Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 17 October 2018
Zenmonics wins investment from Fidelity National Information Services
Zenmonics, a privately-held IDC Fintech 100 company and global provider of innovative software that supports all channels of a financial institution on a single platform, announced that it has accepted a minority investment from Fidelity National Information Services.
The agreement represents the natural evolution of a long and successful partnership between the two companies. The investment enables Zenmonics to continue its aggressive growth and extend capabilities of its channelUNITED platform, already recognized as the most innovative solution in the market.
“This investment marks an important and exciting milestone for our firm,” said Riaz Syed, founder and chief executive officer of Zenmonics. “It enables us to grow innovation and delivery capacity for our current clients, while also extending our reach in the market. To do that in partnership with FIS, the leading fintech firm in the world, is a unique opportunity that best positions us to meet the needs of our clients and the market. “
Zenmonics maintains its direct market presence and management control of the firm, including the go-to-market strategy of its channelUNITED platform. Marlin & Associates acted as Zenmonics’ strategic and financial advisor on this transaction. No other terms of the agreement were disclosed.
Fiserv and DadeSystems Help Banks Better Serve Business Customers with Automated Accounts Receivables
Fiserv a global provider of financial services technology solutions, and DadeSystems announced that they will collaborate to provide financial institutions the capabilities and confidence needed to automate accounts receivables processing for businesses, with Fiserv serving as a connection point through which institutions can access DadePay AR Automation as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution.
Financial institutions can offer the solution as a standalone service or as a complement to the commercial banking suite from Fiserv, helping businesses lower total accounts receivable costs and improve accuracy.
“Businesses spend too much time manually posting payments to invoices—a process prone to error and costly in terms of time and resources,” said John Dangoia, vice president of product management, Payments Management Solutions, Fiserv. “By offering DadePay AR Automation, we empower financial institutions to further enrich customer relationships by reducing the need for businesses to manually enter payments into their accounts receivable systems.”
Independent research and advisory firm, Aite Group, found that most banks are no longer thinking about receivables products in silos, but rather as part of a larger integrated strategy. The firm surveyed 21 of the 70 largest US banks as part of a proprietary research study, which focused on their current and near future integrated receivables strategy. According to one respondent, “While RDC [remote deposit capture] helps drive additional deposits, integrated receivables will ultimately drive primary operating deposits, not RDC or any channel alone.”
“Many businesses are demanding new types of electronic payment and data analytics services, yet their treasury and finance departments are slowed down by manual and outdated processes,” said Bill Zayas, president and CEO of DadeSystems. “Through this relationship with Fiserv banks can help their business customers overcome these obstacles with technology from a provider they know and trust.”
Consumers can now purchase Bitcoin at ATMs via LibertyX partnership
LibertyX and Genmega announced the launch of America’s first debit Bitcoin ATM. Consumers will be able to use their debit card to purchase Bitcoin at up to 100,000 ATMs in the U.S.
Through this partnership, any Genmega ATM can enable the LibertyX capability and start selling Bitcoin to consumers via a simple update process.
Chris Yim, Co-Founder & CEO at LibertyX, said, “We has been working tirelessly to make it easier to buy cryptocurrencies for the last five years and now are bringing simplicity, convenience and trust to the cryptocurrency purchasing experience through the timeless ATM.”
This breakthrough benefits both consumers, ATM operators and merchants. Consumers and those new to Bitcoin, will appreciate the familiarity of the ATM to help lower the learning curve when trying out new cryptocurrency technology. Additionally, cryptocurrency enthusiasts, will now be able to purchase Bitcoin from their neighborhood ATM instantly. The buying process is very similar to withdrawing cash from an ATM, except instead of cash being dispensed, the customer will receive Bitcoin.
Amex brings SME financing to UK with ezbob
Global payment services company American Express has today announced a new partnership with online financing platform, ezbob, to offer selected small-to medium-sized UK business customers fast, secure and competitive access to finance.
Through the partnership eligible American Express business clients will receive a referral to apply for up to £300,000 in finance from ezbob at a competitive, fixed annual interest rate from 3% per year. American Express customers taking out a loan with ezbob will also benefit from a 40,000 Membership Reward points offer.
With its streamlined, fully managed digital lending proposition for financial institutions, fintech ezbob is one of the most advanced business lending platforms available in the UK today. The platform will enable eligible American Express small to mid-sized UK based business customers to access quick, reliable and paper-free credit from ezbob. Using the online loan calculator, companies seeking fast access to finance can apply for a loan in ten minutes – and, if successful – receive funds on the same day.
Commenting on the partnership, Carlos Carriedo, Senior Vice President of Global Commercial Services at American Express, said: “We know agility is crucial for smaller businesses to help retain a competitive advantage but accessing the finance needed to react swiftly to changing customer demands, or seize an opportunity, can be a challenge. Building on the existing support we offer businesses to help them manage payments across the entirety of their supply chains, we’ve teamed up with ezbob to explore offering our customers low cost access to new capital, which can help keep their business moving.”
