ANNOUNCEMENTSAdvicePay, a fee-for-service payment processing and compliance platform, is searching for a new CEO. Alan Moore, the company's current CEO and co-founder, will transition to become executive chairman of the board. Praising the company's leadership team, Moore said, “At this stage of our evolution and growth, we feel confident in bringing in dedicated executive talent to take the reins as CEO full time, particularly now that our platform has grown into a true enterprise workflow solution.”
The new CEO will own and execute the vision, strategy, and overarching tactics to scale the organization to the next level.
Canada's Digital Governance Council and Data Collaboration Alliance revealed that CAN/CIOSC 100-9, Data governance – Part 9: Zero-Copy Integration, a national standard approved by the Standards Council of Canada, was published for open access by the public.
The new standard provides organizations with a framework to accelerate the delivery of digital innovation projects—including applications, automations, AI/ML and analytics—while navigating increasingly strict data protection regulations, such as Canada’s proposed Consumer Privacy Protection Act, Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation, and the California Privacy Rights Act, as well as the escalating risk and inefficiency associated with data silos and copy-based data integration.
The Financial Technology Report heralded The Power 300 Financial Technology Companies of 2023, which, the media company said, represents the most important influential companies in the fintech sector. "It is a dynamic list that will be updated from time to time as new category leaders emerge and as companies wane or are acquired," the organization stated.
Companies listed specialize in such areas as payments, accounting, wealth management, banking, investing, lending, insurtech, cryptocurrency, and other areas changing the way businesses and individuals conduct important financial matters. Companies were selected based on the quality of their solutions, extent of market adoption, organizational depth, management team caliber and investor backing.
Intergiro, a Swedish business account provider and payment processor, disclosed it will offer free banking services to merchants who open a merchant business account with the company. This move, Intergiro stated, comes in response to rising inflation rates and uncertain market conditions, which places pressure on businesses to reduce costs.
"Customers can access their free banking services alongside their merchant services dashboard from a unified customer portal, with online sales proceeds landing directly into their Intergiro account," Intergiro said. "In addition to free banking services, merchants who open a merchant business account with Intergiro will soon benefit from same-day settlements (T+0), ensuring quick access to funds and reducing the need for businesses to carry costly working capital."
RBR introduced the Global ATM Intelligence Service to help executives navigate the changing retail banking landscape. The service leverages RBR’s international expertise and unparalleled primary research program, RBR stated, and incorporates its comprehensive ATM market report and database. The company said its monthly research newsletter provides coverage of ATMs along with developments in cards, payments and digital banking that influence the future of self-service. Also included are videos that explore key industry trends.
The first of the series analyzes the evolution of ATM pooling and its potential for further industry disruption. Subscribers can connect directly with sector and country experts at any time to dig deeper into topics of interest, and assess what wider industry changes mean for their organizations, RBR added.
RESEARCHHistorically high costs this past holiday season fueled sales of gift cards that consumers leveraged to stay on budget and adjust for inflation, according to new data from Blackhawk Network (see bit.ly/3Yx7Nr7). The findings, based on consumer research and Blackhawk’s U.S. sales data, showed sustained growth in overall gift card sales, with double-digit increases in ecommerce and egift sales.
Forty-eight percent of surveyed consumers said they did more holiday shopping online in 2022 compared to 2021, indicating saving money was the primary driver. Fifty-three percent did more online shopping because they found better deals and promotions; 36 percent reported shopping online to limit driving and save on gas. Six in ten respondents who purchased gift cards did so because it helped them more easily stick to a budget.
With Massachusetts becoming the latest state to legalize sportsbook betting, new data revealed that the surge in sportsbook betting activity on mobile attracted new female users at a higher growth rate than men in 2022. According to smartphone usage data from mobile insights provider GWS, the number of female users who joined sportsbook betting apps grew 45 percent in 2022 with 3.2 million women added.
This builds on the 4.6 million female users who joined in 2021. Men saw a 23 percent rise in new users with an additional 4.1 million joining in 2022. The research was conducted by GWS’ mobile insights and research division, which collects more than 50 million daily data points nationwide from mobile devices as well as bespoke surveys.
According to the recently released J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Merchant Services Satisfaction Study, the small business owners who are fighting inflation and the significant costs and fees associated with those credit card readers have experienced sudden declines in customer satisfaction this year. The decline is driven by a combination of a tough economy, cost of service and chronic customer support difficulties with payment processing technology.
The U.S. Payments Forum unveiled a free white paper at www.uspaymentsforum.org to simplify and improve PINless debit implementation across the payments landscape. This is achieved by identifying example transaction flows for EMV PINless debit processing, defining key terms related to the payment process, and pinpointing additional considerations for its implementation, the forum stated.
The objective, the forum stated, is to address potential obstacles to PINless debit implementation in the United States by increasing the consistency of PINless EMV debit transaction processing across all stakeholder groups, including payment networks, acquiring processors, and POS or other technology providers; maintaining the merchant’s ability to selectively route debit transactions to all eligible debit networks on the card; avoiding/minimizing negative impacts to the consumer/cardholder experience; and providing an educational resource for forum members that reflects the forum’s subject-matter expertise and value to the payment ecosystem.
