Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Unit Raises $100 Million for Banking-as-a-Service

Unit Raises $100 Million for Banking-as-a-Service
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Unit received $100 million in Series C funding this week.
  • The funding boosts the company’s total investment to $170 million and brings its valuation to $1.2 billion.
  • The company, which will unveil its business credit card in the next few months, will use the investment to accelerate its product development and expand into credit offerings.

Banking-as-a-Service company Unit has reached unicorn status this week after a $100 million Series C round. The investment brings the California-based company’s valuation to $1.2 billion and boosts its total funding to $170 million.

Insight Partners led today’s round and existing investors Accel, Better Tomorrow Ventures, and Flourish Ventures also contributed, along with new investors Moving Capital and Stepstone.

“Unit has established itself as the leader in the banking-as-a-service space, backed by the overwhelming positive customer feedback and traction they have shown over the last year,” said Insight Partners Co-Founder and Managing Director Jeff Horing. “The company has been able to onboard high-growth tech companies of all sizes, from startups to publicly listed enterprises, with their superior technology, speed, and reliability. We are bullish on the future of embedded finance and see Unit as the platform of choice for companies big and small.”

Unit was founded in 2019 to help companies build banking products such as bank accounts, cards, payment products, and lending tools into their existing offering. The company will use today’s funding to accelerate product development and expand into credit offerings. Unit will launch its first business credit card product in the next few months and aims to add more credit products in the future.

“Credit is the clear next step of growth and we believe it will be the most important wave in financial services in the coming years,” said Unit CEO and Co-Founder Itai Damti. “With this new round of funding, Unit will be able to empower the companies best suited to offer credit with the technology and infrastructure to make that a reality.”

Unit has experienced impressive growth over the past year, riding the banking-as-a-service wave that has been sweeping fintech. The company added more than 140 customers over the past year and, over the last six months, Unit’s transaction value has grown 7x to $2.6 billion. Among the company’s clients are AngelList, HoneyBook, Homebase, Veryable, Roofstock, Hearth, and Benepass.

Photo by Ryan Quintal on Unsplash

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Thought Machine Doubles Valuation to $2.7 Billion After Series D Funding Round

Thought Machine Doubles Valuation to $2.7 Billion After Series D Funding Round
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Thought Machine
  • Core banking expert Thought Machine raised $160 million in Series D funding.
  • The investment was led by Temasek and saw participation from Intesa Sanpaolo, Morgan Stanley, Eurazeo, ING, JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking Group, and SEB.
  • Thought Machine’s valuation now totals $2.7 million, double the valuation it held last fall.

Core banking innovator Thought Machine landed $160 million in a Series D funding round which values the company at $2.7 billion. This number is two times than the valuation the company received at the close of its Series C round in November of last year.

Today’s investment was led by Temasek and saw participation from Intesa Sanpaolo and Morgan Stanley, as well as existing investors Eurazeo, ING, JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking Group, and SEB. As part of today’s agreement, Lloyds Banking Group has extended its license agreement with Thought Machine until 2029.

“This new round of funding bringing Temasek, Morgan Stanley, and Intesa Sanpaolo into the business is our statement of intent: we intend to become the leader in core banking technology, and are being deployed by the biggest, most successful banks around the world,” said Thought Machine Founder and CEO Paul Taylor.

Thought Machine already operates in New York, Singapore, and Australia, and will soon be available in Latin America. The company will use the funding to fuel further global expansion into the Asia Pacific region, as well. Specifically, Thought Machine is scoping out Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

The company will also use a portion of today’s investment to expand on the capabilities of its existing core banking offering and explore new product lines. “We will use this new capital to accelerate our expansion plans, serve more clients around the world, and continuously refine the capabilities of our core banking platform and other products,” explained Taylor.

With 500 employees and $563 million in funding, U.K.-based Thought Machine has been working to transform the core banking space since 2014. Among the company’s clients are Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered, Atom bank, Monese, SEB, and JP Morgan Chase.

Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA

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Greenlight Unveils Credit Card

Greenlight Unveils Credit Card
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Challenger bank Greenlight launched a credit card, the Family Cash Card.
  • The card offers up to 3% cash back and allows users to automatically invest the rewards into a mutual funds or ETFs.
  • This is Greenlight’s first credit card and first product marketed to parents.

