Author: David Penn

The Faves of FinovateEurope: A Brief History of Best of Show Winners

The Faves of FinovateEurope: A Brief History of Best of Show Winners
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate alums, FinovateEurope 2018

With FinovateEurope right around the corner, we wanted to take a look at the companies that have won Best of Show trophies from FinovateEurope conferences since we first took the show across the pond back in the winter of 2011.

Specifically, we focused those FinovateEurope alums that have won multiple Best of Show awards to see how they reflect the development – and anticipate the future – of fintech in Europe.

eToro (FinovateEurope Best of Show 2017, 2015, 2012, 2011) – Innovator in social trading and investing

  • Headquarters: London, U.K.
  • Founded: 2007
  • Total funding raised: $72.9 million
  • CEO: Yoni Assia (founder)
  • Most recent Finovate appearance: FinovateEurope 2017

Winner of a Best of Show trophy at the inaugural FinovateEurope in 2011 and picking up another three awards since, eToro is a pioneer in social investing. The company has more than 4.5 million traders and investors in currencies, commodities, indicies, and CFD stocks operating in more than 170 countries. Last month eToro launched GoodDollar, a new non-profit, open source initiative to use cryptocurrency to reduce income inequality.

Meniga (FinovateEurope Best of Show 2018, 2015, 2013, 2011) – Digital banking solutions specialist

  • Headquarters: London, U.K.
  • Founded: 2009
  • Total funding raised: $23.4 million
  • CEO: Georg Ludviksson (co-founder)
  • Most recent Finovate appearance: FinovateEurope 2017

Meniga is a digital banking solutions provider with offices in London, Reykjavik, Stockholm, and Warsaw, Poland. With more than 50 million digital banking users in 20 countries, Meniga most recently demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2017, presenting its new UX and API, Personal Finance Challenges. November was a big month for the company, picking up an investment of $3.4 million from long-time client Islandsbanki, and inking a deal with Singapore’s United Overseas Bank.

Backbase (FinovateEurope Best of Show 2018, 2017, 2014) – Digital banking platform provider

  • Headquarters: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Founded: 2003
  • CEO: Jouk Pleiter (co-founder)
  • Most recent Finovate appearance: FinovateEurope 2017

A leader in banking digitization and modernization and a long-time Finovate veteran, Backbase provides FIs with the tools and platform they need to turn traditional core banking systems into platforms that offer modern, seamless, digital customer experiences. The company has more than 80 major financial entities around the globe using its technology – including Barclays, Credit Suisse, Fidelity, and Al Rajhi Bank. Backbase most recently announced that it would power omnichannel digital services for BGZ BNP Paribas Bank.

Dynamics (FinovateEurope Best of Show 2014, 2012) – Manufacturer of battery-powered, next-generation payment cards

  • Headquarters: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
  • Founded: 2007
  • Total funding raised: $110.7 million
  • CEO: Jeffrey Mullen (founder)
  • Most recent Finovate appearance: FinovateFall 2017

One day plastic cards may become a thing of the past. Until then, with card usage for debit and credit remaining a strong preference for many consumers, companies like Dynamics will continue to innovate on that platform. The company builds next generation, battery-powered payment cards that give issuers the ability to offer customers single cards that are able to perform a wide variety of payment functions. Dynamics’ technology enables secure transactions across multiple networks, with global acceptance at most points of sale. Expanding to the Japanese market earlier this year, Dynamics announced a partnership with Mumbai-based IndusInd Bank last month.

Tink (FinovateEurope Best of Show 2017, 2014) – Builder of PFM solutions

  • Headquarters: Stockholm, Sweden
  • Founded: 2012
  • Total funding raised: $30.7 million
  • CEO: Daniel Kjellen (founder)
  • Most recent Finovate appearance: FinovateEurope 2017

Two Finovate appearances. Two Best of Show awards. Not a bad showing for the Swedish PFM designer Tink. The company’s solution marries account aggregation and information with payment initiation services to provide consumers with a virtual bank experience that is fully PSD2-compatible. Of late, Tink has teamed up with banks, expanding its offerings beyond B2C to bring its technology to FIs like Nordea, Klarna, and Nordnet (see the Tink Technology homepage pictured). The company also launched its developer platform, enabling developers to leverage the company’s Account Aggregation and Categorization solutions via API.

