Uqudo, the leading digital identity company in the MEA region, has entered into a groundbreaking collaboration with Tamara, a prominent fintech platform in Saudi Arabia and the GCC region. This strategic partnership represents a significant milestone in the financial landscape of the GCC, poised to elevate digital transactions within the BNPL sector.

Tamara, headquartered in KSA and boasting over millions of users and thousands of partner merchants across the GCC, has been instrumental in reshaping the region’s shopping, payments, and banking sectors. Pioneering the BNPL landscape, Tamara was one of the first companies to secure a permit from the Saudi Central Bank for BNPL services and holds the distinction of being the Kingdom’s first homegrown fintech unicorn.

In response to the rapid digital growth in the region, the demand for robust identity verification has surged. Uqudo, renowned for its cutting-edge technology and innovative identity platform, will integrate its solutions into Tamara’s BNPL platform. This collaboration aims to streamline the user onboarding process, fortify fraud prevention measures, and ensure a secure experience for Tamara’s expanding customer base.

Tamara views this partnership as a strategic move to reinforce its position as the leading BNPL provider in the region. Leveraging Uqudo’s state-of-the-art technology, Tamara will enhance the overall security of its platform, providing customers with seamless BNPL transactions without compromising privacy and security.

Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Tamara’s CEO and co-founder, emphasizes, “At Tamara, our commitment to being customer-centric is unwavering. Ensuring the security and trustworthiness of our platform is not just a priority; it’s a fundamental part of our mission to empower users. Uqudo, with its user-friendly interface, efficient processes, and responsive team, aligns seamlessly with our dedication to delivering fast, easy, and cost-effective customer authentication experiences. This collaboration fortifies our focus on putting our users first and upholding the highest standards of privacy and security.”

Benjamin Haas, CCO of Uqudo, expresses excitement about the partnership, stating, “We are excited to partner with Tamara to elevate digital identity verification in the BNPL sector. Our proprietary technology will provide Tamara’s users with a seamless experience, setting a new standard for trust in digital transactions.”This partnership is poised to revolutionize the BNPL industry, setting new standards for user experience, security, and innovation.

G2 Risk Solutions (G2RS), the leading provider of merchant risk intelligence for the global payments industry, is partnering with Mastercard to provide merchant acquirers with a more streamlined experience to help them reduce transaction fraud.

Transaction laundering (TL) is a type of fraud in which a registered merchant account is used to process sales of illegal goods and services. These accounts are being used fraudulently by bad actors whose activity puts legitimate payment providers at significant financial and reputational risk.

This collaboration adds Mastercard’s powerful Brighterion Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to G2RS’ end-to-end transaction laundering detection solution to address evolving risk associated with increased criminal activity.

G2RS will offer a leading merchant risk solution backed by:

•   Mastercard Brighterion AI models, offering transaction-level fraud screening and merchant risk scores
•   The G2RS Merchant Map®

The unrivaled G2RS Merchant Map includes 20 years of unique merchant data, including billions of data points validated by expert analysts. It provides the industry’s best-in-class known-launderer database, protecting clients throughout the entire merchant lifecycle.

In combination with Mastercard’s AI-driven fraud scores, the G2RS merchant risk solution suite introduces the marketplace’s first comprehensive view of merchant activity for enhanced transaction laundering detection. At the same time the solution will simplify payments providers’ workflows.

Rohit Chauhan, EVP, Mastercard Cyber and Intelligence, said: “At Mastercard we’re providing world-leading AI capabilities offering a streamlined experience that protects customers from fraud. Through this partnership with G2RS, acquirers will benefit from additional intelligence to help them reduce transaction fraud. It is yet another step in our journey to secure the payments ecosystem and instill trust in every interaction. ”

Rochelle Blease, President, G2 Risk Solutions, said: “Payments risk evolves rapidly, and it demands bolder moves to counter bad actors. By aligning the industry’s data insights, we are equipping the payments industry with much stronger and more comprehensive defenses to identify merchant health signals and protect the integrity of the payments ecosystem.”

