Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 27 August 2018
Verifone Acquisition Closed
Verifone Systems, a global firm in payment and commerce solutions, announced that it has been acquired by an investor group led by Francisco Partners, a technology focused private equity firm, and including British Columbia Investment Management Corporation.
The acquisition was previously announced on April 9, 2018 and closed and became effective now.
With the transaction completed, Mike Pulli becomes Verifone’s new CEO.
“The closing of this transaction represents a new and exciting chapter for Verifone as we seek to continue the transformation of Verifone from a terminal sales company to a leading provider of payments and commerce solutions,” said Mike Pulli, CEO of Verifone. “Francisco Partners brings deep industry expertise in payments technology, systems and software that will help Verifone execute on its vision for the future. Together, we look forward to leveraging and further accelerating Verifone’s technology to drive value for Verifone’s merchant customers and channel partners around the world.”
“Verifone’s payments technology is critical to the operation of merchants around the world. We are excited to build upon Verifone’s strong platform to continue to drive growth and bring additional capabilities to Verifone’s customers,” said Peter Christodoulo, Partner at Francisco Partners. “We look forward to working with Mike and the Verifone team to strengthen the Verifone franchise and bring innovative payments and commerce solutions to Verifone’s customers.”
Money Dashboard announces integration with Monzo
Digital banking enthusiasts now have access to an integration between Money Dashboard, voted UK’s Best Personal Finance App, and the rapidly growing mobile-only bank, Monzo.
Following a surge in demand for both services to collaborate, more than 900,000 users of the Monzo current account can now gain a real-time view of their transactions, balances and savings ‘Pots’ and use Money Dashboard’s app to instantly set budgets and plan for the future.
Jossie Ellis, Head of Growth at Money Dashboard, said: “The integration with Monzo is a fantastic development for us, but the real winners in this are Monzo’s and Money Dashboard’s users.
“With Money Dashboard, you can use our budgeting and planning tools to get in control of your finances. With the Monzo integration, we can help more people than ever manage all their accounts in one place. We’re delighted to be working with progressive banks such as Monzo who share our vision of helping users get more from their money.”
Users will be able to connect their Monzo spending details into their Money Dashboard app – where they can set budgeting goals, track progress and forecast how quickly they’ll meet their goals. They can also link other accounts, such as credit cards from other providers, to help them gain a comprehensive overview of their finances.
ZenCash Unveils New Brand Horizen to Reflect Rapidly-Growing Privacy-Focused Blockchain Platform
ZenCash, the privacy-focused blockchain platform for borderless, decentralized communications and transactions, has announced a comprehensive brand expansion to reflect the significant technical, commercial, and community developments the project has achieved since launching in May 2017.
The brand expansion, developed with insights from community members, involves ZenCash changing its name to Horizen, a refreshed logo and visual imagery, and an elevated focus for its product offerings to include an on-chain treasury voting system, and side chains with smart contracting capability. The platform’s cryptocurrency Zen will remain under ticker symbol ZEN.
Horizen President and Co-founder Robert Viglione said: “The ZenCash project has greatly evolved since its inception more than a year ago, and it’s now time to expand our brand to more accurately reflect our mission to promote the fundamental human right of privacy worldwide. What initially launched as a privacy-focused cryptocurrency has transformed into a much broader and deeply capable platform that will host a variety of privacy-focused applications, including secure messaging and publishing. The Horizen brand completely embodies our technically-innovative mission and the sentiments of our community — we are a visionary privacy platform in which people can believe and to which they can belong.”
Wirex earns FCA e-money licence
Wirex Limited, a global crypto/fiat payment platform, has just become the third cryptocurrency-enabled company in the world to be granted a UK FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) e-money licence.
An FCA licence is a big deal for any financial institution, but when a cryptocurrency-friendly company qualifies, the implications for the financial world are of even greater significance. Cryptocurrencies have been under the regulatory spotlight ever since Bitcoin stole the headlines in late 2017. To earn an FCA licence in a market that is under intense regulatory scrutiny is no mean feat.
“Wirex pursued an FCA e-money licence in order to improve and refine its e-money services throughout the EEA. Having our own principal licence, instead of our existing FCA agency licence, means increased efficiency and lower costs,” says Wirex co-founder, Pavel Matveev. He says that, in the long-term, it will allow Wirex to better serve its customers, with less reliance on third parties. This should translate into a faster, more responsive user experience, as well as lower costs across all services.
London is one of world’s leading financial hubs and the UK’s FCA is one of the most stringent regulators in the world. The FCA’s e-money licencing procedure is rigorous, taking up to 9 months to complete. When a financial institution is granted a licence, customers can be sure it meets the highest possible standards in terms of compliance, security and business practices.