mBank (FinovateEurope Best of Show 2015, 2013) – Universal bank

  • Headquarters: Lodz, Poland
  • Founded: 1986
  • CEO: Cezary Stypulkowski
  • Most recent Finovate appearance: FinovateEurope 2015

mBank’s FinovateEurope appearances have been occasions to celebrate the power of partnerships. The fourth largest retail bank in Poland, mBank has shown through live technology demonstrations with firms like virtual reality specialist i3D, global management consultancy Accenture, and fellow Finovate alum Efigence how an openness to collaboration can enable banks to provide a better experience for customers while building their brand. Earlier this month, a corporate customer survey sponsored by Euromoney named mBank to be the Best Service Bank in Poland. In November, mBank unveiled a new, free, multi-currency service for its Visa cardholding customers.

Etronika (FinovateEurope Best of Show 2014, 2013) – Digital banking platform provider

  • Headquarters: Vilnius, Lithuania
  • Founded: 2000
  • CEO: Arnoldas Jankunas
  • Most recent Finovate appearance: FinovateEurope 2016

Out of our eight multiple-time Best of Show winners from FinovateEurope, four are digital banking platform providers. Lithuania-based Etronika, a member of the European FinTech 50, specializes in providing not just a state-of-the-art digital platform, but also solutions like a visualized API engine that makes it easier for FIs to connect, bundle, and offer a variety of financial services through an omnichannel user interface. The company forged a partnership with Comarch last spring and, last fall, Etronika’s mobile banking solution was featured in IDC MarketScape 2017’s vendor assessment.

CREALOGIX (FinovateEurope Best of Show 2018, 2017) – Digital banking solution provider

  • Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland
  • Founded in 1996
  • CEO: Thomas Avedik
  • Most recent Finovate appearance: FinovateEurope 2018

If recent Best of Show wins are any indication, digital banking solution provider CREALOGIX is one of our hottest Best of Show winning alums. The Swiss firm picked up its second trophy in February, impressing our audience with a live demo of its customer banking app. Since then the company has helped private bank Hauck & Aufhauser launch its digital asset management solution, gained a few spots in the IDC ranking of the global top 100 fintech companies, and reported record sales for a third consecutive year. With more than 450 bank customers around the world, CREALOGIX has more than 1,200 installations of its technology.

And here’s the full list of FinovateEurope Best of Show winners since 2011.

FinovateEurope 2018

  • Backbase
  • Be-IQ
  • CREALOGIX
  • iProov
  • Meniga
  • Microblink
  • W.UP

FinovateEurope 2017

  • Backbase
  • CREALOGIX
  • Dorsum
  • eToro
  • Memento
  • SaleMove
  • Tink

FinovateEurope 2016

  • Capitali.se
  • DriveWealth
  • EyeVerify
  • IDscan Biometrics
  • SwipeStox
  • Valuto

FinovateEurope 2015

  • Avoka
  • Coinjar
  • ebankIT
  • eToro
  • Jumio
  • mBank & i3D
  • Meniga

FinovateEurope 2014

  • Backbase
  • BehavioSec
  • Dynamics
  • Etronika
  • Misys
  • Luxoft
  • Tink
  • Toshl
  • Momentum (FKA YourWealth)

FinovateEurope 2013

  • Credit Agricole
  • Etronika
  • mBank & Efigence
  • Meniga
  • Moven
  • Pockets United
  • SumUp
  • Virtual Pigy (Oink)

FinovateEurope 2012

  • Cardlytics
  • Dynamics
  • eToro
  • Nutmeg

FinovateEurope 2011

  • eToro
  • Finantix
  • Liqpay
  • Meniga

FinovateEurope 2019 is only a few months away. Join us February 12 through 14 for three days of live fintech demonstrations and insightful keynotes and presentations on some of the most innovative technologies and trends in fintech. Tickets are on sale now, so be sure to visit our registration page and save your spot today.

