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FinTech firm Surfin Meta Digital Technologies secures $26.5m to fuel global expansion
Surfin Meta Digital Technologies, a Singapore-based financial technology solutions provider for underserved communities, has announced the successful completion of its latest funding round.
The company raised $26.5m, with participation from Woori Venture Partners, Washington University in St. Louis, and Phillip Private Equity. This round builds on an earlier investment led by Insignia Ventures Partners in October 2024.
Surfin Meta Digital Technologies specialises in offering digital financial services to the unbanked and underbanked across emerging markets. Its platform delivers a range of solutions, including consumer lending, credit cards, payments and remittances, wealth management services, and B2B financial offerings.
With the newly raised capital, Surfin plans to accelerate its entry into new markets and invest heavily in research and development. The company aims to create a holistic suite of intelligent financial products designed to serve the needs of underserved populations.
Haitong International Securities Singapore acted as a financial advisor for this round, supporting the company in securing the investment.
Surfin Meta Digital Technologies CEO and founder Dr. Yanan Wu said, “I have always believed that financial inclusion is critical towards helping less privileged people who face difficulties to access even the simplest of financial services in emerging markets.
“We are proud to close our funding round with strong interest from well-known institutional investors that also stand testament to Surfin’s outstanding performance and potential to grow into a truly FinTech company.”
LendPro and SPLICE Software Announce Strategic Partnership to Enhance Retail Financing Engagement
LendPro, a leading provider of cloud-based consumer financing solutions, and SPLICE Software, an award-winning customer engagement platform, are pleased to announce a strategic partnership aimed at transforming the retail financing experience.
This collaboration integrates LendPro’s multi-lender application waterfall system with SPLICE’s Data-Driven Dialogs®, enabling retailers to deliver personalized, timely, and compliant customer communications across multiple channels. The joint solution empowers merchants to increase financing approvals, drive higher ticket sales, and enhance customer satisfaction through seamless, automated engagement.
“Our partnership with SPLICE Software represents a major advancement in how merchants can engage with their customers after the initial financing conversation. By combining LendPro’s multi-lender application waterfall with SPLICE’s intelligent communication platform, we are creating a powerful ecosystem where merchants don’t just capture leads they nurture them.” Said Matt Dishman CEO of LendPro
“Through this collaboration, merchants will now have the ability to drive Pre-Qualified Offers and Open-to-Buy financing opportunities back to the consumer all tied directly to the original merchant who created the lead. This means merchants maintain ownership of their customer relationships, create more buying moments, and ultimately increase ticket sizes and lifetime value.”
“At LendPro, our goal has always been to empower merchants to serve more customers and close more sales. This partnership ensures that no opportunity is left behind it brings financing full circle, from initial application to ongoing personalized engagement.”
“We are excited for what this means not only for our retailers, but for the future of embedded consumer financing and customer-centric marketing.”
“Our partnership with LendPro brings a new level of personalization and efficiency to retail financing communications,” said Tara Kelly, President & CEO of SPLICE Software. “Our combined technologies will enable retailers to engage customers more effectively, fostering stronger relationships and driving business growth.”
Circle rolls out global payment network for banks and FinTechs
Circle, a global FinTech firm, has announced the launch of Circle Payments Network (CPN), a new initiative designed to connect a wide range of financial institutions and enable real-time cross-border payments through regulated digital assets.
The launch of CPN comes in response to ongoing challenges in cross-border payments. Despite technological advances, such transactions still frequently take over one business day and cost more than 6%, according to the World Bank.
These inefficiencies, driven by intermediary layers, compliance requirements, and jurisdictional fragmentation, have particularly impacted emerging markets. Circle aims to provide a streamlined and modern alternative.
CPN is designed to modernise the fragmented cross-border payment landscape by allowing financial institutions to move money globally with internet-level speed, transparency, and programmability. It supports real-time settlements and ensures regulatory compliance through a governance framework requiring licensing, AML/CFT compliance, cybersecurity protocols, and risk management standards.
