NEWS
Featured News
Trending News
OPORTUN COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF DIGIT, A NEOBANKING COMPANY AND PLATFORM
Oportun , a mission-driven fintech company announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Digit (digit.co), a neobanking platform that provides automated savings, investing, and banking tools. According to the company, the acquisition of Digit further expands its A.I. and digital capabilities to provide hardworking consumers a holistic offering built to address their financial needs.
“This is a transformational deal that positions Oportun for even more future success,” said Raul Vazquez, CEO of Oportun. “With this transaction, we are combining two mission-driven organizations with complementary services, capabilities, and member bases.”
LAURENTIAN BANK ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH BRIM FINANCIAL TO TRANSFORM ITS VISA CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Laurentian Bank of Canada announced today a strategic partnership with Brim Financial (“Brim”), one of the fastest growing fintech companies in Canada and a licensed credit card issuer, to fuel its digital transformation and enhance its end-to-end customer journey for its suite of VISA products. Through this partnership, Laurentian Bank will integrate Brim’s unique Platform as a Service (PaaS) to accelerate the Bank’s digital capabilities, simplify its VISA ecosystem, close foundational gaps in its offering, and differentiate its products in the market. Laurentian Bank and Brim plan to bring the new experience to the market in 2022.
VISA COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF CURRENCYCLOUD
Visa today announced it has completed the acquisition of Currencycloud, a global platform that enables banks and fintechs to provide innovative foreign exchange solutions for cross-border payments.
The acquisition will empower Visa and Currencycloud clients and partners to provide greater transparency, flexibility and control for consumers and businesses when making international payments or doing business in multiple currencies.
The acquisition builds on an existing strategic partnership between Currencycloud and Visa. Currencycloud’s cloud-based platform already supports over 500 banking and technology clients with reach in over 180 countries and will continue to serve and support its customers and partners across the industry.
ROCKET COMPANIES TO ACQUIRE TRUEBILL, ADDING RAPIDLY EXPANDING FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FINTECH TO THE ROCKET PLATFORM
Rocket Companies, the Detroit-based platform company consisting of tech-driven real estate, mortgage and financial services businesses – including Rocket Mortgage, Rocket Homes and Rocket Auto – today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Truebill, the leading personal finance app that helps consumers manage every aspect of their financial lives, for $1.275 billion in cash.
Truebill has quickly become the choice for consumers looking to live their best financial lives by managing subscriptions, improving credit scores, tracking spending and building budgets in a simple, easy-to-use app. The company also renegotiates bills on its clients’ behalf – saving them as much as 20 percent on services including cable and telephone bills.
HEARSAY SYSTEMS OFFERS FINANCIAL INDUSTRY’S FIRST AI-POWERED VIDEO COMPLIANCE PRE-REVIEW SOLUTION
Hearsay Systems, the trusted leader in compliant digital communications that deliver an authentic, human-client experience for the financial services industry, today announced the release of the first AI-powered solution to dramatically reduce the time and effort associated with reviewing videos financial advisors post across their social channels. This new, highly scalable solution is a first for the financial services industry. It allows users to publish video content faster by leveraging AI to detect inappropriate material and an automated speech-to-text lexicon review to ensure that all videos are in full compliance with industry standards before they are posted. Hearsay also unveiled a new feature that adds compliance support for direct messages sent through Instagram. These advances make it easier and more efficient than ever for advisors to use digital channels to connect with clients and prospects.
AVANT BANKING LAUNCHES FOLLOWING ZERO FINANCIAL ACQUISITION
Avant, a leading financial technology company that gives middle-income consumers access to the credit they deserve, announced today the initial launch of Avant Banking.* The debut of Avant Banking expands the company’s financial product portfolio of personal loans, credit cards and auto refinance, and follows its acquisition of Zero Financial, Inc. and its digital banking app, Level, in April.
