The global leader in the savings and investment market, Raisin, has announced the migration of its UK platform to ClearBank, the enabler of secure accounts, real-time clearing, and Embedded Banking for financial institutions.

ClearBank will underpin the FSCS-protected account Raisin UK customers use to manage the money they wish to deposit in saving products offered by Raisin’s partner banks on the platform and support its customer experience by providing access to payments rails - like faster payments and a variety of other services through its Embedded Banking platform.

Customers will benefit from ‘Confirmation of Payee’, which provides an additional layer of security when customers transfer funds into their customer account, powered by ClearBank’s cloud-based API. This will also enable quick fund transfer and account opening processes, allowing customers to begin earning returns on their savings even quicker, as they transfer funds to savings accounts held by partner banks on the Raisin UK marketplace.

Raisin will also work with ClearBank to increase the functionality of existing products. New and existing partner banks of Raisin will see improvements in the responsiveness, reporting, and speed of funding of selected savings accounts, significantly boosting operational efficiencies.         

Discussing the partnership, Steven Amos, CEO for Raisin UK commented: “With the Raisin UK platform now in its fifth year we’ve seen phenomenal growth. As we enter the next phase of the business, continuing to scale the platform through new customers and banking partners, an embedded banking solution was required to help match this scale and speed. ClearBank operates the perfect solution to enable us to do this and we are excited about the road ahead.”

Charles McManus, CEO of ClearBank, said: “As highly successful businesses like Raisin accelerate their growth, the rapid scaling and increasing complexity of its operations demands a step change in banking partners to help it to reach its full potential. Our Embedded Banking offering meets these demands, by embedding high-tech banking infrastructure that allows Raisin to improve efficiencies, delight customers, and stay ahead of the competition. Collaboration is built into Raisin’s business model and DNA, and we look forward to working together to ensure UK customers have access to the very best savings accounts.”

Today the British Business Bank publishes a list of 67 additional companies in which the Future Fund holds an equity stake, taking the total to 464 as at 30 September 2022, meaning more than a third of companies have now converted to equity.

Launched on 20 May 2020, and open for applications until 31 January 2021, the Future Fund issued 1,190 companies with Convertible Loan Agreements worth £1.14bn in total. Third-party investors were required to at least match the Future Fund’s investment.

Companies in which Future Fund is now a shareholder include Nottingham-based PBD Biotech, which has developed a rapid screening test for both human and bovine tuberculosis, and Optellum, creators of AI-based software for early diagnosis of lung cancer that utilises the largest real-world dataset of CT scans to identify at-risk patients and help clinicians provide better cancer management and care to patients.

The Future Fund supported UK companies that typically rely on equity investment to fund their growth. By creating a bridge to the next equity funding round, the Future Fund supported these companies through a period of considerable economic disruption and now the recovery.

Ken Cooper, Managing Director, Venture Solutions, British Business Bank said: “The Future Fund was created to ensure a flow of capital, at the height of the pandemic, to companies that would otherwise have been unable to access government support schemes, while ensuring long-term value for the UK taxpayer. We are pleased to see so many of those companies now going on to raise further private sector capital, which will allow the Future Fund to benefit from their continued growth.”

As at 30 September 2022, there were 464 convertible loans that converted into equity shares and in respect of which the Future Fund continues to hold an equity interest.

Breakdown of total book

Reconciliation since last quarterly update

The scheme used a recognised financial instrument known as a convertible loan. Unlike an equity investment, there wasn’t a requirement under the convertible loan to value the company or the price of its shares, at a time when company valuations had been significantly impacted by Covid-19. Instead, the convertible loans are designed to convert into equity at the next equity funding round, converting at a discount to the price per share agreed between companies and investors in the funding round.

The British Business Bank will update the list of companies in which Future Fund has a shareholding at the end of each financial quarter – the full list is available here.

Collctiv, a group payment app that allows friends, families, businesses, charities, and community groups to collect money together, has launched today in the USA.   

