Author: David Penn

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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Asseco SEE Joins NISP to Support PSD2 Implementation

Asseco SEE Joins NISP to Support PSD2 Implementation
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Asseco

Banking technology vendor Asseco South Eastern Europe (Asseco SEE) has joined the NextGenPSD2 Implementation Support Programme (NISP), which supports banks and interbank processors throughout Europe in implementing the Berlin Group NextGenPSD2 Framework, reports Tanya Andreasyan of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

With this move, Asseco SEE aims to deliver assistance to banks regarding implementation and achieving compliance with all relevant requirements of the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2).

Asseco SEE described the Berlin Group as “a widely respected, pan-European payments interoperability standards and harmonization initiative”. Its NISP initiative was formed with “a goal to help implementers achieve fallback exemption and reduce interoperability issues,” the vendor added.

It now has over 20 member organisations, with Asseco SEE being the first vendor to join. “Having Asseco SEE as a solution vendor and NISP member will significantly contribute to the diversity and bring added value to the support we can provide to help resolve any interoperability issues,” stated Dr. Ortwin Scheja, project lead of NISP.

Predrag Popović, Asseco SEE’s group product director, said the membership is a “great honor” for the company.

“With our know-how incorporated in the PSD2 Enabler solution, which fits the Berlin Group NextGenPSD2 Framework and enables full PSD2 compliance out-of-the-box, we are sure our participation will be of immense assistance to all NISP members enabling them to optimize their implementations, deliver maximum quality and have their questions answered,” he said.

The Asseco SEE Group is one of the biggest IT companies that develops and implements its own software solutions and services across South Eastern Europe and Turkey. It employs over 1,550 people and operates in 13 countries, covering a market of 176 million people and eight languages. The company’s offerings serve a number of industry verticals, including financial services, payments, public administration and telecoms.

Among its subsidiaries are Eastern European paytech firm Payten and Portuguese core banking software vendor Exictos (now known as Asseco PST).

Listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Asseco SEE shared the Finovate stage with Telenor banka at FinovateEurope 2015. The first fully mobile online bank in the SEE region, Telenor banka demonstrated its mobile device loan offering powered by Asseco SEE’s ASEBA Multichannel Hub.

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FinovateAfrica Arrives in Cape Town

FinovateAfrica Arrives in Cape Town
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateAfrica 2018

With our first conference in Africa starting tomorrow, today is a day for final plans and preparations for our demoing companies. FinovateAfrica 2018, which kicks off Tuesday morning and runs through Wednesday, will feature more than a dozen innovative fintech companies from Africa and beyond who will demonstrate their latest technologies live on stage before our audience of industry leaders and professionals.

And while our demoing companies are busy practicing their pitches, remember that FinovateAfrica is more than just live fintech demonstrations. Both days of the conference will feature keynotes, panel discussions, and presentations on some of the most pressing issues in fintech such as open banking and digital transformation. FinovateAfrica will also feature several sessions and tracks on topics like social payments and leveraging technology to serve rural communities that are especially relevant to developing economies.

Find out more detailed information about our agenda at our FinovateAfrica event page.

FinovateAfrica will be held at the Westin Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa. The venue is located at Convention Square on Lower Long Street, and is readily accessible by public transportation. The conference itself will take place on the Old Harbour Level, and begins promptly with registration, breakfast, and networking at 8:15am on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Please remember that FinovateAfrica runs on a tight schedule, so be sure to give yourself a little extra time to make sure you arrive promptly and don’t miss a thing.

And once you’ve arrived, join our FinovateAfrica community on our Knect365 event app. Search for “FinovateAfrica” once you are in the app to access our audience participation feature Sli.do, our Best of Show voting tool, our networking platform Brella, our attendee list and conference agenda, a floorplan of the venue, and more. If you have any challenges with the app, please reach out to us at [email protected] for help.

Tickets are still available. If you are planning to attend FinovateAfrica, but have not yet saved your spot, run – don’t walk – to our FinovateAfrica registration page and pick up your ticket today. We look forward to seeing you here in Cape Town!

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Exate, Experian, iProov, Xero, Yoyo

Around the web

  • Xero announces API integration partnerships with OCBC and NETS.
  • Exate Technology named “One to Watch” for data privacy technology at the Regulation Asia Awards for Excellence 2018.
  • Yoyo Wallet inks deal with coffee chain, easyCoffee.
  • Experian launches a pair of new advanced Open Banking services: Affordability Check and Tennant Vetting Service.
  • New biometric capabilities powered by iProov enable secure enrollment onto U.K. Home Office services via smartphone app.

