Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Happy Earth Day! Partnerships in payments and fundraising in the international investment/wealth management space are dominating fintech news headlines as the week begins.

Digital banking

Temenos announces appointment of new Chief Executive Officer Jean-Pierre Brulard, effective May 1, 2024.

Caribbean Bank Limited partners with Finastra to modernize its core technology and upgrade its back office operations.

Zafin appoints Charbel Safadi to replace Al Karim as CEO.

Open banking

Open banking firm Fintech Galaxy collaborates with Singapore-based FinbotsAI to launch new credit profiling capabilities.

Bill-sharing app Splitwise teams up with open banking platform Tink to bring Pay by Bank to Splitwise customers.

Banking-as-a-Service

BaaS innovator Finzly partners with EverBank to enhance the firm’s payment processing system.

Crypto

eToro teams up with 21Shares to launch a new, “data-driven,” crypto portfolio, 21Shares-Flows.

Payments

Ad-subsidized payments network (ASPN) Zilch extends its collaboration with Amazon Web Services.

Payments and financial platform for businesses Airwallex launched its payment acceptance solution in the U.S.

Klarna forges global partnership with Uber, bringing its Pay Now option to the company’s ride-sharing and delivery platforms.

Brite Payments goes live in Germany with its Instant Payments solution.

Business payments specialist Bottomline forges strategic partnership with spend management company Coupa.

TabaPay to acquire the assets of BaaS provider Synapse Financial Technologies.

Real-time, cross border payments company Nium introduces new Chief Payments Officer, Alexandra Johnson.

Versapay appoints Ed Neumann as Chief Financial Officer.

UAE-based Careem Pay expands its international remittance services in the U.K. to include its Faster Payments offering.

GoCardless and Intuit QuickBooks integrate to allow U.S. QuickBook users to use ACH-Pull for account-to-account payments.

Thunes agrees to acquire Tilia. Tilia will be rebranded as Thunes and will remain based in San Francisco.

Klarna expands global partnership with Expedia to offer BNPL payment option for flights and hotel stay purchases.

Sopra Banking Software and Paymentology partner to deliver card issuing services within its SBP Digital Core platform.

Visa and Standard Chartered partner on cross-border payments.

Regtech

U.K.-based digital compliance and AML solutions provider SmartSearch appoints Phil Cotter as CEO.

Investing and Wealth Management

Wealth management platform TIFIN introduces new Chief Operating Officer of its TIFIN AG platform Jeannette Kuda.

Goldman Sachs announces deal to sell its Marcus Invest digital investing accounts to Betterment.

Istanbul, Turkey-based investment app Midas secures $45 million in new funding.

Kinsted Wealth partners with software provider Objectway for its investment management platform.

Cairo, Egypt’s Bokra raises $4.6 million in pre-seed funding for its platform that offers investment products via asset backed securities.

Lending and Credit

U.K. property lender Together partners with nCino to enhance its lending operations.

BMO unveils its Greener Future Financing program to help SMEs in the U.S. build climate-resilient operations.

Pomelo lands $20 million in Seed funding and a $50 million warehouse facility for its tool that combines credit and international money transfer.

Figure Technology Solutions appoints Michael Tannenbaum as Chief Executive Officer.

E-commerce

Subscription management and billing platform Recurly introduces new dashboards with built-in benchmarks.

Klarna sells Hero, the virtual shopping platform it acquired in 2021, for $1.3 million (€1.3 million).

Splitit unveils FI-PayLater to empower banks to provide in-checkout installments for existing customers.

Identity verification

Financial crime risk data and fraud detection technology company ComplyAdvantage acquires knowledge graph builder Golden.

AU10TIX announces $18 billion in business fraud prevented since 2021.

Small Business Tools

Basware introduces AP Protect, an AI-powered solution that empowers finance teams to protect their organizations against profit loss, invoice errors, and fraud. 

Marqeta partners with OakNorth to offer commercial cards in the U.K.

Payroll

Rippling raises $200 million in new financing with $13.5 billion valuation.


Photo by Valentin Antonucci

Finastra and Tesselate Team Up to Power Trade Finance Digitization

Finastra and Tesselate Team Up to Power Trade Finance Digitization
  • Finastra and Tesselate announced a partnership to facilitate faster and easier trade finance digitization.
  • The two companies launched Tegula Trade Finance as a Service which enables banks to automate manual processes, increase efficiencies, and reduce processing times.
  • Finastra was formed in 2017 from a merger between Finovate alum Misys and D+H.

A partnership between Finastra and digital transformation consultancy Tesselate will facilitate faster and easier trade finance digitization courtesy of a new end-to-end pre-packaged service. Launched today, Tegula Trade Finance as a Service empowers banks in the U.S. to automate manual processes and adapt to emerging events with a faster time to market and value. Banks can also leverage Finastra FusionFabric.cloud to integrate fintech applications and take advantage of enabling technologies such as AI and the blockchain.

“Our combined service with Tesselate delivers the automation and intelligence needed to increase efficiencies and decrease processing times, risk, errors, and total cost of ownership,” Finastra Managing Director and Head of Enterprise Sales and Strategic Partnerships, Americas, Jim McMahon said. “Importantly, the all-in-one solution promotes interoperability of trade finance processes to reduce friction and complexity, while giving banks the agility to enhance existing or launch new services.”

The new offering is powered by Finastra Trade Innovation and Corporate Channels. Finastra Trade Innovation is an end-to-end solution that facilitates frictionless trade and supply chain finance via straight-through processing, digitization, and data analytics to support growth and agility. Corporate Channels is a digital banking platform that gives banks a unified portal for trade, cash, supply-chain finance, lending, and treasury services for corporates. These technologies, and easy integration, help make Tegula Trade Finance as a Service a tool banks can use in order to boost revenue, take advantage of new market opportunities, enhance security, and future-proof their business.

