Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Asia

  • Flywire and UnionPay International partner to provide Chinese customers with better rates on cross-border payments.
  • Leading southeast Asian digital cross border money transfer firm InstaReM goes live in Europe with new London office.
  • South Korean payments app Toss raises $40 million in funding.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) teams up with Startupbootcamp as part of an effort to boost Dubai’s status as a regional fintech hub.
  • AME Info asks if Saudi women and UAE crypto can alleviate Bahrain’s debt crisis.
  • VentureBurn features Egyptian savings startup Money Fellows.

Africa

  • Elizabeth Rossiello, CEO and founder of Nairobi, Kenya-based BitPesa, talks about leveraging cryptocurrencies to improve global payments in Africa.
  • South Africa’s ITWeb features features Richard Marsden, co-founder of Johannesburg-based FinChatBot on the rise of chatbot technology in the insurance industry.
  • Branch International reports N1 billion ($2.78 million) in loans facilitated to users in Nigeria.

Latin America

  • Brazil’s Nubank reaches milestone of 1.5 million digital account openings in six months.
  • Latin American Regional Conference sponsored by Swift sees collaboration as fundamental for growth of financial services in Latin America.
  • Brazilian insurtech startup Kakau partners with insurance companies American Life and Generali.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Kontomatik appoints CEO Piotr Warsicki as its new CEO.
  • Poland’s Alior Bank partners with solarisBank, Raisin, and Mastercard to launch pan-EU digital bank later this year.
  • The largest bank in the Czech Republic, Česká spořitelna introduces voice biometrics courtesy of partnership with Nuance Communications.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Risk Ident to Help Universum Protect Retailers from Fraud.
  • Dorsum Unveils My Wealth Mobile App.
  • Ondot Introduces Digital Card Services Platform.

Around the web

  • NuData Security named a “Top 100 in Tech” by Business in Vancouver.
  • ThetaRay wins ATMIA’s Next Generation ATM Security Award.
  • Tuition.io to power student loan repayment benefits for Hulu employees.
  • Standard Chartered Bank announces intentions to apply for the virtual banking license.
  • Conversation.one is Amazon Alexa-Certified for Financial Institutions.
  • Flywire and UnionPay Partner to Take the Cost Out of Cross-Border Payments from China.
  • Yoyo introduces quarterly tracker to monitor customer activity in closed catering environments.
  • U.K.-based Business Leader magazine features Wealthify and YellowDog among its 32 South West Tech Businesses That Are Shaping the Future spotlight.
  • Unblu opens offices in London.

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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Arxan Brings its App Protection Technology to Android.
  • BondIT Integrates Bond Portfolio Solution with FIIG Securities.
  • Dwolla Launches Start, a Pay-as-You-Go Payment Solution.
  • Intelligent Environments Rebrands as ieDigital.
  • Finicity Forges New Partnership with Mortgage Cadence.

Around the web

  • Low-code development specialist OutSystems launches OutSystems Sentry, a new proactive security monitoring service for the company’s PaaS clients.
  • PayPal acquires Jetlore, an AI-powered prediction engine for retailers.
  • Halma partners with OurCrowd for life protection technologies.
  • CNP Awards recognizes ThreatMetrix for ThreatMetrix ID.
  • EY names Flywire CEO Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in New England.

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.

International Invoicing Platform from Flywire Emerges from Beta

International Invoicing Platform from Flywire Emerges from Beta

Global payment and receivables solutions provider Flywire has added a new international invoicing service to its offerings. The solution, which has been delivering thousands of invoices worldwide every month as part of a six month beta with select customers, will be available free of charge and can be deployed as a stand-alone product or integrated with Flywire’s payments and receivables platform.

The new solution features support for more than 100+ currencies, automatic invoice reminders, recurring and monthly installment invoicing, robust analytics and reporting, and built-in business and country-specific compliance requirements and instructions. The technology seamlessly integrates with the company’s accounting software as well as with most enterprise applications.

Flywire CEO Mike Massaro pointed out that there is a big difference for most companies when it comes to domestic billing compared to international billing. Calling the former “simple and straightforward,” Massaro said, “When it comes to international billing, the process is far more complex, and if your invoicing does not make it easy for your international customers to pay you, it creates a domino effect of problems starting with extended DSO, high reconciliation costs, compliance issues, and poor customer satisfaction.”

Flywire’s new global service comes as the Boston, Massachusetts-based company makes additional headlines on the international front courtesy of a partnership with the SP Jain School of Global Management. Announced this week, Flywire and SP Jain will host a competition for student-led start-ups in Singapore and the APAC region. The first-of-its kind contest will launch later in May and Flywire is using the prize money it received from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) last year to fund the competition.

