Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Aeropay Lands $20 Million to Fuel Pay-by-Bank

Aeropay Lands $20 Million to Fuel Pay-by-Bank
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Aeropay raised $20 million in new funding for its pay-by-bank technology.
  • The round, which boosts Aeropay’s total funding to $25 million, was led by Group 11.
  • Aeropay also announced the launch of Aerosync, the company’s internally developed bank aggregator.

Chicago-based payments company Aeropay announced today it has landed $20 million in new funding. The Series B round, which boosts the company’s total funds to $25 million, was led by venture capital firm Group 11 and saw participation from Chicago Ventures and Continental Investment Partners.

Aeropay was founded in 2017 to help businesses move money in a faster, less expensive way using Aerosync, the company’s internally developed pay-by-bank technology. Launching today, Aerosync is Aeropay’s bank aggregator that enables customizable integrations via open APIs.

“Payments in most verticals operate on archaic systems filled with excessive fees and risks,” said Aeropay Founder and CEO Daniel Muller. “We’ve built a bank-driven payments network that protects businesses against fraud, saves them money, and gives their customers an easy way to pay. Put simply, we are building the next-generation payments network.”

Aeropay will use the funds to expand into new markets, including financial services, wellness, utilities, QSR, and property management. The investment will also help fuel new product offerings, build on strategic partnerships, and explore new opportunities.

“For years, we’ve searched for a company advanced enough to solve the pains and inefficiencies of the card payment market, arguably the last bastion of the traditional financial services industry,” said Group 11 Founding Partner Dovi Frances. “Aeropay has tackled the most complex technological and compliance challenges, making them the most likely player to seize upon this massive addressable market.”

Pay-by-bank has seen rising popularity across the globe in the past few years, as open banking fuels new possibilities. The technology holds the promise of reducing transaction fees for retailers. End consumers, however, may remain skeptical of pay-by-bank’s security and user friendliness.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

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VantageScore Taps Open Banking Data for New Launch

VantageScore Taps Open Banking Data for New Launch
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • VantageScore launched its newest credit scoring model, the VantageScore 4plus.
  • The score combines consumer-permissioned open banking data with data from Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion to improve lenders’ underwriting efforts.
  • The new credit scoring model is available as a pilot for banks, fintechs, and government lenders.

Consumer credit score software company VantageScore unveiled VantageScore 4plus, its newest credit scoring model, today.

VantageScore 4plus leverages alternative data sourced through open banking that can be accessed via all major aggregator APIs. When consumers offer lenders access to their bank data, the lender can combine the data with traditional credit scoring information from Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion to make more informed underwriting decisions and potentially lend to more consumers who have thin credit files but demonstrate positive cash management.

“The use of consumer-permissioned bank account data is a huge step forward in creating a credit score that is more predictive and reflective of a consumer’s full financial profile, helping them build their credit and gain access to mainstream financial products,” said Credit Builders Alliance CEO Dara Duguay.

This new credit scoring model is available as a pilot for banks, fintechs, and government lenders. Because it uses the same 300 to 850 scoring range with aligned score-to-odds ratios as VantageScore 4.0, most lenders won’t need to adjust their credit or lending policies to use the new VantageScore 4plus credit score. And because the new score leverages real-time data, lenders will be able to view a consumer’s credit score adjustment within seconds, facilitating faster lending decisions.

The additional data from VantageScore 4plus not only helps lenders make informed decisions about new borrowers, but it also helps lenders identify existing borrowers whose habits have changed. The new score provides visibility into signs of financial distress months before the trouble is detected by traditional credit bureaus. which is critical in the current economic uncertainty. 

“By harnessing the power of alternative open banking data, VantageScore 4plus is ushering in a new era of consumer credit scoring that is transformational for lenders,” said VantageScore President and CEO Silvio Tavares. “As the fastest growing credit scoring company in the U.S., with over 42% growth in 2023 and 27 billion credit scores used per year, lenders are recognizing the innovation and predictive power of VantageScore credit scores.”

