This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.
Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Worldpay is partnering with Trulioo to bring trust, consent, and accountability to agentic AI commerce, where AI agents shop on behalf of consumers.
The collaboration uses the Know Your Agent (KYA) framework, which is powered by the Digital Agent Passport, to verify agent identities, ensure code integrity, confirm user consent, and monitor agent behavior.
The goal of the partnership is to enable secure, transparent AI-powered transactions with smarter controls for verified agents, real-time fraud detection, and enhanced consumer and merchant confidence.
Payment technology company Worldpay announced this week that it is preparing for a future of agentic AI commerce by partnering with digital identity platform Trulioo. Worldpay selected Trulioo to bring trust, consent, and accountability to AI-powered digital payments.
Because agentic AI commerce involves AI agents that shop on behalf of consumers, it is important to verify agent identities and obtain consent from the human on the other side of the agent. Knowing exactly who is in charge of each aspect of the transaction is key to not only maintaining trust and preventing fraud, but also in staying compliant with regulatory requirements.
“Innovation in payments must always be grounded in integrity and trust,” said Worldpay Chief Product Officer Cindy Turner. “By partnering with Trulioo, we’re delivering the trust infrastructure our ecosystem needs and empowering businesses and consumers to embrace AI-powered commerce with confidence, knowing that safety and transparency are at the heart of every transaction.”
Under today’s partnership, Worldpay and Trulioo will deliver tools that follow the Know Your Agent (KYA) framework to ensure that merchants, payment providers, and consumers can trust agent-based transactions. KYA is powered by Digital Agent Passport, a secure digital ID and trust certificate for AI agents. The certificate confirms who made the agent, ensures their code hasn’t been tampered with, checks that they have user consent, and monitors their behavior continually so merchants can process agent-initiated transactions confidently.
“Agentic commerce has significant potential, but it can only scale with trust built in from the start,” said Trulioo CEO Vicky Bindra. “With Worldpay, we’re laying the foundation for a more secure and accountable digital ecosystem – one where AI agents can operate transparently, and consumers stay in control.”
Adding the new KYA framework will help merchants and platforms create new experiences at the point of sale, including smoother checkout flows and real-time fraud detection, while maintaining security. Additionally, instead of blocking AI agents by default, the partnership offers smart controls that allow verified agents to gain access, while inserting friction for unknown agents, and blocking malicious bots.
As both consumers and merchants face uncertainty in navigating the new world of agentic AI commerce, Trulioo and Worldpay aim to provide a roadmap for inserting trust into the process. By embedding identity verification, consent management, and ongoing monitoring directly into the payment process, the partnership seeks to ensure that AI agents can participate in commerce without sacrificing safety or transparency. The hope is that with a solid trust infrastructure in place, agentic AI can move from experimental novelty to a mainstream, reliable part of the digital economy.
This week’s edition of Finovate Global looks at recent fintech headlines from the South American nation of Peru.
EBANX partners with Peruvian digital wallet Yape
Brazilian payments company EBANX announced a direct integration with Peruvian digital wallet, Yape. Designed for cross-border commerce and relying on an easy user enrollment process, Yape enables users to pay for purchases on international ecommerce websites using either their Yape wallet balance or a linked card. The wallet supports recurring, one-click and on-file payment solutions and, in 2024, was responsible for the largest share of the volume transacted online through a digital wallet in the country. This is according to research from Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI).
“With over 14 million active Peruvian users, Yape empowers millions of consumers with reliable daily transactions,” Yape Head of Payments Claudia Silva said. “This direct integration with EBANX marks a significant step in expanding our reach to global merchants, allowing them to tap into the vast potential of the Peruvian market.”
Digital wallets are a major component of Peru’s payment ecosystem. The fourth most commonly used payment in the country, digital wallets represented 10% of all digital commerce transactions in Peru in 2024. PCMI anticipates a digital wallet annual growth rate of 17% by 2027 and much of this growth, according to Silva, can be credited to Yape. According to the firm’s own data, Yape’s digital wallet delivers a 93% approval rate on transactions, an especially valuable achievement as digital wallets are increasingly becoming the preferred payment method for recurring transactions.
“Through its partnership with Yape, EBANX enables merchants to access a seamless, secure, and high-conversion payment solution that drives immediate results for one-time purchases as well as for subscription-based services and recurring payments,” said Juliana Etcheverry, Director of LatAm Country Growth—South Cone at EBANX. “This partnership goes beyond payments; it’s about fostering scalable, long-term growth for merchants in a rapidly evolving market.”
