Alt.bank Migrates novücard Credit Card to Pismo’s Core Banking Platform Key Points: Migration Details: Fintech: Brazilian fintech alt.bank. Product: novücard credit card. New Platform: Migrated to Pismo’s core banking platform. Benefits of Migration: Operational Boost: Migration enables alt.bank to enhance operations and expand services via Visa credentials. Smooth Transition: Migration was completed without dependence on the previous operator and with no service interruptions for cardholders. Statements: CEO’s Comments: Brad Liebmann, CEO of alt.bank, praised Pismo for providing flexible and reliable technology, allowing them to choose microservices tailored to their operation. novücard Features: Unique Offering: Launched in July 2022, novücard is the first in Brazil to offer a dynamic credit limit that increases based on card activity and repayments, targeting the underbanked community. Future Plans: New Features: Alt.bank plans to introduce several new product features for novücard by the end of the year, some of which will be unique to the Brazilian market.

WesBanco to Merge with Premier Financial Corp in $959 Million Deal Key Details: Merger Agreement: Parties Involved: West Virginia-based WesBanco and Ohio-based Premier Financial Corp (holding company of Premier Bank). Transaction Value: $959 million (all-stock transaction). Shareholder Impact: Premier Shareholders: Will receive 0.80 shares of WesBanco common stock for each Premier share. Post-Merger Ownership: Premier shareholders to hold 30% of the combined entity’s shares. Capital Raise: $200 million in WesBanco common stock, including a $125 million contribution from Wellington Management. Board of Directors: Four Premier board members to join WesBanco’s board after the merger. Combined Entity: Assets: Approximately $27 billion. Branches: Over 250 financial centers (an increase of 73). Geographic Expansion: Enhanced presence in southern Michigan and north-eastern Indiana. Strategic Significance: Ranking: 8th largest bank in Ohio based on deposit market share. WesBanco CEO Statement: Jeff Jackson describes the merger as a “transformative” move, enhancing their ability to serve new and existing communities. Timeline: Expected Completion: Q1 2025.

PayU GPO Appoints Simona Covaliu as Chief Risk Officer (CRO) Key Highlights: New Appointment: Position: Chief Risk Officer (CRO) Appointee: Simona Covaliu Responsibilities: Leading compliance, risk, privacy, and security teams Company Context: Importance: Increased synergies within the risk team essential for smooth product development and implementation CEO’s Statement: Daniel Cohen highlights Covaliu’s experience with regulators and deep understanding of the fintech landscape Simona Covaliu’s Background: Previous Roles: Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at Uber Payments Senior Risk Manager at Booking.com VP of Risk and Compliance at Mambu PayU GPO Overview: Operations: Deploys over 400 payment methods and PCI-certified platforms Transaction Volume: Handles around 10 million payments daily Recent Acquisition: Acquirer: Rapyd, a London-based fintech-as-a-service provider Former Owner: Prosus, a Dutch consumer internet group Sale Value: $610 million Purpose of Sale: To focus on the payments and fintech opportunity in the Indian market

TigerBeetle Raises $24 Million in Series A Funding Round Key Highlights: Funding Details: Amount Raised: $24 million Lead Investor: Spark Capital general partner Natalie Vais Other Investors: Lenny Pruss of Amplify Partners Stefan Thomas of Coil Angel investors including: Alexander Gallego, founder and CEO of Redpanda Uriel Cohen, co-founder and executive chairman of Clear Street Sachin Kumar, co-founder and CTO of Clear Street Alex Rattray, former Stripe software engineer and founder of Stainless Total Capital Raised: Current Total: Over $30 million Previous Funding: $6.49 million in seed funding in January 2023 Company Background: Founded: 2022 Founder: Joran Dirk Greef, former Microsoft security consultant Product: Open source Apache 2.0 database for high-performance online transaction processing (OLTP) Transaction Capability: Processes up to 8,190 debit/credit transactions per query in a single network round-trip Global Presence: North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Team: 8 employees, half of whom are staff engineers Strategic Decisions: Series A Timing: Initially planned for later in the year, brought forward due to community growth and commercial interest Use of Funds: Investment in engineering Go-to-market strategies Development of TigerBeetle’s cloud platform Doubling team size by end of year, with several new hires being former contractors familiar to the company

