Blog - Page 229 of 1288

Kids Finance App GoHenry Acquires Pixpay

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 11, 2022
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions

U.K.-based GoHenry has acquired France-based Pixpay for an undisclosed sum. The deal will help GoHenry expand further into Europe. GoHenry and Pixpay will operate under their own brands with no change in staffing or headquarters.

Kids money management app GoHenry has acquired France-based Pixpay for an undisclosed amount.

The move will help U.K.-based GoHenry expand further into Europe, taking advantage of Pixpay's teen mobile banking operations in France, Spain, and eventually Germany and Italy.

"Pixpay is the most developed player in Europe," said GoHenry CEO Alex Zivoder, "and we’re excited to combine our expertise in financial education to accelerate not only GoHenry’s growth but to accelerate the financial fitness of even more kids and teens globally."

Founded in 2019, Pixpay's mobile banking app targets a slightly older user base then GoHenry. Pixpay is aimed at pre-teens and teenagers, while GoHenry caters to kids as young as six years old. Both…

Arcadia Acquires Data Aggregator Urjanet to Help Promote a “Zero-Carbon” Future

By David Penn Posted on July 11, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Urjanet

Utility data aggregator Urjanet has been acquired by energy technology company Arcadia. Urjanet made its Finovate debut last fall at FinovateSpring 2021. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Atlanta, Georgia-based Urjanet facilitates access to data from more than 6,500 utility, telecom, and cable providers around the world.

Here's some big news from a Finovate newcomer that slipped beneath our radar in the wake of FinovateSpring this year. Urjanet, a leading utility data aggregator that made its Finovate debut last May, has been acquired by energy technology company Arcadia.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal will integrate Urjanet's global data access with Arcadia's data and API platform, Arc. This will enable Arc to serve as a universal software layer for the "zero-carbon economy."

"Without data access, it will be impossible to meet the urgency and size of the climate crisis," Arcadia CEO Kiran Bhatraju…

India Cracks Down on Consumer Lending; Razorpay and Pine Labs Score Payment Licenses

By David Penn Posted on July 8, 2022
Categories: Finovate Global

This week's edition of Finovate Global takes a look at recent developments in the fintech industry in India.

Has a "fintech reckoning" come to India? That's the take shared by the Wall Street Journal recently, which suggested that many of the country's fintech startups are facing new regulatory scrutiny. TechCrunch joined the alarm, looking specifically at the decision by the Reserve Bank of India to ban the practice of using credit cards to load and top up non-bank prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) such as prepaid cards.

The potential impact of the ruling is broad, with companies that specifically leverage PPI licenses to issue cards and then offer cardholders lines of credit, as well as Buy Now, Pay Later firms, that also use a similar approach to offer loans to consumers, being affected. The former group includes major Indian fintechs such as Slice, OneCard, Jupiter, Uni, and KreditBee.

The decision has…

Experian CIO on Digital Identity, Personalization, and Building Trust with Consumer Data

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 7, 2022
Categories: Experian, Interview, Speaker series

In a digital world, there's no way around digital identity. The topic touches all corners of fintech and ecommerce, and while it can create a stumbling block, leveraging consumer identity data can also hold great opportunity.

We recently spoke with Experian's Kathleen Peters for her thoughts on digital identity and how financial services companies can use consumer data to their advantage.

Peters started her career as an engineer at Motorola and later moved into voice and messaging encryption technology. Eventually, she began working in Experian's global fraud and identity business and now serves as the company's Chief Innovation Officer.

The fintech industry has always struggled with digital identity. Why is digital identity so difficult to get right?

Kathleen Peters: A consumer’s identity is personal; every interaction and transaction requires their identity. Consumers expect a seamless and frictionless experience, but also rely on organizations to protect their information. The balance…

Envestnet to Acquire Redi2 Technologies to Boost Billing & Accounting

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 7, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Envestnet, Mergers & Acquisitions

Envestnet acquired revenue management and hosted fee-billing solutions company Redi2 Technologies. Envestnet will use the buy to modernize its billing, accounting, and back office capabilities. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Financial wellness technology firm Envestnet announced its 16th acquisition today. The Chicago-based company announced it has purchased revenue management and hosted fee-billing solutions company Redi2 Technologies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Massachusetts, Redi2 offers a revenue management platform tailored to financial services companies. The tool offers fee calculation, invoice creation, payouts and accounting, and billing compliance. Among Redi2's products are Revenue Manager, which provides client revenue accounting and billing services for asset managers; Wealth Manager, which delivers multi-party billing and payouts for broker-dealers and asset managers; and BillFin, which offers advisory billing and invoicing for financial advisors.

Envestnet will use Redi2's technology to modernize its billing, accounting, and…

GoCardless to Acquire Latvian Open Banking Data Platform Nordigen

By David Penn Posted on July 7, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Nordigen

Bank payments company GoCardless has announced its intention to acquire open banking platform Nordigen. The Latvia-based fintech, a Finovate alum since 2018, connects to 2,300 banks in Europe and the U.K. via its free API. Terms of the acquisition, which is expected to close later this summer, were not disclosed.

Bank payments company GoCardless has announced its intention to acquire Nordigen, an open banking platform based in Latvia. GoCardless will integrate Nordigen's open banking connectivity into its account-to-account network. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close later this summer.

"The Nordigen acquisition will take us to the next level," GoCardless co-founder and CEO Hiroki Takeuchi said. "By intelligently combining free, state-of-the-art open banking connectivity with deep payment expertise, we can now offer open banking-as-a-service to any developer, partner, or fintech." Takeuchi added that the acquisition will "lead to experimentation ... that will…

OpenFin Lands Strategic Investment from ING Ventures

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 6, 2022
Categories: Daily news, Funding

OpenFin received a strategic investment from ING Ventures. The amount of the investment was undisclosed, but adds to the company's $47 million raised since 2010. ING is an OpenFin OS client. The company began using OpenFin's technology last year to accelerate its desktop transformation strategy.

Enterprise productivity company OpenFin received a strategic investment from ING Ventures this week. The amount of the investment was undisclosed. The New York-based company plans to use the funds to expand what it calls "the operating system (OS) of enterprise productivity," or OpenFin OS.

OpenFin OS helps financial services organizations power internal and customer-facing digital experiences. OpenFin counts more than 2,400 banks, wealth management firms in 60+ countries as OpenFin OS users. Clients include 23 of top 25 global banks, including Barclays, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and more. OpenFin is aiming to expand the OpenFin OS "to every user within financial services."

Today's…

Brazil’s Travelex Bank Partners with ThetaRay for Transaction Monitoring, Sanctions Screening

By David Penn Posted on July 6, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, ThetaRay

Tel Aviv, Israel-based ThetaRay announced a partnership with Brazil's Travelex Bank. Travelex Bank will deploy ThetaRay's transaction monitoring and sanctions screening solution, SONAR, to enhance its ability to combat money laundering. ThetaRay made its Finovate debut in 2015. The company has raised more than $112 million in funding.

Transaction monitoring technology provider ThetaRay will help Brazil's biggest FX specialist, Travelex Bank, enhance its transaction monitoring and sanctions screening capabilities. Travelex Bank will deploy ThetaRay's SaaS-based anti-money laundering solution, SONAR, to provide both domestic and international transaction monitoring, as well as real-time sanctions screening for international payments.

Travelex Bank Chief Compliance Officer Célia Pizzi highlighted ThetaRay's ability to meet the institution's transactions monitoring and sanctions screening needs with a single platform. "ThetaRay's SONAR will enable us to expand our product services portfolio and improve customer service while improving our overall AML operations," Pizzi said. "SONAR will provide higher…

CIBC Bank USA Chooses Velocity Solutions’ Akouba Digital Lending Platform

By David Penn Posted on July 5, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Velocity Solutions

Chicago, Illinois-based CIBC Bank USA has announced a partnership with Finovate newcomer, Velocity Solutions. CIBC will leverage Velocity Solutions' Akouba Digital Lending Platform to lower costs, better manage risk, and increase per-loan profitability. Velocity Solutions made its Finovate debut in the fall of 2021. The company acquired the Akouba platform in 2018.

CIBC Bank USA has chosen Velocity Solutions' Akouba Digital Lending Platform to support its small business banking division. The Chicago, Illinois-based commercial bank, founded in 1989 as The PrivateBank and Trust Company, will leverage Akouba's cloud-based SaaS platform to lower the cost, time, and risk associated with the loan origination process. At the same time, the platform will help boost the profitability of every loan made.

"We've made tremendous progress with the platform since we acquired Akouba in June 2018," Velocity Solutions EVP of Product Management Mike Triggiano said. "We're continually refining the platform and adding new…

Wirex Launches Crypto Line of Credit

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 5, 2022
Categories: Daily news

Wirex launched a new line of credit, enabling users to borrow stablecoins against their crypto holdings. The new credit offering enables users to access the value of their crypto holdings without needing to sell off their crypto assets. Users can borrow up to $100,000 issued in USDC, USDT and NXUSD in exchange for their BTC and ETH holdings.

Cryptocurrency payments platform Wirex introduced a new line of credit this week.

The new offering, Wirex Credit, enables Wirex's five million customers to instantly borrow up to $100,000 issued in USDC, USDT, and NXUSD. Wirex uses clients' BTC or ETH (with more crypto options launching soon) as collateral with zero origination or setup fees. Users can borrow up to 80% of the value of their crypto holdings and only pay interest once their credit line goes live.

Wirex Credit helps customers access the value of their crypto holdings without having to sell.…

Intelligent Identity Security Innovator Sontiq Urges Customer Engagement to Fight Fraud

By David Penn Posted on July 5, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Report series, Sontiq

Intelligent identity solution provider Sontiq has issued a new report on security in financial services. The report, 2022 Digital Safety and Security Report for Financial Services, underscores the importance of engaging customers and members in the fight against cyberfraud. Sontiq made its Finovate debut in the fall of 2021 and was acquired a few months later by TransUnion for $638 million.

Intelligent identity security firm Sontiq has warned that the growing sophistication of cybercriminals and increased awareness and concern over the challenge to digital security from the public have created both new challenges and new opportunities for financial institutions. In a new report, the 2022 Digital Safety and Security Report for Financial Services, Sontiq highlights the way cybercriminals have leveraged advanced technologies - including automation and AI - to achieve what Sontiq called a "historic level of data compromise" in 2021.

"Consumers are increasingly anxious about cyber…