Banking & Finance Magazine

Sipay is doing what Stripe, Adyen and Revolut are doing – and more. The Turkish fintech startup Sipay hit the Money20/20 media headlines as it secured its USD 15 million funding series A, underlining the fintech’s potential for growth. Not surprisingly, Sipay, which was founded in 2019, was identified by Deloitte as the fastest-growing fintech in Turkey due to its 10x year-on-year growth. Banking & Finance sat down with Nezih Sipahioğlu, Sipay’s Global CEO and Founder, at their bustling Money20/20 Europe booth and asked him to unlock the secret to business success. Sipay is said to be Turkey’s fastest growing fintech as it serves thousands of businesses and millions of individuals, consistently ranking among the top three in its sector. Quite uniquely, Istanbul-based Sipay has a customer base that includes banking institutions, traditional industrial and retail businesses, technology leaders such as Hepsipay and Delivery Hero-acquired Yemeksepeti, as well as large international groups like Alibaba-owned Trendyol. Another remarkable aspect is Sipay’s multi-product strategy. The fintech combines a wide range of payment solutions, including online and in-person payments, open banking, B-to-B systems, wire transfers, digital wallets, and prepaid cards, all under one seamless and secure platform, as well as B-to-B-to-C services through its white label solutions. The company processes nearly USD 600 million in monthly transactions and has a 10% market share in the payments space. The firm also claims close to 1 million users of its white-label services and about 100,000 Sipay brand customers. So what is Sipay’s secret? “Stripe, Adyen and Revolut combined and more” We asked Nezih, its Global CEO and Founder, to unlock the secret to business success. Instead of competing with banks, Sipay provides the services from banks and presents these on their banking platform, says Nezih . “What we say to merchants and individuals, instead of working with several banks or several fintechs, you can come to us and you’ll have everything in one place. In fact, we do what Stripe, Adyen and Revolut are doing – and more, all of these combined in one marketplace platform, which gives us a unique competitive edge.” For the full article: https://lnkd.in/eqHdUcw7

ABN AMRO announces it has reached an agreement with Fosun International to acquire Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe (“HAL”), a leading German private bank. With the acquisition of HAL, ABN AMRO’s private banking arm in Germany will become one of the largest providers of banking services for wealthy private clients, family businesses and institutional clients in Germany. The subsidiaries of HAL that provide AIFM/Manco and Fund Administration services will not be part of the acquisition. These entities and HAL have closed a co-operation agreement to continue offering the successful One-Stop-Shop service offering in the market. Robert Swaak, CEO of ABN AMRO said: "This is a rare opportunity to add scale to our German activities. We are delighted to have reached this agreement. HAL is a long-standing leader in wealth management and has a very strong fit with ABN AMRO, both culturally and geographically. We share the desire to deliver the best individual solution to our clients. The proposed acquisition will further strengthen our position and offer employees of the combined group the opportunity to play a driving role in the consolidating German market. I look forward to working with the HAL team in realising our shared ambition." Accelerating ABN AMRO strategy The acquisition of HAL will strengthen the top-3 position in wealth management in Germany for ABN AMRO. Germany is the largest private banking market in Europe, with combined Assets under Management of around EUR 70 billion. HAL’s private banking activities and German footprint are highly aligned and fit extremely well with ABN AMRO’s existing client base and geographical coverage. The transaction will strengthen our Wealth Management, Asset Management and Entrepreneur & Enterprise (E&E) activities. In addition, ABN AMRO enters the asset servicing business, offering custody services, especially for illiquid assets. While Bethmann Bank is one of the largest private equity providers for high net worth clients, HAL has made a name for itself among institutional investors and asset managers with its One Stop Shop, Depository Solutions and Asset Servicing. This complementary offering will be available to all clients in the future. Furthermore, HAL’s Investment Banking services will join forces with ABN AMRO Germany to complement our Corporate Banking ambition in Northwestern Europe. Both banks utilise an E&E proposition, targeting companies and their founders through an integrated wealth and corporate banking offering. HAL has built up significant expertise and coverage of the German midcap sector, which will complement our Corporate Banking ambition in Germany. Acquisition of HAL’s asset-light, strong fee income stream fits well with our strategy to broaden the non-NII income base, as well as complementing our organic growth.

