Author: David Penn

5 Tales from the Crypto: Acquisitions, New Markets, New Rules, and New Tools

5 Tales from the Crypto: Acquisitions, New Markets, New Rules, and New Tools
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Coinbase, Cryptocurrency, Nubank

This week in 5 Tales from the Crypto we look at a pair of acquisitions, an expansion into a new market, new guidelines for crypto providers, and a new solution for executing cryptocurrency swaps.

Crypto.com acquires Australia’s Fintek Securities

Cryptocurrency trading platform Crypto.com has acquired brokerage service and trading company Fintek Securities. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The acquisition will help Crypto.com extend its services to crypto traders and investors in Australia. Fintek Securities holds an Australian Financial Services license and is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

“The path of the Crypto.com roadmap is to ambitiously expand our offering by providing customers (with) the most comprehensive set of financial services, and this acquisition is the latest step in that journey,” Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said. “The goal is to create one destination for all financial services where users can simplify their experience and maximize rewards.”

Crypto.com offers eligible customers financial products including deposits, derivatives, securities, foreign exchange, managed investment schemes, and more. Investors and traders on its platform can buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more than 350 other cryptocurrencies. They can also access, manage, and spend their funds at any time using their Crypto.com Visa Card, which offers 5% cash back on all purchases.

Founded in 2016, Crypto.com has its corporate headquarters in Singapore and American headquarters in Tyler, Texas. The company serves more than 100 million customers around the world, and is a leader in regulatory compliance, security, and privacy in the crypto space. Crypto.com’s latest acquisition comes less than a month after it announced the purchase of SEC-registered broker-dealer Watchdog Capital. In August, Crypto.com added PayPal as a payment method to fund cryptocurrency purchases on its platform.

Cryptocurrency platform Gemini goes live in France

Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license in hand, cryptocurrency platform Gemini has gone live in France. The platform secured its VASP registration earlier this year, and this week announced that it is taking advantage of growing interest in crypto in France to begin operations in the country.

Gemini Head of Europe Gillian Lynch wrote on the company’s blog that the percentage of crypto owners in France has grown to 18%, a two-point increase since 2022. Gemini’s 2024 Global State of Crypto report further revealed that trust in crypto is higher in France (23%) compared to both the U.S. (21%) and the U.K. (19%). Additionally, most crypto owners in France (62%) are so-called HODLers who see their holdings as part of their long-term investments rather than as short-term trading vehicles. Nearly half of those responding bought their first crypto assets more than three years ago.

“Gemini’s entry into France is a strategic choice for our next phase of growth,” Lynch wrote. “France’s proactive engagement with and support of the crypto sector has fostered the development of a crypto hub, making it a key market for us.”

Lynch credited regulators for much of the positive sentiment in France toward crypto. Specifically, Lynch pointed to France’s VASP regime, as well as the European Union’s passage of the Markets in Crypto Assets regulation (MiCA) in 2023. MiCA provides a comprehensive framework and regulatory guidance for E.U. companies involved in digital assets.

“We believe in empowering individuals through crypto, and our expansion into France marks a significant milestone in our mission to make crypto accessible to everyone,” Lynch said. “Gemini’s research into the French market shows its growing interest in digital assets. (A) robust regulatory framework presents a unique opportunity to introduce our platform to the trading community and extend our presence in the European market over the coming months.”

Founded in 2015, Gemini is headquartered in New York.

EBA publishes new regulations for crypto providers

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has issued two sets of guidelines that specify measures that Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) must adhere to when transferring funds or cryptocurrencies. In effect as of December 30, 2025, the regulations will require CASPs and PSPs that transfer funds or crypto assets to use a reliable screening system that will ensure compliance with their “restrictive measures” obligations.

“These Guidelines clarify how restrictive measures policies and procedures interact with financial institutions’ wider governance and risk management frameworks, to avoid operational and legal risks for financial institutions and ensure an effective implementation of restrictive measures,” the EBA wrote.

Further, CASPs and PSPs must screen relevant information to manage the risk that entities or individuals could violate the EU’s restrictive measures or seek to circumvent them.

The new compliance requirements are designed to address perceived vulnerabilities in the banking system that can lead to both legal and reputational risks for financial institutions. This can weaken the effectiveness of the E.U.’s restrictive measures regime and, ultimately, destabilize the region’s financial landscape.

The regulations build on legislation first issued in 2021 by the European Commission as part of a reform of the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) program. These regulations, adopted in June of last year and going into effect on December 30 of this year, include a proposal for new rules with regard to fund and crypto asset transfers.

Coinbase acquires Utopia Labs

Digital currency wallet and platform Coinbase announced that the team from Utopia Labs will join its efforts to enhance Coinbase’s onchain payments roadmap within Coinbase Wallet.

“The Utopia team has been on the ground floor building onchain payments products for years. We’re pumped for them to join us to accelerate our goal of bringing low-cost, fast, and global payments to everyone around the world,” Coinbase Head of Base and Coinbase Wallet Jesse Pollak wrote on the company’s blog. “Together, we’ll create a future where individuals and businesses large and small use onchain payments to make their lives better every day.”

