Cornerstone FS plc, the cloud-based provider of international payment, currency risk management and electronic account services to SMEs, announces the appointment of James Hickman as Chief Executive Officer. James is serving out his notice with his current employer and so his appointment will take effect on 12 September 2022. 

James has over 19 years of experience within the payments industry. Most recently, James was Chief Revenue Officer at Dublin-based fintech business, Fire Financial Services Ltd. Previously, James spent nearly five years as Chief Commercial Officer at AIM-quoted Equals plc. Prior to that, he was Managing Director at a privately held card & payments business, Caxton FX Ltd. In each role, James was responsible for growing sales, and operations and managing key relationships. At Equals, his role also included investor relations, fundraising and strategic acquisitions. 

Commenting on the appointment, Cornerstone Chairman, Elliott Mannis, said: 

“James brings a wealth of industry experience and excellent strategic and leadership skills to Cornerstone, and I am delighted that he will be our new Chief Executive Officer. He has impressed the Board with his clarity of vision, breadth of knowledge and his strong client-centric mindset. The Board believes he is a great fit for Cornerstone, with the combination of skills and experience to lead the business through its next strategic phase.” 

Commenting on his joining Cornerstone, James Hickman added: 

“I am delighted to be joining Cornerstone at a very exciting time in the Group’s development. I see great potential in the business from its proprietary technology to its regulatory permissions. It is already delivering an exceptional service to its SME customers and the scalable platform is ideally positioned to add further product capability. I have been impressed by the quality of our people, and the strength of our culture and our client relationships, which provide strong foundations on which to build in the years ahead. I believe we have an exciting future in front of us as we capture growth opportunities in payment services and deliver value for our shareholders.” 

Klarna, one of the fastest-growing consumer ecosystems in the world, which is leading the generational shift away from credit cards, has launched a new feature to allow UK consumers to view their full online order history, regardless of whether they are purchased using Klarna, in a single app. The move will help UK consumers save time and manage their online purchases more conveniently  by automatically consolidating crucial purchase information in one place: the Klarna App. 

Providing consumers with a single dashboard with their purchase history, product details including images and prices, order and delivery status, package location and pickup details,  eliminates the need to sift through multiple emails or track parcel information across different delivery apps. . 

While most UK consumers (82%) prefer home delivery, there is a rapidly growing preference for alternatives. Two-in-five Gen Z’ers (+9 percentage points (p.p.) in a year) and a quarter of  Millennials (+5 (p.p.) in a year) now choose to have their parcels shipped to a postal office, grocery store, click and collect or unmanned parcel boxes. Alternative delivery destinations are often cheaper and may reduce environmental impact, which a quarter of UK shoppers take into consideration when choosing their delivery method. However, staying on top of when and where parcels will be delivered can be cumbersome for online shoppers.

The new feature represents an important step in Klarna’s strategy to address the increasingly cluttered and confusing landscape of online shopping apps. Consumers can also shop at all online stores through the app, explore exclusive deals and personalised shopping collections, save items and unlock price drop notifications, manage payments and returns, and more. Further, with Klarna’s interest-free shopping feature consumers can Pay in 3 s at all online shops, regardless of whether they are directly partnered with Klarna or not. 

To activate the service consumers connect their email accounts to their Klarna App. The app then identifies online purchase confirmation emails and imports key data such as product images and price, delivery tracking number, carrier, parcel tracking into the Klarna App. The feature is compatible today with Gmail and Outlook.  

Order tracking information is shown in the ‘All Orders’ dashboard in the Klarna App and consumers can also follow the journey of the parcel on the real time tracking map and be able to retrieve pickup codes if collecting from a self-service or centralised location. 

Alex Marsh, Head of Klarna UK said: "At Klarna we’re always trying to help customers save time and money, and give them more control over their personal finances regardless of whether they purchase with Klarna or not. So our customers have asked for a tool to help manage all online orders in one place removing the need to switch back and forth between platforms to keep track of everything. 

As more of us turn to alternative delivery methods which may be cheaper, or better for the environment, it can get tricky to stay on top of your deliveries.  Our delivery tracking feature, already popular in Sweden and the US, makes managing deliveries quick, simple and seamless - everything that we stand for at Klarna."

