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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Allianz Trade, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Santander CIB), and Two have partnered to launch a new B2B buy now, pay later (BNPL) tool.
The new tool leverages Allianz Trade to protect against the risk of default, Santander CIB for financing, and Two for the BNPL technology.
The launch comes one year after Santander’s digital consumer bank launched Zinia, a customer-facing BNPL solution.
A new three-way partnership is driving fresh innovation in the BNPL space this week. Trade credit insurance firm Allianz Trade, trade finance bank Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Santander CIB), and B2B ecommerce payments platform Two have teamed up to create a BNPL tool for large multinational corporations.
Combining each firms’ expertise, the group has created a solution for corporations to offer a buy now, pay later (BNPL) tool for business buyers, enabling them to defer payments at checkout. Created by Two, the BNPL tool supports payments in multiple currencies and leverages Santander CIB for financing to offer sellers payment upfront while facilitating credit terms to buyers.
Allianz Trade protects against the risk of default. The firm will leverage its database that contains information on more than 80 million corporations to instantly assess credit requests via its API, helping Santander CIB make financing decisions instantly.
“Our solution will be distributed worldwide and aims to allow large corporates to develop their online sales by offering deferred payments to existing and new customers, without being exposed to non-payment risks, while benefiting from immediate and guaranteed payments,” said Allianz Trade Global Head of e-commerce François Burtin. “It is a turnkey solution combining the very best of our three firms, easy to set up and improving both seller revenue and user experience.”
Today’s launch comes one year after Santander’s digital consumer bank launched Zinia, a customer-facing BNPL solution for customers in Germany and the Netherlands.
Founded in 2020, Two seeks to fix the world of B2B ecommerce by offering a corporate BNPL tool. The Norway-based company has raised $3 million in seed funding. “At Two we are obsessed about delivering seamless ordering and buying for B2B buyers while removing and automating the operational processes for sellers,” said Two Cofounder Stavros Tamvakakis. “Business buying is not a one-size fits all and our product streamlines key steps in the journey (e.g. instant onboarding, ordering, underwriting, invoice distribution, payments, reconciliation) so that sellers do what they do best while we abstract the pain points of drop-offs, working capital tie up, risk, and manual work. Our ambitions are at a global scale, so we decided to take our partnership with Allianz Trade further by collaborating with Santander CIB, combining two powerhouses in insurance and banking to create a unique and innovative solution dedicated to large corporates.”
As the demand for direct-to-consumer BNPL tools increases, so will the demand for B2B BNPL tools. Other players in the B2B BNPL arena include Bespoke Financial, TreviPay, and Tranch. These tools rely on business credit and repayment data to mitigate risk, so partnerships with firms like Allianz Trade will prove to be essential in helping B2B BNPL newcomers ensure repayment.
Digital banking app for kids and teens, Greenlight, launched a financial literacy game today.
The game, Greenlight Level Up, is designed to teach financial skills to kids from kindergarten to 12th grade.
Only 23 states in the U.S. require schools to offer lessons in personal finance.
Greenlight, a digital banking app for kids and teens, unveiled a financial literacy game today called Greenlight Level Up.
The game aims to teach kids from kindergarten to 12th grade skills that they can use to improve their financial well-being. Many financial skills are not taught in schools. In fact, only 23 U.S. states require schools to teach a personal finance course. Greenlight Level Up offers lessons on earning, spending, saving, investing, managing credit, income, taxes, and more.
The game was crafted by academic and game design experts to keep kids engaged, using coins and stars as rewards.
Schools, teachers, and students can access Greenlight Level Up for free via Greenlight for Classrooms, an online financial literacy library for kids in grades kindergarten through 12. Greenlight for Classrooms will launch later this year.