CPN supports a broad spectrum of financial use cases, from supplier payments and remittances to treasury operations and capital markets settlement. It is built on smart contract infrastructure and modular APIs, allowing third-party developers to create advanced financial modules, services, and workflows atop the network.
To ensure CPN meets high standards for operational integrity, Circle has partnered with leading global banks including Banco Santander, Deutsche Bank, Société Générale, and Standard Chartered. These institutions are helping shape the network to meet the demands of complex global payment systems.
A wide array of design partners, including Alfred Pay, BCB Group, Flutterwave, Coins.ph, Zodia Markets, and more, are already working with Circle to build out CPN. Additionally, digital asset infrastructure providers such as Fireblocks are integrating with CPN to broaden institutional access to secure, efficient payment capabilities.
Circle co-founder, chairman, and CEO Jeremy Allaire said, “Since our founding, Circle’s vision has been to make moving money as simple and efficient as sending an email. CPN is a significant step in making that vision a reality for businesses worldwide.”
Standard Chartered Bank global head of transaction banking Michael Spiegel said, “Standard Chartered is continuously looking for opportunities to make cross-border payments more efficient, secure, and compliant to various regulatory requirements, globally. Circle’s compliance-first approach to building products like CPN is a game changer for how money moves across borders, and we are pleased to build on our partnership and offer them our global expertise to support the success of CPN.”
Circle chief product and technology officer Nikhil Chandhok said, “Circle Payments Network is a foundational layer for the always-on economy — enabling trusted institutions to move value across borders, instantly. With programmable infrastructure at its core, CPN makes it possible to embed value transfer into modern financial applications in ways that weren’t feasible before.”
Checkbook Recognized as a Leader in Digital Payment Solutions by Frost & Sullivan
Checkbook, a leading innovator in digital payment solutions, has been named a leader in B2B Digital Payments by Frost & Sullivan in B2B Digital Payment Systems 2025. This recognition highlights Checkbook’s commitment to transforming outdated payment systems into seamless, scalable, and cost-effective solutions for businesses.
Frost & Sullivan’s fact based analysis identified Checkbook for its innovative approach to digitizing checks, enabling real-time, secure, and scalable payments across multiple rails, including ACH, RTP, Instant Pay, and newly added support for direct wallet transfers. This recognition validates Checkbook’s leadership in addressing inefficiencies in traditional payment systems by delivering a unified platform with real-time tracking, instant settlement, and unparalleled ease of use.
“Our mission has always been to simplify and modernize payments for businesses of all sizes,” said PJ Gupta, CEO of Checkbook. “Being recognized by Frost & Sullivan is a testament to our dedication to solving critical payment challenges while offering scalable and efficient solutions. We are thrilled to see our efforts acknowledged on a global stage.”
Checkbook has been lauded for its unique Digital Check, which eliminates the need for paper-based processes and reduces operational costs while converting payments from paper to digital. The platform’s seamless integration capabilities and user-centric design make it a standout choice for businesses seeking to digitize their payment workflows. Frost & Sullivan also highlighted Checkbook’s ability to provide end-to-end visibility and enhanced security, empowering businesses to manage their payments with confidence.
In March 2025, Checkbook extended its payment capabilities by integrating additional rails for direct digital wallet payouts. This enhancement allows businesses to send funds directly to customers’ preferred digital wallets with the same speed and reliability as Checkbook’s other payment rails, furthering its mission to offer flexible, secure, and user-friendly payment experiences.
Forter launches innovative Predictive Payment Routing beta
Forter, a global provider of digital commerce trust solutions, has launched major enhancements to its Payment Optimisation suite, including a beta release of Predictive Payment Routing and a new GenAI agent detection tool, as part of its spring product release.
These developments come in response to rapid changes in the digital commerce landscape, where evolving consumer behaviours, the rise of GenAI technologies, sophisticated fraud tactics, and increasing regulatory demands are reshaping how businesses approach payments and risk, according to FF News.
The firm offers a comprehensive Trust Platform that helps merchants fight fraud, improve identity verification, and optimise payments all while ensuring seamless customer experiences.
