New research released today from Shieldpay, the secure digital payments market leader, and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) has found that almost 900,000 (882,900) UK businesses are currently selling on online marketplaces, generating an estimated £282 billion worth of sales every year – worth 6% of all UK business turnover.

Online marketplaces that enable independent sellers and businesses to reach a wider array of consumers have dramatically increased in popularity over the past decade, and now represent a significant portion of the UK e-commerce market.

The Shieldpay and Cebr research found that companies selling on marketplaces reported stronger business performance, with annual revenue growth in 2021 amounting to 9.4% for businesses selling on marketplaces, compared to 7.4% for those who have not used them.

However, despite the significant turnover from online marketplace sales, these figures still represent only just over a fifth (6%) of the UK’s annual business turnover. As such, there is still significant scope for growth in this area, as more and more businesses begin to capitalise on the value of a ready-made, secure environment for e-commerce.

When asked about the drawbacks of using marketplaces, more than a quarter (27%) of businesses noted that they saw none whatsoever and that nothing would prevent them from using marketplaces, again suggesting few barriers to growth.

Surprisingly, SMEs are currently less likely to use marketplaces than larger businesses. According to the ONS, just 3% of micro-businesses cited selling through marketplaces in 2019. This is despite the benefits that additional services that marketplaces can offer small businesses, including logistics support and data analytics from large marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay.

Claire Van der Zant, Revenue Director, Shieldpay commented:

“The £280bn turnover that online marketplaces contribute to the UK economy is a sizeable figure, but it’s clear that this 6% share is only set to increase further in the coming years. A marketplace is more than just a business in and of itself, it is a distribution channel to empower other businesses to reach new markets and a transformational tool to unlock new value for the end consumer through greater choice and more competitive pricing.

“Our research not only shows that marketplaces make a notable contribution to the UK economy, but that businesses are not yet fully capitalising on the significant benefits they can bring. The value of marketplace commerce can often be overlooked, especially by SMEs, but the robust infrastructure, convenience and security that they provide should encourage more businesses to move online and make the most of these advantages.”

Verto, the leading B2B cross-border payments and foreign exchange (FX) enabler, today 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. Data from ResearchAndMarkets.com shows that the embedded payments industry in particular is expected to increase from US$124,755.7 million in 2022 to reach US$380,573.2 million by 2029. 

Verto’s API solution allows fintechs, financial institutions, payroll, HR companies, accounting and invoice management solution providers and large enterprises to access a complete financial services ecosystem, customise their own payment solutions seamlessly and create their own FX and payment flows. Built on Verto’s RESTful API, specifically designed to minimise integration time while simultaneously enabling them to scale globally with ease.

This new solution further enhances Verto’s mission to provide the infrastructure that powers the world’s fastest-growing start-ups, enterprises and e-commerce merchants, allowing businesses in mature and emerging markets equal access to the global financial system. Through Verto API, businesses have the complete freedom to automate currency conversions, track payments and exchange rates in real-time and transact globally with ease. 

Verto is in the midst of rapid growth and expansion following $10 million in Series A funding last year and the launch of the API solution is the natural next step in the firm’s ambition to solve the fragmented cross-border payments landscape in emerging market economies.

“Verto’s new API solution will turbocharge businesses globally, giving them the quickest and most efficient way to integrate local and international payments into their products,” said Anthony Oduu, Co-Founder and CTO of Verto. “Our RESTful API has been designed with developers in mind to cut down the integration period while simultaneously allowing business owners to scale globally.” 

Commenting on the launch, CEO and Co-Founder, Ola Oyetayo, said: “Embedded finance is the next big thing for our industry. And embedded payments in particular are making life easier for businesses and consumers worldwide by completely streamlining the entry process, driving up customer satisfaction and unlocking new revenue opportunities for businesses. While embracing APIs is a big shift for the industry, our partners have shown great interest in this solution.” 

A new study by Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today reveals the significant hurdles faced by manufacturers and distributors shifting to a sustainable Circular Economy business strategy, despite widespread acknowledgement of the many benefits it will deliver. 

“The State of the Circular Economy” report shows the industry is paying greater attention to the need for, and benefits of, the Circular Economy (CE). It comes in response to the growing importance of sustainable business practices to over 60% of employees, customers, shareholders, and supply chain partners alike.  

