Finovate Global: Boku’s Stuart Neal Talks About Local Payment Methods, EPI, and More!

Finovate Global: Boku’s Stuart Neal Talks About Local Payment Methods, EPI, and More!

What happens when an ongoing revolution in payment innovation meets a regulatory regime determined to ensure secure and safe transactions for individual consumers, business entities, and even governments? This is the payments landscape in the UK and EU in 2025. As a proliferation of payment options promises to streamline banking and commerce, regulators, fintechs, and financial services companies are looking for ways to make sure that the challenges to these new payment options—from technical complexity to new forms of fraud and financial crime—are met.

To discuss these and other issues involving payments and the emerging regulatory environment, we caught up with Stuart Neal, Chief Executive Officer of Boku. Appointed CEO in January of 2024, Neal previously served as the company’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer of Boku’s Identity Division. A champion of payment choice, Boku supports a global network of localized payment solutions, including Direct Carrier Billing (DCB), digital wallets, and account-to-account connections. Founded in 2008, Boku is headquartered in London.


Local Payment Methods (LPMs) have proliferated around the world over the past decade. Socially and technologically, what has powered this growth?

Stuart Neal: Local Payment Methods (LPMs) have had a meteoric rise over the past decade. It’s hard to overstate what a significant and rapid change we’ve seen, and behind it are two main driving forces: changing consumer preferences and rapid technological innovation.

Payments as an industry is finally beginning to reflect the diversity of people’s preferences around the world. And that’s a really positive development. It’s fair to say that traditional financial systems left many people and communities underserved, but LPMs—from mobile wallets in Africa to RTP schemes like UPI in India—bridge this gap, and they’re empowering billions of consumers to participate in the digital economy. This financial inclusion is great for society, for merchants and for the payments industry as a whole. 

At Boku, we want to be at the heart of this transformation. People just want convenience, and we’re here to help them buy what they want, the way they want. With one of the biggest LPM networks in the world, we’re making it easier than ever for global merchants to meet consumers where they are. 

Looking at Europe specifically, what role has the European Payments Initiative (EPI) played in driving this trend?

Neal: While still in its early stages, the European Payments Initiative (EPI) is playing a crucial role in reshaping the EU payment landscape. Its focus on creating a unified, pan-European payment solution, fostering instant payments, acquiring established players like iDEAL and Payconiq, and advocating for regulatory changes positions it as a future leader in European payments. By competing with global giants, EPI is pushing Europe toward a more integrated, efficient, and competitive payment system. However, full market transformation will likely take a few more years, with real change expected in 2025.

So far the EPI has excelled in laying the groundwork for this payments evolution by clearly articulating its vision and aligning strategically with the key pillars of ecommerce. By fostering strong relationships with merchants, PSPs, and issuing banks, EPI is now in a great position to effect significant change and shape the future of digital payments across Europe.

Part of this was the launch of the real-time payment system Wero last summer. Can you tell us a little about the significance of the Wero launch and how adoption has been so far?

Neal: The Wero Wallet, launched by the European Payments Initiative (EPI), serves as a strong entry into the EU market with the goal of unifying Europe’s fragmented payment landscape. Initially focusing on person-to-person (P2P) payments, Wero will expand to e-commerce in 2025 and in-store payments by 2026, offering various options such as instant payments, installment plans, and subscriptions. With the acquisitions of Dutch payment solution iDEAL and Luxembourg-based Payconiq International or the transition of the former Paylib P2P user base in France to Wero, EPI / Wero is well-positioned for success. However, EPI has opted for a phased market rollout, like what we have seen by other payment schemes in the past, starting with smaller-scale P2P launches in countries like Germany and France, while the true transformation is expected to unfold in 2025. Notably, these acquisitions continue to operate under their original brands, allowing for organic user growth before transitioning fully to Wero.

Has adoption of Wero been uniform across Europe or have some markets remained more reluctant? What distinguishes the eager adopters from the more cautious?

Neal: This is an interesting question, and one that will be clearer by the end of 2025, when we can fully assess the impact of Wero’s initial e-commerce launches. However, what we can say so far is that Wero’s adoption has been strongly shaped by key market dynamics. Starting in July 2024, users of participating German banks were able to sign up for Wero, with Belgium following suit by the end of 2024, also seeing gradual, organic growth. Around the same time, Wero benefited from a significant boost in France, where the transition from Paylib to Wero provided a built-in user base of approximately 35 million registered Paylib users. Looking ahead, the exit of local payment schemes like Giropay in Germany is expected to reshape the competitive landscape, presenting new opportunities for Wero to establish itself as a leading player in the market.

What can be done to encourage broader acceptance of solutions like Wero and less reliance on cards?

Neal: Accessibility is key to the adoption of anything. And if solutions like Wero are to be more broadly adopted, they must become more accessible for consumers and merchants. So to start with we need to integrate these solutions seamlessly into merchant payment ecosystems and do so in a way that matches–or ideally betters–the convenience of cards. You need a frictionless experience for people on both sides of the counter, as it were, if you want to drive adoption.

And then trust.  When it comes to sending and receiving money, trust is non-negotiable. Wero and other solutions like it must be really secure, have robust fraud prevention, and partner with regulators to ensure compliance. When consumers and businesses feel confident, they’ll naturally shift to these modern, local payment methods.

The final piece is education and awareness. A lot of consumers, especially in places like the UK and the US, stick to cards out of habit. If it’s familiar and it works, why change right? That being said, in the last year we’ve seen a huge shift in payment habits and greater awareness and adoption of alternatives. Research by Juniper reveals that 60% of all ecommerce transactions will happen via local payment methods by 2028. To put that into context, it’s equivalent to $7 billion a year flowing through hundreds of different payment methods and away from the legacy card networks. Merchants and payment providers need to highlight the benefits of solutions like Wero—whether it’s lower fees, faster transactions, or better alignment with local preferences.

You have just concluded your first year as CEO of Boku. What are your biggest takeaways from the first year and what are you hoping for in 2025?