“By delivering our all-in-one joint solution as a highly secure managed service, banks do not need to invest in significant amounts of additional resources or take them away from their core business to pursue digitization,” Tesselate Chief Revenue Officer and Managing Partner Alexandre Arnoux said. “Banks can take a modular approach to implementation for better cost and resource control, and we provide the ongoing updates, enhancements, and new capabilities at speed.”

A digital transformation consultancy and integrator headquartered in Paris, France, Tesselate advises FIs on digital strategy and supports them in their digital transformation journeys. This includes helping them implement and integrate enabling technologies and software solutions from Tesselate’s partners to improve operational efficiency and support growth. Founded in 2010, the company last month announced a partnership with Swiss fintech MITech.

Formed via a merger between Finovate alum Misys and D+H in 2017, Finastra serves financial institutions of all sizes with a wide variety of solutions and services across lending, payments, treasury and capital markets, as well as universal banking. The company’s offerings help FIs develop and grow banking relationships via channels such as embedded finance and Banking as a Service. More than 8,000 institutions – including 45 of the top 50 banks in the world – use Finastra’s technology to support open banking and fuel collaboration.

Headquartered in London, Finastra began the year announcing an upgraded partnership with Allied Banking Corporation and a new collaboration with Vietnam-based LPBank. The company also announced last month that it has teamed up with data and AI company Databricks. The partnership will enable Finastra to further leverage its data and to deliver value-added solutions with Generative AI capabilities. Finastra has also used Databricks to set up a data platform, Secure Zone, for its developers. Simon Paris is Finastra’s CEO.


Photo by Pixabay

Finovate Global Switzerland: Temenos Unveils Enterprise Services, Rivero Raises $7 Million

Finovate Global Switzerland: Temenos Unveils Enterprise Services, Rivero Raises $7 Million

Swiss fintech Temenos launched its end-to-end Temenos Enterprise Services on the Temenos Banking Cloud this week. The new offering will enable banks to lower the cost, complexity, and risk of modernization, and deploy new software solutions in 24 hours.

Temenos President Product and Chief Operating Officer Prima Varadhan called the offering “a game-changing approach.” Varadhan added, “the ability to deploy fast, take advantage of a functionally-rich system from day 1, and benefit from continuous updates, help banks to attack the largest cost elements of running core banking software.”

Temenos Enterprise Services features 120+ pre-packaged banking products, predefined customer journeys, and more than 700 pre-configured APIs. The offering enables banks, regardless of size, to launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), and have a build and test environment within 24 hours. Whether the goal is the launch new business lines or to modernize legacy systems, Temenos Enterprise Services enables banks to benefit from continuous updates, optimal security controls, resilience, and high-performance Service Level Agreements. Banks and FI will also get immediate access to the Temenos Exchange ecosystem with another 115+ complementary solutions.

“Speed, security, and business agility are key for banks to compete and thrive in the digital world,” Varadhan said. “With our end-to-end Temenos Enterprise Services on Temenos Banking Cloud, banks of all sizes can have a ready-to-go system in 24 hours with pre-configured banking products, turn on new features, and benefit from faster time to value.”

A Finovate alum since 2013, Temenos counts more than 700 banks and 3,000+ FIs across 150 countries as users of its technology. The Swiss fintech’s offerings support retail, business, and corporate banking, as well as wealth management and services for fund administrators. Temenos ended 2023 with a new partnership with Lesha Bank, a Qatar-based investment bank that migrated to Temenos’ core banking platform in December.


Swiss payments technology company Rivero raised $7 million in Series A funding this week. Inference Partners and 6 Degrees Capital led the round. Kraken Ventures, Seed X Liechtenstein, the venture arm of PostFinance and angel investor and former Adyen COO, Robert Kraal, also participated in the funding. The company will use the capital to fuel expansion into new markets, enhance product development, and add to its workforce.

“We’re thrilled to share the news of our Series A round,” Rivero CEO and co-founder Thomas Müller said, “especially given the current challenging market conditions. We take this as confirmation of our strong business model and clear market demand for our products.”

A specialist in payment digitization and automation, Rivero makes payments easier for financial institutions, especially issuing banks. The company has two primary SaaS offerings: Kajo, a payment scheme compliance solution, and Amiko, which provides tools for fraud recovery and dispute management. Rivero has forged partnerships with more than 20+ financial institutions including Swiss bank Cembra, which deployed Amiko, and payment card issuer Cornercard, which deployed Kajo.

“Globally, banks spend billions of dollars on scheme compliance and payment dispute management,” 6 Degrees Capital partner Thibault D’hondt noted. “Rivero is the first of its kind to offer a suite of SaaS solutions to help banks and processors address the challenge.”

Founded in 2019, Rivero is based in Zurich, Switzerland.


Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • German crypto custodian Fiona raised $15 million in strategic funding at a valuation of $100 million.
  • Estonian fintech Money Industries secured a $1.5 million investment led by Caucasus Ventures.
  • Omnicredit, Romania’s first micro financing, scoring and factoring company, won the “Best Digital Lending in CEE Among Fintechs” award from the SME Banking Club Association.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • MENA-based Paymob teamed up with GCC-based shopping and payments platform Tamara.
  • Ooredoo, a Qatar-based fintech, forged a partnership with Commercial Bank to launch its direct debit solution.
  • MENA-based payments solutions provider Magnati collaborated with Oxinus Holdings to enhance payments in the food and beverage business.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Indian pay tech Mylapay raised $550,000 in seed funding.
  • nanopay brought its remittance solution, Foree Remittance, to Pakistan courtesy of a partnership with the National Bank of Pakistan.
  • India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) integrated with Singapore-based PayNow to support remittance flows from Indian’s in Singapore back home.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Conta Simples, an expense management and corporate card services platform based in Brazil, secured $41.5 million in new funding.
  • Argentina-based fintech Ualá launched the country’s first no-fee credit card.
  • Brazilian fintech Nubank to expand into Colombia.

