Nubank Reaches Out to Brazil’s Underbanked with Addition of Digital Accounts

Nubank Reaches Out to Brazil’s Underbanked with Addition of Digital Accounts

Brazilian fintech Nubank announced this week that the company will begin offering digital accounts in addition to its credit card business. The move will provide access to billpay, account-to-account transfers, and the ability to earn more in interest than is available with a regular savings account. “Our real revolution begins today,” Nubank founder and CEO David Velez said. “Now we are offering services to 100 percent of Brazilians.”

ZDNet reports that the new solution, NuConta is currently in beta and is expected to be rolled out to Nubank’s current 2.5 million credit card customers once beta testing is complete. The company hopes to make the accounts available to everyone “from the first quarter of 2018.”

Left to right: Nubank Co-Founder and CTO Edward Wible and Lead Software Engineer Lucas Cavalcanti presenting “Our Money, Our Rulebook” at FinDEVr New York 2016.

The decision helps Nubank bring banking services to the large population of underbanked consumers in Brazil – as many as 60 million without bank accounts. It also could enable the company to narrow the gap between the number of individuals who have applied for Nubank credit cards since the company launched and the 2.5 million who have actually signed on. The NuConta accounts will require neither maintenance fees nor credit checks, and deposits will be tied to interest-bearing government securities. Debit cards and the ability to withdraw cash will not be offered initially, but could be added based on customer demand, Nubank’s Velez said. NuConta accounts will also be mobile-centric, the company said, taking advantage of Brazil’s high rate of mobile internet and smartphone use.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Nubank presented Our Money, Our Rulebook at FinDEVr New York 2016. At the conference, Nubank Co-Founder and CTO Edward Wible and Lead Software Engineer Lucas Cavalcanti showed how building an in-house double accounting system enabled them to gain real-time, customer-level accounting visibility and insight. In August, Nubank raised $139 million in debt financing (R$455 million) from Fortress Investment Group and Goldman Sachs. The company’s last equity round of funding was last December, when Moscow-based venture capital firm DST Global led Nubank’s $80 million Series D.

Bento for Business Introduces New Solutions, Partners, and APIs

Bento for Business Introduces New Solutions, Partners, and APIs

US-based expense management solution provider Bento for Business has onboarded new partners and expanded its product line, reports Tanya Andreasyan of Banking Technology (Finovate’s sister publication).

Bento now offers debit and virtual cards for companies and their employees. Its banking solutions are now supported by The Bancorp Bank and CFSB as well as processors Marketa and 12C, the company said, “making it the most robust solution of its kind”.

It has also forged co-branded partnerships with The Brink’s Company and Fleetcor to offer its solution to their small business customers.

Furthermore, Bento has opened its APIs “to simplify how companies work with their clients and customers”.

“We are building a modern banking platform for small businesses that brings everything under one umbrella,” said Farhan Ahmad, CEO of Bento (pictured). “Our approach is unique in this industry because we see value in the platform, rather than a single stand-alone product. By offering multiple products on the same platform and allowing our customers to use our APIs to develop better, more useful, and customisable experiences, we can fully address all of their pain points.

“Soon any business owner will be able to curate and access the financial products, services, and integrations they need through Bento.”

According to Bento, applicants for its services get approved online in real-time.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco, Bento for Business demonstrated its platform at FinovateSpring 2015. Last month, the company appointed Jeff Pomeroy as Vice President of Product, and earlier this year, Bento added Lou Friedmann as Chief Revenue Officer. The company has raised more than $9 million in funding, and includes Comcast Ventures and Anthemis Group among its investors.

Two-Time Best of Show Winner Finn.ai Raises $3 Million in New Funding

Two-Time Best of Show Winner Finn.ai Raises $3 Million in New Funding

In a round led by Yaletown Partners, Flying Fish Partners, and former CEO and Chairman of Absolute Software John Livingston, virtual banking assistant developer Finn.ai has raised $3 million in funding. The company will use the funding to add to its team – especially data scientists, engineers, and banking industry experts – as well as to support Finn.ai’s expansion in the U.S., and around the world.

