Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

ID.me Powering Single-Sign On for VFW’s Digital Platforms

ID.me Powering Single-Sign On for VFW’s Digital Platforms
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ID.me

Identity management platform ID.me has landed a new client this week. Veterans for Foreign Wars of the U.S. (VFW) can now offer its members a more streamlined and secure online experience with ID.me’s single-sign on capabilities.

After VFW members sign up for an account at ID.me, the Virginia-based company issues them a single username and password. Members use these credentials to log in to the VFW Online Membership System, access VA benefits on Vets.gov, and gain access to military discounts from 200+ retailers.

This is a sizable win for ID.me, whose founder and CEO Blake Hall is a third generation soldier, former Army Ranger, and graduate of West Point. With this new client, the company has access to VFW’s 1.7 million members, all of whom stand to benefit from a simplified sign in process and secure way to prove their veteran status. The announcement of this client comes just a month after the company teamed with General Motors to support its military discount program.

“Trying to remember the login information for several different online accounts is difficult, and further, verifying your identity online can be a cumbersome process,” said VFW National Commander Keith Harman. “So we’re glad to be able to provide our members with a simple solution.”

At FinovateSpring 2017, Hall showcased how ID.me streamlines account opening, regulatory compliance, and customer support for banks and fintechs using identity that is accredited by the federal government. Last month ID.me surpassed 5 million users and in October, the company partnered with Finovate alum ThreatMetrix to deliver ID verification for government and commercial digital services. The company has raised a total of $45.8 million.

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Alfa-Bank Collaborates with HashCash to Bring Domestic Payments to the Blockchain

Alfa-Bank Collaborates with HashCash to Bring Domestic Payments to the Blockchain
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alfa-Bank

Russia’s largest commercial bank is making bitcoin waves today. Alfa-Bank announced that it has initiated a collaboration with HashCash, a private, permissionless, digital cash system.

Through the partnership, HashCash will create a payment router and clearing house where all transactions are sent to Alfa-Bank on the blockchain. Alfa-Bank will clear transactions, forward them to the receiving bank in real-time, and log supporting documents. The transfers will operate on the Open Source Blockchain, HC NET, which uses fiat currencies for settlement.

Raj Chowdhury, Managing Director of HashCash Consultants said that the implementation “creates a clearing house solution that combines the liquidity efficiency of a netting system and the intra-day finality of a real time gross settlement system.” He added, “The result is a safe, secure, reliable, fast and final payment system for all transacting parties.”

This isn’t Alfa-Bank’s first foray into the blockchain. Last year, the bank partnered with S7 Airlines for blockchain-based ticket payments. It also collaborated with Sberbank on Russia’s first Blockchain Payment.

At FinovateFall 2015, Alfa-Bank debuted Sense, a predictive marketing solutions product for financial institutions.

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Ripple Launches Trial with MoneyGram

Ripple Launches Trial with MoneyGram
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Ripple

Blockchain solutions innovator Ripple announced plans to team up with remittance services company MoneyGram.

This announcement comes at a time when both Ripple and MoneyGram have been in the news headlines. Many outlets have reported on Ripple for the volatility of XRP, its digital currency (and for the rumored rise of its founder, Chris Larsen, as one of the richest persons in the world). And last week, an attempted purchase of MoneyGram by Chinese firm Ant Financial was blocked by the U.S. government.

Ripple’s xRapid transfer flow

As a part of the partnership, MoneyGram will use XRP through Ripple’s xRapid, a service that aims to provide liquidity to financial institutions. Touting the practicality of leveraging XRP for remittances, Ripple noted that transactions can be made for fractions of a penny and in two-to-three seconds. This is favorable compared to Bitcoin’s fees of $30 per transactions and wait times of up to an hour.

Through agreement, the companies will also explore MoneyGram’s integration into Ripple’s xVia, an API for businesses, payment providers and banks to send payments across various networks using a standard interface.

MoneyGram’s current model requires the sender’s account to be pre-funded before they are able to send currency. Leveraging blockchain technology, MoneyGram can simplify cross-border transfers, making them more efficient. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said, “Money transfer companies are incredibly important because they help people get money to their friends and loved ones…. By using a digital asset like XRP that settles in three seconds or less, they can now move money as quickly as information.”

MoneyGram is the second largest money transfer company in the world, competing not only with traditional companies such as Western Union, but also with the likes of fintechs such as Azimo, TransferWise, and CurrencyCloud. Leveraging the blockchain for cross-border remittances and transactions is not new to fintech. At FinovateFall last year, we saw nanopay demo its cross-border payments platform that enables the banks to provide instant fund transfers, without intermediaries, at a 60% cost reduction. Similarly, in 2015 CoinJar showcased its platform that lets users buy, sell, send, receive, and spend digital and traditional forms of currency using the blockchain.