Neal: It’s been a whirlwind year for sure. I’m very proud of the progress we’ve made, which has been underpinned by the demand for more convenient payment solutions from consumers. From where we were at the start of 2024, we’ve positioned ourselves as one of the world’s largest and most innovative global networks for Local Payment Methods with significant expansion in key global markets and more significant launches planned for this year.

I think my biggest takeaways would be the size of the opportunity for LPMs and the interwoven nature of the industry. Collaboration is so important, between merchants, PSPs, local payment providers, and indeed consumers. All of these need to be on the same page for digital commerce to flow smoothly, which is why the breadth and depth of our network is so important. 

Looking ahead to 2025, ecommerce is going to continue to grow as you’d expect. Research that we’ve commissioned actually estimates that the industry will reach an astonishing $10.6 trillion in value by 2028 (from $5.75 trillion today). Local payment methods are no longer an alternative, they are mainstream. For my part, and for Boku, our focus will be on continuing to innovate and scale our offering across Europe, APAC, Africa and Middle East, as well as some exciting planned launches for Latin America, all as part of our push and our mission to give people the freedom to buy what they want, the way they want.


Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Indian B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company Perfios acquired financial crime detection and risk management platform Claris5.
  • Pakistan fintech ABHI launched its microfinance bank.
  • Indian insurtech InsuranceDekho raised $70 million in a funding round co-led by existing investors including Beams Fintech Fund and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG).

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

  • CTBC Bank Philippines turned to Hitachi Asia to upgrade its digital corporate banking platform.
  • inDrive partnered with Fingular to launch its inDrive.Money solutions for customers in Indonesia.
  • Malaysia’s central bank and finance ministry granted licenses to a pair of new digital banks: KAF Digital Berhad and YTL Digital Bank Berhad.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Flutterwave secured a payment system license from the Bank of Zambia.
  • The Bank of Ghana and the National Bank of Rwanda inked an MoU to provide companies with a license passporting framework and cross-border payment interoperability.
  • Nigerian fintech ProsperaVest EGG introduced eNsc, a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Nigerian Naira.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Lithuanian identity verification service iDenfy announced a partnership with Highvibes to help protect artists from fraud.
  • Online payment and checkout solutions provider Montonio expanded its partnership with Inbank to bring BNPL and Hire Purchase options to customers in Latvia and Lithuania.
  • Austrian Reporting Services (AuRep) teamed up with the Nasdaq to provide regulatory reporting technology and support to companies in Austria’s financial services industry.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • UAE fintech Flow48 raised $69 million in combined debt and equity funding.
  • Egyptian fintech Khazna secured $16 million to power its expansion into Saudi Arabia.
  • Sadad teamed up with Mastercard to enhance digital payments in Qatar.

Photo by Peter Spencer

FinovateEurope: Deep Dives into Payments, Banking, Risk, AI, and the Customer Experience

FinovateEurope: Deep Dives into Payments, Banking, Risk, AI, and the Customer Experience

At Finovate conferences, our special track sessions give attendees an opportunity to dive deep into specific industries and themes within fintech. Via keynote addresses, fireside chats, and power panels, our Finovate tracks provide time for more extended analysis, discussion, and even debate about key developments in fintech and financial services.

This year at FinovateEurope, we held five separate tracks covering AI, payments, lending, customer experience, and banking, risk, and regulation. Below are our summaries, reviews, and key takeaways from the presentations in each of those tracks.


Julie Muhn, Senior Research Analyst, Finovate

Customer Experience

During the Customer Experience Track, Taner Akcok’s keynote address titled “Enabling Hyper-Personalization” emphasized that today’s financial institutions must go beyond transactional relationships to deliver deeply personalized, always-on experiences that meet the high expectations set by big tech companies. Achieving this level of personalization requires an API-first strategy, where data, modern technology platforms, and advanced APIs combine to enable real-time, tailored customer interactions. Crucially, financial institutions no longer need to be the primary channel through which products and services are offered. Instead, banks can embed themselves within broader business management ecosystems, using customer data from procurement systems, accounting platforms, and other third-party tools to power proactive financial insights, such as tax preparation assistance or financial health recommendations. Ultimately, Akcok noted, this shift moves banks from product providers to intelligent financial assistants, delivering insights and solutions based on life events and real-time business needs.

Moderated by Anette Broløs, Director and Co-Founder of Finthropology, the customer experience panel explored the customer experience revolution. Panelists stressed the importance of proactive engagement, where banks anticipate customer needs based on behavior, data, and life events—rather than reacting to requests. Banks need to balance deep personalization with ethical data usage, ensuring they treat each customer as an individual while considering accessibility and usability for users at all experience levels. The panel also highlighted the dangers of building overly complex feature sets designed for power users, as it is better to tailor experiences for beginners and casual users as well. Ultimately, cross-functional collaboration within financial institutions is critical to delivering these personalized experiences, breaking down internal silos to ensure all departments—from product teams to customer support—work together to design and deliver cohesive, customer-centric solutions.

Banking, Regulation, and Risk

The Banking, Regulation, & Risk track at FinovateEurope provided a comprehensive overview of the evolving regulatory landscape shaping Europe’s financial sector. In his keynote, Thomas Zink from IDC Financial Insights highlighted how the rapid pace of regulatory change—from DORA and PSD3 to FiDA, eIDAS 2.0, and the Digital Markets Act (DMA)—is placing an immense compliance burden on European financial institutions, which may put them at a competitive disadvantage compared to international peers. While PSD3 aims to simplify the payments ecosystem by merging payments and e-money rules, it also references DORA for operational resilience, GDPR for data protection, and introduces new obligations for third-party risk management and incident reporting. Meanwhile, FiDA will broaden open finance obligations, and eIDAS 2.0 will introduce a pan-European digital wallet for seamless identification, onboarding, and trust services across the EU. These changes promise greater transparency and interoperability but raise concerns about security, implementation complexity, and long-term regulatory fatigue.