Specifically, the Utopia Labs team will join Base, Coinbase’s decentralized Ethereum Layer 2 scaling network. Base provides a secure, low-cost, and developer-friendly way to build decentralized apps onchain. Coinbase Wallet enables users to store and manage all of their digital assets — from cryptocurrencies to NFTs — as well as multiple digital wallets in a single location. The wallet provides support for hundreds of thousands of coins, as well as many decentralized apps, and can readily be funded from bank accounts, local payment options, or card payments in more than 130 countries.

As Pollak explained, the connection between the acquisition, Base, and Coinbase is a strong one. “There’s a natural flywheel here,” Pollak said. “Base is supporting developers who build onchain apps, those apps attract users onchain, Wallet onboards those users, and in turn more users incentivizes more developers to build onchain.”

Operating in more than 100 countries, Coinbase supports $185 billion in quarterly volume traded on its platform, and safeguards $273 billion in assets. The company was founded in 2012 and made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2014. Brian Armstrong is CEO.

Earlier this month, Coinbase launched a new engineering hub in Singapore to support the local developer community. Also in November, Coinbase introduced USDC Rewards for Coinbase Wallet users. The new program enables them to earn 4.7% APY by holding USDC onchain in their wallets. Rewards are paid directly into user wallets on Base every month. Currently available “in most regions” around the world, U.S. Coinbase Wallet users are gaining access to the service this week.

Nubank introduces cryptocurrency swap tool

Brazilian fintech giant Nubank has introduced a new solution to help simplify cryptocurrency transactions for its customers. The new tool enables Nubank customers to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Uniswap for the digital dollar USDC and vice versa.

“Swap is in demand by customers as they start including crypto assets into their strategies,” Nubank Executive Director of Cryptocurrencies and Digital Assets Thomaz Fortes said. “The initial implementation involving USDC and the four most popular cryptos is a way to ensure potential profits from value appreciation without losing market position and with a lower fee compared to selling for value in reais.”

Integrated into the firm’s Nubank Cripto solution, the new functionality will be released over the coming weeks. Additional token pairs will be introduced within the next few months.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, Nubank made its Finovate debut at our developers conference, FinDEVr New York in 2016. Today, Nubank offers one of the largest digital banking platforms in the world. In fact, the company’s swap tool news arrives a few days after it reported reaching the 100 million customer milestone in Brazil. This figure represents 57% of the country’s adult population. Nubank also recently noted major gains in other Latin American markets, reporting nearly nine million customers in Mexico and more than two million in Colombia.

Photo by Michel Meuleman

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Insurtech Qover Teams Up with Mastercard

Insurtech Qover Teams Up with Mastercard
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Qover
  • Qover, an insurtech based in Brussels, Belgium, has partnered with Mastercard to provide return shipping cost protection when retailers do not offer free returns.
  • The service is available to Mastercard credit cardholders in Belgium and Luxembourg; Qover plans to expand the service to additional European countries.
  • Qover made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2018 in London.

Belgium-based insurtech Qover, which made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2018, has teamed up with fellow Finovate alum Mastercard to enhance the online shopping experience for Mastercard credit cardholders in Belgium and Luxembourg. Via the partnership, Mastercard will leverage Qover’s technology to provide return shipping cost protection to refund shipping fees when retailers do not offer free returns.

Qover’s platform makes return protection both easy and accessible. A combination of automation and advanced data extraction, driven by AI, enables users to find coverage details or submit a claim with just a few clicks and get instant updates on the status of their claim. Mastercard’s return protection reimburses shipping costs for returns, covering up to $31 (€30) per return, with a maximum of three claims or up to $95 (€90) per cardholder per year.

“Embedded protection is becoming a strategic tool for businesses to enhance customer value and build loyalty,” Qover Co-founder and CEO Quentin Colmant said. “We’re honored by Mastercard’s trust and are excited to bring this innovative solution to their cardholders.”

Qover provides an embedded insurance orchestration platform that empowers companies to embed insurance into their core offering. The company’s modular platform can accommodate any product or distribution channel and leverages automation and both GenAI and OCR technology to provide advanced data extraction that streamlines key components of the claims process.

Available in more than 32 countries in Europe, Qover offers a wide range of insurance solutions including accident, mobility, travel, property, and purchase insurance. The company is planning to add trip cancellation and motor third party liability (MTPL), as well as coverage for accidental damage, breakage, or theft of high-value belongings such as mobile devices and appliances, in the near future. The newly announced service is available to Mastercard credit cardholders in Belgium and Luxembourg; Qover plans to expand the service to additional European countries.

“We’re excited to unveil this new solution in collaboration with the rising star of European insurtech, Qover,” Mastercard Belgium and Luxembourg Country Manager Henri Dewaerheijd said. “This unique protection reinforces the value of Mastercard credit cards for online purchases and enhances the online shopping experience for our Belgian and Luxembourg cardholders.”

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Brussels, Qover made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2018. More recently, Qover was featured in CNBC and Statista’s roster of the world’s top 150 insurtechs. This summer, the company announced its entry into the motor insurance market in Ireland. Qover has raised more than $71 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. The firm includes Zurich Global Ventures and BlackRock among its investors.

Photo by Fuad Udemans

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Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Backbase, Daily news, Fintech Rundown, TransferTo

This week’s Fintech Rundown begins with a handful of stories about partnerships in wealth management and lending, as well as moves by banks to bolster their fraud prevention capabilities. Check back all week long for updates and more fintech news!

