The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup serves up the latest job moves, partnerships and funding updates.
Partnerships
EasyTip, an online service for collecting tips in the hospitality industry, has partnered with Panda Epos. Restaurants and hotels using Panda Epos software can now add an EasyTip QR code to any customer receipt to bring cashless tipping to the fingertips of customers.
Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the international financial centre in Abu Dhabi, and Zand Bank PJSC, the UAE all-digital bank, have agreed to support UAE SMEs and provide preferential banking services. The agreement will focus on providing preferential banking services including efficient bank account opening for ADGM-licensed entities, including SMEs, virtual assets companies, funds, and corporations.
There’s also a new partnership for digital identity verification provider Blockpass and Avalanche, a smart contracts platform. As part of this partnership, Blockpass will be integrated with Avalanche for KYC and AML verification. Avalanche will also enjoy Blockpass’ new feature that allows users to certify their ownership of their digital wallets.
phos has partnered with Thrive Payments to deploy their ‘Tap-to-Phone’ solution in the US market. The deal will enable merchants to accept card payments directly on any NFC-enabled smartphone or tablet, in-store or on the go.
OCR Labs, a global identity verification tech firm, has become a Gold Partner in FinTech Australia’s corporate partnership program. OCR joins over 37 members as part of the program, including: Google, Oracle, Mastercard, American Express and Moody’s. FinTech Australia is hosting The Finnie Awards on 31 May.
Acquisitions
Zopa has acquired BNPL platform DivideBuy marking its first acquisition. The acquisition will increase Zopa’s revenue by at least 20 per cent. The BNPL 2.0 offering will combine technology and fintech innovation to enable instant decisions and fully integrated consumer journeys with consumer protection, credit checks and safeguards of a regulated bank.
Funding
HedgeFlows, a fintech platform for SMEs, launches today following a £2million funding round. The HedgeFlows platform enables SMEs to seamlessly manage foreign payments, cashflows and invoices. The company was founded by former bankers Alex Axentiev and Neh Thaker.
Appointments
Durlston Partners, the talent advisory firm, has appointed Shannon Palmer as head of business strategy and operations. Palmer will develop and implement a business strategy aimed at accelerating the company’s international expansion. Prior to joining the team at Durlston, Palmer was the events manager for the specialist capital and solutions company 23 Capital.
BharatPe Group appoints Aparna Kuppuswamy as its chief risk officer. Prior to joining BharatPe, she was the CRO at SBI Cards. Amit Jain, the current CRO of BharatPe, will be investing more of his time on collections and underwriting, from a merchant standpoint.
Damon Williams joins fintech Nivo as sales director. Williams has over a decade of experience working in the technology sector with companies including Tesla, LivePerson and most recently as sales manager for Safety Culture.
Corporate trade company Active International has promoted Kieron Murphy to their newly-created chief revenue officer role. His promotion is part of a restructuring focused on establishing a digital-first corporate trade ecosystem within the UK media industry. The move supports Active International’s initiative to promote growth, both internally and alongside its partners.
VizyPay, a payment processing fintech for small businesses in the US, has expanded its leadership team. It adds Ricky Onofre as director of ISO partnerships, Tod Kellen as regional directors as well as Erik Martinez as regional director.
Pattern, an embedded insurance company, has named Grant Baker as US head of sales and partnerships. Grant joins Pattern to lead its US embedded insurance growth. In his new role, Grant will expand Pattern’s partnership program and increase collaboration with leading brands in the industry.
