Author: David Penn

Finovate Global Denmark: Financing Spend Management Solutions and Small Business Tools

Finovate Global Denmark: Financing Spend Management Solutions and Small Business Tools
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, Nubank, Signicat, Temenos

A few days ago, we highlighted the $25.7 million (€24.1 million) investment secured by Danish challenger bank Lunar. Also this week, we noted partnership news from Denmark-based real estate tokenization platform – and FinovateSpring alum – DigiShares.

With all this Danish fintech news, we are devoting this week’s edition of Finovate Global to the fintech scene in Denmark: a Nordic country with a population of nearly six million and a per capita GDP that’s among the top ten in the world. We’ll also highlight some of the Danish fintechs that have demonstrated their innovations on the Finovate stage.

Danish fintech unicorn Pleo raises €40m in debt financing

Pleo, a Danish B2B spend management platform founded in Copenhagen in 2015, secured a $43 million (€40 million) debt financing facility this week. The financing came courtesy of HSBC Innovation Banking UK, a subsidiary of HSBC Group.

Pleo enables companies to centralize their business spending – expenses, reimbursements, invoices, and more. Pleo also offers physical, temporary, virtual, and vendor company cards to help businesses better track and manage spending. Pleo integrates readily with common business tools such as NetSuite, Xero, and Quickbooks, making its solution a viable option for companies ranging from start-ups to enterprises. With more than 30,000 customers using its spend management platform, Pleo notes that its technology saves administrative teams 138 hours every year and has a satisfaction rate of 90%.

“We are delighted to announce our partnership with HSBC Innovation Banking. Starting at €40 million, the debt financing available to us can extend based on future requirements – which will expand our existing reach even further into more countries, enable us to increase limits and offer more currencies,” Pleo VP of Credit and Treasury Amit Kahana said. “Beyond this milestone partnership and imminent launch in the Netherlands, Pleo is expecting to see exciting developments over the coming 12 months as Pleo prepare(s) to launch in even more markets.”

Pleo initially earned its unicorn status in the summer of 2021, courtesy of a $150 million investment that drove the company’s valuation to $1.7 billion. Pleo secured an additional $200 million in funding in an extension of its Series C round in December of that year, giving the company a valuation of $4.7 billion.

Pleo announced last summer that it had nearly doubled its revenue and transaction volumes in 2022. The company began this year with a new chief financial officer, Søren Westh Lonning who had been working with the company in an advisory capacity.

Ageras raises €82m in oversubscribed private placement round

From its origins in 2012 as an online marketplace to help small businesses connect with financial professionals like accountants and bookkeepers, Denmark-based fintech Ageras has grown into a more comprehensive financial services provider, offering cloud-based accounting services to more than 300,000 small businesses in Europe.

This week, the company announced that it has raised $88 million (€82 million) in an oversubscribed private placement round led by Investcorp. The round, which also featured participation from Norwegian state pension fund Folketrygdfondet and American fund manager Lazard, was successful enough that Ageras CEO Rico Anderson said that it “reinforced the company’s desire to ‘become a market leader and then go public’.“

“We want to make it easier to be a small business in an increasingly difficult administrative and regulatory landscape by offering a fully integrated platform where companies can manage their banking, accounting, and tax in one financial cockpit,” Anderson said.

The investment takes Ageras’ total equity capital to more than $231 million, according to Crunchbase. The funds will also support Ageras’ plans for new acquisitions, with Anderson admitting that there are a number of potential targets already under consideration.

Ageras operates in more than 100 countries and boasts more than a million users of its technology. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Ageras was acquired by Investcorp, which took a minority stake in the company in 2017.

Here come Finovate’s Danish alums

Over the years, Finovate has been proud to showcase a large number of innovative fintechs from Northern Europe, including a handful from Denmark. Here are some of the Danish fintechs that have demoed their innovations on the Finovate stage.

