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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Pomelo is launching a family credit card account that gives accountholders up to four cards to give to friends and family overseas.
Because the payments run on credit rails, users save on international money transfer fees.
Pomelo is launching money transfer capabilities between the U.S. and the Philippines.
Pomelo is the newest fintech in the digital banking scene. The company is launching today with $70 million in Seed funding to change the fundamentals of international money transfer.
Leading the round are Keith Rabois at Founders Fund as well as Kevin Hartz, Co-Founder of Xoom and General Partner at A* Capital. Afore Capital, Xfund, Josh Buckley, the Chainsmokers, and the Weeknd also participated.
Frenkiel, who regularly sends money to family overseas, came up with the idea for Pomelo while he was visiting family in the Philippines and thought, “Why can’t I just give a card to my family instead of having to send money through Western Union?” At that point, Frenkiel came up with a way to use credit card payment rails to disburse funds and eliminate transfer fees.
Pomelo is a family account that gives the primary accountholder up to four physical and virtual credit cards to give to loved ones overseas. Users can set limits via the app, pause any of the payment cards, and view how each member is spending their funds. Unlike many shared accounts, Pomelo is not prepaid. The primary accountholder pays for the charges on each card at the end of the month and builds their own credit as they pay off each balance.
Each account comes with a Mastercard credit card issued by Coastal Community Bank. And because the payments run via credit rails, the fees are paid by merchants via interchange and daily foreign exchange rates. This eliminates transfer fees, which can add up to 6%.
“Pomelo is on a mission to change how international money transfer fundamentally works,” said Pomelo Founder and CEO Eric Velasquez Frenkiel. “Our goal is to help our customers establish their financial future here in the United States by building positive credit history with their existing remittance obligations, and to financially include their loved ones in emerging economies with access to modern financial instruments. For many of our customers, Pomelo is their first credit card here in the U.S. and the very first card for their loved ones overseas.”
After beta testing the service for several months, Pomelo is launching money transfer capabilities between the U.S. and the Philippines.
MoneyLion and Zogo Finance announced a new collaboration to bring financial literacy tools to MoneyLion’s more than three million users.
MoneyLion will integrate Zogo’s financial education modules into the Today Feed content section of the MoneyLion app.
Zogo Finance won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2019 in New York.
Personalized financial content provider MoneyLion is the latest fintech to partner with financial literacy company Zogo Finance. MoneyLion will leverage the new relationship with Zogo Finance to bring enhanced financial education to its more than three million users. The collaboration represents Zogo’s largest fintech platform integration since the company was launched four years ago.
“Partnering with a premier (neobank) such as MoneyLion is a pivotal step toward Zogo’s goal to bolster investor education for consumers’ prosperous financial futures,” Zogo CEO Bolun Li said. “This is one of our biggest leaps in the fintech space, driving us closer to our overall mission of reinventing financial education than ever before.”
Courtesy of the collaboration, MoneyLion users will be able to access Zogo Finance’s financial education modules within the “Today Feed” content section of the MoneyLion app. A feature that combines community insights and experience with data and financial expertise, MoneyLion’s Today Feed educates and empowers users to find the most appropriate financial solutions to suit their needs and make better, more informed decisions about their financial lives. The integration with Zogo will enable users to improve their understanding of key financial concepts ranging from investing and saving to applying for loans and pursuing entrepreneurship.
Emphasizing the importance of financial education that is “approachable and fun,” MoneyLion Chief Product Officer Tim Hong praised the new partnership with Zogo. “Each customer will receive a unique lineup of content and information, and the tools necessary to help them achieve their money goals,” Hong said. “At the same time (they will) have the confidence to improve their financial health with a hyper-personalized in-app feed.”
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Zogo Finance won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2019 in New York. At the conference, the company demonstrated its teen financial literacy app that uses behavioral economic insights derived from research conducted at Duke University to help teach otherwise complex financial concepts.
“It’s been a true honor to support the building of local communities founded on the bedrock of education,” Li said when the milestone was announced. “Every new user we educate and every new partnership we build brings us one step closer to a better world.”
The fintech and payments industries are rapidly evolving. Isn’t it time fraud and dispute management processes did as well? Financial institutions not seeking alternatives to legacy infrastructure are constrained in their ability to automate and streamline lengthy and manual processes, such as chargeback management.
In this webinar, Quavo’s SVP, Revenue Executive Brittany Usher, and KeyBank’s Head of Enterprise Fraud Services, Jen Martin, will join Finovate’s Julie Muhn to discuss initial steps toward automation for issuing financial institutions seeking to overhaul their pre-existing manual and legacy systems. Along with providing business case examples, Brittany and Jen will elaborate on the lessons learned from implementing new software, conducting a cost analysis examining price per transaction, chargeback recoveries, manual intervention, fines, and overhead costs.
Covering:
Discover tips on the first steps to take when seeking to overhaul preexisting manual/legacy systems with real life examples and lessons learned. This is a common obstacle to implementing new software.
Learn how to set up data requirements, merchant collab software, accounting, and more.
Conduct current cost analysis – price per transaction, chargeback recovery, manual intervention, fines, overhead, and more.
The return of live events is delivering yet another opportunity for fintech enthusiasts and financial services professionals to rejoice: the Finovate Awards Ceremony is back!
The third annual celebration, to be held the evening of September 13th at the Edison Ballroom in New York City, will reveal the winners of this year’s 20+ highly contested categories. Check out our list of Finovate Awards finalists. In addition to honoring this year’s award winners, the event will feature live entertainment and all-evening-long opportunities for networking with new friends and old colleagues.
From digital banking and consumer lending to alternative investment solutions and excellence in decentralized finance, the Finovate Awards recognize the breadth of innovation that is driving fintech forward today. Leveraging the wisdom of more than 20 fintech and financial services experts who served as this year’s judges, the third annual Finovate Awards celebrate the organizations and individuals whose efforts are bringing financial wellness, inclusion, and opportunity to communities around the world.
BankiFi announced a $4.8 million funding round today led by Praetura Ventures.
The U.K.-based company will use the funds to expand into the U.S. and inch closer toward its mission to serve two million SMBs across four continents by 2024.
The Series A round brings BankiFi’s total funding to $8.5 million.
Embedded banking solutions firm BankiFilanded $4.8 million today to help fuel its expansion into North America. The Series A round brings BankiFi’s total funding to $8.5 million. The investment round is led by Praetura Ventures and will help U.K.-based BankiFi further its mission to serve two million SMBs across four continents by 2024.
“BankiFi has proven to be an industry-leading open cash management provider in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other countries,” said Praetura Ventures Managing Director David Foreman. “Now that they have launched in North America, BankiFi has an opportunity for dramatic growth.”
Founded in 2018, BankiFi empowers banks to offer their small business clients a cash management platform that helps with accounting, access to working capital, invoicing, and payments. By embedding a bank within their clients’ existing accounting systems, it becomes part of the business’ daily workflow.
“Our mission is to make all aspects of cash management and payments easier for SMBs everywhere, and this investment is another huge step to making that a reality,” said BankiFi Americas CEO Keith Riddle.
In April, BankiFi launched its Open Cash Management Platform, or what it calls a “super app” for small business banking that bolstered the company’s previous offering by combining embedded banking and open banking. Earlier in the year, the company was tapped by U.K.-based TSB to launch a new app that helps small businesses get paid faster.
BankiFi has offices in Ohio, Manchester, Sydney, and Antwerp, and recently appointed Tom Shen as chair of its board of directors. Mark Hartley is CEO.
Paytech Finix secured $30 million in funding last week.
The investment takes the San Francisco, California-based payment facilitator’s total capital to $133 million.
Founded in 2015, Finix includes Kabbage, Pay Theory, and Passport among its customers.
San Francisco, California-based paytech Finix announced a $30 million investment last week. The funding featured participation from both new and existing investors, and brings the company’s total capital raised to $133 million. Finix reported that it will use the new financing to support the addition of new features to make it easier for software platforms to better manage their payments and merchants.
“The next generation of fintech is all about businesses embedding financial services when and where their customers need them most,” Bain Capital Ventures Managing Director and Finix board member Matt Harris said in a statement. “Finix is a leading example of the type of state-of-the-art payments infrastructure provider that makes this embedded experience possible.”
Calling Q2 2022 its best quarter to date in terms of new deals closed, Finix helps software platforms enable and enhance payment processing. The payment facilitator’s white-label API gives companies the ability to accept payments, manage payouts, and onboard merchants, in order to help produce greater revenues from the payment process. Underwriting, reconciliation, and dispute management are also features of Finix’s platform.
The investment comes as Finix acknowledges a number of significant accomplishments. These include becoming a registered payment facilitator, doubling total annual payments volume from 2020 to 2021, and expanding its suite of in-person payment devices and capabilities. In a blog post at the company website in May, Finix co-founder and CEO Richie Serna highlighted the firm’s recent achievements, concluding “if you compared Finix to Nilson’s 2021 list of top U.S. merchant acquirers, we would rank in the top 50 based on TPV and merchant count.” Serna noted that Finix supports more than 12,000 active small businesses, schools, and places of worship each month.
