Published

09:00 am

Northteq, Inc., a leading provider of Salesforce origination solutions, announced today the launch of the Aurora Customer Portal. The portal is a customer servicing platform with an intuitive interface and easy navigation that helps equipment finance lenders improve customer satisfaction and ease employee workloads.

The extended service capabilities offered through the Aurora Customer Portal go beyond account management and making payments. The portal allows customers to apply for new financing with instant approval, gain line of sight to in-flight requests, upload secure documents, and create alerts for contracts nearing the end of the term. With the ability to white label the portal, lenders can build a branded, digital lending experience that engages and delights their customers from application to servicing.

“The Aurora Customer Portal was conceptualized through the eyes of the end user, ensuring the portal experience supports both internal operational efficiencies while providing a positive customer experience,” said Kristian Dolan, chief executive officer and founder of Northteq.

With the rise of 24/7 digital banking and the growing expectation for on-demand digital banking solutions, it’s more important than ever for lenders to meet the growing demands of their customers without overworking their employees. The Aurora Customer Portal helps support the everyday servicing needs of customers while connecting workflows to help ease employee workloads.

“Customers have come to expect easier, more efficient ways to access their account information and complete financial transactions online. Now, lenders have a solution that services their customers’ on-demand digital needs while easing employee workloads from high-touch service requests,” said Shawn Birch, director of product management at Northteq.

With the ability to integrate with any portfolio management system, the Aurora Customer Portal is a powerful tool in the hands of any lender, providing an all-encompassing view of the customer and asset life cycles. Easily build and strengthen customer-vendor-lender relationships through one, connected system.

“With the addition of the Aurora Customer Portal to the Aurora suite of products, we’re now able to offer a fully digital lending experience for lenders, vendors, and borrowers,” said Kristian Dolan. “Northteq is proud to continue our commitment to providing the equipment finance industry with innovative Salesforce solutions.”

03:00 am

Fintech Little Birdie has launched its new app to support people across the UK who are now questioning the subscription services they signed up to during the pandemic, with fears these could push them into debt as households struggle with soaring costs.

These figures are particularly high among the 18-34 age group with 32% saying they regret buying these subscriptions (compared to UK average of 19%) and 41% of this group fearful of falling into debt (compared to 27% UK average).

Meanwhile a third (33%) of 18-34-year-olds say they simply can’t afford to keep paying their current subscriptions and recurring payments, compared to a quarter (25%) for the UK average.

The research surveyed thousands of people across the UK. Little Birdie is a personal subscription and bill management app that uses a combination of secure open banking technology, data analysis, artificial and human intelligence to deliver personalised tips and insight to help consumers optimise their spend, find better value as well as cancel payments or switch providers within the app.

The Click to Cancel feature will simplify the cancellation process by allowing users to cancel contracts within the Little Birdie app – initially available for almost 400 providers – such as Spotify and Disney+ - with more to be added in the coming months.

The pandemic accelerated the growth of free trial and new subscription adoption for several reasons including convenience and reduced spending elsewhere. Recent research found that two-thirds (65%) of UK homes are signed up to regular subscription services, with an average of seven contracts per household. Now, findings from a Little Birdie survey suggests that the average household has between 10- 20 subscriptions and regular payments when you include utility bills, mobile phones, broadband, and other costs such as mortgages.

With inflation now hitting almost 10%, soaring interest rates, and the cost of living spiralling, six in ten (60%) people across the UK want to cut back on unnecessary spending to prepare for future living cost rises, while a similar proportion (63%) are actively trying to cut down on spending.

The difficulty is that cancelling subscriptions or contracts can be a complicated and lengthy process. Alarmingly, a quarter (26%) of all people avoided cancelling or switching their paid subscriptions due to hidden costs, with this figure rising to four in ten (41%) for 18-34-year-olds. Meanwhile, a quarter (24%) find it too difficult to cancel subscriptions and recurring payments as they take too long to do so.