Founded in 2016, Yape is headquartered in Lima, Peru. The company’s payment app has more than 20 million users and more than 2.5 million affiliated businesses. Yape expanded to Bolivia in 2023, reaching two million users (“Yaperos”) a year later.
Paysafe goes live with PagoEfective ewallet in Peru
As if to underscore the rising popularity of digital wallets in Peru, payments platform Paysafe announced that it is expanding its eCash brand, PagoEfectivo, into a digital wallet. As a brand, PagoEfectivo has been a major force in Latin America’s eCash payment ecosystem, supporting the transactions of millions of online consumers. As a digital wallet, the brand will enable users to load funds instantly, make online transactions, receive payouts from participating merchants, transfer funds to others, and more.
“Our recent survey with Peruvian consumers found that 81% would use a digital wallet from PagoEfectivo,” Paysafe Head of Latin America Estaban Sarubbi said. “With that strong sign, we’re launching a solution that meets consumers’ payment needs.” Paysafe CEO Bruce Lowthers added, “Consumers in Peru already trust PagoEfectivo for everything from iGaming and digital goods to travel and ecommerce. With the launch of our new digital wallet, we’re giving them a more convenient way to pay—one that reflects Paysafe’s commitment to powering the experiential economy.”
Headquartered in London, Paysafe processed $152 billion in annualized transactional volume in 2024. A leading payments platform, Paysafe empowers businesses and consumers to connect and transact through its capabilities in payment processing, digital wallets, and online cash solutions. Delivering services across 260 payment types in 48 currencies, Paysafe’s integrated platform is designed for mobile-initiated transactions, real-time analytics, and facilitating the convergence between in-store and online payments.
Do Payment launches pay-in service Do Pay in regional expansion
Peruvian paytech Do Payment has launched its own pay-in service, Do Pay. The new offering is designed bring greater speed, lower costs, and more flexibility to the payments process by enhancing liquidity for clients and reducing reliance on intermediate parties. Do Pay also creates a single provider for both pay-in and pay-out payment solutions thanks to leveraging its own proprietary infrastructure and direct connections with banks, acquirers, and local payment networks.
“In Latin America, companies face a critical challenge: the slowness of fund availability, with delays of 48 to 72 hours and even up to one week, directly impacting their liquidity,” Do Payment Chief Product Officer Valentina Brero said. “Against global solutions poorly adapted to the region, Do Pay emerges as a service specialized in payment collection with the fastest settlement in the market, ideal for operators who need to use the funds for daily operations.”
Do Payment’s new offering enables firms to better manage a range of problems faced by companies in Latin America when it comes to collecting and making payments. These challenges include having to work with multiple partners—often different providers for both collecting and disbursements—as well as multiple technologies, high fees, and long waiting times. Do Pay, in contrast, enables firms to leverage a single platform for both collection and dispersal, which enhances operational liquidity and ensures that funds are credit faster.
Founded in 2022 by CEO Cristian Valderrama, Do Payment is based in Lima, Peru. The company is already active in seven countries—Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Panama, and the US—with its pay-out service. In addition to Peru, Do Payment will go live with its Do Pay pay-in solution in Mexico and Ecuador, with the goal of expanding to both Chile and Colombia subsequently. Do Payment also noted that it plans to grow its footprint in Brazil in the second half of 2025.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Payments platform Paysafe launched its digital wallet, PagoEfectivo, in Peru.
Mexican fintech and edtech Mattilda partnered with payment orchestration platform Gr4vy to power its new white-label payments solution, Mattilda Pay.
Uruguay-based paytech dLocal announced plans to acquire Kenyan cross-border payments solutions provider AZA Finance.
Asia-Pacific
Revolutpartnered with Ant International to enable its customers to send money to China.
Visaunveiled its Security Roadmap for New Zealand, featuring a three-year plan to leverage AI to fight fraud and other cyberthreats against consumers and businesses in the country.
Worldpaywent live with domestic acquiring services in Thailand.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange Roqqu acquired Kenyan crypto startup Flitaa as part of its expansion into East Africa.
Daily Investor profiled South African entrepreneur Lungisa Matshoba, co-founder of Yoco.
South African paytech Stitch acquired Efficacy Payments in order to offer card acquiring services directly to merchants.
