Author: David Penn

Plaid Adds Enhanced Anti-Fraud Engine to its Identity Verification Solution

Plaid Adds Enhanced Anti-Fraud Engine to its Identity Verification Solution
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Plaid
  • Plaid added a new anti-fraud engine to its Plaid Identity Verification (IDV) solution.
  • The addition leverages autofill to accelerate sign up and help reduce manual errors. The technology also assesses device behavior and the way users input their personally identifiable information (PII).
  • Plaid announcement comes in the wake of news that the company is expanding in Europe.

Open banking innovator Plaid has added a new anti-fraud engine to its identity verification solution, Plaid Identity Verification (IDV). The anti-fraud engine supports a faster verification process to boost both conversions and signups. The new addition also assesses behavioral risk to better defend against emerging threats and strategies from fraudster and financial criminals.

The new tool comes months after Plaid launched its identity verification solution, and is the product of Plaid’s work with “hundreds of digital finance companies” in industries ranging from crypto and neo-lending to proptech and banking. Not only did Plaid’s work with these firms underscore fraud as a “top challenge.” it also highlighted two chief values that companies have when it comes to improving security and anti-fraud protection: a fast and secure onboarding process and a fraud defense regime that is capable of evolving to meet new threats.

To enhance the onboarding process, Plaid’s new tool offers an autofill experience that makes sign up seamless without compromising security. Customers in the U.S. only need to enter their date of birth and phone number when signing up, and Plaid’s autofill technology auto-populates with full name, address, and social security number and other information associated with the user’s phone number and birthdate. The autofill feature accelerates the verification time for customers from 30 seconds to as little as 10 seconds. Plaid also noted that its autofill feature can improve conversion by up to 20%.

The new anti-fraud engine also assesses device behavior and the way users enter their personally identifiable information (PII) to detect a range of behaviors that are associated with fraudulent actors and bots. The tool analyzes the speed and pace with which PII is entered, the order in which data is imputed, whether the data input method is copy and paste, and more. By monitoring these behaviors during the sign up process, Plaid’s new anti-fraud enhancements will help users of Plaid Identity Verification accurately verify customer identity, reduce fraud incidents, and meet compliance obligations.

Plaid’s announcement comes in the wake of big expansion and partnership news for the company. In August, Plaid reported that it will be expanding its operations in Europe. The company now offers its open banking capabilities in both Spain and Portugal, and provides clients in Germany with data connectivity services. The move comes with the addition of a pair of new Payment Service Provider (PSP) partners: Norbr and GlobePay. Plaid anticipates launching operations in other European countries soon, including Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

Also in August, Plaid announced a partnership with fellow Finovate alum Wise (formerly Transferwise). The deal will enable Wise customers to access to more than 6,000 apps courtesy of Plaid’s open finance core exchange, launched earlier this year. Venmo, Chime, and Truebill are among the apps that Wise customers will be able to select and add to their digital platforms.

Photo by A B

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

FutureTech Friday: Mastercard Approves Quantum Resistant Contactless Cards

FutureTech Friday: Mastercard Approves Quantum Resistant Contactless Cards
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, MasterCard

Although not getting as much attention these days as the metaverse or Web3, the potential impact of quantum computing in financial services certainly has the attention of the industry’s biggest players. This week, Mastercard approved the first cards for issuers that meet EMVCo contactless specifications to protect cardholders from attacks from quantum computers as well as traditional computers.

“Technology has the potential to open new opportunities for both consumers and fraudsters,” President of Cyber & Intelligence at Mastercard Ajay Bhalla said. “That’s why future-proofing security is critical.”

Quantum computing involves leveraging the capacities of quantum physics to solve certain computational problems faster than traditional computers. Much of the buzz over quantum computing is related to the purported ability of quantum computing to defy even the most rigorous encryption protocols. And while some of these concerns may have been overblown, at least in the short term, the ability of quantum computers to solve certain complex problems faster than the most advanced supercomputers currently available makes them a potential source of major financial crime if adequate safeguards are not in place.

To this end, Mastercard introduced new, quantum-resistant Enhanced Contactless specifications in January 2021. Referred to as “Ecos” the new specifications are designed to provide greater convenience for merchants and financial institutions, enhanced trust thanks for next-generation algorithms and cryptographic key strengths, and enhanced privacy to deliver protection when account information in shared between the card or digital wallet and checkout.

