Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Tink Teams Up with NatWest

Tink Teams Up with NatWest
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Tink

For its first partnership in the U.K., Swedish open banking startup Tink inked a deal this week with major U.K. bank NatWest.

NatWest will integrate Tink’s PFM capabilities and Data Enrichment offering, a tool that cleans and syncs data to categorize transactions for data-driven sales and decision-making optimization. These two enhancements will offer NatWest consumers better insight into their personal spending habits.

NatWest, which joins Tink’s other bank customers BNP Paribas Fortis, Nordea, ABN Amro, SEB, and Klarna, will offer the new PFM capabilities to customers starting in the fourth quarter of this year.

“The partnership with NatWest is a great testament to the quality of our technology — and to the dedication to improve the digital offering and customer experience,” said Tink co-founder and CEO Daniel Kjellen. “We believe there are massive opportunities for those who choose to leverage new technology to build greater engagement with their customers. This partnership is proof of just that.”

In addition to its PFM and Data Enrichment products, Tink also offers Account Aggregation, which connects to 2,500+ banks and is live in 10 markets, with coverage across Europe coming by the end of this year. The company also offers Payment Initiation, which allows customers to make payments from a bank’s website or mobile app. In addition to money transfers, Payment Initiation allows customers to transact online and pay bills and invoices.

Tink’s Senior Business Manager, Rudolf Bergslycka and Developer David Frenkel demo the Tink API at FinovateEurope 2019

Founded in 2012, Tink counts more than 500,000 app users and has 150 employees across two offices. The two-time Best of Show-winning company most recently demoed at FinovateEurope 2019 in London.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ayondo, ID.me, NDGIT, SoFi, Tink, Twisto

On Finovate.com

  • Twisto Closes $15.7 Million Capital Raise.
  • FinovateSpring Best of Show Winners Announced.
  • Welcome to FinovateSpring’s Conference Day.

Around the web

  • ID.me launches discounts for new affinity groups: nurses, age segments, and alumni.
  • TechCrunch: SoFi launches Gig-focused ETF.
  • Ayondo inks deal to sell UK unit for £5.7m.
  • Cornèr and NDGIT partner to provide direct access to third-party service providers under PSD2 regulation.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Welcome to Day 2 of FinovateSpring

Welcome to Day 2 of FinovateSpring
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2019

After yesterday’s demos we’re ready for four more today. The day begins with one of our favorite sessions, Analyst All Stars, and concludes with a crowd-favorite, the crowning of the Best of Show winners.

Registration opens at 8 a.m. and the first session begins at 9 a.m. Come early for some pre-show networking or catch up on email with a hot cup of coffee before the show.

Here’s an overview of what the agenda looks like today:

9:00 am to 9:30 am Analyst All Stars

9:30 am to 10:25 am Demo session 1

10:25 am to 11:10 am Intermission, refreshments, and networking

11:10 am to 11:25 am Keynote Address: Breaking down Barriers to Capital Access

11:25 am to 12:30 pm Demo session 2

12:30 pm to 1:40 pm Lunch and networking

1:40 pm to 2:35 pm Demo session 3

2:35 pm to 3:20 pm Intermission, refreshments, and networking

3:20 pm to 4:25 pm Demo session 4

4:25 pm to 6:25 pm Best of Show awards and networking reception

The first session begins at 8:30 tomorrow morning. Registration opens at 8 a.m. and free coat check will be available.

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Flywire Offers Chinese Students and Patients Discounted FX Rates

Flywire Offers Chinese Students and Patients Discounted FX Rates
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Flywire

Global payments platform Flywire is extending its agreement with China’s UnionPay, the Massachusetts-based company announced today.

The two are re-launching a program that discounts foreign exchange rates on cross-border tuition and healthcare transactions. The initiative, which first launched last spring, is available to all UnionPay cardholders making payments originating in China. The rate on foreign exchange payments made to participating education and healthcare facilities will be the same as a local bank transfer.

“We strive to offer our clients’ payers the most convenient and secure payment options in each international market they serve,” said Ryan Frere, vice president of global payments for Flywire. “For Chinese students and patients making cross-border payments, UnionPay is the most preferred and trusted brand. We’re pleased to expand this program and bring valuable savings to more payers and institutions.”

