EMEA Daily: LianLian Brings Financing Options to UK eCommerce; QED Invests in African Banking Platform

In today’s news from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), cross-border payments company LianLian expands its services to merchants in the U.K., and FinTech-focused venture capital firm QED Investors makes its African debut, leading a funding round for Nigeria’s TeamApt.

LianLian Global Brings Financing Options to X-Border UK eCommerce Merchants

Global cross-border payment service provider LianLian Global is expanding its platform to the U.K. and adding financing options to support eCommerce merchants.

The expansion of the platform into the U.K. is intended to help eCommerce merchants and entrepreneurs sell abroad, make payments and get paid faster in key markets, including China and the U.S., the company said in a Wednesday (Aug. 10) press release.

The cross-border platform is available in the U.S. on marketplaces including Amazon, Google, Rakuten, Shopify, Walmart and Allegro. It enables online sellers to receive funds from marketplaces, pay suppliers and manage their foreign exchange (FX) risk.

TenureX, Martin Fiddaman Associates Partner to Streamline Correspondent Banking

Israeli startup TenureX has partnered with U.K. consultancy Martin Fiddaman Associates to help overseas banks in the U.K., challengers and FinTechs engage with correspondent banking services, with its “correspondent-banking-in-a-box” solution.

TenureX offers a cloud-based digital platform that enables customers to embed their risk-based approach and compliance rules into each payment instruction and digital workflow, reduce the cost of cross-border transactions and facilitate compliance, the company said in a press release announcing the latest partnership Tuesday (Aug. 9).

What the UK’s Economic Crime Bills Mean for Anti-Money Laundering Fight

Last week saw the implementation of the U.K.’s long-awaited “Register of Overseas Entities,” a cornerstone of the government’s Economic Crime Act.

As one of the world’s biggest financial centers, it’s no surprise that London attracts a variety of criminals looking to hide their transactions among the mass of legitimate ones, PYMNTS reports. As a result, over the years the country has put various legal mechanisms in place in an attempt to stem the flow of dark money.

Yet despite these efforts, successive governments have failed to patch several widely acknowledged weak points in the U.K.’s anti-money laundering (AML) armor.

Two acts have been tabled in Parliament this year that seek to address perceived loopholes in the country’s fight against money laundering, fraud and financial corruption.

Visa Direct Takes Preferred Partner Program Live Worldwide

The Visa Direct Preferred Partner Program is being expanded to include Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the coming months.

Offering technical training, sales, and go-to-market resources, the global Visa Direct Preferred Partner Program aims to accelerate time to market and help facilitate near real-time money mobility, both domestically and across borders, Visa stated in a press release shared with PYMNTS.

Job Vacancies in UK Financial Sector Highest on Record

Amid rapid digitization of financial services, a skills shortage in the U.K. means that the industry had more than five vacancies unfilled for every 100 jobs between April and June 2022, according to data compiled by the Office for National Statistics, Bloomberg reported.

The latest numbers mean that the current vacancy rate is the highest it’s been since records began in 2001, with only hospitality and tech firms performing worse than the banking and finance sector.

QED Investors Makes First African Investment in TeamApt

TeamApt, a Nigerian business payments and banking platform, has just closed a financing round that includes investment from the FinTech specialist venture capital firm QED Investors, TeamApt stated in a press release Wednesday.

TeamApt has developed what the company’s CEO Tosin Eniolorunda called a “hybrid banking model” when he spoke to PYMNTS in April.

The latest investment marks QED’s first venture into the African FinTech space. QED first announced it was entering Africa in February when it hired Gbenga Ajayi and Chidinma Iwueke to lead its investments on the continent.

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