• 23.03.2023 -- 05:25 pm

Financial IT catches up with David Larsson, CEO of Sileon at MoneyLIVE Summit 2023

42Flows.Tech, a software engineering company, and Sumsub, an all-in-one verification platform, today announced their strategic partnership to provide trustworthy, end-to-end solutions for identity verification, transaction monitoring and AML screening in fintech, e-commerce, and many other industries.

42Flows.Tech offers rapid integration of KYC systems to their clients’ and partners’ systems. As a result, 42Flows.Tech recommends and provides best practices for integrating Sumsub’s solution into core banking and other fintech developments.

Max Popov, COO of 42Flows.Tech, said of the partnership: “We are delighted to increase our engagement with the latest verification technologies and commitment to digital security through becoming a strategic partner of Sumsub. I believe that our cooperation will help the fintech sector grow, develop, and succeed, delivering value to businesses and consumers alike”.

Andrew Sever, co-founder and CEO of Sumsub, commented: “We are glad to work with 42Flows.Tech for the benefit of their customers and the wider fintech community. Sumsub’s advanced KYC, KYB, transaction monitoring and AML solutions are the best fit for a fast-growing software engineering company aimed at global expansion. We are looking forward to launching new projects together with 42Flows.Tech.”

UK consumers are embracing alternative payment offerings including digital wallets as they look to better manage their finances amidst the cost of living crisis, according to a new report released today from global financial technology leader FIS^®.

The Worldpay from FIS Global Payments Report 2023 examines how consumers pay today, both in-store and online across 40 global markets. Findings from the 2023 report show that global consumers are switching to alternative payment methods (APMs) as they look for more choice, convenience and control at the checkout. 

In the UK, digital wallets are the leading payment method among consumers shopping online, accounting for 35 per cent of e-commerce transaction value in 2022, while they increased their share of POS transaction value to 10 per cent in 2022. With consumers looking to better manage their finances as costs bite, buy now pay later (BNPL) increased its share of e-commerce transaction value to account for 8 per cent of e-commerce spend in 2022, up 33 per cent YoY from 2021. Account-to-account payments (A2A) are also on the rise in the UK, accounting for 9 per cent of e-commerce transaction value in 2022, up from 8 per cent in 2021. 

Alternative payment methods are also gaining e-commerce share across Europe, but when compared to the UK, payment methods vary greatly. While the UK leads the region in digital wallet share, it is behind in A2A adoption. A2A payments in both Poland (67 per cent e-commerce transaction value) and the Netherlands (62 per cent e-commerce transaction value) have a much larger market share. In Sweden, BNPL is the leading country payment method with 24 per cent of e-commerce transaction value, while in Turkey, credit cards account for 53 per cent e-commerce transaction value. Across the continent, multiple factors including differences in local culture, regulation and technological innovation are all impacting how consumers pay.

Pete Wickes, EMEA General Manager, Worldpay Merchant Solutions, FIS, said: “Although the threat of a global economic slowdown may have hampered consumer spending, e-commerce continued to grow in the UK last year. Innovation in payment solutions is running at a hot pace right now, greatly improving the experience for customers, reducing headaches for merchants, and unlocking new avenues for growth. Meeting consumer demand for advanced payments features now can help businesses thrive through economic troubles, while potentially gaining market share from competitors.”

UK Payment Trends:

• Digital wallets are the leading payment method among UK consumers shopping online, accounting for 35 per cent of e-commerce transaction value in 2022, up from 32 per cent in 2021.
• BNPL accounted for 8 per cent of e-commerce spend in 2022, up from 6 per cent in 2021. Although card spend still dominates, the 33 per cent year-on-year growth of BNPL demonstrates that it has gained significant traction as a payment method.
• Account-to-account payments increased their share of e-commerce transaction value, rising to 9 per cent in 2022, up form 8 per cent in 2021. 
• The UK E-commerce market was worth US$319billion in 2022.
• When shopping in-store, UK consumers prefer to pay with cards. Debit cards (47 per cent) and credit cards (29 per cent) both increased their share from 2021 to comprise of more than three-quarters of transaction value in 2022.
• The use of digital wallets has risen in-store, increasing their share of POS spend to 10 per cent in 2022, and it is projected that they will account for 21 pe rcent market share in 2026. 
• The rate of cash use continues to decline in the UK, having fallen by more than half since prior to the pandemic, from 21 per cent of point of sale (POS) transaction value in 2019 to 10 per cent in 2022.

