Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

ESG Regulations May Bring Investing’s Green Future

ESG Regulations May Bring Investing’s Green Future
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Thought Leadership

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing has been gaining traction across the globe. PwC reports that ESG is “soaring”, and anticipates that ESG institutional investment will climb 84% to $33.9 trillion in 2026.

The firm states that by 2026, ESG assets under management (AUM) in the U.S. will more than double to total $10.5 trillion. In Europe, PwC expects the amount of ESG AUM will see an increase of 53% to $19.6 trillion. And in APAC, the firm estimates that ESG AUM will more than triple to $3.3 trillion.

What will help drive that change? Regulation.

Regulation

Though the concept of ESG investing has been around for more than a decade, there have only recently been efforts to formalize regulation surrounding ESG disclosure, investment, and ESG practices and financial products. Europe, for instance, has come up with its European Green Deal, a set of proposals to stem climate change, support sustainable innovation, and transition Europe into a climate-neutral continent by 2050.

Europe isn’t the only region with a “green” vision. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of key measures some countries are taking:

Australia
The Australian Government plans to introduce mandatory sustainability and ESG reporting requirements for large businesses and financial institutions based in Australia. The requirements will be put in place in stages and will begin as soon as next year.

The U.K.
The U.K.’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) requires U.K. companies to disclose energy use, carbon footprint, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within their annual financial reporting. In 2021, The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released Greening Finance: a Roadmap to Sustainable Investing in 2021.

At the start of 2023, the European Parliament implemented The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), policy aimed to enhance transparency in sustainable investing and ultimately prevent greenwashing. Also going live in January 2023 is The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), an initiative put into place by the European Parliament to broaden the Non-Financial Reporting Directive’s (NFRD) and fix weaknesses surrounding ESG regulation and reporting.

India
By the end of March 2023, India’s top 1,000 listed companies by market capitalization were required to begin filing a Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) to the Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) of India. In addition to general disclosures, companies need to document their compliance with National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct (NGRBCs) and submit metrics on nine ESG factors, including ethics, sustainability, and human rights.

The U.S.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a plan to issue a set of reporting standards for ESG in March of last year. As part of the plan, the SEC would require firms to report their climate risks, risk management, ESG governance, and GHG emissions. While the ruling on these proposed mandatory climate risk disclosures is expected to occur this month, SEC Chair Gary Gensler may be considering changes to the plan before it goes into effect.

Also notable is Nasdaq’s Board Diversity Rule that requires companies listed on Nasdaq’s U.S. exchange to publicly disclose board-level diversity statistics each year. If companies fall short of expectations, they are required to explain why they do not have diverse directors.

Canada
Currently, Canadian firms are not subject to mandatory ESG reporting. However, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued a notice last year stating plans to require large Canadian financial institutions and insurance companies to disclosed ESG efforts and climate impacts starting in 2024.

ESG fintechs

Though some fintechs do not fit the requirements of ESG reporting, many have either incorporated ESG elements into their business or structured their whole business around an ESG element. In fact, according to Crunchbase, there are 300 fintechs with an ESG focus. Check out Finovate’s ESG scholarship winners or take a look at the following notable fintechs emphasizing ESG:

  • Spiral allows banks to increase customer engagement by embedding sustainability and social impact capabilities.
  • Enfuce offers payment, open banking, and sustainability services to banks, fintechs, financial operators, and merchants.
  • Treecard is a green finance platform that allows consumers to spend, save, and invest responsibly.
  • Connect Earth connects carbon data to drive sustainable finance.
  • Single.Earth is a fintech startup tokenizing nature to make it the new gold.
  • Datia is a data platform for sustainable finance, working with forward-thinking financial institutions to automate their ESG workflows.
  • The Upright Project develops an AI-enabled quantification model to measure the net impact of companies and funds.
  • SparkChange provides specialist carbon data that empowers better ESG investment products, risk management, and financial reporting.

