Partnerships 

Mastercard and Massmart partner to support SME transition from cash 

Mastercard recently collaborated with leading retail group Massmart to connect Small, Medium, and Micro-Enterprises (SMMEs) to affordable digital commerce solutions, enabling a safe transition away from cash.During the latter half of 2021 - following the period of social unrest - SMMEs could purchase an electronic Point of Sale (POS) or Mobile POS device at a discounted retail price from any Massmart retail outlet nationwide, including Game, Makro, and Builders Warehouse stores. Over the campaign, Massmart saw a significant increase in the sale of its POS devices, with SMEs reporting an increase in sales.

Yoti and EcoSpend partner to combine digital identities with open banking for secure next-generation payments and financial services

Ecospend, the leading UK provider of open banking technology, has partnered with digital identity network, Yoti, to integrate open banking services with its suite of identity solutions including the Yoti digital ID app.

Using Ecospend’s bank account verification technology, consumer identities will soon be verified on the Yoti app using their bank details, which will sit alongside traditional methods of verification such as using passport, driving license, or birth certificate documents. Ecospend will also provide a ‘pay-by-bank’ service on the Yoti app to accompany traditional card payment solutions, which will help minimize the risk of fraud with details no longer needing to be inputted by consumers.

Visa and Mastercard are now available for crypto on ApolloX via Banxa

ApolloX was launched in 2021 to offer the DEX and derivatives trading markets a sophisticated non-custodial trading experience. ApolloX has partnered with a crypto-focused payment service provider (PSP) and regtech firm, Banxa, in order to allow its users to purchase crypto via Visa or Mastercard credit and debit cards.

This is a major milestone for the CEX-DEX hybrid crypto derivatives exchange as it takes one more step into furthering its global mission of making crypto and blockchain accessible to everyone. The fiat gateway improves the capabilities of fiat-to-crypto conversion at ApolloX, starting with over 20 fiat currencies including USD, EUR, and AUD that can now be converted into USDT, BUSD, and ETH.

Leading Australian wealth firm selects Broadridge to grow Securities Finance business

To assist in optimizing their securities finance offering, FinClear, the leading wealth management infrastructure provider in Australia, has selected Broadridge Financial Solutions, a global Fintech leader. Broadridge’s Securities Finance and Collateral Management (SFCM) FastStart solution provides FinClear and its clients with enhanced functionalities in this area of the business.

Grant Thornton partners with Validis to become the first audit firm to embrace Open Banking in Australia 

Grant Thornton’s partnership with Validis will take advantage of the new Consumer Data Right (CDR) access model that has been developed in response to the government’s recent amendments to the CDR rules to encourage increased participation in Open Banking. This access model allows for existing unrestricted accredited data recipients, such as Validis, to act as a principal for trusted advisors, and therefore allows access to data with the banking customer’s consent.

The latest Open Banking capabilities and using third-party software such as Validis enables Grant Thornton’s audit practice to boost audit quality becoming more efficient by improving the quality of banking transactional data and information on account balances that are critical to validating the existence of assets or the occurrence of cash in/outflows.

LPA partners with Globolance to deliver enhanced ESG reporting 

LPA, the capital markets technology and advisory firm, announced that it has enhanced its ESG reporting services through a partnership with Globalance, a global pioneer in the field of sustainability. The partnership will see LPA gain access to the investment insight platform Globalance World. 

Coined the “Google Earth for Investors”, Globalance World gives investors and other stakeholders free access to analyze and assess the future orientation and sustainability of over 6,000 listed companies and selected stock indices related to ESG, climate change, and megatrends. Globalance World is the first interactive tool of its kind, visualizing ESG in a dynamic, transparent, and interactive way.

PCI Pal announces new global partnership with VoiceFoundry, a TTEC digital company

PCI Pal, – the global provider of cloud-based secure payment solutions – announced a partnership with Customer Experience as a Service specialist and Amazon Connect expert, VoiceFoundry – a TTEC Digital company.  The partnership with VoiceFoundry will also provide TTEC Group companies with access to PCI Pal’s services.

VoiceFoundry specialises in the comprehensive design and delivery of Amazon Connect, a cloud-based enterprise contact centre solution used by enterprises around the world. It is uniquely focused on helping businesses improve customer engagement and the contact centre experience through customised solutions that empower businesses to deliver intelligent and dynamic customer experiences across all channels by leveraging Amazon Connect.

