Biz Builder Mike

You can't sail Today's boat on Yesterdays wind - Michael Noel

Europe

ZA Tech Global, the Technology Initiative Backed by Softbank Vision Fund I, Launches Asia Fintech Center

ZA Tech Global Limited, the technology venture established by ZA International and supported by Softbank’s Vision Fund 1, revealed on Friday (April 9, 2021) that it’s launching its Asia Fintech Center (AFC) in Singapore. The new center will focus on financial services innovation projects and it will also assist industry participants in the region so they can develop new products that will accelerate their digital transformation strategies.

The AFC launch is reportedly a global first for ZA Tech, as the business increases its focus on supporting the vision of providing a unified tech platform that aims to support the future of financial services and offer access to underserved consumers.

The Singapore-headquartered Center will aim to address specific use-cases in insurance and the financial services sector with assistance from industry partners. It will initially work on various insurance use-cases by co-developing innovative projects with ASEAN region-based insurance service providers. It will also work with local academic institutions or universities to develop appropriate Fintech-related expertise and talent.

Bill Song, CEO of ZA Tech, stated:

“We partner with industry players to strive to boldly redefine financial services, and the AFC is an important pillar of making that happen. As we have entered 2021, the year the internet economy continues to rapidly reshape consumer expectations across Asia, digital transformation is becoming as crucial as ever for financial services firms. AFC will bring together technology, talent and partner network to build innovative propositions that fit closely with the evolving customer expectations across both online and O2O and to help financial services prepare for the next chapter of the digital revolution.”

George Kesselman, Head of Commercial for ZA Tech, remarked:

“I am incredibly proud of the work that the team is doing with our partners in the region. AFC will allow us to bring collaboration to the next level by launching new innovative use-cases and enable rapid product-market fit testing and iteration. Southeast Asia is the major epicentre of financial services transformation. We strongly believe that Singapore, as the hub of innovation and talent in the region with its innovation friendly environment and forward oriented regulator Monetary Authority of Singapore, provides the perfect location to launch and scale fintech innovation across Southeast Asia.”

ZA Tech is the tech platform for ZA International that focuses on expanding its global operations by teaming up with major internet firms and financial services companies based in Southeast Asia, Japan and Europe. ZA Tech offers technical solutions and professional services as well.

ZA Tech aims to digitally transform the insurance sector by working with several different customer technology platforms. It’s focused on creating innovative insurance solutions while offering the digital core system to insurers as the infrastructure for their distribution.

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European B2B Wealthtech Allfunds Set to List on Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange

Madrid-based Allfunds, a B2B Wealthtech solution provider, will reportedy be listing on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange.

Allfunds has developed a comprehensive ecosystem that aims to cover the complete fund distribution value chain and related investment cycles, including through Allfunds Connect, which is a suite of software-as-a-service or SaaS-powered digital, data and analytics software tools.

Allfunds had more than €1.2 trillion of assets under administration, as of December 2020. The company reports around €370 million in turnover and about €263 million adjusted Ebitda. The group also reports a growth rate of 13% during the last 3 months.

Allfunds has hired BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse Securities, Citigroup Global Markets and Morgan Stanley Europe as its joint bookrunner, for this latest offering, which includes a private placement of 25% of the firm’s outstanding shares that are held by LHC3, BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse.

Although  AllFunds won’t be getting any proceeds from the sale, the firm thinks that the listing could potentially provide access to diversified sources of financing and enhance its profile and general brand awareness.

Juan Alcaraz, founder and CEO of Allfunds, stated:

“We have built an ecosystem that covers the entire fund distribution value chain and investment cycle, integrated into a simple one-stop-shop for our clients. This listing provides us with the flexibility to accelerate the digital transformation of the wealth management industry and the growth of our best-in-class global platform.”

Allfunds may expand it business operations into other regions where it maintains a relatively smaller market presence, including in Asian and North American markets.

Allfunds, which claims to be the largest fund platform and world leader in the wealthtech space, recently launched a new mobile app for its digital eco-system Connect.

