Author: David Penn

Kreditech Leverages Mambu’s Banking Technology for Expansion to Indian Market

Kreditech Leverages Mambu’s Banking Technology for Expansion to Indian Market
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Kreditech, Mambu

Kreditech has selected Mambu’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) banking engine for its push into India’s lending market, reports Antony Peyton of Banking Technology (Finovate’s sister publication.)

The firm currently operates in Europe and Latin America and said it will expand into the sub-continent in early 2018, together with its partner PayU, a payments provider and a Mambu client in Latin America.

The engine will let Kreditech launch a short-term lending product tailored to local consumer and regulatory needs.

Alexander Graubner-Müller, CEO of Kreditech, said by using “alternative data and self-learning algorithms, we are able to evaluate consumers whose credit history is difficult for banks to gauge” – and it offers them “access to loans and thereby help them to gain economic independence”.

He added that Mambu’s cloud-native solution “easily integrates into our architecture, allowing us to quickly scale and adapt to market and consumer demands”.

The loan product is expected to go live in the first quarter of 2018, all data will be hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) India.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, Kreditech covers more than five markets, including Russia, Mexico, Spain and Poland. Up until now, the company says it has processed more than five million loan applications through its subsidiaries. Kreditech demonstrated its the effectiveness of its Kreditech algorithm that assesses client creditworthiness in less than a minute at FinovateSpring 2014.

A FinovateAsia alum, Mambu demonstrated its native cloud Saas banking application at our Singapore conference in 2013. Based in Berlin and founded in 2011, Mambu has forged partnerships with a number of FIs and fintechs in recent months including a deal with ABN Amro’s new fintech firm, New10 in October, and a deployment with German challenger bank, N26 announced in September.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Alfa-Bank, Featurespace, Gusto, ID.me, identitii, Klarna, PayStand, Realty Mogul, Ripple, Roostify, Scalable Capital, Truphone

On the web

  • Scalable Capital Launches in Switzerland.
  • Gusto Partners with Accounting Platform Aplos.
  • Alfa-Bank Collaborates with HashCash to Bring Domestic Payments to the Blockchain.
  • ID.me Powering Single-Sign On for VFW’s Digital Platforms

Around the web

  • ACI Worldwide announces its UP Merchant Payments solution now available as a cloud-based service.
  • Truphone, Featurespace and PayStand win spots on The Silicon Review’s 50 Smartest Companies list for 2017.
  • Bank Info Security features Nick Armstrong, CEO and founder of identitii.
  • Walmart Labs veteran Adnan Habib joins Roostify as VP of Engineering.
  • Realty Mogul appoints interim Chief Investment Officer Chris Fraley as its official CIO.
  • Klarna extends its partnership with ACI Worldwide.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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TransferWise Brings New Multi-Currency Borderless Accounts with Debit Cards to Public

TransferWise Brings New Multi-Currency Borderless Accounts with Debit Cards to Public
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: TransferWise

 

TransferWise announced that the new multi-currency account it initially introduced to businesses last year will be rolled out to consumers in the first quarter of 2018. The borderless accounts enable users to hold and convert up to 28 currencies at the real exchange rate; get bank details instantly from the U.K., E.U., Australia, and the U.S.; and to receive money transferred from abroad in GBP, EUR, AUD, and USD for free.

They are also free to open and do not require an overseas address. New users get a British account number and sort code, a European IBAN, an Australian account number and BSB code, and an American account number and routing number. There is a small fee for converting across currencies and for cash withdrawals, but there are no charges for monthly setup or receiving fees.

“Multi-currency accounts have been available from banks at extortionate prices for years, but for the first time we’re bringing true, multi-country banking – with real bank details in key currencies – to any one who needs it,” said TransferWise co-founder and chairman Taavet Hinrikus.

TransferWise made borderless accounts available to business customers as of May of last year, but did not come with the debit card the 2018 offering will have. The company told TechCrunch that the accounts are best thought of as a “companion account that solves a couple of different but fundamental problems.” Business Insider suggested that the account and debit card combo from TransferWise will help the company serve what it called the “competitive travel money market” as well as a counter to the challenge of fintechs like Revolut and its low-fee foreign exchange card.

The news from TransferWise comes just a few months after the company’s successful $280 million Series E round led by Old Mutual Global Investors. This added to the company’s valuation, last reported at $1.1 billion in 2017. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in London, U.K., TransferWise demonstrated its platform at FinovateEurope 2013. The company was named to the European Fintech 100 in September, along with several of its fellow Finovate alums, and earned a spot on CB Insights Fintech 250 list. In July, TransferWise announced that co-founder Kristo Kaarmann would take over as CEO from Taavet Hinrikus, who transitioned to the role of chairman.

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Alkami Scores $70 Million in Series D Funding

Alkami Scores $70 Million in Series D Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alkami Technology, Funding

In a round led by General Atlantic, and featuring participation from current investors S3 Ventures and Argonaut Private Equity, digital banking solutions provider Alkami has raised $70 million in new funding. The Series D round, which represents a strategic investment in the company, takes Alkami’s total capital to more than $116 million.

“In an era of digital transformation, our clients, who consist of credit unions and banks in the U.S., count on Alkami to inspire and power their digital strategies through enhancing value, growth, service, efficiency and relationships,” Alkami CEO Mike Hansen said. He added that the strategic investment from General Atlantic will “accelerate the delivery of our world-class technology and innovative solutions to our clients, ensuring Alkami remains synonymous with digital transformation in finance.”

Alkami enables financial institutions to take advantage of the latest trends in online and mobile banking technology through its cloud-based digital banking platform. With more than 4.5 million users across its community bank and credit union client base, Alkami provides a unified solution that works across devices and channels to deliver retail and business banking services, billpay, PFM, marketing, and more.

As part of the strategic investment, Raph Osnoss and Gene Lockhart will join Alkami’s board of directors. Lockhart is a Special Advisor of General Atlantic and former President and CEO of MasterCard Worldwide. He is also Chairman and Managing Partner of MissionOG, a technology investor that also participated in Alkami’s Series D. Osnoss is Vice President of General Atlantic, and praised Alkami’s “vision, technology, client success, and business model” as well as the way the fintech helped FIs better engage with their customers.

“Digital banking needs are evolving along with consumer and business behaviors,” Osnoss said. “And we believe Alkami is at the center of this industry-wide shift.”

Plano, Texas-based Alkami made its first Finovate appearance in 2009 as iThryv. In November, the company was highlighted as the 13th fastest growing company in Dallas by Southern Methodist University’s Cox Dallas 100 and ranked 66th fastest growing company in North America by Deloitte’s 2017 Technology Fast 500. Alkami announced a deployment of its digital banking platform with Veridian Credit Union ($3.4 billion in assets) late last fall, and in August, the company inked a deal with Mountain America Credit Union ($6.7 billion in assets) to integrate its digital banking technology with Mountain America’s existing core system.

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Urban FT and Fortress Plus to Co-Market Digital Banking, Fraud Prevention to Community Banks

Urban FT and Fortress Plus to Co-Market Digital Banking, Fraud Prevention to Community Banks
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Urban FT

If you are a community bank or credit union, the new partnership between Urban FT and Connecticut-based Fortress Plus means it just got a lot easier to add digital banking services and state-of-the-art fraud protection at the same time.

Fortress Plus’s Rampart Intelligence Platform uses big data and behavior-based adaptive analytics to monitor and identify fraud in different channels and among different payment types. Urban FT provides a mobile banking solution that enables community banks to leverage proprietary technology to display information from traditional websites into their mobile websites and banking apps. The decision to work together, in the words of Urban FT CEO Richard Steggall, represents a shared “dedication to strengthening America’s community financial institutions.”

“Our agreement pulls together two key elements of what today’s smaller FIs need to combat the challenge of big banks and nonbanks – an easily implementable, cost-effective mobile banking solution offering exceptional UX and best-in-breed fraud prevention solutions that protect FIs from fraudsters who prey on them,” Steggall said.

“By co-marketing, we bring our respective best-in-breed solutions to more financial institutions that need and deserve the advantages we offer,” Fortress Plus President Jeff Whelton added, “(that is) big bank-grade quality that’s accessible and affordable for financial institutions of any size.”

Founded in 2013, New York-based Urban FT demonstrated its Urban FT Workshop at FinovateFall 2016. The workshop is a real-time, multi-tier mobile app management platform that gives FIs and FSOs the ability to design, brand, and launch mobile banking apps without coding. Available as a managed service, SaaS, online or via API, Urban FT’s technology is used by 10% of those U.S.-based FIs with assets of more than $25 million. The company acquired mobile banking technology company iParse in July of last year. In April, Urban FT partnered with technology service provider T-Cetra to make it easier for customers to top-up prepaid wireless service.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Baker Hill, Dynamics, eToro, Kapitall, Klarna, Kyckr, Motif Investing, Narrative Science, Taulia

On Finovate.com

  • Dynamics Leverages Sprint’s Wireless Network for New IoT Connected Card.
  • Kyckr Lands Global Payment Provider Client.

