CorServ, a company that empowers banks and fintechs with payment programs, has partnered with First Bank to implement its modern credit card program. This program enables First Bank to provide credit card solutions to their consumer, business, and commercial customers.

First Bank, a $6.6 billion full-service bank, is known for its 100-year history of family ownership, serving communities in Missouri, California, and Illinois. With their personalized service and commitment to excellence, First Bank replaced its Agent Bank program with the flexibility and control that CorServ’s Account Issuer program has to offer.

“Our community is always our priority, and by enhancing our credit card offerings, we are in turn better serving the unique needs of families and businesses,” said Erin Erhart, Director of Product of First Bank. “CorServ’s account issuer program gives us the ability to own the credit card profits and losses and participate in the credit decisions for our customers since we know them best.”

With extensive business and consumer capabilities, the Account Issuer Program offers credit card products with a variety of APRs, rewards, and features. CorServ’s business administrative interface will now allow First Bank’s commercial and business customers to have increased controls that aid in issuing new cards, setting spending controls, and paying vendors with virtual cards faster.

“CorServ’s program minimizes the disruption, cost and resources needed for typical card programs, giving First Bank competitive products for all their customers,” said Anil Goyal, CEO of CorServ. “We are thrilled to be a part of First Bank's vision to help family-owned businesses, their families and employees thrive through generations with innovative features of our credit card issuing program.”

Small business owners are optimistic about the future, with 88% indicating the financial state of their businesses is about the same or better off than a year ago, which should bode well for merchant services providers. According to the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Merchant Services Satisfaction Study, SM released today, small business financial optimism is correlated with increased sales processed by merchant services providers. There are 94% of merchants now accept debit or credit cards; 88% accept digital wallets; and 54% accept Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) payment methods. However, when it comes to small business satisfaction with those services, scores are lowest among merchants for processing widely accepted payment types such as credit and debit card transactions and are highest for processing less widely accepted payment types like BNPL.

“We’re seeing an interesting disconnect in the merchant services marketplace whereby the most frequently processed forms of payment—credit and debit cards—generate the lowest levels of overall satisfaction among small business owners, while less common payment types such as BNPL, pay by bank and gift cards drive higher satisfaction,” said John Cabell, managing director of payments intelligence at J.D. Power. “Part of that is driven by demographics. Younger, newer business owners are more apt to accept a wide variety of payment types and have higher overall satisfaction with their merchant service providers. However, we’re also seeing some challenges across the board with debit and credit when it comes to delays in account funding, cost and fees, and fraud management.”

The following are key findings of the 2024 study:

• Credit and debit reign supreme on usage, but fail to deliver on satisfaction: Overall, 94% of small businesses accept debit or credit card payments. Most merchants have their credit card (81%) and debit card (80%) payments processed by their provider. Despite being the most processed forms of payment, overall merchant services satisfaction scores are lowest across all aspects of the customer experience among small businesses that have credit cards (692 on a 1,000-point scale) and debit cards (694) processed by their provider.
• Satisfaction is highest among businesses where BNPL is processed: Slightly more than half (54%) of small businesses accept BNPL and just 27% of merchants report processing BNPL with a profiled brand; satisfaction scores are highest (744) among small businesses that do have this payment type processed. Overall merchant services satisfaction rises as businesses process more payment options, reaching a high score of 793 among the 4% of businesses that cite six different payment types processed.
• Gap emerges between small business innovators and traditionalists: Two distinct categories of small business owners have begun to emerge in the study dataset: innovators, who represent 47% of the study population and are younger, newer business owners who are more likely to accept a wide variety of payment types, and traditionalists, who represent 53% of the study population and are older and prefer cash, checks and in-person purchases. Overall merchant services provider satisfaction is significantly higher among innovators.
• Cost, fraud risk, and complexity emerge as top obstacles: Among small business owners who are unwilling to accept credit and debit cards, higher cost of acceptance and higher risk of fraud/theft are top reasons. Among those who are unwilling to accept BNPL, digital wallet, or pay-by-bank payments, the primary reasons are difficulty of use/complicated process and too much effort versus other priorities.

