Author: David Penn

Backbase and Mitek Partner to Remove Onboarding Friction

Backbase and Mitek Partner to Remove Onboarding Friction
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Backbase, Mitek

backbase_homepage_october2016

A new partnership between mobile capture innovator Mitek and omnichannel digital banking solution provider Backbase will make Mitek’s document scanning and validation technology available via the Backbase Open Banking Marketplace. “Backbase is on a mission to deliver seamless digital banking experiences across all devices and channels,” company co-founder and CEO Jouk Pleiter said in a statement. “Our omnichannel banking platform easily enables banks to plug in best-of-breed fintech capabilities.”

The collaboration is an extension of the existing partnership between the two Finovate alums. Among the first to take advantage of the enhanced relationship between the two innovators is Malaysian financial service provider AmBank with more than six million customers. Sarah Clark, general manager for Identity Solutions at Mitek, called AmBank “just one example of how financial institutions can benefit from optimizing the digital experience with Mitek’s innovative and industry-leading technologies.”

mitek_homepage_october2016

Founded in 1985 and headquartered in San Diego, California, Mitek demonstrated its Mobile Verify technology at FinovateSpring 2016. Last month, the company unveiled its new mobile, multicheck capture SDK that helps FIs and their developers deploy mobile banking apps for businesses faster. Online currency exchange b-Sharpe announced it would deploy Mitek’s Mobile Verify last month, as well. In May, Mitek partnered with another Finovate alum, Avoka, integrating its Mobile Fill technology with the Avoka Transact platform to speed new customer acquisition, loan origination, and customer onboarding for banks. Mitek won Best of Show for its Mobile Photo Account Opening solution demonstrated at FinovateFall 2013. James DeBello is CEO.

Backbase, which took home Best of Show honors at FinovateFall 2016 last month, was founded in 2003 and is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The company partnered with fellow Finovate alum Entersekt in August, bringing the company’s payment-authentication technology to its Open Banking Marketplace. The company’s digital banking platform was picked by India-based HDFC Bank earlier this month, selected by India’s IDFC Bank in August, and chosen by U.K.’s oldest bank, C. Hoare & Co., in May.

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Alpha Payments Cloud Teams Up with RS2 Software to Support FIs in Thailand

Alpha Payments Cloud Teams Up with RS2 Software to Support FIs in Thailand
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alpha Payments Cloud

alphapaymentscloud_homepage_october2016

Just a month ahead of our return to the Far East for FinovateAsia we learned today that Singapore-based Alpha Payments Cloud is partnering with RS2 Software to bring key financial and non-financial services to banks in Thailand via a single integration. Oliver Rajic, Alpha Payments CEO, said that his company’s AlphaHub technology was especially suited for FIs in Asia because of the region’s great variation when it comes to everything from government regulations to local customs and business preferences. “The combination of our agile and functionally rich propositions enables banks to offer highly bespoke solutions relevant to their domestic markets,” Rajic said.

The combination of AlphaHub from Alpha Payments Cloud and RS2’s BankWORKS processing software will give Thai FIs a “one-stop shop” for services ranging from AML/KYC and fraud prevention to global acquiring and transaction routing. Merchants will be able to use the technology to accept a wide range of payment types, including alternative payment types, in more than 100 currencies.
alphapaymentscloud_stage_fe2016b

Alpha Payments Cloud CEO Oliver Rajic demonstrated AlphaHub at FinovateEurope 2016.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Singapore, Alpha Payments Cloud demonstrated its AlphaHub technology at FinovateEurope 2016, following up on its Best of Show winning demo at FinovateSpring 2015. The company’s AlphaHub technology is a payment-as-a-service platform that gives banks and merchants the ability to accept any payment, any solution provider, anywhere in the world. The platform has more than 250 third-party solutions—more than 60 in the area of fraud, risk, and commerce alone—and is readily integrated via the AlphaHub API. Rajic underscored that point in this week’s announcement, saying the company believes in “eliminating integration friction and standardizing data to simplify access via our enterprise app platform.”

This summer Alpha Payments Cloud reported that it will be one of two early-stage payments companies to participate in Wells Fargo’s accelerator program this year. And in the spring, the company partnered with Chinese payment-services provider, WeCollect, to launch the China Payments Cloud. Alpha Payments Cloud began the year winning the Next Generation Payments category at the KPMG Fintech Innovation Challenge, and partnering with Sentenial to power SEPA Direct Debit acceptance for European businesses. It has raised $12 million in total funding and is one of the presenters at our upcoming FinovateAsia 2016 event in Hong Kong, 8 Nov 2016. Visit our registration page for more information.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alpha Payments Cloud, Backbase, Intuit, Mitek, Temenos, Thomson Reuters

On Finovate.com

  • Alpha Payments Cloud Teams Up with RS2 Software to Support FIs in Thailand. See Alpha Payments Cloud at FinovateAsia in Hong Kong on November 8.
  • Backbase and Mitek Partner to Remove Onboarding Friction

Around the web

  • Suez Canal Bank in Egypt upgrades its core banking technology from Temenos.
  • Intuit QuickBooks buys Bankstream.
  • Thomson Reuters partners with AIM Software to provide buy-side firms with better access to pricing and reference data.

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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Kreditech Taps mBank Veteran Michal Panowicz To Lead on Products, Technology

Kreditech Taps mBank Veteran Michal Panowicz To Lead on Products, Technology
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Kreditech

kreditech_homepage_october2016

Kreditech announced a major new hire this week. Former mBank executive Michal Panowicz will join the Munich-based company as its new CPIO (chief product and information officer). Panowicz will be responsible for Kreditech’s product and technology departments; he formerly worked for fellow Finovate alum mBank as senior director and managing director from the fall of 2011 to the spring of 2015.

Kreditech CEO and founder Alexander Graubner-Muller says he is “personally proud” to add Panowicz to the team. “Product and technology are the key value-drivers of our company and with Michal, we bring on board the experience and leadership required to realize our ambitious product vision.”

Panowicz has pledged to help Kreditech build “world-class engineering and cutting-edge digital finance products” especially for the underbanked. “In this untapped market, Kreditech has already built an impressive trajectory, with yet a huge potential to tap into,” he said.

mbank_stage_michalpanowiczPanowicz (pictured) is credited for helping lead the digital transformation of the third largest bank in Poland, mBank. A multiple Best of Show winner at Finovate conferences, partnering with companies like Accenture (FF13), Efigence (FE13), and i3D (FE15), mBank had earned wide acclaim for its financial innovation. Most recently, mBank earned three nominations to the EFMA Accenture Innovation Awards for its One-Click Payment Proposals, mAccountant (an automated accounting solution), and Click to Call solutions.

After leaving mBank, Panowicz joined Nordea, where he served as SVP and deputy head of digital banking. His long tenure in finance and technology includes stints at Alior Bank, Microsoft, eBay, and The Boston Consulting Group. Panowicz was educated at SGH Warsaw School of Economics where he earned an MA in Finance and Banking, and at Harvard Business School, where he received an MBA in 2006.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, Kreditech demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2014. The company this summer launched Monedo Now, an online POS financing solution designed to help empower the underbanked. This spring, Kreditech was recognized by the European Fintech Awards, taking top honors in the Financial Inclusion category. Also earning a spot in the 2016 Tech Tour Growth 50, Kreditech in March closed a $103 million Series C round, taking its total funding to $151 million.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AcceptEmail, Ethoca, Kreditech, MasterCard, Overbond, PaySimple, Realty Mogul, Sberbank, TransferTo, TransUnion

On Finovate.com

  • Kreditech Taps mBank Veteran Michal Panowicz to Lead on Products, Technology

Around the web

  • TransferTo partners with Eurogiro to enable mobile money transfers.
  • Sberbank and MasterCard launch Apple Pay in Russia.
  • AcceptEmail announces integration with Salesforce.
  • TransUnion unveils its Fraud Prevention Exchange.
  • PaySimple launches the first e-commerce platform for service providers.
  • Ethoca teams up with Lean Industries to improve dispute processing for card-issuing banks.
  • RealtyMogul.com announces 8% dividend payout for new REIT, MogulREIT I. Read more in our coverage about MogulREIT I.
  • Overbond wins spot in Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) 2016 Top 20.

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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A Deep Dive into the Upcoming FinDEVr Silicon Valley, 18/19 Oct 2016

A Deep Dive into the Upcoming FinDEVr Silicon Valley, 18/19 Oct 2016
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinDEVr 2016 Silicon Valley

findevr_genericaudienceshot

In this special feature on FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016, we take a closer look at a few of the innovators who will demo onstage, 18/19 Oct 2016, as our developer’s conference returns to the West Coast.

By sharing more about the backgrounds and inspirations that help drive our FinDEVr presenters, we hope our slideshow below provides insights into what our industry’s brightest talents are working on now, as well as a preview of where financial technology may be headed in the years to come.

Click image to view slideshow

findevr_preview_deck

There’s still time to pick up your ticket to this year’s event. Stop by our registration page and save your spot today.

FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016 is sponsored by The Bancorp.

FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016 is partnered with Acuity Market Intelligence, BankersHub, BayPay Forum, BiometricUpdate.com, Bitcoin Magazine, Bitoinist.net, Breaking Banks, Byte Academy, California Bankers Association, Celent, The Cointelegraph, Colloquy, Emerging Payments Association, Empire Startups, FIDO Alliance, Fintech Finance, Global Platform, Hack Reactor, Harrington Starr, Juniper Research, Mercator Advisory Group, Next Money, Payment Week, Payments & Cards Network, SecuritySolutionsWatch.com, SIMAlliance, Swiss Finance + Technology Association, and Women Who Code.

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FinovateAsia Sneak Peek: NetGuardians

FinovateAsia Sneak Peek: NetGuardians
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateAsia 2016, FinovateAsia 2016 Sneak Peek, NetGuardians

 

netguardians_homepage_october2016bA look at the companies demoing live at FinovateAsia on 8 Nov 2016 in Hong Kong. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

NetGuardians enables banks to beat fraud and automate compliance. The company’s software leverages Big Data to correlate and analyze user behaviors across the entire bank system—not just at the transactional level.

Features:

  • Real-time auditing with dynamic profiling, pattern-based intelligence, and predictive analytics
  • Multichannel and multilayer: correlates user actions across the entire banking system
  • Reduces false positives

Why it’s great
Detect banking fraud before it happens and identify fraudsters with 100% reliability across the entire banking system.

Presenters
Raffael Maio, COO, Co-founder

Eric Margaryan, Asia Regional Director

 

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FinovateAsia Sneak Peek: Bambu

FinovateAsia Sneak Peek: Bambu
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Bambu, FinovateAsia 2016, FinovateAsia 2016 Sneak Peek

bambu_homepage_october2016

FA2016-V1A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateAsia on 8 Nov 2016 in Hong Kong. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

Bambu is a B2B robo-adviser based in Singapore that offers digital wealth services to all companies, financial and consumer brands, looking to offer savings and investment to their customers.

 

Features:

  • Robo for all companies; financial and consumer brands
  • Unique ranking system for private banking product
  • Robo saver product which connects through to e-commerce

Why it’s great
Bambu is the only robo-adviser to have built a product for every segment of the market.

Presenters

bambu_nedphillipsNed Phillips, Founder & CEO
Based in Asia for 25 years, Phillips has fintech expertise since 1999. He joined E*TRADE and became the MD for Asia up until 2007. He was also a consultant to 8 Securities as they launched their first robo-adviser.
LinkedIn

 

Pierre Valentin, Head of Product Creation
bambu_pierrevalentinValentin previously worked as an investment adviser in wealth management with ANZ and ABN AMRO Private Bank. In Europe, he was involved in the development of risk-management banking systems at Natixis.
LinkedIn

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FinovateAsia Sneak Peek: Nexmo

FinovateAsia Sneak Peek: Nexmo
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateAsia 2016, FinovateAsia 2016 Sneak Peek, Nexmo

nexmo_homepage_october2016

FA2016-V1A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateAsia on 8 November 2016 in Hong Kong. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

Nexmo, a Vonage Company, is a leader in global cloud communications with a platform providing innovative communication APIs and SDKs for voice, text, messaging, and phone-verification services.

Features
Nexmo’s Verify SDK and API allow fintech companies to mitigate fraud, bypass common security challenges, and protect users by enabling phone verification for password replacement, 2FA, and more.

Why it’s great
Using Nexmo Verify allows you to improve the customer experience and protect your platform or application on a global scale.
nexmo_srisrinivasanPresenter: Sri Srinivasan, Product Leader
Srinivasan is currently a product leader for verify and number insight at Nexmo. Previously, he held product marketing positions at Druva, Motorola, RIM, and Qualcomm. He holds an MBA from Kellogg.
LinkedIn

 

 

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alkami Technology, Bambu, Cloud Lending Solutions, Cognitect, Digital Business Art, Entrust Datacard, FinanceIt, Hyperwallet, Misys, MX, NetGuardians, Nexmo, NuData Security, Revolut, Thomson Reuters, Yandex

On Finovate.com

  • A Deep Dive into the Upcoming FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016

Around the web

  • Idaho Central CU to deploy Alkami ORB platform.
  • Thomson Reuters unveils blockchain dev platform, BlockOne ID.
  • Banking Technology looks at Misys and its plans for a November IPO.
  • Revolut partners with Bank of Lithuania to promote cross-border payments.
  • Hyperwallet introduces its Tax Compliance Services initiative.
  • Cloud Lending Solutions appoints new chief revenue officer and chief financial officer.
  • Yandex.Money to offer mobile money-transfers and support-group chats for crowdfunding via Apple’s iMessage.