There is now a clear desire for greater guidance and transparency surrounding subscriptions and recurring payments. Two-thirds (65%) of people say that it should be easier to break a contract if someone is struggling financially during the cost of living crisis. And eight in ten (79%) say there should be more reminders when people are reaching the end of their free subscription trial period to protect people from additional costs.

Martin Bould, Co-founder of Little Birdie, said: “We’re in the middle of a severe economic crisis. Household budgets are at breaking point, and many – younger people in particular – are at risk of falling into debt due to the current climate, which isn’t being helped by recurring payments they’re tied into.
“While subscriptions can be excellent value for money and can offer a convenient way for people to access needed products and services, the issue is that they can be challenging to monitor, and subscription management can be complicated. Many people sign up on a discounted rate or for a free trial, but find it too difficult – or simply forget – to cancel. And companies don’t often make the cancellation process easy.
“We launched Little Birdie to help people take control of their regular bills and subscriptions – users can connect via open banking to upload all their regular payments into one place or opt to add some or all of these payments manually. The app offers subscription and bill management tools with price comparison and switching capability – something people need now more than ever.”

Little Birdie’s free app will allow people to cancel subscriptions directly, reminding users when payments are due, when a free trial is coming to an end, and when there is a price rise. Little Birdie also scours the internet to find its users better, money-saving deals and help them switch providers.

01:00 am

equipifi, a fintech company providing banks and credit unions with a white label Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solution, announced its partnership with Member Access Processing (MAP), the nation's leading provider of the Visa DPS Debit, Credit, ATM, Prepaid, and Mobile Processing platform for credit unions. By partnering with equipifi, MAP's credit union clients will be able to offer BNPL solutions on their credit and debit transactions.

MAP serves more than 100 credit unions across nearly 30 states. In total, MAP's clients have more than 10 million members and over $100 billion in assets. Partnering with equipifi, MAP's credit union clients will be able to increase the value of their banking experience and grow member engagement. By leveraging their existing data and digital banking platforms, credit unions will be able to extend BNPL offers that are in alignment with their members' financial goals. Credit unions will also be able to grow existing lines of revenue and open new ones.

"Consumer financial needs are changing and so is the way they engage with their credit unions," said Cyndie Martini, president and CEO of MAP. "Buy Now Pay Later provides credit unions with a strategic capability as well as a huge benefit to members. Members gain from the convenience and security of using their credit unions for BNPL in a safer and more reliable transaction."

"There's no denying the growing popularity of BNPL as an alternative form of payment for consumers looking for financial flexibility," said Bryce Deeney, CEO and co-founder of equipifi. "With 60 per cent of American consumers having used BNPL at least once, and 70 per cent preferring a solution from their primary financial institution, we're past due for a BNPL solution from credit unions."

06:00 am

Brightside Accelerates Plans to Help Employers Provide Financial Care to Employees with $33M in Series B Funding

Brightside, the leading financial care platform for employers, today announced it has raised $33 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Obvious Ventures, with participation from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Trinity Ventures, as well as Clocktower Technology Ventures and Chestnut Street Ventures. This investment will support Brightside's rapid growth and platform enhancements, including AI-driven capabilities to improve its best-in-class product experience.

Egyptian Fintech Blnk Raises $32 Million

Blnk, a fintech startup that enables instant consumer credit in Egypt, raises $23.7 million in equity and debt funding, and $8.3 million in securitized bond issuance to accelerate financial inclusion within underserved communities across the country. The funds will support the further development of Blnk’s Artificial Intelligence-powered lending infrastructure and financing the company’s fast-growing portfolio of customers.

TRM Labs Raises $70 Million in Series B

Goldman Sachs, PayPal, American Express and Citi have joined in a $70 million funding round in blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. The latest investment, an extension to the company's $60 million Series B round in December, was led by Thoma Bravo, with participation from first-time investor Goldman Sachs and previous TRM investors including PayPal Ventures, Amex Ventures, Citi Ventures.

