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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.
Privacy Lockoffers one solution to global privacy compliance – without ever collecting or processing PII.
Features
Proprietary Data Mapping
Consumer Request Automation
Report and Auditing Automation
Global Jurisdiction Coverage
Why it’s great
Privacy Lock is the first product to offer privacy compliance automation without collecting, storing, or processing any PII.
Presenter
David Ritter, CEO David Ritter has 10+ years experience in private equity and emerging technologies and six years in regtech. He served as Project Director of Donghu Group Investments, where he managed a portfolio with $1B (AUM). LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.
FinGoal’s insights platform sits atop digital banking and personal financial data. Their new Aggregator Switch Kit allows fintech developers to switch data aggregators in minutes.
Features
Coverage: The best, most enriched and open data in the industry.
Access: Data is shared easily across a company’s ecosystem.
Cost: Better cost structures for aggregation, enrichment and account verification.
Why it’s great
Fintech developers should not be hostage to their aggregation provider.
Presenters
Ariam Sium, VP of Product Sium leads Product at FinGoal and uses the tenets of focus and value to govern each product decision made in the rapidly adapting world of fintech. LinkedIn
Jenn Underwood, Product Analyst Underwood brings an expertise in personal finance to FinGoal’s product development. Her passion for equitable financial services and value-based savings greatly enriches the UX. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.
Finalytics.ai uses the power of big data and machine learning to help clients go beyond personalization and provide customers and members with a market of one digital experience.
Features
Create a dynamic, visitor-centric, digital platform ideal for online conversions
Create a positive digital experience & user journey
Implement an AI-enhanced CX in eight weeks
Why it’s great
The Finalytics.ai platform was designed specifically to leverage the relational aspect of the credit union model, transforming the digital experience from “one size fits all” to a “segment-of-one.”
Presenters
Craig McLaughlin, Co-Founder & CEO Craig McLaughlin is the Founder & CEO of Silicon Valley-based Finalytics.ai, the first digital platform to apply real-time big data and machine learning to address individuals’ financial needs. LinkedIn
Thomas Novak, VP & Chief Digital Officer Thomas P. Novak is VP & Chief Digital Officer at Visions Federal Credit Union where he oversees digital banking strategy and payments strategy supporting seamless end-to-end experiences. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.
Deposits offers banks, brands, and communities an easy, low-code solution for financial experiences like payments, mobile apps, and lending — whether they can program or not.
Features
Use Deposits’ bank office to set up a program easily
Manage program and set up controls in one place
Easily KYC customers
Why it’s great
Deposits wants to demonstrate the future of finance and plug-n-play finance, plus reach lenders with no-coding experience and who have a community to serve.
Presenters
Joseph Akintolayo, CEO & Founder Joseph Akintolayo is actively shaping the future of technology by creating ethical products that solve complex problems in fintech, government and social enterprise. LinkedIn
Samuel Ailemen, Director of Mobile and Identity As a software engineer who loves research, Samuel Aileman solves real-world problems using new technologies. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.
Able collects information and processes it. Commercial lenders use Able to quickly collect details from borrowers, streamline the loan process, and book loans faster.
Features
Fewer resources per loan
Faster processing times
Better experience for everyone
Why it’s great
Able uses AI to streamline commercial loan processing.
Presenter
Diego Represas, Founder Diego Represas is the Co-Founder and Head of Able. Before founding Able, Represas led the development of AI products at Digit, a popular mobile app used by millions of consumers to automate saving. LinkedIn
Truist Wealth unveiled a pair of new investment solutions this week: a roboadvisor Truist Invest and a hybrid investment platform Truist Invest Pro.
Truist Invest provides a personalized investment portfolio based on the user’s goals, risk tolerance, and current investments. Truist Invest Pro adds access to a team of financial advisors.
Truist Wealth is a division of Truist Financial Corporation, a top ten U.S. with $545 billion in total assets.
Truist Wealth, a division of Truist Financial Corporation, announced the launch of two new investment solutions this week: roboadvisor Truist Invest and hybrid investment platform Truist Invest Pro, which blends automated investing with access to human financial advisors.