ASX-listed fintech Butn has delivered a record origination month in July 2022 of $31.5 million, up 58% on pcp, to provide a strong start to the 2023 financial year. This follows consecutive record origination months in April, May and June 2022, as momentum in the business accelerates.

Importantly, July 2022’s revenue margin was 2.3%, up from 2.0% in FY22, reflecting an improvement in industry mix to higher margin segments and increased contribution of higher margin platform originations.

Butn’s July 2022 platform originations contributed approximately 20% of the total monthly originations, approximately $6 million for the month.

The continued growth has seen the receivables book exceed $60 million, up 80% on the pcp.

Commenting on the great start to the 2023 financial year, Butn’s Co-founder and Co-CEO, Rael Ross said, “The strong start to FY23 shows SMEs have a real need for Butn’s affordable and accessible finance solution. The current macro environment presents challenges for SMEs who are increasingly looking for more flexible ways to manage their cash flow and growth. We expect the need and attractiveness of our integrated, platform driven on-boarding, credit and risk assessment, funding and collections to continue to increase and be more relevant to our partners and their business customers.”

PayitTM, NatWest’s multi-award-winning open banking payments solution, hits a critical milestone processing £1 billion in payments. Launched in June 2020, Payit has handled more than five million payment transactions, averaging £200 in value.

Mike Elliff, CEO of Payit, comments, “Payit has always been at the forefront of payments technology; built from scratch to meet the demands of the modern business environment, Payit has been leading the industry since its inception in 2020. In just over two years, it’s helped businesses of all sizes send and receive payments, as well as establish itself as an integral part of the online payments ecosystem.”

Payit was the first open banking payments solution launched by a UK bank. It uses this technology to streamline payment journeys, allowing businesses and consumers to seamlessly send and receive money securely without having to share any bank details.

Payit removes the need for a payment card, helping to create a slicker, more intuitive customer journey, whilst reducing exposure to fraud and limiting transaction fees to save businesses money.

In addition, transactions are processed in near real-time so all parties have better oversight and control of their finances.

Leading Fintech VC Firm QED Investors Makes First Investment in Africa with a Financing Round in TeamApt

TeamApt has just completed a financing round and brought on board one of the world’s largest fintech specialists, QED Investors. With almost $5 billion in assets under management, QED is a premier VC in the fintech space. They have invested in 27 unicorns over more than 180 portfolio companies across 14 countries. TeamApt is its first investment in Africa. FT Partners served as a financial and strategic advisor to TeamApt in the financing round, highlighting FT Partners' track record in the payments space across emerging markets.

Upper90 Closes $180 Million Fund for Asset-Based Startup Lending

Upper90, a leading provider of hybrid growth capital, has raised $180 million in a capped initial closing for its third fund. Commitments came from a strategic investor base of 300 entrepreneurs to help founders scale with less dilution. The firm has pioneered a new investment model combining tailored credit and equity to align with technology businesses with predictable revenue or collateral. Since raising Fund I in 2018, Upper90 manages and has syndicated over $2.2 billion across 43 portfolio companies generating attractive risk-adjusted returns through asset-backed credit structures.

Payments Tech Firm Finix Raises $30M

Payments infrastructure platform Finix has raised $30 million in a funding round joined by American Express.The General Partnership, Franklin Templeton, Acrew Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Cap Table Coalition, Homebrew, Insight Partners, Inspired Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Precursor Ventures, PSP Growth, and Vamos Ventures participated in the round. In a tough funding environment, Finix says that the financing is at an increased valuation on its last round in early 2020. However, it has not specified the valuation.

Lending Verification Fintech Truework Raises $50 Million

Truework, a fintech company that provides income and employment verification for the nation's largest mortgage, auto, and consumer lenders to approve more borrowers in a fraction of the time, announced it raised $50 million in Series C funding. Leading the Series C round was G Squared, with returning investors Sequoia Capital, Activant Capital, and Khosla Ventures also participating. By digitizing and simplifying the income and employment verification process for banks, lenders, payroll providers, and HR departments, Truework streamlines the lending process for both lender and borrower.