Wealth management & investing

1 fs Wealth, a global wealth intelligence provider, announces a strategic partnership with Apex Group.

OneChronos secures $32 million.

Lending & credit

Secured finance technology provider Lendscape teams up with Express Trade Capital.

Arc launches AI platform for private credit industry.

Fraud prevention

CommBank introduces three new security features on its app to help users defend themselves against scams.

Westpac unveils new resources — Westpac Verify and SaferPay — to make it easier for customers to report fraud.

Finix and Sift introduce advanced fraud monitoring, enabling no-code, AI-powered transaction security.

Digital banking

Vietnam’s Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank deploys Backbase’s Engagement Banking Platform.

Santander’s Openbank debuts in Mexico.

Crypto

Acuity Trading forges strategic partnership with multi-licensed broker, OneRoyal.

Xapo Bank introduces bitcoin beneficiary solution.

Payments & cards

TransferTo inks Memorandum of Understanding with pan-African financial institution, Ecobank Group.

Payment processing platform Solidgate launches its AI Dispute Representment solution to automate the dispute management process

Trust Payments introduces new Chief Executive Officer Laurence Booth.

U.S. Bank launches new travel booking platform for its cardholders to reserve hotels, flights and rental cars.

Priceline selects Affirm as its pay-over-time provider for Priceline Partner Solutions.

ValidiFI selected by PDI Technologies to Streamline Pay-by-Bank Enrollments with Consumer Choice.

PayPal to allow partners to use its stablecoin, PayPal USD, to settle cross-border money transfers made with Xoom.

ValidiFI selected by PDI Technologies to streamline pay-by-bank enrollments.

Worldpay partners with Mastercard to introduce virtual card program for travel agents.

Factor4 partners with InComm to deliver integrated gift card solutions.

Nayax launches automated self-service in El Salvador.

Pomelo launches secure international money transfer product.

Insurance

Luma Financial Technologies and iPipeline collaborate to streamline annuity and life insurance solutions for financial advisors and agents.

Small business financial management

Enigma launches small business financial health data on Databricks marketplace.

Fiserv and ADP team up to empower small business success.

Photo by Pixabay

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MODIFI Raises $15 Million in Series C Funding

MODIFI Raises $15 Million in Series C Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, MODIFI
  • Business payments platform MODIFI has secured $15 million in funding.
  • The Series C round was led by SMBC Asia Rising Fund, and featured participation from existing investors Maersk, Intesa SanPaolo, and Heliad.
  • MODIFI made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin, Germany.

In a round led by SMBC Asia Rising Fund, B2B Buy Now, Pay Later platform MODIFI has raised $15 million in funding. The Series C round also featured participation from existing investors Maersk, Intesa SanPaolo, and Heliad. In addition to the investment, MODIFI and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly advance digital solutions to support Asia-based SME exporters as they seek to grow their international trade operations. In a statement, the company underscored SMBC’s significant presence in the Asia-Pacific region, noting that SMBC brings capital and strategic alignment to the new relationship.

“The funding underscores the strength of our business and the confidence our investors have in our vision for the future,” MODIFI CEO and Co-founder Nelson Holzner said. “As global commerce evolves, MODIFI is at the forefront, providing innovative solutions that empower businesses to scale and succeed across borders.”

MODIFI, which stands for “Modern Digital Finance,” offers tools and solutions to optimize working capital and streamline cross-border payments. The company integrates advanced risk management with seamless payment processes to help businesses of all sizes expand their international operations. The fresh capital will help accelerate MODIFI’s expansion plans in high-growth markets such as China and India, where the company has already made inroads. A few weeks ago, MODIFI announced a strategic partnership with India’s Gujarat Industry Development Association (GIDA). This spring, the company announced a record year of business growth in China, with a 160x year-over-year increase in funding enabled for Chinese exporters. Together, SMBC and MODIFI plan to empower SMEs with new and innovative cross-border financial solutions via a series of joint initiatives, and to help these firms improve cash flow and expand their international reach.

“Our mission is simple: We empower SMEs to compete and thrive in the global market with fast, flexible, and secure payment solutions,” Holzner said. “With this fresh funding, we’re set to redefine global trade finance — ensuring businesses of all sizes can unlock the liquidity and get the protection they need to grow internationally.”

MODIFI made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin, Germany. At the conference, the company demonstrated its MODIFI Hub, which enables SMEs using MODIFI’s digital platform to check available limits, manage transactions, and request financing in less than 10 minutes.

Founded in 2018, MODIFI serves more than 1,700 customers in 55+ countries. The company has facilitated more than $3 billion in global trade, and was recognized this year by the Financial Times and Statista as one of the fastest-growing European fintech companies.

Photo by anna-m. w.

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Authlete Streamlines Digital Credential Issuance and Management

Authlete Streamlines Digital Credential Issuance and Management
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Authlete
  • Japan-based identity verification specialist Authlete introduced version 3.0 of its technology.
  • The enhancements streamline the process of issuing and managing digital credentials, specifically interoperable verifiable credentials (VCs).
  • Authlete made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin, Germany.

Tokyo, Japan-based identity verification specialist Authlete has unveiled the latest version of its technology which streamlines the process of issuing and managing digital credentials. Authlete 3.0, launched earlier this month, will make it easier for entities such as financial institutions, governments, and educational organizations to issue interoperable verifiable credentials (VCs) via a straightforward API.

What are VCs and why are they important? VCs are digital credentials whose authorship can be verified cryptographically. They are tamper-evident, which means that they are designed so that any alterations or modifications can be readily identified. This makes VCs more secure, more trustworthy, more portable, and easier to verify compared to physical identity documents or cards. Additionally, VCs give more power to the holder who can choose specifically which information to share in a given instance. Use cases for VCs include government-issued identity documents, reusable KYC verifications for banks, and more.

Authlete’s new 3.0 upgrade provides organizations with an API that enables them to quickly issue interoperable VCs with support for OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance (OID4VCI). The standard is built on OAuth and OpenID Connect (OIDC) protocols, popular international standards for authorization and identity verification, respectively. It also supports a variety of credential formats, such as SD_JWT VC and mdoc/mDL. The technology’s support for both of these formats has been on display via a number of global pilot projects including EU Digital Identity (EUDI) and Japan’s Trusted Web initiative.

Authlete 3.0 also features enhanced FAPI compliance, multi-tenant management, multi-region server options, social logins and multi-factor authentication, and granular access control.

“We are dedicated to empowering organizations to build secure, user-centric, and interoperable digital identity infrastructures, while contributing to the development of a globally interoperable digital identity ecosystem,” Authlete Co-founder Takahiko Kawasaki said.

Authlete made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin. More recently, Fanplus selected the company to implement OpenID Connect (OIDC) in support of its fan communication app. Fanplus plans, develops, and operates fan clubs and websites for musicians, and builds and operates e-commerce platforms for artist merchandise. In August, Authlete announced that sports and entertainment industry digital transformation specialist playground would use its technology for authentication and authorization infrastructure for its entertainment DX cloud platform, MOALA.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

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Alkami Teams Up with Kemba Credit Union

Alkami Teams Up with Kemba Credit Union
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alkami Technology, Alumni News
  • Digital banking solutions provider Alkami Technology has teamed up with Ohio-based credit union, Kemba Credit Union.
  • Via the partnership, the financial institution will launch a new digital banking solution for its retail and business members.
  • One of Finovate’s earliest alums, Texas-based Alkami Technology made its Finovate debut as iThryv in 2009.

Digital banking solutions provider Alkami Technology announced a partnership with Cincinnati, Ohio-based Kemba Credit Union. The institution, founded in 1934, will leverage its relationship with Alkami to launch a new digital banking solution for its retail and business members. The fintech’s digital banking platform will give Kemba Credit Union members intuitive self-service tools, advanced fraud prevention, and a highly personalized experience.

“Kemba’s successful launch and transition to the Alkami Platform is indicative of a strong partnership to come and we look forward to providing their retail and business members with exceptional digital banking resources,” Alkami VP of Client Experience Group Services, Shannon Marshburn said.

The new platform will empower Kemba Credit Union to boost growth in deposit accounts, create new cross-sell opportunities, and foster greater loyalty. In addition to the platform itself, the credit union will benefit from access to Alkami’s software development kit (SDK) and APIs to further customize its digital banking platform to meet member needs and ensure connectivity to functionality throughout the fintech ecosystem.

“We pride ourselves in providing our members with a high-quality, personalized banking experience that will further our mission to enrich their financial lives,” Kemba Credit Union President and CEO Dan Sutton said. “By partnering with Alkami, we are thrilled to expand that experience through a new digital platform. The launch and implementation of Alkami’s Platform exceeded our expectations, and we are impressed with the speed, look, and feel of the mobile application.”

Kemba Credit Union serves more than 130,000 members in Southwest Ohio, Southeast Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. The institution transitioned to a new online and mobile banking platform earlier this year, and recently announced that it was offering the Ohio Homebuyer Plus Program. This program offers a specialized tax-advantaged savings account with above-market interest rates to support Ohioans looking to purchase a home. Named to Cincinnati.com/The Enquirer’s Top Work Places roster for the past six years in a row, Kemba Credit Union has more than $1.7 billion in assets.

Alkami Technology made its Finovate debut in 2009 as iThryv. In the years since then, the Texas-based fintech has helped more than 800 financial institutions transform their digital banking offerings to meet growth goals, optimize the customer and member experience, and ensure regulatory compliance. Firms using Alkami’s banking platform for at least five years have experienced 25% higher loan growth, 19% higher revenue growth, and 11% higher core deposit growth relative to their peers.

Earlier this month, Alkami announced that it had been listed as the top digital banking provider to the credit union market based on the total number of enrolled mobile users. The recognition comes courtesy of FI Navigator, a U.S. banking vertical data and analytics company. The announcement follows news that Alkami was named “Best Banking App” in October in Tearsheet’s The Big Bank Theory Awards.

In October, Alkami teamed up a pair of regional financial institutions: Connecticut-based Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union and Montana-based Intrepid Credit Union.

Photo by Dave Morgan

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Finovate Global Indonesia: Sharia-Compliant Banking and the Rise of Lending-as-a-Service

Finovate Global Indonesia: Sharia-Compliant Banking and the Rise of Lending-as-a-Service
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global

This week’s edition of Finovate Global showcases fintech innovation in Indonesia.