ChargeAfter, the embedded lending platform for point-of-sale financing, has unveiled The Lending Hub, a platform that transforms how banks deliver lending solutions for merchants and their customers at scale. Designed to empower banks and financial institutions to streamline the development, management, and distribution of multiple lending products, The Lending Hub is a first-of-its-kind omni-commerce solution.

A white-label platform, trusted by leading banks, The Lending Hub offers a suite of comprehensive tools and seamless integration that set a new standard in the market. Enabling banks to expand beyond their traditional lending models, it allows them to efficiently deliver lending services on a large scale, and focus on market penetration and adoption while maintaining the highest levels of security. 

“With ChargeAfter’s The Lending Hub, we are not just introducing a product, but establishing a new standard in financial technology,” said Jeffrey Tower, EVP of Global Business Development and Strategy. “Banks are seeking to expand beyond their traditional models and integrate their lending products directly into merchants’ points of sale. Our platform promises to transform the way they and their customers experience lending, offering a suite of comprehensive tools and seamless integration that stand unmatched in the market. For banks looking to redefine their lending experience and foster a future of financial innovation, ChargeAfter opens doors to possibilities once deemed beyond reach.” 

The ChargeAfter Lending Hub for banks is a comprehensive platform designed to allow financial institutions to streamline the development, management, and distribution of lending products. It equips banks and lending institutions with the tools to efficiently deliver lending services to merchants and shoppers at scale. This flexibility allows banks to rapidly deploy and manage diverse lending assets while maintaining a strong focus on their core business activities. Features of The Lending Hub include:

• Merchant enablement layer: rapid merchant onboarding, seamless integration, and omni-commerce checkout processes.
• Merchant self-service: full merchant management suite, BI analytics, and robust reporting.
• Bank oversight and merchant management: full lending program management, merchant oversight, chargeback management, and reporting suites for bank partners.
• Any lending product from The Lending Hub: including short- and long-term installments, revolving credit, buy-now-pay-later, private label credit cards, personal loans, project loans, and more. 

“ChargeAfter is well-positioned to meet the needs of banks which are increasingly seeking a trusted and experienced technology partner to help them expand beyond their traditional lending models,” continued Jeffrey Tower. “As the leader in the market, banks continue to select The Lending Hub to power their consumer lending services as it delivers the capabilities they need while maintaining their core competency of being the bank.”

Liminal Custody Solutions (Liminal), the fastest-growing digital asset custody and wallet infrastructure provider in the APAC and MENA region is proud to announce the launch of its Institutional Custody Offering. This comes in response to the escalating demand from institutional investors for secure and compliant digital asset solutions.

As digital assets gain mainstream adoption, institutions require robust security and scalable options for storing their digital assets. Liminal's Institutional Custody Offering delivers both through a multi-layered approach that includes:

• Best-in-class security measures: FIPS-certified Hardware Devices, including Ledger Nano X & Thales LUNA, geographic key distribution via multi-signature wallet configurations, and seed-phrase storage with access control, ensure unparalleled asset protection.
• Unwavering compliance: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 & 27701, and CCSS Level-3 certifications guarantee adherence to the highest security and compliance standards.
• Advanced wallet protection and management: Regular penetration testing, segregated accounts, verifiable proof-of-reserve reports, and off-balance sheet storage fortify your digital assets.
• Granular policy control: Liminal's proprietary firewall engine enables custom workflows for transaction risk analysis, threshold monitoring, Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and Travel Rule compliance, proactively shielding your investments.

Liminal empowers institutions, including exchanges, family offices, OTC desks, hedge funds, VC and PE funds, and corporate treasuries, with secure, and scalable, custody solution. Liminal's Institutional Custody Offering leverages best-in-class security measures, encryption, Multi-Sig and MPC technology coupled with a proprietary Firewall engine to automate policy enforcement security in the digital asset wallet ecosystem. This multi-layered approach ensures the safety of clients' digital assets, providing them with unparalleled peace of mind.

