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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
AI data enrichment platform Figure Eightannounced today that it has been acquired by Appen, a developer of high-quality, human-annotated datasets for ML and AI. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Becky Scott, Figure Eight chief operating officer, said that the conjunction of the two companies offer a “single-source global data annotation solution for any company, in any vertical, seeking to advance its use of artificial intelligence.”
“With a critical component of our integration complete, we’re excited for the opportunity to deliver immediate value to Figure Eight customers who can now accelerate their AI and machine learning initiatives with the massive scale of Appen’s crowd,” said Mark Brayan, Appen’s Chief Executive Officer. “We’re also pleased to offer even more flexible work from home opportunities to our crowd as a result of integrating with the Figure Eight platform.”
Figure Eight uses human intelligence to create quality data to train machine learning models. The data that Figure Eight helps enhance can train models relating to natural language processing; images, video, and computer vision; search relevance; data enrichment; and speech-to-text. Under the acquisition, the company’s users now have access to Appen’s over 1 million on-demand global crowd workers covering 130 countries across 180 languages and dialects.
Founded in 2009 as CrowdFlower, the company rebranded to Figure Eight last April to refocus on AI and machine learning opportunities. At FinovateFall 2014, the company won Best of Show for its demonstration on how its crowdsourced workforce quickly collects, cleans, and labels financial transaction data to help banks curate a better customer experience.
Headquartered in California and founded by Chris Van Pelt and Lukas Biewald, Figure Eight has raised $58 million from firms including K9 Ventures, Industry Ventures, Trinity Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Slated to take place May 8 through 10 in San Francisco, FinovateSpring offers us an opportunity to take a broader look at the technology behind the innovations shown in the demos on stage (join us!).
One of the best ways to do this is through our Analyst All Stars session, where we’ll hear from four leading fintech analysts on what they think is the top opportunity for banks and financial services companies.
Each analyst will have seven minutes on stage (yes, slides allowed!) to describe their thoughts on what’s hot in fintech right now. Here’s who you can expect to see on stage:
Michelle Evans
As Head of Digital Consumer at Euromonitor International, Evans oversees the firm’s research on the digital consumer, providing actionable insights and in-depth analysis into how technological advances are reshaping the way consumers browse and buy goods and services globally. She regularly writes and speaks about Euromonitor’s research with her specialty spanning mobile payments, digital commerce, e-commerce, m-commerce, digital marketing and social media.
Recognized as a thought leader in digital commerce, she was named a Power Women in Fintech by conference organizer Innotribe in 2015, a Woman on Top in Tech by business magazine Asian Entrepreneur in 2016, a Woman to Watch by social think tank Remodista in 2018 and a Top 200 Fintech Influencer in Asia by fintech publications Fintech Asia and Lattice80 in 2018. Leveraging her master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University, she has a recurring column in Forbes and is regularly quoted in publications globally.
Jacob Jegher
Jegher is an experienced fintech executive and digital banking thought leader. He advises clients on emerging technologies and business strategies related to retail, small business, and corporate digital banking. Jegher provides strategic consulting to financial institutions and solution providers on issues ranging from digital strategy to vendor selection. In addition to his client-facing responsibilities, Jegher leads Javelin’s overall strategy, marketing, and product development efforts.
Most recently, Jegher was Vice President of Global Solution Marketing and Head of Analyst Relations at FIS, where he was responsible for marketing strategy efforts across all business units and solutions. Jegher also brings extensive expertise in the banking research and consulting field, having spent over 10 years as a Research Director at Celent.
Daniel Latimore
Latimore, CFA, is the Senior Vice President of Celent’s Banking group and is based in the firm’s Boston office. Latimore’s areas of focus include the banking ecosystem, digital and omnichannel banking, and innovation. Underlying each is a keen interest in consumer behavior and technology-enabled strategy. Latimore is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and client gatherings, having addressed audiences ranging from intimate meetings of CEOs and central banks to conference keynotes in more than a dozen countries. He led research groups at Deloitte and IBM, worked in industry Liberty Mutual and Merrill Lynch (where he lived in New York, Tokyo and London), and was a consultant at McKinsey & Co.
He received a Masters in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the CFA institute.
Paul Berg
In his role as Senior Managing Consultant, speaker and writer in Gallup’s Finance Practice, Berg helps leaders and organizations do courageous things. He drives organic growth through data-based strategies that create exceptional outcomes for employees, customers and shareholders. Berg focuses on excellence and partners with those who share that same goal.
Berg leads Gallup’s partnerships with some of the largest and most respected Financial Services companies in the U.S. He specializes in helping organizations align and optimize their human capital and customer experience strategies. He is the author of numerous articles, including Rebuilding Trust in Banks and Is Your Bank Creating Regulatory Risk? and guides Gallup’s ongoing Financial Services research.
