Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 6 December 2018
Natixis adds Apple Pay to Apetiz
Natixis Payments brings its Apetiz’s customers Apple Pay, which is transforming mobile payments with an easy, secure and private way to pay that’s fast and convenient.
Apetiz users will be able to pay for their lunch with Apple Pay on iPhone or Apple Watch at Apetiz affiliated restaurants and retailers, who own a contactless payment terminal. Apetiz, delivered by Natixis Payments, is a leading reference in the meal voucher market with 95 % satisfied customers. Apetiz offers a full range of products: from paper (with former Chèque de Table) to mobile, including cards.
Security and privacy is at the core of Apple Pay. When you use a credit or debit card with Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element on your device. Each transaction is authorized with a one-time unique dynamic security code.
“Natixis Payments’ teams are committed to providing the best experience every day. We favour the simplest, the most digital and diversified options for our customers, so we are proud to provide Apetiz’s customers with Apple Pay, an innovative mobile payment platform, which represents added value for employee beneficiaries, affiliated merchants and our corporate clients,” explains Stéphan Dixmier, head of Natixis Intertitres.
eToro Joins Blockchain Association
eToro, the global investment platform with more than 10 million registered users, has announced that it has joined the Blockchain Association as an executive member.
Working alongside prominent organizations in the blockchain ecosystem such as Coinbase, Circle, Digital Currency Group, and Polychain, eToro will help further the Blockchain Association’s goal of building more inclusive, efficient, and distributed financial systems as well as more decentralized web applications.
Guy Hirsch, USA Managing Director, eToro, said: “As a company, we prioritize compliance with the regulations of all the jurisdictions we operate in around the world. As the United States’ blockchain industry evolves and matures, regulators and the industry need to prioritize conversations around ensuring consumers are informed and protected from bad actors. We are looking forward to collaborating with regulators and major industry players on how to provide guardrails without hindering innovation so that blockchain companies can flourish in a compliant manner. The Blockchain Association promotes policies that balance consumer protection and innovation and we’re proud to help drive its mission forward.”
E-invoicing firm Fitek expands into UK
Fitek, the Baltic and European fintech– and e-invoice solutions provider, has expanded to the UK market. The company is registered and its first employees are at work.
Mait Sooaru, Fitek Group’s CEO, says: “We have a modern, global invoice management platform which quickly wins clients and allows them to easily do business in a variety of markets. We are always looking for possibilities to offer our solution in new markets and expansion to a number of markets is taking place at this moment. The time is ripe for entering the UK market. We have opened an office and our first employees are at work. Our market research conducted shows clearly that our purchase invoice management platform we developed in Estonia is much awaited and highly competitive in the UK.”
Sooaru believes Fitek is the symbiosis of a 20-year-old stable company andan agile startup. The group has almost doubled in size over three years with its profit keeping pace with the growth. In addition to the Baltic states, Fitek is operating in Slovakia and in the states on the Balkan peninsula. Fitek has 270 employees in seven countries and exports products to 20 nations. Its 2018 turnover prognosis is 20.6 million euros. Fitek’s purchase invoice solution is growing at 60% each year.
Kaur Lohk, Member of the Board at Fitek Group, says Fitek intends to become a major player on the UK market. Great Britain, like the majority of European states, is in its infancy when it comes to the automation of financial processes. The vast majority of invoices still move on paper or via email, though e-invoicing is a hot topic in both state institutions and private companies. “Our solution optimizes the processes connected with our clients’ purchase invoices, converts paper invoices to e-invoices, and automatically adjusts accounting records. Our software robots do the lion’s share of the work which is today done by hand. Our advantage over our competitors is that we’re sufficiently small yet fast and flexible,” says Lohk, who adds that “UK laws favor the market entry of Fitek Group’s products.”