Due to high demand, an eager waiting list of users in the US who have previously watched on from afar will now be able to enjoy all the benefits of Collctiv.   

The first of its kind in the US market, Collctiv serves groups with a focus on alleviating the pressure on group organisers to pool money in an easy and secure way.  

Hot on the heels of the company’s recent major milestone, reaching $20 million in proceeds transactions. Since its launch in the UK in 2019, demand for the solution has soared, resulting in the development and rollout of the US product being brought forward. By expanding to the US, Collctiv now has the perfect launch pad for international expansion.  

Set for rapid growth, Collctiv’s US solution is predicted to replicate, if not exceed, the success of the current UK offering. In the UK, the group payments provider has seen an average monthly growth rate of 16% adding to their community of 420k users, including 15k companies. Although the product was not previously optimised for international use, payments through Collctiv have been received from 88 countries.   

Co-founders Amy Whitell and Pete Casson have used their combined technical expertise to develop the app, which is designed to help organisers to collect money for the planning of events without ending up out of pocket. The solution also provides a lifeline to businesses and groups who need to collect money remotely for special occasions and celebrations.  

Co-Founder and CEO, Amy Whitell, said: “The US market, with our shared language and cultural similarities, made this a priority market for us to expand into and we believe this provides the next phase of rapid growth for our company. There’s really nothing like Collctiv in the US, hence the huge demand for the solution. The digital payments space in the US is fragmented and dominated by P2P players who all cater for single peer-to-peer transactions.   

“It’s a huge market that is underserved by current solutions on the market. Our solution helps to solve a real day-to-day problem and will make it easier for groups to collect and spend money. By utilising the power of online solutions, Collctiv is propelling offline interactions and bringing people together. We are really excited for the year ahead and hope to continue to solve the problems for organisers in the UK, the US and across the globe!”  

With inflation hovering at a 40-year high, managing day-to-day cash flow has become the primary reason for small business applications for finance, according to iwoca’s latest SME Expert Index.

The survey of brokers has revealed that managing cash flow is the most common loan purpose for over two in five small businesses (42%) over the last quarter, a 16 percentage point increase from the same period last year. This is the first time since Q2 2021 that cash flow concerns have overtaken ambitions to grow their business as the primary reason to access finance.

iwoca’s Q3 2022 SME Expert Index is based on insight from UK brokers who collectively submitted over 3000 applications for unsecured finance on behalf of their SME clients over a four-week period in September.

Concerns around the cost of doing business

Echoing these cash flow concerns – even before Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s decision to review the Energy Price Guarantee – the vast majority of brokers (83%) indicated that their SME clients are concerned about their businesses surviving the increased energy prices.

Lending market could take a year to return, say, brokers

One in five brokers (19%) say it would take over 12 months for the lending market to return to the number of loan requests they received pre-pandemic, a significant increase since Q2 2022, when only 7% of brokers thought it would take over a year for markets to bounce back.

As inflation pinches, small businesses are being mindful of APR, which is currently the leading deciding factor for SME owners when choosing between loan offers, according to a quarter of brokers (24%). This is followed by one in five (21%) who say the approved amount of the loan is the most impactful factor.

Colin Goldstein, Commercial Growth Director of iwoca, said: “The challenging economic environment has hit small businesses everywhere. They’re needing to manage cash flow in the face of rising business costs, as well as having to consider the cost of borrowing. At iwoca, our priority is to continue to support them over the coming months by providing access to finance as soon as they need it.”

Broker Jo Malyon, owner of Blue Badger Financial Limited said: “Cash flow is the main reason small businesses are applying for finance at the moment. This is because of the increases in supply prices, utility bills and inflation, as well as the difficulty they’re facing in passing on additional costs to customers. There’s a definite sense of uncertainty in what’s going to happen in the market, and this combined with the rising cost of borrowing is certainly causing SME appetite for finance to decrease. Small business owners are increasingly nervous about taking on any new liabilities."

SME Expert Index

This SME Expert Index from iwoca provides a snapshot of 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.

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.