PARTNERSHIPSEverC, a provider of AI-driven merchant and marketplace risk intelligence and insights for ecommerce and payment providers, entered a strategic partnership with KPMG, a firm that provides audit, tax and advisory services to a variety of clients, endeavoring to help them mitigate risks and grasp opportunities.
This partnership will leverage the well-established financial advisory expertise of KPMG and EverC’s technology-focused innovation in the ecommerce risk domain to provide combined solutions and services to support top-tier organizations as they propel their growth while managing their risk, the partners stated.
Additionally, the two companies said they have planned a series of online and in-person roundtables and advisory sessions and other joint initiatives to foster discussion and thought leadership among senior leaders in top-tier payments and finance arenas.
QuickBooks, Norton 360, Logitech and Nextiva recently joined the Savify family of vendors. Savify prides itself on having empowered ISOs, acquirers and payment processors to increase "value beyond processing" since 2009. Savify said it provides this value to U.S. customers by offering unparalleled savings on products and services their customers use every day. Savify, headquartered in Atlanta, is actively pursuing new vendors to meet the ever-growing market needs.
Transcard partnered with Coforge to help organizations digitize and simplify their payments to achieve better business outcomes. Transcard offers SMART Suite, a cloud native platform that the company said supports any digital payment method for any business application; integrates seamlessly into any legacy accounting software, enterprise resource planning (ERP) application or system or record; and connects with any client bank account, eliminating the need to set up or pre-fund a new bank account to disburse electronic payments.
Coforge stated it is a global digital services and solutions provider that leverages emerging technologies and deep domain expertise to deliver real-world business impact for its clients.
ACQUISITIONInternational fraud prevention company SEON acquired compliance and anti money-laundering (AML) specialist firm Complytron. The acquisition instantly adds AML capabilities to SEON’s fraud fighting toolkit and signals a new focus on holistic "fincrime" prevention for the growing business, SEON stated.
As a result of the acquisition, SEON now offers a vital single source for FinCrime intelligence combined with decision functionality to help address evolving regulatory requirements, SEON noted, adding that the deal, which officially completed in January 2023, also signifies SEON’s impressive expansion since its record-breaking $94 million Series B investment in early 2022.
APPOINTMENTSBlueStar disclosed that Doug Bivins, current chief operating officer, will retire effective July 1st, 2023. He will remain on BlueStar’s board of directors. During his tenure, Bivins helped orchestrate the company's global expansion, including seven acquisitions in Europe, oversaw operational expansion via new facility construction, and forged a foundation of innovative capabilities by bringing automation to its global warehouse functions.
Upon Bivins' departure, Ryan Girvin will assume the role of chief operating officer. Girvin joined BlueStar in 2001 as corporate controller for the Americas before being promoted to vice president of finance and, ultimately, CFO. Before joining the company, he served four years as an auditor with J.D. Cloud and Co. Currently, in addition to the role as CFO, he serves on BlueStar’s board of directors.
Diane Faro, the new CEO at Savify, has spent her five decades in the financial services industries determined to grow companies and lead people. She has particular experience in determining appropriate strategies and increasing revenue as an executive and entrepreneur, Savify said, adding that her industry experience and previous CEO roles position her to lead Savify.
Having served as Savify's president since 2014, Faro is expected to bring a fresh, innovative approach to the C-Suite at Savify, with a renewed focus on ensuring the company's benefits portal remains cutting-edge. Faro is also a co-founder of PayTech Women, formerly Wnet, a national organization that offers networking and growth opportunities for women in the fintech industry.
VizyPay, a payment processing fintech, expanded its leadership team with the addition of Director of ISO Partnerships Ricky Onofre, Regional Director Tod Kellen and Regional Director Erik Martinez. Together they will bring VizyPay’s services across the Midwest by delivering transparent, cost-saving payment processing services to small town businesses, VizyPay stated. As director of ISO partnerships, Onofre will maintain strong relationships with key decision makers within the sales and payments space and identify new opportunities for ISO partnerships.
Kellen and Martinez join VizyPay as industry veterans, bringing over 50 years of combined experience to foster the relationships within their respective regions. The two will develop B2B sales force teams and have a hand in disrupting the payments space by leveraging VizyPay’s premier offerings. Kellen is a board member of the Midwest Acquirers Association.
Global identity verification provider ID-Pal appointed Tim Murphy as the new independent chairperson of its board of directors. Currently the principal director at mergers and acquisitions advisory firm Guacamole Partners Ltd., Murphy was an early investor in ID-Pal and has been a non-executive board member since 2017. He has widespread experience investing in and advising startups along with serving as an executive and independent director in several financial services firms, ID-Pal stated.
A qualified accountant, Murphy oversaw the expansion of BNY Mellon in Ireland before holding several executive roles in the fintech space. Murphy is also currently the independent chair of Geneva Ireland Financial Trading. 
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