Jack Henry™, today announced that its LoanVantage solution has been selected as the winner of the "Best Loan Origination Platform" award in the 7th annual FinTech Breakthrough Awards program. The program is conducted by FinTech Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies, and products in today's global FinTech market.

LoanVantage from Jack Henry is a flexible, all-digital platform that reduces friction throughout the entire loan lifecycle. The platform's one-system approach leverages integrations that centralize data between application, underwriting, approval, and monitoring. The platform gives community and regional financial institutions the ability to compete with fintechs and megabanks by providing both the borrower and the lender an intuitive user experience.

Jack Henry's LoanVantage offers an easy-to-use borrower-facing application, complete with automated offers and approvals. The application questions and flow are configured based on the loan type and provide a simple, efficient, modern experience. A secure online portal for uploading required documents gives borrowers the choice of in-person or online interaction.

"We are incredibly honoured to be recognized by FinTech Breakthrough," said Jack Henry President of Complementary Solutions Matt Riley. "LoanVantage can shorten loan processing time from weeks to minutes, enabling financial institutions to deliver easy-to-use, modern technology to effectively compete and win in today's challenging market. Banks and credit unions also can process more loans in less time by harnessing the capabilities of an end-to-end system for both consumer and commercial loans. LoanVantage's digital experience helps financial institutions attract and support the diverse lending needs of the people and businesses they serve, all in a remote environment that's available 24/7." 

123-year-old Killbuck Savings Bank, based in Killbuck, Ohio, went live with LoanVantage in April 2021. Due to the efficiencies gained, the $800-million asset bank saw its biggest lending year ever in 2022, increasing loan volume by 25% and processing over 1,000 commercial loans through LoanVantage alone.

"LoanVantage automated and streamlined internal processes, freeing up bankers' time to focus on customers, improving accuracy, and enabling us to complete auditory requests quickly and efficiently," said Matthew Miller, senior vice president and a chief lending officer at the bank. "As a result, we had a record year of loan growth in 2022. Through the continued commitment from our team members and our partnership with Jack Henry, we are well-positioned to continue growing and offer our customers modern and user-friendly financial products and services."

The FinTech Breakthrough Awards is the premier awards program, founded to recognize FinTech innovators, leaders and visionaries from around the world in a range of categories, including Digital Banking, Personal Finance, Lending, Payments, Investments, RegTech, InsurTech and many more. The 2023 FinTech Breakthrough Award program attracted more than 4,000 nominations from across the globe.

"Modern borrowers need lenders to provide fast, intuitive, and easy-to-access digital solutions. In the past, regardless of how simple or complex a loan, the process was time-consuming for organizations and borrowers alike - between multiple data entry points, paper, and spreadsheets and old processes," said James Johnson, Managing Director of FinTech Breakthrough. "LoanVantage is a breakthrough solution for today's modern borrower, streamlining and standardizing lending processes while controlling risk. Designed for ease of use and maximum flexibility, LoanVantage is transforming the lending process by making things run more smoothly and efficiently."

Nucleus365, a UK-based payment institution offering a centralised platform for global payment processing, FX, and connected banking, has today announced the availability of a new bulk uploads feature that will enable all of its global merchants to make large volume payments to businesses or individuals through one efficient online form.

By embedding the bulk uploads feature into its existing platform, Nucleus365 is enabling its customers to benefit from instant deployment, without the need for costly and disruptive changes (or additional tools such as payroll services). The new feature will mean customers can process large-scale internal and external payments with backend analytics and customer support available 24/7.