CCA Bank in Cameroon and FSS partner to deliver superior ATM services 

FSS Technologies, a leading global provider of integrated payment products and a payments processor, announced that Crédit Communautaire d ‘Afrique (CCA) Bank, a leading bank in Cameroon, has deployed FSS’ real-time multi-brand ATM Monitoring solution to help deliver an assured service experience to CCA customers in parallel with the management of operational costs. FSS is rapidly expanding its footprint in the African continent with a particular focus on West Africa and Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) markets. CCA Bank is the first in Central Africa to deploy FSS’ ATM monitoring solution for real-time management of its entire ATM network.

Pakistan’s largest bank, HBL selects Temenos to transform its banking services 

Temenos, the banking software company, announces that HBL, Pakistan’s largest bank network is to adopt the Temenos core banking platform to provide domestic and international operations with a cutting-edge banking experience. HBL will onboard over 25 million of the Bank’s clients onto Temenos’s open platform for composable banking. The platform will accelerate the Bank’s services across all segments, markets, and channels. HBL clients will have an enhanced user experience in the form of increased reliability, security, and a modern platform that will enhance HBL’s digitalization journey.

CMC Markets Connect extends distribution with integral partnership 

CMC Markets Connect, a leading global provider of institutional trading and technology solutions, has announced a distribution agreement with Integral. Acknowledged as the world’s most advanced technology provider of cloud-based eFX workflow solutions, the award-winning platform brings together a wide variety of liquidity providers into a single, integrated network.

CMC Markets will be distributing its Spot FX and Indices, Treasuries and Commodity CFDs including over 12,000 CFDs covering a range of single stocks and ETFs. Integral clients will have the ability to access pricing as well as execute trades.

Candeal and HIS Markit partner to set the new industry standards for Canadian fixed income price accessibility 

CanDeal, the leading provider of Canadian financial markets, data and information services, is integrating its proprietary market data into the IHS Markit platform providing a new level of fixed income pricing accessibility for the Canadian market. With the unparalleled accuracy of dealer-sourced pricing that CanDeal Data & Analytics (DNA) provides, this partnership will directly address one of the most pressing issues facing Canadian capital markets.

Leveraging the most up-to-date data for Canadian fixed income market participants has been a lingering challenge for decades due to insufficient accessibility solutions. By integrating CanDeal’s 1 pm, 3 pm, and 4 pm snapshot pricing, IHS Markit customers will have access to best-in-class market datasets and more accurately and efficiently be able to make better-informed pre and post-trade decisions, while mitigating market risk.

GreenBox Pos enters partnership with Cross River, paving the way toward full banking-as-a-service initiative

GreenBox POS  ("GreenBox" or the "Company"), an emerging and rapidly growing FinTech company announced that it has entered into a licensing partnership with Cross River, a respected technology-driveninfrastructure provider that offers embedded financial solutions.

Cross River, known for merging the innovative capabilities of a state-of-the-art technology company with the traditional expertise of an established bank, currently powers scores of leading FinTech companies across the United States. GreenBox’s partnership with Cross River will bring to fruition the launch of their first banking-as-a-service initiative and ushers GreenBox into the arena with the likes of well-known, major financial technology-driven brands.

Launches 

ChainUp launches NFT trading platform solution – Metabazaar

Recently, ChainUP, the world's leading blockchain technology service provider, launched the NFT trading platform solution -MetaBazaar software package. The system aims to provide NFT technical infrastructure services for people who love NFT, build a one-stop NFT (non-fungible token) trading platform, quickly reduce the industry entry threshold and improve the industry efficiency. MetaBazaar provides transactions of collectibles, artworks, valuables, assets, and securities supported by the NFT concept and blockchain technology.

Introducing Forter Smart Payments 

Forter Smart Payments offers the most comprehensive solution on the market to help you streamline your transactions and optimize your digital commerce payment flow while still maintaining regulatory compliance. Depending on your unique business needs, Smart Payments enables you to maximize your PSD2 exemptions while maintaining regulatory compliance,

optimize 3DS recommendations with our Smart 3DS feature, increasing authorization rate and conversion, route to the optimal processor to increase the likelihood of transaction success, recover legitimate transactions that have been wrongly declined during the payments process.

Justt launches Chargeback Intelligence tool

Justt, a chargeback mitigation pioneer, announced the launch of Optimus, a powerful new chargeback intelligence solution. By giving both merchants and payment service providers (PSPs) full visibility into credit card payment dispute data, with one-stop insights into performance across all processors, Optimus enables smarter, data-driven decision-making that helps merchants to drive up net earnings by multiple percentage points.