“As the ecosystem continues to evolve, more connected devices and the Internet of Things are going to create more user demand, and an even greater need for constant innovation to build next-generation capability, helping to ensure that technology never outpaces trust,” Bhalla said when the Ecos specifications were unveiled. In the months since then, Mastercard has teamed up with EMVCo to continue to develop the Ecos-compliant technology with the goal of making it an industry standard for contactless acceptance. In a statement, Mastercard cited a Juniper report that indicated that contactless payment devices will top 12.5 billion by 2027. The value of contactless transactions is similarly expected to grow, reaching $10 trillion worldwide by 2027.

“By bringing quantum-era technology to contactless payments, we are taking steps to future-proof security and privacy protection as much as possible,” Bhalla said this week. “These new cards will deliver that greater peace of mind, while also providing consumers and merchants a seamless transition from today’s contactless experience.”

Mastercard’s embrace of quantum computing has been marked in 2022. In July, the company announced a multi-year strategic alliance with D-Wave Systems, the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers. In February, Mastercard’s Foundry Live Series presented The Quantum Advantage, a look at the potential impact of quantum computing in financial services.

Photo by cottonbro

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Digital Lending Platform Lendsmart Goes Live at First Community Bank and Trust

Digital Lending Platform Lendsmart Goes Live at First Community Bank and Trust
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Lendsmart
  • Lendsmart announced that First Community Bank and Trust will go live with its digital lending platform.
  • Lendsmart won Best of Show at FinovateFall Digital in 2020.
  • More than 100 years old, First Community Bank and Trust serves communities in Illinois and has assets of more than $205 million.

One of the brightest stars from FinovateFall Digital shared partnership news this week. Lendsmart, which won Best of Show at FinovateFall Digital in 2020, has brought its AI-driven digital lending platform and home buying marketplace to First Community Bank and Trust. The Illinois-based institution will leverage Lendsmart’s technology to streamline its mortgage lending operations, bringing automation and digitization to 70% of the process.

Courtesy of the partnership, First Community Bank and Trust will be able to offer its customers and end-to-end digital lending experience including a digital application, a 10 minute process to get pre-approved, funds availability in a week, and a digital closing option.

“We’re committed to providing our customers with the latest in convenient technological financial solutions,” First Community Bank and Trust President and CEO Greg Ohlendorf said. “(By) partnering with Lendsmart, we are fulfilling this commitment by offering our customers a seamless digital experience from start to finish in just a few minutes.”

First Community Bank and Trust is a privately owned bank that serves communities in Beecher and Peotone, Illinois, and throughout the state. The institution’s roots extend back to 1916, when a group of fourteen businessmen with $25,000 in capital launched what was then called Farmers State Bank of Beecher. A hundred years later, First Community Bank and Trust celebrated the success of its EMV Chip Debit MasterCard – and assets of more than $205 million.

Headquartered in New York, Lendsmart made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall Digital in 2020. At the event, the company won Best of Show for its centralized platform that streamlines and optimizes the customer onboarding and engagement process, and automates manual processes to minimize risk and underwrite borrowers faster.

Other recent partnerships with Lendsmart include collaborations with Sutton Bank of Ohio, Midwest Bank and Legence Bank of Illinois, and Wisconsin-based Citizens State Bank. Lendsmart was founded in 2018 by CEO A.K. Patel.

Photo by sergio souza

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

BNP Paribas to Acquire Currency Management Automation Company Kantox

BNP Paribas to Acquire Currency Management Automation Company Kantox
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Kantox, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Currency management automation innovator Kantox has agreed to be acquired by BNP Paribas.
  • BNP Paribas will pay $133 million (€120 million) for the London-based company, which made its Finovate debut in 2013 at FinovateEurope.
  • BNP Paribas said the acquisition represents its commitment to building, long-lasting relationships with fintechs.

London-based, currency management automation company Kantox has agreed to be acquired by BNP Paribas for $133 million (€120 million).

The company, which made its Finovate debut in 2011, said that the acquisition will help make its technology available to an even wider range of corporate customers worldwide. The deal is the latest evolution of a relationship between Kantox and BNP Paribas that extends back more than three years.

“We have been serving clients together since 2019 when our technology partnership started,” Kantox CEO and co-founder Philippe Gelis said. “During those three years, we spent a lot of time together in the field, getting the opportunity to understand that together we were stronger and able to bring more value to clients.” Gelis called the union “the best of both worlds, the leading software company in the currency management automation category and the leading bank in Europe.”

Kantox offers a single, API-driven, plug-and-play solution that helps companies optimize their FX workflow. Kantox’s technology gives businesses the ability to automate their currency risk management, build better hedging strategies, and lower costs. With its Currency Management Automation, Kantox enables corporate treasurers to deal effectively with challenges ranging from an over-reliance on manual processes to a fragmented FX workflow due to the absence of end-to-end solutions.

