Affirm, the payment network that empowers consumers and helps merchants drive growth, today announced the expansion of its relationship with Amazon to Canada, bringing increased payment flexibility and transparency to customers shopping on Amazon.ca. This payment option will be available during checkout to all eligible customers in both English and French within the next month.

Customers who select Affirm as a payment option during checkout on Amazon.ca will go through a quick, free soft credit check that won’t impact their credit score. In seconds, Affirm's technology will determine available payment options for each customer. If approved, eligible customers will be able to split their purchases of $50 or more into simple monthly payments. From the start, eligible customers will know how many monthly payments they have and when they'll be done paying. Even if they're late or miss a payment, a customer’s total payment amount will not increase, and they will not be charged a late or hidden fee.

“We’re always looking to enhance the paying experience for our customers, including how and when they can pay for their orders,” shares David Williams, Vice President of Amazon Payment Products. “Introducing Affirm in Canada gives our customers another flexible payment option for their purchases.”

"Since launching with Amazon in the U.S., we've been providing eligible Amazon customers with a powerful tool to responsibly increase their purchasing power," said Geoff Kott, Affirm’s Chief Revenue Officer. "We are excited to bring customers shopping on Amazon.ca the opportunity to pay for everyday items and milestone purchases with Affirm as we deliver the same level of transparency and flexibility that customers have come to expect from Affirm across our markets in North America and beyond."

Leading digital banking infrastructure enabler Signzy today said that it had raised INR 210 Crore (US$26 Million) from Gaja Capital and its existing investors, Vertex Ventures and Arkam Ventures, in its latest funding round.

The Bengaluru-based Fintech SaaS company added that it would use the fresh capital to enhance its ‘No-code Workflow Digitalization’ platform and solutions, as it targets greater adoption of its platform by a global banking and financial services clientele.

Signzy was founded in 2015 by Ankit Ratan, Ankur Pandey, and Arpit Ratan. The company said that its award-winning and patented No-code AI platform, GO, is seeing significantly accelerated adoption, as banks and financial services providers across global markets accelerate their digital transformation journeys.

Ankit Ratan, CEO of Signzy says, “The financial services industry is undergoing a massive and multi-year digital transformation and we have only seen the tip of the iceberg so far. Signzy has seen strong adoption of its No-code product by financial services companies as they start on their once-in-a-lifetime digital transformation journey. The solution has been developed from the ground up to allow banks and financial services providers to roll out and offer fintech-like user experiences in a matter of days, not months or years. We are also thrilled that Gaja Capital has come on board in support of our vision, as we remain committed to providing world-class digital transformation experiences to a growing number of clients around the world. This investment will help us to drive adoption and build the product further to support this long-term vision.”

Gopal Jain, Managing Partner, Gaja Capital says, “The team at Signzy has really impressed us with their No-code digitalization platform for the financial services industry, which we believe is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and solves real pain points for their customers. Their technology has been enabling banks to undergo rapid transformation without changing the underlying legacy systems. Ankit, Arpit and Ankur have built a truly unique and world-class product out of India and we are glad to partner with them as they work towards greater market penetration and adoption of their platform in markets around the world.”

Signzy has filed eight patents so far in the US, and nine in India, for its innovations. The company also received a US patent for banking in the metaverse earlier this year. The company won the Best KYC Solution award at the recently concluded Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, organized by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Payment Council of India (PCI), and Fintech Convergence Council (FCC).

Signzy was also recently granted an Authorisation Certificate by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) as its FinTech partner for unified KYC Solution and customer onboarding digital infrastructure. The company’s Global Digital Identity and Onboarding Platform were featured in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at the recent launch of the National Stock Exchange International Financial Service Centre (IFSCA Official) SGX Connect & the India International Bullion Exchange IFSC Ltd.

Signzy has won many awards in the recent past for its technology innovations, some of them being IAMAI’s Most Innovative RegTech Solution Award, ASSOCHAM’s ICT Startup Awards, Technoviti Award 2020 for Video KYC, among others. In the past, Signzy has also won awards from regulatory bodies like RBI and MAS Singapore.

Instapay Raises USD 4.75 Million (MYR 21.5 Million) Series A Funding

Payments fintech Instapay Technologies Sdn Bhd, an E-wallet and Mastercard issuer, announced that it has raised USD 4.75 million (MYR 21.5 million) in Series A funding round. This round is led by Daiwa ACA APAC Growth I, a growth capital fund managed by ACA Investments, an investment management firm backed by Daiwa Securities Group. Spiral Ventures Asia Fund I, an early stage and digital tech focus venture capital fund managed by Spiral Ventures Pte. Ltd., and existing investors of Instapay also participated. TOP2 helped Instapay raise money.

Swedish Board Evaluation Platform BoardClic Raises €1.2 Million to Boost the Next Phase of International Expansion

BoardClic, a Swedish SaaS B2B platform for digital board and management team evaluations, announced a capital injection of €1.2 million. The funding will be used to consolidate the company’s sales team, expand into additional markets across Europe, and build out the company’s UK operations. The second seed funding round, which was oversubscribed, was led by Subvenio, Curitas Ventures and Brofund Equity. This latest investment means BoardClic has raised €3.6 million to date.