Central and Eastern Europe
Clarity AI acquired Berlin, Germany-based Sustainability-as-a-Service innovator ecolytiq.
Azerbaijan-based fintech PashaPay inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mastercard.
German online bank N26 announced plans to offer stock trading to customers in Austria and Germany.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Egypt’s Faisal Islamic Bank partnered with Intellect to launch its Shariah-compliant digital transformation.
According to research from Mordor Intelligence, the fintech market in the United Arab Emirates is expected to grow to more than $6.4 billion by 2030.
Egyptian digital investment platform Thndr raised $15.7 million in a round led by Prosus Ventures.
Central and Southern Asia
Pakistan-based ecommerce startup Bazaar Technologies announced that it is nearing profitability following its acquisition of Pakistani paytech Keenu.
Indian cross-border investing and financial management platform Belong is now available to non-resident Indians living in the UAE.
Central Asian digital banking ecosystem TBC Uzbekistan launched a new insurance vertical, TBC Insurance.
Worldpay is partnering with BVNK to enable stablecoin payouts for businesses across 180+ markets.
The integration simplifies stablecoin adoption for traditional companies by embedding BVNK’s wallet infrastructure into Worldpay’s existing payouts platform.
The move reflects broader momentum in stablecoin adoption, following similar initiatives from R3, Solana, Circle, Mastercard, and MoonPay, as demand for faster, borderless, and more efficient payment solutions increases.
Payments and banking services company Worldpay and multi-rail payments infrastructure platform BVNK are teaming up this week to help businesses across the globe use stablecoins for payouts.
Worldpay is leveraging BVNK’s embedded wallet infrastructure to allow its commercial clients across more than 180 markets to pay customers, contractors, creators, sellers, and other third parties using stablecoins in near-real-time.
By integrating with BVNK, Worldpay is making stablecoin payments accessible to organizations that lack expertise in decentralized finance. Under the new partnership, businesses will not need to hold or handle any digital assets themselves in order to pay with them.
Worldpay business clients can access the new stablecoin payout service through their existing integration with Worldpay’s payouts platform. The company plans to pilot stablecoins on the platform in the second half of this year.
With 135 fiat currencies currently available on its platform, Worldpay began offering stablecoin settlement in 2022, allowing merchants in a limited number of geographical regions to receive payments in USDC. In 2023, the company piloted a project with Visa to receive funds more quickly from the network.Â
“We’re delighted to work with BVNK to bring this enterprise-grade stablecoin payout solution to market,” said Worldpay SVP, Head of Payouts John McNaught. “With a history of delivering innovative payout solutions, we are excited to meet the rising interest from clients seeking faster, more efficient global payment methods.”
The partnership, which BVNK calls “an important milestone,” will help BVNK bridge traditional and digital payment systems, ultimately creating a more accessible, efficient financial ecosystem.
The move reflects growing demand for faster, borderless payments, especially for global payout platforms paying gig workers, creators, or remote teams. Stablecoins offer the speed of crypto with the stability of fiat, reducing delays and costs in cross-border transactions.
As demand for stable DeFi increases, so have the solutions facilitating mainstream adoption. Recently, we’ve seen a partnership between R3 and Solana, Circle’s launch of the Circle Payments Network, and a collaboration between Mastercard and Moonpay, all of which exemplify the trend of traditional finance converging with blockchain-based solutions to make stablecoin payments more accessible, secure, and scalable for everyday business use.
This week’s edition of Finovate Global showcases fintech news from companies operating in Germany.
Aufinity raised $26 million in Series C funding
A specialist in the field of payment management for the automotive market, Aufinity Group announced this week that it has successfully completed a $26 million Series C round of funding. The round was led by BlackFin Capital Partners, and featured re-investments from current investors PayPal Ventures and Seaya Ventures. The German fintech will use the funds to power its European expansion and to help forge partnerships with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).
“With this round, we are focusing on accelerating our growth across Europe even further, “Aufinity Group Co-Founder and CEO Lasse Diener said. “Through new strategic partnerships with leading OEMs and by continuing our focus on dealerships, we are preparing to redefine the industry standard for the whole of Europe.”
