Author: David Penn

Finovate Alumi News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Braintri, Ellie Mae, Featurespace, ID.me, Lending Club, OmniSci, Sberbank, Swych

On Finovate.com

  • ID.me Teams Up with VA to Bring Identity Proofing Options to Vets.
  • OmniSci Reports Wide-Ranging Growth in Wake of Rebrand.

Around the web

  • Sberbank customers can now make instant transfers between Sberbank cards and WebMoney wallets courtesy of new partnership.
  • Mobile gifting platform Swych announces it will accept payment in cryptocurrency.
  • Ellie Mae introduces the early adopters of its Integrated Partner Program.
  • Lending Club and U.K. data vendor Brismo team up to provide standardized performance metrics for lending.

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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Onfido Teams Up with Extended Stay Marketplace 2nd Address

Onfido Teams Up with Extended Stay Marketplace 2nd Address
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Onfido

Less than one month after announcing its expansion into France and a new partnership with IDEMIA, Onfido is back in the news. The identity verification specialist is bringing its technology to San Francisco, California-based online rental marketplace, 2nd Address.

“As the rentals market gets ever more popular, with millions of online transactions happening every month, it’s hard to know if your customers are who they claim to be,” Onfido CEO and co-founder Husayn Kassai said. “We bring trust to digital interactions worldwide and pride ourselves in delivering an experience that’s as rapid as it is robust.”

2nd Address provides furnished, long-term rental accommodations for business professionals in the U.S. Onfido’s identity verification technology will enable the company to quickly and accurate verify and onboard new renters at the point of booking while helping protect hosts against fraud. The process is straightforward: potential renters take a selfie and a photo of their identity document. Onfido’s technology determines the legitimacy of the ID document, and compares the selfie image to the photo on the ID.

“2nd Address is committed to making sure that not only do our guest have a modern booking process, but that our hosts receive high-quality guests,” company CEO Chung-Man Tam said. “Onfido helps us deliver a smooth user experience while also creating the trust and safety that’s crucial to our community.”

Onfido demonstrated its Facial Check with Video technology at FinovateFall 2018. The point-of-signup solution leverages machine learning to detect liveness to ensure that facial checks cannot be spoofed by stolen photos or IDs. Partnered with firms such as Zipcar and fellow Finovate alum Revolut, Onfido provides verification checks in more than 190 countries around the world.

The company has raised $60.3 million in funding. Crane Venture Partners, Microsoft Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures are among Onfido’s most recent investors.

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London’s Accountant Marketplace Capitalise Raises $4.5 Million

London’s Accountant Marketplace Capitalise Raises $4.5 Million
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Capitalise, Funding

Capitalise.com, the London-based financial marketplace for accountants, has raised a $4.5 million (£3.5 million) Series A investment round, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

The round was led by QED Investors, a US fintech venture capital firm, and supported by existing investor Hambro Perks, as well as Gauss Ventures.

Capitalise positions accountants as experts, using its data analytics and marketplace access, so it becomes the point of advice to discuss growth plans with small business clients.

Paul Surtees, co-founder and CEO of Capitalise, said it wants to build a “culture of funding.”

The firm cites the UK’s Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), which says access to finance and cash flow are business owners’ top concerns despite the UK market having over 360 small business lenders.

Surtees said: “Whilst the bank manager might be a thing of the past, we say it is ‘long live the accountant.’”

According to Capitalise, its platform and online learning for accountants has allowed for an annual compounded growth rate of 234%.

“The recent raise will be used to expand our cloud product for advisers to navigate the market of financial products for SMEs”, explained Ollie Maitland, co-founder and chief product officer at Capitalise.

Through its online platform, Capitalise works with 105 partners, including PKF, Armstrong Watson, Farnell Clarke, BluSky, Wow and Woods Squared.

Not to be confused with fellow Finovate alum Capitalise from Tel Aviv, U.K.-based Capitalise demonstrated its platform at FinovateEurope 2016.

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Coinbase Acquires Blockchain Intelligence Platform Neutrino

Coinbase Acquires Blockchain Intelligence Platform Neutrino
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Coinbase

Crypto exchange Coinbase is in a buying mood again with the acquisition of Milan-based blockchain intelligence platform Neutrino, reports Antony Peyton of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

Financial details were not disclosed.