Top image designed by Freepik

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Licensed to Bank: Revolut is Ready for Europe

Licensed to Bank: Revolut is Ready for Europe
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Revolut

Following on from the recent licenses in Singapore and Japan, challenger Revolut has secured its European banking license, reports Antony Peyton of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

The “specialized” bank license was facilitated by the Bank of Lithuania. This type of license was introduced by the Bank of Lithuania in 2017. It has a minimum capital requirement of €1 million (a traditional bank is €5 million), and excludes some investment services and also complex financial services.

Revolut will begin implementing the license next year, and plans full current accounts, consumer lending and commission-free stock trading. Customers will also be able to deposit their salaries into their Revolut account, which will be protected for up to €100,000 by the European Deposit Insurance Scheme.

“With the banking license now secured, commission-free stock trading progressing well and five new international markets at final stages of launch, we are living up to our reputation as the ‘Amazon of banking’,” said Nik Storonsky, founder and CEO of Revolut.

The firm will initially focus on smaller European countries, before eventually passporting the licence to “key markets” including the U.K., France, Germany and Poland.

It says one of the “key focus areas” for the company is to break into lending. Revolut plans to offer standard overdraft facilities as well as personal and business loans at competitive rates.

Invest Lithuania explained: “The move of getting a license in mainland Europe has been considered by many a hedge against Brexit. Having received both the specialized bank license and electronic money institution facilitated by the Bank of Lithuania, Revolut is now effectively safe from any decision regarding Britain leaving the EU.”

At the end of 2016, FinTech Futures was invited to a fintech tour of Lithuania. During that trip, the Bank of Lithuania discussed its memorandum of understanding with Revolut. The firm said it intended to set up a financial institution in the country and obtain a banking license.

Over the last 12 months, Revolut says it has opened between 8,000 and 10,000 current accounts daily and transacted over $4 billion per month in volumes.

As reported last month, it was planning a $500 million Series D investment round, potentially enlisting tech giants like SoftBank to its roster of investors.

This is with a view to launch in the U.S. after the investment round. Revolut has seen major regulatory shortcoming preventing it from starting operations there.

And not forgetting April, when Revolut raised an additional $250 million in Series C funding. The plan was to expand, starting with the U.S. (as above), Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia in 2018.

The company has raised a total of $336 million from investors including DST Global, Index Ventures, Balderton Capital and Ribbit Capital.

Founded in 2013, Revolut demonstrated its platform at FinovateEurope 2015.

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More Than $400 Million Raised by 19 Alums in Q3 2018

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings

After racking up more than $1 billion in funding last summer, Finovate alums secured more than $400 million in funding over July, August, and September of 2018. This year marked the second time in the past four years that a billion-dollar third quarter was followed the next year by a significantly less bountiful Q3 in terms of equity financing.

Interestingly, eight of our 19 fundraising alums in the third quarter did not disclose the amounts of their investments. And while this does not provide any specific clues to the exact amounts of equity financing involved, it is noteworthy that undisclosed investments in AdviceRobo and Personetics both represented minority stakes taken by KPMG and United Overseas Bank, respectively.

Previous Quarterly Comparisons

  • Q3 2017: More than $1 billion raised by 31 alums
  • Q3 2016: More than $500 million raised by 30 alums
  • Q3 2015: More than $1 billion raised by 40 alums
  • Q3 2014: More than $194 million raised by 17 alums

If Q3 represented a small step in the funding growth for our alums overall, it was a giant leap for the quarter’s top fundraiser, Gusto. The $140 million in funding picked up by the payroll, benefits, and HR platform in July nearly doubled the firm’s total funding, and boosted the company’s valuation to almost $2 billion.

And you’ve got to hand it to Bambu. The three million raised by the Singapore-based robo advisor pales in comparison to the capital raised by its fellow top ten alums in Q3. But Bambu is the only company in the quarter’s top ten to have won not one, but two Best of Show awards, once at FinovateAsia 2017 and again last month at FinovateAfrica 2018.