CE is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, regenerating natural systems, and supporting environmental sustainability. 84% of senior leaders say building and implementing a CE strategy is now part of their role, with 32% stating it is central to their duties. 

Rob Sinfield, Head of Business Unit, Sage X3 and Sage Intacct Manufacturing, said: “Sustainability is increasingly becoming a non-negotiable for modern manufacturers and distributors. While business goals remain front of mind, the industry equally recognises the importance of environmental drivers, with energy efficiency and helping the environment as key motivations for pursuing a sustainability strategy. 

“As a result, 32% of organisations adopting circular economy strategies are already reaping the rewards – from greater profitability and productivity to improved resource usage and an enhanced brand reputation. Better yet, a further 32% believe they will achieve benefits within the next three years.” 

Manufacturers and distributors see new technology and innovations (72%) as a key enabler to adopting CE and sustainability strategies, and concerns arising from inaction such as damaged brand perceptions (46%) and reduced long-term profitability (46%) are consolidating the need for investment. 

The promise of technology and innovation 

Digital transformation is fundamental to delivering a CE strategy. The research found manufacturers and distributors ranked cloud applications (74%), data analytics (68%), and automation (67%) as the most important technologies for running a business more sustainably.  

• Cloud applications and infrastructure is impacting nearly every aspect of modern manufacturing already. The cloud enables manufacturers to develop products more effectively and support sustainable practices such as 3D printing.  
• Data analytics for predictive intelligence is helping businesses to refine their product development, optimize supply chains, and monitor equipment to increase resource efficiency.   
• Automation boosts productivity by speeding up workflows and reducing human error. It also provides valuable data-driven insights that can be analysed to improve production performance and sustainability.  

However, the industry has more to do when it comes to technology adoption. Despite 61% citing cloud apps as helpful in collecting, analysing, and reporting on their CE capabilities, public cloud usage is far from universal among manufacturers and distributors. In fact, only a minority of respondents say they use the public cloud for core apps such as supply chain (39%), CRM (38%), business intelligence (35%), human resources management (34%), ERP (32%) and payroll (29%). 

Overcoming the barriers to sustainable transformation 

Organisations want to take advantage of the opportunities presented by becoming more sustainable, such as improved reputation (50%), increased energy efficiency (47%), increased business resiliency (46%) and a reduced impact on the environment (46%). 

But despite recognizing the many advantages, global manufacturers and distributors are struggling to realize the full benefits. Navigating a turbulent external market, with its own immediate challenges of rising costs (72%), supply chain disruptions (71%) and changing customer demands (68%), is taking up valuable resources that leaders could otherwise invest in future-proofing their business. 

Furthermore, two-thirds (67%) of manufacturers and distributors still need to transform their business operations in order to shift to CE. 64% of those companies say transformation is a significant barrier and is hindering their pursuit of greater sustainability. Finding people with the right expertise (71%) is the biggest challenge, along with cost and budget limitations (68%) and updating technology integrations and processes (68%).  

Tech expert Isaac Sacolick, President and Founder of StarCIO, said: “Organisations can overcome these barriers with innovative thinking. Recruiting from a wider talent pool to bring data and analytics skillsets into the fold will help manufacturers and distributors see the bigger picture – what can I solve today, how can I become more sustainable tomorrow, and where do I want to be in 10 years.  

“With greater data insights at their fingertips, organisations will be able to identify the most suited use cases for automation and transformative technologies to enhance their cost efficiency and free up time to focus on the pressing need for a circular economy and sustainability strategy.”

BlueSnap, a global payment orchestration platform committed to helping B2B and B2C businesses accept and optimize digital payments around the world, today 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. 

Scott McLaughlin, VP, Embedded Banking at KeyBank, said: “We are incredibly excited to work with BlueSnap on this new gateway reseller relationship. BlueSnap’s flexible operating model for their payment orchestration platform gives our larger middle market and institutional clients the flexibility to process additional payments globally and seamlessly.” 

With one integration and contract, businesses can sell in more than 200 regions with access to local card acquiring in 47 countries, 100+ currencies and 100+ global payment types, including popular eWallets, automated accounts receivable, world-class fraud protection and chargeback management, built-in solutions for regulation and tax compliance, and unified global reporting.