According to Coinbase, blockchain intelligence is “increasingly important” in the crypto ecosystem, and is “necessary to achieve our mission of bringing the open financial system to the world”.

By analyzing data on public blockchains, Neutrino’s tech will let Coinbase prevent theft of funds from peoples’ accounts, investigate ransomware attacks, and identify bad actors. It will also help bring more (unspecified) cryptocurrencies and features.

For example, on its website, Neutrino offers its XFlow nSpect solution. This is developed specifically for law enforcement agencies, and provides features for criminal investigations and intelligence gathering.

Neutrino, which was founded in 2016, will continue to operate as a standalone business based out of its London office.

Meanwhile, Coinbase seems to be making good progress.

Last month, it bought Blockspring, a San Francisco-based start-up enabling data collection through APIs.

Back in August 2018, it acquired another San Francisco-based start-up – Distributed Systems – as it plans to use cryptocurrencies and blockchain for validating and verifying identity.

Coinbase demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2014. With more than 20 million users and $150+ billion traded, the fintech unicorn was valued at $8 billion at the time of its last fundraise in October 2018.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Bottomline Technologies, Capitalise, Coinbase, Featurespace, Fiserv, Onfido, Revolut, VISA

On Finovate.com

  • Onfido Teams Up with Extended Stay Marketplace 2nd Address.
  • London’s Accountant Marketplace Capitalise Raises $4.5 Million.
  • Coinbase Acquires Blockchain Intelligence Platform Neutrino.

Around the web

  • Featurespace brings its anti-fraud technology to Singapore.
  • Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky urges UK government to provide special tech visa to ensure London’s status as a “fintech powerhouse” after Brexit.
  • Fiserv helps Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank centralize its currency management process.
  • Bottomline Technologies partners with UMB Financial to offer Visa-powered payables solution to customers in the U.S.

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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Bill.com Bans Wire Transfer Fees for Small Businesses

Bill.com Bans Wire Transfer Fees for Small Businesses
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Bill.com

Here’s a ban that businesses can really get behind. Digital payments company Bill.com has eliminated wire transfer fees for SMEs that meet three conditions.

  1. Pay Electronically
  2. Pay in Local Currency
  3. Pay with Bill.com’s International Payments solution

Bill.com CMO Yael Zheng highlighted both the convenience and the cost savings available for small businesses that take advantage of International Payments. “Payments can be made and tracked in U.S, dollars, for a better wire transfer rate than most banks, and in more than 24 local currencies with no wire transfer fee and at a competitive exchange rate,” Zheng said.

International Payments was launched last July as a way to help businesses pay international vendors digitally. Bill.com said it has already seen “rapid adoption” of the platform by customers who can now make payments in more than 40 countries. The solution provides automated approval workflows, and helps SMEs save time by syncing with major accounting software platforms such as Quickbooks, Xero, Sage Intacct, and Oracle NetSuite.

“Bill.com has eliminated payments torture from our business life.” co-founder and Operations Manager for The New Stack, Judy Williams said. “We’re growing approximately 25-30% outside the U.S., and the Bill.com International Payments solution enables us to pay our contractors, who are located all over the world, in a timely manner.”

Bill.com demonstrated CashView at FinovateSpring 2012. The solution is a feature of the company’s banking platform, and gives business customers visibility into and management over cash flow, payables, and receivables. More recently, the company partnered with American Express to launch Vendor Pay, a solution that makes it easier for companies to automate their AP processes.

Bill.com finished 2018 with news that it had achieved NACHA certification, ensuring that the company is meeting the corporate governance and risk and compliance obligations for processing ACH payments. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Bill.com has raised more than $259 million in funding, and includes Temasek Holdings and JP Morgan among its most recent investors. René Lacerte is CEO.

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TransferTo Rebrands as DT One and Thunes

TransferTo Rebrands as DT One and Thunes
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: TransferTo

Cross-border mobile payments firm TransferTo has rebranded as two separate company brands, logos and identities, reports Antony Peyton of Fintech Futures (Finovate’ sister publication).

Its mobile top-up and rewards business, founded in 2005, has now changed its name to DT One.

According to TransferTo, last year this business delivered more than a 30% increase in both revenue and transaction volume.

In parallel, the cross-border payments business, which started in 2016, has branched off to operate independently from DT One and has been renamed to Thunes.