Family-focused fintech Greenlight revealed plans this week to launch a credit card called the Family Cash Card. This is the Georgia-based company’s first credit card as well as its first card marketed at parents.

Launching in partnership with Mastercard and issued by First National Bank of Omaha, the credit card offers up to 3% cash back when users spend more than $4,000 per month. While parents can opt to have the rewards deposited into their bank account, they can also automatically invest their rewards into a set of recommended mutual funds and ETFs. If they want more options, users can invest the rewards via the Greenlight app.

“Families today have an increasing amount of expenses, making it difficult for many to save for the long-term,” said Greenlight Co-founder and CEO Tim Sheehan. “At Greenlight, we’re focused on helping families build healthy financial futures. With the new Family Cash Card, parents can get the most out of everyday spending and invest towards big life events like their children’s college education.”

Sheehan told TechCrunch that, while Greenlight liked the idea of the rewards accruing into a 529 plan that would help parents pay for their childrens’ education, the company decided that more users would appreciate traditional investment vehicles. “We looked at the 529, and we just decided, after talking to really a lot of parents, that they basically valued flexibility over the small tax benefit of the 529. Essentially, they said, I would rather have the flexibility and not be penalized to use the money for anything my family needs,” said Sheehan.

Founded in 2014, Greenlight offers a money management platform for families that helps five million parents and kids gain skills to manage their earnings, savings, spending, giving, and learn to invest via a debit card, companion app, and educational resources. Last April, the company raised $260 million in a round that valued the company at $2.3 billion.

Photo by Neenu Vimalkumar on Unsplash

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Has Fintech Failed?

Has Fintech Failed?
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Julie's Column, Thought Leadership

If you measure the beginning of fintech as 1886, the industry has had a very long time to get things right. Even if you consider 2007 as the birth of fintech, we have still had 15 years to deliver on the promises of improving and automating banking and finance.

In a panel at FinovateEurope titled, “Power Panel: What Do We All Need To Go Away & Think About?” the Financial Data and Technology Association’s Head of Europe Ghela Boskovich (pictured on the right in the photo below) declared that fintech has failed, citing the millions of underbanked citizens across the globe.

There are, of course, two sides to the coin. Below, we take a look at how fintech has failed, along with the wins the industry has accomplished over the years.

Fail

  • Underbanked populations are still left in the dark
    There have been hundreds of solutions created specifically to help underbanked populations. Some are very specific, like the ones that help people build up their credit score by reporting on-time rent payments. Others, such as niche challenger banks, offer a host of tools under one solution.
    Despite these efforts, 22% of American adults are either unbanked or underbanked. The industry is either not creating effective solutions or not reaching the right people.
  • Integrations are broken
    Even though many U.S. consumers do not know what the term “open finance” means, they are well aware of its implications. With very few exceptions, banks and fintechs don’t share customer data effectively. Users either need to manually input their financial data or they are continuously asked to re-authenticate to make data aggregation possible.
  • Open banking regulation is non-existent in the U.S.
    While Europe has been enjoying the benefits of open banking since its mandates went into effect in September 2018, the U.S. is still behind. However, President Joe Biden signed the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy last July. The order urges the CFPB to implement rules supporting open banking.
  • Fraud is rampant
    Consumers have been struggling to safeguard not only their digital identity but also their personally identifiable information and payment credentials since before the dawn of the internet. Fraud incidents have increased dramatically in the past few years, further proving that the industry has a lot to do to stay ahead in this subsector.
  • Digital identity is flawed
    Having users prove they are who they say they are has always been a headache in the fintech industry. Keeping track of login credentials has consistently irked users, and fraudulent account takeovers has proven that a username and a password aren’t enough. While many biometric authentication methods would have seemed futuristic to us two decades ago, many still cause too much friction in the user experience and aren’t enough to keep bad actors away.
  • Real-time is still a dream
    While the blockchain has helped bring some transactions, authentications, and approvals into near-real time, the concept of instant banking activity is still far from reality. Consumers are still waiting three days for bank payments to clear. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s FedNow service has been working on a fix for this for years and is now piloting the solution. However, the target launch date isn’t until 2023.