“Finn.ai is built from the ground up specifically to help banks and credit unions transform the way they engage with customers,” Co-Founder and CEO Jake Tyler said. “(This) makes banking simpler, more accessible, more human, and ultimately (helps) to build trust and engagement between banks and their customers.

The funding for Finn.ai, which also featured the participation of an “experienced angel syndicate … of senior technology and banking executives,” coincides with news of the company’s partnership with ATB Financial. In this deal, announced earlier this week, Finn.ai’s technology will enable ATB Financial to provide the first, fully-featured, AI-powered virtual banking assistant on Facebook Messenger to its 700,000 customers.

In addition to the funding, Finn.ai announced that banking veteran Carrie Russell will join the company as Strategic Executive Adviser. Russell was formerly Chief Marketing Officer at D+H (now Finastra) and served as SVP for Retail Banking Products at TD Bank. Citing a need for banks to “move beyond transactional banking to build deeper, more personal relationships with customers,” Russell said, “I believe Finn.ai is the right partner to do this, acting as a proactive virtual assistant to help customers understand, plan, and take action to improve their financial lives.”

Finn.ai won Best of Show in its FinovateAsia debut last year in Hong Kong, and took home top honors again when the company demoed its virtual banking assistant last month at FinovateFall. Finn.ai has earned recognition from both Capegemini’s global InnovatorsRace and the VivaTech conference in Paris. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Swych Unveils Themed, Multi-Currency Digital Gifting Options

Swych Unveils Themed, Multi-Currency Digital Gifting Options

FinovateFall Best of Show winner Swych has introduced a new set of themed, e-gifting options. The new switchable Occasion, Category, and Event-themed e-gift cards are automatically redeemable in either U.S. dollars or Indian Rupees (depending on location) at retailers matching the category theme. A U.S. shopper who receives a Fashion e-gift card could “swych” it in order to make purchases at a retailer or speciality clothing boutique in the States, while the same card received by a shopper in India could be redeemed at a popular Indian retailer such as Shopper’s Stop.

“We are re-envisioning gifting between consumers by thinking about it in a social and fun way,” Swych founder and CEO Deepak Jain said. “Swych’s value proposition is to make every gift a perfect one; and now we are taking it further by making the gifting transaction between consumers located in two different parts of the planet as seamless and easy as sharing a video or having a chat conversation.” He added, “our launch of a multi-currency, global category gifting portfolio is a step in this direction.”

Examples of the category-themed e-gift cards include Birthday, Anniversary, Graduation, Wedding, New Baby, and Thank You products. The company is also planning to add special events and holiday-themed universal e-gift cards for Diwali, Christmas, and other occasions.

Swych’s e-gift cards are unique insofar as there are no other multi-currency, multi-retailer gift products available on the market that do not also incur interchange or foreign exchange fees when used. In the same way that e-gift cards have made gifting easier within countries and regions, Swych’s new offering makes it easy for consumers to send gifts to friends and family abroad, as well as for businesses and institutions looking to provide rewards and incentives to employees working in more than one country. Swych’s e-gifting solutions have no transaction fees, can be used at the recipient’s preferred merchant, and integrate readily within remittance, mobile banking, messaging, conversational commerce, and loyalty programs.

Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Swych demonstrated its Mobile Gifting Platform at FinovateFall 2016, winning Best of Show. The company has more than 130 U.S. retailers in its network and is partnering with 100 retailers from India, the Philippines, and other countries. Last month, the company announced a “major strategic investment” from UAE Exchange Group through which the two will jointly develop digital gifting services for consumers in emerging markets. In February, Swych released the beta version of its P2P gifting bot. The Swych mobile app is available to U.S. consumers on both iOS and Android.

Credit Sesame Raises More than $42 Million, Unveils Robo Advisor for Credit

Credit Sesame Raises More than $42 Million, Unveils Robo Advisor for Credit

Credit service and financial wellness company Credit Sesame has raised more than $42 million in funding. Featuring new and existing investors such as Menlo Ventures, Inventus Capital, Globespan Capital, IA Capital, and SF Capital, the combined equity ($26.6 million) and venture debt ($15.5 million) financing will take Credit Sesame’s total capital to more than $77 million. The funding will help speed Credit Sesame’s growth, enable the company to hire more than 100 new employees over the next 12 months, and “advance its analytics, robo advisor and machine learning technologies.”

