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TrueLayer raises $130m to accelerate the adoption of open banking payments globally

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  • Latest raise led by Tiger Global Management LLC with participation from global payments technology firm Stripe. Brings the total raised to date to c$270m.

  • TrueLayer processes billions in payments, with 400% growth in payment volume and 800% growth in monthly payment value as the company expands across Europe and doubles its customer base.

  • Funding to accelerate the global rollout of TrueLayer’s payments network, with a focus on instant and recurring payments.

TrueLayer, the global open banking pioneer, today announced that it has closed a $130 million fundraising round, led by new investor Tiger Global Management LLC, the New York-based technology investor, with participation from global payments technology provider Stripe. The latest investment gives the business a post-money valuation of more than $1 billion.

The raise reflects TrueLayer’s position as the market leader in open banking payments, and the scale of its ambition to introduce a new global payment network, making instant and recurring payments available everywhere, in a few lines of code. In 2021, TrueLayer has processed billions in payments, experiencing 400% growth in monthly payment volume and 800% growth in monthly payment value as the company expanded across Europe and doubled its customer base.

Millions of consumers and businesses use TrueLayer to pay for goods and services. Whether investing through Freetrade, banking with Revolut, buying or selling a car on Cazoo, or saving money with one of the UK’s largest loyalty card schemes, TrueLayer powers some of Europe’s most innovative brands. With the new funding it takes greater aim at opportunities in ecommerce, to supercharge the mainstream adoption of open banking payments. On average, 1 in 3 people already choose to pay via technology powered by TrueLayer, and some merchant partners are seeing more than 70% of their customers choosing to pay securely with their bank account over cards or digital wallets.

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Francesco Simoneschi, CEO and co-founder of TrueLayer, commented: “There is only so long that global business can rely on systems that are outdated, expensive and not fit for the digital age. TrueLayer is carving a new world of payments altogether, which can deliver a fundamentally faster, safer and more user friendly experience that also improves conversion and delivers higher revenues for merchants. We are leading this innovation through instant deposits and withdrawals, and merging Variable Recurring Payments and Direct Debit to build ‘account on file’ services on top of our open banking network. There is an opportunity to rewire the financial system from the ground up and we are leading that evolution through open banking payments.”

TrueLayer’s network provides 95%+ coverage across the UK and major European markets, and accounts for more than half of all open banking traffic in the UK, Ireland and Spain. Its API-first approach helps customers to seamlessly pay, onboard, and share financial information in seconds, garnering a reputation as the technology provider behind many of the most valuable fintechs and cutting-edge businesses.

“Our investors have seen the impact TrueLayer is having by empowering important sectors, from ecommerce platforms and marketplaces, banks, through to trading and investment firms. I’m delighted to welcome an investor of the calibre of Tiger Global, who have an incredible track record backing firms like Flipkart, Nubank and Square that are creating the platforms, distribution networks and services of tomorrow,” Simoneschi added. “I’m also incredibly proud to have a new partner like Stripe, a company we have long admired for its developer experience and focus on solving real world problems that deliver significant value to its customers. I’m looking forward to collaborating closely with both firms to deliver on our vision.”

The new funding will be used to further scale TrueLayer’s business, offering the benefits of instant bank payments to more markets and sectors, and delivering continued product development and innovation, such as the PayDirect solution. It will also be used to continue the firm’s geographic expansion and deepening its engineering, product and commercial teams globally.

“When Francesco and I founded TrueLayer it was with a belief that open banking would act as a catalyst for fundamental change in financial services. I’m incredibly proud of how we’ve built the firm, with a focus on quality engineering and user experience aligned to product development that delivers the best possible services,” commented Luca Martinetti, co-founder and CTO at TrueLayer. “That is reflected in the thousands of developers using our services, the talent we are retaining and the calibre of leaders we’re attracting from world-class technology and fintech companies. Our people buy into the vision for what we’re building and the journey ahead. It’s also reflected in the quality of our investors who believe in our ambition and are as excited as us about what comes next.”

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Alex Cook, Partner, Tiger Global, said: “The shift to alternative payment methods is accelerating with the global growth of online commerce, and we believe TrueLayer will play a central role in making these payment methods more accessible. We’re excited to partner with Francesco, Luca and the TrueLayer team as they help customers increase conversion and continue to grow the network.”

The funding round is the latest milestone for TrueLayer in 2021. It follows the launch of its PayDirect solution, Verification API, and Payouts solution, receiving its full EU authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland and establishing its European HQ in Dublin.

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56 suspicious betting alerts reported by IBIA in Q1 2024

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Football (soccer) and tennis accounted for 68% of cases

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) reported 56 alerts of suspicious betting to the relevant authorities in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024.

The Q1 2024 total is an increase of 65% when compared to 34 alerts in Q4 2023 and an increase of 12% when compared to the revised Q1 2023 total of 50 alerts. All of IBIA’s alerts are identified using customer account data from IBIA members, which number over 50 companies and 125 sports betting brands, making IBIA the largest integrity monitor of its type in the world.

