Author: David Penn

DriveWealth to Help Democratize Investing in Nigeria

DriveWealth to Help Democratize Investing in Nigeria
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: DriveWealth

Courtesy of a new partnership with Sigma Securities and Trove Technologies, global digital trading technology specialist DriveWealth is launching a new digital U.S. equities trading product for retail investors in Nigeria.

“Making U.S. securities available to investors of any size in countries all around the globe is an essential element of the mission of DriveWealth,” company CEO Robert Cortright said. “We are delighted to work with Sigma Securities and Trove Technologies on this effort to democratize investing in Nigeria by bringing to its retail investors the largest and most liquid, transparent financial market.”

Sigma Securities is a leading Nigerian brokerage firm, founded in 1995 and headquartered in Lagos. Trove Technologies is a financial app developer based in Nigeria that offers investors the ability to purchase stakes in U.S., Chinese, and Nigerian stocks, as well as government bonds and U.S. exchange-traded funds with as little as $2.80 (NGN1,000).

Leaders from both Sigma Securities and Trove Technologies highlighted the way the partnership would help “(break) through the trading barriers” in the words of Sigma Securities CEO Dunama Balami and “eliminate the longstanding bottlenecks” according to Trove Technologies CEO Oluwatomi Solanke. “Our partnership with DriveWealth and Sigma Securities brings the world’s largest stock market to Nigerian investors, regardless of spending power,” Solanke said. Balami referred to the partnership as “a groundbreaking feat” for the Nigerian capital markets.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Chatham, New Jersey, DriveWealth demonstrated its platform at FinovateAsia 2016, following its Best of Show winning demo at FinovateEurope earlier that year. The company provides a suite of APIs that enable global investors to participate in the U.S. stock market at a reasonable cost, including the ability to purchase fractional shares. DriveWealth offers both digital investment products to help brokerages around the world provide broader options for their clients, as well as dollar-based, real-time investing via its brokerage service.

Recent headlines for DriveWealth include a collaboration with Investor Cash Management announced in May, in which DriveWealth will power new white-label cash management accounts that are linked to government money market and ultra-short term bond funds. DriveWealth began the year with an announcement that it would expand its partnership with Stake to bring commission-free trading in U.S. stocks and ETFs to investors in South America.

With clients and partners in more than 140 countries around the world, DriveWealth has raised $29.4 million in funding. The company includes Route 66 Ventures, Raptor Group, SBI Group, and Point72 Ventures among its investors.

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Zafin Forges Core Systems Partnership with DXC

Zafin Forges Core Systems Partnership with DXC
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Zafin

DXC Technology and Zafin have announced a partnership that will bring a standard connector between the former’s, Hogan core system and Celeriti’s digital banking front-end, and the latter’s product and pricing control solutions, reports Martin Whybrow of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

The tie-up would enable the Hogan and Celeriti user base to externalize product and pricing control, thereby accelerating speed-to-market for new solutions, with additional capabilities such as relationship pricing and better control and governance.

The Hogan and Celeriti systems were derived from the CSC part of the merger with the Enterprise Services business of Hewlett-Packard that created DXC Technology in April 2017. They now reside within a DXC subsidiary, DXC Celeriti (CeleritiFinTech until recently). The Hogan system is one of the oldest on the market, launched as a mid- to high-end retail offering at the end of the 1970s. There is now a fairly small, largely US-centric user base.

Phil Walton, vice-president and general manager, DXC Celeriti, said: “We’re always looking for ways to help our clients meet the ever-increasing expectations for personalized banking services. Zafin enhances the relevance, precision and agility of their pricing strategies.”

Toronto-based, Zafin, was set up in 2002 and earlier this year raised $17.2 million in private growth financing led by Vistara Capital Partners, Beedie Capital and Accenture Ventures. It claims 30+ retail and commercial banks as clients.

