Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 28 November 2018

Modo closes $13m Series A round

ModoPayments (Modo), the payments technology startup focused on reducing friction in payments, today announced the completion of over $13M Series A financing.

This latest round brings the total amount of funding in the company’s history to over $16M. Investors who participated in the round include Deutsche Bank as well as other strategic and angel investors. The round also included returning investors from previous seed rounds.

Modo was founded in Dallas, Texas by Bruce Parker, along with a number of industry friends and colleagues. Bruce has been a thought leader in the payments industry for over 18 years while working in strategy for some of the largest and most widely used payments technology companies in the world. He has seen firsthand the challenges in reducing friction throughout the payments ecosystem.

Modo’s technology is used by a variety of global players in the financial industry to optimize and manage their payment systems. Modo not only allows for connections to be made without requiring changes to the systems involved, but also ensures good-funds throughout the transaction lifecycle which eases the back-office burden for clients. Modo utilizes best in class security to ensure protection of transactional and client data. The funding from the Series A will be used to grow the team and expand the offerings of the company which has seen a seven-fold growth of transaction volume over the past year.

Deutsche Bank announced their investment in Modo in August 2018 adding that the bank will be using Modo’s technology to access digital endpoints around the globe like Klarna, PayPal, Alipay, and WeChat to disburse funds globally.

“Deutsche Bank is committed to bringing continued innovation to our customers, and partnering with financial technology companies like Modo will allow us to do that faster. We believe Modo has developed a compelling proposition to address the needs of an evolving payments landscape and increasingly digital economy. We are proud to add them to our list of partners,” said Rick Striano, Managing Director of Digital Product Development at Deutsche Bank.

HDFC Bank launches next-gen mobile banking app

HDFC Bank today unveiled its next-gen mobile banking app that offers users effortless access to their bank account on the go. The next-gen app allows customers to bank the way that they live.

It has simple, intuitive navigation and incorporates features such as biometric log in for enhanced security and access. It also eliminates all financial and technical jargon for users by grouping transactions into 3 easy to understand categories — Pay, Save, and Invest. Customers can view a dashboard that offers a 360 degree financial snapshot of all assets and liabilities with the bank.

The 120+ transactions available on the app have been selected based on an intensive study of existing navigation and usage patterns coupled with customer research and feedback. Click here to watch a demo of the mobile banking app.

Some features of the next-gen mobile banking app:

  • Biometric log-in with fingerprint and facial recognition (iPhone X) for enhanced security
  • Simple navigation based on customer needs like Pay, Save, Invest
  • Notification by the app on bill and utilities payments
  • Simpler terms for all transactions such as ‘Transfer Money’ instead of ‘Fund Transfer’
  • Smart and intuitive technology that intelligently chooses between NEFT/IMPS or RTGS depending on the size and timing of the transaction
  • Customized profile pictures like any social media channel
  • Personalised notifications and display based on consumer’s usage and needs.

The new banking app was launched at the Bank’s annual Digital Innovation Summit 2018 (DIS) in New Delhi. The Digital Innovation Summit is a marquee event for the bank to showcase and launch innovative products and services that ride on technology.

Digital screener Neotas secures £1 million funding

Neotas, a ‘digital intelligence’ business which provides enhanced due diligence and HR screening, has closed a funding round of over £1m backed by Symvan Capital, Force Over Mass and a number of private investors.

The London-based company analyses individuals’ ‘digital trails’ to provide deeper insights into their background, behaviour and networks. The service enables investors and employers to screen key personnel, safeguard their investments, mitigate against fraud and insider threats and evidence compliance standards.

Neotas’ advanced digital intelligence platform, which is operated by former military and intelligence analysts, leverages open source intelligence (OSINT). This includes analysis of international records, social media and the deep and dark web – information which is openly available but mostly cannot be found via search engines. The funding will allow Neotas to further develop its platform and technology, expand its team of advanced analysts and step up its sales and marketing operation.

Ian Howard, Director at Neotas said: “We have already invested heavily in developing our technology. This funding will allow us to take it one step further, and create a next generation due diligence platform to allow organisations to mitigate risk and safeguard their investments and brands in the modern era.”

Nicholas Nicolaides, Investment Director at Symvan Capital, added: “People are the biggest risk in any organisation. Neotas allows businesses to access the wealth of information available in today’s digitally interconnected world to safeguard their operations and investments. Driven by both changes in the regulatory environment and the exponential growth of available information, the company’s client base has been expanding steadily, and this investment will allow it to propel its growth to a new level.”

Isignthis receives Visa/Mastercard licence

Australian Securities Exchange and Frankfurt Stock Exchange cross listed iSignthis Ltd (ASX: ISX | FRA: TA8) (the “Company”), is pleased to announce that it has completed its Tier 1 integration to access both Visa and Mastercard (“card schemes”) directly, per its previously announced timetable on 30th August, and will be imminently using its own Principal Member Bank Institution Number (BIN) for processing of card transactions within the EU/EEA.

Visa and Mastercard, are as of tomorrow, both switched to Tier 1 ‘production live’ by the card schemes, allowing direct processing by ISXPay under its own BIN, along with previously announced JCB. The combination of these three schemes alone represents a viable offering as an independent, standalone acquirer, and with our APMs and SEPA capability, will far exceed many EU payment companies’ capabilities. The upcoming addition of our other principal licensed payment channels, including Diners, Discover, China UnionPay and Amex, will further augment ISXPay’s offering and revenues from mid CY/FY2019, and positions the Company with a globally enviable choice of payment channels and capabilities.

The Company has previously announced that it contracted more than AUD$880m of merchant GPTV, to be processed during FY/CY2019 and beyond. ISXPay will shortly start to ramp merchant volumes up, without the restrictions it previously faced working with other payment service provider partners. The Company will however, maintain strategic partnerships with other payment service providers, in order to offer specialty services.