As mentioned in a company blog post:

“With the Connect App users will be able to track funds, manage portfolios wherever they are and never miss a critical alert. Users will be able to access information on their funds or adjust their portfolios at any time.”

Some other notable functions include:

  • Search, analyze, compare and monitor, from more than 200,000 funds at ETFs
  • Set-up and “access multiple alerts”
  • Stay “on top of watchlists that track funds”
  • Manage and “maintain control of portfolios accessing performance, risk, asset allocation and transactions”
  • With the Connect mobile app, users “leverage the power of Allfunds to manage funds and portfolios anytime, anywhere.”

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Astorya, Search Engine for Insurance and Banking Tech, Reviews 10 Years of Insurtech in Europe

Astorya.io, which aims to serve as the search engine for Insurance and Banking technologies, has published a blog post, titled InsurTech Europe: 10 Years Of InsurTech In Europe Analyzed Through 800+ Startups (based on data from astorya.io).

While discussing how InsurTech startups are gaining considerable ground across Europe, the blog post notes that insurance tech firms are “moving the lines in the insurance world.” This, according to the study performed by astorya.io for L’Argus. These startups have played a key role in the transformation of the sector which is expected to expand further.

As noted in the blog post:

“Unrecognized five years ago, InsurTech startups seem to have found their place in the insurance industry, despite pockets of resistance. A recent study by research firm Juniper thus underlines that globally they already account for 5% of the turnover of the entire market, a rate that is set to double over the next four years. But this groundswell covers distinct trends.”

The blog adds that the US and China have witnessed the rise of a relatively large number of online or digital insurance providers “oriented B to C (business to consumer), the size and regulation of local markets allowing it.” The post further notes that this may be “an approach that is less suited to Europe, even if Alan or Luko are showing [solid] growth.”

For example, Maif announced last year that it had managed to acquire 66,000 new clients “across all of its products.” Meanwhile, Luko, on home insurance alone, “won nearly 100,000” customers — according to Florian Graillot, founder astorya.vc, an InsurTech fund.

The post further noted that “beyond these exceptions, the world of European InsurTech has experienced certain structural and historical trends, which astorya.io (database on InsurTech and FinTech, created by the founders of astorya.vc) analyzes in a study for L’Argus.”

The Astorya team added:

“First observation: the European InsurTech ecosystem has entered a phase of maturity for two years, as shown by the significant decrease in the number of newcomers. And for good reason: in France, Alan, Luko and Shift Technology have monopolized new financing, as has pet insurance specialist Bought by Many in the UK, or even, in Germany, players such as Coya and WeFox. For several years now, these three countries alone have grouped together three-quarters of the continent’s InsurTech startups.”

The report pointed out that another key highlight is “the positioning of these newcomers in the insurance value chain.” It also mentions that in this regard, the astorya.io study emphasizes one important point: “the preponderance of these InsurTech startups in the individual insurance segment, mainly car and home, to a lesser extent health.”

The blog post added that P&C insurance products are “simple, therefore standardized, and have low margins … For traditional insurers, they are primarily starter products. ” It also noted that to gain a foothold, InsurTech startups must “rethink its distribution” — according to Florian Graillot.

The  blog post continued:

“Although there have been a number of failures in this segment, the founder of astorya.vc believes the market is far from saturated and new start-ups may appear: E-commerce is estimated to account for 30% of total commerce, almost 50% if outside of the food market. Where are we in insurance? Comparators represent 10% of the market … In short, if insurance follows other sectors of the economy, there is still plenty of room for these new digital native players.”

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Institutional crypto managers report record AUM despite U.S. inflows plummeting

According to digital asset investment manager, CoinShares, institutional demand in the U.S. has declined slightly however European funds are still buying.

According to Coinshares’ March 22 Fund Flows Weekly report, combined flows into institutional crypto products totaled $99 million for the week ending March 20.

The data indicates a significant decline in institutional demand, with inflows down 59% from the previous week, which recorded $242 million.

However, the researchers noted that the assets under management figure for the top institutional investment products reached a record high of $57 billion.

The report added that  while demand has declined in the U.S., institutions located in Europe and Canada continued buying last week.

