 3154. You can also join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #IDCBFSI.

The independent members association and champion of the FinTech and Financial Services industry in Wales, FinTech Wales, has welcomed one of the largest professional services networks in the world, PwC, as its newest Enterprise Member.

By joining the organisation, PwC will have full access to the FinTech Wales community and the resources it provides. PwC will sit alongside several key Welsh financial services organisations including Admiral, Confused.com, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Principality Building Society, Hodge, Yoello, Sonovate, Sero, Delio, Go.Compare and many more as fellow members. 

Founded in 1998, PwC has offices in 152 countries with 350 team members based in Cardiff – it is among the leading professional services networks in the world delivering services in assurance, tax and advisory. 

On becoming a member of FinTech Wales, JP Barker, Market Leader at PwC, commented: "We are excited to be joining FinTech Wales at a time when the industry continues to go from strength to strength regionally – it’s really exciting to see Cardiff flourish as a FinTech hub in the UK. It’s also great to see FinTech entrepreneurs, founders, innovators, and change-makers in Wales continue to create an even more inclusive financial ecosystem overall. We are thrilled to be a part of it.”

Sarah Williams-Gardener, CEO of FinTech Wales, said: “We are delighted to have PWC join the FinTech Wales community. PWC is highly invested in the growth of the full tech sector in Wales, with specific expertise in Financial Services and FinTech. We both share a passion to develop talent which will positively influence economic growth in the region, and by combining our activities and efforts we will have a greater combined impact. This partnership will have a great impact on the Welsh FinTech ecosystem.”

Launched in April 2019, FinTech Wales offers key support to its network of FinTechs and associate members, and uses the power of the collective voice to be heard by politicians, governments and influencers in the financial services space. 

As well as nurturing and supporting those businesses already in Wales, it also aims to develop an ecosystem that will encourage and attract new FinTech companies to start-up or scale-up in the region. Ultimately, the goal is to make Wales a leading pillar in the global FinTech community.

Sarah added: “FinTech Wales continues to represent the Welsh FinTech ecosystem, both across the UK and globally. We are also working to meet the needs of businesses at all stages of their innovation journey. There’s no shortage of talent knocking on the FinTech community’s door and we are frequently seeing fantastic ideas and innovations being voiced. We look forward to welcoming new members in the future and growing our community.”

Last year, Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) announced a £1.6 million investment in FinTech Wales, which will be spread over a five-year partnership between CCR and FinTech Wales, and will see the two organisations work closely together to deliver on CCR’s commitment to establish Wales as a leading FinTech sector in the UK. 

Open Banking Fintech Waave Raises $4.7 Million in Seed Round

Waave, an Australian open banking startup for account-to-account payments, has closed a $4.7 million seed round backed by Menulog managing director Morten Belling and e-commerce investor Paul Greenber. Founded by Ben Zyl, Mark Connolly and Peter Traianou, who collectively have decades of experience working for the likes of PayPal, AfterPay, NAB and Adyen, Waave is marketing its Pay by Bank technology as a cheaper alternative to traditional credit cards.

Hokodo Tops Up Series B Funding with Strategic Investment from Citi

Hokodo, Europe’s leading provider of B2B BNPL and Digital Trade Credit solutions, announced a Series B extension from Citi, a global leader in financial services. This extension comes less than 10 months after Hokodo’s Series B announcement in June 2022. The latest cash injection will support Hokodo’s ambition to grow and enter new geographic regions. The B2B payments scaleup has already entered 6 of Europe’s largest markets including the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, with imminent announcements of further expansion.

Triver Raises £7M to Provide Small Businesses with Instant Capital in a Click

Triver has announced it has raised £7m equity from top investors to revolutionise how small businesses can access finance. Leveraging Open Banking data and sophisticated AI, Triver funds SMEs’ short-term working capital needs, underwriting the risk of small business borrowing instantly and automatically. Faster and more easily than high street banks, it can provide advances on a business’s client invoices 24/7, offering peace of mind of simple access to capital when needed.

Insurtech Capitola Secures $15.6M in Series A Funding Round Led by Munich Re Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners

Capitola, the digital marketplace for commercial insurance that connects brokers and carriers and uses AI-based risk appetite matching to streamline the placement process, announced it has raised $15.6 million in its Series A funding round. Led by Munich Re Ventures, this round will be used to grow Capitola’s platform with an emphasis on its market intelligence capabilities and to accelerate sales in the U.S.

Partnerships 

Aevi and XAC Partnership Brings Future-proof Payment Solutions to ISOs

Aevi, a leading in-person payment expert, announced its partnership with XAC Automation Corporation (5490 Taiwan OTC). This collaboration will deliver future-proof payment solutions to Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) looking to provide entry-level, ready-to-go merchant solutions that combine payment acceptance and white-labelled light-weight POS application in a highly integrated, compact way.

OxPay and CIMB Bank to Collaborate to Enhance Digital Payment Solutions

OxPay Financial Limited announced that a non-binding strategic collaboration agreement with CIMB Bank Berhad, Singapore Branch. The non-binding agreement will form the basis for further discussions which may require parties to enter into separate definitive agreements. The proposed collaboration will improve CIMB Bank's merchant services for card transactions through the Card Networks while also strengthening OxPay's presence in Singapore as the exclusive payment gateway collaboration partner for CIMB Bank.

Concordium Partners with Digitalsocial.ID to Build a Safer Digital World through Non-transferable Reputation for Digital Identities

Concordium announces its partnership with Digitalsocial.ID Ltd helps users authenticate their digital actions and enhance confidence in digital interactions using blockchain technology. The partners will co-development and launch a novel user-centric identity management solution called Digitalsocial.id (DSID). DSID will allow users to collect digital attestation tokens to prove their reputation and aggregate them into a measurable and comparable personal score.

Νexi Greece Collaborates With Greenpeace To Provide Highly Secure Digital Payments

Nexi Greece, a member of Nexi Group, the leading PayTech in Europe, has entered a partnership with Greenpeace, one of the largest environmental organisations in the world. Nexi Greece will provide payment security services that meet the highest standards of data security and compliance to ensure the protection of Greenpeace supporters’ payment data. The solution replaces the valuable payment data of Greek Greenpeace supporters with unique identification symbols (tokens) across card, remote and mobile payments.

Montonio Partners with Episode Six to Expand Open Banking Offering

Montonio, an e-commerce checkout orchestration platform, announced a partnership with payments technology company, Episode Six, to bolster its open banking offering in the Nordics. Leveraging Episode Six’s Tritium® platform, Montonio is creating a modern, future-ready payments ecosystem that breaks the barriers of traditional card processing and acquiring. It will enable Montonio’s merchant customers to reduce the cost of payments and dramatically reduce payment times.

Alipay+ E-wallet Partnerships Power iQIYI’s Fast Asia Expansion

Popular Asian e-wallets are helping iQIYI, a leading international streaming platform, accelerate its expansion through Alipay+ that helps digital and entertainment (D&E) platforms reach young middle-class consumers looking for quality online video contents. Introduced by Ant Group in 2020, Alipay+ is a suite of cross-border digital payment, marketing and merchant digitalization solutions connecting global brands with mobile-savvy consumers worldwide, aimed at enabling businesses. 

Knoma Partners with Fuse to Automate Credit Decisioning - Unlocking Accessible Education for Millions Across the UK

Education lender, Knoma, has selected Fuse by Pave as its Open Banking partner, to enable it to improve decision-making on applications from borrowers seeking education finance. Knoma, which offers fee-free and interest-free finance solutions to support people to enrol on education courses, will use the income, expenditure, and risk insights provided by Fuse by Pave’s Open Banking platform to enhance its affordability and creditworthiness checks for prospective borrowers.

Intergiro and Incharge Join Forces to Make Banking Easier for Students in Europe

Intergiro, a Banking as a Service (BaaS) platform, has partnered with financial service provider Incharge to launch a new banking app designed to make financial services easier and more accessible for students in Europe. The Incharge app is free of charge and will offer students the convenience of managing their finances from their smartphones. Students can effortlessly open an account through the app, eliminating the need for paperwork and long wait times — all that is required is a passport or national ID card.

TUHF Partners with nCino to Improve Its Competitive Edge and to Scale Efficiently

nCino, Inc., a pioneer in cloud banking for the global financial services industry, announced that TUHF has selected nCino’s cloud banking platform to improve the lending process for its customers and support the entire credit lifecycle journey across its commercial loan book. By partnering with nCino, TUHF will modernize its operations to achieve key business goals including increasing efficiency, driving growth, and reducing costs.

GiftRound and Mangopay Strengthen Partnership to Offer Cutting-edge Payment Experience for Online Group Gifting

GiftRound, the specialist platform for group gift collection announces their strengthened partnership with Mangopay, platform-specific payment infrastructure provider, to process all of the platform's payment flows. This partnership began in 2018 at GiftRound’s inception, who so far has processed over £10.5M via more than 75,000 money pots using Mangopay. GiftRound provides a secure, reliable and easy-to-use, online service that helps people collect money for group gifts.

Kyckr and Blacksmith KYC Partner to Enable Plug-and-play Client Onboarding

Kyckr, the corporate Know-Your-Customer company and Blacksmith KYC, the RegTech venture of ING Bank, have partnered by giving Blacksmith’s clients access to Kyckr's real-time data retrieval and registry connections - simplifying onboarding and review processes that would otherwise take months. Kyckr provides its customers and partners real-time access to aggregated corporate Know Your Customer (KYC) and Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) data from over 300 company registries and primary regulated sources worldwide.

illimity Enters a Long-term Industrial Partnership with the Engineering Group for The Commercialisation and Further Development of The Bank’s IT Platform

illimity Bank S.p.A. (“illimity” or the “Bank”) announces that it has reached a long-term industrial agreement with the Engineering Group (hereinafter "Engineering"),  concerning illimity's IT platform, its distribution to third parties and its future development. Since its foundation, illimity has invested in the development of an innovative technology platform,  fully digital, modular and in-cloud, and which combines state-of-the-art models, architectures and standards.

Finastra and Plaid Collaborate to Give Account Holders Streamlined Access to Fintech Apps

Finastra announced that Plaid, the leading open finance provider, is now integrated within Finastra’s Fusion Digital Banking platform. The partnership, delivered via Finastra’s FusionFabric.cloud open APIs, provides financial institutions of all sizes within the Finastra ecosystem with account verification tools, making it easier and more secure for consumers to link their account data from their main financial institution with external financial apps and services.

Launches 

Intellect Launches eMACH.ai - Open Finance Based Core Banking Platform on Cloud with Pre-integrated Marketplace for UK and Europe

Intellect Global Consumer Banking, the consumer banking arm of Intellect Design Arena Limited, announcedthe launch of eMACH.ai, the world’s largest Open Finance based Core Banking Platform On Cloud with a pre-integrated Marketplace for the UK  and Europe markets. The platform is hosted on AWS cloud and empowers financial organisations to design signature products and deliver contextual experiences for their customers throughout their life journey. 

MoneyHero Launches Free Credit Score-Checking MoneyHero App Set to Popularise Consumer-initiated Credit Enquiries

MoneyHero, Hong Kong's largest and most visited digital personal finance platform, has launched its game-changing MoneyHero App, a mobile application that provides Hong Kong consumers free and ready access to individual credit score reports powered by Hong Kong's leading consumer credit reference agency, TransUnion, to make better and informed financial decisions.

Armalytix Launches New Tools to Help Firms Avoid Fraud & Punishment

Armalytix, a cutting-edge fintech company that streamlines financial insights for financial crime and risk checks to the professional, financial services and gambling sectors, announced the launch of Income and Risk Insights. The new set of tools will allow firms to break down and understand their clients’ income and streamline their risk management processes. These tools will be invaluable to firms facing increasing pressure from government and regulators to get AML, financial risk and affordability checks right.

Knox Wire Announces the Launch of Trustless Gold-Backed Currency

Knox Wire, the global payments and real-time financial messaging network, announces plans to launch its trustless gold-backed currency, PMBC. The new product enables governments, corporations and financial institutions to hedge against the instability of the financial system while at the same time keeping funds extremely liquid. Holding the precious metals-backed currency provides an entity with the security of physical metals while being able to instantly convert and send cross-border payments to over 20,000 institutions in nearly 200 countries.

Airwallex Launches Global Payments in Canada, Further Building on Expansion in Americas

Airwallex announced the launch of its global payments services in Canada. The launch will empower Canadian businesses to tap into Airwallex’s global payments and financial platform, offering a faster, more cost-effective and transparent alternative to traditional banks. Businesses in Canada can now access Airwallex’s key offerings including local currency accounts in over 12 currencies, a multi-currency wallet in 44 currencies and payouts to 150 countries with its proprietary local payment network.

