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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Vernon Building Society has partnered with FintechOS to power its new mortgage platform.
The new platform spans the entire mortgage origination workflow and will run above the building society’s core infrastructure, making a system replacement unnecessary.
Headquartered in London, FintechOS most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2021 in New York.
Vernon Building Society has teamed up with FintechOS to power its new unified mortgage platform that spans the complete origination workflow. From initial inquiry and decision-in-principle to application, underwriting, offer, and completion, the platform will run above Vernon’s current core infrastructure, alleviating the need for a system replacement.
Powered by FintechOS 8, the new unified system will feature decision workflows, as well as built-in compliance rules. Vernon’s financing teams will be able to use no-code configuration and AI-enabled capabilities to design and launch new mortgage products, and to respond more quickly to evolving customer preferences and shifting market conditions. Additionally, the platform unifies product and pricing governance with origination execution. This enhances the ability of Vernon to configure and evolve business rules, eligibility criteria, and construction logic within a governed layer above the core system. With versioning and auditability supporting consistent outcomes for both brokers and advisor workflows, the platform reduces redundant tasks while providing greater flexibility.
“A common misconception is that financial institutions have an AI problem; in reality, their challenge is largely an operationalization one,” Founder and CEO of FintechOS, Teo Blidarus, said. “We built FintechOS 8 around a simple premise: AI in financial services only works when it is grounded in real product data, real workflows, and real governance. This release makes data and AI operational for financial institutions, not experimental.”
FintechOS 8 also features FintechOS Dex, an AI copilot that provides in-context guidance for all roles across the product lifecycle. The copilot helps users navigate cases, access needed data faster, and apply governed generative assistance within approved workflows. The technology also supports AI-enabled document ingestion and data extraction to manage document-heavy processes. It limits automation to those high-friction activities such as capturing and validating data and routing exceptions for review to ensure human oversight, traceability, and audit readiness. The new platform will give brokers a dedicated portal that will enable them to track cases in real time. Borrowers will benefit from a shorter path from application to offer, and financing teams will be relieved from manual, repetitive tasks, enabling them to focus on personal service and human decision-making.
“This is what pragmatic modernization looks like—modernize the core, unify product and pricing logic with origination execution, and move faster without the risk and disruption of full system replacement,” Blidarus said.
Based in Stockport, Cheshire, Vernon Building Society offers mortgages, savings, and investment products to savers and homebuyers in the Greater Manchester area. The institution is also a leading provider of bespoke or specific-need mortgages to customers throughout England and Wales. Vernon has total assets of £534m ($667.5 million), a year-over-year gain of 5.4%, and recently reported growth in its mortgage book (4.6%) and its retail savings balances (6.2%). Founded in 1924, the institution today has more than 24,000 members across the UK.
Headquartered in London, FintechOS made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2021 and most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2025 in New York. Founded in 2017, FintechOS enables banks, credit unions, building societies, and other financial institutions to modernize the way they build, launch, and manage financial products and services by running them above their current core systems. FintechOS has more than 60 customers across North America, Europe, and APAC, and manages assets exceeding $100 billion.
Identity verification and fraud prevention company AU10TIX has partnered with enterprise platform for agentic orchestration Camunda.
AU10TIX will leverage Camunda’s platform to support Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) workflows at scale.
Camunda Financial Services Transformation Lead Jawwad Rasheed will speak about the benefits of agentic orchestration at FinovateSpring 2026, Wednesday, May 6.
Identity verification and fraud prevention specialist AU10TIX has selectedCamunda to support Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) workflows at scale. Camunda’s enterprise platform for agentic orchestration enables users to manage complex identity processes without embedding decision logic inside the application code. Externalizing decision logic, as Camunda’s platform does, enables businesses to manage complex workflows efficiently and to adapt to changing circumstances without disrupting applications.
“Camunda gives us robust orchestration for some of the most critical processes in our business,” AU10TIX VP of Research and Development David Voschina said. “By leveraging standardized, configurable workflows, we can scale faster, introduce new verification scenarios more efficiently, and provide greater transparency. Continuous innovation is essential to staying ahead through a proactive defense framework, and Camunda strengthens our ability to anticipate threats.”
Camunda’s technology coordinates document and photo capture, automated authenticity and consistency checks, third-party risk screening, and decision handling into a sole transparent business process. Decisions are consolidated into a single case, automating approvals and declines and routing exceptional cases to human agents for manual review as needed. The platform’s Optimize feature gives users operational oversight, performance transparency, and SLA accountability across operations.
“Identity verification sits at the heart of trust in digital services,” Camunda VP of EMEA Sales Stéphane Faivre-Duboz said. “With Camunda, AU10TIX has a scalable orchestration foundation that connects systems, services, and decisions into one governed process—enabling both compliance and continuous growth.”
Amsterdam-based AU10TIX provides identity verification and management solutions to help businesses defend themselves against fraud. The company’s automated global identity management system detects organized mass fraud attacks by analyzing traffic patterns and cross-referencing data. Since inception, the platform has authenticated billions of identities and prevented more than $24 billion in identity fraud. AU10TIX’s technology enables seamless customer onboarding and verification while proactively adapting to emerging threats and regulatory mandates.
Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Camunda enables firms to automate complex business processes across agents, people, and systems. The company creates production-ready, enterprise-grade agents with built-in governance that are designed to manage business-critical processes. More than 700 businesses around the world leverage Camunda’s platform to reduce time-to-value, boost operational efficiency, and enhance customer experiences.
The partnership between AU10TIX and Camunda reflects a number of growing trends within fintech: from the increased importance of identity and fraud prevention solutions to the embrace of agentic orchestration as a way of not only managing and automating workflows, but scaling those workflows, as well. The partnership is an example of how fintechs are working together to bolster fraud defense, improve efficiency, and remain one step ahead of both the latest fraud threats as well as evolving regulatory demands.