Ledgy Raises $22 Million Series B to Fund European Expansion

Ledgy, the equity management platform for high-growth international startups, announced a $22 million (€22m / £19m) Series B funding round led by global venture capital firm, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from Sequoia Capital, Speedinvest, btov, Visionaries Club and VI Partners, as well as existing angel investors. This comes one year after its $10 million Series A, led by Sequoia, which saw Luciana Lixandru (Partner, Sequoia) join Ledgy’s board.

Robocash Hits the Mark of €60M Funds Raised

A soft September brought Robo.cash a new milestone of €63M attracted investments. The platform is also approaching half a billion euros of purchased loans. To date, more than 27 thousand investors have joined the platform. Over the summer, there was an average 6% monthly increase in registrations. Germany still leads the number of investors. Spain and France are in second and third place respectively.

Cello Raises €2.3M to Build the World’s First User-Led Growth Platform for SaaS

Cello has raised €2.3m in pre-seed funding, in a round led by byFounders, with participation from Tiny VC, Possible Ventures and Notion Capital; together with operator angels from Youtube, Personio, McMakler, and others. It has long been the case that cost of customer acquisition is the main factor that limits the top-line growth of SaaS companies. In the current market, growth is being squeezed by external factors too.

Sardine Raises $51.5M Series B to Provide Real-time Fraud Prevention For Fintech and Web3 Companies

Sardine, a behaviour-based fraud and compliance platform for fintechs developed by Coinbase, Revolut and PayPal veterans, has raised $51.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz's growth fund. The round was joined by a host of big names, including XYZ, Nyca Partners, Sound Ventures, Activant Capital, Visa, Google Ventures, Eric Schmidt, Vikram Pandit, The General Partnership, NAventures, ING Ventures, ConsenSys, Cross River Digital Ventures, Alloy Labs, and Uniswap Labs Ventures.

Higlobe, Inc. Raises $14 Million to Eliminate International Fund Transfer Fees for the Global Workforce

Higlobe, Inc., the U.S.-based solution for international payment transfers, raised $14 million in funding to expand its technology and launch into new markets. The funding round was led by global technology investment firm Battery Ventures, an investor in a number of U.S.-based fintech companies. Battery Senior Partner Scott Tobin will join Higlobe’s board. Tobin will join Higlobe's board. Higlobe uses asset-backed stablecoins to make cross-border bank payments.

Bitgreen Secures $5M in Crowdfunding to Launch the Premier Polkadot Climate-investment Platform

Bitgreen, the company building blockchain’s epicentre for sustainability, prepares to launch the first phase of its layer-1 network built to empower climate-action initiatives. The company’s operations follow a fully subscribed $5 million Reg CF crowdfunding raise on the Republic platform, reaching its goal in under four hours. After a year of development, the company has built its sustainability-focused Polkadot platform.

Nilos Raises $5.2M to Build the First Platform that Unifies Crypto and Fiat Treasuries for Businesses

Nilos connects crypto wallets, bank accounts, and PSPs so businesses can track incomes, reconcile money flows, and make crypto and fiat payments easily. The round was led by Viola Ventures, Fabric Ventures and Mensch Capital Partners. Over 20 angels also participated in the round, including: Yuval Tal (Founder at Payoneer), Sebastien Borget (Co-founder at The Sandbox), Emmanuel Schalit (Founder at Dashlane), Benjamin Seror (CPO at SimilarWeb), Didier Valet (Ex-Deputy CEO at Société Générale), Guillaume Houzé (Galeries Lafayette).

Jacobi Secures Series A Funding to Scale Multi-asset Investment Technology

Investment technology firm Jacobi Inc. has announced it has raised $10m USD in Series A funding, led by Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC). Jacobi Inc. (Jacobi) will use the funding to further accelerate the development of the Jacobi platform and expand its team and clientele globally. QIC joinsJacobi’s existing investors; Silicon Valley venture capital firms, Illuminate Venture Partners, 8VC and Western Technology Investment (WTI).

RKVST Raises $7.5M in Funding to Enable Organisations to Build Verifiable Digital Supply Chains

RKVST, the integrity, transparency and trust platform for digital supply chain operations, announces the first close of a Series A funding round of $7.5 million, from Ridgeline, Acadia Woods, Cyber Mentor Fund and Long Run Capital. Ryan Clinton, General Partner at Ridgeline, joins Kevin Compton, co-founder at Radar Partners and Nick Sturiale on the RKVST board of directors.

Loctax Raises $12M Series A to Give Companies Full Control of Tax Risks and Responsibilities

Loctax, the world’s first collaborative tax governance platform, has raised 12m USD to empower multinational companies to communicate their global total tax contributions with greater ease and clarity. Loctax's workflow solution helps in-house teams manage international tax risk and delivers a single view of compliance and advising responsibilities. It helps corporations meet tax responsibilities and improve their corporate citizenship.

Crypto Exchange Platform Yellow Card Secures $40M in Series B

Yellow Card Financial, the Pan-African cryptocurrency exchange, has announced the close of its $40M Series B funding. The round was led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Valar Ventures, Third Prime Ventures, Sozo Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Fabric Ventures, DG Daiwa Ventures, The Raba Partnership, Jon Weiner, Alex Wilson, Pat Duffy, and more. The money will help the company accelerate exponential business growth, maintain its successful expansion across Africa, create new product innovations, and pursue key relationships.