UnionPay is a smart partner pick for Flywire. The bank’s home country is the number one origination of students studying abroad. More than 662,000 Chinese citizens studied abroad last year, a figure up 9% from 2017. Medical tourism is also popular among Chinese citizens; more than 630,000 Chinese patients traveled abroad for medical care in 2018.

Flywire originally launched as peerTransfer in 2011, when the company debuted its college tuition payment platform at FinovateSpring 2011. Flywire’s platform processes billions of dollars in payments every year in over 120 different local currencies, connecting more than 1,400 businesses and universities with their customers.

In addition to its Boston headquarters, the company has offices in Chicago, London, Manchester, Valencia, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Cluj, and Sydney.

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Fenergo Supports Bahrain’s Blockchain-Based KYC

Fenergo Supports Bahrain’s Blockchain-Based KYC
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Fenergo

Bahrain’s Electronic Network for Financial Transactions (Benefit) is designing and implementing a Know Your Customer (KYC) utility that incorporates blockchain technology, in partnership with Fenergo, a provider of digital Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) solutions, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

The utility platform will support sectors including retail and corporate banking and asset management, as well as insurance and telecommunications in the future. Fenergo says it deployed the first phase of the eKYC implementation project in four weeks.

Financial institutions that subscribe to Benefit can instantly complete KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance procedures when onboarding new individual and corporate customers through the Fenergo’s eKYC hub and rules engine utilising blockchain.

The centralisation of customer data removes the need for duplicate requests for information, while the elimination of manual processes reduces costs and improves operational efficiencies.

The Fenergo API-first solution enables financial institutions to verify customer identity via biometric identity and verification (ID&V) technology, which links to Bahrain national identity card data before instantly connecting to the eKYC hub.

This will prompt Fenergo’s rules engine to determine the required KYC and AML data and documentation for customer due diligence (CDD) as subscribed by Central Bank of Bahrain. Once the customer is quickly and successfully onboarded, Fenergo will write data attestations to the blockchain for reuse by other financial institutions within the Bahrain ecosystem.

Fenergo CEO Marc Murphy said, “Regulatory mandated KYC utilities represent a massive opportunity to enable significant efficiency, improve customer experience and help drive regulatory certainty. In a digital economy, where open banking and customer choice are at the forefront, making the KYC process digital is a huge enabler for any digital transformation initiative.”

Fenergo is developing the cloud-based utility as part of an initiative mandated by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) to enable financial institutions to seamlessly perform CDD checks for enhanced customer experiences and regulatory certainty. The initiative is part of a wider government scheme, Economic Vision 2030, to improve the kingdom’s economy.

Founded in 2009, Ireland-based Fenergo debuted its Deal Manager at FinovateEurope 2012. We featured Fenergo’s onboarding technology in our post Yes, Banks Can Compete with Apple’s New Credit Card earlier this year.

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Simple’s Payments Go Analog with Paper Checks

Simple’s Payments Go Analog with Paper Checks
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Simple

U.S. challenger bank-turned BBVA subsidiary Simplehas a surprising new offering for its mostly millennial client base. The bank wants its customers to start using paper checks.

The Portland-based bank unveiled the news in an email to members yesterday. “We heard you: sometimes you just gotta write a check, even if you do your banking online. So here they are in all their glory—Simple paper checks,” the email read.

The checkbooks are available for $5 for a book of 25 checks and, as Simple noted, “they work just like regular checks (Cursive not required.)” For its clients who may not be familiar with checks, Simple included a special section in its FAQ on paper checks, including a subsection titled, “writing a check” that offers step-by-step instructions.

So why checks, and why now? Simple’s addition of paper checks is likely a patch of sorts. That’s because, along with today’s announcement, the bank also told clients that it is shutting down its billpay service. Starting July 9, users will need to use paper checks to pay bills.

It’s also possible that Simple truly did receive pressure from customers requesting the service. If this is the case, it says two things about the state of fintech. First, it’s a downvote for cash. It’s also a humble reminder that, despite all of the tech available, fintech still lacks proper digital channels that connect consumers with the right recipients. The checks aren’t a substitute for peer-to-peer payment apps such as Venmo and Zelle. Instead, Simple’s customers will likely use the paper checks to pay bills and small contractors who do not accept credit cards.

