The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | August 19th

By Puja Sharma

The Monday Roundup sets the scene for the week’s biggest news stories, industry deals, and upcoming events. For Prime subscribers only.

Enterprise AI adoption for financial institutions

IntellectAI, a business unit of Intellect Design Arena focusing on AI technology, has announced the launch of Purple Fabric, a platform that accelerates enterprise AI adoption for financial institutions (FIs).

Leveraging the potential of the First Principles Thinking-based Composable and Intelligent Open Finance Platform eMACH.ai, Purple Fabric represents the next step in the evolution of AI, advancing from basic automation to Enterprise-Connected Intelligence, enabling FIs to achieve substantial business impact.

The anticipation around AI promised to revolutionise industries. Still, many financial institutions struggled to achieve tangible results, often due to challenges with rule-based orchestration and rapid AI integration into existing processes.

Sling Money, a global money transfer app, has raised a $15 million Series A round led by Union Square Ventures, Ribbit Capital, and Slow Ventures. The company previously raised a $5 million seed round led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Slow Ventures.

Sling Money combines stablecoin technology with a user-friendly interface and seamless integration with fiat payment systems to enable a better, faster, and cheaper way of moving money globally.

It allows users to send money instantly across 50+ countries in Europe and Africa to other users, between their accounts, or even to non-Sling users with a Sling Link. For example, a user can transfer money from Paris to Nairobi in seconds, then on to Bucharest, Stockholm, and Amsterdam for free.

Neural Payments solution

FIS, a global FinTech company, has announced that it is unlocking the Neural Payments solution for its clients. This will expand the availability of peer-to-peer (P2P) payments by leveraging the company’s global scale and NYCE debit rails to bring this capability to a broader range of institutions.

Neural Payments’ platform enables bank customers to transfer money from their account to anyone, regardless of whether the recipient’s institution utilizes Neural Payments, without the need to download a third-party app or register a new card.

Network International has signed a referral arrangement with Citi to enhance payment experiences for the bank’s corporate clients by leveraging Network’s comprehensive omnichannel payment solutions.

The referral arrangement will empower Citi to offer its corporate clients better payment management solutions, including enhanced transaction efficiency, increased security, and seamless payment integration capabilities.

The collaboration enhances Network’s position as a preferred partner for payment solutions amongst UAE financial institutions while benefitting from an expanded market presence.

What is the Buzz

Swedish FinTech giant Klarna has launched two new products that tap into retail banks’ core business: everyday spending and saving. Launched in 12 countries across Europe and the US, the move furthers Klarna’s mission to disrupt retail banking and become a daily spending partner to consumers worldwide.

Klarna balance allows consumers to store money in a Klarna ‘account’ directly from their bank account. They can receive cashback rewards for shopping in the app or refunds for returned items. Cashback rewards consumers who shop in the app. Shoppers earn a percentage of purchases at participating retailers, and the money is stored in their Klarna ‘balance’ account.

Co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski, said, “Our new products make it easier for customers to manage multiple scheduled payments, helping our customers use Klarna for more frequent purchases and driving loyalty. We are already one of the most trusted brands in financial services, and we want to build on that to support all consumers with their everyday spending. Today’s launches are a major step forward, allowing consumers to earn money while they shop and manage it in a Klarna account.”