Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Envestnet to Acquire Redi2 Technologies to Boost Billing & Accounting

Envestnet to Acquire Redi2 Technologies to Boost Billing & Accounting
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Envestnet, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Envestnet acquired revenue management and hosted fee-billing solutions company Redi2 Technologies.
  • Envestnet will use the buy to modernize its billing, accounting, and back office capabilities.
  • Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Financial wellness technology firm Envestnet announced its 16th acquisition today. The Chicago-based company announced it has purchased revenue management and hosted fee-billing solutions company Redi2 Technologies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Massachusetts, Redi2 offers a revenue management platform tailored to financial services companies. The tool offers fee calculation, invoice creation, payouts and accounting, and billing compliance. Among Redi2’s products are Revenue Manager, which provides client revenue accounting and billing services for asset managers; Wealth Manager, which delivers multi-party billing and payouts for broker-dealers and asset managers; and BillFin, which offers advisory billing and invoicing for financial advisors.

Envestnet will use Redi2’s technology to modernize its billing, accounting, and back office capabilities. The company anticipates the additional expertise will drive client engagement and ultimately boost revenue.

“Redi2 is a pioneer and innovator in the cloud-based delivery of wealth and investment management billing software, making them an ideal partner as we continue to strengthen our financial wellness ecosystem,” said Envestnet Executive Vice President of Business Lines Tom Sipp. “This acquisition enhances our strategic enablement of service and data, and over the next two years will create operating leverage by bringing Envestnet and Redi2’s administrative, revenue, and billing services together.”

Envestnet was founded in 1999. The company’s most noteworthy acquisition was its purchase of Yodlee in 2015. The Yodlee acquisition broadened Envestnet’s wealthtech offerings, launching it into the world of open finance. Envestnet is a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ENV and has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich

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5 Goals Driving the CFPB’s New Office

5 Goals Driving the CFPB’s New Office
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: List series, Thought Leadership

Earlier this spring, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a new effort to promote competition and innovation in consumer finance. Backing this effort, the CFPB is opening a new office, The Office of Competition and Innovation.

The Office of Competition and Innovation will replace the Office of Innovation, which relied on an application-based process to grant companies special regulatory treatment. The new office takes a much broader approach, and will consider obstructions hindering open markets and learn how large players make it difficult for small companies to operate. Ultimately, The Office of Competition and Innovation aims to make it easier for end consumers to switch among financial providers.

In order to pursue its mission to increase competition, the Office of Competition and Innovation will pursue the following four goals:

  1. Make it easy for consumers to switch providers
    When users can switch among financial services providers, there is more pressure on incumbents to offer better services, and new players have a better opportunity to acquire customers.
  2. Research structural problems blocking successes 
    The new office will have access to resources to examine what is creating obstacles to innovation. This could impact, for example, the payment networks market or the credit reporting system, both of which are considered oligopolies.
  3. Understand the advantages big players have over smaller players 
    Larger players have built-in advantages over small newcomers. As an example, big companies benefit from a large marketing reach, multi-faceted teams, and a built-in customer base. As the CFPB points out, this may threaten new competition.
  4. Identify ways around obstacles 
    Obstacles for smaller players include lack of access to talent, capital, or even to customer data. The CFPB is addressing the latter issue via a future open finance rule under Section 1033 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act that will give consumers access to their own data.
  5. Host events to explore barriers to entry and other obstacles 
    The new office will organize events such as open houses, sprints, hackathons, tabletop exercises, and war games to help entrepreneurs, small business owners, and technology professionals to collaborate, explore obstacles, and share frustrations with government regulators.

“Competition is one of the best forms of motivation. It can help companies innovate and make their products better, and their customers happier,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “We will be looking at ways to clear obstacles and pave the path to help people have more options and more easily make choices that are best for their needs.”

In financial services, open finance may be one of the best ways to promote competition. But because the U.S. does not have formal regulation around open banking or open finance, there isn’t enough incentive (yet) for financial services players and third party providers to cooperate when it comes to data sharing. In late 2020, however, the CFPB issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that solicited opinions from stakeholders on how customers’ data should be regulated. This was only a very early step in the process, and industry players still lack a standardized approach to open finance.

