WYLD, the world’s first social currency payment card has launched in Mumbai. Powered by Visa, the platform will allow everyday social media users (with as little as 1K followers) to leverage their Instagram following to earn massive cashbacks on everyday spends. The platform is currently invite-only, and open to the first 5,000 users on their waitlist of 10,000 potential customers, for their beta-testing phase.

Conceived in 2021, WYLD is a Fintech and Martech mobile app and payment card, riding on the idea that nano and micro social media users are the true disruptors of this market. The app lets anyone with over 1000 followers on Instagram and a ‘WYLD Score’ of over 100, to apply for the WYLD payment card. The WYLD Score is determined through an algorithm which analyses a user’s social media usage – their followers, reach, frequency of posts and stories, and the engagement on these posts by their followers.

All users have to do is make purchases using the WYLD card, post about their purchase on Instagram, and earn massive cashbacks, ranging from 30 -100% of their transaction value, back into their card wallet, the cashback percentage determined by the persons WYLD Score. Higher the score, higher the cashback!

Speaking on the occasion, Rij Eappen, Co-founder & COO said, “We are thrilled to officially launch our platform, and open it up to our users in Mumbai to begin with. We aim to disrupt the space by essentially digitising ‘word-of-mouth’ marketing. The paradox is that while everyone on social media has influence in varying degrees, the market is currently focused on the 1% with a large following, despite nano-influencers having a higher, more organic engagement rate. Today’s social media users largely consist of young millennials and Gen Z who are extremely savvy, socially active, and are always on the lookout for deals and pocket-friendly methods of upgrading their lifestyle, and WYLD helps them achieve this.”

The company has already partnered with over 200 brands across several verticals, including restaurants, bars, events / concerts, fashion, beauty, footwear, electronics with brands like Social, Smoke House Deli, Boat, Lenskart, Purplle etc. WYLD is poised to become a new vertical in marketing for these brands, by enhancing brand visibility, enable customer acquisition and increase sales, through user-generated content.

In their closed group Alpha testing phase, WYLD processed over 700 transactions worth over Rs. 10 Lakhs, generated over 500 pieces of content from just 100 users, with an 85% retention rate. WYLD starts its Beta phase in April 2023, by taking in users from its waitlist of over 10,000 potential users.

The startup raised $350,000 in pre-seed funding, led by Better Capital. The round also saw participation from renowned entrepreneurs such as Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta, co-founders of boAt Lifestyle; Aditi Shrivastava, co-founder of Pocket Aces; Malini Agarwal, founder of MissMalini;  Nikunj Lotia, popularly known as BeYouNick, and others.

The EY organization today announces an alliance between FintechOS, a financial technology company, and Ernst & Young SRL (EY Romania) to simplify and support the launch and service of banking and insurance products and support detailed transformation journeys through innovation, business knowledge and the implementation of FintechOS’ fintech enablement platform.

As businesses increasingly digitalize, customer and employee behaviours change, providing opportunities to build better customer experiences and more efficient business models. With digital transformation being a top priority in the industry, this Alliance will blend the EY Romania sector business and deep regulatory knowledge with innovation and implementation skills and offer a competitive edge, scalability and security through the FintechOS innovative cloud-native platform.

Nigel Moden, EY EMEIA Banking & Capital Markets Leader, says:

“This collaboration has the potential to transform how banks operate, from data management processes to product development and customer service. Across Europe, banks have made steady progress to digitalize their systems and processes, but the pace must increase as competition from other industries grows. It is fundamental to invest in innovation and technology to support clients as they tackle numerous headwinds, while always maintaining focus on bringing new products to market and providing service customers expect.”

Andrei Ratiu, EY–FintechOS Alliance Leader, Ernst & Young SRL, says:

“To continue supporting the financial service industry's digital transformation, EY Romania is thrilled to combine the business and technology capabilities with FintechOS. This Alliance reinforces one more time our strategy to collaborate with financial service institutions for long-term value-generation initiatives and support in their strategy, business and technological endeavours to better address client and ecosystem necessities. Hence, banks and insurance companies will be able to be much faster and more efficient in the market with solid services for new or redesigned products and omnichannel optimized customers and internal journeys.”

Teo Blidarus, CEO, FintechOS, says:

"Working alongside EY Romania, FintechOS is excited to offer businesses a technology-driven approach to modernizing IT landscapes, resulting in faster time-to-market for new financial products and improved experiences for customers. With this Alliance, businesses can streamline their operating models and speed up innovation with minimal disruption, while delivering seamless, personalized, efficient, and scalable digital experiences. Ultimately, the goal is to drive growth, improve value for clients, and boost customer satisfaction through digital transformation."