Available now, Avant Banking includes access to spending accounts, debit cards,1 ACH transfers2 and, for those with direct deposits, access to payday funds up to two days early.3 After making a deposit, customers are issued a virtual card that can be immediately added to Apple Wallet® or Google Pay.™5
FPT SOFTWARE AND IFA PARTNER TO RAMP UP BLOCKCHAIN-BACKED INFORMATION BANKING SERVICE
Vietnam’s leading IT firm FPT Software and Tokyo-based IFA Co., Ltd. (IFA) have formed a business alliance to develop an information banking platform. The platform, AIre Data Bank, expects to enhance the data exchange experience with the utilization of blockchain technology.
Many businesses and services rely on data to operate, but how to exchange data fairly and safely remains a challenge. With the development of AIre Data Bank, FPT Software and IFA look to offer a marketplace that enables secured and transparent transactions of data and rewards between “sellers,” who provide a variety of personal data, and “buyers,” who purchase data for marketing and other purposes.
NR FINANCE MÉXICO SELECTS LINEDATA EKIP360 TO SUPPORT MANAGEMENT OF ITS CONTRACT FINANCING
Linedata , a global provider of asset management and credit technology data and services, today announced that NR Finance México (NRFM), Mexico’s leading automotive financing company, has chosen Linedata to manage its complete back office retail and leasing business for the automotive brands within the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. Leveraging Linedata’s integration capabilities and with support from the team at NRFM, Linedata Ekip360 has been successfully implemented.
GOLDMAN SACHS COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF NN INVESTMENT PARTNERS
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. today announced the completion of the acquisition of NN Investment Partners from NN Group N.V. for €1.7 billion.
NN Investment Partners will be integrated into Goldman Sachs Asset Management with the company’s more than 900 employees joining the Goldman Sachs family and the Netherlands becoming an important location in Goldman Sachs’ European business and a center of excellence for sustainability in public markets investing.
The acquisition brings Goldman Sachs’ assets under supervision to approximately $2.8 trillion1 and affirms its position as a top-five active asset manager globally with leading franchises in fixed income, liquidity, equities, alternatives, and insurance asset management. It also brings assets under supervision in Europe to over $600 billion, aligning with the firm’s strategic objectives to scale its European business and extend its global reach.
The combination further strengthens our platform and provides an expanded product range and dedicated service to clients globally, bringing together the best of both organizations to deliver investment solutions at scale, across all asset classes.
NN Investment Partners is highly complementary to Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s existing European footprint, adding new capabilities and accelerating growth in products such as European equity and investment-grade credit, sustainable and impact equity, and green bonds.
NN Investment Partners has been successful in incorporating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors across its product range, with ESG criteria integrated into approximately 90% of assets under supervision2. Over time, Goldman Sachs Asset Management intends to leverage the expertise of NN Investment Partners to complement its existing investment processes, helping the firm to deepen ESG integration across its product range and deliver on clients’ sustainable investing priorities.
“This acquisition advances our commitment to putting sustainability at the heart of our investment platform. It adds scale to our European client franchise and extends our leadership in insurance asset management. We are excited to welcome the talented team at NN Investment Partners, a center of excellence in sustainable investing, to Goldman Sachs and together we will focus on delivering long-term value to our clients and shareholders.”
David Solomon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs
As part of the transaction, Goldman Sachs Asset Management has entered into a long-term strategic partnership agreement with NN Group to manage an approximately $180 billion portfolio of assets, reflecting the strength of the business’ global insurance asset management capabilities and alternatives franchise.
The partnership also strengthens Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s position as one of the largest non-affiliated insurance asset managers globally, with over $550 billion in assets under supervision, and the acquisition will provide a foundation for further growth in the firm’s European fiduciary management business, building on the success of its platform in the United States and the United Kingdom.
WORKDAY SEES CONTINUED MOMENTUM WITH LARGE ENTERPRISES DEPLOYING ITS FINANCE SOLUTIONS
Workday, a leader in enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources, has announced continued momentum for its office of finance solutions, as large enterprises around the world continue deploying Workday to help drive digital finance transformation strategies. In the company’s fiscal 2022 fourth quarter, customers including American Financial Group, Bon Secours Mercy Health, Christmas Tree Shops, Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), Nuffield Health, Sharp HealthCare, and SS&C Technologies deployed Workday finance solutions to help manage performance and growth and drive business-critical decisions.
