FinovateFall 2022 Sneak Peek: Cable

By Madeline Clines Posted on
Categories: Cable, FinovateFall 2022, FinovateFall 2022 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.

Cable was founded in 2020 to provide automated assurance of financial crime controls, enabling real-time, continuous monitoring for regulatory breaches and control failures across all of a business' accounts.

Features

Reduces remediation projects with real-time regulatory breach or control failure detection Automates and centralizes partner bank oversight of fintech partners Increases ROI of other compliance tools

Why it's great

Why manually test 100 accounts when you can automatically monitor 100%? Scale efficiently and compliantly with Cable by ensuring your controls’ effectiveness as you grow.

Presenter

Natasha Vernier, CEO
Before founding Cable, Vernier was Head of Financial Crime at Monzo Bank, one of the first UK fintechs to become FCA-authorized and regulated.
LinkedIn

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Truework Raises $50 Million to Redesign the Credit System

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

Truework has raised $50 million to bolster its income verification product. The Series C round brings Truework's total funding to $95 million. G Squared led the round, which the company plans to use to grow its business "through instant, accessible, and accurate consumer data."

Income and employment verification startup Truework is taking on an extra $50 million in capital today in a Series C round. When added to the $45 million in funding the California-based company has raised since it was founded in 2017, Truework's total funding now reaches $95 million.

The round was led by G Squared; with contributions from existing investors Sequoia, Activant, and Khosla Ventures; as well as new investors Indeed, Human Capital, and Four Rivers Group. "Support from these incredible teams inspire[s] us to keep building the future of financial identity, and is bolstered by our continued focus on promoting transparency and data ownership for consumers," the…

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What to Keep Your Eye On in the Final 5 Months of 2022

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

We're more than halfway through the year, and before you know it, we'll be publishing trends predictions for 2023. However, a lot can happen over the course of five months, so we've decided to examine what to look for and what you can expect in fintech between now and the new year.

Beginning the era of "neo super apps"

Over the past year, there has been much debate on whether or not the U.S. and Europe will ever have a super app. Plaid CEO Zach Perret takes a different angle on this. He is expecting "neo super apps" to rise in popularity.

"Within lending, brokerage, and banking, super apps will emerge, adding every bit of functionality within financial services. Over time, they’ll actually be able to add in things that are above and beyond financial services," said Perret in a Plaid report.

Accelerating M&A activity

It's no secret that…

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Avalara Acquired by Vista Equity Partners for $8.4 Billion

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Avalara, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions

Tax compliance firm Avalara has agreed to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners for $8.4 billion. Avalara has more than 30,000 customers in 95 countries. The transaction will take Avalara private, removing it from the New York Stock Exchange.

Avalara is starting the week with a big move. The tax compliance firm has agreed to be acquired by global investment firm Vista Equity Partners for $8.4 billion. Vista Equity Partners is acquiring Avalara at $93.50 per share, which represents a 27% premium of Avalara's closing share price on July 6, 2022.

Founded in 2004, Avalara helps its more than 30,000 customers in 95 countries comply with tax regulations. The Washington-based company offers compliance solutions for various transaction taxes, including sales and use, VAT, GST, excise, communications, lodging, and other indirect tax types. In addition to tax compliance, Avalara also helps companies secure business licenses and provides sales tax data analysis…

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PayOps Innovator Infinicept Unveils New Embedded Finance Solution, Infiniport

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news

Denver, Colorado-based PayOps innovator Infinicept unveiled its open payment operations solution, Infiniport. The new offering will support orchestration between multiple processing platforms, enabling businesses to "bring their own processor" (BYOP) to their payments operations. Infinicept secured $23 million in new funding this spring in a round co-led by SVB Financial Group and Piper Sandler Merchant Banking.

PayOps innovator company Infinicept launched its new open payment operations capability, Infiniport. The new offering gives customers the ability to interface with the processor or alternative payment rail of their choice, enabling companies using embedded payments to "bring their own processor" (BYOP) to their payments and business operations.

Infiniport will help support orchestration between processing platforms, which is essential for businesses that rely upon more than one payment processing relationship. The new offering from Infinicept means that companies will no longer be forced to choose between the cost and inflexibility of…

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Finovate Global Interview: Abdulla Almoayed of Tarabut Gateway on Open Banking in the MENA Region

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global

This week's edition Finovate Global is an interview with Abdulla Almoayed, founder and CEO of Tarabut Gateway. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Dubai, Tarabut Gateway is the first and largest regulated open banking platform in the MENA region. The company enables secure and friction-free data flow and connectivity between banks and fintechs in its regional network, leveraging its universal APIs to bring the benefits of open banking to financial services consumers in Bahrain, the UAE, KSA, and elsewhere.

This year, Tarabut Gateway has secured major banking partnerships in Saudi Arabia, teaming up with Riyad Bank, Saudi British Bank, Alinma Bank, and Banque Saudi Fransi as the Kingdom begins to embrace open banking. In June, the company was selected as platform partner by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) for its new Open Finance Lab. Last month, Tarabut Gateway announced a pair of C-suite appointments, introducing new…

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Santander Partners with Rocket Mortgage to Provide Digital Home Loan Experience

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

Santander Bank has selected Rocket Mortgage to provide its clients an online mortgage lending tool. Rocket Mortgage will offer Santander clients exclusive discounts and resources to help them in their home buying journey. Rocket Mortgage was among the first to offer a fully digital mortgage lending experience when it did so in 2015.

A partnership between Santander Bank and Rocket Mortgage is taking off today. Santander has selected online mortgage lending company Rocket Mortgage to serve as the as the exclusive preferred mortgage provider for its customers.

Santander will leverage Rocket Mortgage to offer its two million clients exclusive discounts and resources to help them in their home buying journey. The collaboration enables users to interact independently online or speak to a home loan expert via a phone call, email, or online chat.

"At Santander, we place the customer at the center of our business, and I'm pleased to be…

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BlackRock Taps Coinbase to Facilitate Bitcoin Purchases

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Coinbase, Daily news

BlackRock has selected Coinbase to help its clients buy and sell bitcoin. Under the partnership, clients of BlackRock Aladdin will benefit from Coinbase Prime. Partnering with Coinbase will help BlackRock add digital currencies as an asset class for the first time.

Coinbase is partnering with BlackRock to help some of the asset manager's institutional clients connect to Coinbase Prime, making it possible for them to buy and sell bitcoin.

Under the agreement, common clients of Coinbase and BlackRock's end-to-end investment management platform Aladdin, will benefit from Coinbase Prime, a full-service platform to access crypto markets at scale. At the outset, Aladdin clients will be limited to using Coinbase Prime to buy and sell bitcoin.

With $10 trillion in assets under management, BlackRock offers clients a range of investment strategies, including alternative assets, sustainable investing, factor-based investing, systematic investing, and now digital assets. The company has 8,000 employees across…

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OCR Labs Brings its Digital ID Verification Technology to Bloom Money

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, OCR Labs

London's OCR Labs announced a partnership with Bloom Money, a company that seeks to enhance financial wellness for immigrant communities. Bloom Money will leverage OCR Labs' technology to provide biometric and document verification during its onboarding process. OCR Labs won Best of Show at FinovateAsia in Hong Kong in 2017.

London-based digital ID verification innovator - and Finovate Best of Show winner - OCR Labs has teamed up with Bloom Money, a platform that is geared toward helping diaspora communities in Europe better manage their finances. Bloom Money will use OCR Labs' technology to conduct automated biometric verification, document verification, and reauthentication during the onboarding process for new customers.

Bloom Money bases its offering on what it calls "tried and tested" methods of money management - whether they are called contributions, ajo, hagbad, or pardna - used by communities around the world. The company decided to partner with OCR Labs…

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Innovation in a Risk Management Business: A Conversation with Piermont Bank Founder and CEO Wendy Cai-Lee

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CEO Interview, FinovateSpring 2022, Interview, Speaker series, Women in Fintech

FinovateSpring provided us with a great opportunity to sit down for an informative chat with Wendy Cai-Lee, founder and CEO of Piermont Bank.

Launched in 2019, Piermont Bank aims to blend the best of modern banking and agile fintech. Piermont Bank's peer banking approach provides customers with technology-enabled, human-delivered solutions, opting for dedicated bankers over "1-800 numbers or chatbots."

Last month, Piermont Bank celebrated three years of innovation. The woman-founded and entrepreneur-led financial institution currently has more than $420 million in total assets, and offers an end-to-end, digital banking-as-a-service platform with more than 40 fintech clients already onboard. More than 50% of Piermont's loans since inception have been made to low- and moderate-income communities, as well as women- and minority-owned businesses.

Below are a few excerpts from our conversation with Ms. Cai-Lee at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May.

On the decision to launch Piermont Bank

The genesis…

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Thoma Bravo Scoops Up Ping Identity for $2.8 Billion

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Ping Identity

Thoma Bravo is acquiring Ping Identity in an all-cash deal for $2.8 billion. The acquisition will take publicly held Ping Identity into the private markets. Thoma Bravo's other recent fintech acquisitions include Bottomline Technologies, Digital Insight, and Ellie Mae.

Cloud-based identity software provider Ping Identity has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo. The all-cash deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year for $2.8 billion.

"We are pleased to partner with Thoma Bravo, which has a strong track record of investing in high-growth cloud software security businesses and supporting companies with initiatives to turbocharge innovation and open new markets," said Ping Identity CEO Andre Durand.

Ping Identity was founded in 2002 and has since made seven acquisitions of its own, including passwordless identity verification company Singular Key, bot prevention and fraud intelligence firm SecuredTouch, intelligent authorization company Symphonic,…

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