HungryPanda, the world-leading Asian food delivery platform, officially announced its partnership with Alipay+, a suite of global cross-border mobile payment and marketing solutions from Ant Group, to enhance digital operations and provide an integrated payment solution for overseas Asian communities.
 
With the support of Alipay+, HungryPanda will extend its coverage of digital wallets that enable the company to process a wide range of mobile payment methods and currencies and better serve its consumers in the UK, France, and Italy.
 

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Alipay+ as it will offer more benefits to our consumers by allowing us to seamlessly integrate additional payment options and rewards program,” said Kelu Liu, Founder, and CEO of HungryPanda. “It is our pleasure to connect our customers with a variety of mobile payment methods, enabling them to pay with convenience and simplicity by their preferred home e-wallet.”
 

Alipay+ has integrated with dozens of regional digital payment methods, including KakaoPay in South Korea; AlipayHK in Hong Kong SAR, China; and Klarna in Europe.
 

“The adaption of Alipay+ will enhance our core ‘customer centric’ value,” and support our vision to provide a one-stop lifestyle service for overseas Asian communities. With the combined digital development by Alipay+ and other global financial technology firms, the digitalization process will be improved drastically in Asian regions and the digital consumer market will enlarge,” added Liu.
 

"We are thrilled to partner with HungryPanda," said Pietro Candela, European Head of Business Development for Alipay+. "It’s a global brand that exemplifies the best practice of the mobile omnichannel megatrend. Together with HungryPanda, we are serving consumers who desire cashless payments and other mobile-led services that will help these areas of new retail to grow.”
 

The partnership with Alipay+ also offers HungryPanda a marketing solution that enables the company to enhance its transaction conversion rate and the possibility of more regions to come.

Today, European investment platform Lightyear rolls out voting alongside in-app communication, giving shareholders and publicly traded companies a seamless way to engage with each other. This feature is a first for many countries around Europe, where this level of ownership and transparency is lacking for retail investors.

Democratising the access that retail investors have to public markets has been something many platforms have sought to fix over the years, but no company in Europe has yet cracked the level of participation and engagement that retail investors seek. The norm sees retail investors getting less information, no voting rights and no way of engaging with the companies they invest in. Today, Lightyear is changing that in 20 European markets.

Engagement with publicly listed companies has been almost exclusively in the domain of institutional investors. More recently, this has been gradually moving downstream toward higher-value individual investors and the financial advisors or wealth managers that represent them. The need and want for engagement have driven conversations online, where retail investors communicate with each other.

This development from Lightyear allows individual shareholders to ask US-listed companies questions during the quarterly earnings calls with company executives. Retail investors can submit their questions and collectively vote on which ones to ask. At some recent earnings calls, the questions which were answered were based on the number of votes it received, instead of the number of shares that an investor controls. This puts Lightyear’s retail investors with as little as one $1 share on the same footing as the Wall Street magnates.

Lightyear was founded by ex-Wise duo Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer to bring a global mindset to the European investment world. Lightyear combines multi-currency accounts with unlimited access to global markets so customers can invest freely without hidden fees. The European launch earlier this summer enabled customers from 19 different countries to now access thousands of US and European stocks in addition to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

Lightyear also raised a $25M Series A equity round over the summer, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sir Richard Branson, to power its expansion into 19 new European countries. The company’s seed investors, Mosaic Ventures, Taavet+Sten and Metaplanet also took part in the round alongside a number of new and existing angel investors.

Martin Sokk, Co-founder and CEO at Lightyear, adds: “Our goal has always been to help retail investors in Europe grow their wealth and make the most of an investment portfolio. Launching voting and shareholder questions for our customers – however small or large their shareholding – is a huge step towards achieving that. For as long as I’ve been investing - and let’s face it, probably since before I even started - retail investors have been an afterthought. In reality, it’s the most engaged investors that actively want a say in their portfolio company's direction, not those with the largest shareholding. We’re excited to be the first platform to bring this into 20 European countries.”