It’s easy to identify these shortcomings, especially when there’s so much promising innovation to look forward to. However, let’s take a look at some of the ways the fintech industry has fulfilled its promises to make users’ financial lives easier, simplified, and more informed.

Win

  • Helped underbanked populations
    Though the number of unbanked consumers is still shockingly high, fintech has done a lot to help populations with no access to a bank account. The war on payday lending may be one of the brightest examples of this. Fintech has not only helped to highlight the hazards of payday lenders, the industry also has created tools such as earned wage access to help employees smooth out their cashflow and meet their financial obligations on time.
  • Supported digital-first customers
    The fintech industry has come a long way since the implementation of SMS banking in 2007. Even though it was such as simple innovation, only a handful of banks offered banking via text.
    Compare this to where the industry is today. Even the smallest financial institutions offer rich digital banking tools that can pack an entire bank branch’s worth of activity into a client’s smartphone.
  • Made banking available any time (even if transactions still don’t clear after hours)
    By supporting digital-first and digital-only customers, the fintech industry has also helped consumers who prefer to bank in-branch. That’s because users can still accomplish many banking activities, such as a loan application, even after branches have closed.
  • Provided plenty of employment opportunities for all of the recovering bankers out there
    This one is self-explanatory. How many times have you heard someone in the fintech space describe themselves as a “recovering banker”?

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

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Token Raises $40 Million for Open Banking

Token Raises $40 Million for Open Banking
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Token
  • Open banking expert Token landed a $40 million Series C investment.
  • The round, which was co-led by Cota Capital and TempoCap, boosted the company’s total funding to $90 million.
  • Among Token’s clients are BNP Paribas, HSBC, Mastercard, Nuvei, Paysafe, Ecommpay, Rewire, Coingate, Sonae Universo, Volt, and Vyne.

Open banking innovator Token.io closed a $40 million Series C funding round this week. The investment was co-led by Cota Capital and TempoCap and boosted Token’s total funding to $90 million.

New investors Element Ventures, MissionOG, and PostFinance also pitched in, along with existing contributors Octopus Ventures, Opera Tech Ventures, and SBI Investments. 

Token will use the capital to shift consumer habits from traditional payment methods like cards and wallets to open banking-enabled account-to-account (A2A) payments. Specifically, the company aims to enhance its APIs for Variable Recurring Payments and open finance functionality.

“With this investment, we will continue to expand open banking connectivity and push the boundaries of functionality beyond regulatory requirements to make A2A payments a mainstream payment method,” said Token CEO Todd Clyde.

Founded in 2016, Token is focused on driving the shift from traditional payment methods– such as cash and credit cards– towards bank payments. The company’s platform works towards this mission by enhancing open banking connectivity across Europe and supporting existing payment providers.

“Token’s A2A payments offering delivers faster and more secure payments than traditional methods while at a lower cost,” said TempoCap Investment Partner Adam Shepherd. “Token’s technology is enabling an impressive set of payment providers to offer seamless experiences for their merchant customers and, in turn, end users.”

Token’s client list includes BNP Paribas, HSBC, Mastercard, Nuvei, Paysafe, Ecommpay, Rewire, Coingate, Sonae Universo, Volt, and Vyne.

Photo by Tim Douglas

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Experian Acquires Majority Stake in Brazil’s MOVA

Experian Acquires Majority Stake in Brazil’s MOVA
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Experian, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Experian has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Brazil-based MOVA Sociedade de Empréstimo entre Pessoas S.A. (MOVA) for $7.89 million (R$40 million).
  • Experian will take a 51% stake in MOVA today, with the option to acquire the remainder of the company between 2026 and 2028.
  • Experian is interested in P2P lender MOVA because it has the potential to enable Experian to help Brazilian companies assess the creditworthiness of their SME clients.

Information services company Experian will acquire a 51% stake in Brazil-based MOVA Sociedade de Empréstimo entre Pessoas S.A. (MOVA) for $7.89 million (R$40 million).

Headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil, MOVA is a peer-to-peer lending platform that seeks to offer borrowers an alternative to traditional bank loans. The company also offers a range B2B tools, including a credit-assessment-as-a-service product to offer automate credit decisioning, a service to help companies register a credit request, anti-fraud tools, and more.