Thought Machine helps modernize Islamic finance

Core banking and payments technology company Thought Machine has partnered with BCA Syariah to bring digital, Sharia-compliant financial products and services to its customers. The bank, a subsidiary of Bank Central Asia (BCA), has deployed Thought Machine’s core banking platform, Vault Core, which has enabled the institution to launch a number of new solutions. These offerings include Wadiah savings, a top-up e-wallet, and an online service Hajj Fee deposits. BCA Syariah also plans to launch term deposit products and gold financing “soon.”

“(Vault Core’s) Universal Product Engine allows us to create Sharia-compliant products with precision and swift responsiveness to evolving customer needs,” BCA Syariah Director Lukman Hadiwidjaja said. “Our successful go-live marks an important milestone in our mission to contribute significantly to the development of Sharia banking in Indonesia.”

Thought Machine’s Universal Product Engine features out-of-the-box Sharia-compliant products, enabling institutions to develop and customize a broad range of integrated financial solutions on a unified platform. In operation since 2010 and headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, BCA Syariah was named “Best Performing Sharia Bank in 2024” at the 13th Infobank Sharia Awards in October.

“BCA Syariah has demonstrated exceptional foresight in leveraging modern technology for enhanced user experiences,” Thought Machine CEO and Founder Paul Taylor said. “This milestone underscores our unwavering commitment to empowering financial institutions to innovate, grow, and outperform in their markets.”

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in London, Thought Machine made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2018. At the event, the company demonstrated its Vault core banking product, which today is used by institutions ranging from global Tier 1 clients such as Standard Chartered and Lloyds Banking Group to fintechs and challenger banks like Trust Bank and Atom Bank.

Finfra brings embedded lending technology to SMEs

Lending-as-a-Service infrastructure company Finfra is bringing embedded lending solutions to SMEs in Indonesia courtesy of a new investment and a new partnership.

The investment is a $2.5 million fundraising led by Cento Ventures and featuring participation from Accion Venture Lab, Z Venture Capital, and Avafin founder Matiss Ansviesulis. In a statement on LinkedIn Finfra CEO Markus Prommik, thanked his team and the company’s shareholders for their support and “for believing in this mission.”

Finfra also announced a new strategic partnership with Tyme which will bring the company’s embedded lending infrastructure to India. This, according to Prommik, will “unlock new opportunities for SMEs to access finance and drive meaningful impact. This partnership is more than a business collaboration; it’s a validation of our vision for Finfra and the future of lending!”

Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Singapore, Finfra enables technology companies to seamlessly embed financial services — from application to decisioning to operations — into their platforms. Finfra offers invoice, payroll, and working capital financing, as well as healthcare financing to give patients an alternative way to pay for medical procedures. The company’s technology has disbursed more than 325,000 loans to date, valued at more than $50 million. Prommik noted in his statement that Finfra has doubled its gross profit year-over-year, as well as its client base.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Konsentus forged a collaboration with the Bank of Namibia to support the bank’s open banking initiatives.
  • Visa announced strategic investments in four African startup graduates of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program.
  • Techpoint Africa interviewed a handful of VC investors on which areas in African fintech are growing fastest.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • German fintech MODIFI raised $15 million in funding in a round led by SMBC Asia Rising Fund.
  • Brokerage-as-a-Service fintech DriveWealth secured a brokerage license from the Bank of Lithuania.
  • Borse Stuttgart Digital turned to Fenergo to scale compliant crypto solutions across Europe.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • International money movement firm TerraPay teamed up with Suyool to enhance financial accessibility in Lebanon.
  • Mastercard partnered with Arab Regional Payment System, Buna, to reduce friction in cross-border payments.
  • Open API banking solutions company Codebase Technologies and AI-based identity verification specialist IDWise announced a collaboration to help banks in the MENA region fight financial crime.

Central and Southern Asia

  • TBC Uzbekistan announced the soft launch of its new debit card offering, Salom card.
  • The State Bank of India (SBI) partnered with Singapore-based fintech APIX to launch its SBI Innovation Hub.
  • Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) teamed up with Ant International to launch a new cross-border payment capability.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Peru-based fintech B89 partnered with Brazil’s PagBrasil in an effort to bring Pix to countries in Latin America outside of Brazil.
  • Mexican fintech Klar is planning for an IPO in 2026.
  • Uruguayan cross-border payments platform dLocal teamed up with low-cost airline Viva Aerobus.

Asia-Pacific

  • South Korean FX solutions provider SentBe implemented Visa Direct’s card transfer service.
  • Nium fortified its partnership with Kinexys by J.P. Morgan to enhance cross-border payments in Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong.
  • Bank of New Zealand has acquired New Zealand-based open banking fintech BlinkPay.

Photo by Tom Fisk

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Streamly Snapshot: Revolutionizing Cross-Border Payments — The Next Frontier

Streamly Snapshot: Revolutionizing Cross-Border Payments — The Next Frontier
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Speaker series, Streamly

From the continued relevance of paper checks to the rapid growth of digital technology, payments continues to be one of the most fascinating — and important — areas in fintech.

In this week’s Streamly interview, William Mills, CEO of the William Mills Agency, talks with Kevin Brown, CMO and Head of Corporate Development for Onbe. The two men discuss a variety of key issues in the payments world, including the potential for AI to revolutionize payment systems and the future of cross-border payments.

