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

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.

Cost-effective bill payments

NatWest Group has signed an agreement with Metro Bank to acquire a £2.5 billion portfolio of prime UK residential mortgages, with a weighted average current loan-to-value of c.62%.

On completion of the transaction, NatWest Group expects to welcome around 10,000 customer accounts, which will continue to be serviced by Metro Bank following the transfer to NatWest Group.

Commenting on the transaction, Paul Thwaite, CEO of NatWest Group, said, “Following today’s announcement, we are acquiring £2.5 billion of prime residential mortgages from Metro Bank and, as a result, look forward to welcoming around 10,000 customers to NatWest Group.”

He added, “This transaction is a further opportunity to accelerate the growth of our Retail mortgage book within our existing risk appetite, with attractive returns. It is in line with our strategic priorities and builds on our recent acquisition from Sainsbury’s Bank. We are focused on a smooth transition and have a strong track record of successful integration with Metro Bank following our previous acquisition of mortgages in 2020.”

Airwallex, a global payments and financial platform for modern businesses, has announced a partnership with Float, Canada’s B2B FinTech, to enable fast and cost-effective bill payments for both domestic and overseas transactions.

Float’s new Airwallex-powered Bill Pay product expands its end-to-end payment solution for Canadian businesses. It introduces payouts, including bank transfers, EFT, wire, and ACH, as part of Float’s unified business finance platform.

Nearly 100,000 small and medium-sized Canadian businesses regularly conduct business outside the country and rely on efficient local and international payment processes to do so. The Bill Pay offering in Canada helps Float customers eliminate manual AP processes by increasing visibility and control over their company’s invoices with automated invoice collection, payment, and reconciliation, all while minimizing costly foreign exchange fees.

Payment Aggregator-Cross Border (PA-CB) license

Newgen Software, a global provider of low-code platforms, released a new version of its document management solution, NewgenONE OmniScan 7.0 that redefines document management in high-volume environments.

This new version enables advanced scanning and capturing capabilities, powered by NewgenONE Marvin, setting new standards for document management.

With a focus on driving innovation and enhancing efficiency, this release offers a host of business benefits across various verticals, including banking, insurance, government, healthcare, and shared services. Business users can leverage the power of NewgenONE Marvin to create templates conveniently, automate document classification, streamline data extraction, and accurately manage large volumes of records.

Cashfree Payments, India’s payments and API banking company has announced that it has received the Reserve Bank of India’s Payment Aggregator license for cross-border payments for both imports and exports.

This approval allows the company to extend its cross-border payment solutions to Indian exporters, freelancers, global businesses, regulated entities, etc, to enable them to collect and make payments.

On the development, Akash Sinha, Co-founder and CEO of Cashfree Payments said, “With the Payment Aggregator-Cross Border (PA-CB) license, we are now well-positioned to support global businesses and globally regulated entities collecting payments in India. The license also enables us to offer Indian exporters and freelancers cross-border payment solutions. This license will foster international trade and economic growth while building a robust cross-border payment ecosystem in India.”

What is the Buzz

UGRO Capital, a DataTech NBFC and co-lender in the MSME segment, has announced its co-lending partnership with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

The partnership is established under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) co-lending framework, designed to leverage the strengths of banks and NBFCs to boost priority sector lending.

The co-lending agreement aims to provide faster and more affordable credit to MSMEs. It combines UGRO Capital’s innovative data and technology and extensive on-ground presence with SIDBI’s robust financial resources and strategic vision.

This collaboration will facilitate inclusive growth and socio-economic development across the country by enabling MSMEs to access the credit they need to thrive.