Kantox’s technology will be put to work for the Global Markets business of BNP Paribas’ CIB division, and the business centers of the Commercial, Personal, and Banking Services (CPBS) division. Both small businesses and large corporates will be the target markets for Kantox’s currency automation risk management offering.

Among the premier banks in the European Union, BNP Paribas is active in 65 countries and has almost 190,000 employees. The company’s Chief Operating Officer, Head of BNP Paribas CIB, Yann Gérardin called the acquisition another example of the institution’s readiness to “establish long-term partnerships with fintechs in ever-increasing range of areas.”

Kantox made its Finovate debut in 2013 at FinovateEurope. Within ten years, the company surpassed $15 billion in total corporate foreign exchange transactions. Kantox began this year with news that it was partnering with virtual IBAN and corporate account provider Monneo. This spring, Kantox teamed up with London-based fintech Revving to launch an integrated and embedded finance and working capital solution. Kantox raised more than $43 million in funding prior to the this week’s acquisition according to Crunchbase.

Photo by Min An

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Airwallex Raises $100 Million at $5.5 Billion Valuation

Airwallex Raises $100 Million at $5.5 Billion Valuation
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Cross border payments company Airwallex raised $100 million on a valuation of $5.5 billion.
  • The funding round was an extension of the company’s Series E round. Airwallex has raised a total of $900 million in funding.
  • Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, Airwallex was founded in 2015. Co-founder Jack Zhang is CEO.

Cross-border payments company Airwallex has emerged from its extension Series E round with an additional $100 million in capital and its $5.5 billion valuation intact.

“The valuation underscores investors’ confidence in Airwallex’s core business value and fundamentals,” Airwallex CEO and co-founder Jack Zhang said. He added that the market environment going forward remained “challenging in the foreseeable future,” but said the investment would help fuel the company’s objectives with regards to growth, product expansion, and talent acquisition. “By strengthening the breadth of our global reach and product offering, we can better empower our customers to unlock new market opportunities,” Zhang said.

The investment takes Airwallex’s total capital to $900 million. Participating in this week’s funding were existing investors Square Peg, Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia Capital China, Lone Pine Capital, Hermitage Capital, 1835i Ventures, and Tencent. Other investors included Australian superannuation fund, HostPlus, and a pension fund based in North America.

Airwallex’s payments and banking platform helps businesses accept payments, move money around the world, and enhance their financial operations. The company also offers a business account that features global accounts, borderless cards, transfers and foreign exchange, payment links, business expense reconciliation, and integration with accounting platform Xero. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, Airwallex has enjoyed revenue growth of 184% in the past year and is currently processing nearly $50 billion in annualized transactions.

Named Startup of the Year in the U.S. FinTech Awards and FinTech of the Year at the Asia FinTech Awards, Airwallex announced in August that it was committing an additional HK$2.25 million ($286,650 USD) into its Hong Kong SMEs Initiative. Launched in April, the effort is designed to help small businesses recover from the economic fallout from the COVID pandemic. This latest commitment brings Airwallex’s total support of the initiative to HK$4.5 million ($573,300 USD).

Photo by Harry Shum

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Coinbase Partners with Google Cloud; Earns Regulatory Approval in Singapore

Coinbase Partners with Google Cloud; Earns Regulatory Approval in Singapore
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni profile, Coinbase, Google Cloud Platform

Enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies has settled down from its peak a year ago. But innovation in the space continues undaunted. Today we learned that one of the pioneering companies in digital assets, Coinbase, has forged a strategic partnership with Google Cloud. The partnership calls for Coinbase to use Google Cloud as its strategic cloud provider for developing advanced exchange and data services. Google Cloud’s platform will enable Coinbase to process blockchain data at scale, and boost the international reach of its services courtesy of Google Cloud’s fiber optic network. Coinbase will also benefit from Google Cloud’s secure infrastructure and the company’s data and analytics capabilities.

“We are excited Google Cloud has selected Coinbase to help bring Web3 to a new set of users and provide powerful solutions to developers,” Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong said. “With more than 100 million verified users and 14,500 institutional clients, Coinbase has spent more than a decade building industry-leading products on top of blockchain technology. We could not ask for a better partner to help execute our vision of building a trusted bridge into the Web3 ecosystem.”

The partnership also means that Google Cloud will enable select customers to pay for its cloud services with designated cryptocurrencies. The functionality will be powered by Coinbase Commerce, which provides a decentralized way for merchants around the world to accept cryptocurrency payments. Further, Web3 developers will be able to access Google’s BigQuery crypto public datasets – powered by Coinbase Cloud Nodes – across leading blockchains. This will enable developers to operate Web3-based systems without requiring expensive and unwieldy infrastructure.

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said the partnership would help make it easier and faster for developers to build Web3. Kurian highlighted the “scalability, reliability, security, and data services available via Google Cloud” which he said would enable developers to “focus on innovation in the Web3 space.” Google also announced that it will use Coinbase Prime for institutional crypto services such as secure custody and reporting.

Coinbase’s partnership news with Google Cloud comes as the cryptocurrency innovator announces that it has secured regulatory approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The company received its In-Principle Approval (IPA) as a Major Payments Institution license holder, which will enable Coinbase to offer regulated Digital Payment Token products and services in Singapore. It’s worth noting that Coinbase is no stranger to the country. The company introduced the island nation as its technology hub last year. And over the past three years, Coinbase’s venture capital arm, Coinbase Ventures, has invested in more than 15 Singapore-based Web3 startups.

“Today’s announcement underlines our commitment to Singapore as a regional hub that allows us to unlock new capabilities for Singapore-based institutional and corporate clients in the future,” Coinbase’s Nana Murugesan wrote on the company blog this week. “Gaining this in-principle approval from MAS is an important step, as we plan to launch our full suite of retail, institutional, and ecosystem products.”

Coinbase made its Finovate debut in 2014 at FinovateSpring in San Francisco, California. Founded in 2012, the company now enables more than 100 million people and businesses to buy, sell, and manage cryptocurrencies. Coinbase has a quarterly trading volume of $217 billion, and $96 billion in assets on its platform. With partners in more than 100 countries, and 4,900+ employees, Coinbase is a publicly-traded company on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker COIN and has a market capitalization of $16 billion.

Photo by Pixabay

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Eight Alums Raise More Than $1 Billion in Q3 of 2022

Eight Alums Raise More Than $1 Billion in Q3 of 2022
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings, Quarterly Funding

2022 marks the fourth year in a row in which Finovate alums have raised $1 billion or more in equity funding in the third quarter. The number of alums reporting investments in Q3 this year was lower than in previous years, and much of the quarter’s lofty fundraising total comes from a single, sizable investment of $800 million in Klarna.

Also continuing a trend we’ve seen for the past few years is the relatively strong performance of August compared to other months in the third quarter. While more capital was invested our alums in July (again, credit to Klarna), August featured more alums receiving funding than any other month in Q3 this year.

Previous Quarterly Comparisons

  • Q3 2021: More than $1.1 billion raised by 14 alums
  • Q3 2020: More than $1.2 billion raised by 14 alums
  • Q3 2019: More than $1 billion raised by 21 alums
  • Q3 2018: More than $400 million raised by 19 alums
  • Q3 2017: More than $1 billion raised by 31 alums

Top Equity Investments for Q3 2022

The top equity investment of the quarter for Finovate alums this year was Klarna’s $800 million fundraising in July. In fact, at nearly 80% of the quarter’s total alum funding haul, Klarna’s investment was significantly larger than combined amount of the other six known alum investments in Q3.

While impressive in this context, the capital infusion did come with a reduction in Klarna’s valuation. According to Reuters, the Swedish e-commerce and payments innovator was valued at $6.7 billion in its July transaction, an 85% drop from its 2021 valuation of $46 billion.

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q3 2022.

July 2022: $839 million raised by three alums

August 2022: More than $118 million raised by four alums

September 2022: $52 million raised by one alum

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the third quarter of 2022 and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at research@finovate.com. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

Photo by Pixabay

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finastra Partners with Contour for Trade Finance; Collaborates with Kotak Mahindra Bank for Corporate Banking

Finastra Partners with Contour for Trade Finance; Collaborates with Kotak Mahindra Bank for Corporate Banking
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Finastra
  • Financial solutions provider Finastra announced a strategic collaboration with digital trade finance network Contour.
  • Finastra also announced a partnership with India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank, bringing its Unified Corporate Portal solution to support the institution’s corporate banking portal Kotak FYN.
  • Formed via a merger between Misys and D+H in 2017, Finastra also recently announced the appointment of Chief People Officer Helen Cook.

Financial solutions company Finastra recently announced a pair of partnerships. The U.K.-based firm, which launched its open platform for innovation FusionFabric.cloud in 2017, has entered a strategic collaboration with digital trade finance network Contour. The collaboration will integrate Finastra’s Fusion Trade Innovation technology with Contour’s platform, boosting access to trade finance and streamlining back-office workflow.