“Traditional financial markets have long thrived on the principle of ‘segregation of duties’, ensuring market integrity through clear divisions of responsibility. With a large number of institutions expressing interest in digital assets, security and compliance remain paramount. With our Institutional Custody Offering at Liminal, we address these concerns head-on, providing a secure and compliant platform for institutions to confidently enter this innovative asset class. Unlock new investment opportunities and achieve your digital asset goals with Liminal – your trusted partner in the digital revolution.” said Manan Vora SVP of Strategy & Business Operations at Liminal.

By choosing Liminal's Institutional Custody Offering, institutions can gain access to the highest security measures and expert support, allowing them to confidently navigate the digital asset landscape with peace of mind.

Ecommpay, a leading international payment service provider and UK and European direct bank card acquirer, has been shortlisted at the prestigious Merchant Payment Ecosystem (MPE) Awards in the Best Use of Open Banking for Payments category.

Ecommpay has been nominated for Open Banking Advanced, a proprietary product that exceeds standard account-to-account payment limitations. The solution notably increases checkout conversion rates to 92%+ for existing e-commerce clients and lowers reconciliation and refund times by 60%.

Open Banking offers a faster, simpler and safer way for customers to pay, with the Ecommpay’s solution offering 85%+ coverage of local banks in the EU and UK via a single integration.

Open Banking Advanced by Ecommpay combines pay-ins and payouts, a dedicated sub-account, funds aggregation, payment confirmation and automatic reconciliation. The solution enables easy management of funds from multiple sources, disbursement of payments and transaction tracking, thus meeting complex banking requirements. 

The company has seen growing demand for Open Banking or pay-by-bank payments, which goes hand-in-hand with the goals of online businesses to expand, decrease payment fees and improve efficiency. Ecommpay's turnover has benefited from Open Banking Advanced, with figures showing a notable increase in 2022 and 2023. The average year-on-year growth rate is around 120%.

Head of Financial Partnerships, Arthur Ribakovs, commented: "Ecommpay is thrilled to be nominated for an award by the Merchant Payment Ecosystem, proving that our Open Banking solutions are setting new standards and staying ahead of industry trends. By developing and perfecting innovative in-house built payment solutions such as our Open Banking Advanced, Ecommpay not only addresses the evolving needs of merchants but has also significantly transformed end-user payment experiences."

In a market inundated with financial solutions, Open Banking by Ecommpay stands out as a catalyst for operational efficiency and client satisfaction, and represents a significant shift in payment preferences. 

The company’s unrivalled Open Banking ecosystem contains a full suite of user-centric, secure solutions, each with purpose-built capabilities to address specific business needs:

• Account2Account for small businesses looking to move away from traditional manual bank transfers to modern A2A payments and benefit from Open Banking functionality and features — including time savings via descriptor automation and broadened coverage due to a consistently growing number of bank integrations.

• Open Banking Advanced for medium and large companies requiring extended capabilities, such as diversifying revenue streams and entering new markets.

• Open Banking Select for medium and large companies, featuring integrations with top-tier Open Banking providers, with Token leading the way, as well as Neopay. Merchants with pre-existing partnerships can unify their payment flows by adding their current and preferred Open Banking providers to their existing payment ecosystem, subject to Ecommpay’s rigorous criteria.

Ecommpay’s payment experts will be speaking and exhibiting at the Merchant Payment Ecosystem 2024, Berlin, March 12-14, helping businesses maximise their potential and grow in new markets.

Book a personal consultation at MPE 2024 to reduce time to revenue, banish payment fraud and ensure a best-in-class checkout experience for customers worldwide.

Sapiens International Corporation, a leading global provider of software solutions for the insurance industry, announced today its strategic expansion in the Canadian market, marking a significant milestone in Sapiens’ growth trajectory. With an increased focus on delivering advanced solutions and superior customer service in Canada, Sapiens will strengthen support for existing Canadian customers and expand its reach to new prospects seeking industry-leading SaaS solutions and services across life, property and casualty, and workers’ compensation markets.

Sapiens has been successfully serving leading Canadian insurers for more than 15 years. Sapiens’ strategic decision to expand its Canadian presence even further comes amidst a surge in regional customers, including Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). Other longtime Sapiens’ customers include Canada’s largest insurance mutual, Beneva; and ivari, a leading individual life insurer.

To ensure seamless expansion and meet the evolving needs of customers, Sapiens intends to increase its workforce in its Ontario offices by onboarding seasoned industry professionals with global domain expertise and technical proficiency. This enhances Sapiens’ capability to deliver innovative, customer-centric solutions and unparalleled support to even more Canadian clients to drive growth in a competitive market and build a strong regional ecosystem.

The expansion in Canada builds upon Sapiens’ proven track record of delivering industry-leading solutions, as evidenced by its partnership with WCB. Sapiens CoreSuite for Workers Compensation, Sapiens DigitalSuite, and Sapiens Intelligence will transform WCB’s core systems, streamline service delivery and enhance operational efficiency. A number of life carriers in Canada are utilizing Sapiens’ digital life solutions, including ApplicationPro, IllustrationPro, UnderwritingPro, and CoreSuite for Life & Annuities to enhance their operational efficiency and improve the overall customer and agent experience.

“With Sapiens’ strong and growing presence in Canada, their expertise and innovative solutions will enable us to meet the evolving needs of our customers, now and in the future,” said Phillip Germain, WCB’s CEO. “Sapiens provides an optimized, integrated platform, coupled with the right people and a proven track record in successful implementations and ongoing support.”

“Sapiens is proud of its strong local foothold and rapidly growing presence in Canada. We are excited to embark on this new chapter of increased expansion and opportunity. With our expanded footprint and augmented capabilities, Sapiens is poised for continued growth and success in the Canadian market,” said Roni Al-Dor, Sapiens President & CEO. “We are steadfast in our commitment to deliver the broadest platform of global best practices and enable outcomes that improve the long-term financial health of our Canadian clients. Sapiens is well-positioned to drive positive change and empower even more insurers across Canada to thrive in an increasingly dynamic and competitive landscape.”

Unlimit, the global fintech company, announced today a global partnership with VTEX, the composable and complete commerce platform for premier brands and retailers to further succeed with integrated global and agile payment service solutions.

Unlimit will provide VTEX’s merchants with more domestic and international payment services to support growing cross-border commerce. This will include processing payments in local currencies, via alternative payment methods (APMs) Pix and Boleto, and a further 15 APMs in the coming months. Now, VTEX brands will have another way to provide their customers with a seamless payment experience without the added operational complexity to succeed in the fast-moving e-commerce industry.

Unlimit and VTEX’s strategic partnership is a further investment in technological innovations that provide more frictionless payment solutions to better shape the future of commerce.  By simply plugging into Unlimit’s platform via the simple API, merchants can accept both domestic and cross-border payments on VTEX's platform. Merchants in the UK, U.S. Africa, LATAM, and APAC now have another way to unlock unrestricted access to the global e-commerce market instantly, optimising Unlimit's local and international acquiring capabilities to increase conversion rates.                                   

“Our partnership allows VTEX merchants to take advantage of the world’s largest in-house proprietary payments platform,” said Irene Skrynova, Chief Customer Officer at Unlimit. “Gone are the days when businesses have to go through middlemen and sign multiple contracts to accept payments globally. And through in-built anti-fraud and risk management capabilities, merchants can settle payments with a settled mind.”

"The checkout process can significantly influence the success of an online purchase. That's why VTEX continually seeks to empower enterprise businesses with tools and integrations that deliver exceptional customer experiences,” said Santiago Naranjo, Chief Revenue Officer at VTEX. "Through our partnership with Unlimit, we're offering brands and retailers more than just the largest proprietary in-house payment solution. We're also delivering the seamless shopping experience their consumers expect, regardless of location or device preference."