Former Tink Employees Raise €5M for Payments Startup Atlar

A gaggle of former Tink employees has raised €5 million in seed funding for their startup promising to help businesses automate all of their payment activities. Joel Nordström, Joel Wägmark, and Johannes Elgh formed Stockholm-based Atlar earlier this year following open banking outfit Tink's €1.8 billion acquisition by Visa. The startup, led by Index Ventures, is automating manual payment processes with seed funding.

Glow Raises $22.5 Million to Optimize Insurance for Small Businesses

Glow, the digital insurance agency for small businesses, announced that it has closed a $22.5 million round of series A financing led by Cota Capital. AV8 Ventures, Markd, Startup Venture Capital, Maiden Re, and others also participated in the round. Glow's digital insurance platform automates small business insurance with the funding. Glow uses data to ensure a business has the right insurance coverage at a lower cost, not just when they buy but every year.

Quona Capital Announces $332M Fintech Venture Fund to Accelerate Financial Inclusion Investments in Emerging Markets

Emerging markets venture capital firm Quona Capital announced the final close of its Fund III at $332 million, significantly exceeding its $250 million target. This is the third fund from Quona Capital since its inception, bringing the firm’s aggregate committed capital to over $745 million. Quona invests in innovative technology startups that provide financial services to underserved customers and businesses in Latin America, India, Southeast Asia, Africa, and MENA.

Pyypl Accelerates Growth with $20 Million Series B Investment

Pyypl – pronounced “People” – the Middle East and Africa (MEA) focused financial services platform and Hub71 company has closed its target Series B raise of $20 million from a diverse group of international investors and ten existing investors. Due to investor interest, Pyypl is considering a second investment tranche. Pyypl has raised almost $40 million since 2017, and the Series B raise will allow it to expand across the MEA region.

07:00 am

Partnerships

SPENN and Mastercard Partner to Boost Digital Inclusion in Africa

Spenn and Mastercard announced a strategic partnership that will enable Spenn Mobile Wallet users – even those without bank accounts - to make safe and seamless digital payments on the Mastercard network including international e-commerce transactions. Under the agreement, SPENN will launch a Mastercard virtual card, giving its Mobile Wallet App customers new ways to shop at millions of Mastercard-accepting e-commerce merchants.

Liminal and Buidlers Tribe Partners to Foster Web3.0 Innovations

Digital wallet infrastructure platform ‘Liminal’ announced a partnership with Web3 incubator Buidlers Tribe as part of an accelerator program. The program aims at supporting emerging crypto-native projects at the incubation level. Startups part of this accelerator program will be able to avail of benefits worth USD 59,000 annually. Builders Tribe is a Web3 native incubator collaborating with various founders and investors in building something new.

11:FS and Griffin Join Forces to Bring the Power of Embedded Finance to UK Businesses

UK BaaS (Banking as a Service) fintech firm Griffin and global FS OS (Financial Services Operating System) 11:FS Foundry announced a new partnership to help businesses actualise the benefits of embedded finance - the process of building new fintech products and embedding financial services directly into non-financial applications. The partnership will expand 11:FS Foundry’s current integrations, adding Griffin’s BaaS products.

Arzooo Partners with HDFC Bank to Offer Purchase Cards to Retailers with Up To Rs1 Cr Credit

Arzooo (India’s fastest-growing Retail Tech Platform) partners with HDFC Bank (India’s largest Private sector Bank) to launch Purchase cards that have been exclusively designed for offline retailers. The aim is to roll out over one lakh such credit cards over the next 12 months. Over 40,000 retail partners who are already on the Arzooo platform stand immensely benefited, as they will now be able to manage their working capital much more efficiently.

actyv.ai Partners with Mswipe to Digitize and Transform B2B Ecosystem

actyv.ai, the category creator in Enterprise SaaS with embedded B2B BNPL and insurance, announced its cooperation with Mswipe, an omni-channel digital payments platform, to offer offline and online payment acceptance solutions to businesses in 800 Indian cities and towns. Mswipe will use actyv.ai's technological stack to digitise company processes and score for business prospects through the platform's embedded solutions, including B2B BNPL and insurance.

