Published
- 05:00 am
The 8th Edition of the Connected Banking Summit Southern Africa is set to take place on May 24, 2023, in Johannesburg, South Africa, bringing together top executives, experts, and leaders from the banking and financial services industry. The summit, organized by the International Center for Strategic Alliances (ICSA), is a platform for business professionals, experts, and practitioners from the BFSI community to discuss practical and cost-effective solutions for digital banking transformation.
Under the theme "Accelerating Digital Inclusion Through Sustainable Transformation," the summit will discuss into the impact of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, ML, deep learning, cognitive computing, and digital assets on the financial services ecosystem. Leading industry mavens will share their experiences and best practices, providing valuable insights and inspiration for attendees.
The Connected Banking Summit is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to stay ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving digital banking landscape. With over 250+ delegates expected to attend, the summit offers a unique opportunity for networking and collaboration, making it a must-attend event for those seeking to enhance their digital transformation journey.
In line with the summit's focus on accelerating digital transformation and delivering a delightful customer experience, the event will feature keynote speeches, interactive panel discussions, and case studies, ensuring a rich and engaging experience for all attendees. Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain valuable insights, network with peers, and shape the future of digital banking.
Summit focus: -
Digital Inclusion and Transformation
Africa’s Digital economy
Customer Experience
DeFi, Lending and Financial Inclusion
Zero Trust Frameworks – Powering Resilient organizations
Future of Payments
Data and Analytics – Empowering decisions
Digital Access and Financial Security
Synergies Between traditional FIs and Telecoms
Role of AI, ML and Robotics in Financial Services
ESG & Sustainability
The Current Edition will have inputs from: -
Bradwin Roper, CEO FNB Connect, FNB South Africa
Mukwandi Chibesakunda, Chief Executive Officer, Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) PLC
Marijke Guest, CIO for Payments and Corporate Investment Banking, Nedbank
Maurits Pretorius, Chief Strategy Officer, The Payments Association of South Africa
Verushca Hunter, Digital Technology and Innovation Executive, Absa Bank
- 09:00 am
As Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced measures intended to lift the UK economy in the Spring Budget, data from iwoca highlights what small businesses were most worried about as they entered 2023.
Small business lender iwoca’s latest SME Expert Index data – based on UK finance brokers who submit over 2,000 SME finance applications a month – reveals a third of experts (32%) report increased business running costs as small businesses’ top concern. The Budget statement contained a number of measures which touched on these worries.
Also featured in the top concerns list were higher interest rates, and having to close the business (according to over 1 in 10 brokers respectively).
Top SME concerns (full data here)
1. Increased business running costs, 32%
2. Recession, 12%
(=)3. Having to close their business, 11%
(=)3. Higher interest rates, 11%
4. Access to finance, 9%
5. Ability to hire or retain staff, 7%
Whilst inflation is set to fall over the course of the year, SME owners may see other costs rise as Corporation Tax increases to 25%.
Fifth on the list of concerns was the ability to hire and retain staff (according to 7% of brokers). The Chancellor introduced a raft of measures encouraging workforce participation in the Budget, through expanded access to childcare and skills training for over-50s. Although this could be a concern for some SME owners (and is a priority for the Government), it doesn’t seem to be as much of a priority for the segment of business owners when surveyed for iwoca’s Q4 SME Expert Index.
Colin Goldstein, Commercial Growth Director at iwoca, said: “Small and medium-sized businesses across the country are searching for financial support as they endure uncertainty. Whilst forecasts tell a more positive than expected story for the UK economy this year, the reality on the ground for many SMEs will still be difficult, characterised by high costs and reduced consumer spending. Access to finance during this period becomes even more vital to keep them on track.”
