Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: 3rd-eyes, aixigo, ArthaYantra, BaseVenture, Capitalise, cbanc Network, Entersekt, eToro, Finantix, Fincite, Finhorizon, ForwardLane, Hydrogen, Nordigen, Scalable Capital, Sentifi, TradeIt, Trizic, Wealth Wizards, WealthForge, Xero, Xignite

On Finovate.com

  • The ID Co. Unveils its Income Verification Solution.
  • Finicity Partners with Pulte Mortgage to Accelerate Asset Verification.

Around the web

  • CBANC hires Mike Snavely as Chief Commercial Officer.
  • Congrats to 3rd Eyes, ArthaYantra, aixigo, BaseVenture, Capitalise, Entersekt, eToro, Finantix, Fincite, Finhorizon, ForwardLane, Hydrogen, Scalable Capital, Sentifi, Tradeit, Trizic, WealthWizards, WealthForge, and Xignite on being recognized in the Wealthtech 100.
    • Xero’s new invoicing experience available for all Xero customers and partners over the next two weeks
    • Nordigen opens new office in Spain to expand operations.
    • Yseop’s AI solution for Société Générale wins award for most innovative initiative of the year at this year’s Digital Finance Awards. Come see Yseop at FinovateSpring next month.
    • Contovista and NDGIT expand partnership, enabling Contovista to be implemented via the German NDGIT API marketplace.

    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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    How Flywire Uses Machine Learning

    How Flywire Uses Machine Learning
    By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
    Categories: Flywire

    With all of the talk about the benefits of enabling technology such as AI and machine learning, it’s not a surprise to see global payments platform Flywire getting in on the action. The Massachusetts-based company recently announced that it is leveraging machine learning to improve its payments and receivables solution.

    Flywire’s recent machine learning updates allow the company to improve payment-to-settlement time, increase security, and automate payment reconciliation. The updates replace a legacy, rules-based system that was used to perform invoice reconciliation. Using machine learning reduces manual effort, supports changing business requirements, and minimizes human error.

    Additionally, the machine learning algorithms can easily learn and support new payment methods, confirm payment sources, and optimize foreign exchange conversion. They also help reduce fraud by detecting anomalous payments and flagging them for Flywire’s compliance team.

    “Accepting payments across borders is a highly complex process that increases the cost of collecting monies, opens up FX and fraud risks, and requires enormous operational investment,” said Jason Moens, VP of Product at Flywire. “As more and more businesses and institutions leverage our platform to address these challenges, we continue to look for new ways to enhance its capabilities. The addition of advanced machine learning further streamlines our clients’ payment and receivable operations and removes more of the potential risks that can negatively impact fundamental parts of their business.”

    Flywire originally launched as peerTransfer in 2011, when the company debuted its college tuition payment platform at FinovateSpring 2011. While this flagship market makes up 80% of Flywire’s revenue, the company has since rebranded and expanded to tackle international payments for healthcare, travel, and businesses. 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.

    Last summer, Flywire raised $100 million to promote global expansion and fuel its bourgeoning healthcare and business segments. The investment boosted the company’s total funding to $143 million. Mike Massaro, who EY named a finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year, is Flywire CEO.

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    NIIT Technologies to Acquire WHISHWORKS IT Consulting

    NIIT Technologies to Acquire WHISHWORKS IT Consulting
    By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
    Categories: Mergers & Acquisitions, NIIT Technologies

    IT solutions organization NIIT Technologies is making a move this week to acquire WHISHWORKS. The IT consulting firm is expected to strengthen NIIT’s digital capabilities and complement the company’s offerings to create a powerful solution in the digital integration space.

    Specific terms of the deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, have not been disclosed. However, NIIT announced it will acquire a 53% stake initially and purchase the remainder of the company over the next two years, with compensation dependent on financial performance. The company will be making the purchase in an all-cash transaction, funded through internal accruals.

    “WHISHWORKS fits into our overall digital strategy, enhances our footprint in a high demand space, and is a significant addition to our existing capability spectrum in digital integration. This initiative is in line with our strategy to drive growth and create value over the long term by enhancing capabilities and domain depth, adding new partnerships, and making well-considered acquisitions that complement our existing strengths,” said NIIT Technologies CEO Sudhir Singh.

    Founded in 2010, WHISHWORKS specializes in MuleSoft and big data technologies. The company’s 250 employees build around MuleSoft’s AnyPoint platform and its consultants hold over 350+ MuleSoft certifications, making it the largest group of MuleSoft certified experts in the EMEA region.