Study Ranking

Shopify ranks highest in merchant service satisfaction, with a score of 728. Paysafe (725) ranks second and Bank of America (713) ranks third.

The U.S. Merchant Services Satisfaction Study was redesigned in 2024. It is based on responses from 5,383 small business customers of merchant services providers and measures satisfaction across six factors (in alphabetical order): advice and guidance on running your business; cost of processing payments; data security and protection; managing my account; payment processing; and quality of technology. The study was fielded from September through November 2023.

The brands evaluated are the U.S. merchant services providers with the largest market share. Overall satisfaction results reflect overall corporate results, meaning they can include the results of various sub-brands or alternate brand names that operate under the respective corporate brand names. In some cases, brands profiled also currently have or recently have had joint partnerships to provide merchant services to small business clients. 

Profile, a leading international financial solutions provider, with 25 years’ experience in shareholder management, announces the launch of RegiStar, a brand-new solution, which is based on a modular platform, and is considered a top choice for large multi-shareholder private companies with nominal shares.

RegiStar is an integrated solution for complete monitoring and management of shareholder registry. All companies having issued nominal shares can now enhance their investor relations services with a robust, and top-notch technological platform. The system provides a user-friendly interface, fast data management, a plethora of tools and it is easy to adjust and customise according to any company’s requirements.

RegiStar has been developed, utilising all the recent technologies and best practices to provide modern tools to IR managers. Amongst other things, the solution is cloud-enabled, supporting all languages (multi-language), whilst making full use of the Windows rights system (LDAP). Moreover, it integrates automation systems (e.g. automatic loading of transaction files) and machine learning, offering ergonomics in use, speed at work and quality in the information generated. The solution is enriched with a support system for General Meetings and corporate actions and a valuation system (in monetary units) for the transactions both at shareholder level and at dynamic shareholder groups collectively.

The solution can be accessed from any browser (Chrome, Edge, Opera, Safari) and can be hosted at any cloud provider including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and/or on-premises. The platform supports SMTP to inform users directly of several functions or actions occurred in the system through email. Moreover, it auto-saves user preferences and offers dynamic Reporting through AI and Alerting based on specific parameters, such as the reception of a message regarding transactions for specific shareholders or shareholders who exceeded a percentage on shares or reduced it below a specific percentage.

The most important benefits derived from the use of the platform include flexibility and scalability to accommodate future requirements as well as a secure and reliable performance. The embedded modern design significantly enhances the user experience. The platform also offers 24/7 accessibility, whilst its highly modular component-based architecture enables the adoption of a tailor-made solution to fit the specific needs of each company.

RegiStar is becoming the ideal choice for shareholder registry, offering a unique experience and setting a milestone in the world of investor relations.

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has granted a licence to Xace,  a leader in iGaming financial solutions, paving the way for transformative payment services across  Europe. 

Xace, a pioneering payment provider focused on the iGaming industry, has achieved another success with the recent approval of a licence from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). This development is poised to accelerate the company's growth in the European Union, further enhancing its reputation as a key player in the iGaming market. 

Since its inception, Xace has been dedicated to simplifying financial transactions for gaming businesses. With this new licence, Xace reaffirms its commitment to meeting the specialised payment needs of the iGaming sector, which frequently encounters hurdles with conventional financial institutions. This licence not only signifies a new era for Xace but also for the European iGaming industry, offering access to a stable business account and payment solution. 

David Hodkinson, Group CEO of Xace, expressed his enthusiasm: “Our mission has always been clear  - to offer an effective alternative to traditional banking for the iGaming sector. With the MFSA  licence, we're now uniquely positioned to enhance our offering of reliable, cutting-edge payment  solutions to Maltese and European gaming firms alike.” 

Roderick Psaila, Chairman of Xace Europe, who played a key role in securing the licence, added:  “Achieving this licence is a milestone for us. The iGaming industry desperately needs a stable, secure and reputable financial provider, so we are thankful to the MFSA for their diligent and efficient contribution during the whole application process. They have proven to be a robust regulator with  approachable guidance throughout, meaning Xace Europe’s new home is set to fill a prominent role  across the EU - without hindrance.” 

