The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | April 29th

By Puja Sharma

B2B payments powerhouse

Paystand, a blockchain-enabled B2B payments network, has acquired spend management software provider Teampay.

The transaction creates a B2B payments powerhouse whose continued goal is to revolutionize payments by expanding the largest, fastest, and most cost-efficient B2B payments network.

The combined Paystand platform empowers CFOs to drive profitable behaviors among employees, vendors, and customers. Paystand brings its blockchain-based smart payments platform that helps finance departments speed up time-to-cash, reduce DSO, automate AR, and eliminate transaction fees. Teampay brings the ability to automate AP and corporate expense controls, eliminating inefficiencies. The combined company will help CFOs see direct contributions to profitability with quicker revenue and greater payment savings.

BRISKPE, a Mumbai-based cross-border payments platform, has announced that it has raised $5 million in a seed round from PayU, the payments and FinTech business of Prosus.

This investment marks a crucial milestone in BRISKPE’s journey to empower Indian MSMEs and exporters by simplifying global payments.

BRISKPE will use the funding to enhance its product and service offerings, expand its team, and scale up its reach to enable more Indian businesses to set off on their global journey with seamless cross-border payments.

Corporate expense controls

stc Bahrain, a digital enabler, has announced the expansion of its contactless payment offerings for its customers with the integration of Samsung Wallet.

This strategic partnership empowers stc Bahrain customers with seamless mobile payment services, enabling secure transactions at online, on-site, and in-store outlets globally. With Samsung Wallet, stc Bahrain customers can conveniently make purchases without the need for physical cards, enhancing both convenience and security in their financial transactions.

Jamal Abdulla Al Sayed, Senior Manager – Public Relations & CSR, stc Bahrain, said, We are thrilled to announce the launch of Samsung Wallet for our customers on stc pay wallet. At stc Bahrain, we are committed to embracing digital technology across all our products and services, which enables us to redefine our customers’ experience. With Samsung Wallet, we aim to empower our customers with solutions that elevate their digital interactions and set new standards for convenience and security. We strive to provide customers with secure and convenient tools for their financial transactions in the digital world.”

Paystand, a blockchain-enabled B2B payments network, has acquired spend management software provider Teampay.

The transaction creates a B2B payments powerhouse whose continued goal is to revolutionize payments by expanding the largest, fastest, and most cost-efficient B2B payments network.

The combined Paystand platform empowers CFOs to drive profitable behaviors among employees, vendors, and customers. Paystand brings its blockchain-based smart payments platform that helps finance departments speed up time-to-cash, reduce DSO, automate AR, and eliminate transaction fees. Teampay brings the ability to automate AP and corporate expense controls, eliminating inefficiencies. The combined company will help CFOs see direct contributions to profitability with quicker revenue and greater payment savings.

What is the buzz

Kotak Mahindra Bank has been ordered to stop issuing new credit cards and to cease boarding of new customers through its online and mobile banking channels by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The fourth largest private lender in India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, will continue providing credit card services to existing customers.

In its statement, the central bank said the action was “necessitated by significant concerns arising from the Reserve Bank’s IT examination of the bank for the years 2022 and 2023 and the bank’s failure to address these concerns appropriately and comprehensively”.

The RBI claims its examination found “serious deficiencies and non-compliances” in the areas of data security and data leak prevention strategy, business continuity and disaster recovery rigour, IT inventory management, patch and change management, user access management, and vendor risk management.

The central bank writes: “In the absence of a robust IT infrastructure and IT risk management framework, the bank’s Core Banking System (CBS) and its online and digital banking channels have suffered frequent and significant outages in the last two years, the recent one being a service disruption on April 15, 2024, resulting in serious customer inconveniences. The bank is found to be materially deficient in building necessary operational resilience on account of its failure to build IT systems and controls commensurate with its growth.”