Cardlay Payment Systems – FS24 – Cardlay Payment Systems will make its Finovate debut later this month at FinovateSpring in San Francisco. The company offers a white-label card and expense management solution, Cardlay Expense, that delivers an exceptional, real-time experience for cardholders.

Subaio – FEU22 – Subaio made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin, Germany, and returned to the Finovate stage two years later for FinovateEurope 2022 in London. The company helps financial companies generate new revenue streams by identifying recurring payments and insights, and delivering different use cases based on this data.

Aiia – FEU21 – Aiia demoed its technology at FinovateEurope 2021 in London. The leading open banking platform in Northern Europe, the company provides open banking services to a sizable number of financial instituitons including Lunar, Pleo, DNB, and Santander Consumer Bank. Aiia was acquired by Mastercard in 2021.

DigiShares – FS21 – DigiShares introduced itself to Finovate audiences at FinovateSpring 2021 in San Francisco. The company offers a white-label tokenization platform for real estate, bringing both automation and liquidity to the property market.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Asia-Pacific

  • Vietnamese fintech startup M_Service, operator of mobile e-wallet Momo, secured $28 million (£ 19.7 million) in funding.
  • A new inclusive instant payment system (IIPS), Higala, launched in the Philippines.
  • Fintech Australia and the Thai Fintech Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding to foster fintech capabilities between the two countries.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • The Central Bank of Nigeria paused account opening for new customers at four fintechs: Kuda Bank, Moniepoint, OPay, and Palmpay.
  • Digital financial solutions provider Payless Africa launched in Kenya.
  • FX and cross-border payments provider Crown Agents Bank teamed up with business platform Invest Africa.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Norway-based digital identity solution provider Signicat became the first international aggregator to integrate mojeID Poland into its digital identity portfolio.
  • Romanian fintech Finqware teamed up with FwF to help European companies automate financial operations.
  • Lithuanian fintech Softloans raised $1 million (€1 million) in pre-seed funding.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • National Bank of Iraq (NBI) went live with core banking and payments technology from Temenos.
  • Israel-based fintech Nayax acquired Brazilian payment technology provider VMtecnologia.
  • Egypt’s Bokra raised $4.6 million in pre-seed funding for its platform that offers investment products via asset backed securities.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Bangladesh-based Eastern Bank (EBL) teamed up with Mastercard to launch a dual currency prepaid card for medical tourists in India.
  • Indian cross-border payments platform BriskPE secured $5 million in seed funding.
  • Bank of Thailand launched QR code cross-border payments to India.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Brazil-based banking-as-a-service company QI Tech became the country’s latest unicorn after securing an extension of its $200 million Series B round from last October.
  • Uruguyan cross-border payment platform dLocal partnered with online English-learning platform Open English.
  • Brazilian fintech Nubank launched its new banking experience Nubank+, offering cashback, streaming video courtesy of a partnership with Max, and more.

Photo by Sushil Ghimire

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Founders Series: 5 Conversations on Compliance and the Regulatory Landscape in Fintech

Founders Series: 5 Conversations on Compliance and the Regulatory Landscape in Fintech
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Interview, Streamly

The regulatory landscape for companies innovating in fintech and financial services is complex and ever-changing. Whether a company is developing solutions in the crypto space or seeking to take advantage of the opportunities in open banking, open finance, or Banking-as-a-Service, a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory environment is critical for success.

In its latest series of video conversations from our sister publication Fintech Futures, Fintech Founders interviews six industry professionals – all Founders and Co-Founders – to hear from them what they believe will be the biggest regulatory challenges for fintech start-ups in the coming years.

