XinFin’s XDC Network and Tradeteq launch trade finance-based NFT transaction 

Tradeteq has partnered with Singapore-based eXchange inFinite (XinFin) to offer tokenised trade finance products to institutional investors and has completed its first transaction. This is the first complete end-to-end transaction following a unique set of regulatory guidelines and trade finance standards. 

The offering utilises XDC Network’s enterprise-grade blockchain technology to transform trade finance assets, which are re-packaged and distributed by Tradeteq, into non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Institutional investors can buy and sell these tokens, which represent the value of an off-chain asset. This gives token holders legal entitlement to an asset or package of assets. 

The first transaction was conducted on 20 September 2021, with invoice finance company Accelerated Payments as the asset originator. The firms say that this transaction sets the standard for all future NFT-based and tokenised trade finance transactions, with additional originators expected to join the platform over the coming weeks. To ensure a seamless and secure migration of these assets from an off-chain product to an on-chain token, Tradeteq and XinFin have partnered with both a traditional off-chain asset custodian as well as a digital asset custodian.

"Decentralised finance represents the future and industry-wide participation relies on the development of robust, enterprise-grade infrastructure," said Billy Sebell, head of Ecosystem at XinFin. "By working with multiple institutions and stakeholders operating in the global trade ecosystem, we are laying the groundwork for the distribution of tokenised bank-owned assets in a standardised and secure manner through the XDC Network’s hybrid blockchain ecosystem. Tradeteq’s technology will be crucial to achieving this goal."

"The partnership aligns with Tradeteq’s mission to speed up the distribution of trade finance assets to a broad range of investors in the new digital age," commented Christoph Gugelmann, co-founder and CEO of Tradeteq. "Trade finance is undergoing a revolution and decentralised finance will have a key role to play in future. This project showcases some of the innovative work Tradeteq and its partners are undergoing in order to stay at the forefront of this rapidly-changing industry."

"The collaboration between XinFin, Tradeteq and Accelerated Payments completes the chain from investor right through to the recipient of funding with complete transparency, accountability and liquidity," added Ian Duffy, founder and CEO of Accelerated Payments. "This important step demonstrates the ability to disaggregate the Invoice Discounting industry and paves the way to providing access to a much wider range of funders and beneficiaries, providing a platform that can truly scale globally."

 

Facevalue and Pagero to combine e-invoicing and accounts receivable finance

Pagero has entered into a strategic partnership with Dutch fintech Facevalue. With Pagero's cloud-based e-invoicing solutions and Facevalue’s expertise in working capital solutions, the collaboration aims to accelerate growth for both companies in the fast-growing innovative market of global digitalisation and working capital optimisation.

Facevalue customers are now automatically electronic invoice-ready. Any invoice shared with Facevalue’s platform can be delivered as an e-invoice directly into the receiver’s accounting system via the Pagero Network, thereby improving processing time and reducing errors.

Similarly, Pagero customers’ invoice data can be transferred to Facevalue for analysis. Facevalue lists the present value of each receivable offered to buyers, leaving it entirely up to the supplier to decide which goods they would like to sell.

Pagero is approved by the Dutch Peppol Authority as a provider of Peppol-ready e-invoicing. Peppol is a framework designed to ensure simple e-invoicing and the secure exchange of business documents between public and private entities worldwide.

 

Serrala and Tink to bring PSD2 payments to European billers

Serrala, a financial automation and payments software company, and European open banking platform Tink, have entered into a channel partnership for open banking technology. Together, they enable billers to reach consumers via every channel to pay bills and reminders directly from their bank apps. The aim of the partnership is to provide faster, cheaper, more accurate and final payments.

In many countries, billing, dunning and collections outside of direct debit are still a challenge for industries such as insurance, utilities, telecommunications, and credit. Bank transfers can be time-consuming for the consumer and can lead to delays and mistakes. More traditional online payment methods often come with higher transaction fees, increased operational complexity, and the risk of chargebacks.

By combining Omnichannel Payment Requests from Serrala with Tink’s Payment Initiation Services (PIS), billers and consumers can now get the best of both worlds. An easy online experience for consumers, while for billers: more people pay faster, the resulting SEPA Credit Transfers are cheap and will automatically match. Consumers will also be able to schedule a payment at a future date, eliminating many reminders.

With the combined solution, billers can redesign the customer journey for any payment interaction through email, text messages, WhatsApp, portals, apps and even paper. This includes not just PIS, the mechanism to push the details of a requested payment into a consumer’s bank app for authorisation, but also the process to set up a direct debit mandate online.