Photo by Artem Podrez

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

SmartAsset Acquires DeftSales to Help Advisors Grow their Practices

SmartAsset Acquires DeftSales to Help Advisors Grow their Practices
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, SmartAsset
  • Financial advice platform SmartAsset has acquired advisor prospect engagement company DeftSales.
  • The company has integrated DeftSales into its SmartAdvisor advisor growth solution, renaming the technology DeftSales by SmartAsset.
  • The new tool helps advisors respond to leads instantly, enabling them to engage warm leads before another advisor follows up first.

Financial advice platform SmartAsset is acquiring prospect engagement company DeftSales this week for an undisclosed amount.

Founded in 2020, DeftSales offers tools that integrate with a range of CRM platforms to automate financial advisors’ business development outreach and provide analytics insights on client engagement. The technology helps advisors respond to leads instantly, enabling them to engage warm leads before another advisor follows up first.

“We are enormously excited to announce the acquisition of DeftSales and we look forward to integrating their solutions with our own SmartAdvisor platform,” said company CEO and Founder Michael Carvin. “The feedback from advisors using DeftSales has been incredibly clear – by automating many tasks, it dramatically decreases the work required to be successful in converting SmartAdvisor prospects into clients.”

SmartAsset has integrated DeftSales into its SmartAdvisor advisor growth solution, renaming the technology DeftSales by SmartAsset. The new solution integrates SmartAsset’s compliant user interface with DeftSales’ automated campaigns and analytics. DeftSales by SmartAsset offers automated emails and text messages, FastCall technology that enables advisors to follow-up on leads while they are busy with a current client, and an analytics dashboard to monitor engagement efforts.

DeftSales Co-Founder and COO James Fason will join the SmartAsset team as Director of Engineering.

SmartAsset has a mission to help people make smart financial decisions. The company’s educational content, calculators, and tools reach 75 million people each month. In 2021, the New York-based company raised $110 million in funding, boosting its total funding to more than $161 million. And the company is still growing. SmartAsset has brought on 27 new hires so far this year.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Techcombank Taps Personetics for Money Management Capabilities

Techcombank Taps Personetics for Money Management Capabilities
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Personetics

Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank, also known as Techcombank, has tapped data-driven personalization expert Personetics to facilitate AI-powered money management capabilities for its clients.

Techcombank is leveraging the partnership to help promote financial wellness among its nearly 11 million customers. Personetics’ expertise in providing personalized banking experiences will bring the bank’s customers personalized, automated money management capabilities. For example, Personetics will help Techcombank analyze customers’ financial transactions, aggregate bank accounts, and provide valuable insights about unexpected payments, excessive spending, and insufficient account balances. As a result, customers will receive tailored suggestions on savings, asset growth, and card usage to help achieve their goals.

“At Techcombank, our mission is to revolutionize the way our customers manage their finances to achieve more in life,” said Techcombank Chief Digital Officer Pranav Seth. “We believe that data-led insights and personalized financial solutions are the key to unlocking true financial wellness and will enable our customers to make smarter financial decisions that align with their unique goals and challenges. From identifying new savings opportunities to proactively monitoring spend, our ultimate goal is to empower our customers with unprecedented convenience and control. Our partnership with Personetics marks a significant milestone in our long-term vision of enhancing our customers’ lives by making banking hyper-personal to each and every customer.”

Techcombank has already undergone a beta testing period with Personetics that included 10,000 end customers. After three weeks, the bank saw savings balances increase 9%, had average log-in rates increase from 14.2 times per month to 77.3 times per month, experienced a 43.7% increase in installments volume, and a 32% increase in total installment value.

Headquartered in New York, and with offices in London, Tel Aviv, and Singapore, Personetics counts more than 135 million bank customers across the globe. The fintech was founded in 2010 and strives to help banks create “self-driving finance” experiences for its customers. Under this concept, banks leverage AI to proactively act on behalf of their clients to help them achieve their financial goals.

Last November United Overseas Bank tapped Personetics for its Auto-Save feature that finds “safe-to-save” funds by analyzing a user’s spending habits over time. The fintech partnered with sustainability-as-a-service company Ecolytiq after Earth Day last year to launch Sustainability Insights, a tool that analyzes consumers spending to show them the carbon emissions of their spending and investments.

An alum of FinovateFall 2016, Personetics has raised $178 million from investors including Thoma Bravo, Warburg Pincus, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and more. David Sosna is CEO.

Photo by Phil Nguyen

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Q2 Now Helps Firms Navigate Real Time Payment Rails

Q2 Now Helps Firms Navigate Real Time Payment Rails
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Q2, Q2 Holdings
Q2 payment rails
  • Q2 is launching the Q2 Instant Payments Manager.
  • The new tool helps banks manage workflows for instant payment schemes, including Clearing House RTP and Federal Reserve FedNow rails.
  • The Instant Payments Manager supports multiple functions, including Request for Payment, Request for Information, Credit Transfer, and Receipt Confirmation messages.

Digital banking solutions provider Q2 Holdings unveiled its Q2 Instant Payments Manager this week. The new tool helps banks manage workflows for instant payment schemes, including Clearing House RTP and Federal Reserve FedNow rails.

The Clearing House has offered its real-time payment (RTP) rails since 2017 and the U.S. Federal Reserve is planning to launch its FedNow RTP solution this summer. The new capabilities have many U.S. firms seeking to integrate real-time payment flows into their systems to not only keep up with competing banks, but also with customer expectations. For both of these instant payment message sets, Q2’s new solution supports multiple functions, including Request for Payment, Request for Information, Credit Transfer, and Receipt Confirmation messages.

“Q2 Instant Payments Manager solves the challenges many businesses face around partial B2B payments and exchanging invoice data between billers and payers,” said Q2 SVP of Product Management Dallas Wells. “The new solution will modernize B2B payment flows and provide a competitive advantage for banks and credit unions striving for operating account deposits in a crowded commercial banking market.”

The Q2 Instant Payments Manager is a part of the company’s Q2 Catalyst, a set of commercial banking solutions. Q2 anticipates today’s offering will help banks improve their accounts receivable and payable processes by reducing the times to post and reconcile B2B payments.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Q2 offers a range of digital financial solutions for consumers, business clients, and fellow fintechs. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker QTWO, and has a market capitalization of more than $1.36 billion.

The topic of RTP among banks and fintechs has gained major headway in the U.S. this year. Earlier this week, Plaid unveiled its Instant Payouts solution. The multi-rail payout tool enables a range of financial services firms– including verticals like personal lending, marketplaces, insurance, brokerages, and digital investment platforms– to send funds instantly, 24/7 within Plaid’s Transfer product. 

Photo by Albin Berlin

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Can Apple Card’s New Savings Account Improve Americans’ Savings Habits?

Can Apple Card’s New Savings Account Improve Americans’ Savings Habits?
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Julie's Column, Thought Leadership

As someone who is passionate about personal finance, I was excited to see Apple Card unveil its Savings account today, especially during financial literacy month. The launch comes three-and-a-half years after Apple first debuted the Apple Card in partnership with Goldman Sachs in 2019.

Launching today, the new Savings account enables Apple Card users to set up and manage their funds from within their Apple Wallet. With the high-yield savings account, users will earn 4.15% APY with no minimum deposits and no minimum balance requirements.

The accounts build on Apple Card’s Daily Cash, the credit card’s cashback rewards feature. When a user sets up their Savings account in the Apple Wallet, the Daily Cash they earn on purchases is automatically deposited into their Savings account. In addition to saving their Daily Cash, users can deposit funds through a linked bank account or from their balance in Apple Cash.

“Savings helps our users get even more value out of their favorite Apple Card benefit — Daily Cash — while providing them with an easy way to save money every day,” said Apple VP of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet Jennifer Bailey. “Our goal is to build tools that help users lead healthier financial lives, and building Savings into Apple Card in Wallet enables them to spend, send, and save Daily Cash directly and seamlessly — all from one place.”

Apple Card’s Savings account also comes with a dashboard to enable users to track their account balance and the interest they’ve earned over time. The account, which is powered by Goldman Sachs, does not charge fees for account origination, maintenance, or withdraws.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has raised rates consistently since March 2022. Despite many incumbent banks holding the rates on their savings accounts near zero, it’s nice that a handful of fintechs are passing the positive impacts of the higher rates down to consumers.

But with the rising cost of living, many consumers may not take advantage of such high rates. Credit Karma issued the results of a survey today that details the impact of Americans’ poor savings habits and inadequate financial literacy. The survey targeted Americans’ knowledge (or lack thereof) of their own net worth, and took a look into their retirement savings. Here’s an overview of some of the survey results:

  • 51% of Americans don’t know how to calculate their net worth
  • 31% of Americans have a net worth of $0 or less
  • 21% of respondents aged 59+ report they have a net worth of $0 or less
  • 30% of Gen Z care more about celebrities’ net worth than their own 
  • 27% of respondents (including 25% of Gen X and 27% aged 59+) say they don’t have any money saved for retirement right now.
  • 67% of Americans say they don’t currently track their net worth
  • 22% of Americans believe the term “net worth” only applies to wealthy people

For me, these statistics are eye-opening, and the lack of savings are disheartening. Can fintech fix this? My guess is that, even with enticingly high rates, Americans’ poor savings habits will die hard. And the American Dream may die harder.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

GoDaddy Teams with Apple to Offer Contactless Payments

GoDaddy Teams with Apple to Offer Contactless Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • GoDaddy has added a contactless payments option for its merchant clients.
  • By leveraging Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone, GoDaddy enables entrepreneurs to accept in-person, contactless payments without a card reader.
  • The transaction capabilities are powered by GoDaddy Payments, which the company launched in 2021 after acquiring Poynt.

Internet domain registrar and online business facilitator GoDaddy unveiled its latest small business tool today. The Arizona-based company is leveraging Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone to enable entrepreneurs accept in-person, contactless payments without a card reader.

Apple launched Tap to Pay in February 2022 to allow merchants to use their iPhone to accept Apple Pay, contactless payment cards, and other digital wallets by tapping it to their iPhone. “As more and more consumers are tapping to pay with digital wallets and credit cards, Tap to Pay on iPhone will provide businesses with a secure, private, and easy way to accept contactless payments and unlock new checkout experiences using the power, security, and convenience of iPhone,” Apple Vice President of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet Jennifer Bailey said at the launch.

With the integration of Apple’s Tap to Pay technology into the GoDaddy mobile app, GoDaddy said that it takes merchants just “a couple of minutes” to accept contactless payments on their phone. After downloading the GoDaddy Mobile App on their iPhone, they log in, and choose Tap to Pay on iPhone. Customers can pay using contactless debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, or other digital wallets.

“Based on our data, more than half of all in-store purchases are now contactless, making it a favorite way for consumers to make payments in-store,” said GoDaddy Commerce President Osama Bedier. “Many of our U.S. customers already have an iPhone. By adding Tap to Pay on iPhone to the GoDaddy Mobile App, we will enable millions of small businesses to accept in-person payments without having to purchase additional hardware. That matters in this climate. It’s part of GoDaddy’s mission to put merchants first by making user-friendly, connected commerce tools accessible to all businesses, no matter their size.”

The contactless transactions are powered by GoDaddy Payments, which launched in 2021 after the company acquired payment terminal operating system Poynt for $320 million. Prior to the acquisition, Poynt handled more than $16 billion in gross merchandise volume each year for its 100,000+ merchant clients.

Founded in 1997, GoDaddy is best known for its domain name registration service and website building tools. The company has slowly been expanding its expertise to better serve its small business clients, having added email and marketing tools, as well as online marketplace tools and sales dashboards. GoDaddy is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of $11.8 billion. Aman Bhutani is CEO.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Affirm Launches Adaptive Checkout for Canadian Stripe Users

Affirm Launches Adaptive Checkout for Canadian Stripe Users
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • BNPL company Affirm and payments infrastructure company Stripe are expanding their relationship.
  • The move will make Affirm’s Adaptive Checkout tool available to businesses using Stripe in Canada.
  • The two began working together in May of 2022, when the payments company added the Affirm’s Adaptive Checkout tool as an option for U.S. businesses.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) giant Affirm announced it is doubling down on its relationship with payments infrastructure company Stripe this week.

Under the agreement, Affirm is making its Adaptive Checkout tool available to eligible Canadian Stripe users. Launched in 2021, Adaptive Checkout offers more personalized payment options in the checkout flow. The checkout tool offers shoppers BNPL options, including four interest-free biweekly payments, monthly payments, or both.

Stripe Product Lead for Payment Methods Sophie Sakellariadis said that the addition of the tool will help Canadian businesses “continue to scale and adapt with changing consumer preferences.”

Stripe began working with Affirm in May of 2022. The payments company added the BNPL provider’s Adaptive Checkout tool as an option for U.S. business customers to add into their checkout flows. After the partnership, Stripe saw users increase their average order value by 41% when leveraging Affirm’s flexible payment plans

“Since launching in the U.S. with Stripe, we’ve helped many businesses better serve their customers and drive growth by providing transparent and flexible payment options,” said Affirm Chief Revenue Officer Wayne Pommen. “We are excited to expand our partnership and strengthen our position as one of the leading providers in Canada. By providing consumers with greater choice to select the custom payment plan that is right for them, Adaptive Checkout has been proven to increase sales and conversion, and is now available to Stripe’s Canadian users.”

A BNPL pioneer, Affirm was founded in 2012. The company now enables 240,000 merchants and platforms to offer flexible payment options. Affirm’s other Canadian partnerships include Apple, Hudson’s Bay, Browns Shoes, and Samsung. 

Founded in 2010, Stripe processes hundreds of billions of dollars each year and offers a range of products– including a suite of global payments solutions, banking-as-a-service offerings, and revenue and financial management tools. Last month, the company landed $6.5 billion in Series I funding to provide liquidity to employees and address employee equity awards withholding tax obligations. Stripe is currently valued at $50 billion, which is less than half of the company’s peak valuation of $95 billion in March of 2021.

Photo by Andre Furtado

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

FinovateEurope Talks: Payments

FinovateEurope Talks: Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2023, Marketing

It’s impossible for anyone to avoid payments. And it’s impossible for banks to avoid payments technology. That’s why our team spent time at FinovateEurope last month interviewing industry experts on the topic of payments.

In the six-minute video below, Starling Bank CEO Sam Everington shared his view on why banks are in the technology business. Other panelists share payments sector trends– including embedded finance and super apps– pain points, and what to expect in the future. The video also addresses CBDCs and the role of crypto and digital assets and explores the role of banks.

Photo by Kampus Production

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Twitter Taps eToro for Real-Time Stock Prices

Twitter Taps eToro for Real-Time Stock Prices
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, eToro
  • Twitter has selected eToro to provide real-time pricing data for its $Cashtags feature.
  • The $Cashtag will not only show real-time pricing data, it will also enable users to navigate to the eToro platform to view more information and make a trade.
  • The news comes about a month after Twitter CEO Elon Musk said he thinks it is possible Twitter could become “the biggest financial institution in the world.”

Social trading and investment network eToro unveiled it has partnered with Twitter. The tie-up will enable the social media platform’s $Cashtags feature to show users real-time prices for a range of stocks, crypto, and other assets.

Twitter first added pricing data on $Cashtags leveraging TradingView data late last year. However, the live pricing information was only available for select financial assets. With today’s partnership, eToro is expanding the list of assets to include more stocks, ETFs, crypto, and commodities. Moreover, Twitter users will be able to click the $Cashtag to navigate to the eToro platform, which will not only offer more information on the asset, but will also have the option to invest.

“Financial content on social media has provided education to many who have felt excluded by more traditional channels,” said eToro CEO Yoni Assia. “Twitter has become a crucial part of the retail investing community – it’s where millions of ordinary investors go every day to access financial news, share knowledge and converse. As the social investing network, eToro was built on these very principles – community, knowledge-sharing and better access to financial markets. There is power in shared knowledge and by transforming investing into a group endeavour, we can yield better results and become more successful, together.”

In piloting the launch of $Cashtag pricing data late last year, Twitter has seen widespread adoption among its users– even with the limited data. There have been more than 420 million searches for $Cashtags since the start of this year, with an average 4.7 million $Cashtag searches a day. Among the most commonly used $Cashtags are $TSLA, $SPY, and $BTC.

Today’s news comes about six months after Twitter CEO Elon Musk acquired the social media platform and declared plans to turn it into an “everything app.” At a Morgan Stanley Tech conference earlier this year, Musk specified that this vision revolved around payments. “I think it’s possible to create a very powerful finance experience,” said Musk. “Basically, I think it’s possible to become the biggest financial institution in the world, just by providing people with convenient payment options.”

Twitter’s partnership with eToro serves as the company’s first step towards becoming the “biggest financial institution in the world.” It also offers a hint into Twitter’s initial strategy when it comes to achieving that goal– as many U.S. banks have found, when it comes to rising to the top, partnerships are key.

Photo by Edgar on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

10 Topics We Can’t Wait to Discuss at FinovateSpring

10 Topics We Can’t Wait to Discuss at FinovateSpring
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2023, List series

FinovateSpring is just over a month away, on May 23 through May 25, and we’re already excited to watch the stage fill with fresh fintech demos and discussions about the hottest industry topics.

Just as fintech is a constantly changing industry, so are the conversations, advice, and relevant themes. So when we hit the networking floor next month in San Francisco, here are the top 10 topics we can’t wait to talk about with everyone:

  1. Metaverse
    When it comes to the metaverse and Web 3, it seems like you’re either in or you’re out. While a handful of banks have already jumped in with two feet by purchasing real estate in the metaverse, others are dismissing it as a passing fad.
  2. ESG
    ESG discussions are happening around the globe, and formal ESG reporting strategies are on the verge of becoming more than just nice to have. With proposed regulation in the U.S. and beyond, now is the time to begin paying attention to this space.
  3. Generative AI
    The topic of generative AI transcends Open AI’s ChatGPT. While organizations are leveraging the technology to save costs, it still bears risk if used improperly. If you’re not a first-mover in this space, however, you certainly don’t want to be the last.
  4. Partnerships
    Regardless of whether you call them bank-fintech partnerships or fintech-bank partnerships, these tie-ups matter, and they are trickier than they seem. In many cases, keeping good partners can be just as difficult as finding good partners in the first place.
  5. Digital acceleration
    We may be three years past the golden age of digitization, but we’re not going back. Whether you’re a bank or a fintech, if you haven’t digitized your offerings and back-end processes, you may be left behind.
  6. Economic outlook
    Last year we were worried about a pending recession. This year, we’re sweating about the impact of bank failures. Does anyone know what we’re in for next?
  7. Decentralized finance
    The concept of decentralized finance (DeFi) was tarnished last year after the FTX scandal took place, and U.S. regulators have been on high alert ever since. There is more to DeFi than cryptocurrency, however, and much of the industry has yet to embrace– or even explore– the possibilities.
  8. VC investing and fintech valuations
    Venture capitalists are being much more careful with their dollars these days, and many are focusing their investments on early-stage companies. But how can mid-to-late stage startups get much-needed liquidity? Many have advised focusing on unit economics, saying that companies should focus on customer lifetime value and customer acquisition cost.
  9. Embedded finance
    Non-fintech and banking companies such as retailers and service providers are looking to make it as easy as possible to make a sale, and embedded finance may be the answer. Fintechs can not only help remove the friction from the checkout flow, they can remove the “checkout” all together by moving the processes into the background.
  10. Customer experience
    We’ve been talking about ways to win when it comes to the customer experience for almost a decade now, so the topic can seem a bit hackneyed. There’s a reason for that, however. Customers have a broad range of needs, and because their preferences are always changing, it can be difficult for banks and fintechs to keep up with their expectations.

Don’t want to miss out on any of these discussions? Be sure to register before April 21 to save $300 on your ticket.

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

ID.me Raises $132 Million

ID.me Raises $132 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, ID.me
  • ID.me announced a $132 million funding round, bringing its total raised to $240 million.
  • The company has brought on Samantha Greenberg as CFO.
  • Today’s news comes a week after the company reached a major milestone– reaching 100 million registered wallets on its platform.

Digital identity network ID.me announced it closed a $132 million funding round this week. The investment boosts the Virginia-based company’s total funding to $240 million.

Viking Global Investors led the round, which also saw participation from CapitalG, Morgan Stanley Counterpoint, FTV Capital, PSP Growth, Auctus Investment Group, Moonshots Capital, and Scout Ventures. ID.me has not specified what the funds will be used for.

Along with today’s funding announcement, ID.me also revealed it has appointed Samantha Greenberg as Chief Financial Officer. Greenberg is replacing Rachael Brinker, who was temporarily filling the CFO role after the company’s former CFO Rajat Bahri vacated the position last summer.

Greenberg brings more than 20 years of experience leading financial operations, analyzing private and public technology and consumer companies, and scaling high-growth businesses. Most recently, she served as CFO of Mint House and has also held positions at Citadel, Goldman Sachs, Paulson & Co. Greenberg, and Margate Capital Management LP– which she founded.

“We are fortunate to have Samantha join our senior leadership team, given her excellent track record in growing companies to serve their customers and business partners,” said ID.me Co-founder and CEO Blake Hall. “Her expertise will support our mission to provide our more than 100 million members with a safe and secure digital identity credential facilitating access across services, benefits, healthcare and commerce without selling their personal data. Samantha is joining our team at the right time, after we closed our Series D funding and surpassed 100 million members. These are big milestones toward our vision to streamline access to benefits and services while ensuring no identity is left behind.”

ID.me was founded in 2010 to serve as a digital identity wallet that helps users prove and share their identities online without disclosing additional personal information. The company maintains a digital identity network that includes 14 federal agencies and 500+ retail brands, all of which use ID.me to verify customers’ identities and affiliations. ID.me’s ID wallet helps users prove they belong to certain affiliated groups, such as teacher, student, first responder, or military veteran. Last week, ID.me achieved a major milestone, reaching 100 million digital wallets registered on its platform.

Photo by Pixabay

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

PayPal and Venmo Pilot P2P Payments Interoperability Tool, Visa+

PayPal and Venmo Pilot P2P Payments Interoperability Tool, Visa+
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, PayPal, VISA
  • Visa is launching Visa+, a peer-to-peer payments interoperability tool.
  • PayPal and Venmo are piloting the launch.
  • Visa partners DailyPay, i2c, TabaPay, and Western Union will also integrate Visa+ within their platforms.

Fintech has solved a lot of problems by creating a multitude of different peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps. In so doing, however, it has also created a problem– the platforms are not interoperable. Many people use different payment apps, and they don’t all work together. Visa is seeking to solve this issue with its new launch, Visa+, which helps users move money between different P2P payment apps.

Piloting the launch of Visa+ are PayPal and Venmo. After setting up a personalized payment address linked to their Venmo or PayPal account, users of either app can send and receive payments between the two platforms. Visa+ serves as the backend infrastructure behind the transfer.

PayPal and Venmo users will be able to begin using Visa+ later this year. Visa partners DailyPay, i2c, TabaPay, and Western Union will also integrate Visa+ within their platforms. The addition of new apps and platforms will not only increase the reach of Visa+, but it will also have the potential to add new use cases– such as payouts for gig workers, creators, and online marketplace sellers.

“Consumers continue to seek simple and seamless ways to digitally move money between friends and family, including the ability to send money between different payment platforms,” said Visa Global Head of New Payment Flows Chris Newkirk. “We are thrilled to partner with like-minded innovators to broaden the reach of P2P payments across platforms. Through this collaboration, Visa+ can help break down barriers for payment app users as they connect, engage and move money.”

While PayPal and Venmo are as good a starting point as any for P2P payments interoperability, there are many other players– Square Cash, Zelle, Google Wallet, and Apple Wallet– that should be added to maximize the utility of Visa+ and make it an everyday tool for U.S. users. Visa expects to launch Visa+ with select partners in late 2023. The company is planning general availability in mid-2024, so we may see additional partners in the later launch.

Photo by Brett Sayles

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook