Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Stellar to Acquire Chain.com

Stellar to Acquire Chain.com
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Chain.com, Mergers & Acquisitions

Cryptographic ledger company Chain.com is in the process of being acquired by blockchain technology platform Stellar.

Stellar, which is also the creator of the cryptocurrency Lumens, plans to purchase Chain for $500 million paid in Lumens (XLM) according to Fortune. Created by Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb, Stellar Lumens is the seventh most valuable cryptocurrency.

Fortune broke the news last week, reporting that the move is an “acqui-hire”– in other words, Stellar is more interested in acquiring Chain’s team of talented developers rather than its technology. As Fortune explained, “it is likely in response to the heated battle for top developers between crypto companies.” There is no word on Stellar’s plans to maintain or incorporate Chain’s platform or the timeline of the acquisition.

Since it was founded in 2014, Chain has raised more than $43 million from notable investors including Khosla Ventures, RRE Ventures, Nasdaq, Visa, Citi Ventures, and Thrive Capital. Chain’s flagship offering is Sequence, a ledger-as-a-service that allows organizations to track and transfer tokenized money. Use cases include storing and moving users’ balances in a mobile wallet; issuing, servicing, and selling loans on a lending platform; and managing end client and driver balances on a ridesharing app.

Chain CEO and Co-founder Adam Ludwin showcased at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015, where he gave a presentation titled, The Blockchain Is Eating Financial Services. Earlier this year, Forbes listed Chain on its Fintech 50 roster that highlights the top private fintechs that have operations, customers, or impact in the U.S.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

TransferWise Helps Monzo Clients Send Money Abroad

TransferWise Helps Monzo Clients Send Money Abroad
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: TransferWise

Foreign currency exchange platform TransferWise just landed a new partnership with challenger bank Monzo. This agreement marks the fintech’s first U.K. bank client to go live and comes just weeks after the company announced a similar partnership with France’s BPCE Group.

Through today’s agreement, TransferWise will power international money transfers for Monzo’s 750,000 users. Starting today, Monzo has integrated with TransferWise’s API to allow its users to send money from their Monzo checking account in 16 currencies. The bank is working to add more currencies in the near future.

Monzo opted to leverage TransferWise for international money transfers because of the positive user experience co-founder Tom Blomfield has had with TransferWise in the past. Blomfield told TechCrunch in an interview, “I’ve personally been a TransferWise customer for five or six years and the service is amazing. Compared to my old bank, it’s really, really transparent, the fees are really fair, and they’re continually working on bringing fees down and to make transfers more instantaneous. So I can’t think of a better partner to do foreign transfers with than TransferWise.”

Many Monzo clients already use TransferWise, but for those who do not, TransferWise will automatically set up an account for them when they initiate their first bank transfer. For all users, the international transfers will be syndicated across both their Monzo and TransferWise accounts.

With more than 3 million users, TransferWise facilitates the movement of more than $2.65 billion each month. Today’s partnership marks TransferWise’s first U.K. bank client to go live, adding to the fintech’s other bank partnerships, including N26 and LHV. TransferWise had– at one point– announced an integration with Starling Bank in the U.K., but the partnership was never finalized and fell through.

TransferWise does not charge users to sign up and there are no monthly fees. By leveraging the ability to transfer money within its network of banks, the company makes sending money abroad up to 7x cheaper than using a bank account. The company was founded in 2010 and showcased its P2P currency exchange services at FinovateEurope 2013. TransferWise recently launched in Argentina to allow Argentinians to move money to and from more than 60 countries.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Newchip Lands $2 Million in Seed Funding

Newchip Lands $2 Million in Seed Funding
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Newchip

For its first round of funding, investment marketplace Newchip has closed on a $2 million Seed round this week. Participating in the round are JadeValue Fintech, Yeoman’s Capital, Spunik ATX, Youbi Capital, and Polymath.

“We’re very excited about the funding partnerships we’ve accomplished and the value those investors bring to the company. We started Newchip with a dream to open up access to investments for both entrepreneurs and investors and now, with the closing of our seed funding round, we can achieve what we set out to do,” said Ryan Rafols, founder and CEO of Newchip.

Founded in 2016, Newchip’s marketplace allows users to invest in opportunities they care about for as little as $100. The low minimum investment, combined with Newchip’s varying investment marketplace, allow investors to curate a diversified portfolio. Some of the investment types include small business, pre-IPO companies, high growth startups, blockchain, and real estate.

Since launch, the Austin-based company has built its user base to 50,000 individuals. This success is thanks in part to Newchip’s popularity in the Apple app store, where the app recently reached the top 100 list for finance. The app is currently ranked #1 for startup investing, and is in the top 10 for fundraising and stock market investing.