Ralph Dangelmaier, CEO of BlueSnap, said: “The relationship with KeyBank’s significant distribution channel showcases the market need for BlueSnap’s technology. We can now connect with and enable payments for millions of merchants and ISVs in the U.S. and internationally with the most easy-to-use, adept and scalable payments solution available in the industry.”

Since March 2020, consumer spending habits have changed significantly, and that includes the way we use our credit cards online. Almost immediately, fraudsters tapped into this and found new ways of taking advantage of this with devious scams and cons that caused a drastic rise in fraud cases. 

To find out where Europe’s credit card fraud capital is, Merchant Machine has researched 19 countries in Europe, analysing the amount of money lost to fraud, the level of fraud risk, and more to find out where this crime is the most prevalent.

Ireland Tops the List as the Card Capital of Europe

Out of all of the 19 countries we researched, Ireland loses the second highest amount of money to fraud per 1,000 cards with €5,145 and each month, there are 180 searches for the terms ‘credit card fraud’ and ‘report credit card fraud’.

In Ireland, 88 of every 1,000 inhabitants become a victim of credit card fraud, which is the third highest amount compared with the other countries in the list, which means for every 1,000 inhabitants, €7,949 is stolen by fraudsters.

In addition to this, almost a quarter (25%) of transactions made in Ireland are made across national borders. More than three-quarters of those transactions were fraudulent, which is a higher percentage than both the UK and France. 

The UK has the highest number of fraud cases per 1,000 inhabitants

The UK ranks second on Merchant Machine’s list with the most fraud cases per 1,000 inhabitants with 123 and the highest value per 1,000 inhabitants at €10,414. 

Over an average month in the UK, there are 170 Google searches for ‘report credit card fraud’ and 1,000 searches for ‘credit card fraud’.

Following closely behind the UK is France, which has the highest fraud value and volume per 1,000 cards. This means that for every 1,000 credit cards in France, there are 83 cases of fraud which results in a total loss of €5,521.

Top 5 Credit Card Fraud Capitals of Europe

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.

IBSFINtech's robust technology framework coupled with YES BANK’s seamless banking infrastructure and leadership in the corporate digital solutions space will provide connectivity between a corporate's ERP and a bank's solutions. Owing to the end-to-end and connected ecosystem that this unique partnership aims to build, the corporate finance function will become convenient. Both YES BANK and IBSFINtech have plans to tap the opportunities available in the market and reach out to a wider customer base through mutually inclusive go-to-market strategies. 

Throwing more light on the partnership, Mr. Ajay Rajan, Country Head - Transaction Banking, YES BANK, said, "YES BANK continues to strengthen its position in the industry by investing in partnerships focused on enhancing the digital experience for corporations and emerging businesses across the country. This partnership with IBSFINtech is a step forward toward providing next-gen technology solutions across Cash, Liquidity, Treasury, Risk, Trade Finance and Supply Chain Finance functions of corporations. It is focused on co-creating and delivering deeply integrated treasury solutions via IBSFINtech's platform, with the aim to achieve complete digitization between corporates and banks.”

Sharing his views on this partnership, Mr. C M Grover, MD & CEO, IBSFINtech, said, "It is an opportune time for the banking ecosystem to further integrate with technology, thereby strengthening their solutions for the Indian corporations. We are glad to enter into this partnership with one of India's most forward-looking technology-led banks, which has taken the lead in enabling a connected banking ecosystem. IBSFINtech's TreasuryTech platform is deeply integrated with the internal IT ecosystem of corporates. With this tech partnership with YES BANK, the platform enables an end-to-end connected ecosystem for corporates and the bank, powered by our robust technology platform." 

The collaboration between YES BANK and IBSFINtech will yield paperless communication between the Bank and corporates across the function of treasury and trade finance. From issuing fund transfers to forex transactions to completing trade documentation, the entire process will be digitized and powered by the robust platform offered by IBSFINtech. 

The most critical challenge corporations face today includes having clear visibility of cash across different entities and bank accounts. IBSFINtech's TreasuryTech platform connects with YES BANK through APIs and provides real-time cash visibility. Being a bank agnostic platform, the solution offers connectivity with other banks, thereby enabling complete visibility across all Banks and entities that the corporation is associated with. 

The fintech and Bank partnership model has seen wider acceptance, especially during the post-Covid times, as Banks are ready to embrace and deliver digital experiences to enterprise customers more aggressively. Banks now view fintechs as their technology partner who can further their vision to expand their reach and engage with corporations more effectively. The connected ecosystem achieved through this partnership will help corporates achieve complete digitization of their treasury and trade finance function.