Trustly introduces FlexPay by Trustly, a deferred settlement product for flexible payments

Trustly, the leading global payments platform for digital account-to-account transactions, is proud to introduceFlexPay by Trustly, a new product that gives consumers the flexibility to defer the settlement date of a debited amount to a date in the future. Merchants will have the ability to configure the deferred settlement periods to up to 30 days.

YAPILY launches Open Banking on AWS Marketplace to expand cloud offering 

Open banking infrastructure provider Yapily has launched its first listing on AWS Marketplace, a digital catalog featuring more than 12,000 products and services. The collaboration brings wider access to Yapily’s next-generation financial data and payment initiation solutions for customers already using AWS cloud services. This will enable businesses across Europe to develop more innovative and personalized experiences for their customers.

Yapily’s sandbox credentials allow developers using AWS the opportunity to test data and potential customer flows before proceeding to a live environment. Over the coming months, Yapily will be implementing a roadmap of additional features onto AWS Marketplace to further enhance its data and payment solutions for cloud-based customers.

Monneo launches a unique solution for the affiliate marketing industry

End-to-end payment ecosystem provider Monneo has announced its exciting plans to launch Pixelpay, a stand-alone financial product designed specifically for the affiliate marketing industry.

By offering a closed-loop financial ecosystem, which removes the friction in payments between advertisers, networks, and publishers, Pixelpay resolves a number of major issues currently affecting the affiliate marketing industry. The innovative solution has been built on the back of Monneo’s complete payment ecosystem and is connected to the company’s extensive network of European and International banks.

Databricks launches Lakehouse for financial serves to accelerate data-driven innovation across the industry

Databricks, the Data and AI company and pioneer of the data lakehouse architecture, announced the Databricks Lakehouse for Financial Services, an open, modern data platform tailored to customer use cases across the Banking, Insurance, and Capital Markets sectors. As the financial sector moves to embrace open source and cloud technology to drive innovation, Databricks customers and industry partners like Avanade, Deloitte, FINOS, Gemini, Nasdaq, and TD Bank are accelerating the time-to-value of their data assets with the Lakehouse for Financial Services.

Payment service provider Transact365 launches in Latin America

Transact365, a UK-based fintech, has launched its global payments platform in Latin America (LATAM), making it one of the largest alternative payments platforms in the region. The move enables cross-border and local e-commerce transactions through bank transfers and local payment methods such as PIX and Boleto, ensuring consumers in the region can make online transactions and merchants have the capabilities to access them. 

Merchants across LATAM will be able to make bank transfers in local currency as well as enable cash and other non-card local payments methods for domestic or cross-border transactions, connecting them with shoppers around the world. Transact365’s payment network in LATAM comprises 10 national jurisdictions including Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.

BCB Group launches BCB Yield for returns on fiat and crypto funds

BCB Group, Europe's leading crypto business banking partner and provider of payments and trading services for the digital asset economy, announced the launch of BCB Yield, a product that lets customers earn a return on both fiat and crypto funds. This latest development in BCB’s growth strategy builds on opportunities that exist in fiat lending for crypto market participants. The cryptocurrency market has grown to over $2 trillion and is driving huge demand for short-term borrowing to fund trading operations or short-term treasury requirements. This comes at a time when low-yielding traditional finance vehicles are experiencing poor or even negative returns.

Moorwand launches suite of payments compliance services 

Moorwand, a payments solutions provider, offering BIN sponsorship and issuing services, announced the launch of its suite of payments compliance services. The suite aims to improve the financial crime systems and controls for Moorwand clients whilst reducing the administrative burden and improving operational efficiencies.

From anti-money laundering (AML) to Know Your Customer regulations, financial service providers need to comply with a growing number of increasingly complex and stringent requirements around payments. In 2021 non-compliance with AML regulations grew to $5.35bn globally (Fenergo, 2022). This has prompted the systemic overhaul of AML/CFT regimes by policymakers. In the UK the HMT has called for evidence on the UK’s regime while the European Commission recently proposed a new Anti-Money Laundering Authority to address the scale of the issue.

EML’s partner Coinjar becomes the first Financial Conduct Authority registered exchange to launch a cryptocurrency-to-GBP debit Mastercard

EML Payments is excited to power CoinJar's new CoinJar Card with Mastercard. The fully-featured debit card allows customers to make purchases by instantly converting cryptocurrencies into fiat currency, everywhere Mastercard is accepted. CoinJar partnered with EML to provide customers with seamless and lightning-fast transactions, no matter where in the world CoinJar Card is used.

CoinJar Card represents a defining moment for the U.K.'s crypto space with a GBP-native, cryptocurrency-to-fiat Mastercard that can be activated and used in seconds, all from within CoinJar's app. Available as a digital and physical card with Google Pay integration, CoinJar Card works with close to 50 cryptocurrencies. There are no ongoing fees, and a low 1% conversion rate is returned to customers through an in-house rewards programme.

GTreasury Innovation Lab launches with goal of accelerating the development and deployment of new treasury technologies

GTreasury, a treasury and risk management platform provider, today announced the launch of the GTreasury Innovation Lab. Expanding and formalizing the culture of technology innovation that GTreasury has always supported within the company, the Innovation Lab is structured to bring significant and differentiated impact to customers through brand new advances in treasury management.

The technology team at GTreasury continuously recognizes potential opportunities for treasury innovation. The company has traditionally held twice-annual hackathons to explore unique and creative ways to advance treasury technology and integrations. Now with the launch of the GTreasury Innovation Lab, each member of GTreasury’s technology team will have a dedicated cycle within the lab, gaining a purpose-built and regular outlet for putting ideas to the test.

TSB launches new BankiFi App to help business customers receive quicker, more convenient payments 

Banking technology platform provider, BankiFi, has partnered with TSB to launch Revenu; an app, exclusive to TSB that will allow small businesses to receive quicker payments and to better manage their business finances. Revenu allows TSB’s business clients to collect customer payments from requests sent via SMS, WhatsApp, email, and QR code. It significantly simplifies the invoice process by providing several flexible, accessible ways of receiving payment and accelerating access to working capital.

The app uses Open Banking infrastructure to allow invoices to be settled quickly and securely. In addition, the app connects to existing accounting software to streamline invoice management and liberate business owners from time-consuming financial admin – allowing SMEs to create, manage and see all invoices in one place.

Tinkoff launches Russia’s first fully digital mortgage offering 

Tinkoff’s mortgage loan offering is the first of its kind in Russia - the process will take place entirely online, from paperwork to credit issuance. Since Tinkoff has always been branchless, customers will not need to visit a brick-and-mortar location at any stage of the transaction, including when applying for electronic signatures. 

First, Tinkoff customers will be able to refinance mortgage loans extended by other banks. Then, by the end of 2022, Tinkoff plans to launch mortgage loans for primary and secondary housing. The refinancing and lending process will be extremely simple and 100% digital,  leveraging Tinkoff’s 15-year track record of providing products and services online.

Merger & Acquisition

Unlimint adds Pix to its acquiring offering globally

Unlimint, the award-winning global fintech company, announced that it has added Brazil’s real-time payment system, Pix, to its local payment methods portfolio, enabling merchants access to 107.5 million Brazilian customers. Brazil is the fifth country in the world with the largest online population. Around seven out of 10 Brazilians are online and nine out of 10 access the web on a daily basis. It is predicted that in 2022, around 77.87% of the Brazilian population will have access to the web with the internet penetration rate in the region reaching 83% in just 3 years’ time.

Payrix was acquired by FIS to expand e-commerce, embedded payments and finance experiences for SMB merchants via platforms

Embedded fintech leader Payrix announced it has been acquired by financial technology leader FIS®. This acquisition aligns with Payrix’s strategy to expand its offerings around the world, by embedding payments capabilities within Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms. It will also enable FIS to unlock the value of its broad solution portfolio by delivering embedded finance capabilities in addition to its e-commerce offerings to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs)

Crypto Infra provider fireblocks buys the first digital for $100 million

Digital asset custody platform Fireblocks has made its first-ever acquisition with the buyout of crypto payments technology provider First Digital. The financial details weren’t shared, but two sources told “Reuters” that the price tag of this cash and equity deal was $100 million.

Michael Shaulov, CEO and Co-founder of Fireblocks, said the takeover will expand their existing payment capabilities and enable payment service providers to accept crypto payments. First Digital gives merchants a fiat onramp to conduct and settle crypto transactions, a grey area of business where a gauntlet of KYC requirements and other regulations kick in.

Job Moves

Global e-commerce payments enabler, Reach, embarks on hypergrowth with new VP Compliance appointment 

Reach, the global e-commerce payments enabler, today announces the significant appointment of fraud and compliance management expert, Mike McGirr, as Vice President of Compliance. With more than 20 years of experience in the payments space, McGirr, the former SVP of Risk and Compliance at payments platform Adyen, will be responsible for driving the execution of Reach’s risk and compliance programs and allowing the business to reach its ambitious growth targets.

As cross-border e-commerce volumes continue to surge to an expected $1.2 trillion in 2022, and businesses seek expansion into new markets, compliance is fast becoming a critical component for merchant success. The financial and reputational damage caused by non-compliance with regulatory and payment scheme demands can threaten the survival of a business.

OpenPayd hires Ex-WorldPay VP, Daniel Belda as Head of product strategy

OpenPayd, leading global payments and banking-as-a-service platform has announced the appointment of Daniel Belda as its Head of Product Strategy. Belda will define the go-to-market approach for OpenPayd’s embedded finance and BaaS product suite, oversee the continuous improvement of its services and build new fintech propositions for its diverse set of clients. 

Prior to joining OpenPayd, Belda spent just under five years in senior positions at Worldpay, developing a domestic acquiring solution for the Brazilian market and leaving the business as VP of Digital Content and Gaming. Belda also led expansion for Open Banking provider Yolt, where he supported the rollout of its e-money account and debit card.

Lightspeed President JP Chauvet appointed Chief Executive Officer

Lightspeed Commerce Inc., the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale,and create exceptional customer experiences, has announced that as part of its long-term succession planning process, the Lightspeed board of directors has appointed current President JP Chauvet to the role of Chief Executive Officer. He will lead Lightspeed's continued growth, strategic development, and execution.

The Company also announced that Founder and outgoing CEO Dax Dasilva will continue to serve Lightspeed as Executive Chair of Lightspeed's board of directors. As Executive Chair, Dasilva will work with Chauvet and the Board to set the strategic direction of the Company, with a focus on furthering Lightspeed's business advocacy and global sustainability initiatives through stakeholder outreach, customer advocacy, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. In connection with this transition, Patrick Pichette, current Chair, will become the Board's Lead Independent Director.

TraditionData continues global expansion with two senior appointments 

TraditionDATA, the data and information services division of Compagnie Financière Tradition (Tradition), has added two senior market specialists to its sales teams as part of its continued global growth plans. Steve Murphy, based in Madrid, and Bruce Messing, based in New York, have joined TraditionDATA as Senior Business Development Managers.

Steve joins from Fenics where he was Regional Sales Manager for the data team in Asia, based in Singapore. He has extensive market and technical system experience, having also worked for SmartStream and Thomson Reuters, and will join the firm’s recently formed Madrid Data Team. Bruce joins TraditionDATA’s New York office from TP ICAP, where he most recently held the position of Regional Sales Manager. Formerly of Broadridge, Thomson Reuters, Danske Bank, and Bloomberg, Bruce brings vast experience to the TraditionDATA team which is currently challenging the norms in the market data space.

DataBP appoints Stephen Wolff as strategy advisor

DataBP, the data licensing and commercial management platform, announced the appointment of Stephen Wolff as Strategy Advisor and Non-executive Director in a push to grow the business on a global basis.Stephen will advise on corporate development & strategy, taking advantage of his notable experience in strategy and M&A. Founded in 2013, DataBP’s platform has now been implemented by 15 global financial institutions including The CME Group, Australia’s ASX, Canada’s TMX Group, Singapore’s SGX, and many other global exchange groups, index providers, and data vendors.

Former Goldman Sachs senior investment banker joins the board of Genesis Financial as an independent director

SMC Entertainment, Inc. (“SMC” or the “Company”) and its majority-owned subsidiary, Genesis Financial, Inc. (“Genesis”) - an integrated financial technology company (“Fintech”) with a full suite of digital financial services solutions, announced that on February 9th the company appointed Ms. Sachie McQueen to the Board of Directors.

Ms. McQueen is an acknowledged senior investment banker with over 10 years of global equity sales and research experience in top investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. She has been rated Top 3 in Institutional Investors Magazine survey for five consecutive years from 2004-2009. In 2010, Ms. McQueen started working at Amazon.com INC headquarters in Seattle serving as a senior financial analyst providing financial analysis and oversight for Amazon's financial operations.