Greenlight was founded in 2014 and offers a money management platform for families. The company has served five million parents and kids, offering them real-life experience in the financial world with credit and debit cards, along with a tandem mobile app. By using the cards with help from their parents, Greenlight helps kids build skills to manage their earnings, savings, spending, and giving; and empowers kids to learn to invest. In 2021, Greenlight raised $260 million in a round that valued the company at $2.3 billion.
Credit card company Yonder has tapped regtech company Cable to enhance its financial crime compliance.
“Now we’re starting to scale our member base, we needed a solution that could ensure our regulatory compliance as we grow,” said Yonder Cofounder and Chief Risk Officer Theso Jivajirajah.
Cable demoed its automated assurance technology at FinovateFall 2022 in New York.
London-based Yonder, a self-described “modern lifestyle” credit card, is giving its financial crime compliance a boost this week by partnering with regtech company Cable.
Yonder was founded in 2021 as a lifestyle card for U.K. consumers. The card costs around $18 (£15) per month and has a generous rewards system that enables users to earn points they can redeem for restaurant purchases, offers travel insurance, and does not charge fees for cross-border transactions. The company will leverage Cable to enhance its financial crime compliance and oversight processes.
“Now we’re starting to scale our member base; we needed a solution that could ensure our regulatory compliance as we grow, without any major headcount increases.” said Yonder Cofounder and Chief Risk Officer Theso Jivajirajah. “Cable’s automated monitoring across our financial crime controls helps Yonder address any issues right away, meet our regulatory requirements, and focus on serving our members better.”
Cable will offer Yonder access to its automated financial crimes assurance that will test each user account for compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering requirements. By automating the process, Cable will help Yonder save time by automating reports and reduce risk by notifying the company immediately in the case of a breach.
Founded in 2020, Cable has raised $5.3 million in a seed round led by CRV and LocalGlobe. Last fall, before landing Quaint Oak Bank as a new client, the company demoed its automated assurance technology at FinovateFall 2022.
It can be difficult to pin down a birth year for fintech, but no matter how you look at it, our industry has come a long way. I was recently reminiscing and found a post published in 2003 by Finovate Founder Jim Bruene titled, The 10 Most Significant Innovations & Developments of 2003. These developments, Bruene said, “provide the best glimpse at the future of online financial services delivery.”
2003 was officially 20 years ago, which makes it a perfect benchmark. I’ve taken a look at the 10 developments and innovations that Bruene deemed “most significant” in 2003, and outlined some of fintech’s most recent updates and persistent struggles.
Phishing undermines trust (for now)
One of the original enemies to widespread adoption of online banking was phishing. In the last two weeks of December of 2003, one (now-defunct) organization had recorded 60 unique phishing attacks, sending an estimated 60 million fraudulent messages.
Those numbers don’t look so bad compared to today’s figures. The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) recorded more than 14,000 phishing attacks per day in the third quarter of 2022, marking the worst quarter for phishing the organization has ever observed. However, while phishing persists, it hasn’t deterred the majority of users from adopting digital banking.
Banks move to boost security perceptions
In this section, Bruene referenced an increase in keylogging incidents, along with one bank’s efforts to circumvent keylogging attacks by adding a keypad on the screen to allow users to click the buttons to enter their PIN instead of typing on their keyboard. The bank also implemented a secondary password requirement.
While these workarounds likely mitigated some of the fraud, they simultaneously introduced more friction for end users. Today, many firms have implemented biometrics to eliminate keylogging. However, while biometrics may have gotten rid of keylogging attacks, the authentication method has not put an end to fraud.
Citibank launches interbank transfers (A2A)
Citibank added online interbank transfers in the fall of 2003, making it the first major U.S. bank to offer such a service. At the time, Citi tapped CashEdge (acquired byFiserv in 2011 for $465 million) to power the transfers.
Today, of course, the industry doesn’t consider account-to-account transfers an innovation. Rather, the service is now considered table stakes for all banking service providers. What has changed are the rails. A handful of banks have started piloting using the blockchain to transfer funds, especially in the case of cross-border payments.