Ripple has offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney, and counts more than 100 customers across the globe. At FinovateSpring 2013, company co-founder Chris Larsen debuted Ripple (originally known as OpenCoin). Last fall, Ripple teamed with AmEx and Santander to support blockchain-powered international B2B payments. And in December of last year, the company’s XRP currency reached a milestone, boasting availability on 50 exchanges worldwide.

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Scalable Capital Launches in Switzerland

Scalable Capital Launches in Switzerland
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Scalable Capital

Scalable Capital is saying, “Gruetzi mittenand” to Switzerland today.  The U.K.-based robo advisor has launched its services in Switzerland, the fourth country to which Scalable Capital has expanded, following launches in U.K., Germany, and Austria.

Describing Switzerland as “an interesting market for every wealth manager,” Scalable Capital Co-founder Simon Miller said that the company made the move knowing it could offer real value to Swiss retail investors. Miller added, “We are the only independent robo-advisor in Europe using three key building blocks to build a truly customer-centric product: professional risk management for every individual portfolio, low cost, and a comprehensive digital service with unparalleled transparency.”

With a Swiss customer phone hotline, as well as a website aimed specifically to serve Swiss customers, the startup has an E.U.-wide approval and can offer its services across the E.U. without having to go through additional application processes. Scalable Capital’s German custodian bank partner, Baader Bank AG, will provide tax reporting and will serve as the custodian bank for all Swiss customers, managing their portfolios in euros.

Scalable Capital was founded in 2014 and now serves more than 20,000 clients with $810 million (£600 million) assets under management. The company holds partnerships with BlackRock, Siemens Private Finance, and Germany’s third-largest retail bank, ING-DiBa.

Scalable Capital most recently presented at FinovateEurope 2016. The company has 70 employees and has raised $49 million. Last spring, Scalable Capital was the only European startup to be recognized on CNBC’s Upstart 25 list.

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Dream Payments Integrates with QuickBooks and First Data’s Clover

Dream Payments Integrates with QuickBooks and First Data’s Clover
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Dream Payments, First Data, Intuit

Cloud-based payment platform Dream Payments has teamed up with Quickbooks, and First Data’s Clover to bring QuickBooks capabilities to U.S. merchants this week.

This comes three months after Dream Payments first initiated a partnership with First Data last year, launching the Dream Payments POS for merchants using First Data’s Clover. It also follows Dream Payments’ successful pilot of a QuickBooks integration in Canada.

The partnership will allow Dream Payments’ business clients using any POS device in Clover’s line to sync with QuickBooks. After a purchase, QuickBooks will automatically and in real time record the sale, update inventory, collect and close invoices, and import sales tax.

CEO of Dream Payments Brent Ho-Young said that the integration will help businesses succeed. He added that, by combining QuickBooks and Clover in the Dream Payments POS, “we’re unlocking the cloud and simplifying the most complex aspects of running a successful business — customer experience, payments and accounting. Now businesses of any size can access a powerful commerce platform that traditionally only the largest retailers could afford.”

Founded in 2014 and with operations in Stamford, Connecticut, Dream Payments helps small businesses accept all payments, including chip cards, contactless cards, and mobile wallets. In addition to ties with Quickbooks and First Data, the company also counts TD Merchant Solutions and Chase Paymentech in its partnership ecosystem.

At FinovateSpring 2015, Dream Payments debuted its mobile POS device. Last fall, the company partnered with IBM to leverage its cloud and security capabilities. Dream Payments has raised $14.9 million. Brent Ho-Young is CEO.

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Intelligent Environments Appoints New CEO

Intelligent Environments Appoints New CEO
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Intelligent Environments

Mobile financial solutions company Intelligent Environments has appointed a new CEO this week. Effective immediately, Jeremy Young will take the seat of David Webber, the company’s previous CEO.

Young comes to Intelligent Environments with 20 years of experience in financial services and software. He most recently served as VP of EMEA at Fiserv. Prior to that, Young was head of retail banking and insurance at Oracle.

Young said that joining Intelligent Environments is a “tremendously exciting prospect.” He added, “With the company at the forefront of digital innovation in the financial services sector, leading its future growth and development is an immense opportunity.”

Founded in 1985, Intelligent Environments aims to help financial services organizations improve the customer experience. Among the company’s clients are Lloyds, HSBC, Sainsbury’s Bank, Argos, House of Fraser, and Toyota Financial Services.