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 Starts Next Week

FinovateAfrica Starts Next Week
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateAfrica 2018

Finovate’s first fintech conference in Africa is only days away. We’re excited to make our debut in Cape Town, South Africa on November 27 and 28, and look forward to what we expect to be a great two days of live technology demonstrations and insightful keynotes from our knowledgable line-up of speakers.

There’s still time to pick up your ticket and join us. Visit our registration page today and save your spot at the show.

Find out more about our demoing companies via our Sneak Peek series. To learn more about our expert speakers, check out our agendas for Day One and Day Two.

Here are a few last minute details and need-to-knows to help you plan your visit.

Who

FinovateAfrica will feature more than a dozen innovative fintech companies from Africa as well as around the world, all demoing their latest solutions live on stage. The conference will also host a variety of keynote addresses, panel discussions, debates, and presentations on some of the most critical topics in fintech today. We will have a special emphasis on those issues relevant to developing fintech markets as well as financial inclusion.

A look at the companies that will be demoing their latest fintech innovations at FinovateAfrica next week.

Where

FinovateAfrica will be held at the Westin Cape Town, Old Harbour Level, Convention Square, on Lower Long Street in Cape Town, South Africa. The venue is readily accessible via public transportation and features compelling views of both the V&A Waterfront and Table Mountain.

When

With two days of live demos and discussions on Tuesday, November 27 and Wednesday, November 28, FinovateAfrica runs on a tight schedule. Please give yourself extra time to ensure that you arrive at the venue promptly so that you don’t miss a thing!

Registration opens at 8:15am on both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, and will feature a continental breakfast and refreshments. Opening remarks from our keynote speaker begin at 8:45am on Tuesday and at 8:55am on Wednesday. Both Tuesday and Wednesday will conclude with a reception and networking opportunity for attendees to meet and mingle with our demoing companies, our speakers, and each other.

We are looking forward to FinovateAfrica and hope you will be able to join us in Cape Town next week. If you have any questions about FinovateAfrica, please email us at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to help.

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Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Braintri, Clover Network, FICO, Finastra, Finovate Global, Hydrogen, iProov, James Finance, Ocrolus, Sberbank, VISA

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Central and South Asia

  • Visa takes minority stake in Indian payment gateway BillDesk.
  • Swift India partners with MonetaGo to pilot blockchain-based banking.
  • India FinTech Forum (IFF) announced the 20 companies recognized at its India FinTech Awards (IFTA), including Finovate alums Hydrogen, iProov, Ocrolus, and James Finance.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Elevar Equity leads $5.25 million investment round for Uruguayan fintech, Bankingly.
  • Banco Original, a Sao Paulo, Brazil-based FI, to deploy FICO Origination Manager and FICO Application Fraud Manager.
  • First Data launches Clover Mini and Clover Flex in Argentina.

Asia-Pacific

  • Finastra gives Singapore banks top marks in its inaugural Open Banking Readiness Index.
  • FinLab accelerator introduces its smart business transformation program for Thailand small businesses.
  • SmartPesa brings its softPOS contactless card acceptance via NFC phone running Android – to Singapore and South East Asia.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • South African financial services company, Discovery, to launch “behavioral bank.”
  • Nigeria’s central bank proposes fintech licensing regime to help manage cyber risk, capital adequacy, and operational oversight issues.
  • A “hands-off” attitude toward regulation is credited for helping boost Uganda’s emergent fintech sector.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Poland’s Braintri merges with iCompass.
  • The Polish Financial Supervision Authority names the Heart as one of operators for its regulatory sandbox for companies developing fintech solutions.
  • Ingenico Group teams up with Russia’s Sberbank to enable MOIR card payments for online purchases.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Study from Mena Research Partners calls for major gains in fintech funding in the MENA region over the next ten years.
  • Egypt Innovate features ten Egyptian startups “following the world’s fintech trend.”
  • The Tehran Times looks at the “challenges and opportunities” of fintech innovation in Iran.

Top image designed by Freepik

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Poland’s Braintri Merges with iCompass

Poland’s Braintri Merges with iCompass
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Braintri

A pair of Polish fintechs – Braintri and iCompass – have announced a merger plan that will enable both firms to grow their businesses and expand internationally. Braintri COO Wojciech Zatorski highlighted the opportunity for growth, and pointed specifically to the potential in markets in the EU, the Middle East, Asia, and the U.S. “The partnership is a step forward in Braintri’s strategy to enter global markets,” he said.

Both companies will operate under their existing brands until the merger is completed, after which there will be a rebranding.

Providing mobile banking apps for some of the largest banks in Poland, Braintri has partnered with FTSE large cap banking giant PKO BP, as well as fellow Finovate alum, mBank. The company also worked to help establish Poland’s non-card payment standard, BLIK, currently used by 94% of the country’s population. Braintri is also the developer of Jiffee, a token-based, Bluetooth-powered, mobile payment technology the company demonstrated at FinovateEurope earlier this year.

