The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | Oct 21st

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.

Delivering Sharia-compliant financial services

Tuum, the next-generation core banking provider, has announced the launch of its foundational Islamic Banking and Finance solutions, marking a step towards delivering comprehensive, Sharia-compliant financial services.

This initiative focuses on the key principles of Islamic banking, laying the groundwork for a full end-to-end platform designed to support the needs of Islamic financial institutions.

With this launch, Tuum is creating the necessary infrastructure for Islamic deposits and asset-based lending, two critical components of a broader Islamic banking system. This Minimum Viable Product (MVP) ensures that financial institutions can offer products that fully comply with Sharia law while preparing for further expansion into a complete Islamic banking suite.

One Inc., the insurance payments network, has expanded its collaboration with J.P. Morgan Payments, aimed at delivering a comprehensive, unified payment experience for property and casualty (P&C) insurance clients.

This enhanced collaboration provides the seamless integration of J.P. Morgan Payments’ capabilities with One Inc’s PremiumPay® and ClaimsPay® solutions, enabling insurance carriers to access One Inc’s full suite of inbound and outbound digital payment services.

“We are very excited to be furthering our collaboration with J.P. Morgan Payments and helping carriers achieve the greater cost savings and policyholder engagement that they’re looking for,” said Ian Drysdale, CEO of One Inc. “With our combined strengths and deep industry expertise, this expansion represents a major step toward our shared vision of transforming the insurance payments landscape by delivering a single, unified solution for inbound and outbound payments.”

Pay in 4 payment

Thunes, the smart highway to move money around the world, has announced a significant expansion of its Direct Global Network into Egypt.

This expansion brings mobile wallet and bank account payment capabilities to Thunes’ Pay solutions, enhancing the company’s cross-border payment services in one of the Middle East and North Africa’s most dynamic markets.

Egypt is experiencing one of the fastest adoption growth rates for mobile wallets across the African continent, driven by accelerating cash-to-digital conversion. According to GlobalData, mobile wallet volume in Egypt is expected to grow 26% annually between 2024 and 2028, with the projected total volume reaching $3.8 billion by 2028.

With this expansion, Members of Thunes’ Direct Global Network will be able to offer consumer remittance services into Egypt, either to bank accounts or to mobile wallets. This service supports all bank accounts in Egypt, with payouts in both Egyptian Pounds and US Dollars. In addition, all mobile wallets in Egypt will now be supported, with payouts available in Egyptian Pounds.

Klarna, the AI-powered global payments network and shopping assistant, is available to users checking out on Apple Pay online and in apps for iPhones and iPads running iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 or later.

Starting now, eligible Apple Pay users in the U.S. and UK will have access to Klarna’s flexible payment offerings, including pay later in three or four instalments with no interest or over more extended periods with APRs starting at 0%. The global expansion will continue, with Canada slated to launch in the coming months.

“Consumers around the world have been asking for Klarna on Apple Pay, so I’m super proud to let them know it’s here! Our fair, flexible and interest-free payment options are now even easier to use at your favourite merchants when checking out on Apple Pay online and in apps in the U.S., UK and soon Canada. This is a big step toward our mission to offer consumers Klarna at every checkout.“ said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Co-founder and CEO of Klarna.

Klarna’s Pay in 4 payment offering gives consumers 4 fixed repayments for purchases between $35 and $2,000, all interest-free. Financing is available for higher-ticket items, with monthly repayments made over a longer period of time starting at 0% APR.

What is the Buzz

Kazakhstan-based banking and FinTech leader Kaspi.kz is set to become a controlling shareholder in Turkish eCommerce platform Hepsiburada, following an announcement made on Friday. The company has agreed to acquire a majority stake, specifically 65.41% of Class A and Class B shares, from D-Market for $1.13 billion in cash.

The acquisition involves a deal with the Doğan family, the primary owners of Hepsiburada, including founder Hanzade Doğan and key stakeholders Vuslat Doğan Sabancı, Begüm Doğan Faralyalı, Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ, and Işıl Doğan.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. It will be structured as an initial payment of $600 million upon closing, with the remaining $526.9 million settled within six months thereafter. Based on its closing share price of $2.20 on Thursday, Hepsiburada’s market value stands at approximately $707 million, according to LSEG data.