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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Open banking company Tink has launched its new rules-based risk engine, Risk Signals.
Risk Signals leverages account, transaction, and payment data to help prevent fraud and lower settlement risk.
Tink won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2014.
Open banking company Tinklaunched its new rules-based risk engine, Risk Signals this week. Risk Signals leverages account, transaction, and payment data to help prevent fraud and lower settlement risk.
“Risk Signals is an ideal fit for businesses looking to offer a secure and fast payment method especially in markets without real-time settlement – like Germany,” TInk SVP of Payments and Platforms Tom Pope explained. “With Tink’s Risk Signals, you no longer need to compromise between a fast checkout and reducing risk.”
Risk Signal features a suite of risk checks that are customizable to both financial institution and market. These risk checks include verifications of live balances to ensure a user’s ability to pay, transaction history review (including a review of previous non-settled payments), and velocity checks to identify suspicious transaction activity. Tink reports that firms such as payment service provider (PSP) Adyen are already using the solution. Additionally, the company said businesses have been able to fully implement Risk Signals within a week. In part, this is because Tink configures Risk Signals as a service, requiring no integration from the customer.
“By leveraging the real-time risk analysis during payment processes, Adyen can offer a payment option that not only ensures security and reliability but also aligns perfectly with both merchants’ and shoppers’ expectations,” Adyen Payment Partnerships Lead for Europe Dirk Jan Meijers said.
A two-time Finovate Best of Show winning company, Tink first won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2014. The Stockholm, Sweden-based company returned to the FinovateEurope stage three years later to take home its second Best of Show award.
In the years since, Tink has grown into an open banking leader. The company has 6,000+ connections to major banks in Europe, and 10,000 developers using its platform. Founded in 2012, Tink processes more than 10 billion transactions a year, and is active in 18 markets. The company was acquired by Visa in 2022 in a deal valued at $2.1. billion (€1.8 billion). Daniel Kjellén is CEO.
Interested in demoing at FinovateEurope in London next month? We are happy to read applications from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateEurope hub today to learn more.
Open finance company MX introduced Customer Analytics for financial services providers this week.
Customer Analytics leverages enhanced transaction data and actionable consumer insights to help financial services companies increase deposits and customer engagement.
Lehi, Utah-based MX is a multiple-time Finovate Best of Show winner.
Open finance innovator MX introduced Customer Analytics for financial services providers this week. The new offering uses enhanced transaction data and actionable consumer insights to enable financial services providers to grow deposits and boost engagement. Customer Analytics helps these firms spot opportunities for cross-selling and secure greater ROI on their marketing efforts. The technology also helps financial services companies better anticipate and mitigate customer churn.
“Financial services providers have a tough assignment when it comes to piecing together disparate data to truly understand their customers and meet their needs,” MX Chief Product Officer Nandita Gupta said. “MX’s Customer Analytics takes out the guesswork by providing actionable financial data intelligence in a single source.”
Customer Analytics provides a set of intelligent models, dashboards, and tools to analyze both consumer-permissioned and enhanced transaction data. These tools can be readily embedded into marketing platforms and CRMs to help organizations get a more holistic view of their customers’ finances. This helps financial services providers improve customer segmentation and conduct more effective marketing initiatives.
Since its Finovate debut in 2012 (as Money Desktop), MX has won Finovate’s Best of Show award eight times. The Lehi, Utah-based fintech helps financial services providers and other organizations connect and verify account and transaction data. This enables them to uncover insights that can lead to new revenue streams, as well as better, more personalized money experiences for consumers. Founded in 2010, MX most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall in 2021. Jim Magats is CEO. Ryan Caldwell is Founder and Executive Chair.
Automated identity verification specialist Onfido announced the launch of its Compliance Suite.
The Compliance Suite features qualified electronic signatures, one-time passwords, and no-code compliance workflows.
Onfido made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2018.
Automated identity verification specialist Onfido unveiled its Compliance Suite this week. The new offering helps companies meet the regulatory requirements for customer onboarding as they expand into new markets.