SME Expert Index
This SME Expert Index from iwoca provides a snapshot on what’s driving small business owners to borrow, the trends seen in the types and value of finance being accessed, and how these patterns change as the country navigates economic shifts in the market. iwoca publishes this index every quarter to capture the experience of brokers working with small businesses.
iwoca is reaching 3 million businesses across the UK and Germany through its embedded lending technology, which allows businesses to access loans through a range of platforms such as accountancy software apps and digital neo-banks. As well as its original Flexi-Loan, the lender offers an omni-channel B2B payment solution (with built in B2B BNPL) – iwocaPay, and a Revenue Based Loan, where repayments are a percentage of a business’s monthly sales. The company offers free mental health support for all small businesses in the UK, in partnership with online therapy platform Spill.
- 01:00 am
Singapore-based expense payment platform, ipaymy, has announced a new partnership with TripleA, a crypto payment gateway licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This partnership will enable ipaymy's customers in Singapore to pay their rent, invoices, taxes, and employee salaries with cryptocurrencies, even if their recipient doesn't accept crypto. This represents a groundbreaking step forward in the adoption of cryptocurrency commercially.
With TripleA's white-label crypto solution, ipaymy provides a streamlined end-to-end payment experience, in which a user funds payment through any crypto wallet and the recipient receives the payment directly into their bank account in fiat currency. This is a game-changing solution on how businesses and individuals can pay their largest expenses with popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether.
With 420 million crypto owners globally, there is increasing demand to pay for goods and services in crypto. We already see examples of retailers accepting crypto payments for a huge range of goods and services, from coffee to designer bags. ipaymy recently conducted a survey among thousands of users, which found that 64% of respondents currently hold crypto and 35% of them were interested in being able to pay their expenses with crypto. The challenge and opportunity now lies in further enabling merchant acceptance.
If a supplier, employee or landlord doesn’t accept crypto, a business or individual typically needs to go through the lengthy off-ramping process through a centralised exchange. This can involve a combination of spread, transaction and bank fees and uncertainty as to when the funds will arrive in their designated bank account. Under this approach, funds cannot be sent directly to the intended end recipient. When the settlement time ranges from a couple of hours to several days, not only can this be prohibitively slow, but it becomes a roadback to crypto utility as the intention to ‘pay’ needs to be planned far in advance.
By partnering with TripleA, ipaymy’s crypto payment solution provides users with a single, cost-effective and reliable transaction, with the funds always settled to the recipient the next business day. For each transaction, payment advice is provided to the user for ease of reconciliation and to substantiate sensitive payments such as employee salaries and corporate taxes. ipaymy launched their crypto payments with an introductory flat rate of only 0.80% per transaction, which can be over half the cost of leading alternative methods.
"Our solution is a true industry-first in the global payments landscape, and it perfectly aligns with ipaymy's core mission of empowering business and individuals with the freedom and flexibility to choose how to pay their expenses. This allows them to take full advantage of the unique benefits that come with various payment methods," said Catherine Szulyk, COO of ipaymy. "Through our partnership with TripleA, we're excited to provide a secure and simplified method for conducting end-to-end transactions between crypto and fiat currency, eliminating a key barrier for the growing population that wants to transact in digital currencies."
"We are excited to partner with ipaymy and offer their customers a new way to make everyday payments with cryptocurrencies," said Eric Barbier, CEO of TripleA. "Our white-label crypto payment solution enables our partners to reap the benefits of accepting crypto payments, without managing crypto on their balance sheets. This makes it an ideal solution for businesses looking to offer cryptocurrency payments volatility-free."
ipaymy plans to introduce BTC, ETH, USDT and USDC payment options to their cross-border payment services and their AI-driven invoicing and accounts receivable solution, Fetch. Through Fetch, businesses can meet the growing demand to accept crypto payments without ever having to hold crypto, providing them with a 'hands-off' approach in addressing their clients’ payment preferences.
ipaymy is committed to expanding their cryptocurrency payment capabilities beyond Singapore, and plans to introduce this payment solution in the other markets they currently operate in including Hong Kong, Australia, and Malaysia.
To get started with paying your expenses with crypto learn more here.
