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16th January 2025 Prosperity Bank, a Texas-based community bank, has teamed up with software provider Akuvo to enhance its collections processes. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Houston, Prosperity Bank operates 285 branches across Texas and Oklahoma, with assets totaling $40 billion. The bank offers a variety of services, including savings and checking accounts, credit cards, and personal and business loans. To enhance its collections processes, Prosperity Bank has selected Akuvo’s cloud-native collections platform. This platform provides features for bankruptcy processing, repossessions, credit disputes, collections management, risk analysis, and team gamification tools. Akuvo’s technology aims to improve collection efficiency, safeguard assets, and streamline processes for the bank. The platform also includes a virtual collector, which can integrate with existing collections systems and autonomously handle tasks such as payment collection, managing promises to pay, scheduling calls, and more—without requiring human intervention. Earlier this month, Akuvo appointed William Coffey, former SVP and CTO at WSFS Bank, as its new Chief Risk and Data Officer.

16th January 2025 LemFi, a US-based fintech start-up focused on providing financial services for immigrants, has raised $53 million in a Series B funding round, led by venture capital firm Highland Europe. LemFi, a US-based fintech start-up focused on financial services for immigrants, has raised $53 million in a Series B funding round led by Highland Europe. This round also saw participation from existing investors Left Lane Capital, Palm Drive Capital, and Y Combinator, bringing LemFi’s total capital raised to $86 million, following a $33 million Series A in August 2023. Founded in 2021, LemFi provides a variety of international payment services, including multi-currency global accounts, physical and virtual cards, and cross-border money transfers to over 22 countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The company serves more than one million users across Europe and North America, facilitating remittances to emerging markets such as Kenya, Senegal, Cameroon, India, and Pakistan. LemFi has recently surpassed $1 billion in monthly transaction volume and reported a 30% month-on-month growth in platform activity. With its new funding, LemFi plans to expand its platform with additional features, increase payment network licenses and partnerships, and ramp up global hiring, including in the recently launched Chinese market. Co-founder and CEO Ridwan Olalere commented, “This funding will help us advance our mission to become the global financial services hub for immigrants by adding new features and expanding to new countries.”

16th January 2025 Ireland’s AccountsIQ has acquired UK-based expense and invoice management software provider ExpenseIn to broaden its offerings beyond finance teams and cater to a wider range of business users. The financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed. Founded in 2015, ExpenseIn operates a cloud-based platform that streamlines business expense submission, approval, and reporting. The platform, which supports invoice management, receipt scanning, and automated policy compliance, is used by businesses in over 40 markets worldwide, including TopCashback and Corpay. As part of the acquisition, ExpenseIn, along with its 30-strong team, will continue to operate under its current brand as a subsidiary of AccountsIQ. The company assures customers and partners that there will be no disruption to services. AccountsIQ said the acquisition aligns with its strategy to expand its offerings and reach with a multi-product solution that includes spend card management and embedded payments. With the addition of ExpenseIn, AccountsIQ now supports over 350,000 customers with financial management software and plans to continue growing its team and investing in product innovation. Darren Cran, CEO of AccountsIQ, noted that the two companies have shared a growing number of joint customers in recent years, and the acquisition strengthens AccountsIQ’s position among mid-market finance teams. AccountsIQ, based in Dublin, secured a €60 million Series C investment in June, backed by Axiom Equity, following a €5.8 million investment from Finch Capital in 2021.

16th January 2025 CEC Bank in Romania is set to implement Temenos’ cloud-based core banking platform as part of its effort to modernize its legacy systems. CEC Bank in Romania is embarking on a modernization project to upgrade its retail and corporate banking systems, as well as enhance its payments and data analytics capabilities, with the help of Temenos’ cloud-based core banking platform. As part of this overhaul, the bank will implement Temenos Payments, which offers features such as real-time payments, automatic payments repair, and payment order management. This solution, which Temenos also rolled out for Romania’s Libra Internet Bank in 2023, will be used by CEC Bank for both domestic and cross-border payments. The tech upgrade will be delivered through a partnership with SoftCentric and India’s Tech Mahindra, ensuring a smooth transition and tailored implementation for the Romanian market. Daniel Calin, CIO of CEC Bank, commented that the new deployment will enable the bank to scale more efficiently and innovate at a faster pace, driving future business growth.

16th January 2025 The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has announced that Block, the San Francisco-based payment solutions provider behind the mobile payment service Cash App, has agreed to pay an $80 million settlement fine to resolve allegations of violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) laws. The settlement comes after a review by 48 US state financial regulators, who found that Block’s practices may have compromised efforts to safeguard the financial system from illicit activities. The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has announced that Block, the San Francisco-based payment solutions provider behind Cash App, has agreed to pay an $80 million fine to settle allegations of violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. The settlement was reached with 48 US state financial regulators, with leading involvement from regulators in Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Maine, Texas, and Washington State. Block has cooperated fully with the regulators throughout the process. As part of the settlement, Block has agreed to pay the assessed penalty to the state agencies and hire an independent consultant to review the effectiveness and comprehensiveness of its BSA/AML program. Block will submit a report to the states within nine months. The CSBS stated that, under BSA/AML regulations, financial service firms are required to conduct due diligence on customers, verify identities, report suspicious activities, and apply appropriate controls for high-risk accounts. State regulators found that Block did not fully comply with these requirements, which posed a risk of its services being used for money laundering, terrorism financing, or other illicit activities. While the settlement does not include an admission of wrongdoing, Block acknowledged the agreement without admitting or denying any violations of applicable laws or regulations governing its money transmission operations. In a statement to FinTech Futures, a Block spokesperson said, “We’ve reached an agreement with a multi-state group of money transmission regulators led by Arkansas, California, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Texas, and Washington to resolve a previously disclosed matter related to Cash App’s past compliance program.” Cash App, launched in 2013, offers a range of services for sending, spending, storing, and investing money, and currently has over 50 million users. The spokesperson added, “As Cash App has grown, we’ve significantly increased our investment in compliance and risk management, while continuing to provide millions of customers with critical, affordable financial services. We share our regulators’ commitment to addressing industry challenges and will keep investing across our operations to help foster a safe and healthy fintech ecosystem.”

16th January 2025 Target Group, the UK-based fintech arm of Indian technology giant Tech Mahindra, has appointed Scott Hill as its new Chief Information Officer (CIO). Target Group, the UK-based fintech subsidiary of Indian technology conglomerate Tech Mahindra, has appointed Scott Hill as its new Chief Information Officer (CIO). In his new role, Hill will oversee the company’s entire IT strategy, ensuring that Target can meet the evolving demands of its customers across various sectors, including financial services, telecoms, public sector, and utilities. Founded in 1979, Target offers a range of services such as collections management, mortgages, device finance, and investment and loan solutions. The company claims its fintech platform manages over £11 billion in assets, processes more than 19 million accounts, and handles £3 billion in direct debit payments annually. Hill brings over 25 years of experience in the IT sector, having led global strategies, business transformation initiatives, and multi-million-pound digital projects for both national and international brands. He joins Target from Diageo, where he spent over a year as the global head of website transformation strategy. Before that, he served as global strategy and delivery director at Kaplan, and held various leadership positions at Accenture and Circle. Hill’s appointment follows a series of other senior leadership changes at Target, including the hiring of Uday Bola as head of solution design in September.

16th January 2025 Europe is on the brink of a payments revolution. Europe is on the brink of a payments revolution, driven by the Instant Payments Regulation (IPR), which is set to transform the payments landscape by making instant payments the standard. This move supports the region’s rapidly expanding digital economy and meets growing consumer demand for fast, affordable, and transparent transactions. Starting January 9, 2025, EU banks must ensure their customers can receive instant euro transfers. Payments must arrive in the recipient’s account within 10 seconds, with payment service providers (PSPs) confirming the transaction almost immediately. Additionally, banks are required to conduct thorough sanctions screening and fraud detection within this time frame. By October 9, 2025, EU banks will also be required to allow customers to send instant payments, complete with a free verification of payee service. This will help prevent errors in payee details, such as accidental typos, reducing misdirected payments. With upcoming deadlines for both banks (2025) and non-banks (2027), the IPR is forcing banks to assess how the changes will affect their payment services and revenue models. Here are some key considerations for the year ahead: Increased competition: EU banks face pressure not only from other banks but also from new PSPs offering faster transaction speeds. According to recent data from Wise, customers who receive instant money transfers have a 6% higher retention rate compared to those waiting more than 48 hours. Banks must innovate quickly to stay competitive. More complex liquidity forecasting: The shift to 24/7 operations means banks must constantly monitor liquidity to avoid excessive buffers and their associated costs. This will require banks to update their liquidity forecasting and technology to keep up with the rise of instant payments. Customer experience is critical: Today’s consumers expect seamless, real-time, and affordable services. Banks must provide transparent, efficient payment experiences to meet these expectations. Increased regulatory compliance:Banks will face heightened compliance requirements around data privacy, transaction monitoring, and reporting for instant payments. While these regulations add to the compliance burden, they also help standardize the European payment framework, creating greater structure across the region. Faster compliance checks will become essential: Many banks rely on legacy systems, making it challenging to implement new technologies like instant compliance checks. The IPR will push banks to invest in tech-driven solutions and local expertise to identify financial crimes swiftly, whether through in-house innovation or partnerships. The IPR signals a major shift in European payments, promoting a more efficient, seamless transaction experience for both consumers and businesses. This also positions the EU at the forefront of digital payments innovation alongside leaders like the UK, Brazil, and India, setting an example for other regions to improve their payment systems. However, the IPR also highlights the challenges of delivering instant payments on both a domestic and global scale. With G20 deadlines targeting faster, more transparent, and accessible global payments by 2027, the year ahead will see banks adopting a more comprehensive approach to address these hurdles.

16th January 2025 UK fintech Ebury has reached an agreement to acquire ArcaPay, a Lithuania-based provider of B2B cross-border payment solutions. Ebury has announced its agreement to acquire ArcaPay, a Lithuania-based provider of B2B cross-border payment solutions, a move aimed at expanding its presence in the Baltics and supporting its clients’ growth in the region. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval, and the financial terms have not been disclosed. Headquartered in Vilnius, ArcaPay specializes in foreign exchange (FX), currency risk management, and cross-border payment services. Since its launch in 2011, the company has built a client base of approximately 1,000 SMEs, mainly in the Baltic and Finnish markets. Ebury’s CEO and founder, Juan Lobato, commented that the acquisition aligns with the company’s strategic goals of pursuing targeted acquisitions, enhancing service to existing clients, and expanding into new, attractive markets. This acquisition marks another step in Ebury’s global expansion. With majority backing from Spanish bank Santander, Ebury has already made notable moves internationally, including its 2022 acquisition of Brazilian FX and cross-border payment provider Bexs, followed by the purchase of South Africa’s Prime Financial Markets in 2023 to establish a presence in Africa. The fintech has also recently expanded into New Zealand, Chile, and Mexico. In March 2024, Bloomberg reported that Ebury was in talks with several unnamed banks regarding a potential public listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 2025. This was followed by an August Financial Times report revealing that Ebury had appointed Goldman Sachs to lead the potential flotation.