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THE EVER-INCREASING NEED TO APPLY FRICTIONLESS BANKING TECHNOLOGY TO CROSS-BORDER TRANSACTIONS
There has been a real drive towards ‘frictionless’ banking in Western countries, giving rise to the question: why aren’t cross-border payments equally frictionless? Especially for those in emerging markets, who have everything to lose and much to contribute.
BUSINESS TRENDS WHICH WILL DEFINE THE NEXT NORMAL
2021 is expected to be a year of change, with businesses around the world optimistic that the months ahead will be brighter than what 2020 dealt us. Many of the micro trends that companies thought would be temporary measures throughout the pandemic have become macro trends that are here to stay. These are a few of the trends that small businesses and entrepreneurs should be watchful of in order to maximise their efforts and enhance the likelihood of success.
UK GOVERNMENT APPOINTS NEW TASK FORCE TO TACKLE GREENWASHING IN FINANCIAL SECTOR
Members of trade bodies, academia, and NGOs will make up the task force, known as the Green Technical Advisory Group (GTAG). The GTAF will be responsible for overseeing the government’s delivery of a “Green Taxonomy”. This common framework will offer comprehensible standards that lay out when a financial product or investment can be classed as environmentally sustainable.
FRENCH AND SWISS CENTRAL BANKS TO TRIAL DIGITAL CURRENCIES
A statement made on Thursday announced that the Swiss National Bank and the Banque De France will look into the feasibility of a cross-national arrangement of two wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on blockchain. The SNB has enlisted a private sector consortium (including R3, UBS, and Credit Suisse) which will be led by Accenture.
EL SALVADOR HAS BECOME THE FIRST COUNTRY TO ADOPT BITCOIN AS LEGAL TENDER
After a supermajority vote, in which Bitcoin Law received 62 out of 84 of the legislature’s vote, the digital currency will become legal tender in El Salvador. The Republic of El Salvador is the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, with the price of bitcoin up by 5% soon after the vote.
SPACS – ANOTHER BUBBLE THAT’S DEFLATING
SPACs are very much a child of this age of fervid expectation, which was founded in how quickly the adoption of new tech is going to change the world. Everything from space tugs to hydrogen cars was apparently possible – whatever the realities of profits and costs suggested. Just a few months ago SPACs were perceived to be the simplest route into hot new companies across the disruptive tech market – new EV makers, spaceships, health and sports firms.
UK PATENT BOX SCHEME SET TO BECOME AN EVEN MORE VALUABLE TAX BENEFIT
The UK Patent Box scheme is set to become an even more valuable tax benefit in the near future. With Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement of higher corporate tax rates from 2023, larger and more profitable companies in the UK will be able to enjoy even greater savings on profits qualifying for Patent Box relief.
Currently, Patent Box allows UK companies to benefit from a reduced 10% corporate tax rate for income derived from qualifying intellectual property, rather than the standard 19%.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT A LENDER’S DECISION ON YOUR LOAN
When you’re applying for a mortgage, auto loan, personal loan, or any other loan, you want to get the best outcome. However, your loan application may not go well all the time. It’s because lenders consider a range of factors to ensure that they are extending the loan responsibly.
If you don’t know what your lender is looking for, it can be more difficult for you to get approval. It would be best to acquaint yourself with the different factors that may significantly affect a lender’s decision on your loan.
NUMERATED ACQUIRES FINCURA TO TAKE THE PAIN OUT OF FINANCIAL SPREADING FOR BUSINESS LENDERS AND THEIR BORROWERS
Numerated, the Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing fintech SaaS company, has acquired Fincura Inc., adding spreading automation and financial analysis to Numerated’s Digital Loan Origination System. The strategic acquisition expands Numerated’s underwriting capabilities for business loans that require deep financial analysis, improving the experience for lenders and their borrowers, and ultimately saving valuable time while improving the financial institution’s understanding of risk.
BLOCKCHAIN SECURITY SOLUTION PROVIDER CYBAVO SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN TOKYO FINANCIAL AWARD
Blockchain security firm CYBAVO has been selected as a participant for the Tokyo Financial Award, Financial Innovation Category. Chosen from a pool of 88 applicants, CYBAVO is one of the 16 companies that have moved into the next phase of the prestigious award.
The Tokyo Financial Award is hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) as part of its “Global Financial City: Tokyo” project, which aims to revitalize the city’s financial sector and reaffirm Tokyo’s position as the top global financial city in Asia. The award is designed to attract FinTech companies, both local Japanese and international organizations, to develop and provide innovative products and services that contribute to enhancing Tokyo residents’ daily lives and solve problems that Tokyo’s government may face.
XY FINANCE RAISES $12M FUNDING ROUND FROM INVESTORS INCLUDING CIRCLE
Rapidly growing blockchain startup XY Finance has announced that it has closed a $12M funding round led by some of the most prominent venture capital firms in the cryptocurrency space. Led by investors including Circle Internet Financial, LLC, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Mechanism Capital, TRON Foundation, Morningstar Ventures, Yield Guild Games Ventures, Block Capital and Animoca Brands, the full consortium includes more than forty investment firms.
The fund raise also comes as XY Finance is about to conduct its Initial DEX Offering (IDO) on December 9. “XY Finance is excited to acquire significant support from our investors. In the near future, the cross-chain mechanism will be a game-changer of the DeFi ecosystem and GameFi market.” says XY founder Wilson Huang. “Including cross-chain transactions, GameFi, and NFT, what we’re doing will become essential for advanced DeFi users; therefore, we are eyeing more than $1 trillion transaction growth in 2022.”
UDEGO FINANCE LAUNCHES NEW TOKEN ON THE BINANCE SMART CHAIN WITH THE POTENTIAL TO CREATE AN ECOSYSTEM OF FINANCIAL APPLICATIONS
Udego Finance, an open-source, permissionless, and transparent financial service ecosystem launches new cryptocurrency Udego today on the Binance Smart Chain. Udego Finance is an Automated Market Marker (AMM) built on top of blockchain networks. It has the potential to create entirely new financial markets, products, and services.
CETERA EXTENDS INVESTOR ACQUISITION PROGRAM TO ALL AFFILIATED FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS BASED ON ORGANIC GROWTH RESULTS
Cetera Financial Group, one of America’s largest networks of financial professionals, today announced that its investor acquisition program is expanding to all Cetera-affiliated financial professionals and that participants are eligible for reimbursement of their investment into the program. LeadEngine, which is powered by SmartAsset – the largest lead generation platform for financial professionals – is Cetera’s exclusive investor acquisition program that connects financial professionals directly with highly qualified prospects who are actively seeking a financial professional.
DAKOTA CREDIT UNION ASSOCIATION COLLABORATES WITH LEADING AI-BASED CREDIT DECISIONING PLATFORM PROVIDER SCIENAPTIC AI
Scienaptic announced today a collaboration with the Dakota Credit Union Association (DakCU) enabling the company to offer its AI-based credit underwriting technology to credit unions throughout North and South Dakota.
The Dakota Credit Union Association (DakCU) is a professional financial trade association serving 69 credit unions with more than 520,000 members in North and South Dakota, with assets of more than $9.4 billion and are currently providing Dakota consumers with over $5.7 billion in loans. The goal of this alliance is to extend the accessibility and power of AI to smaller credit unions in the region. The collaboration will help reach more credit unions regardless of asset size, making AI more attainable across the states.
PAYSAFE PARTNERS WITH HUAWEI FOR ONLINE CASH PAYMENTS IN THE HUAWEI APPGALLERY
Leading specialised payments platform, Paysafe , today announces a new partnership with Huawei, a leading global provider of information technology and communications technology infrastructure and smart devices. Paysafe’s online cash payment solution paysafecard is now available as an alternative payment method in the Huawei App Gallery in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Plans to continue the rollout throughout most countries where paysafecard is available, will make cash-based online purchases available to millions of customers.
MOODY’S ANALYTICS LAUNCHES ASSET-LIABILITY MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR INSURANCE INVESTMENT
Moody’s Analytics is pleased to announce the launch of RiskIntegrity™ Investment Insight, an asset-liability management (ALM) solution for insurance companies. The new tool combines data and modeling capabilities from across Moody’s Analytics to help insurers to build liability-aware investment portfolios and better evaluate their investment strategies across a range of business metrics.
Insurance companies face a variety of challenges in managing their organization’s investment strategy including understanding the impact of alternative asset classes, reducing the operational risk of maintaining complex data and models, and adapting to regulatory change. Available as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, RiskIntegrity Investment Insight helps insurers’ ALM and investment teams address these challenges by bringing Moody’s Analytics core content and models to life to deliver user-friendly analytics and reports on demand.