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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateFall on September 23 through 25, 2019 in New York City. Register today and save your spot.
The TelosTouchGuided Collaboration platform enables financial institutions to reveal client needs in real-time and deliver personalized and tangible advice at scale.
Features
Real-time connectivity to increase client-advisor engagement
Behavioral intelligence to segment and group clients with similar needs
Scalable capabilities to multiply and showcase evidence-based advice and impact to create and protect wealth
Why it’s great TelosTouch connects advisors with timely client insights to drive engagement, capacity, and business opportunities.
Presenters
Jad Chehlawi, Founder and CEO A wealth management domain expert, Chehlawi built and exited a fast growth financial services firm. He is a Harvard Business School and McGill alum. LinkedIn
Arsene Toumani, Co-Founder and CTO Toumani built an enterprise collaboration platform and mentored and led agile teams. He has delivered highly scalable and secure SaaS applications and has created apps for Fortune 500 companies. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateFall on September 23 through 25, 2019 in New York City. Register today and save your spot.
Flybits enables financial institutions to deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences, leveraging contextual intelligence and AI.
Features
Target the consumer journey beyond traditional financial touchpoints
Leverage real time insights on consumer experiences
Trigger new use cases based on prior experience insights
Why it’s great Flybits helps financial institutions become leaders in engaging consumers by providing a robust feedback loop to deploy, learn, and innovate on digital consumer journeys.
Presenters
Jason Davies, VP of Enterprise Innovation Davies has more than 20 years of experience in marketing, digital payments, and fintech. LinkedIn.
Katrina Shiu, Product Manager Shiu is passionate about helping financial institutions build consumer experiences into their digital strategies in order to drive business results. LinkedIn.
A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateFall on September 23 through 25, 2019 in New York City. Register today and save your spot.
Founded in 2019, Breach Clarity empowers consumers and FIs in the fight against data breaches. The company’s patent-pending solution delivers breach-specific guidance to reduce fraud losses and bolster trust.
Features
Helps customers understand the real risks to their accounts and identities
Drives adoption of customer-facing controls (two factor authentication, alerts, etc.)
Reduces call center volume and improves satisfaction
Why it’s great When it comes to the security of their identities, consumers place the greatest degree of trust in their financial institutions. Breach Clarity helps banks and credit unions meet that expectation.
Presenters
Jim Van Dyke, CEO and Founder Founder of Javelin Strategy & Research, Van Dyke is an expert witness on the country’s largest data breach cases, serves on the board of the ITRC, and previously served on the board of the CFPB. LinkedIn.
Al Pascual, COO and Co-Founder Pascual is a recognized expert on identity fraud having served as Head of Fraud & Security at Javelin Strategy & Research. Prior to Javelin he served in fraud roles at FIS, Goldman Sachs, and HSBC. LinkedIn.
A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateFall on September 23 through 25, 2019 in New York City. Register today and save your spot.
All of Us is the world’s first self-directed investing platform that introduces a radical new paradigm: Get Paid to Trade.
Features
Multi-sided investment platform, social channel and trusted financial advisor in one
Fully transparent insights for investors looking to grow their portfolios
Investors get paid to trade
Why it’s great All of Us aims to be the most honest, fair, and transparent option available for investors today, and the only option on the market for investors to get paid to trade.
Presenters
Alan Grujic, Founder and CEO Grujic is an experienced finance professional and engineer who co-founded the largest high-frequency trading firm in Canada with $100+ million in profit. He also founded a multi-million dollar algorithmic trading hedge fund. LinkedIn.
Iain Clarke, Founder and CTO Clarke is a technology strategist with vast experience in large global businesses and digital transformations at both Capgemini and Oracle. He is an innovator, product and architecture leader for Fortune 500 global companies. LinkedIn.
A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateFall on September 23 through 25, 2019 in New York City. Register today and save your spot.
BidMoni designed FiduciaryShield as an online platform to create a more efficient 401(k) marketplace infusing technology into what was once a time-consuming and cumbersome process.