Founderpath Secures $145M in Debt and Equity to Help B2B SaaS Startup Founders Avoid Dilution

Founderpath, the platform 6,500 bootstrapped B2B SaaS founders use to get capital, announced $145m in debt and equity funding to continue helping more B2B SaaS founders hit $10m in revenue without selling equity. Founderpath chose to bypass traditional VC’s and instead raised from a collection of top SaaS founders. The round was led by Coromandel Capital and Forbright Bank on the debt side ($8b AUM) and Singh Capital Partners (SCP) on the equity side. 

Creades Invests SEK 102 Million in Findity

Creades AB, a Swedish investment company, invests SEK 102 million in Findity and becomes the company's largest owner. The SEK 102 million purchase of existing shares in Findity makes Creades AB (publ) the largest owner of Findity, at 35%. Creades was founded in 2011 and is listed on Stockholm  Nasdaq OMX main market. Creades invests in listed and private companies and other current holdings include Avanza, Instabox, Apotea and Mentimeter.

Mexican Startup Clara Receives $150 million in Debt Financing from Goldman Sachs

Clara, the leading Latin American tech startup that offers an end-to-end corporate spend management solution for companies in the region, announced approved financing from Goldman Sachs for an initial $50 million with the option to upsize to $150 million. The company is currently working with over 6,000 companies across Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia and aims to double this number by the end of the year.

Equalum Secures $14M in Series C Funding to Expand Delivery of Continuous Data Integration

Equalum, a best-in-class provider of data integration and ingestion solutions, announced a $14M Series C financing round. The investors include Planven, United Ventures, Innovation Endeavours, Saints Capital and the company’s newest partner, SpringTide Ventures. Total fundraising now stands at $39M as the company leads the industry in helping organizations connect to, transform, manipulate, and synchronize disparate data from multiple sources at unmatched speed and scalability.

Geopagos Receives US $35 Million in a Round led by Riverwood Capital

Geopagos, the payment acceptance infrastructure with the most comprehensive omnichannel offering in Latin America, has announced that it has received a $35 million equity round led by Riverwood Capital, a global investor in high-growth technology companies, with participation in Endeavor Catalyst. The round represents the company’s first institutional financing and will facilitate the acceleration of its expansion plan in Latin America while increasing investments in its technological infrastructure.

Penfold Closes £7M Series A Funding Round to Accelerate Growth

Penfold, the digital pensions platform, announces the close of its £7m Series A funding round. This follows the significant expansion of the business and the launch of its workplace pension platform in late 2021. The round was led by Bridford Group, an investment group that deploys its permanent proprietary capital in a range of sectors, including tech, sustainability, and biotech. Bridford Group and its affiliates have been invested in Penfold since its first funding round in 2018.  

Partnerships 

BT and Barclaycard Payments Announce Partnership Offering Exclusive Benefits for UK Micro-businesses

BT today announced Barclaycard Payments as the latest business to join its new partnership network, aimed at helping the UK’s smallest firms to grow. Barclaycard has signed up to BT’s partnership network, following The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), with the aim of delivering a host of benefits for small firms over the next year. This will give them access to a wide range of vital support services, including legal and HR advice, financial products and health and wellbeing support.

Visa Announces Collaboration With Metrolinx, Bringing Tap To Pay To Transit In The Greater Toronto Area

Visa announced that Visa tap to pay will officially arrive on GO Transit, and has launched on the UP Express, making it easier to travel on transit by offering riders a contactless payment option with their Visa credit card or payment-enabled device (e.g. smartphone or smartwatch). Transit systems help city residents sustain their livelihoods, connect to services and pursue activities that create a vibrant city life.

Pomelo Pay Expands into Cryptocurrency Payments in Partnership with TripleA

Fintech platform Pomelo Pay has partnered with cryptocurrency payments services provider TripleA to enable businesses financial institutions, merchant acquirers, payment service providers and other fintechs, to offer cryptocurrency payments and pay-outs. Pomelo’s B2B platform supports businesses with frictionless payments, merchant acquiring services and more. As a unified white label solution, businesses can securely enable their merchants or partners to accept popular international payment methods with the latest technology.

