Payment Expert’s Fintech Unwrapped delivers the latest and developing news that has shaped the sector over the course of the week.
This week, Form3 received funding from both Nationwide and BlackRock in its bid to launch new account-to-account, cloud-native payment services. Also this week, Monzo added a new tax filing tool for business customers, while OpenPayd continues to support firms with integrated fiat payment rails.
Form3 to add new payment features to Nationwide
Form3 received a huge vote of confidence after being backed by Nationwide and BlackRock as part of a new strategic investment on October 15.
The account-to-account payments platform stated it will utilise the added capital to invest in hosting options and continuing to develop its payments platform, with new features to be added to Nationwide.
The UK building society has now extended its Faster Payments Service (FPS) managed service partnership with Form3 by a further seven years, through to 2032, and signed on as an early adopter of Form3’s new Payments Resilience Platform (PRP) Software-as-a-Service solution.
“Our long-standing partnership has already led to Form3 deploying some of the most advanced and resilient payment solutions globally. This further investment from Nationwide, alongside the debt facility from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock provides the final key for our path to profitability,” said Benyam Hagos, Chief Financial Officer of Form3.
Monzo to launch new tax filing tool
Monzo added a new tool for its business account customers on October 15, to enable them to comply with new UK tax legislations.
The tool will allow Monzo’s 70,000 business customers, such as sole traders and landlords, to directly connect their account to HMRC, streamlining processes such as accounting, payroll, HR and more. The waiting list is now open with a full launch expected before the start of the new tax year.
“Managing taxes is one of the biggest headaches for sole traders and landlords,” said Jordan Shwide, General Manager of Business Banking at Monzo. “That’s why we’re making tax filing simple with a built-in tool, powered by Sage, that lets customers file directly to HMRC from their Monzo Business bank account.”
OpenPayd facilitates new fiat rails to GCEX Group brokers
OpenPayd was selected by broker GCEX Group to operate its fiat banking rails through this latest integration.
Confirmed on October 14, GCEX will leverage OpenPayd’s financial services infrastructure to perform faster payments to its institutional clients and gain access to EUR and GBP transactions, with USD also available for greater mutli-currency efficiency.
“As digital asset markets evolve, institutional clients need financial infrastructure that can keep pace with their demands,” said Lux Thiagarajah, Chief Commercial Officer at OpenPayd.
Adyen and SAP link for new cloud-native payment service
Adyen and SAP successfully launched the Open Payment Framework on October 14, a payment solution designed to mitigate manual payment integrations.
Developed in partnership between SAP and Adyen, the Open Payment Framework enables retailers to accelerate time to market with integrated ecommerce payment capabilities via a pre-built, cloud-native extension for SAP Commerce Cloud.
“At Adyen, we’re focused on providing enterprise retailers with scalable, future-proof payment infrastructure,” said Nadia Qureshi, Global Head of Partnerships at Adyen. “Being the first PSP live on OPF reflects our commitment to collaborating with SAP and assisting merchants in modernizing their payments stack with minimal integration effort.”
Ex-Klarna UK Head joins Salad as new CEO
Alex Marsh, former UK CEO of Klarna, became the new Group CEO of Salad Group to spearhead the fintech’s new growth phase.
He spent over four years as Head of Klarna’s UK division, helping with market growth and assisting in BNPL regulatory talks, which are set to be implemented next year.
Marsh has also been a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Salad Finance Board since 2023. He will now oversee Salad’s core propositions: Salad Finance, Salad Technologies, and Salad Affinity.
Commenting on his appointment, Marsh said: “My passion for Salad’s mission has only deepened over the last two years. We’re not just providing one-off access to finance; we’re using long-overdue technological innovation to genuinely improve the financial health of consumers locked out of mainstream financial services.”
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