The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup on Thursday serves up a dose of the latest fintech headlines from around the world.
Company updates
Global financial services provider iBanFirst has snapped up London-based FX provider Cornhill. The acquisition builds on iBanFirst’s long-term funding partnership with private equity firm Marlin Equity Partners, established in June 2021. The acquisition is testament to the company’s focus on accelerating its international expansion, strengthening partnerships and cementing market leadership across Europe.
Funding news
4Trans, a fintech specialising in financial products for supply chain and logistics companies, has secured a €18million investment. The funding, from backers including Atmos, Tera Ventures and Lighthouse, will be used to strengthen domestic operations. It will also expand to Poland, develop its platform and grow its international team.
April, a personal income tax platform that embeds into digital financial apps, has raised $30million in a Series A round. Backing came from Treasury, as well as QED, Nyca Partners, Team8, Euclidean Capital and Atento Capital. The company has raised $40million since its launch in January 2022.
Vibrant, the Danish app that turns Android mobile devices into points of sale, has raised a €4million seed round led by byFounders. Luminar Ventures also participated. The startup will use this investment to grow its customer base as well as prioritise extensions into new markets that harbour millions of untapped SMEs.
Zilch has secured an additional $50million in funding, taking the total raise for its Series C to $160million. The extension brings Zilchʼs total funding to more than $460million in debt and equity and sees the fintech company maintain its valuation.
Research and insight
Only four per cent of business leaders in the Middle East & Africa are confident in their organisation’s ability to manage cyber risks. That’s according to The Middle East & Africa State of Cyber Resilience Middle East and Africa Insights – The State of Cyber Resilience, report from Marsh in partnership with Microsoft. Over three quarters in the region have no confidence in their own organisation’s cyber resilience.
Partnerships
Synch Payments, the Irish instant mobile payments provider, has entered into an agreement with Nexi as its platform and service provider to help bring the Synch proposition to Irish customers and merchants. Synch also recently secured authorisation from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
NOBank Inc will use BUSINESSNEXT solutions to power UNO Digital Bank’s customer relationship management (CRM) systems. The AI solutions will equip the bank’s relationship managers with insights to quickly authorise transactions and resolve issues. UNObank chose the CRMNEXT and COLLECTIONSNEXT solutions to deliver end-to-end sales automation.
Launches
Starling Bank has launched a fantasy football game for the UEFA Women’s EURO ahead of the official tournament kick off on Wednesday 6 July. The bank aims to create even more engagement with the tournament with expert analysis. UEFA predicts the tournament to be the biggest women’s sporting event in European history.
NatWest launches digital carbon planner for UK businesses. The free to use digital platform is designed to help UK businesses manage their future fuel and operational costs, as well as reduce their carbon footprint to help them go and grow greener. The NatWest Carbon Planner will be available from 28 July 2022.
Job moves
African-focused startup Klasha has appointed Nile Younis as its chief commercial officer. Most recently, Most recently, Younis was the P&L business owner responsible for building and establishing digital payment ecosystems for Mastercard in MEA. The appointment follows Klasha’s recent announcement of a $4.5million seed funding round backed by Amex Ventures.
PayByPhone, the mobile parking payments firm, has named Jonny Combe as global CEO. Combe, already part of the senior leadership team, will work alongside current CEO Andy Gruber, during a transition period. Gruber will exit the role on 1 August 2022 to take up a senior management position within PayByPhone’s parent-company Volkswagen Financial Services AG.
Kenswitch, a payments service provider in Kenya, has appointed Karimi Ithau as its new managing director. Ithau replaces George Wainaina who left a few months ago. She previously served as the head of the sales network at Interswitch. The new appointment comes as Kenswitch signs a new deal with Absa Bank to give its customers access to over 2,200 ATMs on the Kenswitch network.
Meanwhile, Revolut, the global financial super app, appoints Sid Jajodia as US CEO. He joined Revolut as chief banking officer in July 2021 and will continue in this role alongside being US CEO. Jajodia will lead the rollout of Revolut’s international banking operations, as well as accelerating the company’s growth in the US.
Horizon Software, a provider of electronic trading solutions and algorithmic technology, names Olivier Masdebrieu as CTO. Masdebrieu joins from rival trading systems vendor Itiviti. He will be responsible for continuing to develop Horizon’s technology platform. He will also oversee the engineering teams to improve efficiency and resilience.
Finally, Flutterwave, the African payments technology company, hires former Goldman Sachs’ MD Gurbhej Dhillon as CTO. The appointment is following Flutterwave’s recently completed Series D funding round. He will focus on improving the architecture and infrastructure, as well as providing leadership.