Join us on May 8 through 10 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square in San Francisco to hear these experts talk about the latest in fintech.
Stocktwits, a social network for investors and traders, announced the launch of a new app that offers commission-free trades on U.S. equities. The app is called Trade App and is offered by Stocktwits subsidiary and registered broker-dealer, ST Invest.
Like the Stocktwits platform, the app will engage investors with a social interface that promotes idea exchange. Unlike the Stocktwits platform, however, Trade App will not charge commissions and will facilitate fractional share investing.
The commission-free trades, mobile interface, and fractional share capability all appeal to millennials and those with a lower net worth. These aspects pit the new app against Stocktwits competitor and partner Robinhood. The two formed a partnership in 2015 with an integration that offered Robinhood users access to Stocktwits’ stock-tracking tools and enabled StockTwits’ users to leverage Robinhood’s free brokerage service.
“With 150,000 messages sent every day on the platform, Stocktwits prides itself on understanding the retail investor and trader. For ten years we’ve had a front row seat to the roller coaster of emotions the active investor goes through, from the highs to the lows,” said Ian Rosen, CEO of Stocktwits. We built Trade App to create a better experience for investors and traders of all levels. Self-directed doesn’t have to mean self-destructive, and we believe the key to success lies in not relying solely on yourself.”
Rosen, who was appointed Stocktwits CEO in 2016, said that the Trade App “matches the excitement and pulse of the community we’ve built.” The app will be available to Stocktwits’ existing user base of two million this summer on iOS. While there is no exact date when Trade App will be available to the general public, the company said that the release will occur “over time.”
Founded in 2008 by Howard Lindzon, StockTwits serves as one of the top trading communities and social investing platforms. The company facilitates 4 million messages each month about 7,500 individual stocks and tickers. StockTwits launched its blog network and StockTwits Connect at FinovateEurope 2011.
Capital Bank of Jordan has signed for Backbase’s digital channels platform, reports Martin Whybrow of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).
The Dutch supplier’s solution will cover both customer and employee digital channels across institutional and retail banking.
A key stated aim is faster time-to-market for new products. Capital Bank has signed for the full product stack based around Backbase CXS 6, which is the latest version, launched at the end of 2017, and comes with identity and access management capabilities. The deal includes the Backbase Entitlements component and DBS digital banking back-end services.
Implementation will be carried out by Backbase and one of its partners, Lisbon-based Bring Global. The system will be deployed on the cloud and will integrate with the bank’s core system and other applications. The bank is a long-standing user of Temenos’ T24, which has its own digital channel offering.
Capital Bank’s CEO, Ala Qumsieh, describes Backbase as “an ideal long-term strategic partner” for the bank’s digital transformation.
Backbase has a reasonable number of Middle East users. An addition last year, Lebanon-based Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL), included plans for a roll-out in Jordan.
At FinovateEurope 2018, Backbase unveiled the Customer OS in a demo that won the Amsterdam-based company Best of Show honors for the fourth time. Last July, the company teamed up with Jumio to deliver online ID verification services and in December the company partnered with Polish bank BGŻ BNP Paribas Bank.
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateAsia Digital on June 22, 2021. Register today and save your spot.
BreachRx’s platform provides automation across the enterprise, enabling organizations to respond to cyber incidents efficiently and in compliance with relevant regulations, policies, and contracts.
Features
Incident response that is automatically tailored and up-to-date
One platform for all business silos that are responsible for incident response
One system of record for audit and regulators
Why it’s great BreachRx will change data breach response from a crisis to a routine business process.
Presenter
Andy Lunsford, CEO, Co-Founder Lunsford is a privacy law expert with a decade of experience in large-scale commercial litigation. He first began working on data security issues when his firm represented ChoicePoint in 2004. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateAsia Digital on June 22, 2021. Register today and save your spot.
YourStake.org is a petition platform that leverages your shareholder rights to bring your concerns into corporate boardrooms. Create progress on social issues that are otherwise too big to tackle.
Features
Learn the impact of your investments
Take action to make companies better
Find ways to invest your values
Why it’s great Individuals are taking back their shareholder voice and using it to drive social good.
Presenters
Patrick Reed, CEO Climate activist, Yale Economics, full-stack Python for web and machine learning. LinkedIn
Gabe Rissman, President Impact investment researcher, evangelist. First student to file a shareholder resolution. LinkedIn
Why it’s great Single requests attacks can be stopped with an intermediate attack surface that isn’t within the control of attackers, but cannot be detected by artificial intelligence or stopped with bot mitigation.
Presenters
Kevin Gosschalk, CEO & Founder Gosschalk is a machine vision specialist who transformed his expertise into cyber security innovation as CEO and founder of fraud prevention technology, Arkose Labs. LinkedIn
Samuel Tyler, Director of Product Marketing Tyler is a B2B product marketer working at the intersection of cyber security and identity for Arkose Labs. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateAsia Digital on June 22, 2021. Register today and save your spot.