The panel discussion, which was moderated by Omdia Principal Analyst Philip Benton, expanded on Zink’s discussion of regulatory challenges, particularly focusing on DORA and digital identity frameworks. Panelists stressed that while DORA’s direct applicability is limited to the EU, similar resilience and outsourcing requirements are already emerging in the UK, with the FCA increasingly focused on third-party oversight and ensuring financial institutions have robust contingency plans for operational failures. The panel also addressed the growing role of AI in risk management, emphasizing the importance of explainability. If firms can clearly explain to regulators how their AI works, it is a strong indicator they understand it themselves. Effective vendor management was another hot topic, with panelists warning against excessively long infrastructure contracts that make timely upgrades difficult, potentially exposing firms to operational and cybersecurity risks. Ultimately, the track underscored that collaboration, transparency, and proactive risk management—both internally and with third-party partners—will be critical to navigating Europe’s increasingly complex regulatory environment.


Theodora Lau, Author, Analyst, Podcaster, Founder of Unconventional Ventures

Artificial Intelligence

It’s been over 820 days since November 30, 2022, when OpenAI launched ChatGPT, and the world has never been the same. According to OpenAI, ChatGPT has amassed more than 400 million weekly active users, up 30% in the last couple of months. Of course, we all know that AI is more than just generative AI. As a technology, AI has been around since the early 1940s, and it has been used in banking and other industries for quite a while. But ChatGPT and the generative AI race that followed have changed the narrative—simply because now this is a tool that we can all use and play with. We can touch and feel it firsthand, and we can do things that we have never done before. One can certainly feel the energy buzzing at FinovateEurope, especially during the extended AI track this year, where we hosted four presentations and two panel discussions. There has been a noticeable shift in conversations from the hallways to the stage, where we have gone from a cautious exploration mode to one where we share learnings and war stories.

We are at an interesting inflection point. While many have high hopes for the technology and promising use cases abound, ranging from customer service, personalization, and fraud management to workflow automation, market analysis, and software development, we must also go in with eyes wide open to potential pitfalls if we are not careful. In their separate keynote addresses, Aurélie L’Hostis from Forrester, along with Nombuso Matsape and Rahul Aggarwal from ICBC Standard Bank, pointed out some of the top hurdles that our industry faces, including skills gaps, ethical and privacy challenges, regulatory pressure, operational complexities, security concerns, and trust. So where can we gain value from AI, and how can we best manage change while accelerating the right adoption, as Rich Wham from Airia rightfully asked? 

As the panels suggested, beyond the tech stack readiness and implementation strategies (for example, selecting the right use cases to begin), success will depend on people and culture, as well as business buy-in, where we must focus on generating real value. A good governance and risk management framework is also key. As Sajid Iqbal pointed out afterwards, AI is an F1 car—fast, but useless without brakes. While some might quip that the future of finance is agentic AI, I believe we still have a bit of a way to go. 


David Penn, Research Analyst, Finovate

Payments

This session features Claire Simpson, Senior Manager, APP Fraud Policy Lead, Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), discussing the challenge of authorized push payment fraud, along with our Power Panel on the growth of the payments market and opportunities for banks. Participating in our Payments Power Panel were Pragya Jauhari, Senior Product Manager, Fintech, Booking.com; Alexandre Stervinou, Director, Banque De France; Leticia Costa, Executive Director, Cash Management Sales, JP Morgan Payments; and Andrew Stewart, CRO Europe, Thunes. Moderated by Zil Bareisis, Director, Retail Banking & Payments Practice, Celent.

We began the conversation on payments with a discussion on the challenge of fraud, particularly fraud and financial crime like authorized push payment (APP) fraud to which innovations like faster payments are especially vulnerable. In her keynote address, Claire Simpson, Senior Manager, APP Fraud Policy Lead, PSR, explained this vulnerability, the rise of “psychologically based” fraud, and the way this particular type of fraud can erode trust between financial institutions and their customers. Simpson also underscored what entities like PSR have done to help both FIs and consumers better manage the fraud threat—such as advancing solutions like Confirmation of Payee and the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code, which require banks to reimburse customers who are fooled into making fraudulent payments. Simpson noted that it was key for financial institutions on both sides of the fraudulent transaction—the sending and receiving institutions—to have a role to play in making whole customers who have been impacted by APP fraud. That said, her message in large part was that fighting fraud was not simply a task for regulators and banks. Technology companies, including fintechs, help by creating innovations that make it easier for consumers to identify and protect themselves from scams and fraud, as well as solutions that facilitate intelligence sharing between financial institutions about current fraud threats.

Our Payment Power Panel featured a wide-ranging discussion on a $2.85 trillion market that is expected to reach $4.78 trillion by 2029. Moderated by Zil Bareisis, Director, Retail Banking & Payments Practice, Celent, the panel looked at how banks can reimagine payments to take advantage of this sizable growth opportunity. To this end, the panelists reminded attendees that, from the merchants’ point of view, “payments are a way of facilitating a relationship” and, as such, issues of trust and security are just as important as speed. In line with remarks from Simpson’s keynote, the panelists underscored the role of regulations in helping drive innovation and noted that as payments become more ubiquitous via open finance and embedded solutions, it will become all the more important for non-traditional actors participating in the financial services and banking space—such as telcos and platforms— to be covered by the same sort of regulatory umbrella that governs the current players in the payments space. When asked what areas of payments our panelists are most optimistic about for growth, the top areas noted were cross-border payments, embedded finance, and stablecoins—although there was also a great deal of enthusiasm about alternative payment methods (APMs), the rise of domestic payment schemes, and the challenges and opportunities of serving digital nomads and workers in the gig economy.

Lending

This session featured a fireside chat with Joel Perlman, Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director, OakNorth; an address on self-driving finance and agentic AI from Varun Ghai, Associate Vice President, NewGen Software; and a Power Panel on BaaS-powered embedded lending featuring Ishtiaq M. Ahmed, Senior Product Manager, Emerging Tech, Innovation & Ventures, HSBC; Joris Hensen, Initiator and Co-Lead Deutsche Bank API Program, Deutsche Bank; Olaf ten Duis, Lead Embedded Lending, Rabobank; and Ram Devanarayanan, Head of Business Consulting, Infosys Finacle Europe. Moderated by Philippa Ushio, Managing Director, Prosek Partners.