Top Ten Equity Investments for Q3 2018

  • Gusto: $140 million
  • Flywire: $100 million
  • Zopa: $57 million
  • ThetaRay: $30 million
  • Deserve: $17 million
  • SynapseFI: $17 million
  • Wonga: $13 million
  • BlueVine: $12 million
  • Cortera: $10 million
  • Bambu: $3 million

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q3 2018.

July 2018: More than $285 million raised by nine alums

August 2018: More than $87 million raised by six alums

September 2018: More than $28 million raised by four alums

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the third quarter of 2018, and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at [email protected]. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

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Motive Partners Acquires Majority Stake in Finantix

Motive Partners Acquires Majority Stake in Finantix
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finantix, Mergers & Acquisitions

Private equity firm Motive Partners will become a majority shareholder in Finantix, a provider of digital services for the private banking, insurance and wealthtech sectors, reports Antony Peyton of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

Financial details were not disclosed. Both firms are a bit vague but Motive will support the company and the founders (Ralf Emmerich and Alessandro Tonchia) in “extending the functional footprint of the product and in accelerating geographic expansion”. The latter means Europe, Asia and to enter the U.S. market.

Scott Kauffman, partner at Motive Partners, said Finantix has demonstrated its ability to create a “compelling product, bringing a leading technology platform to an ever-increasing set of blue chip clients”.

Finantix’s founders and the management team will continue to lead the company.

The company has over 250 staff in seven cities and a customer base in more than 45 countries. Some of its clients include Rothschild Bank, Crossbridge Capital, and DBS.

Motive Labs, the operational and technology team of Motive, will also work with Finantix.

Back in March, Finantix acquired Singapore-based Smartfolios, a creator of quant-enabled investment tools. No financial details in that deal as well.

As reported last year, Motive powered up and revealed its plans to invest in fintech firms in the U.K. and U.S.

According to its Form D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the U.S, Motive was looking to raise $150 million.

“Our mission is to back and build the next generation of financial technology businesses to transform markets, models and society,” the company said on its website.

Based in Venice, Italy, and founded in 1994, Finantix demonstrated its Banking Assistant solution at FinovateEurope 2013.

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BioCatch Brings Behavioral Biometrics to ACI Worldwide

BioCatch Brings Behavioral Biometrics to ACI Worldwide
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, BioCatch

A new partnership between real-time electronic payment and banking solutions provider, ACI Worldwide, and behavioral biometrics specialist, BioCatch, will deliver better online and mobile fraud prevention to banking customers. Along with the advanced analytic capabilities of ACI Worldwide’s UP Payments Risk Management, BioCatch’s behavior assessment technology will help institutions better defend themselves and their customers from a growing variety of cyberthreats.

“As online and mobile banking proliferates, fraudsters are consistently finding new ways to infiltrate banks’ systems, creating havoc for consumers and businesses alike,” BioCatch CTO and founder Avi Turgeman said. “By using behavioral data to distinguish between a genuine customer and a fraudster – whether human or non-human – we are able to detect fraudulent activity in real-time and protect consumers.”

ACI Worldwide global director for Payments Intelligence & Risk Solutions Cleber Martins pointed to threats like account takeover, social engineering, and bots as the main obstacles for institutions that are attempting to provide “enriched customer experience(s).” He praised the way BioCatch offers “cost-efficient access to behavioral biometrics” solutions to enable banks to “further promote safety and loyalty through the online relationship with their clients.”

BioCatch demonstrated the Passive Biometrics/Invisible Challenges mechanism of its cognitive behavioral biometrics technology at FinovateFall 2014. The mechanism injects a dynamic, cognitive challenge during the user’s interaction with an app. The challenge is so subtle that the user responds to it without being aware that the challenge has occurred. This response helps define the user’s relationship with the app, providing a unique user profile that reduces vulnerability to a variety of cyber threats.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Israel, BioCatch has raised $41.6 million in funding, and includes Blumberg Capital, OurCrowd, and Maverick Ventures Israel among its investors. In October, the company announced that it was partnering with seven, tier-one Latin American banks in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. Earlier this year, BioCatch teamed up with ForgeRock, offering its behavioral biometrics solution as an integrated module to ForgeRock’s platform.

