EedenBull and Mastercard extend European partnership on spend management platform

Mastercard and licensed e-money institution, EedenBull, have announced an extension of their strategic partnership in the European Economic Area. Mastercard’s ongoing support will enable the continued growth of EedenBull’s operations in Oslo and Edinburgh, and its spend management platform Q Business. As part of the new agreement, Mastercard will support Eedenbull’s product development and innovation, including the digital enablement of its services.

Q Business is designed to provide simplicity and control of all purchases employees make on behalf of their company with a solution that includes payment cards, a web-based management module, a mobile app, integration with accounting systems and digitisation of receipts. Currently, 65 banks in Norway offer Q Business to several thousand small and medium sized businesses.

“We are delighted to be entering this next phase of our relationship with EedenBull and support its ambitions to connect to the vast and growing opportunities in commercial payments across Europe,” said Erik Gutwasser, divisional president Nordics & Baltics at Mastercard. “With Mastercard’s paytech experience and global network of customers and partners, we will be able to help EedenBull leverage its unique expertise and service a largely untapped market segment.”

“At EedenBull we have a relentless focus on creating better ways for businesses to pay and get paid," said Nicki Bull Bisgaard, CEO of EedenBull. "Businesses everywhere are facing the same challenges and are seeking solutions that make their everyday lives simpler, more secure and more profitable. Selecting Mastercard as our preferred partner to support us in creating real value for our customers and partners and to support our expansion in Europe was easy as we share the same view on what businesses require and how we best meet those needs in an ever-changing world.”

 

Bank of America goes live on Wematch and Pirum Systems' securities lending service

Wematch and Pirum have partnered to develop a fully integrated front to back service solution for clients using the Wematch platform. The first end to end securities finance transactions were executed by Bank of America on 10 June and processed in a fully interoperable manner between the organisations.

With this partnership, clients can match and negotiate trades in Wematch, and leverage connectivity with Pirum to manage all post-trade lifecycle events with straight-through processing.

Pirum and Wematch are now fully connected and all post-trade and lifecycle events will be automatically reflected in the platform for all connected clients.

 

Barclays launches toolkit for UK SMEs to navigate COVID-19 uncertainties

Barclays has launched a toolkit to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK get back on their feet as they navigate the uncertainty created by coronavirus. The ‘Barclays Back to Business’ programme has been designed in partnership with the Cambridge Judge Business School and is open to all UK SMEs, in addition to the bank’s one million small business customers.

Research conducted in May 2020 by Savanta of 414 UK SMEs found that nearly two thirds (65%) reported they will change their business practises in response to coronavirus. The bank hopes that the programme will provide SMEs with the support they need to adapt.

The toolkit has been piloted with one hundred businesses from different sectors over the last few weeks ahead of a full trial launch on 22 June, with everyone from farmers to hairdressers trialling the programme. The kit is designed to help business owners assess the overall health of their enterprise, and create a tailored resilience plan for challenging periods. It is packed with practical tools including a working capital calculator, cash flow forecasts, and guidance on managing supply chain relationships.