Check out our conversations on compliance in fintech and financial services featuring:

Ensuring Compliance for Your Product or Service

Evolution of Industry Compliance – A Decade of Shifting Perspectives and Practices

Regulatory requirements – Adapting operations accordingly

Technology and automation – Streamlining compliance processes

Navigating the Regulatory Landscape – Top Challenges for Fintech Start-ups

Photo by Markus Winkler

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Blend Labs Raises $150 Million, Forges Strategic Partnership with Haveli Investments

Blend Labs Raises $150 Million, Forges Strategic Partnership with Haveli Investments
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Blend, Daily news, Funding, Fundings
  • Cloud banking services provider Blend raised $150 million in new funding from PE firm Haveli Investments.
  • The investment comes in the form of convertible preferred stock with a zero percent coupon.
  • Blend Labs is an alumni of both FinovateSpring and our developers conference FinDEVr Silicon Valley, presenting at both events in 2016.

Cloud banking services provider Blend has secured an investment of $150 million from technology-focused private equity firm Haveli Investments.

The investment comes in the form of convertible preferred stock with a zero percent coupon. Blend will use most of the capital – approximately $145 million – to repay amounts payable under its current credit agreement. The remainder of the investment will be used for general corporate purposes. Overall, the investment is designed to fortify Blend’s financial position and balance sheet, paving the way for long-term growth and value creation.

“This partnership with Haveli reflects confidence in Blend’s continued journey to transform financial services and is an important show of faith in our growth strategy,” Blend Co-founder and Head Nima Ghamsari said. “We look forward to working with Haveli to advance our goal of driving innovation in the space and delivering lasting value for our customers and shareholders.”

Blend made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring in 2016. The company returned to the stage later that year to demo its technology at our developers conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley. In the years since, Blend has grown into a major cloud banking services provider helping financial services firms process $1.7 trillion in loan applications in 2022, and capturing more than 23% of mortgage market share in the second half of that year. So far in 2024, Blend has forged partnerships with Fannie Mae, Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, Citizens Bank, and Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union (MSGCU).

As part of this week’s investment, Brian Sheth, Chief Investment Officer with Haveli Investments will join Blend’s board of directors. In a statement, Sheth praised the company as a market leader in providing mortgage and consumer banking software for banks, credit unions, and other lenders. “We have known the Blend team for several years and have been impressed with their innovation and vision,” Sheth said. “With a blue-chip customer base and an improved balance sheet, we believe Blend is well positioned to succeed with its modern, next-gen platform.”

Photo by Pixabay

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Meet the Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship Winners for FinovateSpring 2024

Meet the Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship Winners for FinovateSpring 2024
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Blee, Endaoment, FinovateSpring 2024, Instarails, Kobalt Labs, LiquidTrust, List series, Nav.it, Parlay Protocol, Remynt

This year FinovateSpring will feature eight startups that are winners of our Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship program. The program is designed to showcase underrepresented founders and startups who are creating innovative solutions to combat climate change, promote diversity, and create financial inclusion.

To be eligible for the Finovate Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship program, fintech and technology companies must have less than $7 million in funding. There are five categories in the program: environmental, social, governance, BIPOC founded/owned, and female-founded/owned.

Here are the Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship winners for FinovateSpring 2024:

Blee – Scholarship winner in the Governance category. Headquartered in New York and founded in 2022, Blee helps organizations move to market quicker while increasing revenue and minimizing compliance risk. LinkedIn.

Endaoment – Scholarship winner in the Social category. Headquartered in San Francisco, California and founded in 2020, Endaoment empowers nonprofit organizations to accept donations in crypto and stock without having to accept the asset directly. LinkedIn.

Instarails – Scholarship winner in the Female Founded/Owned category. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia and founded in 2022, Instarails enables banks and other organizations to offer instant, inexpensive, and inclusive payments to boost revenue, generate growth, and pave the way for entry into new markets. LinkedIn.

Kobalt Labs – Scholarship winner in the Female Founded/Owned category. Headquartered in New York, NY, and founded in 2023, Kobalt Labs helps fintechs and financial institutions accelerate and strengthen third-party diligence, facilitating revenue-generating partnerships and improving operational efficiency – without increasing headcout. LinkedIn.