Catch Jawwad Rasheed, Camunda Financial Services Transformation Lead, at FinovateSpring 2026 next month in San Diego for his special address, “Invisible Infrastructure, Visible Results: The Case for Agentic Orchestration in Financial Services.”
Are you interested in how AI can help banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions boost engagement, offer new products and services, and grow revenues? This year, FinovateSpring 2026, taking place in sunny San Diego, California, May 5-7, is set to deliver the latest insights into innovations in AI that enable financial services providers to compete more effectively in the 21st century.
In special addresses and keynotes over three days, FinovateSpring will showcase how AI can enhance customer experiences through greater personalization, improve contact center efficiency using agentic AI, and more. Featuring a range of AI experts and innovators, the conference will highlight how banks and financial institutions can maximize AI and successfully deploy what many believe is the most revolutionary technological innovation of our time.
FinovateSpring 2026 will be held at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina, May 5-7. Buy your ticket. Book your room. And join us for the next, must-attend event on the fintech conference calendar!
AI That Makes It to Production: Deploying Trusted CX in Days, Not Months
Merlin Bise, CTO of Inbenta AI, will show how organizations can go from zero to product-ready AI in less than a week, how to deploy assistants that understand customers in any language, eliminate hallucination risk with traceable and explainable responses, and integrate AI solutions into existing CX infrastructure—no platform replacement required.
Headquartered in Texas, Inbenta delivers enterprise AI solutions to more than 1,000 organizations, including BBVA, Deutsche Bank, and Samsung. The company’s flagship Encore platform serves companies in financial services, e-commerce, healthcare, and more with 98% accuracy, near-zero hallucinations, full auditability, and 850+ integrations that eliminate vendor lock-in.
From Plateau to Compound: Why the AI That Got You to 65% Call Resolution Will Never Get You to 100%
Henry Pezzo, Sales Director at Omilia, will discuss the challenge of how to effectively deploy AI in enterprise contact centers. He will explain how an agentic, self-learning platform that monitors every interaction, identifies what to improve, and builds better agents automatically can serve as an alternative to manual tuning, vendor dependency, and generic language models.
Based in Larnaca, Cyprus, and founded in 2002, Omilia specializes in AI-driven customer service transformation. The company’s self-learning agentic CX platform enables enterprises to automate interactions with precision, empowering agents in real time and delivering seamless, personalized experiences across channels.
Scaling Support Without Losing Trust: How Acorns is Rebuilding Customer Care with AI
Trish Vogeler, Support Systems & Tools Lead for Acorns, and Stacy Osorio, Director of Customer Success for Cresta, will explain how Acorns is rethinking customer care to understand the key drivers of customer satisfaction. Vogeler and Osorio will discuss how Acorns uses AI to surface actionable insights from customer interactions, redesign quality assurance around behaviors, and introduce automation via voice AI agents that enhance rather than compromise the human experience.
Acorns offers straightforward tools to help Americans manage their finances better—from wiser spending to smarter saving and investing. The company’s Acorns Early is a smart money app and debit card that helps children develop sound financial wellness skills as they grow up. Since its inception in 2014, Acorns has helped more than 13 million customers save and invest more than $22 billion.
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and founded in 2017, Cresta combines AI and human intelligence to turn customer conversations into competitive advantages. Cresta uses AI agents, AI-augmented human agent assistance, and quality management to transform contact centers, improve the customer experience, and grow revenues. The company counts firms such as Alaska Airlines, Cox Communications, and Intuit among its customers.
Invisible Infrastructure, Visible Results: The Case for Agentic Orchestration in Financial Services
Jawwad Rasheed, Financial Services Transformation Lead for Camunda, will discuss the challenges that financial services organizations face when embedding and scaling AI into their core operations. He will explain the importance of agentic orchestration, which is often the missing ingredient in AI strategy that enables businesses to avoid the agentic value trap and break through the automation ceiling.
Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and founded in 2008, Camunda is a leader in agentic orchestration, automating complex business processes—including high-value knowledge work—across agents, people, and systems. The company offers production-ready, enterprise-grade agents with built-in governance to manage business-critical processes.
Jon Lakefish, Founder of Lakefish Group, will explore the most powerful AI tools currently available that enable individuals and teams to enhance the customer experience, improve communication, and boost operational efficiency. Lakefish will focus on practical applications instead of theory and will introduce the latest agentic platforms that are transforming AI’s role in organizations.
Headquartered in Duvall, Washington, Lakefish Group is an AI-driven marketing and branding firm that leverages 20+ years of strategic expertise with the power of AI and the gig economy to deliver campaigns that compete with billion-dollar brands at a fraction of the cost. The company specializes in AI consulting, brand identity development, and strategy advisory services.
The Global Economic & Geopolitical Outlook & the Direction of Travel for the US Economy—Manas Chawla, Founder and Chief Executive, London Politica. Tuesday, May 5 at 10:40am.
Why Agentic AI is Truly a New Frontier in Financial Services & How Agentic Commerce Will Reshape the Retail Landscape—Chris Nichols, President of Institutional Banking, SouthState Bank. Thursday, May 7 at 10:00am.
The $84 Trillion Handover: What Banks Need to Understand About Gen Z’s AI-First Relationship with Money—Tyler Brown, Industry Analyst, tylerbrown.co. Thursday, May 7 at 3:00pm.
This week’s edition of Finovate Global features recent fintech news from the north African nation of Libya.