Newchip debuted its investment app at FinovateSpring 2017. In April, the company began offering security token-based offerings and blockchain powered companies in its marketplace.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Veridium Earns $150,000 Grant

Veridium Earns $150,000 Grant
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Veridium

Biometric authentication software company Veridium (formerly Hoyos Labs) was recently awarded a $150,000 grant from Digital Financial Services Lab. The grant is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Veridium earned the funds by completing the first DFS Lab Biometrics Challenge, which required groups to develop software-based technologies that can capture and verify fingerprints using only an Android smartphone. The $150,000 winnings are to be used to create a mobile app that makes it easy to enroll and match users in developing countries against government databases in order to ensure they receive proper government aid and money.

Lori Cohen, CMO of Veridium, said, “Our goal is to help design a new banking model, using our biometric authentication technology to bring the unbanked into the financial services system. Additionally, over time, [we aim to] improve their circumstances, making it possible to open a bank account, apply for credit, and achieve a level of financial stability.”

This isn’t Veridium’s first grant. The company earned a grant in 2017 in which it piloted a new digital banking model using biometric authentication in a partnership with Wala. The pilot aimed to bring accessible, zero-fee banking to residents of sub-Saharan Africa.

“Winning the grant from DFS Lab has enabled us to be one step closer to our goal of disrupting the current banking model, which currently excludes billions of people around the world just because they lack identity documents,” added Cohen.

At FinovateEurope 2017, Veridium showcased 4 Fingers TouchlessID, multi-finger touchless biometric authentication that works on smartphones with a camera. This method of biometric authentication can be leveraged to onboard and authenticate consumers, since the quality of the fingerprint photos is equivalent to those captured on traditional flatbed scanners. Earlier this year, the company deployed its VeridiumID platform with Nordea, the largest bank in the Nordic region. Headquartered in London and Boston, Veridium was founded in 2015. James Stickland is CEO.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

P2Binvestor Earns $17+ Million in Funding

P2Binvestor Earns $17+ Million in Funding
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, P2BInvestor

Peer-to-peer crowdlending platform P2Binvestor (P2Bi) received more than $17 million in combined debt and equity funding this week. The debt investment come from more than 20 participants, all sourced from the P2Bi marketplace that consists of banks, private investors, and institutional investors. The equity funds come from Angel investors.

The Colorado-based startup has not disclosed the breakdown of debt vs. equity but we estimate around $13.4 million of the total is debt and about $3.6 million is equity. This is based on P2Bi’s report that today’s investment is its fourth round of equity funding, bringing its total equity raised to $13 million. While the company did not comment on its total funding, Crunchbase estimates P2Bi’s combined debt and equity at $33.76 million.

P2Bi will use the funds to power its new bank partnership program. Launched last year, the bank partnership program offers access to working capital to small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) who don’t qualify for traditional financing. It not only allows banks to invest in local businesses, but also helps them tap into a new asset class. Under the partnership, banks will front 50% of the capital with a senior secured position. P2Bi’s base of private investors will provide the remaining half of the capital and businesses will receive the funds with a blended interest rate of 8% to 12%. New Resource Bank, which began piloting the bank partnership program last October, has already closed seven loans worth over $16 million.

“Over the course of the past few months, P2Bi has focused on building a new partnership model with community banks that is proving to be very successful,” said Krista Morgan, CEO and cofounder of P2Binvestor. “Growing businesses love the idea that we can graduate them to cheaper financing without the hassle of switching, and banks love that they can be the first lender to a growing business building a valuable, long-term relationship. This raise enables us to onboard new banks into the program.”

Founded in 2012, P2Bi debuted at FinovateSpring 2013 and showcased its borrower application and loan management platform at FinovateFall 2014. Earlier this spring, MonJa featured Morgan in an interview and last fall the company made Credit Donkey’s list of Best Finance Technology.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Envestnet, Experian, Finicity, Finn.ai, Handle Financial, Lending Club, LendStreet, LendUp, Moven, Newchip, P2BInvestor, PayPal, Simility, Simple, Touché, Veridium, Yodlee

On Finovate.com

  • PayPal Acquires Simility for $120 Million.
  • Finovate Favorites: A Baker’s Dozen of Best of Show Winners.
  • Touché, OCBC Bank Bring Fingerprint Authentication to In-Person Commerce.
  • P2Binvestor Earns $17+ Million in Funding.
  • Veridium Earns $150,000 Grant.
  • Newchip Lands $2 Million in Seed Funding.

Around the web

  • Experian secures FCA accreditation to supply Open Banking and PSD2 services.
  • Finn AI is the latest fintech to join Temenos Marketplace.
  • CFSI names financial health leaders: Envestnet | Yodlee, Finicity, Handle Financial, Lendstreet, Lend Up, Lending Club, Moven, and Simple.

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook