Soren Bested

Macha, Inc. and PaymentsFirst, Inc. to Merge Combination Creates Dynamic Payment Association Macha, Inc. ("Macha") and PaymentsFirst, Inc. ("PFI") announced today that their respective Boards of Directors have approved a merger agreement under which the two payment associations will combine. Macha's wholly-owned subsidiary, Payment Advisory Resource ("PAR"), will continue to offer audit and consulting services under the combined payment association. "Our organizations have very similar cultures and approaches to education, advocacy, and member-oriented service, and this merger gives us the strength and resources to remain competitive going forward.," said Mary Gilmeister, President and CEO of Macha. Rich Leary, President and CEO of PFI added, "I am excited to partner PaymentsFirst’s, education, member services, proprietary audit and risk assessment software, and industry leading AI utilization with all the exceptional services Macha offers to their members." Gilmeister will serve as the CEO of the resulting entity, and Leary will serve as the President. Leary noted, "I’ve collaborated with Mary Gilmeister on many industry initiatives over the past 30 years and am truly looking forward to bringing our teams together to serve our combined members." Gilmeister observed that "Rich Leary and his team have built a legacy with PFI that makes it a perfect fit for Macha and we look forward to working together and carrying that forward." The merger is subject to approval by the members of both Macha and PFI in accordance with their respective bylaws. The votes are expected to occur in the 3rd quarter of 2024 with consummation to follow shortly thereafter. Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. served as Macha's legal advisor. Adams and Reese LLP served as PFI’s legal advisor. ### About Macha Macha was formed in 1975 and has more than 500 members. Macha, directly and through PAR, offers its members support on all payment systems, education, audit, risk and consulting services. www.macha.org. Contact Mary Gilmeister at (262) 345-1245 or [email protected]. About PFI PFI was formed in 2015 and has more than 650 members. PFI offers its members support on all payment systems, education, audit, risk, and consulting services. www.paymentsfirst.org. Contact Rich Leary at (678) 528-3234 or [email protected]. View the full press release here: https://lnkd.in/ec2g97Ak

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The latest update from the research team at Primal Capital explains the importance of wallets in the Web3 ecosystem and highlights the evolution of solutions in the market today. These solutions provide greater utility compared to the original Web3 wallets, which was simply to safeguard assets from centralized platforms.

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Nigerian fintech OPay’s valuation nears $3 billion, having increased by over 30% since its Series C funding round in 2021. OPay’s growth underscores the surge in digital payment adoption in Nigeria. “OPay has made significant leaps in the past year, partly thanks to an ill-timed currency redesign that triggered cash scarcity for multiple weeks. The absence of cash led more people to rely on fintech apps like Moniepoint and OPay for transactions, pushing national payment volumes to record levels in early 2023. The momentum remained till the end of the year as the value of annual digital payments grew by more than 50% to N611 trillion, according to the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement Scheme (NIBSS).” Via TechCabal. https://lnkd.in/dJUMzE6T #fintech #financialservices #payments #paymentsolutions #digitalpayments #africa #nigeria

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The fintechs we work with realize their internal resources are best spent on their client facing platform and feature set. They leverage Kooltra to power their back office. You don't need to build it yourself. Get to market faster, stay compliant, and maintain focus on your core business. Bonus? You can leverage our APIs to seamlessly connect and customize the product to fit your unique needs. Ready to get started? Book a call with Adam Katz or Will Cowland today. #fx #forex #fintech

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How do you see crypto transforming your daily transactions? Venkat Mandava, SVET Svitlo, Graham Bignell, Sang Lee, Ethan Chankowsky, Ed Prado, Arjun Thyagarajan, Kevin Lehtiniitty, Elias Fernandez Sanchez, Susmit Lavania, Conward Swift, Simone Mazzuc BRLA Digital, a frontrunner in cross-border payments and crypto infrastructure, is on a roll after securing further investment from 99 Capital. This boosts their pre-seed funding to a whopping R$ 4 million. Here's the breakdown: 1. Strategic Investments: Backed by Dave Wang of 99 Capital and big names from the crypto world. 2. Crypto Innovation: Their homegrown stablecoin, $BRLA, brings efficiency to financial transactions. 3. Growing Influence: With over 30 potential clients by end of 2024, they're setting the pace in the fintech realm. https://lnkd.in/dw--F8Wz #CryptoInfrastructure #FintechInnovation #CrossBorderPayments

