Fintech PR
Refine Intelligence Launches with $13M Seed Funding to Transform Anti-Money Laundering by “Catching the Good Guys”
Refine helps financial institutions recognize customers’ life stories and identify legitimate activities, so they can quickly clear away false alarms
NEW YORK and TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Refine Intelligence, the pioneer in Financial Crime Greenflagging, launched today with a $13 million seed funding round led by Glilot Capital Partners and Fin Capital with participation from SYN Ventures, Valley Ventures (the corporate venture capital arm of Valley Bank), and other investors including Ground Up Ventures.
While the anti-money laundering (AML) industry is focused on detecting account anomalies, Refine Intelligence is the only crime-fighting fintech focused on “greenflagging” legitimate customer behavior through providing a clear picture of their life stories. This novel approach is set to change the game in AML, helping banks reduce handling time while focusing on truly unexplained anomalies. Founded by serial entrepreneurs in financial crime fighting and cybersecurity, Refine Intelligence will use the funding to accelerate expansion within North America, Europe and Latin America, and advance the development of its technology.
Catching the Good Guys
AML investigators are overwhelmed by transaction monitoring alerts that spot anomalies in customer accounts. Most alerts are triggered by perfectly legitimate life stories such as selling a house, buying a used car, or paying tuition for an international student. Banks simply lack the context for these activities, and devote many resources to investigating false alarms. Refine Intelligence provides critical context in real time to explain customers’ actions using two capabilities:
- User-friendly digital inquiries in which customers are asked about the source of funds, the nature of the activity and other crucial contextual information; and
- AI trained using a unique, proprietary data set of genuine customer activity patterns that can automatically recognize specific customer life stories.
With Refine Intelligence, banks can bolster their existing AML monitoring to:
- Better focus on truly suspicious activity by quickly clearing away false alarms
- More clearly understand customer behavior and transactions, leading to more effective and efficient investigations
- Enable financial institutions to collect much needed context from the customer in a structured, consistent and bias-free manner
Putting Customer Relationships Back into Banks’ Hands
“Banks used to have a superpower: knowing their customers’ life stories so they could provide personalized financial service,” said Refine Intelligence Co-founder and CEO Uri Rivner. “With banking increasingly done online and a significant drop in face-to-face interactions, banks’ understanding of customer behavior is limited. Refine Intelligence restores that critical context, empowering banks to ‘catch the good guys’ – identify false alarms triggered by perfectly legitimate customer transactions, and focus their energy on actual dubious activity.”
Refine Intelligence’s first customer was Valley Bank, which saw such great outcomes that their venture capital arm, Valley Ventures, decided to invest in the company. “After implementing Refine Intelligence’s solution, our AML inquiry process was cut from 16 days to two minutes,” said Valley Bank’s Director of AML Chris Phillips. “This has freed up our team to spend less time on investigations and more time serving our customers. Using Refine Intelligence has enhanced our efficiency by streamlining the process of investigating and resolving AML alerts, and improving our customers’ satisfaction.”
Statistical Analysis from Refine Intelligence
Based on Refine Intelligence’s work with North American banks, it has determined the following points of interest:
- Refine Intelligence’s Digital Outreach reduces customer inquiry resolution time from two weeks to two minutes.
- Refine’s Digital Outreach customer inquiries achieve an 85% completion rate
- 64% of all AML alerts can be explained by the following top five life stories:
- Buying or selling real estate
- Payment for cash-intensive jobs
- Giving or receiving of gifts
- Buying or selling a vehicle
- Payment for construction expenses
“Money laundering is a persistent problem for banks to monitor, yet it lacks an effective automated solution to keep the issue in check,” said Glilot Capital Partner Founder and Managing Partner Kobi Samboursky. “Refine Intelligence has developed a powerful solution that ensures efficiency through the innovative application of their AI technology. We are excited about the market opportunities ahead of Refine Intelligence, and thrilled to join their mission to transform the financial fraud detection sector.”
“In a digitally-transformed banking landscape, Refine Intelligence stands out for its innovation in combating financial crime,” said Fin Capital Principal Sasha Pilch. “Their approach to AML offers a simple yet unique solution to a problem that banks have struggled with for years. We’re excited to join Refine Intelligence on its path to becoming a leader in crime-fighting fintech, transforming how banks combat money laundering and fraud.”
