Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 31 October 2018
BGL Group acquires PFM app Bean
BGL Group, a digital distributor of insurance and household financial services, announces the signature of an agreement to purchase Saverd Ltd, the company behind personal finance app Bean.
Bean is a digital personal finance manager which gives customers the ability to find, track and manage their bills and subscriptions in one app by linking to their bank accounts. Thanks to new Open Banking regulations that came into force in January 2018, it is becoming easier for customers and small and medium-sized businesses to share their transactional payments data securely with third party providers who are developing innovative propositions. Following the acquisition, BGL plans to develop the Bean proposition and in so doing develop a new capability to support Group-wide digital aspirations.
Bean’s team will join BGL on completion and will be based at the Group’s digital innovation hub at White Collar Factory in Shoreditch.
The deal marks BGL’s first steps into the Open Banking market and reflects both the Group’s growth strategy and its stated ambition to explore and develop new ventures.
Matthew Donaldson, Chief Executive Officer, BGL Group, said: “We are committed to exploring new opportunities which are the right fit for the Group, and there’s a natural synergy between BGL’s track record for digital innovation and price comparison and the emerging Open Banking sector.
SAI Global and Refinitiv Join Forces to Fight Financial Crime
Refinitiv is collaborating with SAI Global, a recognized global provider of integrated risk management solutions, as part of a new alliance to help companies optimise risk management and prevent financial crime.
Sitting at the heart of the alliance is the integration of risk intelligence from Refinitiv World-Check into SAI Global’s SAI360 for Digital Risk solution, allowing organisations to perform third-party vendor risk assessments more efficiently and effectively.
SAI Global’s SAI360 for Digital Risk solution helps organisations keep risks aligned with enterprise risk appetites while remaining compliant with policies and regulations. By leveraging thousands of out-of-the-box controls and regulations and predefined automated workflow, organisations can manage and mitigate risks from the likes of cybersecurity threats, third-party vendors, as well as protecting their key data.
Refinitiv World-Check is a highly structured source of risk intelligence that supports the Know Your Customer and Third Party Risk due diligence process, helping organisations around the world assess the risks associated with sanctions, organised crime, fraud, money laundering, bribery and corruption, as well as modern day slavery and country risk.
A recent report, “Revealing the True Cost of Financial Crime”, conducted by Refinitiv, highlighted that almost half of large global organisations have been the victims of fraud, theft, money laundering or other financial crimes. Results from more than 2,300 respondents indicate how pervasive such crimes have become across the world. The report shows that 47% of people questioned admitted that their organisation had suffered at least one incident of financial crime over the past 12 months, with cybercrime and fraud cited as the most common financial crimes. The companies surveyed estimated a total aggregated loss of USD$1.45 trillion, or around 3.5% of their global turnover.
PNC Bank To Roll Out Digital Business Lending Platform With OnDeck In 2019
PNC Bank, National Association, announced that in 2019 it plans to begin offering fully digital business lines of credit, up to $100,000, in an expansion of its online lending to customers and prospects in the United States.
PNC’s new digital product brings together one of the nation’s largest banks and OnDeck, in online lending to boost small business. PNC will utilize OnDeck’s Platform-as-a-Service (ODX) solution to simplify and accelerate the conventional lending originations processes for PNC Bank’s small and medium-sized business customers.
PNC will combine its extensive product and credit expertise with ODX’s online origination technology and professional services to create PNC Small Business Lending, a fully digital, online business credit origination solution.
“Small and medium-sized business owners are continually searching for simpler, easier and quicker means to apply for and receive funding and to that end, PNC is investing in this new avenue to find solutions that work for them,” said Lakhbir Lamba, head of Retail Lending at PNC Bank. “Our relationship with OnDeck is PNC’s first opportunity to leverage the services of a fintech company in a platform-as-a-service model that will make it easier for businesses to borrow from us in order to support their growth.”