Experian’s interest in MOVA stems from this ability to help Brazilian companies assess the creditworthiness of their SME clients. “SMEs are underserved by affordable credit in Brazil and MOVA is tackling this issue,” Experian said in an announcement.

A full acquisition is still on the table. Experian has a call option to acquire the remaining 49% stake in MOVA between 2026 and 2028. In 2029, the deal reverts to a put option for MOVA.

Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Ireland, Experian offers a range of services for small businesses, including business credit reporting, marketing products and services, debt collection tools, and more. On the consumer-facing side, Experian offers credit reports and scores, identity theft protection, and a marketplace to compare credit card, loan, and insurance offers.

Photo by Rafaela Biazi on Unsplash

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CMFG Ventures Director Elizabeth McCluskey on Fintech Funding, Valuations, and What’s Next

CMFG Ventures Director Elizabeth McCluskey on Fintech Funding, Valuations, and What’s Next
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Speaker series

There have been plenty of discussions surrounding fintech valuations this year. Rumors of a bubble have plagued fintech for a few years, and high valuations combined with seemingly endless funding rounds have analysts raising their eyebrows.

We spoke with CMFG Director of Discovery Fund Elizabeth McCluskey to get her take on fintech investment, M&A activity, and industry trends.

How is this year trending so far when it comes to investing? What are the funding numbers and volume as compared to years past?

Elizabeth McCluskey: Fintech startups raised $28.8 billion in funding during Q1 2022. Despite being down 18% from the previous quarter, this marked the fourth-largest funding quarter on record. And this represents a large share of all venture capital activity; fintech startups raised 1 out of every 5 VC dollars in Q1, indicating that the sector is still immensely popular for investors. CMFG Ventures is no exception—we’re on pace for our busiest and biggest year to-date since the inception of our funds. Transactions have been strong across all stages of companies.

Our two funds serve distinct purposes but share the same goal of fostering innovation between financial institutions and fintechs. Our main fund supports Series A companies and beyond, investing in fintechs focused on lending, banking technology, financial wellness, challenger banks, and insurtech. It has supported and validated nearly 50 fintechs. In 2021, we launched the Discovery Fund to support underrepresented entrepreneurs, who are building solutions for financial inclusion. It has funded 12 early- stage companies led by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women founders.

Some have talked of a funding slowdown. Do you expect 2022 to finish with lower funding totals than last year? Or will it build on the momentum?

McCluskey: Fintech continues to be a space for disruption and growth, presenting the industry with many opportunities to fund new solutions. The biggest fintech IPO of 2021 was Coinbase, which today has a market cap around $16bn. That seems like a large number, but it’s less than 5% of the market cap of the largest bank in the U.S., JP Morgan. Clearly, there is valuable market share still to be gained by fintechs. By capitalizing relevant and scalable companies, VCs can give fintechs the agility they need to compete in an increasingly active space.  

2022 will build on several years of momentum – regardless of whether the final funding numbers are higher or lower than 2021. There is still a lot to do to keep pace with the rapid digitization of finance. Consumers expect Amazon-like speeds of interactions and a hyper-personalized, predictive experience. And businesses want their trusted financial institutions to deliver quick, frictionless decisions and client service. Financial services technology is primed for a future of tremendous growth for years to come.

Are we currently experiencing a fintech bubble? Do you think fintechs are overvalued?

McCluskey: It’s easy to get caught up in bubble talk, and there are certainly some frothy valuations in the private market in particular. However, there are many underlying opportunities for disruption and innovation, which leads me to believe the industry isn’t experiencing a bubble. What I do think we are seeing is fintech startups maturing to the point where they are being treated more like their “established” peers, and that is a good thing. While private markets may value potential in the form of user growth or even revenue generation, the public market wants to see profits. 

Fintech companies that went public in 2021 have performed quite poorly vs the S&P, despite displaying strong revenue growth that in many cases exceeded expectations. The reason for this has been big misses on their earnings per share (EPS) results. For example, Robinhood’s user growth has been over 50% in the last year, and revenue nearly doubled. Yet they are down over 75% from their IPO price after disappointing from an earnings perspective. I don’t think we’ve seen a correction to the same extent in private markets yet, because companies are typically only resetting their price 1-2x per year when they raise a new round. So I expect private valuations to be a bit more tempered going forward.

What trends are you looking to invest in this year? Are there any specific trends you’re following?

