There was a time when robo-advisory represented the peak of fintech’s contribution to the wealth management industry. And these services continue to be popular options for a new generation of savers and investors. The Statista Market Forecast indicates that the robo-advisor market worldwide is expected to grow by more than 6% by 2028, with more than 34 million investors relying on robo-advisors. At the same time, enabling technologies like machine learning and AI are generating new ways for fintechs to bring the benefits of technological innovation to the wealth management industry. But it is important for fintechs to avoid building solutions in search of problems. What are some of the real trends and true pain points in the industry that fintechs may be able to help solve? Democratization One major theme in wealth management is democratization. For generations, wealth management has been the province of, to put it bluntly, the wealthy. Services were often expensive and opaque for the growing number of upper-middle class and middle-class investors of the 1980s and 1990s. There is still a healthy market for high net worth investors, of course. But we have seen a major trend toward leveraging technology to make some wealth management services that were previously available only to the elites accessible to investors of lesser means. There is also another way of looking at democratization in wealth management. In the same way that technology is enabling average investors to access increasingly sophisticated wealth management services, so is technology making it possible for smaller providers to compete with larger wealth management rivals. Fintechs that can help smaller firms and family offices do more with less may find significant opportunities among the growing group of wealth management entrepreneurs. Personalization Personalization has increasingly been seen as table stakes in financial services, and with good reason. Whether you are involved in payments or lending or ecommerce, the ability to get relevant products and services in front of your customers is paramount. Not just knowing what customers might want but also being able to deliver is what separates those businesses that gain new customers and keep the ones they’ve got, from those who struggle to do so. Fintechs can enhance the customer experience by, for example, ensuring that wealth managers can communicate with clients in their channels of choice – and are able to bring significant functionality to those interactions in those channels with video or co-browsing. Knowing which customers are more likely to respond positively to new or alternative investment strategies, for example, or to other complementary products or services can go a long way toward building better engagement and loyalty. Operations One of the less flashy areas where fintech technologies can help drive innovation in wealth management is in back-office operations. This is also where enabling technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are delivering Automation 2.0 to intelligently streamline manual tasks and complex procedures. This trend, which has brought speed, accuracy, and cost-cutting to industries throughout financial services, is one that will benefit wealth management service providers significantly. Moreover, many of the other trends in wealth management – such as the challenges of managing (and securing) ever-growing volumes of data, keeping up with evolving regulatory changes – are made possible by operations teams that have these powerful, enabling technologies at their disposal. For wealth management service providers who are not yet maximizing their teams or these technologies, fintechs can help them close the gap. Decisioning From buy-and-sell decisions to strategic portfolio allocations, wealth management is about making good, consistent decisions. Not only do wealth management service providers constantly seek to improve their investing strategies – one area where fintechs can provide specific expertise – but also these firms need to think about more than just maximizing returns. Keeping portfolio volatility at an acceptable level based on the risk tolerance and profile of the individual investor is just one example of another important function of the successful wealth manager. Making good decisions is also about accountability. Having systems in place that ensure that processes are explainable and auditable is critical to accountability. It is also vital to an institution’s ability to learn, adapt, grow, and improve. Compliance Keeping up with the latest regulations is important for all financial service providers – and wealth management companies are no different. As mentioned previously, one of the biggest benefits of enabling technologies like machine learning, AI, and Automation 2.0 is the ability for firms to track regulatory changes and ensure that their operations are able to meet new standards. An article earlier this year in Financial Planning listed 10 separate regulatory issues that wealth management firms are likely to face this year, from regulations on marketing language to rules governing digital assets. Moreover, many wealth management firms have internal rules and mandates based on the type of investments they offer and to whom. As such, remaining compliant with an institution’s own governing policies is also a challenge for which regtechs in our industry can provide assistance. Growth One of the most exciting ways that fintechs can bring innovation to wealth management services providers is to enable them to grow and expand their businesses by offering services that, while complementary, could be difficult to offer (much less integrate) without technology partners. Whether through APIs or embedded finance, there are a range of complementary services that fintechs can provide to wealth managers. From insurance to estate planning to secure document digitization and storage, fintechs are able to provide services that wealth management customers often need, but are inclined to get elsewhere. By adding these solutions and services to their product mix, wealth managers can dramatically increase their capacity to grow. Photo by Charles DeLoye on Unsplash The post 6 Ways Fintechs Can Foster the Next Generation of Wealth Management appeared first on Finovate.       