The news comes shortly after Experian launched Cashflow Attributes, a tool also powered by open banking and consumer-permissioned data, that aims to offer lenders more data about underserved consumers.

Connecticut-based VantageScore was founded in 2006 as an independently managed joint venture of the U.S.’ three Nationwide Consumer Reporting Agencies (NCRAs) – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The company, which is committed to financial inclusion, saw the usage of its VantageScore increase by 42% in 2023, when it reported more than 27 billion credit scores. VantageScore helps 3,400+ institutions, including eight of the top 10 banks, to use the VantageScore credit score to underwrite credit cards, auto loans, personal loans, and mortgages. 

Finovate’s David Penn interviewed Rikard Bandebo, VantageScore Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer on the company’s approach to credit scoring in 2022.

Photo by Mike Hindle on Unsplash

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Meet the Keynotes of FinovateSpring 2024

Meet the Keynotes of FinovateSpring 2024
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2024

With just a few days until FinovateSpring takes the stage at the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, it is a good time to set your schedule in the event app. As usual, we have curated a lineup of keynote speakers who will be offering their expertise on some of the most pressing topics in fintech and banking.

Here’s a look at some of the keynote speakers taking the stage during the general session.

Brian Solis, Author at Mindshift: Ignite Change, Inspire Action, And Innovate For A Better Tomorrow

On Tuesday at 10:30 am, Solis’ keynote, The Cycle For Emerging Technologies: Which Will Really Matter To Financial Services Providers And Why? If You’re Waiting For Someone To Tell You What To Do, You’re On The Wrong Side Of Change will help financial services providers dig into the newest technologies and determine how to prioritize new, and rapidly approaching changes in banking and fintech.

Shirin Oreizy, Founder and CEO of NextStep

Oreizy’s keynote address is taking place on Tuesday at 12:45 pm. During her presentation, How Companies Can Leverage The Psychology Of Human Decision Making To Design And Scale Financial Products, Oreizy will consider how your consumers are really making their decisions, what motivates them, and how to design your UX to drive desired behavior.

Manas Chawla, CEO at London Politica

Chawla will take a look at the current geopolitical outlook in his keynote, The Global Economic & Geo-Political Outlook – What Are The Five Things You Need To Know? He takes the stage at 1 pm on Tuesday and will be looking at topics such as the interest rate environment, bank failures, wars, and political tensions.

Karl Alomar, Managing Partner at M13

In his quick fire keynote session at 3:35 pm on Tuesday titled, Major Banks Are Making Serious Plays In The Crypto & Digital Currencies Space – Why?, Alomar will consider the shortcomings of traditional currencies and will take a look at the rise of digital currencies, including CBDCs. He will also address the impact digital currencies will have on banks and how they should prioritize discussions.

Gary Rudman, Founder and CEO of GTR Consulting

Rudman will take the stage at 11:40 am on Wednesday to offer his keynote, ALT, SHIFT & CTRL: The 3 Keystrokes That Define the Gen Z Worldview – What Banks & Fintechs Need to Know. During his presentation, Rudman will describe how Gen Z differs from their predecessors and will discuss how banks can connect with the new generation.

Sam Kilmer, Managing Director, Fintech Advisory at Cornerstone Advisors

Kilmer’s quick fire keynote, which takes place at 9 am on Thursday, is titled, Focusing On The Three Pillars Of Banking: Deposits, Loans, and Money Movement – How Can Banks Innovate To Drive Revenue In A Challenging Economic Environment? The presentation will cover what Kilmer has determined are the three pillars of banking: deposits, loans, and money movement operations. Kilmer will also consider KYC, fraud detection, and authentication, and will discuss what banks should prioritize to add value.

James Robert Lay, Author of Banking on Digital Growth

In his keynote, Banking On Change – The Exponential Growth Journey, Lay considers how firms can maximize their digital growth using a future mindset. He also looks at how legacy systems limit digital growth potential. Lay’s presentation begins at 9:50 am on Thursday.

