The Fintech Times News Roundup
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This Week in Fintech: TFT Bi-Weekly News Roundup 07/01

The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup takes a look at the latest international fintech stories. As well as industry movers, this Thursday we cast an eye on fundraisers and acquisitions. 

Fintech appointments

Volante has announced strategic hires across sales, partnerships and go-to-market verticals in order to support adoption of its cloud-native payments solutions. Jeff Otten and Randy Rodriguez will lead global sales, Jim Chow will drive partnership and ecosystem relationships, while Rachel Hunt will spearhead growth marketing.

Fintech Answer Pay has unveiled two strategic board appointments to support growth plans. Mike Chambers joins as chairman and Finbarr Joy as a non-executive director. Answer Pay connects payment services providers to Request to Pay services.

Napier, the anti-money laundering solution provider, has unveiled two senior management team hires following a period of growth for the business. Greg Watson joins as chief operating officer while Mariola Marzouk joins as head of product.

Richard Shade
Richard Shade strengthens Archax operational team

Archax, the forthcoming FCA regulated digital asset exchange, has unveiled Richard Shade as head of operations. Shade was most recently head of custody at crypto exchange BEQUANT. Archax is leveraging tokenisation and blockchain technology to democratise financial markets and help bring liquidity to assets that are hard to trade.

Blacktower Financial Management, which provides independent wealth management advice, appoints Gavin Pluck as group director. Pluck joins Blacktower after resigning as MD of Guardian Wealth Management, following the company’s acquisition by SkyBound Capital last year.

Global fund data management firm Kneip has hired Jacob Koopmans as the company’s chief commercial officer. Koopmans will lead Kneip’s global product and sales teams, as well as build closer relationships with clients and partners as the company looks to expand its worldwide offering.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Nets Group‘s Finnish eCommerce specialist Paytrail is acquiring Checkout Finland Oy. The acquisition strengthens Nets’ presence in the Finnish eCommerce segment while furthering its European-wide ambitions. Nets also recently announced a merger with Italian paytech leader Nexi.

Cybersecurity firm Sysnet Global Solutions has made its third US M&A announcement in five weeks. It has acquired PCI compliance expert NuArx in order to expand its ‘commitment to delivering cybersecurity and compliance solutions to organisations globally’.

Funding and Investments

OxburyOxbury Bank has successfully completed a Series C funding round led by international food and agriculture investor Wheatsheaf Group. The UK’s first dedicated agricultural bank in nearly 100 years will open its doors for business this month. The latest £15million investment round takes the total amount raised by the bank to £30million since 2018.

ThingCo, the insurtech business created by telematics pioneer Mike Brockman, has secured £3million investment from BHL(UK) Holdings.

“his boost will enable us to manufacture and roll out more solar powered ‘Theo’ devices to meet the growing demand from the insurance market.”

Mike Brockman, CEO of ThingCo

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Channel 4 Ventures invest in B-North’s latest capital raise. B-North, the Manchester-based firm building a regional SME lending bank for the UK, has received a follow-on £250,000 investment from the GMCA. The company has also secured an advertising-for-equity deal with Channel 4 Ventures. The first of B-North’s ‘lending pods’ opens in Manchester this year.

Launches and Service Updates

Blockchain platform Telos has launched non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that perform similarly to US Treasury bonds. T-Bond NFTs can be sold or traded on secondary markets for investment, or as a yield hedge for tokens offering staking rewards.

BunqFlexxPay, a social impact technology company, has opened a telesales centre in Lebanon to operate alongside its existing sales forces in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain.

Meanwhile, European challenger bank bunq is enjoying roaring success with its mortgage portfolio. It now enables homeownership for four times as many people as its portfolio grows 400 per cent in less than six months.

Cloud banking platform Mambu has opened a new office in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Miljan Stamenkovic, who has spent a year building Mambu’s presence in the region, will head the office as MENA general manager.

Digital social investment platform Stake has lofty plans to democratise property investment in the UAE. The platform provides the opportunity to buy stakes in pre-vetted residential properties from AED2,000. Each investor is then issued shares in a DIFC company proportional to their ownership in the property and receives their share of rental income in the form of quarterly dividend distributions.

Author

  • Claire is an experienced editor and writer with 25 years of experience in the publishing industry. As a tech journalist, Claire has covered every subject possible over the years, from the launch of broadband and next generation mobile networks to the arrival of the metaverse and Web3.

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