“One of the very prevalent modalities, or payment instruments, that still exist are paper-based checks. We did research with the team at Oliver Wyman and, in 2023, there were still 1.7 trillion dollars of paper check or cash-based B2C payments. A huge amount of paper that’s out there. Checks are dated, not a great customer experience, require action on behalf of the consumer and they’re really expensive to corporate clients … As an industry, we have a huge opportunity to still alleviate a significant amount of pain, both for the ultimate enterprises and then their consumers and recipients, just by the doing away of paper checks.”

Onbe manages and modernizes consumer and workforce disbursements for corporate customers. The company’s technology platform powers a suite of turnkey managed disbursement solutions that enable its customers to outsource their entire B2C disbursement operations. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Onbe was founded in 1996. Bala Janakiraman Iyer is CEO.

In his role at Onbe, Kevin Brown leads marketing, corporate development, business development, and communications. A fintech and payments operator with experience at both public and private equity-backed businesses, Brown is a graduate of Marist College (BA) and Pace University (MBA).

Photo by Nubia Navarro (nubikini)

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Dynamic Planner Partners with Salesforce

Dynamic Planner Partners with Salesforce
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Dynamic Planner
  • U.K.-based financial planning and advice platform Dynamic Planner has teamed up with Salesforce.
  • The partnership will make Dynamic Planner available on the Salesforce AppExchange and is the company’s second CRM partnership in as many months.
  • Dynamic Planner made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2022 in London.

Risk-based financial planning system Dynamic Planner has announced a new partnership with Salesforce. Now launched on the Salesforce AppExchange, Dynamic Planner will give Salesforce customers access to an enhanced and engaging digital financial planning experience.

“This collaboration provides financial planning and wealth management firms who use Salesforce with the ability to underpin their entire financial planning process with Dynamic Planner,” company Chief Revenue Officer Yasmina Siadatan said. “It will boost productivity gains and efficiencies, whilst delivering seamless and engaging wealth and financial planning for Salesforce customers. We look forward to working with Salesforce to provide an enhanced experience for firms.”

Founded in 2004, Dynamic Planner offers a digital financial planning and advice platform that helps investment advice firms scale their businesses, boost capacity, and better engage clients with mapped investment solutions and digital experiences. Dynamic Planner enables advisers to profile clients, conduct annual reviews, and perform cash flow planning with increased efficiency and speed. The company notes that 80% of annual reviews conducted via Dynamic Planner are completed in 35 minutes or less, with 20% of these reviews completed in less than five minutes. More than 40% of U.K. investment advice firms and more than 150 asset managers use Dynamic Planner’s technology.

Dynamic Planner’s partnership with Salesforce comes a month after the platform announced a CRM integration with Adviser Cloud. The new integration will make it easier for advisers to transfer client records efficiently and securely between Dynamic Planner and Adviser Cloud, saving time and lowering the risk of manual errors during rekeying of information. Integrations such as these are an important way to boost efficiency and lower operational costs for financial planning firms and their client.

“Adviser Cloud has always focused on providing intuitive, user-friendly software for financial advisers, and this integration continues that mission by eliminating data rekeying and enhancing workflows,” Adviser Cloud Tech Lead Ewan Humphreys said.

Headquartered in the U.K., Dynamic Planner made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2022. At the conference, the company demonstrated its end-to-end, risk-based financial planning system that combines intuitive technology with a trusted, independent asset risk model. Dynamic Planner uses more than 2,400 covariance correlations to accurately assess the risk of tens of thousands of investments and client portfolios every day. Ben Goss is CEO.

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5 Tales from the Crypto: Partnerships, Payments, and Blockchain Pilot Projects

5 Tales from the Crypto: Partnerships, Payments, and Blockchain Pilot Projects
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Cryptocurrency

Crypto.com’s new functionality, new partnership, and plans for the new year

Recently crowned the king of North American crypto trading, Crypto.com announced this week that it launched a new partnership with payments acceptance provider Ingenico. The partnership will enable users of Ingenico’s platform globally to accept payments in cryptocurrency. Consumers will benefit from earning rewards for transactions via Crypto.com’s Crypto.com Pay; merchants will benefit from being able to manage payments and services via both mobile and tablet devices.

Also this week, Crypto.com announced that it would expand its offering to include banking services, credit cards, and stock trading. Additionally, the company unveiled its new rewards program, Level Up, that enables customers to access benefits across multiple products — credit cards, stock trading, and banking services — through partner banks. Level Up offers a flexible rewards structure that enables users to secure benefits across a range of different products in the Crypto.com ecosystem.

“This product expansion represents our most aggressive push across traditional and digital finance and brings users to one simple app for industry-leading benefits through Level Up,” Crypto.com President and COO Eric Anziani said.

Finishing 2024 on a busy note, Crypto.com is already eyeing the new year. The Singapore-based fintech announced this week that it is planning to expand its crypto offerings in 2025 to include both a stablecoin and an exchange-traded fund (ETF) product. Traditional financial products such as stock trading and banking are also top of the 2025 agenda for the company, as noted above. Crypto.com has put a date of Q1 2025 for the launch of its banking product services. The firm also plans to expand its debit card services in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa in Q4 of this year, and to launch credit cards in the U.S. and South Korea by Q2 of next year.