The collaboration helps financial institutions take advantage of the multi-trillion dollar global trade business that both corporate customers and consumer depend upon every day. The partnership between Finastra and Contour will give financial institutions a network that supports collaborative workflows between trading parties. The new integration facilitates digital adoption, lowers costs and reliance on paper, and reduces risk.

“Our partnership with Finastra is an important step forward in breaking down barriers to adoption and increasing access to trade finance,” Contour CEO Carl Wegner said. “By integrating Finastra’s Fusion Trade Innovation, financial institutions and corporates will have access to an end-to-end ecosystem of services that will enable them to transact seamlessly and securely.”

Finastra also announced a partnership with India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank, specifically supporting the firm’s new integrated corporate banking portal, Kotak FYN. The bank will rely on Finastra’s Unified Corporate Portal solution, expanding a partnership with Finastra that extends back to October of 2021. The new enterprise portal will enable bank customers to conduct trade services. By the final quarter of the year, the portal will also offer account services, payments, and collections.

“Working together with Finastra, the Unified Corporate Portal will allow us to make the Kotak FYN portal even more revolutionary,” Kotak Mahindra Bank President for Global Transaction Banking Shekhar Bhandari said. “We can provide intuitive, easy-to-use access to many products and user journeys through a single platform, reducing complexity and friction for our customers and providing a truly differentiated user experience.”

The Bank’s Unified Corporate Portal will leverage Finastra’s Corporate Channels framework. This will empower banks to offer their corporate clients a seamless experience for account services, payments, trade, supply chain finance, and lending. The portal will enable banks to unify data across portals and back office systems to give users a single view of transactions, positions, and balances. Finastra noted that the integration will support self-service operation and boost efficiency.

Finastra’s partnership news comes in the wake of a new C-suite hire: the appointment of Helen Cook as the company’s Chief People Officer. Announced late last week, Cook comes to Finastra from Natwest Group, where she worked as Chief Human Resources Officer. At Finastra, Cook will be tasked with helping the company fulfill its goal to be “the most inclusive and diverse employer in the fintech industry,” according to a statement.

“Finastra’s vision is built on collaboration, and its commitment to become a truly inclusive workplace and enhance the skills of its workforce,” Cook said. “I’m thrilled to support in growing and developing the company’s global talent.”

Finastra was formed in 2017 as a merger between Finovate alum Misys and D+H. The company’s technology is used by more than 8,600 institutions, including 90 of the top 100 banks in the world. Simon Paris is CEO.

Photo by Akshar Dave🌻

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global Singapore: MAS Embraces ESG, HSBC Invests in Customer Intel Specialist Bizbaz

Finovate Global Singapore: MAS Embraces ESG, HSBC Invests in Customer Intel Specialist Bizbaz
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global

The ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) movement may be drawing snickers from some corners of the investing world. But in places like Singapore, the drive to build a more sustainable, equitable, and accountable world for investors and users of financial services, is picking up steam.

This week, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced the launch of its ESG Hub. The Hub is dedicated to supporting collaboration between fintechs, financial institutions, and other industry participants. With 15 ESG fintechs and organizations already on board, the new hub will serve as an anchor for a variety of sustainability initiatives including the Point Carbon Zero Program and KPMG’s ESG Business Foundry.

The Hub will also facilitate MAS’ Project Greenprint, a set of initiatives launched in 2020 to help the financial industry obtain “quality, consistent, and granular data” on sustainability. The project includes a common disclosure portal to simplify the ESG disclosure process; a data orchestrator to aggregate sustainability data from multiple sources such as ESG data providers, utilities providers, and others; a ESG registry to record and manage ESG certifications; and a marketplace to help green technology providers in Singapore connect with investors, venture capital firms, and financial institutions to foster partnerships and innovations in green technology.

“The establishment of the ESG Impact Hub is a critical milestone in Project Greenprint’s journey to build a vibrant and robust ecosystem in Singapore, underpinned by technology and data,” MAS Chief Sustainability Officer Darian McBain said. “This physical Hub will augment MAS’ plans to launch a digital Greenprint Marketplace next year to catalyze the growth of the region’s online ESG community; and will serve as the launchpad for public-private partnerships that support Asia’s just and sustainable transition to a low carbon economy.”

MAS’ ESG hub will look to build Singapore’s ESG ecosystem in three ways: helping corporations and financial institutions meet their ESG needs via the “discovery, scaling, and deployment” of new green technical solutions; partnering with knowledge leaders, investors, and financial institutions to organize and launch ESG accelerator programs, workshops and other initiatives; and supporting ESG stakeholders by directing the community’s “programs and solutions toward “material, quantifiable impacts.”