Synctera, a leader in embedded banking and finance, announced today that it has raised an $18.6 million extension to its 2021 Series A round, with Lightspeed and Fin Capital co-leading alongside participation from other previous investors NAventures and Diagram. New investors include Banco Popular and Mana Ventures.

“We’ve been very fortunate to be able to meticulously, and opportunistically, raise money on the back of super strong growth to double down on what’s working and accelerate our momentum with enterprise customers,” said Peter Hazlehurst, co-founder and CEO of Synctera.

In March of 2023, Synctera announced a $15 million strategic investment led by NAventures, the corporate venture arm of National Bank of Canada, to expand its offerings into Canada, which was followed by its first Canadian customer launch in December 2023.

After a successful kickoff of its partnership with National Bank of Canada in 2023, NAventures has joined Synctera’s Series A extension.

Joshuah Lebacq of NAventures, who previously led Synctera’s strategic raise to accelerate expansion into Canada, shared today: “We are pleased by the progress we’ve made with Synctera in a relatively short time. We effectively unlocked new core banking and payment capabilities in months rather than years, which now serve as building blocks for long-term success. We knew that it was important to do things the right way, no matter how long it took, but the speed to market we’ve experienced exceeded expectations.” he said.

Synctera’s end-to-end BaaS platform enables companies of all sizes to build and launch FinTech apps and embedded banking products much faster, with the highest level of compliance, and at a significantly lower cost compared to building in-house or with multiple vendors and partners.

Last year, Synctera experienced sizable growth, including scaling ARR 4.5x, growing live customers more than 2x, and a 20x increase of spend on the platform. The company continued its trend of serving larger and more established programs, and serving an ever wider range of unique use cases.

To support Synctera’s 2024 surge, the company has added Leigh Gross as its Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). With over a decade of experience in Fintech, Gross most recently led all sales and go to market at financial innovation platform Array. Prior to that, Gross held leadership posts at end-to-end student loan solution Summer, student lending company CommonBond, and CAN Capital, capital provider to small and medium-sized businesses, in addition to over a decade of experience as a commercial attorney and in media.

One emerging use case for Synctera in 2024 has been international wealth management, a specialty that attracted BTG Pactual, the largest investment bank in Latin America. Synctera has partnered with BTG to offer accounts in the US for its LatAm clients. Such an undertaking would have required multiple partnerships or acquisitions and would have involved immense internal build-out were it not for the partnership.

Another new customer that’s fueling growth for Synctera in 2024 is Africa’s leading payments technology company, Flutterwave.

On the partnership, CEO GB Olugbenga shared, “We’re really thrilled to be partnering with Synctera to broaden our offerings in the US. We did a lot of homework and felt that their focused and deep approach to compliance in partnership with their sponsor banks, combined with a flexible platform was the best fit for our needs.”

Synctera continues to support companies based in the US, adding and launching customers such as EXO Freight, Waltz and Firstcard in 2023.

Co-lead on the investment, Fin Capital’s Managing Partner & Founder, Logan Allin shared this on Synctera’s steady, and impressive growth:“Since first investing in June 2021, we’ve been impressed with Synctera’s ability to execute and scale by supporting a broad set of use cases that have pushed the envelope on what embedded banking and finance could become, while remaining grounded in the first principles of compliant banking. Synctera’s early focus on technology, team building, regulatory alignment, and long-term bank relationships has set a solid foundation for continued growth. Fin Capital looks forward to continuing on this journey with Synctera.”

In 2024, Synctera plans to launch payment product SyncteraPay, an offering that allows companies with existing third-party payment provider relationships to leverage the Synctera Platform accounts offering and ledger to process and settle payments, as well as support for FedNow, and expansion into new geographies and client segments.