Zafin demonstrated its enterprise banking platform at FinovateFall 2017.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Blackhawk Network, DriveWealth, Fiserv, Geezeo, Jack Henry, Signicat

On Finovate.com

Around the web

  • Fiserv unveils its new mobile bill presentment solution.
  • Digital identity solutions company Signicat acquires Norway’s Idfy.
  • Blackhawk Network announces payments industry veteran and former InComm executive Mark Singer as its new APAC Managing Director.

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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How Facebook’s Libra Looks from Latin America; Indian Neobank Raises $30 Million

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Arival Bank, BBVA, Finovate Global, Jumio, Temenos, Token

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.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Capetown, South Africa-based digital lender Lulalend raises $6.5 million in Series A.
  • Techpoint Africa looks at how fintechs are “democratizing investment opportunities” for Nigerians across the income spectrum.
  • The Catalyst Fund announces that three Africa-based fintechs – Turaco, Chipper Cash, and Salutat – will join its accelerator program.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Estonia’s Tallinn Business Bank (TBB) partners with Icefire and Token to deliver PSD2 compliance.
  • Cointelegraph profiles Warsaw, Poland’s Alior Bank leverages Ethereum blockchain to authenticate client documents.
  • Polish Netflix subscribers will soon be able to pay for their viewing via the country’s Blik payment system.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Bahrain’s Bank ABC partners with Jumio, making it the first bank in the MENA region to offer biometric-based, digital KYC.
  • Egypt’s Banque du Caire to deploy omni-channel banking technology from Temenos.
  • Wamda interviews Elie Nasr founder of Lebanese fintech startup FOO.

Central and Southern Asia

  • The Bank of Mongolia will implement Intellect Design Arena’s Quantum Central Banking Solution as part of its digital transformation.
  • Indian SME-based neobank Open raises $30 million in Series B funding.
  • India’s Wizely introduces a new mobile savings account.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Contxto looks at the current fintech landscape of Mexico.
  • How will Facebook’s Libra project impact Latin America?
  • BBVA announces major changes to mortgage portfolio, including a rate reduction.

Asia-Pacific

  • U.K. regtech firm ClauseMatch teams up with Singapore-based consultancy Ingenia, the company’s first client in the country.
  • Axinan to work with PT Sompo Insurance to provide on-demand insurance options to Indonesian millennials.
  • The Monetary Authority of Singapore to issue as many as five new digital bank licenses.

Top image designed by Freepik

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Ping Identity and TIBCO Partner to Provide Advanced API Security Solutions

Ping Identity and TIBCO Partner to Provide Advanced API Security Solutions
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Ping Identity, TIBCO Software

A just-announced partnership between TIBCO Software and Ping Identity will provide companies with new AI-powered defenses against emerging API threats. The collaboration will integrate TIBCO’s API Management Platform, TIBCO Cloud Mashery, with Ping Identity’s PingIntelligence for APIs to extend and enhance the platform’s API security with AI-enabled threat mitigation and decoy API deception.

TIBCO Cloud Mashery provides a wide variety of API security features including advanced authentication, bot detection, white and blacklisting, and access controls. The integration of PingIntelligence for APIs is designed to provide companies with a comprehensive API security solution that enables them to confidently pursue digital transformation goals and open banking initiatives.

Vice President for Product Marketing and Strategy for TIBCO Rajeev Kozhikkattathodi noted that the growing reliance on APIs can be a problem for companies that fail to take a standardized approach to securing data that is exposed by APIs. “As the API attack surface continues to expand due to the strategic value of APIs,” he said, “a new generation of threats will similarly continue to emerge. We’re excited to partner with Ping Identity to improve security measures for enterprises with sensitive corporate data.”

Ping Identity CTO Bernard Harguindeguy echoed Kozhikkattathodi’s emphasis on the connection between the opportunity and risk of the API Age. “Companies’ most sensitive digital assets, including their customer data, are increasingly made accessible via APIs, and protecting this infrastructure from abuses and cyber attacks must be the top priority for CISOs and CIOs everywhere,” Harguindeguy said. “Our partnership with TIBCO brings AI-powered protection to boost the security of API infrastructures and help organizations everywhere secure their data and applications behind APIs.”

