The newest happenings in the world of financial technology in the UK
The most recent UK-wide fintech news. Read the latest news from Recap, Microsoft, FCA, SmartSearch, and AGAM.
UK approves of Mastercard’s digital ID offering
The UK’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF) has granted Mastercard certification as an identity supplier. It can now provide UK organizations with ID, its digital identity solution.
The ID app from Mastercard, which is accessible in the top app stores for smartphones, intends to give users more options for proving their identity.
The DIATF establishes the guidelines and benchmarks needed to build confidence in digital identity systems. By cooperating, certified organizations may make sure that digital traits and identities are reliable and consistent. To ensure they comply with DIATF regulations, providers carry out annual assessments.
FCA requests enhancements to ESG benchmarks
Due to the “potential for systemic failings,” the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned regulatory action against ESG benchmark administrators.
The UK watchdog has been evaluating ESG benchmarks and evaluating the caliber of disclosures provided by a selection of them. It deemed the overall caliber of disclosures pertaining to ESG to be “poor.”
The FCA warned that if problems are not resolved, it will “employ the full range of our tools” in a fresh letter to benchmark administrators.
Administrators have received a further letter summarizing the problems found, which includes:
-Inadequate explanation of the ESG elements taken into account by benchmarking methodology
-Not making sure that users can access, understand, and use the underlying techniques for ESG data and ratings products used in benchmarks
-Not fully executing the rules for ESG disclosure
-Benchmark administrators incorrectly apply the techniques of their ESG benchmarks. Using old information and ratings, for instance, or failing to adhere to the ESG exclusion criteria
AGAM and Software Store Limited collaborate
Bangladeshi payments gateway system Software Shop Limited and UK-based fintech AGAM International have teamed up (SSL).
AGAM will provide fast, end-to-end digital finance for SSL’s corporate, employee, and merchant bases (via partner banks). AGAM International’s credit assessment system supports nano loans, BNPL, and EWA (earned wage access).
Although SSL serves as the systems integrator, sales partner, or reseller to connect with its customers and clients, which include businesses, banks, and financial institutions, AGAM International will serve as the product’s creator and developer.
AGAM CEO and founder Shabnam Wazed said that SSL’s powerful platforms and network of merchants and AGAM International’s bank-grade technology will make finance rapid and simple for customers, merchants, and staff of enterprises and corporates.
Next-generation SmartSearch platform
After user input, UK anti-money-laundering software firm SmartSearch released a “improved” platform with more features.
It promises custom configurability and automation, enhanced compliance standards, audit-ready reporting, and permanent KYC.
Beta testing has yielded almost six million customer searches on the improved platform. This breakthrough strengthens SmartSearch’s position in the digital compliance solutions industry as the leading AML and risk management solution.
Launch of the NFT Gallery
Recap’s NFT Gallery calculates bitcoin taxes. Investors have a single platform with AI-driven assessments and tax tracking.
The gallery integrates valuations and taxable events into NFT collections.
Recap and renowned NFT valuation engine Upshot provide expected gains, losses, and AI-informed assessments. It supports almost 67,000 NFTs. Users can access all non-fungible token assets in one spot, including live views for static and video NFTs.
“For NFT investors with various digital tokens, keeping track of assets across different platforms can prove challenging,” said Daniel Howitt, CEO and co-founder of Recap. Also, valuing NFTs has always been a little iffy because current metrics base their calculations on the most recent floor prices.
Recap’s tax engine-supported NFT Gallery centralizes a portfolio and generates automatic tax computations and reports. It uses Upshot’s sophisticated advanced machine learning algorithm to deliver highly accurate valuations, taking into consideration order books, attributes, NFT sales records, social and lending data to provide state-of-the-art price predictions for better investments.
