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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Union Credit is launching out of stealth mode with $5 million in Seed funding led by CMFG Ventures.
The startup is launching in an exclusive partnership with CuneXus, leveraging the company’s continuous credit approval that facilitates loans in one click.
The partnership with CuneXus will offer Union Credit access to CuneXus’ 250 credit existing clients in the credit union space.
Embedded lending startup Union Creditemerged from stealth today and is launching with an extra $5 million, thanks to a fresh round of seed funding led by CMFG Ventures.
Facilitating today’s launch is a partnership with CuneXus, a company that helps credit unions and community financial institutions offer potential borrowers perpetual loan approval, making it possible for customers to take out pre-approved loans in one click. CuneXus was acquired by CUNA Mutual Group in 2020 for an undisclosed amount. The entity now produces more than $27 billion in loans each year.
“Ending the guesswork of lending and financing is an important step towards financial health,” said CMFG Ventures President and Managing Director Brian Kaas. “Union Credit can create real transparency via perpetual credit access. It’s a model that has the potential to completely change the way credit unions grow, allowing them to compete with fintechs and large financial institutions in their communities during the purchase experience.”
Union Credit’s aim is to help credit unions enter into new markets with a tool that offers borrowers front-end financing via merchant relationships. The company leverages CuneXus’ continuous credit approval that facilitates loans in one click. The company will use today’s investment to “focus on building out its digital lending marketplace, SDK, and a direct-to-consumer app where consumers can manage perpetual offers of credit from local lenders that want to serve them.”
California-based Union Credit was launched by CuneXus Co-founder Dave Buerger and former SVP Barry Kirby, who now serve as Union Credit CEO and CRO, respectively. Because of this tie-in, the company benefits from an exclusive partnership with CuneXus. What’s more, the newly found company will have access to CuneXus’ 250 credit existing clients, which represent 37 million end users.
“Credit unions thrive on their long-lasting member relationships, but acquiring new relationships has always been a challenge,” said Buerger. “Today that ends. Union Credit advocates for credit unions on a national scale, putting them in front of consumers at their point of need. It combines the local, competitive, and advantageous offers that credit unions are known for and gives them the sophisticated platform they need to amplify existing digital services and reach new audiences.”
Union Credit’s continuous credit approval will compete on the same level as buy now, pay later (BNPL) transactions that allow consumers to make purchases and pay for them over time rather than all at once. The company’s approach using CuneXus’ continuous credit approval technology is similar to BNPL purchases in that it makes pre-approved loans available to customers in one click, making it easy for them to access credit when they need it.
If you’re not familiar with OpenAI’s newest technology, ChatGPT, now is the time to spend a few minutes to sign up and play with the chatbot that has captured the world’s attention. ChatGPT leverages Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3), OpenAI’s language generation model, and it is poised to disrupt a lot more than the customer service.
While ChatGPT has a multitude of use cases in the fintech industry– from automating copywriting to crafting a job description– GPT-3 is even more powerful. Accessed through OpenAI’s API, it can be tailored to suit a range of natural language processing tasks and runs on 175 billion parameters. ChatGPT has only 20 billion parameters. More importantly, firms can use GPT-3 via an API in a compliant environment.
The applications for GPT-3 across fintech and banking are seemingly endless, but I’ve outlined a handful of ways banks and fintechs can use the technology without requiring additional resources to save costs and create a better user experience.
Automate customer service interactions
Banks and fintechs can integrate GPT-3 into a chatbot or virtual assistant to lessen the volume of phone inquiries into their customer service department. GPT-3 can handle common customer inquiries, such as account balance inquiries or loan application status updates.
Enhance fraud detection
Organizations can use historical transaction data to train GPT-3 to identify patterns and flag anomalies that may indicate fraudulent activity.
Streamline document processing
GPT-3 can prove useful to firms that process a large number of documents and need to extract specific information from the paperwork. The technology can automatically extract information from financial documents, such as invoices or loan applications, which ultimately saves time by reducing manual data entry.
