The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup takes a look at the latest international fintech stories. This Thursday, let’s shine a light on the latest appointments, partnerships and industry revelations.
Performance and developments
Chip, the automatic savings app, is celebrating a ‘summer of record growth’ as the number of savers and amounts put aside skyrocket. The amount put aside by Chip savers has increased by 103 per cent since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. June saw the highest average amount put aside per user per month in Chip’s history.
Another company toasting success is online investment platform Seedrs. It is reporting the highest ever volume and value of shares listed in August. It says the record-breaking activity is due to the introduction of variable pricing on the Seedrs Secondary Market.
Crowdcube says its new Direct Community Offer product gives later-stage businesses a way of offering early investors a return on their investment while simultaneously giving new investors a chance to buy a stake in a business they believe in.
The British Business Bank adds Conister for accreditation to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), and Bank of Ireland (UK) for accreditation under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS).
UK fintech Revive Management, which specialises in billing and payments solutions, reveals a projected revenue growth of £1million this year. Meanwhile, Waha Capital PJSC, an investment company in Abu Dhabi, says it has enjoyed one of its highest revenues for a single quarter in Q2.
Industry movers
Dr Daniel Diemers is a new board member of FiCAS, the Swiss-based crypto investment management boutique. The former financial services partner at PwC Strategy says he relishes the potential to introduce new pioneering cryptoproducts to the market. In addition, he will use his experience in finance and blockchain technology to drive change and growth.
OakNorth Bank says Rajesh Gupta will be its new CFO, pending regulatory approval. Rajesh takes over from Cristina Alba Ochoa who is moving to Barcelona for family reasons. OakNorth Bank has lent more than £4.5billion to UK businesses, however it aims to have ‘a much larger impact in the years to come’ with Gupta playing a key role.
Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, has appointed Hanan Harhara Al Yafei as new CEO. She joins from Mubadala where she was an executive director. At the same time, Hub71 has unveiled 11 startups for its incentive programme’s second cohort of the year.
Since its launch, the Hub71 ecosystem has grown into something truly special. Attracting incredible companies, building new skills and networks, and growing businesses in a wide range of sectors.
Meanwhile, Zortrex, the data security start-up, says its new CEO Michael Boevink will help its vision to ‘tokenise individuals’ identities’. In addition, Boevnik will focus on ensuring Zortrex’s compliance with regulatory requirements.
The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) says Mike Buffini is the new president of CISI Singapore National Advisory Council. He takes over from Paul Hedges, who held the position since 2006.
Finally, open finance data platform Moneyhub says the arrival of R. Todd Ruppert will strengthen its advisory board. Especially, as he brings an ‘impressive track record with four decades of successful experience and leadership’, adds Moneyhub.
Mergers & acquisitions
Standard Bank has acquired a 35 per cent stake in TradeSafe, a South African fintech company. Standard Bank is adding two non-executive directors to the board as part of the investment and will also manage the admin of TradeSafe’s escrow accounts.
ATM owner/operator Cardtronics has taken over the management of Triodos Bank’s ATM network. It says the agreement will provide the bank with a ‘cost-effective way to maintain cash access for its customers’.
Online money transfer firm WorldRemit is acquiring Sendwave, the app-based remittance company. Together, the two companies say they will span almost 8,000 payment corridors, in more than 50 send/receive countries.
Accounting and consulting firm Mowery & Schoenfeld says it will merge with Xamin, a provider of information technology services to financial institutions. Primarily, the partnership aims to open new opportunities for growth because more organisations require remote capabilities and IT security.
Partnerships and collaborations
Zuora and GoCardless expand partnership to help subscription businesses automate their end-to-end payment process. The integrated solution will serve help businesses across more than 30 countries to effectively execute a global payments strategy, removing inefficiencies and barriers to scaling in international markets, the companies say.
Swiss payment firm Netcetera has partnered with Mastercard to help retailers and other businesses ensure they are ready to comply with the Payment Services Directive (PSD2). In addition, the 3D Secure testing platform for retailers will allow merchants to run tests in their live online shops for the first time.
EML, the payments solution provider, has teamed up with Laybuy, the New Zealand business which offers buy now, pay later deals. EML will provide Laybuy customers with a new digital card and is working to help Laybuy reach multiple countries with a smartphone-enabled, innovative offering.
Open banking service sync. is joining forces with ComplyAdvantage, the financial crimes detection provider. sync. says the partnership will allow it to be fully compliant with anti-money laundering and anti-fraud obligations.
Furthermore, MFS Africa, the cross-border payments leader, is teaming up with MoneyGram, the cross-border P2P payments and money transfers outfit. They say the partnership will provide a convenient and secure African transaction channel for MoneyGram’s customers.
Mauritius Commercial Bank’s (MSB) first collaboration with Backbase – a mobile app for SMEs called JuicePro – is now live. MSB says that using the Backbase platform, has helped it completely remodel its SME user journeys.
Finally, global payment company JCB is expanding its collaboration with Viva Wallet across Europe. The extended partnership will support around 80,000 merchants in Greece, 3,000 merchants in Belgium and 6,000-plus merchants in the UK.
This is a key achievement for us as we increase JCB card member acceptance in both brick and mortar establishments and through e-commerce transactions.