Asia-Pacific

  • Lien Viet Post Joint Stock Commercial Bank (LPBank) partnered with Finastra.
  • BitGo secured in principle approval to launch operations in Singapore.
  • Funding for fintech startups in Indonesia fell by more than 50% last year, according to a report from Tracxn Technologies.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Mastercard partnered with illicocash to launch virtual card program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
  • IT Web Africa looked at the potential for fintech development in Ethiopia.
  • Vienna Payment Solutions teamed up with Interswitch East Africa (Kenya).

Photo by H. Emre

Finovate Global MENA: Tabby Raises $200 Million, Finastra Powers Innovation in Qatar, Kuwait Promotes Financial Wellness for Teens

Finovate Global MENA: Tabby Raises $200 Million, Finastra Powers Innovation in Qatar, Kuwait Promotes Financial Wellness for Teens

Tabby, a Buy Now, Pay Later platform based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has secured $200 million in Series D funding. The round was led by Wellington Management. The investment gives the company a valuation of $1.5 billion, making Tabby MENA’s latest fintech unicorn. With participation from Bluepool Capital and existing investors STV, Mubadala Investment Capital, Arbor Ventures, and PayPal Ventures, the investment comes ahead of Tabby’s planned IPO in Saudi Arabia.

“Tabby set out with a purpose to reshape financial services – one that’s fair and responsible – and with this investment we can advance our mission across Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” Tabby CEO and co-founder Hosam Arab said. “We’re very happy to have Wellington Management lead this round given their deep expertise in financial services.”

Buy Now, Pay Later services are an interesting development especially in markets where access to credit and financing products is limited. Tabby reports 10 million users and more than 30,000 brands on its platform. These brands include to of the largest retail groups in the MENA region. Managing more than $6 billion in annualized transaction volume, Tabby notes growth in its presence in physical stores, now representing more than 20% of the company’s total volume.


Meanwhile, some 600 kilometers to the east, Qatar-based CQUR Bank has forged a partnership with digital banking solutions provider Finastra. CQUR Bank will implement a pair of Finastra’s solutions – Trade Innovation and Corporate Channels – to power its new online banking portal.

Trade Innovation is an end-to-end solution for frictionless trade and supply chain financing. Corporate Channels is a digital banking platform that gives CQUR Bank a single portal to unify a variety of services for corporate clients. These services include trade, cash, supply chain finance, lending, and treasury operations.

“Corporate customers are increasingly demanding faster, digital, and connected services from their bank that truly elevate how they manage their finances and pursue new avenues for growth,” Finastra Managing Director, MENAT Lending, Kamal El Khoury explained. “By delivering new services and improving the end-to-end customer experience, the bank can future-proof its business while continuing to enhance economic growth through trade and sustainable development.”

Formed out of a merger between Misys and D+H in 2017, Finastra is headquartered in the U.K. The company has more than 8,000 financial institutions, including 45 of the world’s top 50 banks, using its software solutions and services. Simon Paris is CEO.


This week, Kuwait Finance House (KFH) launched the first shari’a-compliant digital bank in the country. Named Tam Digital Bank, the new institution was hailed as a major milestone in KFY’s digital banking transformation efforts.

“With its modern, youthful design, user-friendly and efficient usage, along with innovative banking services backed with advanced technology, we are confident that Tam will fulfull customers’ desires and exceed their expectations,” KFH Acting Group CEO Abdulwahab lesa Al Rushood said. “At KFH, we take account of factors such as convenience, speed, quality, safety, and innovation in line with our motto ‘Easy Banking Experience’.”

In order to open a Tam account, customers must be at least 15 years old. They must also have a civil ID, and a smartphone to download the Tam app. There are no documents to present and no bank branch to visit in order to get started.

KFH Kuwait CEO Khaled Yousef AlShamlan underscored the importance of appealing to younger customers. “Through Tam, youth will receive many benefits, including opening an account, transferring student allowance(s), tracking expenses, transferring funds, in addition to rewards program, points, offers, and exceptional discounts that meet all their needs, as well as 24/7 customer service,” AlShamlan said.

A pioneer in Islamic Finance and Shari’a Compliant Banking, Kuwait Finance House was founded in 1977 as the country’s first Islamic bank. KFH sits at the center of the KFH Group banking network. This network includes 430 branches, more than 790 ATMs, and 8,600 employees. KFH’s Shari’a compliant products and services cover real estate, trade finance, and investments, as well as commercial, retail, and corporate banking. In addition to Kuwait, KFH operates in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Malaysia, and Australia.


Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe


Photo by Abdullah Ghatasheh

Digital Mortgage Platform SimpleNexus Integrates with Finastra’s MortgagebotLOS

Digital Mortgage Platform SimpleNexus Integrates with Finastra’s MortgagebotLOS
  • Digital mortgage platform SimpleNexus has integrated with Finastra’s MortgagebotLOS.
  • The bi-directional integration is designed to streamline the home financing process for both home buyers as well as lenders, credit unions, and banks.
  • Finastra was formed in 2017 as the product of a merger between Misys and D+H.

Digital mortgage platform SimpleNexus has integrated with Finastra’s loan origination system for digital mortgage lending, MortgagebotLOS. The bi-directional integration will streamline home financing for both home buyers as well as the credit unions, banks, and lenders who cater to them. Homebuyers will be able to submit mortgage applications by smartphone or other Internet-connected device, and will benefit from being able to easily and securely scan and upload required documents. Automated mortgage loan milestone updates, courtesy of real-time data syncing between the two systems, notify homebuyers on their progress and point to next steps.

“The integration enables financial institutions to optimize their use of both platforms while providing borrowers with a seamless and supportive mortgage application process,” Finastra director of product management Mary Kay Theriault said. “Our goal is to equip lenders with the tools they need to stay ahead in any mortgage market.”

Ben Miller, SimpleNexus CEO, underscored the importance of the bi-directional integration of the two technologies. Miller noted that both homebuyers and lenders will benefit from improvements in convenience, efficiency, and overall usability with the new “from-anywhere digital mortgage application portal.”