Consumers and businesses in Dubai will soon be able to make seamless and safe contactless payments for select government and private sector services, thanks to a strategic partnership between Mastercard and noqodi, a leading fintech company owned by emaratech Group, part of the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

Noqodi’s digital omni-channel payments, including Tap on Phone, will be powered by Mastercard Payment Gateway Services (MPGS). Enabled by MPGS technology, customers can simply tap their card or device to make payments through a merchant’s phone.

One of the foremost online technologies, payment solutions and consulting companies in the Arab world, noqodi provides fully automated payment services to merchants, promoting a cashless society. Offering its industry-leading global payment gateway technology for businesses of all sizes, partners and acquirers, Mastercard will become a trusted partner to noqodi, helping to strengthen its payment capabilities.

In 2020, the Government of Dubai formed a Cashless Dubai Working Group to create an action plan to shift all payment transactions in the Emirate to secure and easy-to-use cashless platforms across sectors. Zahi Kallab, General Manager, noqodi, said: “In line with the current cashless economy initiative in the UAE, noqodi is strengthening its partnerships with key global organizations that will boost its position as a leading fintech and payment entity. We are happy to enhance our collaboration with Mastercard and benefit from all the services provided by its payment gateway platform, including Tap on Phone, allowing us to have a seamless and unified customer experience across all our channels.”

Parent company emaratech, which handles over 50,000 transactions a day, automates several administrative processes, including the issuance of visas, residences, national IDs and medical fitness, as well as other services across the UAE. H.E Thani Alzaffin, emaratech Group CEO, said: “It is great to collaborate with Mastercard, who are aligned with us in our mission to create innovative high-tech products and world-class services that impact lives. Through MPGS and Tap-on-Phone we can provide quick, convenient, seamless ways for payments to be made in a safe and secure manner, helping businesses and governments operate more effectively.”

J.K. Khalil, Cluster General Manager, MENA East, Mastercard, said: “We are delighted to sign this strategic partnership with noqodi and deliver our innovative digital payment solutions at a UAE government level as we continue to diversify our offerings across non-traditional segments. In an omni-channel environment where consumers increasingly want more choices to pay the way they want to, Tap on Phone is an innovative, affordable, convenient, and welcome addition to the payment ecosystem. We are working with our fintech, telco, financial institution and government partners to build a robust, connected and inclusive digital ecosystem that benefits everyone.”

Globally, Mastercard has pledged to connect one billion people and 50 million micro, medium and small businesses to the digital economy by 2025, with a direct focus on 25 million women entrepreneurs.

Partnerships 

Capchase Partners with Sastrify to Offer ‘Save Now, Pay Later’ Program

Capchase, a leading provider of non-dilutive financing to SaaS companies, has announced a partnership with Sastrify, the global automated SaaS procurement platform, to offer a “Save Now, Pay Later” program to high-growth customers. This program will enable Sastrify's customers to extend their runways, cutting their SaaS and cloud costs by up to 30% in their yearly licenses, while maintaining flexible payment terms.

iDenfy Introduces a New Partnership with the European Capital of Democracy (EcoD)

The global identity verification and fraud prevention service provider, iDenfy, announced a new partnership with EcoD NPO, a non-profit organisation founded by the Innovation in Politics Institute, aiming to improve democratic politics. iDenfy's verification solution will ensure applicant safety. Remote identity verification is becoming a critical element of the onboarding process for numerous sectors, according to iDenfy.

Vitesse Partners with Insurance Goliath for 'Faster Claims Payments' Solution

LIMOSS and Vitesse, supported by Lloyd’s and the Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA), announced the signing of contracts for a new central market service, Faster Claims Payment (FCP). FCP is a transformative payment solution that allows Delegated Claims Administrators (DCAs) for Lloyd’s binding authority business to make payments on request, drawing on managing agent funds directly, removing the need for lost funds and the associated cash calls for funding deficits.

Finastra and Visa Announce Global BaaS Offering Integrating Visa Direct

Finastra and Visa announced a Banking as a Service (BaaS) collaboration to co-develop new functionality on its Payments Hub solutions and implement Visa Direct – which provides access to more than two billion accounts through push-to-account offerings. The new capability will give Finastra’s bank customers around the world access to cross-border payout capabilities for small- and medium-sized businesses, and individuals, in multiple currencies and countries.

PayRetailers and Crypto Exchange XBO.com Partner to Expand Operations in LATAM

PayRetailers group, experts in cross-border payments with more than 250 payment methods operating from 9 offices throughout Latin America, partners with XBO.com, the cryptocurrency exchange making the benefits of crypto more accessible to everyone, to boost the platform’s expansion in the continent. XBO.com recently launched its platform that merges gaming-inspired UI and top security solutions to offer traders a user-friendly and reliable alternative to existing exchange platforms.