In a press release, Braintri said it will focus on three main product lines post-merger: mobile applications, big data solutions, and payments. The company also pledged to “further develop its insurtech competence.”

Braintri’s partner, iCompass, is a software provider for major European banks and global payment companies like Mastercard Payment Transaction Services. The firm is a technology provider for Poland’s first mPOS platform, and developed the universal payment gateway, Octopus Payment Hub.

Founded in 2013, Braintri demonstrated its Jiffee payments solution at FinovateFall 2017, winning Best of Show. Headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, the company was awarded the Polish Innovation Award 2018 for both Jiffee and its core banking systems offloading engine, Biffee.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Aqubix, BehavioSec, Braintri, CustomerXPs, Electronic IDentification, Fenergo, Green Key Technologies, IdentityMind Global, Jumio, Klarna, Launchfire, Mortgage Cadence, NICE Systems, Onfido, Payfone, SecuredTouch, Sedicii, Temenos, ThetaRay, Tinkoff Bank, Topicus, TransferWise, Trulioo, Trunomi, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • Check out a sneak peek of Topicus.Finance’s upcoming demo at FinovateAfrica.
  • Launchfire Launches StepDemo to Enhance Employee Training.
  • Poland’s Braintri Merges with iCompass.

Around the web

  • Xero teams up with Absa Bank to improve access to financing for South African SMEs.
  • TransferWise opens its API.
  • Fenergo introduces new Client Lifecycle Management: Front to Middle Office Transformation app on Salesforce AppExchange.
  • Mortgage Cadence adds to its Enterprise Lending Center loan origination platform courtesy of a partnership with MGIC.
  • Tinkoff Bank enables its iOS-using customers to buy concert and theatre tickets via its mobile app.
  • ThetaRay CEO Mark Gazit appointed to the International Technology Advisory Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
  • Klarna forges partnership with weighted blanket developer, Gravity Blanket.
  • Temenos announces Technology Partner Agreement with distributed SQL database provider, NuoDB.
  • Aqubix, Behaviosec, CustomerXPS, ElectronicID, GreenKey, IdentityMind, Jumio, NICE, Onfido, Payfone, SecuredTouch, Sedicii, Trulioo, and Trunomi honored on RegTech 100 list.

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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Five Degrees Teams Up with ieDigital to Launch Digital Banking Portfolio

Five Degrees Teams Up with ieDigital to Launch Digital Banking Portfolio
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Five Degrees, ieDigital

A new partnership between U.K.-based ieDigital and Dutch fintech Five Degrees will pave the way for the launch of a new premier digital banking portfolio. The new solution marries ieDigital’s Interact digital engagement platform with Five Degrees’ digital core banking platform, Matrix, to help FIs develop end-to-end banking products that will help them spot and capitalize on revenue-generating opportunities.

“Our joint partnership strengthens the ability to help financial institutions transform progressively in order to meet future market needs, while ensuring a superior customer experience,” ieDigital CEO Jerry Young said. He called the collaboration with Five Degrees both “strategic and timely” and pointed to potential opportunities to help banks in Europe and around the world successfully execute their digital transformations.

Young joined the company as CEO at the beginning of the year. He brings more than 20 years of experience to ieDigital, including a tenure as VP of EMEA at Fiserv, and time spent as head of retail banking and insurance at Oracle.

Five Degrees CEO Martijn Hohmann said that the joint venture “provides financial institutions with the tools to offer a better experience for consumers when managing their finances on a daily basis.” He added that the partnership would add “world-class consumer oriented solutions” to its platform and help the company fulfill its goal of making it easier and more convenient for consumers to choose and interact with financial products.

In their press release, ieDigital and Five Degrees cited a Forrester study that indicated that too many financial services firms are focusing on making changes to their digital front end without paying similar attention to the core system. Referring to this as the “Potemkin Effect,” the companies noted that by offering a solution that combines the core with the engagement platform resolves this problem by providing a “seamless, digital, end-to-end experience that customers require.”

Founded in 1984, ieDigital demonstrated its Money Fitness solution at FinovateFall 2018. Money Fitness is a personalized, forward-looking PFM tool that helps consumers make better financial decisions while helping credit unions build their brands and strengthen their presence in their local communities. Formerly known as Intelligent Environments, ieDigital has partnered with four of the five largest banks in the U.K. and has deployed its Interact customer engagement platform in more than 28 countries.

With more than $11.4 million (€10 million) in funding, Five Degrees made its most recent Finovate appearance earlier this year at FinovateEurope. At the conference, the company demonstrated an implementation of its Matrix core banking technology with the wealth management platform, Prospery, developed by ABN AMRO.

