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TIGER GLOBAL INVESTS $15M IN INDONESIAN FINTECH AYOCONNECT
Ayoconnect, Southeast Asia’s largest open finance platform, has closed a $15 million series B financing round led by Tiger Global. The round was joined by PayU, the payments and FinTech business of Prosus, and Alto Partners, as well as individual strategic investors, including Plaid co-founder William Hockey and Jerry Ng, President Commissioner of Bank Jago. Ayoconnect will use the funds to satisfy increasing customer demand for more products and use cases. Ayoconnect is already the largest open finance platform in Indonesia, with more than 200 API customers and 4,000 embedded finance products.
FHF, MORTGAGE BANKS LAUNCH ‘ HELP TO OWN’ HOUSING SCHEME
The Family Homes Funds Limited (FHFL) has launched a home loans assistance programme targeted at Nigerians on low/middle income, offering them a low-cost, deferred equity loan for up to 40 per cent of the cost of their home. The scheme targeted first time home buyers and individuals who can provide a deposit of 10 per cent of the purchase price, especially anyone who earns between N50,000 to N1.7 million yearly.
FNCB BANK ANNOUNCES EXPANSION INTO EQUIPMENT FINANCING
FNCB Bancorp, Inc. the parent company of FNCB Bank (“the Bank”), announces that the Bank has recently launched 1st Equipment Finance, a new equipment financing solution offered by the Bank, which is based in its Exeter, Pennsylvania location. 1st Equipment Finance provides equipment financing solutions, including leasing alternatives, for business customers, vendors, manufacturers and municipalities and is led by Executive Vice President, Equipment Sales Officer, Gary P. Cook, a four-decade industry veteran.
BNP PARIBAS LINKS UP WITH APOLLO FOR INVENTORY FINANCE
BNP Paribas has partnered with asset management firm Apollo and its subsidiary Athene to set up a new inventory finance platform. Eliant Inventory Solutions, which is now live, is built on tech provided by software company GEP Worldwide. Athene, which merged with Apollo this month, serves as Eliant’s primary financing partner, while Apollo will act as investment manager.
BNPL FINTECH JIFITI LAUNCHES FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND SPLIT PAYMENT SOLUTION
Jifiti, a leading fintech company, announced today the launch of the first-of-its-kind white-labeled Split Payment solution, which will round out their existing platform of BNPL offerings. The company already facilitates point-of-sale financing for leading banks and merchants globally through its white-labeled platform, enabling them to easily deploy and scale any consumer loan program at any point of sale.
NEW MEXICO TAX LAW UNINTENTIONALLY CUTS INTO CITY REVENUES
The city of Hobbs is pushing to amend a state law that city officials say is resulting in an unintended loss of gross receipts tax revenue for the community.The measure passed by the New Mexico Legislature and enthusiastically signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2019 included complex changes to state tax laws. Among other things, it was billed as a way to help communities by requiring a company to pay gross receipt tax where services are provided rather than where the company is located.
CHINA FINANCE ONLINE CO. LTD. RECEIVES NOTICE OF DELISTING FROM NASDAQ
China Finance Online Co. Limited, a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese individual investors with fintech-powered online access to securities trading services, wealth management products, securities investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers, today announced that it received a letter, dated January 19, 2022, from the Nasdaq Hearings Panel (the “Panel”) informing the Company that it has determined to delist the Company’s ADSs from Nasdaq by filing a Form 25 (Notification of Delisting) with the Securities and Exchange Commission after applicable appeal periods have lapsed and will suspend trading in our ADSs effective at the open of business on January 21, 2022.
BANK OF AMERICA PROFIT BEATS ESTIMATES ON LOAN GROWTH, M&A BOOST
Bank of America Corp reported a better-than-expected 30% jump in quarterly profit on Wednesday, driven by loan growth and record-breaking M&A volumes in its investment banking business.Flush with cash and emboldened by soaring stock market valuations, large buyout funds, corporates and financiers struck billions of dollars worth of deals in the fourth quarter, generating record advisory fees of $850 million for BofA, up 55% from a year earlier.