Its platform is used by some of the world’s largest brands to protect their online transactions.
The newly launched Predictive Payment Routing tool builds on Forter’s existing Payment Optimisation solution. It not only determines when and how to apply authentication, but now also recommends the most suitable processor, card network, and whether to use network tokenisation for each transaction.
This intelligent routing boosts authorisation rates, reduces costs, and gives merchants enhanced control over their payment strategies.
The spring release also includes GenAI agent detection, allowing Forter’s platform to identify when AI-powered agents are shopping or interacting on behalf of customers.
This feature helps differentiate between beneficial bots that assist shoppers and malicious bots that exploit vulnerabilities or commit fraud.
In addition, Forter has improved its device takeover detection by 20% and increased its ability to identify connection manipulation methods, such as VPNs and proxies, by 15%.
These advancements are vital as such attacks continue to grow in both frequency and sophistication.
To further enhance transparency and user confidence, Forter now offers a GenAI-powered feature that automatically generates plain text explanations of its decision-making process. This includes clear insights into the user profile, transaction details, and network behaviours that inform each decision.
Forter has also strengthened its global partner ecosystem, achieving Premier Partner status in Shopify’s Enterprise Technology Partner Program.
This designation places Forter among only 23 global partners and recognises its unique capabilities as the only fraud prevention provider in the group. Through this partnership, Forter helps Shopify’s largest merchants secure transactions, recover lost revenue, and deliver smoother customer journeys.
Forter chief product officer Cyndy Lobb said, “Digital commerce today doesn’t look the same as it did 12 months ago. Changing consumer behaviour, advanced GenAI technology, sophisticated fraud and new regulations have all fundamentally changed the industry. Our focus is on helping businesses stay a step ahead, tackling their payments, fraud and identity challenges head-on all within one platform. No matter how commerce evolves, Forter is positioned to ensure our customers grow by knowing exactly who they are doing business with.”
iLife Technologies rebrands as Infras to expand insurance infrastructure solutions
iLife Technologies, a leading technology provider in the insurance industry, has officially rebranded as Infras following a period of significant growth for the firm.
The move signifies the company’s evolution beyond life insurance as it looks to deliver headless connectivity infrastructure that enables insurance carriers to seamlessly integrate with any distributor user interface without extensive redevelopment, according to InsurTech Insights.
The move signifies the company’s evolution beyond life insurance and follows a period of accelerated growth for the company, which now serves enterprise clients across multiple insurance product lines, including life insurance, annuities, group benefits, disability, long-term care, and wealth management.
By focusing on API-driven infrastructure, Infras empowers carriers to modernize their operations while maintaining flexibility in distribution.
A core aspect of Infras’ mission is to help insurance providers become AI-ready. By abstracting user interface logic and standardising data creation across systems, Infras simplifies the way carriers collect, manage, and analyse data.
This enhanced data consistency forms a critical foundation for business intelligence and AI deployment, positioning insurers for long-term success in an increasingly digital landscape.
The company’s headless connectivity infrastructure supports any distributor interface without requiring backend redevelopment, converts complex back-end logic into modular, adaptable elements, reduces support and maintenance expenses by up to sixfold, accelerates deployment speed by up to sevenfold, and improves business intelligence and AI readiness.
“Our new name, Infras, speaks directly to what we provide: Headless Connectivity Infrastructure,” said Nelson Lee, Founder and CEO of Infras. “By decoupling business logic from specific user interfaces, we enable insurance carriers to streamline their operations, reduce costs, and expand their distribution capabilities without technical barriers.”
With this rebrand, Infras reaffirms its commitment to revolutionising the insurance technology landscape, ensuring carriers have the tools needed to scale efficiently in an increasingly dynamic market.
Axyon AI gains €4.3m to boost AI innovation in investment management
Axyon AI, a prominent player in the FinTech sector, has successfully secured a €4.3 million investment round.