Leading global payments provider Elavon Europe, will expanded collaboration in Europe with FreedomPay, a global leader in Next Level Commerce technologies. The partnership aims to deliver cutting-edge integrated commerce solutions and omni-channel payments technology to large enterprise merchants across Retail and Hospitality. The agreement pairs Elavon acquiring with FreedomPay commerce technologies to benefit Elavon merchants across Europe, empowering businesses with enhanced payment flexibility and optionality, data security, and a seamlessly integrated payments technology across both physical and ecommerce channels. “Elavon and FreedomPay have an enviable track record in Europe of helping hospitality and retail merchants grow their operations and better meet their customers’ needs,” said Hemlata Narasimhan, President of Elavon in Europe. “We’re pleased to extend our relationship with FreedomPay to continue to offer the first-class payments experience we’ve become known for.” Elavon has long been a leader in hospitality and retail payments, and integrating with the FreedomPay Commerce Platform merges security, identity, payments, loyalty, and advertising with proprietary data driven solutions. “Together, Elavon and FreedomPay are reshaping the global payments landscape, introducing greater functionality and innovation to enterprise businesses and their customers,” said Chris Kronenthal, President of FreedomPay. “Merchants can now expect a seamless and consistent payments experience backed by Next Level data, loyalty, and security.”   Elavon is a leading global payments company with more than 4,300 employees and operations in 10 countries. A subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), Elavon provides businesses with the technology needed to accept payments from customers, whether they are shopping in stores, at home or on the go. Its platform is distinctive in that it is common across countries, making it easier for businesses to get their payment system up and running quickly and securely. FreedomPay’s Next Level Commerce™ platform transforms existing payment systems and processes from legacy to leading edge and enables merchants to unleash the power of pay. As the premier choice for many of the largest companies across the globe in retail, hospitality, lodging, gaming, sports and entertainment, foodservice, education, healthcare and financial services, FreedomPay’s technology has been purposely built to deliver rock solid performance in the highly complex environment of global commerce.  

Progress on ABN AMRO share buyback programme ABN AMRO reports the transaction details related to its EUR 500 million share buyback programme announced on 14 February 2024. During the week of 19 April 2024 up to and including 25 April 2024 a total of 3,000,000 shares and depositary receipts were repurchased at an average price of €15.72 for a total amount of €47,170,980. For detailed information on the daily repurchased shares and depositary receipts, individual share purchase transactions and weekly reports, see the ABN AMRO website at https://lnkd.in/gQBbsN-2. To date the total consideration for shares and depositary receipts repurchased amounts to €452,072,460 representing 90.41% of the overall share buyback programme. 