Aufinity Group’s eponymous platform offers car dealers and OEMs a digital payment management solution that is optimized and white-label-capable. The technology serves both vehicle sales and after-sales, and features optimized payment processes to provide faster incoming payments, greater liquidity and efficiency, and a superior customer experience. Founded in 2018, Aufinity Group is headquartered in Cologne; the company pointed to growing demand for its technology and a successful expansion to Italy and Spain in 2024 in explaining its goal to pursue more international markets in 2025.
“Our core business in Germany is already solidly positioned,” Diener added. “However, the high level of interest from the international market has prompted us to push ahead with our expansion into more countries earlier than planned, which is a great market confirmation for our business and platform.”
YouLend and eBay Germany team up to help finance marketplace sellers
Embedded financing platform YouLend has partnered with eBay Germany to provide integrated financing to sellers on the platform. Part of the eBay Seller Capital Program, the partnership will enable German eBay sellers to access pre-approved financing of up to €2 million ($2.26 million). Financing is based on the sellers’ performance data, and does not require an additional, separate application process.
“Sellers benefit from a chain reaction: quicker inventory restocks, improved product listing, or targeted marketing leading to greater visibility, higher sales, and more growth opportunities—all of which can be financed through YouLend,” Leonard Strigel, YouLend General Manager Germany, said. “This cycle of funding, growth, and reinvestment helps increase seller revenues.”
The partnership will give sellers personalized, pre-approved financing offers, informing them of exactly how much capital they are eligible for before they apply for funding. Direct integration of YouLend’s technology into the eBay platform supports a seamless application process that is “simple, digital, and reliable,” Strigel added.
Founded in 2016, YouLend launched in the UK and Ireland in 2018, entered Europe in 2022, and went live in the US the following year. In 2024, YouLend announced a £4 billion financing investment from J.P. Morgan.
eBay has maintained a presence in Germany since the company’s 1999 takeover of auction platform Alando. eBay Germany currently has more than 150 million visits per month.
German expense management platform Circula secured €15 million
An extended Series A round has given Berlin-based, AI-powered expense management platform Circula €15 million ($17 million) to help bring autonomous finance workflows to medium-sized business in Germany and beyond. The investment will enable the firm to boost its AI capabilities and offer additional automation features for finance teams.
Participating in the funding were existing investors Alstin Capital, Capnamic Ventures, Peak Capital, Wenvest Capital, and Storm Ventures. CIBC Innovation Banking also participated in the investment.
“We have a clear goal: to become Germany’s AI-based champion in expense and spend management for small and medium-sized businesses,” Circula CEO Nikolai Skatchkov said. “With hundreds of millions of euros in transaction volume, hundreds of thousands of active users, and the trust of countless tax advisory firms, we are in an ideal position to realize our vision of a seamless workday for finance teams in the coming years.”
Circula, founded in 2017, counts firms such as Aston Martin, DATEV, and Securitas among its customers. The company’s modular SaaS platform streamlines business expense management with features including AI-powered receipt capture, automated tax-compliant data extraction, and real-time booking verification. More than 150,000 workers throughout Europe rely on Circula’s technology to manage their business travel expenses, credit card transactions, employee benefits, and more.
Circula’s announcement comes at a time when less than 9% of medium-sized businesses in Germany report fully automating their expense workflows, according to research from ERP firm Diamant. In contrast, Circula captures 70%+ of employee expenses when they happen, and enables companies to reduce manual work by 80% and reduce monthly closing cycles.
“Circula is transforming traditional paperwork into smart, AI-powered processes—setting new standards in digital expense management,” CIBC Innovation Banking Director Charlotte Goggin said. “We are excited to support this growth.”
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Asia-Pacific
CIMB Bank, Malaysia’s second largest financial services provider, teamed up with payments technology innovator ACI Worldwide.
Philippine-based universal bank EastWest Bank turned to Temenos to modernize its core.
Sub-Saharan Africa
International remittance company Panda Remit announced a strategic partnership with Uruguay-based cross-border payments platform dLocal to expand into Africa.
Fayda wallet went live in Ethiopia, advancing adoption of biometric-based digital ID and enhancing financial access.
Payment infrastructure company areeba and digital banking solutions provider Foo forge strategic partnership to enhance digital payments in the Middle East.
Worldpay plans to acquire AI-driven fraud detection company Ravelin.
The acquisition will help Worldpay enhance its e-commerce offerings by adding fraud prevention technology and improve business clients’ authorization rates.
Ravelin’s cloud-based platform helps merchants combat online fraud, secure accounts, and improve payment authorization rates through partnerships with data providers like Ekata and Ethoca.
