It’s The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup on Thursday 25 April 2024.
Appointments
myPOS, a provider of payments, accounts and card solutions for small merchants and sole traders, has appointed Mario Shiliashki as CEO. Shiliashki will also join the myPOS board of directors. He has previously worked at PayPal and Mastercard, and more recently at PayU.
Encompass Corporation, which offers a corporate digital identity (CDI) platform,has named Stuart Barnard as its first chief financial officer. After joining Encompass in 2016 as part of its Sydney-founded team, Barnard was first appointed as head of finance, and has remained a key senior figure since.
Davies, the professional services and technology business serving financial services, insurance and highly regulated markets, has appointed Pino Vallejo as CEO of its multi-sector global consulting division, formerly known as Sionic. Davies is part of Davies’ Global Solutions division which also incorporates the firm’s SaaS technology suite and insurance services and forensic accounting businesses.
Stavtar Solutions, a software company focused on solutions for the alternative asset management industry, appoints Jared Libby as director of business development. Libby is responsible for driving continued growth and momentum for Stavtar’s expanding product portfolio.
There’s a leadership reshuffle at Zafin, a provider of SaaS core modernisation solutions for banks. After more than two decades of leadership, Al Karim Somji will step down as CEO, while continuing to serve as a board member. Charbel Safadi, who has served as group president of Zafin, becomes the new CEO.
More job news
Revolut, the global fintech, has announced it expects to boost its global headcount by 40 per cent in 2024. The announcement comes as the company reaches 10,000 employees globally, and continues to grow its workforce, all whilst many other financial institutions are making job cuts or hiring freezes. The company has over 70 roles currently advertised in the UK.
Duco, an enterprise platform for data automation, has welcomed Josh Monroe as chief revenue officer. Monroe most recently served as CRO at Xceptor and has also held leadership positions at Itiviti, FIS, and SunGard. At Duco, he will oversee global sales, account management, marketing, customer success, solution engineering, as well as partnerships.
Partnerships
Travelex, the foreign exchange brand, has launched an FX affiliate referral programme with over 60 local banks across Japan. More than 30,000 of these banks’ customers have subsequently benefited from access to travel money since the programme’s launch late last year. The referral programme enables customers to receive a discount on their travel money purchases both in Travelex’s 66 stores across Japan or online.
Nium, the real-time cross-border payments company, has expanded its partnership with Thredd, the payments processor, to issue virtual cards in the APAC region. By integrating Thredd APIs into its single platform for instant global payments, Nium has been able speed up transactions to 200 milliseconds when issuing and loading virtual cards in nearly 30 countries worldwide.
Klarna, the AI powered global payments network and shopping assistant, has teamed up with Uber, to offer consumers Klarna’s alternative payment methods across Uber’s ride-sharing and delivery platforms, Uber and Uber Eats. Live in the US, Germany, and Sweden, Klarna’s Pay Now option allows users to pay for their next ride or delivery immediately and in full with one click.
Payhawk, a global spend management solution, has unveiled a new integration with American Express to offer US Business and Corporate Card members the ability to issue virtual cards with built-in spend controls and manage business spend globally – all while earning the rewards of their eligible American Express Card when making virtual Card payments.
More partnerships
Elavon, a global payments provider, has expanded its collaboration in Europe with FreedomPay. The partnership aims to deliver top-notch integrated commerce solutions and omni-channel payments technology to large enterprise merchants across retail and hospitality. The agreement pairs Elavon acquiring with FreedomPay commerce technologies.
Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the international financial centre of the UAE’s capital, and Hacken, a blockchain security auditing firm, have agreed to collaboratively set new benchmarks for blockchain security and compliance. This strategic partnership between a regulatory body and a security auditor is aimed at establishing a world-leading security assessment standard in the blockchain industry.
Funding and investments
Allica Bank, the business bank dedicated to serving established businesses, has completed £500millon of asset finance lending. Following the launch of its asset finance arm in January 2021, Allica says over the past 12 months it has lent almost double the amount it lent in the previous two years combined.
Dripos, a software platform built specifically for coffee shops,has bagged a $11million Series A funding round, led by Base10. This investment will fuel Dripos’ continued mission to transform the way coffee shops operate.The all-in-one platform dedicated to coffee raises from Base10 Partners to expand footprint.
