As the need for digitalization has been increasing every day, so has the number of fintech companies. The trend of digital banking solutions has led to more convenience for the customers as well as has introduced a new field for businesses to develop on. To enhance its digital payments offerings, the American tech giant IBM has acquired the Montreal-based fintech startup Expertus Technologies. The financial terms of the deal were not revealed.
What is Expertus?
The Canadian Expertus has been processing more than $50 billion transactions in a day with more than 1,000 banks, credit unions, regulatory agencies, and corporations using the Expertus platform to make their payments. The fintech startup is also one of the biggest North American services bureaus of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions called SWIFT. SWIFT assists banks with money transfer and treasury deals.
Following the acquisition, Expertus will enter the IBM Global Business Services division. Previously, Expertus also had a deal with IBM’s Payments Center Canada. The digital payments solution offered by Expertus will improve the payment options in IBM’s hybrid cloud. According to Mark Foster, senior vice president of IBM Services, Expertus will allow financial institutions to come up with innovative solutions and cater to the changing customer demands.
Benefits Of The Acquisition To IBM & Expertus
For Expertus, the acquisition would result in synergies and it would allow Expertus to offer its services worldwide. Moreover, the deal would deepen IBM’s ability to manage complex integrations of technologies and people and processes. The acquisition of Expertus comes after IBM’s last month’s acquisition of TruQua which acts as IBM’s SAP partner. IBM also purchased Spanugo, a leading cybersecurity assurance provider, to improve its services for clients who operate in heavily regulated industries.
Banks vs Fintech Companies
Global managing partner of banking at IBM Business Services, Shanker Ramamurthy, pointed out that banks are spending more than $100 billion on keeping their technology updated to keep competing with fintech rivals like PayPal and Square.
The war between older legacy banks and fintech companies has been going on in recent years. It toughened up even more as the arrival of the pandemic forced everything to turn into a digital model. While competing with fintech companies is one way to deal with them, collaborating with them could lead to enhancements for both parties since fintech companies have the technology while older banks have large customer bases.
IBM’s acquisition of Expertus can prove to be a smart move in a world that has been rapidly moving to digital solutions in its everyday life.
I am Sophia william, author of World Stock Market. I have a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and I have worked as a reporter for several news websites. I have a passion for writing and informing people about the latest news and events happening in the world. I strive to be accurate and unbiased in my reporting, and I hope to provide readers with valuable information that they can use to make informed decisions.
