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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
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.”
Currency and foreign exchange solutions company Kantox boosted its total funding to just over $35 million today after closing a $5.7 million (€5 million) debt financing round.
The investment is the second debt financing deal Kantox has received from Silicon Valley Bank following a round of an undisclosed amount in December of 2017.
Kantox CEO and co-founder Philippe Gelis said that the company has a “very strong” relationship with the bank. He added, “This investment will contribute to our ongoing growth trajectory as we continue to bring more technology to the FX market.”
Founded in 2011, Kantox offers a low-cost way for businesses dealing with a variety of foreign currencies. The tool allows treasury managers to collect, hold, and pay in 29 different currencies.
Kantox also offers a host of other FX tools, including a product to help businesses price their goods dynamically, based on market changes; a service that provides companies with mid-market rates for spots and forwards in over 130 currencies and hundreds of currency pairs; and a suite of FX risk management tools. Dynamic Hedging, one of the risk management tools Kantox launched in 2016, helps companies monitor currency risk in real time.
Gelis demoed Kantox Peer FX at FinovateEurope 2013 in London. The company’s 3,500+ clients have leveraged Kantox’s foreign exchange management solutions to trade $9.7 billion in 143 countries.
Kony helps Amway drive digital innovation for business owners across 100 countries and territories.
Revolutadds 5 new currencies to the app including: MXN, SAR, RUB, HRK, and BGN.
Entersektexpands operations, opening second office in Cape Town.
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.
Social trading and investment platform eTorounveiled the launch of eToroX at Paris Blockchain Week today. The new platform is a digital asset exchange regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission.
Doron Rosenblum, Managing Director of eToroX, said, “We are proud to be one of the first companies in the world to obtain a license for cryptoassets, and one of only a handful of regulated exchanges in the crypto space.”
The exchange supports six cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, ether, ripple, dash, bitcoin cash, and litecoin. eToroX will also support eight fiat stablecoins, including:
eToro New Zealand Dollar (NZDX)
eToro Japanese Yen (JPYX)
eToro Swiss Franc (CHFX)
eToro United States Dollar (USDEX)
eToro Euro (EURX)
eToro Pound Sterling (GBPX)
eToro Australian Dollar (AUDX)
eToro Canadian Dollar (CADX)
“In the coming weeks and months we will add more cryptoassets, stablecoins and tokens to the exchange and will work with other exchanges to encourage them to list our growing range of stablecoins,” Rosenblum added.
eToro, which has 15 cryptocurrencies on its platform, launched eToroX in 2018 to support tokenized asset trading. eToroX’s cryptocurrency wallet and, soon, exchange, help drive the company’s aim to allow everyone to trade, invest, and save.
“Just as eToro has opened up traditional markets for investors, we want to do the same in the tokenized world. We want to bring crypto and tokenized assets to a wider audience, allowing them to trade with confidence,” said Yoni Assia, co-founder and CEO of eToro. “This is the future of finance. Blockchain will eventually ‘eat’ traditional financial services through tokenization.”
eToro most recently showcasedCopyFunds for Partners at FinovateEurope 2017. Originally known for being a social trading platform, the company began pioneering bitcoin trading in 2013 via CFDs and in 2017 allowed clients to trade and invest in Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, and other cryptocurrencies. eToro has raised $223 million since it was founded in 2007.
Payment technology company CardFlightreleased its SwipeSimple payment terminal today, marking the company’s expansion into the hardware space.
The new terminal integrates into CardFlight’s existing software to offer the company’s 50,000 small business clients an option for a touch screen, EMV-capable payment acceptance tool. In addition to an in-device receipt printer and wired-and-wireless connectivity, the payment terminal also has built-in:
CardFlight’s SwipeSimple payment terminal
On-screen tip prompts
Customizable SMS and email receipt options
Searchable transaction history
Inventory management capabilities
“Today’s launch expands our tested, state-of-the-art payments software to a new medium, making it easier than ever for small business owners across America to build and grow their companies,” said Derek Webster, CardFlight founder and CEO. “Our mission at CardFlight is simple—we’re committed to making payment acceptance fast, dependable, and effortless for business owners in today’s fast-evolving digital world. Bringing our SwipeSimple product to smart terminals as the next step in that mission just made sense.”
The terminal is available in two models. The entry-level version, PAX A80, offers SwipeSimple capabilities in a traditional terminal device, while the PAX A920 has a high-resolution display and a long-lasting battery.
The terminal is currently in private beta and is slated for release later this quarter.
Founded in 2013, CardFlight serves 10 of the top 30 merchant acquirers in the U.S., reaching tens of thousands of merchants across all 50 states. The company debuted its technology at FinovateSpring 2013, showing off the first iteration of its API/SDK.
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateAsia Digital on June 22, 2021. Register today and save your spot.
ALTR’s transformational, blockchain-based data security platform permanently neutralizes the privacy and breach exposures created by humans inside of enterprise networks.
Features
Monitor -an immutable view of who is accessing data, when and how often
Govern – real-time control and breach intervention
Protect – delivers impenetrable protection of data at rest
Why it’s great ALTR attaches cutting edge governance and security to existing structured data, wherever it is, unlocking the full potential for digital transformation in financial services.
Presenters
Doug Wick, VP Product & Marketing With over 20 years of startup experience, Wick has broad experience managing product conception and development through to market success. LinkedIn
James Beecham, Co-Founder & CTO Beecham is a computer engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded ALTR and leads its technology and engineering teams. He holds multiple software patents, and is an alumnus of the University of Texas. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateAsia Digital on June 22, 2021. Register today and save your spot.
Lleida.net is a digital witness operator providing a contracting solution as the vehicle for sending unstructured information to signatories in a time-saving, legally valid way.
Features
• End-to-end framework for reliable online contracting • No hardware or software infrastructure to be deployed • Digitally signed documentary evidence provided; available in a “durable media”
Why it’s great Registered Email Contract is the solution to time consuming, structured contracting processes.
Presenters
Sisco Sapena, CEO Sapena studied as a technical agricultural engineer and holds a postgraduate in Telematics. He is one of Spain’s internet pioneers and takes Lleida.net around the world always focusing on innovation. LinkedIn
Alba Sapena, CEO Assistant Blogger since she was 14, passionate about books and photography, she’s one of the Lleida.net Social Media managers. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateAsia Digital on June 22, 2021. Register today and save your spot.
Enova Decisions’Enova Decisions Cloud is a complete decision management software-as-a-service that works with your existing infrastructure and is designed to scale with your business.
Features
Access the data you need, when you need it
Deploy machine learning models using any technique written in your language of choice
Auto retune and retrain your machine learning models
Why it’s great By removing decisioning from the software development cycle and managing it on the Enova Decisions Cloud, businesses can adapt quickly to changes in the industry.
Presenters
Sean Naismith, Head of Analytics Services Naismith has 18+ years of professional experience with unique insights into analytics, marketing, finance, and IT. He currently oversees strategy and development of decisioning solutions. LinkedIn
Matt Richards, Senior Sales Executive Richards has been in sales in the tech space since 2004, mostly in digital marketing. He currently is a Senior Sales Executive at Enova Decisions. LinkedIn
