Tavant Integrates with Dark Matter’s Empower LOS

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Tavant

AI transformation specialist Tavant is integrating its TOUCHLESS AI mortgage automation platform with the Empower loan origination solution (LOS) from Dark Matter Technologies.

The integration is designed to reduce workflow fragmentation and manual handoffs, support faster decision-making, and a more connected loan manufacturing process.

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and founded in 2000, Tavant most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateSpring 2025 in San Diego.

AI transformation specialist Tavant announced the integration of its TOUCHLESS AI mortgage automation platform with Dark Matter Technologies' Empower loan origination solution (LOS). The integration brings Tavant's AI-driven automation capabilities to the Empower ecosystem, enabling lenders to streamline underwriting, accelerate cycle times, boost loan quality, and deliver Tavant's exception-based, data-driven, loan decisioning technology to Empower LOS users.

"Tavant is focused on helping lenders transform mortgage operations with classical, generative, and agentic AI-based automation that delivers measurable efficiency, higher levels of operational…

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FinovateFall 2026: My Top Five Agenda Picks

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2026

FinovateFall 2026 is just over a month away. Coming to New York's Marriott Marquis Times Square, from September 9 through 11, this year's FinovateFall conference will feature both the familiar—in the form of our signature, seven-minute live fintech demos and standout keynote addresses—and the new, as represented by initiatives ranging from our Credit Union Spotlight to our Executive Debates to our special IMPACT Funders and Founders event.

With so much on offer, it can be easy to miss or overlook a session, panel, or address. To this end, we're going to spend the next few weeks highlighting some of the presentations we think you won't want to miss. Today, we look at some of the mainstage addresses on the agenda across all three days of the conference.

Special Address: If You Already Own the AI, Then Why Are You Still Shopping

Featuring Melissa Solis, CEO of Inbenta, this presentation…

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Six Fintechs Creating Smarter Lending, Credit, and Financing Tools

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ALoan, Clockout, equipifi, FinovateFall 2026, FinovateFall 2026 Demo List Series, OptimaFI, QuickFi

Lending has always depended on a financial institution’s ability to assess risk, make informed decisions, and deliver capital efficiently. But many of the systems supporting that process remain slow, fragmented, and heavily manual. Commercial lenders still spend days gathering documents and spreading financials, while consumers and small businesses increasingly expect faster decisions, flexible payment options, and seamless digital experiences.

The companies demoing at FinovateFall 2026, taking place on September 9 through 11 in New York, are approaching these challenges from several angles. Some are using AI to accelerate underwriting and automate operational work. Others are embedding financing and flexible payment options directly into digital banking, helping institutions identify household opportunities, or rebuilding commercial lending around borrower self-service. Together, these six companies demonstrate how smarter technology can help financial institutions improve speed, efficiency, and access to financing.

ALoan

ALoan uses AI to automate commercial underwriting and help lenders move from…

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10x Banking Raises £40 Million from AshGrove Capital

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: 10x Banking, Funding

Core banking platform 10x Banking has raised £40 million ($53.8 million) in funding from AshGrove Capital. The UK-based fintech will use the capital to drive sales and go-to-market activity.

The investment comes in the wake of the pair of major announcements from 10x Banking: becoming EBITDA-positive and topping the 10 million live account milestone.

Based in London, 10x Banking won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023. Antony Jenkins is Founder, Chair, and CEO.

SaaS core banking platform 10x Banking has secured £40 million ($53.8 million) from AshGrove Capital. The funding will fuel the UK-based fintech's sales and go-to-market efforts and comes as the company reports becoming EBITDA-positive and surpassing the 10 million live account milestone. Additionally, in the last 12 months, 10x Banking has onboarded 10+ new financial institutions and boosted annual recurring revenue (ARR) by more than 30%.

In the company's statement, the firm underscored…

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Ariel Leachman of Bluum Finance on the Rise of Embedded Investing

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni profile, Bluum Finance, Interview

Credit union members and community banking customers readily trust their credit unions and community banks with their capital when it comes to saving and borrowing. But what about investing? In most instances, those same members and customers will seek out other institutions and businesses when it comes to investing for the future and managing their wealth.

What if credit unions and community banks instead could keep those members and customers by catering to their investing and wealth management needs? How might this positively impact customer and member relationships and deepen engagement?

This week, our Finovate First-Timers series features Ariel Leachman, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Bluum Finance. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California and founded in 2025, Bluum Finance offers a unified platform for embedded wealth management and investing, providing brokerage and AI-powered advisory infrastructure via APIs. The company combines multi-asset, multi-market brokerage, custody, and reporting in a single…

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Connect Credit Union Turns to Appli for AI-Powered Smart Financial Calculators

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Appli

Connect Credit Union, a Florida-based financial institution with $103 million in assets, has partnered with smart financial calculator builder, Appli.

Appli's AI-powered calculators are designed to turn passive visitors into active financial consumers by enabling them to assess loan opportunities, calculate property values in real-time, plan for retirement, and more.

Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Cedar Hills, Utah, Appli made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2025 in New York.

Florida-based Connect Credit Union has teamed up with Appli, builder of AI-powered smart financial calculators, to provide members with a new, interactive way to learn about their lending options, assess how best to save for future goals, and identify optimal savings instruments.

"Connect's members are digitally savvy, and they expect that from every part of their credit union experience now, not just online banking," Appli CEO Tim Pranger said. "Rolling this out right after their website relaunch means members…

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Meet the Investors, Founders, and Operators Taking the Stage at Our IMPACT Funders & Founders Event

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: IMPACT

When we announced IMPACT Funders & Founders, we described it as a new kind of event designed to bring together fintech founders and the investors backing the next generation of fintech in a setting built for meaningful conversations, targeted networking, and real fundraising opportunities.

Now, we're excited to share our speaker lineup.

The inaugural IMPACT event, taking place alongside FinovateFall on September 11 in New York City, features venture capitalists, startup founders, corporate investors, accelerators, and ecosystem builders who are actively shaping fintech's next chapter. Rather than focusing on broad industry trends alone, these speakers will tackle the practical questions founders and investors face every day, such as raising capital, scaling a company, navigating exits, leveraging AI, embedded finance, and the changing venture landscape.

Learn from investors writing today's checks

Whether you're raising your first institutional round or preparing for growth-stage funding, one of the biggest advantages of…

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Visa Acquires Behavioral Biometrics Innovator BioCatch for $2.4 Billion

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BioCatch, Mergers & Acquisitions, VISA

Digital payments giant Visa has agreed to acquire fraud and financial crime prevention platform BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash.

The acquisition will add to Visa's existing cyber, fraud, risk, and security solutions and provide greater defense against newer threats including account takeover and money mule fraud.

BioCatch was founded in 2011. The company made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2014 in New York.

Visa has inked a definitive agreement to acquire behavioral and device intelligence innovator BioCatch. Visa will purchase the company from funds advised by Permira and other shareholders for $2.4 billion in cash. The move will add to Visa's current array of cyber, fraud, risk, and security solutions and is expected to be especially helpful in managing threats such as account takeovers, scams, money mules, and application fraud.

Subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of all relevant regulatory approvals, the acquisition is expected to close…

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Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BioCatch, Fintech Rundown, Ripple, VISA

August is off to an auspicious start in the fintech world, with news of acquisitions in behavioral biometrics and regtech, and good news for a pair of firms seeking approval to initiate digital asset operations in New York and the UK, respectively. Be sure to swing by Finovate's Fintech Rundown all week long for the latest updates and fintech headlines!

Wealth management

Asset and wealth management software specialist ZILO launches its digital transfer agency platform, integration mutual fund administration with digital asset capabilities.

Payments

London-based financial services provider Teya unveils new payments card machine.

Fraud prevention

Visa agrees to acquire behavioral biometrics company BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash.

Bank of America to acquire UK-based information security firm MDSec Consulting.

Digital assets

Circle secures limited purpose trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

Robinhood receives authorization from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to offer…

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CUSO InvestiFi Raises $20 Million to Help Community Banks and Credit Unions Retain Deposits

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news

InvestiFi raised $20 million in a strategic funding round led largely by credit unions and fintech investors to expand its embedded investing platform for community financial institutions.

Community banks and credit unions are increasingly competing with fintechs like Robinhood, Wealthfront, Betterment, and Coinbase for the primary customer relationship, making embedded investing a key retention strategy.

The investor lineup signals strong industry confidence that integrated wealth management tools will be critical for smaller financial institutions to remain competitive with digital-first providers.

Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) InvestiFi has landed $20 million in a funding round led by Vibe Credit Union, with participation from BankTech Ventures, ICCU (Idaho Central Credit Union), Navari (formerly CUSG), United Financial Credit Union, Coastal Credit Union, Mid Minnesota Credit Union, Truity Credit Union, and Southpoint Credit Union.

"What makes this raise especially meaningful is that so much of it comes directly from the consumer-focused financial…

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Meet Nine FinovateFall Speakers: Their Thoughts on AI, Banking, and What’s Next

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2026, Speaker series

In the run-up to FinovateFall, which takes place on September 9 through 11 in New York, we asked several speakers for their perspectives on technologies shaping financial services, the biggest challenges facing banks, and why they keep coming back to Finovate.

Below is a preview of what nine speakers had to say ahead of this year's event.

Michael Reynolds, Business Technology Executive at KeyBank

Michael Reynolds leads intelligent automation at KeyBank, where he oversees robotic process automation, intelligent document processing, low-code development, and generative AI initiatives. Under his leadership, KeyBank's digital workforce now performs the equivalent of more than 500 employees' worth of work.

Why Finovate?

"Finovate is one of the few conferences where you can see real, working technology, not concept slides. The live demo format lets banks quickly assess what is production-ready, identify emerging fintech partners, and compare innovation across multiple categories in just a few days. Finovate…

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MoonPay Lets AI Agents Transact with PayBox

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news

MoonPay launched PayBox, enabling ChatGPT and Claude users to authorize AI agents to make purchases, trade tokens, interact with DeFi, and move assets using natural language.

The platform combines Visa's agentic commerce protocol, x402, and cryptographic security to let AI transact while keeping users' card details and wallet keys protected.

PayBox reflects the growing shift toward agentic commerce, as companies build the payment infrastructure that will enable AI agents to transact safely on users' behalf.

Stablecoin infrastructure provider MoonPay launched PayBox this week. The new payment vault allows users' AI agents to trade tokens, bridge assets, interact with DeFi, and transact online without leaving the conversation.

The new capability enables Claude and ChatGPT users with a PayBox connector to offer their AI the ability to transact by describing what they want in natural language. In addition to requesting their AI to make purchases like booking a flight, customers…

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