EarnUp is launching AI Advisor, an AI-powered chatbot to help banks promote financial wellness among their consumers. AI Advisor accesses and instantly analyzes a user’s real-time banking and credit data to offer personalized, actionable answers to their financial questions. By working with the consumer to help them improve their financial situation, AI Advisor can help banks build and maintain existing customer relationships. Debt pay down platform EarnUp announced the launch of its AI-powered financial wellness tool, AI Advisor, today. The new solution will help financial institutions offer their consumers personalized financial guidance. AI Advisor is a chatbot that offers users hyper-personalized insights and guidance to help them make informed financial decisions to ultimately achieve their goals. It does this by accessing and instantly analyzing the user’s real-time banking and credit data to offer personalized, actionable answers to their financial questions regarding HELOCs, cards, consolidation loans, and more. By combining a user’s current financial situation with their questions, AI Advisor is also able to offer tailored product recommendations. Using an approachable chatbot as the communication engine, EarnUp seeks to ensure that every user, regardless of their financial background, benefits from its advice to power a more financially resilient future. “In today’s competitive landscape, banks must leverage AI to deliver real value to customers,” said KeyBank Chief Financial Officer Clark Khayat. “EarnUp’s AI Advisor goes beyond traditional budget-tracking apps by analyzing financial accounts and providing personalized, actionable insights. This empowers financial institutions to engage in more meaningful interactions, ensuring customers receive the guidance they need to achieve their financial goals.” Using AI Advisor, banks may be able to retain borrowers, cross-sell loans and other products, capture deposits, and close more loans. That’s because banks can use AI Advisor as a tool to advise consumers on how to improve their financial situation so that they are ready to take out a loan or apply for a credit card. By working with the consumer instead of rejecting them outright, banks will also build relationships with them. “Our mission is to democratize access to actionable information that will improve financial wellness,” said EarnUp Co-Founder and CEO Nadim Homsany. “This is especially critical as interest rates remain high and borrower debt repayment capacity diminishes. In fact, a recent Bankrate survey found that over half of applicants have been denied for a loan or credit since the Fed began raising rates.” Since it was founded in 2015, EarnUp has helped nearly three million borrowers reach financial freedom. The company views its AI Advisor tool as a next step to assist individuals in achieving their financial goals. Photo by Ashley Batz on Unsplash The post EarnUp Launches AI Advisor to Automate Financial Wellness appeared first on Finovate.       