Tadhamun Bank Libya partners with JMR Infotech for AI Chatbot and Voicebot
Tadhamun Bank Libya has turned toJMR Infotech, a digital transformation and banking technology solutions provider, to assist in the implementation of its AI-powered Smart Social Banking Chatbot and Voicebot. The announcement expands the relationship between the two entities; JMR Infotech has been a strategic technology partner to Tadhamun Bank since providing the financial institution with transformation programs such as Oracle FLEXCUBE, Oracle Banking Digital Experience (OBDX), and Oracle Financial Services Analytical Applications (OFSAA), as well as ongoing managed services support.
The new Chatbot and Voicebot will automate customer onboarding and enable instant interactions, boosting customer engagement while simultaneously reducing reliance on traditional support channels. The technology will be deployed across the web, WhatsApp, and Messenger channels, enabling customers to interact with the bank for onboarding, fund transfers, real-time query resolution, and more. The bank believes that the new offering will improve response times, optimize service delivery, and reduce both call center volumes and operational costs.
“Our focus is on continuously enhancing customer experience while improving operational efficiency,” Tadhamun Bank General Manager Osam Alabearsh said. “JMR Infotech’s AI-powered Smart Social Banking Chatbot and Voicebot stood out for its practical use cases, flexibility, and ability to integrate seamlessly with our existing platforms. This initiative will play a key role in simplifying onboarding and enabling more accessible, always-on banking services for our customers.”
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Bangalore, India, JMR Infotech is an information technology solution provider that specializes in helping financial institutions and other businesses better interact with their customer and extended eco-systems. An Oracle Platinum Partner, JMR has been part of multiple core transformations and includes core and digital banking modernization, regulatory compliance, customer experience platforms, enterprise planning solutions, advanced analytics, and AI-powered engagement among its areas of expertise. Jayafar Moidu is Founder and CEO.
“We are delighted to extend our partnership with Tadhanum Bank through the introduction of our AI-powered Smart Social Banking Chatbot and Voicebot,” JMR Infotech Head of Global Sales and Business Development, Naman Jain, said. “This engagement reflects the trust we have built over the years and our shared vision of driving meaningful digital transformation. Our solution is designed to combine intelligence, scalability, and flexibility, enabling banks to deliver superior customer experiences while achieving measurable business outcomes.”
With $421 million in total assets, Tadhamun Bank was founded in 1998. Headquartered in Tripoli, the institution is known for its emphasis on innovation and customer service relative to its larger, state-owned rivals.
Network International teams up with Al Seraj Islamic Bank
Speaking of fintech and bank partnerships, UAE-based Network International has partnered with Libya’s Al Seraj Islamic Bank. The company will provide the bank with an end-to-end system to facilitate digital payment processing in a bid to help boost financial inclusion.
“Al Seraj Islamic Bank’s decision to partner with us reflects our leadership in the MEA region and our ability to deliver innovative, dependable solutions that transform payment ecosystems,” Mohamed Abu Gebba, Network International Regional Managing Director in charge of processing for North Africa, said. “Together we aim to advance financial inclusion, support the bank’s growth ambitions, and empower communities with secure, modern payment services.”
The partnership will deliver a range of digital payment processing solutions to the Libyan bank. These solutions include Visa sponsorship, prepaid issuing capabilities, as well as a suite of value-added services. Combined, the technology will empower Al Seraj Islamic Bank to streamline operations and expand access to digital payment options throughout the country.
“Partnering with Network International was a strategic decision driven by their proven service excellence, strong market reputation, and deep understanding of Libya’s banking landscape,” Al Seraj Islamic Bank CEO Foze Ghaith said. “Their end-to-end processing capabilities will enable us to launch advanced digital products, enhance customer experience, and accelerate our growth trajectory. This partnership reinforces our commitment to delivering world-class, Sharia-compliant digital banking solutions across Libya.”
Headquartered in Benghazi, Al Seraj Islamic Bank is a relatively new financial institution, founded in 2024. The bank is focused on delivering optimized banking services based on Sharia principles.
Founded in 1994 and headquartered in the UAE, Network International helps simplify commerce and payments for businesses throughout the Middle East and Africa. The company offers in-person, e-commerce, and payment gateway solutions; business payment and processing solutions; and value-added services for both merchants and processors. Network International operates in more than 50 countries and serves more than 130,000 merchants, as well as 250 financial institutions and fintech customers, while managing more than 16 million customer credentials.
Libyan Central Bank OKs E-Wallets for Foreign Residents
The Central Bank of Libya has announced new regulations that will allow non-Libyan legal residents in the country to access electronic wallet services.
The new policy enables licensed financial service providers to issue e-wallets to foreign residents who pass modest verification requirements including a valid passport or residency document issued by official Libyan authorities as well as a registered mobile phone number linked to their identity. Expanded access comes with new fund transfer limits, which have been implemented to manage the flow of digital funds and help ensure financial stability. Libyan citizens will face transfer limits of up to 100,000 dinars between individuals, 500,000 dinars from individuals to companies, and up to two million dinars between companies. Non-Libyan residents will have transfer limits of up to 50,000 dinars between individuals and up to 100,000 dinars from individuals to companies.
The new regulations are designed to expand access to formal financial services and reduce reliance on cash transactions in a country that is largely cash-based. Introducing e-wallet services will help support the development of Libya’s electronic payments ecosystem, and send a signal to investors and entrepreneurs that the country is increasingly committed to establishing a more formal and modern financial system.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Central and Eastern Europe
Lithuanian regtech IDenfy launched an identity verification app for WooCommerce merchants.
Italian paytech Nexi teamed up with Visa to modernize card issuance in Germany.
Polish fintech PragmaGo has brought its Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) model to the Croatian market.
Vietnam and South Korea launched cross-border QR payments.