This new feature will save merchants time and money by removing costly manual processes and replacing them with automated ones, which allows for speedier reconciliation. By simplifying the payment process with features like bulk uploads, Nucleus365 is also meeting merchants' payment requirements - particularly those rapidly expanding across the globe with an increasing number of banking partners to account for.

Sophie Flynn, Chief Financial Officer at Nucleus365, said: “We are always looking for improvements in the way payments are made - if we can simplify them, then we can save merchants time and money. Our bulk uploads feature does exactly that while enabling merchants to expand globally in a speedier, more efficient way.”

Founded in 2022, Nucleus365 offers a unified platform for payment processing, back-office treasury functions, and reconciliation purposes. Covering banking and acquiring, Nucleus365 is integrated with a wide range of banking providers and payment processors around the world.

Ria Money Transfer, a global leader in the cross-border money transfer industry and business segment of Euronet (NASDAQ: EEFT), today announced an agreement to become an official sponsor of the Italian football club FC Internazionale Milano through the 2024 season.

This new sports sponsorship will help raise awareness of Ria’s brand in Italy and benefit Euronet’s Money Transfer segment, which includes Ria Money Transfer, Xe and Dandelion globally.

Thanks to this sponsorship, Ria will be able to foster a closer relationship with Inter’s far-reaching fanbase of more than 500 million fans distributed on all continents. Inter’s global appeal makes it a perfect fit for Ria, whose reach extends across more than 180 countries and territories. This association boosts the visibility of the brands in Euronet´s Money Transfer segment during football matches through in-stadium displays, Inter's digital channels, hospitality services in the stadium and additional initiatives to be unveiled later.

Inter is one of the most acclaimed football clubs in the world thanks to its history, great results and iconic players. FC Internazionale Milano was founded in 1908 to give foreign players the opportunity to play on a Milan football team.

"We are proud to be an official sponsor of such a historic and successful football club. This new sponsorship makes perfect sense, given the similarities between Inter’s history and our own,” said Juan Bianchi, CEO of Euronet’s Money Transfer segment. “Euronet’s Money Transfer segment is founded on the values of openness, passion and teamwork, and we are committed to helping our customers, who often find themselves far from home and family, pursue a brighter future."

“It is a great pleasure for us to welcome Ria Money Transfer into the family of Nerazzurri partners. We are very satisfied that a global brand with already great relevance in the world of international football has decided to join our Club to increase its visibility in Italy and beyond,” said Alessandro Antonello, Corporate CEO of FC Internazionale Milano. “This agreement allows us to become connected with a brand that has the value of openness towards others in its DNA like we do, and this is a source of pride.”

Kredivo Holdings (formerly known as FinAccel), the parent company of Kredivo and Krom Bank Indonesia, today announced that it has raised ~US$270 million in equity financing in a significantly oversubscribed round, bringing its Series D fundraise to a successful close. This round was led by Japanese global bank Mizuho Bank, Ltd., a subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (“Mizuho”) and also drew significant interest from Kredivo Holdings’ existing stable of top-tier investors, including Square Peg Capital, Jungle Ventures, Naver Financial Corporation, GMO Venture Partners and Openspace Ventures, among others.

This fundraise will cement Kredivo’s leading position in the digital financial services industry through its powerful expanding ecosystem which includes online and offline Buy Now, Pay Later (“BNPL”), personal loans, credit cards (physical and virtual) and support the upcoming launch of the neobank Krom. Kredivo is already a market leader in the third-party BNPL segment in Indonesia, covering all major e-commerce and offline channels in the country via its open-loop network.

Akshay Garg, CEO of Kredivo Holdings, said, “Despite challenging market conditions, investors continue to recognize the scale and strength of our business and our innovation potential. The upcoming expansion into digital banking is deeply synergistic with the existing Kredivo product and also opens up a very promising channel for us to become the digital financial services platform of choice for tens of millions of consumers in Southeast Asia. Finally, we are delighted to have Mizuho join us as a valuable investor and strategic partner.”