Financial crime detection technology company, ThetaRay, has acquired screening specialist, Screena. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the companies have been partners since the spring of 2022. ThetaRay made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2015. AI-powered financial crime detection technology company, ThetaRay, has acquired European screening company, Screena. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Screena specializes in screening individuals, companies, and other entities against sanctioned party lists. The company’s APIs support syntactic, phonetic, and semantic matching, as well as multicultural recognition services. Each of these technologies is valuable at a time when more companies and financial institutions are taking advantage of opportunities in cross-border payments and trade. From navigating spelling differences and out-of-order components to comprehending multiple alphabets including Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, and Thai, Screena has a near 100% true detection rate and screens 500+ transactions per second in live conditions. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Luxembourg, Screena helps financial institutions identify bad actors who may be engaged in activities ranging from money laundering to drug trafficking to terrorist financing. Screena CEO Cédric Iggiotti said that the integration with ThetaRay was a “game-changer” for the company. “For too long, screening was siloed from other critical financial crime detection tools,” Iggiotti said. “Our partnership with ThetaRay not only meets stringent regulatory demands but also significantly enhances our crime detection capabilities, as evidenced by our recent successes with major financial institutions.” ThetaRay and Screena have been partners since the spring of 2022, when ThetaRay chose the startup as its screening solutions partner. In a statement on this week’s acquisition, ThetaRay CEO Peter Reynolds spoke of the company’s “mission to power the global fight against financial crime” through the use of AI-enabled technologies. He added that the acquisition “furthers our commitment to delivering an end-to-end platform that enables banks, fintechs, and regulators to effectively identify financial crime – vital capabilities to grow and operate a financial institution today.” Israel-based ThetaRay made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in 2015. Today, the company has more than one billion users, enables more than 11 billion in trusted transactions a year, and monitors more than $15 trillion in transactions annually. The company’s signature offerings include its transaction monitoring and screening solution, SONAR, as well as its Customer Risk Assessment (CRA) product unveiled earlier this year. Reynolds was named CEO of the company last summer. He succeeds Mark Gazit, who had been ThetaRay’s CEO for more than 11 years. Photo by Kasia Derenda on Unsplash The post ThetaRay Acquires Screena to Enhance its Financial Crime Detection Platform appeared first on Finovate.       

Texas-based Vantage Bank announced this week it has tapped financial risk control platform Cable to facilitate the bank’s compliance and risk management program. This partnership comes as Vantage Bank seeks to grow its fintech program and partnerships in today’s tightened regulatory environment. In recent years, there have been multiple banks offering embedded banking that have faced regulatory action over their offerings. Given this heightened oversight, Vantage Bank has enhanced its compliance program by engaging with embedded banking experts to ensure it meets current standards. The bank said that it chose Cable because it offered an all-in-one tool to help firms keep up with evolving regulatory requirements in the U.S. “Embedded Banking is under intense scrutiny from regulators,” said Cable CEO Natasha Vernier. “Vantage Bank is incredibly smart to get ahead of that scrutiny by building a best-in-class compliance program right at the outset. We are delighted that they chose Cable as part of that program, and we are excited to work with them and learn from them over the coming years.” U.K.-based Cable was founded in 2020 to offer a financial risk control platform with automated effectiveness testing and real-time alerts that help clients manage, track, and have full oversight of the controls. The company’s initial value proposition was to help firms manage financial crime. Since then, Cable has doubled down on helping partner banks, including Axiom Bank, Quaint Oak Bank, and Griffin, manage their fintech programs. Last November, Cable unveiled Transaction Assurance, a new tool to automate effectiveness testing and ensure that all transactions are monitored and tested for potential regulatory breaches or control failures. “Vantage believes there is tremendous opportunity to grow and diversify our customer base by leveraging embedded banking,” said Vantage Bank President and CEO Jeff Sinnott. “This opportunity requires that we have a robust risk management program and strong controls to ensure regulatory compliance. Vantage Bank believes Cable is the best platform to help manage our risk and compliance for our embedded banking program.” Vernier, along with Cable’s Sales Lead Julian Brophy, demoed the company’s technology at FinovateFall 2022 in New York. The company started the year by launching a new integration option with identity risk management platform Alloy. The move allows Cable to seamlessly retrieve essential data from Alloy that feeds into Cable’s effectiveness testing checks. Photo by Markus Winkler The post Vantage Bank Taps Cable for Embedded Banking Compliance appeared first on Finovate.       