TerraPay and NPCI International Collaborate to Drive Seamless Merchant Payments via UPI-enabled QR Codes

In a strategic move to further strengthen its cross-border payment solutions, TerraPay, a leading global payments infrastructure group announced its partnership with NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the International arm of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). TerraPay's agile infrastructure and the UPI network will allow Indian customers and merchants with an active UPI Id to make and accept cross-border payments easily.

Fondy to Offer Merchant Customers Virtual IBAN Accounts and More Through New ClearBank Integration

ClearBank, the enabler of accounts, real-time clearing, and embedded banking for financial institutions, announced its integration with Fondy, a one-stop payment platform, to provide e-commerce companies with an efficient, easy-to-implement shop payment solution. This solution will allow companies to manage and control their money flow – from acceptance of payments, IBAN accounts, and payouts to third parties.

SWK Bank and Cloud Banking Platform Mambu Partner for Fast and Flexible Banking Services

One of Germany's leading direct banks, SWK Bank based in Bingen am Rhein, has partnered with the leading cloud banking platform, Mambu to offer new services to the DACH market. The companies are bundling their complementary service offerings in Banking as a Service (BaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS), to create a new joint offering for B2B customers. SWK Bank's modular personal loan and deposit services and Mambu's cloud-native banking platform are part of the agreement.

FV Bank Announces Strategic Integration with Circle

FV Bank, the U.S. licensed global digital bank that offers a vertically-integrated suite of traditional and digital asset banking and custody services to fintech and blockchain firms, has announced the launch of a new service for FV Bank account holders: the ability to instantly and automatically convert Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) into USD at the moment of deposit. Circle Internet Financial Ltd. is a global financial technology firm and issuer of USD Coin (USDC) and Euro Coin (EUROC).

Emburse Selects BillingPlatform as Global Billing and Revenue Management Solution

BillingPlatform, the enterprise monetisation platform for today’s innovative business models, announced that Emburse, a global leader in spend optimisation solutions, has selected its Billing, Revenue Recognition, Collections and Customer Portal products. BillingPlatform was selected for its robust, enterprise-ready billing and revenue management capabilities and ability for business and finance teams to configure the platform to suit Emburse’s specific needs.

Genesis Global Selects ESPROW to Test High-Throughput FIX Infrastructure

Esprow LLC, a leading global provider of automated testing and compliance solutions for the financial industry, announced that Genesis Global (Genesis), the low-code application development platform purpose-built for financial markets organizations, has adopted ESPROW’s Enterprise Testing Platform (ETP) to automate testing of their FIX connectivity and message processing.

Digital Bank FairMoney Partners with Oradian to Accelerate Market Growth

FairMoney, a credit-led mobile banking platform for emerging markets in Africa and Asia, has partnered with Oradian, a cloud-based core banking system, to power its next stage of growth and product innovation.Oradian services over 10 million banking customers, working with more than 50 tech lenders, banks and financing companies in 13 countries across Africa and Asia. Their service allows consumers to manage bank accounts, transact 24/7, make investments, and access appropriate credit in fast growing regions.

British Business Bank Agrees ENABLE Build Guarantee with Hampshire Trust Bank

Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) has secured an ENABLE Build guarantee via the British Business Bank and The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DHLUC). It follows HTB’s previous ENABLE Guarantee, agreed in 2017, which has so far provided £342m in SME housebuilder funding and supported the building of 1547 new housing units. The new guarantee means HTB can continue to grow its support to small business housebuilders across the UK.

Zopa Bank and ClearScore Announce Cross-industry Initiative to Drive 10 Million Consumer Actions that Strengthen Finances Amidst Rising Cost of Living

Digital bank Zopa and credit marketplace ClearScore have unveiled a new cross-industry initiative to drive 10 million actions that strengthen consumer finances amidst the rising cost of living. With inflation forecast to reach up to 13% and over 25% of the UK’s population facing low levels of financial resilience, the 2025 Fintech Pledge (pledge2025.org) provides UK consumers with actionable steps to build up their financial resilience.

Adflex Partners with Barclaycard to Optimise B2B Merchant Payments

Adflex has partnered with Barclaycard to streamline card payments for its B2B clients. Adflex can offer speedier settlement, transparent reporting, and more competitive merchant service fees by adding Barclaycard to its network of acquirers.The agreement enhances Adflex's B2B merchants' operational benefits, including faster settlement to eliminate late payments and cash flow difficulties and more transparent reporting for informed decision-making and resource allocation.

Match-Trade Technologies Partners with Sumsub to Streamline KYC for Forex Brokers

Match-Trade Technologies has teamed with Sumsub, a global verification platform, to improve KYC processes in the company's Client Office CRM. Match-Trade, named Best CRM Provider by the Global Forex Awards, is improving its unique Forex CRM, focusing on KYC. Sumsub is an identity verification platform that combat digital fraud and helps organisations stay compliant, with years of experience in KYC verification for the fintech and trading industries.

Inovatec Partners with Provenir to Deliver Advanced Decisioning Solutions to Lenders

Inovatec Systems, a major provider of industry-leading, cloud-based software solutions for lenders, announcedit has entered into a partnership with Provenir, a global leader in AI-powered risk decisioning software. As a result, Inovatec’s roster of automobile lenders can access Provenir’s proven portfolio of AI-driven decisioning solutions through open APIs that are embedded into Inovatec’s market-leading LOS platform.

