Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 7 December 2018
Boku buys authentication outfit Danal
Danal, Inc., today announced Boku (AIM: BOKU), the world’s leading independent direct carrier billing company, has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Danal, Inc for a total consideration of $112 Million plus warrants.
The acquisition creates the global leader in mobile identity and authentication solutions driven by real-time connections to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and proprietary third-party data sources. The acquisition of Danal will accelerate the development of Boku’s mobile identity service offering, allow expansion into new merchant segments, and ensure broader exposure to key geographies. Danal’s strong backlog of business opportunities and Boku’s global network of connections and capabilities will open up new revenue channels for Danal’s existing customers and create a powerful and global mobile identity solution.
Jim Greenwell, CEO of Danal Inc commented, “Boku shares Danal’s commitment to providing top-tier identity services. As well, the two companies have a similar heritage and background with its deep ties to global MNOs. This is a great merger for the two companies and an excellent outcome for Danal customers, partners, employees and shareholders.”
Onpex partners with SatchelPay
ONPEX, a leading provider of multi-currency IBAN accounts, has partnered with the Lithuanian eMoney institution, SatchelPay.
The partnership will see ONPEX provide SatchelPay with tailor-made banking and payment services it needs to boost SWIFT payment capabilities.
Regulated by the Bank of Lithuania and passported in 31 European countries, SatchelPay already offers a unique EUR IBAN solution, which allows them to serve clients in the SEPA zone. However, in response to growing client requests for international multi-currency pay-in and pay-outs, the eMoney institution needed a partner to expand its banking network and to provide cross-border payment capabilities.
SatchelPay uses ONPEX’ flexible Application-Program-Interface (API) to integrate SWIFT payments and facilitate the management of multiple currencies and therefore provides an advanced IBAN solution for its clients. As a result, the Lithuanian-based service provider is now able to offer its clients cross-border sending and receiving of funds in 25 different currencies, all using just one multi-currency IBAN account per client.
In addition, SatchelPay’s clients are able to hold an IBAN account in their own name and unique reference number – making reconciliation even quicker and more efficient than before.
Squirro brings AI to insurance market
Squirro, the augmented intelligence solutions provider, has today announced the launch of a new suite of applications that aim to transform elements of insurance, from underwriting and submission-handling, to improved lead generation and deeper customer insight.
Squirro for Insurance contains three apps – Squirro Commercial Insurance, Squirro Reinsurance and Squirro Commercial Underwriting – all of which use the power of Squirro’s Augmented Intelligence platform to leverage siloed structured and unstructured data to improve the submission handling as well as the underwriting process. In addition it supports lead generation as well as meeting preparation for commercial insurance.
“The insurance industry has for years been very focused on the analysis of structured data and core insurance topics, but has been a relatively late adopter when it comes to unlocking the power of unstructured data through Augmented Intelligence and machine learning,” claims Miguel Rodriguez, VP Customer Success at Squirro. “The potential of those technologies to transform certain processes is remarkable.”
Korean marketplace lender HonestFund attracts $12 million in funding
HonestFund (CEO: Sanghoon Seo) has announced that the company, one of the largest marketplace lending players in South Korea, has successfully raised $12 million Series B investment.
Investment was led by Korea’s leading VCs and investment companies, such as Dunamu & Partners, MurexPartners, KB Investment, TL Asset Management, Bass Investment and HB Investment. This brings HonestFund’s total investment to $21 million, making it one of the most valuable Fintech companies in South Korea.
Of the investors, Dunamu & Partners is an investment arm of Dunamu, another Fintech enterprise that is currently leading the Asian blockchain ecosystem. Dunamu & Company invests in startups with innovative products, services, and technologies that have the potential to greatly improve people’s daily lives. Dunamu is the company behind UpBit and Kakao Stock, Korea’s most well-known blockchain exchange and stock brokerage service, respectively. HonestFund plans to further collaborate with Dunamu in brining innovative financial services to the market.
