Creditinfo Group, the leading global service provider for credit information and risk management solutions, today announces a multi-market partnership with VisionFund International to provide analytics and automation solutions throughout their global Microfinance Network.

Creditinfo’s credit risk analytics and automation solution will help VisionFund to expand their customer base whilst controlling costs. This will enable VisionFund to increase financial inclusion and improve economic conditions for lower-income clients around the world.

Creditinfo will draw upon its global and regional experts to support the implementation of these solutions over a three-year period. Initially, Creditinfo will provide its solutions to six of VisionFund’s markets with a view to extending them to additional VisionFund’s markets in due course.

Paul Randall, CEO at Creditinfo said: “We are delighted to have been selected by VisionFund International to provide IDM Decision Automation solution to their global network of MFIs (microfinance institutions). Our understanding and experience of working across over 20 markets is strongly aligned with VisionFund’s experience as one of the largest multinational networks of MFIs with its operations spanning 28 countries and reaching over 1 million active customers.  We are excited about the journey ahead and helping VisionFund realise its goal of enabling clients to grow their livelihoods and secure their futures.”

Karen Lewin, Director of Credit Risk at Vision Fund International said: “With Creditinfo’s solution, we will increase our outreach, and improve both lending efficiency and our credit risk assessment capabilities, to better meet the needs of all our customers. Creditinfo’s team of global and local experts will provide us with the level of support we need to achieve these goals and increase financial inclusion in the markets where we operate.”

Coverflex has completed the full, all-stock acquisition deal of EatsReady, the most innovative digital-only meal solution in Italy. EatsReady was founded in 2017 by Olivia Burgio and Micaela Illy, which successfully raised a Venture Capital Round from GELLIFY, Copernion and Timelock Ventures, and generated in 2022 €1.8 million in gross revenue at breakeven. Supported by CEO Nicola Faedi and the team, Eatsready is now fully integrated in the Coverflex operations. It has more than 50 active corporate clients with reference clients like Treatwell, Klarna and Telepass using an active merchant network of more than 2,000 independent restaurants, restaurant chains, supermarket chains and online delivery services, including Esselunga, Poke House and Deliveroo. The transaction of EatsReady’s meal voucher license from MISE has enabled Coverflex to be part of the exclusive group of only 10 companies in Italy that can operate in the buoni pasto market. During 2023, Coverflex will migrate all EatsReady clients to its own welfare platform.

“This acquisition represents a key milestone for our team and a major turning point in our journey” - says Olivia Burgio, co-founder of EatsReady and now Head of M&A & Integrations at Coverflex. “Over the last few years we have built a solid platform which represents a strategic entry point for Coverflex’s development in the Italian market. As an entrepreneur, I recognize the potential to join forces with an international and fast-growing team by pooling strengths, skills and market knowledge. We are thrilled with this reciprocal opportunity and are already working to leverage synergies and explore new avenues of growth. This transaction also represents how the Italian startup ecosystem can attract interest from international players to unlock new market opportunities. I am proud of the results achieved by the EatsReady team and am looking forward to share our future endeavors within Coverflex.”

Michele Giordani, Chief of Strategy, Clients and Ecosystems of GELLIFY, who - together with Copernion and Timelock Ventures - became a shareholder of Coverflex as a consequence of this transaction, says: ”It is a project that is at a turning point: the relationship with the companies will be decisive in bringing value to all the players in the ecosystem up to the final customer, demonstrating the fact that B2B relationships hide a great potential for innovation, which is still untapped”.

Following a €15 million Series A raise last month, Coverflex is executing its commitment to international expansion. This is Coverflex’s fourth acquisition since its launch in 2021 and the first in Italy. Chiara Bassi, leading Coverflex in Italy, says: "Knowledge of the industry, the solid commercial and institutional relationships created over the years and the credibility of the EatsReady brand have been fundamental for a "gentle" but effective rooting of Coverflex in the Italian market”.

Italy and corporate welfare: great potential, need to push on digital and flexibility

The decision to choose Italy as the first step in the internationalisation path of Coverflex was driven by the country's potential as a fertile market, which currently needs more flexibility and digitalization in managing benefits for employees. Many companies have to engage with different intermediaries to offer employee benefits, which results in obstacles and extended lead times. Coverflex intends to fill this gap and position itself as a self-service, innovative, and 100% digital solution for managing benefits, discounts, and meal vouchers.