- 04:00 am
- 2m+ transactions scored per month
- 99.44% average fraud detection rate
- 0.67 average basis point (BP) of reported fraud* (remarkably lower than averages of the countries in which its financial institutions are based)
- 30+ financial institutions onboarded to the service fully managed by Enfuce
Tiia Helokas, Fraud Manager at Enfuce, says: “Our clients deserve first class services that allow them to concentrate on the success of their core business, without worrying about ever‑evolving fraud. With Featurespace ARIC Risk Hub, we remove that worry. It’s an extremely intuitive, futureproof risk solution that allows us to protect our clients’ transactions across all verticals, facilitates faster onboarding, and supports our growth.”
Neil Katkov, Director of Risk at Celent, says: “Celent is thrilled to recognise Enfuce in the Model Risk Manager 2023 category ‘Financial Crime Compliance’. Enfuce’s SaaS based fraud management offering enables them to flexibly support any type of client anywhere. Their FRAML approach to combining fraud detection and anti-money laundering differentiates them from traditional financial crime compliance operations at banks, for instance, where combining those two streams has been a challenge.”
Monika Liikamaa, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Enfuce, says: “This prestigious award is validation that Enfuce provides the whole package of services, technology compliance and anti-fraud expertise that businesses around the world are looking for. Protecting end users while delivering seamless and secure payments options is incremental to building customer trust and loyalty. If end customers have a fraudulent experience early on in their relationship, it’s likely that they will stop using the service.”
Denise Johansson, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Enfuce, says: “This award is an authoritative testament to Enfuce’s continuous commitment to safeguard society from payment fraud. Enfuce’s fraud prevention capabilities and related compliance expertise enable our customers to focus on their core business while relying on Enfuce to facilitate transactions. With Enfuce’s pioneering spirit and commitment to exceeding client expectations, Enfuce is setting the example in fraud prevention and detection, enabling clients and their customers to feel safe in the knowledge that their transactions are secure and protected.”
- 07:00 am
Seattle Bank, a digitally-driven local bank, has announced a new embedded banking partnership with LoanStar Technologies (LoanStar), a fintech company that enables merchants and service providers to offer point-of-sale consumer loans. Consumers will now be able to quickly and easily access loans from Seattle Bank for high-value transactions, directly through the merchant.
“At Seattle Bank, we evaluate every potential banking partnership by determining if the concept solves a problem for the customer, then aligning with a brand’s business imperatives,” said Josh Williams, EVP, Chief Banking Officer and Head of Partnerships at Seattle Bank. “In this instance, partnering with LoanStar allows its customers to accelerate the speed and convenience of point-of-sale financing while simultaneously allowing Seattle Bank to expand its reach to customers nationally. A win-win.”
The collaboration is made possible through Seattle Bank’s scalable, configurable, open-API technology stack. This includes enabling real-time underwriting and loan fulfilment by integrating new functionality with Finastra, a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces. Finastra’s FusionFabric.cloud open developer platform allows Seattle Bank to seamlessly integrate with its fintech partners, including LoanStar.
LoanStar’s state-of-the-art technology connects lenders to borrowers through its merchant network, which spans several industries. Seattle Bank’s initial partnership serves a merchant in the home improvement sector.
“We saw a huge opportunity to team up with Seattle Bank to help expand its reach through point-of-sale finance,” said Andrew Turner, CEO of LoanStar. “We’re confident our strong relationships with contractors and merchants will help them find highly efficient ways to reach customers wanting immediate financing options when making purchases.
“Finastra is proud to be an orchestrator of embedded finance, providing the tools needed to help banks meet customers on their journey at the right time,” said Radha Suvarna, Chief Product Officer and Head of Embedded Finance at Finastra. “We’re thrilled that Seattle Bank has chosen Finastra and our partners at LoanStar to facilitate embedded consumer lending at the point of sale – with the first live transactions already successfully processed.”