Among the first banks to have deployed the technology are ChoiceOne Bank, based in Michigan, and Flanagan State Bank, based in Illinois. Both institutions have leveraged the integration to improve the navigability of the mortgage process for homebuyers as well as reduce manual and redundant tasks for loan originators and processing teams.

Founded as a merger between Misys and D+H in 2017, Finastra currently serves more than 8,100 financial institutions – including 45 of the world’s top 50 banks -across 130+ countries. The company offers solutions for lending and corporate banking, payments, treasury and capital markets, investment management, and banking-as-a-service.

Last month, Finastra announced a partnership with Open Finance company and fellow Finovate alum MX. The partnership will integrate MX’s PFM, insights, and account aggregation solutions with Finastra’s Fusion Digital Banking platform. Also in July, Finastra announced that it was working with European payments processing startup Salve Financial Hub and specialist mortgage lender and savings provider Melton Building Society.

Headquartered in London, Finastra maintains offices in Canada, Singapore, the UAE, and the U.S. Simon Paris is CEO.


Photo by PhotoMIX Company

Finovate Global Africa: Revolutionizing Payments and Promoting Inclusion with Paga’s Tayo Oviosu

Finovate Global Africa: Revolutionizing Payments and Promoting Inclusion with Paga’s Tayo Oviosu

This week on Finovate Global, we feature an extended conversation with Paga founder and CEO Tayo Oviosu.

Serving more than 21 million unique users in Africa, Paga is a payments and financial services ecosystem that makes it easy for people to request, send, and receive money; pay bills; get remittances and more. Founded in 2009, Paga is Nigeria’s leading mobile money company.

We caught up with Tayo Oviosu to discuss the current state of fintech in Nigeria and in sub-Saharan Africa, in general. We also talked about how Paga is helping boost financial inclusion and empowerment in the region, and what we can expect from the company in 2023.


Paga was recently recognized with placement on the CB Insights 250 list – one of seven African start-ups featured. What is going right with fintech in sub-Saharan Africa these days? 

Tayo Oviosu: It was an honor to be ranked by CB Insights in its Fintech 250 list and, as one of only seven African start-ups featured, it speaks to the pioneering approach we are introducing to the world – revolutionizing payments and creating a financial services ecosystem for Africa.

As sub-Saharan Africa gains recognition on the global stage, we are seeing innovative and pioneering products emerge and rise in popularity amongst consumers, diversifying the products they can choose from.

In 2020, we saw Stripe acquire Nigerian fintech Paystack – which disrupted the ecosystem and spoke to a future-oriented outlook that has validated the region as an exciting space, full of potential. This speaks to the increase in funding and investment opportunities in the region.

As the ecosystem continues to rapidly grow, the vision of an integrated African market is closer to being realized, with new opportunities constantly emerging. At Paga, this is something particularly pertinent to our mission of making life possible for businesses and individuals. Our consumer ecosystem (Paga) helps people send, pay, and bank digitally. We now serve over 21 million unique users at our agents and consumer direct channels. We developed our seller ecosystem (Doroki) to help businesses digitize their payments and to manage their business operations digitally. Our Platform-as-a-Service offering enables ecosystem businesses and developers to build, launch, and grow, via our API infrastructure. 

Looking at Nigeria specifically, what is the most interesting thing going on in fintech in Nigeria right now?

Oviosu: We are seeing more options for customers come to fruition through a growing market. Fintechs are competing innovatively to meet customers’ different needs with various tailored products.

Subsequently, there are more lending products and services, which are crucial in affording consumers more flexibility, and options to help them reach their goals and needs, and unlock their potential.

Overall, the landscape is improving in terms of communication between companies and regulators – helping firms overcome short and long-term obstacles in compliance.

The recognition of Paga amongst such a global cohort speaks to the innovation we are driving – and the calibre of our ecosystem. Our market potential, investor profile, technological innovation, and business relationships are on a global scale. To have a Nigerian platform lauded globally is an achievement in the Nigerian fintech space in and of itself.

Let’s talk about Paga. What services does Paga offer and who is the company’s target market?

Oviosu: Paga offers an extensive, hybrid payments ecosystem for online and offline customers. We make it easy for people to send, pay, and bank digitally.

For the individual customer, we allow simple seamless payment transactions, transfers, and bill payments – embedding our services into the daily needs of our users. We also help businesses to achieve their goals; powering reliable, real-time transactions, allowing online payment collections, and bill payments – all with minimal transaction charges. For Paga agents in our offline channels, we create jobs and incentives for those helping serve their communities – and also offer financial support via our overdraft offering. We also help developers to build, by enabling them to leverage our extensive platform via our (payment) APIs and providing them with the needed technical support.

In November, we launched our cards in partnership with Visa – both physical and virtual cards – enabling our consumers to pay at over 100 million merchant locations globally, anywhere Visa is accepted. This is just another example of how we make life possible for all our users.

Our current target market is largely contained in Africa, and driving accessibility to what is still a comparatively under-served market. That said, we have plans to expand beyond this and we will keep you posted on our journey.

What makes Paga unique in the payments business?

Oviosu: Paga emerged within the context of a largely cash-dependent economy, with both individuals and businesses suffering from this inefficiency. We took on the mission of improving financial accessibility in Africa as part of the digital payments revolution – and our growth is ever-accelerating as we do so. Our transaction values are soaring: from achieving our first two trillion Naira (over $4 billion based on current official exchange rates) from January 2012 to March 2020, to achieving our most recent two trillion Naira from February 2022 to September 2022 – in just eight months!

Our ecosystem aims to solve payments and services for consumers and sellers, but what makes us unique is our ecosystem approach. We understand that cash is still popular in Africa, and so we provide onramps and offramps in order to increase our reach. Our on-and-offline infrastructure makes us accessible and we pride ourselves on our deeply connected ecosystem – connecting our users to all the banks, enabling seamless transactions to individuals and merchants, and ensuring convenience for our users in their day-to-day lives.