Create more personalized financial advice
Advisors can use GPT-3 to generate financial advice, such as investment recommendations, for their clients. In order to tailor the advice to the individual, GPT-3 will take into account customer demographics, risk tolerance, and investment goals.
Create sentiment analysis
From a marketing perspective, GPT-3 can be used to determine brand awareness and overall sentiment toward a company or brand. By analyzing customer feedback and social media interactions, companies can gain insight on new product deployments and measure customer satisfaction over time.
While many of these tools and capabilities have been available in the fintech and banking industry for over a decade, they are now even more powerful. What’s more, using GPT-3 may be more cost effective in the long run because of the range of use cases the technology presents.
Ingenico partnered with Fujitsu Frontech to authenticate customer identities and facilitate transactions using the palm of the customer’s hand for in-person transactions.
To make a payment, customers hover their hand over a near-infrared sensor, which reads their palm veins to authenticate their identity and complete the payment using stored card credentials.
The unique pattern of veins in the palm is difficult for fraudsters to hack because the patterns under the skin are challenging to replicate.
Ingenico has partnered with Fujitsu Frontech to authenticate customer identities and facilitate payment using the palm of their hand for in-person transactions.
Leveraging its subsidiary Fulcrum Biometrics, Fujitsu Frontech’s solution uses palm vein identification to enable consumers to identify themselves and authenticate their payments by moving their hand over a near-infrared sensor on Ingenico’s AXIUM range, the company’s Android payment terminal. The technology creates a more convenient experience for customers as it eliminates the need to take out a credit card or enter a PIN. All they need to do is hover the palm of their hand over the sensor.
The palm payment service requires pre-authentication. To enroll a new customer, the merchant takes a near-infrared scan of the customer’s palm using an Ingenico device that incorporates the Fujitsu PalmSecure-F Pro Sensor and software. The image of the palm is encrypted, tokenized, and linked to the customer’s payment card in Ingenico’s secure cloud environment.
“Palm vein biometrics is the most secure method for identifying customers and authenticating payments, said Ingenico Senior Executive Vice President of Global Solutions Michel Léger. “Palm vein identification is a much faster way of making payments than traditional chip and pin and offers several tangible advantages, with none of the security risks of other biometric methods.”
The authentication method leverages Fujitsu’s PalmSecure technology and combines it with Fulcrum Biometrics’ biometric identification solutions to use the unique pattern of veins in the palm of a user’s hand. Palm vein identification is fast, accurate, contactless, and less intrusive than fingerprint or facial recognition. Additionally, when compared to facial recognition and fingerprint biometric methods, palm veins are more difficult for fraudsters to hack because the unique patterns under the skin are challenging to replicate.
“Our palm vein technology provides the most advanced consumer protection available in any biometric modality,” said Fujitsu Frontech North America President and CEO Shuhei Oyake. “Your palm vein pattern is totally internal to your body and therefore cannot be captured without your knowledge. Our patented technology for matching palm vein templates without needing to decrypt them means that there is never a time when your unencrypted biometric could be compromised. Fujitsu Frontech North America and Ingenico together will deliver merchants and consumers a long-awaited solution for frictionless and secure payments.”
Ingenico, a branch of Worldline, was founded in 1980 and is based in France. The company offers payment services including point of sale, online payments, issuing and acquiring solutions, and digital banking tools. Earlier this week, Ingenico partnered with Klarna to make the BNPL company’s flexible payment options available at the physical point of sale. Ingenico works with more than 1,000 banks and acquirers, is active in 37 countries, and facilitates payments on more than 2,500 mobile apps.
LendInvest received increased funding from Lloyds Bank this week, bringing its total warehouse investment to $367 million (£300 million).
The boost in investment will help LendInvest enter the homeowner mortgage market, a $1.5 trillion (£1.2 trillion) opportunity.