The funding was led by CDP Venture Capital, with notable contributions from US-based venture capital firms Green Sands Equity and Montage Ventures, the Italian holding firm Investment Opportunity 1, and SIMEST, acting on behalf of the Fund F.394 managed in agreement with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI).
Established in 2016, Axyon AI specialises in leveraging predictive AI technology to enhance investment management practices. The company’s innovative solutions focus on improving the accuracy and efficiency of investment strategies through advanced data analytics and AI explainability.
The new funding will be instrumental in broadening Axyon AI’s reach in the financial markets and further developing cutting-edge solutions. This capital boost aims to enhance the company’s commercial presence and improve the coverage of its AI-powered solutions, positioning Axyon AI at the forefront of AI explainability in the investment management industry.
In addition to funding details, the company plans to use the investment to expand its product offerings and strengthen its market presence. Axyon AI has introduced AI-powered factors and its AI-Compass, an alert system that provides insights into market trends and potential risks, enhancing quantitative analysis for investment managers.
Daniele Grassi, CEO and co-founder of Axyon AI, commented, “This funding round, backed once again by our existing shareholders, reaffirms the confidence in our vision and accelerates our expansion beyond current markets. Artificial Intelligence has proven a powerful ally for traditional and quantitative investment managers seeking to enhance their investment strategies with precise, data-driven insights. With this latest investment, we will be able to expand our commercial presence, enhance the coverage of our solutions, and build on our leadership position for AI explainability in financial markets.”
WeeFin secures €25m to lead sustainable FinTech expansion in Europe
WeeFin, the innovative FinTech company, announced today that it has secured a new funding round of €25 million.
This financial injection comes 15 months after WeeFin’s Series A and is led by BlackFin Capital Partners, a prominent European FinTech fund. The round also saw participation from existing investors IRIS, Asterion Ventures, and Ring Capital.
WeeFin, founded in 2021 by former R&D product manager at BNP Paribas, Grégoire Hug, along with Marion Aubert and Guillaume Klech, has quickly become a pivotal player in the FinTech sector. The company provides a comprehensive SaaS platform that centralises data essential for deploying and managing sophisticated sustainability strategies. These include aspects ranging from ESG to impact and climate initiatives, highlighting the firm’s commitment to advancing sustainable finance.
The fresh capital will be employed to further refine WeeFin’s offerings. This includes the enhancement of existing product functionalities, such as data management, the launch of new modules like a solution dedicated to ESG performance attribution, and the integration of new data sources. These enhancements are designed to bolster regulatory compliance and augment client support for more informed investment decisions.
WeeFin has shown remarkable growth, with international sales jumping from 0% to 30% and Annual Recurring Revenues (ARRs) increasing fivefold in the last two years. With plans to continue expanding across Europe, WeeFin aims to penetrate new markets, including Luxembourg and Italy, and has recently inaugurated an office in the UK. Moreover, the company has doubled its workforce in the past two years and anticipates hiring over 100 new employees within the next three years.
Julien Creuzé, Partner at BlackFin, and Chloé Novène, Investment Manager at BlackFin, praised WeeFin’s leadership and vision, expressing enthusiasm for the company’s future prospects, particularly in the UK. Grégoire Hug, CEO and co-founder of WeeFin, reiterated the importance of sustainability in today’s financial landscape, stating, “With BlackFin Capital Partners as one of our investors, WeeFin has the support it needs to make a definitive impact in Europe. This Series B not only confirms this vision but also validates our clients’ trust and the relevance of our platform, which enables them to address their challenges at scale.”
In terms of previous investments, WeeFin’s Series A had successfully set the stage for this subsequent funding round, demonstrating strong investor confidence and a solid track record of growth and innovation.
Intergiro teams up with Silverflow for cutting-edge card processing technology
Intergiro, a Swedish FinTech providing payment and banking infrastructure, has unveiled a groundbreaking partnership with Silverflow, a cloud platform specialising in global card processing.
This collaboration aims to empower Intergiro to offer its clientele advanced card network capabilities, augment processing efficiency, and grant unprecedented access to card scheme data.