NICE Actimize Launches New AI-Based AML Transaction Monitoring Innovation With Multilayered Analytics to Better Detect Suspicious Activity

NICE Actimize, a NICE business, announced the launch of its breakthrough Suspicious Activity Monitoring (SAM-10) solution. Built to detect more suspicious activity while reducing false positives, NICE Actimize’s SAM-10 introduces significant enhancements to its award-winning anti-money laundering solution, incorporating multiple layers of defense which strengthen the others and offer comprehensive coverage and detection of suspicious activity for financial institutions.

finova Launches New Product Switch Functionality within its Apprivo2 Origination Platform

finova, the UK’s largest cloud-based mortgages and savings software provider, announced its new product switch functionality within its cloud-first origination platform, Apprivo2. Apprivo2 supports lenders with digital customer onboarding and facilitates complex affordability modelling for lenders. As a configurable SaaS banking originations platform, it is designed for lenders operating a multi-sales channel model.

HeavyFinance Launches Green Loans to Generate Carbon Credits in European Agricultural Land

HeavyFinance, a European climate tech investment marketplace for the agricultural industry, has launchedGreen Loans to tap into a rapidly growing carbon credit market. This new debt instrument enables both retail and institutional investors to get returns from the sale of CO2 removal credits generated in European farmland. With the urgent need to take an action on climate change and the high demand on the voluntary carbon credit market, investors in Green Loans can now expect up to 30 per cent annual returns with an investment period of 4 years.

Aevi Launches First TSYS Pilot Merchant, Revolutionizing In-person Payments in North America

Aevi, a top player in the integration of digital and physical payment channels, has successfully launched its first pilot merchant on the TSYS processing platform in collaboration with Vivid Payments. With its expertise in streamlining checkout processes and providing access to transaction data, Aevi is revolutionizing in-person payments and providing a seamless payment experience for merchants and customers alike.

OneStream Launches Solution Exchange to Accelerate Delivery of New Business Solutions to Customers

OneStream Software, a leader in corporate performance management (CPM) solutions for the world’s leading enterprises, announces the launch of the OneStream Solution Exchange. The Solution Exchange builds on the success of the OneStream MarketPlace and the inaugural OneStream Wave Developer conference to further enhance the OneStream platform development experience with the addition of partner-built and community-shared solutions.

Fintech Lanistar Moves to Full Banking Solution in the UK and Prepares for Launch

London-based Fintech Lanistar Limited is preparing for launch in the UK, which is expected to take place this Spring, 2023.  Over the last two years Lanistar has invested heavily in building a winning proposition in Latin America (LATAM) and has successfully launched in Brazil with over 20,000 customers on-board.  This is the result of important investments in both their technology but also the team now headed by Jeremy Baber a financial services veteran (ex-GE Capital, Aldermore Bank and Link Financial).

PaySprint Launches SprintVerify

PaySprint Private Limited has launched SprintVerify, a revolutionary document verification solution. SprintVerify is a complete Verification APIs stack with 100+ APIs covering every major Indian document that both individuals & entities hold, making it the most comprehensive document verification solution in the market. SprintVerify’s suite of products are crafted such that they simplify the onboarding process for enterprises by providing real-time ID verification through A.I-driven APIs, Digital KYC, Document OCR, and other APIs.

Merger & Acquisition

STICPAY Acquires Mauritius FSC and Labuan FSA Licences to Drive Global Expansion

STICPAY, a leading global e-wallet service provider and payment gateway, has acquired two new financial services licences that enables it to extend its services to clients across more than 200 countries. In Malaysia, STICPAY has been granted a Labuan Financial Services Authority licence, and has been registered as a money brokering and payment system operator that’s compliant with Labuan IBFC laws.

Job Moves

ClearBank Appoints Spiros Theodossiou as Chief Product Officer

ClearBank, the enabler of real-time clearing and embedded banking for financial institutions, announced that it has appointed Spiros Theodossiou as Chief Product Officer (CPO). An industry figure with over 20 years of experience, Spiros previously served as CPO at cloud accounting platform DEXT. Before this, he was SVP of Product Management at WorldPay and his professional history includes various lead and executive product positions for other industry stalwarts such as PayPal, Skrill, and Vouchercodes.com.

TransUnion Appoints Mark Molyneux as UK Strategy and Planning Director

TransUnion has appointed Mark Molyneux as its new strategy and planning director for the UK and Europe. As part of the UK executive team, Mark will be responsible for identifying and developing new growth opportunities that align to TransUnion’s strategy, both in the UK and globally. Having joined TransUnion in 2019, Mark has made significant contributions to the business, including supporting TransUnion’s recent investments,i as well as defining and tracking execution of its organic growth strategy.