Participating in Finix’s recent investment were The General Partnership (TheGP), Franklin Templeton, American Express Ventures, Acrew Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Cap Table Coalition, Homebrew, Insight Partners, Inspired Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Precursor Ventures, PSP Growth, and Vamos Ventures. Founded in 2015, Finix currently includes Kabbage, Passport, and Pay Theory among its customers.
Credas has appointed Geraint Rogers as Chief Strategy Officer.
Rodgers formerly worked at Experian U.K., where he served as the company’s Product Director for Identity, Fraud, and Financial Crime.
Rodgers will also serve on Credas’ executive board, which includes Barnett and company CTO Kevin Smith.
Digital identity verification platform Credas is bolstering its team this week. The U.K.-based company has appointed Geraint Rogers as Chief Strategy Officer.
Credas anticipates Rodgers will aid the company in the launch of its new Digital Identity wallet later this year. Company CEO Tim Barnett said that Rodgers will “help Credas stay at the forefront of the market.”
Rodgers comes to Credas from Experian U.K., where he served as the company’s Product Director for Identity, Fraud, and Financial Crime. He has almost 30 years of experience in product development and has worked across banking, risk, and compliance departments in senior roles at both Experian and LexisNexis Risk Solutions.
Outside of his role at Experian, Rodgers currently serves as a board member of the Open Identity Exchange, helping to shape industry standards for digital identities and wallets; and he is certified with the U.K. Government’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework.
Rodgers will also serve on Credas’ executive board, which includes Barnett and company CTO Kevin Smith.
Founded in 2017, Credas offers biometric facial recognition, document authentication, and eSign technologies to help businesses across a range of sectors streamline their onboarding processes, conduct due diligence, and remain compliant.
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.
Agent IQ’s Lynq personal engagement platform improves communication between financial institutions and their customers, leading to happier, more loyal, and more profitable relationships
Features
Allows customers to select a personal banker
Includes configurable, built-in AI that supports a company’s banker to be more efficient
Provides real-time insights into what customers are talking about
Why it’s great
Agent IQ helps its customers create relationships in the digital world that are just as personal as they are in the physical world, but even more enhanced.
Presenters
Matt Phipps, CMO Phipps has over a 20 year career in global marketing and branding in which he led digital marketing across Asia Pacific out of Melbourne, Australia for a multi-billion dollar life sciences company. LinkedIn
Soren Bested, COO Bested’s industry tenure has spanned six countries across four continents and primarily been focused on FinTech services, biotechnology, healthcare and international strategic collaboration. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.
Teslar is a configurable lending process automation platform that helps community financial institutions balance portfolios, optimize profits, and effectively serve their customers.
Features
Allows banks to work with business customers to provide financing for mutual customers
Expands lending opportunities
Customizable to the bank’s risk management practices
Why it’s great
Expand lending opportunities while the consumer benefits by having the convenience and ease of working directly with the retailer or dealer for financing. Quick and reliable financing.
Presenter
Joe Ehrhardt, CEO and Founder Ehrhardt began his career as a teller and now has over 20 years’ experience in the industry. Having built Teslar from the ground up, today he leads Teslar’s strategic vision and upholds company culture. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.
Turnpool is an on-chain marketplace for commercial debt on crypto rails. The product enables borrowers to raise debt efficiently, compliantly, and securely, giving lenders opportunities to earn yield.
Features
Borrowers tap into a revolving line of credit
Crypto investors get stable yield that is uncorrelated with crypto markets
Why it’s great
The goal is to bridge the world of DeFi with real-world assets. Breaking down the barriers of entry, driving adoption, and driving more inclusive capital-efficient access to financing.
Presenters
Jwalin Joshi, Engineer Joshi is a graduate of UC Berkeley and is interested in the applications of financial technology. He has served as one of the lead engineers and architects of Turnpool’s debt marketplace. LinkedIn
Mary Gooneratne, Co-Founder Mary Gooneratne, Co-Founder of Turnpool, previously co-founded and sold a successful defense staffing business and then proceeded to hold various engineering positions at Google. She has expertise in product development, AI, and quantitative finance. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.
Uplinq delivers the first global credit assessment platform for small business lenders by leveraging billions of statistically validated data sets.
Features
Includes 10,000+ direct connections into SMB data sources in 150+ countries
Contains billions of regulatory compliant alternative data sets
Serves as a significant extension of existing credit bureau services
Why it’s great
Uplinq acquired a mature product that had been in market for 15 years and had served as a foundational component to $1.4 Trillion+ in loan originations and repurposed it into a modern day fintech.
Presenters
Ron Benegbi, Founder & CEO Benegbi is a serial entrepreneur and the Founder & CEO at Uplinq. Uplinq is Benegbi’s fifth startup. He’s a four-time tech founder and had two successful global exits and one flop, too. LinkedIn
Patrick Reily, Founder Reily is an elite mathematician, economist and 30+ year FI veteran. He is an early AI pioneer in financial services, a frequent speaker at the G20 & World Bank and a consultant to the US Federal Reserve. LinkedIn
Having worked in the fintech industry for four years, Kristiane Mandraki has developed a passion for emerging technology and has seen ebbs and flows of success and failure in the industry. Mandraki is currently the Director of Business Development and Marketing at Praxent, a 22-year old fintech experience design and development firm that helps financial companies succeed in their digital transformation efforts.
We recently spoke with Mandraki on some of the best practices in customer experience, digital transformation, and Web 3; as well as top trends she’s anticipating in the next year.
When it comes to customer experience, what are some of the top mistakes you’ve seen banks and fintechs make, and how can they avoid them?
Kristiane Mandraki: Banks and fintechs often make the mistake of trying to be all things for all people, which only leads to exhaustive mediocrity. Instead, it’s critical to pick a focus, your North Star. Narrowing in on a main priority or differentiator allows financial services providers to prioritize and innovate, setting the stage to truly excel at something instead of being average at everything.
Another mistake we often see banks make is implementing off-the-shelf technology without viewing the experience through the holistic lens of the customer’s journey. We see this often in account opening or loan origination experiences where the customer’s journey starts on the website and ends on the fintech product. It’s important to carefully consider the experience as part of the bank’s brand experience and ensure it’s configured in a user-friendly way. There are many opportunities to differentiate the brand by prioritizing the website and product configuration as a critical component of the digital experience which often requires UX/UI expertise.
What advice do you have for banks navigating this era that’s stuck between digital transformation and Web 3?
Mandraki: Some emerging technologies are fairly polarizing, like Bitcoin. You have the optimists and then those who see the headlines and are quick to write it off. What can’t be ignored is that blockchain technology unlocks much more than an asset class. It has created another sphere like the Internet.
The industry is currently in a transitionary period, or Web 2.5; we’re starting to evolve beyond Web 2.0 but Web 3.0 isn’t quite a mainstream reality. We’re facing a major user experience challenge, which is a huge opportunity for innovation.
There is a need to bridge the gap between banks and cryptocurrencies so institutions can offer these products in a way that’s intuitive and user-centric. No matter where bankers stand on the debate, they must educate themselves and remain open to how they might be able to leverage emerging technologies moving forward. Savvy investors are strongly considering digital assets within their wealth portfolios. In order to build trust with those clients, financial advisors in banks and credit unions must develop a strong understanding of the space to advise them responsibly.
I hope women in particular take the opportunity to help shape this new financial system to be more inclusive, especially since they weren’t in a position to do so when traditional financial systems were created.
How can banks offer digital services while maintaining human touch?
Mandraki: A primary issue is that for too long, banks have relied on experiences that are system-centric, ultimately forcing customers to jump through several hurdles to satisfy internal IT systems. This typically results in a process that is cumbersome, requiring customers to rekey information and leaving no room for human empathy.
Community financial institutions excel in customer-intimacy, as they move much of their customer interaction to the digital space, it’s critical they offer experiences that are human-centric.
This is where exercises and tools like a customer journey map, envisioning the customer journey in the context of use, provide significant value. Once the work is done to identify points of delight and frustration within the customer journey, the proper prioritization and investments can be put in place to overhaul the experience with the customer at the center.
What are the top trends you’ve seen so far this year, and what’s coming next year?
Mandraki: Going back to common mistakes we see in financial services, an exciting trend is that many banks and credit unions are starting to pay much closer attention to their ‘digital front doors’ or website experience. Strategic institutions have started to realize that a marketing department of one or two people, usually without any user experience or design background, is simply not enough of a resource to modernize and maintain their websites. Having a modern website that shares relevant information and options with intuitive navigation is just as important as the money being spent on things like modernizing loan origination systems or account opening tools.
We are also seeing many more financial services providers striving to identify a niche when it comes to investing and wealth management. There is a massive opportunity to reach and serve this group of Millennials and Gen Z that soon stand to inherit significant wealth but who have so far been hesitant to engage traditional financial advisors.