TIBCO is a two-time veteran of our FinovateAsia conference, most recently demonstrating Innovative Payment Solutions for temporary, “in the moment” payment contexts at FinovateAsia 2013. In April of this year, the company appointed a new CEO, Dan Streetman, and in June, TIBCO introduced a set of enhancements to a variety of solutions – including TIBCO Cloud Mashery – to help developers negotiate common pain points in mixed cloud environments. Named a leader in iPaaS and hybrid integration platforms by Forrester for Q1 2019, the company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Founded in 2003 and based in Denver, Colorado, Ping Identity demonstrated its PingFederate enterprise-grade authentication and single sign-on authority at FinovateEurope 2012. Earlier this month, the company unveiled a new framework and guidance to help companies adopt Zero Trust security strategies. In May, Ping Identity announced a partnership with Citrix Analytics and in March, the company was recognized at the 2019 SC Awards, winning the Best Identity Management Solution category. Ping Identity began the year noting that 12 of the biggest U.S. banks by assets use its Intelligent Identity Platform for identity and access management.

Both TIBCO and Ping Identity are recent acquisitions of Vista Equity Partners. TIBCO was taken private in 2014 in a deal valued at $4.3 billion. Ping Identity was purchased by the same Austin, Texas-based private equity firm in 2016 for $600 million.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Artivest, Enzoic, Invest Sou Sou, Onfido, Ping Identity, ThetaRay, TIBCO Software

On Finovate.com

  • Ping Identity and TIBCO Partner to Provide Advanced API Security Solutions

Around the web

  • ThetaRay wins the Software & Applications – Analytics category of the 2019 Fortress Cyber Security Awards.
  • Artivest appoints Karl Jaeger as Chief Financial Officer.
  • Arkansas Money & Politics features Finovate Best of Show winner Invest Sou Sou.
  • Beyond Protection highlights Enzoic in its list of top leading cyber security solution providers.
  • Onfido to help lead new identity verification and binding working group of The Fido Alliance.

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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RightCapital Partners with Wealth Manager CircleBlack

RightCapital Partners with Wealth Manager CircleBlack
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: RightCapital

Hot on the heels of its latest partnership announcements with advisor technology platform Capitect and Morningstar, Shelton, Connecticut’s RightCapital has another integration to celebrate, this time with wealth management platform, CircleBlack.

“We are excited to have RightCapital’s financial planning software integrated into CircleBlack,” company CEO John Michel said. “With our client app, held-away accounts added just once by the client push to RightCapital, giving advisors an incredible leg up in creating a full-picture plan.” Michel added that the integration among other things makes it easy for financial advisors to move back and forth between client portfolios on CircleBlack and their portfolios on RightCapital.

RightCapital provides financial and tax planning solutions to help advisors build holistic retirement plans for their clients. The technology leverages advanced Monte Carlo simulations, optimizes Social Security, and offers tax-efficient drawdown strategies and Roth conversions. RightCapital also helps users of its platform manage tax liabilities, budgets, and debt retirement strategies. Courtesy of the integration with CircleBlack, advisors will be able to automatically update client data and account values in RightCapital’s platform from CircleBlack.

“We are thrilled to partner with an innovative company like CircleBlack,” RightCapital CEO and co-founder Shuang Chen said. “RightCapital is committed to helping advisors grow their business, and our robust platform integration now enables advisors working with CircleBlack to deliver differentiated value to their clients.”

RightCapital was founded in 2015. The company demonstrated its API and enterprise solution at FinovateSpring last month. The technology enables financial management firms to deliver customized solutions that support and drive customer acquisition, education, and engagement.

In addition to its recent partnerships with Capitec and Morningstar, RightCapital announced that it had integrated with LPL Financial, an independent broker/dealer with 16,000 advisors in its network, in April; and partnered with Independent Financial Group in March.

RigthCapital has raised $8.6 million in funding. The company includes Camellia Venture Capital among its investors.