Zopa Expands Partnership with ClearScore Group for Open Banking Technology Key Highlights: Partnership Expansion: Parties Involved: Zopa (UK digital bank) and ClearScore Group Focus: Consumer credit assessments using open banking technology Initial Collaboration: Started: Two years ago Initiative: 2025 Fintech Pledge Goal: Provide 10 million positive actions to enhance financial resilience for UK consumers Current Development: Technology Provider: ClearScore Group’s open banking unit, D•One Services: Open banking connectivity and transaction categorisation intelligence Implementation: Application: Loan origination journeys Purpose: Improve accuracy in assessing suitability for credit cards, loans, car finance, and other lending products through spending data aggregation Financial Performance: Pre-Tax Profit (FY 2023): £15.8 million Total Revenues: Increased by 29.7% to £226 million Deposits: Rose by 14.9% to £3.4 billion Loans on Balance: Increased by 27.3% to £2.7 billion Impact of Technology: Objective: Expand lending to consumers with limited credit histories Previous Application: D•One provided similar technology to NewDay, a UK consumer credit provider, in 2022 By leveraging D•One’s open banking technology, Zopa aims to further enhance its lending capabilities and financial inclusion for consumers with traditionally limited access to credit.

John Tuttle Joins Acrisure as President Key Highlights: New Appointment: Position: President of Acrisure Effective Date: 1 September 2024 Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan Company Details: Name: Acrisure Industry: Insurance and business solutions fintech Founded: 2005 Employees: Around 17,000 Operations: In 21 countries Annual Revenue: Almost $5 billion Reporting Structure: Reports To: Greg Williams, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Acrisure Goals and Vision: Focus: Innovation-driven transformation Objective: Define a modern approach to client service in financial services and insurance Leadership Background: Previous Role: Vice Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Tenure at NYSE/ICE: 17 years Positions Held: Managing Director of Global Affairs and Government Relations Head of Corporate Affairs Global Head of Listings COO CCO Vice Chairman of the NYSE and President of NYSE Institute Experience and Expertise: Areas of Involvement: IPO listings, issuer relationship management, equity offerings, capital markets, and exchange-traded products Executive Remarks: Greg Williams: Praised Tuttle’s global experience and his fit with Acrisure’s entrepreneurial team John Tuttle: Brings extensive experience from both public and private sectors to his new role at Acrisure

Fortis Acquires MerchantE’s NetSuite Payments Division Key Highlights: Acquisition Overview: Acquirer: Fortis Acquired Entity: MerchantE’s NetSuite payments division Acquisition Sum: Undisclosed About MerchantE’s NetSuite Payments Division: Established: 2004 Focus: Payment processing solutions integrated with the NetSuite system NetSuite Overview: Function: Cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system Capabilities: Order management, supply chain logistics, production planning, billing, accounting, and expense tracking Acquired By: Oracle in 2016 for approximately $9.3 billion Benefits of the Acquisition: Efficiency: Enhances efficiency of payment operations Deployment: Accelerates deployment of new, embedded financial and commerce enabling services User Benefits: Immediate deployment of payment processing capabilities, automatic reconciliation and synchronization of financial data within the NetSuite ledger Implementation Costs: Zero programming or implementation costs Future Plans for Fortis: Expansion: Seeking to expand its payment offering New Features: Next-day funding Routing preference capabilities Click-to-pay invoicing Advanced interchange optimization Compliant surcharging Timeline: Not defined Executive Statement: Greg Cohen, CEO of Fortis: Plans to expand investment in the NetSuite ecosystem with a robust pipeline of feature enhancements Recent Developments: Previous Acquisition: Purchased SmartPay, entering the Canadian embedded payments market Funding: Raised $20 million through a Series A funding round to push into the MENA region