“With this initiative, we are able to harness the power of our MAS FinTech win to fuel the next generation of thought leaders and industry change-makers in Singapore and throughout APAC,” Flywire APAC Managing Director Andrew Ong said. “It was important to be able to pay it forward with a challenging and relevant programme that we hope will eventually produce the next innovative startups.”

Founded in 2009 and making its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2011 as peerTransfer, the company rebranded in the fall of 2015 to Flywire. Along with expansion to its U.S. and European offices, the rebrand better positioned the company for “sustained growth, expansion of its products and services, and creation of lasting relationships with its payment users.”

More recently, Flywire announced a partnership with Billtrust to streamline cross-border accounts receivables. This spring, the company teamed up with Flutterwave to integrate the African payments API as the preferred cross-border payments option for students, patients, and businesses in Nigeria.

Flywire has raised more than $43 million in funding and includes Bain Capital Ventures, QED Investors, and Spark Capital among its investors.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • eToro Launches Cryptocurrency Exchange, Expands to U.S.
  • Tradeshift’s Tradeshift Pay to Free Up $9 Trillion in Cash Trapped in Accounts Receivable.
  • International Invoicing Platform from Flywire Emerges from Beta.

Around the web

  • Compass Plus adds interchange functionality to its open development payments platform, TranzAxis.
  • Finastra names Jim Fiesel Managing Director of Capital Markets and Lending Sales for the Americas.
  • eToro to incorporate in Gibraltar to take advantage of new DLT regulatory framework.
  • Neener Analytics completes proof of concept with one of Mexico’s largest credit card issuers.
  • Multiple-time Best of Show winner Ondot Systems announces more than  3,000 financial institutions are offering mobile card controls powered by its technology.

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.

 

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Envestnet | Yodlee, Quovo, and Morningstar Unite on Secure Open Data Access Framework.

Around the web

  • nCino extends its Bank Operating System with its new Retail Sales and Service Solution.
  • Fenergo to bring client lifestyle management services to business and technology consultancy, Delta Capita.
  • ProfitStars division of Jack Henry & Associates goes live with its ImageCenter Express image capture solution.
  • Flywire adds international invoicing to its global payment and receivables platform.
  • Infosys Finacle partners with seven major Indian banks to form blockchain-based trade network, India Trade Connect.

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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Trusted Key Raises $3 Million for Passwordless Authentication.
  • Student Loan Genius Picks Up $4.7 Million in New Funding.

Around the web

  • Argentine prepaid services provider Nubi partners with Mambu.
  • Mitek to provide KYC for cryptocurrency broker BTCDirect.
  • Flywire and Billtrust collaborate to improve cross border accounts receivable for Billtrust customers.
  • BioCatch offers its behavioral biometrics solution as an integrated module to the ForgeRock platform.
  • Personal Capital partners with benefits firm Alight Solutions and asset manager AllianceBernstein.
  • OurCrowd is set to hit $1 billion in crowdfunded assets 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.

Finovate Global: Fintech News from the Periphery

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from the Periphery is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Asia

  • Singapore Business Review names Turnkey Lender and Bambu among Singapore’s hottest startups.
  • Citi introduces Facebook Messenger bot in Singapore as initial stage of wider worldwide rollout. (link)
  • Revolut founder and CEO Nikolay Storonsky discusses plans for APAC expansion with TechWireAsia.

Africa

  • Flywire and Flutterwave partner on cross-border payments & receivables in Nigeria.
  • Africa-based fintechs picked up almost one third of all Venture funding in Africa in 2017, according to a report from Disrupt Africa.
  • Village Capital Fintech Africa Cohort 2018 lists its incoming class of 12 startups.

MENA

  • Fintech Circle and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to launch fintech education courses.
  • Gulf News Banking takes a look at the digitization of the fintech sector in the Middle East.
  • Bahrain-based security startup, Eazy Financial Services, launches first biometric payment network in MENA.

LATAM

  • Neener Analytics Completes Proof-of-Concept with Jamaican Payday Lender.
  • Alipay partners with Openpay to connect Chinese consumers with merchants in Mexico. (link)
  • Amazon.com unveils first debit card in Mexico as part of e-commerce initiative.

CEE

  • Personetics Brings Cognitive Banking to Romania’s Banca Transilvania.
  • Sberbank to host the first International Cybersecurity Conference in July.
  • CEE Fintech Survey for 2017 cites Poland’s fintech industry as the region’s most vibrant.