This morning CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz reported that 97% of the Windows sensors knocked out during CrowdStrike’s botched software update a little over a week ago are back online. That’s great news for those companies still reeling from one of the biggest IT outages in history. When it comes to cybersecurity companies, CrowdStrike is widely considered to be a belle of the ball. Here’s wealth manager Josh Brown, a shareholder in the company since 2020, bringing the roses less than a year ago: You can talk as much about cloud and mobile and social and machine learning and distributed computing and generative AI as you’d like, if you can’t secure your data and provide safe access to users, you have nothing. Literally …. Spending on top-of-the-line security solutions has now been enshrined into securities law, in addition to all the other reasons to take this stuff seriously, such as not getting sued into the stone age by your customers or forced to make Bitcoin ransom payments to international cyber terrorists …. As a business manager, you would cut IT spending on literally anything else first. A small handful of publicly traded companies have what I consider to be a massive runway ahead of them. CrowdStrike is aiming to become the Salesforce of the industry. To recap: Friday morning, July 19, a bug in a CrowdStrike software update resulted in major IT outages that grounded flights and brought chaos to banks and other businesses around the world. “CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts,” CrowdStrike’s Kurtz wrote on the social media platform X the morning afterward. “Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed.” As we learn more about exactly what happened, is there a particular insight here for banks, fintechs and financial services companies? At a time of heightened concern over third-party risk in our industry, the CrowdStrike outage is yet another reminder of the importance of not only choosing technology partners carefully, but also of ensuring resiliency in the event of an issue with a partner. The latter is especially pertinent here. Many of the challenges and controversies with regard to third-party risk management in financial services involve the latter, vetting issue, primarily. A signature example is the case of Synapse, the fintech whose allegedly improper handling of customer funds led to more than 200,000 users losing access to their money and numerous disputes with banking partners. CrowdStrike is being accused of no such malfeasance and will, in all likelihood, remain a major player in the cybersecurity industry, with its reputation scratched perhaps but probably not scarred. That leaves us with resiliency. In banking, the definition of resiliency has expanded significantly in recent years. From the failures of the banking crisis to the strains of the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying economic slowdown a little over a decade later, banks have dealt with major challenges to both financial and operational resiliency. The CrowdStrike outage represented a different type of disruption, and one that may be less amenable to the solutions that have ensured bank resiliency in the past (i.e., leadership, talent, and technology). Given many of the common complaints when technology disappoints, it’s worth wondering if we should look at ourselves, not just our institutions, for greater “resiliency.” To this end, compare the CrowdStrike outage to the AT&T breach this spring. Unlike with CrowdStrike, AT&T reported that “AT&T data-specific fields were contained in a data set released on the dark web.” The breach did not allegedly have “a material impact on AT&T operations.” But it did represent the kind of security challenge that cybersecurity companies are built to prevent, and that banks and financial services companies need to be prepared for. When I read “released on the dark web,” I thought of Finovate Best of Show winner SpyCloud, the Austin, Texas-based cybersecurity company that specializes in retrieving stolen credentials from the dark web. And it appears as if more and more banks and financial institutions are getting the message. In the past few years, companies like Corsound AI (FinovateEurope 2024 Best of Show winner) to 1Kosmos (FinovateSpring 2023 Best of Show winner) have stood out among fellow fintechs for their innovations in everything from deepfake detection to passwordless authentication. As FinovateFall 2024 draws near, it will be interesting to see what innovations the current crop of cybersecurity specialists bring to the current challenges faced by banks and financial services companies alike. For more insights on the CrowdStrike outage and its potential implications for financial services, check out 4 Implications of CrowdStrike’s Faulty Software Update by Finovate Senior Research Analyst Julie Muhn. Photo by Pixabay The post CrowdStrike, AT&T, and the Role of Resiliency in Banking appeared first on Finovate.       