Nuvei Corporation, the Canadian fintech company, announces today that it has partnered with Cash App, a fast and simple payment method that enables U.S. customers to make online payments either by scanning a simple QR code or by tapping Cash App Pay during the checkout process. Partners in the U.S. can seamlessly add Cash App Pay to their online checkout through their existing integration with Nuvei.

Cash App Pay's simple, intuitive payment experience encourages customers to return to repeat shop, as well as appeals to younger consumers by providing them with a convenient way to pay using their Cash App balance or linked debit card. In addition to winning new customers, diversifying away from a reliance on card payments also boosts overall payment acceptance rates and optimizes costs, boosting revenue acceleration further.

Philip Fayer, Nuvei Chair and CEO, commented on the announcement: "Cash App Pay is being rapidly adopted as a payment method in the U.S., especially with younger consumer demographics. Our mission is to support our partners to engage with their customers, wherever they are and however they want to pay. This partnership enables businesses to integrate Cash App Pay into their online payments experience effortlessly, attracting new customers and accelerating revenue growth in the process."

This announcement is the latest from Nuvei as it continues to build out its industry-leading portfolio of alternative payment methods (APMs) for its partners to access through a single integration. Nuvei's agile, customizable platform enables businesses to effortlessly tailor their online checkouts with all the relevant APMs in each market they operate.

Wisedocs, machine learning software-as-a-service (SaaS) for medical record review, indexing, and summarization closes $9.5M USD ($12.7M CAD) in oversubscribed Series A financing. The Series A is led by Information Venture Partners, an early-stage B2B fintech investment firm; and by Thomson Reuters Ventures and ManchesterStory.

Connor Atchison, Founder and CEO of Wisedocs, states, “This latest financing round proves the success of our most recent technological advancements. The claims ecosystem has long remained a siloed and slow-moving machine. With the improvements in automation, intelligence, and centralization that Wisedocs enables, the claims process will be an efficient experience for companies, team members, and claimants alike.”

This financing round follows Wisedocs’ successful 2022 $4.1M oversubscribed Seed round. Series A further enables Wisedocs’ successful expansion of its team, product, and sales territories. Wisedocs launched in the United States in 2022, followed by the opening of a new American headquarters in Florida to support a growing US customer base. Wisedocs is poised to accelerate exponentially in 2024 following a successful 2023, which saw the company more than double its growth in customer base, alongside an incredible 3.5X growth rate. 

“We are proud to lead Wisedocs’ Series A round,” notes Jane Podbelskaya of Information Venture Partners, investor, and newest board member at Wisedocs. “The unique way in which the company is applying AI to analyze medical claims, an overwhelming demand for Wisedocs’ solution from various insurance industry players, and the CEO’s noble mission to improve lives of insurance claimants is what makes us particularly excited about this company. This round enables its continued growth and expansion.”

Leveraging state-of-the-art Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to build its latest product suite enables the entire claims ecosystem to manage the claims process within an intelligent technology platform. Large-Language Models (LLMs) are key to Wisedocs’ understanding, analysis, and generation of content for medical records. With the 2023 launch of its game-changing Summaries platform, further artificial intelligence products can be launched to support insurance carriers, healthcare providers, law firms, and third-party administrators (TPAs) for the claims industry. 

“Wisedocs has developed a game-changing solution that applies generative AI to insurance claims processing and summarization," stated Tamara Steffens, Managing Director, Thomson Reuters Ventures. "We are excited to work with them to bring this solution to our legal customers.”

The insurance industry has long suffered from manual, slow processes that impact claimants and the claims ecosystem - from the insurance companies involved to the legal teams and medical practices. 

“The insurance industry knows the plight of their practice and workers, as well as their claimants as it pertains to processing claims effectively, efficiently, and accurately,” begins Matt Kinley, Founding Partner at ManchesterStory. “It is no surprise that Wisedocs has successfully integrated its AI technology into the claims ecosystem at such a fast adoption rate. Its technology is a welcome change to how claims are processed.”

From exponential customer engagement, Wisedocs grew to support all facets of the claims process by creating a platform that allows for AI timeline view, search, filter, summarization, and more on extensive medical records. This allows claims to be processed faster and more accurately within a secure platform.