H.I.G. GROWTH PARTNERS LEADS $120 MILLION SERIES E FUNDING FOR PYRAMID ANALYTICS
H.I.G. Growth Partners, the dedicated growth capital investment affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, is pleased to announce that it has led a $120 million round of total financing, inclusive of debt and equity, as part of the Series E funding for Pyramid Analytics, a next-generation decision intelligence platform for enterprises. The Series E round includes new investors, H.I.G. Growth, Clal Insurance Enterprise Holdings, Kingfisher Capital, and General Oriental Investments, with significant participation from existing investors, Jerusalem Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Viola Growth. The investment will be used to expand product development, marketing, and sales, as well as promote the hiring of exceptional and diverse talent around the globe.
The Pyramid Decision Intelligence Platform uniquely combines Data Prep, Business Analytics, and Data Science in a single environment, allowing business and data analysts to combine, query, visualize, and leverage advanced analytics to unlock insights from enterprise data. Coupled with AI guidance and predictive intelligence, Pyramid helps organizations speed up time to insights, scale adoption, and simplify analytics; while also maintaining enterprise-grade security, access controls, and data governance. Purpose-built for upper mid-market and enterprise customers, Pyramid delivers superior scale and performance, uptime & reliability, and high levels of customer support to organizations globally. Pyramid is incorporated in Amsterdam and has regional headquarters in global innovation and business centers, including London, New York City, and Tel-Aviv.
“H.I.G. is excited to partner with Pyramid in their next stage of growth. Pyramid drives exceptional ROI to customers by empowering them to make faster, more- informed business decisions leveraging advanced analytics and data insights. We’re thrilled to support their leadership team who have brought a truly innovative, differentiated technology to market.”
Scott Hilleboe, Co-Head and Managing Director of H.I.G. Growth Partners.
HCL TECHNOLOGIES TO ACQUIRE DIGITAL BANKING AND WEALTH MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST CONFINALE
HCL Technologies UK Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HCL Technologies (HCL), a leading global technology company, has signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Confinale AG, a Switzerland-based digital banking and wealth management consulting specialist and Avaloq Premium Implementation Partner. Through this strategic acquisition, HCL will increase its footprint in the global wealth management market with emphasis on Avaloq consulting, implementation, and management capabilities.
Founded in 2012, Confinale focuses on IT consulting in key specialist areas in the banking and wealth management sector. Confinale has one of the largest independent pools of Avaloq-certified specialists in Europe and its in-house developed products and solutions accelerate the implementation of the Avaloq platform. Confinale is one of only four companies to be awarded the title of Avaloq Premium Implementation Partner. With offices in Switzerland including Zurich, Zug, and Geneva; as well as Düsseldorf and London, Confinale works with a host of leading banks and wealth advisors.
The intellectual properties that are a part of this acquisition support HCL’s strategy to create specialized vertical domain capabilities and position the company as a leader in the end-to-end implementation and lifecycle management of the Avaloq platform. This builds upon HCL’s recently expanded global partnership with Avaloq and its acquisition of German IT consulting company gbs in association with apoBank in December 2021.
“Becoming part of HCL is an exciting new chapter for Confinale”, “We strongly believe in the need for banking expertise combined with software competence and HCL is the perfect fit for this. It is a truly global player with strong heritage in the financial services sector. HCL’s reach will enable us to further our growth and at the same time expose our team to new learning and innovation opportunities.”
Roland Staub, CEO, Confinale.
“There is significant disruption taking place in global wealth management and this means an opportunity for technology-led innovation”, “This acquisition significantly strengthens HCL’s digital wealth and asset management capabilities and expands our presence in the heart of the global investment banking sector. We welcome the team from Confinale and look forward to continuing to drive digital banking innovation alongside Avaloq.”
Rahul Singh, President of Fs and Digital Process Operations, HCL Technologies.
“At Avaloq we welcome the coming together of two of our key strategic partners”, “Both HCL and Confinale have considerable domain knowledge in financial services and deep understanding of our technology. We see the combination as immensely beneficial as Confinale has strong implementation credentials, including being awarded as best implementation partner in 2020 and 2021. We believe that this coming together will help accelerate digital wealth transformation for our clients and in turn increase the pace of adoption of Avaloq’s products and services globally.”
Martin Greweldinger, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Avaloq.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, which are expected to be completed in due course.