LendInvest now has more than $4.4 billion (£3.6 billion) in funds under management.
U.K.-based property finance asset manager LendInvestscored an increase in warehouse funding from Lloyds Bank totaling $367 million (£300 million) this week. The purpose of the investment is to facilitate LendInvest’s entry into the mortgage market, which the company estimates to be a $1.5 trillion (£1.2 trillion) opportunity.
LendInvest was founded in 2008 to serve as an online marketplace for property lending and investing, enabling everyday investors to access a wider variety of asset classes, including opportunities to gain exposure to the U.K. property market. The company launched its homeowner mortgage product in beta last month and plans to launch the product to a wider audience this year.
“There are a significant number of people in the U.K. with complex income streams – from barristers to actors to NHS contract workers – who find it harder to get a mortgage because of multiple income sources or less regular pay cheques,” explained LendInvest CEO Rod Lockhart. “Our offering is tailored to their needs, providing access to the finance they require to buy the home of their dreams, and without all the stress and hassle.”
The new homeowner mortgage product targets borrowers with multiple sources of income, those who are self-employed, and those who are small-business owners. The company’s technology simplifies complex mortgage cases to improve and streamline the process of closing on a home loan.
“The complexity of this part of the U.K. mortgage market makes it ripe for disruption by our purpose-built technology and is a natural evolution for us following our launch into buy-to-let mortgages in 2017,” added Lockhart.
With more than $4.4 billion (£3.6 billion) in funds under management, LendInvest is headquartered in London. The company’s funders and investors include pension funds, insurers, and global institutions including HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and National Australia Bank. LendInvest went public in 2021 and is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker LSE. The company has a market capitalization of $141 million (£115 million).
The five-day World Economic Forum (WEF) began today. The annual event gathers leaders from across the globe in Davos, Switzerland to discuss the latest economic, social, and political issues. This year’s theme is Cooperation in a Fragmented World and many of the sessions are relevant to the fintech industry.
I combed through the agenda and highlighted the sessions that are most worth watching below. WEF allows the public to watch live via its website or watch the session recordings on its YouTube channel. The meat of the event begins tomorrow, and here’s what I’ll be paying attention to.
January 17
Staying Ahead of a Recession With the risk of a recession in 2023 continuing to loom over major economies, what steps can leaders take to make a potential recession as short and as shallow as possible?
Financial Institutions: Innovating Under Pressure At a time of large-scale macro shocks, how do financial actors respond to ongoing disruptions while keeping pace with technological advancement?
Technology for a More Resilient World In the face of a challenging decade, technology can be a critical tool in the transition to a cleaner, safer and more inclusive world. How should leaders be thinking about the strategic opportunities for technology to be an accelerator of progress in this new context?
Private Equity in the Real Economy Maximizing impact across the risk/return continuum and alternative asset classes has become a fast-growing trend within the investing industry. How does private equity transform the real economy through its increased focus on impact?
Tokenized Economies, Coming Alive Tokenization can allow almost any real world asset to have a digital representation on a blockchain. Given its transformational potential, which sectors will see the biggest influence from tokenization in terms of resilience, innovation and social impact?
Generative AI As artificial intelligence moves from analyzing existing data to creating new text, images, and videos, how will these improvements shift the augmentation versus automation debate and what implications will it have for industries?
January 18
Protecting Cyberspace Amid Exponential Change The confluence of rising cyberattacks and a complex geopolitical backdrop creates an increasingly challenging environment for decision-makers to predict, prioritize, and respond to cyber risks. How can leaders foster a more secure and resilient digital ecosystem to prepare for future cyber shocks?
Tradetech Meets Fintech The digitization of all aspects of international supply chains and transactions is enabling more accessible and reliable trade, financing, and payments. How can the emergence of tradetech be accelerated to meet the world’s needs?
The Quantum Tipping Point Quantum technologies have massive potential in a wide array of domains, from finance to energy. With these technologies holding the promise of unleashing new discoveries, security and performance, how close are we to a true quantum revolution of industries?
Press Conference: Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2023 Geopolitical developments and the implementation of emerging technologies have re-shaped the cyber-threat and increased organized cyber-attackers’ potential for harm. This is exacerbating our interconnected energy, economic, and geopolitical crises.The Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2023 examines the cybersecurity trends that will impact our economies and societies in 2023. The report includes the results of new research on how leaders are responding to cyber threats now and provides recommendations on what leaders can do to secure their organizations in the year to come.
In the Face of Fragility: Central Bank Digital Currencies Over 100 nations are exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and each has a different motive for implementation, now exacerbated by geopolitical fragility and financial instability. What can we learn from countries that have implemented CBDC solutions and can they provide resiliency in the face of global risks and the high-inflation, low-growth, high-debt economy?
The Role of Finance in a Recovery Many global economies are already in, or are projected to enter, recession in the near future. How can the global financial system support corporates and individuals to preserve jobs, maintain livelihoods, and drive further and much-needed innovation?
Investing in AI, With Care As early backers of technology, investors wield great influence over which technologies are more likely to see the light of day. There is an opportunity for investors to work closely with their investee companies to ensure benefits are maximized and risks are mitigated, especially in technologies like AI. What metrics and tools can investors use to guide and shape investments in trusted and responsible technology systems?
Turning Technologies Into the Markets of Tomorrow The promise of new technologies does not always translate into economic progress, while tried and tested technologies can be the key to unlocking growth and transformation. How should policy-makers and businesses balance the role of new and old technologies?
January 19
Financial Inclusion Beyond Access Despite progress over the past decade, 24% of adults remain unbanked and about only half of all adults in developing economies can access funds within 30 days to cover an unexpected expense. What more can technology advancements and cross-sector coordination achieve to increase inclusion for underserved individuals and businesses?
From Mass Data to Mass Insights New technologies to generate insights without exposing the underlying data is ushering in a new era for value creation in the digital economy. From mapping the genome to reducing the carbon footprint, how can business leaders unlock value from data collaboration at scale?
Investing in the Worst of Times The scale of uncertainty in today’s markets is severely disrupting an already challenging investment landscape. How are the world’s largest investors adjusting to this unprecedented context and what effect will their asset allocation decisions have on the economy at large?
Finding the Right Balance for Crypto The boom and bust in the crypto markets, compounded by the dramatic volatility in 2022, has left many with questions about the future of blockchain innovation. What would it take to craft sufficiently robust regulation to realize the benefits of digital currencies while ensuring positive macroeconomic and societal outcomes?
January 20
How to Turbocharge Development Finance The key to scaling up financing for growth-related investments in developing countries lies in reorienting and expanding the role played by international financial institutions to plug potential funding gaps. How can these institutions help scale up financing for the broader economic, environmental, and social agenda?
Global Economic Outlook: Is This the End of an Era? The engines of global growth are slowing and the number of households and businesses facing economic distress is rising. What does the future of growth look like and what policies are needed to stabilize the global economy?
Splitit partnered with Alipay to power the firm’s Pay After Delivery payment option.
Splitit is leveraging Checkout.com’s payment-acquiring capabilities to facilitate Alipay’s Pay After Delivery.
Splitit was founded in 2012 as PayItSimple. The company rebranded in 2015 under its current name.
Installments-as-a-service company Splititannounced a new tie-up with global payments platform Alipay this week. Under the partnership, Splitit will power Alibaba Group-owned AliExpress’ Pay After Delivery.
The new payment option enables shoppers to pay after delivery using their existing credit card. Pay After Delivery leverages Splitit’s Installments-as-a-Service platform that embeds a branded experience within AliExpress’ checkout flow.
Splitit, which leverages Checkout.com’s payment-acquiring capabilities to offer the new installment service, was founded in 2012 as PayItSimple. Splitit’s Installments-as-a-Service tool is similar to well-known buy now, pay later (BNPL) technologies in that it enables consumers to pay for a good or a service in installments, interest-free.
Splitit’s tool differentiates itself from BNPL, however, because it is completely white-labeled and offers customers a merchant-branded experience. Because of this, during the checkout flow, customers are not redirected to a third party. What’s more, because Splitit relies on a consumer’s existing credit card, the company does not require additional credit checks. All of this results in less friction for the customer and better control over customer relationships for the merchant.
“Our work with Alipay is a testament to the flexibility of Splitit’s platform and the strength of our new partnership with Checkout.com. Together we are providing a valuable resource for sellers and shoppers by powering payment after delivery,” said Splitit CEO Nandan Sheth. “We are thrilled to collaborate with two exemplary companies like Alipay and Checkout.com. I look forward to building on this initial launch by expanding into other markets in the future.”
Splitit is based in Atlanta with offices in London and Australia, as well as an R&D center in Israel. The company is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under ticker code SPT and also trades on the US OTCQX under ticker SPTTY and STTTF. Splitit has partnered with both Stripe and Shopify in recent years to act as an installments-as-a-service option for their merchant clients.
PayPal-owned Xoom has added international money transfers to its Debit Card Deposit product.
Leveraging a partnership with Visa, U.S. users can send funds directly to recipients’ eligible Visa debit cards.
Debit Card Deposit originally launched domestic transfers in 2020.
PayPal’s international money transfer service Xoomadded a new debit card feature today that will help users send money across international borders. Leveraging a partnership with Visa, Xoom’s Debit Card Deposit product now facilitates international money transfers.
Debit Card Deposit originally launched in 2020 to allow customers to send funds within the U.S. Today’s addition will enable Xoom customers in the U.S. to use the Xoom mobile app or web interface to send money across the international border directly to friends or family using their debit card. Recipients, who will receive the funds on their eligible Visa debit card, will be able to access the funds in real-time.
“We know that getting funds quickly and easily is important for many of our customers, which is especially true around the winter months and the holidays when people are sending money to their friends and family around the globe,” said PayPal Vice President of Remittances Wei-Lin Lee. “This expansion, through our partnership with Visa, will help more customers around the world get a fast and convenient way to access necessary funds needed for everyday essentials.”
Funds can be sent to 25 countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Lithuania, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine, and Vietnam. Xoom will add more regions later this year.
Xoom was founded in 2001 and was acquired by PayPal in November of 2015 for $890 million. The company enables peer-to-peer money transfers that can be sent directly to the recipient’s bank account or debit card. Recipients also have the option to pick up physical cash at brick-and-mortar partner locations or receive the cash at their doorstep via a delivery.
Payroll and compliance company Deel is acquiring digital governance platform Capbase.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Deel will leverage Capbase’s expertise to launch a new product dedicated to equity management and issuance.
It has been a week of consolidation in the capitalization table management space. Fidelity announced plans to acquire Shoobx this week, and payroll and compliance company Deel recently unveiled that it is acquiring digital governance platform Capbase.
Deel, which launched as a payroll and compliance platform for international employees and contractors, has acquired one of the biggest players in the capitalization table management arena, Capbase. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Deel will leverage Capbase’s expertise to launch equity management and issuance services that can help businesses operating with legal and tax questions such as taxable events, local laws, required reporting, and more– across 90 different geographic regions.
“We looked at U.S. compliance and realized it was a very, very hard thing to do,” Deel Co-founder Alex Bouaziz told TechCrunch in an interview. “Equity is such an important part of companies, so enabling other companies to grant it across geographies and at scale felt like something we should tackle.”
Capbase was founded in 2018 to help startups manage the complexities of securities transactions. The company’s services range from helping companies with incorporation, setting up their board, purchasing shares, managing their capitalization table, finding funding, and facilitating due diligence for potential investors and buyers. Capbase has raised a total of $6 million in funding.
After the deal closes, Capbase will continue with business as usual, but Deel will leverage the company’s expertise to launch a new product dedicated to equity management and issuance. All of Capbase’s 20 employees will join the Deel team.
San Francisco-based Deel was founded in 2018 and enables companies to hire employees across the globe and pay them in more than 150 currencies. The company was valued at $12 billion last May and has raised a total of $680 million in funding. Deel has made a total of five acquisitions, including this week’s Capbase buy. Deel’s previous acquisitions have focused on payroll, HR, and work visa management.
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a tech event that showcases the latest advancements in consumer electronics and technology, is a must-attend conference for those working in the field of tech. But what if you work at a bank?
This year, U.S. Bank sent five representatives to walk the floors of CES to scout out what’s new and what’s possible when it comes to banking technology. Among the group attending last week’s technology showcase were U.S. Bank Chief Innovation Officer Don Relyea and Senior Vice President and Head of Applied Foresights Todder Moning.
We caught up with Relyea and Moning to get their thoughts on the show.
You’ve just returned from CES. Tell us about what U.S. Bank was looking for at the show.
Don Relyea: We are looking for several things. We go to get an understanding of how ready for primetime various technology verticals are for mass consumer applications. We also go to detect new disruptive technology trends well in advance of their readiness for consumers, so we can prepare to take advantage of opportunities – as well as avoid (or leverage) a disruption. A good example is how, a decade ago, we detected the early rise of natural language processing and started testing and learning with it, eventually leading to us being ahead of the curve in releasing an industry-leading voice assistant a decade later.
Todder Moning: We think about it like a “tech safari” or a “future safari” – allowing us to see a lot of the new products or emerging R&D work across multiple tech spaces and across multiple industries. It helps us to see what consumers, business owners, and our employees are going to be experiencing in their lives and helps us better understand what financial solutions are going to become most important to them. We look for how the spaces and tech we follow are progressing and for the weird or unexpected. That gives us new ideas that we take back to start work in our innovation labs and business lines.
Was there any tech on display that had the potential to help improve the user experience?
Relyea: More than I could ever tell you about. A big trend we saw in this space was the leveraging of AI for hyper-personalization across every industry. Companies in so many different verticals were converging AI, digital twins, the cloud, and the sensors in your consumer devices to create highly personalized and useful consumer experiences.
A great example is Incheon Airport (Seoul, South Korea) using a digital twin combined with AI, IoT sensors and consumer phones to give travelers a navigational guide like none other: an augmented reality robot avatar that will lead them around the airport wherever they need to go. Another one I loved was an AI scanner that analyzes your face and detects your skin condition in order to recommend skin care products. When the point of sale becomes your bathroom instead of the mall, that will be a gamechanger.
Moning: Yes, a lot of it.
Sustainability and waste tracking
New experiences in the automotive and transportation industries
The broad use of sensors, AI, displays, and wearables that are bringing services, health, and wellness directly to the consumer
Easier interconnectivity in smart homes and smart devices across product brands to finally start making those contexts easier
Continuous advancement in VR/AR glasses for digital and virtual experiences
Automation and autonomy in vehicles, robots, and other appliances/devices that will help assist or do things for people
How about tech for back office operations?
Relyea: Again, I’ll go to the Incheon Airport example. Not only did a friendly little robot provide guided navigation, but also the airport used the digital twin for operational efficiencies as well, helping to manage air traffic, vehicle traffic, foot traffic, and physical plant operations.
Moning: To be candid, the fintech part of the show was pretty sparse. It’s been that way in years past too. CES is typically far less interesting when it comes to technology we might directly implement to our systems, and much more interesting in seeing how we can integrate into the experiences where consumers would want to use their money. Which, we’re seeing more and more – particularly with embedded finance – is kind of everywhere.
When it comes to implementing ideas like these at a bank, is it better to be on the leading edge to gain a first-mover advantage? Or is it better to wait for other firms to jump in first?
Relyea: It really depends on the use case. In some cases, with fintechs and reg tech, it may be better to be an early mover. In others, where the maturity of the technology is not clear, it is better to wait until the technology achieves a good level of maturity.
Moning: It depends. We like building prototypes to try ideas first. We also like collaborating with or investing in startups when it makes sense. We will go first when it makes sense and we’re ready, like when we were first in ApplePay, first in Zelle, first in real time payments networks, and first to have smart chat services with all three major smart-speaker brands. Other times, we’ve seen the first-in-market attempts by others at really new technology fall flat or miss the mark. So first-mover vs. fast-follower really depends on each opportunity.
If U.S. Bank was exhibiting at CES, what would be the newest tech you would showcase?
Relyea: We get so much out of exploring the show floor, and so we find other ways to launch and showcase our own innovations, but we’re rather proud of our Smart Assistant, including the launch of our Spanish language version this year – the nation’s first voice assistant for banking in Spanish. Other candidates would be some of our work within the real time payments space, perhaps some of our blockchain initiatives or the recent launch of our financial education program for college athletes, which we are doing in collaboration with Opendorse. There are a lot of digital innovations happening across U.S. Bank that combine the best of digital with our amazing team members.
Moning: Some of our voice tech stuff is pretty cool, at the leading edge. We’ve done some really good things with real time payments in auto and some other areas. Our approach tends to be more of one where we work quietly behind the scenes until just the right time to launch it to the public, rather than showcasing our work in prototype or in pilot. I’d love to share more, but we’ll hold some of those cards close to the vest.
Outside of fintech applications, what was the coolest thing you saw at the show?
Relyea: I liked the MPC micro power chip that pulls low amounts of power from dirt and moisture. I haven’t seen anything quite like it before – that can charge a battery array and light an off-grid structure. I’m looking forward to when their tech is commercially available.
Moning: It would have to be the BMW Dee, a concept car that had “e-Ink” panels all over the outside of it, including the windows, and changed color in real-time based on music or your mood. As a sustainability concept, the Under-Ocean Farming that Siemens was showing was amazing. And from Caterpillar, the giant equipment company, they were showing remote autonomy, where you could control a real excavator that was in Peoria, Illinois from a seat at CES in Las Vegas. Pretty incredible.
Fidelity Investments has acquired equity management company Shoobx, marking Fidelity’s first acquisition since 2015.
Terms of today’s deal were not disclosed.
The acquisition will help Fidelity expand its offerings for startups and early-stage companies.
Fidelity Investmentsannounced this week it has acquired equity management company Shoobx. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed and the deal marks Fidelity’s first acquisition since it purchasedeMoney Advisor in 2015 for $250 million.
Ultimately, the move will help Fidelity expand its offerings for startups and early-stage companies. In fact, today’s acquisition contributes to Fidelity’s growing portfolio of tools that support the startup ecosystem. Fidelity Labs, the organization’s innovation arm, has invested in several startups and fintech companies, and has developed its own technology to improve the investment process.
Fidelity will integrate Shoobx’s technology into its Stock Plan Services business, an arm that offers equity compensation plan recordkeeping and administration services. Part of Fidelity’s Workplace Investing division, the Stock Plan Services is a workplace benefits provider that serves almost 700 companies with 2.5 million end users holding $250 billion in plan value.
Shoobx was founded in 2013 and helps private companies streamline compliance related to incorporation, raising capital, and exiting so that they can focus on their business. That’s because Shoobx helps them manage their shareholders, the shares they own, and information such as the share class, the price paid for the shares, and any information on options or warrants.
“Given the success of our commercial relationship with Shoobx and the increasing demand from private companies to support them as they scale and grow, including helping their employees manage their financial well-being, acquiring Shoobx was a natural next step in our relationship,” said Fidelity Workplace Investing Head Kevin Barry. “Together, we will accelerate the development of new and innovative solutions designed to help private companies confidently navigate the complex journey all the way through to an exit or IPO.”
Fidelity and Shoobx first partnered in 2021 to provide an equity management solution to the private market. At the time, Fidelity offered a Shoobx-branded tool that combined Fidelity’s equity compensation and benefits administration with Shoobx’s equity management capabilities, board management tools, and data room solutions.
Digital identity solutions company Jumioannounced yesterday that Singapore car-sharing company GetGo has selected its technology to help onboard new drivers.
As one of the largest car-sharing services in Singapore, GetGo seeks to offer a user-friendly online ecosystem that promotes shared and sustainable mobility. The company was founded in 2020 to help users rent and share cars, enabling users to book a car using their mobile phones. GetGo focuses on simplicity, flexibility, and accessibility. These three attributes add up to one thing– customer centricity.
In order to help drivers onboard to the GetGo platform, GetGo will leverage Jumio’s identity verification tools that leverage biometrics and AI to automatically authenticate GetGo users. Jumio will help GetGo protect its fleet of 1,700 vehicles against theft by requiring drivers to provide a valid government-issued ID and a selfie. The partnership will reduce the time it takes GetGo customers to onboard down to minutes.
“Jumio’s facial verification technology allows GetGo to simultaneously raise its trust and safety standards while enhancing its customer onboarding experience,” said GetGo Product Lead Lionel Fong. “GetGo looks forward to a long-term partnership with Jumio in pushing the boundaries on bringing a reliable and frictionless verification experience to the masses.”
Jumio was founded in 2010 and came close to collapse when it filed for bankruptcy in 2016. After restructuring, Jumio sold to Centana Venture Partners, which acquired the company for $850,000 two months after its bankruptcy filing.
Jumio has come a long way since its dip in 2016. The company has processed over one billion transactions from over 200 countries and territories. What’s more, Jumio acquired KYC and anti-fraud solutions company 4stop in 2021 and compliance firm Beam in 2020. The company’s most recent funding round took place in March of 2021 when it closed a $150 million round from Great Hill Partners, bringing its total funding to $255 million.
Business payments technology company Nuvei will acquire B2B payments company Paya.
Nuvei anticipates the purchase will help it add integrated payment capabilities, diversify its business, and grow in the B2B payments space.
The deal is expected to close for $1.3 billion.
Payment technology solutions provider Nuveiannounced this week it has acquired B2B payments company Paya. The all-cash transaction is expected to close for $9.75 per share for a total value of around $1.3 billion.
Paya’s payment technology helps businesses accept payments and get paid faster and more efficiently. The company’s solutions range from payment acceptance, disbursement, and ACH, to marketing services and developer integrations.
Canada-based Nuvei anticipates the purchase will help it add integrated payment capabilities, diversify its business, and grow in the B2B payments space. Specifically, combining Paya’s integrated payment capabilities into Nuvei’s platform will add value and growth potential. Additionally, Nuvei will be able to leverage Paya’s integrations with 300 independent software vendors and commerce solutions to enter into the software-led market.
“The proposed acquisition of Paya is a powerful next step in the evolution of Nuvei, creating a preeminent payment technology provider with strong positions in global eCommerce, Integrated Payments and business-to-business,” said Nuvei Chief Executive Officer Philip Fayer. “The proposed transaction will combine two people-first, technology-led, high-growth payment platforms. It will accelerate our integrated payment strategy, diversify our business into key high-growth non-cyclical verticals with large addressable end markets, and enhance the execution of our growth plan.”
Founded in 2003, Nuvei offers global card acquiring services, alternative payment methods, crypto payments, fraud and risk management, analytics and more. The company serves businesses across a range of industries in more than 200 global markets, facilitating 150 currencies. Nuvei went public in 2020 and now has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion.
Today’s buy marks Nuvei’s 6th acquisition. The company acquired Smart2Pay and BaseCommerce in 2020, and purchased Mazooma, Simplex, and Paymentez in 2021.