Sub-Saharan Africa
South African fintech Ozow teamed up with SME funding provider Lula to expand access to business financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across South Africa.
UK-based cross-border payments company LemFi expanded its remittance services to Kenya.
A new report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Beyond Payments: Unlocking Africa’s Second FinTech Wave, suggested that revenues from African fintechs will grow 13x to $65 billion by 2030.
LendingClub, a pioneer in online lending, is rebranding to Happen Bank.
Expected to launch in the summer of 2026, Happen Bank combines LendingClub’s track record as a personal lender with an embrace of digital banking supported by LendingClub’s acquisition of Radius Bank, completed in 2021.
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, LendingClub made its Finovate debut in 2007. The company was founded by Renaud Laplanche.
Pioneering online lender LendingClub announced this week that it is rebranding to Happen Bank. The rebrand signals the company’s evolution beyond personal loans and into the world of full-service digital banking, leveraging LendingClub’s acquisition of Radius Bank.
“The LendingClub name no longer fits with everything we offer today,” CEO Scott Sanborn said. “The Happen Bank brand reflects both our expanded banking capabilities and our core mission: to clear the way for people going places. Our members are goal-oriented and know what they want to achieve. They’re not looking for marketing fluff; they want products that deliver reliable value, are easy to understand, and are effortless to use. That’s exactly what we’re built to deliver—and how we help them make it happen.”
The new brand is expected to launch this summer. The name of the bank was chosen to reflect “action, progress, and forward momentum,” the company noted in a statement, pledging that while the name and visual identity of the company will change, “there is no change to our award-winning products and services.”
“Our members don’t want banking to slow them down,” Chief Customer Officer Mark Elliott said. “The Happen Bank brand reflects how we show up for them—clear, human, and action-oriented. It’s about making financial products feel intuitive and supportive, so people can spend less time navigating banking and more time moving their lives forward.”
The company’s rebrand comes six years after it acquired online-only Radius Bank for $185 million. At the time, the acquisition was seen as an embrace of digital banking that would help LendingClub not only grow its membership base, but also better engage with its existing customers. The rebrand positions the business to compete more directly with rivals such as SoFi, Ally Financial, and Capital One in areas including retail banking, deposits, and personal lending. It will be worth watching to see whether Happen Bank can build on LendingClub’s track record as a pioneering online lender to find success in an increasingly crowded field of banks, neobanks, and fintechs.
Founded in 2007 by Renaud Laplanche, LendingClub caters to a community it calls the “Motivated Middle.” These individuals are high-FICO, above-average income, digitally savvy consumers who actively manage their financial lives. With more than five million members using its platform to access credit, personal and banking services, investing, and more, the company recently reported total net revenue growth of 23% and growth in loan originations of 40% relative to last year. Deposits were also up year-over-year by 8%.
Empowering banks and credit unions with customer-centric solutions that enhance efficiency for both institutions and individuals is a key role of fintech innovation. Whether the goal is increased security, faster transactions, or personalized financial guidance, solutions that tackle these challenges not only make financial life easier and safer for customers and members, but also help banks and credit unions streamline operations, grow their user bases, and compete more effectively in the marketplace for financial services.
This year, FinovateSpring 2026 will showcase five companies that are streamlining the account onboarding (and offboarding) process, helping banks and credit unions offer new services like earned wage access and protected transactions, and reducing compliance risk for financial institutions of all sizes.
Eisen automates escheatment for abandoned accounts, dormant balances, forced closures, and stale checks, reducing back-office work by 90%. Financial institutions use Eisen’s escheatment, disbursement, and outreach tools to streamline account offboarding while automating manual work and reducing risk of non-compliance.
Headquartered in New York and founded in 2021, Eisen has partnered with organizations across various industries—banks, brokerages, telecoms, and more—to manage unclaimed property and automate escheatment compliance. The company builds products that help businesses proactively manage their offboarding, creating a new category of Account Offboarding Solutions that ultimately help reunite customers with their money.
Holdyn is a trust-first fintech platform enabling secure, structured transactions and conditional payments. In addition to moving funds instantly, Holdyn also allows users to define how and when funds are released, reducing counterparty risk in both local and cross-border transactions.
Founded in 2025 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, Holdyn offers protected transactions that safeguard both sides, enabling users to pay with confidence and get paid with certainty. Capital remains secured within Holdyn’s payment infrastructure—powered by Stripe—and is released only upon mutual verification that all transaction conditions have been met.
Kiro Money helps FIs grow deposits and product adoption by embedding intent-aware guidance that converts user uncertainty into action inside their platforms. The company embeds agentic AI into fintech and banking platforms to deliver contextual, personalized financial intelligence. Kiro Money also offers financial education workshops, programs, and coaching to expand financial guidance and education access to the next generation.
Headquartered in San Francisco and founded in 2024, Kiro Money combines financial expertise and science to simplify finance. The company offers approachable conversations with money coaches to provide clear, direct answers that cut through the complexity to give customers the answers they need.
Loquat enables banks and credit unions to scale faster by digitizing onboarding, cutting review times by 80%, and unlocking new deposit growth. The company provides seamless KYC/KYB, fast onboarding, virtual cards, and automated, digital lending with streamlined origination and tailored underwriting. Loquat’s CALM Portal for credit unions and banks provides back-office queue management, compliance monitoring, and application decision-making for institution staff.
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Miami, Florida, Loquat also offers an AI-driven insights engine, Loquat IQ, that leverages a financial institution’s data to deliver tailored insights for strategic and operational success.
Veep Software offers AnytimePay to banks and credit unions within their app. AnytimePay allows their customers to access their pay between pay cycles. Earned Wage Access solutions like AnytimePay help improve short-term liquidity for employees and reduce reliance on high-cost alternatives. The company’s technology helps attract new, younger members; encourages increased activity within the organization’s app; and provides financial wellness to the organization’s customers.
Headquartered in Miami, Florida, and founded in 2019, Veep Software is innovating how people pay globally, providing technology that enables banks and credit unions to compete with neobanks and fintechs with their own apps.
Why banks should care
Surveys of bank and credit union leaders consistently note that solutions that help them keep their accountholders safe and their financial lives easier to build and manage are prized most by customers and members. At a time of growing cybersecurity challenges—including AI-powered fraud threats—as well as dramatic technological change, partnering with fintechs that specialize in these fields and offer these solutions is a proven way for banks and credit unions to boost efficiency by streamlining operations, and grow their customer bases via in-demand services that offer financial guidance; early access to earned wages; and secure, conditional payments, and more.
How can we recognize AI as a tool for expanding human abilities and enhancing creativity rather than merely a way for corporations to eliminate jobs? What does it mean when some AI experts suggest that AI, instead of replacing human activity, will enable us to use our unique skills as human beings in different, more sophisticated ways?
Finovate Senior Research Analyst Julie Muhn interviewed Georgia Lewis Anderson, Co-founder and AI consultant with Lantyn, and a leading expert on artificial intelligence, to discuss these and other questions about the state of AI in 2026. Following her keynote address at FinovateEurope earlier this year, Anderson discussed the rapid evolution of AI, the idea of AI as a “cognitive prosthetic,” and how this concept can be used to enhance rather than replace human ability and creativity.
“If air travel had evolved at the same rate as large language models, then we would be able to get from London to New York in 15 seconds. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed with AI, it’s not a surprise. I’ve worked in AI since 2016, way before GenAI, before the ChatGPT moment, and I’m still catching up every day. I think anyone who says they know everything about AI is lying, so I just want to quell and soothe the fears. Our skills are going to be used differently. I think we’re all quite worried AI is going to replace us, but I think actually it’s about using our skills in a different way.”
Georgia Lewis Anderson is a leading AI consultant and prompt engineering specialist whose career spans crafting Cortana’s British personality at Microsoft and launching Google Assistant in the UK. More recently, she contributed to Meta’s large language model (LLM), Llama 3. She regularly delivers talks at high-profile events such as Ogilvy’s Behavioural Science Festival, where she shares insights on the intersection of AI, human behavior, and marketing.
Lantyn was launched in 2025 to help people explore artificial intelligence in a more relatable, engaging way, regardless of background or technical experience. The London-based company offers AI cheat sheets on how, when, and where to use AI, and features podcasts in which the team creates AI tools and products, and then shares their experiences with viewers.
For years, Finovate has championed credit unions and the fintechs that serve them through our Credit Union Spotlight. This year at FinovateSpring 2026, Finovate is bringing that same level of attention and insight to the world of community banking with our FinovateSpring Community Bank Spotlight. Taking place on Wednesday morning, May 6, our Community Bank Spotlight is a new and unique opportunity for community bank leaders and employees to network with each other, share best practices, and meet with fintech innovators that have developed solutions specifically for community banks and their customers.
Consumer interest in community banks is strong and community banking leaders are expressing optimism about their near-term outlook. A survey conducted by the American Bankers Association (ABA) in 2026 indicated that more than half (58%) of community banks expected significant growth in their geographic footprint this year. This included more than 20% of respondents noting that they anticipate growth beyond their current footprint in 2026. Additionally, these institutions and their leaders are ready to embrace new technologies in order to run their businesses better. Half of the community banks surveyed indicated that they planned to use technologies like AI to reduce costs.
Nevertheless, community banks face major challenges—perhaps the most significant being the growing gap between bank customer expectations and what many banks, especially community banks, can deliver operationally. A new report—the Integris 2026 Banking Trust and Technology Report—uses data from dual surveys of US banking executives and 1,000 bank customers to show how the high level of trust that customers have in their banks is at risk of being undermined by anxiety over the role of new technologies such as AI. Writing about the report in a recent blog post, the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) noted: “While customers continue to place high trust in local institutions, that trust is increasingly fragile, influenced by cybersecurity visibility, AI decision making, and the perceived maturity of a bank’s technology infrastructure.”
What can leaders and employees of community banks expect from this year’s inaugural Community Bank Spotlight? The session will begin with networking over coffee and breakfast to allow attendees to connect with each other and speak candidly about issues they may not want to share with the broader Finovate audience. Following the networking session and breakfast, a curated selection of fintechs will be invited to introduce themselves and explain how their innovations can help solve challenges for community banks and their customers. Session attendees will have the opportunity to learn about each company during the session, and can follow up with those fintechs that most interest them.
Attendees of our Community Bank Spotlight will also benefit from access to the full conference—including more than 50 innovative fintech demos; insightful, expert speakers from banking, fintech, and technology; as well as high-impact networking with members of the broader financial services and fintech industries.
“Community banks are increasingly attractive to fintech innovators, and smaller FIs are looking more and more for new technologies as they seek to enhance their offerings and grow,” Finovate VP and Director of Fintech Strategy for Informa Festivals Greg Palmer said. “The Community Bank Spotlight is a perfect venue for both sides to come together and have the vital conversations they all need to plan for the future.”
If you are an employee of a community bank and would like to be a part of our Community Bank Spotlight at FinovateSpring this year, contact our Engagement Manager [email protected] to secure your spot on the guest list!
And if you are a fintech looking to show community banks how your innovation can help them grow deposits and offer new, engaging services to their customers, drop us a line at [email protected] to learn more about how to participate!
