J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Trovata collaborate to enhance trading solutions

J.P. Morgan Asset Management, a global investment management firm with US $2.3 trillion in assets under management, has partnered with Trovata, a bank-connected platform that aims to help treasury and finance professionals manage cash effectively. The collaboration is expected to enable mutual clients to leverage Morgan Money's services while accessing higher yields on corporate investing amid rising interest rates.

Trovata expects to host the Morgan Money corporate investing and trading solution as its first third-party app on its platform, enabling mutual clients to assess their liquidity requirements via Trovata and then invest using Morgan Money services. Users can reportedly compare and transact funds across various managers, currencies, durations or settlement options in real-time across their entire global portfolio. Additionally, real-time investment balances and transactions from Morgan Money will reportedly flow into Trovata, allowing for the monitoring and management of operating and investing activities in a single location.

Customers of Trovata reportedly use its platform as a single point of reference for balances, transactions and cash flow trends across all of their banks and accounts. The platform assists users in classifying bank transactions into the various types of cash flows, enabling users to create robust cash forecasting models necessary for identifying liquidity thresholds adequate for maintaining sufficient funds to manage expenditures. Finance and treasury practitioners can now reportedly invest any surplus funds using Morgan Money.

Paysend to expand solution to help SMEs in the UK gain access to global markets via Currencycloud

Small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) transacting business abroad have reportedly experienced continual slow payment times, increased costs and limited transfer alternatives despite today’s digitized landscape, stated Paysend, a UK-based payment platform, in a recent report. Four out of ten respondents in Paysend's recent survey of 255 SMEs in the UK cited currency exchange rate fluctuations and fees related to foreign fund transfer as the major challenges. Furthermore, 30% of respondents stated that the long settlement times, payments accepted from a limited number of countries, and the lengthy administrative process to begin accepting international payments were the main obstacles of transacting business abroad.

The collaboration between Paysend and Currencycloud, which was announced in August 2022, is expected to simplify cross-border transactions. Paysend will now offer additional possibilities for cross-border payments for its business customers, providing them with access to multi-currency accounts and global payment capabilities via SWIFT. In addition, fifteen new local payment rails are expected to become available to UK’s SMEs, giving them the opportunity to transfer funds seamlessly across 180 nations.

Users will reportedly be able to send funds to approximately thirty countries using SEPA, ACH, FP and other methods, easing administrative and financial burdens. Furthermore, businesses can expect to use Currencycloud's APIs to receive funds via SWIFT, providing a wider global reach. Furthermore, the new banking services platform integrating multi-currency and international payment capabilities will reportedly enable customers in the UK to hold and convert funds in a wide range of currencies.

Additionally, the platform will enable SMEs to accept payments online from all major debit and credit cards in over 38 different currencies around the world, including payment gateways Apple Pay and Google Pay. Furthermore, SMEs will no longer be expected to navigate a fragmented market of various financial providers for their global payment requirements.

Visa welcomes start-ups in the APAC region to apply for the Visa Accelerator Program 2023

Visa’s Accelerator Program 2023, which was first introduced in 2019, is now accepting applications from members of the Asia Pacific (APAC) start-up community. In its third year, the program aims to offer the payments industry modern solutions.

The primary goal of Visa's 2023 program is to create solutions that can be used in a variety of contexts such as Web3, global money transfer, embedded finance, merchant and small business enablers and open banking solutions. The program has reportedly shown rapid start-up growth, particularly with many originating from the APAC region.

Visa is reportedly collaborating with Plug & Play, a technology platform, to identify the top talent in the APAC tech sector. For the 2023 program, the partnership aims to compile a list of new fintech-focused start-ups. Additionally, the Plug & Play platform uses its investor and industry tools to locate and accelerate start-ups that apply to the program.

The Visa Accelerator Programme 2023 application is now accessible, closing on 10 January 2023. Applicants are expected to have a market-validated, proven solution in the series A or higher, in addition to a long-term commitment to APAC expansion and existing operations in the region. During the six-month program, selected start-ups can expect to collaborate with Visa's payment experts, product architects and business development teams to co-create, test and iterate solutions. Similarly, applicants will reportedly benefit from the go-to-market opportunities with Visa's vast network of financial institutions, merchants and digital partners.

World Bank pursues additional capital to combat global crises such as environmental issues

The World Bank plans to increase its lending capacity to focus on climate change as well as other world economic crises. Additionally, the organization will reportedly begin negotiations with shareholders prior to meetings in April on its transformation initiatives, including a capital increase and new financing methods.

The development lender plans to investigate viable alternatives such as a capital increase, modifications to its capital structure to enable further lending, and innovative financial methods such as guarantees for private sector loans to help mobilize more private capital, said reports. However, the World Bank Group (WBG) has reportedly refused to relinquish its long-standing top-tier credit rating in order to increase lending, asserting that "management will explore all options that increase the capacity of the WBG while maintaining the AAA rating of the WBG entities."

The World Bank and other organizations have been urged by the US Treasury to rethink their business strategies in order to increase lending and leverage private capital to fund investments that could benefit the entire globe, such as assisting middle-income nations in transitioning away from coal power.  Elevated statutory lending limits, reduced equity-to-loan requirements, and the utilization of callable capital for lending are among the initiatives under consideration, according to the bank. This transformation would significantly increase lending in comparison to the current capital structure, which reportedly only uses paid-in capital.

The World Bank’s transformation goals to ramp up climate lending while ensuring optimum performance outcomes will reportedly necessitate a greater workforce as well as a spending plan infrastructure, which have decreased by 3% over the last fifteen years, said reports.

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce establishes a Fintech and Payments Business Group

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce has launched a new Fintech & Payments Business Group to unite businesses of various sizes operating in the fintech and payments sectors in order to foster collaboration and policymaking and to market the nation as a competitive international business hub.

The new group’s establishment aims to expand the number of organizations from various industries and commercial pursuits, increasing the entities' competitiveness as well as promoting Dubai's sustainable growth. Additionally, the new group plans to play a crucial role in assisting Dubai businesses by offering members important information and analysis on innovative financial technology developments throughout the fintech landscape.

The Fintech and Payments Business Group plans to concentrate on methods for implementing the highest standards when offering financial services and payment solutions to businesses. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce intends to have business groups representing 100 different economic sectors and activities by March 2023, said reports.

Binance nearing completion of its acquisition of one of South Korea's largest exchanges

Crypto exchange Binance recently completed its due diligence process for the acquisition of Gopax, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, with plans to purchase a 41.2% stake in the company. Gopax is reportedly one of South Korea's top five exchanges.

The acquisition is expected to have a significant impact on Korean exchanges. Currently, another of the country’s top five exchanges, Upbit, holds 80% of the market, with Gopax reportedly accounting for 0.1%, however, Binance's entry could potentially shift the balance significantly.