Unqork and Securrency Launch Private Markets Asset Tokenization Solution Powered by Codeless Architecture

Unqork, the leading codeless-as-a-service platform, partnered with Securrency, a leading developer of institutional-grade blockchain-enabled financial and regulatory technology, to create an end-to-end digital asset solution for private market customers. Leveraging Unqork’s enterprise-grade codeless development platform, Securrency’s Capital Markets Platform provides financial institutions and other operators with all of the features needed to launch a digital asset marketplace.

Finastra and Modefin Partner to Provide Best-in-class Fintech Solutions for Banks in Africa and Selected Indian Subcontinent Markets

Modefin, a global fintech solution provider, and Finastra, a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, announced their agreement to deliver Finastra's Fusion Trade Innovation and Fusion Essence products to banks in Africa and numerous Indian subcontinent markets. With Finastra’s solutions, Modefin will help its customers embrace open finance today and future-proof their banking and global trade operations.

OCR Labs Global Announces Partnership with Synectics Solutions

World-leading digital ID verification company OCR Labs Global, announced its partnership with Synectics Solutions, a data management and software solutions provider and the creator of the digital identity verification solution SynID. The partnership between OCR Labs Global and Synectics Solutions will enable all eligible people who need to prove their right to work or rent in the UK to do so.

emerchantpay Becomes the First Payment Service Provider to Integrate Directly with Umbraco for Real-time Payments

emerchantpay, a leading payment service provider, announces a new strategic partnership with Umbraco, an open-source content management system (CMS) platform. emerchantpay is the first payments company to be directly integrated into Umbraco Forms and enables payments for businesses in the UK and the rest of Europe using the CMS platform. emerchantpay will securely process one-time Umbraco form payments.

Transferra Partners with Sumsub to Provide Straightforward Customer Onboarding

Transferra has partnered with Sumsub to create an easy, safe and secure onboarding experience for their clients. Sumsub is a global IT company fighting internet fraud and helping businesses comply. Transferra, a UK-registered payments company, provides business owners with UK IBANs and sort codes, EUR and GBP payment options, and a responsive online platform.

Shieldpay Announces Partnership with Checkout.com to Further Support B2B Transactions for Payments Industry

Shieldpay, the market-leading fintech solving complex B2B payments, has today announced its partnership with Checkout.com, the global payments platform, to support customers that need more than just straight-through-processing. Checkout.com will use Shieldpay's payment engine and digital escrow to solve customers' security, trust, and transparency issues in high-value online transactions.

Finastra and Jifiti Form Strategic Alliance to Deliver Next-Generation White-Labeled Embedded Finance to Global Financial Institutions

Finastra, a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, and Jifiti, a leading global fintech company, announced a collaboration to extend embedded finance capabilities to all financial institutions in the Finastra BaaS (Banking as a Service) ecosystem. Banks will be able to deliver financing offerings to consumers via merchants at point-of-sale, providing a better digital customer experience and choice for end users.

Launches

AQRU Launches Crypto Accountancy Start-up Daxiom

AQRU plc, an incubator specialising in opportunities in decentralised finance (“DeFi”), announced that it has partnered with Ben Sampson and Elliot Fielding, Managing Partners of the UK-based chartered accountancy firm Sampson Fielding Ltd. (“Sampson Fielding”), to launch a start-up under the brand “Daxiom” offering technology-led accountancy and advisory services for institutions holding digital assets, and their auditors.

Mastercard and JPMorgan Launch Pay By Bank

JP Morgan is teaming up with Mastercard on a service that uses open banking to let customers make payments using their bank account information instead of a card. The Pay-by-Bank service offers ACH payments that use open banking so that customers can have permission for their financial data to be shared between trusted parties to let them pay bills directly from their bank account.

