This Thursday 29 October’s Fintech Times
Bi-Weekly News Roundup takes a look at the latest global fintech
stories. We hear how Funding Options is teaming up with Cooper
Parry, Ossama Soliman is making a move to TrueLayer and
Zopa has launched its first ever credit card.
Partnerships and collaborations
Business finance platform Funding
Options has hooked up with accountancy firm Cooper
Parry to provide financial solutions for scaleups and
SMEs. Cooper Parry will utilise Funding Options’ platform to
source debt-based products for clients in need of working capital
with the aim or ‘removing bureaucracy and delay from securing
vital funds’.
The partnership with Funding Options was a no-brainer for us. It
gives the CP Futures team the ability to connect companies to debt
finance quickly and efficiently through the UK’s leading funding
marketplace.
Brompton chooses GoCardless
to streamline the payments of its bikes on subscription service
ABAKA, the digital saving and retirement
enterprise SaaS solutions provider, has joined forces with
Intel in order to innovate and develop an
artificial intelligence platform. ABAKA is now a member of the
Intel AI Builders programme – an enterprise ecosystem of
independent software vendors, system integrators, original
equipment manufacturers and enterprise end users.
French SaaS firm Agicap is working with
financial API platform Salt Edge to digitalise
cash flow management for SMEs. Following the partnership, SMEs can
monitor cash flows on all bank accounts, in a single dashboard.
Meanwhile, Asia-focused investment group PAG
has chosen Broadridge as a cloud-based portfolio
management technology provider. The Broadridge Sentry portfolio
management solution will help PAG’s private debt team integrate
middle- and back-office operations into a single system.
GoCardless is supporting
Brompton, the folding bike company, with its new
subscription service. Brompton Bike Hire enables customers to avoid
the upfront expense of purchasing a bike outright with monthly
payments powered by GoCardless.
Finally, United Arab Bank and
Mastercard announce strategic partnership to
accelerate payments innovation in the UAE. Mastercard is now the
preferred and exclusive partner for credit, debit and commercial
cards issued by UAB.
Industry news and announcements
Bahrain FinTech Bay is launching a virtual
acceleration programme, ‘Build for Bahrain’. Shortlisted teams
will receive incubation at BFB, as well as mentorship by industry
experts. The programme is a partnership with the US State
Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative.
Africa Fintech Summit is
going virtual this year
Jack Dorsey will deliver the closing keynote at
this year’s Africa Fintech Summit. The fifth
annual Summit is being held virtually on 9, 10, and 12 November.
Dorsey’s keynote will revolve around the concepts of
decentralised finance and opportunities it creates for financial
inclusion.
Meanwhile, FOODICS is introducing a $100million
micro loan fund to support SMEs in Saudi Arabia. The micro loans
are Shariah-compliant and focused on helping restaurants expand
faster. In order to launch the fund, FOODICS has partnered with SME
financing provider Maalem Finance.
Dubai brokerage firm Déjà Vu Real Estate has
signedYegertek to implement a âcomprehensive
digital transformationâ. The collaboration will look to develop
technologies that leverage data to unlock profitability, and
revolutionise the user experience of the real estate sales
force.
And, payment solutions provider Checkprint has
extended its contract with Metro Bank for cheque
services for a further six years. The contract enables Metro Bank
to continue to instantly issue chequebooks to all new account
holders, within minutes of them entering the store.
New products and services Zopa has launched its
firstâ¯everâ¯credit card
OpenPayd, the API-led banking-as-a-service
provider, has launched an FX-as-a-service product. InstantFX will
provide clients with real-time trading, plus the ability to pay out
USD via SWIFT, ACH, and Wire. It also offers a range of payment
corridors, including access to UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico.
Zopaâ¯has unveiled its first credit card in
order to âhelp customersâ¯stay in control ofâ¯their moneyâ.
The card includes a âSafety Netâ feature that lets customers
set aside part of their credit limit for unexpected expenses. Zopa
already offers savings accounts and personal loans in addition to
peer-to-peer investing.
Mastercard and PayPal now
offer Instant Transfer in nine European markets. By using
Mastercard Send, PayPal customers can now cash out their balances
to Mastercard cards in real time. The service is now available in
Bulgaria, Bosnia, Germany, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain
and UK following successful launches in the US and Singapore.
Industry movers Ossama Soliman joins
TrueLayer as chief product officer
Ossama Soliman, the former general manager of
business lending at Amazon has joined TrueLayer as
its chief product officer. âGetting to help democratise access to
finance through TrueLayerâs open banking platform is incredibly
exciting,â Soliman says.
AI fintech Axyon AI has appointed Giovanni
Beliossi as a business advisor. Beliossi will
focus on Axyon AIâs offering for the hedge fund industry, sharing
âunique insight into the challenges managers are facing
todayâ.
While Temenos has hired Joaquin De
Valenzuela Muley to lead its digital banking SaaS product,
Infinity. The former Salesforce executive joins Tenemos as senior
vice president and business line director. He will also be tasked
with building strong customer relationships.
Adam Kelly will become the new managing
director for British Business Investments next
month, following the retirement of Peter Garnham.
Kelly joined the British Business Bank in 2013 as a senior manager
in the Investment Programme, which became part of the BBI
subsidiary when it launched in 2014.
Communications surveillance provider VoxSmart
has made a brace of appointments in order to launch a new Markets
division. Andrew Stone joins from pricing and
analytics start-up NEX Data. While Lloyd Jensen
joins from BGC Partners. The new Markets division will âinfluence
and improveâ the customer experience and market fit for
VoxSmartâs product suite.
VoxSmart forms new
âMarketsâ division to strengthen product development
Finally, global financial technology infrastructure platform
Nium is expanding into Africa with two new
executive appointments. Dana Nino is now senior
vice president for global growth, customer success and
partnerships, while Clara Wanjiku Odero is vice
president, partnerships and growth. The move into Africa is part of
Niumâs broader mission to drive business productivity and cost
efficiency using fintech.
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