This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.
Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Identity verification, risk assessment, and compliance solutions company Jumio has announced an expanded strategic partnership with NextWealth.
A data services provider, NextWealth will provide identity verification services and manage back office operations for Jumio.
A Best of Show winner and Finovate alum since 2013, Jumio has processed more than one billion transactions spanning 200+ countries and territories.
Identity verification and compliance solutions provider Jumio has expanded its strategic partnership with data services provider NextWealth. The move comes as the risk assessment company seeks to add to its ability to combat increasingly sophisticated fraud and financial crime challenges. Via the enhanced relationship, NextWealth will provide identity verification services for Jumio. This will include taking the lead role in back office operations for Jumio as the company looks to scale its business, while providing the same level of secure service.
“Now more than ever, when our automation and quality rates have reached record levels, partnering with NextWealth enables us to focus on our core business and technology objectives and support our customers wherever they do business across the globe,” Jumio Chief Technology Officer Stuart Wells explained.
NextWealth CEO Mythily Ramesh said that the expanded partnership would “further cement our position as one of the largest, pure play, AI/ML-driven data services players in the country.” Founded in 2009, the Bengaluru, India-based company serves businesses in fintech, e-commerce, healthcare, and other verticals. With seven centers in four states, NextWealth delivers more than 300 million data transactions.
A Finovate Best of Show winner and long-time alum, Jumio has processed more than one billion transactions from 200+ countries and territories. With its Jumio KYX Platform, the Sunnyvale, California-based company offers advanced identity proofing, risk signals, and compliance tools that help businesses establish and maintain customer trust. Jumio leverages a wide variety of enabling technologies – including automation, biometrics, AI, machine learning, liveness detection, and no-code orchestration – to enable its clients to better deal with the evolving nature of financial crime.
Last month, Jumio was named a Representative Vendor in the Gartner Market Guide for Identity Verification for a fifth consecutive time. Earlier this year, the company forged partnerships with Philippines-based Java developer Exist Software Labs, and composable frontend platform company Modyo.
ieDigital, a digital banking software company based in the U.K., has acquired U.S.-based digital banking technology company Connect FSS.
Terms of the deal were not immediately available.
ieDigital made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in 2018.
U.K.-based digital banking software company ieDigital announced a major acquisition this week. The firm will acquire its U.S.-based counterpart, digital banking technology company, Connect FSS. Terms of the transaction were not immediately available, but the deal will make ieDigital one of the biggest digital banking software providers in the world.
The acquisition comes at the end of ieDigital’s multi-month search for a business partner that would help the company meet its growth goals, especially with regard to increasing ieDigital’s international reach. The company noted in a statement that the acquisition will bring greater scale and more resources to bear on the challenges facing business customers. The acquisition will also help accelerate innovation as teams from both companies begin to collaborate and work together to design and market new, enhanced digital solutions.
“Joining forces with Connect FSS will enable us to support a broader range of customers in different geographies that we wouldn’t have otherwise been able to reach, and strengthen our technology with insight from our new colleagues in the U.S.,” ieDigital CEO Jerry Young said. Connect FSS President and CEO Grant Parry added that the partnership with a “natural next step” in Connect FSS’s evolution. “Our joint ambition is to provide excellent customer service and tailored solutions to clients,” Parry said.
For now, both ieDigital and Connect FSS will retain their brand identities in their respective markets. The firms will sit as part of a new ieDigital Group in which ieDigital’s Young will serve as CEO while Connect FSS’s Parry will serve as EVP of Strategy.
Founded in 1984, ieDigital made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2018. At the conference, the company demoed its Money Fitness solution which helps users better manage their day-to-day finances. In the years since, the company has grown into a major fintech in the U.K. financial services ecosystem. ieDigital has partnered with four of the five largest banks in the U.K., and has provided digital software solutions to more than 50 financial services businesses.
This spring, ieDigital announced that Suffolk Building Society has chosen the company as its partner for its eSavings platform. The offering will give Society members access to online savings products and will be powered by ieDigital’s Interact software. Interact is a suite of digital services that work in concert with a financial services provider’s existing technology.
Artificial intelligence has taken the technology world by storm – and fintech is no exception. But questions remain as to how AI can be best applied in the world of fintech and financial services.
I talked with Anu Sachdeva, Global Service Line & Solutions Leader at Genpact, during the FinovateFall conference last month to discuss the role of generative AI in particular in financial services. Among the topics covered were:
How banks can realize the true value of generative AI.
What use cases banks and other financial services organizations have found for generative AI.
What are the most important considerations for financial services organizations when adopting generative AI.
Payments-as-a-service platform Rainforest has raised $11.75 million in seed funding.
The round was led by Accel, and included a $3.25 million venture debt facility courtesy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).
Rainforest helps software companies embed financial products into their solutions.
In a round led by Accel, payments-as-a-service platform Rainforest has secured $11.75 million in seed funding. The round also featured participation from Infinity Ventures, BoxGroup, The Fintech Fund, Tech Square Ventures, and Ardent Venture Partners, as well as strategic angel investors. The funding included $3.25 million in a venture debt facility courtesy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), making the total equity raised in the round $8.5 million.
Rainforest founder and CEO Joshua Silver referenced his own experience as founder of a healthcare software company and as a payments consultant in explaining the “why” behind Rainforest. “I personally experienced the challenges and tradeoffs associated with embedded payments,” Silver said. “I recruited former colleagues and other all-star payments and SaaS veterans, and together we built Rainforest – the embedded payments platform we always wanted but didn’t exist.”
Rainforest offers an embedded payments solution that helps software platforms monetize their money flows. By building a platform specifically for software platforms, Rainforest believes that it has an edge over most payment providers that build solutions primarily for merchants. The company is able to help software platforms deal with both the risk management and compliance issues that accompany payments, while enabling them to take advantage of the growing opportunity to embed and monetize payments.
“Not every software company wants to become a full-fledged fintech,” Silver said, “but nearly all want to embed financial services.”
Rainforest’s embedded components enable companies to build payment rails to facilitate payments from providers such as Visa and Mastercard, as well as same-day ACH and Plaid verification. Rainforest supports next-day payouts, and the company anticipates adding same-day options like RTP and push-to-card soon. The company notes that its open ecosystem encourages integration with alternative payment networks, vertical-specific ledgers, and other financial service providers. “It’s a game changer,” Rainforest VP of Engineering Chris Church said, “and I’m thrilled to see platforms’ response to it.” The company notes that it secured client commitments representing more than $500 million in processing shortly after launch. In addition to financial services, Rainforest acknowledges interest in its technology from companies in verticals ranging from healthcare and professional services to logistics and construction.
Founded in 2022, Rainforest is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company includes RoadSync, PayGround, and QuoteMachine among its clients.
BHG Financial announced a partnership with financial crime effectiveness testing company Cable.
BHG Financial will leverage Cable’s technology to enhance its own compliance programs.
Founded in 2020, Cable made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall 2022.
Unsecured business and personal loan specialist BHG Financial announced a partnership with Cable this week. The company will use Cable’s financial crime effectiveness platform to improve its own compliance efforts.
Headquartered in the San Francisco, California, Cable gives banks, financial services firms, fintechs, and other organizations the tools they need to enhance their compliance programs. These tools include automated risk assessments, automated assurance, quality assurance, management information, and reporting. BHG Financial’s Director of Financial Crime & BSA Officer Bryan Holloway, stated that the partnership underscored the company’s commitment to regulatory compliance by providing “advanced tooling” for “greater efficiency, visibility, and insights across our business.”
BHG Financial has established one of the largest community bank loan and product networks in the U.S. The company has originated more than $16 billion in loan solutions since its founding in 2001.
“We’re delighted to partner with BHG Financial to bolster their automated financial crime assurance and testing capabilities,” Cable CEO Natasha Vernier said. “With increasing regulatory scrutiny on banking and fintech compliance, it’s a privilege to partner with innovative companies like BHG Financial (that are) taking compliance very seriously and embracing the best tooling available to protect their business.”
Cable made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall 2022. At the conference, the company demonstrated its Automated Assurance solution. This technology enables banks and fintechs to automate their compliance assurance and effectiveness testing. Automated Assurance also allows organizations to discover breaches and control failures in the moment. Additionally, Cable’s technology streamlines a number of manual processes including quality control, stakeholder reporting, and record management.
Founded in 2020, the company raised $11 million in Series A funding in May of this year. Stage 2 Capital and Jump Capital participated, along with existing investor CRV. More recently, Cable announced a partnership with Grasshopper Bank, joined the Banking-as-a-Service Association, and introduced new Chief Revenue Officer Candace Sjogren. Sjogren comes to Cable after serving most recently as SVP, Global Head of Sales at crypto-as-a-service provider Zero Hash.
Want to feel good about the spread of real-time payments? Alabama-based Exchange Bank, a financial institution that has been serving customers since 1909, has turned to Pidgin to bring instant payments to its account holders.
The partnership between Pidgin and Exchange Bank will give the bank’s customers the ability to access faster payments to transfer funds between accounts, as well as pay employees, vendors, and more. Direct payment routing from financial institution to financial institution means that funds are settled and available in the recipient’s account almost immediately as soon as the transaction is completed.
“Banking has changed drastically since 1909, but our long-standing history is a testament to our bank’s dedication to keeping up with our customer’s needs,” Exchange Bank chairman and CEO Ricky Ray said. Ray referred to the partnership with Pidgin as an example of the bank’s ability to evolve and offer new ways to help its customers “thrive financially.”
Added Pidgin founder and CEO Abhishek Veeraghanta: “Today’s customers are looking for instant payment options to gain more flexibility and control over their transactions. We look forward to empowering Exchange Bank and their customers with more efficient payment options.”
Pidgin leverages its status as a central connection point to the Federal Reserve’s FedNow Service as well as faster payment networks such as The Clearing House’s Real-Time Payment Network. Founded in 2022, the company made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall. At the conference, Pidgin demoed its faster payments ecosystem, which enables FIs to send and receive faster payments almost instantly, while providing greater security compared to virtual wallet alternatives.
Pidgin founder and CEO Abhishek Veeraghanta demoing the company’s faster payments technology at FinovateFall 2022.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Pidgin was among the first fintechs to secure certification for the FedNow instant payments service launched by the Federal Reserve earlier this year. Also this year, Pidgin announced a new partnership with U.S. Century Bank, a Miami-based institution with more than $2.1 billion in assets. The bank will leverage its new relationship with Pidgin to provide instant payments to its growing customer base of small business owners, professionals, and entrepreneurs based in south Florida.
Other partnerships forged this year by Pidgin include the company’s work with fraud and compliance platform Effectiv (also a Finovate alum) and Community Bankers’ Bank.
AI digital workforce solution provider for banks and FIs, WorkFusion unveiled its latest digital worker, an AI transaction monitoring investigator called Isaac.
Isaac manages transaction monitoring alerts. The technology routes alerts to human investigators or closes them if they are determined to be non-suspicious.
WorkFusion demoed its technology at FinovateFall in 2014.
WorkFusion, an AI digital workforce solution provider for FIs, has launched its latest digital worker, an AI Transaction Monitoring Investigator called Isaac. The new offering leverages machine learning to enhance transaction monitoring alert management. By orchestrating alerts – working first-level alerts, auto-escalating alerts that might require investigation, and auto-closing non-suspicious alerts, Isaac enables anti-fraud analysts to focus on the more complex, higher risk fraud incidents.
“Our new AI Digital Worker, Isaac, reduces the alert review burden by helping to identify which alerts need to be escalated for further review and auto-closes those that it deems as non-suspicious,” WorkFusion VP of Financial Crime Art Mueller said. “Because Isaac creates an easy-to-read dossier with a supporting narrative and documentation, analysts move from authors of reports to editors – saving their time to work on higher-risk and higher value investigations.”
Isaac helps FIs manage transaction monitoring alerts. The technology automates transaction monitoring alert reviews and appropriately routes them to a human investigator, when necessary. If Isaac determines the alerts are not suspicious, it automatically closes them. Additionally, Isaac creates a dossier for each decision with a human-readable justification and supporting documentation. The technology is particularly helpful with transaction monitoring instances that produce a large number of alerts. These scenarios can include structuring, excessive fund transfers, unexpected account activity, as well as other high-risk factors. Note that Isaac is not a transaction monitoring tool itself, and does not initiate alerts on its own.
Headquartered in 2010 and founded in New York, WorkFusion demoed its Active-Learning Automation solution at FinovateFall 2014. Today, the company offers an AI-powered digital workforce that supports teams in operations such as anti-money laundering (AML), sanctions, customer onboarding, Know Your Customer (KYC), and customer service. WorkFusion’s solutions are not bots. Instead, the company’s digital workers leverage a combination of process knowledge and technologies – including AI, machine learning, intelligent document processing, and robotic process automation (RPA) – in order to complete jobs rather than merely rule-based tasks.
This summer the Bank of Asia announced that it would deploy WorkFusion’s AI Digital Worker, Evelyn, as part of its enhanced client onboarding experience. Evelyn provides negative news screening, a component of the KYC process that is especially helpful in combating money laundering, as WorkFusion CEO Adam Famularo explained.
“Adverse media monitoring is one of the most effective tools banks and financial institutions have to protect against money laundering,” Famularo said. “However, there are many news articles, most of which are irrelevant false positive, which consume a lot of time. By automating this laborious task, Bank of Asia will reduce its new client onboarding time and ensure a more positive customer experience.”
Lithuania is one of those countries that punches above its weight in terms of fintech innovation. With a population of less than three million, the country boasts more than 260 fintech companies. It is the largest fintech hub in the EU when it comes to licensed companies. These fintechs, numbering nearly 150, represent the majority of fintechs in the country and are licensed e-money institutions, payment institutions, or specialized banks.
Some of the more widely known Lithuanian fintechs include account-to-account infrastructure company kevin and e-money institution Paysera. Revolut Bank is licensed and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania, the country’s central bank.
Given the country’s strength as a fintech hub, it is no surprise that Lithuania holds its own on the regtech front as well. Two of the country’s more active regtechs are AMLYZE, an automated transaction monitoring and risk assessment solution provider that raised $1 million in funding back in May, and identity verification and fraud prevention company iDenfy. Both companies made significant partnership announcements in recent days.
Lithuanian identity verification and fraud prevention company iDenfy will help ECNG Digital, a virtual currency exchange and payment services firm, enhance its onboarding process. The partnership will enable ECNG Digital to deploy a variety of customized identity verification procedures via a KYC solution that combines high accuracy and an optimized user experience. These procedures range from validating government-issued identification documents to live selfie detection to cross-referencing databases. Additionally, iDenfy’s in-house KYC specialists will provide real-time verifications to enhance the accuracy of the technology.
“In the realm of virtual currency exchange and payment services, the real challenge lies in balancing fraud prevention with swift identity verification,” iDenfy CEO Domantas Ciulde said. “Our mission is to guide ECNG Digital on this path, ensuring precision while accelerating understanding.”
ECNG Digital is not the only company turning to iDenfy for identity verification. German online marketplace Quoka and iDenfy also have announced a partnership this week. iDenfy’s verification technology will help Quoka manage its sizable volume of ID verifications, leveraging both biometrics and document recognition.
Headquartered in Kaunas, Lithuania, iDenfy was founded in 2017.
Lithuanian credit union group KREDA has selected Lithuanian regtech AMLYZ as its compliance software partner. The organization is one of the largest credit union organizations in the country and has 14 member institutions. KREDA will leverage AMLYZE’s transaction monitoring technology as part of a modernization of its compliance standards. The technology will also help KREDA with customer risk assessment, case management, and sanctions screening.
AMLYZE CEO and co-founder Gabrielius Bilkštys said the partnership represented the company’s “commitment to helping organizations like KREDA navigate the complex current regulatory landscape, detect financial crime, and ensure the highest standards of compliance.” Founded in 2018, KREDA has $528 million (€0.5 billion) in assets under management.
AMLYZE also recently announced that it was working with Estonian core banking provider Tuum. The two firms have forged a strategic partnership that will give banks and other financial institutions access to “out-of-the-box” compliance that is integrated into Tuum’s core banking, payments, and card modules. Tuum VP of Global Strategic Partnerships Jean Souto said that the collaboration would allow “banks and financial institutions to free themselves from the burden of legacy applications so they can respond quickly to market challenges and new opportunities whilst ensuring compliance with increasingly evolving stringent regulations.”
Founded in 2019, AMLYZE is headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Issuer-processor Paymentology teamed up with Colombia-based expense management firm Tuily to bring Apple Pay to the company’s SME customers.
Uruguay-based digital payments company dLocal announced a pause in its expansion plans.
Asia-Pacific
Cross-border payments infrastructure network Thunes expanded its Acceptance network to five markets in southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
Are regulators in financial services doing an effective job of protecting consumers while simultaneously fostering innovation? How can regtechs help banks better manage financial risk? Can a robust regulatory regime actually enhance the prospects for business growth?
I sat down with Shabbir M. Husain, Director of Global Sanctions Compliance at Silicon Valley Bank, to discuss these and other issues, including:
How banks can keep pace with new competition
The importance of effective risk assessment
How to foster a “culture of compliance” within an organization
Neo, an international corporate treasury services provider, has cleared more than $10.5 billion (€10 billion) in its corporate multi-currency accounts since 2020.
Founded in 2017, the company has grown from a FX hedging platform to a one-stop-shop to help corporates better manage cross-border transactions.
Neo made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2019.
International treasury services provider Neo announced today that it has cleared more than $10.5 billion (€10 billion) via its corporate multi-currency accounts since their launch three years ago. This includes a doubling of its cleared volume in less than a year, as its accounts for corporate treasurers reached $5.3 billion (€5 billion) already in 2023.
Neo CEO and co-founder Laurent Descout said that reaching the milestone was a testament to the scalability of the company’s core banking system technology. He called Neo’s innovation “machine-tooled to satisfy the growing complexity faced by international treasury teams.”
The new milestone also affirms Neo’s commitment to helping corporate treasurers navigate a global B2B cross-border payments market that is expected to top $250 trillion by 2027. This is based on estimates from the Bank of England. But it is not the size of the market alone that makes international corporate treasury operations a challenge. Growth into new markets also means securing different accounts for each new country or currency. For many corporate banks, opening an international bank account is a cumbersome and time-consuming process. Add to this the fact that many firms are unable to secure the international accounts they seek and those that do often deal with significant operational inefficiencies, including a lack of support from cross-border payment specialists.
“Accessing multi-currency accounts has literally become impossible for too many corporates across many different industries,” Descout said.
To this end, Neo offers a platform that enables businesses to set up an international account with their own multi-currency International Bank Account Number (IBAN). This will allow them to manage cash flows with supply chains, hedge FX exposure, and access transaction data from a single location. Companies can also leverage virtual wallets to allow them to make and receive payments in more than 25 different currencies. In addition to transparent and competitive pricing, Neo also offers professional support from a team of international payments specialists.
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, Neo made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2019. From its origins as an FX hedging platform, Neo today provides treasury management services to more than 400 corporates across 28 countries. The company delivers payments in 100+ countries, and reaches 8,000+ banks via its Bank Identification Code (BIC) on the Swift network.
SME lending platform Credibly has partnered with Green Dot to add small business banking services to its offering.
The new solution, Credibly Business Banking, will help SMEs improve cash flow and secure capital easier and faster.
Green Dot made its Finovate debut in 2013. The company has managed more than 67 million accounts to date.
SME lending platform Credibly is adding small business banking services to its offering. Powered by Green Dot’s banking-as-a-service platform, Credibly Business Banking will enhance the banking experience for small and medium-sized businesses with improved cash flow management and faster access to financing.
Access to capital and better managing cash flow are two critical challenges for small businesses. The number of new small businesses continues to rebound in the wake of the pandemic, with small business applications in the U.S. up more than 40% from pre-pandemic levels. Unfortunately, many of these small businesses struggle to secure the financing they need to grow. Goldman Sachs revealed that more than 75% of small business owners surveyed in their 10,000 Small Businesses Voices Initiative cited access to capital as a main concern.
The hurdles are greater for those small businesses that do not have a business bank account. A Nav survey discovered that 70% of small business owners without a business bank account were rejected for loans within the past two years.
Credibly Business Banking is a response to these challenges, according to Credibly founder and co-CEO Ryan Rosett. “With a business checking account, customers will have faster and easier access to the cash, credit, and capital they need to run and grow their business,” Rosett said. The new account also features online mobile banking, fast account set-up, overdraft protection, no fees for eligible deposits, and access to a nationwide ATM network.
Founded in 2010, Credibly has facilitated more than $2 billion in financing to 30,000+ small and medium-sized businesses. Headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, the company has raised more than $82 million in total funding. Credibly Business Banking is one of a number of new products for small businesses the company has on its roadmap.
“The demand for seamless, accessible and intuitive financial tools for businesses remains on the rise,” Rosett said, “and we are thrilled to partner with Green Dot to add small business banking to complement our lending solutions.”
Founded in 1999, Green Dot has been a Finovate alum since 2013. The firm has managed 67 million accounts to date, providing banking services such as online bank accounts, debit cards, and credit solutions, as well as deposits and transfers. Green Dot has leveraged its embedded finance capabilities to enable partners from Apple to Walmart to embed scalable banking solutions into their offerings.
Newsweek named Green Dot one of its “Most Trustworthy Companies in America” earlier this year. Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker GDOT, the Austin, Texas-based company has a market capitalization of $719 million.
What is the future of open banking in the U.S.? Today, financial connectivity innovator AtomiclaunchedPayLink, a new suite of solutions that streamline payment switching for consumers.
The new offering provides for an improved user experience for financial services consumers. It is also a big step towards helping banks and other financial institutions align themselves with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s goals with regards to open banking.
We talked with Andrea Martone, Head of Product for Atomic, to learn more about PayLink, and the drive toward a more open banking system in the U.S.
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and founded in 2019, Atomic made its Finovate debut two years ago at FinovateFall 2021. Jordan Wright is co-founder and CEO.
Congratulations on the launch of PayLink. Tell us more about this new suite of products.
Andrea Martone: Thank you! We’re thrilled about the launch of PayLink. We’ve taken our expertise in building user-permissioned connectivity for sharing and updating data and expanded it to merchant accounts, streaming services, and recurring bill providers, enabling consumers to seamlessly update their payment methods on file and retrieve information on upcoming payments. Building PayLink was a natural next step on our journey towards helping consumers update their primary banking relationship as it helps overcome a major point of friction in the process. To build it, we leveraged our cutting-edge TrueAuth technology that allows users to authenticate directly on their devices, without ever sharing login credentials.
For our readers who are new to Atomic, can you tell us a little about the company?
Martone: At Atomic we believe that making it simple for consumers to access, share, and update their financial data is key to unlocking new financial opportunities. By embedding Atomic’s SDK into their online and mobile banking applications, financial institutions can enable consumers to easily update direct deposit instructions, verify income and employment, import W2s and, now, update payment methods on file with merchants without leaving their application. With our solutions, financial institutions help grow new account adoption, qualify borrowers, and streamline tax filing.
Open banking was a major topic of conversation at our FinovateFall conference a few weeks ago. What is your take on the state of open banking in the U.S.?
Martone: Open banking in the U.S. is at an interesting juncture. With the CFPB taking bold steps in their public commentary, there’s an exciting momentum building around the consumer-centric transformation of financial services. While Europe has been ahead in this race, the U.S. is catching up, and I believe we are headed for an ecosystem that allows for significant innovations to support both consumers and financial institutions.
One of the issues that came up in our discussion on open banking was the idea that open banking is integrally related to the issue of digital identity. Do you agree? Why is this so and why is it important to keep in mind?
Martone: Digital identity is the backbone of a secure open banking ecosystem. As we democratize access to financial data, establishing secure, verifiable digital identities becomes crucial. It’s not just about sharing data, but ensuring that the right data gets shared with the right entities for the right purposes – securely. Our TrueAuth technology, for example, is designed to enhance credential security while empowering consumers.
The CFPB is working on regulations that could impact personal data rights. What are your thoughts on these potential regulations and their impact on companies in the open banking space – as well as the impact on consumer adoption of open banking?
Martone: I view the CFPB’s focus on personal data rights as a necessary step toward fostering a fair, transparent financial ecosystem. Giving consumers greater portability over their financial data opens the door for increased innovation and competition in the financial services space. However, it also creates a wider surface area for exploitation and misuse of data, as well. As a result, regulations will need to set the standards that ensure consumer privacy and data security and, in turn, build consumer trust. For companies evolving into the open banking space, this is an opportunity to align their products with consumer-centric values, which I believe will accelerate consumer adoption and loyalty in the long run.
Atomic is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ve seen a surprising number of innovative fintechs headquartered in Utah. What is it like to be a tech startup in the Beehive State?
Martone: Being headquartered in Utah has been fantastic for us. The state offers a thriving tech scene, a highly skilled workforce, and a business-friendly environment. We also have a dynamic team located throughout the country, which ensures that we comprise a diverse workforce.
What can we expect to see from Atomic over the next few months and into next year?
Martone: We have a busy roadmap ahead! You can expect to see more advanced features being rolled into PayLink, further strengthening its capabilities. You will also see us double-down on our strengths in expanding connectivity where it can benefit consumers to access, share, and update data in secure, transparent, and reliable ways to expand their financial opportunities. Key to this is continuing to advance our authentication methods, including our TrueAuth technology. Additionally, we’ll be focusing on strategic partnerships to widen our reach. Our aim is to continue leading the charge in making open banking a tangible, beneficial reality for all.