Sarah Welch, Managing Director at Curinos

In her quick fire keynote, How AI Is A Force Multiplier On Customer Loyalty, Welch will offer her take on AI in financial services and will consider how organizations can use the enabling technology to improve customer service and ultimately improve loyalty. Welch’s presentation begins at 10:05 am on Thursday.

Sam Maule, Head of Business Development at Moov

Maule’s presentation, The Next Chapter For Embedded Finance & The Digitisation Of Commerce. In An Age Of Re-Bundling Financial Product Experiences, How And Where Should Banks Play To Win? Why Retailers & Banks Need To Be Actively Partnering On Embedded Finance, takes place at 11:25 am on Thursday. Maule will consider how embedded finance is transforming the industry and will offer advice on where to steer.

Haven’t booked your ticket yet? There’s still time to register!

Photo by Meruyert Gonullu

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Layer Raises $2.3 Million for Embedded Accounting

Layer Raises $2.3 Million for Embedded Accounting
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Layer has raised $2.3 million in pre-seed funding for its embedded accounting solution.
  • The round was led by Better Tomorrow Ventures, with participation from executives at Square, Plaid, Unit, Check, and other SMB software companies.
  • Layer will use the investment to expand its headcount across engineering and business operations.

Embedded accounting player Layer raised $2.3 million in a pre-seed round of funding today. The funds mark the first investment round the San Francisco-based company has seen since it was founded last March.

Better Tomorrow Ventures led the round, which also saw participation from executives at Square, Plaid, Unit, Check, and other SMB software companies.

Layer aims to simplify financial management for small businesses by enabling software companies– such as point-of-sale systems, neo-banks, and other software companies catering to small businesses– to embed accounting and bookkeeping solutions directly within their own platforms. This eliminates the need for small businesses to import data between their accounting software, such as Quickbooks, and the small business software provider. Because Layer allows software providers to combine their own data with data from customers’ external financial accounts, it helps offer the customers a more complete picture of their accounting.

“A common burden small businesses face today is keeping their accounting software in sync with their operations,” said Layer Co-founder and CEO Justin Meretab. “We believe our platform will now give SMBs a better solution for their accounting needs by embedding it into systems they use daily. Small businesses already have so much on their plate running and growing their operations, and accounting shouldn’t be another burden.”

Layer makes it possible for software companies to embed Layer through its API and pre-built Javascript UI components. The company will use the funding to expand its headcount across engineering and business operations.

“Accounting and bookkeeping are two of the biggest pain points small business owners face, and yet the existing products in the market are intimidating and can be time-consuming,” said Better Tomorrow Ventures Principal Nihar Bobba. “There are few products in the market that truly address these issues, which is why we’re excited to join Justin and Daniel in their journey to build and provide a powerful embedded accounting platform that enables all sorts of companies to solve the accounting needs of their customers.”

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

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Almost 90% of Klarna Staff Use Kiki The Company’s Internal AI

Almost 90% of Klarna Staff Use Kiki The Company’s Internal AI
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Klarna
  • Klarna announced that 87% of its staff use its Generative AI engine, Kiki in their daily work activities.
  • Kiki was launched in June 2023 and uses OpenAI’s Large Language Models.
  • Kiki generates responses within one to five seconds and offers answers that are dependent on the user’s role and other context.

Global payments network and shopping platform Klarna announced today that 87% of its staff use Generative AI to complete their daily work activities. The employees are using Kiki, Klarna’s internal AI assistant.

Klarna launched Kiki in June of 2023, leveraging OpenAI’s Large Language Models (LLMs). Since it was released, Kiki has responded to more than 250,000 inquiries, which equates to roughly 2,000 inquiries per day. Today, more than 85% of all Klarna employees use Kiki. 

“We push everyone to test, test, test and explore,” said Klarna CEO and Co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski. “As Klarna continues to discover applications for OpenAI’s tech, there’s the potential to take the business to new heights. We’re aimed at achieving a new level of employee empowerment, enhancing both our team’s performance and the customer experience.”

Overall, Kiki helps manage and distribute internal knowledge at Klarna, which helps to maintain a transparent culture. The AI assistant, which generates responses within one to five seconds, offers answers that are dependent on the user’s role and other context.