Both solutions were developed by a cross-functional team of designers, engineers, innovators, and product managers who co-created the new offerings in client journey rooms at the Truist Innovation and Technology Center. A combination of agile work strategies, direct client feedback, and iterative product design enabled the team to optimize both solutions ahead of their launch this year.
“Investors want digital solutions that are secure, intuitive to use, and able to help meet their needs whether they are a new or experienced investor,” Truist Wealth SVP of Digital Investing Kacy Howard said. “Truist Invest and Truist Invest Pro can help give clients control and confidence in their portfolio whether they choose a fully digital or hybrid solution to invest in their future.”
Truist Invest gives customers a tailored portfolio recommendation based on their goals, risk tolerance, and current investments. Truist Invest provides a daily portfolio analysis and supports both automated rebalancing and tax loss harvesting. A hybrid investment solution, Truist Invest Pro provides both the digital capabilities of Truist Invest as well as access to a team of financial advisors who can help customers build a personalized investment portfolio and provide ongoing investment advice. Accounts for both offerings can be opened with as little as $5,000. Truist Invest charges an annual fee of 0.50%, with Truist Invest Pro costing users 0.85%. Both fees are based on the assets under management, with a $90 per account annual minimum,
Truist Chief Wealth Officer Joseph M. Thompson put the new offerings in a broader context of the company’s goal of providing its customers with personalized service that maximizes the opportunity of digital technology in the investing space. “Digital investing solutions are an example of Truist’s T3 strategy which combines the client’s preferred level of personalized touch and innovative technology to create trust,” Thompson said. “Truist Invest and Truist Invest Pro provide simple and secure access to a portfolio that is purpose-built to help an investor achieve their goals and is backed by our investment expertise that can help individuals and families build better lives.”
A division of Truist Financial Corporation, Truist Wealth serves affluent, high, and ultra-high net worth individuals, families, and business owners in the U.S. and around the world. The firm’s services range from investing and retirement, trust and estate planning, and lending, to banking and risk management. Parent company Truist is a top 10 U.S. commercial bank with $545 billion in total assets, and 15 million clients across the U.S.. The bank recently announced the acquisition of Zaloni’s Arena platform, which will help Truist enhance its data governance, metadata management, advanced analytics, and AI/ML programs.
We spoke with Truist Financial’s Chief Retail & Small Business Banking Officer Dontá Wilson earlier this year at FinovateSpring about the pace of digital transformation in financial services and the importance of building a culture of innovation.
It’s been nearly five years since Hong Kong-based Chekk made its Finovate debut at FinovateAsia. The company, co-founded by CEO Pascal Nizri, is a B2B2C digital identity ecosystem that shifts ownership of personal data from businesses to individuals as part of its strategy to provide better, more seamless identity verification services.
“We all know how reluctant Internet users have become to share personal data online,” Chekk co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Benjamin Petit said from the Finovate stage during his company’s demo. “On the other side regulators are forcing banks and financial service providers to collect an increasing amount of data for compliance reasons. And this done during lengthy and painful KYCs that are costly for banks.”
Via a mobile app, Chekk empowers individuals to own their own personal data and control how much of their data they share. At the same time, businesses get access to a secure online or API-based platform that enables them to make data requests and conduct other customer interactions – from onboarding due diligence and ID verification to secure messaging for chats and statements – seamlessly.
Chekk’s SaaS solutions help the company’s retail, private, and corporate customers manage a range of digital identity and data portability challenges and operations. These include multi-language AML checks, including Arabic, Russian, and Chinese, as well as identity verification for more than 200 countries, biometric digital signatures, tools to create and maintain digital forms, a secure encrypted data wallet, and global connectivity to more than 400 million business data sources.
Bain Capital is the latest financial institution to choose Chekk as its partner when it comes to digital identity verification. With $155 billion in assets, the Boston-based alternative investment firm announced in July that it will leverage Chekk’s technology to provide KYB verification for businesses, merchants, and third parties, as well as KYC for individual customers.
