Roger Launches to Help New Military Recruits Enlist in a Modern Banking Experience

Roger Launches to Help New Military Recruits Enlist in a Modern Banking Experience
  • Citizens Bank of Edmond is launching Roger, a new digital bank.
  • Roger is geared to serve military service members and their families.
  • Nymbus is powering the new digital bank.

Citizens Bank of Edmond is launching its new digital bank today. Roger, the new digital-first bank, aims to offer tailored banking services to meet the needs of military service members, their families, and their supporters.

“Our vision is crystal clear,” the bank announced on LinkedIn, “to mobilize financial resources that lay the foundation for unshakeable financial strength and future prosperity for every newly enlisted service member.”

Citizens Bank of Edmond CEO Jill Castilla launched Roger because, as a new military recruit 30 years ago, she couldn’t find a bank designed to meet her needs. “When I enlisted at 19, I had little access to my bank accounts and financial tools,” she explained. Castilla went on to lead Citizens Bank of Edmond, a bank founded in 1901 that now boasts $375 million in assets.

To suit its niche set of users, Roger offers a military-friendly direct deposit form and enables recruits to access their earned funds up to two days faster. Additionally, the Visa debit card is accepted at Armed Forces Financial Network terminals located at U.S. military bases worldwide. Users can also set up savings plans and round-up their transactions to contribute to accounts.

In a unique twist on the round-up savings feature, Roger will match users’ savings. For the first 90 days after opening their account, Roger will match 100% of round-ups, up to $100. After that period, Roger will match 15% of round-ups, up to $20 per month. The round up matching feature restarts every 30 days.

In addition to Citizens Bank of Edmond, which is behind the launch of Roger, the bank is leveraging banking technology provider Nymbus to power the digital banking experience. “We’re extremely proud to partner with Citizens Bank of Edmond on this essential niche bank for the military community,” said Nymbus Chairman and CEO Jeffery Kendall. “With Jill’s leadership and vision, we aim to deliver special-purpose products to help military service members succeed.”


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FinovateFall 2023 Sneak Peek: Nymbus

FinovateFall 2023 Sneak Peek: Nymbus

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 11 and 12. Register today and save your spot.

Nymbus SMB is a solution designed to augment the interactions between financial institutions and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Features

  • Fill the gap in self-service capabilities and integrated digital banking tools
  • Launch alongside existing banking systems, minimize disruptions and maximize efficiency
  • Fully support SMB growth goals

Why it’s great

Unlock SMB success with Nymbus SMB, seamlessly deploying tailored solutions alongside existing operations, optimizing efficiency and positioning businesses as a strategic partner for their clients.

Presenters

Drew Dizon, EVP of Partnerships
Dizon is a fintech expert helping banks and credit unions overcome legacy technology limitations, enabling speed, time to value, accountability, and impactful innovation.
LinkedIn

Brian Koenig, VP, Director of Business Solutions
Koenig is a fintech professional specializing in digital banking, treasury services, risk management, and payments. He drives success for financial institutions at Nymbus.
LinkedIn

Banking Technology Innovator NYMBUS Raises $70 Million in Series D Funding

Banking Technology Innovator NYMBUS Raises $70 Million in Series D Funding
  • Banking technology company Nymbus raised $70 million in Series D funding.
  • The round was led by Insight Partners. ConnectOne Bank and PeoplesBank also participated.
  • Nymbus introduced itself to Finovate audiences at FinDEVrNewYork in 2016. The company most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2019.

Banking technology company NYMBUS has secured $70 million in new funding. The Series D round was led by Insight Partners, and featured participation from ConnectOne Bank and PeoplesBank. The Banc Fund Company and Mendon Venture Partners also participated.

The investment takes the company’s total capital raised to more than $199 million. Valuation information was not immediately available. Nymbus will use the additional capital to support expansion and further development of its core system and product portfolio.

“This latest round of financing positions the company to double down on our mission of bringing new thinking to financial institutions to help them thrive in an ever-evolving market,” Nymbus CEO and Chairman Jeffrey Kendall said. “These strategic investments are a testament to the confidence in Nymbus’ ability to transform the financial services industry by modernizing outdated legacy systems with proven technology and business models that result in growth for our current and future clients.”