Payments and banking services company Worldpayannounced plans today to acquire fraud detection company Ravelin. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close later this quarter.
“Our acquisition of Ravelin aligns with our strategy to invest in innovation and AI technology, enhancing the value we provide customers and accelerating our e-commerce growth,” said Worldpay CEO Charles Drucker. “In today’s online world, equipping merchants with next-generation AI-powered fraud prevention products is vital, and we believe Ravelin’s technology and expertise will significantly enhance Worldpay’s overall value proposition to the marketplace. We look forward to partnering with Ravelin’s leadership and their talented team to help our customers address their most complex challenges.”
Ohio-based Worldpay anticipates that buying Ravelin will complement and enhance its existing portfolio of solutions. The company will also leverage Ravelin’s cloud-based AI platform to help its merchant clients improve authorization rates.
Worldpay was founded in 1971 and enables merchants of all sizes to grow faster and protect their businesses as fraud activity accelerates globally. The company offers processing solutions that allow businesses to take, make, and manage a variety of payments, including online, in-person, and embedded payments. The company processes over 50 billion transactions each year across 146 countries and 135 currencies.
Fraud prevention and payments optimization company Ravelin helps ecommerce merchants combat online payments fraud, implement account security, accept returns while blocking fraudsters, and set limits on promotional redemptions. The company also performs 3D Secure identification. Ravelin works with third parties including Ekata, Ethoca, and Chargebacks 911 to bring a wealth of data and disputes, and can integrate with other external data sources, as well.
“Ravelin is thrilled to be joining Worldpay, a true global leader in the payments industry,” said Ravelin Co-Founder and CEO Martin Sweeney. “Worldpay’s scale and reach, including processing approximately $2.5 trillion in payments volume and more than 50 billion transactions in 2024, will be an immense asset as we accelerate Ravelin’s momentum and advance our mission to eradicate fraud from the internet. Together, we will be able to deliver innovation at scale, driving the adoption of our industry-leading fraud solutions to customers as they respond to increasingly sophisticated threats and rising fraud-related costs.”
In a world where consumers are demanding faster payments, fraud is taking place at a faster rate, as well. The methods of fraud are also evolving as AI tools become more advanced, making fraud more sophisticated and harder to detect. By integrating Ravelin’s fraud prevention tools with its payment processing services, Worldpay will provide businesses with the ability to protect themselves against fast-moving fraud.
New leadership for digital banking solutions provider nCino and the fallout from the recent ouster of CFPB director Rohit Chopra are among the major fintech headlines as the first full week of February begins.
Be sure to check back here at the Fintech Rundown all week long for the latest updates and announcement in fintech!
Digital banking
nCinointroduces new President and Chief Executive Officer Sean Desmond.
Uphold, an infrastructure provider for on-chain payments, banking, and investments resumes staking services for its UK customers who hold cryptocurrencies.
This week’s edition of Finovate Globalhighlights recent fintech headlines from Ireland.
Dublin-based regtech Fenergo has inked a partnership with Caribbean-based PROVEN Bank. The financial institution will leverage Fenergo’s transaction monitoring solution to enhance and streamline its anti-money laundering (AML) compliance operations.
PROVEN Bank Deputy Chief Executive Officer Nikita Kissoon underscored increasing regulatory pressure on financial institutions as one of the reasons the bank sought the partnership with Fenergo. Kissoon praised the company’s “excellent reputation for expertise in both AML regulations and cutting-edge compliance technology,” and said that enhanced AML compliance “aligns with our commitment to combat financial crime and remain future-proofed against fast-evolving regulatory changes across our offshore locations.”
Fenergo’s technology will help boost operational efficiency for the Caribbean-based financial institution. PROVEN Bank will benefit from the automation of multiple manual AML processes, which will reduce the number of false positives and free up compliance resources to focus on more complex situations and higher-risk customers. The bank will begin deploying the technology at its Cayman Islands location and subsequently expand the solution to its offices in St. Lucia and its affiliate company, PROVEN Wealth, based in Jamaica.
The partnership is especially timely. The Cayman Islands, where PROVEN Bank is based, was only recently removed from the Financial Action Task force’s AML grey list and the European Union’s black list earlier this year.