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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Finovate Alums Earn Spots in FinTech Forward 20 “Companies to Watch”

Finovate Alums Earn Spots in FinTech Forward 20 “Companies to Watch”
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alkami Technology, BehavioSec, CUneXus Solutions, Currency Cloud, identitii, inSpirAVE, Malauzai Software, Moven, North Side, Personetics

fintechforward_americanbankerbai

Half of the companies in the FinTech Forward 20 “Companies to Watch” list presented by American Banker and BAI this week are Finovate/FinDEVr alums. These 10 companies range from payments innovators and security specialists to alt-lending platforms and mobile banking app builders—the list even includes a pair of alums that have earned multiple Best of Show awards.

“The following 20 companies are the standouts among a pool of companies that nominated themselves and ones familiar to our judges,” American Banker declared in an announcement accompanying a slideshow of the FinTech Forward 20. When evaluating the various companies, judges were encouraged to ask themselves questions such as: “Is this organization solving relevant problems for the banking industry?” and “Does it speak to the challenges the industry faces now.”

Below are the ten Finovate/FinDEVr alums that made the cut. The rest of the FinTechForward 20 is listed below.

  • Currency cloud (FF16)
    • Founded in 2012
    • Headquartered in London, United Kingdom
    • Michael Laven is CEO
    • $35 million raised
  • identitii (FF16)
    • Founded in 2014
    • Headquartered in Sydney, Australia
    • Nick Armstrong is co-founder and CEO
  • BehavioSec (FF15)
    • Founded in 2007
    • Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden
    • Neil Costigan is CEO
    • More than $8 million raised
    • Two-time Finovate Best of Show winner
  • InSpirAVE (FF16)
    • Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and New York City, New York
    • Om Kundu, founder, is CEO and chairman
  • Moven (FF16)
    • Founded in 2011
    • Headquartered in New York City, New York
    • Brett King, founder, is CEO
    • More than $24 million raised
    • Two-time Finovate Best of Show winner

Commenting on its spot on the list, Finovate newcomer InSpirAVE founder and CEO Om Kundu said the recognition was a “testament that our patent-pending technology enables financial institutions partnering with us to set themselves apart.” Kundu said his company’s solutions help FIs “tangibly boost deposits and payments revenues” as well as improve customer engagement and share-in-wallet in enduring ways.

Co-founder and CEO of CUneXus credited his firm’s one-click consumer-lending technology for catching the Fintech Forward judges’ attention. He said banks and credit unions were growing the size of their loan portfolios and “competing with emerging technologies” by adopting CUneXus’ solutions.

Speaking for Alkami Technology, which demoed at Finovate 2009 as iThryv, founder Stephen Bohanon, chief strategy and sales officer, pointed to his company’s flagship Alkami ORB platform and called it an example of the sort of “user experience brought about by great design and tightly coupled integration” that increasingly will set FIs apart. “ORB gives banks and credit unions a competitive advantage by placing strong emphasis on delivering the ultimate digital banking experience,” Bohanon said.

Also on the Fintech Forward 20 Companies to Watch list were:

  • Autobooks
  • Kasisto
  • ClickSWITCH
  • Built
  • BookingBug
  • Lenndo
  • Supipay
  • Self Lender
  • Private Wealth Systems
  • Yantra Financial Technologies

Fintech Forward is a collaboration between American Banker and BAI that combines research, media, and event hosting into a single professional, educational enterprise. In addition to its Fintech Forward 20 “Companies to Watch” list, Fintech Forward also publishes a Top 100 Companies and Top 25 Enterprise rankings.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Akamai, Dwolla, IBM, Jumio, Payoneer, PaySimple, Thomson Reuters, Top Image Systems

On Finovate.com

  • Check out this week’s FinDEVr APIntelligence.
  • Payoneer Closes $180 Million Series E Round
  • Finovate Alums Earn Spots in FinTech Forward 20 “Companies to Watch”

Around the web

  • IBM announces $200 million investment in its Watson IoT business in Munich. See IBM at FinDEVr Silicon Valley, October 18 & 19.
  • Novum Bank chooses Netverify from Jumio to speed client onboarding. Be sure to check out our recent interview with Jumio CEO Stephen Stuut.
  • Thomson Reuters launches ONESOURCE InDirect Tax Development Partner Program.
  • Top Image Systems wins $450,000 deal with U.S. government to deploy eFLOW.
  • BankNXT interviews Dwolla’s Jordan Lampe about real-time ACH.
  • PaySimple introduces an online store built specifically for service providers.

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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