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OpenFin Lands Strategic Investment from ING Ventures

OpenFin Lands Strategic Investment from ING Ventures
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • OpenFin received a strategic investment from ING Ventures.
  • The amount of the investment was undisclosed, but adds to the company’s $47 million raised since 2010.
  • ING is an OpenFin OS client. The company began using OpenFin’s technology last year to accelerate its desktop transformation strategy.

Enterprise productivity company OpenFin received a strategic investment from ING Ventures this week. The amount of the investment was undisclosed. The New York-based company plans to use the funds to expand what it calls “the operating system (OS) of enterprise productivity,” or OpenFin OS.

OpenFin OS helps financial services organizations power internal and customer-facing digital experiences. OpenFin counts more than 2,400 banks, wealth management firms in 60+ countries as OpenFin OS users. Clients include 23 of top 25 global banks, including Barclays, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and more. OpenFin is aiming to expand the OpenFin OS “to every user within financial services.”

Today’s investor, ING, is an OpenFin OS client. The company began using OpenFin’s technology last year to accelerate its desktop transformation strategy. As a result of the implementation, ING employees can access intuitive workspace management and automated workflows, and as a result increase their productivity. 

“Our investment in OpenFin further validates our determination and commitment to digital transformation and innovation,” said ING Ventures Co-Head Frederic Hofmann. “We are excited to partner with OpenFin as they have proven to be the best in class app platform in this space, transforming distribution and significantly enhancing end-user productivity across the finance industry.”

The amount of today’s funding round was undisclosed, and so was the amount of OpenFin’s most recent round it received in December 2020. Despite this, we know that today’s investment brings the company’s total raised to north of $47 million since it was founded in 2010. That’s the amount of the previous eight investments OpenFin received from investors including Bain Capital Ventures, Barclays, CME Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, NYCA Partners, Pivot Investment Partners, SC Ventures, and Wells Fargo Strategic Capital.

Last April, OpenFin launched Workspace, a tool to help business users consolidate and automate their work across applications and tasks using a single interface. Since then, the company was awarded the “Best Workplace for Change and Transformation” by Harrington Starr.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

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Wirex Launches Crypto Line of Credit

Wirex Launches Crypto Line of Credit
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Wirex launched a new line of credit, enabling users to borrow stablecoins against their crypto holdings.
  • The new credit offering enables users to access the value of their crypto holdings without needing to sell off their crypto assets.
  • Users can borrow up to $100,000 issued in USDC, USDT and NXUSD in exchange for their BTC and ETH holdings.

Cryptocurrency payments platform Wirex introduced a new line of credit this week.

The new offering, Wirex Credit, enables Wirex’s five million customers to instantly borrow up to $100,000 issued in USDC, USDT, and NXUSD. Wirex uses clients’ BTC or ETH (with more crypto options launching soon) as collateral with zero origination or setup fees. Users can borrow up to 80% of the value of their crypto holdings and only pay interest once their credit line goes live.

Wirex Credit helps customers access the value of their crypto holdings without having to sell. This is especially useful in the current crypto environment. Because the value of BTC and ETH is down, users would have to sell their holdings at a loss if they wanted to make a purchase using crypto. By converting their holdings to stablecoins first, Wirex clients can make purchases using crypto without selling at an inopportune time.

Users can take advantage of Wirex Credit within the Wirex app and receive stablecoins immediately, with no affordability or credit checks.

“This is a landmark point in Wirex offering more ways for everyday users to utilise crypto, and we’ve made it as convenient and straightforward as possible for our customers to take a crypto-backed loan,” said Wirex CEO and Cofounder Pavel Matveev. “Wirex’s vast ecosystem of products means there are huge opportunities for using Wirex Credit, from HODLing to debit card purchases, or using the Wirex Wallet to earn in DeFi protocols.”

Founded in 2014, Wirex offers an app linked to a Visa debit card that allows customers to spend their cryptocurrency online and in-store at over 61 million locations. The company offers free domestic and international ATM withdrawals, no annual fee, zero exchange fees, near instant crypto transactions, live transaction notifications, and the ability to instantly top up via their debit card with zero fees. Today’s line of credit launch rounds out this set of financial services tools, bringing the company one step closer to providing a comprehensive financial services offering.

