This week in Fintech: TFT Bi-Weekly News Roundup 13/04

welcome to Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup Thursday, April 13.

Partnership

Qredoa provider of digital asset self-custody solutions, is an institutional partner in Avalanche spruce test net. Avalanche has given Qredo access to the Spruce testnet via MetaMask Institutional and WalletConnect. Qredo will also use the Spruce testnet to evaluate various applications and assets to understand the potential benefits of on-chain trade execution and settlement.

Voucher has entered into an embedded insurance API partnership with StartupOS. StartupOS users can now get general liability and business property insurance quotes from Vouch directly from the StartupOS platform. In addition, the platform will host free Vouch risk management training modules designed specifically for early-stage founders.

Digital payment network MFS Africa has entered into cooperation with Access Bank, Nigeria’s largest bank. The partnership will provide simplified transfers for AccessAfrica customers. AccessAfrica customers will also be able to receive payments from around the world through MFS Africa partners.

Mercuryothe all-in-one cryptocurrency platform, partners with Simpledo, a crypto provider in Turkey. The partnership is aimed at expanding Mercuryo’s global presence and improving services for customers in Turkey. Simpledo can leverage Mercuryo’s expertise to provide customers with a seamless experience.

There is also a partnership for Themis and SeedLegals. The two companies will market each other’s services and work together to provide a comprehensive offering to start-up clients, covering the legal and administrative aspects of carrying out the funding process and associated screening and due diligence of potential investors.

ION Markets, a provider of trading platforms, analytics and risk management solutions for capital markets, announces the connection of LatentZero order management system (OMS) to fintech Trumid. The link adds connectivity to ION Markets OMS for all markets and brokers worldwide, across all asset classes.

More collaborations

Delma Exchangea provider of currency exchange, has opened, in collaboration with Western Union, tthe first concept store in the UAE. Over the next few weeks, all five Delma Exchange locations in the United Arab Emirates will be rebranded to reflect the partnership with Western Union and new identity in the region. Both companies will offer customer-centric services.

Blockchain App Factory has established a strategic collaboration with bitsCrunch. The brands will leverage the combined power of their technologies to empower users with investigative and AI-powered real-time analytics. The strategic alliance is aimed at making NFT trading a highly informed decision for users worldwide.

Hoxton Capital Management, a borderless financial advisory firm, has teamed up with Salt edge to offer internationally mobile people and foreigners a more comprehensive and detailed overview of their finances, helping them make the most informed financial decisions, including investments.

Capital Bank has gone live with Finastra‘s Corporate Channels and will soon follow with Trade Innovation as well as other Corporate Channels modules. The combined offer will help to streamline banking services for businesses in Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. When fully implemented, the solutions will enable the bank to digitize manual tasks as well as process lending operations faster.

american bank Regions Bank have chosen Temenos to modernize its legacy systems for customer records and deposits on Temenos Banking Cloud. The transition to software as a service will enable Regions Bank to deliver more seamless customer experiences and more personalized banking products and services designed to help consumers and businesses achieve their financial goals.

Company updates

Global intelligence and cyber security consultancy S-RM has opened a new office location in Manchester. It is S-RM’s second UK hub and creates a strategic regional presence in the north for S-RM’s growing portfolio of customers, partners and employees. The expansion brings the company’s global presence to nine offices globally.

ecospend, an open banking provider recently acquired by Trustly, has joined PIMFA WealthTech, the digital marketplace and industry network created to drive innovation and improve collaboration between WealthTechs and wealth management firms, to provide a proof of concept ‘Pay-by-Bank’ solution to its members.

EC1 partners, a fintech talent partner, has launched EC1 Executive. Listed by Jamie Cole and George Firestone, EC1 Executive specializes in connecting C-Suite management with top-tier fintech companies worldwide. EC1 Executive focuses on areas including e-commerce, data, research and analytics, capital markets software, ESG and climate technology, regtech, crypto, digital assets and blockchain.

German airline Hahn Air has launched a fintech global payment orchestration platform for travel merchants. The new payment platform uses cloud-based technologies to integrate acquiring banks, payment, fraud, currency and chargeback providers and offers a fully automated and seamless payment solution. It aims to reduce cart abandonment as well as increase sales conversion.

Truflation launches its first premium subscription service. Truflation Premium gives users unlimited access to the firm’s CPI inflation data. With Truflation Premium, users can view Truflation’s full UK and US CPI data including all sub-category indices. From this, subscribers can build personalized dashboards, so investors can find the data that matters most to their portfolios.

line data, a provider of asset management and credit technology data and services, has expanded its service capabilities and offerings in APAC. Linedata has expanded its APAC offerings to include new industry segments, namely private equity, private credit, specialized and structured credit, as well as allocators and aggregators.

Financing and investment

Fintech SME Finance has agreed to a new credit facility of 100 million euros from London’s Fasanara capital. The new funds bring the total commitments of Fasanara to €240 million. The additional credit capability moves SME Finance closer to its 2023 goal of establishing an EU-wide fintech marketplace where any business can access services ranging from traditional business loans to income-based financing to embedded financing solutions.

Hakbah, the Saudi-based fintech savings platform, closes a $2 million pre-Series A funding round. Global Ventures and DIFC-based Aditum Investment Management participated in the round, giving Hakbah its first institutional capital. The financing follows approval given by Saudi Central Bank (SAMA).

Native cloud platform specialist Appetizer will expand its operations after receiving scale-up support from Scottish National Investment Bank. The £5m funding will enable the Edinburgh-headquartered technology developer to expand its workforce and target new markets. The bank’s support will lead to the creation of 15 new skills jobs. It will also strengthen Forrit’s relationship with Microsoft as a reliable partner.

The job is moving

National business capitalfintech marketplace in corporate finance, hiring Lucas Sophocleous as Vice President of Technology. Prior to joining, he worked at NBCUniversal Media, where he led sales enablement for NBC Universal’s national, local and global ad sales.

Edda has appointed Roxanne Varzadirector of Station F and scout at Sequoia, as a strategic advisor. As the newest addition to Edda’s advisory board, Varza will advise on the company’s growth strategy, as well as support Edda in expanding its footprint within the technology ecosystem, both in France and worldwide.

Serco appoints Daniel McGregor as growth manager – a new role for the Middle East region. The promotion of MacGregor to the role comes as Serco continues to strengthen its position in the UAE alongside growth in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to support Vision 2030.

Meanwhile, WealthKernel, a provider of digital investment infrastructure, appoints Brian Schwieger like his new chair. Brian was previously global head of equities and ETF trading at the London Stock Exchange (LSE). He will provide strategic guidance and expertise to support the company’s management team.

Additional agreements

Asanka Abeysinghe has been appointed technology manager in WSO2. Abeysinghe, who has held several technology leadership roles at WSO2 since 2008, most recently served as the company’s chief technology evangelist. He has more than two decades of experience in software architecture and development.

Nine appoints Anupam Pahuja to EVP and general manager for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Pahuja will build on Nium’s success in Southeast Asia, where the fintech unicorn was founded, and will expand Nium’s presence to more markets within APAC, the Middle East and Africa. He will be based in Nium’s headquarters in Singapore.

Lightspeed Commerce have named Liam Crooks as CEO of EMEA. Formerly Lightspeed’s senior VP of hospitality, Crooks also previously spent 10 years at Yelp as vice president of sales. Crooks’ role will focus on driving profitable growth across the EMEA region, expanding the company’s current customer base as well as supporting customers through current economic conditions.