How do Klarna staff use Kiki? Employees can use the AI assistant to not only fetch information, but also to solve issues independently. For example, the company’s communications team uses the engine to evaluate whether press articles written about Klarna are positive or negative. The company’s lawyers use the tool to draft common types of contracts. “The big law firms have had a really great business just from providing templates for common types of contract. But ChatGPT is even better than a template because you can create something quite bespoke,” said Klarna Senior Managing Legal Counsel Selma Bogren.

Klarna also uses GenAI for external customer communications. The company states that, after one month, the AI customer service assistant handled 2.3 million conversations, equivalent to two-thirds of Klarna’s customer service chats.

The announcement comes as OpenAI, which powers Kiki, unveiled GPT-4o, the latest iteration of its GenAI chatbot. The new version is faster, has improved its non-English language text, and accepts input of any combination of text, audio, and images, while generating any combination of text, audio, and image outputs. “Because GPT-4o is our first model combining all of these modalities, we are still just scratching the surface of exploring what the model can do and its limitations,” states OpenAI’s announcement page.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto

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N-iX Enhances Partnership with Mitek

N-iX Enhances Partnership with Mitek
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Mitek

Software solutions and engineering firm N-iX announced today it has enhanced its partnership with digital identity verification tools company Mitek Systems. Under the agreement, N-iX has tapped Mitek to enhance its digital identity verification and fraud prevention efforts.

Specifically, N-iX will leverage the Mitek Verified Identity Platform (MiVIP), a tool that allows organizations to aggregate multiple identity verification services using a low-code, no-code approach. MiVIP will help N-iX deploy the identity verification capabilities quickly, and will offer an easy-to-navigate experience for end users to maximize customer onboarding.

“By leveraging Mitek’s technologies, we are better positioned to meet the evolving needs of our clients in secure KYC, onboarding, and fraud prevention tools,” said N-iX Financial Services Client Partner Nataliya Maslak. “This partnership underscores N-iX’s ongoing commitment to fostering innovation and achieving excellence in the financial services domain and the digital security landscape.”

N-iX anticipates that Mitek’s MiVIP will enhance the service for end users while keeping digital transactions secure. With MiVIP, organizations can select a range of identity verification services and build multiple KYC processes with customizable workflows that will suit a range of risk profiles, products, and regulatory requirements. The technology guides end users throughout the onboarding process at their own pace and reengages them if they click out of the flow.

N-iX was founded in 2010 to offer technology to companies across financial services. The Florida-based company has been partnered with Mitek since 2016, using Mitek’s tools to develop customer lifecycle management and know your customer products. N-iX has built a cross-border payment engine for Currencycloud, a peer-to-peer lending platform for a U.K.-based fintech, instant money transfer solutions for Lebara, and a cloud-based Forex trading platform for Finatek.

Mitek was founded in 1986 and offers technology for mobile check deposit, new account opening, identity verification, and more. The company’s solutions are crucial to 99% of U.S. banks for mobile check deposits. Its technology is utilized by over 7,900 organizations, and its mobile check deposit and account opening tools serve more than 80 million consumers. Last year, Mitek formed partnerships with lending solutions company Abrigo and data and analytics company Equifax.

Mitek is publicly listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker MITK and has a current market capitalization of $633 million.

Photo by cottonbro studio

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Temenos Launches Responsible Generative AI Solutions

Temenos Launches Responsible Generative AI Solutions
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Temenos
  • Temenos has launched Responsible Generative AI Solutions for financial services.
  • The GenAI tools allow bank employees to use natural language to query the engine, which will leverage banks’ data to generate unique insights and reports.
  • At launch, the new GenAI tools will be available within Temenos Wealth and Temenos Digital products.

Banking technology provider Temenos launched Responsible Generative AI Solutions for financial services this week. The Switzerland-based company is making the solutions available as part of its AI infused banking platform, starting with its Temenos Wealth and Temenos Digital products.