That’s right. Robo advisor. In addition to the company’s funding announcement, Credit Sesame founder and CEO Adrian Nazari introduced new robo advisory technology that enables consumers to automate the management of their credit and loans. Credit Sesame sees this as “addressing the liability side of the balance sheet” rather than the asset side typically watched over by most robo advisors.

Credit Sesame CEO and founder Adrian Nazari demonstrating the company’s credit-based PFM solution at FinovateSpring 2015.

“While many companies have spent the last few years catching up to our free credit score offering for consumers, Credit Sesame has been developing and proving robo advisor technology.” Nazari said. He added, “this technology translates consumer financial and credit information into simple and actionable steps that consumers can easily understand and utilize to improve their financial profile and leverage their credit.”

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, Credit Sesame demonstrated its credit-based PFM for a co-branded environment at FinovateSpring 2015. With more than 12 million members, Credit Sesame’s mobile and online solutions give consumers free access to their credit profile, including their credit score, credit report grades and monitoring, as well as interactive tools and tips for securing better borrowing options such as low or no-balance credit card offers and debt consolidation loans.

Credit Sesame has achieved 100% annual growth for the past three years, reaching profitability earlier this year. This spring, the company launched a new service to pre-qualify members for credit cards. In February, Nazari was named to the Entrepreneur’s List of Most Inspirational Leaders in 2017, one month after earning similar recognition from Inc.com.

AutoGravity Partners with Global Lending Services

AutoGravity Partners with Global Lending Services

Citing the strong “alignment between car shopper and car dealer motivation,” Global Lending Services has forged a partnership with auto financing innovator and Best of Show winner, AutoGravity. The partnership will enable the auto finance company, based out of South Carolina, to make financing offers through AutoGravity’s platform.

Bill Nemecek, Global Lending Services SVP of Marketing and Sales, said the partnership with AutoGravity would help the firm reach prospective car buyers who increasingly “look to technology to provide easier and convenient car purchasing options.” He added that the solution would also help car dealers, who want to both streamline the auto buying process as well as get cars into the hands of customers faster. “Our partnership with AutoGravity positions us to reach these shoppers, help them with financing, and guide them to dealerships who can deliver on this value proposition through state-of-the-art technology,” Nemecek said.

AutoGravity CTO Martin Prescher during his FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016 presentation “A Digital Marketplace for the Auto Financing Space.”

AutoGravity leverages smartphone technology to make buying and financing a car faster, easier and more transparent. The company partners with leading banks and financial services companies to give auto shoppers control over their financing options and access to a nationwide network of trusted car dealerships. “Every month, over 100,000 new users download the AutoGravity app so they can buy and finance their next car with smartphone simplicity,” AutoGravity CEO and founder Andy Hinrichs said. “Our partnership with Global Lending Services helps ensure that car buyers across the nation have access to multiple finance offers in minutes, anytime and anywhere they want.”

Headquartered in Irvine, California and founded in 2015, AutoGravity demonstrated its platform at FinovateFall 2016, winning Best of Show. The company has enjoyed a busy and productive 2017, beginning the year with a “multi-million Euro” investment from Daimler Financial Services, and picking up further investment capital from VW Credit in July. AutoGravity teamed up with Fletcher Jones Auto Group in June and  forged a partnership with Hyundai Capital America in September, the same month the company announced surpassing $1 billion in financing requested via its platform. A member of CBInsights Fintech 250, AutoGravity presented A Digital Marketplace for the Auto Financing Space at our developer’s conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • AutoGravity Partners with Global Lending Services.
  • SelfScore Rebrands as Deserve, Closes on $12 Million in Funding.
  • Credit Sesame Raises More than $42 Million, Unveils Robo Advisor for Credit.

Around the web

  • Avoka extends strategic partnership with Mitek for digital identity verification solutions.
  • Commercial loan origination, CRM are among the new features in Baker Hill NextGen solution.
  • OnDeck partners with Ingo Money and Visa to provide loans to SMEs via debit card.
  • Westpac NZ to transition to real-time banking platform from ACI Worldwide.
  • Regions Bank to add P2P payment and account-to-account transfer solutions from Fiserv.
  • iSignthis announces new agreement with Omnislots.com operator, Dialinvest.
  • Payment Ninja to launch in the U.S. in November.
  • ThreatMetrix and ID.me partner to deliver ID verification for government and commercial digital services
  • Russian bank Lipetskcombank implements new mobile banking app built on Tranzware Mobile Banking from Compass Plus.
  • Accenture and nCino expand alliance to accelerate digital transformation within top U.S. banks
  • Symbiont joins Wall Street Blockchain Alliance as corporate member.
  • Envestnet | Yodlee to integrate risk insight solutions with Fannie Mae’s Ddsktop underwriter validation Service.

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.

BLUERUSH Raises $1.3 Million in New Funding

BLUERUSH Raises $1.3 Million in New Funding

BLUERUSH closed a non-brokered private placement this week, raising $1.3 million in capital. Participating in the funding were Round 13 Capital Founders Fund, which was responsible for $750,000 of the financing, and newly appointed director Steve Taylor, who subscribed for $250,000.

“This financing will allow us to ramp up our sales and R&D efforts as we continue on our path toward a recurring revenue model,” BLUERUSH President and CEO Larry Lubin said. “The investors in the private placement are highly strategic and bring decades of experience in high growth technology companies. They will be a valuable asset to us going forward.”

BLUERUSH President and CEO Larry Lubin demonstrating INDIVIDEO at FinovateFall 2017.

In a blog post at the BLUERUSH website, the company noted that the funding will also boost its digital platform strategy, providing momentum for the company’s sales enablement platform DIGITALREACH and its personalized video/rich media content platform, INDIVIDEO. Rielle Ullberg, Digital Marketing and Sales Coordinator for BLUERUSH wrote, “the demand for personalized digital experiences continues to increase; specifically within the realm of financial services.” Ullberg noted that the company’s client list includes “some of the biggest and most progressive banks, brokers, and insurance companies in North America.”

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, BLUERUSH demonstrated its “advice engine” INDIVIDEO at FinovateFall 2017. The company, which also has offices in Montreal, Quebec and in Herndon, Virginia, leverages AI and big data visualization to create more engaging customer experiences for clients in financial services, healthcare, and media. From strategy development and lead generation to video marketing and interactive tools and training, BLUERUSH helps brands develop customized strategies to grow their businesses.

In financial services, BLUERUSH’s technology simplifies information and enables professionals to communicate it in a more compelling way. This makes it easier for consumers to make better decisions and helps advisors build trust with their clients. “It’s not just business,” Lubin said from the Finovate stage in September, emphasizing the importance of “advice” in the self-serve oriented, fintech experience. “It’s personal. And financial matters are really personal.”

BLUERUSH trades on the TSVX under the ticker symbol “BTV,” and has a market capitalization of $5 million (6 million CAD).

Finn.ai Powers Facebook Messenger’s First, Fully-Featured, AI-Powered Virtual Banking Assistant

Finn.ai Powers Facebook Messenger’s First, Fully-Featured, AI-Powered Virtual Banking Assistant

Courtesy of a new partnership with Finovate multiple Best of Show winner Finn.ai, the 700,000 banking customers of ATB Financial now have access to virtual banking assistance via their Facebook Messenger app. “AI is completely reinventing the consumer banking experience,” Finn.ai CEO Jake Tyler said. “With the Finn.ai platform, you get more than immediate, secure banking access, you get smart, personalized financial insights to help you achieve your specific financial goals.”

Calling the partnership “one more way we’re delivering on our commitment to really make banking work for people,” ATB Chief Transformation Officer Wellington Holbrook expressed excitement at the idea of bringing “conversational commerce” to its retail banking customers. “The more you interact with the assistant the smarter it gets,” Holbrook said. “This empowers us to continually improve service and delivery to our customers with a level of security consistent across our digital offerings.”