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Wherever you go, Peter Piatetsky, bankers and regulators should follow! If you are a #RegTech or #FinTech founder like Peter and Julian Vasilkoski (offering the fastest, most accurate, and most reliable financial crime risk screening solution), Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator wants to meet you! Applications are now OPEN for ERA's Winter 2025 cohort (details below). Or, maybe you're like Ralph Nanad, CPA and Bhav Bhela (using AI to streamline your corporate reporting), Baptiste Bouvier (building the future of regulatory intelligence), or Max Klein and Chuck Blake (AI-powered productivity for wealth management), let's talk - or apply to ERA now! ✍ Apply: https://lnkd.in/dqz985D 💰 Companies selected to participate in the four-month program will receive an initial investment of $150K on a 6% post-money SAFE and the potential for follow-on funding. 🗽 ERA is New York City’s leading technology accelerator and early-stage venture capital fund. Since its founding in 2011, ERA alumni companies have raised more than $2 billion in investor capital and collectively exceed $10 billion in market capitalization. 🗓 Deadline: November 4, 2024 📅 Program start date: January 13, 2025 #venturecapital #technology #funding #startup Castellum.AI 10clear DiploAI LEA (getlea.io)

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🔦 Synctera Console Spotlight: see how we streamline due diligence and facilitate safe and compliant sponsor banking partnerships. How do banks assess the risks of new FinTech or embedded banking programs? The sponsor bank must deeply understand the business they are partnering with and the product they’ll be launching before finalizing a partnership together. They do this by evaluating the product, the target customer, the company, and any third-party relationships the partner program utilizes. How does Synctera help with this process? ⏩ It all starts with the Customer Profile in the Synctera Console. The Customer Profile is the first step of a customer’s journey with Synctera and builds a complete picture of their business for our bank partners to review. It establishes confidence in a new partner and makes sponsor bank introductions productive, building lasting partnerships. It ensures that all due diligence documentation is centralized, making it easy to audit and reference on an ongoing basis. Importantly, it helps prevent last-minute surprises that could derail months of work and relationship building. We require 4 sections to complete a partner program’s full Company Profile: ✍️ Company Profile: contains basic business information, including business legal name, company website, business description, Tax ID or EIN, business plan, and more. 👥 Team Info: contains management team and board of directors information, as well as a full organizational chart for larger organizations. 💲 Financial Condition: contains funding information, current financial status, financial and user acquisition projections, and financial statements. ⚖️ Legal & Regulatory: contains a legal, risk, and compliance questionnaire so bank partners can better understand current policies and procedures. Interested in learning more about how the Synctera Console promotes safe and compliant banking partnerships? Reach out to our team!

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#Transaction #Funding PastPay raises €12m in Series A to accelerate #B2B #Payments across Europe, led by Platina Capital #SpecialtyFinance #BNPL https://lnkd.in/eqJHQ4H5

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EXCLUSIVE: "A Breed Apart" - Pat Patel, GFTN in 'The Fintech Magazine' Birthing an innovative startup from within a regulatory authority is, as Pat Patel observes, ‘not a well-trodden path’. But it’s what the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) did – twice! Pat Patel: MAS has taken another bold step in setting up the Global Finance & Technology Network to strengthen Singapore’s position as a global fintech hub and enhance global connectivity for impactful innovation in financial services internationally. Our mission is to harness technology and foster innovation through global partnerships to promote more efficient, resilient, and inclusive financial policy, finance and technology. It’s all about driving greater synergies within the global finance and technology communities to encourage innovations in financial services that create positive economic value and social impact. https://lnkd.in/e2cP_vSn #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews #sff24 #singaporefintechfestival

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Let's normalize talking about the emotional resilience required as a startup founder. At Treeo VC we do believe that the best operational synergies are derived from diverse co founding teams. We love seeing business, tech and subject matter experts coming together because that's where the innovation magic happens. And just as important as the unique insight that this trifecta delivers is the extra emotional juice to support each other and the organization. Here's an easy read below: Treeo VC Arzu Tekir Cigdem Toraman https://lnkd.in/drzRpyyK

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“With increased regulatory scrutiny, there will be more clarity about what banks need to do to operate safely in embedded finance.” - Itai Damti, CEO 💡 Learn three questions fintech banks are asking in a new article from Axios. https://lnkd.in/gEwqd5D8

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Primer Builds on 2024 Successes to Accelerate Growth in EU, US and APAC as It Marks Five Years of Unified Payments Gabriel Le Roux, CEO and Co-Founder of Primer, says, "In the last five years, we’ve carved out a new space for payments, disrupting a market that has seen little innovation for nearly 15 years. As the world’s first unified payment infrastructure, we're leading the charge in payment innovation while the walled gardens crumble, pushing large Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to rethink their business models. At the same time, forward-thinking merchants are reimagining their payment stacks, transforming them into seamless, scalable growth enablers. The excitement from global businesses and the strength of our partnerships prove one thing: the future of payments is unified – and we’re just getting started.” https://lnkd.in/ezGXXJzA Georgi Georgiev Alex Mallet Caitriona Staunton FCIPD Sam Elgar Rodrigo Q. Jade Thomas Theo Spyrides Sameer Talwar Kailash Madan #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews

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Plaid helps all companies build fintech solutions by making it easy, safe and reliable for people to connect their financial data to apps and services. Learn more about Plaid and How It Powers Fintech Solutions https://lnkd.in/gh4U4PA9 #plaid #fintechsolutions

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