DeepTarget Helps Banks and Credit Unions Personalize Customer Communications

Financial services digital marketing innovator DeepTarget has launched its 3D Story on the Go product extension to its Digital Experience Platform (DXP). The new solution enables banks and credit unions to add immersive and adaptive user experiences to email, SMS, and social media marketing campaigns. Alabama-based DeepTarget made its Finovate debut at FinovateWest 2020.

DeepTarget has unveiled the new 3D Story On the Go product extension to its Digital Experience Platform (DXP). The new addition leverages consumer and business intelligence, as well as AI, to help banks and credit unions personalize customer communications and launch more effective marketing campaigns via email, SMS, and social media.

"Today's consumers are digital users first and expect their financial institutions to deliver seamless, personalized, relevant experiences," DeepTarget CEO Preetha Pulusani said. "As much as personalization is a growing expectation for consumers, achieving it is a growing challenge for many financial institutions, especially in understanding…

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Embracing Change and Innovation: A Conversation with Starling Bank Founder and CEO Anne Boden

If there were a Challenger Bank Hall of Fame, then rest assured that Anne Boden, who founded U.K.-based Starling Bank in 2014 and is the challenger bank's CEO, would be prominently featured therein. As we learned in our conversation with Ms. Boden, her inspiration for founding the U.K.'s first digital bank was driven by both the opportunities presented by new technologies as well as a banking industry that was still significantly shell-shocked from the Great Financial Crisis of 2007 and 2008.

Headquartered in London, Starling Bank now has more than three million accounts and four different account types. Voted Britain's "Best Current Account" five years in a row, Starling Bank maintains offices in Cardiff and Southampton, as well as London, and still has zero brick-and-mortar branches. Starling Bank secured its banking license from the Bank of England in 2016, launched its first mobile personal current account in 2017, and introduced…

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4 Ways the New X1 Credit Card Differs from the Competition

The $2.4 trillion consumer credit card industry has been getting crowded, but the increase in competition is not enough to stop X1, one of the newest players in the smart payment card space.

X1 was founded in 2017 to create a challenger credit card that fits today's digital-first era. "With X1, we tossed the rulebook out and designed the first challenger card for digital natives," said X1 Co-founder and CEO Deepak Rao. "X1 delivers a superior experience that feels both simpler and smarter than any other credit card on the market."

Having exited private beta in October of last year, X1 now has cardholders in 50 states and its card has been used in more than 100 countries. The company reports that a card transaction takes place every five seconds, and it is on track to see $1 billion in annualized spend this year.

Helping to fuel this success…

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Proptech Firm Casavo Raises $408 Million

Casavo has raised $408 million in a debt and equity financing round. The round is comprised of $306 million in debt and $102 million in equity, and brings Casavo's total funding to $798 million. The company will use the funds to grow its existing operations, while expanding into France.

Casavo, a France-based fintech that seeks to make it easier for users to buy and sell their homes, has raised $408 million in combined debt and equity. The round is comprised of $306 million in debt, along with $102 million in Series D equity financing, and brings Casavo's total funding to $798 million.

The equity round was led by Exor NV, along with contributions from existing investors Greenoaks, Project A Ventures, 360 Capital, P101 SGR, Picus Capital, and Bonsai Partners; as well as new investors Neva SGR, Endeavor Catalyst, Hambro Perks, Fuse Venture Partners, and others. Casavo reports that the funds…

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People Driven Credit Union Partners with Larky to Deliver Customized Push Notifications to Members

Customer engagement and communications innovator Larky is partnering with People Driven Credit Union (PDCU). The partnership will enable the Michigan-area credit union to deploy Larky's nudge platform to send predictive communications and customized push notifications to its members. A Finovate alum since 2014, Larky also recently teamed up with Michigan State University Federal Credit Union, which will also deploy the company's nudge solution.

People Driven Credit Union (PDCU), a full-service financial institution based in Southfield, Michigan, has teamed up with customer engagement specialist Larky. The credit union will leverage Larky's nudge solution to send predictive communications to its target audiences. The partnership also will enable PDCU to deploy customizable push notification campaigns to market branch projects and initiatives without requiring additional staff, time, or cost.

Once integrated into a financial institution's mobile banking app, Larky's nudge provides lock-screen alerts and/or location-based notifications to guide account holders toward relevant and…

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MoEngage Leverages Personalization to Solve the Engagement Challenge for Brands

Insights-led customer engagement platform MoEngage made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2019 in New York. Three years later, the company returned to the Finovate stage for FinovateEurope 2022 in London. At this year's conference, MoEngage demonstrated its full-stack solution featuring customer analytics, automated cross-channel engagement, and AI-driven personalization.

"71% of banking customers expect to receive personalized digital offers yet banks fail to do so because they have data silos," MoEngage Senior Director Saket Toshniwal said during his demo at FinovateEurope in March. "We are here to solve that (problem), leveraging MoEngage."

Founded in 2014, MoEngage enables hyper-personalization at scale across multiple channels including mobile, email, SMS, web, on-site and in-app messaging, and more. The MoEngage platform leverages AI-powered automation and optimization to enable brands to analyze behavior and serve consumers with personalized communications at every stage of engagement.

"Using MoEngage technology to create effective campaigns based on customers insight will…

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Mastercard Forges Multi-Year Strategic Alliance with Quantum Computing Company D-Wave Systems

Mastercard announced a multi-year strategic alliance with quantum computing leader D-Wave. The partnership will explore applications for quantum computing technology in financial services. D-Wave builds both annealing and gate-model quantum computers, the only firm in the world to do so.

Will quantum computing take the place of crypto in terms of the fintech zeitgeist?

Mastercard announced this week that it has forged a multi-year strategic alliance with D-Wave Systems, a leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services. The goal of the collaboration will be to accelerate the adoption of quantum-based computing solutions.

Specifically the partnership will seek to develop "quantum-hybrid" solutions to solve problems in consumer loyalty and rewards, cross-border settlement, and fraud management. The two companies will use D-Wave's annealing quantum computers and quantum hybrid solvers through the Leap quantum cloud service to deliver real-time access to quantum applications powered by Mastercard's network.

"People expect hyper-personalized experiences,"…

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The Conversation Continues: Greg Palmer and the Finovate Podcast Featuring Upstart, Alliant CU, and More!

Greg Palmer and the Finovate Podcast have spent much of the first half of 2022 featuring Best of Show winners from FinovateEurope and FinovateSpring. Be sure to check out our podcast columns from the spring and summer for any Best of Show interviews you haven't seen yet.

You also may not have caught some of the Finovate Podcast's non-Best of Show coverage. Whether it's talking with venture capitalists on the next big thing in fintech or checking in on credit unions that are partnering with innovative fintech startups, the Finovate Podcast remains one of the best ways to keep current with what counts in the ever-changing world of fintech innovation.

To this end, here's a look at some of the recent Finovate podcasts you might have missed.

Find the Finovate podcast at Soundcloud and follow Greg Palmer on Twitter for the latest in programming news and updates.

Jeff Keltner, SVP…

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Fundrise Launches $1 Billion Growth Equity Fund

Fundrise is launching a $1 billion growth equity fund called the Fundrise Innovation Fund. The new VC-like fund will facilitate crowdsourced investments in private technology companies. The move is Fundrise's first significant expansion outside of private real estate.

Alternative investment firm Fundrise was originally founded to give retail investors access to invest in private real estate. Today, the Washington, D.C.-based company is expanding its horizons, adding access to another area of investing with limited access for everyday investors-- venture capital (VC).

The company is launching the Fundrise Innovation Fund, a $1 billion growth equity fund aimed to democratize access to investments in top private technology companies. The move is Fundrise's first significant expansion outside of private real estate.

"The proprietary systems and technology infrastructure we created to tap into private real estate are now capable of disrupting ownership of other asset classes previously inaccessible to individuals," Fundrise said…

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Wealthtech Orion Advisor Solutions Acquires TownSquare Capital, Redtail Technology

Wealth management solutions provider Orion Advisor Solutions has closed two acquisitions in recent weeks. The Omaha, Nebraska-based fintech closed its acquisition of CRM company Redtail Technology in June, and finished its acquisition of investment and trading platform TownSquare Capital in July. Terms were not disclosed about either transaction. Orion Advisor Solutions made its Finovate debut in 2019 at FinovateFall, demonstrating its trading and rebalancing platform, Eclipse.

Wealthtech innovator Orion Advisor Solutions has recently closed a pair of acquisitions. Both deals are designed to help Orion expand its wealth management business and give financial advisors a "single-source solution to prospect, plan, invest, and achieve," said Orion founder and CEO Eric Clarke.

At the beginning of the month, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company announced that it has completed its acquisition of investment and trading platform TownSquare Capital (TownSquare). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the acquisition will add $6 billion…

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Singapore’s TurnKey Lender Raises $10 Million in New Equity and Debt Funding

Lending automation platform and decision management solution and services provider TurnKey Lender has secured $10 million in new funding. The amount raised represents a blend of both equity financing and debt. Led by OTB Ventures, the round featured participation from German development finance institution DEG and Vertex Ventures.

TurnKey Lender will use the additional capital to help expand its operations across North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia. This will help the company take advantage of the growing embrace of embedded finance, especially embedded lending.

"We are pleased to have raised our latest level of funding and to continue partnering with great investors," TurnKey Lender CEO and co-founder Dmitry Voronenko said. "This will turbocharge the next stage of growth. We believe that embedded lending will soon be part of any customer relationship globally."

In addition to its fundraising news, TurnKey Lender announced that it had appointed a new chair for…

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Digital Banking Solutions Provider Apiture Secures $29 Million Investment

Apiture announced an investment of $29 million to help the company meet demand for its digital banking platform. The round was led by Live Oak Bank. The platform, unveiled earlier this year, combined Apiture's Xpress and Open products into a single, API-based solution. Apiture's total funding now stands at $69 million.

Digital banking solutions provider Apiture has raised $29 million in new funding in a round led by Live Oak Bank. The company will use the capital to boost sales and marketing, accelerate product development plans, and help meet demand for its flagship solution, the Apiture Digital Banking Platform.

"Our platform is built by bankers, for bankers, which uniquely positions Apiture to deliver best-in-class solutions that help financial institutions of all sizes level the playing field with national brands," Apiture CEO Chris Babcock said. He added that much of the capital raised in this latest round has "come…

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