ANNOUNCEMENTSCard issuer and processor Enfuce won Celent's Model Risk Manager award for embedded fraud prevention in its card-as-a-service (CaaS) solution. Celent is a global research and advisory firm for the financial services industry. Celent’s annual Model Risk Manager Awards recognize the best practices of technology usage in areas critical to success in risk management. Nominations are submitted by financial institutions and undergo a rigorous evaluation process by Celent analysts. Celent judges submissions on three core criteria: the degree of innovation, technology or implementation excellence, and demonstrable business benefits. Led by co-founders and co-CEOs Monika Liikamaa and Denise Johansson, Enfuce stated it offers an agile alternative to existing issuer processing platforms, with the ability to quickly add modules and services as and when needed.
The Retail Innovation Conference & Expo is returning to McCormick Place in Chicago for its 2023 annual event. Spearheaded by the retail community and digital media company Retail TouchPoints, the conference will bring industry leaders and innovators together from June 13 to 15 for a variety of panels, activations and presentations. The conference will feature an immersive experience to connect leaders with the latest trends and technologies driving the industry’s next wave of disruption. From rising startups to trailblazing Tier 1 retailers, the conference will bring the entire retail ecosystem together for collaboration, learning about new developments in ecommerce, and networking opportunities, organizers stated.
Sumsub, a tech company that prides itself on providing customizable KYC, KYB and AML solutions for the whole user journey, published its Complete Guide to Transaction Monitoring to provide a detailed picture of transaction monitoring as an integral part of the verification system. The guide was prepared by Sumsub’s compliance and anti-fraud team in partnership with Pismo, an all-in-one, cloud-native financial services platform covering all core banking and payment processing functionalities., Sumsub stated, adding that the guide is intended to show businesses in the fintech, banking, insurance, gambling and ecommerce sectors how to spot transaction fraud, bolster their defenses, ensure full compliance and optimize user conversion rates at the same time. To download the guide for free, please visit
RESEARCHThe MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index dropped slightly in the first quarter of 2023 to 60 from the final quarter of 2022's 62.1, as small business owners’ outlook on the economy weakened. Twenty percent of SMB owners surveyed said they believe the U.S. economy is in good health, down from 27 percent saying the same in the prior quarter. Also contributing to the drop, fewer respondents said they plan to increase investment over the next year (38 percent versus 47 percent). Despite SMB owners seeing a weak economy, 63 percent of respondents said their business is in good health, and 64 percent stated they are comfortable with their cash flow. Sixty-nine percent said they have retained the same number of employees over the past year, and 19 percent reported increasing staff over the same period.
The National Retail Federation issued its annual forecast, anticipating that retail sales will grow between 4 percent and 6 percent in 2023. In total, NRF projects that retail sales will reach between $5.13 trillion and $5.23 trillion this year. “In just the last three years, the retail industry has experienced growth that would normally take almost a decade by pre-pandemic standards,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “While we expect growth to moderate in the year ahead, it will remain positive as retail sales stabilize to more historical levels. Retailers are prepared to serve consumers in the current economic environment by offering a range of products at affordable prices with great shopping experiences.” The 2023 figure compares with 7 percent annual growth to $4.9 trillion in 2022. The 2023 forecast is above the pre-pandemic average annual growth rate of 3.6 percent.
PARTNERSHIPSBold Commerce, a provider of tailored checkout technology, collaborated with PayPal to launch its headless checkout integration with Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce. By introducing a composable headless alternative to Magento’s native checkout, Bold enables brands using Adobe Commerce to elevate checkout experiences without the risk, cost or complexity of re-platforming, Bold said, adding that the composable checkout solution seamlessly integrates a fully optimized, customizable checkout experience on top of brands’ existing technology. This means offering checkout experiences that fit brands’ business needs and are tailored to how individual consumers are shopping in real-time, Bold Commerce noted.
Enigma, a data science company that provides intelligence about the financial health and identity of U.S. businesses, partnered with Noble, a fintech infrastructure company that powers verification, credit underwriting and decisioning for companies embedding financial services. Together, Enigma and Noble believe they will provide companies with a clear picture of the financial health of small and midsize businesses, enabling faster, more accurate underwriting decisions. Enigma said its proprietary machine learning algorithms combine hundreds of public and private data sources to generate its data about the financial health of more than 30 million small and midsize businesses. Noble stated its platform enables companies to manage risk at any step of the customer journey for any financial product—from onboarding, to underwriting and decisioning, to ongoing monitoring.
Onfleet, a delivery management software company, and Aeropay, a digital payments provider for the cannabis industry, formed a partnership that integrates Aeropay's digital payment solutions with Onfleet’s last mile delivery management software platform. Onfleet and Aeropay work with a variety of retail businesses offering delivery to help streamline the delivery and payment process—especially useful for cannabis retailers, the partners stated. As consumers shift from shopping at storefronts to buying cannabis products online, Aeropay enables cannabis businesses to offer an appealing, compliant and cashless digital payment method for customers, they added, noting that Onfleet is a trusted platform that cannabis dispensaries can use to manage drivers, plan routes, fulfill deliveries and ensure compliance with local regulations.