Finn.ai CEO Jake Tyler demonstrating the Finn Virtual Banking Assistant at FinovateFall 2017.

The largest “home-grown” financial institution in Alberta, Canada, ATB Financial has been testing AI and chatbot technology with early adopters since February with the goal of leveraging the popular Facebook Messenger app to provide banking services. The firm credited Finn.ai for being able to help an “agile, mid-sized FI” like ATB Financial quickly move the project from proof-of-concept status to “rapid full-market deployment.” Holbrook noted that ATB, with more than $48 million in assets and more than 5,000 team members, hopes to expand use of the technology to other platforms, including smart devices like televisions.

More than just a Q&A chatbot, ATB’s Finn.ai-powered virtual assistant enables secure billpay, viewing of account balances, money transfer between accounts – including cross-currency money movement. The virtual assistant also provides spending insights, access to live customer support, and Mastercard statement alerts.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Finn.ai demonstrated its Virtual Banking Assistant at FinovateFall 2017, winning Best of Show. Earlier this year, Finn.ai earned a spot in Payment Canada’s pitch competition, Dragon’s Den. The company has also been recognized this summer by Capegemini’s global InnovatorsRace and at the VivaTech conference in Paris. We featured Finn.ai in our look at artificial intelligence and fintech, A Fintech Filter for Artificial Intelligence in 2017 back in January.

Ledger Partners with Intel to Boost Blockchain App Security

Ledger Partners with Intel to Boost Blockchain App Security

Ledger, the Paris, France-based specialist in providing security for cryptocurrency and blockchain applications, has partnered with Intel to bring greater protection for users of digital wallets. Ledger will integrate its Blockchain Open Ledger Operating System (BOLOS) into Intel Software Guard Extensions (Intel SGX), with the joint solution initially being deployed with cryptocurrency software wallets Electrum and MyEtherWallet.

“We have seen an increasing demand from the market for secure solutions to manage crypto assets over the past couple of years,” Ledger CEO Eric Larchevêque said. He added that the collaboration with Intel “is a unique opportunity to keep providing our growing client base with innovative solutions for cryptocurrency and blockchain applications.”

Eric Larchevêque, Ledger CEO, demonstrating Ledger Blue at FinovateEurope 2016.

The solution is designed to help cryptocurrency owners safeguard their digital assets by protecting their private keys from unauthorized use. The collaboration between Ledger and Intel means that sensitive information will be stored within an Intel SGX enclave instead of on the application. In addition to stopping many software-based attacks, the solution provides users with a compromise between software wallets and hardware wallets. Back in May, Ledger announced a soft launch of its Ledger SGX Enclave, which provided hardware security features on Intel Skylake Core CPUs and in many ways previewed this week’s news.

Ledger designs and builds trusted hardware wallets and security devices for decentralized applications such as Bitcoin and the blockchain. Explaining the importance of cryptocurrency security during his FinovateEurope demo last year, Larchevêque put it bluntly “if your bitcoin are stolen, they are stolen. There is no bank. There is no insurance. Pretty much, it is game over.” He explained, “when you own bitcoin what you really own are private keys, a critical piece of information that you use to sign bitcoin transactions. So anyone with access to your private keys can at any time empty your account.” Comparing storing private keys on your computer or smartphone to displaying gold bars on your chimney, Larchevêque said that the hardware wallets his company has built – such as Ledger Nano and Ledger Blue – are specifically designed to solve this problem.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Paris, France, Ledger demonstrated its Ledger Blue solution at FinovateEurope 2016. Earlier this month, the company announced a partnership with Gemalto to provide security infrastructure for crypto asset applications. In August, Ledger announced support for Segwit (Segregated Witness) optimizations to scale Bitcoin. With clients in 165 countries, and more than 60 employees, and 300,000 Ledger wallets sold, the company has raised more than $10 million in funding and includes MAIF Avenir and XAnge among its investors.

Stash Reveals Plans to Launch Mobile-First Banking Service

Stash Reveals Plans to Launch Mobile-First Banking Service

 

Mobile-first investment platform Stash is about to go mobile-first in the field of online banking. The New York City-based startup, which demonstrated its Stash Retire solution at its Finovate debut last month at FinovateFall, announced today that it plans to offer a variety of banking services for mobile-centric customers.