Fenergo Chief Strategy Officer Stella Clarke pointed out that banks like PROVEN that operate in multiple jurisdictions often struggle to keep up with local regulations with regards to AML. “Our transaction monitoring solutions offers PROVEN Bank the flexibility to seamlessly adapt to fast-evolving regulatory environments, while empowering it to more effectively cross-sell services to existing customers based on rich data insights,” Clarke said.
Fenergo made its Finovate debut 12 years ago at FinovateEurope in London. The company has raised more than $760 million in funding, and includes TLG Capital and Bridgepoint among its investors. Fenergo’s partnership news comes at the same time that the firm announced that it had formed an alliance with Deloitte Ireland to help deliver Fenergo’s CLM solutions to financial institutions throughout EMEA.
The Bank of Ireland wants you!
If you are a technology specialist looking to drive fintech innovation in the Republic, that is.
The Bank of Ireland just announced that it is recruiting for 100 technology roles in a variety of digital projects, including fighting fraud and advanced data analytics. The Bank is specifically looking for talent with experience in data, delivery management, engineering, resilience and cybersecurity. Open banking, cloud computing, APIs, and AI are also among the areas of emphasis.
“We continue to invest in our talent, technology, and infrastructure to ensure customers have the very best banking services,” Bank of Ireland Group Chief Operating Officer Ciarán Coyle said, “We’re currently progressing a range of innovative digital projects across the Group and we want to recruit talented specialists who can enhance the banking experience for our customers.”
The bank’s search for tech talent comes as the institution has increased its investment in financial technology. After making more than 60 enhancements to its mobile banking app, including biometrics and fraud monitoring, the bank saw an 18% year-on-year increase in active digital users. The bank announced the largest single investment in ATMs in the last decade earlier this year, as well as an investment of €15 million on new fraud prevention technology.
“We are looking for the very best talent to join our technology team as we continue to deliver improvements for customers and colleagues across the organization,” Coyle said.
Ireland’s PTSB has extended its agreement with Worldpay, giving the bank’s customers access to an additional range of services from the company, including e-commerce and ePOS. PTSB will also gain access to Worldpay DCC, a dynamic currency conversion solution that allows cardholders to pay in the currency of their choice.
PTSB Head of Personal Banking at PTSB Jeff Harbourne said that the ability to offer “a best-in-class merchant services solution” was key to the bank’s “ambition of becoming Ireland’s best personal and business bank.” Harbourne added, “By partnering with Worldpay, we’re offering a competitive advanced payments solution to our existing and new customers that enables them to grow their businesses and accept payment across all channels.”
With more than 1.2 million customers, PTSB has a presence in 98 locations throughout Ireland. Founded in 1816, the financial institution rebranded from Permanent TSB last fall following its acquisition of a sizable portion of Ulster Bank, including the firm’s Retail, SME, and Asset Finance businesses.
A Finovate alum since 2015, WorldPay today is a major payments technology and solutions company that processes more than 40 billion transactions across 146 countries and 135 currencies. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and founded in 1971, WorldPay announced an extension of its strategic partnership with fellow Finovate alum ACI Worldwide in July, and inked a new partnership with another Finovate alum, American Express, in May.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Colombian payment orchestration platform Yuno teamed up with Medellin-based financial services app Nequi.
Mexico City-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitso partnered with blockchain company Coincover for its non-custodial disaster recovery service.
Peruvian investment and asset management arm of Credicorp, Credicorp Capital, went live with Temenos’Multifonds accounting and investor servicing solution.
Financial Times profiled Kim Beom-su, founder of Kakao and one of the richest men in South Korea, who was recently arrested on stock manipulation charges.
Digital identity verification provider ADVANCE.AI signed an agreement with the Credit Information Corporation (CIC) to become the newest credit bureau in the Philippines. Read more about fintech in the Philippines in last week’s edition of Finovate Global.
Estonian payments and e-commerce solution provider Montonio introduced its new CEO Johan Nord.
Payments infrastructure company Kevin has been blocked from serving new clients by the Bank of Lithuania, which has also appointed a “temporary representative to oversee” the firm’s activities.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Singapore’s Prytek bought a controlling stake in Israeli fintech Tip Ranks, giving the company a valuation of $200 million.
This week’s Fintech Rundown features partnership and expansion news from a handful of Finovate alums, as well as some interesting fundings in the cryptocurrency and charitable giving space.
Our final Finovate Global column of 2023 celebrates the conversations we’ve had this year with fintech innovators from around the world.