McCluskey: As the Director of the Discovery Fund, I’m interested in fintechs focused on financial inclusion, specifically how we can make financial services more affordable and accessible to everyday Americans. This need only will grow in importance as people adjust to rising interest rates. Millennials and Gen Z have never experienced a sustained rising rate environment. Savers will be able to earn more, but borrowers will be impacted by higher rates for auto loans, mortgages, and personal loans. Our investments in portfolio companies like Climb, Line, and Zirtue will help them manage these uncharted waters.

I’m also interested in non-crypto applications of blockchain and distributed ledger tech, particularly in the mortgage industry. Use of these technologies has the potential to revolutionize the process of homebuying, as well as the secondary market for mortgages. A portfolio company of ours, Home Lending Pal, is working with IBM to make this process more seamless for both first time buyers and the financial institutions lending to them.

And lastly, I’m on the lookout for fintech solutions focused on the Latinx consumer. The GDP of this segment is growing 57% faster than the U.S.’s, according to a 2021 LDC U.S. Latino GDP report. Despite its size, the demographic continues to be an underserved market. Companies like Listo are building solutions to provide credit to Latinx consumers who are credit invisible yet display strong creditworthiness.

2021 was a record-making year for exits. Will we see increased M&A and IPO activity this year or are you expecting things to slow down?

McCluskey: M&A and IPO activity skyrocketed in 2021, yet the landscape may look a little different this year. Interest rates will play a factor in M&A, as borrowing money to fund acquisitions is expected to become more expensive. That said, if economic growth slows, then acquisitions are one way to bolster profits and growth.

Given the expected volatility in the public markets, I believe many companies will continue to raise VC dollars rather than following the IPO route, even if private market valuations take a hit. And we will continue to see the emergence of platforms for secondary transactions of private companies, which will enable employees to get liquidity even without an IPO.

Photo by Jeremy Levin

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Checkout.com Acquires ubble to Bolster Digital Identity Expertise

Checkout.com Acquires ubble to Bolster Digital Identity Expertise
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Checkout.com is acquiring online identity verification provider ubble.
  • The move will enable Checkout.com to help its clients ensure compliance and stay ahead of changing regulations.
  • Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Global payments solutions provider Checkout.com is boosting its digital identity expertise with the acquisition of online identity verification service provider ubble.

ubble was founded in 2018 to reinvent remote identity verification through video. The France-based company’s flagship solution offers clients automated verification of their users’ identity for over 2,000 types of documents from 214 countries and territories worldwide.

“ubble was founded with a mission to provide people with the convenience and security of using their personal identity in the digital world,” said Checkout.com Chief Product Officer Meron Colbeci, “and that is clearly becoming a growing need for e-commerce and crypto merchants, digital wallets, and other fintechs we serve.”

The move will allow Checkout.com to add identity verification services to its existing payments services, creating a holistic payments experience. The addition of digital identity tools will help Checkout.com not only ensure global compliance for its merchant and fintech clients, but also stay ahead of changing regulation.

“We always put the needs of our merchants first,” said Colbeci. “By expanding our security and fraud detection capabilities, we can reduce the time, cost and friction those merchants experience with existing IDV solutions. And they can offer their end consumers a simple and compelling experience, which lends itself to increased conversion rates and faster growth.”

Terms of the deal, which is expected to close later this year, were not disclosed.

This news comes on the heels of Checkout.com’s recent $1 billion Series D investment round, which valued the company at $40 billion. Today’s buy is the U.K.-based company’s fourth acquisition since it was founded in 2012. Guillaume Pousaz is founder and CEO.

Photo by Almos Bechtold on Unsplash

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Deserve Receives $250 Million Credit Facility

Deserve Receives $250 Million Credit Facility
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Deserve, Funding
  • Deserve received a $250 million credit facility from Goldman Sachs, Cross River, and Waterfall Asset Management.
  • Last year, Deserve experienced a 650% growth in transactions volume and an 800% growth in receivables.
  • The company will use the credit facility to meet the growing demand from financial institutions, fintechs, and consumers.

Payment-card-as-a-service startup Deserve announced a new $250 million credit facility from Goldman Sachs, Cross River, and Waterfall Asset Management.