ACI Worldwide powers electronic payments for more than 5,000 institutions globally, including more than 1,000 of the world’s largest financial institutions and service providers. The company participated in our developers conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016, presenting Simple, Global, and Secure eCommerce Payments with ACI Worldwide’s Next-Generation API. The discussion focused on the technical challenges of payments integration and the value of using an end-to-end solution with integrated real-time fraud prevention.

Founded in 1975 and based in Naples, Florida, ACI Worldwide trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker ACIW, and has a market capitalization of $3 billion.

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Ohpen Migrates More than 400k Accounts in Partnership with Aegon

Ohpen Migrates More than 400k Accounts in Partnership with Aegon
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Ohpen

Ohpen is making tech progress as it has migrated over 400,000 Dutch savings and investment accounts from Aegon to its core banking engine, reports Antony Peyton of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

As reported in April last year, financial services provider Aegon was partnering with Ohpen to develop a new platform for its Dutch services.

The firms said they are merging their domain knowledge within pensions and technology. Aegon will plug into Ohpen’s singular platform via a 100% API-based interface.

In the latest phase, Ohpen said this migration is in line with their previously communicated ambition to “build the infrastructure and architecture of the future”.

Chris Zadeh, founder and CEO of Ohpen, said it developed its cloud-based core banking engine “from scratch to ensure that the technology and processes actually work, all the time.”

After the completion of this migration, all accounts of clients with investment and (fiscal) savings products of Aegon Bank will be administered by Ohpen.

In other Ohpen news, last month it unveiled its Ohpen API Portal (OAP) in beta mode. In its view, IT and re-platforming projects in financial services have a “reputation of running over time and budget”.

The firm stays true to its name because when asked about wealthtech woes in the U.K. it was very transparent. In that exclusive report in November, it responded quickly and said it had made 19 staff redundant at its U.K. office due to the lack of action in the asset management space.

Ohpen’s Dutch operations appear to be unaffected by these U.K. job losses. As reported in an exclusive in July, LeasePlan Bank, the online savings bank based in the Netherlands, chose it to upgrade its whole core cloud banking engine.

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Ohpen demonstrated its core banking platform at FinovateFall 2012. The firm has raised €40 million in funding and includes Amerborgh among its investors.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Bankjoy, Bill.com, BioCatch, Interactions, iSignthis, Klarna, Launchfire, Passport, PayNearMe, Payoneer, Token, TransferWise, TrueAccord

On Finovate.com

  • Interactions Partners with Next Caller for Phone-Based Threat Assessment.
  • BioCatch Brings Behavioral Biometrics to ACI Worldwide.

Around the web

  • Token to support PSD2 compliance and open banking capabilities for U.K.’s thinkmoney.
  • SafeAmericaCU’s switch to AI-powered technology from Bankjoy helps the $433 million asset FI to earn “Best Practices” honors from CU Journal.
  • TransferWise secures £65 million syndicated debt facility with NatWest, JP Morgan, and LHV Bank.
  • iSignthis plans for Australian neobanking license in 2019.
  • PayNearMe’s electronic payment volume grew by more than 25% month-over-month in the past year.
  • Klarna joins Shopify Plus Partner program to power merchants.
  • TrueAccord wins a Healthy Mothers Workplace Award.
  • Passport recognized as one of Charlotte’s fastest growing companies.
  • Launchfire wins gold Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Award.
  • Bill.com selects Comdata as Virtual Credit Card Provider for B2B Payments.
  • TopTracker partners with Payoneer to allows free payments between companies and freelancers.

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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Fighting Financial Crime with Feedzai’s Risk Ledger

Fighting Financial Crime with Feedzai’s Risk Ledger
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Feedzai

Leveraging machine learning and secure, federated data from its customer base and third-party vendors, Feedzai announced this week the release of its latest financial crime prevention solution, Risk Ledger.

Feedzai’s Risk Ledger uses the 30 million transactions processed by its system every day – including more than 100 different payment methods – to deliver a more accurate and comprehensive anti-fraud solution compared to siloed data offerings.  By processing such a wide range and number of data elements (i.e., cards, IPs, merchants, emails) along the full cycle of the customer journey (from onboarding to compliance), Risk Ledger provides anti-fraud and anti-money laundering defense for all members of the payment process from issuers and acquirers to merchants and networks.

