Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Digital Onboarding, Enveil, Ixaris, Jack Henry, Revolut, SocietyOne, Temenos, Trunomi, Yoyo

On Finovate.com

  • Temenos Teams with Open Banking API Platform LUXHUB.

Around the web

  • Revolut and Trunomi earn recognition at the Europas Awards.
  • Enveil announces ZeroReveal Compute Fabric technology that offers organizations an encrypted data platform to protect against Nation-state level threats.
  • The Financial Brand features Digital Onboarding.
  • Jack Henry & Associates promotes Mark Forbis to EVP and CTO.
  • Jason Yetton moves on from SocietyOne after two years as CEO (paywall).

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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Synchrony to Buy PayPal’s Consumer Credit Receivables

Synchrony to Buy PayPal’s Consumer Credit Receivables
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: PayPal

Building on its 14-year strong relationship with PayPal, Synchrony Financial has officially become the exclusive issuer of PayPal credit in the U.S. for the next 20 years. Connecticut-based Synchrony has agreed to buy $7.6 billion in PayPal’s receivables for $6.9 billion.

The sale, which was originally announced in November of 2017, consists of PayPal’s U.S. consumer credit receivables portfolio, totaling $6.8 billion, as well as $0.8 billion in participation interests in receivables held by unaffiliated third parties.

Synchrony has issued PayPal-branded credit cards to consumers since 2004 and the two have expanded that agreement to include the PayPal Extras Mastercard and the PayPal Cashback Mastercard through 2028.

In the press release, Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal said, “Our agreement with Synchrony accomplishes every goal we set out for our asset light strategy. We look forward to working with Synchrony to double down on our innovative consumer credit experiences for our customers and profitably grow the portfolio over time.”

As Schulman alluded to in his comment about the company’s “asset light strategy,” this move frees up liquidity for PayPal, enabling it to use the cash to invest in other areas of its business or perhaps to fuel additional acquisitions. The California-based company has been on a buying spree as of late– having made two acquisitions days apart last month (Hyperwallet followed by Simility), marking PayPal’s fifth acquisition in the past two years for a total of 17.

A familiar face in the alternative banking space, PayPal was founded in 1998. PayPal’s Braintree presented at FinDEVr New York 2016. The company also showcased its Instant Account Creation feature at FinovateFall 2012. PayPal’s market cap sits at $98 billion.

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ezbob Lands Undisclosed Investment from Honeycomb Investment Trust

ezbob Lands Undisclosed Investment from Honeycomb Investment Trust
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: EZBOB, Funding

Alternative business lending company ezbob closed a round of equity funding this week. The amount of the financing was undisclosed and boosts the U.K.-based startup’s total combined debt and equity funding higher than its previous total of $136 million (£103 million). Of that amount, $50.3+ million (£38.2+ million) is equity and $81.9 million (£62.2 million) is debt.

Today’s Series C funds come from Honeycomb Investment Trust, which is managed by Pollen Street Capital, one of the leading investors focused on lending startups. Lindsey McMurray, Pollen Street founding partner, will join ezbob’s Board of Directors. ezbob will use the funds to build out a more robust automated lending portfolio and to expand into new geographical territory.

Regarding McMurray’s involvement, Tomer Guriel, founder and CEO of ezbob said, “Our initial focus is on the SME community, many of whom struggle to acquire the financial support they need to achieve their personal and professional business development goals. My vision is to create a portfolio of innovative solutions which streamline and accelerate the entire lending process for both the borrowers and loan providers. With the support of highly experienced individuals like Lindsey, together with the new funding, there is nothing to stop us from turning our shared vision into a sustainable reality.”

“We have watched ezbob develop from being a niche player into a leading lending platform provider,” said McMurray. “ezbob are pioneers in this space and I believe both the financial institutions, and the businesses they support will derive significant benefits from this new and innovative approach to lending,” she added.

In addition to lending directly to small businesses in need of capital, ezbob offers banks a lending-as-a service platform for their small business banking customers. Esme Loans and Clydesdale Yorkshire Bank are among the company’s clients.

Founded in 2011, ezbob has 70 employees across offices in London, Tel Aviv, and Bulgaria. At FinovateEurope 2014, Guriel demonstrated ezbob’s online application process. The company started this year off on the right foot with the announcement of a $21 million funding round. Late last year, ezbob won an award for “Best Technology Initiative” at the Financial Innovation Awards.