Partnering with LoanStar illustrates Seattle Bank’s partner banking capabilities which enable fintechs, marketplaces and brands to provide financial solutions within their brand experience, bringing banking directly to customers through seamless, integrated transactions. Whether offering a borrowing solution into a retail brand’s digital channel or providing banking-as-a-service to a fintech, Seattle Bank orchestrates the strategic blend of business, technology, and compliance, creating successful and sustainable banking partnerships.
- 05:00 am
Money20/20, the world’s leading fintech show is announcing that HSBC UK Chief Executive Officer Ian Stuart is confirmed to speak at Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam on June 6th at 1:15 pm on the Money20/20 Encore stage.
The audience will hear the full story on the ground-breaking deal that placed HSBC at the heart of UK's innovation economy. Ian will share insights into how the HSBC UK team worked to structure the deal over one weekend and outline HSBC’s future plans to support the growth ambitions of founders, investors and sponsors in the tech and life sciences sector.
“I’m looking forward to telling the inside story of how HSBC moved fast to acquire SVB UK; supporting customers and securing deposits and loans without government financial support. Money20/20 provides a great stage to share some of our thinking behind the deal, and expand on why it’s so important for HSBC to continue to support the start-up and the fintech economy in the UK and Europe,” said Ian Stuart, Chief Executive Officer at HSBC UK.
“Ian Stuart’s and HSBC’s whirlwind weekend purchase of Silicon Valley Bank will become one for the history books. We are thrilled to have Ian on stage at Money20/20 sharing his story with the audience and the world on how HSBC saved the UK arm of the bank and as a result, many startup and fintech jobs in the UK and beyond. These are exactly the type of conversations we want on our stages, setting the pace for where the industry is at and where it is going from here,” said Scarlett Sieber, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer at Money20/20.
- 08:00 am
Genesis Global, the low-code application development platform purpose-built for financial markets organizations, today announced it is a winner of TabbFORUM’s NOVA Award.
“TabbFORUM NOVA awards recognize a variety of applied technologies and innovations in financial markets. Genesis Global's platform is not only a technology advance in its own right, but is also enabling and accelerating its clients' technology development and innovation strategies,” said Jeffrey Kutler, contributing editor at TabbFORUM.
“We are pleased to be honoured by TabbFORUM and its strong community in financial markets,” said Stephen Murphy, CEO of Genesis Global. “The NOVA award is a testament to the success of our work with clients to bring new trading technologies to fixed income and other markets and to how our platform enhances the capabilities of in-house developer teams throughout financial services.”
Bringing software applications to market quickly is the key differentiator for banks, asset managers and other financial firms under pressure to compete for market share, reduce the cost of legacy systems and comply with changing regulations.
Genesis helps financial firms accelerate technology innovation with its software development platform and estimates that it reduces the time and effort spent on coding by 80%, getting clients from whiteboard to market five times quicker.
Firms throughout the financial industry have partnered with Genesis to overcome their biggest technology challenges, including developing new software applications and platforms, enhancing legacy technology systems and replacing spreadsheet computing and manual processes with enterprise-quality solutions.
TabbFORUM's NOVA Awards honour technology-driven innovation in financial services. Winners demonstrate exemplary industry leadership, recognition and reputation; significant system or product innovation; unique technology advances; and strong influence in the financial services technology marketplace.
Technology from Genesis and other NOVA winners define what is best in class for trading, wealth management, compliance, data management, analytics, information security and operational efficiency. Winners were selected from across the capital markets based on TabbFORUM research, recommendations from the 45,000+ members of the TabbFORUM community and input from a board of judges consisting of veteran industry observers and participants.
In 2022, Genesis expanded the influence of its low-code platform in the financial industry. Major milestones for the firm included:
- Completing its $220+ million Series C, including strategic investments from Bank of America, BNY Mellon and Citi
- Delivering major trading platforms for Octaura and Neptune Networks
- 06:00 am
Inspire Payments is heralding the success of its new partnership with Worldpay with more than 1,000 small business owners taking advantage of the latest cutting-edge payment technology in the first few weeks.
