This week in Fintech: TFT Bi-Weekly News Roundup 02/05

welcome to Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup Tuesday, May 2.

Appointments

Berlin-based fintech Raisin has appointed Cetin Duransoy as the new CEO of Raisin US. Before joining, he was president and CEO of fintech Fundbox. Raisin also recently announced a Series E funding round, which has seen the Berlin fintech raise $66 million from existing and new investors.

Mashreq appoints Mohamed Abdel Razek as CEO for technology, transformation and information. In this role, he will lead Mashreq’s technology organization and drive the delivery of all digital services. He will also be responsible for adopting new and emerging technologies, ensuring excellent service to customers and collaborating seamlessly with external partners.

Company for crime prevention technology SEASON hiring a new tax manager, Matt DeLauro. He will help the company as it works to prevent more financial crime online globally. He was previously CRO and general manager at Extend. The appointment is part of the company’s plans to continue investing in its business across North America, as well as its continued expansion globally.

More deals

London-based fintech Lanista has appointed Ed Blankson as CFO, and Merton Smith as customer manager, after the announcement of the collaboration with Google Pay. Lanistar is also expected to announce a partnership with Apple Pay soon.

Pliny, a platform that combines automated savings, data-driven financial wellness content and virtual account management, has promoted Julio Sarmiento to technology manager. Sarmiento will define and oversee Plinqit’s product, engineering and technology strategy as the company scales to serve a rapidly growing customer base of banks and credit unions.

Shieldpaya B2B payments company, has named Andrew Hawkins as managing director for the UK and Europe. Hawkins, former technology and product manager at shieldpay, will take over the role of entrepreneur Peter Janes who moves to CEO as part of Shieldpay’s strategic plan to prepare for the next phase of growth and expansion.

The Skipton Group has appointed Justin Mercer as managing director of the technology business, Jade software. Jade has around 280 employees, based across the UK, New Zealand and Australia. Mercer has been interim CEO of Jade Software since the previous CEO stepped down Charlotte Walshe in February.

Company updates

The University of East Angliaits climate research initiative, ClimateUEAhave nominated GoCodeGreencarbon calculation platform, for the Earthshot Prize 2023. The nomination recognizes GoCodeGreen’s innovative solution to decarbonise the ICT sector.

WTW, a global consultancy, announces the launch of Neuron, a digital insurance platform. Neuron helps insurers and brokers connect and transact more easily, improving the speed and cost of doing business through digitization, automation and better use of data.

BharatPe Group has completed the acquisition of a majority share in Trillions of loansa non-banking business
finance company based in Mumbai. The deal is part of BharatPe’s vision to be at the forefront of addressing the credit gap for millions of businesses and consumers in the country. Ravindra Pandey,
Nalin Negi and Sabyasachi Senapati also join the board of Trillion Loans, which will function as an independent entity with its own team.

Financing and investments

nomba, a payment service provider for African businesses, has raised a $30 million Pre-Series B funding round to support the delivery of tailored payment solutions for African businesses. The oversubscribed equity financing round was led by Base10 partners (investors in Nubank, Plaid and Brex), with participation also from Helios Digital Ventures, Shopify, Partech and Khosla Ventures.

Partnership

Kani Payments, the data reconciliation and reporting company has entered into a partnership with the British climate-conscious neobank Frost to ensure settlement reconciliations and payment system reporting. Frost chose Kani Payments to increase speed and simplify transaction reconciliation capabilities.

LogRhythm working together with eFinance to strengthen Egypt’s digital payment security ecosystem. The partnership aims to enable fintech innovation by securely delivering integrated, customizable and scalable digital payment platforms across Egypt.

TrueLayer, Europe’s open banking platform has entered into a partnership with a retailer Top tiles to offer instant bank transfers to its private and business customers. Topps Tiles customers can pay for their purchase with an account-to-account payment, ensuring a smooth user experience that also removes the need to enter lengthy card details.