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Zopa’s Record Lending Figures Suggest a Healthy U.K. P2P Lending Sector

Zopa’s Record Lending Figures Suggest a Healthy U.K. P2P Lending Sector
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Zopa

P2P lending platform Zopa not only announced its move back into profitability, it also released a handful of metrics suggesting growth sustainability in the P2P industry.

After the U.K.-based company was founded in 2005, it reached profitability in 2011 and continued that momentum until 2012. Five years later, and after a bit of restructuring, Zopa achieved revenues of $61 million (£46.5 million) in 2017. This represents 40% year-over-year growth from the company’s 2016 revenues of $23.5 million (£33.2 million).

The company attributes the growth to its increased focus on tech innovation, especially offering instant feedback on loan approvals, as well as its efforts to expand its customer base through partnerships. The boost in growth is also thanks to a rise in loan volumes. In 2016, the company lent out $906 million (£690 million) and last year increased it’s loan volume by 43% to $1.3 million (£985 million).

In a press release Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana said, “2017 was a landmark for us. We’re proud to see the company’s efforts reflected in our record lending figures, profitability and strong customer growth…. We’ve invested significantly in technology, in our proprietary back office infrastructure, and in our people, all of which have helped Zopa to continue to scale and grow sustainably.”

Some of those investments Janardana alluded to include the announcement of plans to launch a challenger bank; receiving full FCA authorization in May of last year; and, in 2018, restructuring the company with the appointment of a trio of new C-level hires. Helping to sustain this growth is a $41 million investment the company received about a year ago from Wadhawan Global Capital of India and Northzone.

These positive revenue figures as well as the increase in loan growth allude to the health of the overall P2P lending sector in the U.K. In fact, the U.K. P2P Finance Association (P2PFA) reports that, since the second quarter of 2017, growth in the U.K.-based P2P lending sector has a whole has increased more than 40% from $8.4 billion (£6.4 billion) to $11.7 billion (£9 billion) in the first quarter of 2018.

Much of this growth, the organization described, is thanks to an uptick in business borrowing. This may explain the region’s difference compared to the U.S., where P2P lending has fallen slightly out of favor– thanks to a decrease in both lenders and investors, as well as recent regulatory scrutiny. To let numbers speak for themselves, Lending Club’s market cap has fallen from $9.3 billion at its peak in 2015 to its current $1.6 billion.

Zopa’s former CEO Doug Dolton debuted the P2P lending platform at FinovateSpring 2008 at Finovate’s very first show in the Bay Area. Zopa co-founder Giles Andrews is now CEO. Last spring, the company unveiled its latest offering, the Innovative Finance ISA, the first tool to expand the company’s focus into broader banking products. Earlier this spring, Zopa ranked 278 on the FT 1000, the Financial Times’ list of the fastest growing companies in Europe.

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TransUnion Acquires iovation

TransUnion Acquires iovation
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Mergers & Acquisitions, TransUnion

Just two months after announcing plans to acquire CallCredit for $1.4 billion, credit reporting agency and risk information provider TransUnion has finalized its purchase of device intelligence company iovation.

TransUnion announced its plans to acquire iovation in May and received authorization from the FTC last month. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Today’s acquisition will expand TransUnion’s global reach and customer base, and is expected to give the company a boost in the fraud and identity management space. TransUnion’s current fraud offerings include credit protection, identity management, identity verification and authentication, fraud detection and prevention, and data breach services. The company will leverage iovation’s device reputation database, which offers insight into almost 5 billion devices from more than 35,000 brands across 50+ countries, for its IDVision suite of fraud and identity solutions.

“The completion of this acquisition allows us to begin efforts to seamlessly integrate iovation’s device identity and consumer authentication capabilities into IDVision, TransUnion’s suite of innovative fraud and identity solutions,” said Jim Peck, TransUnion’s president and chief executive officer. “The combination of our solutions will create an unmatched network of offline and online identities that will benefit both our business customers, and ultimately, consumers who are transacting with them.”