InsuranceDekho Onboards IRSS Founder Kuldeep Trivedi and Team to Accelerate Insurance Penetration Across the Country

InsuranceDekho, the leading Indian Insurtech that recently raised $150Mn, the largest Insurtech series A funding in South East Asia, has onboarded IRSS founder Kuldeep Trivedi and his team. Kuldeep is an industry veteran with more than 25 years of insurance distribution experience in Western India. Kuldeep has multiple innovative insurance distribution ventures to his credit including the largest institutional insurance distributor in the Gujarat state.  

Copper Strengthens Team with New Executive Leadership Appointments

Copper.co, a leading provider of institutional digital asset custody, collateral management and settlement solutions, announced the appointments of Stefano Maestri as Chief Technology Officer, Sam Goh as Chief Financial Officer and Sam Brown as General Counsel. These appointments are effective immediately. Stefano has over 25 years’ experience working in building technology divisions, specializing in capital markets.

New CEO for NeoXam as Eurazeo Completes Investment

NeoXam, a leading financial software company, has announced a senior leadership promotion, with Florent Fabre stepping into the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). With over two decades of experience in the financial software industry, Florent has served in various roles including NeoXam Chief Operating Officer and Group Managing Director since 2015. His promotion coincides with a recent investment made by Eurazeo in NeoXam, which has made the international leading private equity company the majority shareholder in NeoXam.

FV Bank Appoints Chief Risk Officer

FV Bank, the U.S. licensed global digital bank that offers a vertically-integrated suite of traditional and digital asset banking and custody services, announced the appointment of Luz Mabel del Valle as new Chief Risk Officer (CRO) and Deputy Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), effective immediately. As CRO, del Valle will serve on the executive team and lead all risk management functions including financial, product, operational, and enterprise risk.

Brightwell Hires Robert Berris as Chief Innovation Officer

Brightwell, a payments technology company that builds financial products to send money securely anywhere in the world and one of the leaders at the forefront of innovative fintech solutions, announced that it has hired Robert Berris as the company’s first Chief Innovation Officer. An accomplished leader in business strategy, marketing, user experience, and corporate innovation with over 20 years of experience, Berris most recently served as Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Three Five Two, Inc. (352), an innovation and growth firm.

Themis Appoints New Chief of Staff

Robin Morris-Weston has joined award-winning digital financial crime platform Themis, as its Chief of Staff. Following January’s announcement of successful overfunding in its Pre-Series A round, in which the company raised a total of £3.1 million, Morris-Weston has been brought on with responsibility for Themis’ scale-up mission. Themis aims to reduce the global impacts of financial crime through a powerful combination of Innovation, Insight and Intelligence.

Lord Chris Holmes MBE to Join Ecospend as an Adviser to Support its Growth Plans

Ecospend, the UK’s leading Open Banking technology provider recently acquired by Trustly, announces the appointment of Lord Chris Holmes of Richmond MBE, as an adviser to support the company as it grows in the UK and overseas. As well as being Britain’s most successful paralympic swimmer, Lord Holmes is a passionate advocate for the potential of technology and the benefits of financial inclusion.

SME Bank Appoints Virginijus Doveika The New CEO

SME Bank, the bank making life simpler for small- and medium-sized enterprises, announced that Virginijus Doveika has been appointed as the company's new CEO. Doveika joined the company in February 2023, bringing with him a successful 20-year track record in banking, which began with Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB), a Swedish incumbent. SME Bank, the first Lithuanian capital neobank that enables small- and medium-sized businesses to grow and sustain themselves.

Former META Payments Head joins CleverCards

CleverCards, the global payments platform provider, announced the appointment of Gaurav Khurana as the company’s Senior Vice President of Marketing. Khurana joins CleverCards at a period of hypergrowth and market expansion across Europe, and his appointment will accelerate the launch of the business into new regions. Prior to joining CleverCards, Gaurav served as EMEA Head of Commerce Payment Partnerships at Meta, where he was responsible for driving Strategic Payments Partnerships.

Myriam Buzy appointed Managing Director at InterCloud

InterCloud, a leading software-defined cloud interconnect (SDCI) provider, has announced the appointment of Myriam Buzy as Managing Director. Myriam’s appointment shows InterCloud’s commitment to bolstering its executive team to strengthen its focus on delivering excellent support across the entirety of the organisation’s support services, as well as maximising new and exciting growth initiatives.