Our conversation on lending in financial services began with a fireside chat with OakNorth co-founder Joel Perlman. Perlman highlighted the firm’s work in what he called the “middle-market” of businesses that are typically overlooked by banks and traditional lenders. This issue is especially acute in the UK, Perlman explained, because of the relative dominance of a few major entities that represent as much as 90% of lending to enterprises. This compares to about 25% in the US. Perlman pointed out that lenders often turn away from certain industries as borrowers because of poor results in the past or from a lack of nuance that prevents them from separating the wheat from the chaff. As one example, Perlman noted that a retrenchment from lending in a sector broadly defined as, for example, retail apparel, may prevent lenders from serving worthy borrowers in a subset of that field, such as yoga pants and athletic clothing. To this point, Perlman acknowledged the role of enabling technologies such as machine learning and AI to help lenders make more discerning assessments, but asserted that “precision” and the basics of good lending matter as much “or more.”

Varun Ghai, Associate Vice President, NewGen Software, discussed the role of self-driving finance and agentic AI in reinventing business lending. In his keynote address, Ghai highlighted the role of data science and low-code technology to bring greater speed and efficiency to the business lending process. He explained the challenges in business lending, from its inherent complexity and extensive documentation requirements to both current and emerging regulatory hurdles. In response, fintechs and innovators like NewGen Software deliver technologies that provide end-to-end automation to streamline workflows and reduce manual data entry, as well as AI-driven decision-making to take guesswork out of the process. Furthermore, NewGen leverages a low-code approach that boosts flexibility and helps to lower operational costs by as much as 50%.

The Lending track concluded with a lively Power Panel discussion that examined the current state of BaaS-powered embedded lending. Among the key takeaways of the conversation was the role of APIs, a desire to move “beyond BNPL,” and the growing importance of technologies like AI—especially explainable AI—in helping ensure transparency in the lending process as well as promote customer education. The customer was very much at the center of the panelists’ thinking, noting that customer preferences are dynamic and changing, but that change often comes at a slower pace than financial institutions and fintechs, determined to provide the latest innovations to their customers, often expect. Here, institutions were advised by panelists to focus on helping customers “make the right decisions at the right time” and to fashion their offerings with this goal in mind. Institutions also need to be aware of regional differences that might favor, for example, credit cards over newer embedded lending solutions, and be ready to meet those customers where they are rather than where an institution or a fintech innovator might otherwise expect them to be.

1Kosmos Announces Integration with Microsoft Entra ID

1Kosmos Announces Integration with Microsoft Entra ID
  • Identity verification and passwordless authentication company 1Kosmos announced native support for Microsoft Entra ID.
  • The integration of 1Kosmos technology will enable enterprises to unify ID verification and passwordless access across their entire infrastructure for both Microsoft and non-Microsoft applications.
  • 1Kosmos won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2023 in San Francisco.

Identity proofing and passwordless authentication specialist 1Kosmos has announced its native support for Microsoft Entra ID. A cloud-based identity and access management service, Entra ID enables users to sign into solutions like Microsoft 365, Azure, and other applications, including numerous external resources. The integration with 1Kosmos will give businesses additional security and enhanced user experiences by leveraging 1Kosmos to unify their identity verification and passwordless access to both their Microsoft ecosystem and non-Microsoft apps.

“Microsoft Entra ID is a powerful identity platform, but support for non-Microsoft applications, legacy systems, and hybrid environments can be challenging,” 1Kosmos CTO Rohan Pinto said. “The 1Kosmos platform supplements Entra ID with an external authentication infrastructure that spans both modern and legacy systems, enforces high-assurance identity proofing, and delivers secure, frictionless access to all enterprise applications — whether on-premises, in the cloud, or across hybrid environments.”

Via 1Kosmos’ self-service identity verification workflow and passwordless MFA credential, users can either scan a QR code or click a smart link to initiate onboarding or to reset passwords. In addition to unifying ID verification and passwordless access across a firm’s entire infrastructure, the integration provides a consistent passwordless MFA experience across Active Directory, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, Unix, and legacy systems.

“At Microsoft, we believe security is a team effort,” said Natee Pretikul, Principal Product Management Lead for Microsoft Security. “Our customers often use different vendor solutions, and Microsoft Entra ID helps protect these diverse environments. With the new integration of Entra ID External Authentication Methods and 1Kosmos, our customers can now use 1Kosmos’ identity verification and passwordless solutions to enhance their security. This will make access easier and reduce fraud risks.”

1Kosmos won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2023 in San Francisco and returned to the Finovate stage later that year for FinovateFall in New York. Founded in 2021 and headquartered in New Jersey, the company reported a 3x gain in revenue for 2024, as well as a doubling of its customer base. 1Kosmos also last year secured a next-generation identity proofing Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) from Login.gov valued at more than $194.5 million.


Photo by Sigurd Brown

Socure Unveils AI Assistant for Global Watchlist Screening

Socure Unveils AI Assistant for Global Watchlist Screening
  • Digital identity verification and fraud prevention solutions provider Socure has launched its AI-powered assistant.
  • The new AI Copilot will help reduce the number of false positives for Socure’s Global Watchlist Screening and Monitoring solution.
  • Socure most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2017 in New York.

Digital identity verification, compliance, and fraud prevention company Socure unveiled its first AI-powered assistant for its Global Watchlist Screening and Monitoring solution. The AI Copilot enhances watchlist screening by reducing false positives, accelerating case reviews, and improving analyst decision-making.

High false positives, manual review, and regulatory complexity are three of the issues that traditionally make watchlist screening inefficient for most organizations. With regard to the regulatory challenges alone, firms have paid non-compliance penalties totaling more than $8 billion globally over the past two years.

Socure’s Global Watchlist Screening and Monitoring solution leverages a two-stage scoring system providing dual controls: a Name Match Scoring assignment and an Entity Correlation Score. The Name Match process determines how closely a customer’s name aligns with names on watchlists. This process is further enriched using personally identifiable information (PII).

The second stage assesses the likelihood that the source list and the matched entity are the same. This stage specifically helps minimize false positives and negatives, streamlining compliance by reducing the need for manual review.

