ComplyAdvantage, the financial crime intelligence firm, has officially acquired Golden, a San Francisco-based firm automating the construction of one of the world’s largest knowledge graphs, which shows interconnected data points and their relationships to analyse complex information. ComplyAdvantage uses AI and machine learning to parse through a continuously updated database of entities to give clients the most accurate 360-degree view of financial crime risk. As clients respond to alerts, a feedback loop continuously enriches the insights ComplyAdvantage provides. Golden’s data extraction ..read more

Welcome to The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup on Tuesday 23 April 2024 Appointments Global technology company SAP appoints Sundus Bushahri as managing director for its Kuwait operations. With more than 15 years of experience gained at large multinationals and Fortune 500 companies, Bushahri will lead her team in supporting Kuwait’s ambitious digitalization and workforce training agenda, helping companies to leverage the enormous potential of cloud computing and business AI. Insurtech Send Technology Solutions Ltd (Send) has appointed William Harnett as its head of business strategy and ..read more

Klarna, the AI powered global payments network and shopping assistant, has upgraded its services in the US as it opens a waitlist for a new Klarna card and partners with Expedia Group to expand its services to travellers. The partnership will enable millions of new travellers to book flights and strays using the interest-free ‘Pay Now or Pay in 4’ options. The rollout of Klarna to Expedia Group’s largest market, with 37 million customers, comes after its successful launches in the UK, Germany, Sweden, and Finland. The US travel and tourism market is expected to generate nearly $200billion in ..read more

Mastercard has unveiled a range of AI-powered security solutions and forged industry partnerships with Verizon, NatWest, Entersekt and Global Anti-Scam Alliance in a mission to tackle the rise of scams and impersonation fraud. By combining its identity, biometric, AI and open banking capabilities into the ‘Scam Protect’ suite of solutions, Mastercard hopes to safeguard consumers across a wide range of scams, from card-based and account-to-account payments to fraudulent account openings. In 2023, people in the US lost $12.5billion to internet scams, while in the UK, fraudsters were responsible ..read more

As mobile banking apps continue to accrue a seemingly ever-growing user base, criminals may sense an opportunity to access people’s finances by exploiting weaknesses in some banks’ security, consumer champions Which? has found. In its latest bank security investigation, researches tested banking website and app security across four key criteria – login procedures, security best practice, account management and navigation and logout, which were amalgamated to give a total score and revealed a variety of concerns. They were not able to test banks’ back-end security systems. Banking trade body U ..read more

This April, The Fintech Times is focusing on all things embedded finance, the integration of financial services into non-financial products and services. As the space rapidly develops, we look to highlight the latest developments, initiatives and challenges embedded finance has to offer and overcome across the globe.  Embedded finance platforms hold the key to ensuring both buyers and sellers feel empowered within online marketplaces. To understand how this can truly be achieved, we reached out to the industry. Finance automation must be adopted Rick Verma, head of digital at T ..read more

Careem Pay, the UAE-based digital wallet and fintech platform within the Careem Everything App, has expanded its international remittance services to include ‘Faster Payments’ to the United Kingdom for residents of the UAE. Careem Pay enables customers and business owners to manage their money, settle bills, and make seamless transactions both within and beyond the app. The Careem Pay international remittance service to India and Pakistan has been adopted by expats across the UAE. It revealed that one customer sent over $90,000 in remittances to Pakistan throughout 2023. The new UK remittance ..read more

Fintech-as-a-service provider Soft Space and JCB International Co, the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co Ltd, have jointly introduced Malaysia’s inaugural JCB payment gateway. This collaboration underscores their ongoing partnership, which began with the signing of an agreement in January 2022. The gateway launch also follows successful endeavours such as the central bank digital currency (CBDC) trial in December 2023 and an agreement to enable JCB acceptance for all HLB merchants. Soft Space offers an API specification that enables acquirers and payment facilitators to ..read more

Money20/20, one of the world’s leading fintech shows, has arrived in Thailand for the first time, serving up three days of insights into the latest fintech trends.  Money20/20 Asia 2024, taking place from 23 to 25 April at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok, is the event’s third host city following successful stints in Amsterdam and Las Vegas that have welcomed more than 20,000 fintech and financial services professionals every year. Richie Santosdiaz brings you his highlights from day one of Money20/20 Asia. ‘Connecting for Change: MUFG’s Strategy for Fintech Integr ..read more

The African continent plays host to a potential fintech, wider tech and digital powerhouse – Kenya. But what is its current ecosystem like? Located in East Africa, the country of over 56 million people has become not only a regional powerhouse in East Africa but for the wider African continent and Middle East and Africa (MEA) region as a whole. In particular, its capital and largest city, Nairobi, is even dubbed “Silicon Savannah” due to its strong tech ecosystem, acting as a regional hub. Both multinational companies (MNCs), and those specifically in the tech and fintech sphere, have made st ..read more