LiquidTrust – Scholarship winner in the Female Founded/Owned category. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and founded in 2019, LiquidTrust enables banks to offer an improved customer experience to their business customers, grow non-interest bearing deposits, and generate additional revenue. LinkedIn.

Nav.it – Scholarship winner in the Female Founded/Owned category. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded in 2019, Nav.it integrates with existing HR systems to help organizations grow their businesses by enhancing employee financial wellness. LinkedIn.

Parlay Protocol – Scholarship winner in the Female Founded/Owned category. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and founded in 2022, Parlay Protocol offers technology that boosts the odds that an applicant will secure access to small business funding while helping banks gain new customers and attract new borrowers. LinkedIn.

Remynt – Scholarship winner in the BIPOC Founded/Owned category. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and founded in 2022, Remynt helps creditors achieve higher recoveries and recapture defaulted consumers as customers as their financial position improves. LinkedIn.

FinovateSpring (May 21-23) is only a few weeks away! Take advantage of big early-bird savings on your registration when you buy your ticket by May 10.

Photo by Emily Ranquist

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SecureAuth Acquires Access Management Technology Company Cloudentity

SecureAuth Acquires Access Management Technology Company Cloudentity
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Cloudentity, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Seattle, Washington-based Cloudentity has been acquired by access management firm SecureAuth.
  • Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cloudentity has raised $13 million in funding.
  • Cloudentity made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2022 in New York.

Access management and authentication company SecureAuth has completed its acquisition and integration of Cloudentity. Announced earlier this year, SecureAuth’s acquisition of the Seattle, Washington-based company will help position the firm as a market leader in the Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) space.

Cloudentity, which made its Finovate debut in 2022 at FinovateFall, is a specialist in advanced SaaS-delivered access management technology. The company supports both Fine-Grained Authorization (FGA) and Business-to-Business-to-Consumer (B2B2C) use cases, and also provides support for advanced authorization and consent specifications including Financial-grade API (FAPI) 2.0, which powers Open Finance communities around the world.

Integrating Cloudentity’s orchestration and FGA capabilities will complement SecureAuth’s suite of identity security solutions such as its AI/ML Risk Engine and Passwordless MFA technologies. The combined functionality will enable businesses to upgrade their customer experiences with enhanced security and compliance – with less friction.

“With the acquisition of Cloudentity, SecureAuth is poised to revolutionize the CIAM market,” SecureAuth Chief Operating Officer Kelly Wenzel said. “Cloudentity was built from the ground up as a pure cloud-native deep identity solution that can be implemented on-premise, via public cloud or private cloud, as a single-tenant or multi-tenant deployment within hours. This powerful combination of deployment flexibility and deep capabilities allows us to serve our customers in implementing identity security without sacrificing customer experience.”

As part of the transaction, Cloudentity CEO Brook Lovatt will join SecureAuth as Chief Product Officer. Lovatt said in a statement that the combined company will help drive innovation in the identity security space. “Together, these technologies provide a comprehensive CIAM solution set with an extremely short time-to-value that enables organizations to quickly and easily deliver exceptional digital experiences, while maintaining the highest standards of security and compliance.”

Cloudentity was founded in 2001. Prior to its acquisition, the company had raised $13 million in funding. Forgepoint Capital and WestWave Capital are among the firm’s investors.

Photo by Amanda Grove

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Veritran and Swift Announce Collaboration to Enhance Cross-Border Payments

Veritran and Swift Announce Collaboration to Enhance Cross-Border Payments
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, VeriTran
  • International banking technology company Veritran announced a collaboration with financial messaging services company Swift.
  • As part of the collaboration, Veritran has joined the Swift Partner Programme.
  • Headquartered in Argentina, Veritran made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2021.

