The Weekly Wrap: all you need to know by Friday COB | September 27th

By Puja Sharma

The Weekly Wrap is published every Friday and recaps the week’s main stories and deals, as well as upcoming events and announcements for Prime subscribers only.

The Big Story

Visa has signed an agreement to acquire Featurespace, an AI-driven payments protection firm, in a move to strengthen its portfolio of fraud detection and risk-scoring solutions.

Since its inception out of Cambridge University’s engineering department, Featurespace has developed innovative algorithmic-based solutions to analyse transaction data and detect even elusive fraud cases.

Antony Cahill, Global Head of Value-added Services at Visa, said, “It is of the utmost importance to provide our clients with solutions that can adapt to and anticipate the changing threat landscape. Featurespace’s strong foundation in AI will enhance our existing product portfolio and enable us to address our client’s most complex and pressing challenges. We look forward to welcoming the Featurespace team to Visa.”

The combined expertise of Visa and Featurespace will enable clients to manage fraud in real time and further protect the payments ecosystem using AI-fueled solutions. This investment builds on Visa’s commitment to ecosystem security. In the last five years alone, the payments giant has invested billions of dollars in technology, including to reduce fraud and enhance network security.

Dave Excell, Founder of Featurespace, added, “Over the past 12 years, we have served the financial services industry, building a company that has gone from strength to strength, and we are thrilled to become a part of Visa. With Visa, we can bring the innovation, integrity and purpose of our platform and our team to more payment service providers and, ultimately, stop more people from becoming victims of financial crime.”

Deals of the week

• Qist Bazaar raises $3.2m in Series A to boost BNPL in Pakistan
• Australian FinTech InDebted secures $40m in Series C round
• Nexi secures €220m financing from the European Investment Bank
• M2P Fintech raises $102m in Series D led by Helios Investment Partners
• Happy Pay, South African BNPL provider raises $1.8m
• Mashreq sells stake in $385m NEOPAY to Arcapita and Dgpays
• BNP Paribas to acquire HSBC’s Private Banking unit in Germany
• Mastercard and KaiOS partner to simplify acceptance African SMEs

Be on the lookout for

SIBOS 2024, held in Beijing from October 21-24, was a significant convergence of financial professionals under the theme “Connecting the Future of Finance.” With an impressive lineup of over 500 expert speakers, the event provided deep insights across more than 250 sessions. These discussions spanned pivotal subjects including artificial intelligence, digital currencies, tokenisation, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations. Beyond the sessions, attendees had ample opportunities to network and connect with a diverse array of exhibitors and peers from around the globe. The event not only facilitated knowledge sharing but also fostered a collaborative atmosphere for advancing the finance industry. SIBOS 2024 showcased the latest innovations and trends, positioning itself as a crucial platform for shaping the future of global finance.