The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup on Thursday 15 February 2024 brings you the latest updates from the global fintech industry.
Appointments
Forter appoints Anthony Barsoom as chief financial officer and Jim Howard as vice president of sales in the Americas. Barsoom most recently served as head of finance for Zoom and was previously CEO of fabric.com. Howard was mosr recently vice president of sales, Americas for Tufin and has also held leadership positions at VMWare, Pivotal Software and CA Technologies.
Airbase, a procure-to-pay solutions company, appoints Mathew Schulz from Forrester as its new VP OF procurement strategy. Schulz brings extensive experience and a track record of driving procurement excellence and technological advancement. He also previously served as a managing consultant and former technology lead for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Bevan Money, an aspiring bank with a focus on the housing needs of public sector workers, has appointed Brian Brodie as CEO. Mel Lane takes on the position of deputy CEO. Brodie joins from Freedom Finance, where he was group CEO and, most recently, chairperson. He has also worked as a senior advisor at Pollen Street Capital and held director roles at Virgin Money, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland and HML.
Rippling, the workforce management platform, appoints Eisar Lipkovitz as chief product officer. Lipkovitz will report to co-founder and CEO Parker Conrad. Prior to Rippling, Lipkovitz served as chief information officer at JP Morgan’s corporate and investment bank.
SmartSearch, a provider of digital compliance and anti-money laundering software, has promoted Andrew Booth to the position of VP of technology – one of 16 promotions across its nearly 200-strong team. Alongside promotions in its technology division with a new head of service delivery and service desk manager, SmartSearch has also recognised colleagues across marketing, sales and market engagement, business support and customer success.
More appointments
Insurtech Lumera has appointed Anders Lundström to its board of directors. For nearly 20 years, Anders Lundström held the position as CEO of minPension in Sverige AB – the operating company for Sweden’s national pension dashboard, which provides an overview of individual entitlement and enables pension forecasts.
Trustly, a payment solutions provider, has made two appointments to its leadership team as it gears up for further expansion in Europe. Annika Poutiainen joins as chief legal officer, while Georg Kaltenbrunner will start in March as group chief risk and compliance officer. Both roles will be central to supporting the strong and sustainable future growth of Trustly, which has already undergone significant expansion in 2023, most recently with the acquisitions of SlimPay and Ecospend.
Funding and investments
NorthEdge has invested in Contollo Group (Contollo), a newly formed built environment consultancy group, backing management to build a national professional services platform that supports clients across a range of sectors to achieve their regulatory and sustainability targets in the built environment. The investment ebables Contollo to undertake a UK-focused buy and build strategy.
Partnerships
Wirex has announced a strategic deal with Corlytics, the intelligent content solutions provider. Wirex has chosen Corlytics’ Clausematch policy management platform to bolster its compliance framework and ensure the highest standards of regulatory adherence. The Corlytics’ solution enables Wirex to streamline and automate policy management processes.
Global paytech provider Episode Six has been selected by Mastercard, the world’s largest payment-processer, to join its Engage Programme. By joining the programme, E6’s instalments solution will be added to Mastercard’s engage product set, helping partners to deliver strong instalment functionalities that customers expect and demand, including BNPL, at speed to clients globally.
Accertify, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Express, is providing ASDA, one of the largest retail chains in the UK, with enhanced security across ASDA’s e-commerce transactions as part of the company’s digital transformation strategy. ASDA is updating its legacy systems to optimise operations across its network.
UK-based fintech Akoni, embedded sustainability provider ekko and Bank of London and The Middle East BLME – Bank on our Principles (BLME) have announced the launch of their Planet Saver Planet Saver Account savings product. It is a product for savers who want to put the world first when making decisions about their financial futures and allowing them to create a positive environmental impact.
M&A
Virgin Money agrees to buy out abrdn and take full ownership of investments joint venture to accelerate future growth. Virgin Money is to purchase abrdn’s 50 per cent stake in their joint venture, Virgin Money Investments, following the successful launches of its new investment and pension services for customers. The joint venture between Virgin Money and abrdn was established in 2019.
