August 2024: Top five fintech partnership stories of the month
The global fintech industry delivered a range of compelling partnerships over the month of August. Here, we’ve selected five of the most notable partnership stories, featuring JP Morgan Payments, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Unit and more.
SME-focused neobank Ampere launches card-to-card payments in partnership with Mastercard
Ampere taps Mastercard for card-to-card payments
UK-based neobank Ampere has partnered with Mastercard to bring card-to-card payment capabilities to its SME customers.
Ampere claims card-to-card payments powered by Mastercard facilitate conversions in over 60 different currencies “at a faster and cheaper rate than traditional banking systems”.
The neobank’s go-live with the solution is expected to mitigate the “inconvenient delays and complications” associated with international payment processes.
This year alone, Ampere has formed partnerships with business loan providers YouLend, Cubefunder and Iwoca, before coming together with brokerage firm Access Financial Services in May to expand its remit with commercial mortgages.
JP Morgan Payments expands in-store biometric payments throughout US with PopID
JP Morgan Payments is to deploy in-store biometric payment technology among select pilot merchants in the US through its newly expanded partnership with California-based facial recognition solutions provider PopID.
The checkout solution, powered by PopID and managed by JP Morgan Payments, allows shoppers to authenticate payments using facial recognition, eliminating the need for a physical card or digital wallet.
The pair first debuted the solution in March last year among brick-and-mortar retailers in the US, with South Florida Motorsports – the organiser of the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix – being one of the first notable takers.
JP Morgan Payments claims that a proof of concept completed with the retailer that year produced a 100% transaction authentication rate, with processing reduced to “under a second”.
Unit secures new embedded finance partnerships with Vantage Bank and Lincoln Savings Bank
Unit inks fresh deals with two US banks
Two US financial institutions have inked deals with Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) start-up Unit to extend their embedded finance offerings.
The first deal has been struck with Vantage Bank, a Texas-based full service community bank which has selected Unit’s financial infrastructure platform and technology to embed its financial services directly into the products of software companies.
Unit has also carved out a similar deal with Lincoln Savings Bank (LSB), a community bank founded in 1902 and based in Iowa.
Unit says the bank is also deploying its embedded finance infrastructure to “connect with a diverse array of companies that serve a wide range of use cases”.
Selina Finance signs five-year mortgage servicing agreement with Phoebus Software
Consumer lending fintech Selina Finance has selected Phoebus Software for its mortgage technology platform as part of a new five-year servicing agreement.
As part of the long-term agreement, Phoebus will now be responsible for servicing the mortgage loans administered by Selina Finance.
Phoebus writes on its website that its mortgage platform covers “the complete life cycle from initial short form enquiry through the active management of the live loan to its eventual redemption”.
Announcing the partnership, the technology vendor says that Selina Finance “wanted to be up and running on the Phoebus system as soon as possible”, adding that the first conversation between the two firms through to user testing and finalisation of the contract “took just 15 weeks”.
MAS to commence quantum-proofing cybersecurity trials with banks “in the coming months”
MAS partners banks for quantum cybersecurity trials
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has joined hands with a legion of banks to assess the potential threat posed by the application of quantum computing within financial services.
Included in the memorandum of understanding are DBS Bank, HSBC, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), United Overseas Bank (UOB), Singapore-based telecommunications provider SPTel and SpeQtral, which specialises in quantum communication technologies.
The group will experiment with quantum key distribution (QKD) solutions – provided by SPTel and SpeQtral – with a focus on mitigating the cybersecurity threats posed by the ascent of quantum computing technology.
MAS says testing will begin “in the coming months” with a proof of concept sandbox to evaluate QKD’s viability in financial services, validate its security, and enhance technical skills for future quantum security adoption.