Mahalo Banking Partners with UnitedOne Credit Union to Provide Omni-Channel Member Experience

Mahalo Banking, a CUSO that provides online and mobile banking solutions for credit unions, announced that it has successfully implemented its digital banking platform at Manitowoc, Wis.-based UnitedOne Credit Union (UnitedOne). The new solution gives UnitedOne members a consistent digital experience across devices. UnitedOne serves Eastern Wisconsin residents, businesses, and schools with $300 million, 20,000 members, and 7 branches.

Wipro and Finastra Partner to Power Digital Transformation for Corporate Banks in India

Wipro Limited and Finastra established a cooperation in India to enable corporate banks accelerate digital transformation with Finastra's solutions.This relationship combines Wipro's consulting, digital, infrastructure, and operations capabilities with Finastra's cutting-edge technologies to create modern API-enabled platforms enabling banks to innovate, streamline, and digitise fundamental trade finance processes.

Mastercard Empowers Fintech Investment Platform NORD.Investments with Open Banking Payments

Aiia, a Mastercard company, and NORD.Investments are announcing a new collaboration that will enable quick, easy and secure top-up open banking payments in Denmark's largest independent digital investment advisor platform. Until today, NORD.Investments customers experienced some challenges when adding funds to the investment platform, as the process involved going through their online bank and manually entering their investment account details to move their money.

Huobi Global Strikes Deal with AstroPay to Extend Fiat to Crypto Payments into Latin America

AstroPay, the online payment solution of choice for millions of users worldwide, has partnered with Huobi Global, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges and digital asset trading platforms, to provide fiat to crypto payment services for Huobi users in Latin America. AstroPay will enable Huobi Global customers to buy crypto assets with fiat money and use local and international payment methods.

Launches 

Seraphim Space Launches New ESG Investment Monitoring Tool

Seraphim Space Manager LLP (‘Seraphim Space’), the investment manager of Seraphim Space Investment Trust (‘SSIT’ or the ‘Company’), the world's first listed SpaceTech investment company, has launched a new proprietary tool to enhance the analysis of climate, sustainability, and social impact risks for the space technology sector and provide improved sustainable-led practices.

Acuiti Launches Systematic Hedge Fund Expert Network

Acuiti launches its Systematic Hedge Fund Expert Network, the latest in its series of derivatives-focused networks of senior market executives. Acuiti Expert Networks provide a virtual forum through which senior executives in a given market can gauge sentiment and benchmark approaches to common challenges.Members of the network have access to a portal through which they can pose questions to other members of the network in a quarterly survey.

Revolut Launches Revolut Pro Account for Income, Payment and Expense Management for Freelancers, Gig

Revolut has introduced a dedicated income, payment and expense management account for freelancers, sole traders, contractors, and the self-employed. Revolut Pro is an app within the Revolut retail app that offers a free account with no monthly fees, deposits, or balance requirements.Revolut's app allows account creation in under two minutes and gives a 1% reward debit card. It also allows instant transfers to external banks and other Revolut accounts.

PCI Pal Launches Open Banking Payments for Contact Centres: The First in a Series of New Payment Products

PCI Pal®, the global SaaS provider of secure payment solutions for business communications, has announcedthe launch of its Pay By Bank open banking solution for contact centres. It's the first in a series of new agent-assisted, digital payment tools that help merchants reduce transaction costs, give rapid refunds, and reduce fraud risk and chargeback charges. The first version of the programme lets clients pay from any UK bank, with more global regions to come.

Refinitiv Launches Forward Looking Term Rate Versions of ARRC Recommended Fallback Rates to Facilitate Industry

Refinitiv commences publication of forward-looking term rate versions of its ARRC recommended fallback rates - USD IBOR Cash Fallbacks. This follows the Alternative Reference Rates Committee’s (ARRC) March 2021 announcement that it had selected Refinitiv to publish its recommended fallback rates for cash products, and Refinitiv’s July 2022 announcement that it intends to launch the new USD IBOR Cash Fallbacks settings in September 2022. 

Volume Launches First-ever Open Banking Solution that Gives Consumers Discounted Prices on Any Online

Volume, the payments fintech startup, exists in stealth mode after its April $2.4 million raise with the launch of its, “Pay Now Spend Less” internet payment, fee killer. This is the first solution to incentivise shoppers to pay with their banking app by offering an immediate discount at checkout on everything they buy. Volume’s Pay Now Spend Less goes beyond direct account-to-account (A2A) payments between merchants’ and online shoppers’ bank accounts in one click.

GoCardless Launches its First Open Banking-powered Feature in France, Built to Tackle Fraud

GoCardless, a leader in direct bank payment solutions, has launched Verified Mandates in France. Part of the GoCardless global ‘bank payment’ platform, Verified Mandates combines the Account Information Services (AIS) capabilities of open banking with bank debit to stop fraud before it happens. This is a new way to combat payment fraud, whether it's identity theft or "customers" stealing from merchants.