Acronis, a leading provider of cyber protection, today announced it has become a member of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA), an ecosystem of independent software vendors (ISV) and managed security service providers (MSSP). MISA members have integrated their solutions with Microsoft security technology to build a better defense against a world of increasing cybersecurity threats.

Acronis advocates for natively integrated applications and services commonly used by service providers to boost productivity and efficiency. Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud is an advanced single, integrated solution that reduces complexity and provides unmatched integrated protection from ever-evolving cyber threats. It also encompasses the Acronis Ecosystem of more than 200 integrations with third-party vendors.

"Over 20,000 MSPs use Acronis to protect and manage their customers' endpoints, applications, and data," said Gaidar Magdanurov, President at Acronis. "Most of them are Microsoft CSP Direct or Indirect Resellers who seek synergies between Microsoft, Acronis, and other vendors to meet customer security and data resiliency requirements. With today’s announcement of Acronis’ Cyber Cloud Protect integrated with Microsoft Intune, MSPs can now manage customer endpoints with Microsoft Intune and deploy Acronis managed security and backup services quickly and easily to their customers, all from a single agent and interface.”

The integration between Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud and Microsoft Intune allows partners to deploy Acronis agents and apply protection plans based on Microsoft Entra ID groups through Microsoft Intune, which adheres to Microsoft best practices. Acronis partners can now seamlessly explore integration options directly through the MISA partner catalog, aiming to provide MSPs with a more accessible experience for efficiently enabling an integrated ecosystem.

Acronis’ collaboration with MISA demonstrates the quality of its integration with Microsoft Intune, showcasing a long-term commitment to the Microsoft relationship. MISA enables close collaboration between members with the shared goal of improving customer security. Each new member brings valuable expertise, making the association more effective as it expands. Joining this ecosystem reinforces Acronis’ dedication to cybersecurity.

“The Microsoft Intelligent Security Association has grown into a vibrant ecosystem comprised of the most reliable and trusted security software vendors across the globe,” said Maria Thomson, Director, Microsoft Intelligent Security Association. “Our members, like Acronis, share Microsoft’s commitment to collaboration within the cybersecurity community to improve our customers’ ability to predict, detect, and respond to security threats faster.”

Partners who are interested in learning more, visit the MISA Partner Catalog: Microsoft Intelligent Security Association.

Xceptor, the intelligent automation platform for financial markets, and KPMG UK have joined forces to partner on tax solutions for financial services. Working together, Xceptor and KPMG will offer a compelling combination of best-in-breed tax expertise and innovative technology that will strengthen existing tax services and future-proof tax processes as regulatory and client needs evolve.

The new alliance will offer both firms’ clients improved and extended services from day one, with longer-term plans for expanded product offerings and service enhancements that successfully merge the expertise of both firms. This is particularly important as the regulatory environment continues to change, including the increased focus on moving towards a completely digitized tax process.

Xceptor’s powerful platform transforms operational tax processes, removing the burden of data management and complex, challenging workflow processes. KPMG’s expertise will strengthen and future-proof this offering now, and as it evolves to meet new requirements. KPMG clients will benefit from Xceptor’s data automation and technology to accelerate the digitization of their tax processes and to streamline and improve their tax-related workflows, incorporating sophisticated AI and data automation tools.

Stuart Tait, Partner and Chief Technology Officer, Tax & Legal, KPMG UK, said, “Our alliance with Xceptor will help to dramatically streamline and accelerate the work of our tax teams, meaning employees will have more time to spend on the most challenging client issues. The tax landscape is becoming increasingly complicated with more regulatory updates; our alliance with Xceptor will enable KPMG to help clients keep pace with those changes and provide them with cutting-edge tax solutions.”

Paul Duffy, Xceptor Tax Product Lead comments, “Working with KPMG is an extraordinary opportunity that will facilitate incorporating their extensive, global and specialist tax expertise into our tax solution to benefit both our customers and theirs. We are creating a solution that leverages the power of our data automation platform alongside best-in-class tax expertise to streamline, enhance and future proof tax solutions for financial services. This is the ideal combination of technology and expertise and we’re extremely pleased to be bringing this to the market.”

