Collaborations continued to be a focus point, but the end-user came out on top. Government interventions were overarching, with pushbacks from advocacy groups highlighting their role in the industry.
Headlines to take note of:
- Besides crypto, the SEC has a new war front. How Gary Gensler intends to fight both sides remains uncertain;
- Tether wants to expand its reaches beyond stablecoins;
- A new social network (from Europe) is live stateside;
- Mercury has a new account for top guns;
- Plus, the InsurTech space kept giving gifts!
Of course, it’s your week in digital wealth!
WealthTech, RegTech, Regulatory, and Treasury
Technology and analytics firm EquiLend launched Orbisa, its premier securities lending solution, on Bloomberg. The integration enables Orbisa access for Bloomberg’s users with its $32 trillion equity dataset.
SEC/National Center for Public Policy Research
According to an April 16 Bloomberg report, the National Center for Public Policy Research, an advocacy group, and several investors sued the SEC in federal court in Waco, Texas, over its market surveillance plans.
In the suit, the plaintiffs asserted that the tool violated their privacy rights.
RQD* Clearing, LLC/Provable Markets/DTCC/National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC)
Transaction infrastructure-focused RQD* Clearing revealed its integration with Aurora ATS, the Provable Markets ecosystem. RQD* Clearing also unveiled its participation in the DTCC National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) Securities Financing Transaction (SFT) clearing service.
The dual moves help improve capital operational issues alongside credit risk minimization.
Crypto, Blockchain, and Digital Assets
In an April 18 blog post, Tether unveiled new business units. The stablecoin issuer introduced Tether Data, Tether Finance, Tether Power, and Tether Edu as part of plans to expand its ecosystem.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced the successful conversion of its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) to USDC tokens.
The $1 billion conversion involved transferring 1.36 million native BNB tokens and 16,277 Bitcoins to the USDC stablecoin.
In its latest pro forma financial statement, Crypto asset behemoth Grayscale revealed a 63,620 Bitcoin contribution to its new Bitcoin Mini Trust. Grayscale announced plans to launch the fund in March.
FinTech, Personal Finance, and Apps
Boutique payment processor Finix launched a no-code automated merchant underwriting product.
The solution has seamless features, including visual reports, single-view third-party underwriting data integrations, flexible risk scoring and decision tools, and flexible case management options.
Aurora Payments
Temple, Arizona-based Aurora Payments unveiled ARISE, a small business-focused solution that enables seamless transactions.
ARISE provides small businesses with several features, including straight-through payments and seamless APIs for faster app deployments.
Payments-focused FinTech HighRadius introduced its B2B solution, which offers over one hundred payment options and has fee optimization and surcharge management capabilities.
UCapital Fintech Group
There’s a new social network in America. Ucapital, a Milan, Italy-based FinTech, launched its platform in the United States.
The social network aims to connect entrepreneurs, enterprises, and investors to all kinds of opportunities and interactions and has a membership of over 50,000 people. Additionally, UCapital is available for Android and iOS devices.
Bectran, Inc.
Credit-focused Bectran revealed a product that enhances self-service payments for its Accounts Receivables solution.
The feature enables users to deploy customer payments, improving operational efficiency and automation.
Banking, Payments, and Infrastructure
Teaneck, New Jersey-based Cognizant, revealed an integration with FICO to help FIs improve their real-time payment fraud detection and prevention capabilities. FICO’s Falcon Fraud Manager powers the cloud-based product.
PriorityONE Credit Union/Upstart
To improve customer experience, Florida-based PriorityONE Credit Union partnered with Upstart, an AI-focused lending ecosystem.
The integration gives members access to loans via efficient processes.
Jacksonville, Florida-based EverBank revealed its collaboration with Finzly to improve payment processing.
The cooperation leverages Finzly’s Payments Galaxy solution to scale operations.
In related news, EverBank reached out across the pond in Europe to partner with Amsterdam-based Backbase to improve its commercial and treasury activities.
Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU)
Navy Federal reached out across the border to partner with Zafin, a Canadian Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) FinTech.
The cooperation has enabled Navy Federal FCU to shift its legacy ecosystem to Zafin’s cloud-based infrastructure.
All-American neo-bank Mercury unveiled its retail baking solution aimed at entrepreneurs and investors.
Mercury Personal has several features, including zero balance accounts and no-fee wires (for the US).
The product also offers customers FDIC insurance coverage of up to $5 million and a 5% APY for a $240 annual fee.
REtech, InsurtTech and Investing
Niche InsurTech Zywave unveiled Cyber Quoting, a marketplace that combines quotes and proposals for insurers, distributors, and key industry players.
Additionally, the product has a seamless data collection and analysis process that provides enhanced information per policy coverage selection and submission.
To provide property and casualty (P&C) insurance to its customers, MassMutual collaborated with niche InsurTech Insurify.
The cooperation gives members of MassMutual’s ecosystem access to Insurify’s platform and solutions for policy-related operations.
Coalition/Amazon Web Services (AWS)/Google Workspace®/Microsoft 365
Premier InsurTech Coalition unveiled several integrations with leading cloud providers, including AWS, Google Workspace®, and Microsoft 365.
The integration offers users of Coalition Control, its risk product, enhanced cybersecurity capabilities for cloud-based operations.