Merger & Acquisition

Reach Helps Tuber Group in a Major Acquisition

Reach Commercial Finance has secured three different funding solutions worth £4.8 million for Tuber Group to help accelerate business growth, the latest of which is support for the acquisition of fresh produce business - MyFresh. Tuber Group trades globally across a wide range of commodities including fresh and frozen produce, to B2B and retail clients. MyFresh is UK’s largest ingredients-focussed, prepared fresh produce business.

Job Moves

TS Imagine Enhances Executive Team with Three Key Hires

TS Imagine, a global leader in trading, portfolio, and risk management solutions for capital markets, today announced three executive leadership hires to support the firm’s rapid growth. Spencer Lee joins as Chief Markets Officer, where he will develop and grow TS Imagine’s global fixed income offering. Kate Peachway joins as Chief Financial Officer, where she will lead TS Imagine’s global finance department. Renee Calabro joins as Chief Marketing Officer, where she will lead public relations, communications, and marketing globally.

Smith Forte Joins Moneybox as Chief Product Officer

Moneybox, the app-based digital wealth manager, has appointed Smith Forte as its Chief Product Officer. As Chief Product Officer Smith will oversee the Product and Design teams at Moneybox, helping drive the overall vision and product strategy to continue building the UK’s category-defining wealth management platform to help people turn their money into something greater. 

Financial Compliance Platform Napier Announces New CEO

Napier, a global end-to-end intelligent compliance platform and provider of advanced financial crime risk management solutions has announced that its current Chief Operations Officer Greg Watson, is to take the helm as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect, as former CEO Julian Dixon moves into a full-time role as Founder and Board Member. Greg's experience at Napier and at Fenergo, HSBC, and UBS in operational management and business strategy make him the appropriate option to head Napier's next growth phase.

Provenir Expands Presence in Middle East and Africa with New Prominent Appointment

Provenir, a global leader in AI-powered risk decisioning software, announced that Adrian Pillay has joined as Vice President of Sales for Middle East and Africa as part of the company’s expanding investment in the region to meet the growing demand for its AI-driven risk decisioning platform. Adrian brings more than 20 years of experience implementing successful go-to-market strategies and building key partnerships in numerous financial markets.

OpenPayd Appoints 10x Banking’s Richard Given as Group General Counsel

OpenPayd, a leading global payments and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform announced the appointment of Richard Given as Group General Counsel, to oversee the group’s legal and regulatory work. Richard brings to the role over 20 years of in-house experience across technology and financial services. As General Counsel and Company Secretary at 10x Banking, he was the company's first lawyer and helped grow it from a small start-up to an industry leader.

BankiFi Continues Global Expansion with New CTO Hire

Building on its recently announced North American expansion, BankiFi has appointed Danny Piangerelli, formerly of Malauzai Software and Sensibill, highlighting the company’s commitment to targeted technology innovation for the North American market. A leading international provider of embedded banking solutions, BankiFi is on a mission to help over two million SMBs globally by 2024 through partnering with financial institutions to provide technology designed to make business banking better.

Brite Payments Appoints Lisa Edström (ex-Klarna and Zettle) to Compliance Director Role

Brite Payments has engaged Lisa Edström as its new Compliance Director after 12 months of hypergrowth. The hire supports the company's compliance-first payments innovation strategy. Brite Payments has a strong merchant and customer brand.Second-generation fintech is committed to rapid, impactful reaction to consumer choice, with a methodology that satisfies consumer wants and increases merchant offering.

Trulioo Appoints Eric Morse Chief Revenue Officer

Trulioo, a leading digital identity verification platform, has appointed Eric Morse as a chief revenue officer. Morse has decades of sales, technology and business development experience. He will lead the sales and customer success teams with a charge to accelerate the company’s growth trajectory, emphasizing global enterprise-level customers. Most recently, Morse was the senior vice president of sales at Affirm, where he defined and executed the large-enterprise business strategy.

Virgin Money Appoints Sarah Wilkinson as Chief Operating Officer

Virgin Money has announced the appointment of Sarah Wilkinson as Chief Operating Officer. Sarah will join Virgin Money from Thomson Reuters, where she is the Chief Information Officer and Head of TR Labs, Thomson Reuters’ technology research and innovation centres worldwide. Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, Sarah was CEO of NHS Digital, responsible for systems and data for health and social care nationally, and before that was CIO at The Home Office.

Chris Codo Joins United Fintech from CME Group

Chris Codo has been appointed Senior Relationship Manager at United Fintech, the fintech one-stop-shop for banks, hedge funds and asset managers. Chris Codo spent the last seven years as Senior Director, CME Group, with a focus on selling to hedge funds. His previous roles include Sales Director at FXall, Sales Director at Barclays Capital, Vice President at Lehman Brothers, and Vice President at Bloomberg LP.

Fraud fighters, SEON has revealed a raft of new updates to improve its system and to help minimize false results. The company’s new updates will enhance the accuracy of its IP, BIN, email, phone, and platform checks.

Last month, online fraud prevention experts, SEON, released a report explaining how the worsening global economic climate was contributing to a spike in online fraud attempts.  The findings revealed fraud attempts and threats have soared in recent years, with the monetary losses associated with fraud now at an all-time high. As a result, businesses increasingly need robust security solutions to stay safe online.

Thankfully, SEON is on a mission to help online businesses of all sizes to be better equipped against this challenge. To this end, the company continues to evolve its solution to provide users with even greater protection and accuracy against online fraud attempts.

Recently, SEON rolled out a new version of its Phone API, v.1.4 that includes detection and recognition of even more phone carriers and networks. Alongside that, the company has launched its IP API update, which hones in on even more accuracy when pinpointing an IP’s location.

In addition, SEON’s BIN API, which is often used by merchants to get more information about a card, has also been updated. Thanks to the update, the new system is now able to detect even more payment cards, including pre-paid cards, virtual cards, and gift cards. For the most part, users do not need to make any changes to receive these benefits, aside from the Phone API, which requires users to be operating on SEON’s V1.4 system.

Alongside these updates, SEON has provided users with more control over their digital and social media timeout and accuracy settings. Moving forward, users are now able to prioritize key digital and social signals that are popular in their region. For example, a merchant in the US might want to prioritize Twitter over a platform like LINE, whereas in Asian territories the inverse approach will likely be more popular.

SEON has also introduced an all-new lightning track system, which can cut response times significantly and enables near real-time transaction analysis. Designed as an option for its highly time-sensitive customers, including those businesses in the payment gateways, payment processors and eCommerce sectors, SEON’s lightning track system reduces fraud prevention times to a few hundred milliseconds. What’s more, with the lightning track, users can pair real-time transaction analysis with feedback, without using Label API separately. This enables users to feedback and train SEON’s machine learning algorithm even quicker and easier.

Speaking on the update, Amanda Lieu, Director Brand, Product Marketing & Growth commented: “We work hard to ensure we listen to and act on the feedback of our customers. Online fraud grows in the face of rising economic uncertainty. Fraudsters are relentless, but so are we. That’s why we continuously evolve and work on ways to refine our solutions. Now, through this new raft of updates, our customers are now better prepared than ever to win the fight against the fraudsters”

Tech-focused investment bank ICON Corporate Finance has appointed Alice Bradshaw-Smith as its new head of marketing.

With a wealth of in-house and agency experience across sectors including tech, private equity, property and law, Alice brings to ICON a broad mix of complementary marketing skills, developed through her work with companies ranging from start-ups to plc.

Formerly head of marketing at high-growth utilities scale-up The Bunch, Alice previously spent four years at creative communications consultancy Purplefish, delivering campaigns for clients including BGF, Mobile UK, Redrow plc, Avvio and Optimum Finance.

With a First-Class Honours degree in Politics and Spanish from the University of Bristol, Alice has also worked as a journalist at Medellín-based news publication Colombia Reports.

In her role at ICON, Alice will drive awareness of the award-winning M&A and fundraising firm amongst new and existing audiences.

The London, Bristol and San Francisco-based business, which has closed over 250 deals since business conception in 1999, boasts a global network of relationships alongside deep tech industry expertise.

ICON’s San Francisco office was established in 2020 and grants direct access to the tech and deal hub of Silicon Valley, where billion-dollar start-ups thrive and the appetite for investment in and acquisition of disruptive technology is unrelenting.

Tech sector specialisms across the international team include FinTech, Cyber, AI, HealthTech, Digital Media, EnablingTech, Enterprise Software and Managed Services. With Digital Transformation driving activity across the board, ICON is ideally positioned to support clients in delivering on their M&A and funding strategies.

Commenting on the appointment, ICON CEO and Founder, Alan Bristow says: “We are delighted to welcome Alice to the ICON team. Her experience, energy and enthusiasm for the role make for a great fit at a crucial time of expansion for the business.

“With a solid pipeline of deals, we are anticipating a strong finish to 2022, underpinned by ICON’s guiding principle: to achieve the best possible outcome for our clients. This dedicated marketing resource will no doubt elevate our message and enable more tech businesses to benefit from our proven track record of success.”

Recent ICON deals include advising on the acquisition of ForePaaS by OVHCloud, the European leader in cloud computing; securing growth funding for global software company TimeXTender from growth equity investor Monterro; and acting for Cloud Direct on its strategic investment from Crayon Group.

Payments 20 (P20), the leading voice of the global payments industry, has published a new report calling for collaborative action within the industry to tackle money laundering by collectively focusing on finding money mules and following the money.

The advocacy group, alongside organisations including NatWest, Mastercard, The Clearing House, McKinsey & Co, Hogan Lovells and Featurespace, has created a new report entitled ‘Focus on Money Mules: A Collaborative Approach to Fighting Financial Crime’. The report outlines the various types of money mules, identifies several key challenges in how they operate and proposes recommendations for the payments industry to help reduce financial crime.

The purpose of money laundering is to obfuscate the source, movement and destination of illicit funds produced through a criminal activity which makes anti-money laundering (AML) and detection efforts inherently difficult. According to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), over $40 billion dollars is laundered every week while only 1% of this figure is intercepted and seized.

The report states that crypto has exacerbated this problem by offering new alternatives for criminals to exploit. This is particularly prevalent in over-the-counter (OTC) exchanges.