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Superapp Bano Taps Currencycloud for FX Converter

Superapp Bano Taps Currencycloud for FX Converter
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Currency Cloud, Daily news
  • Australian superapp Bano has selected Currencycloud to facilitate low FX rates.
  • Integrating Currencycloud’s API offers Bano users access to Currencycloud’s low FX rates, which makes investing in the U.S. stock market more accessible for Bano users.
  • “Bano is committed to simplifying financial management for Australia’s GenZ and Millennials,” said Bano Head of Financial Markets and Treasury Randall Maccan.

Visa-owned Currencycloud announced this week it has been selected by Australia-based superapp Bano. Bano will leverage Currencycloud’s FX Converter to facilitate remittances for its Millennial and Gen Z users.

Bano is a digital banking app regulated by ASIC and AUSTRAC. The startup, which is is accessible in over 180 countries, offers physical and virtual Visa debit cards with features such as bill-splitting, fund requests, FX conversions, cashback, rewards, and multi-currency accounts.

Integrating Currencycloud’s API offers Bano users access to Currencycloud’s low FX rates and low AUD to USD conversion rates. This low conversion rate will make investing in the U.S. stock market more accessible for Bano users.

“Bano is committed to simplifying financial management for Australia’s GenZ and Millennials,” said Bano Head of Financial Markets and Treasury Randall Maccan. “Enlarging the breadth of our superapp services with products like the FX Converter is a key part of this mission. Our partnership with Currencycloud has meant we can create a product that will provide a much-needed service for our customers, especially international students in Australia.”

Founded in 2012, Currencycloud facilitates cross-border, multi-currency transactions. The London-based company has processed more than $100 billion to over 180 countries for bank and fintech clients including Starling Bank, Revolut, Penta, and Lunar. 

In July of last year, Visa snapped up Currencycloud in a deal that valued the company at $963 million. Last October, the company partnered with Plaid, embedding Plaid’s Payment Initiation Services into its own solution to allow customers to fund their accounts without ever leaving the platform.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich

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Digital Financing Platform Funding Societies Acquires Payments Solution CardUp

Digital Financing Platform Funding Societies Acquires Payments Solution CardUp
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Digital financing platform Funding Societies agreed to acquire payments solutions company CardUp.
  • The announcement comes four months after Funding Societies closed a $294 million Series C investment.
  • Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Digital financing platform Funding Societies has agreed to acquire payments solutions company CardUp for an undisclosed amount. The news comes four months after Funding Societies raised $294 million in Series C funding.

Singapore-based Funding Societies will leverage CardUp’s payments products to complement its own lending capabilities. The new tools will empower its SME clients to manage and pay expenses, receive payments, and borrow funds.

CardUp, which is also headquartered in Singapore, offers payment capabilities, such as card payments to non-card accepting recipients, online payments acceptance, invoice automation tools, and licenses and integrations with third-party software to help businesses make and collect payments. The no-code solutions make it easy for companies to improve cash flow management, unlock rewards on existing credit cards, and automate tasks. Since it launched in 2016, CardUp has served “tens of thousands” of business clients ranging from micro businesses to corporates.

CardUp will continue to operate its consumer and business services. The company’s employees across Asia will transition over to the Funding Societies team and CardUp CEO Nicki Ramsay will join Funding Societies’ management team to lead its payments business.

Funding Societies, which is licensed and registered in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and operates in Vietnam, connects small businesses with financing while offering alternative investment opportunities for individual investors. The company offers a range of financing products, including micro loans, term loans, invoice financing, supply chain financing, revolving credit, and more. In 2021, Funding Societies connected small businesses with $1 billion in working capital. Funding Societies also supports businesses with a credit card that offers 5% cashback.

“Acquiring CardUp enables us to leapfrog and accelerate our market leadership in the regional fintech space, integrating payments capabilities, enhanced user experience, and local licenses to our digital lending experience across key markets,” said Funding Societies Co-founder and CEO Kelvin Teo. “We are excited to work with the CardUp team and are honored to join forces with them.”