As of October 4, the members of MAS’ ESG Impact Hub include:

  • Acre Resources
  • CDP
  • Climate Impact X
  • Circulate Capital
  • Eachmile Technologies
  • Equilibriuim AI
  • GDST (Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability)
  • Grow Asia
  • KPMG
  • MUFG BAnk
  • STACS
  • Stonehaven
  • Terrascope
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • World Wide Generation (WWG)

Elsewhere in the Singapore fintech ecosystem, customer intelligence and risk assessment firm Bizbaz recently secured $4 million in seed funding. The round was led by HSBC Asset Management, and featured participation from Vynn Capital and SOSV.

Bizbaz offers banks, fintechs, and other businesses the ability to leverage data to acquire new, unbanked and underbanked customers, reduce risk and cost-associated risk, and create revenues from upselling new financial products to existing customers. Founded in 2019, the Singapore-based company offers a range of financial intelligence solutions including alternative credit scoring, fraud detection, eKYC, and product aggregation and recommendation systems.

Bizbaz does business in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand, Africa, and Latin America, as well as its home market of Singapore. The company notes that more than seven out of ten Southeast Asia’s 680 million population are unbanked and have no credit history. At the same time, Bizbaz recognizes that mobile phone penetration rates of 69% give the startup the opportunity to leverage social data, along with financial data, to develop risk profiles for thin or no-file individuals.

“Most financial institutions and financial technology companies still use outdated financial history based credit risk systems,” Bizbaz CEO Hayk Hakobyan said. “Our solutions analyze all financial and non-financial data, which have meaningful impact on risk assessment for loans, insurance and other financial services.”

Bizbaz includes insurtechs eBaoTech and Aktivo, Philippine credit bureau CIBI, and digital identity and programmable communications firm Telesign among its partners. This spring, the company announced a collaboration with Australia-based Advanced Human Imaging Limited.

HSBC Asset Management is the investment division of U.K.-based HSBC Group. The firm’s investment in Bizbaz comes a little over a year after launching a new venture capital investment strategy designed to gi give customers more exposure to innovative fintechs. The Greater Bay Area in China was among the markets highlighted when the fund was announced late last summer.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Munich-based AML Surveillance technology company Hawk AI announced a strategic partnership with Know Your Customer.
  • Latvian open banking data platform Nordigen teamed up with Italian cash flow management solution provider Pelrio.
  • Germany’s ADAC Finanzdienste partnered with Solarisbank to launch new credit card offering.

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Photo by Elina Sazonov

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Creating a Clear Path to Innovation: Our Conversation with ASA Chief Strategy Officer Lisa Gold Schier

Creating a Clear Path to Innovation: Our Conversation with ASA Chief Strategy Officer Lisa Gold Schier
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ASA, Speaker series, Women in Fintech

From Open Banking to Embedded Finance, there are more ways than ever for financial institutions and financial services providers to embrace digital technology and bring better, more personalized, and easier to use financial products to market.

One company that is playing a role in helping businesses make the most of the latest innovations in financial technology is ASA. The company, headquartered in Utah and making its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall, facilitates collaborations between financial institutions and fintechs. An embedded solution, ASA’s technology helps community banks and credit unions offer their customers the same quality of innovative digital services offered by their larger rivals.

We caught up with Lisa Gold Schier, Chief Strategy Officer with ASA, to talk about the opportunity of collaborative banking, how to make bank/fintech partnerships work, and what financial institutions are focused on right now.

Tell me about your time in the industry and your new role at ASA. Why did you make the switch from banking to fintech?

Lisa Gold Schier: I started my financial services career with a bank, then worked with banks and fintechs. However, I had never worked directly for a fintech. Prior to joining ASA, I served as a leader at the American Bankers Association (ABA), where I led product evaluation and served as a strategic advisor to bankers, technology providers, and consultants across areas such as technology trends, digital transformation, and the customer experience. I helped establish and spearhead the only industry committee focused on guiding strategic direction for industry innovation with an emphasis on bank/technology partnerships and core processor engagement.

I evaluated hundreds of fintech solutions during my years at ABA. When I discovered ASA, I knew it was something unique. I realized ASA’s technology and framework changes and improves how financial institutions, fintechs, and customers access technology and work together. By joining the team, I help financial institutions and fintechs meet the needs of their account holders. I am now Chief Strategy Officer at ASA, driving the strategy of collaborative banking and creating a clear path to innovation, scale, and customer financial empowerment through embedded fintech.