Vesey Ventures, an early-stage venture firm that invests in companies transforming financial services, today announced the close of its debut fund totalling $78 million. Vesey Ventures was founded by three former Managing Directors at AMEX Ventures, Dana Eli-Lorch, Lindsay Fitzgerald and Julia Huang, and will invest in early-stage fintech and enabling technology companies where opportunities for early partnerships with financial incumbents exist. Based in the United States and Israel, the fund has already made several notable investments including Coast, Cyrus, Grain, Equi and Proper.

With nearly a decade of experience investing together and establishing partnerships for fintech companies, Eli-Lorch, Fitzgerald and Huang are uniquely positioned to identify and access game-changing business development opportunities for their portfolio. The founding team has a track record of investing in early fintech winners like Melio, Plaid, Stripe, and Trulioo and has established more than 100 partnerships between startups and financial services institutions. Vesey Ventures combines the best of their backgrounds - deep domain expertise in traditional financial services and a unique understanding of the startup ecosystem - to identify, fund and scale the next generation of great companies. 

"Financial incumbents still own the crucial pieces startups need to succeed - infrastructure, capital, licenses and customers - and we've seen firsthand how the most successful fintech companies were built in partnership with incumbents," said Founding Partners Dana Eli-Lorch, Lindsay Fitzgerald and Julia Huang. "We created Vesey Ventures to give our portfolio companies a competitive edge early on by bridging the gap between the companies in need of new technologies and those building them. Partnerships can be a game-changing part of a fintech company's growth story and we have an unparalleled track record of delivering these for our founders."

In addition to every Term Sheet, Vesey Ventures issues a 'Strategy Sheet' to every portfolio company outlining how the firm will leverage its extensive network of strategic investors and advisors to act as a company's first business development team. As industry insiders who have operated for years at the intersection of finance and technology, the firm specializes in identifying partnerships and providing strong access points within the financial services ecosystem to make them happen. 

"Partnering with Vesey Ventures has been jet fuel for Coast" said Coast Founder and CEO Daniel Simon. "The team immediately showed a deep understanding of my business and identified the tactics they could deploy to move the needle for us. They put it on paper right away, and they've delivered. They had innovative, actionable business development ideas that helped shape our go-to-market strategy. They found us the right hires and advisors when we needed them. They are indispensable to fintech founders."

"Business development in the financial industry is not just a nice to have, it's a need to have, and Vesey Ventures are the type of insightful, strategic partners you want at the table," said Trulioo Co-Founder Stephen Ufford. "Founders working in banking, payments, data networking and compliance will find the team's expertise to be unmatched. Vesey Ventures know the decision makers, they can make connections and they have experience. They are relentless when it comes to business development and never gave up on helping Trulioo acquire our first major banking customer."

Israel serves as a critical market for a number of Vesey Venture's focus areas including early-stage fintech, enterprise software, cybersecurity and data & AI. The team previously invested in a number of Israeli companies including BioCatch, Melio, and Next Insurance, and the fund has already invested in two Israeli-based portfolio companies. With offices in the US and Israel Vesey Ventures is well-positioned to help local startups partner, expand and commercialize in the US.

The founders previously made early investments in some of the world's most successful fintech companies including Stripe, Plaid, Toast, Melio, Trulioo, Signifyd, iZettle, FalconX, Menlo Security, BioCatch, and Codat.

The collaboration delivers an Android Starter Pack – a compact and integrated payment solution for entry-level merchants.

Atlanta, 04/20/2023 - Aevi, a leading in-person payment expert, is excited to announce 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.

The product, Android Starter Pack, is a low-risk entry point into the smart market. ISOs can easily buy and sell with this plug-and-play user interface, making the process effortless and hassle-free. With quick implementation and satisfied customers, the Android Starter Pack is an easy-to-use and all-in-one point of sale for ISOs that allows them to run their business more efficiently.

XAC provides the industry-leading 7 inches payment terminal leveraging an Android platform and secure payment modules in a compact design. Together with Aevi’s robust payment app and an easy-to-use POS app provided by Smart Volution, ISOs can compete in today’s competitive market.

“At XAC, our mission is to provide secure commerce-enabling devices and systems that fulfil the use cases of omnichannel solutions. Our partnership with Aevi empowers us to drive this mission forward and we are proud to offer our industry-leading payment devices leveraging an Android platform and secure payment modules in a compact design to ISOs” said Chuck Chagas, General Manager Americas at XAC.

The Android Starter Pack helps ISOs to be the best partner for their merchants, drive innovation and accelerate revenue growth. By combining online and offline payments to offer a full omnichannel experience, ISOs can remain competitive and provide their customers with the best possible payment solutions.

“We are excited to team up with XAC to provide ISOs with cutting-edge payment solutions. Our collective know-how and creativity enable us to offer plug-and-play merchant solutions that are seamlessly integrated and provide a complete omnichannel experience” said Gene Distler, Business Development at Aevi.

Join Aevi & XAC at ETA Transact
Don’t miss the chance to learn more about this announcement and how it can benefit you.

Aevi and XAC will be attending the ETA Transact event from April 24-26 in Atlanta. Schedule a meeting with them at the event to get all the details. You can contact us either through the Transact app or by providing your contact details here.Or visit the XAC booth (#642).

iDenfy, the Lithuania-based RegTech providing identity verification and fraud prevention services, has teamed up with the State Tax Inspectorate (STI) of Lithuania to provide clear guidelines on the EU’s Council Directive 2021/514 (DAC7) and help online platform operators to learn about the new obligation to collect, verify and report their data annually to tax authorities. 

As digital platforms grow in popularity, so do the challenges associated with ensuring security and compliance. To address security issues and minimize challenges related to ever-evolving compliance regulations, iDenfy, an industry-leading identity verification company, has presented an improved all-in-one hub of AI-powered compliance tools designed to help online platforms ensure security and compliance with DAC7 without hassle.

According to iDenfy, regulators behind DAC7 aim to standardize reporting requirements across the EU, particularly for online platforms. Under the directive, any provider of an online platform that enables sellers to connect with other users to carry out a "relevant activity" must begin collecting transactions and other data related to those users. iDenfy further explains that this encompasses various activities, including digital platforms like food delivery apps or car rentals.

According to iDenfy, the new regulation, which came into effect on January 1st, 2023, has generated concerns regarding compliance and the impact of DAC7 on its partners. Officials from iDenfy have explained that this is a typical reaction, given that the regulation applies to numerous platforms, including those with unconventional transactions, such as e-money and crypto-assets. It’s important to mention that even if a company is not based in the EU, they still have to comply with the reporting obligation if they operate in or have sellers in EU member states. 

To minimize the uncertainty regarding the new data reporting obligations, iDenfy collaborated with Lithuania’s STI and prepared a dedicated DAC7 FAQ section for companies under the Directive. The STI claims that digital platform operators can use third-party service providers such as iDenfy to validate and prepare the collected information for reporting.

In response, iDenfy emphasizes that obliged marketplaces must not overlook the importance of due diligence when collecting information to comply with DAC7. According to the startup, it is essential to verify the data collected, and for this reason, iDenfy has modified its compliance tool suite to assist businesses in meeting DAC7 requirements. 

According to RegTech, its ID Verification, Address Verification, or Business Verification tools can be customized and implemented to help businesses automatically collect, verify and report data regarding DAC7. 

"Our mission is to provide businesses with the tools they need to protect their customers and ensure compliance without adding unnecessary complexity," said iDenfy’s CEO, Domantas Ciulde. "Our team is proud to offer a digital hub of AI-powered compliance tools, and we believe they will help businesses stay secure and compliant in this increasingly digital world."

As the cost-of-living crisis continues, many financial institutions may be looking for new ways they can help their customers while meeting their regulatory obligations to support those most at risk of financial distress.    

Against this backdrop, the latest research from Tink, Europe’s leading open banking platform, finds that almost one in four Brits (23%) are ‘financially vulnerable’ as their income no longer covers their essential spending. Of these, 56% say the situation will worsen as they expect their discretionary income to fall over the next 12 months. 

As a result, some of them have already made difficult choices - one in five (20%) of the ‘financially vulnerable’ report having missed a monthly mortgage or rent payment, and a similar amount (22%) have cancelled financial products such as insurance.

Clear demand from ‘financially vulnerable’ consumers for more tailored support

With rising expectations for firms to put their customers’ needs first and deliver improved outcomes, there is a clear demand from consumers for more help. One in two (51%) of those categorised as ‘financially vulnerable’ agree banks should provide financial support to customers during the cost-of-living crisis.

Meanwhile, 43% of those identified as ‘financially vulnerable’ say they would like to learn more about managing their finances and how to optimise them, and more than half (58%) believe banks should make financial services more universally accessible.

What’s more, 45% of the ‘financially vulnerable’ would switch to another bank if it identified better deals or money-saving opportunities for their monthly outgoings. A further 37% would make the switch if another bank provided them with the tailored financial support they need during this time.

Open banking key to supporting ‘financially vulnerable’ customers 

Open banking-powered innovations in data and digital financial services offer institutions the opportunity to understand their customers better and coach them through difficult economic times, at the same time as meeting regulatory obligations. 

Tasha Chouhan, UK & IE Banking Lead at Tink, commented on the research: “It is clear there is an appetite for more support from banks amongst those experiencing financial distress. Open banking has a vital role to play here - with data-driven financial services giving financial institutions an opportunity to identify struggling customers and provide tailored support and interventions to assist them. Not only can this make a meaningful difference to people who are bearing the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis, it also helps financial institutions to meet enhanced regulatory requirements around protection of financially vulnerable customers.”

For more information, read Tink’s report ‘Banking is getting personal’ here.