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Mastercard Works with P27 to Launch Real Time Payments in the Nordics

Mastercard Works with P27 to Launch Real Time Payments in the Nordics
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: MasterCard

Mastercard has teamed up with P27 Nordic Payments Platform to deliver fast, cross-border, multi-currency account to account payments across the Nordic region, reports Jane Connolly of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

The partners claim this is a world first in terms of a real-time and batch multi-currency platform, which will offer immediate payments with lower costs, higher security and increased competitiveness.

P27 Nordic Payments Platform is owned by Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, OP Financial Group, SEB and Swedbank.

After establishing the underlying infrastructure, the partnership will look to develop further common products and services based on the platform.

Javier Perez, president Europe at Mastercard, said the partnership is “evidence of Mastercard’s vision to drive real choice by being the trusted provider of new payment experiences and broadening our reach into fast bank account payment flows. The Nordic markets are global leaders in the development and usage of electronic payments and this new infrastructure will maintain their advantage over the rest of the world.”

Lars Sjögren, CEO of P27 Nordic Payments Platform, believes that the single interface will make it easier for banks to handle all payments, both domestically and internationally.

He added: “This is change for real. By joining forces across the Nordics, we will be able to develop instant payment solutions in a way that each country never would accomplish by themselves.”

Banks will benefit from real-time views of multiple active schemes, participant information, balances across schemes and a data-rich message set.

The new platform is subject to regulatory approvals and final investment commitments.

Earlier this year, Mastercard teamed up with fellow Finovate alum Strands to demo the Strands SME Cash Flow Manager enhanced by Mastercard Technology at FinovateSpring. The solution is a digitization tool designed specifically to help meet the needs of SME banking. Previously, Mastercard partnered with Vipera, to demo the Milan, Italy-based company’s SME-Pay mobile payment solution at FinovateEurope 2018.

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Mambu and Salt Edge Team Up to Boost PSD2 Compliance

Mambu and Salt Edge Team Up to Boost PSD2 Compliance
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Mambu, Salt Edge

A new collaboration between SaaS banking engine Mambu and open banking solution provider Salt Edge will help FIs become more PSD2 compliant and, in the process, accelerate fintech innovation in the banking sector.

Salt Edge CEO Dmitrii Barbasura highlighted the company’s significant background in helping FIs become PSD2 compliant faster and with less cost, having launched more than 60 PSD2 API sandboxes this spring. “(Our) vision is to transform the way financial institutions interact with each other under the aegis of the PSD2 and other open banking initiatives,” he said. “One of our main specializations is building open banking APIs for interoperability between banks, payment service providers, and end customers.”

The collaboration stems from a partnership between the two companies launched last month that will give account servicing payment service providers (ASPSPs) working with Mambu the ability to gain PSD2 compliance without having to develop their own in-house, public APIs.

“Mambu continuously works to bring best of service partners to our ecosystem marketplace to help in composing innovative financial services architectures,” Mambu Chief Product and Technology Officer Ben Goldin said. “We chose Salt Edge, as they are a leader in open banking and are a good match in their service approach and company culture. Salt Edge’s capabilities go beyond a single region or standard, which complements a good global presence.”

Salt Edge demonstrated its Open Banking Platform at FinovateEurope earlier this year. The company is connected to more than 3,400 financial institutions in 66 countries, including more than 200 banks in Europe, and has offices in Toronto, London, and Chisinau. In addition to supporting account data and payment initiation, Salt Edge provides added value with data enrichment services such as financial categorization and payee verification during the transaction flow.

Salt Edge earned its Account Information Service Provider (AISP) license from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) this spring. The company also announced a new partnership earlier this year, teaming up with U.K.-based money management app Emma.

Berlin, Germany-based Mambu made its Finovate debut at FinovateAsia 2013. The company is also an alum of our developers conference, presenting Smart Consumer Lending: Platform and Scoring Architecture at FinDEVr New York 2016.