Plaid Deal Lets Wise Customers Use Fintech Apps Bank-free

Wise has struck an open finance agreement with Plaid that will enable the former's 13 million customers to connect their accounts to thousands of apps. Based on Plaid's open finance tool Core Exchange, the arrangement means that people can connect their Wise USD local account to thousands of other apps - including Venmo, Truebill and Chime - to easily move money back and forth.

BitPay Adds Cardlytics-powered Rewards Program to its Crypto Prepaid Card

BitPay, the world’s largest provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment services, added a reward program to its BitPay Prepaid Card. Cardlytics, a cash-back rewards platform, is managing the rewards where the BitPay cardholder automatically receives up to 15 per cent cash back on purchases every time they use their card at participating retailers. Cardlytics works at thousands of retailers across shopping, dining, entertainment and travel with the largest offer catalogue of national and local retail brands for in-store and online.

Simpl’s Partnership with ConfirmTkt to Simplify Digital Payments for Train Travellers

Simpl, India’s foremost checkout network, has announced a partnership with ConfirmTkt to simplify payments. Through this alliance, Simpl will enable convenient digital payments to ConfirmTkt’s vast customer base, empowering them to plan their train travel better. The collaboration between Simpl and ConfirmTkt is unique since both companies have products specifically tailored for the Indian market with its distinctive characteristics: customers’ need for convenience, simplicity, ease of use, and speed.

Currencycloud, a Visa Solution, Teams up with London RegTech Clausematch to Enable Future Growth

Currencycloud, the experts simplifying business in a multi-currency world, have contracted Clausematch, the global regulatory technology (RegTech) company and compliance experts, to implement its policy management solution. Clausematch’s solution will allow Currencycloud to effectively manage its evolving suite of policies, procedures and other business-critical documentation.

VISA and Sopra Steria Named as Gold Sponsors of OIX’s Identity Trust Conference 2022

OIX announced that the European technology leader in consulting, digital services and software development, Sopra Steria, and a world leader in digital payments, Visa will be Gold Sponsors of the Identity Trust Conference 2022. Taking place on Thursday 29th September 2022, at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London, and online, it will also be supported by the global digital agreements security company, OneSpan, as a Silver Sponsor.

Alain Finance Collaborates with Network International for its Credit Card Offerings in the UAE

Alain Finance, a private joint stock company that specializes in designing and offering alternative financing solutions to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the UAE, has announced the launch of its credit card offerings in the UAE and in collaboration with Network International (Network), the leading enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.

KeyBank Selects BlueSnap for Expanded Payment Gateway Options to facilitate Cross Border eCommerce

BlueSnap, a global payment orchestration platform committed to helping B2B and B2C businesses accept and optimize digital payments around the world, announced it will now be a provider for KeyBank’s US gateway functionality.  BlueSnap’s payments orchestration platform will be available for the bank’s middle market and institutional clients in the eCommerce space.  With BlueSnap, KeyBank can offer its clients more robust payment options with additional functionalities.

YES BANK and IBSFINtech Tie Up to Provide Enhanced Digital Services for Corporate Clients

YES BANK and IBSFINtech, the leading TreasuryTech Solution provider, have teamed up to explore untapped opportunities emerging out of the digitization of corporate finance. This unique partnership will empower the corporate treasury ecosystem with a robust decision-making tool and automated workflows backed by seamless bank connectivity. The collaboration between YES BANK and IBSFINtech will yield paperless communication between the Bank and corporates across the function of treasury and trade finance.

Neofy Partners with Leading Payments Provider, HPS to offer Cloud-based Digital Cards Solution to Banks and Financial Institutions

Neobanks are shaking up the fintech (financial technology) industry with their innovative technologies and unique business models. Sometimes referred to as “challenger banks,” neobanks are fintech companies that offer financial services solely digitally or via a mobile app, without physical branches. Over the past years, as customers have become increasingly comfortable using technology platforms, client banking preferences have shifted to a more convenient, easily accessible digital experience.