Features
401k marketplace with a transparent, fast, and simple provider selection process
Ongoing automated fee analysis and monitoring
Process documentation as required of fiduciaries by ERISA
Why it’s great Offers a 401(k) marketplace allowing users to easily shop for plan providers and enables ongoing fee monitoring and analysis of service providers as required by ERISA.
Presenters
Stephen Daigle, CEO Over the past decade, Daigle has assisted 401(k) plans with vendor selection witnessing incredible inefficiencies and conflicts of interest which lead to BidMoni‘s founding. LinkedIn.
Kendall Dixon, CTO Dixon carries a strong business and technology background with over a decade of experience consulting with and designing software for SMBs within the financial sector. LinkedIn.
CashDirectorearns a spot in Plug and Play’s Fintech Europe innovation platform.
Trustlypartners with ECOMMPAY to fuel online banking payments across Europe.
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.
FinovateAsia 2018 Best of Show winnerArival Bank announced this week that it raised $2.3 million (£1.87 million) in a pre-Series A, equity crowdfunding campaign. The Singapore-based fintech bank for businesses and entrepreneurs soared past its fundraising target of $864,500 (£700,000), and now boasts a pre-money valuation of more than $14.8 million (£12 million).
“We’re not a neobank or challenger bank,” the company noted in its crowdfunding pitch. “We think of ourselves as the first fintech bank. We’ll exist as a licensed bank, (with) forward-thinking compliance (as) our secret sauce, and we plan to bundle some of the world’s hottest fintech products inside one banking platform.”
The fundraising follows the company’s $1 million seed round from April of last year. The new capital will help support licensing, product development, and effectively going live. The company is targeting a series A early in 2020 to capitalize the bank in the U.S., as well as to expand operations globally.
The campaign also marks the first time a digital bank has conducted an equity crowdfunding raise in the U.S. Seedinvest, an SEC-licensed broker dealer platform based in New York, spearheaded the fundraising with Crowdcube (the largest platform in the U.K.) in the role of joint partner.
“This is atypical for a digital banking startup, especially in the U.S.,” Arival Bank COO Jeremy Berger explained. “However, this was something we presented to the local regulators as we enter one of the most sophisticated banking markets in the world. Other digital banks in Europe have had real success with similar raises as it opens the opportunity to build camaraderie with future customers.”
Currently, Arival Bank has more than 1,000 requests from individuals and entities interested in opening accounts with the firm as it seeks to provide an alternative for “abnormal clients” traditional banks and even some digital banks do not serve. The firm’s main target focus currently are crypto- and blockchain-related businesses – who are chronically underbanked – as well as tech startups, and freelancers. The company, which applied for a U.S.-based international banking license last year, is betting that providing SMEs with access to innovative third party financial products and services – as well as “kick-ass customer service” and a unified banking interface – will go a long way toward supporting the next generation of businesses.
At FinovateAsia 2018 in Hong Kong, Arival Bank demonstratedArivalOS, a digital banking platform, powered by open APIs, that features integrated third party fintech solutions designed specifically for SMEs. ArivalOS offers bank accounts, money transfers, debit cards, mPOS and factoring, and SME loans. The company also offers A.ID, a “virtual compliance manager” that provides a full-stack compliance solution that covers KYC, onboarding, AML and transaction monitoring.
Arival Bank was founded in 2017 by Jeremy Berger (COO), Igor Pesin (CFO) and Vladislav Solodkiy (CEO) – also known as the team behind Life.SREDA venture capital. Berger was recognized by Forbes this year in its 30 Under 30 list of the world’s top young finance professionals. Pesin is one of the top-ranked fintech influencers in Southeast Asia according to Lattice80, and is author of the annual fintech report, Money of the Future. Solodkiy is author of the book, The First Fintech Bank’s Arrival, now in its second edition, that inspired the very idea for Arival.
Berger will be one of the featured speakers later this month at FinovateFall in New York, joining a panel discussion titled Digital Challengers vs Incumbents: Who Will Emerge Victorious? For more information on how to catch his presentation, visit our FinovateFall page.
A new initiative now makes Finovate’s historic Best of Show awards just one of two ways that our conferences recognize exceptional achievement in fintech innovation.