Stripe is acquiring merchant of record service company Lemon Squeezy. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed. Lemon Squeezy will help Stripe add merchant of record capabilities, which will help it differentiate itself and may help attract a more global client base. Financial infrastructure company Stripe is adding to its expertise this week with the acquisition of merchant of record (MoR) service company Lemon Squeezy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Lemon Squeezy was founded in 2020 to help companies selling digital products globally with its subscription billing plans, payments tools, online storefront builder, checkout overlays, and more. The fintech, which has been processing payments on Stripe since it was founded, serves as an MoR. This means that it takes on responsibilities pertaining to processing cross-border customer transactions. MoR responsibilities can include payment processing, risk management, legal and financial responsibility, tax compliance, customer service and support, and fraud prevention. Today’s buy marks Stripe’s 16th acquisition since it was founded in 2010. Stripe’s payment products serve companies of varying sizes in a range of industries. The San Francisco-based company’s offerings include online and in-person payment acceptance tools, embedded payments tools such as virtual card issuance, and revenue and finance automation tools such as billing, invoicing, and tax automation. “It’s no secret that we (like many) have always admired Stripe,” said Lemon Squeezy CEO and Co-founder JR Farr. “When we began discussions about a potential acquisition, it was immediately apparent that our values and mission were perfectly aligned. Lemon Squeezy and Stripe share a deep love for our customers and a commitment to making selling effortless. Now imagine combining everything you love about Lemon Squeezy and Stripe — we believe it’s a match made in heaven.” Looking ahead, Lemon Squeezy will continue to serve its customer base with its existing MoR services. The only difference is that, going forward, it will do so having the backing of Stripe. For Stripe, adding MoR services will help it provide a more comprehensive suite of financial solutions. This may attract businesses looking for an all-in-one platform to handle not just payment processing, but also compliance, tax, and customer support. The addition may also help Stripe differentiate it in the crowded market of payment processors, including Square, Adyen, and PayPal. That’s because the MoR capabilities will help businesses seeking global expansion overcome regulatory and tax hurdles by managing complexities including local tax collection and remittance, currency conversion, and regulatory compliance. Photo by Gustavo Fring The post Stripe Acquires Lemon Squeezy for Undisclosed Amount appeared first on Finovate.       

Core banking platform 10x Banking released its first “meta core” platform for banks. 10x Banking’s meta core will enable banks and financial services companies to accelerate their digital transformations. 10x Banking won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023. Cloud-native core banking platform 10x Banking launched a new category of core banking technology today. The company’s new “meta core” is designed to help banks and financial services companies accelerate their digital transformations. “From my experience, running a bank is all about managing risks, and we’ve designed our meta core to specifically remove the key risks that banks face when upgrading their core,” 10x Banking Founder and CEO Antony Jenkins said. “10x Banking is the first company in the world to offer a ‘meta core,’ which for the first time gives banks a clear roadmap to full transformation.” 10x Banking’s meta core enables banks and system integrators to focus development efforts exclusively on high-value code. By abstracting away common product elements, including the core ledger, the new platform empowers banks to create and maintain as little as 2,000 lines of code for a single customized banking product. This represents a reduction of up to 10x in code base compared to neo-code platforms. The difference is even bigger compared to legacy cores, where the reduction in code base can be as high as 10,000x. Key to these efficiency gains is the firm’s development tool ProductKit, which is built on 10x Banking’s SuperCore technology. ProductKit features a set of pre-built modules which abstract away the complexity that comes with building deposit and lending products for retail, SME, and corporate banking customers. The platform also puts a premium on the developer experience. Developers can fully customize all of the pre-built modules at every level using any coding language. This helps teams quickly create highly customized banking solutions and experiences without excessive costs or extensive development resources. “The ‘meta core’ provides banks with the best of all worlds,” Jenkins added, “flexibility on the one hand and unlimited scalability on the other hand. The benefits are much faster speed to market, enterprise-grade security, the ability to unlock data for AI, and a lower cost base.” London-based 10x Banking won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023. At the event, 10x Banking demoed its 10x SuperCore Cards solution, which enables banks to build a card proposition in minutes using its 10x Bank Manager interface. The technology empowers financial institutions to build and launch enterprise-grade, full stack functional card business solutions in as little as 12 weeks. 10x Banking began the year securing a $45 million investment in a round led by existing investors BlackRock and J.P. Morgan. The funding took the company’s total equity capital to $297 million, according to Crunchbase. Also in January, 10x Banking announced a partnership with mortgage origination platform Mast, enabling real-time connectivity between the two systems. 10x Banking includes challenger bank Chase UK, Westpac, and Old Mutual, the second largest financial services company in Africa, among its customers. Photo by Viktor Forgacs on Unsplash The post 10x Banking Unveils “Meta Core” Platform to Accelerate Digital Transformations for Bank appeared first on Finovate.       