Coverflex has already established a strong presence in Portugal, serving over 70,000 employees from more than 3,600 companies. The company's portfolio of clients includes renowned brands such as Revolut, Santander, PwC, La Redoute, Metyis, Unbabel, and Emma - The Sleep Company. Coverflex now aims to expand its reach to the Italian market, where the compensation package experience is reportedly suboptimal due to a lack of flexibility and a company-oriented approach rather than an employee-oriented approach.

Trade Ledger, the data-driven lending technology provider has joined forces with Validis, the embedded platform for on-demand access to SME financial data, to tackle the growing SME funding gap, estimated to be nearing US$10 trillion.  The goal of the strategic partnership is to give lenders a cost-efficient, easy to implement and scalable end-to-end credit orchestration solution, eliminating historically time-consuming and high-cost processes for complex products like invoice finance. By purposefully targeting large systemic trade banks, the combined proposition should help billions of new capital to flow more freely into the global economy.

Trade Ledger is a LendTech provider for next-generation working capital, enabling lenders to deliver simple, intuitive, and sustainable lending journeys through the use of SaaS technology, new digital datasets and advanced risk decisioning. Validis extracts and fully standardises financial data directly from SMEs accounting packages, delivering significant operating and cost efficiencies. On-demand insights from over 100+ financial metrics – which are seamlessly ingested and presented in the Trade Ledger platform – will allow lenders to understand their business customers in order to provide timely products, make high value decisions at pace and significantly reduce their cost to serve.

Through the new partnership, lenders will be able to launch, embed and scale modern digital working capital products with a 60%+ reduction in operating costs and in as little as 12 weeks. This will enable them to onboard new customers in a matter of hours and provide real-time access to funds, in contrast with the industry average of a 90-day wait for cash.

The quality of Validis data gives lenders on the Trade Ledger platform the ability to personalise working capital products at scale, without introducing any additional risk.  Technology from both Validis and Trade Ledger is API-driven, providing the ‘plumbing’ for standardised data to flow freely. This real-time access to customer data enables value to be delivered at every stage of the credit lifecycle, enabling lenders to automatically adjust the availability of funds during periods of growth or downturn.

“Lending to SMEs and mid-cap businesses is often too expensive and complex for lenders” explained Roger Vincent, Global VP of Sales at Trade Ledger. “Unlocking new target operating models in this segment cannot be achieved by a single vendor, but rather an ecosystem of innovative tech partners like Trade Ledger and Validis.

“APIs and new data sources are going to precipitate a change in every bank's business model by 2030. Today there is much more data available than when these organisations first built the systems they are now updating, and much of this valuable data is available in real-time. Risk assessments can now be vastly more sophisticated, enabling faster lending in a much wider set of circumstances.”

Andrew Sanaghan, Chief Operating Officer & Head of Financial Services, Validis added: “At Validis we believe in a plug and play approach that allows SMEs to seamlessly connect their data into the digital ecosystem, enabling them to get access to better products and services.

“By partnering with Trade Ledger, we’re providing banks and their customers with a single, unified experience that is also giving them a competitive edge. By bringing together the best components to deliver new technology capabilities the partnership dramatically reduces lenders’ time to decision and time to get funds into customers’ accounts. With the current economic pressures, this alone is crucial for business owners.”

TS Imagine, the leading global, cross-asset provider of trading, portfolio, and risk management solutions for sophisticated investors and their teams, today announced the broad availability of its newest cross-asset class, real-time risk platform: RiskSmart X.

RiskSmart X is a SaaS solution designed for prime brokerage and risk management professionals who need a real-time, comprehensive overview of their exposures across asset classes. This configurable platform allows prime brokerage and risk management teams to observe and report their real-time risk analytics at any moment during the trading day, providing clarity to ease and accelerate decision-making during both normal course and volatile market conditions.

RiskSmart X comprises over 30 years of historical risk modelling expertise, as well as best-in-class data management, within a packaged solution. RiskSmart X offers users a range of features and functionalities, including:

• Real-time risk analytics: Risk Smart X pairs vast swathes of market data from over 6 million instruments and over 100 markets, with users’ investment data, to deliver a clear view of all of their exposures as they occur. The platform’s analytics cover reference, security master, derived and pricing data to provide a holistic view of risk factors.
• Smart exposure: RiskSmart X factors Net Liquidating Value (NLV), risk sensitivities, Value at Risk (VaR), stress testing and margin considerations to present risk teams a comprehensive view of exposures.
• Historic modelling: The platform offers over 100 risk models, allowing firms to stress test their exposures across a variety of historic scenarios such as the Global Financial Crisis, Brexit, and the Dot Com Bubble.
• Scalability: RiskSmart X is already being used by several of the world’s largest prime brokerage businesses, and is designed with flexibility and scalability in mind, removing the need for cumbersome expansions to fill gaps as business expands.