    WHISHWORKS Founder and CEO Sri Arardhi said that the company sees “substantial opportunities and growth potential” with the new deal. Specifically, Arardhi noted that the company is “thrilled” to have NIIT Technologies’ support, presence, and scale in the U.S.

    NIIT Technologies was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. At FinovateSpring 2016 the company demoed Digital Foresight, a predictive analytics platform that enables a enterprises to develop actionable strategy for marketing, operations, and risk management.

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    Finovate Alumni News

    By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
    Categories: Avaloq, Biometric Signature ID, Cinchy, eMoney Advisor, Flywire, Horizn, Interface.ai, Mambu, NetGuardians, NIIT Technologies, Status Money, Trulioo, Trust Science, Turnkey Lender, Worldline

    On Finovate.com

    • NIIT Technologies to Acquire WHISHWORKS IT Consulting.
    • How Flywire Uses Machine Learning.

    Around the web

    • NetGuardians partners with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Western Switzerland to improve ML and AI software for financial fraud detection and prevention.
    • Brewin Dolphin, one of the U.K.’s largest wealth managers, selects Avaloq’s software as a service solution for its back office infrastructure.
    • The Paypers: Worldline rolls out payment solution for online marketplaces.
    • Payjo relaunches as Interface.ai with a new interface, a new brand, and a platform for intelligent virtual assistants.
    • TurnKey Lender receives accreditation from the Singapore government’s IMDA, a certification that enables companies to expand into international markets easier.
    • Mambu to open a second North American-based office this year.
    • Authority Magazine interviews Ed O’Brien, CEO of eMoney Advisor.

    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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    Kabbage Pulls in $700 Million in Debt Funding

    Kabbage Pulls in $700 Million in Debt Funding
    By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
    Categories: Kabbage

    Alternative financing startup Kabbage closed a $700 million asset backed securitization this week. The amount of funding is record-breaking, marking the largest asset-backed securitization by a small business online lending platform to date.

    The new transaction, which saw contributions from new and existing investors, brings Kabbage’s total combined debt and equity funding to $2.3 billion and raises its total debt funding to $940 million. The company plans to use the funds to pay down one of its existing asset-backed securitization transactions.

    The company’s CFO Scott Rosenberg said, “The new transaction positions the company for continued milestone growth as small businesses accessed more than $2 billion through Kabbage last year and more than $600 million already in the first quarter of 2019.”

    Kabbage was founded in 2009 and has since extended more than $6.5 billion in loans to 170,000+ small businesses in the U.S. The company underwrites the loans using non-traditional data, such as shipping records, to originate loans and monitor the business’ improvement to extend more credit, if needed.

    In 2018, Kabbage acquired lending platform Orchard to enhance its data analytics capabilities. At FinovateFall 2018, I spoke with Orchard Cofounder David Snitkof, who now serves as Kabbage’s head of data integration and insights, about the integration of the two companies.

    Kabbage most recently demoed at FinovateSpring 2015 where it launched the Kabbage Card. The Kabbage Card allows users to withdraw from their line of credit at any point-of-sale where VISA is accepted. Earlier this year, Kabbage announced plans to offer its Pay Later financing program to Alibaba.com’s buyers.

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    Finovate Alumni News

    By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
    Categories: Azimo, Capsilon, Eurobits Technologies, FIS, Fiserv, Flywire, identitii, InComm, Kabbage, NICE Systems, On Deck Capital, SocietyOne, Trustly

    On Finovate.com

    • Kabbage Pulls in $700 Million in Debt Funding.
    • Fiserv Helps Hellenic Bank Streamline Payments.

    Around the web

    • Eurobits Technologies and Trustly partner to help form European Third Party Suppliers Association (ETPPA), a non-profit that strengthensThird Party Suppliers (TPP) around PSD2.
    • Flywire adds machine learning capabilities to its payment platform.
    • Altfi: SocietyOne plans to triple peer-to-peer market share despite Australian ‘challenges.’
    • OnDeck offers same day funding for small business.
    • Cardtronics integrates FIS’ Cardless Cash into ATMs.
    • Identitii partners with Trace Financial Limited to enable the conversion from MT to MX message formats without data truncation or loss of payment message information.
    • Azimo earns license from Dutch Central Bank.
    • InComm named 2018 Vendor of the Year by 7-Eleven.
    • Varo Money chooses NICE Actimize as its AML technology vendor.
    • Capsilon partners with Home Point Financial to launch its new underwriting solution, Capsilon Digital Underwriter.

