The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | Dec 23rd

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.

Independent Software Vendors

Worldline, a global payment service, has announced the launch of FlexPricing, a feature designed specifically for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to earn revenue in innovative and simple ways.

With FlexPricing, software vendors can quickly implement flexible pricing strategies that include charging a percentage fee on bank transfer transactions, adding custom fees, and letting Worldline take on their billing duties.

FlexPricing is ideal for software platforms that integrate payments into their solutions. ISVs that facilitate bank transfer payments or work with membership, payroll, and subscription-based businesses are perfect candidates for this feature. On average, partners who leverage FlexPricing have the potential to triple their revenue-sharing amounts.

Taurus, the expert in digital asset infrastructure for banks, has expanded its collaboration with Temenos by fully integrating its custody solution with Temenos core banking.

The integration allows banks to create and manage wallets as well as transfer a wide range of digital assets directly from Temenos Core. Taurus is the first fully integrated digital asset custody platform with Temenos.

Digital asset demand reached an all-time high globally in 2024, with regulation clarifying in most key financial centres. The market entry of many of the largest global custodians and asset managers in the world, some of which leverage Taurus’ technology, further highlights the increasing institutionalisation of the digital asset industry. In particular, the total market value of tokenised assets is expected to exceed decatrillion USD by 2030, according to consulting firms.

The Temenos Core and Taurus-PROTECT custody integration allows Temenos’ banking clients to pilot their custody operations directly through Core for all types of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and tokenised assets on public or private DLTs.

End-to-end Financial Inclusion Solution

Velexa, a WealthTech innovator, has formed a strategic partnership with Ajyad Capital, a Bahrain-based investment management firm, to transform the investing landscape in the GCC region.

Building on Velexa’s investing technology solutions and leveraging Ajyad Capital’s market presence and regional expertise in financial services, the two organisations aim to introduce innovative investing services for the Kingdom of Bahrain, UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman and Qatar.

Harnessing advanced WealthTech tools from Velexa, Ajyad Capital will launch a modern Shari’ah-compliant investing and trading application to meet the evolving needs of private and institutional investors.

The alliance will introduce a state-of-the-art digital brokerage platform, enabling investors to access global and local market venues while adhering to Shari’ah principles.

Tata Consultancy Services has expanded its partnership with the Bank of Baroda to continue to implement an end-to-end financial inclusion solution over the next five years.

The application can process around 12 lakh transactions a day and will help the bank’s 55,000+ agents better service over 6 crore customers in unbanked areas.

As part of the expanded deal, TCS will deploy its TCS Financial Inclusion Gateway Solution for Bank of Baroda, provide the central infrastructure, including hardware and software to be deployed in bank data centres, and help with application support and maintenance. TCS will also manage services in the change management of applications to implement regulatory requirements and bank business requirements for any new services, as and when required.

What is the Buzz

Visa has finalised its acquisition of Featurespace, a company specialising in real-time artificial intelligence (AI) technology for payment protection. This acquisition aims to bolster Visa’s fraud protection capabilities and enhance security for its customers worldwide. Featurespace’s advanced fraud detection and risk-scoring capabilities will be integrated into Visa’s existing portfolio of fraud prevention solutions, enabling real-time detection of sophisticated fraud attacks while maintaining a seamless user experience.

The integration of Featurespace’s technology will expand Visa’s fraud prevention use cases and strengthen the security of global payment systems. Over the coming months, Featurespace’s product suite will become part of Visa’s Risk and Identity Solutions business unit. This collaboration will leverage the combined knowledge, methodologies, and tools of both companies to deliver enhanced fraud protection services for businesses and consumers.

Featurespace’s technology supports over 100,000 businesses, including major financial institutions like HSBC, NatWest, and Worldpay. The company helps safeguard 500 million consumers globally and processes more than 100 billion payment events annually. Founded in 2008 and based in Cambridge, UK, Featurespace operates from six locations with a team of over 400 members.