About Refine Intelligence
Refine Intelligence has developed a novel approach to help banks reduce the growing operational costs of financial crime. Their proprietary AI scans anti-money laundering alerts from transaction monitoring systems and “greenflags” customers’ legitimate activity to dramatically reduce investigation time, and can also be used to protect against check fraud, scams and money mules. Founded by tech veterans in fighting financial crime, Refine Intelligence is backed by Glilot Capital Partners, SYN Ventures, Fin Capital and Valley Ventures. To learn more, visit www.refineintelligence.com.
For more information, please contact:
Josh Turner
Si14 Global Communications
[email protected]
+1 (917) 231-0550
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/refine-intelligence-launches-with-13m-seed-funding-to-transform-anti-money-laundering-by-catching-the-good-guys-301987267.html
Fintech PR
Ethara: EMIRATI SISTERS AMNA AND HAMDA AL QUBAISI RETURN TO YAS MARINA CIRCUIT FOR F1 ACADEMY SEASON FINALE
The single-seater all-female championship series, Formula 1 Academy, wraps up an exciting season of racing at Yas Marina Circuit, supporting the Formula 1 season finale from 5-8 December
Ambassadors of Abu-Dhabi based team, Yas Heat Racing, Hamda and Amna will race at home with Red Bull Racing and Visa Cash App RB – capping off their second season in the championship
ABU DHABI, UAE, Dec. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — In their second season competing in F1 Academy, the prestigious single-seater support series, Hamda and Amna Al Qubaisi have taken their racing careers to new heights. From 6-8 December, the two young Emirati drivers return to Yas Marina Circuit, where they first developed and honed their skills, to conclude an exhilarating season of on-track action.
Having cultivated their passion for racing in Abu Dhabi, the sisters flourished into competitive athletes under the Yas Heat Academy umbrella, the capital’s premier racing development programme. Now competing for two of the championship’s most competitive teams and serving as ambassadors for Yas Heat Racing, Amna and Hamda Al Qubaisi continue to embody the nation’s vision of nurturing young talent at the grassroots level.
Hamda Al Qubaisi was signed by Red Bull Racing for the team’s debut season in F1 Academy. The 22-year-old has delivered standout performances throughout the campaign, culminating in a strong showing at the penultimate race of the 2024 season in Doha last weekend going into the last round in 6th place.
Meanwhile, Amna Al Qubaisi is driving for Visa Cash App Racing in the championship. The 24-year-old Emirati trailblazer has impressed fans and competitors alike, consistently showcasing her skill and determination on the track.
Looking ahead to their return to Yas Marina Circuit, Amna Al Qubaisi shared her excitement:
“I’ve been racing for 10 years now, I started in karting here at Yas Marina circuit, and I slowly developed from karting nationally, moving up to juniors, then seniors, and the next step was Formula 4. Being a Yas Heat ambassador has been great. Yas Heat has helped me develop my skills. They have taught me, coached me, provided me with the the appropriate insights. It is a program that is going to help young racers in karting move up the ladder.”
Red Bull Racing driver Hamda Al Qubaisi added: “Racing at Yas Marina Circuit is both nostalgic and empowering for us as Emirati women. Representing the UAE and Yas Heat Racing on a global stage has been an incredible opportunity, and we look forward to finishing the season on a high note by giving all we can for our teams, surrounded by friends and family.”
Formula 1 Academy joins a packed racing programme at Yas Marina Circuit during the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, which also features the FIA Formula 2 season finale and the FIA Formula 4 Middle East Trophy Round. Offering non-stop entertainment, the Abu Dhabi GP weekend kicks off on Thursday, 4 December, promising an unforgettable four-day celebration on Yas Island.
For more information, please visit: https://www.yasmarinacircuit.com/en/motorsports/yas-heat-racing
Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2575428/Ethara_Amna_Qubaisi.jpg
Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2575429/Ethara_Hamda_Qubaisi.jpg
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/ethara-emirati-sisters-amna-and-hamda-al-qubaisi-return-to-yas-marina-circuit-for-f1-academy-season-finale-302325112.html
ZUG, Switzerland, Dec. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Hashgraph Association (THA), a Swiss innovation leader at the forefront of empowering a digital future for all, has committed $1.5 million to the Global Centre for Sustainable Digital Finance as a founding member. This collaboration aims to drive and fund groundbreaking research and innovation at the intersection of sustainability and digital finance.
The Global Centre for Sustainable Digital Finance, which brings together academic experts from Stanford University, the University of Zurich (UZH), and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) in South Korea, focuses on developing and accelerating research in sustainable digital finance with impact and training students and practitioners to foster innovation on a global scale. With THA’s committed funding, the Centre will expand its efforts to address global challenges in banking, ESG, financial inclusion, and climate finance.
The Hashgraph Association’s involvement extends beyond just funding. The organization will collaborate with the Centre to conceptualize and implement projects leveraging its cutting-edge Hedera DLT platform. Additionally, THA will equip 360 students annually with skills in mastering DLT using the Hedera Hashgraph platform, with over 2,160 students to be trained over the duration of the partnership, which is 6 years. It will also train 10 trainers equivalent to 60 trainers over this period. Participants will receive Hedera certifications in the form of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), adding a digital-first dimension to credentialing.
Kamal Youssefi, President of The Hashgraph Association, stated, “At The Hashgraph Association, we are proud to continue supporting organizations that deliver environmentally sustainable finance solutions in an innovative and compliant way. A recent environmental impact study by University College London (UCL) comparing different distributed ledger networks proved that Hedera is the world’s most sustainable network. The Global Center for Sustainable Digital Finance fits perfectly into our Hedera Enablement Program, furthering THA’s efforts to expand research and development in Web3 and support sustainable initiatives.”
A recent survey of 37 UNDP country offices revealed that sustainable digital finance is a priority for many nations, yet only 40% have a digital finance strategy. THA’s partnership with the Global Centre for Sustainable Digital Finance aims to fill this gap by bridging digital finance and sustainability through innovative, education, impactful research and implementation.
Thomas Puschmann, Founder and Executive Director of Global Center for Sustainable Digital Finance, states, “We are very pleased to be working with The Hashgraph Association. Sustainable digital finance has the potential to build inclusive, safe digital foundations, and technologies such as DLT, AI, and IoT, helping to increase transparency and reliability of information, especially in the climate financing domain. These foundations also aid in tackling corruption issues when funding SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) projects.”
The Hashgraph Association launched a $50 million Sustainability Venture Studio for enterprises earlier this year and has also partnered with Deloitte to enhance the verification of corporate ESG impact, reporting, and sustainability claims, leveraging the Hedera Guardian as the trusted balance sheet of the earth. Collaborating with Deloitte NL Risk Advisory B.V. in the Netherlands, this partnership focuses on enabling corporations to measure, track, report, and tokenize evidence-based ESG impact and sustainability claims on Hedera and ensuring a carbon-neutral future.
Kamal Youssefi, President of The Hashgraph Association is available for an interview upon request
About Global Center for Sustainable Finance
The financial system is currently being transformed by digitization and sustainability. However, existing knowledge on the topic of Sustainable Digital Finance, which bridges both areas, is still rare and a more comprehensive understanding of the domain is a missing component. The Global Center for Sustainable Digital Finance focuses on this domain and aims to develop innovative approaches (research), accelerate those approaches (impact), and train students and practitioners to foster innovation on a global scale (education).
About The Hashgraph Association
The Hashgraph Association is at the forefront of the digital enablement and empowerment of organizations through the broad adoption of Hedera-powered enterprise-grade solutions and decentralized applications, which includes supporting and funding of training, innovation, and venture-building programs globally. As a non-profit organization headquartered in Switzerland, The Hashgraph Association provides funding for innovation, research, and development that enables economic inclusion and a digital future for all, with a positive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impact.
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2573640/THA_sustainable_digital_finance.jpg
For Media Enquiries:
Dustin Rotenberg, Chief Marketing Officer
[email protected]
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-hashgraph-association-pledges-1-5m-to-global-centre-for-sustainable-digital-finance-302325106.html
Fintech PR
Thomson Reuters named a Leader in 2024 IDC MarketScape for Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-enabled Sales and Use Tax Automation Software for Enterprise
TORONTO, Dec. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Thomson Reuters (NYSE/TSX: TRI), a global content and technology company, today announced that it has been positioned as a Leader in two IDC MarketScape reports – IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled SaaS Sales and Use Tax Automation Software for Enterprise 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #US52035324, December 2024), and IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Value-Added Tax Management Applications 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #US52732824, December 2024).