This strategic move aligns with the burgeoning demand among digital merchants for progressive payment processing mechanisms. Silverflow’s platform, already endorsed by prominent payment service providers and acquirers, such as Deutsche Bank and Buckaroo, promises to equip Intergiro’s ecosystem with cutting-edge card scheme innovations at an accelerated pace.
This not only fortifies Intergiro’s financial suite with acquiring capabilities but also enriches its digital issuing and banking services, offering comprehensive and detailed reporting functionalities.
Intergiro serves as a Swedish FinTech enterprise, offering a comprehensive financial ecosystem tailored for innovators and disruptors. Their suite encompasses card processing, card issuing, and banking tools consolidated into a unified API.
Silverflow, on the other hand, operates as a pioneering payment processing platform custom-designed to meet contemporary payment requisites while remaining adaptable for the future. Embracing a cloud-native approach, they present a singular API interface to the card networks, simplifying complexity, reducing costs, and amplifying innovation opportunities.
“The payments landscape is constantly evolving and it’s more important than ever for our merchants to have access to the latest technologies being rolled out by the card networks,” said Johan Ryer, CCO of Intergiro. “Silverflow’s platform is bringing some of the latest card scheme innovations to Intergiro at pace and easily accessible, which will enable our clients not only to save costs but also meet the payment processing needs of new digital businesses.”
Anne Willem de Vries, CEO and co-founder of Silverflow, commented, “We are very excited about our new partnership with Intergiro. We are looking forward to powering Intergiro’s processing back-end and bringing our easy-to-use platform, data capabilities, and the latest card scheme innovations to Intergiro’s merchants.”
Bain Capital invests $200m to transform mutual insurance landscape
Known for its strategic investments, the firm intends to elevate the industry’s service standards and operational efficiency, through the inception of this group, according to InsurTech Insights.
The launch of The Mutual Group is a result of Bain Capital Insurance’s acquisition of GuideOne Insurance Company’s operational platform. GuideOne, a niche-market mutual insurance carrier established in 1947, stands as the catalyst for this groundbreaking venture, and becomes the first company to join the group.
As the inaugural member of the group, GuideOne will receive $200m. These funds are earmarked to fortify its balance sheet, augment surplus positions, and further fuel growth in service of policyholders. This strategic step is in line with the company’s mission to reinforce long-term stability by enhancing operational efficiencies and bolstering underwriting performance.
Chuck Chamness, former CEO of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, has been brough to the helm of the Mutual Group as Chairman.
Additionally, Tim Fleming, GuideOne’s Senior Vice President of Core Commercial Lines, steps into the role of Chief Executive Officer. He said, “The Mutual Group is an exciting new platform that combines GuideOne’s nearly eight decades of experience as a niche mutual insurance carrier and its highly specialised team with the insurance investing acumen and strategic vision of Bain Capital Insurance.”
The vision for The Mutual Group extends beyond conventional insurance offerings, aiming to provide a unique spectrum of services encompassing underwriting, claims processing, reinsurance acquisition, and a robust technological suite housing policy administration, enterprise billing, and claims administration systems.
Set to launch with an impressive annual premium portfolio of around $800m, servicing over 50,000 commercial policyholders and backed by a workforce of over 400 employees, The Mutual Group establishes its formidable presence within the insurance sector. With its headquarters based in West Des Moines, Iowa, this initiative represents a significant force poised to redefine insurance practices.
FISERV AND RUTGERS-NEWARK PARTNER ON PROGRAM TO DRIVE FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY INCLUSION AND INNOVATION
Fiserv, Inc., a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology with a growing presence in New Jersey, is partnering with Rutgers University-Newark to create and fund a new program designed to drive diversity and innovation within the financial technology field. Over a five-year period, the Fiserv-RU-N Program for Inclusive Innovation will fund career modules to help students get ready for internships and jobs, establish a center on campus that will serve as a research and incubation space for the RU-N community and nearby businesses, and award annual scholarships to undergraduate students.