Intelligent Environments demoed AppSensorFS at FinovateEurope 2015. AppSensorFS deploys sensors to detect potential security threats and makes decisions in real time to deploy the appropriate defense responses. The U.K.-based company was recently recognized as one of the world’s “most significant providers” in Forrester Wave’s Q3 2017 report on Digital Banking Engagement Platforms.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: AutoGravity, Bluefin Payment Systems, Dream Payments, Expensify, Intelligent Environments, Meniga, Privakey, Symphony Software Foundation, TransferWise

On Finovate.com

  • Intelligent Environments Appoints New CEO.
  • TransferWise Brings New Multi-Currency, Borderless Accounts with Debit Cards to Public.
  • Dream Payments Integrates with QuickBooks and First Data’s Clover.

Around the web

  • Meniga announced as FStech Awards 2018 finalist for ‘Challenges’ financial fitness.
  • Foundr Magazine interviews Expensify CEO David Barrett.
  • The Asian Review features Financial data and chat startup Symphony Software Foundation.
  • Forbes highlights AutoGravity’s take on lending.
  • Privakey is the latest fintech to join the FIDO Alliance.
  • Bluefin Payment Systems partners with Choice Ticketing to support PCI-validated ticketing 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.

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CREALOGIX Acquires Innofis

CREALOGIX Acquires Innofis
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: CREALOGIX, Innofis

Digital banking company CREALOGIX has acquired Barcelona-based Innofis, a privately held, internationally-focused digital banking firm, this week. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Under the agreement, Innofis’ workforce of 120 engineers and specialists will join CREALOGIX; the existing management structure will remain the same. The acquisition is not only expected to give CREALOGIX access to Innofis’ established customer base, the Switzerland-based company will also gain a presence in additional territories, most notably the Middle Eastern region.

CREALOGIX will benefit from Innofis’ digital banking product suite, which it expects will complement its current solution portfolio due to “optimal synergies” between the product portfolios. Because of the use of open architecture, many of the companies’ modules can be integrated interchangeably. New features Innofis brings to CREALOGIX include:

  • Predictive analytics based on big data and customer behavior segmentation
  • Advanced online campaign management
  • SaaS based-digital loyalty program
  • A suite of Islamic banking modules
  • Extensive functionality for business banking

Founded in 2012, Innofis has experienced double-digit growth and currently generates over $10.2 million (CHF 10 million) in revenue. Innofis CEO David Moreno, who will transition to a member of CREALOGIX’s Executive Group Management, said that “As a result of the new, joint offering from Innofis and CREALOGIX, we will remain a reliable partner for our clients and will support them in their digitization initiatives, with a broader set of innovative, ready-to-use solutions.”

Innofis presented at FinovateEurope 2016, where Moreno and the company’s CMO David Falk showcased the Innofis Omnichannel Predictive Banking solution. The solution leverages machine learning of bank data and contextual behavioral analysis to deliver more accurate and effective marketing messages.

CREALOGIX’s Marc Stähli, Head of Sales and CMO; and Eszter Vass, Sr. Product Strategy & Presales Consultant, demo Predictive Banking in Virtual Reality at FinovateEurope 2017 in London.

CREALOGIX most recently demoed at FinovateEurope 2017, where the company won Best of Show for Predictive Banking in Virtual Reality. In November of last year, the company expanded into Asia Pacific with new offices in Singapore. And in September, CREALOGIX acquired AI and machine learning technology from Koemei. The company said it plans to leverage Koemei’s technology that uses automated speech recognition (ASR) to convert audio, podcast, and video content into text data, which facilitates cross-media search capabilities.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alkami Technology, CREALOGIX, Featurespace, Innofis, NCR Corporation, Privakey, Urban FT

On Finovate.com

  • Urban FT and Fortress Plus to Co-Market Digital Banking, Fraud Prevention to Community Banks
  • Alkami Scores $70 Million in Series D Funding

Around the web

  • Privakey joins the FIDO Alliance.
  • Featurespace opens U.S. headquarters in Atlanta.
  • NCR wins four GOOD DESIGN awards.

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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Kyckr Lands Global Payment Provider Client

Kyckr Lands Global Payment Provider Client
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Kyckr

Regtech player Kyckr landed a new client today– a leading global payments provider.

Through the agreement, Kyckr will provide its Know Your Customer (KYC) onboarding services to the client, the name of which has not been disclosed “due to the critical services provided by Kyckr to [the] client for KYC on-boarding services.” Through the indefinite agreement, the client will pay an annual fee of $150k for Kyckr’s corporate customer validation and verification services, which help improve KYC compliance-related obligations.

David Cassidy, Kyckr managing director said, “Our services demonstrate the relevance of our capabilities in multiple sectors, helping improve customer on-boarding, bringing about operational efficiencies and improved KYC compliance.”