Nymbus helps financial institutions successfully undergo digital transformation and offer new digital experiences to their customers. Solutions like Nymbus’ SmartLaunch enable financial institutions to launch a fully-operational digital bank in as few as 90 days. FIs can take advantage of these deployments without having to undergo a major transformation or calling in additional human resources. The company’s SmartCore, SmartDigital, and SmartPayments solutions provide financial institutions with modern core, payments, and digital banking solutions, respectively.

Among these institutions taking advantage of Nymbus’ technology is Arizona-based Vantage West Credit Union. The $2.6 billion financial institution partnered with Nymbus to launch a new niche financial brand in April. The previous month, Michigan State University Federal Credit Union worked with Nymbus to launch a pair of standalone digital brandsAlumniFi and Collegiate. AlumniFi provides financial wellness, debt management, and charitable donation tools to MSU alums. Collegiate brings digital banking services to MSU students, faculty, and staff.

“Nymbus is empowering credit unions to deliver growth models with the people, process, and technology needed to deliver digital financial services that complement their core business,” Nymbus CUSO President John Janclaes said.


Photo by Susn Dybvik

Nimbus Platform CEO Alex Lemberg on the Intersection of TradFi and DeFi

Nimbus Platform CEO Alex Lemberg on the Intersection of TradFi and DeFi

The metaverse, decentralized finance (DeFi), and crypto are rising up to become some of the hottest themes in fintech this year, taking the place of AI, digitization, and customer experience.

So how should firms in the traditional finance (TradFi) realm prepare for the road ahead? We spoke with Nimbus Platform CEO Alex Lemberg to get his thoughts on the intersection of DeFi and TradFi.

What changes will we see in crypto and DeFi this year in comparison to years past?

Alex Lemberg: A month ago my answer to this question would have been slightly different than today. We still believe that a great deal of capital inflows will come more and more from financial and institutional organizations. This will cover the gambit from high net worth individuals to hedge funds and family / PE offices alike. We are now also witnessing major use cases related to regions in conflict and faced with sanctions. Also the advent of SWIFT as a new means of restrictions will make sovereign groups look closer to crypto markets as well in the future.

How can traditional financial institutions prepare themselves for these changes?

Lemberg: Financial institutions are extremely well prepared to handle both client activities in the space as well as their own. The main precursor is better understanding of filing and reporting requirements to regulators. I strongly believe that even though most of the innovations we are seeing do come from private markets, the largest impact will come from institutions beginning this year.

The U.S. recently issued a discussion paper on a government-issued CBDC. What do you envision the role of TradFi will be if the U.S. government issues a CBDC?

Lemberg: It is too early to discuss impact, as too many things are still in discussion regarding structure. It could eventually provide some upheavals in the payments space and user data controls which are both quite ripe for it.

Does the recent rise in DeFi indicate an end to paper and coin currency?

Lemberg: Absolutely not in the immediate future, nor do I believe would it be the case for quite some time. That said, let us remind ourselves that 90% of the world’s currency is digital and has been for some time. Yes, this will add to that digital transactional landscape, but certainly as an addition and not a replacement of any meaningful sort.


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Banking-as-a-Service Innovator NYMBUS Secures $3 Million in New Funding

Banking-as-a-Service Innovator NYMBUS Secures $3 Million in New Funding

In a round led by OFG Ventures – a subsidiary of OFG Bancorp – bank technology solution provider NYMBUS has secured $3 million in new funding.

“Our mission has remained steadfast to help financial institutions of any size succeed with impactful, intentional innovation,” Nymbus CEO and Chairman Jeffery Kendall said. “OFG Ventures’ investment is an added vote-of-confidence to the value our strategy brings to an industry widely in need of immediate and sustainable business growth opportunities.”

Most recently demonstrating its technology two years ago at FinovateFall, banking-as-a-service innovator Nymbus provides financial institutions with both the technical and operational tools necessary to digitally transform their businesses. The company’s solutions – ranging from its flagship SmartCore, SmartDigital, and SmartPayments offerings to its full-service, standalone digital banking alternative SmartLaunch – give banks, credit unions, and other financial services-based companies greater ability to streamline processes and offer new digital services – without requiring a major core conversion or significant additional human resources.

This week’s investment is only the latest infusion of capital the Miami Beach, Florida-based fintech has received this year. The company picked up $15 million in funding from private equity firm Financial Services Capital this spring and, in February, Nymbus announced a $53 million Series C round led by Insight Partners. The company’s total funding now stands at more than $121 million, according to Crunchbase.

