Mercury Taking On Brex & Ramp With Bill Pay & Spend Management Platform

Hi NoRamp Community,

Daily News:

1) Chainalysis Launches Regional Headquarters in Dubai

2) Revolut Debuts Dedicated Crypto Exchange For UK Users

3) FIS Launches Embedded Finance Platform

4) Mercury Taking On Brex & Ramp With Bill Pay & Spend Management

5) FINRA Fines SoFi $1.1M

Chainalysis Launches Regional Headquarters in Dubai:

• Chainalysis has established a new regional headquarters in Dubai to support its operations across Southern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa, aligning with the UAE's ambition to become a global crypto hub.

• The firm is collaborating with the UAE’s Ministry of AI, Emirates NBD, and other key stakeholders to enhance blockchain technology skills among employees and has joined Emirates NBD's Digital Asset Lab as a key council member alongside notable entities like PwC and R3 blockchain.

• The UAE's proactive approach to cryptocurrency regulation and industry development has positioned it as a leading crypto hub in the MENA region, which accounts for 7.2% of the global crypto transaction volume. This favorable environment has attracted major crypto players like Binance, Kraken, and OKX to establish a presence in Dubai.

Revolut Debuts Dedicated Crypto Exchange For UK Users:

• Revolut, a leading fintech company and global neobank, has launched a specialized crypto trading platform called Revolut X in the United Kingdom, designed to compete with major cryptocurrency exchanges by offering minimal fees and easy access for users.

• The platform facilitates seamless conversion between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies, featuring competitive fixed fees of 0% for makers and 0.09% for takers, and initially supports trading for over 100 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP. It plans to expand this selection in the future.

• Revolut X is aimed at experienced crypto traders but is accessible to any U.K. retail account holders using their existing credentials. The platform allows direct trading between users' Revolut accounts and Revolut X without extra fees or restrictions, marking a significant shift in Revolut’s crypto offerings following previous regulatory challenges in the U.K. and the U.S.

  

  Source: PYMNTS

FIS Launches Embedded Finance Platform:

• FIS has launched "Atelio by FIS," an embedded finance platform designed to aid financial institutions, businesses, and software developers in various financial operations including deposit collection, money movement, card issuance, invoicing, fraud prevention, cash flow forecasting, and customer behavior analysis.

• Atelio offers FIS's existing financial technology in components that are easily embeddable, secure, and compliant, building on the company’s longstanding service to the financial sector and expertise in risk and compliance.

• The platform enables providers to offer tailored financial solutions directly to their customers at the point of need, enhancing user experience and engagement. For instance, College Ave successfully utilized Atelio to integrate an account, credit card, and payments into a single experience for college students, demonstrating the platform's capability to meet specific customer needs efficiently.

Mercury Taking On Brex & Ramp With Bill Pay & Spend Management:

• Mercury is enhancing its bank accounts with new software capabilities, allowing business customers to pay bills, invoice customers, and reimburse employees. This expansion puts Mercury in direct competition with fintechs like Brex and Ramp, as well as other companies offering similar services.

• Mercury's new features are integrated with its bank accounts and include sophisticated bill pay and accounting automation, such as AI-powered bill detail population, duplicate bill detection, and NetSuite integration for syncing bills and expenses. These services are designed to streamline financial operations for businesses.

• Set to launch additional features this summer, Mercury will enable businesses to create professional invoices and set up reimbursement policies. The company also plans to introduce pricing plans for these services starting from $35 to $350 a month after an initial free period until August 1. These expansions build on Mercury’s existing services, including a corporate credit card and personal banking, broadening its offerings to cater to a diverse customer base.

FINRA Fines SoFi $1.1M:

• SoFi, an online lending platform, has been fined $1.1 million by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) due to significant deficiencies in its customer identification processes at its SoFi Money unit. These shortcomings enabled fraudsters to illicitly withdraw approximately $2.5 million.

• The regulatory findings indicate that SoFi relied on an overly automated process that was insufficient for verifying customer identities, leading to the unauthorized approval of about 800 accounts for third parties. This flawed verification process made the platform vulnerable to identity theft and fraud.

• In response to these issues, SoFi has undertaken remediation efforts including enhancing staff training, improving fraud identification processes, and refining customer verification logic. The company also consulted third-party experts to manage a high volume of fraud alerts since the public launch of SoFi Money in February 2019. SoFi has since closed the unit to new customers as of June 2022.

NoRamp:

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