As we enter into the last few days of July, there’s a lot to think about. The days are slowly getting shorter, but the list of tasks needed to complete 2024 objectives by the end of the year isn’t shrinking. Fintech news is set to pick up its pace as summer slows down, and we’ll be here to cover it. Stay tuned throughout the week to read the latest news this week as we post updates and evolutions. Payments Marqeta becomes certified to enable Visa flexible credential. Billie integrates with Stripe, making the B2B BNPL solution available in Europe. Spendbase partners with Thredd to shake up subscription management in the U.S. Crypto and DeFi Ledger launches Ledger Flex, a mid-range hardware crypto wallet. Small business finance Sage partners with Stripe to help SMBs control their cashflow. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio The post Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News appeared first on Finovate.       

This week’s edition of Finovate Global highlights recent fintech news from Singapore. Monetary Authority of Singapore announced plans to invest $74.36 million (100 million Singaporean dollars) to fund quantum computing and AI projects. The funding is part of the Financial Sector Technology and Innovation Grant Scheme (FSTI 3.0) designed to support banks and other financial institutions as they innovate and develop capabilities in both quantum computing and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This month’s investment comes in the wake of a $110 million infusion into FSTI back in August 2023. The FSTI 3.0 was launched in 2022 as part of an effort to fortify and future-proof Singapore’s position as a major international fintech hub. MAS originally pledged 150 million Singaporean dollars to the scheme over a three-year period, and this month’s investment is an addition to that amount. The scheme is live until March 2026, but could be extended. Given the emphasis on AI in financial services of late, MAS’s interest in quantum computing and its applications for banks and financial services companies is especially noteworthy. MAS will support eligible financial institutions with up to 50% funding for the construction of quantum computing technology centers. Companies that develop quantum computing-based cybersecurity solutions can receive up to 30% in co-funding. With regard to AI, MAS is also supporting the development of AI innovation centers. Again, one of the main areas of emphasis is cybersecurity, which MAS identified as a use case for the first pilot project. Noting that AI tools have become “more widely accessible” and that “financial institutions have been progressively adopting AI,” MAS also observed that the degree of “AI-readiness and adoption” across financial institutions in Singapore is uneven. The AI component of FSTI 3.0 is designed in large part to remedy this. Blockchain-based financial infrastructure company Partior has raised more than $60 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Peak XV Partners (previously known as Sequoia Capital India & SEA). Valor Capital Group and Jump Trading Group also participated as new investors along with existing shareholders J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered, and Temasek. Founded in 2021, the Singapore-based company offers banks unified, ledger-based interbank rails for real-time clearing and settlement. Partior’s 24/7 blockchain network works with real-time local currency payment and RTGS systems globally and facilitates direct and indirect settlement flows with market participants. The shared ledger further supports transfers with real-time settlement finality, providing instant liquidity and transparency compared to the sequential processing typical of legacy payment systems. “Partior is breaking down silos and rewriting the rules for cross-border clearing and settlement,” Partior Chief Executive Officer Humphrey Valenbreder said. “We see a very bright future for blockchain-based frictionless, cross-border transactions. Having some of the world’s best banks and investors back our vision validates this even further.” The fresh capital will fuel new capabilities including intraday FX swaps, cross-currency repos, Programmable Enterprise Liquidity Management, and Just-in-Time multi-bank payments. The funding will also enable Partior to integrate a range of new currencies beyond currently supported USD, EUR, and SGD. “As one of the founding shareholders of Partior, we’ve always believed in the transformative potential of its technology to shape global financial market infrastructure. This