Cash Plus Partners with Profile Software for Finuevo Suite Key Highlights: Partnership Overview: Companies Involved: Cash Plus (Kosovo-based digital lending platform) and Profile Software. Solution Implemented: Finuevo Suite by Profile Software for end-to-end loan management. Finuevo Suite Features: Components: Finuevo Core: Core banking platform accommodating a wide range of banking products and operations. Finuevo Digital: Digital banking platform supporting customer journeys across web and mobile channels. Capabilities: Covers the full loan lifecycle, including digital onboarding, loan origination, automatic credit checks, instant loan approval, loan disbursement, payment initiation, and loan repayment. Benefits for Cash Plus: Enhanced Customer Financing: Enables instant customer financing. Future Growth Support: Facilitates the company’s growth plans. Full Monitoring: Provides comprehensive monitoring of customer applications and loans. Scalable Solution: Delivered a scalable solution for end-to-end loan management. Implementation Details: Cloud-Based Solution: Implemented quickly due to Finuevo’s out-of-the-box functionality. Timeline: Implemented in an extremely short period. CEO Statement: Armond Dranqolli: Co-founder and CEO of Cash Plus praised the scalability and comprehensive management tools provided by Profile Software. Recent Developments: Profile Software: Recently partnered with First Global Bank in Jamaica to implement the Finuevo Suite for digital onboarding and loan origination.

Corlytics Leadership Reshuffle New Leadership Appointments: Steve Barnes – Group Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Role: Drive advanced technology solutions, maintain security standards Experience: Over 20 years in technology strategy, former CTO at AQMetrics, tech leadership at Norkom Technologies Start: Immediate effect Dr. Oisin Boydell – Chief Data Officer (CDO) Role: Lead AI strategy and implementation Experience: Research director at Ireland’s National Centre for Applied AI (CeADAR), over 11 years at University College Dublin Start: August Ray O’Donnell – Group Chief Tech Architect Role: Oversee technical architecture across all group platforms Experience: Head of technology at Corlytics for seven years Additional Information: Recent acquisition of Deloitte UK’s regtech platform in May.

ICYMI Funding Round-Up Carry Funding: $10 million Series A Lead Investor: Accomplice VC Valuation: $65 million pre-money Purpose: Hiring, R&D initiatives Additional: Opened $1 million allocation for public investment Fragment Funding: $9 million seed round Investors: Angels from Adobe, Coinbase, Linear, Doordash, Uber Purpose: Expand engineering team, go-to-market initiatives Focus: Fintech engineers, double-entry accounting infrastructure Powder Funding: $5 million seed round Investors: General Catalyst, Funder’s Club, Elefund, Litquidity Ventures, Script Capital, YCombinator Purpose: Scale technology leveraging AI for wealth management Focus: Generative AI for parsing financial and estate documents Grazzy Funding: $4 million seed round Lead Investor: Next Coast Ventures Purpose: Increase headcount, expand partnerships and integrations Focus: Digital tipping, instant disbursements, inclusive banking for hospitality sector Jarvis Funding: £1.8 million seed round Lead Investors: Ascension VC, Cornerstone VC Purpose: Product development, ecosystem integration Focus: Retirement planning solution, real-time insights, financial wellness Archie Investments First Investments: Wamo, Ekko Purpose: Support fintech acceleration Focus: Cross-border payments (Wamo), embedded sustainability solutions (Ekko)

Key Points: Licence Acquisition: Revolut has secured a UK banking licence with restrictions from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The company is now in the “mobilisation stage.” Mobilisation Stage Details: During this stage, Revolut must complete building its UK banking operations. Current UK customers will not see changes; they can continue using their e-money accounts. Revolut is limited to holding only £50,000 of total deposits for customers during this period. The PRA specifies mobilisation should take no longer than 12 months, but it could be shorter. Licence Pursuit: Revolut applied for the UK banking licence in 2021. Financial Performance: Revolut reported record net profits of $428 million for 2023. The company plans to increase its global headcount by 40% to around 11,500 staff in 2024. Statements from Executives: Francesca Carlesi, UK CEO of Revolut, sees the licence as a significant step forward and a responsibility to improve financial lives. Nik Storonsky, CEO of Revolut, expressed pride in reaching this milestone and aims to make Revolut the bank of choice for UK customers.