Turnover in investment and leverage products on reporting European financial markets was up 5 percent quarter on quarter and 19 percent year on year in the fourth quarter of 2023, bringing the total to EUR 29 billion. These and other market data were sourced by the European Structured Investment Products Association (EUSIPA - European Structured Investment Products Association) from its members and analysed by Avaloq Group Ltd. The members of EUSIPA who provide the figures for the market report include Zertifikate Forum Austria (ZFA), the Belgian Structured Investment Products Association (BELSIPA - Belgian Structured Investment Products Association), Association Française des Produits Dérivés de Détail et de Bourse (AFPDB - French Structured Investment Products Association), Bundesverband für Strukturierte Wertpapiere (BSW), Associazione Italiana Certificati e Prodotti di Investimento (ACEPI - Associazione Certificati e Prodotti di Investimento), the Netherlands Structured Investment Products Association (NEDSIPA), the Swedish Exchange Traded Investment Products Association (SETIPA), the Swiss Structured Products Association (SSPA), and the Luxembourg Structured Investment Products Association (LUXSIPA). Fourth-quarter turnover in investment products (36 percent of total traded volume) on European trading venues increased by 23 percent quarter on quarter and by 30 percent year on year. Turnover in leverage products (Warrants, Knock-Out Warrants, and Constant Leverage Certificates) stayed at EUR 19 billion in the period from October to December, representing 64 percent of total turnover. Turnover in leverage products increased by 14 percent year on year and stayed the same quarterly. At the end of December, trading venues located in reporting EUSIPA markets were offering 451,988 investment products and 1,912,205 leverage products. As such, the number of listed products increased by 4 percent on a quarterly basis and by 12 percent on the previous year. Banks issued 1,680,382 new investment and leverage products in the fourth quarter of 2023, up 12 percent on the previous quarter and 3 percent annually. In total, 179,793 new investment products were launched, accounting for 11 percent of new issues; the 1,500,589 new leverage products represent 89 percent of the total. There were 31 percent more investment products launched compared to Q3 2023. For Austria, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Italy, the market volume of investment and leverage products issued as securities increased by 4 percent from the previous quarter to a total of EUR 406 billion. At the end of December, the market volume of investment products stood at EUR 392 billion – up 3 percent quarter on quarter. The outstanding volume of leverage products totalled EUR 14 billion at the end of December. This represents a 28 percent increase on a year-on-year basis.

Robeco launches Emerging Markets ex-China Equities fund Robeco is launching its Emerging Markets ex-China Equities fund. This SFDR Article 8 fund allows investors to calibrate its China exposure separately. Given China’s significant market size, its current dominance in emerging markets (EM) portfolios, and specific factors such as geopolitics and regulatory policy that could affect performance, Robeco has chosen this setup, offering investors a more balanced exposure to the EM opportunity. The EM ex- China strategy builds on Robeco's 30-year track record in fundamental EM investing. The new actively managed strategy enables investors to carve out China from their EM allocation and gain more exposure to smaller EM economies under-represented in the main index, such as Korea, Taiwan and Brazil. It invests in over 1,100 companies, in high-growth sectors like fintech and semiconductors. The fund consists of a diversified portfolio of 60 to 80 stocks, selected with a value tilt, targeting attractive valuations with potential earnings upside. It offers a unique blend of fundamental and quantitative research for stock selection, with the objective of achieving a better return than the index. The dominance of China in portfolios has increased over the years. In 2000, Chinese stocks comprised only about 5% of the index1, which at the time was dominated by the likes of South Korea, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico and Taiwan. But much has changed since then. China’s economy has grown by a factor of 15, becoming the world’s second largest economy. By comparison, South Korea’s economy roughly tripled over the same period, while South Africa’s and Taiwan’s barely doubled. As investor interest in China’s remarkable growth story has surged, so too have Chinese equities’ share of the MSCI EM Index. At the peak of the market in 2020, Chinese stocks accounted for nearly 40% of the index. Today, even after their recent downturn, they comprise roughly 25% of it by weight – one and a half times the proportion of Taiwanese stocks in the MSCI EM (17%), and nearly twice that of South Korean equities (13%). Wim-Hein Pals, Head of Emerging Markets Equities at Robeco: “We are launching this fund to offer clients and prospects a more balanced exposure to the EM opportunity given China’s dominance in the EM index. Given that emerging economies are growing faster than developed countries and have stronger balance sheets for governments, companies and households, we believe rebalancing may be overdue as investors globally are underexposed to EM ex-China.”