Who is ASA and what is collaborative banking? What makes it different than Open Banking or Banking as a Service?

Schier: While OpenBanking and Banking as a Service each have their place in the market, challenges exist with each. Banking as a Service requires fintechs to jump through regulatory hoops and open banking puts banks and fintechs against each other in competition for customers’ finances. Collaborative banking, on the other hand, is a model that allows financial institutions and fintechs to work together, sharing revenue and business opportunities. Collaborative banking takes the spirit of open banking and mitigates the pitfalls, allowing institutions and fintechs to partner in a mutually beneficial way by removing the regulatory risk traditionally associated with partnerships.

ASA, the pioneer of collaborative banking, is an embedded fintech solution that connects financial institutions with customer-facing fintechs in a secure, compliant, and easy to implement marketplace, powering growth and opportunity for all. Account holders select and instantly download the apps that meet their individual needs, and link their accounts without giving the fintech access to any personal information. With ASA and collaborative banking, financial institutions are the hub of financial choice, maintaining the account holder relationship and providing financial empowerment through individualized choice.

Lisa Gold Schier introducing ASA’s demo at FinovateFall 2022 in New York.

What challenges have traditionally made bank/fintech partnerships difficult, and how is the ASA model helping to overcome them?

Schier: There are many challenges, some of the largest include developing an innovation strategy and the team to implement and follow through, researching and vetting all the fintechs and determining which ones will solve the majority of customers’ needs, contracts, core integrations, and balancing innovation with liability and risk. These roadblocks can be especially challenging for community institutions, who lack the large tech budgets of regional and national players.

ASA addresses these issues by acting as a single integration point between financial institutions and fintechs, either through the institution’s core, online provider, or data aggregator. Fintechs never interface with institution’s core, and ASA normalizes, tokenizes, and anonymizes customer PII data, ensuring fintechs can’t access personal accountholder data.

By solving the one-to-one integration pain point, ASA is enabling personalization at scale by allowing customers to choose and download the niche apps they crave without diluting the relationship with the bank or credit union. ASA creates a trusted closed network between financial institutions and fintechs, making partnerships easier, more affordable, and more secure than ever before.

How do you mentor and support women in the industry?

Schier: I strongly believe in having diverse views around the table, and part of doing so means proactively seeking out those different perspectives. This often looks like creating networks, whether within my organization or within the industry, and then supporting each other. It’s important to foster relationships with junior and senior women and share advice and insights.

I also support women through social media and speaking opportunities, looking at and creating diversity in promotional and advertising materials. It’s disappointing to see panels and conference sessions that lack diversity. So, when I am working with conference coordinators, I make it a priority to seek diverse representation, which includes recommending industry leaders and women that may not be tied in with the conference circuit. This also includes working with and supporting diverse communities. Since so many have supported me, I want to continue to give back to the industry.

What is top of mind for financial institutions and fintechs now and over the next 12 months?

Schier: To quote Ron Shevlin, our industry is at a hard fork in the road, and it’s critical for banks and credit unions to move toward the collaborative future of banking. Doing so will enable them to keep up with all of the new technology apps, grow business, and remain relevant. Financial institutions and fintechs that embrace embedded fintech and lean into secure consumer choice, providing consumers with more authority over who has access to their data and under what circumstances, will gain a strong competitive advantage. Moving forward, financial institutions and fintechs should prepare to embrace self-sovereign identities more fully, enabling consumer ownership of their data in new, innovative ways.

Customers increasingly need easier, quicker access to a range of financial education and wellness resources, especially given current market volatility. Those financial institutions that proactively offer more choice, providing customers with simpler, more secure, wider access to the tools needed to develop their financial health and education, will be well positioned to promote financial empowerment and equity.

Photo by Genine Alyssa Pedreno-Andrada

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Jiko Secures $40 Million in Series B Funding, Unveils New Money Storage Solution

Jiko Secures $40 Million in Series B Funding, Unveils New Money Storage Solution
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Cash management innovator Jiko raised $40 million in Series B funding today.
  • The company’s technology enables businesses of all sizes to store their cash in higher yielding “spendable T-bills.”
  • Jiko also announced the launch of its Jiko Money Storage solution, which will soon enable 34/7 money movement on the Jiko Network.

Among the more interesting fintechs innovating in the cash management space, Jiko raised $40 million in Series B funding today. Jiko enables companies of all sizes to move cash into and out of short-term U.S. Treasury bills (known as T-bills).

