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Top 5 Fintech News Week 06/52 (05-02-24)
Fat Zebra Expands into Open Banking with Adatree Acquisition
Sydney-based payments provider, Fat Zebra, has recently completed the acquisition of Adatree, an Australian open banking platform, as part of its strategic initiative to innovate within the dynamic financial landscape. Fat Zebra, supported by Fiserv, boasts a significant presence in Australia, processing payments for more than 30,000 enterprises and managing a staggering 250 million e-commerce transactions annually. This acquisition underscores Fat Zebra's commitment to adapting to the future of financial transactions and signals a pivotal shift towards the burgeoning realm of open banking.
Adatree, renowned for its CDR intermediary platform, serves as a crucial link connecting companies to regulated data-sharing. Notably, the platform introduces 'open energy' to its repertoire, expanding its offerings. The integration of Adatree's capabilities into Fat Zebra is expected to foster collaboration between the two entities, providing a platform for synergies that will accelerate the development of innovative open banking solutions. This move positions Fat Zebra strategically in the evolving financial technology landscape, equipping the company to navigate and contribute to the transformative changes taking place in the industry.
Source: Business News Australia
Wealth Dynamix Joins Temenos Exchange
Wealth Dynamix has recently integrated its services into the Temenos Exchange, marking a significant development in the financial technology landscape. This collaboration positions Wealth Dynamix's comprehensive solution for the entire client lifecycle seamlessly within the Temenos ecosystem. The integration aims to streamline operations, ensuring not only compliance but also scalability for financial institutions. By becoming accessible on the Temenos platform, Wealth Dynamix extends its reach to thousands of global banks, providing them with an efficient and engaging client experience.
Gary Linieres, the CEO of Wealth Dynamix, underscores the company's dedication to the banking community through this strategic integration. He expresses anticipation in leveraging Temenos' powerful platform to achieve business goals. Wealth Dynamix, with its focus on intelligent Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) capabilities, caters to a diverse spectrum of financial entities, ranging from boutique investment managers to global private banks. This move reinforces Wealth Dynamix's commitment to delivering advanced and adaptable solutions across the financial services sector.
Source: Wealth Diynamix
Nuvei and Cash App Collaborate for Enhanced Online Payments
Nuvei has entered into a strategic partnership with Cash App, aiming to elevate the landscape of online payments in the United States. The collaboration involves the integration of Cash App Pay into Nuvei's checkout system, a move designed to enhance simplicity in the payment process. By incorporating Cash App Pay, the joint effort specifically targets younger demographics, recognizing the importance of catering to evolving consumer preferences and behaviors. The ultimate goal of this collaboration is to not only attract new users but also foster repeat purchases, creating a more seamless and engaging online payment experience.
This strategic move aligns with Nuvei's broader commitment to embracing alternative payment methods, a trend that has become increasingly vital in the rapidly evolving digital payment space. Notably, this partnership with Cash App follows Nuvei's recent collaborations, including a notable one with Familiprix for an eCommerce app benefiting a substantial network of over 400 pharmacies. These partnerships collectively underscore Nuvei's proactive approach to staying at the forefront of payment technology trends and reinforcing its position as a key player in facilitating diverse and innovative payment solutions.
Source: Fintech Global
Ramp Fintech Acquires Additional AI Startup
Ramp, a fintech company, has recently made public its acquisition of Venue, an AI-powered startup focused on simplifying vendor cost management for businesses. Although the acquisition occurred last August, Ramp has officially announced it now, coinciding with the launch of new procurement and vendor management services. This strategic move positions Ramp to bolster its procurement services by incorporating Venue's AI capabilities, aiming to streamline and enhance vendor cost management for its clients.
Eric Glyman, the CEO of Ramp, outlined the company's vision to revolutionize cumbersome business processes through practical automation and AI. With aspirations to evolve into a comprehensive solution for financial operations, Ramp has witnessed substantial growth, processing over $10 billion in accounts payable spend annually. Glyman emphasized the positive impact of previous acquisitions, such as Cohere.io, underscoring Ramp's commitment to fostering efficient and organized business processes. This acquisition aligns with Ramp's strategic trajectory, consolidating its position as a forward-thinking player in the fintech space.
Source: Tech Crunch
Banorte Partners with SAP Fioneer for Digital Bank Bineo
Banorte, a prominent Mexican bank, has embarked on a strategic collaboration with SAP Fioneer to unveil the digital bank, Bineo. This innovative venture, equipped with account and lending services, marks Banorte's entry into the fiercely competitive digital banking market in South America. Despite being under the umbrella of Grupo Financiero Banorte, Bineo positions itself as a contender against established players such as Nubank in Brazil and Ualá in Argentina. Leveraging SAP Fioneer's cloud banking platform, Bineo aims to distinguish itself by rapidly launching new products, optimizing operational costs, and setting an ambitious target of onboarding 2.8 million customers within the next five years.
The collaboration signifies Banorte's strategic commitment to leveraging advanced technologies and partnerships to tap into the evolving landscape of digital banking. By embracing SAP Fioneer's expertise and cloud-based solutions, Bineo is poised to not only compete but also innovate in the digital banking space, bringing forth a range of financial services to meet the demands of the dynamic South American market. This move reflects Banorte's proactive stance in adapting to the changing financial ecosystem and signifies a significant step in establishing Bineo as a key player in the region's digital banking sector.
Source: Fintech Futures
Zilo Secures £25m in Series A Funding
The funding was spearheaded by Fidelity International Strategic Ventures (FISV) and Portage, with additional contributions from State Street and Citi. According to PitchBook data, the company had previously raised $10.6 million in a seed round in October 2022.