Around the web

  • Taulia announces milestone, accelerating $1 billion in invoices in a single day.
  • Klarna extends partnership with ACI Worldwide, now reaching 10 major markets including the U.S. and U.K.
  • Marquette Bank ($1.6 billion in assets) builds on existing relationship with Baker Hill by adding risk management, loan origination and other solutions.
  • Datanami highlights Narrative Science’s natural language processing tech.
  • Disruptor Daily names eToro, Motif, Kapitall among 9 companies to watch in 2018.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Fintech News from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Fintech News from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateMiddleEast 2018


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As Finovate prepares for its first conference in the Middle East, here’s a round up of recent fintech news and need-to-knows from the MENA region. Learn more about how to join us in Dubai in February for FinovateMiddleEast.

  • Jordan’s first bank, Jordan Ahli Bank launches beta version of chatbot service.
  • Alrajih Islamic Bank for Investment and Financing selects Path Solutions’ Islamic core banking system, iMAL.
  • Mortgagetech Meets Crypto Assets: New Sharia-compliant crypto currency for purchasing property slated for June launch in Dubai.

MENA Fintech Fact: 86% of MENA area adults do not have access to a bank account. But the number of startups in the MENA region doubled from 46 to 105 from 2012 to 2015.

  • Crowdfunding platform for farmers, BOOSTani wins first prize at Startup Weekend Bekaa in Lebanon.
  • Egyptian payments firm Fawry announces plans to expand nationwide in 2018.
  • ACI Worldwide partners with HyperPay to bring real-time fraud prevention solutions to ecommerce merchants in the MENA region.

Thought Leadership Fintech – 6 disrupters facing the Middle East – Mossadiq Ali Ghanghro, Middle East Director in Transaction Services for PwC, writes about top themes in fintech in the MENA region.

  • Bahrain Middle East Bank to deploy OneSumX from Wolters Kluwer for core banking and reporting.
  • NCR to introduce bitcoin-enabled ATMS in the UAE. Join Finovate in Dubai in March for FinovateMiddleEast.
  • Moneyfellows wins MetLife Foundation Inclusion Plus competition in Egypt and Lebanon.

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Insuritas Launches i-Insure Platform with 42 P&C Carriers

Insuritas Launches i-Insure Platform with 42 P&C Carriers
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Insuritas

When you are a company like Insuritas it can be a challenge to make a big news splash. A frequent deal-maker, the insurtech headlines are filled with news of financial institutions that Insuritas has partnered with, enabling them to market and sell insurance products to their customers as easily as their own banking products.

And that makes today’s news that much more special. Insurtias has announced today that it has successfully launched its i-Insure platform with 42 of the leading auto and home insurance carriers in the U.S.

“We have built powerful, trusted partnerships with the nation’s leading auto & home insurance carriers, and have emerged as one of the fastest growing insurance distributors in the country with our third consecutive year of 40%+ growth in profitable premium,” Insuritas CEO Jeff Chesky said.

i-Insure enables property & casualty carriers to access more than 180 fields of data to deliver bindable rates within the firm’s virtual agency platform that reaches more than nine million retail households. The technology gives carriers the ability to drive and promote specific innovations and products to customers and is integrated with Insuritas’ partner bank and credit union loan origination and online banking platforms.

“As our bank and credit union partners deploy our virtual insurance agency platforms deeper inside their ecosystems, and leverage their trusted customer and member relationships, we can now further refine personalized insurance shopping and buying to the over 9 million customers in our addressable market,” Chesky explained.

A popular choice for banks and credit unions looking to add insurance services to their offerings, Insuritas has teamed up with FIs from across the country including Indiana’s Owen County State Bank ($201 million in assets), Michigan’s Marshall Community Credit Union, and Ohio’s Independent Bank ($2.6 billion in assets) in the second half of 2017 alone. The company’s platform leverages data analytics, robotic process automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence to help insurance carrier’s “further refine their products, pricing, and conversation rates,” said Insuritas CTO Tracy O’Brien. “A year in the making in collaboration with our carrier partners,” O’Brien said, “i-Insure is a unique, agnostic multichannel middleware that allows our carrier partners to deploy their innovations in real-time.”

Founded in 1998, Insuritas demonstrated its SmartCART technology at FinovateSpring 2014. The SmartCART platform enables online banking customers to shop for financial products inside a bank or credit union’s online ecosystem, giving consumers an Amazon.com-like shopping, single-click checkout, and after-sale online account management experience. The company, which is headquartered in East Windsor, Connecticut, has raised more than $10 million in funding.

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Daon Forges Strategic Partnership with North African Technology Innovator GEMADEC

Daon Forges Strategic Partnership with North African Technology Innovator GEMADEC
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daon

A new strategic partnership agreement has been signed between biometric authentication and identity assurance innovator Daon and GEMADEC. The partnership will enable GEMADEC, a North African security and document dematerialization firm to extend its services to customers in North Africa and French-speaking African countries.

“GEMADEC is already working in the field of security and biometrics, supporting the Postal organizations as a trusted third-party in the implementation of a legally valid electronic certificate (PKI) production platform and also offers electronic signature solutions,” GEMADEC CEO Touhami Rabii explained.

Daon CEO Tom Grissen praised GEMADEC’s “long-standing experience and demonstrated success internationally,” and sees the potential for the partnership to make a “significant impact in the financial and public sectors.” Founded in 1977, GEMADEC currently operates in 22 countries and serves as a world reference in hybrid mail for postal organizations looking to modernize their operations. The company has also provided security, biometrics, and digital identity services for public institutions in North African nations such as Gabon, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and in Djibouti.

Headquartered in Reston, Virginia and founded in 2002, Daon demonstrated IdentityX, its universal mobile biometric authentication platform at FinovateFall 2016. Daon provides multi-channel, biometric authentication and identity management solutions that leverage technologies such as device-binding, geolocation, and liveness detection. The company’s offerings have been deployed in a number of verticals including digital banking and payments verification, border management and employee credentialing, and national ID and cloud authentication.

In October, Daon teamed up with fellow Finovate alum Kony, bringing a suite of authentication tools to Kony’s digital banking platform. The company added Eyeprint ID to its platform in June, courtesy of a partnership with another Finovate alum, EyeVerify. This spring, Daon announced an integration with Experian’s fraud and identity platform, CrossCore.

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Vera Hires First Chief Financial Officer and Adds Technical Talent

Vera Hires First Chief Financial Officer and Adds Technical Talent
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Vera

Enterprise data security specialist Vera is starting the new year with a pair of big new hires – including the company’s first chief financial officer.

“Vera has a phenomenal opportunity ahead of it to transform the data security market and redefine how enterprises protect their most valuable data,” Sam Wolff, Vera’s new Chief Financial Officer said in a statement. “It’s a very exciting time to be joining a company with such potential.”

Wolff (pictured above) comes to Vera after serving as Chief Financial officer for Birst, a cloud-based business intelligence software solution provider acquired by Infor earlier this year. Previous to this, he was CFO for digital ad targeting data management platform, BlueKai. Wolff also spent several years working with Yahoo! in corporate financial planning and analysis, investor relations, and other areas. Wolff has a Bachelors degree from Harvard University and earned his MBA in Finance from Indiana University Bloomington.

Vera CEO and co-founder Ajay Arora praised Wolff’s “deep experience leading durable SaaS businesses,” and said the hire was part of the company’s effort to “level up our ability to scale both our organization and our technology.”

The other part of this effort was the hiring of new senior VP of Engineering, Wesley Yeremenko (pictured below). Formerly the head of Advertising Technology at Adobe Primetime, Yeremenko was also Chief Technical Officer for Auditude (since acquired by Adobe), and VP of Engineering for OpenDNS (since acquired by Cisco), and AdBrite. He has a Master of Science from Kiev State Polytechnic University. Arora highlighted Yeremenko’s nearly 20 years of experience working with high-scale, high-visibility SaaS systems and his “proven ability to build internet-scale platforms.”

Founded in 2014 and based in Palo Alto, California, Vera demonstrated its Vera Security solution at FinovateSpring 2016. The company’s focus on protecting data in transit in real time across users, devices, apps, and platforms has earned Vera partnerships with firms ranging from General Electric to fellow Finovate alum, Twilio. In November, Vera launched its enterprise-grade encryption for e-mail solution, Vera for Mail. Last May, the company announced a $15 million strategic investment from Hasso Plattner that took Vera’s total capital to more than $50 million.

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Finovate Alums Garner $2.7 Billion in 2017, $730 Million in Q4 Alone

Finovate Alums Garner $2.7 Billion in 2017, $730 Million in Q4 Alone
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings

Updated! Funding for fintechs is back on the rise. We tallied up equity funding in 2017 and our totals show that Finovate alumni pulled in $2.7 billion over the course of the year. This marks the fourth consecutive year alums passed the $2 billion mark and pushes the 4-year total to more than $10 billion. 

