Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Braintree, eMoney Advisor, Lendio, Prosper, Temenos, TransferWise, VASCO, WorldPay

On Finovate.com

  • Lendio’s Marketplace surpasses $500 Million in Loans.
  • Worldpay Ships New Features for Worldpay Total
  • Braintree Tops A Billion Transactions Per Quarter Mark

Around the web

  • Temenos Marketplace now hosts Moroku’s Chore Scout.
  • TransferWise links with Apple Pay globally.
  • Vasco names Scott Clements president and CEO.

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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Handle Financial’s PayNearMe Partners with Blackhawk Network

Handle Financial’s PayNearMe Partners with Blackhawk Network
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Blackhawk Network, PayNearMe

Fintech platform provider Handle Financial announced this week that its cash transaction network PayNearMe has aligned itself with stored value card management company Blackhawk Network. The partnership will give PayNearMe access to Blackhawk’s network of retail partners.

At launch, the first retailer to take advantage of the new alliance is Casey’s General Stores, a Midwest chain with nearly 2,000 locations that operates in 15 states. The addition of Casey’s to PayNearMe’s already 28,000 brick-and-mortar retail locations will allow more rural Americans to make electronic payments to more than 17,000 billers using cash.

Danny Shader, PayNearMe CEO and founder said, “Blackhawk Network is an outstanding provider of branded value and works with some of the largest, most specialized and unique retailers in the world… Together, we can help ensure that all payment methods are considered equal and easy to use.”

Founded in 2009, PayNearMe enables consumers to pay bills using cash by scanning a barcode on their smartphone. The company has partnerships with physical retail locations such as 7-Eleven, Ace Cash Express, and Family Dollar stores. At FinovateSpring 2013, PayNearMe debuted its white-label treasury services product.

Handle Financial launched the Handle Platform at FinovateSpring 2017. The Handle Platform helps companies integrate bill presentment and same-day bill payment technology into their existing platform. Handle Financial also hosts PayNearMe and the Prism API, which it began offering after it acquired Prism Money, a PFM platform, in May of 2016. Visa was the first client to leverage the Prism API.

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Vipera Acquires SoftTelecom for $1.5 Million

Vipera Acquires SoftTelecom for $1.5 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Mergers & Acquisitions, Vipera

Mobile financial services company Vipera announced today it is acquiring SoftTelecom. The deal is expected to close for $1.5 million (€1.3 million).

Madrid-based SoftTelecom is a fintech and telecom software solutions company focused on open source technologies, including PSD2 and blockchain development projects. The company has 18 employees who serve clients in Madrid, the Netherlands, and the U.K. In 2016, SoftTelecom had an operating profit of $289,000 (€247,000) and recorded net assets of $856,000 (€734,000).

Vipera’s primary goal with the acquisition is to bolster product development. Specifically, the company sees SoftTelecom as a “launchpad for expanding Group sales into the Spanish market with a local delivery capability in the Iberian region. “London-based Vipera offers its MOTIF platform to clients in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. MOTIF is comprised of three personal banking products: Mobile Banking, Mobile Payments, and Mobile Card Control.

Simon Pearce (Chief Commercial Officer) and Andrea Gambirasio (Head of Sales Support) demo Vipera’s MOTIF at FinovateEurope 2016 in London

At FinovateEurope 2016, Vipera demonstrated how MOTIF can generate location and context-based mobile offers. The personalized offers are sent to the user’s phone at an appropriate time to enhance the shopping experience and build user engagement with their bank. In the demo, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer Simon Pearce explained how the real-time contextual offers engine “can be used by banks and merchants to deliver appropriate offers right into the handset of the user with a reward or offer appropriate to them at the right time, but most importantly, in the right place.”

Vipera also announced today that Sella Bank Group has subscribed $2.9 million (€2.5 million) for 40 million shares in Vipera at a price of just over 7 cents per share. Last month, the company partnered with core banking provider Mambu and in April it won its largest contract to-date, worth $2.4 million in revenue.

Vipera was founded in 2005. Marco Casartelli is CEO.

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Worldline Buys First Data Baltics for $85 Million

Worldline Buys First Data Baltics for $85 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: First Data, Mergers & Acquisitions, Worldline

European payments and transactional service provider Worldline has agreed to acquire First Data Baltics, the leading payment processor in the region, for $85 million (73 million euros). The deal is slated to be finalized in the third quarter of this year.

Worldline’s acquisition of the 200-person First Data Baltics branch helps the France-based company break into the Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian markets. Gilles Grapinet, Worldline CEO said that the deal is a “significant development” that will “accelerate the execution of our pan-European consolidation strategy in financial processing services.” Grapinet added, “In one transaction, we gain a leading position in the fast-developing countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, we reinforce our group capabilities in the north of Europe and will establish new relationships with numerous prestigious Baltic and Nordic banks.”

This marks the company’s second acquisition this year, after it acquired Digital River World Payments earlier this month. Worldline anticipates these acquisitions are the first of many for the company. Grapinet said that the company sees, “an unprecedented level of M&A opportunities in the payment space, notably in Europe.”

Founded in 1973, Worldline showcased a connected piggy bank. The IoT device pairs with a companion mobile app on a child’s phone to serve as a physical savings account for the kid. The app helps the child recognize and count their coins, while the parent-facing side of the app enables parents to deposit money into the child’s online account using NFC.

Worldline went public in 2014 and Earlier this week the company and Total partnered with InTouch to deploy Guichet Unique, a digital solution for retail networks. Worldline has ranked as a Market Leader in the Ovum Decision Matrix for its white label mobile wallet solution and was recently awarded Best Chile 2017 for its commitment to the well-being of its collaborators.

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Summit View: Bank Tech of the Future

Summit View: Bank Tech of the Future
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2017, FinovateFall 2017 Summit Series

Our expanded FinovateFall conference is coming up on September 11 through 14, and we’re taking a look at each of the six summit discussions that will take place after the demos. In the final segment of this series, we’re examining future technologies.

Summit #6: Future technology

The year was 2000. AOL and Timer Warner merged, Tate Modern and the London Eye both opened in London, Blink-182 and Oasis ruled the air waves, and the movie Meet the Parents premiered in theaters. Seventeen years later, we’re living in the future, and while payments and mortgage technology sometimes still hark back to the 1990’s, there are a handful of enabling technologies that remind us of our progress.

Blockchain

Blockchain has come a long way since Bitcoin became available in 2008 and spiked in value in 2014. The blockchain, the technology behind the digital currency, has not only opened doors to a range of other cryptocurrencies, it is now used by companies to track and manage personal identities, transmit data, send and receive international payments, and more.

Notable alums leveraging the blockchain:

  • Ripple, the technology behind the XRP cryptocurrency. Ripple demoed at FinovateSpring 2013 as OpenCoin.
  • Caxton, a multi-currency, cross-border payments platform. The company’s CEO, Rupert Lee-Browne debuted Caxton’s Firebird Payment Engine at FinovateEurope 2017.
  • Bitbond, an international marketplace lending platform for small business loans that leverages the blockchain for global payments. At FinovateFall 2016, the company’s founder and CEO, Radko Albrecht, showcased Bitbond’s automated SME credit scoring methodology.
  • BanQu leverages the blockchain to provide global economic identities. The company won Best of Show for its demo at FinovateSpring 2016.
  • MarketX’s online investment platform leverages the blockchain to prove ownership and integrity of private, pre-IPO shares. The company’s CEO and founder, Cathryn Chen, showcased MarketX at FinovateFall 2016.

AI

Elon Musk has bolstered the public’s interest in artificial intelligence recently, after he publicized a doomsday warning that software and machines may leverage AI to take over the world. Despite this, the use of AI in fintech has been growing over the past couple of years and we have yet to see its peak.

Notable alums leveraging AI:

  • Aire offers an API that generates an alternative credit score for potential borrowers with thin-to-no credit files. The company, which recently raised $5 million, demoed at FinovateEurope 2015.
  • LendingRobot is an automated investment service that enables lenders to invest in alternative, P2P investments. The company won Best of Show for demoing its dashboard at FinovateSpring 2016.
  • Kensho is an interactive, user-friendly research assistant. The company’s CEO Daniel Nadler debuted Kensho’s Warren assistant at FinovateEurope 2014.
  • Personetics uses AI-powered predictive analytics to help banks fulfill their clients’ needs by predicting their situation. The Israel-based company showcased its chatbot at FinovateFall 2016.
  • Feedzai’s fraud prevention software uses big data and AI to block payment fraud in real time. The company’s CEO, Nuno Sebastiao, demoed Feedzai at FinovateEurope 2014.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) isn’t new to banking, but its potential has increased since technologies such as ATM location tools came on the scene in 2010. In the seven years since, there has been little development across all sectors.

The most notable application of augmented reality has been Pokemon Go, a game launched in 2016. While Pokemon Go is still one step removed from the banking world, it has shown us that the way in which we interact with our devices is changing. This change is still in its infancy but a handful of companies have created viable products for banks, mostly in the way of marketing solutions.

Notable alums leveraging AR:

  • ebankIT provides omni-channel digital solutions that break the mold of traditional online banking. The company most recently demoed at FinovateEurope 2017 and will showcase its newest technology at FinovateFall in September.
  • ITSector is a software development company (and parent company of ebankIT) that offers banks marketing products powered by augmented reality. The company debuted its Express Credit solution at FinovateEurope 2017.
  • Fiserv, a global financial services technology provider, offers augmented reality solutions for banks seeking a unique way to advertise to their customers. The company’s most recent Finovate demo was at FinovateFall 2016.

Virtual Reality

Similar to AR, virtual reality (VR) is also on the fringe. While there’s a lot of excitement about technology’s potential to make communications more efficient, harness new client segments, and improve the customer experience; there has been limited application in its use for financial services.

Notable alums leveraging VR:

  • NCR is an omni-channel solutions company. At FinovateSpring 2017, the company showed off its fully immersive VR ATM experience that leverages real-time collaboration to train employees to fix ATMs with hands-on experience.
  • CREALOGIX, a digital banking company, launched a VR solution for personal financial management at FinovateEurope 2017. The solution uses imagery and an inspiring user experience to engage users and encourage them to mange their finances.
  • Comarch is an international software company. At FinovateSpring 2016, the company showed how advisors and relationship managers can deliver investment advice in VR for a more personal touch.
  • Worldpay, a global payments company, is developing a VR-based payments system. The company gave a presentation about the payment journey at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016.

The upcoming Future Technology Summit at FinovateFall will offer a day of discussions from industry thought leaders, top fintechs, and banks. Be a part of these live panel discussions at FinovateFall; register and save your spot at the show. A few summit highlights include:

  • Blockchain
  • AI
  • Open Banking
  • AR/VR

This is our final post in the FinovateFall Summit Series. Review all six topics and be sure to drop by the discussions taking place at FinovateFall this September 11 through 14 in New York.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BellaDati, BeSmartee, Capsilon, CoverHound, Credit Sesame, LendUp, Roostify, SuperMoney, Symbiont, Symphony Software Foundation, Worldline

On Finovate.com

  • Worldline Buys First Data Baltics for $85 Million.
  • Symbiont Announces Strategic Investment from Medici Ventures.

Around the web

  • Benzinga features SuperMoney, LendUp, Credit Sesame, Capsilon, & BeSmartee as companies revolutionizing lending.
  • HuffPost features Jeana Deninger, ‎Chief Operating Officer at CoverHound.
  • BellaDati announces BellaDati IoT Cloud for the exploration of real-time data from Cross Domain Development Kit XDK of Bosch Connected Devices.
  • Symphony Software Foundation now counts more than 50 projects, 100+ contributors, 4 working groups, & 25 members.
  • Roostify helps First Cal Cut Loan Process to 15 Days.

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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TickSmith Lands $2 Million Investment from Illuminate Financial

TickSmith Lands $2 Million Investment from Illuminate Financial
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, TickSmith

In the Quebec-based company’s first round of funding, data management platform TickSmith announced today it has raised $1.6 million ($2 million CAD) from Illuminate Financial.

TickSmith will use the funds to further commercialize TickVault, its flagship product that works like a financial data lake for capital markets. Based on Hadoop technology, TickVault records, stores, and transforms structured and unstructured financial data by breaking down trade history, exchange and tick data, back office data, news, events, research, and more. In addition to analysis, the TickVault’s data scrubbing is also useful for compliance and risk management teams.

TickSmith’s TickVault data flow diagram

Francis Wenzel, CEO and co-founder of TickSmith, said, “Market participants recognize the competitive advantage that can be gained from a next generation capital markets data lake, not just in Europe and North America, but increasingly on a global basis.” Wenzel added, “As venture capital specialists within the capital markets technology space, Illuminate Financial are well positioned to help us further develop our flagship product, TickVault, as we continue to build an international client base.”

Founded in 2012, TickSmith presented TickVault and FIXVault at FinovateFall 2014. The company recently introduced a new performance-tracking module, Marketplace Advanced Insights, that gives market participants a better idea of how they are performing and how their peers are behaving. TickSmith partnered with CME Group in October of last year to provide the derivatives marketplace with access to historical data. The company also counts National Bank of Canada as a client.

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IBM Launches Security Testing Services for IoT Developers

IBM Launches Security Testing Services for IoT Developers
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: IBM

IoT technologies are on the rise– in fact, Gartner predicts that connected things will reach 20.4 billion by 2020. This flood of new capabilities comes with the need for enhanced security in a field where developers have hacked everything from self-driving cars to wifi-connected Crock Pots.

That’s why IBM announced yesterday that its security arm is launching testing services for the internet of things (IoT). The company’s Watson IoT offers configuration and management capabilities for IoT environments. The company also launched testing services for automotive security.

One of IBM’s designated research teams, the X-Force Red researchers, will deliver the testing service alongside the Watson IoT platform. IBM reports that 58% of companies only test their IoT apps during the production phase, which could possibly introduce vulnerabilities into existing systems. To combat this, the researchers are incorporating an added layer of security and penetration testing.

IBM describes the new cloud-based service as “programmatic, on-demand” testing that will occur “through the entire lifecycle” of IoT products. Clients of the Watson IoT platform can leverage the expertise of X-Force Red researchers throughout the process of development and deployment of IoT products.

Charles Henderson, Global Head of IBM X-Force Red said, “Over the past year, we’ve seen security testing further emerge as a key component in clients’ security programs.” Henderson added, “Finding issues in your products and services upfront is a far better investment than the expense of letting cybercriminals find and exploit vulnerabilities.”

Ayelet Avni, Senior Offering Manager of IBM Trusteer and Shaked Vax, Product Strategist of IBM Trusteer demo IBM Trusteer Rapport at FinovateSpring 2017

New York-based IBM was founded in 1911 and debuted its Customer Insight for Banking product at FinovateFall 2016. The solution uses predictive analytics and pre-built data models to help banks perfect customer segmentation models by analyzing transactions, spending behavior, and life events. The company’s security arm most recently demonstrated its Trusteer solutions. Ayelet Avni, Senior Offering Manager, and Shaked Vax, Product Strategist of IBM Trusteer, took the stage at FinovateSpring 2017 to debut how IBM Trusteer Rapport protects against phishing attacks.

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DoubleNet Pay Garners $4 Million Investment

DoubleNet Pay Garners $4 Million Investment
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: DoubleNet Pay, Funding

Financial wellness company DoubleNet Pay closed $4 million in Seed funding today. The investment, which marks the Atlanta-based company’s first round of funding since it was founded in 2013, comes from TTV Capital and Fuqua Investments.

The 12-person company will use the funds to boost product development and bolster sales. To help fuel this growth, the company hopes to add up to 40 employees in the next year.

DoubleNet Pay aims to help the half of U.S. workers who do not have $500 saved for an emergency. With DoubleNet Pay, users build their savings by automatically deducting funds from their paycheck and depositing them into a savings account from which the funds can be withdrawn at any time. The platform is helping users save an average of $37 per pay period. DoubleNet Pay CEO Brian Cosgray said, “We automate emergency savings contributions on payday, similar to how 401(k) accounts are funded, or payroll taxes and health insurance premiums are paid.”

The company takes a B2B approach by selling its software to businesses to offer to their employees as a workplace benefit. “We found that employers are the best way to reach the people that need our help the most,” Cosgray said. “Most people’s only investment account is through the employer through their retirement plan.”

At FinovateSpring 2015, the company showcased its savings empowerment platform. In 2016, the company earned a spot in Plug&Play’s accelerator program. Earlier that year, DoubleNet Pay’s CEO Brian Cosgray was selected as an EBN Top 50 Benefit Technology Innovator.

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Aire Pulls in $5 Million, Lands Partnerships with Zopa and Toyota Financial Services

Aire Pulls in $5 Million, Lands Partnerships with Zopa and Toyota Financial Services
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Aire, Funding

Alternative credit scoring company, Aire, announced today it has raised $5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Sunstone Capital, with funds also coming from White Star Capital, which led the company’s 2016 Seed round. Aire’s funding now totals $12 million.

The London-based company plans to use the funds to drive recruitment. CEO Aneesh Varma said, “Aire has stood for an idea that people should have equal opportunities for financial products despite changing realities of work, lifestyle and careers in this modern economy.” Varma added that the new funds are a “strong vindication that we are making the right progress towards that goal.”

Founded in 2014, Aire leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to offer lenders new insight into borrowers with thin credit files. The company’s Interactive Virtual Interview adds a new layer of information to traditional credit bureau data. Because Aire’s credit risk analysis gives lenders access to a new pool of thin-file borrowers, the company has seen credit approvals grow by up to 14% on average, without increasing risk exposure.

Aire’s API integrates into the existing web and mobile workflows of the online credit application forms

Aire also announced strategic partnerships with P2P lender Zopa and the U.K. arm of vehicle finance company, Toyota Financial Services, who will leverage Aire’s API to enhance their underwriting and lending decisioning processes. These firms join credit card companies and high-street banks also benefitting from Aire’s API.

Earlier this year, Aire was featured in FinTechCity’s FinTech50 2017 list of top European fintechs and in January, we highlighted Aire’s role in our Fintech Filter for AI in 2017. Last year, the company made headlines when it announced it is now authorized and regulated by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, placing Aire on the same playing field as the big three credit bureaus. The company debuted its API at FinovateEurope 2015 in London.

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Truphone Added to List of Carriers for Apple SIM

Truphone Added to List of Carriers for Apple SIM
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Truphone

Truphone, a mobile operator without borders, is working to make the world a bit more flat. The company announced today that it is leveraging the Apple SIM card to offer data plans for iPad users in the U.K.

Founded in 2006, Truphone operates by patching together capacity from multiple carriers, enabling customers to use their voice and data allowances without incurring roaming charges. The company is able to do this by using eSIMs, software-based SIMs, rather than chip-based SIMs. The new arrangement covers roaming in 40 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Martinique, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, U.K., the U.S., Reunion Island, Vatican City.

The London-based company has previously launched iPad data plans for users in Hong Kong, the U.K., Spain, and Poland. By the end of 2017, Truphone hopes to introduce the same service for 30 countries, and anticipates that number will reach 50 by 2018. In addition to SIM-based data plans, Truphone also offers mobile plans for businesses and a mobile recording solution, which it showcased at FinovateEurope 2014. Truphone Mobile Recording enables businesses and banks to record, encrypt and store mobile communications securely, and without disrupting the user experience.

Truefone has 11 offices across the globe and employs 400 people. Ralph Steffens is CEO.

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HackerOne Powering Bug Bounty Program for Tor Browser

HackerOne Powering Bug Bounty Program for Tor Browser
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: HackerOne

Bug bounty and vulnerability disclosure platform HackerOne is powering a bug bounty program for the Tor Project, the company behind the anonymizing Tor browser.

Tor security team lead, Georg Koppen said the company selected HackerOne because, “HackerOne is well known by the security community, and we wanted to pick a trusted platform for open communication with independent experts.” This marks Tor’s first public bug bounty since it was founded in 2002. The company conducted a small, private bug bounty in 2016 but Koppen said he “knew going public would expand [its] relationships in the community and improve [its] results.” With support from the Open Technology Fund, the Tor Project said that it will pay out anywhere from $100 to $4,000, depending on the severity of the bug discovered.

HackerOne offers a platform that recruits security researchers and white hat hackers to identify security weaknesses for its clients, including Twitter, Airbnb, Uber, Yelp, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Since it was founded in 2012, HackerOne has run 852 programs, fixed 49,793 bugs, and facilitated $18.7 million in bug bounty payouts.

Michiel Prins, HackerOne Co-Founder presenting Tapping Hackers to Improve Security at FinDEVr London 2017

The San Francisco-based company has offices in London, Seattle, Los Angeles, North Carolina, and the Netherlands. HackerOne earned the Favorite FinDEVr Debut award for its presentation at FinDEVr New York this year and won the Crowd Favorite award at its FinDEVr London presentation last month. In a separate announcement today, the company announced the launch of HackerOne Response, a new product to help companies receive security vulnerability reports from the hacker community, their users, and customers.

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