FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, INVESTMENTS
WaveBL and Surecomp | January 27, 2023
Surecomp announced on January 26, 2023, that it will collaborate with WaveBL, a blockchain-based digital platform, to improve digital trade finance workflows.
This will be accomplished by enabling access to electronic bills of lading via Surecomp's fintech hub, RIVOTM. Nevertheless, WaveBL's features will be available on Surecomp's collaborative trade finance platform.
In fact, the bill of lading is still presented on paper under a letter of credit. Therefore, it is necessary for corporations to physically acquire the bills of lading from the shipping companies and then deliver these documents to their banks. It is a time-consuming and expensive process that can take a few weeks. WaveBL has already established connections with some of the biggest container shipping companies in the world, such as MSC, Hapag-Lloyd, ZIM, and ONE. Transparency, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness will be improved by connecting to bill-of-lading providers like WaveBL and exchanging the data with their banks on their trade finance management platform.
The buyer, seller, issuing bank, and advising bank can now digitally sign and exchange unique, original papers to avoid courier expenses, fraud risk, and dock penalty penalties, thereby, improving customer experience, environmental sustainability, and company resilience.
Enno-Burghard Weitzel, Surecomp's SVP of Strategy, Digitization and Business Development, stated, "By removing barriers and facilitating collaboration to drive a more streamlined, sustainable global trade finance process, RIVO allows any exporter to now access, manage and transfer ownership of its bills of lading electronically."
He further added, "Our digital fintech hub RIVO is designed to bring together best of breed solutions to help customers streamline their trade finance management and workflow. Our partnership with WaveBL will afford our customers greater transparency, data accuracy and a much smoother document checking process, expediting a previously very tedious and time-consuming workflow."
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
WaveBL's VP of Business Development, Ofer Ein Bar, expressed, "This partnership is a win-win alliance that will radically drive forward the transformation of trade whilst rapidly increasing trade efficiency. It marks a key milestone in our mission to truly transform trade; including the streamlining of crucial trade finance flows."
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
About WaveBL
WAVE BL is a well-known market leader in its own niche, and the company is changing the way business is done with the help of its own blockchain-powered platform for commercial transactions. It is the only company that has changed blockchain technology to make business more profitable by offering trusted, paperless, and electronic services while cutting costs and improving efficiency.
About Surecomp
Surecomp® leads global trade financing for banks and enterprises. The company has been at the forefront of digital trade finance, supply chain finance, and treasury solutions for over 30 years. These solutions simplify the transaction lifecycle to improve operational efficiency, compliance, and growth. Its 8 locations in Toronto, New York, Santiago, Buenos Aires, London, Hamburg, Tel Aviv, and Singapore serve distinguished customers in over 80 countries.
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PAYMENTS, FINTECH
Marqeta | January 31, 2023
On January 30, 2023, Marqeta, the world's leading modern card issuing platform, announced that it reached an agreement to acquire Power Finance, Inc. ('Power'), a provider of software for managing credit card programs. The transaction is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2023, subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions.
Simon Khalaf, the newly-appointed CEO at Marqeta, expressed, "We're thrilled to welcome the Power team and product to Marqeta. We already see considerable demand for differentiated credit products from companies looking to innovate in this space who are held back by the constraints of legacy technology." He added, "We thoroughly examined possible acquisitions to more quickly establish Marqeta's leadership in the modern credit space. It became clear to us that Power would strengthen Marqeta's platform with a best-in-class tech stack for credit card program management."
(Source – Business Wire)
Meanwhile, Randy Fernando, CEO of Power Finance, will now oversee the product management of Marqeta's credit card platform as part of this deal.
The merging of Marqeta and Power platforms will enable the former's customers to create customized credit solutions that meet the changing needs of consumers and businesses. Both organizations were founded on these product ideas to meet developers' current and scalable needs. This arrangement allows Marqeta customers to introduce many credit products and structures, including Power's data science toolbox and Marqeta's rewards innovations. The company intends to swiftly improve its credit offering after acquiring Power.
Randy Fernando, Co-Founder and CEO at Power Finance, stated, "Companies like ours were made possible because of the path Marqeta blazed in modern card issuing, demonstrating the possibilities in payments with flexible and modern payment infrastructure." He added, "At Power, we built a full-stack, cloud-native credit card issuance platform, and by becoming a part of Marqeta we have the ability now to bring this innovation to a much larger market at global scale."
(Source – Business Wire)
Subject to customary adjustments, the purchase price comprises $223 million in cash, of which about one-third is due over two years, subject to certain conditions, while $52 million is subject to a 12-month milestone.
About Marqeta
With the first open API platform, Marqeta makes issuing cards and processing payments lightning-fast and efficient. The company's platform was designed to facilitate a novel payment experience across a wide range of apps and services that are used regularly. Currently, it employs more than 800 people in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, and Asia-Pacific. Its products are used by industry leaders in digital banking, lending, e-commerce, on-demand services, and more. The company has broad agreements with banks and card networks like Visa, Mastercard, and Discover.
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FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
BAI | January 18, 2023
BAI, a leading non-profit independent organization serving the financial services industry, has launched BAI Policy Manager to assist financial services organizations in developing, implementing, and monitoring their policies and procedures to ensure compliance with ever-evolving regulatory requirements.
Executives can use the end-to-end solution called BAI Policy Manager, created exclusively for financial services businesses, for developing, modifying, communicating, and tracking company policies and procedures.
BAI Policy Manager has the following features:
Regulatory materials tailored as per the respective industry to assist in making rational decisions while developing and upgrading policies
Easy setup
Focused processes to prepare for the next assessment
Effective communication tools to promote a compliance culture
Debbie Bianucci, President and CEO of BAI said, “As part of BAI’s strategic priority to provide valuable education and tools in all facets of regulatory compliance, the BAI team developed this comprehensive solution specifically to meet the unique needs of financial services organizations." She further added, “The BAI Policy Manager will enable financial services leaders to significantly increase their effectiveness in managing all aspects of their organization’s policies.”
(Source – Business Wire)
Christopher Boersma, CRCM, CAMS, CISA, Senior Compliance Expert at BAI, is of the view that financial institutions must have policies and procedures in place in order to remain in compliance with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), etc.
He stated, "Policies and procedures are key to almost every examination because regulators view them as an important way leadership defines, articulates and communicates expectations; guides desired conduct; protects the organization; and achieves business objectives. Non-compliance can result in monetary fines, adverse actions, limitations on growth opportunities, or other penalties."
(Source – Business Wire)
Nevertheless, managing all regulatory changes and understanding how those changes affect all policies and procedures is difficult but essential for meeting regulatory requirements.
About BAI
BAI, an independent, non-profit organization, has provided the financial services sector for almost a century with the most helpful information, assisting leaders in daily business choices. The company supports more than 2,300 financial services organizations annually with compliance and professional development training, offers specialized events and programs, and conducts in-depth, proprietary research for more than 40 of the top US banks.
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