SCALABLE CAPITAL EXPANDS DIGITAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT SERVICE
Scalable Capital, a leading digital investment platform in Europe, is launching eight new investment strategies in its digital wealth management service. As of now, clients can choose from eleven different ETF-based investment approaches – including new strategies focusing on climate protection, value investing, and crypto. This means that investors can have their wealth managed in a way that is even more tailored to their preferences, starting from just 20 euros per month. The services remain as comprehensive as before: a continuously optimized selection of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other exchange-traded securities for cryptocurrencies (ETPs) and commodities (ETCs), with dedicated customer support as well as transparent and low costs. All investment strategies are also available to customers of ING except the cryptocurrency strategies.
“For us as a pan-European digital investment platform, the offering represents a new milestone,”
“It is targeted at people who want to incorporate proven investment approaches such as Ray Dalio’s ‘all-weather portfolio’ or new trends, such as the addition of crypto investments, to their portfolio. We now cover the range from self-directed investors in our broker through to those wanting professional wealth management, even more comprehensively. We are increasingly becoming a one-stop-shop for investing.”
Erik Podzuweit, co-founder and co-CEO of Scalable Capital.
“We offer digital, cost-effective, and now even more tailored wealth management from as little as 20 euros per month,”
“The demand for individual strategies in wealth management is huge. We now have a solution for all market cycles and every investor type. Whether it’s investing in value strategies like Warren Buffett, hedging against turbulence in the markets, or aligning with the Paris Climate Agreement with our climate protection portfolio, every investor will find a suitable managed ETF portfolio on our platform.”
Franziska Grotz, VP Wealth & Sustainability Officer at Scalable Capital.
Digital wealth management according to individual preferences
In addition to the established investment approaches “Sustainable”, “Sustainable with Gold” and “Dynamic Risk Management”, the following strategies now complement the product offering:
- Climate protection: global investment by the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement
- Crypto: Investment strategy based on the world’s most important cryptocurrencies
- Value: Investment strategy with a focus on fundamentally undervalued shares, made famous by investor legend Warren Buffett.
- All-weather: a robustly positioned global portfolio for every market phase, aligned with the strategy of star investor Ray Dalio
- All-weather + Crypto: the All-weather strategy expanded to include the most important cryptocurrencies
- GDP Global: global equity portfolio weighted by the gross domestic product (GDP) of the countries
- Megatrends: Investment strategy geared toward long-term future trends and technologies such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, or robotics
- Sustainable with Crypto: globally diversified sustainable investment strategies with equity ratios from 0 to 90 percent expanded to include the cryptocurrency asset class
With the various approaches, Scalable Capital clients can prioritize their wealth management based on thematic priorities. In addition, they can tailor their investments more closely to their life situation – for example, regular savings for students with smaller budgets or the investment of a larger lump sum after an inheritance. With each chosen strategy, Scalable Capital manages the ETF portfolios for its clients and independently selects the best and most cost-efficient funds from thousands of ETFs available. On average, 10 exchange-traded funds are used per strategy.
An extensive range of information helps with strategy selection
Scalable Capital supports interested investors in the selection of their investment strategy via a video tutorial on the public website and in the signup flow via the web and app. In addition, the company will gradually publish short videos on the respective investment strategies. Scalable Capital will continue to provide information about its investment philosophy and all questions related to investing in newsletters, webinars, blog posts, social media, and customer events.
Scalable Capital continues to develop digital wealth management
With its digital wealth management, Scalable Capital has been offering a broad group of investors access to low-cost ETF-based investments since the beginning of 2016. Clients can choose between different strategies that are continuously monitored and automatically adjusted to the market situation. They invest in the asset classes equities, government bonds, corporate bonds, cryptocurrencies, commodities (+ gold), and real estate. For a few months now, a savings plan with no initial one-off payment has been possible from as little as 20 euros a month and a one-off investment of as little as 1,000 euros. At the same time, Scalable Capital has adapted its sustainable investment strategies. The sustainable ETF portfolios with SRI criteria are currently subject to the strictest sustainability criteria available on the market. The wealth management service is available in Germany and Austria.
CYBER INSURANCE COMPANIES DEMAND GREATER RISK MANAGEMENT POLICIES
Cyber insurance companies are demanding greater risk management strategies from organizations interested in purchasing cyber insurance.