Key Points: Investment Details: Finbee Verslui has secured a €35 million investment from UK private capital asset manager Pollen Street Capital. Headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania. Company Operations: Operates as an online P2P lending platform. Provides crowdfunding solutions through Finbee for Business. Since 2017, it has issued over 4,500 loans to more than 3,000 small businesses. Financial Performance: Financed over €27 million in loans in 2023. Anticipates achieving over €40 million in new originations in the current year. Reports an average annual growth of 60% in loan originations over the past five years. CEO’s Statement: Tomas Mačiulaitis, CEO of Finbee Verslui, highlighted a “funding gap” due to rising customer demand. Previously increased liquidity using their own funds, but the new partnership will allow for faster growth. Impact of Investment: The investment will enable Finbee Verslui to finance over 1,500 businesses more quickly and on more favorable terms. Larger loans will now take just a few hours from contract signing to funds being available, compared to over a week previously. The firm will lift caps on maximum loan amounts, aligning lending capacity with actual customer needs. Future Plans: Plans to leverage the investment to address the liquidity gap and expand lending capabilities. Aims to meet the real borrowing needs of its customers without previous liquidity limitations.

Key Points: Acquisition Details: Morgan Stanley has acquired a significant stake in Sokin, a UK-based business payments start-up. Transaction led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital. Total investment in Sokin reported to be $31 million by Business Insider. Additional Investors: Investment also includes contributions from Aurum Partners. Gary Marino (former Chief Commercial Officer of PayPal) and Mark Britto (former Chief Product Officer of PayPal) are involved. Board Involvement: Gary Marino is set to join the Sokin board. Operational Independence: Sokin will continue to operate as an independent unit and brand under its current management team. Growth and Expansion: The investment aims to accelerate Sokin’s product growth plans and further global expansion. CEO’s Statement: Vroon Modgill, CEO and founder of Sokin, will retain a material shareholding. Modgill describes the deal as marking an exciting new chapter for Sokin, emphasizing the access to resources and expertise from Morgan Stanley to boost growth. Company Background: Sokin was founded in 2019. Notably backed by former international footballer Rio Ferdinand. Operates local currency accounts and a multi-currency IBAN offering through a single platform enabling businesses to manage global payments and transact internationally.

Key Points: Launch Objective: Enable foreign investors to invest in and purchase US residential real estate in 30 days or less. Service Features: Online platform for easy access to the US real estate market. Eliminates expensive currency conversion fees and unpredictable exchange rate fluctuations. Establishes LLC and EIN for investors. Provides assigned agents and pre-approval letters. Opens US digital bank accounts for handling rental income, property taxes, and reducing withholding. Offers mortgage and refinancing options for up to 70% of the property’s value, based on property ROI rather than personal income. Process: Investors identify their ideal property through a real estate agent, mortgage broker, or turnkey provider. Waltz handles the entire closing process remotely (appraisal, inspection, title, insurance). Provides detailed trackers to monitor progress. Post-purchase management includes property managers, insurance, and tax advisory services. Availability: Service is currently available in nine US states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas. Plans to expand to Arizona soon. Funding: Seed funding round of $11.5 million led by TLV Partners. Series A round of $12.5 million led by Aleph. Additional support from angel investors including Ofir Ehrlich, David Krell, Talmon Marco, and Eyal Lifshitz. CEO Statement: CEO Yuval Golan emphasizes simplifying the investment process for non-citizens. Aim to make real estate investment as straightforward as possible while managing compliance, legal, banking, and regulatory aspects. Founding Year: Waltz was founded in 2021 by Yuval Golan.