Compliance Suite brings qualified electronic signature (QES) and One-time Password (OTP) functionality, as well as no-code compliance workflows, to Onfido’s Real Identity Platform. QES offers a digital signature solution that relies on signals unique to the signer. The technology is also backed by a qualified digital certificate that provides a reliable way to confirm the identity of the individual associated with the signature.
Along with the company’s AI for fraud prevention and global document coverage, the result is a fully customizable identity verification solution that enables businesses to manage both local and global compliance needs under a single provider and control center. Compliance Suite has successfully passed its conformity assessment board checks and will be deployed by Onfido customers across Europe.
“Onfido’s Compliance Suite eases the regional compliance headache and delivers a one-stop-shop compliance offering that allows leaders to focus on their expansion, register customers faster, and remain agile to future regulatory demands,” Onfido Chief Product Officer Yuelin Li said. “With Compliance Suite, we now have the most comprehensive verification offering in the market, making Onfido the go-to scaling partner for globally trusted institutions.”
Onfido made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2018 and returned to the Finovate stage later that year for FinovateFall. The announcement of Compliance Suite follows news last month that Onfido had teamed up with digital investment platform InbestMe. The partnership made InbestMe the first roboadvisor in Spain to integrate identity verification technology as part of its onboarding process.
Headquartered in London, Onfido has raised more than $182 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. Crane Venture Partners and TPG Growth are among the firm’s most recent investors. Mike Tuchen is CEO.
Interested in demoing at FinovateEurope in London next month? Applications are still being accepted from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateEurope hub today to learn more.
Digital conversations platform Eltropy has unveiled its Lobby Management solution.
The offering will help community financial institutions (CFIs) create better branch lobby experiences for customers and members.
Eltropy made its Finovate debut in 2017. The company most recently demoed at FinovateFall in 2022.
Digital conversations platform Eltropylaunched its Lobby Management solution last week. The new capability will enable community financial institutions (CFIs) to offer a better branch lobby experience for their customers.
“The branch remains an essential member and customer touchpoint in community banks and credit unions, yet inefficient queues and resource allocation often undermine the experience for both visitors and employees,” Eltropy co-founder and CEO Ashish Garg said. “With Lobby Management, we can make every visit effortless while unlocking many operational efficiencies and equipping staff to serve members better.”
Lobby Management is a part of Eltropy’s Branch Management solution portfolio within its Unified Digital Conversations Platform. The new offering gives branch managers the ability to manage walk-in customer flow, and to enhance convenience with tools such as virtual queuing. Integrated with Eltropy’s Appointment Management, Lobby Management also enables members and customers to use a check-in kiosk to check-in for scheduled appointments or to book new ones. Lobby Management also provides lobby traffic analytics to help branch managers best allocate staff and service offerings.
“Lobby Management, powered by the Eltropy Unified Platform, allows CFIs to tie their branch operations with digital operations, thereby holistically serving their members and customers in physical and digital channels seamlessly and simultaneously,” Eltropy VP of Products Jack Chawla said. “With our unique approach to resource management in physical and digital channels, we can help CFIs efficiently service the members in the channel of their choice, including the branch lobby.”
Eltropy made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring in 2017. In its most recent appearance on the Finovate stage two years ago, the company demoed its Eltropy One solution. Eltropy One is the company’s all-in-one omni-channel solution that enables FIs to manage both in- and outbound communications from a universal console. With Eltropy One, FIs can leverage text, secure chat, video, audio, cobrowsing, and conversational bots to handle both simple and complex customer communication.
Founded in 2014, Eltropy is headquartered in Milpitas, California. The company began the year surpassing the 600th customer milestone. In a statement, Eltropy noted that it was the fastest CFI-focused fintech to achieve this accomplishment. The new milestone announcement came with news that the company was increasing its investment in Generative AI and product R&D by 36% this year.
Digital banking solutions provider Finshape announced a strategic collaboration with Arab National Bank (anb). The partnership will enable anb to leverage Finshape’s personalization and data analytics platform to enhance its digital banking services. The bank will also be able to take advantage of Finshape’s latest offering, Money Stories. This new solution categorizes spending and provides forecasts to help individuals better track their finances. At the same time, Money Stories empowers banks to make personalized, relevant offers to their customers.
“This collaboration reflects our commitment to speed up innovation and customer-centricity in the Middle Eastern banking scene,” Finshape Chief Growth Officer József Nyíri said. “Together with anb, we aim to transform how customers manage their finances, providing them with tailored solutions that empower them to reach their financial aspirations.”
Finshape demoed Money Stories in its Best of Show-winning debut at FinovateEurope 2022. Inspired by Instagram Stories, Finshape’s Money Stories helps banks boost engagement and enhance the customer experience. The solution highlights key financial events in the user’s life via short, seven to ten second snapshots. The shots are swipeable and easy to view and digest, providing a unique and memorable way for users to track their finances.
“(The) integration of a social media story-like format within our banking app, mark(s) a significant milestone in Saudi Arabia’s financial landscape, setting a precedent for engaging and educational digital interactions,” Arab National Bank COO Aiedh Al-Zahrani said
After winning Best of Show in 2022, Finshape returned to the Finovate stage the following year for FinovateEurope 2023. With 100+ clients in 25 countries, and more than 20 million users, Finshape ended last year with collaborating with Banca Transilvania, helping the bank launch its BT Go app. Designed to support corporate banking, BT Go offers an intuitive overview of business finances, unified card management, and automated invoicing. Within a month after launch, the solution has garnered 1,400 active users.
Finshape was founded in 2021 via the combination of Czech Banking Software Company (BSC) and Hungarian fintech W.UP.
Interested in demoing at FinovateEurope in London next month? Applications are still being accepted from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateEurope hub today to learn more.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Pontera, an Israel-based software platform for financial advisors, raised $60 million in new funding.
Egyptian fintech and customer loyalty app Zeal secured $4 million in funding.
The Central Bank of Oman granted Paymob a Payment Service Provider (PSP) license.
Central and Southern Asia
Kumari Bank, a commercial bank based in Nepal, partnered with Compass Plus Technologies to enhance its payments processing.
“I can’t believe I’ve now got 200 episodes under my belt!” Finovate VP and Podcast host Greg Palmer shared on X after the 200th episode dropped on Wednesday.
In this most recent show, Greg Palmer shares his four, big-picture takeaways from the Podcast’s first 199 episodes. Through years of conversations with fintech entrepreneurs, veteran analysts, and insightful authors, Palmer has developed a unique perspective on the trends driving innovation in fintech and financial services today.
Be sure to join Greg Palmer for the Finovate Podcast’s historic 200th episode as he reflects on fintech’s journey to the present moment, as well as where fintech is headed in the year (and years) to come.
U.K.-based financial planning software company for advisors, Dynamic Planner, launched its new risk profile mapping service this week.
The service brings greater clarity on potential risks when building diversified investment portfolios with single strategy funds.
Dynamic Planner made its Finovate debut in 2022 at FinovateEurope in London.
Dynamic Planner, a financial planning software company for advisors, unveiled its new risk profile mapping service for single strategy funds this week. The new service will help advisors create diversified portfolios with greater accuracy and insight on potential risks. This will ensure that portfolios are suitable to their specific investors and their goals.
“The new service will provide them with a level of granularity not previously possible, greater efficiency and accuracy, and all within one system with a consistent level of risk throughout,” company Chief Proposition Officer Chris Jones said. “However you organize your business and decide to meet the needs of your clients, Dynamic Planner can support you.”
The Single Strategy Mapped Service precisely maps instrument-level holdings data against Dynamic Planner’s risk factors and asset risk model. By sourcing single strategy fund holding data directly from fund providers, Dynamic Planner achieves a higher than usual level of granularity. This enables the service to provide the same accuracy and efficiency in the deployment of single strategy funds that advisors have when using multi-asset solutions.
The new service will also help fund managers better deal with compliance requirements. These include new regulations such as Consumer Duty, as well as the Product Intervention and Product Governance source book (PROD) rules that came into effect in 2018. “From a PROD and Consumer Duty perspective, the Single Strategy Mapped Service also enables the fund manager to more simply and clearly communicate whether a fund is intended to be distributed as a solution or part of a portfolio,” Jones said.
Headquartered in the U.K., and founded in 2003, Dynamic Planner made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2022. At the event, CEO Ben Goss and his team showed how the platform combined intuitive technology with an independent asset risk model to match the right investment strategy with the right investor. Geared toward asset managers that risk profile, target, or manage more than £250 billion in investments, Dynamic Planner leverages 2,400+ covariance correlations to help ensure investment suitability.
Dynamic Planner began 2024 with the launch of its new low code integration platform. The solution enables advisors to integrate Dynamic Planner with other CRM systems they currently use to better manage client relationships.
Interested in demoing at FinovateEurope in London next month? Applications are still being accepted from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateEurope hub today to learn more.
Supply Wisdom unveiled its self-service, SaaS-based model that gives organizations the ability to conduct real-time risk monitoring.
The new capabilities come in the wake of the firm inking partnerships with three Fortune 100 companies.
Supply Wisdom made its Finovate debut in 2022 at FinovateFall in New York.
Today, Supply Wisdomlaunched a self-service, SaaS-based model that delivers real-time risk monitoring capability to organizations. The company noted that its new offering will help organizations operationalize location-specific risk in their decision making.
Tom Thimot, Supply Wisdom CEO, explained the challenges organizations face in terms of both new regulations and growing geopolitical risk. “Firms are starting to recognize that geographic concentration is a common risk indicator raised by DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) and many other recently introduced regulations, yet they lack adequate risk intelligence and the tooling needed to operationalize risk management,” Thimot said. To this end, the new model will help organizations deal with the growing incidence of geopolitcal disruptions to business activity.
The launch news comes in the wake of Supply Wisdom adding three new customers – all members of the Fortune 100 – to its roster. Although unnamed in the company’s statement, the new clients include one of the four largest banks in the U.S., one of the top three shipping companies in the world, and a leading U.S. financial services and insurance company. These firms have used Supply Wisdom’s platform to monitor 150+ metrics across eight location risk subdomains – including ratings and event alerts – in weeks.
“The days of hiring and training scores of staff to compile and aggregate data reporting manually are over,” Thimot said this week. “As a result, we are seeing more Fortune 100 companies across industries turn to Supply Wisdom for real-time risk intelligence. Through immediate insights, businesses can respond more quickly to minimize or avoid the potential impact of global threats.”
With more than 30 years of experience in scaling SaaS-based technology companies, Thimot joined Supply Wisdom as CEO in December. Previously, he was CEO of enterprise identity authentication firm authID. Thimot also served as CEO of Finovate alum Socure. During his tenure, Socure earned a valuation of $1.3 billion. The company also became known as a leader in day zero identity verification.
Supply Wisdom made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2022. At the conference, the company showed how it leverages real-time risk intelligence and alerting help organizations modernize their risk management beyond point-in-time practices. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in New York, Supply Wisdom has raised $11.5 million funding, according to Crunchbase. The firm counts Fulcrum Equity Partners and Florida Funders among its investors.
With apologies to Dr. Dre … the spot Bitcoin ETFs are here and everybody’s celebratin’!
This week on Tales from the Crypto we’re taking a look at the launch and reception of the long-awaited spot bitcoin ETFs. We’ll also learn a little more about stablecoin issuer Circle’s IPO plans, and the latest – and maybe last – from JPM Morgan Chase CEO and perennial crypto critic Jamie Dimon on what he hates – and likes – about crypto.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs Have Arrived!
Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved eleven, count ’em eleven, spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Digital asset manager CoinShares reported new inflows of more than $870 million into the new ETFs in the first three days. According to investment research firm CFRA, investors traded $4.6 billion worth of shares in these new funds on the first day.
While bitcoin ETFs have existed before 2024, the current spot bitcoin ETF fixes at least one major problem of the earlier bitcoin ETFs. In the past, bitcoin ETFs tracked bitcoin prices by holding bitcoin derivative products. Managers of these funds bought and sold bitcoin futures in order to try and copy the asset’s changes in value. This inefficient process often meant that earlier bitcoin ETFs did not always accurately reflect the actual changes in digital asset’s price.
By contrast, the current incarnation of bitcoin ETFs actually own bitcoin. This means that the newer funds are likely provide a truer exposure to the cryptocurrency.
The new bitcoin ETFs and their ticker symbols are below. Expense ratios for these funds range broadly from a low of 0.20% for the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF to a high of 1.5% for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Compare these to expense ratios for other popular ETFs such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust or SPY, which has a fee of 0.09%, and the Invesco QQQ ETF, which has an expense ratio of 0.20%.
Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB)
ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB)
Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC)
BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)
Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund (BRRR)
Vaneck Bitcoin Trust (HODL)
Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC)
WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW)
Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO)
Hasdex Bitcoin ETF (DEFI)
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)
The statement announcing the SEC’s approval of the spot bitcoin ETF (the SEC uses the term “exchange-traded product” – ETP) more than reflects the agency’s ambivalence toward the new offering. “I have often said that the Commission acts within the law and how the courts interpret the law,” SEC chair Gary Gensler writes early on in a statement that details the agency’s efforts to regulate digital assets. His overall message – with its bitcoin-only caveats and his reminder that the current filings are “similar to those we have disapproved in the past”? “The Court of Appeals made us do it.”
The statement actually concludes with a quip about how bitcoin ETFs compare unfavorably, in Chair Gensler’s opinion, with metals ETFs. After asserting that “we’re merit neutral,” Gensler observes dryly: “Bitcoin is primarily a speculative, volatile asset that’s also used for illicit activity including ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing.”
You almost can hear the sound of the dinner plate crashing against the table as the aggrieved server finally delivers your meal and sulks away, muttering under their breath.
Neither the number of shares to be offered nor the price range for the proposed offering were noted.
This week’s announcement represents Circle’s second bite at the “going public” apple. The company had planned to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) transaction in 2021. That deal would have given the company a valuation of about $9 billion. Unfortunately, the transaction did not take place. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said that the company simply failed to meet the SEC’s requirements in a timely fashion.
“We are disappointed the proposed transaction timed out,” Allaire said when the deal fell through. “However, becoming a public company remains part of Circle’s core strategy to enhance trust and transparency, which has never been more important.”
Founded in 2013, Circle is the principal operator of the U.S. stablecoin USDC. The company is licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Institutions. USDC offers instant settlement compared to legacy payments, near-zero costs, open and global access, as well as ready availability on popular exchanges and protocols, and broad and growing use in the developer community. Circle also offers products such as programmable wallets and its smart contract platform, currently in beta.
Hula Hoops, Pet Rocks, and Bitcoin?
You have to wonder if all this good news for bitcoin is getting under the skin of the digital asset’s biggest bête noire, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.
Dimon was recently interviewed on CNBC when he announced that this would be the last time he would publicly offer an opinion on bitcoin. That said, Dimon left us with plenty of anti-crypto quips to keep us company for some time to come.
Crypto use cases? “AML, fraud, sex trafficking and tax avoidance,” Dimon suggested. At the same time, he said, cryptocurrency is a “pet rock” that “does nothing.” Dimon is indifferent to what others such as Fidelity and Blackrock that have shown interest in bitcoin ETFs, saying that “I don’t want to tell you what to do. My personal advice is don’t get involved.”
Then again, there are some caveats to Dimon’s disinterest in cryptocurrencies. For one, Dimon does say that there are potentially interesting innovations with regard to non-bitcoin crypto, particularly the tokenization of real-world assets. Second, while Dimon himself may not be a fan of crypto, his firm is apparently playing a significant role in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) as an authorized participant.