“Insurers want to know there is an organized and proactive effort to manage cybersecurity risk,”
Travis Wong, VP of risk engg. and security services at cyber insurance provider Resilience.
These risk management strategies include multi-factor authentication (MFA), backup, incident response plan, patching, and cyber awareness training for employees.
While listing costs both before and after a cyberattack could be costly for both insurers and customers, both parties may get caught up in trying to fix the situation, overlooking other vulnerabilities that could lead to other costly problems.
“Theft of credentials either through phishing or unprotected assets exposed publicly on the internet remains the predominant approach for cybercriminals to launch an attack,”
Jack Kudale, founder and CEO of Cowbell Cyber.
Once companies already have a good security system and are ready to take the steps to meet security requirements, they can conclude a deal with a cyber insurance company.
Apart from the security requirements, many companies find it difficult to get cyber insurance because of the high costs.
According to the NetDiligence Cyber Claims Study 2021 report, the average cost to the insurer for a cyber incident is $145,000 for small and medium-sized businesses and $10 million for large businesses, with ransomware mitigation costs even higher at $256,000 and $16.6 million respectively.
EVERYWARE AND MX TO DELIVER REAL-TIME PAYMENTS AND OPEN BANKING WITH PAY-BY-TEXT
Everyware, a leading contactless payments, and customer engagement solutions company, announces the expansion of its Pay By Text options by offering real-time payments (RTP) and its open banking approach to financial data.
The RTP and open banking experience, along with security enhancements, are made possible through Everyware’s partnership with MX, the leader in Open Finance. Combining an open banking approach with RTP modernizes the customer relationship and enables better digital access to financial services and data.
Real-time payments enable instant, around-the-clock electronic payments, transferring funds from one bank to another. Paired with open banking best practices, which create a two-way information exchange between personal financial data and connected services, Everyware and MX’s partnership forms direct access to share information both ways. It provides extremely fast, convenient, and safe payments at the consumer’s discretion.
In 2020, more than 70.3 billion real-time payment transactions were processed globally, an increase of 41 percent over the prior year (ACI Worldwide). Open Banking and RTP mean consumers have control over their information and how they want to share it. They can easily pay merchants by text message, with the guarantee that funds are available and instantly transferred.
“We are the only contactless payments company to deliver the RTP payment option, and offer RTP payments to remove a significant level of risk with verified accounts and sufficient balance checks,”
“Together with MX, we’re enabling a convenient, instant, and secure payment experience for our customers.”
Larry Talley, Founder and CEO Everyware.
With the Everyware and MX integration, merchants can easily send secure invoices by text message, which can be paid through an MX-verified bank account containing a confirmed account balance sufficient to cover the payment amount. While maintaining security is the highest priority for Everyware, MX also enhances the Everyware RTP payment experience by enabling customers to quickly look up and connect their bank accounts without having to leave the payment screen. For consumers and merchants, Open Banking and RTP are making payments easy and secure.
“Everyware is a great example of how a seamless account connecting user experience can be powered with our open finance platform,”
“Open Banking involves building a more connected, frictionless, and secure financial ecosystem and we’re proud to team up with Everyware in that mission.”
Brett Allred, Chief Product Officer, MX.
VEEM UNVEILS EXPANDED PAYMENT OPTIONS TO TACKLE SMB INFLATION CONCERNS
Veem, a leading provider of global B2B payment solutions, today announced the rollout of new functionalities including enhanced card options and faster ACH, allowing small businesses more flexibility in how they pay and get paid to manage cash flow.
Credit cards are an essential tool for small businesses to manage cash flow and Veem is expanding its card offerings to allow the small businesses they serve to easily accept cards without having to set up a merchant account. Veem also enabled faster ACH, allowing their SMB clients to easily manage their payment delivery time from three business days to one business day, providing greater control of domestic payables.
A recent survey conducted by Veem in March revealed that 33% of small businesses are cutting back on purchases to keep expenses down and manage cash flow amid inflation. With rising prices affecting small and medium-sized businesses globally, Veem’s enhanced payment capabilities provide flexible domestic and international payment options to give businesses more control over overpaying and getting paid.
