“We are thrilled to have been included in the report as we believe it demonstrates our contribution to the DeFi ecosystem, which has much potential as banking inevitably touches upon everyone’s lives. With blockchain usage still in its early stages and its benefits restricted to a niche group, our goal is to render blockchain technology more useful and beneficial to wider audiences by continuing to focus on enhancing interoperability and usability,” says Dohyun Pak, the founder of PiLab.

Gartner, Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies in Banking, 2023, Alistair Newton, Christophe Uzureau, 20 July 2023

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and HYPE CYCLE is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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Both companies have made great strides introducing technology that enables faster, more informed underwriting decisions. Together, the united technology capabilities, market success, and committed backing of Two Sigma creates an unparalleled underwriting technology partner for commercial P&C insurers.

“This is a powerful combination,” said Brian Modesitt, CEO of Insurance Quantified. “We look forward to leveraging our collective strengths to deliver even greater value to our clients, which together include more than 15 of the most innovative and respected carriers and MGAs in the insurance industry. With the company’s size, breadth, and backing from Two Sigma, Insurance Quantified stands alone as a trusted partner that the industry can count on over the long term for underwriting technology.”

Insurance Quantified’s end-to-end underwriting workbench, SubmissionIQ, and Groundspeed’s ingestion and data solution will continue to be offered separately. The combined company also expects to expand its SaaS technology capabilities and data offerings for the commercial P&C industry.

Eric Kobe, CEO of Groundspeed Analytics, added, “By combining forces, we are able to accelerate delivery of our product roadmap. We are excited about the possibilities this acquisition brings to provide enhanced solutions to our valued customers with strong financial backing to execute on our long-term vision.”

Eric Kobe will join the Insurance Quantified leadership team. Insurance Quantified will also open an office in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Groundspeed was founded.

Jeff Mason, founder and Executive Chairperson of Groundspeed Analytics, commented, “I am convinced this combination will add significant value for Groundspeed’s clients.  I am impressed with Insurance Quantified’s vision and capabilities, and I am certain Groundspeed’s clients will be too.”

The acquisition was completed on June 20, 2023. Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, served as legal counsel and Alvarez & Marsal served as financial and tax advisor to Insurance Quantified.

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TT made the announcement at the start of the FIA International Derivatives Expo (IDX) in London.

TT FX represents the firm’s latest expansion into new asset classes, following its acquisition in March of AxeTrading, a leading global provider of fixed income trading solutions. Tokuyama will manage the new business line with initial focus on the hiring of other key talented FX industry product and technology experts, connectivity to major electronic communication networks (ECNs) and liquidity providers, and the delivery of advanced FX trading capabilities through TT’s execution management system (EMS).

The first phase of implementation for TT FX, slated for late 2023, will enable TT buy-side clients to trade spot FX through a choice of curated ECNs. In early 2024, TT will extend the offering to include liquidity from major banks and expand the product set to include forwards, non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) and swaps.

TT CEO Keith Todd said: “We have more than 6,000 buy-side users alone on the TT platform – including hedge funds, CTAs, proprietary traders and commodity trading firms – who already trade a huge amount of FX on other systems and platforms. Following many months of outreach and research with our clients, we’ve heard significant positive feedback and strong demand to consolidate this activity on TT’s EMS. TT FX will leverage the unparalleled global distribution capabilities of our platform, the award-winning functionality of our EMS and the widest possible choice of liquidity providers to deliver a truly best-in-class solution. We are delighted to have Tomo on board to lead this initiative for TT. He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in this space from both the sell-side and buy-side perspectives.”

Tokuyama said: “I have long believed that technology will continue to advance and shape the future of FX trading through greater focus on automation and data. I’m pleased to join a firm that not only shares that view but listens carefully to clients to deliver innovative tools and access to markets that traders and firms actually want. FX is in high demand by TT clients, and I’m excited about the opportunity to further shape the FX strategy and deliver a product that TT clients will be proud to use.”

For more than a decade, Tokuyama was at Los Angeles-based First Quadrant, LLC, a quantitative fund that at its peak managed over $25 billion in assets. As Head of Trading, he transformed the firm’s FX trading from 98% voice execution to 95% electronic, and positioned First Quadrant at the forefront of FX algorithms and automation. He was responsible for managing the trading team and overseeing all trading activity at the firm including FX, equities, commodities, futures, listed options and total return swaps. He, along with the head of Portfolio Construction, managed day-to-day implementation of the firm’s portfolio strategies and analyzed new ways to improve trading efficiencies, which included vetting all of the latest Fintech offerings.