A new collaboration between Veritran and financial messaging services innovator Swift will empower financial institutions to provide an enhanced and streamlined cross-border payments experience for customers. As part of the collaboration, Veritran has joined the Swift Partner Programme, which will give its customers access to a variety of Swift solutions to increase the transparency and security of cross-border payments.

“Collaborations such as this are improving the experience for those sending payments cross-border, while also increasing transparency and security to improve the ecosystem as a whole,” Swift Global Head of API Acceleration Juan Carlos Botrán said. “It’s vital that industry players work together in this way to overcome increasing fragmentation in the cross-border payments landscape.”

An international banking technology company, Veritran will benefit from access to Swift solutions such as the Swift GPI Tracker, Payment Pre-validation, and SwiftRef. Swift GPI Tracker enables users to check the status of cross-border payments. Payment Pre-validation validates beneficiary data before the payment is sent. SwiftRef is Swift’s payments reference data solution, which streamlines payment operations and helps users easily find the data sets they need in a single location.

“This agreement is designed to align with the changing market demands, prioritizing the need for speed and flexibility with a more transparent and consistent pricing structure for users, the retail sector, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large corporates,” Veritran CCO Marcelo Fondacaro said. “At Veritran, we’re fully committed to leading the charge towards an innovative future in international payments.”

Founded in 2005, Veritran made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2019 in New York. The company returned to the Finovate stage two years later for FinovateFall 2021. At the conference, Veritran demonstrated how to leverage its enterprise low-code platform to build solutions like its white-label digital wallet. The platform provides optimum time-to-market, boosting development times by 33%; a memorable UX; unlimited integration and scalability; and bank grade security.

Veritran maintains headquarters in Spain and the U.S., as well as in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The company has a major presence in Latin America, with offices in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, and Paraguay.

Photo by Andres Idda Bianchi

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DigiShares and InvestBay Team Up to Tokenize and Democratize Real Estate Investing

DigiShares and InvestBay Team Up to Tokenize and Democratize Real Estate Investing
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, DigiShares
  • White-label tokenization platform for real estate DigiShares has partnered with Czech online real estate investing platform InvestBay.
  • InvestBay will leverage DigiShares’ technology to tokenize real estate.
  • Headquartered in Denmark, DigiShares made its Finovate debut at our online fintech conference in the spring of 2021.

Denmark-based white-label tokenization platform for real estate DigiShares has partnered with Czech online real estate investing platform InvestBay. Courtesy of the partnership, InvestBay will integrate DigiShares’ white label, real estate tokenization technology with its own platform that facilitates fractional property investments.

“We build InvestBay in such a way that it is similar to real ownership but in smaller fractions,” InvestBay CEO and Founder Daniel Rajnoch explained. “Investors benefit from two potential revenue streams: rental income and capital value growth over time. It is also hassle-free ownership, because InvestBay will take care of everything with their partners. This includes finding guests, maintenance, cleaning, checking guests in and out – all the usual headaches of fully owning a property.”

InvestBay’s “crowd-owning” model enables investment properties to be co-owned by tens or even hundreds of micro-investors. Geared toward holiday properties in Europe, investors can participate with as little as $107 (€100) and enjoy the use of the properties on preferential terms. Adding tokenization, according to Rajnoch, creates a “vehicle for enabling liquidity and creating equal opportunity access to this investment sector for smaller retail investors.”

Founded in 2018, DigiShares made its Finovate debut at our online fintech conference in the spring of 2021. At the event, the company demoed its white-label tokenization platform that digitizes and automates the processes involved in the financing of real estate projects. The platform enables users to fractionalize assets, companies, and funds down to $107 (€100); allows investors to pay in both fiat and stablecoin; and facilitates P2P and wallet-to-wallet trading without counterparty risk.

“We are very excited about collaborating with InvestBay on democratization of real estate investment and happy that they see our white label tokenization platform as a good fit for their requirements,” DigiShares CEO and Co-Founder Claus Skaaning said. “Together with InvestBay we share the vision that one day everyone will be able to invest in attractive real estate assets to longer term help close the global wealth gap.”