Our customer-first approach is embedded into our DNA, and as we enter new phases of innovation, we strive to solve problems and provide opportunities for our users – whether that be helping people to save, helping businesses digitize, or offering lending services to consumers and SMEs amongst others. Foundational to this is our Platform-as-a-Service and our strong infrastructure – for consumers, sellers, and third parties.

You recently launched a Visa-branded virtual naira card. Why virtual first?

Oviosu: We wanted to address the need in Nigeria for effective virtual cards. As a digital financial services company, we felt a digital product would adhere to our mission and address our customers’ needs quickly and effectively. We have always sought to simplify the use of and access to payments and financial services.

Customers are able to activate their digital cards in less than 20 seconds – immediately gaining access to Visa’s global network. Moreover, for both physical and virtual, we offer benefits unique to Paga’s digital platform, such as real-time transaction notifications, seamless payments via unique ‘JustPaga.me’ pages, and unique Nigerian Uniform Bank Account Numbers (NUBANs) that serve as added protection for the card.

Paga and Visa have worked together before. What makes Visa a good partner for Paga right now?

Oviosu: On our mission to power payments and accessibility, our partnership with Visa has facilitated the growth of our reach. Visa’s significant coverage means we can reach even more consumers and diversify our offerings for our existing consumers. Through our strategic partnership, we can carry more Africans into the financial system and bridge the accessibility gap.

The partnership has also further strengthened aspects such as reliability and security – facilitated in collaboration with Visa’s Cybersource in launching our direct online card processor. The partnership has been instrumental in bettering the user experience.

What can we expect from Paga in 2023? New services? New markets?

Oviosu: We are focused on deepening our current offerings in our ecosystem. We are staying true to our customer-focused mission and are constantly seeking to better serve all our users.

In 2023, we expect to see more significant partnerships occurring in the fintech space, as well as more niche focuses. This will widen options for businesses and consumers to meet their needs. More widely, this will accelerate economic growth as jobs are created, and infrastructure is improved. We are also looking to increase our reach. Currently, our customer base stands at over 20 million, with 140,000 agent points. We are projected to reach 40 to 50 million users in Nigeria – but are also looking beyond this. Earlier last year, we announced our operational license in Ethiopia – in partnership with the Bank of Abyssinia – and as we continue to work towards making it simple for people to send, pay, and bank digitally, we invite you to watch this space!


Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • TechCrunch profiled Mexican fintech Zenfi.
  • Mexico-based “fintech meets healthtech” startup Medsi raised $10 million in debt financing.
  • Want to learn more about the new fintech law in Chile? InvestChile has you covered with a new e-book.

Asia-Pacific

  • Indonesian fintech iSeller raised $12 million in Series B funding to help businesses digitize their sales.
  • Bangladesh’s central bank launched its QR code payments system nationwide this week.
  • Philippine-based payments processing firm PayMongo introduced new president and CEO Jojo Malolos

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • South African cross-border money transfer company Mama Money announced a partnership with Zimbabwe’s AFC Commercial Bank.
  • Zawya looks at the relationship between financial literacy and the rise of insuretech in Africa.
  • Ecobank and MTN teamed up to launch mobile money microfinancing in Guinea

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Germany-based fraud prevention company Hawk AI secured $17 million in Series B funding.
  • Munich Re and Unifiedpost announced a new strategic partnership this week.
  • Lithuanian technology company iDenfy to provide identity verification and AML services to Finora Bank.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Egyptian embedded finance provider XPAY teamed up with Finastra to help support its growth agenda.
  • MoneyGram announced a strategic partnership with MENA-based VoIP solution, BOTIM.
  • Open ecosystem regtech firm Konsentus went live in the Middle East and North Africa this week.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Worldline launched its digital payments suite for small businesses in India.
  • Bangaldesh Finance announced a partnership with SM Fintech.
  • Forbes India looked at the country’s “matuing fintech ecosystem.”

Photo by McBarth™ Obeya

Finovate Global Canada: Clik2pay Partners with Inovatec; BMO Offers Installments; RBC Buys HSBC’s Canadian Business

Finovate Global Canada: Clik2pay Partners with Inovatec; BMO Offers Installments; RBC Buys HSBC’s Canadian Business

There are many countries whose fintech innovations are often overlooked. And Canada, America’s legendarily kinder, gentler neighbor to the north, is among them.

This week’s edition of Finovate Global takes a look at recent fintech headlines emanating from the Great White North this week. The news ranges from big new fundings to new product launches to deal-making in Canada’s banking industry.


Clik2pay, a payment service provider based in Toronto, Ontario, has teamed up with lending process automation expert Inovatec. The partnership will enables Inovatec’s clients to use Clik2pay’s direct-from-account payment platform to request payments from customers. The functionality leverages Interac’s e-Transfer money transfer solution to ensure safe and secure fund movement.

“Clik2pay is always looking for ways to make the payments process simpler,” Clik2pay Chief Commercial Officer David Robinson said. “Allowing borrowers to make payment directly from their bank account in real-time through an email or text makes paying incredibly easy for the customer and allows for more efficient collections and payment reconciliation by lenders.”

The collaboration will give lenders the ability to use email to collect payments directly from customer bank accounts – and have those payments reconciled automatically on Inovatec’s platform. The process supports agent-assisted collections, as well, enabling lenders to textc customers payment links and secure real-time notification of successful payments “before the borrower hangs up the phone” the company noted in a statement.

Clik2pay is the first Canadian company to provide real-time, direct-from-account payments for businesses at almost all FIs in the country. Founded in 2019, Clik2pay relaunched its Clik2pay mobile app for small businesses last month. The new app features an enhanced user experience, including improved, simplified onboarding. Mike Bradley is founder and CEO.


Canadian banks have made fintech headlines this week, as well. Bank of Montreal (BMO), for example, announced the launch of its new credit card installment offering. Currently available to BMO’s Canadian retail credit card customers via their online banking platform, the new plan – called PaySmart – enables customers to convert eligible credit card purchases of more than $100 into smaller monthly payments.

Customers will be able to choose between three, six, or 12 equal monthly payments. No interest is charged and BMO will access a monthly fee of up to 0.9%. Because purchases are within the customer’s existing credit limits, no additional credit check or approval is required.

BMO’s latest offering is part of a suite of solutions designed to help its customers better manage cash flow and finances. These solutions include the bank’s Pre-Authorized Payments Manager, Same Day Grace feature, and BMO CashTrack.

In other Canadian banking news, Royal Bank of Canada announced that it has purchased U.K.-based HSBC’s Canadian business for $10 billion (£8.4 billion; C$13.5 billion). The move comes as HSBC seeks to bolster its business in Asia – especially China. The company has more than 130 branches and 780,000 customers as part of HSBC Canada. And while HSBC has also expressed plans to abandon its retail banking operations in the U.S. and France, it is the company’s Canadian division that has turned a profit -whereas both its businesses in the U.S. and France have not.

The acquisition is the biggest by RBC under the tenure of CEO Dave McKay, who has also tried to calm concerns about potential layoffs by noting that RBC is considered one of the best workplaces in the country. McKay also pointed to the fact that RBC has nearly 6,000 open positions and referred to the acquisition as a “talent acquisition opportunity” for RBC. HSBC Canada has $134 billion in assets and 4,200 full-time employees.

“HSBC Canada offers the opportunity to add a complementary business and client base in the market we know best and where we can deliver strong returns and client value given our financial strength and award-winning service,” McKay said in a statement.


Earlier this week we shared news that Toronto-based FinovateFall 2019 alum Buckzy Payments had secured $14.5 million in Series A funding. The company offers real-time, cross border payments services, as well as banking-as-a-service capabilities, via its embedded finance platform. The company has more than 140 bank, neobank, and fintech customers since going live with its platform in 2020. This week’s funding takes Buckzy’s total equity capital to more than $23 million. The round was led by Mistral Venture Partners and Uncorrelated Ventures.

“This round of financing is a validation of Buckzy’s vision to create an intelligent and automated international payment system,” Buckzy CEO Abdul Naushad said. “We’re on a mission to build the plumbing for real-time money movement globally, the same way high-speed internet fundamentally shifted the communications industry.”


Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Brazil’s Nubank announced that it will offer savings accounts and debit cards in Mexico via its digital banking arm, Nu México.
  • Chilean based alternative credit scoring fintech Destácame raised $10 million in funding.
  • Brazilian fund Latitud released its The LatAmTech Report 2022 this week highlighting trends for B2C fintech in Latin America.

Asia-Pacific

  • Finastra launched a new Center of Excellence (COE) at MRANTI Technology Park in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • Cambodia’s ABA Bank leveraged technology from Compass Plus Technologies to introduce instant card issuance kiosks.
  • Financial crime compliance company Napier announced its entry to the Japanese market via its financial crime risk management platform, Napier Continuum.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • ThetaRay and Ghanian mobile financial services company Zeepay partnered to help fight financial crime in remittance transactions.
  • TechCrunch profiled South African payments company Revio.
  • Kenyan payment service provider Cellulant launched its expansion to South Africa..

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Hamburg Commercial Bank announced that it has implemented and is now live on the nCino Bank Operating System.
  • ING Germany partnered with Viafintech to launch new cash service offering.
  • Estonia-based payment tracking company Transferlink announced a partnership with open banking platform Nordigen.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • UAE-based expense management platform Qashio secured $10 million in seed funding.
  • Jingle Pay, a financial super app based in the UAE, announced a strategic agreement with Mastercard.
  • Israel-based workplace intelligence platform Shield raised $20 million in Series B funding.

Central and Southern Asia

  • KreditBee, a fintech platform based in India, raised $80 million in Series D funding.
  • Mumbai-based youth banking startup Galgal Money secured $1 million in funding.
  • M bank in Mongolia is the latest customer – and first Mongolian client – of Singapore-based B2B SaaS fintech finbots.ai

Photo by Andre Furtado

Finastra Integrates Clinc’s Conversational AI into its Digital Banking Platform

Finastra Integrates Clinc’s Conversational AI into its Digital Banking Platform
  • Finastra and Clinc have partnered to integrate Clinc’s conversational AI technology into Finastra’s Fusion Digital Banking platform.
  • Finastra will offer its 8,600 financial instiution clients access to Clinc’s AI virtual assistants to help mitigate the load on call centers while providing quality answers to end users.
  • Finastra was founded in 2017 as a merger between Misys and D+H.

Financial software company Finastra has tapped conversational AI fintech Clinc this week. The two have partnered to integrate Clinc’s Virtual Banking Assistant technology into Finastra’s Fusion Digital Banking platform. 

The added capabilities will enable Finastra’s 8,600 financial institution clients to increase digital engagement with their customers. Clinc’s Virtual Banking Assistant helps banks manage common banking requests through different channels, which ultimately helps reduce the volume of calls into the call center.

Clinc was founded in 2015 to build what it calls a “human-in-the-room” level of virtual assistant powered by AI technology and machine learning. The company’s solution understands natural language and leverages elements from the user’s inquiry– such as wording, sentiment, intent, tone of voice, time of day, location, and relationships– to craft an answer that is not only human-like, but also useful in answering the original question.

“We are incredibly pleased to be able to offer our AI solution to banks in collaboration with Finastra, whose FusionFabric.cloud platform is viewed around the world as a leading financial technology ecosystem,” said Clinc CEO Jon Newhard. “Our Virtual Banking Assistant, which can be integrated seamlessly as part of a digital transformation strategy, enables financial institutions to engage customers efficiently but without losing the personal touch. This is vital in an era when increasing numbers of consumers are demanding authentic and intuitive experiences from chatbots.”

Clinc’s technology will be available in Finastra’s FusionFabric.cloud, a marketplace that helps financial services firms find pre-built, ready-to-integrate apps into their Finastra products. Since launching in 2017, FusionFabric.cloud has had 566 customers sign up and has helped form more than 153 partnerships.