The Bain partnership news comes in the wake of Chekk’s announcement of a significant investment (described as “multi-million dollar”) in a round led by HSBC Alternatives, a wing of HSBC Asset Management. The funding builds on previous funding from investors such as SOSV and LeFonds, a pair of venture capital firms, as well as individual investor David Gurle, founder of Symphony Communications Services.
“Thanks to its founders’ hands-on experience, Chekk is building a suite of services that extends well beyond compliance-driven KYC/KYB and puts commercial relationships at the core of its value proposition,” HSBC Asset Management Head of Venture and Growth Investments Remi Bourrette said. “This resonates with our fintech fund’s themes of improving access to financial services while managing the risks arising from criminal activities.
Have we arrived at a reckoning for Hong Kong-based fintech? While the clamp down on Big Tech in China has gotten most of the attention from international technology analysts and observers, the impact on fintech developments in Hong Kong have been relatively overlooked. A recent survey conducted by Google and financial consultancy Quinlan & Associates suggests that the fintech industry in Hong Kong could be in for challenging times.
Specifically, the survey revealed that 60% of the 120+ C-suite executives from early- and late-stage private fintechs contacted felt that Hong Kong was “relatively uncompetitive compared to other fintech hubs.” Among the reasons cited were the city’s regulatory environment, which was viewed as “costly, complex, and time-consuming,” as well as a “talent gap” that had been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. This talent gap extends beyond technical and product innovation roles to include sales and marketing talent, as well.
Hong Kong has been responsive to these challenges, according to a report from South China Morning Post. The city’s central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, unveiled a four-year plan in June – the Greater Bay Fintech Talent Initiative – that included a pledge to “groom all-round fintech talent” and to provide greater funding assistance for fintech projects. The initiative will feature the support of 20 financial institutions including HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Hong Kong’s stock exchange. Tech giant Ant Group will also participate in the initiative — the only tech-based company to take part.
“While nurturing local fintech talent has been one of Ant Group’s key missions for years,” Ant Group EVP for strategy development and government affairs Jennifer Tan said, “it’s the group’s honor to join partners from various aspects in cultivating tech talent through the Greater Bay Fintech Talent Initiative.”
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Sub-Saharan Africa
QED Investors invests more than $50 million in Nigerian fintech TeamApt that specializes in business payments and banking platforms.
Finastra is partnering with FormFree, a SaaS company that helps lenders assess consumers’ ability to pay.
Finastra will integrate FormFree’s AccountChek into its Mortgagebot solution to help lenders make faster underwriting decisions.
Mortgagebot was among the first companies to demo at a Finovate event, having won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2007.
With unpredictable housing markets and interest rates, banking software company Finastra is stepping in to remove a bit of the sting from the process of purchasing a new home. The company is partnering with FormFree, a SaaS company that helps banks assess consumers’ ability to pay (ATP).
Under the partnership, Finastra will leverage FormFree’s AccountChek, a data verification service that bundles asset, income, and employment verification to help lenders make better-informed decisions. Finastra will integrate AccountChek into its Mortgagebot solution to help lenders make faster loan decisions while mitigating risk.
“FormFree provided us with the perfect solution to help further streamline what is traditionally a very manual and labor-intensive task,” said Finastra VP of Mortgage and Origination Steve Hoke. “For both lenders and borrowers, this added verification capability to our lending solution will have a significant impact on the loan cycle, creating a more efficient, secure and inclusive process.”
AccountChek uses borrower-permissioned data from applicants’ assets, income, and employment information. AccountChek retrieves and formats the data into underwriter-friendly reports that offer transparency for better, faster credit decisioning with reduced fraud risk.
FormFree Founder and CEO Brent Chandler said that the partnership has the potential to help lenders increase access to homeownership. “Notably, the integration makes it easier for lenders to support the government sponsored enterprises’ verification initiatives that help expand access to homeownership and streamline processes without incurring additional risk,” said Chandler. “Combined, Finastra and FormFree’s technologies and shared vision for fair and inclusive access to home financing will help lenders deliver an elevated borrower experience.”
Finastra launched in 2017 as a merger between Misys and D+H. The latter acquired Mortgagebot in 2011 for $232 million. Mortgagebot was among the first companies to demo at a Finovate event, having won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2007.