DigiShares’ partnership with InvestBay is the company’s sixth collaboration this year. DigiShares began 2024 teaming up with Danish real estate developer Coreestate and urban mobility solutions provider Custowner Mobility. Also this year, the company expanded its partnership with public permissioned blockchain network Polymesh (first announced in December), teamed up with Spanish proptech startup Equito App, and announced that it was collaborating with Polygon to create a decentralized ID framework for tokenization.

Photo by The Lazy Artist Gallery

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Greg Palmer and the Finovate Podcast: Financial Literacy, Core Banking, and Deepfake Detection

Greg Palmer and the Finovate Podcast: Financial Literacy, Core Banking, and Deepfake Detection
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Corsound AI, Podcasting, Tuum, Zeed

Finovate VP and host of the Finovate podcast Greg Palmer continues his conversations with Best of Show winning companies from FinovateEurope.

Join Greg as he talks about the next generation of investment and wealth management content with Salman Hussain of Zeed, the value of flexibility in core banking with Richard Weston of Tuum, and the challenge of identity theft, deep fakes, and the escalating AI arms race with Gal Haselkorn of Corsound.ai.

Greg Palmer interviews Salman Hussain, co-founder of Zeed. The company enables retail investors to engage with financial content by leveraging interactive AI. Zeed’s technology also enables issuers to deploy these AI-based tools to educate and grow their retail investor base. Demo video.

Episode 211 – Salman Hussain, Zeed

Greg Palmer talks with Richard Weston, Sales Director with Tuum, on the latest innovations in core banking technology. With a strong focus on the U.K. and the Nordics, Tuum is a next generation core banking software provider that helps banks modernize their systems, open new revenue streams, and build new business models. Demo video.

Episode 210 – Richard Weston, Tuum

Greg Palmer catches up with Corsound AI CEO Gal Haselkorn to discuss cutting-edge developments in voice intelligence and deepfake detection. Corsound AI, headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, offers a real-time deepfake detection solution that provides immediate threat mitigation for a robust defense against emerging security threats. Demo video.

Episode 209 – Gal Haselkorn, Corsound.ai

Photo by Will Francis on Unsplash

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Gen AI, Geopolitics, and the Blue Dot Customer: 3 Conversations from FinovateEurope

Gen AI, Geopolitics, and the Blue Dot Customer: 3 Conversations from FinovateEurope
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2024, Interview, Streamly

Today we’re sharing our final set of conversations from our European fintech conference, FinovateEurope. This round of interviews expands beyond our recent look at embedded finance, open banking, and the customer experience in financial services to cover broader themes like AI, the intersection of geopolitics and finance, and the customer of tomorrow.

The truth about generative AI: What financial institutions really need to know about adoption

Author, Generative AI expert, and founder at Tamang Ventures, Nina Schick discusses the realities facing financial services companies when they adopt generative AI. Schick talks about lessons financial services companies can learn from early adopters of the technology in other industries, and why partnerships are the way forward for most companies in banking and finance to best take advantage of AI.

The geopolitical super cycle and what that means for financial services

CEO at London Politica, Manas Chawla talks about the geopolitical risks facing the financial services sector in 2024 – from Ukraine to Gaza to the upcoming Presidential election in the United States. Chawla also discusses the geopolitical supercycle and the challenge of “grey rhino” threats that leaders in both business and politics need to be aware of.

The blue dot consumer: What can financial services learn from Taylor Swift, Red Bull, and United Airlines

A consumer behaviouralist at The King of Customer Experience Ken Hughes introduces the concept of the blue dot consumer in his discussion of what he calls “the customer of tomorrow.” Hughes talks about the relationship between technology and the human experience, how successful brands build loyalty, and what banks and financial institutions can do to foster true loyalty.