Since then, Five Degrees purchased core banking IT systems provider, Libra, and teamed up with international business payments specialist, BillPro, to launch a new European cross-border banking service. The company was founded in 2009, and is headquartered in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, the Netherlands.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Azimo, Diebold, Entersekt, Five Degrees, ieDigital, Kantox, LoanScorecard, Onfido, Outsystems, Payment Ninja, RightCapital, Sezzle, TransferWise

On Finovate.com

  • Five Degrees Teams Up with ieDigital to Launch Digital Banking Portfolio.
  • Sezzle’s $100 Million Line of Credit to Fuel Delayed Payment Tool.

Around the web

  • LoanScorecard unveils SimpleCECL, its solution for loan-level analyses for Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL).
  • Onfido wins 7th place in Deloitte’s 11 fastest growing tech companies in the U.K. roster.
  • OutSystems earns recognition in two categories of the 2018 Gartner Peer Insights Customers Choice reviews: Mobile App Development Platforms and Enterprise High-Productivity Application Platform as a Service (HPaPaaS).
  • Payment Ninja introduces new invoice management feature of its platform.
  • Diebold Nixdorf inks Memorandum of Understanding with Europol to boost cybersecurity knowledge sharing.
  • Entersekt announces plans to expand to Nordic region.
  • RightCapital partners with Commonwealth.
  • Onfido, Azimo, TransferWise, and Kantox earn spots on Deloitte U.K.’s Fast 50.

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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MaxMyInterest Brings Intelligent Cash Management to Radius Bank

MaxMyInterest Brings Intelligent Cash Management to Radius Bank
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: MaxMyInterest

Radius Bank has teamed up with MaxMyInterest. The pioneering virtual bank has joined the intelligent cash management platform to offer a new account, Radius Max Savings, that currently earns 2.06% APY and is available exclusively on the MaxMyInterest platform.

“Working closely with Radius Bank, an innovator in online banking, we have streamlined the account opening process to less than one minute,” Gary Zimmerman, founder and CEO of MaxMyInterest said. “As a result of this collaboration, which leverages our patent-pending Max Common Application technology, Max members can now earn higher yield on their cash in just a few clicks, without switching banks.”

MaxMyInterest’s platform enables high net worth depositors to seamlessly and automatically transfer cash balances among multiple accounts in order to secure the highest yields. Max members enjoy aggregate FDIC insurance coverage on their deposits, as well as consolidated tax reporting.

“From quickly opening an account to maximizing their return on deposit balances, the Radius Max Savings accounts on the MaxMyInterest platform is a big step forward in enhancing the banking experience for your clients,” President and CEO of Radius Bank, Mike Butler said. He called the partnership with Max “an industry differentiator.”

A community bank with assets of $1.2 billion, Radius Bank serves individuals, SMEs, unions, government entities and non-profits. The bank offers check deposit, billpay, P2P payments and card management for personal clients, and provides services including advanced treasury management and loan payment solutions for business customers.

MaxMyInterest demonstrated its automated cash management technology at FinovateFall 2014. Over the summer, the company teamed up with Dynasty Financial Partners, which added Max as a cash option for its network of more than 45 wealth management companies. MaxMyInterest added former TD Ameritrade executive Tom Bradley to its advisory board this spring. And near the beginning of the year, CNBC quoted the company’s head of business development and partnerships, Michael Halloran, on cash strategies for investors during times of market volatility.

Operated by Six Trees Capital, MaxMyInterest was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in New York City.

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Revolut Readies for $500 Million Series D

Revolut Readies for $500 Million Series D
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Revolut

Revolut, the multi-functional cross-border card and app, is planning a $500 million Series D investment round, potentially enlisting tech giants like Softbank to its roster of investors, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

According to City AM, the fintech has aggressive plans for expansions, with plans to launch in the U.S. after the investment round. Revolut has seen major regulatory shortcoming preventing it from starting operations there.

Australia and Japan are also on Revolut’s radar.

The round, set to take place early next year, would give the fintech the necessary boost to enter the U.S. market, a particularly difficult geography to crack.

This comes after the firm’s last funding, which had the shocking figure of $250 million.

The unicorn, which has already surpassed the $1.7 billion valuation, has grown fivefold in the past year, despite reporting annual losses.

It is not known whether Revolut’s previous backers, which include Index Ventures, Draper Esprit and DST Global, will sign on to its next round.

Earlier this year, Softbank said it planned to invest around $200 million into fintech, from its $100 billion Vision Fund.

Founded in 2013, London-based Revolut demonstrated its multi-currency card at FinovateEurope 2015. Nikolay Storonsky is founder and CEO.

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