Press turns positive toward online banking and other online financial activities
Twenty years ago, the dot-com crash was still fresh in the minds of both investors and everyday consumers. According to Bruene, 2003 was a turning point as consumers began to embrace the conveniences and efficiencies of online banking.
Today, while we’re not recovering from a dot-com crash, we are still reeling from the FTX scandal that took place late last year. It is estimated that around $1 billion to $2 billion in consumer funds were lost after the digital crypto exchange failed. And while the event will not result in negative press about fintech in general, it has already soured the press and industry analysts on crypto.
Bank of America hits seven million users
As you may imagine, adoption of Bank of America’s digital banking looked vastly different in 2003. “Bank of America had as many online banking customers as all U.S. banks combined had five years ago (at year-end 1998),” said Bruene. “The bank’s 7 million active users account for 43% of its checking account base, and 22% of all households. Year-over-year growth was an impressive 50%, with 2.3 million new active users.”
Today, Bank of America serves 67 million retail and small business clients. Of those, 55 million use Bank of America’s digital banking services. In July of last year, those customers logged into their Bank of America accounts one billion times– a record number for the bank.
The decline of paper statements begins
While 2003 may have marked a decline in paper statements, it didn’t mark the beginning of the end. According to a 2017 Javelin Strategy & Research report, only 61% of checking account customers have committed to paperless statements. In the report, Javelin suggests that much of this is unintentional. “Consumers now reflexively reach for their smartphones in all aspects of their lives and banking is not an exception,” said Mark Schwanhausser, Director, Digital Banking at Javelin Strategy & Research. “The intent is not to take statements away from customers; it is to provide an alternative that convinces them that paper statements are as unnecessary and obsolete as a checkbook register.”
Banks redesign websites for Yahoo-like clarity
Of the ten developments on this list, this one is my favorite, and not only because of the use of Yahoo! as an example. Optimizing online user interfaces is a science, and by 2003, developers didn’t know as much as they do today about creating user-friendly services.
Today, the shining examples in tech have shifted from Yahoo! to the likes of Uber, Stripe, and Airbnb. And by now, most large firms’ digital experiences exhibit “Yahoo-like” clarity. Still, there will always be room for improving the user experience, especially as consumers become aware of new enabling technologies like open finance.
Real-time credit for remote deposits
In this section, Bruene applauded two FIs for offering consumers instant credit for mailed remote deposits. It baffles me to think about mailing in a paper check to deposit it. However, in a pre-smartphone era such as 2003, there weren’t many other options that didn’t require additional hardware or infrastructure.
Today, while consumers can deposit most checks via smartphone, the deposits still generally take two-to-three days to post in consumer accounts. As a bonus, most firms have discovered a way to turn remote deposits into a revenue generating opportunity by charging consumers for instant deposits into their accounts.
Identity Theft 911 provides a credible source to fight ID theft
Identity Theft 911 has a storied history. The company rebranded to CyberScout in 2017, was acquired by Sontiq in 2021, which was bought by TransUnion in late 2021. Regardless of the multiple transitions, all companies shared a similar mission. Today, TransUnion helps consumers build and grow their credit scores, offers credit alerts, fraud alerts, credit monitoring, and more.
What’s different about this industry today, however, is the number of competitors in the space. Many organizations offer free credit monitoring. Other, paid services offer monitoring and reporting from all three bureaus, identity theft insurance, and more.
Japanese buy now, pay later fintech Smartpay launched Smartpay Bank Direct, a tool that will enable users to pay for their purchases directly from their bank accounts.
Prior to today’s launch, Smartpay users could only repay using a credit card.
Smartpay is currently available in Japan, KSA, and the UAE. The company aims to expand into Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and other markets in Southeast Asia and MENA.
Japan-based Smartpay is launchingSmartpay Bank Direct, a tool that offers users a new way to pay for their online installment purchases.
Starting today, Smartpay users can pay for their buy now, pay later (BNPL) purchases directly from their bank accounts. The move is made possible by Smartpay’s partnerships with 67 banks and makes Smartpay one of the first consumer finance companies to leverage Japan’s open banking ecosystem.
Smartpay markets itself as a “payments experience” company, offering consumers a BNPL tool that enables consumers to pay for their purchases in three installments over the course of two months with no fees or interest. When the company launched its BNPL tool, consumers could only repay using their credit card. Today’s launch empowers them to pay directly from their bank account.
Japan revised its open banking approach in June 2018, when it required banks to offer open APIs within two years. After the start of 2020, the deadline was extended to September 2020. By that time, 97% of banks were in compliance.
“Since the launch of Smartpay just over a year ago, as Japan’s first BNPL solution payable by credit card, we have continued to expand our partner ecosystem with new retailers and an expanding customer base with revenue growth over 200% in the last three months,” said Smartpay founder and CEO Sam Ahmed. “It’s interesting that we have lifted merchant average order value more than 30% in four different merchant categories. We attract higher value consumers for the merchant through our eKYC process.”
Smartpay was founded in 2021 and is currently focused on Japan, KSA, and UAE markets. The company aims to expand into Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and other markets in Southeast Asia and MENA “in the medium term.”
U.S.-based banking association and payments network operator The Clearing House appointed a new CEO this week.
David Watson will assume the leadership position from Jim Aramanda, who will retire at the end of this month.
Watson comes to The Clearing House from SWIFT, where he served as Chief Product Officer.
The Clearing House (TCH) is getting a new leader for the new year. The U.S.-based banking association and payments network operator appointed David Watson as its newest CEO, launching into 2023 with a fresh start.
Watson will take the reins from the company’s current President and CEO Jim Aramanda, who will retire at the end of this month. Aramanda has served as CEO of TCH for 15 years, beginning his tenure at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.
“The Clearing House’s Supervisory Board is grateful for Jim Aramanda’s long-standing service to the organization, said Bank of America Chair and Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the TCH Supervisory Board Brian Moynihan. “During Jim’s tenure, TCH continued its critical role in delivering ultra-reliable payments capabilities to the U.S. financial system, but importantly, also introduced innovative new payments capabilities. This includes the RTP network, which is now delivering real-time payments capabilities.”
Watson comes to TCH from SWIFT, where he served as Chief Product Officer, assisting in product engineering, development, and innovation. Prior to that, he served in multiple roles at Deutsche Bank for 17 years. His titles included Head of Cash Management Americas and Global Head of Digital Products, Global Head of Product Development – Global Transaction Banking, and Head of Americas Product Management – Global Transaction Banking.
“David brings extensive payments experience, in-depth expertise in the field, and a strong track record of innovation,” said Moynihan. “David will continue TCH’s important work of driving adoption of real-time payments capabilities and focusing on the safety, security, reliability, and efficiency of bank-owned payment systems which are critical to the financial system.”
TCH was founded in 1853. The 170-year-old company is owned by 24 of the largest commercial banks in the U.S. and clears and settles approximately $2 trillion in bank-to-bank payments each day through wire, ACH, check image, and real-time payments. In 2017, TCH took the historically slow U.S. payments industry into the next level by launching the Real Time Payments (RTP) network, which helps clear and settle payments instantly and facilitates the real-time exchange of payments-related data.
Shortly after David Watson becomes TCH’s new CEO, the company’s RTP will gain a new rival. RTP will compete directly with FedNow, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s real-time payment system, after it launches in July of this year. FedNow creates a new rail for payments that will provide all financial institutions access to secure, instant payment services in real time.
Wealthfront originally tapped Green Dot in 2020 to use the company’s banking-as-a-service tools to offer its Cash Account clients access to checking features. Today, the two announced they are continuing the relationship.
Wealthfront’s Cash Account leverages Green Dot to offer features competitive with other digital banks, including the ability to receive direct deposits up to two days early, pay bills, send and deposit checks, and use a debit card to access cash at ATMs. The account requires a $1 initial deposit, offers unlimited free transfers, automated savings features, near-instant transfers into Wealthfront’s Investment Accounts, and more.
Additionally, Wealthfront’s Cash Accounts pay a 3.80% APY, a huge improvement over what most firms were offering during the recent near-zero interest rate environment. The competition among digital banking providers has intensified, and competing on interest rates will be a good way for these newcomers to gain new customers and increased deposits. That’s because many large traditional banks are paying an average of just 0.24% APY.
Other players in the wealth management space are also currently offering high interest rates on their checking accounts. Personal Capital just announced it will pay 3.85% and Betterment is paying 3.75% on its high-yield account.
“Today’s investors want smart saving and investing products that help them build wealth in all market conditions, which is why we’re proud to offer the Cash Account to help our clients earn more on their uninvested savings,” said Wealthfront VP of Product Dave Myszewski. “With one of the highest rates on the market plus checking features powered by Green Dot, we’re able to provide a best-in-class Cash Account that is far superior to what a traditional bank can offer, so our clients can grow their long-term wealth easily and conveniently.”
Wealthfront had a hopeful start to 2022 when UBS agreed to acquire the California-based company for $1.4 billion in January. Nine months later, however, UBS called off the agreement because of “unspecified regulatory concerns.” Along with the termination, UBS gave Wealthfront $70 million in financing at a $1.4 billion valuation. “With this fresh round of funding under our belt along with the ability to begin self-funding the business, we are committed to building a lasting company that positively impacts the lives of our clients for decades to come,” said Wealthfront Chief Executive Officer David Fortunato.
Moneyhub raised an additional $18.2 million (£15 million) from savings and retirement business Phoenix Group.
The investment is the second part of a 48.6 million (£40 million) Moneyhub received in October, and brings the company’s total funds to $81.6 million.
Phoenix Group’s Standard Life is a long-standing client of Moneyhub.
Open finance solutions company Moneyhubannounced it received an additional $18.2 million (£15 million) investment. Today’s funds come from savings and retirement business Phoenix Group.
The funding round is a follow-on to the recent $48.6 million (£40 million) Moneyhub received in October. Legal & General and Lloyds Banking Group led that round, contributing $42.4 million (£35 million), and Shawbrook Bank provided an additional $6 million (£5 million) in debt funding. Moneyhub’s total funding now adds up to $81.6 million.
Moneyhub was founded in 2014 and creates software for open banking, open finance, and open data applications. Organizations leverage these tools to add data aggregation, insights, and payment systems to their applications in order to create a more personalized digital experience for their end users. U.K.-based Moneyhub plans to use the investment to develop its solutions and expand globally. The company currently counts more than 100 organizations, including more than 30 high-profile enterprise firms, as clients.
Phoenix Group’s Standard Life is a long-standing client of Moneyhub. The firm leverages Moneyhub’s Open Finance platform to create Money Mindset, a financial wellness proposition for workplace pension customers.
“We are delighted that Phoenix Group has chosen to go even further by investing in the business,” said Moneyhub CEO Samantha Seaton. “With Consumer Duty and Pensions Dashboard driving the need to focus on consumer outcomes, the only answer is to work in a trusted data sharing approach with your customers.”
Multi-currency payment services company Conotoxia launched multi-currency card 2.0.
The update enables cardholders to add users to their card.
The multi-currency card 2.0 enables cardholders to hold accounts in 20 currencies and pay in more than 160 currencies.
Multi-currency payment services company Conotoxia is making it easier for users to share payment cards with friends, family, and employees. The new capabilities come as part of the company’s new launch, multi-currency card 2.0.
“We have been observing very strong interest in our multi-currency cards. Customers recognize their advantages and their superiority over bank debit cards,” said Conotoxia Vice President Pitor Kicinski. “The multi-currency card 2.0 and its new functionality can mean significant savings for families and businesses, as well as, for example, an interesting gift for those traveling abroad or shopping in international shops.”