Deserve (formerly Self-Score) has re-imagined traditional credit cards by transforming the application and onboarding processes, as well as the credit card itself by bringing them into the digital-first era. The company enables businesses to provide a white-labeled or co-branded card program made possible via a set of configurable APIs and SDKs.

Among Deserve’s clients are BlockFi, M1 Finance, OppFi, Seneca Women, Notre Dame Global Partnerships, and KrowdFit. The company will use today’s funds to meet the growing demand from financial institutions, fintechs, and consumers. Last year, Deserve experienced a 650% growth in transactions volume and an 800% growth in receivables. The company expects the new credit facility will boost its growth even further.

“At Deserve, we’re committed to helping organizations quickly and securely launch any type of credit card product in the cloud, customized to their specific audience – a valuable touchpoint with customers and a must-have in today’s landscape of competitive brand loyalties,” said Deserve CEO and Co-founder Kalpesh Kapadia. “Because our platform is digital-first and mobile-centric, customers can, in turn, begin using their Deserve-powered credit card minutes after application, no plastic required. We’re excited about what this new financing will enable us to do as we amplify our reach and help more fintechs, financial institutions, SMB lenders, and brands connect with and grow their customer base.”

In the coming years, Deserve plans to launch card programs to help consumers manage subscriptions, augment BNPL, and unlock their home equity. The California-based company also plans to build card programs for SMBs and commercial customers.

The $250 million credit facility comes six months after Deserve’s $50 million Series D equity round in October 2021 which boosted the company’s total funding to over $294 million.

Founded in 2013, Deserve has been recognized by Financial Times and Statista as one of The Americas’ Fastest-Growing Companies 2022. In 2020, the company was ranked #4 on the Inc. 5000 Series list of the fastest-growing private companies in California.

Photo by lucas Favre on Unsplash

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In a Remote World, Expensify Builds In-Person Perks

In a Remote World, Expensify Builds In-Person Perks
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Expensify

Business expense management firm Expensify is in the process of beta testing a unique new feature. Though, it’s more of a perk than a feature. The Expensify Lounge is a chic new space in the entrance to Expensify’s San Francisco office located in the heart of the financial district.

The idea for the Expensify Lounge came about pre-COVID. Much of the company’s workforce was already working remotely, and the Expensify Lounge was slowly becoming a ghost town. To maintain the vibrancy of the office, the team decided to turn the office into “best co-working cafe in the city” by launching the Expensify Lounge, a cafe-like working environment that includes great coffee, great cocktails, and great company. Now that the pandemic is waning in the U.S., the Expensify Lounge is in beta testing this spring.

“We added a ridiculously over-the-top cocktail bar like you’d find tucked away in a Tokyo high rise, and put in an espresso bar even us Portland coffee snobs can respect,” described Expensify CEO David Barrett. “Then we paired it with our integrated chat Concierge to offer to-your-seat delivery, and then turned the overall furnishings of everything else up to 11.”

The newly-renovated space functions like a high-touch version of a co-working space. Expensify customers can work from the space as often as they like, as long as they like, with wifi, complimentary drinks, and snacks. During the beta test period, there’s no membership required. The company is especially encouraging early stage companies and VCs to come in and check it out and kick the tires.

If you’re in the area and interested in visiting the Expensify Lounge during the beta period, go to https://use.expensify.com/lounges and use the password “Finovate” when you arrive. If you’re attending FinovateSpring on May 18 through May 20, you’re in luck. The Expensify Lounge is just a 10 minute walk from the event venue, the Hilton San Francisco Union Square.

The lounge is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5p.m. and is located at:

88 Kearny St., 16th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94108

After the beta period, Expensify clients can enjoy lounge access as part of their $9 per month Expensify membership. ” I guarantee it’s better than your office, or any office, and it’s designed to be a better place to work than any cafe in the city, too,” Barrett added.

A public company as of last November, Expensify is part of the fast-growing business financial management segment. The company’s flagship service is expense reporting, but it has since grown to add billpay, a travel concierge, and a corporate payment card.

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Santander Launches Tool to Help Users Measure and Reduce their Carbon Footprint

Santander Launches Tool to Help Users Measure and Reduce their Carbon Footprint
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Banco Santander is launching a new tool to help retail customers track the carbon footprints of their transactions.
  • The bank is partnering with ClimateTrade and the Mastercard donation platform to enable users to offset their impact.
  • The app is currently available to customers in Spain and will soon go live in Poland, Portugal, and the U.K.

