EMEA Daily: The Independent Taps Bolt for eCommerce Payments; Noble Raises $18M to Expand, Open US Office

In today’s Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) news, The Independent partners with Bolt for editorial eCommerce payments, and Israeli FinTech Noble announces an $18 million funding round and planned U.S. office.

Dubai-Based IT Distributor Mindware Launches B2B Site for UAE

Dubai-based Mindware, a distributor of information technology (IT) products in the Middle East and Africa, has launched a B2B eCommerce website in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and said it will soon do so in other regional markets.

With the launch of the Mindware Store in the UAE, the company aims to add digital offerings to its traditional business, expand its market reach via this new channel and provide resellers with a “modern and engaging online shopping experience,” the company stated in a Wednesday (Sept. 21) press release.

Per the release, the Mindware Store offers the company’s partners an immediate credit line, access to a variety of brands and products and real-time information about availability, prices and offers. It also offers expedited shipping options and an interactive dashboard.

Revolut Debuts Freelance Payment Tool Revolut Pro

Financial super app Revolut has launched Revolut Pro, an income, expense and payment management account for self-employed workers.

“The world of work is becoming more flexible,” the U.K.-based company said in a news release.

Initially debuting in the U.K. and seven other countries in Europe, Revolut Pro is free and lets customers manage their business funds with no need for a fully-fledged business account.

The tool allows for multi-currency payments with a physical or virtual card, Google Pay and Apple Pay, as well as money transfers.

Noble Raises $18M Series A to Open US Office, Expand Products

FinTech startup Noble has raised $18 million to open an office in the U.S. and expand its suite of offerings to enable companies to build, launch and scale credit-based products and services like credit cards and buy now, pay later (BNPL).

The Tel Aviv-based FinTech is coming out of stealth after developing the platform and piloting the service with “prominent customers,” the company stated Wednesday.

The Series A round was led by Insight Partners with participation from Cross River Digital Ventures, Y-Combinator, Flexport Fund, TLV Partners, Operator Partners, Verissimo Ventures, Interplay Ventures, Plug and Play and the George Kaiser Family Foundation.

Onfido Debuts Facial Biometric Tech that Verifies ID in Seconds

Global digital identity verification and authentication provider Onfido has introduced a new solution for its recently released Real Identity Platform.

Motion, a next-generation biometric liveness solution, is iBeta Level 2 certified and enables businesses to automate customer onboarding and assess a higher number of people faster while also reducing exposure to fraud.

With Onfido’s artificial intelligence technology Atlas, Motion strives to reduce user bias across all ethnicities. The models have also been trained to recognize fraud.

The Onfido Real Identity Platform verifies a customer’s identity using a combination of documents, biometrics, trusted data sources, and passive fraud signals.

The Independent Taps Bolt for Editorial eCommerce Payments

U.K. newspaper The Independent has transformed its eCommerce service through a new partnership with digital payments firm Bolt, the publisher announced in a Wednesday (Sept. 21) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

To complement advertising revenue, The Independent launched the IndyBest platform, which allows the company to earn commission on sales generated by clicks from its product reviews and retail news.

Up until now, however, IndyBest readers were directed away from the Independent website to make their purchases. Now, by using Bolt’s one-click “Checkout Everywhere” product, readers can shop directly from editorial content without having to navigate to a different website.

Brands available through IndyBest storytelling include Weekday, ARKET, Love Brand & Co, and Molton Brown, with “many more to come.”

London-Based Paysafe Joins Spreedly Partner Program

Paysafe, an international payments company headquartered in London, announced in a Wednesday press release that it is joining Spreedly’s Partnership Program — an “inclusive ecosystem which offers multiple payments services globally, with 120+ available integrations from a single point of connection.”

The partnership between Paysafe and Spreedly has launched in the U.K. and mainland Europe and the two companies plan to extend their collaboration to North America and Latin America.

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