In both stages, Socure’s AI Copilot brings consistency to workflows, minimizing human subjectivity and ensuring standardized documentation. The AI Copilot provides a clear, structured explanation of disqualification criteria, obviating the need for human analysts to draft decision narratives. At the same time, human analysts maintain the ability to confirm or override results, with all activity logged to ensure both transparency and compliance.

“The compliance landscape is evolving rapidly, and traditional watchlist screening simply hasn’t kept pace with the demands of modern risk management,” Socure VP of Regulatory and Compliance Solutions Debra Geister said. “With our AI Copilot, we are eliminating inefficiencies, slashing review times, and delivering the most precise match intelligence in the industry — all while reducing operational costs and analyst fatigue. This is a massive leap forward for compliance teams, giving them the speed, accuracy, and confidence they need to stay ahead of regulatory challenges.”

Headquartered in Incline Village, Nevada, Socure demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2017 in New York. In recent years, the company has grown into a major digital identity and fraud prevention solutions provider with more than 2,800 customers in financial services, government, marketplaces, e-commerce, and other industries. Socure’s clients include 18 of the top 20 banks and more than 500 fintechs.

Socure was recognized as a Leader in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Identity Verification for its “Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute.” The company began this year noting that it verified more than 2.7 billion identity requests in 2024. This figure represented 370 million unique identities and a 2x gain over the previous year’s totals.

Last month, Socure launched RiskOS, a risk decisioning engine that leverages the firm’s acquisition of Effectiv to provide a platform that combines orchestration and decisioning with identity verification and fraud prevention. Johnny Ayers is CEO.


Photo by Michael Villanueva

The Conversation Continues: AI, Data Apps, and Fintech Investment on the Finovate Podcast

The Conversation Continues: AI, Data Apps, and Fintech Investment on the Finovate Podcast

The conversation continues, indeed! Fresh off the Finovate team’s return from FinovateEurope 2025, we’re dropping a pair of Finovate podcasts that you might have missed.

First up is Finovate VP and Podcast host Greg Palmer’s discussion about AI, data apps, and FinovateEurope with Plotly European Sales Director Andy Wisbey. Second, Greg sits down with Portage Capital Solutions Partner and Co-Head Devon Kirk to talk about the current investment climate for fintechs and what to expect this year.


Andy Wisbey (LinkedIn), European Sales Director with Plotly, talks with Finovate Podcast host Greg Palmer about AI, data apps, and the recently-concluded FinovateEurope conference in London. Episode 247.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Plotly enables organizations to collaboratively develop and deploy apps in secure, scalable, managed environments.

The company’s flagship solution, Dash Enterprise, is a leading data app platform for Python. With more than 20 million downloads a month, Plotly’s technology empowers companies across the Fortune 500 to control, customize, and collaborate on data-driven decision-making. Plotly was a Bronze sponsor of FinovateEurope 2025.


Greg Palmer interviews Devon Kirk (LinkedIn), partner and co-Head of Portage Capital Solutions, about the current investment landscape, IPO and M&A predictions for the year, and what to expect in 2025. Episode 246.

Portage Capital Solutions is an international investment firm that specializes in fintech and financial services. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Portage teams up with companies across all stages to provide flexible capital, as well as a global network of investors, commercial partners, advisors, and value creation experts.

Most recently, Portage announced its support of open source financial infrastructure provider Formance. The firm co-led a $21 million Series A funding round with PayPal Ventures in January.


Photo by David Bartus

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

The Finovate team is back from another successful FinovateEurope fintech conference. We will share our event reviews, including key moments and top takeaways, on the Finovate blog in the days to come.

In the meanwhile, the Fintech Rundown is here to help us all catch up on the latest fintech news and announcements.


Payments

Bluefin forges collaboration with Fiscal Systems to leverage PCI-validated point-to-point encryption to boost payment security and data protection in the fuel industry.

Cross-border payments company MANSA raises $10 million in funding.

Global payout orchestration platform PayQuicker expands its instant payout and local currency solution for clinical trialsto the UK and EU.

Digital banking and infrastructure

Backbase announces strategic partnership with digital transformation company, Siili Solutions.

Utah Community Credit Union (UCCU) joins NCR Atleos’ Allpoint Network.

Financial wellness

SaveAway announces 25 for 25 campaign, as well as a range of platform enhancements, ahead of the company’s return to SXSW.

Crypto / DeFi

Bay Federal Credit Union joins Metallicus’ Metal Blockchain Banking Innovation Program.

London-based Netmind.AI unveils its decentralized AI agent society, NetMind XYZ.

Risk management

Risk and business intelligence solutions provider SRA Watchtower raises $4 million in funding in a round led by FINTOP Capital, JAM FINTOP, and EJF Capital.


Photo by Tanathip Rattanatum

FinovateEurope 2025 Best of Show Winners Announced

FinovateEurope 2025 Best of Show Winners Announced

The votes are in and the people have spoken! After a full day of live fintech demos from companies representing 13 countries, the attendees of FinovateEurope 2025 have made their decision as to which of this year’s 30+ demoing companies will take home a Best of Show trophy.

With no further ado, here are this year’s winners.

Keyless for its technology that replaces traditional multi-factor authentication (MFA) methods with automated biometric authentication, improving the user experience while cutting costs.

R34DY for its solution that helps organizations transform their business by taking the pain out of integrations and making it easy for business owners to create use cases and reduce time to market.

Tweezr for its technology that helps organizations transform and grow by accelerating time-to-market and increasing developer productivity for both legacy system maintenance and modernization (or even obviating modernization all together).

A heartfelt thanks to all the demoing companies, sponsors, speakers, and attendees for making FinovateEurope 2025 an exciting, impactful event. Be sure to keep in touch with us on the Finovate blog as these and the rest of our demoing companies continue to innovate and solve problems for banks, financial services providers, fintechs, and their customers.

Our next conference is FinovateSpring, which will be making its San Diego debut on May 7-9. We can’t wait to bring Finovate to California’s second-most populous city and look forward to seeing you there!


Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites during each day. At the end of the last demo, they chose their three favorites.
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: “Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed.”
4. The three companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named “Best of Show.”
5. Go here for a list of previous Best of Show winners through 2014. Best of Show winners from our 2015 through 2024 conferences are below:
FinovateEurope 2015
FinovateSpring 2015
FinovateFall 2015
FinovateEurope 2016
FinovateSpring 2016
FinovateFall 2016
FinovateAsia 2016
FinovateEurope 2017
FinovateSpring 2017
FinovateFall 2017
FinovateAsia 2017
FinovateMiddleEast 2018
FinovateEurope 2018
FinovateSpring 2018
FinovateFall 2018
FinovateAsia 2018
FinovateAfrica 2018
FinovateEurope 2019
FinovateSpring 2019
FinovateFall 2019
FinovateAsia 2019
FinovateMiddleEast 2019
FinovateEurope 2020
FinovateFall 2020
FinovateWest 2020
FinovateEurope 2021
FinovateSpring 2021
FinovateFall 2021
FinovateEurope 2022
FinovateSpring 2022
FinovateFall 2022
FinovateEurope 2023
FinovateSpring 2023
FinovateFall 2023
FinovateEurope 2024
FinovateSpring 2024
FinovateFall 2024

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

FinovateEurope 2025 kicks off this week at the Intercontinental O2 in London. Learn more about the conferences’s keynote speakers, power panels, demoing companies and more in our pre-show briefing.

In the meanwhile, here’s a look at some of the news making fintech headlines as the week begins. Be sure to check back all week long for more updates.


Payments

Backbase and MeaWallet team up to bring advanced tokenization solutions to Australia and New Zealand.

Payments orchestration platform Yuno partners with Invest Qatar to as the company opens its new Middle East headquarters in the country.

Digital banking

Digital banking experience systems provider Plumery announces partnership with African digital identity verification provider, Smile ID.

Embedded finance

NatWest Boxed and The AA forge strategic partnership to leverage Boxed’s embedded finance platform to offer financial products, including instant savings accounts, to AA customers.

Financial wellness

PensionBee teams up with financial wellness marketplace ClearScore.

Socially responsible credit provider Kashable announced a technology partnership with HR, payroll, workforce management, and culture solutions company UKG.

E-commerce

Payments and e-commerce network Klarna expands its partnership with European paytech Nexi.

Regtech

Equifax UK goes live with its Finance Emissions Calculator to help enhance sustainability reporting requirements.

Live Oak Bank Implements Finzly’s Fedwire Solution

Live Oak Bank Implements Finzly’s Fedwire Solution
  • Live Oak Bank has enhanced its commercial and small business banking services by partnering with Finzly for its Fedwire solution.
  • Finzly’s technology enables 100% straight-through processing (STP) and will help ensure the bank is compliant with upcoming ISO 20022 regulations.
  • Finzly is a two-time Finovate Best of Show award winner. The company most recently demoed its technology at FinovateSpring 2022 in San Francisco.

Payment and financial solutions provider Finzly announced this week that Live Oak Bank has enhanced its commercial and small business banking services by implementing Finzly’s Fedwire solution. The deployment enables 100% straight-through processing (STP) and facilitates the bank’s compliance with upcoming ISO 20022 compliance requirements ahead of schedule.

Fedwire is a real-time electronic funds transfer system operated by the Federal Reserve Banks, enabling financial institutions to send and receive money. It is the main network in the US used by businesses and government agencies for large and/or time-critical payments. ISO 20022 refers to a new message format that will be adopted by the Fedwire Funds Service on July 14, 2025, four months later than the initial deadline of March 10 established in June 2022. The goal of the new format is to enhance the quality of financial messaging, facilitate cross-border payments, and reduce manual processing.

Finzly’s Fedwire solution provides instant settlement, real-time visibility, and complete automation for Fedwire payments. The technology leverages Finzly’s pre-wired, tested, and certified connections to the Fed to keep banks and other financial institutions a step ahead when it comes to implementing Fedwire, complying with ISO 20022 standards, and launching new value-added services. Banks benefit from not only faster settlements, streamlined payments, and automation of key tasks, but also from the ability to seamlessly support multiple cores. This enables banks to process transactions across multiple core systems while integrating with digital banking, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and fraud monitoring via open APIs.

“This partnership with Finzly gives our payment infrastructure the flexibility to adapt to customers’ needs, while also allowing us to streamline operations for our internal teams,” Mark Moroz, Live Oak Bank Head of Deposits and Payments, said. “With 100% STP in Fedwire processing and seamless multi-core integration, we are positioned to set new benchmarks in speed, efficiency, and customer experience.”

Headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, Live Oak Bank is a cloud-based digital bank that serves small businesses throughout the US. One of the largest SBA 7(a) lenders by dollar volume, Live Oak Bank initially specialized in providing financing for niche businesses such as veterinarians and dentists. Today, Live Oak Bank has more than $12 billion in assets as of Q4 2024 and is publicly traded on the NYSE under the ticker LOB. Founded in 2008, Live Oak Bank has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion.

“We are proud to partner with Live Oak, a bank led by visionary leaders, offering modern, connected banking services for its customers,” Finzly founder and CEO Booshan Rengachari said. “Our partners at Live Oak Bank are committed to delivering the best solutions without compromise. We are excited to support them in this mission.”

Two-time Finovate Best of Show winner Finzly most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateSpring 2022 in San Francisco. At the conference, the North Carolina-based fintech showed how its bank operating system, FinzlyOS, enables organizations to quickly launch a modern, new digital bank from scratch. The bank featured direct connections to all payment networks, including ACH, wires, RTP, FedNow, and Swift, as well as a multi-currency general ledger, low-code customer-onboarding forms, online experiences, and more.

Live Oak Bank is only the latest partnership announced by Finzly this year. In February, the company reported that San Antonio, Texas-based Vantage Bank had chosen its unified payment hub to consolidate and future-proof its payment infrastructure. A family-owned community financial institution with a commitment to innovation and a strong focus on international services, Vantage Bank has $4.5 billion in assets. Also, at the beginning of the year, Wings Credit Union, Minnesota’s largest credit union with more than $9.3 billion in assets, announced that it was going live on Finzly’s Fedwire platform.