Flora Somogyi, Head of Research at Lightyear says: “Since launching in Europe a few months ago, we’ve spent a great deal of time talking to all our new customers in different countries. From this research, we got the sense that a big portion of retail investors manages their portfolios based on their values and beliefs.”

Lightyear is excited to partner with Silicon Valley-based Say Technologies to power this new feature. Say was built on the belief that everyone should have the same access to the financial markets as Wall Street insiders. Lightyear and Say share a common goal of eliminating the barriers that keep people from participating in global economic growth.

IRIS Software Group (IRIS), a leading global software provider of accountancy solutions, today announced it has acquired Thomson Reuters myPay Solutions, a trusted online payroll processing service designed to empower CPAs.

myPay Solutions provides comprehensive outsourced payroll and associated banking and tax services via CPA firms to small and medium-sized businesses across all 50 states in the United States

myPay Solutions is a further strategic step in IRIS’ mission to better serve the CPA market in the Americas, adding a complementary service offering to IRIS’ domestic and international payroll, and HR consultancy. IRIS brings together leading technology, capability and fundamental knowledge to help CPAs address the challenges and opportunities of growing and supporting American businesses.

IRIS continues to invest in its online payroll offerings to provide comprehensive payroll solutions. Whether it’s software, white labelled services or a hybrid model, CPAs will be able to easily balance workloads by flexing between in-house and outsourced work.

By providing accounting firms with seamless online payroll services, IRIS enables them to focus on delivering value-added, revenue-generating client services, helping firms grow their business and establish better client relationships while making data security, compliance and customer experience a top priority.

This news follows a stellar year of growth for IRIS in the Americas as the company continued to expand its regional footprint. IRIS completed key acquisitions of accounting technology providers Conarc, Doc.It and AccountantsWorld to provide accountants with the solutions they need, united by the IRIS mission to take the pain out of processes. IRIS has also made key C-level appointments in the region, including Jim Dunham as President and General Manager.

IRIS is already the provider of choice for accounting firms across the Americas, including 52 of the top 100 US CPA firms. The addition of myPay Solutions further enhances its ability to help any sized accountancy firm achieve its full potential while scaling as its business grows. myPay Solutions will extend the IRIS accountancy portfolio as the company continues to provide accounting professionals with a single source of truth about their customers to help them succeed and move forward with certainty and confidence.

Elona Mortimer-Zhika, CEO of IRIS Software Group says, “We are thrilled to welcome myPay Solutions to the IRIS family and are proud of this latest milestone as we continue to supercharge our presence in the Americas. IRIS is committed to delivering the best-of-breed software solutions accounting firms require to successfully manage and grow their firm in today’s evolving business landscape, and myPay Solutions is an ideal addition to our payroll solutions portfolio. Our complete suite of offerings gives accountants the flexibility to handle payroll in-house or through the payroll processing service, providing them with options to simplify their unique payroll requirements and focus on introducing new value-added services to drive their growth.”

Papaya Global, the leading global people management platform for the remote working era and already known as a payroll technology innovator, has announced today that it is now poised to further extend international payments through cutting-edge technology with the integration of J.P. Morgan's payment processing products and solutions that could transform Papaya's global payroll enabling clients with fast, seamless, compliant and secure payments delivery to any region for companies that have global workforces.

The new coverage capabilities of Papaya further extend its market leadership position in offering international payroll. Papaya's recent acquisition of payment remittance technology company Azimo gives Papaya extensive international payroll payments coverage in more than 100 countries. With J.P. Morgan payment processing products and solutions, Papaya's fully automated and transparent software solution now surpasses previous limitations to securely and visibly enact payroll and payments, creating a more consumer-like experience for employees.

"We believe this partnership coupled with our extensive licensing enables the Papaya Global platform to deliver payments at unmatched velocity compared with other market solutions," said Eynat Guez, Papaya CEO and co-founder. "The future of payroll hinges on employee expectations and the future of work is remote. Teaming up with J.P. Morgan, Papaya's platform and innovative solutions are empowering companies to pay workers no matter where they are. Organizations can hire and then pay the best global talent without any restrictions, which results in higher levels of satisfaction for both employers and employees. Papaya is pioneering payroll and payments to match the expectations and business needs of a remote and global workforce." 

