Blog - Page 212 of 1289

Amazon Taps Parafin for Merchant Cash Advance Program

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on November 1, 2022
Categories: Amazon.com, Daily news

Amazon is launching a merchant cash advance tool in partnership with Parafin. The cash advance ties repayment to a percentage of the Amazon seller's Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS). The program launches today for select U.S. businesses, and it will be available more broadly by early 2023.

Right on the heels of launching its own insurance marketplace, Amazon is taking another step into the fintech realm. This time the online retailer is taking aim at small business financing, unveiling a financing tool for sellers on its own platform via a partnership with Parafin, a fintech that offers a merchant capital-as-a-service for online marketplaces.

Leveraging Parafin's technology, Amazon is launching a merchant cash advance tool that offers eligible Amazon sellers a cash advance that ties repayment to a percentage of sellers’ Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS). The service offers approved merchants capital ranging from $500 to $10 million in a matter of…

4 Spooky Stats on the State of Venture Funding

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 31, 2022
Categories: Julie's Column, Thought Leadership

For many in the fintech industry, there are few things as scary as the economy right now. High inflation, lowered investor and consumer confidence, and political tensions are all contributing to an uncertain future.

One of the largest impacts of this pullback in the fintech industry is seen in the drop in venture capital funding, the lifeblood of privately held companies. The lack of funding is giving startups of all sizes a shorter cash runway, which is leading to employee downsizing and increased exit activity.

We turned to CB Insights, which recently dropped its Q3 2022 State of Venture report, for some statistics that help tell the story of today's funding environment in fintech and beyond. Here are some of the high-level takeaways:

71% drop in new unicorns in the third quarter of this year

Across the globe, there were only 25 newly minted unicorns in the third quarter of…

JP Morgan Chase to Create Rental Payments Platform for Tenants and Landlords

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 31, 2022
Categories: Daily news, JP Morgan Chase

JP Morgan Chase is working on a rent management tool for owners of multi-family housing buildings. The new tool, called Story, will enable landlords to send invoices, receive payments, track payments, view analytics, determine rent prices, and screen potential tenants. Story is currently in beta, but is expected to be released to a broad audience in 2023.

JP Morgan Chase is piloting a platform to facilitate rent payments for tenants living in multifamily housing. The new technology, called Story, is a rent management tool for multi-family property owners.

As its core functionality, Story will enable landlords to automate rent invoices and receive rent payments. As not all tenants pay rent on time or in full, Story serves as a platform to help landlords track which tenants have paid and which still owe. Additionally, the new offering will provide property owners with analytics, help them determine rent prices, and…

nCino Teams Up with Ashman Bank to Enhance Banking for Property SMEs

By David Penn Posted on October 31, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, nCino

FinovateEurope alum nCino announced a partnership with U.K.-based Ashman Bank. The alliance will enable Ashman Bank to deploy nCino's Bank Operating System to better serve its small businss customers in the U.K. property market. nCino is a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ under the ticker NCNO. The company has a market capitalization of $3.5 billion.

A new partnership between cloud banking innovator nCino and U.K.-based Ashman Bank is designed to "transform the banking experience" for small and medium-sized businesses in the country's property market. Ashman Bank, which was awarded its banking license earlier this year, will deploy nCino's Bank Operating System to support its life cycle property finance solution.

"Partnering with nCino takes us one step closer to being able to transform the banking experience for property SMEs," Ashman Bank Chief Commercial Officer Caroline Luxmore said. "nCino gives us the best and most efficient platform for us to realize…

Cinchy Lands $14.5 Million in Funding

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 28, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Cinchy, Daily news, Funding

Data access and control firm Cinchy received $14.5 million in funding this week. The series B round was led by Forgepoint Capital and brings Cinchy's total funding to $24.2 million. As part of the investment, Forgepoint Managing Director Leo Casusol and Senior Associate Reynaldo Kirton will join Cinchy’s Board of Directors.

Cinchy, a fintech that is focused on helping firms set their data free, announced this week it received $14.5 million in a Series B funding round. This brings the Canada-based company's total funding to $24.2 million.

Led by Forgepoint Capital, the investment brings Forgepoint's Managing Director Leo Casusol will join Cinchy’s Board of Directors. The firm's Senior Associate Reynaldo Kirton joins the board as an advisor.

Cinchy was founded in 2017 to leverage data fabric to help banks access data from apps and other silos and assemble it within an easy-to-access data network. Today's investment will help the company seize a recent spike in demand for…

Finovate Global Pakistan: Embedded Finance, Digital Wallets, and Payment Apps

By David Penn Posted on October 28, 2022
Categories: Finovate Global

Pakistan-based embedded finance platform Neem forged a strategic partnership with BPC this week. The first Pakistan fintech to be enabled by BPC, Neem will use the company's SmartVista platform to power its embedded finance infrastructure.

Neem is targeting the more than 200 million consumers and 3.3 million micro, small, and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) that are un- or underbanked in Pakistan. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Karachi, Neem offers both a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform and a lending platform.

"In BPC, we have a strong technology partner with a deep understanding of the global trends and local market dynamics," Neem co-founder Nadeem Shaikh said. "We are building our infrastructure together, firstly for Pakistan and then for the emerging markets."

Neem's partnership news comes a month after the company announced a strategic partnership with JS Bank. The alliance will enable Neem to leverage JS Bank's Open Banking platform to enable Neem's…

The Early Bird Gets the Demo Discount

By Heather Stowell Posted on October 27, 2022
Categories: Finovate Marketing, FinovateEurope 2023

Demo your latest fintech, finserv, or techfin innovation in front of 1000+ senior decision-makers. Apply by Friday, November 4 and save big on the demo fee.

For FinovateEurope 2023 (March 14-15, London), we're selecting ~60 startup, established and public companies to demo over the first day of the event, March 14. And while time on the main stage is at the crux of the demo package, the rest of the demo experience has been carefully curated to give selected companies the best ROI:

Influential audience – demo in front of hundreds of high-quality attendees, including FI executives, fintech and tech giants, venture capitalists, industry press and analysts, and entrepreneurs. 7-minutes demos – get the audience’s undivided attention and show them exactly what you can do. All demos are on the main stage, and there are no other sessions competing for attention. Frequent and strategic networking breaks – capitalize on the…

InComm Acquires Australian Gift Card Innovator The Card Network

By David Penn Posted on October 27, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, InComm, Mergers & Acquisitions

Incomm Payments acquired Australian gift card provider The Card Network (TCN). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Card Network, founded in 2019, offers a wide range of multi-brand gift cards that aggregate popular consumer brands on a single card. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Incomm Payments made its Finovate debut in 2011 at FinovateFall in New York.

International paytech InComm Payments has acquired Australia-based gift card provider The Card Network (TCN). The acquisition will help InComm create and offer personalized gift card solutions, as well as support the growth of its brand and retail partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Available in-store at leading retailers in Australia as well as online, TCN's multi-brand gift cards aggregate consumer brands onto a single card, giving card recipients greater choice and flexibility. Examples of TCN's multi-brand gift card products are the company's The Active Card, which includes…

Blockchain.com Launches Debit Card for U.S. Users

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 26, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Blockchain, Daily news

Blockchain.com is launching a Visa debit card in partnership with Marqeta today. The fee-free card enables users to spend their crypto balance or cash within their Blockchain.com wallet. Blockchain.com counts 50,000 sign-ups for the card from users on its waitlist.

Cryptocurrency platform Blockchain.com is making it easier for users to transact using crypto from their Blockchain.com wallet. The company has released the Blockchain.com Visa debit card today, allowing U.S. users to spend their crypto balance or cash within their Blockchain.com wallet to pay for goods and services online or in person.

The new card does not charge fees and pays a reward of 1% back in crypto for all card purchases. Facilitating the launch are Visa, which provides the payment network, and Marqeta, which powers the card issuing process. Marqeta's Just-in-Time Funding feature is key to Blockchain.com's card launch. It enables users to spend from their available crypto balance while settling the transaction in fiat…

Experian and Prove Team Up to Boost Financial Inclusion Worldwide

By David Penn Posted on October 26, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Experian

Experian announced a partnership with digital identity company Prove. The partnership will integrate up to four Prove solutions into Experian's digital identity and fraud risk mitigation platform, CrossCore. Experian has been a Finovate alum since 2011. Earlier this month, the company announced a collaboration with U.K.-based NewDay.

A global partnership between information services company Experian and digital identity company Prove Identity is designed to help drive financial inclusion around the world via innovations in identity verification technology. The alliance, announced this week, will help companies bring their financial services to a wider range of customers, including members of un- and underbanked communities. The partnership will also enhance access to "faster, easier, and more secure experiences" for consumers.

As part of the deal, Prove will integrate a number of solutions into Experian's digital identity and fraud risk mitigation platform, CrossCore. The specific integrations will vary by region, but include:

Prove…

Investor Cash Management Brings Inclusive Finance to Delaware State University

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 26, 2022
Categories: Sponsored

This post is sponsored by Delaware Prosperity Partnership

Investor Cash Management (ICM) is working with Delaware State University to help the university promote financial wellness. Among ICM's other partners are BNY Mellon, PIMCO, Visa, Trusted Capital Group/HUB Financial, and the National Education Association. Originally headquartered in Chicago, ICM relocated its headquarters and customer service center to Wilmington, Delaware last year.

Delaware-based Investor Cash Management (ICM) is on a mission to help investors of all stripes achieve their financial goals.

"We’re helping individuals build wealth by offering a better financial product that eliminates the fees, confusion and inaccessibility traditionally associated with investing,” said ICM CEO Fred Phillips. "We’re creating a community where everyone has equal access to quality investment funds, including those previously unavailable to many individuals."

ICM develops API-based technology that links investor cash management accounts directly to both a bank account and a brokerage account. The company's technology transforms…