“Financial institutions worldwide will benefit from increased access to Clinc’s innovative chatbot technology,” said Finastra Chief Product Officer, Universal Banking Narendra Mistry. “Understanding how real people talk and interact is critical as banks and credit unions work to ensure that the customer experience remains strong while embracing new technologies. We’re delighted to welcome Clinc to our technology ecosystem, and for Finastra’s customers to be able to easily offer conversational AI as part of their digital strategy.”

Finastra was founded in 2017 as a merger between Misys and D+H. The latter acquired Mortgagebot in 2011 for $232 million. Mortgagebot was among the first companies to demo at a Finovate event. The company won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2007. Finastra’s technology spans lending, payments, treasury and capital markets, and universal banking. The U.K.-based company counts 90 of the world’s top 100 banks as clients.


Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán

Finovate Global VC Edition: Quona Capital Backs Financial Inclusion in Emerging Markets with New Fund

Finovate Global VC Edition: Quona Capital Backs Financial Inclusion in Emerging Markets with New Fund

Good news for fintech startups in developing markets! Quona Capital recently announced that it has closed its latest fintech fund, its third, at $332 million. The venture capital firm, which specializes in emerging markets, noted that the amount raised topped its target of $250 million. The new fund, Fund III, will be focused on companies that are developing technologies that expand access to financial services for consumers and businesses in regions ranging from Latin America and India to Southeast Asia, MENA, and Africa.

“Since our earliest days, Quona has been dedicated to expanding the frontiers of financial inclusion – investing with conviction in markets and technology-enabled models improving access and quality of financial services for the masses,” Quona co-founding managing partner Monica Brand Engel said in a statement. “Our prior fund performance, robust pipeline of inclusive fintechs, and growing LP interest in our offerings are ringing endorsements of our view on the prospects of impact-oriented venture investing in emerging markets.”

With aggregate capital of more than $745 million, Fund II is the firm’s third fund since Quona Capital was launched in 2015. Those contributing to the fund as investors include global asset managers, insurance companies, both investment and commercial banks, endowments, foundations, family offices, and more. And while many of the investors in Fund III have invested in Quona Capital funds previously, the new fund did receive capital from 20 new investors, as well.

According to Quona Capital, the startups in its portfolio have served nearly nine million small and medium-sized businesses and over 30 million retail customers. Quona Capital startups have raised nearly $4 billion in capital and generated more than $800 million in revenues. Among these firms are India-based consumer lending company ZestMoney, Southeast Asia-based fintech marketplace ula, and long-time international remittance firm and long-time Finovate alum Azimo – which was acquired by Papaya Global earlier this year.


Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Indian neobank ZikZuk acquired tax e-filing platform TaxSpanner.
  • National Bank of Pakistan turned to Finastra to enhance its trade finance operations.
  • Lentra, a fintech based in India, secured $60 million in Series B funding for its loans-as-a-service business for banks.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • AstroPay introduced its Mastercard prepaid card in Brazil.
  • Mexico-based B2B payments company Mendel raised $60 million in new funding.
  • Brazil’s Agrolend, which provides credit to the country’s farmers, secured $27 million in Series B funding.

Asia-Pacific

  • Ant Group introduced its Buy Now, Pay later offering in Hong Kong.
  • Vietnam-based Sacombank partnered with Temenos to enhance digital banking.
  • Philippines-based neobank Tonik unveiled its all-digital lending products, Flex Loan and Big Loan.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Nigerian fintech Paga unveiled its Visa-branded card this week.
  • Pan-African paytech Cellulant secured a Payment Systems Operator license from the National Bank of Uganda
  • Samsung South Africa launched its digital wallet, Samsung Wallet.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Polish fintech Ramp locked in $70 million in Series B funding to build payment rails for cryptocurrency investors.
  • Co-investment platform for European startups SeedBlink secured licensing from the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF).
  • Genome, an Electronic Money Institution based in Lithuania, partnered with Entrust to simplify digital payments.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • UAE-based Wio Bank went live with Mambu’s cloud-native banking platform.
  • Pyppl, a financial services platform based in the UAE, raised $20 million in Series B funding.
  • Saudi Arabia’s central bank presented its open banking framework.

Photo by Ricky Gálvez

Finance in the Metaverse Era Should be Green and Sustainable by Default

Finance in the Metaverse Era Should be Green and Sustainable by Default

The following is a sponsored blog post from Finastra.

Post-pandemic recoveries stalled by rocketing energy prices are leading to calls for stalling a green transition that has already begun. But the costs to businesses due to climate-related weather events within the next four years will be over $1 trillion.

Investors and financial institutions are increasingly applying non-financial factors (Environmental, Social, and Governance) as part of their analysis process to identify material risks and growth opportunities. Also, there is a high interest coming from consumers in the sustainability of businesses and how they impact the environment.

But because of the broad range of indicators coupled with the lack of standards, transparency, and unified reporting makes it a challenge to assess and measure true, impactful ESG credentials and the sustainability of a business.

At the same time, many banks have started to embrace/experiment in the Metaverse including DBS Bank in partnership with The Sandbox with a focus on driving sustainability. Will this be an opportunity or a challenge for financial institutions keen to demonstrate their commitment to a more sustainable future?

To help navigate these challenges Finastra invited three experts in ESG and Sustainable Finance alongside Christophe Langlois, their Global Marketing Lead, Fintech & Developer Ecosystem at Finastra, who hosted this insightful conversation:

  • Marcus Cree, MD Financial Technology and Services, GreenPoint Global
  • Tanuj Pasupuleti, CEO, Bankify
  • Jay Mukhey, Global Director of ESG, Purpose & Impact, Finastra

They discussed the following topics:

  • The case of ‘greenwashing’ in 2022 and how to identify it.
  • The main differences in terms of sustainable finance adoption and challenges between the key regions of the world?
  • The opportunities that come with sustainable finance.
  • The essential role open/API banking plays in fostering sustainable finance.
  • Metaverse from a sustainable finance standpoint.