Prior to joining First Quadrant, Tokuyama worked at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo and Hong Kong, where he was a member of the Macro Asset Sales team specializing in electronic FX, responsible for distributing the Goldman Sachs electronic FX offering across Asia.  He was instrumental in launching both electronic NDFs and first-generation FX algorithms.

Tokuyama is a frequent speaker at FX and financial services industry events and has served on numerous advisory boards, including for Best X, FX Connect, FX Hive and the TradeTech FX conferences. He earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in management from Toronto Metropolitan University.

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Liquid Mercury Plus will offer the LaunchPub community the best-in-class access to OTC liquidity, which has typically been reserved for institutional traders, combined with a world-class custodial solution from Gemini. LaunchPub provides their exclusive community with incredible access to “closed-door” information, special perks, invites to in-person events, investments, and opportunities. The new end-to-end integrated solution from Liquid Mercury allows LaunchPub to quickly deliver professional cryptocurrency trading tools and value-added services to their expansive audience.

“Liquid Mercury and LaunchPub’s teams have deep experience within traditional capital markets, which made it an easy decision to work together and provide institutional access to the crypto market for both individuals and institutions,” said Tony Saliba, CEO of Liquid Mercury. “This partnership will supply LaunchPub’s community with access to a whole new asset class, with the trading capabilities that they demand.”

Liquid Mercury Plus is providing Liquid Mercury’s institutional-grade trading technology, network of top-tier OTC liquidity providers, and expertise in crypto and capital markets workflow automation, while Gemini is providing its leading crypto-native custodian and settlement capabilities, client onboarding infrastructure, and fiat on and off ramps.

“The need for more advanced products and solutions to help the growing customer base enter this emerging market is imperative,” said Morgan Busby, CEO of Financial Media Corp, a digital marketing, and publishing firm. “Our members will be thrilled to now be able to trade bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC, other stablecoins, and a large number of altcoins with support to fund accounts using multiple fiat currencies all on a single platform.”

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With advisors in Scappoose, OR, and Tucson, AZ, Sommers Financial was founded in 2002 and advises on more than $100 million in assets under management (“AUM”). Following this acquisition, Wealthcare’s advisor team includes more than 150 wealth management advisors across the country with $5 billion in AUM.

“We are thrilled to partner with Adam Sommers and the entire Sommers Financial team. Adam has built a top-notch organization that focuses on holistic financial planning and goals-linked investment solutions, the exact philosophy that Wealthcare has built our entire business upon,” says Matt Regan, President of Wealthcare. “We will work diligently together to continue Sommers Financial’s superior client engagement and impressive growth as they transition into the Wealthcare network. Our integrator approach to M&A growth enables our group to benefit from the experience of our new partners while we strengthen our comprehensive offering for advisors. We look forward to learning from the Sommers team as we strive to make Wealthcare even better.”

Led by founder Adam Sommers, the Sommers Financial team will remain fully engaged with their clients. Sommers Financial’s goal of planning effectively and investing efficiently for their clients will be enhanced through their access to Wealthcare’s proprietary goals-based technology platform and its broader wealth management services offering.

Sommers states, “I’m excited to join Wealthcare, a firm that shares our values and offers a compelling solution through their proprietary technology and industry-leading support services. The Sommers team has always excelled at servicing our clients, and this combination will provide us an even greater ability to focus on driving successful client outcomes.”

“Congrats to the Sommers Financial and Wealthcare teams on this exciting acquisition,” says Jim Ashton, General Partner NewSpring Holdings. “This partnership underscores Wealthcare’s commitment to provide like-minded wealth management practices an industry-leading platform that leverages a robust technology and servicing offering to enhance the client experience.”

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Launched in July 2021, Joyn Insurance integrates insurance, data and technology expertise, providing a faster, more accurate and more transparent experience that saves time, costs and frustration. This integration makes Joyn unique within the E&S space as it offers an industry-leading underwriting and workflow platform for the fastest and easiest-to-bind coverages for the market.

Since entering the market, Joyn has bound more than 500 policies with approximately 80 trading partners, covering more than 300 insureds. Today, Joyn offers E&S coverage for property, general liability and excess for companies across more than 700 NAICS codes in 36 states and Washington, D.C.

“We built this company to remove the pain points and operational inefficiencies that have frustrated brokers and underwriters for as long as we can remember, and we are proud to be delivering on this bold mission,” said Joyn CEO Seraina Macia.

“This funding will allow us to further build and expand so we can continue providing a best-in-class insurance experience in the market,” Macia continued. “Many brokers are already seeing that we can deliver on what we were built to do, and with our broad E&S appetite for small to mid-sized property and general liability risks, we look forward to adding more trading partner relationships in the near future.”

Representatives from OMERS Ventures, ManchesterStory and Avanta Ventures will also be joining the Board of Directors of Joyn Insurance.

“We are thrilled to have such world class partners on board as we continue showing our growing number of brokers and customers what a technology-powered, joyful insurance experience in the E&S market can look like,” said Macia.

“We invested in Joyn because we saw the results that they are already delivering and the tremendous potential for their future growth in the super-hot E&S space,” said David Wechsler at OMERS Ventures. “As we were doing our diligence while evaluating this opportunity, I was particularly struck by the broker feedback I received from those who had worked with Joyn.”

“Despite a high bar for admitted products, the E&S quote and bind experience at many companies is still largely done by pen and paper, and the brokers we talked to have been stunned at how Joyn addresses these longstanding inefficiencies,” Wechsler continued. “We couldn’t be more proud to back this world-class team as they disrupt the fastest growing sector of commercial insurance.”

The new funding, which brings the company’s total raised to more than $30 million, will be used to further enhance its technology platform and data capabilities, and to demonstrate the value of its innovative, technology-driven insurance offerings. It will go towards significantly expanding the size of Joyn’s team by the end of this year.

TigerRisk Capital Markets & Advisory acted as financial advisor to SiriusPoint in this transaction.

For more information, or to learn more, visit https://www.joyninsurance.com/.

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Recently, Sionic launched the industry’s first real-time payments service enabling bank-to-bank digital cash deposits at the point-of-sale. This comes at a time when merchants are responding to consumer demand by allowing more widespread digital payment options. In addition to receiving funds instantly, merchants reduce costs on average 2% over expensive card swipe fees, a compelling proposition at a time of rising inflation.

“Sionic is truly disrupting traditional payments at a pivotal time in the fintech industry,” Watson said. “Given the current economic environment, consumers not only want faster payments, but also more responsible payment options that aren’t driving them further into debt or incurring extensive fees and extra charges. With Sionic’s Pay-By-Bank service, merchants can provide instant payment capabilities that are secure, and drive down costs. Having worked with Sionic in my previous leadership position, I am honored to join an organization that is recognized for its innovations and continued contributions to the industry, as well as for its solid track record of providing proven, reliable solutions.”

Prior to joining Sionic, Watson was CTO for InComm and helped create enterprise transaction processing systems for Target, Walmart, CVS and other global retailers. Additionally, he managed the integration vendors for the connected car platform for General Motors, providing end-to-end solutions to meet complex requirements of the platform. He has been recognized for his ability to strengthen marketing automation systems, deliver targeted content and offers to segmented customers in their vehicles and mobile devices and increase the adoption of in-vehicle and mobile apps.

Ronald Herman, CEO of Sionic, said, “While leading the team at General Motors, Matt played an integral role in integrating Sionic’s technology to help launch one of the industry’s first connected car platforms. His industry expertise further complements our leadership team and will be vital as we prepare for the next, high-growth phase of our organization, accelerating product development, streamlining operations and transforming the payments market.”

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Netcetera operate a multi-client capable 3-D secure issuer service with a state-of-the-art Access Control Server as a core component, which is used by more than 200 banks and card issuers worldwide. The firm’s 3-D secure issuer service is an EMVCo® approved product, compliant with EMV 3DS protocols.

The 3D secure server is designed for frictionless and reliable payment processing. From a security perspective, the solution reduces risk for non-authenticated transactions, associated refunds, and lost revenue while at the same time enabling a frictionless cardholder experience.

As an issuer processor, CLOWD9 sits at the centre of the global payments system, acting as the interface between banks, fintechs and payment firms to authorise transactions and initiate payments, maintain the system of record for cardholder data, and provide settlement instructions.

CLOWD9 will be able to offer the solution to its clients worldwide, comprising a comprehensive set of tools for frictionless payments to improve the shopping experience of cardholders.

Built entirely in the cloud, CLOWD9 has removed the need for physical hardware. Its decentralised model allows virtual access to the platform around the world, via ‘instances’, with payments transactions routed to the nearest cloud instance, providing unparalleled reliability. CLOWD9 already has instances established in every continent.

The technology behind the CLOWD9 platform has been designed and built in-house, with open APIs that neobanks and fintechs can maximise to provide their customers with ground-breaking customer experiences. Its platform is uniquely built with microservices architecture, which enables CLOWD9 to scale up and down according to transactional demand, making its platform more energy efficient and resilient compared to legacy architecture.

CLOWD9 CEO & Co-Founder: Suresh Vaghjiani: “As a new firm operating at the cutting edge of payments technology, it is important for us to work with partners who equally value innovation. We have built a platform at CLOWD9 that improves both the efficiency and reliability of global payments by leveraging new technology. We recognise Netcetera as future-oriented solutions provider that is able to meet our unique requirements as a cloud-native payments processor.”