RiskSmart X also contains the following signature features from TS Imagine, which are available across the company’s entire product portfolio:

Multi-asset coverage: RiskSmart X leverages TS Imagine’s cross-asset class expertise and provides a single view of exposures across asset classes including equities, fixed income, FX, derivatives and crypto.

Seamless, continuous product evolution supported by TS Imagine’s technologists and data scientists: RiskSmart X’s SaaS architecture means that it is continually updated by TS Imagine’s global team of developers and data scientists, who ensure that users benefit from the latest technological innovation and that the data within RiskSmart X’s real-time analytics is consistent and high quality.

Client perspective: TS Imagine’s global team blends the best global technology talent with former senior financial industry executives who bring a first-hand understanding of their client’s needs to product development, account management and client service. RiskSmart X is underpinned by TS Imagine’s global network of staff to maintain a highly available and secure service with 24/5.5 client support coverage in New York, Montreal, London, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Thomas Benevento, Head of Product for RiskSmart X, said: “We designed RiskSmart X to provide prime brokers a real-time, comprehensive overview of their risk exposures across their business – from the big picture to granular but important details  – through a single interface. RiskSmart X comprises the best thinking in risk management, first-hand prime brokerage experience, and data science and technology excellence. As the risk environment continues to intensify, RiskSmart X equips clients with a powerful engine to navigate and adapt to any market condition.”

Andrew Morgan, President and Chief Revenue Officer of TS Imagine, said: “RiskSmart X is a game-changing product, providing prime brokers of all sizes the same risk management capabilities as the world’s largest and most sophisticated banks. The quality of TS Imagine’s risk modelling combined with the power of our technology and data analytics set RiskSmart X apart, making it an essential tool for prime brokerage and risk management professionals navigating increasingly unpredictable markets.”

RiskSmart X is the latest product launch from TS Imagine, which recently announced a 72% surge in recurring bookings for FY 2022, with further plans to expand and enhance its product suite throughout 2023.

Today, Horizon Software (Horizon), provider of electronic trading solutions and algorithmic technology for the global capital markets, announces new connectivity to the Singapore Exchange (SGX Group).

SGX Group seeks to serve as the world’s most trusted and efficient international marketplace, operating equity, fixed income, currency and commodity markets to the highest regulatory standards.

By establishing this direct connection to SGX Group, clients are now able to access and trade on multiple financial markets, make market on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and hedge in a faster, more efficient manner. As an approved vendor by the exchange, Horizon Software had the first client go live on SGX Securities Trading in November 2022.

Emmanuel Faure, Head of APAC Sales added: “We are delighted to be working closely with SGX Group in Singapore and ASEAN region. Our aim is to promote our trading platform for securities products and derivatives, to allow the community to trade and market-make new instruments throughout Asia, extending our market coverage and connectivity in response to our client’s requirements. We look forward to further collaboration between Horizon Software and SGX Group, as we look ahead to future growth in the region.”

Pol De Win, Senior Managing Director, Head of Global Sales & Origination at SGX Group said: “To meet the diverse requirements and sophisticated trading strategies of global market participants today, we are constantly working with the right partners to deliver growth. We are delighted to welcome Horizon Software to provide market participants with access to our SGX Securities and Derivatives Trading.”

British Business Investments today announces a new £20m subscription to specialist lender Secure Trust Bank plc’s £90 million Tier 2 note issuance. The investment follows a previous £25m subscription to Secure Trust Bank’s £50m Tier 2 note issuance in 2018, which has now been repaid.

The £20m subscription has been provided through British Business Investments’ Investment Programme, which is designed to increase the supply and diversity of finance for smaller businesses by boosting the lending capacity of challenger banks and non-bank lenders.

Secure Trust Bank is an established specialist bank founded in 1952, focusing on selected segments of the business and consumer finance markets. Funds raised from the Tier 2 issuance will enable Secure Trust Bank to increase its volume of lending, including to smaller businesses, supporting the bank’s growth over the medium term.

British Business Investments, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, aims to increase the supply and diversity of finance for smaller businesses across the UK by boosting the lending capacity of a range of finance providers. Since it was established in 2014, British Business Investments has committed more than £3.3 billion to providers of finance to UK smaller businesses.

Judith Hartley, CEO, British Business Investments, said: “This £20m investment in Secure Trust Bank supports British Business Investments’ mission to increase the diversity and supply of finance for smaller businesses in the UK. Independent operators like Secure Trust Bank help diversify the UK’s smaller business finance market and provide more choice for businesses. Following our earlier subscription in 2018, we are pleased to be working with Secure Trust Bank again to support increased smaller business lending across the UK.”