This business will focus on providing interoperability between payment systems and supplying solutions for emerging economies.

In 2018, this business saw nearly 900% growth in revenue and processed over $2 billion worth of transactions.

Peter De Caluwe, DT One CEO and Thunes executive chairman, said: “The industry is continually evolving and we see this change as an important next step to better position ourselves to capitalise on the growth opportunities in this rapidly changing market.”

The use of new brands is effective immediately and will be fully implemented in both businesses across Q1 2019.

TransferTo says – perhaps its final words – that its network interconnects more than 550 mobile operators across 160 countries.

The DT One team is headquartered in Singapore with regional offices in Dubai, Miami and London.

The Thunes team is headquartered in Singapore with regional offices in London and Miami.

TransferTo demonstrated its Mobile Money Hub at FinovateFall 2015.

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SaaS Banking Specialist Mambu Scores $34 Million in Funding

SaaS Banking Specialist Mambu Scores $34 Million in Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Mambu

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) banking firm Mambu has raised $34 million (€30 million) in its latest funding round led by US-based Bessemer Venture Partners, reports Antony Peyton of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

The round also had participation from existing investors Acton Capital, CommerzVentures, Point Nine Capital and Runa Capital. The company’s funding total now stands at more than $47 million.

The news is not a surprise to FinTech Futures, because at the start of this month – and in an exclusive – Mambu signed a deal to implement its core banking system at Orange Bank‘s new location in Spain.

At that time, Mambu said it had recently completed a funding round “in the tens of millions” and would provide details soon.

In the latest chapter, Eugene Danilkis, Mambu CEO, said institutions “have to move at the pace of a technology company rather than a traditional bank” and “as a direct result, we have experienced significant growth as these institutions change strategic direction and face new tech-enabled players entering the financial services market.”

Mambu, which launched in 2011, says it has experienced triple-digit growth for four consecutive years as challenger and established banks sign on to implement the platform.

The funding will be used for its commercial teams, and product, platform and services; resulting in a “planned three-fold growth in headcount and six-fold in revenues in the forthcoming years across all regions”.

Technology investment firm GP Bullhound acted as exclusive financial advisor to the firm for this transaction

In terms of other recent news about Mambu, FinTech Futures understands that its core system is in the running for Scottish SME challenger bank AlbaCo and Diamond Bank UK.

Mambu is an alum of Finovate’s developer conference, FinDEVr, presenting Smart Consumer Lending: Platform and Scoring Architecture at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016. The company is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Artivest, Bill.com, Entersekt, Fenergo, Insuritas, iProov, Mambu, TransferTo, Voleo

On Finovate.com

  • Bill.com Bans Wire Transfer Fees for Small Businesses.
  • TransferTo Rebrands as DT One and Thunes.
  • SaaS Banking Specialist Mambu Scores $34 Million in Funding.

Around the web

  • Real Business profiles biometric authentication solution provider – and FinovateEurope Best of Show winner – iProov.
  • Artivest partners with Sudrania Fund Services to provide shadow fund accounting services for its line of mutual fund products.
  • Social investment platform Voleo is featured in the Financial Post.
  • Insuritas teams up with Truliant FCU (+$2 billion in assets) to launch digital insurance agency.
  • Entersekt SVP of North American Operations, Sherif Samy, named to One World Identity’s Top 100 Influencers in Identity roster.
  • Fenergo introduces Rules as a Service (RaaS), a cloud-based regulatory rules offering.

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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UK-based GBG Acquires IDology in $300 Million All-Cash Deal

UK-based GBG Acquires IDology in $300 Million All-Cash Deal
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: IDology, Mergers & Acquisitions

Identity verification and fraud prevention specialist IDology has been acquired by U.K.-based identity data intelligence firm, GBG, for $300 million (£233 million) in cash.

The deal will give GBG broader reach into the North American market; in a statement, the company said 99% of IDology’s revenues come from the United States. The acquisition will also add technologies like IDology’s ExpectID suite of onboarding, verification, and authentication solutions, to GBG’s offerings. IDology’s senior management team will remain intact, with the company’s employee base joining GBG.

“For the past fifteen years, IDology has provided multi-layered identity verification,” company president and CEO John Dancu said. “With the combination of IDology and GBG, we intend to innovate, delivering exceptional solutions for our customers, focusing on driving customer revenue and preventing fraud.”