This new partnership delivers quick access to the payment capabilities of one of the world’s largest payment processors in Worldpay from FIS®.1
Inspire Payments provides a range of payment terminals for small and medium-sized enterprises throughout the UK and this new partnership offers customers the highly rated ‘one to watch for 2023’ Worldpay-certified Ingenico DX8000 smart terminal with enhanced android processing power. The DX800 is a perfect handheld solution with connectivity via Wifi, GPRS and Bluetooth.
Sean Kelly, Sales Director at Inspire Payments comments: “From restaurants and cafes to fashion shops and more, we are proven to be a reliable, secure resource for businesses looking to upgrade their payment solutions. In fact, 97% of our customers have come to us after switching from their old providers.
Helping owners and entrepreneurs with faster and more reliable smart payments can really help their businesses boom – especially during the current tough trading conditions. This new offering through Worldpay means that we can offer the latest instore smart payment technology to busy premises where processing speed is of ultimate importance.”
- 01:00 am
Improving access to credit can be crucial in stimulating agricultural productivity and economic growth. Image: Envato Elements
EOS Data Analytics explains how remote sensing and artificial intelligence help banks and insurance companies optimize and improve their farm crediting strategies.
Financial institutions have been using satellite imagery for more than a decade, but it is only now that the technology has become so affordable and mainstream that it can be used to automate and speed up the provision of such services as farm crediting. The question is how to extract useful insights from satellite data and make them an essential part of decision-making processes in finance and banking.
The 2022 state of food and agriculture report released by FAO is all about automation in agriculture. It states the main problem with the automation of farming processes is the immaturity of technologies and the lack of necessary infrastructure to take full advantage of them.
Yet one technology – satellite monitoring – already hit the market and is ready for scaled use all over the world. While its advantages for farming and agricultural businesses around the world are already well-known, many banks and insurance companies working with such clientele are yet to introduce it into their workflow and increase their effectiveness. And with the satellite-driven crop monitoring solutions provided by EOS Data Analytics, a global provider of AI-powered satellite imagery analytics, there are at least five ways to achieve that.
1. Improved loss mitigation strategies. The analytics available in the EOSDA Crop Monitoring, an online satellite-based precision agriculture platform for field monitoring, provides up-to-date data on weather patterns, crop growth, and soil moisture levels. This information helps banks and insurance companies to monitor yields, anticipate potential risks such as droughts or floods, and develop improved loss mitigation strategies.
2. More informed lending decisions. Objective data on farmers' land use and farming practices enable the finance and banking businesses to assess credit risk more accurately. Since satellite images and analytics remain in the system, the easily available historical data on the quality of crops grown in the fields of interest may become essential for making more informed lending decisions, not to mention that it also reduces the need for on-site visits to farms.
3. Alignment with environmental requirements. Insurance and banking companies increasingly need to ensure that their lending practices align with environmental and social standards. Satellite data – and the analytics on top of it – can also be used to monitor compliance with such standards by providing data on various environmental indicators. As a result, a lending decision strategy can also encourage sustainable and responsible agricultural practices.
4. Promoting precision agriculture. One of the most obvious processes where satellite data is of most use is the evaluation of new farming projects. Prioritizing agribusinesses caring about yield crop optimization and waste reduction can help foster precision agriculture practices and allow financial institutions to contribute to the UN’s sustainable development goals such as food security.
5. Climate risk management. Apart from analyzing the effectiveness of farming efforts, satellite imagery can also reveal the effect of climate change on the land and its threat to agricultural productivity. With timely satellite data insights, banks and insurers can identify and evaluate the risks of flooding, drought, or other climate-related hazards and mitigate these risks.