Workday also announced a record number of deployments for its core finance offerings — Workday Financial Management, Workday Adaptive Planning, and Workday Strategic Sourcing — in its fiscal year 2022 (Feb. 1, 2021-Jan. 31, 2022), with nearly 1,500 deployments during that period, signaling an increased demand for Workday solutions supporting the office of the chief financial officer (CFO).
Innovation for the Office of the CFO
The company’s broad portfolio of cloud finance offerings brings new levels of visibility and control that go beyond the boundaries of traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Together Workday Financial Management, Workday Adaptive Planning, Workday Accounting Centre, Workday Prism Analytics, and Workday Spend Management, which includes Workday Strategic Sourcing, deliver a deep and comprehensive solution for enterprise planning and analysis across all finance processes.
Specifically, Workday continues to drive innovation across its solutions to help global customers:
- Become decision-ready with the Workday intelligent data core. Workday offers a unique architecture that allows finance teams to harness the power of data by blending operational and transactional data into a single source. Workday Accounting Centre, built on this foundation, represents a fundamental change in the way finance teams manage external transactions by dramatically simplifying the transformation of high-volume operational data into accounting.
- Adapt to changing business conditions with continuous planning. Workday Adaptive Planning enables customers to collaboratively forecast and budget with driver-based planning and what-if scenario modeling. Predictive forecasting, powered by machine learning, enables easy evaluation across multiple scenarios, such as changing market conditions, regulatory changes, or currency fluctuations, to rapidly adapt to change.
- Modernize accounting and procurement processes. Workday increases efficiency by embedding machine learning into core processes. With Workday Financial Management, finance teams spend less time on transaction processing and are empowered to focus more on strategy and analysis to drive the business forward. In addition, Workday Spend Management automates the source-to-pay process and provides complete visibility to help finance and purchasing departments strategically manage costs, minimize out-of-policy spending, and optimize purchasing power.
IMPRINT PARTNERS WITH SELINA TO LAUNCH THE SELINA REWARDS VISA CARD
Imprint, which offers branded payments and rewards products, today announced a partnership with Selina, the fast-growing lifestyle and experiential hospitality brand targeting Millennial and Gen Z travelers, to launch the Selina Rewards Visa Card.
Consumers will be rewarded like never before with the new Selina Rewards Visa Card, which includes a $25 sign-up reward, 5% back at Selina locations, and 1% back everywhere else. The card uses Imprint to provide exclusive rewards and cashback with every purchase – users download the Imprint App, connect their bank account, and use the card anywhere that Visa is accepted.
The Selina Rewards Visa Card is available via the Imprint App. Signing up with Imprint takes under a minute, and the Selina Rewards Visa Card comes with no credit inquiries, no interest, and absolutely no fees. Unlike other cards, Imprint allows members to use their rewards immediately. As consumers earn rewards, points are automatically applied to the next Selina purchase.
Brands like Selina are launching with Imprint’s platform to power custom rewards programs that reduce the cost to process payments and reinvest the savings into rich rewards for their customers. As a result, brands can boost retention and customer lifetime value with minimal investment.
“We are incredibly excited to partner with Selina and offer exclusive rewards and customized experiences to their loyal guests,”
“Our mission is to work alongside great companies like Selina to build payments systems that reduce costs to the business and provide every customer with access to great rewards.”
Daragh Murphy, CEO & Co-founder of Imprint.
Selina’s global network of hotels spans 144 open and secured properties across 25 countries in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific. Selina expects to continue to benefit from the surge in remote working and the prioritization of health, wellness, and experiences among Millennial and Gen Z travelers.
“ We are thrilled to begin this special relationship with Imprint to provide our guests and members with added value as we continue to build a dynamic, engaging, and authentic lifestyle brand that resonates with consumers. This collaboration is just the latest example of how Selina is partnering with innovative companies to ingrain our brand more deeply in the hearts and minds of travelers. ”
Rafael Museri, Selina’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
VIVA WALLET AND MASTERCARD ACCELERATE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN EVORA
Viva Wallet, with the support of Mastercard, will assist the digital transformation in the city of Evora, enabling local merchants to adopt contactless payments in their stores.
The initiative is intended to encourage SMEs from local businesses to join the acceptance of contactless payments, through Tap On Phone technology, which is provided by the Viva Wallet POS app, thus allowing customers to pay easily, safely and hassle-free, even with international cards. With this innovative technology, merchants can transform any Android NFC-enabled smartphone, tablet or other device into a contactless card terminal, saving the costs associated with dedicated terminals, by simply downloading the application to the merchant’s smartphone.
This digital transformation project kicks off with a campaign to promote and advertise the service, encouraging more than 1,000 local businesses, including restaurants, to join digital payments, improving the shopping experience of their customers, especially tourists, who are not always able to use their cards in traditional national card terminals.
This Viva Wallet initiative in Evora, with the support of Mastercard, aims to educate and raise awareness among merchants, as well as encourage the local population, students and tourists to use contactless payments.
The campaign started on April 4 and will be present in several digital media but also physical media such as billboards and large format, static and mobile, as well as displays in local shops and restaurants and social networks.
“ The Tap On Phone solution, available to all merchants, brings a new paradigm to the payment landscape. The old and bulky payment card terminals, only focused on payments, will soon become obsolete. Viva Wallet is leading the digital transformation of SMEs with the latest technology available. Now, any business can benefit from the Viva Wallet POS app, and turn an Android phone with NFC into a card terminal. Our solution is not only highly innovative but can also be easily integrated with third party applications. And best of all: there are no monthly fees or limitations on the number of “card terminals” a merchant can have! ”
Viva Wallet Country Manager Pedro Saldanha.
“ It is the right time for us to support the digital transition of cities, giving more quality of life to its residents and visitors. Using a contactless card in daily routines is a good example. Mastercard, with Viva Wallet and local stakeholders, wants to make Evora a contactless city, by using a set of innovative services that we have implemented in several cities around the world. It is this global experience that we want to share with the city of Evora, with the people of Evora, with local commerce and businesses, and with all those who visit the city. With this project we are responding to the challenges of tourism and to the dynamization of the local economy, through scalable technological solutions, essential for the future of smart cities. ”
Mastercard Country Manager Maria Antonia Saldanha.
VISA AND POPID FORM PARTNERSHIP TO LAUNCH FACIAL VERIFICATION PAYMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
PopID, a consumer authentication service, and Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, announced a partnership to collaborate on launching facial verification payment acceptance in the Middle East region. The goal of the partnership is to provide cardholders with new safe, secure, and innovative ways to pay.
SUSTAINABLE FINTECH CARBONPAY LAUNCHES PREPAID BUSINESS PAYMENT CARD: HELPING COMPANIES TO AUTOMATICALLY OFFSET THEIR CARBON FOOTPRINT WITH EVERY TRANSACTION
CarbonPay, a sustainable fintech platform that offers the planet’s most impactful payment cards and makes everyday climate action simpler, today announced the launch of its corporate prepaid offering, CarbonPay Business Ctrl. With this launch, CarbonPay offers a prepaid card for businesses in the U.S. and U.K. that helps offset their carbon footprint automatically with every transaction; for every £1 / $1.50 spent, CarbonPay offsets 1kg of CO2 at no extra cost. The simple and transparent pricing plan scales with any business, where businesses can add as many or as few people as needed, paying £5 / $5 a month per cardholder.
KLARNA COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF PRICERUNNER
Klarna, a leading global retail bank, payments, and shopping service today announced the completion of its acquisition of PriceRunner, the leading comparison shopping service in the Nordic region with operations in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom.
ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP, INC. AMENDS AND EXTENDS ITS GLOBAL SENIOR FACILITY
Encore Capital Group, Inc., an international specialty finance company, today announced that it had amended and restated its existing global senior secured revolving credit facility agreement to, among other things, increase the size of the facility by $90 million to $1.14 billion and extend the termination date of the facility from September 2025 to September 2026.