FinTech Connect Launches “FinTech in Flux” Industry Benchmark Report Reveals Adapting To Consumer Demand and Investment In Tech are Key for Winning Edge

FinTech Connect 2022, Europe's first fintech event for the whole ecosystem, launched its 2022 Industry Benchmark Report, Fintech in Flux: Thriving in the Age of Uncertainty. Customers remain the top priority, with 86% of respondents investing in AI to stay competitive. As the fintech arms race continues, institutions of all sizes continue to embrace technologies to meet the demands of modern consumers and drive greater efficiency and insight, with 86.6% of respondents believing that investing in tech is necessary for the winning edge.

Debite Launches an Innovative New Product; Debite Pay

Debite, the dynamic financing platform built for early-stage companies, has announced they’re launching a new product called Debite Pay. Debite Pay is an innovative payment solution that allows early-stage companies to send a payment directly from their Debite corporate credit card to a bank account. Early-stage companies can unlock the ability to use their line of credit to pay suppliers that prefer bank transfers or might not accept card payments.

Spendesk Launches New Invoice Capabilities to Eliminate Time-consuming and Costly Manual Invoicing for SMBs

Spendesk launches its industry-first set of Invoice Automation features, bringing secure, one-click, end-to-end supplier payments to its 7-in-1 spend management solution. The new features relieve small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) from the burden of invoicing by streamlining the process while providing full visibility and control through an easy-to-use interface. SMBs may invoicing like huge companies with a single engine.

Starling Bank Launches New Partnership with Settld to Support End of Life Admin for Bereaved Individuals

Starling Bank has taken swift action to make life simpler for bereaved individuals, following recommendations made in a key nationwide bereavement report. The digital bank announced a strategic partnership with end-of-life admin service Settld to simplify account administration for Starling bank customers who have died. Settld's award-winning online service will allow Starling customers' next of kin to notify the bank and other relevant service providers of a death in one go.

Squirro Launches Allocators Insights App to Improve Investment Decision-Making for Asset Managers

Squirro, the Augmented Intelligence solutions provider, has launched a new app – Allocators Insights – that directly delivers the latest allocation strategy information to users, such as asset, fund, wealth, portfolio, and investment managers. Allocators Insights is a Gartner Magic Quadrant Visionary Squirro "Out of the Box" product. It helps investors, especially CIOs, understand market trends and variations.

Kuda, the Money App for Africans, Launches in the UK

Kuda, the money app for Africans is launching in the UK as part of a major global expansion drive, following a total investment of over $90 million USD. The launch will enable hundreds of thousands of UK-based Nigerians to combat high remittance costs on large transfers which currently average out at eight percent¹ - significantly short of the UN Sustainable Development Goal target of 3%.

Facctum Launches FacctSet to Streamline Watchlist Management

Facctum™, a risktech company specialising in cloud-delivered enterprise risk decisioning technology, announces the launch of FacctSet™, a new solution designed to streamline watchlist management for improved compliance outcomes. FacctSet is the first purpose-built product designed to address the growing data management challenges created by the rapid growth of sanctions and AML compliance obligations.

AstroPay Launches New Mastercard Prepaid Card

AstroPay, the online payment solution of choice for millions of users worldwide, launched its new product in Brazil, a Mastercard prepaid card. This move will provide both new and existing AstroPay customers with the ability to pay in any store that accepts Mastercard. This new card in Brazil marks a strategic partnership between Mastercard, a worldwide payments leader, and AstroPay, a fintech that aims to simplify, secure, and maximise consumers' money.

Merger & Acquisition

Neobank Startup ZikZuk Acquires Tax E-filing Platform, TaxSpanner.com

SME Neobank, ZikZuk Technologies, announced the acquisition of SPANACROSS IT Solutions, well known as TaxSpanner.com. The Delhi based, TaxSpanner.com caters to over one million users and has a suite of products in its ambit including Tax Filing, Tax Advisory, Financial Wellbeing etc. and is soon looking to expand its service offerings into Indirect Taxes with its products on GST filing and Reconciliation.

FINOM Acquires Kapaga for Eight Figure Sum to Expand its Financial Services Platform into the UK

FINOM, the fast-growing mobile-first financial management platform for SMEs and freelancers, has acquiredKapaga, a UK-based cross-border payment service facilitating international trade for SMEs. FINOM's expansion in the UK and Europe will be strengthened by the transaction. European SMEs lack B2B finance services. 3% of 24 million European SMEs utilise digital platforms to manage their finances, highlighting the market gap.