Photo by CoWomen

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BMO Unveils Greener Future Financing to Help SMEs Build Climate-Resilience

BMO Unveils Greener Future Financing to Help SMEs Build Climate-Resilience
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Green Banking
  • BMO is bringing its Greener Future Financing program to the U.S.
  • Green Future Financing is BMO’s first climate financing program to help SMEs become climate-resilient.
  • BMO’s program offers both climate resiliency loan discounts and green business advisory.

Canada-based BMO is bringing its Greener Future Financing program to the United States.

The eighth largest bank in North America by assets, BMO announced the launch earlier this week. Greener Future Financing is the financial institution’s first climate financing program designed to help SMEs build climate-resilient operations. Specifically, the program will offer climate resiliency loan discounts and green business advisory to help businesses meet their climate sustainability goals.

BMO’s announcement means that it will commit $30 million in support of SMEs that are investing in technologies to reduce their carbon footprint and mitigate the potential impact of weather-related events.

“Business leaders and our customers are telling us that they value products, services, and incentives that will help reduce their carbon footprint – as well as insights to help them adapt and thrive in this evolving business landscape,” BMO Head of U.S. Business Banking Niamh Kristufek said.

A look at the two main components of the program reveals an emphasis on both financial and human capital. The climate resiliency loan discounts give a rate discount of 0.5% on qualifying lending products including business term loans, business flex loans, owner-occupied commercial estate mortgage loans, and investor-owned real estate mortgage loans ranging from $100,000 to $1,000,000. The loans must be used for program-approved purposes; for example, purchasing renewable energy technologies such as LED lighting, smart meters, flood proofing, and more. An additional 0.25% will be available for customers that set up automatic payments via a BMO business checking account when the loan is closed.

BMO’s green business advisory will help business owners get the information and capital they need to build climate resilient operations and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The advisory will help SMEs better understand emerging climate-related policies and regulations, as well as technologies and case studies to help them better manage climate risks.

The program is slated to go live in 24 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. In two of these states – Michigan and Texas – businesses participating in the program must be located within 100 miles of a BMO full-service retail branch in an adjacent state.

“BMO’s commitment to sustainability is guided by our Purpose, to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life, and our Climate Ambition to be our clients’ lead partner in the transition to a net-zero world,” Kristufek said. “Through our Greener Future Financing program, BMO is meeting these needs to help our customers make progress, advising them of climate-related risks and plans that future-proof businesses.”

Photo by Scott Webb

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The Finovate Podcast: How Credit Unions Use Technology to Bring New Projects to Life

The Finovate Podcast: How Credit Unions Use Technology to Bring New Projects to Life
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Interview, Podcasting

This week on the Finovate Podcast, Finovate VP and podcast host Greg Palmer sat down with Brian Lee, CEO of Landings Credit Union. Their conversation comes in advance of a special session at FinovateSpring next month, dedicated specifically to the credit union ecosystem.

A part of Landings Credit Union for nearly a decade, Lee has spent the last four years as CEO. He started as CFO of the Arizona-based financial institution and, before that, worked as both a regulator and in public accounting. Founded in 1953 as “Tempe Schools Credit Union,” Landings Credit Union today has more than 15,000 members and assets of more than $238 million.

Last year Landings CU received the Dementia Friendly business designation, which ensures members that credit union staff are trained to both recognize and support individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. “In Arizona we are the fastest growing state for new cases for Alzheimers,” Lee explained, “so it’s a big deal here for us.”

This year, the financial institution garnered national recognition for its commitment to financial inclusion, earning the Juntos Avanzamos designation. The designation recognizes the work done by credit unions to serve and empower Hispanic, Latino, and immigrant communities. A national network launched in 2015, the Juntos Avanzamos program has a presence in 29 states, serving more than 12 million consumers at 141+ credit unions in the U.S.