Banco Santander is out with a new ESG initiative today. The Spain-based bank unveiled a new feature that enables its retail banking customers in Spain and Chile to track and offset their carbon footprints.

Developed in-house and available on Santander’s website and app, the tool will help customers measure the carbon footprint of the purchases they make with their Santander accounts and payment cards. Customers can see their monthly carbon footprint reported in kg CO2-eq in a range of categories, including supermarkets, transport, health, and education.

To help users take action against their carbon output, Santander’s tool will show eco-friendly tips for each category, as well as facts on how users can reduce their footprint and transition to a more sustainable economy.

Santander is partnering with ClimateTrade to enable customers to voluntarily use the tracker to offset their carbon footprint. ClimateTrade connects sustainable project developers with users looking to offset their carbon footprint. Because the company’s marketplace leverages the blockchain, all transactions, which are processed through the Mastercard donation platform, are traceable.

Santander has been fighting climate change since 2011 by measuring and reporting on its own carbon footprint. The bank became carbon neutral in 2020 and pledges to reach net zero emissions by 2025 in its financing, advisory, and investment services, as well as across all operations.

The app will go live in Poland, Portugal, and the U.K. in the coming months. 

Photo by Kit Ishimatsu on Unsplash

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CNote Facilitates $25 Million Investment from Apple

CNote Facilitates $25 Million Investment from Apple
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Apple is using CNote’s platform to invest $25 million in underserved communities.
  • Oakland-based CNote facilitates investments in economic equality, racial justice, gender equity and climate change initiatives.
  • Apple joins other companies using CNote to invest, including Mastercard, Patagonia, PayPal, and Netflix.

CNote, a company that facilitates investments in fixed income and time deposit products that advance the social good, revealed its newest investor today. Apple is using the California-based company’s platform to invest $25 million in underserved communities.

“We’re committed to helping ensure that everyone has access to the opportunity to pursue their dreams and create our shared future,” said Apple VP of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson. “By working with CNote to get funds directly to historically under-resourced communities through their local financial institutions, we can support equity, entrepreneurship and access.”

Apple’s $25 million contribution is part of the company’s Racial Equity and Justice initiative, an effort to address systemic racism and expand opportunities for people of color.

CNote has already deployed some of the funds to an initial round of financial institutions, including:

  • ANECA Federal Credit Union in Louisiana
  • Bank of Cherokee County in Oklahoma
  • Carver State Bank in Georgia
  • Education Credit Union in Texas
  • First Southwest Bank in Colorado
  • Hope Credit Union, which serves Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee
  • Kaua‘i Federal Credit Union in Hawai‘i
  • Latino Community Credit Union in North Carolina
  • Legacy Bank in Missouri
  • Optus Bank in South Carolina
  • Self-Help Federal Credit Union, with locations in California, Illinois, Washington, and Wisconsin
  • VCC Bank in Virginia

As Bank of Cherokee County EVP Susannah Plumb Scott explained, the funds invested via the CNote platform can make a real difference in underserved communities. “Partnerships like the one we have with CNote and Apple are essential to our efforts to expand access to capital, as well as to financial products and services, in a historically underserved market,” said Scott, whose institution invests 95% of deposits back into Cherokee County.

Echoing those thoughts is Education Credit Union President and CEO Eric Jenkins, who said deposits like Apple’s “allow ECU to serve more consumers and meet a broader range of needs.”

Founded in 2016, CNote’s platform provides insured deposits to a group of vetted, mission-driven financial institutions, including community development financial institutions (CDFIs), low-income designated (LID) credit unions, and minority depository institutions (MDIs). These financial institutions use the deposits to help promote economic equality, racial justice, gender equity, and climate change initiatives.

CNote investors, a list that includes Mastercard, Patagonia, PayPal, Netflix, and now Apple, receive quarterly impact reports with details on which institutions received deposits and the populations that are benefiting.

CNote was a B Lab “Best for the World” honoree in 2019 and was named “Best Women-Owned Business” by the U.N. Women’s Empowerment Principles program in 2020. The company has raised $43 million.

Photo by Pixabay

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