Accenture Announces Acquisition of SKS Group  

Accenture recently agreed to buy SKS Group, a consultancy company that uses SAP S/4HANA® solutions to assist banks in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland modernize their technological infrastructure and satisfy regulatory requirements.  

Accenture has recently acquired SKS Group in the banking industry, after its strategic investments in Imburse through Accenture Ventures, Allgemeines Rechenzentrum GmbH (ARZ), BCS Consulting, and Exton Consulting. The acquisition will increase Accenture’s capacity to provide specialist banks with technology, consulting, and regulatory services. 

Christina Raab, market unit lead for Accenture in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, said, “With SKS Group’s deep industry knowledge and technology expertise, we will be in an even stronger position to help banks modernize their legacy technology, manage risk and accelerate growth. As consumers’ banking needs and preferences change, banks’ business models will have to evolve to keep pace and remain relevant.” 

Accenture will now include about 500 employees of SKS Group. The agreement covers all SKS Group businesses that provide SAP solutions for core banking services and analytics to financial institutions. Additionally, SKS Group offers a range of risk, regulatory, and compliance services, such as its observatory tool, which connects regulatory requirements to assist banks in managing their reporting procedures. 

David Cordero, who leads Accenture’s Banking industry group in Europe, said, “SKS Group’s innovative solutions and skills will bolster our ability to transform banks’ core business functions, enabling them to operate more efficiently, make better use of their data and develop new products faster. In addition, SKS Group’s strong capabilities for specialized banks will expand our banking services to new clients.” 

TWINT Collaborates with NetGuardians  

A leading Swiss payments app, TWINT, has partnered with NetGuardians, a Swiss enterprise risk management platform, to ensure enhanced fraud prevention. Using behavioral analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, NetGuardians software can identify unusual payments.  

TWINT is a safe payment application that enables customers to finish online digital transactions on their mobile devices. Switzerland’s digital currency has been growing ever since it was launched in 2014. The program profiles each payment transaction made by TWINT in real time and assigns a risk score. Its precise detection and low number of false positives boost client trust while lowering operating costs. Financial institutions can now identify and remain on top of new fraud concerns with the help of machine learning algorithms. 

The Swiss FinTech company, NetGuardians, supports financial institutions in over 30 countries in their fight against fraud. The intelligent artificial intelligence (AI) solution from NetGuardians is used by more than 80 banks, including UOB and Pictet & Cie, to stop fraudulent payments in real-time. Major financial software providers including Finastra, Avaloq, Mambu, and Finacle work with it to combat fraud. TWINT claimed that it selected NetGuardians as a provider because it can track, process, and store massive amounts of transactions in real-time while offering the highest security for TWINT’s clients. 

Joël Winteregg, Co-Founder and CEO, NetGuardians, said, “This is more than a new contract for NetGuardians, it is the perfect example of two Swiss FinTechs who both became leaders in their respective domains and are partnering to make Swiss payments faster and safer.” 

Voidu Announces Partnership with Worldline  

Voidu, a leading gaming platform, has announced its partnership with Worldline, a global leader in payment solutions. This collaboration aims to enhance the gaming experience for Voidu’s customers by providing a secure and seamless payment process. 

Voidu’s platform allows gamers to purchase and download a wide range of games from various publishers. The platform offers a user-friendly interface and a vast library of games, making it a popular choice for gamers worldwide. However, the platform faced some challenges in providing a smooth and secure payment process for its customers. 

To address this issue, Voidu has partnered with Worldline, a leading provider of payment solutions. Worldline’s solutions are designed to provide secure and efficient payment processing for e-commerce businesses. The company’s payment gateway and fraud detection tools are among the most advanced in the industry. 

Andrew Monroe, Global Head of Gaming and Media, Digital Commerce, Worldline, said, “The Gaming and Media sector is growing exponentially and Worldline is excited to be at the forefront of this dynamic sector. We are also delighted to have been selected to assist Voidu in achieving its unique and critical payment solutions requirements and objectives. They were clearly looking for support from an experienced team of payment experts with the right level of knowledge and a market-leading suite of payment solutions, which we have developed and delivered.” 