Stay tuned in 2024 for more interviews with some of the most interesting founders, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders in fintech and financial services.
“We developed BehaviorQuant because every financial decision is ultimately made by a person or a team. BehaviorQuant solves a core problem that underlies the entire investment industry: we don’t have systematic knowledge about the people and teams behind investment decisions. And that’s true for financial professionals and clients alike.” Dr. Thomas Oberlechner, founder and CEO of BehaviorQuant. Interview.
“Moniepoint solves the problem of fragmented, inaccessible, and low-quality financial services for businesses in emerging markets. It is a full-service business banking platform seeking to provide all the digital financial services a typical business needs.” Tosin Eniolorunda, founder and CEO of Moniepoint. Interview.
“Eight hundred million voice conversations are recorded daily in Europe and many more worldwide. A tiny 1% of these conversations are checked for quality control, employee training, and business results improvement. Ender Turing is a conversations intelligence and automation platform to close 99% of the conversation gap for business growth.” Olena Iosifova, CEO of Ender Turing. Interview.
“Capital raising is broken. Private companies spend months and even years in the fundraising process, learning how to raise capital and repeating the same mistakes, approaching the wrong investors and often spamming them with irrelevant investment opportunities.” Ulyana Shtybel, CEO of Quoroom. Interview.
“At Refine intelligence, our mission is to help banks regain that superpower of really knowing their customers’ life stories, so their financial crime teams can quickly clear AML or scam alerts triggered by legitimate customer activity. We work with Risk, Financial Crime, BSA and AML teams. Fraud teams look at our technology to help with scam operations.” Uri Rivner, co-founder and CEO of Refine Intelligence. Interview.
“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.” Tayo Oviosu, founder and CEO of Paga. Interview.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Asia-Pacific
Singaporean fiat-to-crypto payment gateway Alchemy Pay forged a partnership with Worldpay from FIS.
Indonesian P2P fintech JULO added insurance coverage with the launch of its JULO Cares solution.
Hungary’s OTP Bank partnered with Intellect Global Consumer banking (iGCB), the consumer banking arm of Indian banking technology copany Intelltect Design Arena.
FIS-owned Worldpay is integrating Alipay+ to broaden the payment acceptance tools it offers merchants.
The rollout will begin with AlipayHK, a standalone e-wallet that is limited to Hong Kong dollars.
“By tapping into Worldpay’s market leading footprint, together we can help more merchants globally accelerate their growth journeys and expansion into strategic markets,” said General Manager of Ant Group in Europe and the Middle East Guoming Cheng.
Worldpay revealed its latest partnership today. The FIS-owned electronic payment and banking company announced it will integrate Alipay+ as an option among its e-commerce and POS offerings.
To initiate the rollout, Worldpay will start by enabling its merchant clients to support Alipay’s AlipayHK e-wallet. AlipayHK will be available to Worldpay’s clients in phases. Alipay launched AlipayHK as a standalone app in 2017. The AlipayHK wallet differs from Alipay because, as the name suggests, it is limited to transactions that are made and settled in local Hong Kong dollars.
“To stay competitive, merchants must understand and offer the payment methods that their customers prefer. Local wallet providers are extending their dominance in several APAC markets,” said Worldpay from FIS General Manager for Global E-commerce, APAC Phil Pomford. “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Ant Group to provide our global merchants access to the Alipay+ platform starting with the AlipayHK wallet.”
Developed by Ant Group, the wider Alipay+ brand provides global cross-border mobile payment tools that help merchants enable Alipay’s one billion active consumers to pay with apps they’re already using, including MPay, Kakao Pay, GCash, and more. Alipay+ also offers merchants digital marketing tools to better target and serve customers.
“The collaborative effort with Worldpay will empower merchants to sell globally and contribute to our mission of providing more open, digitalized, and inclusive financial services to global audiences,” said General Manager of Ant Group in Europe and the Middle East Guoming Cheng. “Alipay+’s suite of innovation solutions is connected with more than one billion consumers worldwide. By tapping into Worldpay’s market leading footprint, together we can help more merchants globally accelerate their growth journeys and expansion into strategic markets.”
Originally acquired in 1971, Worldpay now processes $130 million daily for more than one million merchants across the 146 countries. FISacquired the company in 2019 for an estimated $34 billion. Earlier this year, FIS sold a majority stake in Worldpay to private equity firm GTCR.