Photo by Ilya Chunin on Unsplash

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FIS Launches Guaranteed Payments Solution for Protection Against Chargebacks

FIS Launches Guaranteed Payments Solution for Protection Against Chargebacks
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, FIS, Signifyd
  • FIS is launching its Guaranteed Payments solution this week that boosts merchants’ ecommerce transaction approval rates and guarantees protection against chargebacks.
  • FIS is partnering with ecommerce fraud prevention company Signifyd to reduce merchant chargebacks.
  • “With this solution, customer retention works hand in hand with fraud elimination to unlock incredible revenue growth opportunities,” said Signifyd CEO and Co-founder Raj Ramanand. 

Core banking expert FIS is launching a Guaranteed Payments solution this week. The new tool guarantees merchants increased ecommerce transaction approval rates and eliminates the financial liability of chargebacks resulting from fraudulent purchases.

Guaranteed Payments, which is available across the Signifyd Commerce Network and integrated into FIS’ Worldpay platform, facilitates increased merchant approval rates and provides guaranteed chargeback protection. The new technology combines machine learning and transaction intelligence to analyze aspects of a consumer’s purchase, including email address and payment credentials. Leveraging that information, Guaranteed Payments can instantly distinguish legitimate orders from fraudulent orders. The reduced fraud helps merchants optimize revenue and fulfill orders more quickly.

“Guaranteed Payments brings together two powerful sources of transaction intelligence—the Worldpay data stream produced from processing 40 billion orders annually and the Signifyd Commerce Network of thousands of merchants worldwide,” said FIS Chief Product Officer Vicky Bindra. She adds that the new tool can “combine fraud protection with increased approvals to enhance payment optimization and the overall user experience.”

Preventing chargebacks is at the heart of Signifyd’s technology. The California-based company helps identify fraudulent product orders using machine learning algorithms that sift through big data, including user behavior patterns, to reduce merchant chargebacks on fraudulent charges and save money on shipping goods on declined orders. In the event an order turns out to be fraudulent, Signifyd reimburses the merchant for the chargeback.

“Merchants using Signifyd experience a 5 to 9 percent increase in top line conversion on average,” said Signifyd CEO and Co-founder Raj Ramanand. “With this solution, customer retention works hand in hand with fraud elimination to unlock incredible revenue growth opportunities.”

FIS’ Guaranteed Payments is launching at a time when ecommerce activity and the fraud the comes along with it are at an all-time high. While the ecommerce market is predicted to grow 50% in the next two years, so is the fraud that comes along with it. In the past year, nine out of 10 merchants lost revenue due to payment fraud. False positives are hurting merchants, as well. Even though fraud currently accounts for about 1% of online transactions, merchants routinely reject as much as 9% of orders to avoid fraud, missing out on $443 billion in potential revenue.

Photo by RODNAE Productions

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PayPal Adds New Business Credit Card

PayPal Adds New Business Credit Card
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, PayPal
  • PayPal launched a small business credit card this week.
  • The PayPal Business Cashback Mastercard is PayPal’s first business credit card.
  • PayPal also offers a range of other tools for small businesses, including working capital tools, business loans, risk management support, and more.

Small businesses in the U.S. have gained yet another credit card option this week with PayPal’s launch of its its first commercial credit card.

The PayPal Business Cashback Mastercard, which is issued by WebBank, has no annual fee and offers cardholders 2% cashback on all purchases. The rewards are not subject to earning caps nor do they expire. Additionally, the card comes with free employee cards, does not charge a foreign transaction fee, and integrates with PayPal’s merchant platform to facilitate access to transactions, balances, available credit, and rewards.

Once a business is approved for the card, it can immediately begin spending via a virtual card that is automatically integrated into their PayPal account. Businesses can view their account and spending details via their PayPal Business account.

“As small business owners continue to recover from the challenges of the past two years, having multiple financing options to address their capital needs is more important than ever,” said PayPal Vice President of Global Merchant Lending Bernardo Martinez. “The PayPal Business Cashback Mastercard provides merchants greater value, more choice, and the increased flexibility they need to manage their business finances, offering among the best value available on no annual fee business credit cards today. This new solution continues PayPal’s commitment to supporting small businesses and offering options to help manage the day-to-day costs of operating their business.”