IDology reported revenues of more than $38 million in 2018, at a CAGR of 16% and EBITDA of more than $16 million. In addition to praising the company’s growth, GBG CEO Chris Clark characterized IDology as a valuable partner in its mission to make broader inroads to the $1.5 billion U.S. identity verification market.

“With attractive organic growth, significant synergies and a strong cultural alignment, this is a high-quality addition to GBG,” Clark said. “The combination of IDology and GBG will enable us to meet the growing customer appetite for an identity verification provider with global capabilities and scale in key markets.”

The acquisition comes amid a new partnership announced between IDology and healthcare enterprise identification firm, NextGate. The Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI) platform will use IDology’s technology to help its customers improve accuracy in patient ID matching and bolster data collection and remediation work. IDology also recently announced that Dancou had been named to the Top 100 Influencers in Identity 2019 roster published by One World Identity.

IDology demonstrated its ExpectID Enterprise solution at FinovateFall 2012. Last year, the Atlanta, Georgia-based company was featured in the Silicon Review’s roundup of the 50 Fastest Growing Tech Companies. IDology was also named one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in Atlanta by the National Association for Business Resources.

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NetGuardians Teams Up with Swiss Wealthtech Pictet to Fight Fraud

NetGuardians Teams Up with Swiss Wealthtech Pictet to Fight Fraud
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: NetGuardians

Swiss wealth and asset manager Pictet has chosen NetGuardians’ fraud-mitigation software for protection against banking fraud, reports Antony Peyton of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

Pictet will use the solution, customized for its specific needs, to further protect its customers from growing threats.

Joël Winteregg, NetGuardians CEO, said: “With cyber-fraudsters getting more daring all the time, it’s necessary for banks and wealth managers to make sure they do everything they can to protect their clients. By using NetGuardians, Pictet not only gets an effective real-time fraud-mitigation solution but also becomes member of the NetGuardians’ global community, which shares fraud-mitigation best practice.”

NetGuardians cites stats from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Report in 2018, which says global fraud losses are estimated to reach up to $4 trillion.

NetGuardians’ solution works by using analytics, profiling and machine learning.

The machine-learning algorithms can discover new fraud schemes, “helping wealth managers stay on top of emerging threats such as scams against bank’s customers”.

Headquartered in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland and founded in 2007, NetGuardians demonstrated its FraudGuardian solution at FinovateAsia 2016. FraudGuardian detects fraud in real time, leveraging dynamic profiling, pattern-based intelligence, and predictive analytics to provide comprehensive analysis of user behavior across all banking channels.

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Finastra Brings its Core Banking Technology to Saudi Arabia

Finastra Brings its Core Banking Technology to Saudi Arabia
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finastra

Saudi Arabia’s Agricultural Development Fund has chosen Finastra’s core banking solution, Fusion Essence, for its lending services, reports Antony Peyton of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

The governmental credit institution will use the platform – “traditionally used by banks for retail” – to provide its customers with new services and shorter loan approval times.

Muneer bin Fahad Al-Sahli, general director for Agricultural Development Fund, explains: “It’s crucial for us to offer our clients – farmers and other players in the agricultural space – a seamless digital experience which enables them with their endeavors. With Fusion Essence, we will be able to increase automation through our loan portal, which will lead to reduced timeframes for loan approvals and improved operational efficiencies.”

The fund is specialized in financing various fields of agricultural activity in Saudi Arabia, to develop the sector and increase its productive efficiency.

Its services allow farmers to obtain Shari’ah compliant loans for agricultural machinery and equipment.

The new system is part of the “information technology initiative”, one of the fund’s ten transformation programs, which seeks to achieve the fund’s objectives in line with the Kingdom’s vision for the future.

The fund, which has until now used a legacy system (an “in-house developed system”), aims to go live with the solution within the next year. The system will also enhance the credit risk management practice in the fund.

Back in December 2018, and in another Kingdom, FinTech Futures was at Finastra Universe London 2018– to hear all about the data frontier.

Formed via the merger of D+H and Misys (FinovateEurope 2017) during the summer of 2017, Finastra acquired fellow Finovate alum Malauzai Software in June 2018. The company is headquartered in London, U.K.

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