“Through its synergy with Rutgers-Newark, Fiserv will foster inclusive innovation in New Jersey’s largest city,”
“The tremendous growth and success of Fiserv in New Jersey epitomize what a company can achieve when it creates value while simultaneously reflecting the values of its customers. Diversity and inclusion are core principles that define us as New Jerseyans, and I am delighted that Fiserv is launching initiatives that not only embody but build upon, those principles.”
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
Fiserv will also finance studies into technology and business, including those into cybersecurity and the moral and legal implications of financial technology.
“Consumer expectations for financial services and payment experiences continue to evolve, creating a demand for continuous innovation,”
“This program will add a new dimension to our ability to bring together a diverse range of perspectives as we develop new answers to the challenges faced by our clients and the financial services industry. With nearly every household in the U.S. having a touchpoint with a Fiserv solution, from digital banking to card payments, we have a tremendous opportunity to deliver capabilities that enhance financial services experiences. We’re energized by the opportunity to cultivate great talent and ideas through the Fiserv-RU-N program.”
Frank Bisignano, Fiserv Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
“This is a watershed moment for Rutgers-Newark. Fiserv is a visionary company that shares our sense of urgency in building and broadening pathways to business and tech careers for students from our increasingly diverse communities, and shares our understanding that doing this helps drive innovation forward. We’re creating an unprecedented partnership right here in Newark. Its nerve center will be a collaborative innovation lab right on Washington Street where we can set new standards for the fintech industry, where experienced professionals work side by side with university researchers and professionals of tomorrow from Newark, Greater Newark, and beyond, leveraging diversity, creating better, smarter solutions by bringing people from many backgrounds together to tackle problems,’’
Rutgers-Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor.
PayPal LAUNCHES GRANT PAYMENTS
PayPal Holdings, Inc., in partnership with National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) and Vanguard Charitable, announced Grant Payments. This new product enables Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) sponsors, community foundations, and other grantmakers to deliver grants to charities quickly and electronically via PayPal.
Charities will be able to collect awards soon after the grantmaker has authorized the cash thanks to grant payments. Grant details, including donor information when provided, will be accessible to both grantmakers and organizations via a PayPal dashboard. The strict compliance criteria of PayPal have been applied to the evaluation of eligible and participating charities.
“PayPal is committed to offering safe, secure, and seamless products and services that drive efficiency for grantmakers and charities to digitally send and receive grant payments,”
“By partnering with National Philanthropic Trust and Vanguard Charitable, PayPal Grant Payments will enable more than 200,000 PayPal confirmed charities to quickly receive grants electronically, streamlining and simplifying what has historically been a much more manual and drawn-out process.”
Oktay Dogramaci, VP of Giving at PayPal.
Donor grants from the DAF will reach record highs in 2020. The expected $34.67 billion in grants from DAFs to qualified charities represents a 27.0% increase compared to 2019 and the biggest DAF grant increase in ten years. Grant payments to charities totaled $6.4 billion in 2021 from NPT and $1.78 billion from Vanguard Charitable; checks accounted for the majority of these payments.
“NPT is always interested in innovation and the pandemic amplified the need for non-profits to receive grant dollars more efficiently,”
“This solution does that and more. We believe that PayPal-based Grant Payments will simplify and accelerate how grantmakers can get funds to non-profits for mission-critical programs. The partnership with PayPal and Vanguard Charitable on this sector-wide solution could be a game-changer for other funders as well and has been enormously gratifying.”
Eileen Heisman, CEO of National Philanthropic Trust.
This procedure may be pricey and drawn out. Due to postal service delays and the inability of some non-profits with limited access to offices to retrieve cheques, the pandemic made it even more difficult for charities to receive grant checks on time. Grant Payments allow both grantmakers and non-profits to focus on carrying out their respective philanthropic missions while saving time and resources.
“We are thrilled to partner with PayPal and NPT to bring modern and effective granting solutions to our donors and non-profit partners alike,”
“Charities today need sustainable donor support more than ever. By streamlining the granting process, donors can make an even greater – and faster – impact on meaningful cause areas. We look forward to continuing to bring innovative solutions to the granting space, ensuring that we’re always working to increase philanthropy and maximize its impact over time.”