To learn about the successful adoption of ESG and sustainable finance and what solutions are available right now on the market, watch the video by visiting this page.


Photo by Michael Marais on Unsplash

Finastra Partners with PoS Financing and Buy Now, Pay Later Platform Jifiti

Finastra Partners with PoS Financing and Buy Now, Pay Later Platform Jifiti
  • Finastra has announced a strategic alliance with Ohio point-of-sale (PoS) financing and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) company Jifiti.
  • The alliance will bring new PoS financing capabilities to financial institutions in Finastra’s Banking-as-a-Service ecosystem.
  • Finastra was formed via a merger between Finovate alum Misys and D+H in 2017.

Just last week we highlighted the state of Ohio as a place where innovation in fintech and insurtech was thriving. Today, we learn that financial software company and Finovate alum Finastra has inked a strategic alliance with one of Ohio’s fintech innovators: Columbus-based point of sale financing company and Buy Now, Pay Later platform Jifiti.

The collaboration will bring embedded financing capabilities to financial institutions in Finastra’s Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) ecosystem. These capabilities will enable banks to empower merchants with point-of-sale financing options such as Buy Now, Pay Later and split payments. Whether transacting online, in-store, or by call center, consumers will be able to access this expanded range of financing options. Jifiti’s platform will be pre-integrated with Finastra’s systems, making deployment easy for financial institutions currently using Finastra to power their core banking operations.

Finastra Senior Director for Solution Management, BaaS & Orchestration Jeanette Kescenovitz put the partnership in the context of the recent launch of Finastra’s BaaS embedded consumer lending offering. “We look forward to leveraging Jifiti’s best-in-class retail point-of-sale solution to give financial institutions a simple way to provide a seamless, embedded finance offering with a fully digital-first experience,” Kescenovitz said.

Jifiti offers a modular, white-label platform that supports a wide range of point-of-sale financing options. These options include installment loans, lines of credit, split payments, BNPL, and B2B financing. Founded in 2011, the company introduced its B2B Buy Now, Pay Later solution for banks, lenders, and merchants last month. The addition of the offering for business customers significantly enhanced the capabilities of Jifiti’s platform, enabling the technology to cover virtually all types of Buy Now, Pay Later options.

“The B2B market was the next logical step in our journey at Jifiti,” company CEO and co-founder Yaacov Martin said when the launch was announced. “We aim to give every customer the financing that best suits their needs. Now we can help our bank and merchant partners extend that same level of customization to their business customers through specialized B2B-embedded finance.”


Photo by Pixabay

Finastra Partners with Contour for Trade Finance; Collaborates with Kotak Mahindra Bank for Corporate Banking

Finastra Partners with Contour for Trade Finance; Collaborates with Kotak Mahindra Bank for Corporate Banking
  • Financial solutions provider Finastra announced a strategic collaboration with digital trade finance network Contour.
  • Finastra also announced a partnership with India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank, bringing its Unified Corporate Portal solution to support the institution’s corporate banking portal Kotak FYN.
  • Formed via a merger between Misys and D+H in 2017, Finastra also recently announced the appointment of Chief People Officer Helen Cook.

Financial solutions company Finastra recently announced a pair of partnerships. The U.K.-based firm, which launched its open platform for innovation FusionFabric.cloud in 2017, has entered a strategic collaboration with digital trade finance network Contour. The collaboration will integrate Finastra’s Fusion Trade Innovation technology with Contour’s platform, boosting access to trade finance and streamlining back-office workflow.

The collaboration helps financial institutions take advantage of the multi-trillion dollar global trade business that both corporate customers and consumer depend upon every day. The partnership between Finastra and Contour will give financial institutions a network that supports collaborative workflows between trading parties. The new integration facilitates digital adoption, lowers costs and reliance on paper, and reduces risk.

“Our partnership with Finastra is an important step forward in breaking down barriers to adoption and increasing access to trade finance,” Contour CEO Carl Wegner said. “By integrating Finastra’s Fusion Trade Innovation, financial institutions and corporates will have access to an end-to-end ecosystem of services that will enable them to transact seamlessly and securely.”

Finastra also announced a partnership with India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank, specifically supporting the firm’s new integrated corporate banking portal, Kotak FYN. The bank will rely on Finastra’s Unified Corporate Portal solution, expanding a partnership with Finastra that extends back to October of 2021. The new enterprise portal will enable bank customers to conduct trade services. By the final quarter of the year, the portal will also offer account services, payments, and collections.

“Working together with Finastra, the Unified Corporate Portal will allow us to make the Kotak FYN portal even more revolutionary,” Kotak Mahindra Bank President for Global Transaction Banking Shekhar Bhandari said. “We can provide intuitive, easy-to-use access to many products and user journeys through a single platform, reducing complexity and friction for our customers and providing a truly differentiated user experience.”

The Bank’s Unified Corporate Portal will leverage Finastra’s Corporate Channels framework. This will empower banks to offer their corporate clients a seamless experience for account services, payments, trade, supply chain finance, and lending. The portal will enable banks to unify data across portals and back office systems to give users a single view of transactions, positions, and balances. Finastra noted that the integration will support self-service operation and boost efficiency.

Finastra’s partnership news comes in the wake of a new C-suite hire: the appointment of Helen Cook as the company’s Chief People Officer. Announced late last week, Cook comes to Finastra from Natwest Group, where she worked as Chief Human Resources Officer. At Finastra, Cook will be tasked with helping the company fulfill its goal to be “the most inclusive and diverse employer in the fintech industry,” according to a statement.

“Finastra’s vision is built on collaboration, and its commitment to become a truly inclusive workplace and enhance the skills of its workforce,” Cook said. “I’m thrilled to support in growing and developing the company’s global talent.”

Finastra was formed in 2017 as a merger between Finovate alum Misys and D+H. The company’s technology is used by more than 8,600 institutions, including 90 of the top 100 banks in the world. Simon Paris is CEO.


Photo by Akshar Dave🌻