Boerse Stuttgart Digital partners with Fenergo

European cryptocurrency and digital asset infrastructure provider Boerse Stuttgart Digital has teamed up with KYC, client lifecycle management, and transaction monitoring solutions provider Fenergo to speed the onboarding of financial institutions that are looking to launch their own cryptocurrency offerings.

“Fenergo’s client lifecycle management solution, validated by the world’s largest financial institutions, will allow Boerse Stuttgart Digital to future-proof its solutions against regulatory change,” Fenergo Managing Director EMEA Ruth Ormsby said. “With this level of compliance automation, Boerse Stuttgart Digital can onboard banks, brokers, and asset managers seeking to unlock crypto trading faster, thus accelerating growth.”

The partnership between Fenergo and Boerse Stuttgart Digital will speed the onboarding of banks, brokers, and asset managers ready to launch their own cryptocurrency and digital asset offerings. Integrating Fenergo will streamline Boerse Stuttgart Digital’s underlying compliance processes for both Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML). This will enable financial institutions working with Boerse Stuttgart Digital to offer secure and reliable crypto trading and custody services to their customers.

“In the race to realize their own crypto offerings, financial institutions require efficient trading and custody solutions without compromising on regulatory compliance,” Boerse Stuttgart Digital Chief Digital & Product Officer Ulli Spankowski said. “Our partnership empowers banks, brokers, and asset managers to enter the crypto market, backed by infrastructure that ensures scalability, security, and full regulatory compliance.”

Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Fenergo made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2012 in London.

BitPay launches new cryptocurrency payout service

Payments company BitPay unveiled a new service late last week that will enable companies to pay employees, contractors, customers, and vendors in crypto.

The service, BitPay Send, is especially designed for international and gig economy companies that need to pay multiple recipients online at the same time. Companies are not required to buy, own, or manage cryptocurrencies themselves, and payout recipients receive their payments more efficiently and at less cost, according to BitPay CEO Stephen Pair.

“Blockchain payment adoption is growing because it offers an easy way to send and receive payments on a global scale,” Pair said.

BitPay Send can be used for a number of different payment operations including payroll, customer cash-outs, contractor payments, rewards, and settlements with marketplace sellers. The new offering also puts the firm in a position to compete with other crypto payroll services such as BitWage.

Swift, UBS, and Chainlink conclude blockchain pilot

That’s a wrap! Swift, UBS Asset Management, and Chainlink announced this week that they have successfully completed a pilot project that involved settling tokenized fund subscriptions and redemptions using the Swift network. The goal of the project is to enable digital asset transactions to settle with fiat payment systems across 11,500+ financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories.

The pilot project builds on an initiative by UBS Asset Management and SBI Digital Markets to develop a digital subscription and redemption system for tokenized funds. This is often an inefficient aspect of traditional fund operations that is typically burdened by manual interventions, delayed settlements, and the absence of real-time transparency. The pilot demonstrated how blockchain technology can be used to settle subscriptions and redemptions for tokenized investment fund vehicles, paving the way for straight-through-processing of the payment component without requiring global adoption of an on-chain form of payment.

The project was also undertaken as part of Project Guardian, a cooperation between policy makers and industry players to enhance financial market efficiency and liquidity via asset tokenization. Project Guardian is sponsored by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

“For digital assets to be adopted globally, they must seamlessly integrate with both existing payment systems and digital currencies,” Swift Head of Strategy Jonathan Ehrenfeld said. “Our work with UBS Asset Management and Chainlink in MAS’ Project Guardian leverages the global Swift network to bridge digital assets with established systems.”

Commercial Bank International inks MoU with Zumo

Commercial Bank International, a financial institution based in the UAE, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with U.K.-based digital assets platform Zumo. The goal of the partnership is to investigate the tracking of digital asset sustainability and comes as the UAE makes a bid to be seen as the leading international hub for digital assets and innovation.

“Our collaboration with CBI will see Zumo’s pioneering digital assets and blockchain technology complement CBI’s financial expertise and innovative approach to drive sustainability,” Zumo COO Clark Povey said. “Zumo solves the biggest challenges in digital assets for financial institutions by providing business-critical technologies to navigate the rapidly evolving digital asset landscape, and with Zumo’s technology and leadership in sustainability to digital assets, the exciting journey ahead is just beginning.”

Crypto-as-a-service platform Zumo provides banks, fintechs, and financial services companies with the infrastructure they need to launch sustainable digital asset products. The company is a pioneer in sustainability and crypto assets, developing research and solutions to enable the crypto market to move closer to net zero. Registered with the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Zumo has secured public funding to build and launch a solution to help cryptocurrency companies measure, mitigate, and report on their carbon footprint. Founded in 2017, Zumo helped establish an industry standard with the release of its MiCA-compliant sustainability module in September.

Photo by RDNE Stock project

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API Platform Speakeasy Raises $15 Million in Series A Funding

API Platform Speakeasy Raises $15 Million in Series A Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Funding, Speakeasy
  • API platform Speakeasy has secured $15 million in Series A funding.
  • The company will use the capital to expand its product offerings, accelerate its roadmap, and hire additional talent.
  • Headquartered in San Francisco, California. Speakeasy made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in New York this year,

In a round led by FPV Ventures, API platform Speakeasy has raised $15 million in Series A funding. Also participating in the investment were Google Ventures (GV) and Quiet Capital. Speakeasy noted that it plans to use the funding to expand its product offerings, accelerate its roadmap, and grow its team.