M11 Funds marks significant growth with outperformance    Funds, the asset manager offering regulated alternative investment funds in digital assets, marks significant growth fuelled by the outperformance of Its Liquid Token Fund, one of Europe’s first actively managed, regulated, institutional-grade European funds in liquid digital assets.   In the nearly year since its inception, the fund has achieved a stellar 135% net annualized return and quadrupled its assets under management (AUM). These milestones also mark the fund’s significant outperformance of Ethereum, its benchmark and standard of the digital assets investing industry. The increased inflows are primarily driven by savvy investors from the Netherlands and Switzerland bucking the wider trend of gaining exposure to digital assets via passive vehicles in response to the recent Bitcoin ETF approvals by the SEC. Wanting to take advantage of M11 Funds’ triple-digit gains, several asset and wealth managers across Europe have signed up for the fund in the past few months.   In line with the above growth and acknowledgement of digital assets cementing its place as an essential investment category, M11 Funds’ Liquid Token Fund was nominated at the prestigious EuroHedge Awards ceremony for New Fund of the Year.   Martijn van Veen, Managing Director & Partner, M11 Funds: “Our fund gives investors confidence in allocating their money to digital assets. This is of course built on us doubling the fund’s value in less than a year via our active management approach, which enables us to create returns no matter market direction. We’re encouraged by the SEC’s recent spot Bitcoin approvals and the positive push they give for wider adoption, and we have all the pieces in place for institutions to begin onboarding digital assets and start outperforming.”   As one of the first regulated actively managed funds in liquid digital assets, the Liquid Token Fund is managed in line with a typical long/short alternative investment fund. The main objective of the fund is to generate strong above-average absolute returns over a 3+ year period irrespective of market direction. The fund can hedge for tail-risk events and has a strong emphasis on avoiding large drawdowns. This provides institutional investors unique access to an innovative, appealing, and in high demand asset class, supported by the expertise and experience of the Maven 11 team.   Falling under the regulatory framework of the AIFMD, the fund maintains SICAV status, open-ended and publicly traded, enabling institutional investors to buy, sell, and hold digital assets in their preferred custodial environments.  

ATM withdrawals rising in two-thirds of countries, despite overall worldwide decline The number of cash withdrawals at ATMs rose in two thirds of countries in 2022, with increases seen not only in smaller, developing countries but also some larger and more established markets After a steep drop in 2020 and a slight bounce back up in 2021, the total number of cash withdrawals at ATMs worldwide resumed its longer-term downwards trend in 2022. Increased adoption of cashless payments and digital banking are leading to fewer ATM transactions overall, although the global decrease masks a more varied picture among different markets. The latest research by strategic research and consulting firm RBR Data Services, a division of Datos Insights, for its Global ATM Intelligence Service shows that total cash withdrawals were up in 41 of the 63 major markets in which RBR Data Services tracks ATM usage. Double-digit growth rates were seen in markets as varied as Ecuador and Turkey. In Ecuador, cash remains the most reliably accepted payment method, and financial inclusion measures are bringing greater numbers of people into the banking system. In Turkey, meanwhile, the rise in cash withdrawals can be attributed to the lifting of lockdown restrictions and the rising cost of living, as some consumer segments turn more to cash when feeling the squeeze of inflation. https://lnkd.in/erFGKx-k

Cross-border payments: One of the industries biggest pressure points... But how are organisations easing the processes for consumers? PayTech Talk and Payhawk — Business spend, reinvented. have released an episode on this topic featuring insightful discussions from Pedro Batista and Laura Rofe! The episode is now streaming across all platforms! Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eTwQ8t2Y Apple Podcast: https://lnkd.in/eMdH-fED and more: https://lnkd.in/eEnDJyPZ

As COP28 draws to a close, the potential for climate tech and climate tech investing remains high. Read more about climate tech investing and the need for accelerated innovation here: https://lnkd.in/e3hd2bdk For more on climate tech investing and COP28, listen to the Deal Talk podcast on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eqSE3e3Q Jan Jaap Omvlee #COP28 #cop28uae #Cimatetech #climateaction #innovation #finance #investing #climateinvesting #economicgrowth #capital #funds #funding #business #usa #uk #ukinvestment #usainvesting #aquisition #podcast #spotifypodcast