    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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    Gusto Teams with Trainual to Automate Job Role Training

    Gusto Teams with Trainual to Automate Job Role Training
    By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
    Categories: Gusto

    Payroll, benefits, and HR platform Gusto is improving its offerings by teaming up with Trainual, a cloud-based training manual software company.

    The collaboration will help Gusto’s business clients automate the process of onboarding new employees by giving them resources to train them in their new role. Igor Khayet, head of business development at Gusto, referred to training and onboarding as “pain points for small businesses.” He added, “[O]ur partnership with Trainual provides an easy and efficient way to serve a business’ team so they can do their best work.”

    When a Gusto client adds a new employee, the new hire will automatically be added to Trainual and receive the training they need for their job. The integration with Trainual will allow Gusto’s small business clients to document processes and policies,
    customize operations manuals, assign training and test sessions, and monitor completion rates.

    “We’re particularly excited about this partnership because it streamlines one of the most commonly missed, but critical steps when a new hire is brought into an organization: equipping them with the right training from the start,” said Trainual founder and CEO Chris Ronzio. “Business owners can now easily connect critical aspects of their business, bringing a new level of operational efficiency to the onboarding process so they can continue to focus on what matters most –– growth.”

    With offices in San Francisco and Denver, Gusto processes tens of billions of dollars in payroll for more than 60,000 businesses in the U.S. The company also offers an easier way for small businesses to offer their employees benefits such as health insurance, 401(k) retirement plans, and 529 college savings plans.

    Gusto launched in 2012 under the name ZenPayroll and showcased its flagship payroll solution at FinovateSpring 2014. Last year, the company unveiled Flexible Pay, a solution that allows employees to get paid on a different schedule than their employer’s payroll schedule. The company has raised $316 million. Joshua Reeves is CEO.

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    Finovate Alumni News

    By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
    Categories: Aire, Bpm'online, Finn.ai, Green Dot, Gusto, IBM, Kofax, PayNearMe, Revolut, Ripple, SumUp, Token, Top Image Systems, Tradeshift, Trustly, Zopa

    On Finovate.com

    • Gusto Teams with Trainual to Automate Job Role Training.
    • Finovate Global: Finn AI Powers Chatbots in South Africa; Token Drives Open Banking in MENA.

    Around the web

    • Green Dot helps Walmart customers move more than $2 billion through the program’s virtual Vault savings program.
    • Top Image Systems shareholders approve acquisition by Kofax.
    • BuyerQuest joins the Tradeshift platform as an app partner.
    • American Banker highlights how PayNearMe helps marginalized cash users partake in ecommerce.
    • Trustly grows to 300 employees.
    • Silicon Canals features SumUp, Aire, Revolut, and Zopa in its list of top fintech companies to work for in London.
    • Ripple, IBM, SWIFT and nearly 100 other organizations launch the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA).
    • Forrester Research recognizes bpm’online as a “strong performer” in digital process automation for wide deployments in Q1 of this year.

    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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    Bento for Business Partners with Visa

    Bento for Business Partners with Visa
    By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
    Categories: Bento for Business

    B2B payment solutions provider Bento for Business inked a deal with Visa this week. The deal includes Visa as an additional payment card in the Bento for Business platform that aims to help small businesses manage their cash and employee expenses. The Visa card offering is being added to the company’s Mastercard prepaid commercial card product originally launched in 2015.

    As part of the partnership, joint customers of Visa and the Bento platform can benefit from Bento’s businesses management tools such as budgeting, capital management, employee card controls, and bookkeeping. And it notably makes Visa’s millions of business debit cardholders into potential Bento clients.

    “The SMB segment is a priority for Visa and we continue to be an advocate for the 30 million SMBs in the United States,” said David Simon, Global Head of Small and Medium Enterprises at Visa. “The Bento solution will evolve how Visa Business cardholders and merchants manage expenses and gain insights into their cash flow and financial management activities.”

    Plans for Bento business users have a range of options, starting with two cards for free, and extending to unlimited cards and administrators for $149 per month.

    Founded in 2014, Bento demoed its platform at FinovateSpring 2015. As for the company’s next plans, Bento CEO Farhan Ahmad said, “In 2019 and beyond, we will continue to expand our financial controls and cashless workflows for SMBs with a vision to deliver an all-in-one working capital management solution.”

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    Salt Edge Earns Account Information Service Provider License from FCA

    Salt Edge Earns Account Information Service Provider License from FCA
    By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
    Categories: Salt Edge

    Open banking enabler Salt Edge announced it has received the green light from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Salt Edge’s registration as an Account Information Service Provider (AISP) will allow the company to access financial data in compliance with PSD2 across Europe.

    “Receiving an AISP license will help us take better advantage of the Open Banking opportunities on the European landscape as we strive for excellence in everything we do. This process required some serious investment and preparation, but it was worth implementing,” commented Dmitrii Barbasura, Salt Edge CEO.

    Salt Edge’s Open Banking API was updated at the beginning of this month to version five. Lenders using the recently updated API will be able to leverage Salt Edge’s AISP license to access consumers’ financial account data (with their consent) to enhance the underwriting process for credit decisioning.

    Dmitry Tsap, Head of Infrastructure and Security Department at Salt Edge, said the company underwent “a very strict evaluation process” that assessed the company’s security and data protection measures. “Being approved by the FCA is proof of quality and recognition of our efforts in this direction,” Tsap added.

    Salt Edge recently showcased its Open Banking platform at FinovateEurope 2019 in February. Early last month, the Canada-based company teamed up with money management app Emma for account aggregation. Salt Edge was founded in 2013 and connects to 3,100+ banks in 61 countries.

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    Checkbook.io Launches InstantPay

    Checkbook.io Launches InstantPay
    By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
    Categories: Checkbook.io

    Digital check innovator Checkbook.io unveiled Instant Pay today. The new offering streamlines the funds transfer process for businesses that want to send money to individual and business bank accounts.

    Instant Pay works by circumventing the need for payment recipients to go through a sign up process to receive their funds. Instead, Instant Pay requests information directly from the recipient’s Mastercard or Visa branded debit card. This eliminates the requirement of other sensitive information such as their personal details, account number, or routing number.

    The technology works because Checkbook.io doesn’t use the antiquated ACH infrastructure, which requires recipient onboarding and takes three to five business days to move funds from one account to another. Instead of running the payment on ACH rails, the funds are transferred using VISA Direct rails, enabling the recipient to see the money in their account within 18 seconds (though the company discloses that the process could take up to 15 minutes).

    Businesses can integrate the solution using Checkbook.io’s RESTful API. Along with Checkbook.io’s other tools, the API is publicly available and can easily be integrated into a business’ existing payment process. The company charges a flat, $1 fee per transaction, regardless of the check amount, and allows a maximum of $10,000 per transaction.

    Checkbook.io most recently presented at FinovateSpring 2017, where company CEO and founder PJ Gupta showcased the company’s Digital Checks solution. Founded in 2015, Checkbook.io has raised an undisclosed amount of funds from investors such as Tim Draper, AngelList, and more. For more on Checkbook.io, check out our recent feature of the company’s accomplishments.

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    OnDeck Acquires Evolocity

    OnDeck Acquires Evolocity
    By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
    Categories: Mergers & Acquisitions, On Deck Capital

    Alternative small business lending platform OnDeck finalized its purchase of Canada-based small business lender Evolocity Financial Group. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    “The closing of this transaction signals a new era of online lending innovation on behalf of Canada’s small businesses,” said Noah Breslow, CEO of OnDeck. “As one of Canada’s leading online lenders to the crucial small business sector, we are well-positioned to provide financing options that will benefit Canadian small business owners from coast to coast.”

    Evolocity brings expertise in Canadian underwriting practices, as well as local business relationships and knowledge to the table. Combined with OnDeck’s marketing and international online lending experience, the two businesses will offer small businesses across Canada access to working capital finance solutions.

    The combined companies will operate under the name and branding of OnDeck Canada, with Evolocity CEO Neil Wechsler serving as CEO of OnDeck Canada. Evolocity co-founders David Souaid and Harley Greenspoon will serve as chief revenue officer and chief operating officer, respectively.

    OnDeck was founded in 2007 and has loaned more than $10 billion to small businesses in 700 different industries across the United States, Canada, and Australia since launch. The company leverages its OnDeck Score to underwrite loans and deliver funds to small businesses in as little as 24 hours.

    OnDeck most recently demoed at FinovateSpring 2012. The publicly traded company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ONDK and has a market capitalization of $418 million.

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