Founded in 1998, PayPal has long been an ally to small businesses. In addition to the business credit card, the California-based company also offers a working capital solution that has distributed more than $20 billion, as well as payout capabilities, business loans, payment acceptance tools, risk management support, and more. These products have helped PayPal amass 20 million small business customers in the U.S. And this is no small feat, given the fact that there are only 33 million small businesses in the U.S.

The launch of the The PayPal Business Cashback Mastercard comes five years after PayPal launched its credit card for individual users in 2017.

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Further Unveils VC Fund Investment Platform

Further Unveils VC Fund Investment Platform
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Further, a company that helps democratize investing in VC funds, is launching this week.
  • The London-based company enables users to invest as little as £1,000 in startups that are not publicly available.
  • The company allows anyone to invest, as long as they agree not to invest more than 10% of their net assets in shares, bonds, or funds that are not listed or sold on a stock exchange.

London-based Further is launching this week to help democratize investing in VC funds. The company enables users to invest in startups that are not publicly available.

The company’s platform enables users to browse, review, and compare funds, and easily invest as little as £1,000. Once the investment is made, Further enlists U.K. fund managers to invest users’ money into startups that are not generally available to everyday investors. Investors receive returns after around five to 10 years when the startup they invest in exits via sale or IPO.

Accessibility is Further’s differentiating factor. The company allows anyone to invest, as long as they agree not to invest more than 10% of their net assets in shares, bonds, or funds that are not listed or sold on a stock exchange.

That limit is in place for good reason– there is significant risk associated with VC investments. However, while many funds fail, others are quite successful. According to Pitchbook, European VC has delivered an internal rate of return of 14% across a 10-year timespan.

At a time when the public markets are in bear territory, Further’s launch comes at an ideal time. “I’d much prefer to be investing in a fund now and getting the valuations VCs are getting now [rather than last year’s],” Further CEO and cofounder Rob Tominey told Sifted. “The early returns will be strong.”

Further makes money in a couple of different ways. The company charges the funds a marketing fee and also charges investors a small percentage. Consumers also face fees from the funds themselves; each fund they invest in charges fees for onboarding and fund management services. Further argues, however, that the tax benefits users receive help to balance out the expense of the fees. “In addition, the company’s website states, “you can receive tax reliefs alongside each fund’s expert knowledge and management. These tax reliefs typically exceed the lifetime fees charged by funds, although this is not guaranteed.”

Photo by RODNAE Productions

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Digital Bank Kroo Receives Full U.K. Banking License

Digital Bank Kroo Receives Full U.K. Banking License
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Digital banking startup Kroo received a full banking license from the Bank of England.
  • Kroo will use the new authorization to offer personal current accounts in the coming months.
  • The full banking license places Kroo in competition with Monzo, Starling Bank, and Atom Bank.

Digital banking startup Kroo just received a full banking license from the Bank of England. With the new authorization, the U.K.-based bank plans to offer personal current accounts (checking accounts).

Founded in 2016, Kroo offers a prepaid Mastercard with a tandem mobile app that provides spending insights, peer-to-peer money transfers, bill-splitting capabilities, and more. The payment card, which is biodegradable, works in more than 75 countries.

Kroo will add current accounts to its product line “in the coming months.” After launch, the company will offer its 23,000 customers the option to migrate to the new offering for free.

Kroo CEO Andrea De Gottardo said that the banking license represents a “phenomenal milestone” for the company, which has a mission to create a bank that connects people financially. “The bar to be granted a U.K. banking license is exceptionally high, and I am incredibly proud of the team and our work in achieving this,” De Gottardo added.

Having a full banking license helps Kroo differentiate itself from the massive number of competitors in the digital banking space, since the accreditation enables the bank to protect customers’ deposits of up to £85,000 via the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Along with this, the license allows Kroo to offer a wider range of products, including loans and savings.

Kroo is only the second bank to earn a full banking license with a personal account since 2016. Having the full license places Kroo in competition with major digital banks, including Monzo, Starling Bank, and Atom Bank. Other European-based digital banks Revolut, Klarna, and Wise, have yet to receive their full banking licenses.

