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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
SoFi’s SoFi at Work is launching a Student Loan Verification service this week that will help employers match their workforce’s student loan repayments with retirement contributions.
The tool comes in response to Congress’ SECURE 2.0 Act that allows employers to match their employees’ student loan repayments with retirement contributions.
In addition to Student Loan Verification, SoFi at Work also helps employers offer student loan refinancing, repayment options, a debt navigator tool, financial education resources, and more.
SoFi’sSoFi at Work program is launching a new Student Loan Verification (SLV) service this week. The new tool will help companies match their employee’s student loan repayments with retirement contributions.
SLV will be added to SoFi at Work’s portfolio of employer financial wellness benefit solutions. The launch comes in response to Congress’ Securing a Strong Retirement Act (SECURE 2.0), which allows employers to match their employees’ student loan payments with contributions toward retirement plans.
“At SoFi, we’re dedicated to helping people get their money right, and SECURE 2.0 and the provision that makes it easier for companies to support all employees’ financial well-being is a great example of that,” said SoFi at Work Vice President, Business Lead Barrett Scruggs. “Our Student Loan Verification service makes it easy for companies to put this emerging, yet highly impactful benefit into action for a more inclusive future.”
According to a 2019 study from MIT, 84% of adults with student loan debt say it has impacted the amount they’re able to save for retirement. With SLV and SECURE 2.0, companies can enable their workers to contribute to their 401(k) or 403(b) plan while paying down their student debt.
Launched in 2016, SoFi at Work aims to help employers offer their workforce student loan refinancing, repayment options, a debt navigator tool, financial education resources, and more. Seven out of 10 Fortune 500 tech firms currently offer the perk to their employees.
Great news for those who missed out on FinovateSpring last month– the demo videos from the event are now available!
You can now watch all 44 demo videos that graced the Finovate stage. Don’t know where to start? Take a peek at the six Best of Show-winning demos, linked below.
Want to know their secrets to earning the Best of Show title? This year’s Best of Show-winning companies offer their tips on winning Best of Show in the video highlight below:
Thanks to our demo companies, presenters, panelists, partners, sponsors, and to our audience for participating in this year’s event. We’ll see you at FinovateFall!
Plaid released updates to its digital identity verification tool it launched last fall.
The update taps into the scale of the Plaid network to offer faster identity verification and a deeper risk insights.
Plaid’s overhaul also expands the types of identity documents it accepts, adds front-end support for more languages, provides a fake ID risk score, and improves the document capture experience.
Financial infrastructure fintech Plaid is updating a feature it launched last year that tackles one of the most pressing topics in fintech– digital identity.
At launch, Plaid’s identity verification tool offered consumers a one-click identity verification product that standardized a “verify once, verify everywhere” approach. As a result, users could authenticate themselves faster and with less friction, and organizations could remain KYC compliant.
And on the business side, these efficiencies are paying off. Companies using Plaid’s identity verification are reporting an average of 50% improvement of identity verification success rates.
Today’s update makes a handful of improvements on the current offering.
First, the upgrade enables Plaid Identity Verification customers to benefit from the scale of Plaid’s network. By leveraging its network, Plaid is able to offer faster verification experiences for end users while providing the organization with a more complete view of a user’s risk via their identity, financial account, and transactions.
“Now, when a user verifies their identity and links their accounts with Plaid, we detect if your customer is linking a bank account that belongs to them,” the company explained in a blog post. “We match onboarding data from identity verification with the financial institution information on file for an added layer of security.”
Next, Plaid has added a new score that indicates the likelihood that an identity has been stolen, fabricated, or manipulated. The company has also expanded the ID document types it accepts to include green cards and temporary ID cards like B1/B2 visas, and now supports front-end support for more languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and French. In addition, Plaid has improved its document capture experience to increase conversion by guiding the user’s capture window, optimizing image file sizes, and supporting more devices.
Plaid’s identity verification service is crucial for financial services firms and third-party providers. While these entities excel in their respective subsectors, they may lack a seamless identity verification solution. However, such a solution is essential not only for creating a pleasant user experience but also for meeting regulatory KYC requirements. Plaid’s service acts as a lifeline, bridging this gap and providing the necessary identity verification capabilities.
With $734 million in funding, Plaid helps 12,000+ financial institutions offer their customers access to its network of 7,000 third party financial services via a suite of APIs that connects consumers, financial institutions, and developers. The company also offers a suite of analytics products that provides further insights into transactions. Plaid was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Flutterwave is integrating account-to-account payment infrastructure from Token.io.
Using Token.io’s technology, Flutterwave will add A2A payments to its Collect Payments and Send by Flutterwave products.
A2A payments are projected to exceed 6.5 billion in annual global volumes by 2027.
Africa-based payments technology company Flutterwave announced this week it has selected account-to-account (A2A) payment infrastructure provider Token.io to power A2A payments– also known as pay-by-bank capabilities– on its platform.
The move is expected to simplify money transfers for Flutterwave’s African users in the U.K. and E.U. looking to send money back to their home country.
Token.io was founded in 2016 and leverages open banking to offer payment providers the infrastructure they need to launch A2A payment capabilities without a team of developers. With a single API, payment providers can help their end users pay without a payment card. Token.io supports more than 567 million bank accounts– representing more than 80% of bank accounts held– in 16 supported countries.
Flutterwave has integrated Token.io’s technology to help clients of its Collect Payments product offer their end customers A2A payments. The pay-by-bank capabilities will also be available on Flutterwave’s cross-border payments platform, Send by Flutterwave, in the third quarter of this year.
The addition of the new payments method comes at an ideal time. According to Token.io CEO Todd Clyde, A2A payments are projected to exceed 6.5 billion in annual global volumes by 2027.
“Our partnership with Token.io will make it even faster and easier for individuals and businesses to pay and receive money,” said Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga “GB” Agboola. “By partnering with Token.io to provide Account-to-Account payments to our customers, Flutterwave will advance its mission of connecting Africa to the global economy.”
Flutterwave aims to create a flexible and affordable way for Africans to pay in the digital era. The company, which accepts payments in more than 30 currencies, processes an average of 500,000 payments each day. In addition to its payments technology, Flutterwave also offers invoicing technology, business loans, and analytics tools. Since it was founded in 2016, Flutterwave has raised more than $470 million and has processed over 400 million transactions worth over $25 billion.
Global trade financing platform Mitigram landed $11 million in funding.
The investment will bring Mitigram’s total funding to $38 million.
Mitigram will use the funding to scale its operations via software-as-a-service offerings.
Digital global trade financing platform Mitigramannounced today it received $11 million in funding, boosting its total raised to $38 million.
The company will use the funds to scale its operations via software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings and add competitive advantage by scaling its network. “The lack of connectivity is trade finance’s biggest cost,” said Mitigram’s Interim CEO Malin Bäcklund. “Around 4 billion paper documents are manually generated, checked and transported in trade each year, which creates the perfect storm for high operating costs and a spiraling lack of control. At Mitigram, we are passionate about closing the gap that is estimated to cost the industry $4 trillion in total each year. This new funding round will allow us to continue doing exactly that.”
Mitigram was founded in 2014, creating a digital exchange in global trade financing. The company offers three main products:
MitiSquare, which helps companies assess risks, capacity, and pricing from partner banks in global trade financing.
MitiManager, which allows organizations to view, manage, and structure all trade financing data.
MitiGateway, which digitizes origination records and manages the end customer experience.
Among the company’s clients are Louis Dreyfus Company, Bridgestone, Vale, Ericsson, ArcelorMittal, Trafigura, Siemens Healthineers, and over 150 banks.
As part of today’s announcement Mitigram CEO Milena Torciano is stepping down, but will remain on the company’s board of directors. Bäcklund, who currently serves as CEO of Moor Holding, will act as interim CEO until a replacement is found.
“We founded Mitigram with the mission to open up a closed market, and to streamline and augment global trade and I am incredibly proud of the tremendous growth that we have achieved since I joined six years ago,” said Torciano. “Today, we are trusted by more than 300 multinational corporations, leading commodity traders and financial institutions, and have facilitated $100+ billion in flows currently across 185 markets. This investment is an excellent opportunity to further build on the strong foundations we have established, and to deliver best practice for digitalized trade finance.”
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced today it has charged Coinbase for operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency; and for failing to register the offer and sale of its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program.
Specifically, the SEC is alleging that Coinbase:
Provides a marketplace and brings together the orders for securities of multiple buyers and sellers using established, non-discretionary methods under which such orders interact
Engages in the business of effecting securities transactions for the accounts of Coinbase customers
Provides facilities for comparison of data respecting the terms of settlement of crypto asset securities transactions, serves as an intermediary in settling transactions in crypto asset securities by Coinbase customers, and acts as a securities depository
“We allege that Coinbase, despite being subject to the securities laws, commingled and unlawfully offered exchange, broker-dealer, and clearinghouse functions,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “In other parts of our securities markets, these functions are separate. Coinbase’s alleged failures deprive investors of critical protections, including rulebooks that prevent fraud and manipulation, proper disclosure, safeguards against conflicts of interest, and routine inspection by the SEC. Further, as we allege, Coinbase never registered its staking-as-a-service program as required by the securities laws, again depriving investors of critical disclosure and other protections.”
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, who testified yesterday before the House Committee on Agricultural Services on the new Digital Asset Market Structure Discussion Draft, said in a blog post that U.S. crypto firms are lacking clear rules for operating in the crypto space. In fact, Coinbase has been asking regulators for months to work together to help build regulation around crypto. The fintech has been straightforward that it wants to operate within regulation, but the SEC hasn’t been willing to work with Coinbase to define regulations.
Much of the issue between the two parties hinges on a lack of definition. Coinbase insists that it does not list securities on its platform, while the SEC has called out 61 cryptocurrencies that it believes are securities.
All of this back-and-forth has made two things clear. First, as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong explains in a TV commercial, crypto in the U.S. has valuable use cases, and companies need clear rules to operate in the space:
Second, regulators are making it very difficult for U.S. companies to facilitate crypto transfers. Today’s news comes a day after the SEC sued Binance CEO and Founder Changpeng Zhao for operating unregistered exchanges, broker-dealers, and clearing agencies; misrepresenting trading controls and oversight on the Binance.US platform; and for the unregistered offer and sale of securities.
In a tweet earlier today, Armstrong highlighted that the SEC’s suit against Binance is different from its suit against Coinbase. “Btw, in case it’s not obvious, the Coinbase suit is very different from others out there – the complaint filed against us is exclusively focused on what is or is not a security. And we are confident in our facts and the law,” he said.
Regardless of the differences, in my view, the SEC is making examples out of these crypto firms to not only serve as a warning to other companies operating in the crypto space, but to also drive down consumer interest in holding digital assets.
Armstrong also used Twitter to reinforce what his company has been saying for months. “Regarding the SEC complaint against us today, we’re proud to represent the industry in court to finally get some clarity around crypto rules,” he said. “Remember:
The SEC reviewed our business and allowed us to become a public company in 2021.
There is no path to come in and register – we tried, repeatedly – so we don’t list securities. We reject the vast majority of assets we review.
The SEC and CFTC have made conflicting statements, and don’t even agree on what is a security and what is a commodity.
This is why the US congress is introducing new legislation to fix the situation, and the rest of the world is moving to put clear rules in place to support this technology.
Instead of publishing a clear rule book, the SEC has taken a regulation by enforcement approach that is harming America. So if we need to avail ourselves of the courts to get clarity, so be it.”
I just returned from FinovateSpring, where I spent three days watching live product demos, listening to panels and keynote discussions, and shaking hands with new and old connections alike. As with all events, this one showcased new ideas. Unlike other events, however, this year’s FinovateSpring event signified a shift in the fintech landscape.
I’ve summarized this shift, along with other key themes presented, in seven key takeaways below.
Regulations are here
Pending regulations was a prominent topic at the event, extending beyond the crypto sector to include traditional finance. Despite many instances of regulatory oversight in the crypto sector over the years, last years’ FTX scandal was big enough to raise the red flag for regulators. Since then, traditional banks including Silicon Valley Bank and Cross River Bank have raised concerns about lack of oversight, and banking-as-a-service, respectively. Regulators are being held accountable, and their response to oversight issues is becoming increasingly important.
Fintechs and banks have shifted to consider regulation more heavily when and how they build products. Not only this, banks have also learned that they need to step up their due diligence before partnering with third party players.
AI is becoming table stakes
The integration of AI has moved beyond mere discussion and has become crucial for fintech firms. They now recognize the need to leverage AI across various aspects– including customer service, personalization, business intelligence, underwriting, and more– to stay competitive and meet customer expectations.
However, the good news is that it’s easier now than ever for firms to get involved with AI. We saw a few live demos at FinovateSpring that showcased accessible, no-code methods for firms to engage with AI. No developers? No problem.
The froth of 2019 is not coming back
The fintech industry has entered a new phase, and the environment of low interest rates and excessive fundraising we experienced from 2012 to 2019 is not sustainable. Firms must adapt to this new normal by focusing on unit economics and operational efficiency to ensure their survival, as down rounds and exits become more prevalent.
Things can only improve. Or will the slide continue?
On our Investor All Stars panel, the venture capitalists on stage expressed differing views on the market trajectory. Three out of four said that in their view, we are “bouncing around the bottom” of the downturn, and that things can only go up from here.
However, many folks I spoke with on the networking floor disagreed with the positive sentiment, and said they thought that the economy would see a downturn before things improve. Consumers are feeling the pain in their wallets, and the looming debt ceiling–as well as a spike in consumer debt– aren’t helping.
Beyond customer acquisition
Merely acquiring a large user base or having a unique product is no longer sufficient for fintech success. VCs and banks now require a clear monetization strategy and a focus on unit economics. Fintechs must demonstrate how their customer base supports their bottom line in order to attract investment and partnership opportunities.
Consolidation will continue
In both the banking and fintech sectors, we’ve seen an uptick in M&A activity. Some of these deals have been unexpected, like the case of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, for example. At the conference, there was much discussion about a potential shakeout in the fintech sector. Startups who are running out of funds and can’t renew a new round will either have to fold or be acquired. The neobank sector will also see a reckoning. Niche neobanks that have launched in the past four years will either have to find a way to mine value from an expanded user group or merge with like-minded fintechs.
Regulatory challenges with DeFi and crypto
Notably absent from the event’s discussions were decentralized finance (DeFi) and cryptocurrencies. In contrast to two years ago, when every session included a discussion about crypto, only a few presenters brought up the topic at last week’s event. The reason? Regulatory challenges.
Regulatory concerns have spiked due to the fallout from last year’s FTX scandal and other crypto collapses. Regulators fear loss of control with decentralized finance and lack understanding of the underlying mechanics behind crypto.
If you missed the keynote address from Sam Everington, CEO of Engine by Starling Bank at FinovateEurope earlier this year, here are some highlights that will make you feel as if you were in the room.
During his address titled, “From payments to core platforms: How can banks leverage data and technology to meet changing customer,” Everington relayed his experience at Starling Bank, detailing how the newcomer has remained competitive by using customer data in context to not only create a better user experience, but also cut costs.
Everington discussed the shifting expectations of consumers, who now anticipate a digital-first experience similar to those offered by big tech companies. Additionally, because customers seek fair, reasonably priced, and affordable services, in today’s current cost of living crisis, it is key that banks keep their costs low in order to retain consumers’ appetites.
Cost, in fact, was a big part of Everington’s keynote. He emphasized the potential cost savings for banks by increasing the use of technology and enhancing user experiences. He acknowledged that in the banking sector, technology is often viewed as a cost center and technology investments are primarily driven by cost reduction.
“In banks especially, technology and technology investment decisions are all about the business case,” Everington said. “Technology is a cost center to be controlled, and technology investment is by and large a cost reduction exercise.”
In his keynote, Everington identified real-time and flexible systems as essential elements needed to meet customers’ ever-changing financial situations, which can fluctuate multiple times a day. Banks need to proactively understand their customers, be aware of the products and services they hold, and respond promptly to any changes.
To address these needs, Starling Bank developed Engine, a technology platform that supports their operations. Engine offers flexibility, comprehensiveness, scalability, and reliability. These features not only enhance the customer experience but also ensure compliance with U.K. regulations.
Ultimately, Everington emphasized the importance of banks having an innovative platform that allows them to adapt and meet the evolving needs of their customers.
Real estate-focused insurtech Obie announced it received $25.5 million in funding.
The Series B investment brings Obie’s total raised to $39 million since it was founded in 2017.
Obie’s embedded insurance tool helps change the way insurance for landlords and real estate investors is bought and sold.
Insurtech company Obieannounced a Series B round today. The company will use the $25.5 million investment to help change the way insurance for landlords and real estate investors is bought and sold.
Today’s round brings Obie’s total equity raised to $39 million, following the $10.7 million the company raised in its 2021 Series A round. Battery Ventures led the investment, which also saw participation from Brick and Mortar VC, DivcoWest, and real estate funds and investor groups.
“We’re excited to have the ongoing support of our investors as we continue to build insurance products that drive efficiency and change the way insurance is bought and sold,” said Obie Co-founder and CEO Ryan Letzeiser. “This funding supports the future of embedded insurance, as we expand our partnerships across industries and offer additional insurance products to clients.”
Obie was founded in 2017 to improve the way insurance was bought and sold in the real estate investing industry by launching an embedded insurance option. The company’s embedded insurance solutions underwrite investors by pulling more than 1,000 data points from multiple databases. Additionally, it creates a better user experience by offering instant, bindable quotes via its partner platforms, such as Baselane, Awning, and Marketplaces Homes.
Obie has grown 300% over the past two years. And with 18 million real estate investors across the U.S., the company expects to continue that trajectory. Earlier this month, Inc. Magazine named Obie to its 2023 Best Workplaces List.
The acquisition will help Ripple enter into the crypto custody market, enabling clients to custody, issue, and settle any type of tokenized asset.
Both BNY Mellon and NASDAQ have made recent moves in the crypto custody market.
Blockchain-based payments network Rippleannounced its latest acquisition this week, picking up digital asset management solutions company Metaco for $250 million.
The move will help Ripple enter into the crypto custody market, which is expected to reach $10 trillion by 2030. Specifically, it will enable Ripple to expand its offerings, providing customers the technology to custody, issue, and settle any type of tokenized asset.
“Metaco is a proven leader in institutional digital asset custody with an exceptional executive bench and a truly unmatched customer track record,” said Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. “Through the strength of our balance sheet and financial position, Ripple will continue pressing our advantage in the areas critical to crypto infrastructure. Bringing on Metaco is monumental for our growing product suite and expanding global footprint.”
Founded in 2015, Metaco helps non-traditional financial institutions securely build their digital asset capabilities. The Switzerland-based company’s flagship offering, Harmonize, helps banks, regulated exchanges, and fintechs issue, store, trade, transfer, settle, and service digital assets. Metaco has more than 100 employees that serve clients in more than 15 countries.
Regarding today’s acquisition, Metaco Founder and CEO Adrien Treccani said, “This deal will enable Metaco to leverage Ripple’s scale and market strength to reach our goals and deliver value to our clients at a faster pace. We look forward to continuing to serve unprecedented levels of institutional demand with the utmost excellence in delivery, as our clients have come to expect.”
Today’s acquisition comes during a time when interest in the crypto custody space is heating up. BNY Mellon offers digital asset custody for U.S. asset managers, and NASDAQ is planning to launch crypto custody services for Bitcoin and Ethereum by the end of this summer.
Ripple was founded in 2012 and offers tools for global money transfers, CBDCs, and digital assets. Earlier this month, the company expanded its Middle East operations, opening a new office location in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
NTT Data’s payments arm, NTT Data Payment Services, announced it has teamed up with risk analytics platform Facctum. The India-based payment company will leverage FacctView, Facctum’s anti-financial crime technology.
FacctView will help NTT Data Payments Services detect and assess sanctions, terrorism financing, and money laundering on its e-commerce platforms. In addition to protecting customers, FacctView’s technology also helps firms stay compliant. Because payment service providers are subject to increased regulation as fraudulent incidents increase, many have invested in risk screening capabilities.
“The payments ecosystem is facing a growing threat from financial criminals,” said Facctum Founder and CEO K.K. Gupta. “This is increasing the need for regulatory and compliance countermeasures. Leaders of PSPs have therefore recognized the vital importance of robust and resilient anti-financial crime technology to meet the challenges of regulatory change and ever-changing risks. I am humbled that NTT Data Payment Services has trusted Facctum technology to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of risk controls.”
Facctum’s FacctView leverages parallel processing technology and relies on a library of risk detection algorithms to detect financial crime risks on a comprehensive scale. FacctView also offers scalable, low-latency batch processing that supports bulk uploads and scheduled batch runs.
“Facctum technology is a great match for the needs of our high-growth and customer-focused PSP business in India,” said NTT Data Payment Services CEO Takeo Ueno. “Its addition to our anti-financial crime defenses shows our commitment to protecting customers and providing the highest standards of compliance effectiveness. This approach extends the capabilities of the business to provide continuous robust compliance whilst also improving the speed of services for customers.”
Facctum was founded in 2021 by former users and architects of financial crime compliance (FCC) technology. The London-based company has operations in Dublin, Johannesburg, Pune, and Bengaluru.
An alum of FinovateFall 2019, NTT Data offers a range of consulting, industry solutions, business process services, IT modernization, and managed services. The Japan-based company has made 26 acquisitions, including NTT Data Payment Services– then known as Atom Technologies. The company is publicly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under the ticker TYO:9613.
Solve Finance has partnered with credit analysis tool ScoreNavigator and home financing ecosystem Better.com.
The company’s Debt Optimizer is helping its customers understand their debt-to-income ratio (DTI), and ultimately qualify for financing.
The company is teaming up with Better.com to launch a feature to optimize consumers’ home-buying power.
Solve Finance recently unveiled two new fintech partners. The New York-based company has tied up with credit analysis tool ScoreNavigator and home financing ecosystem Better.com.
Solve Finance’s technology will help ScoreNavigator’s clients navigate their credit journey by looking at more than just their credit score. The company’s Debt Optimizer tool also shows them their debt-to-income ratio (DTI), a key metric in receiving a mortgage or refinancing an existing property.
“By partnering with Solve Finance, our members will get a complete analysis of their DTI, along with a plan to help them qualify for financing,” said ScoreNavigator CEO Rusty Bresse. “Solve Finance is making it easier for our members to navigate home finance by aligning incentives and automating the best possible borrowing outcomes with data and AI. We couldn’t be more pleased with this recent partnership.”
“Home affordability is especially tough in today’s environment, and we can’t wait to add a path to make the best-possible borrowing outcomes available to everyone,” added Solve Finance CEO Sean Hundtofte.
Solve Finance has also partnered with home financing platform Better.com by launching a feature to optimize consumers’ home-buying power. The new tool helps shift debt burdens and optimize up-front and monthly liquidity. Solve Finance reports it has been able to increase the mortgage users are able to afford by over 20%.
“This strategic alliance combines Solve Finance’s innovative financial technology and expertise with Better Mortgage’s innovative lending solutions,” the company said in a statement. “This partnership has significantly reduced the financial barriers to homeownership. This collaboration exemplifies Solve Finance’s commitment to driving financial inclusion and ensuring homeownership is attainable and affordable for individuals and families.”
This feature is currently in a pilot stage with mortgage lenders and homebuying platforms across the country. Ultimately, Solve Finance hopes to address consumers’ confusion about how much home they can afford in today’s interest rate environment and tackle financial exclusion in homeownership.
Solve Finance, which demoed at FinovateSpring 2022, was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in New York. The company’s Debt Optimizer tool, which is available as an API or as a direct-to-consumer platform, leverages real-time market and credit data to serve as a financial debt advisor and save users money.