Nymbus has been one of the busier banking-as-a-service innovators of late, partnering with a variety of fintechs and financial institutions in the past year. These partnerships have included collaborations with fellow Finovate alums like Plaid and Segmint, credit unions and challenger banks like VyStar CU and PeoplesBank’s ZYNLO Bank, as well as with innovators in open finance and cryptocurrencies like Red Hat and NYDIG. The company also launched a new credit union service organization (CUSO) in March, Nymbus CUSO, to help credit unions take better advantage of fintech offerings that can enable them to create new revenue opportunities and boost engagement with their members.

“Our CUSO signifies a commitment to credit unions by providing strategic partnerships and flexible technology that will create sustainable growth and loyal members,” Kendall said when the new organization was introduced earlier this year. “For those wanting to innovate, Nymbus CUSO moves past traditional vendor thinking to create supportive structures for credit unions ready to grow and reach new niche markets.”


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Capital for Credit Unions: VyStar Invests $20 Million in NYMBUS CUSO

Capital for Credit Unions: VyStar Invests $20 Million in NYMBUS CUSO

In what the Miami, Florida-based fintech called a “landmark” fundraising, NYMBUS announced today that its new credit union service organization (CUSO) has secured $20 million in funding from VyStar Credit Union. The investment is the largest ever fintech funding round on behalf of a credit union.

“VyStar understands the challenges faced by the credit union industry, and we work diligently to identify the right partners like Nymbus that can deliver the disruptive solutions needed to help them thrive in today’s competitive environment,” VyStar EVP & Chief Operations Officer Chad Meadows said.

Founded last month, Nymbus CUSO was launched to help connect credit unions with fintechs to enable them to take advantage of new offerings that enhance services for customers and provide new growth opportunities for businesses. Former president and CEO of Partners Federal Credit Union, John Janclaes has been named President of Nymbus CUSO, and will lead the organization in its mission to serve as a “digital advocate for credit unions.”

“Based on the overwhelming response that Nymbus CUSO has already received in the market, we clearly address an overlooked opportunity for helping credit unions play to their strengths and make serious growth gains without breaking technology budgets,” Nymbus CEO and chairman Jeffery Kendall explained. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with VyStar in the effort, which is now accelerared with this considerable investment.”

The 16th largest credit union in the U.S., with assets of more than $10.8 billion, VyStar Credit Union is based in Jacksonville, Florida and serves more than 750,000 members from the 49 contiguous counties of North and Central Florida, as well as 10 counties in Southern Georgia. VyStar CU opened its 60th branch in February and, in March, announced that it had agreed to acquire Heritage Southeast Bank based in Jonesboro, Georgia.

“Today’s record investment speaks volumes to the confidence VyStar has placed in this new CUSO,” VyStar Chief Member Experience Officer Joel Swanson said in this week’s funding announcement. “Nymbus has come up with an entirely new approach for credit unions to innovate quickly for members that incorporates a truly sustainable growth strategy.”

Nymbus made fintech headlines just last week with news of a $15 million investment round led by Financial Services Capital. The round nearly doubled the FSC’s total investment in Nymbus and gives the firm more than $98 million in total capital raised. Nymbus began the year with the appointment of three women – Trish North, Michelle Prohaska, and Crina Pupaza – to C-level, executive positions. Founded in 2015, Nymbus most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall in 2019.

Banking Technology Provider NYMBUS Scores $15 Million Investment

Banking Technology Provider NYMBUS Scores $15 Million Investment

News of NYMBUS’ $15 million fundraising this week – and the company’s recent appointment of three women to key leadership positions – serves as a fitting bookend to a first quarter that began with big investment and big C-suite hires, as well.

In January, the Miami, Florida-based banking technology provider expanded its leadership team with the addition of Chief Alliance Officer Sarah Howell and Chief Product Officer Larry McClanahan. A month later, Nymbus secured a Series C investment of $53 million in a round led by Insight Partners.

“As the pandemic has pushed digital to the forefront, more banks and credit unions have turned to Nymbus as their partner for growth,” Nymbus CEO and Chairman Jeffery Kendall said when the funding was announced in February. “This new and significant investment validates a confidence in Nymbus to continue transforming the financial services industry with a banking strategy that buys back decades of lost time to speed digital innovation.”

Little did we know how quickly further valuation would arrive. This week’s investment by European private equity firm Financial Services Capital doubles its investment in Nymbus to more than $31 million. The funding gives Nymbus a total capital raised of more than $98 million.

“We look forward to continue working with Nymbus as they build out a best-in-class, cloud-native offering that is well positioned to be a leader in the industry and will transform our portfolio companies,” Financial Services Capital Managing Partner Miroslav Boublik said. He and fellow Managing Partner Matthew Hansen will join the Nymbus Board of Directors as part of the investment.

Also joining “Team Nymbus” is Veeva Systems co-founder Matt Wallach, who will serve as a Strategic Advisor. Nymbus will benefit from Wallach’s experience in co-founding one of the leading cloud software companies in life sciences. Founded in 2007 and, 14 years later, the first publicly traded company to transition into a public benefit corporation, Veeva now has a market capitalization of more than $40 billion and 975+ customers in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as in emerging biotech.

As mentioned, Nymbus’ funding announcement comes on the heels of the company further bolstering its leadership ranks with a trio of new, C-suite hires. The women – Trish North as Chief Customer Officer, Michelle Prohaska as Chief Compliance Officer, and Crina Pupaza as Chief People Officer – bring years of customer success, risk management, and people-centered programming experience to a company that has seen significant growth as banks turn increasingly toward digital transformation of their outdated legacy systems.

“In order to help our partner institutions serve the unique financial needs of niche audiences, success begins with diversity in our own Nymbus leadership,” Kendall said last week when the appointments were announced. “I’m incredibly proud of the impactful effort we are making to recruit a balanced male to female representation into our C-suite, and beyond confident of the value that Trish, Michelle, and Crina will each uniquely provide to both our team and partner clients.”


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NYMBUS Picks Red Hat as Cloud Platform Partner

NYMBUS Picks Red Hat as Cloud Platform Partner

Financial services platform NYMBUS has selected the cloud platform from open source solution provider Red Hat for its digital banking ecosystem. The platform, Red Hat OpenShift, will enable Nymbus to help its community bank and credit union customers accelerate their digital transformations.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we bank, possibly forever,” Nymbus CEO Jeffery Kendall said. “It provided the push for local banks and credit unions to establish more secure, flexible, end-to-end digital banking solutions.” Kendall added that the partnership with Red Hat would give Nymbus’ partners more “freedom of choice” in the way they implemented their cloud banking strategies as well as the “multi-cloud uptime” Kendall said was “critical for the banking industry.”

Courtesy of the new partnership, Nymbus customers will be able to deploy and launch a turnkey, digital bank-in-a-box – running on OpenShift – on whatever cloud platform they prefer. The open source, cloud-agnostic nature of Red Hat’s solution helps institutions avoid being dependent on a sole vendor, which can impede innovation.

“Cloud technology is reshaping the way banking services are created and delivered in our digital world,” Red Hat VP and Global Head of Financial Services Richard Harmon said. “It is providing service providers the ability to quickly adapt to market changes and make it easier for community banks and credit unions to consume new software. We are excited to work with Nymbus to bring the innovation of open source and cloud technology to the market. Nymbus truly embraces the open source way of working, and we are looking forward to contributing to their success.”

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida, Nymbus most recently demonstrated its technology on the Finovate stage in 2019 as part of FinovateFall. The company began this year with a pair of C-suite hires – Chief Alliance Officer Sarah Howell and Chief Product Officer Larry McClanahan – a new partnership with NYDIG to support bitcoin banking, and a $53 million Series C funding round that took the company’s total capital to more than $98 million.


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NYMBUS Raises $53 Million in Series C Funding

NYMBUS Raises $53 Million in Series C Funding

In a round led by existing investor Insight Partners, banking technology company NYMBUS has secured $53 million in new funding. The Series C round is the company’s largest funding to date, and will help it fulfill its mission of empowering banks and credit unions to leverage digital technology to create new revenue streams.

“As the pandemic has pushed digital to the forefront, more banks and credit unions have turned to Nymbus as their partner for growth,” explained Nymbus’ Jeffrey Kimball, who took the helm as the company’s CEO last September. “This new and significant investment validates a confidence in Nymbus to continue transforming the financial services industry with a banking strategy that buys back decades of lost time to speed digital innovation.”