In the fourth quarter of 2017, Finovate alums raised more than $730 million, beating last year’s Q4 total by more than $30 million. Q4 2017 also marked a resumption of the strong Q4s of last year and 2014.

Previously Quarterly Comparisons

  • Q4 2016: More than $700 million raised by 26 alums
  • Q4 2015: More than $302 million raised by 28 alums
  • Q4 2014: More than $1.4 billion raised by 26 alums
  • Q4 2013: More than $294 million raised by 17 alums

Q4 2017’s largest equity investment was the $280 million raised by TransferWise in November. Coming in second place was the $130 million in capital raised by BlueVine in October. The top 10 overall investments for the fourth quarter of 2017 totaled $654.7 million or more than 90% of the total alum funding for the quarter.

Top 10 Equity Investments (equity only)

  1. TransferWise: $280 million
  2. BlueVine: $130 million
  3. Feedzai: $50 million
  4. Passport: $43 million
  5. Credit Sesame: $42 million
  6. BankBazaar: $30 million
  7. TrueAccord: $22 million
  8. Featurespace: $21.9 million
  9. BondIT: $18.3 million
  10. Simility: $17.5 million

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q4 2017.

October 2017: More than $337 million raised by 12 alums

  • BankBazaar: $30 million – post
  • BLUERUSH: $1.3 million – post
  • BlueVine: $130 million – post
  • BondIT: $18.3 million – post
  • Credit Sesame: $42 million – post
  • Featurespace: $21.9 million – post
  • Feedzai: $50 million – post
  • Finn.ai: $3 million – post
  • Omnyway: $12.75 million – post
  • SelfScore: $12 million – post
  • Tink: $16.5 million – post
  • Wealthify: undisclosed – post

November 2017: More than $308 million raised by three alums

  • PayStand: $6 million – post
  • TransferWise: $280 million – post
  • TrueAccord: $22 million – post

December 2017: More than $89 million raised by eight alums

  • Avoka: $12 million – post
  • Financeit: undisclosed – post
  • NuCypher: $4.3 million – post
  • Passport: $43 million – post
  • Payoneer: undisclosed – post
  • Prevoty: $13 million – post
  • SBDA: undisclosed – post
  • Simility: $17.5 million – post

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the fourth quarter of 2017, and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at research@finovate.com. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

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In the Navy: nCino Brings its Bank Operating System to World’s Largest Credit Union

In the Navy: nCino Brings its Bank Operating System to World’s Largest Credit Union
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: nCino

With more than $87 billion in assets, more than seven million members, and 300 branches, Navy Federal Credit Union is known as the largest credit union in the world. So it is a pretty big deal for the team at nCino to announce that NFCU has selected the North Carolina-based fintech’s Bank Operating System to help support its continued growth.

“With nCino, our employees can service members with key insights gained on the digital banking platform,” SVP for Consumer and Business Lending for NFCU Dave Ledwell explained. “We want to provide an experience that is quick, effortless and enjoyable, and we see nCino as being the tool to provide these things and more.” Ledwell called NFCU’s military-based membership – including veterans and their families – “some of the best borrowers of any financial institution.”

Left to right: Jonathan Rowe (CMO), Trisha Price (EVP, Product Development and Engineering), and Nathan Snell (Head of Innovation and Design) demonstrating nCino’s Bank Operating System at FinovateEurope 2017.

nCino’s platform will enable bank professionals to facilitate the full process of business lending from application to funding faster and more accurately. The technology also gives banks an edge in customer engagement by providing what nCino SVP of Community and Regional Financial Institutions Paul Clarkson called “a clearer view of members’ needs.”

“Rapidly growing and service-oriented institutions like Navy Federal require an innovative solution that enhances the loan process in order to provide the highest levels of convenience and service to its members,” Clarkson said.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina. nCino demonstrated its Bank Operating System at FinovateEurope 2017. Last month, the company announced that Ithaca, New York’s CFCU Community Credit Union ($1 billion in assets) would deploy its Bank Operating System to better serve its 70,000 members.

The firm has raised more than $81 million in funding – most recently a $17 million private equity round in August – and includes Insight Venture Partners among its investors. Named to Deloitte’s 2017 Technology Fast 500 in November, and having earned the top spot in Aite Group’s report on global commercial loan origination in October, nCino has also partnered with Iberiabank of Lafayette, Louisiana, and teamed up with community bank ConnectOne Bank in recent months. Pierre Naudé is CEO.

Watch our interview with nCino Head of Innovation and Design Nathan Snell as he discusses personalization and the customer experience with Finovate research analyst Julie Muhn.

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