TransUnion was founded in 1968 and has corporate headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. The company has office locations in Hong Kong, Mumbai, Toronto, Johannesburg, Colombia, and Brazil. At FinovateFall 2016, TransUnion showcased Prama, a suite of analytics tools that help lenders gain market intelligence and act on insights to drive growth and build a risk policy. Last month, TransUnion teamed with MIB to allow MIB’s 400 U.S. life insurance member companies to receive customer identity verification services through a new integration with TransUnion’s Identity Verification solution.

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Veridium’s $16.5 Million Series B Led by Michael Spencer

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Veridium

Exactly one week after pocketing a $150k grant, Veridium has made headlines again after the company reported a Series B funding round totaling $16.5 million. Because Veridium’s initial funding round was unreported, the company’s total funding is unknown.

U.K. entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Spencer led the round, contributing $14.2 million of the total financing. Other contributors include Citrix Systems, and investor Michael Powell. Both Spencer and Powell will join Veridium’s board of directors.

The company will use the capital to boost product development and to scale its sales and marketing efforts across the Americas, Europe, and Asia in order to meet demand. Veridium already boasts customers in multiple industries across the globe, having recently added several large financial services organizations. In February, the company onboarded the largest bank in the Nordic region, Nordea, and last month, it signed a deal with a multinational Swiss bank to replace passwords, tokens, and swipe cards to create a more user-friendly authentication process.

“In today’s digital age, global organizations are challenged to secure their most critical assets against advanced threats in a way that’s both convenient and secure,” said Spencer. “Veridium is unique in the industry because it provides organizations with an enterprise-ready authentication solution to address those problems with the adoption of biometrics – while increasing security and convenience.”

Veridium offers biometric authentication solutions available through a software-only biometrics platform. The identity access management technology allows users to replace passwords, tokens, and swipe cards with their own facial and fingerprint biometrics that can be read on the sensors already available on their smartphone.

At FinovateEurope 2017, Veridium showcased 4 Fingers TouchlessID, a multi-finger touchless biometric authentication that works on smartphones with a camera. Headquartered in London and Boston, Veridium was founded in 2015. James Stickland is CEO.

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OneSpan Partners with Nok Nok

OneSpan Partners with Nok Nok
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: OneSpan, VASCO

Security and esignature company OneSpan (formerly known as VASCO) announced a partnership today with authentication company Nok Nok Labs, one of the founding organizations of the FIDO Alliance.

Under the deal, OneSpan and Nok Nok will launch a joint solution that combines OneSpan’s Mobile Security Suite with Nok Nok’s S3 Authentication Suite, a set of tools that help companies comply with FIDO standards by leveraging multi factor biometric authentication technology. The low-friction solution offers phishing-resistance technology including geolocation, jailbreak and rootkit detection, device binding, device identification, and application shielding with Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP).

Nok Nok Labs CEO and President Phillip Dunkelberger explained that while consumers are searching for a low-friction experience, financial services companies need to address regulatory requirements such as GDPR and PSD2. “What better way to address these market demands than by combining the industry leader in financial services with innovation that includes a FIDO standards-based approach that won’t compromise on security, privacy and regulatory compliance,” He added, “Nok Nok and OneSpan is a sum greater than the parts.”

Hinting at future plans for OneSpan, the press release said the partnership with Nok Nok “will help support OneSpan’s launch of additional software, server and SDK support for the FIDO2 protocol later this year, complementing OneSpan’s existing support for FIDO standards through its Digipass SecureClick device and upcoming launch of the Digipass 785.”

At FinovateFall 2017, OneSpan presented under the name VASCO, debuting the OneSpan Sign (then eSignLive) Digital Lending Solution. The solution leverages the blockchain and e-signature capabilities to offer a compliant, digital lending solution. OneSpan boasts more than 10,000 customers, including more than half of the top 100 global banks. Scott Clements is CEO.

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Sensory’s Biometric Technology Now Powers Security for 24 Banking Apps

Sensory’s Biometric Technology Now Powers Security for 24 Banking Apps
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Sensory

Biometrics security company Sensory announced this week its TrulySecure technology is now being used by two dozen banks, including Alior, AXIS, Banorte, ICICI, Maybank, Mizuho Bank, and Qatar Islamic Bank.

“Since announcing the first version of TrulySecure, we have had a great deal of interest from banks wanting to utilize our technology for adding greater user security to their apps without compromising convenience. While we are certainly excited to have more than two dozen banking customers, we believe that we are just now beginning to see the tipping point for mass adoption among banks globally,” said Todd Mozer, CEO of Sensory.

TrulySecure, the company’s face and voice biometrics technology, is FIDO-certified to secure mobile applications for financial services companies. The solution works across multiple iOS and Android devices and functions with the existing hardware on the device. To enhance the TrulySecure user experience, Sensory has formed multiple integration partnerships with technology firms including EZMCOM, Fujitsu, Samsung SDS and VeriTran; and authentication solution providers HYPR and Nok Nok.

In addition to securing bank apps, TrulySecure protects mobile payment, password manager, and retail apps. The company launched a virtual bank teller system at FinovateFall 2017. The bank teller leverages AI to provide a human-like interaction that offers payment and money transfer capabilities with built-in biometrics verification.

Sensory was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in California. Last fall, the company partnered with Fujitsu to power biometrics for Mizuho’s mobile banking app. Sensory has raised $400k from Norwest Venture Partners.

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Dashlane’s New Feature Secures Old and Forgotten Accounts

Dashlane’s New Feature Secures Old and Forgotten Accounts
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Dashlane

Dashlane’s goal is to help you remember your passwords. But that doesn’t work if you entirely forget about an account. That’s why the password manager platform launched Inbox Security Scan, a feature that helps clean up old and forgotten accounts.

Everyone has accounts they either set up and used once or one from a now-defunct website. Because users often reuse the same login credentials, these accounts pose a security risk, since older websites may not be protecting user accounts from new security threats.

Inbox Security Scan is available in the Dashlane mobile app on iOS and Android devices. The tool collects and analyzes all accounts users have created with their email address, and imports them into the user’s Dashlane account. The iOS app is currently limited to Gmail accounts, while the Android app supports @outlook.com, @live.com, @hotmail.com, and any Microsoft email address.

Once users grant Dashlane one-time permission to access their inbox, Dashlane scans the emails locally on the device and, in a few seconds, generates a report that summarizes and analyzes the accounts it found. The report details compromised accounts, based on known data breaches, as well as different account types and the number that may exist in each category. When users import the scan results into their Dashlane account, they select which accounts they want to save in their Dashlane vault.

While Dashlane organizes the new accounts and email login information, it does not input the password for each account, so it is up to the user to remember that half of the equation. By aggregating old and potentially forgotten accounts, however, Dashlane offers the user more control over their digital identity. As the company explained in their blog, “Once you know how many accounts you have and where they are, you can increase your online security by giving each account a unique password—or taking steps to delete them completely.”

Dashlane, which was founded in 2009 and recently reached 10 million users, demoed its password manager and keyboard-less ecommerce transaction technology at FinovateEurope 2013. While the company is best known for its B2C technology that autogenerates secure passwords, it also offers a form auto-filling function and digital wallet that securely stores users’ credit card information for fast online purchases. Dashlane also offers solutions that help businesses seamlessly onboard staff with new accounts and has a partner program to allow brands to co-brand Dashlane’s identity manager as a service. Among the company’s partners are Visa, Intel, and yubico.

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Unison Raises $40 Million to Promote the American Dream

Unison Raises $40 Million to Promote the American Dream
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Unison

Homeownership and investment company Unison unveiled its latest round of funding today. The company pulled in $40 million in Series B financing led by F-Prime Capital, whose partner, David Jegen, will join Unison’s board. Additional contributions came from Citi Ventures and Royal Bank of Canada.

The California-based company will use the new investment to fuel growth, build brand awareness, expand business operations, hire new talent, and advance its platform. Unison did not disclose its total funding to-date, but the company reported in 2017 that it “has raised tens of millions in operating capital and secured investment mandates totaling several billion.”

“I built Unison with home buyers, home owners and institutional investors top of mind and to bridge two massive needs: provide a form of capital for consumers and make residential real estate an investable asset class,” said Thomas Sponholtz, CEO of Unison. He added that Unison is “liberating consumers from debt-only solutions that have saturated the marketplace.”

Founded in 2004, Unison most recently demoed its two flagship products at FinovateFall 2017. The first is Unison HomeBuyer, which provides a percentage of the down payment needed to purchase a home in exchange for a percentage of the home’s equity upon selling. The second product is Unison HomeOwner, which allows homeowners to liquidate some of the equity in their home without interest or monthly payments. The company also showcased at FinovateSpring 2017, where it won Best of Show.

Unison has reported a handful of notable achievements recently, including a 10x increase in loan originations in Q1 2018 compared to the same quarter last year. The company also expanded its availability to 22 states and appointed Cari Jacobs as CMO.

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Ping Identity Acquires Elastic Beam

Ping Identity Acquires Elastic Beam
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Mergers & Acquisitions, Ping Identity

Identity security solutions provider Ping Identity announced today it has acquired API cybersecurity company Elastic Beam. This is the Colorado-based company’s second purchase since it bought UnboundID just months after it was acquired by Vista Equity Partners in 2016.

Elastic Beam boasts an AI-powered behavioral analytics solution that automatically detects and stops threats that use APIs to gain control of systems and data. This solution will offer Ping Identity insight into how users access and implement APIs and help the company identify and block cyberattacks that target APIs to compromise data and systems. Ultimately, Ping Identity will alert businesses to evolving API attacks without the need to set up predefined policies and security rules.

Andre Durand, CEO of Ping Identity said that the acquisition boosts Ping Identity’s expertise in the space by taking an intelligence-based approach to API security. “As an industry, it’s critical that we make decisions based on the ever changing nature of context and behavior versus pre-defined policies that attempt to capture when, where, and why a user is trying to access something,” he added.

The new capabilities will bolster PingIntelligence for APIs, a solution that offers businesses insights into how APIs are used. It offers quick reporting for audits and compliance. The tool is currently in beta and will be available later this year.

Founded in 2003, Ping Identity demoed at FinovateEurope 2012, where it showed how banks can increase conversion rates and reuse existing infrastructure by implementing social networking logins. Prior to being acquired in June 2016, Ping had raised a total of $128 million in funding and counts Draper Fisher Jurvetson, General Catalyst Partners, and Silicon Valley Bank among its investors.

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Fiserv and InComm Partner for Cash Billpay

Fiserv and InComm Partner for Cash Billpay
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Fiserv, InComm

Prepaid products company InComm, along with financial services company Fiserv, have joined forces to make it easier for customers to pay their bills using cash at stores where they traditionally shop.

Bill payment transactions are powered by InComm’s VanillaDirect Pay. When a bill is due, the consumer receives a barcode on their smartphone from the biller. At the point of sale at a brick-and-mortar merchant, the cashier scans the barcode as they would for any other purchase. This adds the customer’s billing balance to their total, which they can pay in cash. After payment, the consumer receives a receipt as proof of purchase. Thee press release states that the service is currently available at thousands of InComm retailers such as Dollar General and Family Dollar.

“CheckFreePay allows us to continue to transform the payment experience,” said Matt Lanford, senior vice president and general manager for financial services at InComm. “Our technology is serving consumers, enabling them to pay bills easily, while also driving more traffic into our retailers and increasing their revenue.”

Fiserv’s CheckFreePay offers billers a cash bill payment option, enabling them to support all channels, including web, mobile, financial institution websites, walk-in, print, and mail. John Stoner, President of Biller Solutions at Fiserv said, “Whether it is for the convenience of paying a bill while shopping or the ability to receive a receipt immediately upon payment, VanillaDirect Pay and CheckFreePay will enable more biller organizations to conveniently serve customers in-lane at thousands of retail locations without visiting a designated walk-up pay counter.”

This cash payment option competes with PayNearMe’s service. Founded in 2009, PayNearMe offers a QR code-based payment service that allows customers to pay at 27,000 retail locations, including CVS, 7-Eleven, Family Dollar, and Casey’s General Store. doxo also has its foot in the door with cash-based bill payments. The company partnered with Coinstar in April to allow users to pay billers using cash at Coinstar kiosk locations.

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. Earlier this month, InComm acquired Gift Card Impressions, making it the company’s seventh acquisition.

Fiserv recently appeared on the FinovateSpring 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. As another security play, Fiserv recently began offering Mastercard’s Decision Intelligence decision and fraud detection service.

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