Jiko “spendable T-bills” provide transparent pricing and near instant liquidity, blending the safety and yield of T-bills with the flexibility of cash. The Oakland, California-based fintech leverages its status as a broker-dealer, as well as its technology stack and bank charter, to operate more cost-efficiently than other cash storage options.

“Today’s CEOs, CFOs, and corporate treasurers must be increasingly nimble in the face of factors such as inflation, supply chain disruption, and geopolitical conflict, while still managing their company’s risk exposure – making it paramount that cash deliver yield through safe and secure strategies,” CEO and co-founder of Jiko Stephane Lintner said.

“That need is at the heart of why we created Jiko, and with this additional funding, we look forward to continuing our work to transform how money can be moved and stored – exemplified by our milestone launch of Jiko Money Storage.”

Jiko Money Storage, also announced today, enables businesses to store cash securely in the form of T-bills with on-demand liquidity at leading custody bank BNY Mellon. Jiko will soon make the holdings movable 24/7 on the Jiko network.

The company’s Series B round was led by Red River West. Trousdale Ventures, Owen Van Natta, Temaris & Associates, La Maison Partners, BPI France, Airbus Ventures, Anthem Ventures, Upfront Ventures, and Radicle Impact also participated. The investment adds to the $47.7 million the company has raised to date via its Series A and seed funding rounds.

“It’s rare to come across a fintech team quite as ambitious as Jiko’s,” Airbus Ventures Partner Claas Kohl said. “Jiko’s network presents uncompromised safety combined with the efficiency of a modern tech stack and is equipped to soon support multi-currency financial activity.” Former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Jiko advisor Larry Summers said, “In today’s macro environment, cash should be put to work – not sit idly in bank accounts. I don’t endorse any products or platforms, but I am excited by the innovation that Stephane and his team are delivering for money storage and look forward to continuing to advise them.”

Photo by Pixabay

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

AML Surveillance Technology Innovator Hawk AI Forges Strategic Partnership with Know Your Customer

AML Surveillance Technology Innovator Hawk AI Forges Strategic Partnership with Know Your Customer
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Hawk:AI
  • AML surveillance technology specialist Hawk AI forged a strategic partnership with digital onboarding and business KYC solutions provider Know Your Customer.
  • The partnership will give businesses an integrated anti-fraud solution that will help them avoid the problem of siloed compliance technologies.
  • Munich, Germany-based Hawk AI made its Finovate debut in May, demoing its technology at FinovateSpring in San Francisco, California.

Hawk AI, an anti-money laundering surveillance technology company for banks and fintechs, announced a strategic partnership with Know Your Customer this week. The alliance will combine Know Your Customer’s digital onboarding and business KYC solutions with Hawk AI’s transaction monitoring technology. The new offering will give businesses an integrated anti-fraud solution to enhance their defense against financial crime.

“There is a wave of technological innovation taking place in RegTech,” Hawk AI CTO and co-founder Wolfgang Berner said, “from cloud native infrastructure enabling scalability, real-time native processing in a performant, safe and secure way, to fully explained AI and machine learning that augment traditional AML approaches and ensure efficient and effective crimefighting.”

Berner also underscored the challenge of fraud prevention solutions that are not well integrated. “Cutting-edge technology is not enough if information remains siloed,” he said. Berner noted that Know Your Customer shared Hawk AI’s “vision of modular solutions that foster a more holistic approach to fighting financial crime.”

Hawk AI’s Steve Liú, General Manager North America

Processing billions of transactions in more than 60 countries every year, Hawk AI’s technology leverages explainable AI and cloud technology to detect financial crime while keeping false positives low. The company reported that reducing false positives can help AML compliance officers save up to 70% of their workday, enabling them to focus on more complex compliance challenges.

Hawk AI made its Finovate debut earlier this year at FinovateSpring 2022 in San Francisco. Headquartered in Germany, and founded in 2018, the company demoed its AML Surveillance Suite. The technology blends AI with traditional, rule-based strategies to monitor financial transactions in real-time and help financial institutions and fintechs better detect suspected cases of fraud, financial crime, and money laundering. This method helps identify minor, easily missed anomalies that can be overlooked by traditional rule-based approaches alone.

Hawk AI includes financial services consultancy Capco, and KYC and customer onboarding specialist Ondato – as well as fellow Finovate alums like Visa, Mambu, and Diebold Nixdorf – among its partners. A member of the RegTech 100, Hawk AI has raised $10 million in funding from investors including BlackFin Capital Partners and Picus Capital. Co-founder Tobias Schweiger is CEO.

Photo by Frans van Heerden

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook