Amazon Pay Fuels P2P in India; Fenergo Makes Friends in Bahrain

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Brazil’s central bank issues open banking guidelines for the country.
  • Crunchbase News looks at VC funding trends in Latin America and their impact on fintech investment.
  • LATAM Tech explores Argentina’s investment in blockchain technology.

Asia-Pacific

  • ACI Worldwide to help Indonesia interbank network ALTO to expand its payment capabilities.
  • China makes moves to ease cross-border ecommerce settlement.
  • Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Central Bank of Canada team up to trial DLT technology for cross border payments.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • ESI Africa reports on the potential for fintech to drive economic growth in Africa.
  • Kenya’s 4G Capital, a financial services solution provider for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) opens offices in Uganda.
  • Fintech News Switzerland profiles the fintech scene in South Africa.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Token helps drive Open Banking with new Sberbank Croatia partnership.
  • Lithuanian fintech Paysera announces plans to raise €2.5 million in a security token offering.
  • Banks in Hungary and Slovakia choose core banking technology from Oracle Financial Services.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Fenergo working with Bahrain’s Electronic Network for Financial Transactions to design and implement a KYC solution that incorporates blockchain technology.
  • Wamda interviews Mohamed Okasha, co-founder of Egypt-based electronic payment gateway, Fawry.
  • Mercury Payment Services, a Dubai-based financial services company, to deploy AML technology from Fiserv.

Central and South Asia

  • TechCrunch: India tops China as destination for fintech investment.
  • Amazon Pay launches P2P payments for Android users in India.
  • Myamar-based financing platform Daung Capital closes Series A round after securing additional funding.

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Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Feedzai and North American Bancard Partner to Fight Fraud.
  • FinovateSpring’s Friday Finale Tackles Fintech’s Toughest Topics.

Around the web

  • Aite Group’s 2019 report on fraud and AML machine learning platform vendors recognizes Featurespace as Best-in-Class.
  • Salt Edge releases 60+ PSD2 API sandboxes.
  • ACI Worldwide to help Indonesia interbank network ALTO to expand its payment capabilities.
  • Jack Henry & Associates unveils its digital account opening solution, JHA OpenAnywhere.
  • Worldpay to release FraudSight machine learning-powered fraud solution.
  • PAUL UK selects Yoyo to introduce a combined mobile payments and personalized loyalty app to its customers.
  • Mint rolls out a new app experience for Android users

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Onfido Raises $50 Million in New Capital.
  • Salt Edge Earns Account Information Service Provider License from FCA.

Around the web

  • Tinkoff Group of Russia builds supercomputer dubbed the most powerful in financial sector.
  • PayPal joins Series A round for Cambridge Blockchain.
  • EVRY partners with ACI Worldwide to enhance its mobile payment service in the Nordics and Europe.
  • ProfitStars wins 2019 FinTech Breakthrough Award for Best Business Lending Platform
  • Capsilon expands executive team, forms new product organization to drive mortgage innovation. Check out Capsilon’s newest tech at FinovateSpring in May.
  • SocietyOne launches new investor trust.
  • Portland Business Journal: Tyfone brings credit unions the digital tools members want.
  • Insuritas partners with Nymeo FCU to launch digital insurance agency.
  • NestReady to power integrated homebuying experience for Resource Financial Services.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

ACI Worldwide Partners with Solutions by Text

ACI Worldwide Partners with Solutions by Text

ACI Worldwide is bringing text-to-pay technology to billers courtesy of a new partnership with Solutions by Text. ACI will integrate Solutions by Text’s Pay-by-Text software into its UP Bill Payments solution, enabling businesses to receive payments from customers via SMS. The new option will give customers new payment flexibility, make on-time payments more likely, and keep collection costs low.

Pointing to the high open rate of text messages (98%) and the positive response customers tend to have toward text billing reminders, Solutions by Text founder and CEO Danny Cantrell highlighted the way the partnership will improve the “overall digital experience” for the customer.

“As smartphone use continues to advance,” Cantrell said, “offering customers the option to pay-by-text is quickly becoming a necessity as it improves the payment experience through payment reminders and mobile-enabled payment systems.”

ACI business leader for biller solutions Andrew Sajeski echoed Cantrell’s sentiments. He called the smartphone “the device of choice for digital payments,” and said the integration with Solutions by Text would “increase consumers’ ability to pay their bills on time in a more convenient way.”

A division of Marketing Response Solutions, a multi-service consulting firm which was founded in 1995, Solutions by Text was launched in 2008. The company streamlines and improves client communications by creating advanced, mobile-enabled business solutions using SMS. A member of the Inc 5000, the company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

ACI Worldwide presented Simple, Global, and Secure eCommerce Payments with ACI Worldwide’s Next Generation API at FinDEVr SiliconValley 2016. The company also demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2011, partnering with MShift to offer mobile delivery of ACI Enterprise Banker.

Last month, ACI Worldwide announced that it had agreed to acquire Speedpay, the U.S. billpay business of Western Union, in a deal valued at $750 million. Back in December, the company teamed up with fellow Finovate alum BioCatch to help provide enhanced online and mobile fraud detection using BioCatch’s behavioral biometrics technology.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • ACI Worldwide Partners with Solutions by Text.
  • Envestnet to Acquire PIEtech for $500 Million.

Around the web

  • Prepaid Technologies Acquires Dash from Karmic Labs.
  • Switch launches its issuer-branded CardUpdatr app.
  • Kinetica unveils its active analytics platform that makes it easier to deliver smart analytics applications at scale.
  • Forbes interviews co-founder and CEO of Onfido, Husayn Kassai.
  • Tinkoff Mobile, a subsidiary of Tinkoff Bank, announces service in six new regions.
  • DocuSign launches its DocuSign Agreement Cloud to help companies better manage business agreements digitally.
  • Capsilon announces the beta launch of its digital underwriter solution.
  • AlphaPoint adds DiamondBack stablecoin to its crypto exchange.
  • Sri Lanka’s Bank of Ceylon goes live with Clari5 Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Solution to address money laundering threats.
  • PYMNTS: Amazon and Worldpay team up on one-click commerce.
  • NetGuardians‘ AI fraud-prevention software available on Microsoft Azure.
  • TurnKey Lender signs partnership agreement with Refinitiv.
  • MX and Personetics partner to bring AI-driven insights to financial institution customers.
  • ICBA and Jack Henry’s ProfitStars expand preferred service provider program with remote deposit capture solutions.
  • Insuritas and Oregon Mutual announce partnership to offer auto and home insurance solutions through meta-agency platform.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

PayPal in Argentina; Temenos Backs African Challenger Bank

Finovate Global is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • PayPal invests $750 million in Argentina-based e-commerce company MercadoLibre.
  • First Data to acquire Brazilian electronic funds transfer (EFT) solution provider Software Express.
  • NCR, Bluefin, and Powertranz team up to support POS card processing for Caribbean quick serve restaurants.
  • BlueRush deploys its Individeo platform with a large Colombian bank courtesy of a partnership with Bee Concept.
  • The Wall Street Journal looks at how global FIs are gaining interest in the Latin American alternative lending market.

Asia-Pacific

  • Experian launches Singapore-based incubator, Experian X Labs.
  • South Korean crypto company Kakao raises $90 million via private coin offering.
  • Thai Stock Exchange to launch a digital asset exchange next year.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Front office and core banking technology from Temenos to drive digital revamp for African challenger bank, Vista Bank.
  • Financial Software and Systems takes 46% stake in South Africa’s Ecentric Payment Systems.
  • South Africa’s second largest retail bank, Capitec, extends its partnership with ACI Worldwide.
  • ThreatMetrix teams up with Blue Turtle Technologies to help market its fraud prevention solution to customers in Africa.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Tinkoff Bank reports 2018 highlights including launch of new mortgage app, a joint P2P money transfer offering with Sberbank, and more than 2.7 million new active credit customers.
  • iSignthis Inks Banking and Payments Deal with Ibanera.
  • Bulgaria-based Software Group scores €18 million loan from Europe Investment Bank.
  • EU Startups features lending platform Inlock its look at 10 Hungarian startups to look out for in 2019.
  • Bulgaria’s Municipal Bank to deploy new core and payments solutions from Oracle.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) launches $10 million fund for fintech startups in the MENA region.
  • Commercial Bank of Qatar joins R3.
  • Credit scoring solution provider Creditinfo opens regional hub in Muscat following new strategic partnership with the Central Bank of Oman.

Central and South Asia

  • ArthaYantra wins Fintech of the Year (India) at The Asset Triple A Digital Awards.
  • Africa’s Naspers plans to spend $1 billion on investments in Indian fintechs.
  • Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures division to launch digital platform for Indian SMEs.

Top image designed by Freepik

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Stash Scores $65 Million; Launches Stock-Back Rewards.
  • TickSmith Teams Up with CanDeal to Power DataVault Innovations.
  • First Wave of Demoing Companies for FinovateSpring Revealed.

Around the web

  • Aerospike launches suite of add-on modules, Aerospike Connect, to make it easier for businesses to integrate the company’s database.
  • Identitii renews its partnership with HSBC Global Services (UK).
  • Onfido appointed to the FIDO Alliance Board of Directors.
  • ACI Worldwide announces the extension of its partnership with South Africa’s Capitec Bank.
  • IdentityMind Global to support Koi Trading’s AML Compliance-as-a-Service offering.
  • Gusto appoints Square’s former Head of Information Security Fredrick Lee as its new Chief Security Officer.
  • PayPal adds instant transfer feature for bank accounts.
  • Insuritas and ReliaQuote partner to offer ID theft protection to 10 million consumers.
  • Fenergo enables financial firms to digitally visualize risk in fight against financial crime.
  • GroundFloor partners with Dwolla to make payments more efficient for borrowers and investors.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

ACI Worldwide Buys Speedpay in $750 Million Deal

ACI Worldwide Buys Speedpay in $750 Million Deal

ACI Worldwide has signed an agreement to acquire Speedpay, Western Union’s U.S. bill pay business, for $750 million in an all-cash transaction, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

This news follows ACI’s acquisition of technology assets from RevChip and TranSend, both developers of terminal payment apps and management platforms.

The ACI and Speedpay bill pay solutions aim to serve more than 4,000 customers across the US, and targets such sectors as consumer finance, insurance, healthcare, higher education, utilities, government and mortgages.

ACI will bring together the Speedpay and UP Bill Payment platforms into a unified bill payment platform.

“Divesting the Speedpay business allows us to concentrate our resources on our cross-border money movement strategies and monetise a non-core asset for our shareholders,” said Hikmet Ersek, president and CEO of Western Union. “Our strategy remains focused on expanding our digital services, leveraging our platform to unlock new cross-border, cross-currency payments opportunities, and generating additional operating efficiencies.”

With more than 15 billion transactions in 2018, ACI reckons the US bill pay market continues to grow at steady mid-single digit rates. This growth is driven by factors such as increased consumer adoption of digital and mobile payments, the move to real-time payments and digital subscription billing.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of the second quarter of 2019.

In separate news, ACI has released its results from the year closing on 31 December 2018. To sum up, the year’s new bookings are up 22% from 2017, the total bookings are up 15% from 2017, and its cash flow from operations are up 26% from 2017. Good times.

ACI Worldwide demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2011, partnering with mShift to offer ACI’s Enterprise Banker solution via mobile. The company is also an alum of our developers conference, presenting Simple, Global, and Secure eCommerce Payments with ACI Worldwide’s Next Generation API at FinDEVrSiliconValley 2016.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • NDGIT Credits License Revenue, New Bank Clients for Growth.
  • ACI Worldwide Buys Speedway in $750 Million Deal.
  • Identity Verification Specialist Socure Raises $30 Million.
  • Finastra Brings its Total Payments Solution to Silvergate Bank.

Around the web

  • D3 Banking Technology joins Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN).
  • Tradeshift introduces new app integration from Transfermate Global Payments.
  • HackerOne opens official APAC headquarters in Singapore.
  • Healthcare information technology services provider Allscripts partners with ID.me.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

Around the web

  • ACI Worldwide enhances its UP Merchant Payments solution with the purchase of technology assets from RevChip and TranSend.
  • Onfido to provide identity verification for P2P RV rental marketplace, RVshare.
  • Coinbase enables transactions via PayPal to 32 countries in Europe courtesy of new collaboration.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Mexican fintech Albo raises $7.4 million in Series A round led by Mountain Nazca.
  • Mobile digital wallet BPP Pay goes live in Brazil.
  • The Inter-American Development Bank and Finnovista publish their Fintech in Latin America 2018: Growth and Consolidation report.

Asia-Pacific

  • R3 and SBI Holdings launch joint venture to boost use of Corda in Japan and East Asia more broadly.
  • Mizuho inks memorandum of understanding for business cooperation with Zhongguancun Development Group (ZDG) in quest for Chinese fintech startups.
  • Phillippine “fintech city” Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) unveils new regulations for trading cryptocurrency assets.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Standard Chartered begins the second phase of its digital-only, retail bank rollout in four African markets.
  • The Standard reflects on Kenya’s progress in promoting financial inclusion via financial technology.
  • Modern Ghana considers Five Ways Fintech Will Change E-Commerce.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Fintech Futures takes a look at the growth of Lithuania’s fintech sector.
  • ACI Worldwide to drive real-time payments for 17 banks in Hungary.
  • Belarus turns to the example of Lithuania as the country considers how to regulate fintech.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Sharia’h compliant insurance solution provider Solidarity Bahrain opts for core insurance system from TCS Bancs.
  • Al Bawaba looks at how Egyptian banks are moving toward digitization and embracing fintech.
  • Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority and United Arab Emirates Central Bank announce plans for a blockchain-based digital currency to improve financial settlements between the two countries.

Central and South Asia

  • Indian alternative credit scoring startup CreditVidya raises $3 million in funding.
  • A partnership between 11 banks in India has led to the country’s first blockchain-linked funding for SMEs.
  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launches Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions to improve response to complaints regarding digital transactions.

Top image designed by Freepik

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • New Funding Helps Featurespace Fight Fraud in Financial Services.

Around the web

  • WeInvest announces North Asia expansion with appointment of new Head of Sales, Thomas Tse.
  • Yoyo Wallet partners with artisan coffee chain, SOHO Coffee.
  • TAG includes DefenseStorm and FeatureSpace in its list of the top 40 most innovative companies in Georgia.
  • ACI Worldwide brings its real-time payments solution to 17 Hungarian banks courtesy of partnership with T-Systems and Takarékinfo.
  • Dwolla powers AutoInvest, a new automatic investing feature from OneGold.
  • MaxMyInterest boosts top rate available on its platform to 2.46%, the highest rate in the country.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.