Netcetera UK Senior Business Executive Robert Miskin: “We are delighted to partner with CLOWD9 especially during this crucial period of their business growth. We believe that bringing our leading 3-D Secure and Access Control Server (ACS) services for issuers will help to drive the adoption of 3DS, significantly improve the overall security of their online transactions and lead to a more efficient and frictionless experience ultimately for their end users.”

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At the BlackBerry booth (4025, West Hall, LVCC), Car IQ will demonstrate the first embedded vehicle wallet powered by BlackBerry IVY that embeds payments directly in the car, providing drivers access to a one stop shop for all vehicle needs including paying for fuel, EV charging, tolls, parking, service & repairs and more. In addition to payments, BlackBerry will also demonstrate how merchants and OEMs can push offers and incentives to drivers and passengers alike.

“Our strategic partnership with BlackBerry allows us to offer a simpler payment experience via BlackBerry IVY that lets car owners connect their vehicles directly to their bank accounts and automatically pay for services without needing to add a credit card,” said Sterling Pratz, CEO at Car IQ. “We believe the next generation of payments will center around the vehicle wallet, allowing auto OEMs to add wallets to their cars and enabling secure payment transactions.”

“BlackBerry IVY is providing Car IQ customers the ability to transact seamlessly across a large network of merchants right from their vehicle without a physical credit card,” said Vito Giallorenzo, SVP, General Manager of IVY and Head of Corporate Development at BlackBerry. “The technology can connect to OEMs who can create custom commerce experiences for their customers without sending user data to the cloud and has the ability to add prepaid services to the vehicle at the time of sale.”

Car IQ® Pay is accepted at over 21,500+ fuel stations nationwide including Shell, Sunoco and Kum & Go and now offers fleets and consumer vehicles the ability to pay for EV charging, nationwide tolling, and parking without the use of a credit card. Using Car IQ to refuel is simple: locate the nearest participating gas station, add the pump number to Car IQ Pay, refuel the vehicle, replace the pump and leave. Car IQ Pay facilitates payment and the receipt is sent to the car’s account.

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Alipay+, a provider of global cross-border digital payment and marketing solutions, is striving to provide cash-free and mobile-friendly travel experiences for Asian tourists in the Chinese mainland, as it seeks to partner with more merchants and enable greater QR code connectivity.

Starting from January 8, AlipayHK users can pay for metro rides in Shenzhen using their local app to enhance a seamless travel experience for Hong Kong visitors in the mainland. The service is enabled through joint efforts between Alipay+ and the city’s subway operator, following a similar payment system integration with bus operators in major cities across Guangdong province.

Venetia Lee, General Manager of Ant Group Greater China International Business, said, “As a pioneer in the field of digital life, we hope to play a bigger role in building digital infrastructure to enhance connectivity in the Greater Bay Area, and contribute to the better development of the region.”

The expanded acceptance of AlipayHK comes as China begins to optimize regulations on travel between mainland and Hong Kong, lifting quarantine requirements that were in place for almost three years.

“As the demand for travels between mainland and Hong Kong remains strong and cross-bound activities begin to normalize, we expect to witness the wide adoption of AlipayHK on the Chinese mainland, where Alipay+ solutions have already been adopted by millions of merchants that are ready for the return of international travelers,” said Lee.

Powered by Alipay+ solutions, AlipayHK, one of the most popular e-wallets in Hong Kong, is now widely accepted in the mainland by retailers, convenient stores, supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, bubble tea shops, hotels and other tourist spots in the mainland, where users can scan the same local merchant’s QR code for payment or present their in-app QR code to be scanned for payment.

Cash Free Travel to Users of Alipay+ Mobile Payment Partners

The connectivity with merchants across China is not limited to AlipayHK. Last November, Alipay+ announced on the sideline of the Singapore Fintech Festival that its mobile payment partners including South Korea’s Kakao Pay and Malaysia’s Touch ‘n Go eWallet would soon be accepted in mainland, in a drive to facilitate payments from international visitors ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games.

After a trial run in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, users of Kakao Pay and Touch ‘n Go eWallet are expected to pay in a seamless way with their respective apps while getting around in Hangzhou and its neighboring cities where the Hangzhou Asian Games will take place, in addition to other major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Alipay+ offers unified global mobile payment and marketing solutions that connect merchants with multiple e-wallets and payment methods. Consumers can conveniently use their preferred local payment methods while transacting seamlessly in a different market and be able to enjoy marketing offers by the merchants through Alipay+.

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