Top image designed by Freepik

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Neener Analytics Completes Proof-of-Concept with Jamaican Payday Lender.
  • Personetics Brings Cognitive Banking to Romania’s Banca Transilvania.
  • Hyperwallet’s Partnership with Lyric Brings Advance Royalty Payments to Artists
  • SumUp Facilitates Cashless Donations for the Church of England.

Around the web

  • AutoGravity announces new partnership with Infiniti.
  • New alliance with Mainsys helps bolster Temenos presence in Belgium.
  • Currencycloud unveils Global Collections to enable customers to receive cross border payments with less cost and less friction.
  • Flywire and Flutterwave partner on cross-border payments & receivables in Nigeria.
  • Cardlytics announces Q4 and full year 2017 financial results.
  • Somerset Trust Company selects Digital Onboarding for fully automated new account activation.
  • Finicity announces integration agreement with Ellie Mae to provide its digital asset verification solution through Ellie Mae’s Encompass platform.
  • XM.com expands use of Paydentity from iSignthis for China eKYC.

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.

Flywire Acquires OnPlan Holdings

Flywire Acquires OnPlan Holdings

Global payment and receivables solutions company Flywire announced today it has acquired OnPlanU and OnPlan Health, both subsidiaries of OnPlan Holdings. The terms of the deal were undisclosed.

OnPlan Health is a web portal and payment solution that offers providers an automated way to settle patient balances. OnPlanU is a student billing and payment solution that enables universities to automate account setup and payments and set up tailored payment schedules for students.

Flywire said that clients have been pushing the company to offer the ability to manage payments and receivables from a single platform. CEO Mike Massaro said that the acquisition “brings a tremendous amount of technical capability and domain expertise to address it. In a short period of time, [OnPlan has] built a very strong product.”

The acquisition not only furthers Flywire’s reach into the healthcare payments space, it also adds more depth to the company’s education payments offerings. Adding OnPlan’s capabilities makes Flywire’s solutions more holistic, covering a range of globally-available services, including:

  • Invoicing
  • Secure payment processing
  • Consumer engagement
  • Recurring payments
  • Automated payment plans
  • Payment tracking
  • Reconciliation
  • Past due payments

OnPlan’s CEO John Talaga and CTO David King will join Flywire’s leadership team, bringing their expertise in healthcare. Talaga will lead Flywire’s healthcare segment, while King will lead the company’s product and development teams focused on education and healthcare. The rest of the OnPlan team will merge into Flywire, working from OnPlan’s Chicago-based office.

Talaga said that Flywire and OnPlan solve “distinct, but related problems, both taking cost and friction out of the payment and receivables process.” He continued, “While we complement their platform in several important ways, Flywire offers OnPlan tremendous scale with supportive and engaged investors, capital for growth, access to new markets, and a global customer support infrastructure.”

Discussing the deal in a press release, managing director of Bain Capital and Flywire board member Matt Harris said, “Both firms share a culture that is all about how to make life better for their clients. That, combined with their complementary capabilities, makes this a perfect fit and will add tremendous value for their customers.”

Flywire, which originally launched as peerTransfer in 2011, facilitates international payments for healthcare, education, and business. The company is headquartered in Boston with operations in the U.K., China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and Spain. The company’s platform processes billions of dollars in payments every year in over 120 different local currencies, connecting more than 1,400 businesses and universities with their customers.

At FinovateSpring 2011, the company presented its original tuition payment platform. Last August, Flywire expanded its operations to Japan and formed a partnership with Volvo to help international student lease vehicles. Flywire has raised a total of $43.2 million.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • ShopKeep Integrates First Data’s Clover POS Technology.
  • Ledger Raises $75 Million in New Funding.

Around the web

  • Liferay featured among Gartner’s Digital Experience Platform leaders.
  • Blue Code mobile payments solution for banking apps goes live on Temenos Marketplace.

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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Vera Hires First Chief Financial Officer and Adds Technical Talent.
  • Akamai Appoints Former Verizon CIO as Chief Information Officer.
  • Wealthfront Rakes in $75 Million.
  • Daon Forges Strategic Partnership with North African Technology Innovator GEMADEC.
  • Ghana Government to Leverage Entrust Datacard to Issue National ID Cards.

Around the web

  • Fintech News names Flywire 1 of 8 promising fintechs in Singapore to watch.
  • IDology listed among 50 fastest growing tech companies in 2017.
  • Fiserv VP of Product Strategy for Card Services, Jon Rosner talks about the pace of digital wallet adoption.

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.