Equalum, a best-in-class provider of data integration and ingestion solutions, today 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.

Equalum is defining the future of data integration with the only platform that continuously and natively supports all use cases under a single unified platform without the need for custom coding. The company’s flagship technology eliminates data integration tool sprawl and simplifies the development of real-time streaming data pipelines with end-to-end monitoring all within a single easy-to-use platform. The award-winning platform is trusted by industry leaders to accelerate cloud adoption by insulating the end user from the complexities of multi-cloud and hybrid cloud deployments. The company has a strong customer base across a wide range of verticals, including financial services, insurance, healthcare and manufacturing.

The additional capital will support the expansion of Equalum’s global footprint, product development, and rapid growth trajectory as the company meets the demand for “cloud first” organizations that are developing new processes or transforming old processes in the cloud. The timing for this round is ideal as industry forecasts indicate growing customer demand. FORTUNE Business Insights recently published research predicting that the data integration market will rise from $11.94 billion in 2022 to $29.16 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 13.6%.  The Equalum Continuous Data Integration Platform (CDIP) will support this demand for on-premises, hybrid and multi-cloud-based projects that require tight integration with Azure, AWS and Google Cloud Targets. Equalum also offers real-time streaming for a wide range of use cases in addition to Batch ETL, Replication and industry-leading Change Data Capture capabilities.

“Equalum’s unified platform differentiates the company from others in the space by delivering the ability to leverage a single platform to seamlessly integrate data from numerous sources to numerous targets while eliminating data silos, and facilitating the deployment of cloud-based solutions. This greatly simplifies operations so that resources can focus on core competencies and more effectively and quickly deliver on strategic initiatives,” said David Marek, Executive Director, SpringTide Ventures. “Over the past several years, Equalum has seen impressive growth, driven by the company’s flagship platform. Now with a mature, production-proven technology generating strong demand in the market, this round provides the resources to build upon their already substantial customer base.”

“The success of an organization can more often be measured by its ability to quickly access, move and process business-critical data for a wide range of important applications,” said Guy Eilon, CEO of Equalum. “With the mission of taking data integration to the next level, this round extends our reach to a greater number of enterprises seeking a more performant, efficient solution.”

AstroPay, the online payment solution of choice for millions of users worldwide, has launched a flagship global Affiliate Programme to provide revenue-generating opportunities to individuals and businesses that want to generate online income and grow their business. The new programme is aimed at increasing AstroPay’s consumer base worldwide while ensuring that those who are professionally dedicated to affiliate marketing can rely on a solid partner to thrive.

AstroPay launched the programme to enable affiliate partners to access special deals where they can generate income on an ongoing basis for every new user that joins the payment platform. The programme offers up to 20% revenue share commission, as well as dedicated teams and expertise in sales conversion. Affiliate partners will be able to rely on multilingual support and local experts for any of their needs and will also benefit from the AstroPay payment platform/solutions that have been tested and optimised for cross-border payments.

AstroPay will welcome a diverse range of partners including platforms, comparison sites and content creators in the payment industry as well as iGaming, forex trading, and many others.

The programme will be available across countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe where AstroPay is available, and through hundreds of merchants that offer AstroPay as a payment option.

Leonardo Alonso, Head of Affiliates at AstroPay, said: “I am excited to see our new programme go live today. The Affiliate Programme is a new way of doing business with AstroPay. All those who are professionally dedicated to affiliate marketing will be very welcome and we look forward to working together and rewarding partners with a robust partnership that provides added value through an alternative way to continue growing their business.”

The programme is also designed to offer flexibility and agility for affiliate partners, regardless of which vertical sector they come from, and is compatible with any other programmes they may have already signed up to.

FinTech Festival India, the country’s biggest FinTech event was held between July 20 and 22, 2022 at Pragati Maidan, Delhi, organised by Constellar and supported by Niti Aayog and six central government ministries.

FinTech Festival India hosted 8000+ business visitors from across the Indian and global FinTech ecosystem over the three days. In addition to the above 500+ CXO level delegates joined in for the dual track conference on the first two days.

The conference witnessed discussions on topics ranging from government policies to metaverse, banking, lending, Insurtech, blockchain, payments, lending and almost every other sector that makes FinTech the most talked about and invested global ecosystem in the world across its 35+ panel discussions, earning rave reviews from delegates and speakers alike.

With 120+ CXO level speakers from the industry and over 100+ exhibitors and sponsors, FinTech Festival India announced itself to the global FinTech Industry and, is bound to add to this with a bigger and more inclusive FinTech Festival India in 2023.

The two-day conference was attended by leading industry stalwarts such as Sarbvir Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Policybazaar; Suhail Sameer, Chief Executive Officer, BharatPe; Raghu Ramanujam, Director of Product, Flipkart; Mridul Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, CoinDCX; Santosh Kumar, Innovation Head, Citi Markets India; Hitesh Sachdev, Head – Startup Engagement & Investments, ICICI Bank and Sunit Vakharia, Head - Consumer Banking Technology India, DBS Bank amongst others.

A variety of discussions were held on macro-economics, sustainable future, crypto & blockchain technology, Web3, InsurTech, RegTech, financial inclusion, CBDC, cloud adoption, metaverse, NFT’s, finance and payment app security and more.

FinTech Festival India’s micro experiences organised from July 2021 to March 2022, combined to create the country’s largest FinTech confluence. It witnessed participation from over 5,000+ attendees, 160+ speakers and 90+ sessions over a period of 8 months.

The conference was supported by the Government of India’s Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Ministry of Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME), The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited ( A Government of India Enterprise – Under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting) and Startup India (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade & Invest India). It has also received support from the Government of Tamil Nadu, the Government of Karnataka and Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT).

In addition to the government, FFI which aimed to unleash the power of FinTech across the country, captured interest from the industry in various sponsors/partner categories, This included Powered By sponsor CoinSwitch Kuber, Platinum Sponsors M2P, Sustainability Partners The Green Billions, Digital Asset Infrastructure Partner Fireblocks, Gold Sponsors BharatPe, LIC, Moengage, Rapyder, Thales, Exclusive Networks, WebEngage, Sales acceleration partner Vymo, Payments partner In-Solutions Global Ltd., Identity verification partner IDFy, Registration Partners CoinDCX, Digital Edition Partners JuicyScore, Spice Money, Experian and many more.

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.

Legado plans to repurpose WonderBill’s technology to support its B2B personal data management and engagement platform that counts M&G, one of the UK's largest and longest established investment managers, among its client base. FNZ, the global wealth management platform, and M&G are major backers of Legado through an investment round in 2019.

Josif Grace, CEO, and founder of Legado, said: “WonderBill has invested significantly in its technology over the last few years. The integration of the consumer and B2B bill management technology into Legado’s platform will provide our corporate partners with a market-leading and compliant solution to manage, share, and access personal data in a way that is meaningful for customers.”

Nathaniel Mead, Director at WonderBill said: “We are delighted that Legado will integrate our innovative technology into their platform to deliver on their vision of managing important customer data in a single, secure place that’s easy to navigate. By offering the WonderBill functionality to its rapidly growing set of large B2B clients, Legado will provide increased ease and comfort to millions of households in the UK and beyond.”

Legado is a trusted supplier to some of the UK’s leading organisations, providing a customer-centric solution to document communication and management, engaging customers as they navigate key life events, helping reduce operational costs, and providing a more connected and cohesive digital experience.

CEO Grace added: “Consumers are tired of being inundated by various means of communication. Our advanced digital vault streamlines personal document management, with machine learning and analytics capabilities providing powerful insights that are used to help manage personal affairs, reduce the fragmentation of personal documents, and ensure consumers have greater peace of mind.”

Digital vault technology has seen unprecedented interest in recent years, following an increased focus on customer wellbeing within the context of the current challenging economic backdrop. Legado is well positioned in the market and is providing a solution relevant to solving the challenges faced by major organisations and their customers in today’s complex society.

Josif Grace said: “We’ve got the backing of some of the biggest institutions in the financial services sector. This blend of scale and technology has provided us with an opportunity to create a globally leading proposition that solves a number of challenges faced by organisations and their customers.”

CEO Grace founded the business in 2018, after having returned from Silicon Valley where he was Chief of Staff at RocketSpace, the technology campus in San Francisco that helped to incubate tech giants like Airbnb, Uber, and Snapchat.