"We're delighted to have worked with Papaya Global over many months to refine this solution, and we're now very happy to extend our payments products as they look to create a fast and seamless payroll processing experience for their clients," said Efrat Laor, Head of J.P. Morgan Israel Corporate Banking.

Hyland, a leading content services provider, has named industry veteran Chris McLaughlin its new chief revenue officer (CRO).

The role was designed to meet the demands of Hyland’s rapid global expansion, and McLaughlin will play an essential role in ensuring Hyland’s growing customer base seizes upon the full advantages of Hyland’s portfolio of solutions – including Hyland’s cloud platforms and SaaS-first solutions.

As part of his more than two decades in content services, McLaughlin spent the last six years at cloud-native and SaaS providers – first at Nuxeo, a provider of cloud-native content services and digital asset management platforms, before and during Hyland’s acquisition of that company in early 2021, and later at LumApps.

That cloud-native and SaaS experience followed McLaughlin’s nearly 20 years leading global teams at FileNet, EMC Documentum and Thunderhead, key experience to his new role as Hyland aggressively expands its international business. His extensive cross-discipline experience will add value to the transformative work Hyland is undertaking in its sales and marketing teams to address significant changes in customer buying behaviour.

“I’m excited to join Hyland, a company I’ve long observed and admired in my time in the industry, at a key point in its evolution as a market leader,” McLaughlin said. “Hyland has achieved that position by consistently innovating, and the company has the best products in the market today, positioning it well to help its customers succeed.

“I hope to call on my experience in the content services industry and bring a fresh perspective to help Hyland build on its outstanding momentum and further accelerate its rapid growth.”

In the role, McLaughlin will be responsible for leading Hyland’s global sales, marketing, revenue operations and revenue enablement organizations, and he will help drive Hyland’s go-to-market strategy and execution. He will report to Ed McQuiston, Hyland’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer.

“We’ve grown exponentially, more than doubling in size in the last five years. Chris’ addition is an exciting next step in the evolution of our commercial leadership team,” McQuiston said. “With his deep industry experience and global perspective, we believe he will play a key role in pushing Hyland, our customers and our partners forward.”

UK-based identity tech start-up, OneID® has today announced the appointment of David Bell as Non-Executive Director.

David has over 35 years of experience in senior executive, and non-executive, roles having held significant positions with major global corporations, start-ups and SME’s. David is dedicated to building strong brands and customer relationships to contribute to rapid business growth. 

OneID® is a government-certified, UK-based identity tech company making it easier for people to prove who they are online by accessing bank-verified and secured data. This groundbreaking technology can authenticate the identity of over 40 million people in the UK in a way that is safe and secure, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and certified to the DCMS Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework.

In recent months, OneID®, has gained new partnerships with companies such as DocuSign and Sports Alliance. This, and the addition of David joining the board, is a display of progress for digital identity in the UK. It also conveys the multi-sector demand for making online experiences safer.

Digital identity technology is becoming an increasingly in-demand solution to digital and sociological problems including fraud, online abuse and identity theft. 

Martin Wilson, CEO of OneID®, commented: “Our purpose is to make the online world a safer place for businesses and consumers. David’s extensive commercial and consumer experience will be invaluable as we build partnerships with business customers whilst keeping the safety and security of all UK citizens at the forefront.”

David Bell commented: “I’m really excited to join the Board of OneID® and to help the business make the digital world a safer place for everyone.”

OneID®’s products have already appealed to a wide range of businesses in the UK who have enabled their customers to authenticate their identity online quickly and safely. 

OneID® was launched in 2019 and founded with a strong social purpose. The company is a certified B-Corp that aims to be the first privately funded public utility and is dedicated to having a positive social impact by creating trust online.

OneID®’s technology enables businesses and individuals to operate online in a truly safe manner whilst also protecting data and privacy; OneID® does not store or exploit any personal data.