As part of the funding, Insight Partners principal A.J. Malhotra will join Managing Director Peter Sobiloff on the Nymbus Board of Directors. In the funding announcement, Sobiloff underscored the ability of companies like Nymbus to help financial institutions bridge the gap between their digital goals and their legacy systems. “The shift to profitable digital banking is still in its early stages for many traditional institutions,” Sobiloff said, “and Nymbus fills a tremendous hole in the market for enabling these banks and credit unions to finally move beyond playing catchup and set up their businesses for meaningful growth.”

Nymbus noted that the capital – which takes the firm’s total funding to more than $98 million – also will support the launch of its Nymbus Labs initiative. The “soon-to-be-unveiled” project is designed to make it easier for financial institutions to “leverage niche digital banks” to better engage their customers, uncover new revenue opportunities, and drive innovation.

Nymbus most recently demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2019. At the conference, the Miami Beach, Florida-based company demonstrated SmartLaunch, its full-service, standalone digital bank alternative. In the time since, the company has partnered with PeoplesBank to launch a digital-first alternative ZYNLO, teamed up with NYDIG to help the Bitcoin-based financial services firm offer Bitcoin banking, and announced a pair of C-suite hires: Sarah Howell as Chief Alliance Officer and Larry McClanahan as Chief Product Officer.


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NYMBUS Helps PeoplesBank Launch Digital-First ZYNLO

NYMBUS Helps PeoplesBank Launch Digital-First ZYNLO

Two of the biggest phenomena in fintech worldwide: the rise of open banking and the growth of digital-first (and digital-only) banking, continue to make an impact on fintech as well. One example of that is today’s news that NYMBUS has partnered with PeoplesBank to help the Massachusetts-area financial institution launch its digital-only extension, ZYNLO.

“Only NYMBUS provided us a comprehensive strategy to quickly introduce a new digital-only effort,” PeoplesBank Brian Canina, Chief Financial Officer said. “Backed by and running in parallel to our established institution with 135 years of experience in creating satisfied customers, ZYNLO delivers the ideal combination of digital banking convenience and security that today’s consumers depend on.”

PeoplesBank’s new offering is a no-fee savings account that includes features like Zyng, a round-up savings benefit that rounds up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and adds the difference to the customer’s ZYNLO account. The company is currently offering a 100% round-up match for the first 100 days, with a 10% match on debit card transactions afterwards. ZYNLO also offers Early PayDay and daily balance and payment alerts, and all deposits are insured via FDIC and DIF.

Today’s news represents an extension of the partnership between the two companies. At the beginning of the year, PeoplesBank announced that it would deploy NYMBUS’ SmartMarketing and SmartOnboarding platform to boost revenue growth and enhance customer engagement. With more than $3 billion in assets under management PeoplesBank is the largest community bank in Western Massachusetts, with 20 banking centers in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Founded in 1885 and headquartered in Holyoke, Massachusetts, PeoplesBank recently announced that its latest new branch in South Hadley will feature VideoBanker ITMs, a combination of an ATM and a virtual teller that Canina said mitigates the need for drive-up teller windows. The innovation became a necessity when the municipality issued a zoning restriction that required the new branch building to be located closer to the street, making a traditional drive-up window problematic.

Most recently demonstrating its SmartLaunch digital banking solution at FinovateFall last year, NYMBUS has since inked partnerships to deploy the technology with Centier Bank, BankMD, and Pacific National Bank. Over the summer, NYMBUS secured $12 million in growth funding, taking the company’s total capital to more than $45 million. That same month, NYMBUS added Jim Modak as President and Chief Financial Officer.

In September, the company named former Kony DBX DVP and General Manager Jeffery Kendall as CEO. Kendall replaced former CEO and company founder Scott Killoh, who will continue with NYMBUS as executive chairman of the company’s board of directors.


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NYMBUS Names New CEO Jeffery Kendall

NYMBUS Names New CEO Jeffery Kendall

Big changes at the top continue for banking technology provider NYMBUS. The company announced on Monday that former Kony DBX EVP and General Manager Jeffery Kendall will take the helm as the NYMBUS’ new CEO. Effective October 1, Kendall will succeed Scott Killoh, who founded the company in 2015. Killoh will remain with the company as Executive Chairman of the Board.

In the company’s announcement of the news, Killoh praised Kendall’s “strong domain and go-to-market expertise” which he said comes at a “critical time” when financial institutions and financial services companies are rapidly attempting to digitize their backend and customer-facing operations. During his tenure at Kony DBX, Kendall was credited for growing the firm’s digital banking division by 5x in less than three years. Kony DBX was acquired by Temenos for $520 million a little over a year ago.

