Welcome to The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup on Tuesday 14 March. Today we hear of a new chief data officer for ComplyAdvantage.
Company updates
Phos, a software point-of-sale (SoftPoS) orchestration for businesses will now accept QR code-based digital wallets as a payment option for retailers, brands, and businesses. This will include QR digital wallets such as PayPal, Venmo and CashApp, helping merchants increase sales by offering customers more ways to pay.
Sipay has announced plans to build a ‘global licensing team’, responsible for securing e-money, payments and acquiring licence in multiple markets, starting with the UK and the EU. The global licensing team will be in charge of new licensing processes. It will also advise the product team to localise products for every single country in that Sipay will be operating.
Paymob, a financial services enabler in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENA-P), has joined MENA Fintech Association (MFTA). The move is part of its ongoing commitment to drive the regional fintech agenda and promote innovation in the industry.
Mitek has joined the Open Identity Exchange (OIX). The OIX is a global community for all those involved in the ID sector to connect and collaborate, developing the guidance needed for interoperable, trusted digital identities. Mitek will contribute its global perspective on the trends towards adoption of digital identity technology.
Partnerships
Aubrey Capital Management, the UK equity manager, is partnering with Aramea Asset Management, a German asset manager, to further its commitment to the German fund market. The partnership will enable Aubrey to work closely with Aramea and its subsidiary company Punica Invest to offer support and expertise to distribute Aubrey’s suite of products successfully.
JIVF, a Japanese consumer finance firm in Vietnam, has teamed up with OpenWay. Openway’s Way4 payment solution will help JIVF deliver individual and corporate credit card products, BNPL services, launch a digital wallet, as well as ensure better digital-first customer experiences in consumer finance.
Payment infrastructure provider MANGOPAY and PayPal have strengthened their long-term strategic cooperation to provide marketplaces with quick access to PayPal’s global payment methods and capabilities. This cooperation will allow marketplaces to easily build a dynamic payment experience and provide additional choice to their end-users by making PayPal available.
Pleo, the business spending solution, has teamed up with strategic coaching company Skiller Whale to upskill its engineering staff, with a programme centring on developing best-in-class API integrations. Skiller Whale coaches will be working with Pleo’s engineering team to accelerate expertise and specialist knowledge.
More partnerships
Segpay, a digital payment processing, has forged a partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). The not-for-profit organisation works to find and remove sexual abuse content of children online. As a member of the IWF, Segpay can also access the organisation’s set of tools to help Segpay and its merchants keep child sexual abuse material off the internet.
FintechOS is to collaborate with PwC to support its new digital banking solution: Infinite Financial Solutions for Banking Infinite Financial Solutions. Powered by Microsoft’s Cloud for Financial Services and leveraging FintechOS’s technology platform, the solution enables financial institutions to accelerate digital transformation and elevate customer experience in a cost-effective way.
Tandem Bank, the UK’s greener digital bank, has teamed up with money saving fintech Snoop. The collaboration will provide Snoop customers with access to Tandem’s savings product offering. These include its newly launched Top Up Instant Access account, as part of Snoop’s product comparison services.
PolyAI deepens partnership with Twilio to provide customer-led conversational assistants. PolyAI’s integration with Twilio Flex and Programmable Voice solutions allows customers to use PolyAI conversational assistants to resolve customer queries over the phone and transfer calls back to contact centre agents.
Job moves
Singapore fintech and digital green exchange MVGX has appointed Meyer ‘Sandy’ Frucher as its vice chairman. Frucher will guide the company toward establishing an interconnected global carbon infrastructure network with national registries, trading, clearing platforms, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Previously, he served as the vice chairman of NASDAQ.
Bristol-based invoice finance provider Optimum Finance has appointed Amir Pournasrollahzadeh to lead its regional sales team in the East of England. His hire is part of the company’s mission to develop new business opportunities as well as engage better with supply chains throughout the region.
Blockchain analytics firm Crystal hires Jordan Alexander as its new associate director of product. Alexander will help develop a strategy for continually innovating and delivering the firm’s product to market. The hire signals the next phase of the firm’s expansion, with a focus on entering the US market.
Open banking platform Yapily has appointed Lisa Gutu as vice president of sales in Europe. She will play a key role in accelerating Yapily’s strategic growth plans in the region. Over the last eight years, she has worked at Trovata as well as Salt Edge, leading open banking initiatives working with large banks, fintechs, and strategic partners across Europe.
Additional job moves
ComplyAdvantage has named Jim Anning as the company’s chief data officer as part of its commitment to innovation in anti-money laundering / countering financial terrorism services. The newly created role reflects the centrality of quality and comprehensive insights to the company’s mission and products. He joins ComplyAdvantage from GoCardless.
Scality has appointed Peter Brennan as chief revenue officer. Scality’s addition of the CRO role reflects its mission to capture increasing market share in the thriving file and object storage space. Expanding growth activities worldwide, Brennan will lead sales and marketing efforts to maximise revenue with an emphasis on partners and the channel.