Job Moves

Saxo UK Appoints Simon Camilleri as COO

Saxo, the leading fintech specialist focused on multi-asset trading and investment, announces the appointment of Simon Camilleri as Chief Operating Officer and board member of its subsidiary, Saxo UK Limited, effective immediately. Simon joins from Bank of America Securities where he was working for over 17 years, most recently as COO and Director of EMEA Rates and Global Non-Linear Rates Trading.

Judy Waruiru Appointed as Managing Director for DPO Africa

Leading African digital payments company DPO has announced the appointment of Judy Waruiru as Managing Director for DPO Africa. In her new role, becoming effective in January 2023, Judy will be responsible for DPO business in over twenty African countries. Judy has been with the DPO since 2019 and was appointed as Deputy Managing Director in early 2022.

Navian Has Appointed Christopher May as Head of UK

The operations will be headed by Christopher May, with full responsibility for the expansion of Navian in the UK market. Christopher will play a key role in continuing the Navian journey of the digitalising property development industry. Christopher will also help the company maintain its stellar reputation with professionals, partners, and clients. Christopher May began his finance career as a mortgage broker for a large American insurance company.

Atlanticus Promotes Rosalind Drakeford to Managing Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation, a financial technology company enabling bank, retail and healthcare partnersto offer more inclusive financial services to millions of everyday Americans, today announced the promotion of Rosalind Drakeford to Managing Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary. Mrs. Drakeford has served as Assistant General Counsel for 23 years and Director of Compliance for ten years.

Evolve Bank & Trust Appoints Robert Ducklo as General Counsel, Corporate Secretary

Evolve Bank & Trust ("Evolve"), a leading financial technology solutions provider, announced it has appointed Robert Ducklo as General Counsel, Corporate Secretary. Ducklo joins Evolve with more than 25 years of legal experience in banking. Most recently, Robert served as Senior Vice President and Counsel for FHN Financial, the capital markets division of First Horizon Bank. Prior, he was a Partner at Gerrish & McCreary Law Firm, where he represented community banks nationwide.

Tradeteq Appoints Nils Behling as Chief Operating Officer

Tradeteq, a technology provider for securitisation-as-a-service and bank asset distribution, appointed Nils Behling to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer. Tradeteq's CFO was Nils. Due to the company's continued growth in the trade finance market and its growing network of bank and non-bank originators looking to securitize and distribute their trade finance assets, the new role was created.

MANGOPAY Appoints Ronen Benchetrit as Chief Technology Officer

MANGOPAY, a major European payment solutions provider for marketplaces and platforms, announced the appointment of key additions to MANGOPAY’s executive leadership team. Ronen Benchetrit has been appointed as MANGOPAY’s Chief Technology Officer and joined the executive committee following the acquisition by Advent International. Ronen will lead one of the payment industry's fastest-growing tech teams to lead the scale-up into its next technology challenge.

Genesis Global Names Chief Technology Officer

Genesis Global, the low-code application development platform purpose-built for financial markets organizations, announced Tej Sidhu as Chief Technology Officer. Sidhu reports to CEO, Stephen Murphy. He leads multi-national product development teams and develops technology strategy for fast-growing fintech companies. Since 2015, Genesis co-founder and CTO James Harrison will engage with Genesis' largest clients as they make the Genesis platform a core technology strategy.

Lloyds Bank Appoints New Head of Corporate Trade and Working Capital Sales

Lloyds Bank Corporate & Institutional Banking strengthened its Transaction Banking Solutions team with the appointment of Mansour Davarian. Mansour will deliver Lloyds Bank's full trade and working capital solutions to corporate clients as Head of Corporate Trade Finance and Working Capital Sales. Under Mansour, Lloyds Bank's corporate trade, working capital, and asset finance sales teams will collaborate to deliver customised multi-product solutions.