Starting off the holiday-shortened week with more than a few fintech partnership announcements in payments as well as some positive funding news in the challenger bank/neobank space.
Follow this space all week long for more updates on the latest in fintech!
Payments
Localized payment solutions network Bokuintroduces new Chief Executive Officer Stuart Neal.
Mangopay, a payments infrastructure provider for marketplaces and platforms, teams up with Storfund.
Integrated payments and commerce technology company Shift4teams up with mobile payment provider MobilePay.
Worldlineforges strategic partnership with Google to leverage the cloud to enhance global payments orchestration.
U.K.-based rent data company CreditLadderadds new reporting functionality to its digital identity app, Digital ID Connect.
Digital Banking
Colorado-based Elevations Credit Union partners with digital banking platform provider Alkami.
Co-op Credit Union extends its partnership with MDT, a CUSO that hosts the Symitar core processing system from Jack Henry, and adds digital and data capabilities.
TandemunveilsGoals feature set, announces $3.7 million in seed funding.
Pinwheelcollaborates with Jack Henry to streamline access to direct deposit switching solution
Mortgagetech
Obligoteams up with BNY Mellon to digitize the rental process for property managers.
Credit Risk & Analytics
Collections and credit risk specialist Akuvo announces that 21 new financial institutions have signed up for its delinquency management platform.
Insurtech
Qoverlaunches its automobile insurance solution in the U.K.
B2B payments and invoicing network TreviPay launched its Universal Acceptance solution.
The technology will enable suppliers to offer trade credit financing to qualified buyers.
TreviPay made its Finovate debut two years ago at FinovateFall.
Courtesy of a partnership with Mastercard, B2B payments and invoicing network TreviPaylaunched its Universal Acceptance solution this week. The new offering will enable suppliers who accept Mastercard to extend net terms, or trade credit financing, as well as provide SKU-level invoicing to business customers.
TreviPay CEO Brandon Spear called the launch of the Universal Acceptance solution “an industry milestone.” According to Spear, the solution eliminates much of the complexity of B2B purchasing by taking a “consumer-like” approach to the buying experience. Research commissioned by the company revealed inefficient processes, incorrect invoicing, and slow onboarding as three key pain points for international business buyers. This research also indicated that trade credit was a leading payment option among these same buyers.
To this end, TreviPay’s Universal Acceptance solution enables suppliers who accept credit cards to offer net-terms financing to qualified buyers. TreviPay automates onboarding, financing, and accounts receivable to enhance efficiency and streamline the process. The platform also automatically sends invoices to the merchant’s buyer. This means that suppliers don’t have to worry about the cost and time spent pursuing outstanding or late payments. TreviPay assumes all risks relating to collection and guaranteeing settlement to merchants upfront.
TreviPay’s platform can be implemented in its original API integration directly into the seller’s point of acceptance. Users can also deploy the platform without API integration, relying on Mastercard’s global acceptance network instead.
Rebecca Meeker, SVP, Global Partnerships and Segments, Mastercard, praised TreviPay and Mastercard’s “shared vision to bring consumer-grade convenience to B2B transactions.” Meeker underscored the “seamless invoice reconciliation and faster settlement” made possible via the partnership.
Founded in 1980, TreviPay is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. The company made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2022. At the conference, TreviPay’s Rissi Lovern and Max Almerico demoed TreviPay’s Small Business Supplier Payments Network (SBSN). The network enables banks to offer a wide range of products to their small business customers via access to the small business B2B trade credit market.
Last fall, TreviPay launched its Financial Partner Gateway. A new suite of APIs, the Financial Partner Gateway enables banks to deliver solutions including automated accounts receivable, underwriting, and trade credit management. The Gateway gives banks new revenue opportunities while helping TreviPay expand internationally. In August, the company introduced its support for cross-currency, B2B sales.
Swiss fintech Temenoslaunched its end-to-end Temenos Enterprise Services on the Temenos Banking Cloud this week. The new offering will enable banks to lower the cost, complexity, and risk of modernization, and deploy new software solutions in 24 hours.
Temenos President Product and Chief Operating Officer Prima Varadhan called the offering “a game-changing approach.” Varadhan added, “the ability to deploy fast, take advantage of a functionally-rich system from day 1, and benefit from continuous updates, help banks to attack the largest cost elements of running core banking software.”
Temenos Enterprise Services features 120+ pre-packaged banking products, predefined customer journeys, and more than 700 pre-configured APIs. The offering enables banks, regardless of size, to launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), and have a build and test environment within 24 hours. Whether the goal is the launch new business lines or to modernize legacy systems, Temenos Enterprise Services enables banks to benefit from continuous updates, optimal security controls, resilience, and high-performance Service Level Agreements. Banks and FI will also get immediate access to the Temenos Exchange ecosystem with another 115+ complementary solutions.
“Speed, security, and business agility are key for banks to compete and thrive in the digital world,” Varadhan said. “With our end-to-end Temenos Enterprise Services on Temenos Banking Cloud, banks of all sizes can have a ready-to-go system in 24 hours with pre-configured banking products, turn on new features, and benefit from faster time to value.”
A Finovate alum since 2013, Temenos counts more than 700 banks and 3,000+ FIs across 150 countries as users of its technology. The Swiss fintech’s offerings support retail, business, and corporate banking, as well as wealth management and services for fund administrators. Temenos ended 2023 with a new partnership with Lesha Bank, a Qatar-based investment bank that migrated to Temenos’ core banking platform in December.
Swiss payments technology company Riveroraised $7 million in Series A funding this week. Inference Partners and 6 Degrees Capital led the round. Kraken Ventures, Seed X Liechtenstein, the venture arm of PostFinance and angel investor and former Adyen COO, Robert Kraal, also participated in the funding. The company will use the capital to fuel expansion into new markets, enhance product development, and add to its workforce.
“We’re thrilled to share the news of our Series A round,” Rivero CEO and co-founder Thomas Müller said, “especially given the current challenging market conditions. We take this as confirmation of our strong business model and clear market demand for our products.”
A specialist in payment digitization and automation, Rivero makes payments easier for financial institutions, especially issuing banks. The company has two primary SaaS offerings: Kajo, a payment scheme compliance solution, and Amiko, which provides tools for fraud recovery and dispute management. Rivero has forged partnerships with more than 20+ financial institutions including Swiss bank Cembra, which deployed Amiko, and payment card issuer Cornercard, which deployed Kajo.
“Globally, banks spend billions of dollars on scheme compliance and payment dispute management,” 6 Degrees Capital partner Thibault D’hondt noted. “Rivero is the first of its kind to offer a suite of SaaS solutions to help banks and processors address the challenge.”
Founded in 2019, Rivero is based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Central and Eastern Europe
German crypto custodian Fiona raised $15 million in strategic funding at a valuation of $100 million.
Estonian fintech Money Industries secured a $1.5 million investment led by Caucasus Ventures.
Omnicredit, Romania’s first micro financing, scoring and factoring company, won the “Best Digital Lending in CEE Among Fintechs” award from the SME Banking Club Association.
Middle East and Northern Africa
MENA-based Paymob teamed up with GCC-based shopping and payments platform Tamara.
Ooredoo, a Qatar-based fintech, forged a partnership with Commercial Bank to launch its direct debit solution.
MENA-based payments solutions provider Magnati collaborated with Oxinus Holdings to enhance payments in the food and beverage business.
Central and Southern Asia
Indian pay tech Mylapay raised $550,000 in seed funding.
nanopaybrought its remittance solution, Foree Remittance, to Pakistan courtesy of a partnership with the National Bank of Pakistan.
India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) integrated with Singapore-based PayNow to support remittance flows from Indian’s in Singapore back home.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Conta Simples, an expense management and corporate card services platform based in Brazil, secured $41.5 million in new funding.
Argentina-based fintech Ualá launched the country’s first no-fee credit card.