“Building a really great … modern API is very much undervalued and underestimated at companies,” Speakeasy CEO Sagar Batchu said in a statement on LinkedIn. “Everyone wants to be Stripe or Twilio or GitHub in terms of quality, but to get to that status … takes huge amounts of effort.”

Founded in 2022, Speakeasy offers an API platform designed to give developers the tools they need to build quality, reliable APIs. Concerned over the fact that growing API use among businesses was outpacing the ability of developers to provide them, Speakeasy looks to close the gap with a platform that handles the more cumbersome aspects of API development, freeing developers to focus on higher-order tasks like refining business logic.

Developers can use their favorite API framework to build APIs, and Speakeasy will help ensure APIs adhere to both industry and internal best practices. Speakeasy’s platform automates API testing to avoid shipping unintentional breaking changes, and also automatically generates the SDKs to make API integration easier.

“The Speakeasy team’s past experience building enterprise APIs has given them profound insight into, and empathy for, the struggles engineering teams are facing,” FPV Ventures Managing Partner Wesley Chan said. “They are building a platform that will not only address existing inefficiencies in API development but anticipates future challenges in the ecosystem.”

Speakeasy made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2024 in New York. At the conference, the company demonstrated how its technology enables financial institutions to build robust, well-managed, easy-to-use APIs. With Speakeasy’s API platform, technology teams can automate the creation and maintenance of API documentation and client SDKs that facilitate rapid and seamless API integration. Customers using the platform have been able to boost API user adoption, reduce time-to-integration, and save significant engineering costs. In 2024, Speakeasy noted that nearly 3,000 users have generated 7,250 SDKs.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Speakeasy includes fellow Finovate alums Apex Fintech Solutions and Apiture, as well as API companies Kong, Codat, and Shippo, among its customers.

Photo by mali maeder

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Agent IQ Partners with Narmi

Agent IQ Partners with Narmi
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Agent IQ, Alumni News, Daily news
  • Digital relationship banking innovator Agent IQ has teamed up with digital banking solutions provider Narmi.
  • The partnership will integrate Agent IQ’s Lynq banking platform with Narmi’s digital banking solutions to enable community banks and credit unions to offer enhanced, more personalized services.
  • Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Agent IQ most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2022 in New York.

A newly announced strategic partnership between digital relationship banking firm Agent IQ and digital banking solutions provider Narmi will help both community banks and credit unions enhance customer engagement across digital channels.

“By integrating our Lynq relationship banking platform with Narmi’s digital banking solutions, we’re equipping banks and credit unions with tools to offer a vastly improved customer experience while also empowering them to be more efficient,” Agent IQ Co-founder and CEO Slaven Bilac said.

Agent IQ specializes in digital relationship banking, providing personalization and customer engagement solutions that help banks and credit unions enhance customer relationships. The firm’s Lynq platform empowers financial institutions to provide proactive guidance and real-time insights to customers by combining human emotion and empathy with the efficiency of computer intelligence and AI. Narmi offers a digital banking platform designed to help community banks and credit unions provide their customers and members with the same kind of digital experience as their larger rivals. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in New York, Narmi boasts that its customers have seen account growth of as much as 3x in less than 30 days and deposit growth of 4x in as little as 90 days.

In a statement, the companies highlighted two major benefits of the partnership. These benefits include seamless digital banking functionality with AI personalization to provide customers with tailored support and consistent engagement, whether opening an account or using mobile banking. Another benefit of the partnership is the ability to enhance customer relationships by allowing customers to make digital transactions while accessing personal guidance from a dedicated banker — all without having to travel to a branch.

“Agent IQ is a perfect complement to Narmi’s digital banking and account opening products,” Narmi SVP of Operations Angela Gentry Yue said. “Together, we’re providing financial institutions with a comprehensive suite of tools that significantly enhance digital engagement and operational efficiency. This collaboration marks a major advancement in our mission to drive innovation in the banking industry.”

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Agent IQ made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2019. The company most recently appeared before Finovate audiences at FinovateFall 2022 in New York. At the conference, Agent IQ demoed its Lynq platform that enables customers to choose a personal banker to help them manage all their financial needs across any digital channel. Lynq leverages built-in augmented intelligence to enable personal bankers to better engage customers and build relationships in the digital space that are as personalized as relationships in a physical branch.

Agent IQ began the year announcing an extension of its integration partnership with fellow Finovate alum Q2. The extension empowers Q2’s sales organization to resell Agent IQ to Q2’s bank and credit union customers. Also in January, the company announced a collaboration with another fellow Finovate alum, ebankIT. Here, the partnership combines ebankIT’s self-service digital channels with Agent IQ’s personal digital engagement platform. “We wish to redefine the digital banking experience, make it more human, and set new benchmarks for customer engagement and satisfaction,” ebankIT CEO Renato Oliveira said when the collaboration was announced.

More recently, Agent IQ made fintech headlines via its work with community banks and credit unions. In July, Stanford Federal Credit Union won the Q2 Innovation Award for the launch of its digital communications channel powered by Agent IQ. The following month, Agent IQ announced a new partnership with the Bank of Utah. The independent community bank leveraged Agent IQ’s Lynq digital engagement platform to launch its new chat solution.

Photo by nagaraju gajula

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