Launches 

Fintech App Dinero Encourages Young Indians to Build Wealth; Launches its Beta App on Google Play Store

Dinero, India's first rewards-on-investment platform, aimed at young Indians, announced the launch of its beta version of its app. The app is exclusively available on Google Play Store. Ahead of the launch, Dinero conducted a nationwide empirical study with 500 millennials to understand their tryst with personal finance.With its app launch, Dinero aims to create an easy, jargon-free, and affordable investment platform that helps users build wealth and create healthy financial habits and provides for a potential alternate income.

Hero Innovation Group Introduces Hero FinancialsTM, a Full-Service Alternative-to-Banking Solution for Raising Financially Empowered Kids

Hero Innovation Group Inc. (“Hero Group” or the “Company”), a Vancouver-based fintech solutions providerannounced the launch of Hero FinancialsTM (“Hero”), a full-service alternative-to-banking solution for the Canadian market. Hero is designed specifically for young Canadian consumers, with a total addressable market of up to 6 million users. Its product offerings are highly customizable and are strategically designed to address the unmet financial needs of Canadian kids, teens, GenZers, and their parents.

Coincover Introduces Disaster Recovery Technology to Protect Staked Crypto

Coincover – one of the leading digital asset protection technology companies – announces the launch of the world’s first staking protection technology. Staking, which allows investors to put their crypto to work and earn a yield, has opened up new opportunities for the crypto market and is catching the attention of a growing number of institutional investors. However, the relatively new investment strategy comes with potential risks. In certain cases, the network can penalise investors, eliminating a portion of their staked currency.

Verto Launches New Robust API Solution for Forex Services and Cross-border Payments

Verto, the leading B2B cross-border payments and foreign exchange (FX) enabler, announced the launch of its new API solution, empowering businesses to automate currency conversion, global pay-outs and beneficiary management. As the industry embraces embedded finance, more companies outside of traditional financial organisations are beginning to provide financial services relevant to their existing products.

Merger & Acquisition

Motive Partners Completes Sale of Global Shares to J.P. Morgan

Motive Partners ("Motive"), a specialist private equity firm focused on growth equity and buyout investments in software and information services companies that serve the financial services industry ("financial technology"), has received the necessary regulatory approvals and completed the sale of Global Shares to J.P. Morgan. Motive invested in Global Shares in August 2018, acquiring a ~40% stake in the business.

Jack Henry & Associates to Acquire Payrailz

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Payrailz, adding the company's next-generation digital payment capabilities, including real-time person-to-person (P2P) payments, to Jack Henry's payments ecosystem.   Based in Glastonbury, Conn., Payrailz provides cloud-native, API-first, AI-enabled consumer and commercial digital payment solutions and experiences that enable money to be moved in the moment of need, and banks and credit unions to successfully compete with industry disruptors.

Legado Acquires Consumer and B2B Bill Management Technology From WonderBill

Open document and data platform specialist Legado has acquired the consumer and B2B bill management technology from WonderBill. Launched in 2016, London-based WonderBill allowed consumers to manage all their household bills and subscriptions. The company was backed by Shell Ventures, Shell’s corporate venture capital arm. FNZ, the global wealth management platform, and M&G are major backers of Legado through an investment round in 2019.

Crypto.com Expands in South Korea with Acquisitions of PnLink and OK-BIT

Crypto.com, the world’s fastest growing cryptocurrency platform, announced it has secured Electronic Financial Transaction Act and Virtual Asset Service Provider registration by acquiring payment service provider ‘PnLink Co., Ltd.’ and virtual asset service provider ‘OK-BIT Co., Ltd.’. In achieving this milestone, Crypto.com remains committed to its mission of being an industry leader in regulatory compliance, consumer safety, awareness, and protection.

Job Moves

Geraint Rogers Joins Credas as Chief Strategy Officer

Geraint Rogers has joined Identity Service providers Credas as their new Chief Strategy Officer having previously been the Product Director for Identity, Fraud and Financial Crime at Equifax UK. In his new role, Geraint will help Credas achieve its growth and expansion plans by identifying new opportunities and helping to enhance its existing proposition. Geraint has almost 30 years of experience in product development working across banking and risk/compliance including senior strategy roles at LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Experian. 

Marqeta CEO to Step Down

Open API card issuing and processing platform Marqeta is on the hunt for a CEO after founder Jason Gardner decided to make the move to executive chairman. Gardner founded Marqeta in 2010, building it into a multi-billion dollar outfit disrupting the multi-trillion dollar card issuing market before taking the firm public last year. A hunt is now underway for his replacement.

Transact Payments Malta Appoints Sergio Gandolfo as CEO

Transact Payments Malta Limited (TPML) announces the appointment of Sergio Gandolfo as its new CEO.The appointment sees outgoing CEO, Aaron Carpenter, becoming Managing Director at Transact Payments Services Group Limited (TPSGL), a leading provider of UK & European BIN sponsorship and modular payment, debit, credit and prepaid services. In his new role, he will be responsible for spearheading and expanding TPML’s sustainable growth model, continuing its strong regulatory oversight regime.

AstroPay Appoints Sofía Lanza as Chief Banking Officer

AstroPay, the payment solution of choice for millions of users globally, has appointed Sofía Lanza as Chief Banking Officer, as the company moves forward with its expansion plans into new markets and verticals. Sofía, who previously served as Chief Corporate Development at AstroPay, will be responsible for developing and managing AstroPay’s relationships with global banking and payment service providers, working closely with them in partnership to ensure better engagement and innovative solutions that meet their needs and business goals.

United Fintech Expands New York Team with Two New Appointments

United Fintech, the fintech one-stop shop for banks, hedge funds, and asset managers, has expanded its team in New York with two new appointments. Mitch Vine joins the rapidly growing firm as Head of New Business Sales in the Americas and Danny Finnerty has been appointed as a Sales Executive. Mitch Vine has a strong track record of software sales to US-based financial institutions, having worked in senior new business sales roles in New York for the last five years at AlphaDesk, a partnership between London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Refinitiv.

AQRU Strengthens Senior Leadership Team with Appointment of Crypto and Fintech Veterans

AQRU plc, a company specialising in decentralised finance (“DeFi”), announces today that Digby Try, Executive Director and Co-founder of AQRU, has been appointed Chief Commercial Officer of the Company. Mr Try has over 20 years of experience in senior management roles in the currency, payments and fintech sectors in both the UK and US. Prior to founding AQRU, Mr Try was Head of Global Sales at banking and payments platform OpenPayd, where he worked alongside many of the world’s leading crypto exchanges to deliver fiat banking rails to the crypto industry.

Leading Fintech Provenir Appoints Cognito as EMEA Agency of Record

Cognito has been appointed by Provenir, a global leader in AI-powered risk decisioning software, to lead its PR in EMEA. The appointment will see Cognito develop and deliver a strategic PR programme to boost awareness of Provenir’s offering and showcase its capabilities to fintech, financial services and technology audiences. Provenir helps fintechs, financial institutions, and payment providers make smarter and faster decisions by simplifying the risk decisioning process.

Neo-bank Major Niyo Appoints Ex-PayPal’s Kiran Kulkarni as their Head of Design

India’s leading consumer neo-banking platform, Niyo, announces the appointment of Kiran Kulkarni as its Head of Design. Kiran brings with him over 18 years of leadership experience in product and interfaces design. At Niyo, Kiran will take a lead in enhancing Niyo’s banking app’s experience for Niyo’s 5 million strong customer base. Prior to joining Niyo, Kiran was associated with Paypal as their Senior UX Manager, Consumer Experiences.

Serrala Appoints New CEO to Drive Further Global Growth

Serrala, a global financial automation and B2B payments software company, has appointed senior industry leader Hartmut Wagner as its new CEO. His appointment formally takes effect from August 15, 2022. The transition comes as part of the company’s mission to continue accelerating its ongoing global growth and innovation program, which has seen Serrala transform from a regional to a global player with over 100M USD ARR under current CEO Sven Lindemann’s leadership.

SunTec Appoints Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer (CSTO)

SunTec Business Solutions, the world’s #1 relationship-based pricing and billing company, announced the appointment of Pramod Perumparambil as Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer (CSTO). Pramod is based out of Bengaluru and will drive a company-wide strategy for accelerated business growth that will create long-term value for clients. Pramod will collaborate with business functions within SunTec to constantly evaluate market conditions, develop a business plan, and facilitate collaboration between key stakeholders.

Southeast Asia’s most renowned FSI event, World Financial Innovation Series (WFIS), is now ready to disrupt Philippines’ fintech market with its inaugural edition in the country. To give an estimate of the country’s burgeoning market, the first half of 2021 witnessed total funding of $342 million garnered by the country’s fintech firms, more than double what was raised throughout 2020.

The event platform that has had a history of sharing the latest intel from the financial services industry and facilitating collaboration opportunities for the industry giants will now be led by Oz Forensics, Onfido, Snowflake, Kissflow, AppsFlyer, Nucleus Software, Seon, OutSystems, GBG, Expleo, Freshworks, Redstar, GrabForBusiness, Feedzai, Panamax Inc., Pennant Technologies, Genesys, Exist, Goldpac Fintech, Infobip and Mambu at its upcoming edition. These organizations will have their exclusive exhibition booth at the event that’s scheduled for 16 – 17 August 2022 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Manila, Philippines. Apart from showcasing their cutting-edge solutions, some of them will also take part in the conference to share their crucial industry insights and expertise.

One of the confirmed speakers, Serge Malgin (Chief Commercial Officer, Oz Forensics) while talking about his expectations from the event commented, “I’m glad to be part of the first Philippines edition of WFIS 2022. The Philippines represents a strategic market where we want to invest more in the upcoming years. Our panel will be focused on sharing our expertise around preventing and lowering the risk of biometric fraud. In fact, thanks to our cutting-edge technology we run more than 500,000 biometrics checks every day across 18 + countries. In the last year, 1% of the total check was a potential attack successfully solved. Considering our major work in the financial segment this turns into a very profitable technology that protected our clients from huge potential loss.” 

“We take our role seriously and we try to develop always the best approach and a custom experience for all the different businesses we operate in. We cannot wait to work with all the Philippines companies that will attend the event”, he added further.

WFIS 2022 – Philippines, will host 400+ technology and business heads from the leading Banks, Insurance & Micro-Finance institutions across the country. The event will also feature 25+ most inspirational thought leaders and experts from FSI & Tech who will participate as speakers to shed light on the most pressing industry topics.

The event will power two knowledge-packed days filled with insightful presentations, fireside chats, deep-dive panel discussions, Q&As, live showcase of the best FSI & fintech solutions coupled with abundant networking opportunities and a lot more. 

Varun Budhiraja, Account Executive at AppsFlyer gave a noteworthy insight concerning the fintech landscape, he said, “When engaging with FinTech & banking apps, mobile has become central to the customer experience in the Philippines, which particularly peaked during lockdowns. While primarily the goal for marketers is to be able to optimize growth through different types of campaigns, the process to achieve this could be complex. Creating a seamless user profile across every touchpoint is a messy, challenging and often incomplete process. That’s why those that have the mobile-first and mobile-only advantages are standing out in the competitive market.”

WFIS 2022 – Philippines also aims to promote the objectives of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and aid the organization in sharing its vision with the country’s FSI community.

In a statement issued, following OutSystems’ participation announcement, Gary Romualdez (Country Manager Philippines, OutSystems) expressed, “It’s a pleasure to be participating in World Financial Innovation Series (WFIS), live in the Philippines where industries alike from FSIs and Techs get together to discuss and learn the latest disruptive innovations within the Fintech industry. OutSystems is glad to be part of this event to share how OutSystems' High-Performance Low Code solution, is able to help financial institutions automate processes, integrate solutions, and build complex UI/UX to give their customers the best-in-class experience with layers of security, that reduces the effort of organizations to be compliant and secure on the cloud without sacrificing the speed and flexibility of developing custom solutions for their customers.”

For more information about the event, log on to:

https://philippines.worldfis.com/

On the occasion of the 75th Independence Day, PayNearby, India’s leading branchless banking and digital network, has announced the launch of ‘zero investment plan’ for women entrepreneurs at the last mile, across 20,000+ PIN codes. This comes as an extension of its Independence Day campaign, Pragati Mahotsav, which celebrated the contribution of its retail partners. In addition to accelerating the national vision of financial inclusion for all, this initiative aims to build financial independence among rural women of India by waiving business account opening fees and thereby inspiring women at the last mile to join the nation-building movement. The company aims to onboard 10 lakh+ women entrepreneurs by FY23-24.

With Sashakt Naari, Sashakt Samaaj, Sashakt Desh at its core, the Women Sustainable Employment campaign looks to ensure that every household in India has a woman financially capable of taking care of her family and thus create an empowered society and an empowered nation. PayNearby’s ‘zidd’ is to upskill all women and bring them up the employment curve so that they contribute equally to the growth of the economy, to build a more inclusive and sustainable society.

Commenting on the development, Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby, said, “A country progresses when its women become equal participants in the progress. While the pathway to women’s enablement are many, one of the most important facilitators is financial empowerment. It is important women have access to digital and financial tools that give them better control over their earnings and savings. With women as our partners, it will ensure seamless delivery of accessible banking services to every section of society while uplifting their social standing.

The path that we have undertaken toward the Sashakt Naari, Sashakt Samaaj, Sashakt Desh mission is challenging. But then, the path to a greater good is always riddled with challenges. We believe that women are key to social change and PayNearby is extremely honoured to be driving this Sustainable Employment campaign to help them realize their potential in creating a sustainable future. We would like to welcome all Self-Help-Groups and other like-minded institutions to join us in this journey so that we can maximize the reach of this campaign and empower as many women as possible. We want to empower at least 10 lakh+ women within the next 1 year with steady income opportunities so that they become the harbingers of change, and we are giving them the tools to make India an inclusive and stronger nation. PayNearby, Zidd Aage Badhne Ki!”

Speaking about the campaign, Jayatri Dasgupta, Chief Marketing Officer, PayNearby said, “While Pragati Mahotsav was an ode to PayNearby’s retail partners who are persevering to make Bharat a financially and digitally inclusive nation, the ‘Women Sustainable Employment’ campaign serves as its perfect finale.  In India, close to 48% of the rural population is female. However, owing to societal construct and low literacy rate, they have very little or no access to any form of financial services or employment. Today, only 27% of women in India are employed, out of which women running small businesses account for only 13%. For India to progress, women need to come forward and participate. In such a scenario, the importance of financial and digital education for women at the last mile becomes very important.

The distribution of Free Business Accounts/banking IDs will allow women, in the rural hinterlands, to easily become the banking and digital points of their areas so that essential financial services can reach every home. With PayNearby, women will learn about cash management, savings, banking, insurance and other financial services that will, in turn, bridge the gender gap at the last mile. As aware banking sakhis, these women will play a crucial role in acquainting people with financial services while furthering the cause of financial inclusion across the country and bringing all into the formal financial fold. The campaign is geared towards giving every woman in the country a new identity, a sustainable livelihood, and an opportunity to become self-reliant, a true reflection of our brand promise, Zidd Aage Badhne Ki,” she added.

The Women Sustainable Employment commitment which is the final leg of the Pragati Mahotsav is aimed to bring women from the confines of the home to the forefront of the economy. In the 75^th year of India’s Independence, PayNearby hopes to build an equal opportunity platform for them to come ahead and contribute to its One Nation One Service ideology and take Bharat to the next level of growth and inclusion. Towards this purpose, the company is waiving the cost of the Business Account, currently priced at ₹1000, required to create and maintain the account. However, women partners will have to pay a bare minimum cost for the KYC completion.

This is one among a series of initiatives that the company will roll out over the next few months to create a more empowered society. Very soon, PayNearby aims to partner with leading banks in the country and launch savings and current bank accounts at a store nearby for last-mile SMEs and customers. This will ensure every household in the country, including its women folks, have easy access to opening and operating a bank account, something crucial to the financial well-being at the last mile. The company is on a mission to double its commitment to creating a more inclusive and empowered nation.