“Our goal has always been to make it harder and harder for fraudsters to hide, while making it easier for businesses to serve their loyal customers without friction,” Feedzai Head of Product Saurabh Bajaj explained. “As our customer base across the world continues to grow, the network effect of all of that data will only make Risk Ledger stronger.”

Risk Ledger is the latest solution from Feedzai designed to help fight financial crime. In October, the company unveiled Feedzai Genome, which enables financial fraud investigators to use link analysis graph technology to visualize and identify complex financial crime patterns and take action in real time. Powered by Feedzai’s advanced AI, Feedzai Genome learns over time, keeping pace with evolving AML and fraud typologies.

“Fraud patterns are getting more complex as criminals continue to get more sophisticated to avoid detection,” Feedzai CTO and co-founder Paulo Marques said when the technology was introduced. “Feedzai Genome gives our customers a full picture of financial crime so that they can fight it more effectively.”

With $5 billion in transactions scored daily, Feedzai serves ten of the largest 25 banks in the world, protecting 200 million people against cyberfraud. The company has raised $82 million in funding and includes Data Collective DCVC, Sapphire Ventures, Citi Ventures, and Oak HC/FT among its investors.

Earlier this year, Feedzai introduced its AutoML technology, leveraging machine learning to automate many of the most time-consuming processes for data scientists fighting cybercrime. In July, the company teamed up with Credorax, an e-commerce focused commercial bank, to help merchants better defend themselves against fraud.

Named to the Inc. 5,000 Europe roster for 2018 this summer and honored with a spot on the Forbes Fintech 50 at the beginning of the year, Feedzai demonstrated its fraud prevention technology at FinovateEurope 2014. The company was founded in 2008 and is based in San Mateo, California.

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Finicity Automates Asset Verification for Princeton Mortgage’s SnapApp

Finicity Automates Asset Verification for Princeton Mortgage’s SnapApp
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finicity

Princeton Mortgage will leverage Finicity’s Verification of Assets solution to improve the loan origination experience for lenders and borrowers. The asset verification technology will be integrated into Princeton Mortgage’s digital mortgage platform, SnapApp, automating the asset verification process, reducing mortgage fraud, and speeding time to close.

“We’re thrilled to work with Princeton Mortgage and provide its customers with an innovative, paper-free and hassle-free experience,” Finicity CEO Steve Smith said. “As the leading financial data aggregator in the mortgage lending industry, we are always looking for partners who share our goal of transforming outdated loan origination processes into seamless digital experiences.”

Finicity demonstrated its credit decisioning solutions, including both its Verification of Income (VoI) and Verification of Assets (VoA) reports, at FinovateFall 2017. The Verification of Assets solution enables lenders to leverage bank validated insights to identify underwriting factors that can shave as many as six days off the mortgage origination process. VoA and VoI are part of the company’s innovations to help digitize the lending experience and bring the quality of information available via real-time bank data to the mortgage industry.

Princeton Mortgage’s SnapApp enables borrowers to apply, verify income and assets, access their credit information, run an automated approval and generate a pre-approval letter at any time, according to the company’s Sales Enablement Manager Nicole Gordon. “Borrowers want an effortless mortgage experience, and with our new SnapApp they get just that,” she said.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and founded in 1999, Finicity partnered with fellow Finovate alums Experian and FICO to launch the new UltraFICO credit score earlier this fall. The new solution is designed to help provide financing to borrowers with credit scores in the so-called gray area of the upper 500s and lower 600s. UltraFICO leverages the account aggregation capabilities of Finicity and Experian’s consumer credit data to give lenders a broader view of a borrower’s financial behavior – especially for those new to credit or with limited credit history.

Finicity has been busy making friends and forging partnerships this year. The company teamed up with Freddie Mac in October, Fidelity Investments and Capsilon in September, Capital One in August, and both SimpleNexus and Cre8tech Labs’ Lender Price in July. The deals ranged from credit decisioning integrations to secure data exchange and customer data security agreements.