Daily volumes for Bitcoin related products have also declined by around 35% to $713 million per day versus $1.1 billion per day on average for 2021. However, trading volumes remain steady at $11.8 billion per day.

Following strong Ethereum inflows during February, institutions appear to have again set their sights on Bitcoin, with $85 million entering BTC funds compared to just $8 million for ETH-based products last week. CoinShares noted that there was very little interest in Binance Coin, Ripple, and Bitcoin Cash-based products respectively.

Grayscale remains the market leader for institutional investment, with its total assets under management tagging $44.2 billion according to a March 23 tweet from the firm. Of that total, 84% has been invested in the firm’s Bitcoin Trust.

CoinShares’ own fund, which ranks second in terms of AUM with just under $5 billion, was the only institutional crypto manager to record an outflow for the week, losing $25.9 million. The Canadian 3iQ fund ranked third increased by $1.1 million to a total AUM of $1.7 billion.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is continuing to correct after dropping 3.6% over the past 24 hours to trade at $54,850. Ethereum has lost 4% over the same period and is currently changing hands for roughly $1,700.

Institutional crypto managers report record AUM despite U.S. inflows plummeting

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Cross-border Fintech Wise Talks IBAN Discrimination on World Consumer Rights Day, Other Fintechs Join Wise to Address Challenges

This World Consumer Rights Day, which took place on March 15, 2021, Fintech firm Wise (previous TransferWise) talked about what they consider to be IBAN “discrimination.”

Wise clarified that IBAN discrimination is “against the law – and has been since 2014.” However, the company claims that it’s “still common practice by many providers.”

Wise also confirmed that all EU nations have their own domestic IBAN, beginning with their country code (Think FR for France). Wise added that “regardless of which country your IBAN is from, it should be accepted anywhere in the EU.” And if a provider does not accept your IBAN – they’re “breaking the law,” Wise added.

Wise further noted via Twitter:

“Let’s say you want to pay for your gym membership in Spain (where local IBANs start with ES) using your Wise IBAN (which is Belgian, and starts with BE). If your Spanish gym doesn’t accept that Belgian IBAN, that’s IBAN discrimination.”

Wise revealed that it has teamed up with other Fintech companies in order to “put an end to this shady practice.” However, they still need the help of the general public.

If you’ve ever had to deal with IBAN discrimination, then you can let the company know.

As covered recently, moving money in 2021 should be like sending an e-mail – instant, according to Nick Catino from Wise.

Catino, who is responsible for Policy, Campaigns, and Regulatory Strategy at Wise (formerly TransferWise), recently noted that payments are the part of finance that consumers experience “most on a day-to-day basis.”

Catino also mentioned that there are certain important initiatives that will help “ensure the financial success” of Canadian consumers and businesses.

Payments Canada, which offers the payments infrastructure that allows Canadian residents, their businesses and their institutions to exchange value, notes that with the introduction of advanced payments methods “comes a need for modernizing existing payments regulations and infrastructure.”

Catino told Payments Canada that while “modernizing payments regulations and infrastructure” might “sound technical,” it is really one of the most “important” financial policy initiatives the Canadian government can lead. He explained that payments are the part of finance that consumers “engage with most” on nearly an everyday basis.

Catino added:

“Much like our mission at Wise, governments should strive to make payments instant, convenient, transparent, and as low cost as possible. Payments modernization will help meet those goals and ultimately help ensure the financial health of Canadians and keep more money in their pockets.”

Last year, it was reported that Transferwise (recently rebranded as Wise) had been approved in the UK to offer investment services for retail accounts. According to the FCA registry, “TIVN” is approved to offer various retail investment services. At that time, it was expected that investment features would be out before the end of 2020.

But the end of 2020 has morphed into 2021 minus any announcement on the new service. While Wise has continued to add new features, the ability to generate a return on cash held in a Wise account has been noticeably absent from the Fintech’s offerings.

And with the addition of investments, Wise will finally emerge from stealth bank to digital bank, executing on a mission established years ago. So when will the Wise Bank arrive in your market? Hopefully, we will know in the coming months.

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