Founded in 2009 and launched two years later under the name BankSimple, Simple debuted at FinovateFall 2011. In 2014, BBVA purchased the challenger bank for $117 million. In September of 2018, Simple announced it will pay 2.2% interest on savings accounts with balances of more than $2,000. Late last year, seven months after Simple’s CEO and Co-Founder Josh Reich announced plans to leave, the digital bank appointed David Hijirida, a former executive at Amazon, as CEO.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, BioCatch, Doxo, Fenergo, Flywire, Insuritas, Klarna, nCino, NIIT Technologies, Plaid, ProfitStars, Simple, wipro

On Finovate.com

  • Simple’s Payments Go Analog with Paper Checks.
  • Fenergo Supports Bahrain’s Blockchain-Based KYC.
  • Flywire Offers Chinese Students and Patients Discounted FX Rates.
  • doxo and Plaid Team Up to Bring Overdraft Protection to Billpay.

Around the web

  • ACI extends partnership with Vocalink into Saudi Arabia to facilitate the adoption of real-time payments through ACI’s UP Real-Time Payments solution.
  • First National Bank selects ProfitStars’ Commercial Lending Center Suite.
  • Centrale Kredietverlening selects nCino for its Bank Operating System.
  • Wipro develops blockchain-based solution with R3 to power digital currency transactions for Thailand banks.
  • Klarna and Stripe partner to offer Klarna’s Pay in 3 to Hideout festivalgoers through ticketing platform Kaboodle.
  • Forbes highlights BioCatch’s behavioral biometrics fraud prevention technology.
  • Insuritas and Tower Hill Specialty partner to bring Tower Hill’s property products to market through Insuritas’ bank partner network.
  • NIIT Technologies partners with Blue Chip to bring its wealth management application to Blue Chip’s IBM POWER.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Welcome to FinovateSpring 2019

Welcome to FinovateSpring 2019
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2019

While some of the audience got a head start yesterday with the Summit Day discussions, today is the start of our mainstage event.

As a reminder, we’ve moved the event to the Hilton Union Square in San Francisco. And tickets are available at the registration desk so there’s still time to take part in the action.

Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. Be sure to come early to grab your badge and enjoy a cup of coffee and breakfast while you network. The demos will start at 9:30 a.m., so give yourself enough time to find a good seat in the auditorium.

Here’s an outline of the rest of today’s schedule:

9:30 to 10:25 Demo session 1

10:25 to 11:10 Intermission, refreshments, and networking

11:10 to 11:25 Innovation and Consumer Protection

11:25 to 12:30 Demo session 2

12:30 to 1:40 Lunch and networking

1:40 to 1:55 Devil In The Details

1:55 to 2:50 Demo session 3

2:50 to 3:35 Intermission, refreshments, and networking

3:35 to 4:40 Demo session 4

4:40 to 6:40 Reception and networking

We’ll see you for another demo day tomorrow at 9 a.m. Our first session is one you won’t want to miss; it’s our Analyst All Stars!

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InComm Goes IoT

InComm Goes IoT
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: InComm

Prepaid payments innovator InComm is expanding into wearables this week. The Georgia-based company announced its MyVanilla Prepaid Mastercard is compatible with Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay.

This is the first prepaid card to work with Fitbit and Garmin; prior to today’s announcement both were limited to debit and credit cards.

“The payments industry is steadily moving toward a digital ecosystem, and we are ensuring both consumers and our retail partners are ready for this change,” said Michael Parlotto, Vice President of Emerging Technologies at InComm. “Bringing MyVanilla to Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay allows consumers to quickly and confidently use their prepaid cards on the go.”

With the launch, consumers using the MyVanilla general purpose reloadable (GPR) prepaid card can make payments using Fitbit’s and Garmin’s mobile wallets at locations where Mastercard prepaid payments are accepted. Compatible devices include the Fitbit Charge 3, Fitbit Ionic, and Fitbit Versa; as well as the Garmin D2 Delta, Garmin fenix 5, Garmin Forerunner 645, and Garmin vivoactive 3.

The consumer’s card number is never stored on their wearable device. Rather, the device generates a unique token to process the transaction, ensuring card number secrecy in the event the watch is lost or stolen.

Along with the wearables announcement, InComm unveiled it will bring NFC capabilities to retailers in its payment network. This update will allow InComm prepaid cardholders to reload Vanilla Prepaid cards that are connected to mobile wallets by tapping their NFC-capable phone. “[O]ur launch of tap-to-reload capabilities expands our suite of payment processing tools to include full lifecycle management of the mobile payments ecosystem, from provisioning capabilities to reload processing,” said Parlotto.