Worldline’s payment solutions will integrate with Voidu’s platform, allowing customers to make purchases with ease. Customers will have the option to pay using a variety of methods, including credit and debit cards, e-wallets, and bank transfers. The partnership will also provide customers with a secure and reliable payment process, as Worldline’s fraud detection tools will help to protect against fraudulent transactions. Voidu will use Worldline’s one-stop-shop solution, which is widely used in Europe and the United States. The Worldline solution is designed to meet all their payment needs, including conventional cards as well as regional payment methods like Sofort, Giropay, iDEAL, eNETS, and Trustly worldwide. It also offers reasonable pricing and coverage of regions like LATAM and APAC. 

Cem Temur, Product Director of e-Commerce in Gaming Production, Voidu, stated, “Gaming is getting into each and every corner of the world, from young people to older generations. Worldline’s one-stop-shop solution has enabled Voidu to bring interesting content, and games to reach many more new prospect markets. With the wide variety of payment options, we hope to be able to bring games to even more new gamers, and players out there.” 

The partnership between Voidu and Worldline is set to benefit both companies, as well as the customers of the gaming platform. With Worldline’s payment solutions, Voidu will be able to provide a secure and seamless payment process, which is essential for providing a positive customer experience. The partnership is expected to help drive more sales for the gaming platform and will help to further establish Worldline’s reputation as a leading provider of payment solutions

Enfuce Teams up with Orka Ventures to Launch Consumer Lending Card in the Nordics  

Enfuce, a leading card issuing and payment processing solutions provider, recently partnered with Orka Ventures, a leading financial services provider in the Nordics and Central Europe, to launch Orka Card, a new consumer lending card and mobile app that challenges “Buy Now Pay Later” (BNPL) lending. 

In order to introduce card services throughout its European markets, Orka Ventures will make use of Enfuce’s modular processing and compliance capabilities. Customers will now be able to combine their existing bank accounts into one card and app with the Orka Card’s new features. 

Denise Johansson, Co-Founder, and Co-CEO of Enfuce said, “The Enfuce mission is to remove the complexity of payments and provide flexible payment solutions that enable our customers to grow and provide an excellent customer experience to their end-customers. We are confident that our partnership with Orka Ventures will deliver real value to consumers in the core markets of Iceland and the Nordic regions.” 

Orka Card will also include a Pay Now Finance Later (PNFL) function to counter BNPL lending, allowing a consumer to opt to refinance a transaction that was initially carried out using other debit and credit cards. By connecting customer bank accounts and activating its PNFL feature, the Orka Card mobile app will offer open banking connections for the first time in Iceland. 

“We chose Enfuce because of its excellent technical expertise, supportive team, and great attitude to problem-solving. Enfuce is now a part of our team, and our developers consistently give us feedback about how easy it is to integrate with Enfuce’s platform. It was also important to us to choose a partner that is willing to support the expansion of Orka Card into the Nordic markets as well as to work with us in Iceland – this is not common as it’s a small country with complicated regulations”, said Ondřej Šmakal, CEO of Orka Ventures.  

Al Fardan Exchange Announces Partnership with UPT  

Al Fardan Exchange L.L.C, a money transfer and currency exchange firm authorized and controlled by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has established a partnership with UPT, a Turkish global money transfer platform, to allow its UAE customers to send remittances to Turkey. 

Hasan Fardan Al Fardan, CEO, Al Fardan Exchange L.L.C., said, “We are pleased to partner with a platform like UPT and widen our scope and reach for our customers. This partnership brings with it a new wave of innovation and expands the horizon for our competitive remittances for our customer base in the UAE.” 

Customers can now pick up cash in real-time in Turkey from any of the 7,000+ Turkish Post and UPT Money transfer outlets nationwide, thanks to the agreement which also offers bank account transfers. This service is also available in CIS nations like Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan. 

The two-way relationship adds a new option to the range of alternatives and increases value for both current and potential customers who are based in the UAE by designating Al Fardan Exchange as the processor for client payouts into the UAE. 

Hakan Ozat, CEO, UPT, said, “We are excited for our partnership with Al Fardan Exchange which is the leading money transfer firm in the UAE. We saw that both companies share similar customer-oriented ethical values and innovative approaches. It’s apparent that customers will enjoy the fast, transparent and seamless money transfer services emerging by the partnership of our companies.