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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
American Express is launching American Express Business Blueprint, a set of digital cash flow management tools for small businesses.
Small businesses can access the MyInsights cash flow solution within Business Blueprint at no charge.
Business Blueprint evolved out of Kabbage, an alternative lending startup that the company acquired in 2020. With the launch of Business Blueprint, the Kabbage brand is now retired.
Cash flow management tools are not new to fintech, but the industry gets excited when card giant American Express launches new tools. That’s the case today– the company unveiledAmerican Express Business Blueprint, a set of digital cash flow management tools for small businesses.
Business Blueprint offers small business users digital financial products, payment card management tools, and cash flow insights via its MyInsights tool. The platform offers to lighten the load of small business owners by helping them manage cash flow, take out a loan, pay bills and vendors, check their account balances, deposit checks, accept card payments, and more. Additionally, the tool projects cash balances out to 30 days and sends spending alerts, as well as enables users to view and redeem their membership rewards points.
“Business Blueprint marks a critical next step in American Express’s vision of becoming a digital one-stop shop for small businesses’ financial needs, whether to manage their cash flow, make payments, get paid, or access working capital,” said company Group President of Global Commercial Services and Credit & Fraud Risk Anna Marrs.
American Express is onboarding small businesses onto Business Blueprint for free, and offering its MyInsights cash flow solution to them at no charge. That’s because the company is looking to sell businesses on its small business lending products, including:
American Express Business Line of Credit for a commercial line of credit ranging from $2,000 to $250,000 with interest rates ranging from 2% to 27%, depending on the term
American Express Business Checking for a digital business checking account that earns 1.30% APY on balances up to $500,000, and the ability to earn Membership Rewards points
American Express Payment Acceptfor accepting all major card payments from customers online
The new offering is rising out of the ashes of Kabbage, an alternative lending company launched in 2009 that American Express acquired in 2020. As Kabbage Co-Founder Rob Frohwein explained in a post on LinkedIn, “The end of era – for me and my Kabbage from American Express colleagues. Our company is fully integrated with Amex (and I’ve been gone for over a year).”
Frohwein went on to reminisce about how the day his team named the company “Kabbage.” One of the company’s early investors, Nicholas Steele, wanted to go with the name Cabbage. However, the “C” was changed to a “K” when the team discovered the cost of the Kabbage domain name was $73,800 cheaper. “Congrats to all Kabbagers – old and current. You may now refer to our business as Business Blueprint, but you’ll always bleed green and think twice when you enjoy actual cabbage in your salad or soup,” Frohwein added.
Moov landed $45 million to refine its API that creates a modern payment stack.
Commerce Ventures led the round. Additional contributors include Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital Ventures, Visa, and Sorenson Ventures.
Moov’s total funding now sits at $77.5 million.
Modern money movement innovator Moov is going places. The Iowa-based company landed $45 million in a Series B financing round, bringing its total raised to $77.5 million.
As far as the company’s plans for the new funds, Moov Founder and CEO Wade Arnold said, “This new round of capital will help us refine our platform, address new payments use cases, and scale everything we’ve built so far. We’re a small and mighty team, so we’re looking forward to onboarding even more talented people…”
Moov will also use today’s funding to fuel its conference that fosters collaboration in the developer community. The company’s fintech_devcon event takes place once a year to share fintech building deep dives, best practices, and new ideas.
Arnold founded Moov in 2017 to offer a simpler way to move money. The company creates a cloud-based API that creates a modern payment stack that includes acquiring, ledgering, issuing, and disbursements. Since launch, Moov has built integrations to all major card brands, The Clearing House, and the Fed. The company won the Visa Everywhere Initiative in 2021 and was recently ranked on Built In’s list of top 50 fully remote startups and Purpose Job’s Best Remote Places to Work in 2023.
Understanding the impact Moov’s money movement platform has had in the fintech community, doesn’t even require a visit to the company’s website. The list of investors in today’s round– which was led by Commerce Ventures– includes big names such as Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital Ventures, Visa, and Sorenson Ventures. What’s more, Moov closed this Series B round in the midst of a difficult funding environment. While many fintechs have been able to close Seed rounds and even some Series A rounds, VCs have typically holding back on later stage rounds.
European fintechs in search of venture capital funding are in luck this spring. The Startup Booster Program at FinovateEurope, taking place March 14 through 15, has been crafted to help early stage companies pitch their new ideas in front of investors from across the U.K. and Europe.
Fintechs that are less than five years old and haven’t closed a Series A round can apply now for the opportunity to have two hours to network and pitch their innovation to an audience of VCs, angels, corporate venture studios, and accelerators. Some of the investors participating in this year’s program include:
Here are three reasons why early stage, European companies in search of venture funding should make this year’s Startup Booster Program a priority:
Two-hour investor networking reception All startups accepted into the Startup Booster Program will have a table to pitch, ask and answer questions, and make an impression.
Your three-minute pitch video and pitch deck are shared with investor attendees Finovate provides startups with guidance and best-practices to make an engaging, three-minute pitch video. We’ll also share your video with the investor audience and event attendees.
A full event access pass for only £600 per ticket Startup Booster participants receive special, discounted tickets to FinovateEurope that grant access to the entire event for only £600 per ticket. That’s a discount of £1,199 when compared to the current rate of £1799 for general audiences.
We’re also hosting a dedicated stream with content aimed to help early stage companies on their journey towards growth. Session topics include discussions on scaling your startup, selecting the right funding, landing a bank client, regulations, and a look at the newest opportunities in the space.
Since we launched in 2007, we’ve actively looked for ways to foster growth in the fintech industry. Helping early stage companies find access to funding is one way we’re doing so– which helps build and better our industry, as well. If you meet the criteria listed above, apply today.
Marqeta is acquiring credit card program management platform Power Finance.
The company will add Power Finance’s credit card program management capabilities to its own card issuing platform.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Global card issuer Marqeta agreed to acquire credit card program management platform Power Finance. Terms of the deal, which is scheduled to close in the first quarter of this year, were not disclosed.
Power Finance was founded in 2021 by CEO Randy Fernando and CFO Andrew Dust to offer credit card program management services to companies seeking to create new credit card programs. The company’s platform takes care of credit card management, customer experience, application decisioning, transaction processing, and more. And because Power Finance is pre-integrated with third-party data vendors, it saves companies time when setting up KYC and underwriting processes.
“Companies like ours were made possible because of the path Marqeta blazed in modern card issuing, demonstrating the possibilities in payments with flexible and modern payment infrastructure,” said Fernando. “At Power, we built a full-stack, cloud-native credit card issuance platform, and by becoming a part of Marqeta we have the ability now to bring this innovation to a much larger market at global scale.”
Once the deal is finalized, Fernando will lead the product management of the Marqeta credit card platform.
Marqeta will leverage the acquisition by adding Power Finance’s credit card program management capabilities to its own card issuing platform. “It will allow us to accelerate processing revenue derived from credit programs, and improve our competitive positioning when competing for new deals, offering our customers a holistic credit card program management solution,” Marqeta said in a blog post announcement.
Marqeta launched its card issuing platform in 2010 to enable clients to manage their own card programs. The company offers configurable and flexible payment tools and customizes payment cards for their end customers. Earlier this month, Marqeta launched a Web Push Provisioning Solution to enable consumers to transact from their mobile wallets without having to download a separate mobile app.
Marqeta is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker MQ. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion.
OneSpan is acquiring blockchain-based document storage company ProvenDB.
The purchase will help OneSpan add document storage to its existing product offerings.
Terms of the agreement, which is expected to close this quarter, were not disclosed.
Digital agreements security company OneSpan agreed to acquire blockchain-based document storage company ProvenDB. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Australia, ProvenDB was founded in 2018. The company provides a blockchain-based database that enables users to store data, cryptographic signatures, documents, and more. The company also offers a product that adds proof, trust, and integrity to clients’ existing databases.
Under the agreement, ProvenDB will enhance OneSpan’s Transaction Cloud Platform to public and private blockchains. Integrating ProvenDB’s technology into OneSpan’s existing offerings will also add a new product offering that provides customers with secure vaulting capabilities and helps OneSpan secure digital agreements.
“Digital artifacts are simply too easy to fabricate, tamper, or delete in the era of Web3 leading to security breaches and loss of trust in digital information. In this world of evidence tampering and deep fakes, it is critical that we have non-repudiation and copies of the original artifact with an immutable chain of custody throughout the entire customer journey,” said OneSpan President and CEO Matthew Moynahan. “Securing business processes end-to-end leveraging blockchain technology will play an increasingly critical role in preserving the integrity of digital transactions and agreements to fuel this modern digital era. We have an ambitious plan to disrupt the digital agreement market and ProvenDB will accelerate that plan. OneSpan’s mission, the focus of our entire go-to-market strategy, is to restore trust and confidence in today’s most critical customer experiences, such as revenue-generating transactions or customer and vendor onboarding, and ensure that their integrity is never in question.”
The transaction is expected to close the first quarter of this year.
Founded in 1991 and formerly known as VASCO, OneSpan offers a range of digital identity and anti-fraud solutions. The Chicago-based company authenticates four billion users each year and counts 60% of the world’s largest banks as clients. OneSpan went public in 1997 and has a current market capitalization of $540 million. Matt Moynahan is CEO.
Digital mortgage lending company Better launched a new product, One Day Mortgage, that offers borrowers a mortgage commitment letter within 24 hours of applying for a loan.
During a period of beta testing, Better reported that it processed over $50 million in commitments, offering commitment letters in an average of 12 hours.
To qualify for the One Day Mortgage, borrowers must be salaried, make a down payment of at least 3%, and upload required documents within four hours.
Digital mortgage lending company Better launched One Day Mortgage, a new tool that does what it says– it enables borrowers to get a mortgage in a single day.
Using One Day Mortgage, home loan borrowers can get pre-approved, lock-in their rate, and receive a mortgage commitment letter, all within 24 hours. This timeframe is weeks faster than the industry average of more than 30 days.
Today’s announcement comes a couple of weeks after Better first launched the service in beta to a small group of customers. Since then, Better has processed over $50 million in commitments from its One Day Mortgage product. What’s more, it has helped customers receive a commitment letter in an average of 12 hours.
The One Day Mortgages are available to borrowers working in a salaried job and making a downpayment of at least 3% on a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgage. To further qualify, applicants must provide requested documents– including pay stubs, W2s, bank statements, and more– within four hours of locking in their rate.
Better’s One Day Mortgage product is a fairly large step forward for the mortgage industry, which has not seen much innovation in the past decade, despite the onslaught of new enabling technologies. The fast turnaround is made possible by Better’s digital-first approach that takes place completely online. This model enhances the user experience by offering a fully digital document upload and tracking tool.
“One Day Mortgage unlocks it all,” said Better shareholder and Partner at Novator Capital Prabhu Narasimhan. “It takes away the weeks of uncertainty that permeate the entire real estate transaction. If we can execute mortgage commitments in one day and closings in three days, we can complete entire transactions in less than one week to make the entire process better.”
Offering customers a mortgage commitment letter within 24 hours is certainly a competitive advantage for Better. As company chairman Harit Talwar explained, “This milestone will add immense value to the consumer, create a significant strategic moat for Better, and be a near impossible act for competitors to follow.” And he’s most likely right– for the time being. We probably won’t see other mortgage lenders offering 24-hour mortgage loans any time soon, but it’s quite possible the new offering will be industry standard by the end of the decade.
Founded in 2016, Better has seen its share of hardships in the past year. Last year, Better conducted its fourth round of layoffs in less than nine months, letting go of almost 4,000 employees during that time. What’s more, the company’s CEO Vishal Garg made headlines numerous times last year for his contributions to what employees described as a toxic work environment.
Lenders have always faced some level of uncertainty, but the past few years have truly put the industry to the test. While many have enhanced their systems with new enabling technologies, there are still a number of uncertainties– including inflated income due to Covid relief funds and increased spending power thanks to a student loan repayment pause– that create confusion in the underwriting process.
We spoke with PayNearMe’s Senior Director of Sales Jill Bohlken for some insight into how today’s lending environment has changed and what we can expect to see going forward into this year.
Describe the current lending environment and how it has changed over the past few years.
Jill Bohlken: In one word, the current lending environment is unpredictable. A number of converging market forces are causing some uncertainty among lenders, merchants, and borrowers alike.
We have consumer prices continuing to rise, leading to less disposable income and more borrowing by consumers to cover costs. According to the New York Fed’s Q3 report, households last year increased debt at the fastest pace in 15 years, and credit card balances collectively rose more than 15%.
Meanwhile, seven interest rate increases led to lower margins for lenders at the same time they face increased competition to attract new customers.
External forces like supply chain disruptions continue to inhibit some lending markets, such as auto. And emerging trends such as longer loan terms (upwards of seven years for an auto loan) and instant financing carry increased risk of delinquency, prompting lenders to build reserves and reduce overhead to cover themselves in case of default.
Can you discuss any notable trends or changes in consumer borrowing behavior that you have observed?
Bohlken: Last year, the economy saw unprecedented demand for goods and services driven by a surplus of Covid relief funds combined with a shortage of supply. More recently, we’ve seen loan demand start to normalize due to inflation and higher interest rates. For billers, managing risk and delinquency is always a priority. According to Experian, 60-day delinquencies for new car loans sat at 0.48% by Q3, with used car loans at 1.17%.
A more positive trend was the rise in online loan applications completed exclusively by web and mobile devices. This self-service innovation improved the speed of transactions and accelerated loan approvals, not to mention making the experience more convenient for consumers.
What tools, data, or technologies can help lenders mitigate the risk of default before extending a loan?
Bohlken: The expanding use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze large swaths of data and produce actionable insights is by far the most exciting tool lenders should pursue. Payments platforms can feed a data warehouse to store transaction data in one place, then apply machine learning models to either an individual client’s data or aggregated industry data to create smarter risk models.
For instance, AI can be used to analyze cohorts of customers using hundreds of data points (zip code, income level, credit score, etc.) and assign the group a risk score. AI can even bring in data from government sources, such as unemployment and GDP reports to shed light on risk further. This research helps lenders determine how and where to find high-probability, low-risk customers and adjust their risk analysis and marketing spend accordingly.
How about once the loan has already been extended?
Bohlken: A payments provider can help lenders prevent late or missed payments using a number of tools and strategies, such as sending payment reminders by text, email, or push notification. The provider can offer a wide range of payment channels to allow customers flexibility in how they pay. In cases of chronic late payment, the provider can intervene with offers to help avoid default, such as flexible repayment plans.
What’s especially exciting is that AI and ML now make these strategies even more effective. For example, AI can be trained to constantly scan payments behavior to identify customers who have multiple late payments, then automatically initiate a series of engagement messages that move the customer toward payment. AI can also automate solutions to common payment problems. For instance, if a customer has multiple ACH returns, AI can apply a business rule requiring them to pay with cash or card only.
These automated solutions save lenders both time and money. Not only does the AI circumvent many behaviors that could lead to default, but it also eliminates the time and labor of manually resolving payment problems.
Looking ahead in 2023, will lenders be more hesitant to extend loans to borrowers?
Bohlken: It’s hard to say with certainty, but demand does remain fervent. According to a recent Consumer Pulse study, one in four Americans plan to seek new credit or refinance in 2023. However, according to Experian, auto loan balances have grown by 7.6%, so lenders may want to shore against risk, adjusting the credit profiles of their customers and trimming back-office budgets to keep a higher level of reserves.
At the same time, lenders may lean into the adage, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” That means putting more emphasis on servicing existing portfolios and maximizing return by reducing delinquency, lowering the cost to collect, and improving operating efficiency through automation and optimization.
If lenders cut back on extending loans, where will the overflow in demand go? Will consumers turn to payday loans, or will alternative lenders be able (and willing) to fill loan demand?
Bohlken: In my interactions with many large lenders I have noticed that many are reducing their workforce, a way of battening down the hatches and right-sizing operations to suit the precarious lending environment.
In terms of consumer overflow, I see movement in several “alternative” types of loans, including buy-now-pay-later, which breaks payments for a large-ticket item into several payments; and buy-here-pay-here, which allows car dealerships to act as both seller and lender. Both these options appeal to customers who may have poor credit and/or limited options for securing traditional financing.
Payday loans, on the other hand, are losing their luster after almost a decade of bad press and heavy regulatory oversight. They still play a part in some consumer borrowing, but most consumers who can find alternatives will do so to avoid the heavy interest rates and fees.
Bold Commerce and PayPal struck up a partnership that will better integrate payments into more checkout experiences.
Using Bold Commerce’s headless checkout tool, retailers can place a point-of-sale wherever shoppers interact, including on blogs, within social media, and even on the packaging of a physical good.
The new solution is available in Bold Commerce’s Checkout Experience Suite.
Customizable commerce company Bold Commerce announced today it is collaborating with PayPal to better integrate payments into the checkout experience. Because, as Bold Commerce Co-Founder Yvan Boisjoli puts it, “The checkout experience needs to extend to everywhere shoppers are today, which also means that a full range of payment options need to be available to shoppers wherever they are.”
Using Bold Commerce’s PayPal-enabled tool, retailers can put the checkout wherever shoppers interact. A point of sale can be placed on blogs, within social media, and even on the packaging of a physical good with a QR code printed on the label. Upon checkout, consumers can use a range of payment options, including PayPal, Venmo, PayPal Pay Later, credit and debit cards, and multiple local payment methods.
“Payment choice and flexibility have always been a critical part of a successful commerce experience – but it’s only one part of the equation. Retailers today need to also offer a tailored checkout experience to help drive increased conversion,” said PayPal VP, Global Head of Channel Partnerships David Bruce. “It’s a powerful combination for a composable checkout to plug into any tech stack, and we’re excited to deepen our commerce capabilities with Bold Commerce.”
The new, flexible checkout method is expected to increase checkout conversion on merchant websites and what Bold Commerce is calling “shoppable touchpoints,” which will drive more revenue by decreasing friction. The headless, all-in-one payments and checkout solution is available in Bold Commerce’s Checkout Experience Suite.
“Through this new integration we’re making it easy and accessible to power checkout anywhere, with any payment method. We’re looking forward to working with PayPal as they make this move into headless commerce,” added Boisjoli.
Bold Commerce was founded in 2012. The Canada-based company’s Checkout Experience Suite offers a customizable headless checkout tool with built-in subscription and pricing capabilities. Bold Commerce counts more that 9,000 brands and retailers as clients, including Pepsi, Mars, and Williams Sonoma.
Bold Commerce has raised $44 million and has been named to Deloitte’s Tech Fast 50, E&Y’s Entrepreneur of the Year, and CBInsights’ Retail Tech 100.
Business spend and procurement management company PayEm raised $220 million this week.
The round consists of $20 million in Series A equity funding and a $200 million warehouse debt facility.
The equity portion brings PayEm’s total equity funds to $47 million.
Business spend automation and procurement management platform PayEmbrought in $220 million in combined debt and equity this week.
PayEm will use the funds to fuel its card operations, serve larger customers, and improve the employee experience within the digital product.
The funding, which is comprised of $20 million in Series A equity and $200 million in warehouse debt, saw contributions from Viola Credit, Mitsubishi Financial Group, Collaborative Fund, Pitango First, NFX, LocalGlobe, and Glilot+.
“This is a significant milestone in the company’s growth. Our new warehouse credit facility allows us to scale our credit cards operation and support larger customers with our fast-growing payments platform. In addition, the new equity funding will enable us to continue building our platform,” said PayEm CEO Itamar Jobani. “With the current macroeconomic conditions, it’s never been more important for companies to have an efficient and clear lens into their financial health. We’re pleased to be that single source of truth for them as they may navigate turbulent times and supply chain issues, and simply need to do more with less.”
Headquartered in Israel, PayEm helps its business clients bring transparency to business finances, automate tasks, and enhance control of processes. The company offers businesses tools for spend management, employee reimbursement, automating accounts payable, purchase order approvals, corporate cards, and more.
Today’s round brings PayEm’s total equity funding to $47 million and adds more competition to the fast-growing business spend management space. Companies such as Brex and Ramp have been rewarded in recent years with massive funding rounds and high valuations. PayPal even jumped on the trend, launching its first commercial credit card last June.
Banking technology company Sandstone Technology appointed a new CTO this month. The company unveiled today it has selected Anthony McKew to fill the role.
With more than 35 years of experience in banking and technology, McKew has worked for companies including Linkly, Premier Technologies, and SecurePay. He has expertise in designing and managing enterprise-grade platforms for major retailers, government agencies, and digital operations for vendors and service providers.
“I am extremely pleased with the addition of Anthony to our Leadership team as our Chief Technology Officer,” said Sandstone CEO Abhish Saha. “This is an essential role, supporting our customers across the globe and being a key driver of our ongoing business strategy and growth. Anthony’s intimate understanding of Financial Institutions and their security and technology needs will be of great value to both our customers and our staff.”
McKew, who began his appointment on January 9th of this year, fills the shoes of Sandstone’s former CTO Chaitanya Pinnamaneni.
Sandstone was founded in 1996 and currently offers a suite of tools for loan origination, its BankFast mobile app that offers end users a seamless experience between web and mobile channels, and intelligent document processing tools that enable banks to capture, classify, and extract data stored in borrower-submitted documents.
The Australia-based company formed its most recent partnership with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank to offer a single platform that covers all its third party origination channels and limits exposure to legacy systems. In March of last year, Sandstone launched an innovation hub to capture emerging opportunities from new enabling technologies.
“At Sandstone we pride ourselves on our longstanding strategic partnerships with our customers, where we look to solve business problems together, not just provide a service,” said Sandstone CEOMichael Phillipou. “As the banking landscape continues to evolve apace, we’re excited to start working alongside our customers to develop solutions that grasp tomorrow’s opportunities, as well as today’s.”
Stripe and Amazon have agreed to “significantly expand” their partnership.
Under the agreement, Stripe will process a notable portion of Amazon’s total payments volume.
The two have been partners since 2017.
Payments infrastructure company Stripeannounced today that Amazon has agreed to “significantly expand” its use of its core platform, recruiting the California-based company as a strategic payments partner in the U.S., Europe, and Canada.
While there is no specific breakdown, Stripe said that it will be processing a “significant” portion of Amazon’s total payments volume across its business units, including Prime, Audible, Kindle, Amazon Pay, Buy With Prime, and more.
The two companies first partnered in 2017 to fuel Amazon’s expansion in Asia and Europe, as well as to support purchases made on high-traffic shopping days such as Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.
“In particular, we value Stripe’s reliability,” said Amazon VP of Payments Max Bardon. “Even during peak days like Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, Stripe delivers industry-leading uptime. We appreciate Stripe’s relentless commitment to putting users first.”
The partnership also marks a continuation and expansion of Stripe’s reliance on Amazon Web Services (AWS), which provides the payment company’s core computing infrastructure. Leveraging AWS, Stripe has been able to increase developer productivity and accelerate product development.
“We couldn’t run without AWS—and we wouldn’t want to,” said Stripe CTO David Singleton. “AWS is our customers’ first choice. The platform gives Stripe enormous developer leverage, which we then deploy in service of our users.”
Stripe was founded in 2010 and today processes hundreds of billions of dollars every year for businesses ranging from startups to Fortune 500 firms. The company acts as a one-stop shop for almost every payment need, including embedded payments, payment acceptance, billing, invoicing, and more. Stripe, which released its own App Marketplace last May, has raised a total of $2.2 billion across 20 rounds of funding.
Today’s positive news comes at a good time for both companies. Last November, Stripe laid off 14% of its workforce and, earlier this month, the company’s internal valuation was cut to $63 billion, down from the company’s $95 billion valuation in March of 2021. Amazon has also been in the headlines for recent layoffs, with plans to cut 18,000 jobs.
FNZ has acquired digital fixed income trading company YieldX.
The acquisition will combine FNZ’s investment platform, which represents more than 20 million investors across the globe, with YieldX’s digital infrastructure.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Wealth management firm FNZ snapped up some new tech talent today with the acquisition of digital fixed income trading company YieldX. Terms of the deal, which will combine FNZ’s full-service investment platform with YieldX’s digital infrastructure, were not disclosed.
FNZ anticipates the buy will help it further its mission “to deliver personalized investment solutions to more people across the wealth management industry.” Furthermore, YieldX’s focus on technology will help FNZ provide more investment options at scale, offering investors more variety and transparency.
“We have a joint vision of opening up wealth by transforming the wealth management industry through more transparent, accessible, and personalized technology solutions. YieldX’s solutions perfectly complement our existing strengths and will further differentiate our offering for the benefit of all clients,” said FNZ CEO of North America Tom Chard. “The acquisition also provides a unique opportunity to accelerate our growth and presence in the U.S. as we continue to add market leading capabilities to our global wealth platform. We’re incredibly pleased to welcome Adam and Steve, as well as the wider YieldX team to FNZ. Like us they are highly innovative, customer obsessed, and are an invaluable addition to our team.”
Founded in 2004, FNZ helps financial institutions offer personalized wealth management services to their end users. Acquiring YieldX will help the firm deepen its digital offerings that match clients with fixed-income opportunities that meet their preferred term, yield, and risk tolerance. FNZ currently represents more than 20 million investors across the globe, with more than $1.5 trillion in client assets under management. The firm’s partners include over 650 large financial institutions and 8,000 wealth management firms in 21 countries.
YieldX was founded in 2019 and has since raised $36 million across three rounds. The company’s most recent funding came in 2021 from its integration partner Envestnet, which invested $18 million in YieldX. The company’s clients range from wealth and asset managers, to global B2C financial services and technology providers.
Once the acquisition is finalized, YieldX Co-founders Adam Green and Steve Gross will join FNZ as the company’s CEO of Asset Management and Head of Asset Management Strategy, respectively.