“In today’s rapidly evolving global marketplace, tax compliance has become increasingly complex for multinational corporations. At Thomson Reuters, we’re committed to empowering our customers with cutting-edge technology that not only ensures compliance but also enhances their competitive edge,” said Ray Grove, head of Corporate Tax and Trade at Thomson Reuters.
“We believe our recognition as a Leader in both the enterprise SUT and VAT markets in this IDC MarketScape underscores our unwavering dedication to our customers’ success. Through our trusted ONESOURCE solutions, serving over 205 countries and territories, we continue to push the boundaries of innovation. Our vision is to create a seamlessly connected suite of global indirect tax calculation, reporting, and e-invoicing capabilities, providing best-in-class technology to enable our customers to navigate the complexities of tax compliance with confidence and agility.”
“Businesses of all sizes are grappling with an increasingly complex tax landscape, and they are turning to technology vendors for sophisticated tax automation solutions that seamlessly integrate, ensure compliance, and boost operational efficiency,” said Kevin Permenter, research manager at IDC. “Thomson Reuters has consistently demonstrated its commitment to innovation and customer success in the SaaS and cloud-enabled Value-Added Tax automation software market. Their ONESOURCE platform stands out for its comprehensive global coverage, robust integration capabilities, and advanced features powered by edge computing and AI. They are positioned well to address the evolving needs of businesses facing intricate tax compliance challenges across multiple jurisdictions.”
Pagero, part of Thomson Reuters, was also recently named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: European Compliant e-Invoicing 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #EUR151806424, September 2024). As a key part of Thomson Reuters e-invoicing offering, ONESOURCE Pagero supports businesses to accelerate growth with trusted, automated e-invoicing software that streamlines global compliance processes to unlock valuable business insights.
Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE offers comprehensive tax compliance solutions, including automated tax return preparation and filing for Sales and Use Tax and VAT. It integrates with major ERPs and provides tax determination and calculation for all transactions. ONESOURCE also features edge computing for faster, more controlled tax calculations. Recently, Thomson Reuters launched ONESOURCE with CoCounsel globally, integrating generative AI assistance. This enhanced solution combines a new AI Product Support skill with CoCounsel, Thomson Reuters professional-grade generative AI assistant that provides instant, natural-language answers drawn from Thomson Reuters trusted, proprietary content.
About IDC MarketScape
IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of technology and service suppliers in a given market. The research utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each supplier’s position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of technology suppliers can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective suppliers.
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters (NYSE / TSX: TRI) (“TR”) informs the way forward by bringing together the trusted content and technology that people and organizations need to make the right decisions. The company serves professionals across legal, tax, accounting, compliance, government, and media. Its products combine highly specialized software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence, and solutions needed to make informed decisions, and to help institutions in their pursuit of justice, truth, and transparency. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters, is a world leading provider of trusted journalism and news. For more information, visit tr.com.
Media contact
Kirsty Bennett
Director, Customer and Product PR
[email protected]
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2374577/Thomson_Reuters_Logo.jpg
View original content:
-
Fintech4 days agoFintech Pulse: Your Daily Industry Brief (PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Introspective Market Research, Deel, Kingdom Advisors, Basta Pay)
-
Fintech3 days agoFintech Pulse: Your Daily Industry Brief (21X, 9fin, Upstart, LendingClub, Cloudflare)
-
Fintech2 days agoFintech Pulse: Your Daily Industry Brief (Axos Bank, Global Trading Network, Fonepay, Compass Plus Technologies, Instacoins)
-
Fintech1 day agoFintech Pulse: Your Daily Industry Brief (Pennant Technologies, MogoPlus, Stash, Kennel Connection, RedRover)
-
Fintech PR7 days agoADGM’s Asset Management Sector Leads Exponential Growth in Third Quarter of 2024
-
Fintech2 days agoBety Unveils Enhanced Offer of 20,000+ Crypto Games and Sportsbook Events
-
Fintech4 days agoEMGA arranges US$ 30M debt finance for Uzbekistan’s Ipak Yuli Bank
-
Fintech PR4 days agoSynFutures Announces Foundation, F Token Airdrop, and Initial Exchange Listings