Today’s news comes weeks after Kroo closed on a $30 million (£26 million) Series B funding round. The investment brought Kroo’s total funding to $71.5 million.

Photo by James Giddins on Unsplash

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Raisin Bank’s Newest Acquisition Helps it Expand into Bulk Payments and Cash

Raisin Bank’s Newest Acquisition Helps it Expand into Bulk Payments and Cash
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Raisin Bank has agreed to acquire the payment division of Bankhaus August Lenz.
  • The move will help Raisin Bank diversify its revenue sources by adding payment services to its product lineup.
  • Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Banking-as-a-service player Raisin Bank is adding cash and payment services to its product lineup. This comes as the Germany-based firm has acquired the payment division of Bankhaus August Lenz, a private bank headquartered in Munich. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The move will help Raisin Bank diversify its revenue sources by adding payment services. The new capabilities enable Raisin Bank to offer customers electronic payment transactions and cash solutions. Bankhaus August Lenz’s Mirko Siepmann will head up the new division, which aims to help retailers, restaurant, gas stations, and non-bank operators of ATMs, facilitate the operation of more than 4,500 ATMs in Germany. 

“As a service bank, we will act much more independently and powerfully with the expansion of our payment solutions and continue our growth in the banking-as-a-service market throughout Europe advance,” said Raisin Bank Chief Commercial Officer Dr. Andreas Wolf. “With the new business area, we can position ourselves even better as a provider for bulk payments.”

Raisin Bank, previously MHB-Bank, was founded in 1973. The bank acquired European fintech Raisin in 2019 and has since been working toward its goal to become the leading banking-as-a-service provider in Europe. The bank offers digital solutions to help startups, institutional investors, and financial service providers seeking banking licenses to enhance customer and account management, payment transactions, and lending. Raisin Bank stated in today’s press release that adding payment services represents an “important strategic step on the way to becoming a powerful full-service provider.”

Photo by Anete Lusina

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Glia Acquires Finn AI for Undisclosed Sum

Glia Acquires Finn AI for Undisclosed Sum
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Finn.ai, Glia, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Digital customer service firm Glia agreed to acquire conversational AI technology company Finn AI.
  • Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • Glia Co-founder and CEO Dan Michaeli said that Finn AI is a strong fit for Glia because of its technology, market approach, and company culture. 

Digital customer service firm Glia is enhancing its offering with its recent acquisition of conversational AI technology company and fellow Finovate alum Finn AI.

Financial terms of the agreement, which will integrate Finn.ai’s conversational AI solutions into Glia’s customer service platform, were not disclosed. Glia Co-founder and CEO Dan Michaeli said that Finn AI is a strong fit for Glia because of its technology, market approach, and company culture. 

“This marks a new chapter for Virtual Assistants: Verticalization with Scale,” Michaeli said. “Generic ‘one-size-fits-all’ bot providers have largely failed to meet the full potential of conversational AI, leading to the emergence of vendors focusing on specific industry verticals. Until now, none of the financial services bot vendors have been able to achieve widespread adoption on their own.”

Finn AI Co-founder and CEO Jake Tyler said that joining forces with Glia will offer Finn AI scale. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., Finn AI aims to transform customer engagement and increase financial literacy with its AI-powered conversational banking technology. Among the company’s clients are ATB Financial, BECU, United Federal Credit Union, EQ Bank, Civista Bank, and Truist Momentum.

According to the press release, Finn AI and Glia have a lot of shared clients, and Finn AI’s technology is already integrated into Glia. Post-acquisition, the company’s leadership team will take on leadership positions within Glia. As for Finn AI’s Canadian headquarters, Glia plans to use the location to establish a “Conversational AI Center of Excellence.”

Glia was founded in 2012 as SaleMove. The company offers digital communication choices, on-screen collaboration, and AI-enabled assistance tools. Glia, which has taken home 10 Finovate Best of Show awards for its live demos, most recently showcased its tools at FinovateSpring 2021. Finn AI also boasts accolades from the Finovate audience, having taken home two Finovate Best of Show awards for its demos at FinovateAsia 2016 and FinovateFall 2017.

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