David McCreadie, CEO, Secure Trust Bank, said: “Secure Trust has shown sustained commitment to helping UK businesses through its real estate finance, commercial finance and motor vehicle dealer stock funding financial products.  At 30 June 2022, our lending to UK businesses was £1.5 bn of a total customer lending book of £2.8bn.  

“We have demonstrated our capability to capture significant growth opportunities across our diversified specialist lending businesses.  We are pleased with the support we have received from British Business Investments and new investors in our new Tier 2 issuance. With this enlarged regulatory capital base we are strongly positioned to continue to help consumers and businesses fulfil their ambitions.”

Currencycloud, the experts simplifying business in a multi-currency world, has appointed Maxime Guirauton as its Global Head of Marketing and Sales Development.
Maxime will oversee marketing and sales development across North America, EMEA and the Asia-Pacific region, and will be responsible for driving the firm’s expansion into new markets. Maxime will also play an important role in Currencycloud’s ongoing integration with VISA, which acquired the company in 2021. 

Paris-based Maxime joins from multinational real estate firm JLL, where he led the company’s EMEA business marketing teams and oversaw the re-positioning and marketing of its core business globally. Prior to joining JLL, Maxime was Director of Brand, Marketing and Communication for Samsung in Europe. Samsung was ranked in the top 10 of Interbrand’s Best Global Brands during every year of his tenure.

Mike Laven, Currencycloud CEO, said: “Maxime has a track record of leading highly-impactful marketing teams around the world. He recognizes that marketing is the sharpest tool available to a business that wants to grow rapidly.

“We’re at an incredibly exciting point in our history: our ongoing integration with VISA is giving us the capacity to explore relationships with some of the world’s biggest companies and enter new markets around the world. Maxime will be at the forefront of those efforts”.

Currencycloud provides a platform that facilitates transparent and fast cross-border payments, and recently announced it now moves over $5bn across borders every month.

Maxime commented: “What the team at Currencycloud has achieved over the past decade is remarkable. The stage we are at now - integrating with one of the world’s most recognized  companies - is one that very few startups get to.

“Now, alongside our teammates at VISA, we’re ready to take on this next step and drive more innovation across financial services globally. I’m thrilled to be on board”.

Today, Griffin announced that it has been authorised as a UK bank subject to restrictions. The company is now officially in mobilisation - a huge milestone in its journey from fintech startup to bank.  

“This moment has been years in the making,” David Jarvis, CEO and co-founder of Griffin, said. “Becoming a bank is a testament to the determination of our team, who have been tirelessly building a modern core banking system, a resilient operational backbone and a robust compliance framework. This will enable us to deliver an exceptional banking platform for the UK fintech community.”

Mobilising to become the UK’s first full-stack, Banking as a Service platform with a banking licence 

Griffin is now listed on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) register and is in mobilisation, meaning the company can operate as a bank subject to restrictions. During this period, Griffin can hold a limited amount of deposits and carry out a limited amount of payment services. 

“We are honoured to receive authorisation in the UK and grateful to the partners and customers that have supported us along the way,” John Weguelin, Chair of the Board at Griffin, said. "The team will continue to work closely with the regulators in building an API-first bank while delivering a best-in-class customer experience."

During mobilisation, Griffin will also further develop its systems and controls, grow the team and continue to evolve its BaaS product portfolio. Exiting mobilisation to become an authorised bank without restrictions will be subject to approval by the PRA and the FCA. 

Bringing the power of SaaS to financial services: A bank designed for fintech innovators and embedded finance pioneers

Griffin will begin working with a select group of customers who will receive early access to its BaaS products and provide valuable feedback as the bank prepares for general availability. One such early adopter is embedded finance solutions provider Liberis. 

“Griffin’s proposition is to offer a suite of banking products that will help embedded finance platforms like Liberis deliver more value to small businesses and differentiate our proposition in a competitive market. We’re thrilled to be an early adopter of Griffin,” Rob Straathof, CEO of Liberis, said. 

Griffin’s UK banking licence comes on the heels of a string of impressive accomplishments, including several key executive appointments, a partnership with global financial services leader 11:FS and the launch of its first product, Verify, a complete customer onboarding solution. 

In 2022, the company landed £12 million in a funding round led by Notion Capital, during a difficult time for the fintech industry where uncertain economic conditions slowed investment. 

Griffin provides easy access to its suite of BaaS products via its sandbox- a free, comprehensive test environment. The sandbox allows users to experiment with the API, build prototypes of financial products and test-drive new features.