Temenos’ new offering aims to change the way banks leverage their data, and the company anticipates they will ultimately improve banks’ productivity and profitability. Temenos’ new Responsible Generative AI solutions work similarly to other GenAI engines, such as ChatGPT, in that they allow bank employees to use natural language to query the engine, which will leverage banks’ data to generate unique insights and reports. Banks can use the new tools in processes ranging from managing existing accounts to brainstorming new products and mitigating financial crime.

“We all use AI in our daily lives and benefit from the personalized services and insight,” said Temenos President Product and COO Prema Varadhan. “Temenos Explainable AI offers transparent, auditable insights while our Generative AI infused platform delivers these insights instantly in an intelligent and personalized way. Temenos ensures responsible AI practices by providing explainability, security, safe deployment, and banking-specific capabilities. With our AI platform, banks can rapidly implement real-world use cases that enhance efficiency, boost profitability, and create hyper-personalized customer experiences.”

The “responsible” part of Temenos’ new tools lies in its transparency and explainability. Users and regulators will have visibility into the process and will be able to verify the results produced by the engine. The Responsible Generative AI solutions also have a permissions and access security framework to address data security and privacy concerns.

Banks can deploy the new Responsible Generative AI Solutions as standalone solutions or connect them with their existing core systems on-premise, on public or private clouds, or delivered via Temenos SaaS.

Temenos was founded in 1993 and offers solutions for retail and commercial banking, wealth management, payments, fund administrators, insurance companies, and more. The company has clients in 150 countries and offers solutions that touch 30% of the world’s banking population, equivalent to 1.2 billion people.

Photo by Tara Winstead

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Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Backbase, Expensify, Fintech Rundown, Flywire

Last week brought a small uptick in fintech funding and drama ensued when Tabapay renounced its agreement to purchase Synapse’s assets. Stay tuned to this week’s news for updates as this situation– and others– evolve throughout the week.

Payments

Payments enablement and software company Flywire announces expanded availability of its third-party invoicing solution.

Bank payments company GoCardless appoints Jolawn Victor as Chief Growth Officer.

Bankart partners with Diebold Nixdorf to modernize its payment processing platform across southeast Europe.

Tango launches Global Choice Link, to offer its business customers an easy platform to send rewards, incentives, and payouts to recipients across the globe.

REPAY becomes a Certified Integration Partner with Corelation’s KeyStone platform.

Mastercard and Salesforce announce new integration to transform transaction disputes.

Small business banking

Expensify unveils unlimited virtual cards for enhanced spend management.

Core banking

Vietnam-based Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB) leverages Backbase’s Engagement Banking Platform to launch its OMNI 4.0 app.

Banque Internationale à Luxembourg selects Temenos‘ core banking and payments to increase agility and efficiency of its retail, corporate, and private banking operations.

Investing

Raisin reports first profit as customer deposits increase.

Lending

SALT granted FCA approval and gears up for summer launch.

London-based automated mobile debt management platform Incredible raises $1 million in pre-seed funding.

Challenger banking

French payments app Lydia launches new challenger bank proposition called Sumeria.

E-commerce

Mexican BNPL platform Aplazo secures $70 million in equity financing.

Fraud prevention

Financial services technology provider Koodoo teams up with Resistant AI to enhance its ability to check documents for fraud.

Digital banking

U.K.-based “greener” digital bank Tandem introduces new Chief Technology Officer Suavek Zajac.

Photo by Armin Rimoldi

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Experian Launches Cashflow Attributes to Help Underserved Consumers Access Credit

Experian Launches Cashflow Attributes to Help Underserved Consumers Access Credit
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Experian
  • Experian launched Cashflow Attributes, a tool to offer lenders more data about underserved consumers.
  • Cashflow Attributes offers lenders visibility into more than 900 consumer attributes that reflect consumers’ cashflow and affordability.
  • Lenders can use the insights to aid in their underwriting decisions, drive more personalized experiences, and help improve financial management tools.

Information services company Experian unveiled Cashflow Attributes yesterday, a new solution that leverages open banking to help underserved consumers access fair and affordable credit.

Cashflow Attributes uses more than 900 income, cashflow, and affordability attributes to allow lenders to integrate applicants’ banking data into the decision-making process. Experian expects the new solution will help some of the 106 million U.S. consumers who are considered credit invisible, unscoreable by conventional credit scores, or have a subprime or below credit score and are therefore unable to secure credit at mainstream rates. Credit Attributes layers traditional credit report data with cashflow insights to create a more detailed view of a consumer’s financial health and creditworthiness.

“Supporting financial inclusion and creating an equitable path to credit is ingrained in our DNA,” said Experian Financial and Marketing Services Group President Scott Brown. “We believe banking information holds untapped potential and that our new Cashflow Attributes represent an exciting step forward that can easily be integrated into lending decisions. As we look ahead, we will continue to leverage our core credit data, new data elements and our analytics expertise to unlock new opportunities for both consumers and businesses.”

To use Cashflow Attributes, lenders first provide Experian with depersonalized transaction information from their existing customers or from customers at other banks, as long as they have consumer-permissioned account access. Experian uses its categorization model to analyze and categorize the consumer transaction data and sends the lender the transaction categories and predictive attributes. Lenders can use these categories and attributes to aid in their underwriting decisions, drive more personalized experiences, and help improve financial management tools.

Founded in 1980 and originally known for its consumer credit reporting, Experian has extensive access to data and has added fraud prevention offerings, identity theft protection, credit building tools, and a loan comparison marketplace. On the commercial side, Experian provides a range of services for small businesses, including business credit reporting, marketing products and services, debt collection tools, and more. The company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker EXPN and has a market capitalization of $39.5 billion.

Photo by Lukas

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Nubank Exceeds 100 Million Customer Mark

Nubank Exceeds 100 Million Customer Mark
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Nubank
  • Nubank has surpassed 100 million customers, stating that it is the first digital banking platform outside of Asia to reach this customer milestone.
  • Nubank serves 92 million customers in Brazil, over 7 million in Mexico, and close to 1 million in Colombia.
  • In 2023, Nubank achieved record financial results, reaching more than $1 billion in net profit and over $8 billion in revenue.

Brazilian challenger bank Nubank announced this week it has surpassed 100 million customers across Latin America. The fintech estimates it is the first digital banking platform outside of Asia to reach this customer milestone. Nubank is currently active in three countries, serving 92 million customers in Brazil, over 7 million in Mexico, and close to 1 million in Colombia.

The company has a mission of “fighting complexity to empower people,” offering users a digital bank account, credit card, mobile phone insurance, life insurance, personal loans, and investing tools. The company launched business accounts in 2019 to offer small business users a bank account, credit card, and a phone-based payment acceptance app.

“In 2013, we had set ourselves the ambitious goal to reach one million customers in five years, which seemed almost impossible at the time,” said Nubank Founder and CEO David Vélez. “In a decade, we have surpassed 100 million, which is a testament to the trust our customers place in us and to the power of a truly customer-centric business model. These 100 million customers have written their stories together with ours, and we want to honor them in a special way.”

Since its inception, Nubank has been instrumental in helping its customers save more than 440 million hours of waiting in service queues. Additionally, the company estimated that it helped users save 11 billion dollars in banking fees in 2023.

Perhaps more notable than savings consumers on fees and their time waiting in line, Nubank has also been instrumental in promoting financial inclusion in Brazil, a region notorious for its high rate of unbanked adults. Between July 2021 and July 2022, Nubank added 5.7 million credit cardholders to the country’s credit card market. In a survey it conducted of accountholders from 2021, Nubank found that 60% of Brazilian customers improved their financial journey in the first 24 months, citing frequent and responsible use of credit cards and other financial products.

“Being customer-centric has been guiding us since the very beginning,”said Nubank Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer Cristina Junqueira. “Today, we want our customers to see themselves the way we see them: at the center of everything. In reaching this milestone, we want to focus on the real people and individual stories of empowerment and advance our mission to help improve people’s lives.”

From a U.S. perspective, Nubank’s customer number is not the only impressive metric surrounding the fintech. The company closed last year with record financial results, recording more than $1 billion in net profit and over $8 billion in revenue. The positive financials are especially admirable, given that many U.S.-based challenger banks are still seeking to reach the break even point.

Photo by John Petalcurin

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Insights from the Frontlines: Five Fintech Founders Share Their Stories

Insights from the Frontlines: Five Fintech Founders Share Their Stories
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Streamly

In the fast-evolving world of fintech, founders are a breed apart, characterized by their unique blend of grit, determination, and adaptability. Their journeys are often marked by challenges, triumphs, and invaluable insights. In this series of interviews, we delve into the minds of five fintech founders to uncover the lessons they’ve learned, the key traits they believe are essential for a successful founding team, and the distinctive challenges and opportunities they’ve encountered on their entrepreneurial paths. Join us as we explore the stories and experiences that have shaped these innovative leaders in the fintech industry.

Below, we feature insights from:

Reflections on our journey – key lessons learned since launching our company

The winning formula – essential traits for a successful founding team

Our company’s early challenges – overcoming obstacles on the path to success

Our fintech solution – recognising the need and maximising potential

From vision to reality – how it all began

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán

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Expensify Travel Goes Head-to-Head with Navan

Expensify Travel Goes Head-to-Head with Navan
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Expensify
  • Expensify is teaming up with Spotana to launch Expensify Travel, a business travel booking platform based on Spotanas Travel-as-a-Service offering.
  • The new travel service will offer Expensify’s business users access to global travel inventory, lower fares, and servicing.
  • Expensify’s new launch makes it a direct competitor with California-based Navan, a corporate travel and expense management platform that launched in 2015.

Business expense management company Expensify announced the upcoming addition of a new set of capabilities today, which will make it a more robust platform to help businesses plan and manage their expenses. The company is launching Expensify Travel.

Expensify Travel will allow the company’s business users to access global travel inventory, lower fares, and servicing. Expensify Travel will be built on top of New York-based Spotana’s cloud-based Travel-as-a-Service platform, which will help clients manage flight changes, cancellations, and unused ticket credits, as well as offer comprehensive travel management capabilities.

“Book your trip in minutes, we’ll handle the rest. We’ve made it effortless for members to search and book flights, hotels, cars, and trains — all at the most competitive rates available,” said Expensify CEO David Barrett. “Our early release will let business travelers manage it all in one place, with real-time support, customizable rules, and the option to assign virtual travel cards to employees. We couldn’t be more excited for the future of Expensify Travel in partnership with Spotana.”

Expensify plans to have the early release of Expensify Travel next week, offering booking and management capabilities, as well as 24/7 Expensify support. In the future, the new travel offering will be directly integrated into New Expensify, the company’s new super app. When booking their travel in the new chat-based app, customers will be able to book and manage trips, manage travel expenses, chat with colleagues, and more. “Through our partnership, Expensify has created a one-stop shop for travel and expense management for their customers with a seamless user experience,” said Spotnana Founder and CEO Sarosh Waghmar.

Expensify’s new launch makes it a direct competitor with California-based Navan, a corporate travel and expense management platform. Formerly known as TripActions, Navan was founded in 2015 and offers expense management tools such as employee spending controls, automated expense management tools, reporting capabilities, and more.

There are key differences between Expensify’s and Navan’s expense management tools, however. While both companies allow clients to use their own existing corporate expense cards with their expense management tools, Expensify also offers users its own branded debit card. Also, Expensify’s interface is focused on being user friendly to serve small and medium sized businesses, while Navan offers features that are tailored to meet needs of a variety of sizes.

It is more difficult to assess the differences between the companies’ travel booking tools, given that Expensify’s tools have yet to launch. However, it appears that the two will differentiate themselves with tools that serve their individual target markets. For instance, Navan offers a high-touch, premium travel experience, the ability to book meetings and events, and consulting services aimed at larger, corporate clients. Expensify’s tools will likely root in the company’s user-friendly, simplified approach.

Photo by Pixabay

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