Qualpay, a cloud-based payments platform, received the exclusive affinity endorsement from the National Propane Gas Association as the preferred industry vendor for payment processing.
The NPGA is the national trade association representing the U.S. propane industry. Qualpay said it is recognized for providing customers the benefits of an integrated payment gateway and merchant account, simplified cash reconciliation, and easy-to-use, customizable business reporting. “Qualpay is simplifying the way businesses do payments, making them the right partner of choice in payment solutions for our member organizations,” said Stephen Kaminski, NPGA President and CEO.
Transcard, a provider of payment and data technology, said it integrated its family of embedded payment solutions, called SMART Suite, with Mastercard's innovative Track Business Payment Service. Business Payment Service is a global open-loop commercial network designed to simplify and automate the exchange of payments data between buyers and suppliers. The network, Transcard noted, helps facilitate the collection and exchange of data across the payment methods and rails available in SMART Suite, and businesses on the network set preferences for how they would like to make or take payment, and suppliers on the network receive enhanced remittance details, reducing manual processing.
ACQUISITIONSPOSaBIT Systems Corp., a provider of payments infrastructure in the cannabis industry, said it received a notice of termination from Akerna Corp. in connection with POSaBIT's definitive agreement to acquire MJ Platform, Leaf Data Systems and Ample Organics from Akerna. The notice stated that Akerna determined that a third party proposal for the companies to be acquired is reasonably likely to result in a superior offer under the definitive agreement. After considering all relevant circumstances, the POSaBIT board and management unanimously agreed not to increase its offer to match the alternative offer, POSaBIT stated.
Utimaco, an IT security solutions provider, acquired conpal GmbH, a provider of IT security solutions for the protection of confidential data through encryption and authentication.
Utimaco noted it was already selling conpal products before the acquisition, and with the integration that has now taken place, it can offer a complete portfolio for IT security from a single source in the areas of data encryption, hardware security modules, key management and public key infrastructure (PKI) in highly regulated areas. At the same time, Utimaco added, the takeover marks another milestone in the company's strategic development from a product to a solution provider. The LAN Crypt Cloud project, which is strategically important for conpal, forms a substantial building block for Utimaco's planned service strategy, the company added.
APPOINTMENTSVikingCloud, a provider of cybersecurity and compliance solutions, appointed Jim Burke as chief executive officer and member of its board to drive the company’s next phase of growth. Robert McCullen will continue as board chairman and play an active role in the company. Burke brings more than two decades of experience leading and scaling global software and technology-enabled companies and has a proven track record of driving sustained growth, VikingCloud stated.
Most recently he served as CEO of Workforce Logiq, a provider of AI-powered workforce intelligence and technology services to large corporations. Directly prior, he served as CEO of three other technology businesses: Advanced Discovery, vRad and Global Compliance. Previously, he was president of global information services at Dun & Bradstreet.
Melanie Cabello, eProcessingNetwork's director of partner development, was elected to the Northeast Acquirers Association's advisory board. (www.northeastacquirers.com) Now in its 36th year of service, the NEAA continues its mission to serve and educate all distribution channels in the electronic payments industry of the Northeast Region. As a senior member of the payment technology industry, Cabello is a go-to attendee at NEAA shows, as well as at every other important industry conference, NEAA representatives stated, adding that she has the proven skills and expertise to build strategic relationships with key industry leaders: ISOs, MSPs, processing partners, developers, OEMs and third-party vendors. "Her experience with working the full transaction lifecycle from acceptance through acquiring to settlement, ensures the successful development and launch of new products," the organization stated. "Melanie has a comprehensive understanding of industry standards, integrated systems, software applications, hardware, and developer tool support."
Paysafe appointed Nicole Carroll as its first chief strategy and innovation officer. Carroll brings an extensive track record of driving growth and innovation across high profile global organizations in the technology, fintech and payments sectors, Paysafe stated. Her primary responsibilities will be to further develop the company’s corporate vision and long-term growth strategy and lead on its product innovation and capital expenditure programs. Most recently, Carroll was chief product officer for Experian’s Decisions Analytics business. Directly prior, she was a director at Visa where she led the company's next generation of global software acceptance. Previously, Carroll spearheaded digital transformation at Discover Financial Services. Carroll also held leadership roles for CitiGroup and was chief marketing officer for Transys where she launched Oyster card.
Socure, a provider of digital identity verification and fraud solutions, selected Jennifer Kerber as senior director of government affairs. She will work with legislators, policymakers and government stakeholders to address digital identity challenges with a focus on advancing policies that balance equitable and accessible identity verification with vigorous fraud prevention. With more than 20 years of public policy experience, Socure noted, Kerber brings an unparalleled understanding of the shifting identity management landscape and will ensure Socure’s solutions align with the evolving needs of government agencies and the people they serve. Previously, Kerber was director of public policy for Grant Thornton LLP and director of marketing and government affairs for Grant Thornton Public Sector. She also served in the U.S. General Services Administration Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies. 
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