More recently, Mambu announced core banking technology partnerships challenger banks in the U.K. and South Africa. The company began the year with a significant fundraising, picking up a $34 million investment via a round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Co-founder Eugene Danilkis is Mambu’s CEO.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: iGTB, LoanScorecard, Mambu, Salt Edge, SpyCloud, Zafin

On Finovate.com

  • Mambu and Salt Edge Team Up to Boost PSD2 Compliance.
  • RightCapital Partners with Wealth Manager CircleBlack.
  • Mastercard Works with P27 to Launch Real Time Payments in the Nordics.

Around the web

  • Product and pricing control solution provider Zafin announces alliance with end-to-end IT services firm DXC Technology.
  • Trade finance and supply chain expert David Hennah joins IGTB.
  • LoanScorecard to powerACORN, the new automated underwriting system from Sprout Mortgage.
  • FinovateFall Best of Show winner SpyCloud takes home top honors at SourceMedia’s 2019 Digital Banking conference.

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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NuData Security Gets a New CEO in Christopher Bailey

NuData Security Gets a New CEO in Christopher Bailey
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: NuData Security

NuData Security SVP and Chief Technology Officer Christopher Bailey has been named CEO of the company, replacing Michel Giasson who is retiring after 12 years at the helm. The two men co-founded NuData Security in 2007; the firm was acquired by fellow Finovate alum Mastercard ten years later. In addition to his new role as CEO of NuData, Bailey will also serve as Mastercard’s executive vice president of EMV/Digital Devices.

“Michel has been a mentor for me and is a reference for many in the cybersecurity industry, so it is a privilege to continue his legacy,” Bailey said. He added that as CEO is focus will be primarily on maintaining “unparalleled” customer service and a professional environment “that fosters the creation of secure and innovative products.”

Bailey (pictured) will drive the NuData’s strategic vision and the direction of user verification intelligence. He will also, via Mastercard’s Digital Devices division, manage the creation of an integrated security path with EMV. The goal is to evolve NuData’s technology into solutions that extend beyond a specific login or device and provide user verification in different contexts and at different stages of engagement. Bailey noted in the appointment press release that he believed NuData and Mastercard are well positioned to drive adoption of technologies like passive biometrics as centralized authentication becomes more prevalent in the payments industry.

Previous to NuData, Bailey founded gaming company H20 Entertainment, which provided games for Nintendo. Hd also co-founded vulnerability assessment specialist Secure Networks, which was acquired by Network Associates in 1998.

NuData Security demonstrated its universal identity solution at FinovateSpring 2018. The technology differs from other device identification technologies by building a signal that tracks the identity of multiple users rather binding a single device to a single FI account. Passive biometrics, including the user’s own inherent behavior and data from multiple devices, are all connected to one identifier that can access the account.

NuData began the year with news that its NuDetect solution would be deployed by Mastercard to help fight payment fraud in the African payments market. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

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CREALOGIX Adds New Mobile Functionality to LGT Vestra’s Digital App

CREALOGIX Adds New Mobile Functionality to LGT Vestra’s Digital App
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CREALOGIX

U.K.-based wealth management firm, LGT Vestra, has selected Swiss-headquartered digital banking software provider, CREALOGIX, to develop new mobile capabilities to enhance the digital experience for their high-net-worth clients, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

LGT Vestra offers investment management and wealth planning services and, as at April 2019, manages over £12.7 billion in assets.

The firm is adding new mobile functionality to enhance digital services for their high-net-worth clients. The app will enable LGT Vestra clients to easily access their account and portfolio information, providing an efficient digital experience which will enhance client engagement.

Ben Snee, CEO of LGT Vestra, said: “Developing new digital and mobile capabilities with Crealogix will increase accessibility and efficiencies, which will benefit our client experience.”

David Joyce, senior vice president of CREALOGIX UK, said: “A well-designed digital wealth management platform increases engagement, trust, and loyalty among private clients, while leveraging the capabilities of the firm’s investment and advisory expertise.”

Founded in 1996, CREALOGIX demonstrated its TimeWarp application at FinovateEurope earlier this year. The company took home a Best of Show award for its user-friendly, self-service financial planing and insights solution.

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