How does satellite data help monitor farms? Image: EOS Data Analytics
"Ultimately, satellite imagery analytics is a game-changer for banks and financial institutions in assessing credit risk and building farm credit trust. By leveraging this technology, they can monitor crop yields, evaluate potential risks, and ensure compliance with environmental and social standards. This enables them to make more informed lending decisions and support sustainable agricultural practices, ultimately promoting economic growth and development in rural communities," states Oleksandr Dzhevaga, Partner Account Executive at EOS Data Analytics.
While the notion of satellite monitoring seems to be established, the future of these technologies will bring even more opportunities for financial services companies working in the agriculture industry.
For instance, in January 2023 EOS Data Analytics launched its first satellite into low Earth orbit. Being the first out of seven spacecraft of the EOS SAT agri-oriented constellation, it is designed to provide even more advanced and precise analytics for field monitoring and crop assessment.
The development of AI technologies already enables custom solutions like yield prediction and crop classification, allowing lenders to come up with even more sophisticated risk assessment models and be more effective in developing countries, where access to credit is limited but tends to be crucial in stimulating agricultural productivity and economic growth.
Overall, with the increasing demand for food and the need to ensure the sustainability of agricultural practices, satellite monitoring technology becomes an indispensable tool for banks and financial institutions worldwide, and those still lagging in adopting it risk losing their market share.
- 08:00 am
Source: Pexels
Recent market volatility has made it more important than ever to diversify your trading strategy by including a range of instruments in your portfolio. One type of instrument that is growing in popularity amongst traders is the Index Fund.
An Index Fund is a type of financial instrument that tracks the performance of a specific asset against a group of other assets. Index Funds are a popular investment option because they offer low costs and consistent returns, and are relatively easy for the everyday investor to understand.
To trade Index Funds, you will need to find a broker that offers futures or CFD (contract for difference) trading. Here, we reveal the 3 best online brokers that offer Index Funds in 2023.
1. TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade is a U.S.-based broker that offers commission-free Index Fund trading. This means that you can invest in popular Index Funds without paying any fees. Furthermore, the platform offers a variety of advanced tools and educational resources to help you navigate the market before you trade. This includes access to the Thinkorswim charting platform, third-party analytics and an innovative comparison tool.
What’s more, TD Ameritrade offers a range of other asset varieties including Forex, commodities, futures contracts, options and more. This makes it easy to diversify your portfolio in one place.
Source: Pexels
2. Capital.com
Through Capital.com you can trade popular index funds such as CFDs. This is a type of asset that allows investors to speculate on the price movements of an underlying asset without actually owning the asset. CFD trading often comes with lower fees than traditional trading.
Furthermore, Capital.com allows users to trade with leverage which means that it is possible to trade with more capital than you have in your account. If the market moves in your favour, this could increase the profits that you make. However, it could also increase potential losses if the market moves in the other direction.
Capital.com provides an advanced demo trading account that can be used to practise trading CFDs before you put any real money at risk. This is a great way to test that platform and get a better idea of whether it is the best option for you. Users can also access the advanced TradingView charting tool to analyse assets and make informed decisions about the market. TradingView offers in-depth price charts for a range of index funds, such as the DXY. It is a good tool to use if you are looking to conduct in-depth analysis using indicators and charting tools.
3. Forex.com
Forex.com is a popular CFD and forex broker that provides trading services to clients in over 180 countries. Forex.com offers a range of trading platforms, including MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and it's native platform ForexTrader.
On Forex.com, you can trade Index Fund CFDs as well as traditional FX currency pairs. The broker offers competitive pricing and low spreads, with leverage of up to 200:1 available to clients in certain regions. Forex.com also offers a lucrative mobile app that allows you to trade from your phone.
Advancements in Fintech mean that traders can invest in a range of instruments from their laptops and mobile phones. In this article, we have taken a look at 3 online platforms that offer Index Funds which are a great way to diversify your portfolio in 2023. As with any type of financial instrument, trading Index Funds puts your capital at risk. It is important to conduct thorough research before trading.