Established in 2020 and headquartered in London, Zilo's mission is to enhance cost efficiency, reduce complexity, and generate sustainable value for global asset and wealth management firms, along with their clientele. Zilo's software facilitates the replacement of outdated legacy systems with a digital, real-time user experience. The platform went live with its inaugural client in July 2023.
The newly secured funds will be channeled towards accelerating product development, fostering user acquisition, and expanding its presence in the market. Additionally, the capital will be allocated to entering new markets and establishing strategic partnerships to diversify its offerings.
Philip Goffin, the founder and CEO of Zilo, commented on the funding, stating, "We are committed to empowering financial service institutions to phase out obsolete legacy technologies and significantly enhance the cost efficiencies of their operations by leveraging Zilo to transition to a modern digital solution that supports existing fund structures, new digital assets, and improves client experiences."
SOURCE: Fintech Inshorts
Amethis buys majority in CBS
Headquartered in Paris, France, CBS has been delivering banking solutions internationally for the past 25 years. Its prominent offerings include CapitalBanker, a core banking solution, and CapitalPrivate, a wealth management solution tailored for European private banks and wealth management specialists.
CBS, employing over 300 professionals, operates in multiple locations, including France, Monaco, Switzerland, the USA, Morocco, Lebanon, and Ivory Coast.
Amethis, through its investment, aims to support CBS in accelerating organic growth, especially on an international scale. The strategy includes facilitating CBS's external growth through strategic acquisitions, expanding its geographical reach, and reinforcing existing services.
In this transaction, Amethis secures a majority stake, collaborating with CBS's president and CEO, Samer Hanna, COO Michel Tueni, CFO Aziz Akl, and other key executives, all of whom are reinvesting their proceeds. Founded in 2012 and based in Paris, Amethis manages assets exceeding €1 billion, with over 30 investments to date. As a partner member of Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity, Amethis provides growth capital to mid-sized businesses across various sectors through its six offices in Europe and Africa.
SOURCE: Amethis
Ant Group Close to Acquiring MultiSafepay
In its pursuit of global expansion, Ant Group had previously entered the Singaporean market through the acquisition of 2C2P in 2022. Known for operating the cross-border payments platform Alipay alongside its affiliate Alibaba Group, Ant Group has established itself as a key player in the worldwide financial services market.
MultiSafepay, generating an annual revenue of US$50 million, is poised to become a valuable addition to Ant Group's European portfolio. Unlike many companies, MultiSafepay has achieved substantial growth organically, with no external investment, expanding from its native market into Spain and Germany.
Ant Group's latest acquisition involves obtaining 100% ownership of MultiSafepay, a company renowned for providing payments acquiring and processing services to over 18,000 SMEs. Moreover, MultiSafepay collaborates with commercial partners to offer supplementary services to its clients. In 2022, the Dutch firm recorded a net profit of US$1.43 million on gross income totaling US$13.02 million. With this impending deal, MultiSafepay's CEO, Olaf Geurs, is expected to pass the reins to Ant Group.
SOURCE: Fintech Magazine
FirstOntario's Open Banking Readiness with Flinks and Everlink
This partnership is set to provide greater control over financial data to FirstOntario's members, enabling the credit union to deliver a more personalized range of financial services. Lloyd Smith, CEO of FirstOntario, emphasizes the importance of this capability as a "key strategic priority" and underscores the readiness to offer this emerging service once legislatively enabled, given the anticipation surrounding open banking in the marketplace.
Flinks, headquartered in Montreal and majority-owned by the National Bank of Canada, and Everlink, based in Markham, joined forces in March 2023 to spearhead the adoption of consumer-driven banking in Canada. They achieved this by combining Flinks' open banking infrastructure product, Outbound, with Everlink's digital solutions.
This collaboration aligns with the federal government of Canada's initiative, unveiled last November, to implement an open banking framework in its upcoming budget. The framework is slated to be nationally operational in 2025, prompting financial institutions like FirstOntario to establish partnerships with suitable providers in preparation.
Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf, CEO of Flinks, notes the growing momentum for a consumer-driven financial industry, emphasizing that the inclusion of open banking functionality within FirstOntario will "elevate the banking experience" for its members.
As per the federal Department of Finance, approximately 9 million Canadians currently use screen-scraping to share confidential banking credentials with service providers, posing privacy, liability, and security risks. Canada aims to replace this process with open banking, following the lead of countries such as Australia, the European Union, the UK, Japan, and Singapore.
SOURCE: Banking Frontiers
Global Fintech Investment Drops 48% in 2023
The number of funding deals also saw a notable reduction, with capital being distributed across a total of 3,973 deals compared to 6,397 deals recorded in 2022. The United States maintained its position as the leader in fintech funding by a considerable margin, attracting $24 billion across 1,530 deals. The UK secured the second spot with $5.1 billion, followed by India in third place with $2.5 billion. The UK's $5.1 billion in funding for 2023 was distributed across 409 deals, reflecting a 65% decrease from the previous year's $14.6 billion across 592 deals.
Innovate Finance highlights that this decline in funding aligns with trends observed in other major fintech markets, including the US, which experienced a 44% drop from 2022. An exception to this trend was the UAE, where investments surged by an impressive 92% compared to 2022. In the UK, female-led fintech companies attracted $536 million in 2023 across 59 deals, representing 10.5% of the country's total funding. The industry body also points out that "the UK received more investment in fintech than the next 28 European countries combined" throughout the year.
Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, notes that despite economic challenges for fintech globally in 2023, the UK sector demonstrated resilience by maintaining its position as a global investment hub, ranking second only to the US and leading in Europe. Hirt sees a "clear opportunity" for UK fintechs to strengthen their presence in Asian markets, which collectively attracted "more combined investment than their European counterparts."
Innovate Finance compiled and summarized its report using data from PitchBook as of December 31, 2023.
SOURCE: Innovate Finance