Rebecca Moffett, president of Vanguard Charitable.
PayPal Holdings had announced the Venmo Small Business Grant, a new program for emerging and small businesses that would provide financial grants and mentorship services to 20 new and existing Venmo Business Profile customers.
ZUORA TO ACQUIRE ZEPHR, GIVING COMPANIES THE POWER TO DELIVER OPTIMAL SUBSCRIBER EXPERIENCES
Zuora, Inc., the leading cloud-based subscription management platform provider, today announced its planned acquisition of Zephr, a leading subscription experience platform used by global digital publishing and media companies. As an existing Zuora® partner, Zephr’s pre-integrated solution is in use today by joint customers, and will immediately expand Zuora’s product suite.
As businesses regularly roll out and monetize new digital service offerings in response to changing subscriber expectations, the media and publishing sector is booming. Customers of Zuora include Bloomberg, DAZN, Guardian News & Media, and Penske Media Corporation, solidifying its position as a market leader (PMC). Zephr’s inclusion will increase the combined solution’s potential in the media and beyond.
With capabilities like identity management, intelligent trials, dynamic paywalls, entitlements management, and a decision engine that helps deliver experiences that are individualized for every subscriber, Zephr’s platform supports close to eight billion queries each month. The solution will enable businesses across industries to nurture and monetize their subscriber relationships by better understanding their behavior, experimenting with the right digital offerings, and optimizing their digital experiences. Zuora’s Billing, Collect, and Revenue systems generate tens of billions of dollars in transaction volume each quarter.
It’s crucial for businesses operating in the Subscription Economy® to be able to quickly introduce and test out new digital offerings. The fastest-growing media firms modify their price and packaging twice as frequently as their contemporaries in the industry, according to research by Zuora’s Subscribed Institute. However, most businesses are hampered by static, antiquated systems that limit their capacity to adapt to shifting subscriber expectations. Companies will have the flexibility they need to address these constantly shifting expectations when Zephr is added to Zuora’s product lineup, ultimately resulting in subscriber conversion, retention, and growth.
“The winners in the media industry are those continuously innovating around new services, bundles, and offers. And where the media industry goes, other industries will follow,”
“This is what combining Zuora and Zephr is about. We’re thrilled to welcome our fellow ZEOs into the family.”
Tien Tzuo, CEO and Founder at Zuora.
“Our focus has been on giving our customers the agility they need to deliver the experiences that modern customers expect – it starts from the first digital interaction to conversion, to renewal,”
“It was a clear decision to join Zuora to accelerate where our platform is headed, and empower all of our customers to nurture and monetize their subscriber relationships.”
James Henderson, CEO at Zephr.
Zephr, a subscription experience platform with an emphasis on increasing revenue development, was founded in 2018 by James Henderson and Chris Scott. Customers include News Corp, McClatchy, and Bauer. Zephr will eventually join Zuora’s current product lineup, which already includes Zuora Billing, Zuora Revenue, and Zuora Collect. To continue promoting innovation and the success of the combined customer base, Zephr personnel will join Zuora.
According to the acquisition deal, Zuora will buy Zephr for $44 million in cash due at closing plus an earnout payment of up to $6 million, contingent upon reaching specific financial goals. Last but not least, Zuora anticipates that the acquisition will increase its yearly recurring income by about $5 million (ARR). The transaction is scheduled to close in early September, subject to usual clearances and closing conditions. Zuora is receiving legal and financial advice from Fenwick & West and Foros respectively. Zephr is being advised financially by Stifel and legally by Cooley.
Zuora expects the acquisition to bring about $2 million in subscription revenue to its fiscal year 2023, which ends on January 31, 2023, and expects to absorb additional operational costs without having an effect on the non-GAAP operating loss. At 2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. ET) today, Zuora will have a conference call for investors to go through its financial second-quarter results and its outlook for the fiscal third quarter ending October 31, 2022, as well as the fiscal year concluding January 31, 2023. The Investor Relations section of Zuora’s website will host both the live webcast and a webcast replay.