BlytzPay provides solutions that allow customers to communicate and pay via text interaction. BlytzPay is as easy as Text. Pay. Done.
Features
Text-to-pay solution that delivers a mobile point of sale accepting cards, ACH, and cash
Closed-loop cash network for the unbanked and underbanked
Powerful two-way communication for customers
Why it’s great Interaction leads to transaction. We take the friction out of communication and collection so you can focus on growing your business.
Presenters
Robyn Burkinshaw, CEO Burkinshaw’s background in payments and merchant services has helped her identify the need for improved communication, reduced friction, and flexible payment options for each individual customer. LinkedIn
Josh Albrecht VP Client Services With over a decade of experience in the financial services industry, Albrecht is passionate about fintech improving the overall customer experience. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateAsia Digital on June 22, 2021. Register today and save your spot.
BlueRushwill demo IndiVideo — interactive, personalized videos for bills and statements. This iteration offers a a more compelling, data-driven way to issue bills and statements.
Features
Increase engagement
Drive conversions
Capture customer insights
Why it’s great Personalized video is a natural enhancement to bills and statements. This format increases customer satisfaction and loyalty, decreases customer care costs, and enables cross/up-selling.
Presenter
Ted Mercer, VP Sales At BlueRush, Mercer searches for new ways to drive value for clients using the company’s interactive personalized video platform. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateAsia Digital on June 22, 2021. Register today and save your spot.
Launchfire’sLemonade is a game-based microlearning platform that gives financial institutions the tools and analytics they need to make frontline staff more effective — faster.
Features
Launch more engaging and effective learning experiences for employees
Get frontline employees role-ready in less time
Measure business impact and prove ROI
Why it’s great Lemonade uses games, microlearning, and advanced analytics to reduce overall training time, improve learning outcomes, and get frontline staff role-ready faster.
Presenter
Romeo Maione, Director of Business Solutions As Director of Business Solutions, Maione has worked with top banks in North America to upskill their frontline and increase adoption of their digital products. LinkedIn
Validis’ DataShare to integrate with Baker HillNextGen.
Insuritaspartners with Nymeo FCU to launch digital insurance agency.
SGX orders Ayondo to shelve planned disposal of unit.
TechCrunch reports: Coinbase launches in 11 countries with crypto-to-crypto conversions.
Jack Henry & Associatesrecognized on Forbes’ America’s Best Employers List for third consecutive year.
Flywireintegrates with TRUE North to connect the application, enrollment and cross-border payment and receivables processes to bring transparency to education payments.
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.
Digital identity authentication provider Payfone closed a $24 million funding round today. Credit reporting agency TransUnion led the round, while existing investors Synchrony, MassMutual Ventures, and Wellington Management also contributed. The investment brings the New York-based company’s total funding to $117.6 million.
TransUnion’s investment comes in conjunction with a strategic partnership between the two companies, which have been doing business together since 2017. The Chicago-based company will integrate Payfone’s Trust Platform and Trust Score into its IDVision with iovation suite of products.
“Within this new strategic partnership, we anticipate supporting Payfone’s expansion to new markets and looking at other uses of their products throughout our organization,” said Geoff Miller, senior vice president of global fraud and identity solutions at TransUnion. “We are both committed to protecting consumers, focusing on data privacy and building trust with our customers, and the combination of our solutions will create a better, more seamless experience for everyone.” Miller will join Payfone’s Board of Directors.
TransUnion will serve as Payfone’s primary partner for regulated identity verification information. Payfone CEO Rodger Desai said, “With our partnership with TransUnion, we can now leverage TransUnion’s footprint of more than 30 countries to help expand our Trust Score around the globe, allowing billions of additional consumers to safely access digital services.”
Payfone, which was founded in 2008 as a mobile payments company, demoed1-Touch Checkout at FinovateFall 2012. The New York-based company has since pivoted to focus on authentication solutions.
Last year, Payfone authenticated 20 billion transactions for Fortune 500 companies using its zero-knowledge architecture (if you’re unsure what zero-knowledge is, check out Payfone’s blog post on the matter). The company plans to double the number of transactions authenticated this year.
Founded in 1968, TransUnion has office locations at its headquarters in Chicago, as well as in Hong Kong, Mumbai, Toronto, Johannesburg, Colombia, and Brazil. At FinovateFall 2016, TransUnion showcased Prama, a suite of analytics tools that helps lenders gain market intelligence and acts on insights to drive growth and build a risk policy. TransUnion is a public company with a market capitalization of $13.3 billion, trading on the NYSE under the ticker “TRU.”