“When we launched the Stash platform, we redefined the financial services experience by providing affordable access and education to millions of Americans,” Stash CEO and Co-Founder Brandon Krieg explained in a statement. “Our new banking services will take that promise a step further. We are pioneering ways to relieve stress and improve our clients’ financial security for years to come.”

Stash CEO and co-founder Brandon Krieg demonstrating Stash Retire at FinovateFall 2017.

The services, bundled as Stash Banking and slated to be available in early 2018, include common banking solutions such as billpay, direct deposit, and debit cards. The platform has a goals-based savings feature, with auto and smart-save functionality as well as access to Stash’s proprietary long-term financial security strategy, The Stash Plan. Accounts with Stash Banking are free, FDIC-insured, with no fees, no minimum balance requirement and are accessible via the largest ATM network in the U.S.

Talking about the decision to launch the new service, Ed Robinson, President and co-founder of Stash, emphasized both the potential cost savings and the opportunity to provide better support and guidance to financial services customers. “When we talked to our clients and analyzed their expenses, we were shocked by how much they were paying in fees,” Robinson said. “We dug deeper and discovered traditional banks offered very little guidance or tools to help Americans manage their money,” he added. “We’re building our banking services to solve that and bring new tools, coaching and complete transparency to the process.”

Founded in 2015, Stash demonstrated its Stash Retire solution at FinovateFall 2017. Stash Retire gives investors the opportunity to participate in low-fee, self-directed IRA accounts while still taking advantage of Stash Invest’s core features such as auto-invest and the ability to invest in increments as small as $5. With more than 2.5 million subscribers and more than 1 million clients, Stash has raised more than $78 million in funding, including a $40 million Series C completed this summer. The company includes Breyer Capital, Coatue Management, Goodwater Capital, and Valar Ventures among its investors.

Efigence Partners with Alior Bank, Telekom Romania to Help Launch Telekom Banking

Efigence Partners with Alior Bank, Telekom Romania to Help Launch Telekom Banking

Alior Bank’s Romanian branch has teamed up with Deutsche Telekom Group’s Telekom Romania Mobile Communications to develop a new digital financial service. And providing the online exchange for this service is none other than Alior Bank’s long-time partner, Efigence. “We have been working together on the Polish market in the field of technology for almost 10 years with very good results,” Marek Lesiak, Efigence President and CTO said. “We are delighted that Alior Bank appreciates our cooperation and decided to work with us on the international market as well.”

The online exchange platform from Efigence will be paired with the Telekom Banking daily online banking service, providing a new solution for customers in the Romanian market. In addition to providing the platform, Efigence designed the interface, and managed technology implementation and integration.

Left to right: Hubert Czerski (Head of Product Management), Paweł Haltof (Innovation Director), and Łukasz Wełniak (Head of Front-End) demonstrating the Efi4 Digital Banking Platform at FinovateEurope 2017.

“Through the online exchange platform, Telekom Banking’s customers benefit from real-time exchange rates for 10 foreign currencies,” said Head of eFX Commerce for Alior Bank, Tomasz Dośpiał. He added that customers using the exchange benefit from being able to initiate trades with only 5% of the total amount, and then provide the balance within two working days in order to complete the transaction.

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Warsaw Poland, Efigence demonstrated its Efi4 Digital Banking Platform at FinovateEurope 2017. The platform supports online and mobile internet banking, features a payment and transactions automation module, as well as currency trading tools, PFM, and social and financial data aggregation tools for credit scoring. Modules include financial forecasting, through which customers receive contextual, relevant recommendations such as setting up a savings goal, or offers like an increase in credit limit or a personal loan based on their income and spending patterns.

In August, the company was hired by Emirates NBD to help the Middle Eastern banking group build a new interface and UX for its banking platform. In addition to its long-time partnership with Alior Bank, Efigence has also partnered with mBank (FinovateEurope 2013) and Idea Bank (FinovateEurope 2014), demonstrating banking platform innovations such as social media integration and transaction systems for SMEs.