latest round of investment is a testament to the incredible progress Partior has made toward this endeavor,” Temasek Managing Director for Investment (Blockchain) Pradyumma Agrawal said. DBS and Deloitte have teamed up to launch the Sustainability Accelerator Tool. The new offering will help SMEs in Singapore accurately assess their sustainability maturity levels and identify and address gaps in their efforts. The two firms hope to empower 1,000 SMEs in Singapore over the next 12 months with the new solution, and plan to introduce the tool to other markets from the next year forward. “The Sustainability Accelerator Tool is unique in its ability to provide SMEs with meaningful and practical guidance,” Deloitte Southeast Asia Sustainability & Climate Leader Brian Ho said. “Leveraging Deloitte’s expertise in sustainability transformation, it not only identifies strengths and gaps, but also provides actionable recommendations to enhance sustainability performance.” Three key benefits of the new offering are industry-specific analysis, which provides insights into unique sustainability challenges; customized strategic recommendations based on the degree of progress (“emerging,” “maturing,” or “leading”) the business has achieved in its path toward greater sustainability; and regional adaptability to ensure that the solution can be used by SMEs across Asia. SMEs using the tool also get a customized Sustainability Readiness Report which gives them an analysis of the company’s sustainability maturity, as well as provides insights on how to address any specific sustainability challenges they may have. “The Sustainability Accelerator Tool is the latest in our ongoing efforts, where we strive to futureproof SMEs through practical and holistic solutions,” DBS Group Head of Corporate and SME Banking Koh Kar Siong said. The introduction of the Sustainability Accelerator Tool follows the spring launch of DBS’s ESG Ready Programme to help SMEs efficiently transition to lower carbon business models. Headquartered in Singapore, and boasting a presence in 19 markets, DBS provides a full range of consumer, SME, and corporate banking services. The firm has been named “Safest Bank in Asia” by Global Finance for 15 consecutive years from 2009 to 2023. Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world. Central and Eastern Europe International embedded finance platform Liberis announced its entry into the German market in partnership with Nexi. Lithuanian identity verification company iDenfy unveiled its automated utility bill verification tool. Germany-based private markets platform bunch secured $15.5 million in Series A funding. Middle East and Northern Africa Visa announced a significant partnership with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) to grow the Visa B2B Connect network regionally. UAE-based fintech startup, Mamo, completed a $3.4 million funding round to fuel expansion of the company’s product line for SMEs. Bank of Israel has chosen 14 teams of private and public sector professionals to investigate use cases for a digital shekel. Central and Southern Asia HSBC India teamed up with Open Financial Technologies to streamline payment operations for Indian business customers. Indian digital payments company Paytm agreed to a collaboration with Axis Bank. India-based payments and API banking company Cashfree Payments secured a payment aggregator-cross border license from the RBI. Latin America and the Caribbean The Brazilian central bank announced a pause in their plan to add recurring payments to its Pix platform. Argentine fintech Tapi secured $22 million ahead of its expansion into Mexico. BBVA opened an international cybersecurity center in Mexico. Asia-Pacific Melbourne, Australia-based Airwallex secured an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) the first major payments company to do so. Bank Indonesia and Bank of Korea inked a MoU to encourage cross-border payments between the two countries. In a bid to become a “global fintech hub,” the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has invested $74.36 million (100 million Singaporean dollars) into quantum computing and AI projects. Sub-Saharan Africa South African fintech Peach Payments acquired custom software development firm Operativa. Kenya’s Diamond Trust Bank forged a partnership with Network International. Nigerian wealth management platform Risevest announced plans to acquire Kenyan fintech Hisa. Photo by Elina Sazonova The post Finovate Global Singapore: AI, Quantum Computing, and Sustainable SMEs appeared first on Finovate.