In their Finovate podcast conversation, Palmer and Lee talk about using technology to bring new projects to life in the context of these recent successful outreach efforts. “How can we comb through our data and find these new data points that we’re looking for, aggregate (them), and say ‘Let’s be the ones who are going out and reaching out to people’,” Lee explained. “Whether from our own data or community data that’s out there: how do we use that to be able to serve more people?”

Check out Episode 213 of the Finovate Podcast and the rest of Greg Palmer’s conversation with Landings Credit Union CEO Brian Lee.

Photo by Jean Balzan

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Impact Asset Manager Finance in Motion Partners with Financial Crime Regtech Napier AI

Impact Asset Manager Finance in Motion Partners with Financial Crime Regtech Napier AI
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Napier
  • Impact asset manager Finance in Motion has teamed up with financial crime compliance specialist Napier AI.
  • Finance in Motion will deploy Napier AI Continuum as its anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CTF) platform.
  • London-based Napier AI made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2018.

Financial crime compliance company Napier AI announced a partnership with impact asset manager Finance in Motion this week. The partnership calls for Finance in Motion to deploy Napier AI Continuum as its anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CTF) platform.

Additionally, Napier AI will include its Client Screening solution and Client Risk Assessment module as part of the Napier AI Continuum platform deployment. The objective is to provide Finance in Motion with the tools it needs to continue driving public and private capital toward impact investments in emerging markets – while ensuring that capital does not end up financing illicit or criminal activity.

Finance in Motion Managing Director Sylvia Wisniwski explained: “Like any institution, we have a duty to ensure that the public and private capital raised is used exclusively for the intended objectives, in our case impact investments in emerging markets. Accordingly, regulation requires effective measures to prevent funds from being used to finance criminal activities. The collaboration with Napier AI allows us to efficiently query data through automated processes and integrated systems.”

Napier AI Continuum will provide Finance in Motion with API-enabled, cloud native, automated client screening, and supports transliteration of 22 languages. The platform also offers AI fuzzy matching and secondary scoring capabilities. Finance in Motion will benefit from customizable workflows, a sandbox environment for optimizing screening configurations, and configurable dashboards with no-code rule binding and AI insights to drive efficient decisioning.

“The key to dismantling criminal networks lies in cutting off their sources of revenue entirely by correctly identifying accounts, transactions, and behavioural patterns associated with financial crime,” Napier AI CEO Greg Watson said. “Napier AI’s cutting edge compliance solutions supercharge Finance in Motion’s mission to generate positive change in emerging markets with automated client screening.”

Headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany and founded in 2009, Finance in Motion specializes in development finance. An impact asset manager, the company structures, advises, and manage both private debt and equity investments in emerging markets. The company supports financing of projects ranging from sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and biodiversity, to micro-finance, natural capital, and affordable housing.

Finance in Motion has $2.8 billion (€3.6 billion) in assets under management or advisory, and has active investments in 39 countries. Last month, the company was featured in the ImpactAssets 50 roster of the top 50 impact managers in the world. The recognition was the eighth consecutive listing for Finance in Motion, which was named “Emeritus Impact Manager.”

Founded in 2015, Napier made its Finovate debut three years later at FinovateEurope 2018. At the conference, the company demonstrated how its Customer Screening and Transaction Monitoring Enhancement tools help improve AML oversight. The technology reduces false positives by up to 80%, and can be used to supplement or replace existing customer screening systems.

Napier began 2024 announcing a partnership with Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) digital banking provider Satchel. The following month, Napier unveiled its Napier Continuum Live and Napier Continuum Flow services to facilitate the deployment of its AML platform. Napier Continuum Live is a plug-and-play hosted offering. Napier Continuum Flow is a headless API service.

Also in February Napier secured $56 million (£45 million) in funding from private equity firm Crestline Investors. The company said that the investment will help power business expansion over the coming years. The funds will also support Napier AI’s development of new NextGen screening and monitoring solutions powered by Explainable AI.

Photo by Felix Mittermeier

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