To help tackle money laundering, P20 provides the following recommendations:

•          Prevent at the point of application – The most effective strategy is to identify and decline potential mules at the point of their application.
•          Integrated approach to data – Create a holistic view of applications and payments by combining any application data with several fraud detection practices including behavioural profiling, lifecycle scoring and retrospective profiling.
•          Applying machine learning to AML – Contemporary data science methods including machine learning can be utilised to support AML efforts. Three of the most significant features are example importance, feature importance and counterfactual.
•          Internal & external collaboration – Untangling complex criminal cases requires greater collaboration across internal functions and with external partners. Through system integration and aggregation of data sources, financial institutions can work together to provide ready timely and cost-effective access to law enforcement
•          Geographical approach – According to Aite, the UK has considerably more formal reporting standards than the U.S. when it comes to money mules, although improvements can still be made in across the board.

Duncan Sandys, Chief Executive Officer at P20, said: “The widespread reliance on money mules for money laundering gives banks and other payment service providers an opportunity to identify a variety of financial crimes. Finding the money mules and following the money can help fight fraud, identity theft and cybercrime while preventing stolen money from ending up in criminals’ hands. A focused, collaborative approach to money mules could not only address this crucial link in crime networks but could serve as a model for broader cross-discipline collaboration to fight financial crime.”

Click here to read the full report.

Nomura has invested in Fnality, and joined the international consortium of global banks focused on building a regulated, peer-to-peer wholesale digital asset settlement ecosystem that offers real-time, 24/7 payments and settlement of foreign exchange and securities transactions in the world’s major currencies.

As a premier, leading global bank, Nomura’s investment recognises Fnality’s work to build a fully regulated network where central bank money-backed blockchain-based payments are settled in tokenized marketplaces. With this commitment from Nomura, Fnality is positioned to expand its presence in capital markets across Europe, the US and Japan. 

This investment puts Fnality one step closer to launch, after having announced multiple successful, high-profile proofs-of-concept showcasing the benefits of the Fnality ecosystem, which incorporates distributed ledger technology (DLT) into its operational infrastructure to deliver new innovative functionalities and maximise operational efficiency and resilience.

Rhomaios Ram, CEO Fnality International commented: “We’re incredibly pleased to welcome Nomura, a global financial institution, as our new shareholder supporting our vision for a regulation-first, real-time, wholesale payments system. We at Fnality are excited to draw on Nomura’s extensive experience in capital markets across Japan, the US and Europe as we expand beyond the UK.”

Angel Issa, Nomura’s Global Head of Corporate Development and Strategic Investments, commented: “We are delighted to have joined Fnality as a strategic investor. The transformation of financial services powered by blockchain technology is clearly accelerating, and we believe Fnality is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the significant opportunities brought by this evolution. We look forward to leveraging Fnality’s technology and expertise to continue delivering differentiated value to our clients and partners globally”

Frost, the e-money institution helping people take back control over their finances, has embarked on the next stage of its growth journey following a successful summer of fundraising. Since launching in May 2022, the innovative e-wallet provider has raised £1.1 million. Notably, in July the business closed a major seed funding round with key investors and additions to the team.

As part of the seed round, Andrew Jennings, Managing Director of Osun Capital has joined Frost as Chief Strategy Officer and will work closely alongside co-founders Pawel Oltuszyk and Edyta Sliwinska to further drive the company’s exciting development plans. Specifically, Andrew is working to guide the company’s fundraising efforts whilst also supporting the broader Frost team to improve the functionality of its app, as well as helping to attract future investors.

Speaking on his decision to join Frost’s team, Andrew commented: “I invested in Frost for two key reasons: the product, and the founders. From a product perspective, Frost helps customers to save time and money, allowing them to seamlessly switch household utility providers within the app. As founders, Pawel and Edyta have a proven track record and have personally funded Frost in its entirety from concept until launch – something which is highly unusual in fintech.”

Frost’s July funding round has helped it to quickly gear up for the next stage of growth, enabling the company to take on more developers, as well as providing staff with the tools to further elevate service levels. With a whole host of new capabilities in the company's roadmap, including Google Pay as an additional payment method, and video verification to speed up the onboarding of new customers, Frost is already in a position to seek further investment and is aiming to launch a new fundraising round in autumn.

At the same time, the company continues to work towards its plans to reach net zero carbon emissions. As an e-money institution startup, Frost is uniquely placed to challenge the big players in this field. The company already has initiatives underway to bolster its eco-friendly practices. Notably, these measures include manufacturing the company’s physical card from recycled plastics, as well as offering useful insights into the relevant green credentials of different utility providers.

Speaking on the company’s recent developments, Pawel commented: “I’m delighted to have Andrew join our team. His wealth of experience will prove invaluable in our fast-growing fintech startup. With our first funding round now closed and some amazing investors on board, we’re perfectly positioned to make a real difference to the financial well-being of our existing and future customers. There are some super exciting things coming up in the future and I can’t wait to deliver them as we continue to sharpen the environmental focus within Frost.”

Underpinning Frost’s future plans is its core mission to help users save time and money through intuitive spending insights and money-saving tools. In looking to meet this overarching ambition, the company is encouraging any interested parties to invest in its next fundraising round, which is slated for autumn. Those interested in finding out more about the opportunity should contact Andrew Jennings.