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The 56 incidents of suspicious betting in Q1 concerned six sports, across 21 countries and five continents. Other key data for Q1 2024 includes:

  • Football (soccer) had the highest number of alerts by sport with 24, representing a 50% increase on the 16 reported in Q4 2023 and a 60% increase on the 15 reported in Q1 2022.
  • Turkey had the highest number of country alerts with 8 (five in football, two in tennis and one in basketball).
    41% of all alerts in Q1 were identified on sporting events taking place in Asia, with North and South America joint second with 18% each.
  • There were only 4 alerts identified on sporting events in Europe, which represents a decrease of 76% compared to 17 alerts in Q4 2023.

Khalid Ali, IBIA CEO, said: “The first quarter saw an increase in reported alerts highlighting the ongoing challenge our members, sports and regulatory authorities face from corrupt activity, with football and Asia dominating our Q1 report. IBIA’s alerts are supported by detailed global customer account data only available to IBIA and its membership, which continues to grow, widening our world leading market coverage. That account data provides evidentiary information that is vital for advancing investigations and imposing sanctions. IBIA is committed to continuing to work closely with stakeholders and to providing this important evidence base.”

The Q1 report includes a focus on the availability of sports betting in Canada and a comparison between the licensing approach in Ontario and the monopoly approach in the rest of the country. IBIA recently released a report on the Availability of Sports Betting Products which highlighted Ontario as a leading regulated gambling jurisdiction, with an expected onshore channelisation for sports betting of 92% in 2024 forecast to rise to 97% in 2028. Whereas the rest of Canada combined is forecast to have an onshore rate of around 11% in 2024 becoming 13% by 2028.

IBIA currently represents over 60% of the private sports betting operators licensed in Ontario, with Glitnor recently announced as the latest operator to join the association in that province. IBIA is a not-for-profit body that has no competing conflicts with the delivery of commercial services to other sectors and is run by operators for operators to protect regulated sports betting markets from match-fixing. IBIA’s global monitoring network is a highly effective anti-corruption tool, detecting and reporting suspicious activity in regulated betting markets.

Through the IBIA global monitoring network it is possible to track transactional activities linked to individual customer accounts. IBIA members have over $300bn per annum in betting turnover (handle), accounting for approximately 50% of the global commercial regulated land-based and online sports betting sector, and in excess of 50% for online alone.

The post 56 suspicious betting alerts reported by IBIA in Q1 2024 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Compliance Updates

Brazil’s Ministry of Finance Appoints Régis Dudena as Secretary of Prizes and Betting

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Regis Dudena, a seasoned lawyer with expertise in Public and Regulatory Law, has been appointed as the new Secretary of Prizes and Betting at the Ministry of Finance in Brazil. Dudena’s appointment ordinance is signed by Rui Costa, Minister of the Civil House.

The new secretary had already been visiting the Ministry of Finance and getting closer to the entire group at the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, until then led by Simone Vicentini, deputy secretary.

The appointment of the lawyer is attributed to the Executive Secretary of Finance, Dario Durigan. Dario and Dudena worked together at Palácio do Planalto during Dilma Rousseff’s government.

Both worked in the Legal Affairs secretariat of the Civil House. Dudena’s name is linked to other names on the left. He has good relations with Edinho Silva (PT), mayor of Araraquara (SP).

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The SPA started operating two months ago. Since then, it had been without a permanent boss. Lawyer José Francisco Manssur, special advisor to the Ministry of Finance who coordinated the regulation of sports betting from the beginning, was the most likely to take on the position. But he was exonerated under pressure from Centrão politicians.

Bets representatives welcomed the name Régis Dudena.

From the beginning, the SPA was under the responsibility of Simone Vicentini, appointed as deputy secretary. Since then, it has edited the ordinances that defined requirements for laboratory accreditation and the sector’s regulatory policy.

Under her supervision, three laboratories have already been approved, GLI, eCogra, and BMM. Last week, the ordinance establishing the rules for payment transactions to be complied with by sports betting and online gaming operators was also published.

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Debra Martin Chase

Gaming and Leisure Properties Appoints Debra Martin Chase to Board of Directors

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Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. announced that Debra Martin Chase has been appointed to the Board of Directors as a new independent director, effective immediately, to fill the vacancy created by the previously disclosed passing of JoAnne A. Epps.

The appointment of Ms. Chase to the Board of Directors brings the total number of directors to eight, seven of whom are considered independent according to the listing standards of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. Ms. Chase has also been appointed as a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Ms. Chase will hold her directorship until the Company’s next annual meeting of shareholders or until her successor is duly elected and qualified or until her earlier death, disqualification, resignation, or removal.

Ms. Chase is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of an entertainment production company doing business as Martin Chase Productions. She is a two-time Tony Award winning, a Peabody Award winning, and three-time Emmy nominated television, motion picture, and Broadway producer. Ms. Chase is an entertainment industry trailblazer, being the first female African American producer to have a deal with a major motion picture studio. Her films have grossed over $500 million at the box office. She brings to the Company over 30 years of experience in motion picture and television production as well as a corporate legal background.

Peter Carlino, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GLPI, said: “I am delighted to welcome Debra to our Board as we believe her extensive entertainment industry experience, impressive legal background and broad board experience across public companies and the arts will serve GLPI well as we continue to drive growth in shareholder value. She brings a wealth of knowledge to GLPI, which we believe is a perfect complement to the existing strengths of the Board. I am confident that she will help expand the diverse set of viewpoints that ultimately shape our mission.”

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