Daisuke Horiuchi, Group Executive Officer Deputy Head of Retail & Business Banking Company of Mizuho, said, “We are very proud to be an investor and long-term strategic partner of Kredivo Holdings. Kredivo has a stellar track record in Southeast Asia, leveraging on its deep data partnerships to promote financial inclusion within Indonesia and Southeast Asia, while maintaining bank-like risk metrics and building a capital-efficient business model. The digitization of financial services is a multi-decadal theme, and we’re excited to back Kredivo’s mission of building the highest quality digital financial services platform in Southeast Asia.

Evercore acted as the financial advisor to Kredivo Holdings for Mizuho’s investment in the Series D equity transaction, and Cooley LLP acted as the legal advisor. 

Rain, a provider of financial wellness products that empower and engage employees, announced today that it raised $116 million, encompassing $66 million in equity and $50M in debt. QED Investors and Invus Opportunities led the Series A with participation from firms including WndrCo, Tribe Capital, and Dreamers VC, which was co-founded by Will Smith. The debt facility was arranged by Sound Point Capital Management, LP. The funding will be used to support Rain's continued expansion in the U.S. through investments in technology and infrastructure, employee and employer experience, and marketing.

Through the Rain platform, employers can offer workers on-demand pay or earned wage access. This benefit, also known as "income streaming," allows workers to access their pay shortly after completing a shift instead of waiting for a payday. Rain's service is offered free to employers who provide in to their employees as a voluntary benefit. Employees pay a small fee similar to an ATM charge each time they withdraw their earned wages. To promote responsible use, employees are never able to withdraw more than 50% of gross earned wages per pay period.

Rain is proven to help businesses attract and retain workers and is currently used by employers with a total of over half a million employees across several large healthcare systems, senior living groups, hotel franchises such as Hilton and Marriott, and fast food franchises including McDonald’s, Burger King, and Taco Bell. Employers have seen up to 80% reduction in turnover among employees using the Rain app and improved job satisfaction and engagement by 86% of Rain users.

"We built Rain to empower people, especially hourly workers, to take control of their finances and eliminate the need for predatory payday loans," said Alex Bradford, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Rain. "With this investment, we will continue to improve our platform and deliver a powerful employee benefit that improves individual financial wellbeing and boosts morale while giving employers a valuable tool for recruiting and retaining workers during a tight labor market.”

Low-wage employees have encountered significant economic challenges during the past several years – from the current economic downturn to the COVID-19 pandemic - making it difficult for them to pay for expenses such as childcare, gas, food, and rent, not to mention unexpected expenses such as sudden health needs or emergency car repairs.

To make ends meet, many hourly workers bridge the gap between paydays by taking out payday loans - which can sometimes come at a steep 400% annual percentage rate.[2] Between payday loans, credit card interest, overdraft fees, and other penalties, Americans spent $170 billion in 2022 while waiting for their next paycheck.

"Half of America cannot get access to reasonably priced, transparent financial services products,” said Nigel Morris, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of QED Investors. “This results in unnecessary stress, anxiety, and hardship for millions of people. Companies like Rain are helping to even the playing field by giving hourly workers the ability to access the money they earn faster, providing them with peace of mind, saving them millions in fees, and improving their overall financial health.”

The benefits of Rain for employers are simple: it can help them attract more qualified job applicants, reduce turnover, and improve employee engagement and job performance.

Rain integrates with existing payroll and timekeeping software used by many middle market and enterprise businesses and automates a payroll deduction flow with the vast majority of systems, removing the frustrating manual work employers face with many other earned wage access products. Rain is an integrated marketplace partner of ADP, UKG, and SAP, and is SAP’s first and main earned wage access partner globally. In addition, Rain is a market leader in compliance and supports employers’ compliance systems. As just one example, Rain relies on significantly less employee data than other earned wage access providers.

Today's funding milestone follows an active period of growth for Rain. Rain launched its Instant Pay app in early 2020 and has grown its user and client base over 20% per month over the past 30 months. To date, Rain has disbursed over $150 million in earned wages to users and has helped them save tens of millions in predatory fees.