“Giving small businesses total control over how to best manage their cash inflows and outflows is a necessity for companies looking to better navigate the current inflation pressures,”
“Amid this current macroeconomic uncertainty, businesses are looking to optimize cash flow effectively and with as much flexibility as possible. Veem’s expanded card capabilities and the ability to select faster ACH, are purpose-built solutions for SMBs looking to take control of their payments and part of our enhanced portfolio of payment options. We are excited to offer small business owners yet another set of tools that simplifies the payments process.”
Marwan Forzley, CEO of Veem.
In addition, Veem and Visa are collaborating to bring more control, choice, and optionality to their cash flow management suite by including Visa credit cards and Visa Direct for real-time money movement and access to send money around the world. Veem’s expanded functionality and work with Visa will be discussed at NACHA’s Smarter Fast Payments Conference on May 3, where Veem CEO Marwan Forzley will be speaking on a panel with Jay Darnell, VP, Head of B2B Fintech Partnerships at Visa Business Solutions and Nicole Stiller, VP, Product Management & Commercialization, Visa Direct. The in-person session, “A New Wave of Global Money Movement for Small Businesses,” will take place at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee on May 3 at 2:00 pm CST. There will also be a Remote Connect Virtual Event on Monday, May 23 at 2:00 pm ET.
OFX COMPLETES C$90M ACQUISITION OF CANADIAN CORPORATE FOREIGN EXCHANGE BUSINESS FIRMA FOREIGN EXCHANGE CORPORATION (FIRMA)
OFX Group Limited (OFX) today announced it has completed its acquisition of Firma Foreign Exchange Corporation (Firma) for a total consideration of C$90m (A$98m). The transaction expands OFX’s capability and presence as a global foreign exchange and payments provider.
“We’re excited to complete our first major acquisition and to welcome our new clients and colleagues. As we bring our businesses together, our priority will be ensuring there is no disruption to Firma clients or employees. We look forward to building on our collective strengths and excellent service culture by enhancing the experience for clients with our digital capabilities.”
Skander Malcolm, OFX Chief Executive Officer, and Managing Director.
Under the deal, OFX will acquire Firma’s product suite and customer portfolio. The acquisition adds 9,600 clients to OFX’s portfolio and delivers 93% of incremental revenue to its Corporate segment1. Firma’s strong commercial expertise and significant addition to OFX’s pre-existing volumes in major currency pairs, such as USD/CAD and USD/GBP, will diversify OFX’s currency flows as well as the industries its Corporate segment serves.
Combining Firma’s service excellence and Corporate expertise with OFX’s service excellence, global platform, including global licenses, and technology will enable clients to benefit when moving money across borders, securely, quickly, and cost-effectively as they conduct business globally.
With combined LTM to September 21 Pro-forma Group revenue of A$186.5m and EBITDA of A$55.1m, OFX will be a leading Corporate cross-border payments provider in Canada.
Completion of the acquisition of Firma’s UK business, Firma Foreign Exchange Corporation (UK) is being finalized and remains subject to regulatory approval.
ELON MUSK REACHES AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE TWITTER FOR ABOUT $44 BILLION
Elon Musk reached an agreement to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion on Monday, promising a more lenient touch to policing
content on the social media platform where he — the world’s richest person — promotes his interests, attacks critics, and opines on a wide range of issues to more than 83 million followers.
“We wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks it’s not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.”
“We want to make the service “better than ever” with new features while getting rid of automated “spam” accounts and making its algorithms open to the public to increase trust.”
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,”
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors.
The more hands-off approach to content moderation that Musk envisions has many users concerned that the platform will become more of a haven for disinformation, hate speech, and bullying, something it has worked hard in recent years to mitigate. Wall Street analysts said if he goes too far, it could also alienate advertisers.
The deal was cemented roughly two weeks after the billionaire first revealed a 9 percent stake in the platform. Musk said last week that he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, putting pressure on the company’s board to negotiate a deal.
Twitter said the transaction was unanimously approved by its board of directors and is expected to close in 2022, pending regulatory sign-off and the approval of shareholders.
Shares of Twitter Inc. rose more than 5 percent Monday to $51.70 per share. On April 14, Musk announced an offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share. While the stock is up sharply since Musk made his offer, it is well below the high of $77 per share it reached in February 2021.
Musk has described himself as a “free-speech absolutist” but is also known for blocking or disparaging other Twitter users who question or disagree with him.