Photo by Mark Teachey

Scalable Capital Teams Up with BlackRock to Expand Access to Private Equity Investments

Scalable Capital Teams Up with BlackRock to Expand Access to Private Equity Investments
  • Digital investment platform Scalable Capital has teamed up with BlackRock to make it easier for investors in Germany to add private equity investments to their portfolios.
  • The partnership will make Scalable Capital the first digital investment platform to enable investors to participate in the BlackRock Private Equity Fund.
  • Headquartered in Germany, Scalable Capital made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2016 in London.

A new partnership with BlackRock will enable Scalable Capital to offer its customers in Germany access to alternative investments, including in private equity. The new offering will provide access to investments in companies that are not listed on stock exchanges, giving non-professional investors the benefit of potentially higher returns and greater diversification previously available only to a few.

“For decades, investing in private companies was reserved for institutions and the ultra-wealthy,” Scalable Capital CMO Maximilian Meyer wrote on LinkedIn this week. “Not anymore. Scalable Capital is making Private Equity accessible – in partnership with BlackRock.”

Scalable Capital will be the first digital investment platform to offer access to the BlackRock Private Equity Fund. The fund consists of co-investments in which majority stakes in private companies around the world are acquired together with a network of private equity managers. The fund differs from many other private equity funds insofar as it is an open-end fund, rather than closed-end. This, among other things, enables investors to redeem invested capital more regularly than they would with a closed-end fund. Further, returns and dividends are reinvested by the fund, which can provide greater compound interest and higher returns over time.

A minimum one-off investment of €10,000 is required to invest in the BlackRock Private Equity Fund but, after that commitment is made, investors can use the fund as part of a savings plan. To support access to the new asset class, Scalable Capital has enhanced its platform with a fully digitized suitability check, a two-week revocation option for purchase orders, and a comprehensive range of information to help investors make informed investment decisions.

The partnership between Scalable Capital and BlackRock comes at a time when the demand for private equity is growing. Especially for investors with a longer time horizon, private equity investment can provide both portfolio diversification as well as high return potential. In its partnership announcement, Scalable Capital noted that private equity has produced nearly 15% annual growth in US dollars over the past 20 years, outperforming the MSCI World Index. The company noted additionally that compared to a traditional portfolio with an asset mix of 60% stocks and 40% bonds, the inclusion of up to 20% in private market investment can provide a superior risk/reward profile as well.

“As alternative investments such as private equity are becoming increasingly relevant for participation in economic growth, we now make them accessible to investors,” Julius Weller, Vice President Broker at Scalable Capital, said. “With the expansion of our investment platform to include this segment, clients gain access to the high return potential of private companies. We also achieve the favourable terms and simple handling for private equity that Scalable Capital is known for.”

Scalable Capital made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2016 in London. In the years since then, the Munich, Germany-based company has become a leading digital investment platform in Europe. More than €27 billion is held on Scalable Capital’s platform by more than one million customers.

BlackRock is a leading provider of investment, advisory, and risk management solutions. The company is also the world’s largest asset manager with $11.5 trillion in assets under management, $40 billion of which are in alternative assets. Founded in 1988, BlackRock is headquartered in New York.


Photo by Pixabay

Special Ops: Open Source, Digital Assets, Leveraging the Cloud, and Adaptive Banking at FinovateEurope

Special Ops: Open Source, Digital Assets, Leveraging the Cloud, and Adaptive Banking at FinovateEurope

Last week, we introduced you to a handful of special addresses taking place at FinovateEurope 2025, 25-26 February in London at the Intercontinental O2. This week, we’re sharing another four special addresses covering a range of topics from open source innovation and the rise of digital assets to leveraging the cloud and the power of process intelligence.

To learn more about what’s coming at FinovateEurope next week, visit our FinovateEurope hub today. And if you haven’t bought your ticket, there’s no time like the present to register and save your seat.


Supercharging financial services with Open Source & MySQL

Featuring Jim Gallagher (LinkedIn), Oracle MySQL Alliances & Channels Manager for UK and Ireland, this special address will discuss how MySQL powers cutting-edge solutions that drive transformation across financial services. Gallagher will show how open source collaboration is fueling new standards, enhancing security, reducing costs, and accelerating growth.

Founded in 1977 and currently headquartered in Austin, Texas, Oracle is a cloud technology company that provides businesses and organizations with the computing infrastructure and software they need to innovate, boost efficiency, and become more effective. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure provides higher performance, security, and cost savings.


Digital assets: Ready for take off

Featuring Nick Kerigan (LinkedIn), Managing Director, Head of Innovation, Swift, this special address will help financial services companies make the most out of the growth in the digital asset market, which is forecast to grow up to $15 trillion by 2030. Kerigan will discuss recent developments in digital assets and currencies worldwide and share insights from Swift’s 2025 live trials that are helping facilitate transaction interchangeability on its network for both current and new forms of value.

A member-owned cooperative, Swift is a leading provider of secure financial messaging services. Swift’s messaging platform, products, and services connect more than 11,000 banking and securities organizations, market infrastructures, and corporate customers in 200+ countries and territories.


Trends, challenges, and strategic imperatives — is hybrid cloud the way forward for business leaders?

Featuring Waheed Mahmood (LinkedIn), Financial Services Lead, and Matt Armstrong (LinkedIn), Solution Director, Financial Services, with Rackspace Technology, this special address will examine how IT leaders optimize workloads, build resilience, and drive the next wave of digital transformation. The discussion will leverage insights from a Rackspace Technology survey of more than 1,400 global tech leaders on the importance of futureproofing through adaptability and flexibility.

San Antonio, Texas-based Rackspace Technology is an end-to-end, hybrid, multicloud, and AI solutions company. The firm designs, builds, and operates customer cloud environments across all major technology platforms, regardless of both technology stack and deployment model.


Become the adaptive bank – thrive on change with process intelligence

Featuring Joaquim Nogueira (LinkedIn), Industry Principal for Banking, Celonis, this special address will discuss how process intelligence gives companies a living, moving, digital twin of their entire value chain. Nogueira will also explain how, with a decade of process improvement knowledge and AI, process intelligence shows companies where value is hiding, and enables teams and technologies to capture it.

Munich, Germany-based Celonis has helped more than 1,000 of the world’s largest companies realize value across the top, bottom, and green line. The company’s Process Intelligence Platform leverages the data companies already have and use, and presents them with a living digital twin of their end-to-end processes. The platform is system-agnostic, bias-free, and provides all parties with a common language for understanding and enhancing processes.

Women in Fintech: A Conversation About Loyalty Ecosystems in Financial Services with Becky Hill

Women in Fintech: A Conversation About Loyalty Ecosystems in Financial Services with Becky Hill

How can banks and financial services providers ensure that their loyalty programs are in sync with consumer behaviors and preferences? What is a loyalty ecosystem and how can financial institutions benefit from being a part of one?

We caught up with Becky Hill, President of Vanson Technology Services and former Senior Vice President of Loyalty at U.S. Bank. In our extended conversation – in partnership with William Mills – we discuss the power of loyalty in fostering long-term relationships and better customer engagement in financial services.

We also discuss loyalty when it comes to relationships between companies and their employees, and how engagement and sales incentive programs can help them retain top talent and develop greater organizational resilience.

Founded in 1997, Vanson Technology Services specializes in technology and software solutions for loyalty, channel incentive, and employee engagement programs. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company offers capabilities in points earning technology, fulfillment catalog management, email communications, site and data management, customer service and support, reporting, and more.


Tell us more about your professional experience. What were some of your major accomplishments and career highlights while working at U.S. Bank?

Becky Hill: Before joining Vanson Technology Services last summer, I spent most of my career in U.S. Bank’s payments division. Initially, I supported the credit card acquisition strategy for the bank’s consumer and small business programs. This gave me a solid understanding of the credit card profit and loss (P&L), which helped me gain insights into what drives consumer behavior and how to capture their interest. I learned that people expect banks to simplify complexities for them and that offers need to clearly show their value and benefits.

Later, my responsibilities included managing all aspects of the bank’s Rewards platform for internal and co-branded credit card programs that included a variety of cards like Cash+, FlexPerks, Fidelity and Harley-Davidson. I would partner with program managers to support acquisition, attrition, benefit, and redemption strategies to keep the bank’s cards top-of-wallet.

Why is it important to shape your loyalty programs around consumer behaviors and preferences?

Hill: Understanding consumer behavior is key to designing effective loyalty programs because people value convenience and consistency. Loyalty programs work best when they’re simple and easy to navigate, especially when it comes to redeeming rewards. Over the years, these programs have become more sophisticated but keeping them clear and straightforward is still the key to success.

How would you define a loyalty ecosystem?

Hill: A loyalty ecosystem brings together programs, technology, and partnerships to engage and reward customers and employees. It’s about simplifying the process while delivering meaningful value. For Vanson, this means offering an easily configurable rewards platform that helps companies transform their incentive programs into formal campaigns that drive employee motivation, enhance performance and longevity, and build brand loyalty. We believe a successful loyalty ecosystem is built on understanding behavior and providing clear, flexible incentives. It’s not just about rewards — it’s about fostering long-term relationships through transparency, simplicity, and thoughtful execution.

How can financial institutions be part of the loyalty ecosystem?

Hill: Financial institutions can play a key role in the loyalty ecosystem by partnering with loyalty platform providers to offer their clients Prepaid Rewards cards. These cards give consumers the flexibility to spend as they choose, while financial institutions can capitalize on revenue opportunities, such as interchange fees.

How is this ecosystem evolving in the near future?

Hill: Technology is always evolving, and loyalty programs will continue to focus on streamlining the end user experience for ease and convenience.  Loyalty platforms will need to be flexible and have the capabilities to provide a variety of offerings from redemptions selection, gamification, educational lessons, experiences, and personalized communication strategy.  Customer-centricity will continue to be a big part of the loyalty program technology evolution, especially as the industry starts to utilize AI-driven analytics to engage members. 

Let’s talk about within companies. What does an effective employee and sales incentive program entail?

Hill: An effective employee engagement and sales incentive program requires the right technology. The technology should be straightforward, flexible, and tailored to support the specific needs of the program. It should be easy to implement, quick to deploy, and designed to drive engagement and performance without unnecessary complexity. Vanson offers a technology platform with configurable tools that provides self-administer options to drive results.

Equally important is having the right partner. A good partner provides valuable support throughout the journey, helping companies configure rewards to fit their unique needs and assisting with add-ons like developing email campaigns and enhancing engagement strategies. Together, the right technology and partnership can create a successful program.

Why should a company consider offering employee engagement and sales incentive programs?

Hill: Offering employee engagement and sales incentive programs is critical for retaining top talent and ensuring the resilience of your organization. People are motivated by more than just salary — they value recognition, work-life balance, and meaningful benefits. Incentive programs don’t have to be complex; even simple, day-to-day recognition can go a long way. It’s about creating a program that works for all employees, not just a select few. However, implementing these programs requires a cultural shift within the organization, combining both a change in mindset and the right technology to support it. Focusing on your employees’ needs and making them feel valued is key to long-term success.

You joined Vanson Technology Services less than a year ago. What tips and guidance can you provide other professionals who are transitioning industries?

Hill: I’ve had the unique opportunity to work on both the client side and now the vendor side of Loyalty programs across multiple industries. Being on this side — with firsthand knowledge of client expectations — has pushed me to think differently about what we deliver and how we meet client expectations. It’s also opened the door to more strategic conversations, like helping other loyalty companies within CORA Group’s portfolio expand into new verticals. At the end of the day, it’s about maintaining strong networks and staying open-minded to new opportunities.

What is your biggest piece of professional advice?

Hill: Always stay true to yourself and uphold your integrity. Take the time to identify the key decision-makers and those who truly understand what’s happening within your organization. Knowing who can make decisions and offer support is crucial — otherwise, you risk getting caught in unnecessary red tape. Building strong relationships and trust with your peers is essential, as effective leadership relies on the two-way flow of information. Above all, remain focused on what will move the business forward.


Photo by Louis Droege on Unsplash