As CEO of NYMBUS, Kendall will be tasked with continuing the company’s success in helping financial institutions make their digital transformations. “In record time, NYMBUS has already delivered over 25 successful customer deployments,” Kendall said in a statement. “This is a powerful validation of the efficacy of our robust software and solutions, and the trajectory for continued success and growth by remaining focused on serving our clients, creating significant value for our shareholders, and providing exceptional opportunities for our employees.”

The Kendall hire is the second big C-suite move from NYMBUS in recent months. In June, the company tapped Jim Modak as its new President and Chief Financial Officer. Modak previously served as CFO at Tradex Technologies (sold to Ariba in 2000) and as both Chief Operating Officer and CFO at enterprise software provider DWL (sold to IBM in 2005). He is also a 12-year veteran of KPMG.

NYMBUS demonstrated its full-service, standalone, digital banking alternative, SmartLaunch, last year at FinovateFall in New York. The technology won the 2020 Best Solution for Customer Experience at the FinXTech Awards this spring. In what has been a busy year for the Miami Beach-based company, NYMBUS has inked partnerships with PeoplesBank, Transpecos Banks, fellow Finovate alum NCR, Pacific National Bank, and Payrailz.

Securing $12 million in growth funding in June, NYMBUS has raised a total of $45.4 million from investors including Vensure Enterprises, Insight Partners, and Home Credit Group.


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Tink’s $100 Million Monday; Azimo’s C-Suite Shakeup Promotes Experience and Diversity

Tink’s $100 Million Monday; Azimo’s C-Suite Shakeup Promotes Experience and Diversity

It is hard to imagine having a better start to your week than Plaid had seven days ago when the innovative fintech (and Finovate alum) announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Visa for $5.3 billion.

But the €90 million ($100 million) raised by Swedish open banking platform Tink on Monday is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, the funding, which is the company’s largest to date, is a reminder that investment interest in (and funding for) companies dedicated to developing the infrastructure that connects consumers, banks, and the financial technologies is very much in abundance.

“Our aim is to become the preferred pan-European provider of digital banking services and to offer the technology needed for banks, fintechs, and startups to leverage the opportunities of open banking and enable them to successfully develop financial services in the future,” Tink co-founder and CEO Daniel Kjellén said in a statement.

Tink demonstrated its platform most recently at FinovateEurope 2019. For more on this year’s Finovate event in Europe kicking off next month, visit our FinovateEurope 2020 page.


Azimo, one of our earliest FinovateEurope alums, announced a pair of big changes at the top to begin the new week.

The London-based money transfer firm, founded in 2012, promoted its COO Richard Ambrose to CEO back in August, as Azimo founder Michael Kent took what TechCrunch referred to as a lateral move to become executive chairman. Today, Fintech Futures, Finovate’s sister publication, reports that the company has appointed Dora Ziambra to the post of Chief Operating Officer. Azimo also promoted its head of finance Tatiana Okhotina to the post of Chief Financial Officer.

“We’re fortunate to have the depth of talent to fill these top roles internally,” Ambrose said in a statement. “We’re lucky too that Azimo will continue to benefit from the experience and leadership of these two outstanding women.”


Here’s our weekly roundup of the latest news from our Finovate alumni:

  • Union Bank to leverage technology from FIS for core banking.
  • Italy-based CREDEM leveraging Worldline’s Payment and Liquidity Hub software CRISTAL to process Target2 payments
  • POS software Vend partners with Klarna to offer retailers more flexible payment options.
  • U.K. food retailer The Co-operative to deploy ACI Worldwide’s fraud management solution, ReD Shield.
  • A partnership between TransferGo and Currencycloud will enable the money transfer company to enter 14 new markets.
  • YellowDog forges reseller agreement with Annex Pro.
  • Bankable cozies up with Plaid to allow its bank customers to connect with their users’ bank accounts.
  • Ohpen appoints former Tesla marketing leader Corinne Aaron as new head of marketing.
  • Segmint to acquire WAND’s Product and Service Taxonomy division.
  • CuneXus celebrates 2019 success with a 40% year-over-year increase in consumer reach.
  • TransUnion expands partnership with Payfone.
  • PayPal reaches $10 billion in charitable donations processed.
  • California approves Sezzle’s lending license.
  • People’s Bank selects NYMBUS’s SmartMarketing and SmartOnboarding solutions.
  • Ayondo ends its European social trading business.