Kyckr offers traditional APIs that provide direct access to over 150 business registries which, when combined with blockchain technologies, give immutable proof of a company’s information at the time of any transaction. The API helps establish a complete KYC decision by enabling companies to perform company searches, access company profiles and filings, cross-reference searches on directors, shareholders and others.

Above: Kyckr’s Ben Cronin, Joint CEO and Director and Cian Foley, Sr. Software Engineer, presenting at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016

Founded in 2007, Kyckr’s Ben Cronin, Joint CEO and Director, and Cian Foley, Sr. Software Engineer, gave a presentation titled Corporate Identity on the Blockchain to an audience of developers at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016. Last November, Prudential Singapore selected Kyckr as one of three fintechs for its PRU Fintegrate partnership program. Earlier that month, the company was named a Hackcelerator Finalist at the Singapore FinTech Festival.

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Dynamics Leverages Sprint’s Wireless Network for New IoT Connected Card

Dynamics Leverages Sprint’s Wireless Network for New IoT Connected Card
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Dynamics

Next-generation payment card company Dynamics announced this week it has teamed up with Sprint, a subsidiary of SoftBank, to launch the Wallet Card, a battery-powered, connected payment card.

The Wallet Card, Dynamics’ first IoT-powered card, will leverage Sprint’s network for wireless data transfers. The card, which is around the same size and shape as a normal credit card, contains almost 200 internal components. Users can access debit, credit, pre-paid, multi-currency, one-time use, and loyalty cards from a single card.

Sprint, which is powering the IoT technology behind the card, is helping Dynamics differentiate this card from the company’s previous offerings. Specifically, the new Wallet Card contains:

  • Cell phone chip and cell phone antenna for data transfer
  • Battery and recharging chip– the card charges itself through normal operation.
  • Re-writable magnetic stripe, EMV chip, and contactless chip that allows users to download new card information to the card.
  • 65,000 pixel display and UI that enables cardholders to select different cards and informational screens.

With these new capabilities, card issuers can immediately rescind compromised card numbers and re-issue a new card number in real time.

The Wallet Card, which was debuted at the CES tradeshow in Las Vegas, received four CES Innovation awards, including the Best of Innovation Award for Security Technologies. It was an honoree for Computers, Embedded Technologies and Technologies for a Better World. “This is just the beginning,” said Jeff Mullen, CEO of Dynamics,”Wallet Card is poised to redefine the way consumers and businesses think of credit cards and enable a close, more secure connection.”

Jan Geldmacher, president of Sprint Business said that the Wallet Card is an example of “how important converged networks and advanced integrated technology will be for the lives of everyday people across the globe.”

Also today, Dynamics announced it has teamed with India-based IndusInd Bank who will bring Dynamics’ multi-account, powered card– a product the company debuted in 2010– to the Indian market.

Founded in 2007, Dynamics most recently presented at FinovateFall 2017. The company, which has raised over $110 million in funding from investors including Mastercard, CIBC, Adams Capital Management, and Bain Capital Ventures, is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with office locations in Singapore, Sao Paulo, and New York.

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Finova Financial’s New Fundraising Process Leverages Cryptocurrency to Serve Non-Accredited Investors

Finova Financial’s New Fundraising Process Leverages Cryptocurrency to Serve Non-Accredited Investors
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Finova Financial

Alternative lender Finova Financial introduced a new product this week that will offer non-accredited investors access to regulated public securities offerings.

The new offering is called the JOBS Crypto Offering (JCO) and will allow investors to use cryptocurrency to invest in equity ownership of previously privately-held companies. The JCO is a type of initial coin offering (ICO) in which tokens that represent ownership shares of capital stock are tracked on a blockchain and are sold according to either a registration statement filed under the Securities Act or a transaction that’s exempt from registration under the Securities Act.

“I liked the idea of the ICOs when they were first introduced as they looked like an exciting way for startups to raise funds from small investors, but I had concerns about regulatory compliance practices, especially for tokens that are clearly securities,” said Finova CEO and brainchild of the JCO, Gregory Keough. He said that he created the JCO “to open the doors of opportunity for the small investor.”

Here’s how JCOs work– companies in search of financing issue securities to the general public in exchange for cryptocurrency or other funds. Ownership of these securities is represented by tokens, or blockchain entries. As for what’s next, Keough described his vision for JCOs saying, “I envision the Tokens sold in JCOs being listed on an Alternative Trading System, creating a liquid security and providing companies with an alternative to a traditional initial public offering.”

Currently, there is no word on an expected launch date for the JCO.

Finova Financial was founded in 2015. At FinovateSpring 2016, Keough debuted Finova’s Car Equity Line of Credit (C-LOC), a product that enables consumers to take loans from the equity in their car. Later that year, the company raised $52.5 million in combined equity and debt.

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