Alkami Technology, a digital sales and service platform provider for financial institutions, has unveiled its Alkami Code Studio. The new offering is an AI-powered development capability—currently in beta—that will empower banks and credit unions to deliver more personalized and scalable digital experiences.
“Financial institutions are looking for partners who are not only talking about AI, but actively embedding it into their platforms in meaningful ways,” Alkami Chief Technology Officer Deep Varma said. “Alkami Code Studio reflects our commitment to investing in innovation that is both forward-looking and grounded in the needs of our customers—helping them move faster while maintaining the governance, security, and control they require.”
Alkami Code Studio is an AI-powered assistant that supports the creation, validation, and deployment of SDK components on the Alkami platform. Designed for developers, Alkami Code Studio provides standards-aligned, design-compliant components within a secure, governed environment. The solution is powered by closed-loop large language models (LLMs) operating inside Alkami’s secure infrastructure to ensure that customer code remains safely within Alkami’s ecosystem.
Embedded within the Alkami Software Development Kit (SDK) Wizard, Alkami Code Studio sits alongside Alkami’s One-Click SDK Manager, which enables users to self-manage deployments across both staging and production environments. Alkami Code Studio has been developed in collaboration with Alkami’s financial institution clients, including Patelco Credit Union, which played a major role in early testing of the technology.
“Delivering the best digital experiences that are efficient, secure, and tailored to our members’ needs is at the heart of what Patelco does,” Patelco Credit Union Director of Application Engineering Deepan Chandrasekaran said. “The early insight Alkami’s Code Studio gives us into how AI can support development workflows without compromising control brings immense and innovative benefits to our members.”
Alkami Technology’s Alkami Code Studio announcement arrives at the same time that the company previewed the launch of Alkami Engage, its digital adoption and analytics platform built to help banks and credit unions accelerate digital banking adoption. Alkami Engage offers in-app guidance and behavioral analytics to enable financial institutions learn about how their retail and business customers prefer to engage with digital banking across online and mobile experiences. The technology is integrated directly into the Alkami Digital Banking Platform, capturing near real-time user interactions such as page views, clicks, feature usage, and journey progression.
“Financial institutions invest heavily in digital transformation but often lack visibility into user behavior,” Alkami Chief Product Officer Benjamin Conant said. “Alkami Engage delivers real-time behavioral insights and in-app guidance to reduce friction, improve onboarding and self-service, and enable personalized digital experiences that drive growth and efficiency.”
A long-time Finovate alum, Alkami Technology made its Finovate debut as iThryv in 2009. Today, the Plano, Texas-based fintech is a digital sales and service platform provider for banks and credit unions throughout the US, helping them onboard, engage, and grow relationships with their customers and members. Alkami Technology is a pioneer in Anticipatory Banking, which combines onboarding and account opening, digital banking, and personalized marketing to deliver proactive, data-driven experiences that predict account holder needs and surface next best actions. Alex Shootman is Alkami Technology’s CEO.
Financial services software provider Finastra has announced an extension of its long-term partnership with Japan’s MUFG (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group).
MUFG will deploy Finastra’s GlobalPayplus payments hub to support ACH services in the US.
Finastra was formed via a merger between Finovate alum Misys and D+H in 2017. The company is headquartered in the UK.
MUFG (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group), the largest bank in Japan, has selected Finastra’s Global PAYplus to support ACH services in the United States. The announcement marks an expansion in a partnership between MUFG and Finastra that dates back more than five years when MUFG first initiated its ISO 20022 migration.
The current agreement will extend Finastra’s modern, unified payments architecture across three major regions, representing MUFG’s successful payment architecture transformation in both Japan and Europe. Adopting a modern, standardized platform will enable MUFG to achieve greater efficiency for both domestic and cross-border payments, with straight through processing rates exceeding 95% across its international operations.
“In 2021, we began our ISO 20022 journey with a bold decision to replace the core payment engine with a completely new one,” MUFG Americas CIO Alla Whitston explained. “After careful evaluation, we selected Finastra as our partner to first modernize our legacy ACH platform, benefiting from their global payments’ expertise and modern technology stack. Global PAYplus offers highly configurable capabilities to modernize our payments systems more broadly too, driving ISO 20022 compliance, and providing the flexibility to launch new services.”
Finastra’s GlobalPAYplus will deliver the scale, resilience, and configurability necessary to support MUFG’s operations worldwide, managing growing digital payment volumes and adapting to local market needs. The solution is a modular, composable, multi-cloud, multi-country, multi-rail, highly configurable, ISO 20022-native, API-based payment hub designed to enable banks and other financial institutions to modernize their payment infrastructures. The technology has more than 300 customers around the world and processes more than $7 trillion in payments value daily.
“MUFG’s continued investment is a strong signal of where banking is headed—toward modern, unified, and highly adaptable payments infrastructure,” Finastra EVP of Payments Barry Rodrigues said. “We’re proud to partner with them on this journey, helping deliver the resilience, speed, and flexibility that banks need today, while building a foundation that can evolve with future demands.”
Forged via a union between Finovate alum Misys and D+H (Davis + Henderson) in 2017, Finastra today is a trusted financial services software partner for more than 7,000 customers—including 40 of the world’s top banks. The company has expertise in lending, payments, and universal banking, and includes scalable, mission-critical solutions such as Loan IQ, LaserPro, Trade Innovation, Payments to Go, and Financial Messaging in its product portfolio—along with Global PAYplus. The company is headquartered in London. Chris Walters is CEO.
The 2026 Finovate Awards are here! Celebrating the best and brightest in fintech and financial services, this year’s awards will crown more than 30 winners in fields such as payments, lending, alternative investing, financial inclusion, and more! Nominations are now open, so check out this year’s Finovate Awards categories and submit your nomination. Submit before April 24 and save $100 on the nomination fee.
This year’s competition will be judged by a team of experts from the banking, fintech, and financial services industries. “An award is only worth something if the people giving it know their stuff, and our amazing lineup of judges this year should be exciting for everyone involved,” Finovate VP of Strategy Greg Palmer said, “It’s great to see so much talent on the roster!”
Take a look for yourself at this year’s selection committee. Also joining this year’s judging team will be Finovate VPs Greg Palmer and Heather Stowell, along with Finovate Research Analysts Julie Muhn and David Penn.
Mary Wisniewski, Editor-at-Large, Cornerstone Advisors
Wisniewski is editor-at-large at Cornerstone Advisors where she helps shape content strategy and hosts Money Isn’t Everything, a biweekly podcast that explores early-stage fintech ideas. She also writes a monthly editor’s note, Finteching with Mary, on LinkedIn.
A frequent speaker at leading digital banking events, Wisniewski has covered fintech and digital banking for more than 12 years, with bylines in GonzoBanker, American Banker, Bankrate, the Associated Press, and more.
Kilian Thalhammer, Managing Director, Deutsche Bank AG
With more than 20 years in payments, fintech, e-commerce, and loyalty, Thalhammer is an expert in managing critical product, strategy and business development issues. After being Director Solutions for the Swiss Post, he joined RatePay (Otto Group) as CPO and was global CPO of PAYMILL (Rocket Internet) until 2014.
Kilian is now responsible for the business unit merchant solutions at Deutsche Bank. This covers Deutsche Bank’s global issuing and acceptance business and the business with fintech, platform & technology clients.
Stave serves as Chief Technology Officer of RBC Clearing & Custody, where he has built a 25-year career spanning leadership roles across technology, finance, and operations—most recently as Chief Operating Officer before assuming his current position in 2021.
As CTO, Stave oversees technology product management, technology strategy, data management, engineering, fintech partnerships, service & support, technology training, and consulting for the firm.
Lisa Gold Schier, Advisor, Reading Cooperative Bank
Schier is a trusted C-Suite adviser specializing in fintech evaluation and go-to-market strategy within the banking and technology sectors. She brings deep expertise in assessing financial technology solutions and guiding their successful market entry and adoption by financial institutions.
Schier is recognized for building and leading strategic partnerships from ideation through contract negotiation to financial institution adoption and ongoing business development.
Glen Sarvady, Founder, 154 Advisors
Sarvady is a 25 year veteran of the payments and fintech industries. His firm 154 Advisors provides actionable insights, data-driven analysis and strategy formulation to help FIs navigate the rapidly evolving payments landscape.
Sarvady is a former Federal Reserve Bank examiner and part of the startup team that launched the University of Pennsylvania Student Federal Credit Union. He also managed Deluxe’s financial services check and payments programs for two years.
Ransom is an SaaS entrepreneur, executive, investor, and advisor. He has started, grown, and/or led eight B2B and consumer SaaS companies during startup and growth phases.
He is currently the Managing Director of BankTech Ventures, a strategic investment fund focused on empowering disruptive technologies for community banks. Founded and funded by leaders in the community banking world and endorsed by the ICBA (Independent Community Bankers of America) and The Venture Center, the fund won Finovate’s 2020 Accelerator of the Year.
Jim Perry, Senior Strategist, Market Insights
As Senior Strategist at Market Insights, Perry helps financial institutions across the country make smarter decisions and unlock new paths to growth through custom research and data-driven strategy. A trusted advisor to banks and credit unions across the US, Perry brings clarity to complex challenges and a fresh perspective to conversations about growth, innovation, and relevance in a rapidly changing landscape.
Co-founder of the Fintech Book Club and named one of the “Top 100 Fintech Influencers” by Onalytics, Perry is a regular on the speaker circuit at industry events from local associations to global conferences.
Lohith Paripati, Product Leader, Walmart
Paripati is a seasoned product leader with over a decade of experience building and scaling fintech and commerce platforms. He currently leads AI-driven initiatives for Walmart Marketplace sellers, focusing on applying generative AI to payments and financial workflows to drive growth and efficiency at scale.
Paripati brings deep expertise in payments, monetization, and platform strategy, with a strong focus on aligning customer value with business outcomes.
Tiffani Montez, Principal Analyst, EMARKETER
Montez is Principal Analyst leading the Analyst Access Program for Financial Services at EMARKETER formerly Insider Intelligence. She oversees the content across Banking, which provides actionable insights on advancements in how value is stored, managed, transferred, and spent, for an audience of top banks and neobanks.
Her unique blend of experience as a practitioner, analyst, and vendor solution provider gives her the foundation to be able to provide thought leadership to clients through all lenses of the financial services ecosystem.
William Mills III, Chief Executive Officer, William Mills Agency
Mills joined the firm in 1983 and founded their public relations services in 1989 which now accounts for more than 90% of their billings. He serves as lead consultant for the agency’s clients and has personally advised more than 500 C-level executives on marketing strategy, business development, mergers and acquisitions, company branding and public relations.
Mills’ other responsibilities include agency financial management, client consulting and leading business development and marketing services for the agency.
Eric McCabe, Head of Embedded Finance, Citizens
McCabe serves as Head of Embedded Finance at Citizens. In this capacity he guides the bank’s effort to embed Citizens financial products in third-party platforms used by Citizens customers, and to enable platforms, brands, and fintechs to provide financial services to their customers, backed by Citizens.
Prior to joining Citizens, McCabe held roles in Embedded Payments, Fintech Strategy, Product and Operations at SVB and Citi.
Suraj Manjunath, Executive Director, Investment Banking Technology, JP Morgan
Manjunath is a senior product leader shaping the future of investment banking through AI-driven innovation. He is experienced in leading large, cross-functional teams to drive strategic change and unlock growth, efficiency, and competitive advantage across the global investment banking ecosystem.
Manjunath specializes in applying artificial intelligence, automation, and data-led insight to reimagine how financial institutions operate, make decisions, and deliver value.
Luther Liang, SVP, Head of Product, Grasshopper Bank
Liang leads the strategy and execution behind fintech products that empower small businesses, consumers, commercial enterprises, and fintech (Banking-as-a-Service) partners.
Grasshopper’s product roadmap to delivered the bank a premium exit at ~2.5x tangible book value $369M acquisition by Enova International in December 2025 that significantly outperformed the 1.5x industry median.
Sam Kilmer, Managing Director, Cornerstone Advisors
Kilmer leads Cornerstone Advisors’ fintech advisory practice working with industry providers, fintechs, and investors. He also leads selective strategy engagements with banks and credit unions. Sam’s prior experience includes leadership at two financial tech firms and two midsize banks including digital banking, marketing, analytics, implementations, partnerships, and strategy.
Kilmer is a nationally sought-after speaker, industry research author, host of Fintech Hustle podcast, and a contributor to GonzoBanker and the industry press.
Bruno Jivan, Head of Innovation and Research, Novobanco
Jivan is Director of Innovation & Research at novobanco. He has broad and diversified experience across the financial sector, including credit analysis, risk, project finance, M&A, product, marketing, transformation and innovation.
In his current role, he focuses on fostering innovation culture and mindset, strengthening connections with the fintech ecosystem, and leading the large‑scale adoption of AI across the organization to deliver practical, customer‑centric impact.
Nicolai Farcas, Chief Technology Officer, Consumer, Small & Business Banking Digital, Wells Fargo Bank
Farcas is a senior executive leader with over 25 years of experience driving enterprise strategy, transformation, and execution across global financial services organizations. He specializes in Consumer and Small Business Banking, including the Move Money portfolio, enterprise PMO leadership, and large-scale business and technology transformation initiatives.
During his tenure at Wells Fargo, Nicolai has held senior leadership roles including Global C-Suite Executive, Chief Technology Officer, and Head of the Project Management Office (PMO).
Sam Das, Managing Director, TruStage Ventures
Dasis Managing Director of TruStage Ventures, the venture capital arm of TruStage. Since joining, Das has focused on sourcing, investing and advising early-stage fintech and insurtech startups. He is also the Vice President of Corporate Development at TruStage, evaluating and executing a broad range of strategic transactions for the organization. Das joined TruStage in 2017.
Prior to joining TruStage, Das was the founder and CEO of a fintech startup and served as an investment banker at firms including Houlihan Lokey and Fox-Pitt, Kelton.
Sushma Daggubati, Manager of Product Management, Mastercard
Since 2016, and over her eight years at Mastercard, Daggubati has consistently progressed to more challenging positions every two years from release management to software engineering, leading to her current position, denoting an exceptional ability to transition from pure technical roles to more commercial ones.
She has also contributed to the industry by developing several patents which have been cited by some of the world’s largest and most prestigious firms including Shopify, Walmart, and Worldpay.
Soner Canko, Founder, SC Management Advisory
Canko graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences at Istanbul University, where he also earned his Master’s and PhD degrees. He began his career in multinational corporations, holding various roles at Procter & Gamble, Citibank, Hewlett-Packard (HP), and First Data.
Recognized for his work in financial technologies, Canko currently serves as a management consultant and independent board member. He is also actively involved in the following platforms: Turkish Enterprise Institutions, FinTech Istanbul, Blockchain Türkiye.
Tanya Andreasyan, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief, FinTech Futures
Andreasyan is MD and Editor-in-Chief of FinTech Futures, the definitive source of intelligence for the global fintech sector. An experienced journalist and a long-term resident of the fintech ecosystem, she has extensive understanding and knowledge of the industry and its participants.
With in-depth coverage of fintech issues on a worldwide scale, FinTech Futures is a leading resource for technology buyers, sellers, developers, integrators and other specialists across the sector.
FinovateSpring is right around the corner (May 5-7). So while we’re busily compiling and sharing the top fintech headlines and announcements of the day, please forgive us for occasionally sharing our excitement at what we believe is an incredible line-up at this year’s conference.
From the more than 40 companies that will be making their Finovate debuts to an all-star roster of insightful banking and fintech keynote speakers and panelists, FinovateSpring 2026 in sunny San Diego is an event you won’t want to miss!
Until then, we’ll keep you posted on the fintech news you need to know here at the Fintech Rundown!
Wealth management
AI-native registered investment advisor Savvy Wealthunveils its agentic AI solution for advisors, Savvy Intelligence.
Mackenzie Investments teams upOneVest to power a full digital transformation, including the launch of modern advisor and investor portals, a new mobile app, and more.
GCC-based wealth management firm, The Family Office, launches its AI-powered assistant, Wealth Mermaid, fully integrated into its Client app.
Payments
PayNearMeunveils new capabilities within its PayXM platform including Payer Re-Engagement, Dynamic Payment Options, and Invite a Payer.
Enfuce, a card issuing and payment processing provider and a Finovate Award winner, to join Mastercard Product Express to support business card issuance throughout Europe.
Stablecoins
Cross-border payments platform dLocal launchesStablecoin Full to enable merchants to collect, convert, and make payouts using stablecoins across emerging markets.
Business banking fintech Meowpartners with stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK to power crypto-to-fiat business payments.
C-suite
Capital markets technology platform services provider Trading Technologiesintroduces new Chief Strategy Officer Nick Garrow.
Chase UKselects Monzo’s chief banking officer Kunal Malani as its new CEO.