Xceptor and KPMG expect to significantly expand the combined offering over the coming months with additional solutions for new regulations, most notably in the build-up to the widely anticipated EU FASTER directive, and over time will build additional solutions including tax information services and a corporate tax solution."

SIX, the global financial information provider, is delighted to announce the launch of the new SIX Reference Rate Crypto and SIX Real-Time Crypto Indices. These indices will serve as benchmarks for AsiaNext’s crypto derivatives trading platform as well as for institutional investors globally.

The new SIX Reference Rate Crypto Indices and SIX Real-Time Crypto Indices cover the major crypto assets Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), giving a comprehensive snapshot of the market and its performance. Built on a transparent rules-based methodology, the indices foster clarity and consistency by sourcing data from multiple exchanges. The indices enable precise pricing, valuation and performance tracking, which support nuanced analysis and strategic decision making within the crypto market. The SIX Reference Rate Crypto Indices provide the BTC and ETH benchmark price in USD on an hourly basis, while the BTC and ETH SIX Real-Time Indices will be published every second.

AsiaNext, founded by SIX and SBI Digital Asset Holdings, is a digital asset trading venue for institutional investors, which focuses on regulation and operates under rigorous standards of corporate governance and internal controls across all its activities. AsiaNext’s fundamental objective is to provide institutions with a secure platform to execute their market strategies and seamlessly trade digital assets with confidence.

The partnership between AsiaNext and SIX bridges the traditional financial industry and the crypto ecosystem. By providing financial institutions with the governance, processes and tools they need to proactively measure and monitor the rapidly evolving and volatile crypto market, this partnership sets another key milestone for the crypto industry in moving towards more robust methodologies, fair and transparent valuation as well as product standardization.

Dr. Christian Bahr, Head Index Services, Financial Information, SIX states: "The introduction of these BTC and ETH Indices underlines our dedication to delivering sophisticated and well-tailored solutions for very specific use-cases, such as crypto derivatives trading. I am confident that these benchmarks will serve as an indispensable tool for AsiaNext and foster the creation of an ecosystem between derivative exchanges and institutional investors".

Sudeep Chatterjee, Head of Product at AsiaNext adds: "We are pleased to partner with SIX for an industry benchmark for the crypto market that underscores our commitment to providing institutional clients with robust crypto derivatives trading including standardized performance evaluation and timely risk management to help them make more informed investment decisions and meet regulatory requirements.”

The SIX Reference Rate Crypto and SIX Real-Time Crypto Indices are accessible for tracking and analysis through AsiaNext’s institutional crypto derivatives platform, as well as through the data feeds from SIX.

Visa, Worldwide Payment Technology Partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Fibank, Official Partner of the Bulgarian  Olympic Committee announced a partnership to create unique debit and credit cards with the official design of the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024.

"The partnership between Visa and Fibank represents another step in our commitment to innovation and transformation in the world of fintech. Together with Fibank, we provide customers with the opportunity to carry with them not only the convenience of payments, but also a symbol of their connection with one of the most prestigious sports events – the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Our partnership reflects our constant commitment to innovation and our desire to create exceptional experiences for our users," shared Krasimira Raycheva, Country Manager, Visa, Bulgaria.

"As a result of our long-term partnership with Visa Bulgaria, together we decided to present to our customers a new generation of debit and credit cards. These cards not only stand out with their special design dedicated to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, but also send a clear message for our support to Bulgarian athletes and Olympians and Paralympians. We wish to emphasize the values and spirit that the Olympic and Paralympic Games carry within themselves - promoting tolerance and mutual understanding between nations. With the new and stylish design of the Visa cards offered by Fibank, each of our customers will have the opportunity to carry with him a piece of the emotion of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which will remind him that there are many more things that unite us," said Mr. Nikola Bakalov, CEO and Board Chairman of Fibank.

Credit and debit card designs will feature:

• Debit card - The embodiment of one of the most emblematic symbols of Paris and France – the Eiffel Tower, which rises proudly above the city of lights.
• Credit card (gold) – Depicting the majestic Arc de Triomphe, a symbol of victory and triumph.