Key Points: Partnership Objective: Simplify payment processes for HSBC’s business customers in India. New Offering: Launch of HSBC’s FinConnect in India. Described as a central finance operating system aimed at empowering CFOs and business teams. Features of FinConnect: Connects HSBC accounts with over 300 enterprise resource planning (ERP) software systems. Automates Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable functions. Utilizes open banking technology for tasks such as accounting, payroll, customer relationship management, e-commerce, and cash-flow analytics. Customer Benefits: Simplified and secure payment processes. Real-time tracking and auto-reconciliation of payments against bills and invoices. Plug-and-play implementation for seamless business finance management. Previous Implementation: FinConnect was first introduced in Singapore through HSBC’s partnership with the Singapore Financial Data Exchange (SGFinDex) in late 2020. Beyond Banking Initiative: Part of HSBC’s initiative launched in 2021. Aims to provide comprehensive solutions and value-added services to startups and small businesses. Includes digital tools, advisory services, and networking opportunities. Additional Partnerships: HSBC has collaborated with other companies for this initiative, including: Zoho (cloud-based software solutions) GreytHR (payroll and compliance solutions) Amazon Web Services (AWS) This partnership with Open Financial Technologies is set to enhance HSBC’s services and offer more robust financial management tools to its business customers in India.

Key Points: Objective: Ensure “reasonable access” to cash deposit and withdrawal services for personal and small business current accounts. Implementation Date: New guidelines take effect from 18 September. Requirements for Banks and Building Societies: Evaluate cash access and determine if additional services are required when altering local services. Respond to requests from local residents and community groups. Address access gaps and keep facilities like bank branches open until new services are established. Mitigation Measures: Identified gaps in cash access can be mitigated through ATMs, banking hubs, and Post Office facilities. Impact on Bank Branch Closures: FCA’s powers won’t prevent branch closures but will impact areas where closures leave significant gaps in local cash access. Executive Comments: Sheldon Mills, FCA’s executive director of consumers and competition, highlighted the importance of cash for three million people and many small businesses needing to deposit their takings daily. Government Confirmation: Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the UK government confirmed that 14 banks and building societies, including Barclays, Lloyds, and Nationwide Building Society, will implement the new cash access system.

Key Points: Market Exit: Shares is set to exit the UK market after two years of operations. The decision was made to focus on the French and EU markets. Closure Timeline: UK account holders were informed in June about the closure. Operations in the UK will cease completely by 30 August 2024. Users were given until 19 July to sell their positions. Remaining Positions: From 19 July to 30 August, Shares will sell all remaining positions at market price and return the cash to the linked accounts. Other Operations: The app also operates in Poland, Belgium, and France, where the company is headquartered. Shares will continue to operate in France and other EU countries. Company Statement: Shares reassures users that they will remain available to answer questions and provide help despite exiting the UK market. Founding and Funding: Founded in 2021, the app combines US fractional share trading with social media features. Entered the UK market through a $40 million Series A funding round led by Valar Ventures in February 2022. Secured an additional $40 million in a Series B round in July 2022. Contact: The company was contacted by FinTech Futures for comment.

Key Points: Acquisition Agreement: UniCredit has signed a binding agreement to acquire Aion Bank and Vodeno for approximately €370 million. Strategic Benefits: The acquisition introduces next-generation core banking technology and enhanced embedded finance capabilities to UniCredit. Eliminates dependencies on third-party core banking providers. Existing Partnership: Aion Bank and Vodeno have a close partnership within the same group. Vodeno uses Aion Bank’s EU banking license in Belgium to provide regulated banking services throughout Europe via its cloud-native, API-based BaaS platform. Aion Bank leverages this platform for core banking operations, payment processing, and customer onboarding. Ownership and Personnel: The deal includes the entire share capital of both companies. UniCredit will acquire 200 engineers, developers, and data scientists. Expected completion is in Q4 2024. CEO’s Statement: UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel emphasizes leveraging Vodeno for sandbox development, testing, and innovation. Plans to use the combined technology to enter new client segments and markets across Europe. Aims to deploy excess capital attractively through this acquisition. Backing: The group is backed by private equity firm Warburg Pincus.