The Finovate Awards, launched this year, leveraged the insights of fintech experts, analysts, and professionals, to produce what we believe is a true winners circle of our industry’s most impressive and accomplished companies and individuals.
“Finovate has always been a place where innovative fintech companies come to showcase their latest tech, but that tech alone isn’t enough to drive advancement,” said Greg Palmer, Finovate VP and one of the primary organizers of the inaugural Finovate Awards.
“It also takes hard work from financial institutions, accelerators, marketers, and a host of other professionals to bring something from the workshop into the market. We established the Finovate Awards to recognize the important work being done by the entire industry and to celebrate the companies and individuals who are leaders in the space.”
The judges of the first inaugural Finovate Awards
Much of the credit toward making the Finovate Awards possible goes to our cast of judges (pictured above) – a baker’s dozen plus one of some of fintech’s most astute and discerning analysts and observers. It was their task to sift through 192 nominations in 19 different categories to find which companies and individuals were making the biggest mark in their respective field.
“Judging was a tough gig,” tweeted Ghela Boskovich, founder of FemTechGlobal and one of the 14 judges of the Finovate Awards this year. “(A) great list of finalists.”
There are just two weeks to go before our Finovate Awards finalists learn which of them will take home top honors in categories ranging from digital banking and customer experience to financial inclusion and regtech. Here’s the order in which the Finovate Awards will be presented at the Edison Ballroom on September 24:
Best Digital Bank
Best Fintech Partnership
Best Back-Office/Core Service Provider
Best SMB/SME Banking Solution
Best Customer Experience
Best Consumer Lending Platform
Best Digital Mortgage Platform
Best Alternative Investments Platform
Best ID Management Solution
Best RegTech Solution
Excellence in Financial Inclusion
Best Use of AI/ML
Best Use of Blockchain
Best Accelerator/Incubator
Top Emerging Tech Company
Influencer of the year
Woman of the year
Executive of the year
Innovator of the year
Tickets for the Finovate Awards are still available. To reserve your table and join us in New York at the Edison Ballroom on Tuesday, September 24th, visit our Finovate Awards page today!
Arival BankNets $2.3 Million in Equity Crowdfunding Campaign.
Winners Circle: Finovate Honors Fintech’s Finest with New Awards Series.
Around the web
Cinchyvoted “Top Pick” for TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2019 and selected as a CIX Top 20 company for 2019. Check out Cinchy’s upcoming demo at FinovateFall later this month!
Epcor partners with data-driven solution provider Segmint to help FIs better leverage payment data.
Dwollateams up with Currencycloud to make international payments easier for businesses.
Luxoft to collaborate with Fenergo as part of the company’s Global Platinum Partner program.
Menigahelps Grupo Crédito Agrícola launch its new banking app, moey!.
Nomis Solutionsexpands presence in the Midwest with the opening of a Center of Excellence in Cleveland, Ohio.
WePaylaunches same-day deposits to Chase bank accounts for free.
Blackhawk Networkappoints Harel Kodesh as chief technology officer.
Lendio Southwest Michigan franchise opens to offer funding to local businesses.
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.
Turns out that President Trump isn’t the only one with Alabama on his mind these days. Cloud-based omnichannel sales solution provider Terafina announced this week that it is teaming up with Alabama-based Listerhill CU to power the 90,000+ member FI’s sales strategy as it continues its digital transformation.
“Terafina’s partnership allows us to deepen our existing member relationships and develop new ones, while also helping us to be proactive in meeting our members’ diverse financial needs,” Listerhill CEO Brad Green said. “Moreover, as we continue to expand our reach into new markets, we are excited about this partnership helping us meet and exceed our growth objectives for 2020 and beyond.”
With more than $841 million in assets, Listerhill Credit Union has embarked upon an effort to boost member engagement with a new, omnichannel experience. The goal is to make it easier for members to learn about, choose, and deploy new products and services to meet their financial needs. Named one of America’s Best Credit Unions in Alabama by Forbes and market research company Statista, Listerhill Credit Union was founded in 1952 and serves members in 13 counties in northwestern Alabama and Tennessee.
“Our entire team is delighted to help Listerhill grow organically and provide top notch services to its membership,” Terafina CEO Meheriar Hasan said. “We believe in the great value that Listerhill provides its communities and feel privileged to be a part of its rising story.”
Terafina demonstrated its omnichannel sales platform at FinovateSpring 2019. The technology delivers a seamless experience that aligns branches, call centers, and digital channels to help banks and credit unions improve customer engagement and increase sales. The company notes that its platform is core-agnostic and that it has built more than 30 connectors to core banking, loan origination, KYC, and CRM systems, as well as to data aggregation and data prefill providers.
Earlier this year, Terafina announced that it was partnering with PlainsCapital Bank to help the Texas-based institution fast track small business onboarding. PlainsCapital Bank is the fifth largest bank in Texas with $9.7 billion in total assets. In April, Terafina teamed up with Washington state’s Gesa Credit Union ($2+ billion in assets and more than 150,000 members), and in March, the company announced its collaboration with Silicon Valley-area credit union KeyPoint CU ($1.3 billion in assets; 63,000 members).
Founded in 2014, Terafina is headquartered in Fremont, California.
BNP Paribas has formed a partnership with Kantox, a fintech firm specializing in FX risk management solutions, reports Sharon Kimathi of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).
The agreement enables BNP Paribas and Kantox to jointly offer Kantox’s Dynamic Hedging solution to BNP Paribas’ clients across EMEA.
Dynamic Hedging is a software solution developed by Kantox, which allows corporate treasurers to fully automate and streamline FX workflows. The solution will complement the product suite available on Centric, BNP Paribas’ leading digital banking platform.
Philippe Gelis, CEO and co-founder at Kantox, said: “We believe that our offering, combined with the financial strength of BNP Paribas as a banking partner, is an attractive value proposition for their existing corporate client base.”
Xavier Gallant, co-head of corporate rates, FX and local markets sales EMEA at BNP Paribas, said: “When it comes to managing foreign currency risk, we are seeing a real need for our corporate clients to improve efficiency in forecasting their future cash flows, formalizing hedging practices and optimizing execution through automation. BNP Paribas’ partnership with Kantox will offer corporate treasurers in EMEA the opportunity to access a fully automated hedging solution and ultimately improve their treasury processes. We look forward to a successful partnership.”
Kantox demonstrated its Peer FX, its peer-to-peer foreign exchange platform, at FinovateEurope 2013. The technology cuts out the middle man – the brokers and the banks – in the process by directly connecting two parties in an FX exchange. Earlier this year, the company announced that it had raised $5.7 million in a debt financing round.
Revolut has withdrawn its application for an e-banking license in the grand duchy in a shift towards Ireland, according to The Telegraph on Sunday, reports Sharon Kimathi of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).
The news outlet notes that Revolut stopped its Luxembourg application after questions about its compliance systems were raised in the Chamber of Deputies by the MP Laurent Mosar (CSV) in April, which Revolut has refuted.
Without citing any company names, Moser stated in a parliamentary question to the finance minister, Pierre Gramegna (DP), that: “Fintech companies are subject to a host of national and international rules. However, it would seem that these rules are not always respected by fintech companies, so that some of them get their approval, even though they do not meet financial and banking regulatory requirements. According to my information, at least one major company that has recently applied for approval, would be flagged in its country of origin for non-compliance with existing regulations as well as for non-transparency.”
Mosar asked Gramegna what the finance ministry was doing to ensure compliance with fintech rules. Gramegna responded that the Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (CSSF) and not the finance ministry oversaw regulating financial institutions.
The Telegraph reported that the CSSF began conducting spot checks on financial technology firms headquartered in the country earlier this year to verify that board and staff members were truly located in the grand duchy.
The neobank needs regulatory approval from one of the EU27 in order to maintain its access to the single European market after Brexit.
Revolut told news outlets that it did not withdrawal its application due to questions about its compliance technology. Rather it took a “strategic decision” to focus on its license application in Ireland. A spokesman said the firm “had a very positive and open dialogue” with the CSSF, as well as the promotion body Luxembourg for Finance.
Founded in 2013, Revolut demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2015. Nikolay Storonsky is CEO.