Alumni Features and Profiles

Three Key Lessons We Learned from Plaid – Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard that Visa is acquiring Plaid for a deal that’s worth $5.3 billion. The fact that they were so widely used at such an early stage is a testament to the quality of their code, but there are also a few key lessons to take away from their success.

ITSCREDIT’s Joao Pinto on the Digital Lending Opportunity –  ITSCREDIT is a spinoff from ITSECTOR and is a fairly new player in the digital lending space. In this interview, Pinto talks to us about the digital lending opportunity, how his company fits into the current state of this fintech subsector, and what we can expect to see next.

Kasasa Enhances its Take-Back Loan – Community bank marketing expert Kasasa announced a partnership with Carleton today in which Kasasa will integrate Carleton’s insurance and debt protection calculations into its Kasasa Loan.

Our latest FinovateEurope Sneak Peeks Are Up! Meet Dorsum, CASHOFF, Tensorflight, Trulioo, W.UP, Horizn, Glia, and BLECKWEN.

Plinqit Brings Rewards-Powered Financial Literacy to First Community Bank – One day in the distant future, children will be educated in basic financial literacy as readily as they are taught algebra. Until then, solutions like Plinqit from HT Mobile Apps will be valuable tools for credit unions and community banks looking for novel ways to engage and educate their members and customers.

Credit, Data, and Cryptocurrencies: Graychain Rebrands as Credmark – The company that is bringing credit data clarity to the cryptocurrency industry is entering 2020 with a new name.

Tradeshift Lands $240 Million as it Inches Toward Profitability – The San Francisco-based company will use the investment to boost expansion efforts and gear toward a “direct path to profitability in the near future.”

Fintech, Financial Services, and the Case for 5G – Calling 5G “something banks aren’t even thinking about,” Celent SVP Dan Latimore said, “we believe the effects of 5G are going to be subtle and profound over time.”

Backbase-as-a-Service Helps Banks Leverage the Cloud to Innovate and Scale – The solution makes the company’s broad portfolio of digital banking offerings available to FIs looking to accelerate their ability to develop and offer new technologies to customers.

Also on Finovate.com

Visa to Acquire Plaid in $5.3 Billion Deal – “Today marks an important milestone for our company and for fintech,” company co-founder and CEO Zach Perret wrote on the Plaid blog earlier today. “What started with two founders building in a cramped conference room has become an incredible network that enables millions of consumers to interact with over 2,500 digital finance products.”

Not Another 2020 Trends Prediction Post (Seriously, It’s Not!) – We’re taking a look at the trends you can expect to see on stage next month at FinovateEurope. To keep things simple this year, we assessed the themes at a very high level and broke them down into three categories: the big, the little, and the trends in-between.

Singapore’s Digital Banking License Space Race Accelerates – Is there anyone out there who is NOT trying to secure a digital banking license in Singapore? The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced last week that has received 21 applications for digital bank licenses

MogoSpend Offers Credit, Cashback, and Help Reducing Your Carbon Footprint – The new digital spending account from Canadian fintech Mogo does more than help Canadians get control of their finances. The solution also offers cardholders generous cashback rewards and a way to make a positive impact on the environment by reducing their carbon footprint.

Getsafe Expands its Insurtech to the U.K. – If your insurance company is offering you drone insurance, you know it’s not your grandmother’s insurance agency. Germany-based insurtech Getsafe does just that– and the company announced today it is expanding its home contents insurance offering (though, sadly, not its drone insurance offering) to users in the U.K.

Raisin’s New Acquisition Gives Company Access to the U.S. Market – European deposit marketplace Raisin announced today it acquired New York-based Choice Financial Solutions. 

French Fintech Lydia Locks in $45 Million – TechCrunch reported this morning that French mobile payment app Lydia has raised $45 million (€40 million) in a round led by Tencent.

Visa’s Tap to Phone Brings Contactless Payments to mPOS – With Visa’s Tap to Phone app arriving pre-installed on the new, enterprise grade smartphone from Samsung, a broad range of merchants will have access to yet another way to accept payments from customers. 

INTL FCStone Acquires International Bank Transfer Firm – Headquartered in Germany, GIROXX offers international bank transfers and currency hedging. INTL FCStone plans to leverage this technology to expand its current client base to small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).