Existing cardholders can share their card with new users after they register with Conotoxia. Once the new user is registered, they can begin making transactions using both physical and virtual cards. Meanwhile, the primary cardholder can view the card balance, control expenses, and set spending limits.
With the multi-currency card 2.0, cardholders can hold accounts in 20 currencies and can pay in more than 160 currencies. The tandem Conotoxia mobile app for iOS and Android enable users to view their transaction history, manage cards, and more. At the start of 2022, Conotoxia added Apple Pay as a payment option for cardholders, and contactless payments are also available with Google Pay, Fitbit Pay, and Garmin Pay.
Launched in 2014, Conotoxia offers foreign exchange and cryptocurrency trading, online payments, and online currency exchange in addition to its multi-currency cards. The company employs more than 250 people in its offices based in Poland, Illinois, and The Republic of Cyprus.
If you plan on binge watching holiday movies in the next few weeks (or if you have been since October), here’s something to think about. Did you know that many of these films come with lessons for the fintech industry?
Here are some films you may want to watch over your winter break, along with some of the wisdom they hold.
Home Alone (1990)
In this movie, Kevin McCallister finds himself left at home without any adults to help him carry out daily tasks and defend himself against burglars. In the same way, many customers are conducting their banking activities from home on their own devices. The only tools they have to successfully conduct banking activities are a strong password and your bank’s user-friendly design.
Lesson: Don’t make your customers feel at home alone. Provide them with tools they need to successfully conduct everyday banking tasks from your app.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
After George Bailey contemplates suicide during a time of financial instability, his guardian angel comes to show him all the ways in which he has made a difference in the lives of others. In the end, he begs his angel to give him his life back. After he does, his community rallies around him to help him regain financial stability. The current economy is impacting firms across banking and fintech differently. Every organization has a storm to weather.
Lesson: Pay attention to what’s truly important in life and maintain a focus on community, especially in the midst of economic turmoil.
Family Stone (2005)
When a woman from the big city, Meredith, accompanies Everett, her boyfriend, to his childhood home for Christmas, they both discover that they aren’t right for one another. As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that Everett and Meredith’s sister Julie are falling for each other. Keep your bank or fintech partners in mind while watching this one.
Lesson: Finding the right bank or fintech partners can be a struggle. However, it is worth conducting proper due diligence to find the right partner before committing.
The Santa Clause (1994)
Toy salesman Scott Calvin is unexpectedly forced to become Santa Clause after the original Santa Clause falls off his roof. After spending much of the movie in denial and resisting his new role as Saint Nick, Scott Calvin ultimately accepts his new role, and everyone is better off because of it. Has your organization ever had to make a similarly drastic pivot?
Lesson: When the needs of the customer evolve, so should your business. Being able to pivot to meet customer expectation not only benefits end users, it will also be good for your bottom line.
Die Hard (1988)
When New York City Policeman John McClane visits his ex-wife at a holiday party on Christmas Eve, terrorists attempt to take over the building and John realizes that he is the only one who can save everyone. Whether you can see the fraudsters or not, everyone deals with them on a daily basis.
Lesson: You are responsible for creating the first line of defense between your customers and cybercriminals.
Jingle All the Way (1996)
In this holiday movie, Howard Langston tries to impress his son by giving him the season’s hottest toy, the Turbo-Man, for Christmas. The toy is almost sold out, however, and Howard goes to great lengths to compete with another father to get the toy. Ultimately– and only after proving himself a hero– Howard gets the Turbo-Man toy to give to his son in time for Christmas. While the customer acquisition race isn’t as competitive as a war over the Turbo-Man toy, it may seem like a battle at times.
Lesson: There will always be competition between and among banks and fintechs. And just like Howard’s fight for Turbo-Man, fighting to gain customers takes sacrifices and ultimately may require your organization to prove itself a hero to the customer before winning them over.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
The Grinch, who hates Christmas, tries to take the joy away from the townspeople of Whoville by stealing their presents and other Christmas paraphernalia. Even after he does so, however, he hears the townsfolk joyfully celebrating Christmas, despite the lack of presents, food, and decorations. In the end, the Grinch realizes that Christmas is more than presents, tinsel, and bows. Just as the Grinch discovered there is more to Christmas than the money-making aspects of it, perhaps we can all look beyond our bottom lines this season to discover how we can better serve our target market.
Lesson: Perhaps there is more to fintech than just pandering to populations that seem the most profitable. Look for ways to benefit to others, even if they may be a net-zero opportunity.
Any Hallmark Christmas special
Many Hallmark holiday movies seem to share a similar premise. A big-city girl inherits a vineyard or a bed and breakfast in a small town. During her visit to the country, she meets a charming man and falls in love with both him and the small town lifestyle. You don’t have to watch a Hallmark movie to realize that expanding your horizons can be beneficial.
Lesson: It may profitable to serve the underserved populations found in rural locations. They could have more in common with your existing target audience than you think.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Clark Griswold tries to create the perfect Christmas for his family, but when the Christmas bonus he expected for the year fails to come through, Clark’s cousin Eddie takes the issue up with Clark’s boss. Though Clark ends up receiving his bonus after all, the movie serves as a reminder not to financially overcommit before funds are guaranteed.
Lesson: Even when times are good, don’t count on extra cash to get your company through. Watch your burn rate.
Frozen (2013)
The main characters, sisters Anna and Elsa, illustrate the ups and downs of the crypto market. After Elsa freezes the town, the damage seems permanent, and residents wonder if they will have to live in wintertime conditions forever. At the end of the film, Elsa figures out how to control her magic and returns the town to its regular climate.
Lesson: Crypto will one day exit the crypto winter and will once again level out. The key to achieving this stasis may be the arrival of regulation in the cryptocurrency space, which is already be on its way. Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren unveiled a bill to enforce against crypto money laundering.
The financial services industry has seen a breathtaking amount of innovation over the last decade thanks to fintech applications that streamline user experiences and improve operational efficiencies. Many of these solutions incorporate third-party viewing integrations that allow people to view and manage documents, eliminating the need to switch back and forth between different software.
Implementing specialized viewing technology saves time and resources during the development process so fintechs can get their products to market faster. By selecting the right integration partner from the beginning, they can put themselves in a position to scale capabilities in the future without suffering unexpected costs or compromising performance.
Viewing Integrations and the Problem of Scale
Fintech developers often turn to API-based viewing integrations like Accusoft’s PrizmDoc because they provide the tremendous power and flexibility that modern financial services applications require. Whether it’s file conversion, robust annotation, document assembly, or redaction, fintech software must be able to provide extensive document processing features to meet customer expectations.
In order to implement those advanced viewing capabilities, the developer usually needs to set up a dedicated server as part of their on-premises infrastructure or in a cloud deployment. One of the biggest advantages of API-based integrations is that customers only have to pay for the processing resources they use, but this can also pose some challenges when it comes to scaling application capacity.
As fintech companies expand their services, they need to be able to deliver document viewing capabilities to a larger number of users. If each viewing session requires the server to prepare and render documents for viewing, costs can quickly escalate. As server workloads increase, viewing responsiveness may be affected, resulting in delays and slower performance.
While some users may still need to use server-based viewing to access more powerful imaging and conversion features, many customers simply need a quick and easy way to view and make minor document alterations. Fintech developers need a versatile solution that can meet both requirements if they want to scale their services smoothly.
Introducing PrizmDoc Hybrid Viewing
PrizmDoc’s new Hybrid Viewing feature provides fintech applications the best of both worlds by offloading the document processing workloads required for viewing to client-side devices. Rather than using server resources to convert files into SVG format and render them for display, Hybrid Viewing instead converts files into PDF format and then delivers that document to the end user’s browser for viewing.
Shifting the bulk of document processing work to client-side devices significantly reduces server workloads, which translates into lower costs for fintech applications.
For documents not already in PDF format, the PrizmDoc Hybrid Viewing feature offers new PDF viewing packages that pre-convert documents into PDF for fast, responsive local viewing. By reducing the server requirements for rendering files, fintech providers can easily scale their applications without worrying about additional users increasing their document processing costs. PrizmDoc Hybrid Viewing also eliminates the need for separate viewing solutions implemented to work around server-based viewing, which allows developers to streamline their tech stack and further optimize customer experiences.
PrizmDoc’s Hybrid Viewing feature provides FinTech developers with several important benefits that improve application flexibility and deliver greater value to their customers.
Resource Savings Hybrid Viewing minimizes server loads by offloading the bulk of the processing required to view a document to client-side devices. Reducing server requirements translates into lower costs and frees up valuable processing resources for other critical fintech workloads.
Scalable Viewing Shifting the processing work required for viewing to local devices allows fintech applications to scale their user base with minimal cost.
Enhanced Performance Offloading document preparation to the end user’s device improves viewing speed and responsiveness, especially for large documents.
Increased Productivity Diverting workloads to client-side devices allows application users to process, view, and manage multiple documents faster. Fintech developers can leverage Hybrid Viewing to provide a better user experience that helps their customers to be more efficient and productive.
Improved Storage Management For documents not already in PDF format, Hybrid Viewing can utilize PDF-based viewing packages that are significantly smaller than conventional SVG viewing files. Files can be pre-converted for fast, easy viewing without taking up extra storage space.
Enhance FinTech Applications with PrizmDoc Hybrid Viewing
PrizmDoc’s new Hybrid Viewing feature allows fintech developers to seamlessly scale their application’s viewing capabilities without having to deploy new servers or rethink their cost structure. Shifting document processing to local devices provides end-users with faster, more responsive performance, especially when viewing lengthy documents. By keeping viewing-related costs low, fintech developers can focus their resources on developing new application features that help their products stand out in an increasingly competitive market.
ING Germany has tapped Paysafe’s cash arm, viafintech, to offer its users cash deposit and withdrawal services.
Using ING Germany’s Banking to Go app, customers can deposit and withdrawal cash at more than 12,500 participating brick-and-mortar stores.
Withdrawals are free, but customers will be charged a 1.5% fee on the total amount they deposit.
Global payments platform Paysafeannounced today that its cash arm, viafintech, has partnered with ING Germany. Under the agreement, ING Germany will leverage viafintech for its cash deposit and withdrawal features.
viafintech’s technology will enable ING Germany to offer its nine-plus million customers to access a new feature, ING Cash, in its Banking to Go app. The tool will empower users to make cash deposits or withdrawals from their current account at participating brick-and-mortar retailers.
Here’s how it works: a customer decides how much they want to withdraw or deposit, and the app generates a barcode that they can scan at a participating brick-and-mortar store. Currently, ING Germany has more than 12,500 participating stores in Germany, including Rewe, Penny, Rossmann, and dm drogerie Markt.
Users are not required to make a minimum purchase at the retail locations. And while it is free for them to withdrawal funds, ING Germany charges a 1.5% fee on the total amount they deposit.
viafintech was founded in 2011 and was acquired by Paysafe in 2021. The company’s API offers organizations access to its payment infrastructure that enables cash withdrawals and deposits, bill payments, credit payouts, cashless payment methods, prepaid solutions, and gift cards.
Paysafe is a legacy player in the fintech space, having launched in 1996. The U.K.-based company offers payment processing, digital wallet, and online cash solutions connecting businesses and consumers across 100 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world. Last year, Paysafe processed $120 billion in transactions. The company is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker PSFE and has a market capitalization of $824 million.