InComm offers more than 500,000 points of retail distribution with 1,000+ brand partners in more than 30 countries. The company debuted CorFire Mobile Commerce at FinovateFall 2011. More recently, InComm showed off the Cashtie API at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2014. In March, the company marked its eighth acquisition with the purchase of Linq3 Technologies.

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Three Canadian Credit Unions Take Fiserv DNA

Three Canadian Credit Unions Take Fiserv DNA
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Fiserv

Fiserv has gained three Canadian credit unions for its DNA core system, reports Martin Whybrow of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

These are Carpathia Credit Union, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Toronto-based duo, Estonian Credit Union, and Parama Credit Union.

Canadian service provider, Celero, has been recruited to work on the projects, having implemented Fiserv solutions at other Canadian credit unions over the years.

Drivers given for the decision include a desire to automate and streamline operations, simplify the creation of new products, and activate a full range of integrated digital services for their members.

Among other reasons for the selection, Nick Rawluk, CEO at Carpathia Credit Union, cites, “the proven track-record of continuous investment in DNA”.

DNA, which Fiserv acquired with Open Solutions in early 2013, is used by more than 100 credit unions in Canada, including 60 of the top 100 based on assets, serving more than 1.2 million members.

The Microsoft and Oracle-based system started life in the early 1990s as The Complete Banking Solution (TCBS). From the outset there was a credit union version with the same code base, The Complete Credit Union Solution (TCCUS), and this has always been a strong sector for the system.

Fiserv recently appeared on the FinovateSpring 2018 stage alongside Samsung SDS, where the two showcased how Samsung SDS integrates its biometric authentication and collaboration solutions into Fiserv’s Commercial Center: Security (CC:S) to create a more secure and convenient digital banking experience. Some of the company’s recent partners include Eurasian Bank, NBT Bank, and Hellenic Bank.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BlueVine, Diebold, Entersekt, InComm, Kabbage, Kantox, Kofax, Micronotes, Temenos, Top Image Systems

On Finovate.com

Around the web

  • Kofax closes acquisition of Top Image Systems.
  • Silicon Canals lists Kantox among 10 hottest Barcelona fintech startups to work for in 2019.
  • PYMNTS interviews Entersekt’s country manager of Canada Christian Ali.
  • Tunisian bank selects Temenos to drive digital transformation and future growth.
  • Diebold Nixdorf expands partnership with Belgian-owned Belfius Bank and Insurance to improve the UX for the bank’s 3.5 million consumers.
  • BlueVine and Nationwide partner to launch Pitch to Win small business contest with $100,000 prize.
  • Kabbage partners with the Building Trades Employers’ Association to provide members, specifically women and minority-owned business contractors, access to funding.
  • Micronotes sees triple-digit YOY client growth in Q1 2019

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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FinovateSpring in Full Force

FinovateSpring in Full Force
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2019

We’re on site at San Francisco’s Hilton Union Square, placing the final touches on what’s set to be the biggest fintech event this spring. Tickets are still available; don’t miss out!

It’s rehearsal day, so while companies are practicing their demos on stage in the auditorium, sponsors are setting up their booths in the networking hall. And you can prepare too– check out our Sneak Peek blog series to get an advance look at what each of the companies will unveil on stage and take a look at some of the themes that will pulse throughout the show.

AI and CX Summit

The precursor to the event begins today. Don’t miss our exclusive Summit Day that covers all you need to know about the latest in AI and Customer Experience as it relates to fintech and banking. Registration opens at 8:15 a.m. and the first session begins at 9 a.m.

Demo days

FinovateSpring begins tomorrow on Wednesday, May 8. Registration opens at 8:30 and the show kicks off at 9:30. Our 60 demo companies will take the stage on the first two days. Demos will be intermixed with keynote speakers, the Analyst All Star session, and networking. The demos wrap up on May 9 and the Best of Show winners will be announced that afternoon during happy hour.

Context day

Once the Best of Show winners have been crowned, it’s time to put it all into context. Registration for the final day of FinovateSpring begins at 8 a.m. and opening remarks start at 8:30. Prepare to hear plenty of insightful keynote addresses, panels, and discussions around community banking, digital banking, digital lending, and digital payments.

Feel free to contact us with any questions. We’ll see you in San Francisco!

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