VARIABLE RECURRING PAYMENTS AVAILABLE TO HSBC CUSTOMERS
HSBC UK has rolled out sweeping variable recurring payments (VRP) to all its personal and business customers who use open banking services.
Businesses and customers can utilize VRP to make recurring payments of different quantities without having to re-authenticate for each one.
The Competition and Markets Authority has instructed the top UK banks to implement VRP.
“Sweeping VRPs allow for the automated movement of funds between a customer’s own accounts without the need for any manual intervention once the initial consent is set up.
“This service can, for example, be used to pay off a monthly credit card bill, move money regularly into a savings account, or reduce an overdraft balance.
“We’re looking forward to working with third-party providers to drive sweeping adoption for the benefit of consumers across the UK.”
George Miltiadious, head of Open Banking Channel Management (UK) at HSBC.
GoCardless, Plaid, Yapily, and Truelayer are among third-party suppliers to have launched VRP offerings as part of their open banking playbook.
KENANGA PARTNERS ANT GROUP TO DEVELOP FINANCIAL SERVICES SUPER-APP
Malaysia’s largest independent investment bank, Kenanga, has tapped China’s Ant Group for its mobile development platform as the firm looks to launch a wealth management and financial services super-app.
According to Kenanga, the super-app would be powered by Ant Group’s mobile platform-as-a-service (mPaaS). It will have features for stock trading, digital investment management, an e-wallet, cryptocurrency trading, and foreign exchange.
“Having spent the year conceptualizing and designing the SuperApp, we are thrilled to partner with Ant Group, a globally recognized and experienced infrastructure and platform provider, to develop this platform and bring it to life.
“We look forward to not only unifying a broad spectrum of financial offerings under one roof, but more importantly, to make wealth creation more accessible by democratizing financial services for the millions of Malaysians around the country who want better, swifter and cheaper access to financial products and solutions.
“With almost 50 years of retail experience serving over half a million customers, we believe the Kenanga Wealth SuperApp will leapfrog our growth to the next level. We started our digital journey five years ago, and have a robust digital product pipeline that is set to reshape our relationship with our customers and harness opportunities in the marketplace.”
Kenanga Investment Bank group managing director Datuk Chay Wai Leong.
Since starting its journey toward digital transformation five years ago, Kenanga has already produced a robo-advisor and an online stock trading platform. The super-app is the most recent digital product to be developed by Kenanga.
ATLANTIC MONEY USERS CAN NOW TRANSFER EUROS FROM THE UK FOR €3
Atlantic Money announced that its users in the UK can now transfer from euro to nine currencies worldwide for just €3. This means in addition to international transfers from the British pound; customers can also transfer euros for a flat fee of €3 and always at the live exchange rate, all the way up to €100,000.
Users of Atlantic Money can now transfer their salary from Germany to England at a lower cost than ever before. They can convert earnings into British pounds without incurring large losses if they rent out a vacation house in Spain. Furthermore, persons who have just relocated to the UK from Europe can bring their savings with them more efficiently than ever before.
“We can’t wait for our customers to experience great savings with euro transfers, just as they have been with British pounds. With euro transfers out now, we’re looking ahead to the next development: US dollar transfers.
In June, we became available for everyone in the UK and have since helped customers realize huge savings on their transfers. And we’re just about to get started in the EU. This wouldn’t be possible without all the trust from our community and all the positive feedback – this is what drives us!”
Neeraj Baid, Co-Founder of Atlantic Money.
Atlantic also started working on other developments, such as:
- More express currencies: Users can now send express delivery transfers to the Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, and Polish zloty.
- Sending from US dollar: Atlantic Money has started working on allowing users to transfer from US dollar, which will be available in the near future.
Atlantic Money announced that it received approval to operate as a payment institution by the National Bank of Belgium (NBB), the first company to have done so within a year. The license enables the business to operate in Europe, with access to all 30 EU and EEA member states.