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Avaloq and Cyber Infrastructure Firm Metaco Team Up with Gazprombank

Avaloq and Cyber Infrastructure Firm Metaco Team Up with Gazprombank
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Avaloq

Banking technology supplier Avaloq and crypto infrastructure firm Metaco have partnered with Gazprombank, a Swiss bank, to implement their integrated crypto asset solution, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

The aim of this project is to provide banks and wealth managers with a solution for the management of client portfolios across all asset classes including cryptocurrencies.

Gazprombank, which is already an Avaloq client, aims to offer a cryptocurrency service to its clients in mid-2019.

The solution will integrate SILO, Metaco’s crypto-wallet management solution, within the Avaloq Banking Suite. The two firms are already familiar with each other as Avaloq has a 10% stake in Metaco.

It will also allow banking and wealth management clients to buy, sell and transfer crypto assets and currencies, without any need for a crypto-wallet or private key management.

Adrien Treccani, founder and CEO of Metaco, said: “We know that security and secure custody are of paramount importance and Metaco’s multi-signature support will make the solution fully capable for institutional use.”

Metaco’s HSM (hardware security module) ensures a “military security” solution for storing private keys and managing wallets and operations. The new solution will support a multi-signature system for transaction approval.

Avaloq demonstrated its double marketplace at FinovateAsia 2018 last month. The double marketplace is a new feature of the company’s ecosystem that brings the app store concept to banking. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, Avaloq was founded in 1985.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Avaloq, Avoka, Feedzai, Finastra, Finicity, InfoCorp, Outsystems, Sberbank

On Finovate.com

  • Fighting Financial Crime with Feedzai’s Risk Ledger.
  • Finicity Automates Asset Verification for Princeton Mortgage’s SnapApp.

Around the web

  • Sberbank joins BC Region and NSD in three-way repo deal using blockchain technology.
  • Avoka accepted into Symitar Vendor Integration Program, will integrate its Transact platform with Symitar Episys.
  • Infocorp spinoff Bankingly raises $5.25 million in Series A funding in round led by Elevar Equity.
  • Avaloq and cyber infrastucture firm Metaco team up with Gazprombank.
  • thinkmoney leverages Outsystems’ low-code platform to deliver new applications and features for its innovative current account offering.
  • Finastra opens new offices in Romania.

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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FinovateAfrica Best of Show Winners Announced

FinovateAfrica Best of Show Winners Announced
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Bambu, Best of Show, FinovateAfrica 2018, OUTvest

The votes have been cast and tallied – and the winners of FinovateAfrica’s Best of Show awards have been named. Congratulations to Bambu and OUTvest!

Finovate’s first foray into the African fintech scene has been a huge success. The companies that demonstrated their technologies live on stage this week showed us innovations in everything from automated regtech and small business lending, to customer engagement and AI-enabled credit assessment.

Yet the two companies whose live demos made the greatest impressions on our FinovateAfrica audience were firms focused on one of fintech’s earliest – and most persistent – disruptions: the rise of the robo-advisor. For these companies, wealthtech is still fertile ground for fintech innovation. And improving the way individual investors and their advisors build and manage personalized, investment portfolios is as important today as it has ever been.

Bambu for its goal-based, white label robo-advisor offering that gives investors a natural and effortless experience in finding the right investment strategy for their client’s needs.

 

 

OUTvest for its hybrid robo-advisor that uses an evidence-based approach to help everyone build and mange their own investment strategy.

 

Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites during each day. At the end of the last demo, they chose their three favorites.
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: “Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed.”
4. The two companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named “Best of Show.”
5. Go here for a list of previous Best of Show winners through 2014. Best of Show winners from our 2015 through 2018 conferences are below:
FinovateEurope 2015
FinovateSpring 2015
FinovateFall 2015
FinovateEurope 2016
FinovateSpring 2016
FinovateFall 2016
FinovateAsia 2016
FinovateEurope 2017
FinovateSpring 2017
FinovateFall 2017
FinovateAsia 2017
FinovateMiddleEast 2018
FinovateEurope 2018
FinovateSpring 2018
FinovateFall 2018
FinovateAsia 2018

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