Meniga has appointed Simon Shorthose as its new CEO.
Shorthose will be replacing Meniga Co-founder Georg Ludviksson, who served as CEO for 14 years.
Shorthose has previously worked at fintech SaaS companies Kyriba and Mambu.
Digital banking company Meniga announced a change in leadership today. The Iceland-based company has appointed Simon Shorthose as its new CEO.
Shorthose comes to Meniga having previously worked at fintech SaaS companies Kyriba and Mambu, where he served as Executive Leader and Head of Global Sales, respectively. He has also been on the management team of two unicorn tech companies.
“It is a huge privilege to lead Meniga, and I am very excited about taking on the challenge of helping major banks build greater digital engagement and insights and financial coaching with their customers and helping drive enhanced targeted marketing,” said Shorthose. “Looking forward to the future, I remain focused on delivering the best service to our customers and taking Meniga through the next stage of growth. I’d also like to thank Georg for trusting me with this responsibility and for his remarkable leadership from the start.”
Shorthose said that Meniga is in a “prime position for growth” with the recent shift toward the cloud and modernization in banking technology. He also cited demand for improved mobile channels, deeper customer engagement, and enhanced loyalty.
Meniga Co-founder Georg Ludviksson, who served as the company’s CEO for 14 years, is stepping down but will remain a shareholder of the company. “After a most exciting and fulfilling 14 years, I am now passing the baton over to Simon. I’ve seen first-hand his strengths and feel confident that Meniga will thrive under his leadership,” said Ludviksson. “With his 20-year track record of proven results in tech on a global scale, I put my complete trust in Simon to continue our mission to help banks create an unrivaled digital banking experience and bring Meniga to new heights.”
Meniga was founded in 2009 and powers banking apps used by more than 100 million people in more than 30 countries. The company offers tools such as data management, PFM, and cashflow analysis; as well as cashback rewards, carbon footprint tracking, and market insights.
The company presented at FinovateEurope earlier this year. The demo showcased how Meniga leverages information on users’ carbon footprint to help banks provide customers with contextual recommendations on sustainable products and investments.
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.
Tax Status is the only fully-automated IRS account monitoring solution that provides continuous access to all official IRS financial data for real-time verifications.
Features
Provides continuous, real-time access to IRS data
Validates income, reduces fraud, and lowers risk
Integrates via API or a secure web portal
Why it’s great
With Tax Status, businesses will see what the IRS sees, have access to all official tax records and know where their customers stand financially in real-time.
Presenter
Charles Almond, Founder & CEO Charles Almond, founder of Tax Status, has been developing high-performance banking and loan origination systems since 1997. LinkedIn
Earlier this year, we unveiled our Sustainability Scholarship Program for demoing companies. Our new initiative supports startups that are embracing environmental sustainability, social equity, and responsible governance (ESG).
With FinovateFall just weeks away, we are excited to share the names of the six demoing companies to win Sustainability Scholarships for our upcoming autumn event, September 12 through 14, in New York.
Remember that early-bird savings for FinovateFall end after September 2nd. Register today and save your seat!
Headquartered in the U.K and founded in 2019, Daizy helps users become more conscious investors with an AI that gives them the data-driven stories behind America’s biggest companies.
Deborah Yang is co-founder and CEO. Follow Daizy on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn.
Debbie – Winner of the Female Founded/Owned category
Based in Miami, Florida and founded in 2021, Debbie is the Noom for debt loss. The company leverages behavioral psychology and rewards to help users pay off 3x more debt and help lenders recession-proof members.
Co-founder Frida Leibowitz is CEO. Follow Debbie on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn.
Deposits – Winner of the Person of Color Founded/Owned category
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Deposits is a cloud-based fintech platform that gives banks and brands an easy-to-use turnkey solution to build best-in-class financial experiences from payments to lending.
Joseph Akintolayo is CEO. Follow Deposits on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn.
Energy Shares – Winner of the Environmental category
Headquartered in Pasadena, California and founded in 2020, Energy Shares is a FINRA registered broker-dealer and equity crowdfunding platform for utility scale renewable energy projects in the U.S.
Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and founded in 2020, Investii is an actionable, wealth-building app empowering healthy savings habits, financial confidence, and alternative credit data.
Nishant Deshpande is co-founder and CEO. Connect with Investii on LinkedIn.
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, MinervaAI is an AI-driven platform that provides simple and effective sanctions, KYC, KYB, IDV, and enhanced due diligence to help businesses grow.
Co-founder Jennifer Arnold is CEO. Follow MinervaAI on Twitter. Connect on LinkedIn
Australia’s Heritage Bank teamed up with Convera to launch its new online international payments solution.
Convera was formerly known as Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS) and was acquired for $910 million in 2021 and subsequently established as a standalone company.
Hello Clever raised $3.1 million (A$4.5 million) in seed funding in a round led by Vectr Fintech Partners. The company enables shoppers to get real-time cash back from participating merchants.
A pair of fintech headlines out of Australia have caught our eye at mid-week. First up, Heritage Bank, a financial institution based in Queensland and serving customers across the country, announced the launch of its new online international payments offering, courtesy of a partnership with Convera. The new service will enable Heritage Bank customers to send and receive money to locations around the world directly from their online and mobile bank accounts. The service will be available 24 hours a day, regardless of where the banking customer lives, and operates in near real-time.
“With the explosion of online purchases now taking place across international marketplaces, our new international payments service provides a seamless facility for our members,” Heritage Bank CEO Peter Lock said. “This fantastic new service allows our members to send and receive money internationally, direct from our online and mobile banking system, in close to real time and around the clock no matter where they are.”
The new service is made possible thanks to a partnership with Convera, a payments technology solution provider known up until recently as Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS). Western Union sold WUBS to Goldfinch Partners and The Baupost Group for $910 million last year, and the company subsequently was set up as a standalone entity – Convera. Processing more than $110 billion in total payments volume in 2020 and more than $170 billion in 2021, WUBS represented 7% of Western Union’s revenues in 2021.
On its own, Convera is the largest non-bank fintech in the international B2B payments industry with capabilities in more than 140 currencies across 200+ countries and territories, and more than 60 international banking partners. The company also has more than 30,000 SMBs, financial and educational institutions, law firms, and NGOs among its customers.
“Our research forecasts that one-third of post-COVID economic recovery in Australia will come from modern, digital, deliverable services which is why we’re committed to supporting and implementing the digital transformation of financial institutions and providing the tools and solutions to do so,” Convera Regional Vice President and Head of APAC Sam Fitzpatrick said.
Second up: Hello Clever, an Australia-based fintech that gives consumer’s real-time cash back, has raised $3.1 million (A$4.5 million) in seed funding. The round was led by Vectr Fintech Partners and featured participation from CrossFund, Yolo Investments, Magnivia Ventures, Son Tech Ventures, Boston Ventures, and others.
“2022 has been an exciting year,” Hello Clever co-founder and CEO Caroline Tran wrote on the company’s blog this week. “We have been working diligently to launch our full suite of products and now we have achieved a significant milestone – being the first company to pioneer ‘Buy to Earn’ or a new category in payments that democratizes rewards in a different way.”
Hello Clever’s “buy-to-earn” ecosystem connects shoppers and businesses to make shopping and payments an easier, more seamless process for all involved. Offering itself as an alternative to Buy Now, Pay Later platforms, Hello Clever leverages open banking, fast payments, and AI to help consumers locate the best merchants for their shopping preferences and then provides cash back in real time when consumers shop at participating retailers. Hello Clever also gives consumers the ability to track their spending in real-time across bank accounts. The company’s real-time payment API is powered by the New Payments Platform (NPP), PayTo, and PayID.
“We want to introduce a new ecosystem that allows consumers to be financially healthier and our merchant partners to increase sales (and) reduce operating costs,” Tran wrote. “That’s why we are not a single product – it’s a ‘Clever way’ of executing payment strategies to achieve better business outcomes. From Hello Clever as a consumer facing app, we know have evolved into building Hello Clever Business, Hello Clever Business API, and Hello Clever Yield – which is our path into financial investing for Gen Zs.”
Founded in 2021, Hello Clever is headquartered in Surry Hills, New South Wales.
