Blog - Page 231 of 1289

Pride or Prejudice? How Transparency Can Help Banks Better Serve LGBTQ+ Communities

By David Penn Posted on June 30, 2022
Categories: Diversity in Fintech, Interview

As Pride Month draws to a close, we wanted to take a look at the impact that banks and other financial services companies have on LGBTQ+ communities.

The issues that face LGBTQ+ communities when it comes to financial services are as varied as these communities themselves are. They range from simply allowing cardholders to determine how they will be identified on their own bank cards, to healthcare-related savings and investment planning, to learning which financial institutions respect LGBTQ+ individuals and their values - as well as those institutions who work against them.

We caught up with Chris Luton, Director of Customer Care with Oakland, California-based Beneficial State Bank, to talk about the relationship between banks - especially community banks - and LGBTQ+ communities. We also discuss Beneficial State Bank's efforts in this regard - as a "values-based bank" - as well as the bank's own development as a community financial…

Mortgagetech Roostify Integrates Indecomm’s IncomeGenius; Appoints New COO Nadia Aziz

By David Penn Posted on June 29, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Roostify

Roostify announced a partnership with Indecomm that will integrate Indecomm's IncomeGenius technology into Roostify's Roostify Beyond platform. The integration will make it easier for Roostify to calculate income for self-employed borrowers. A Finovate alum since 2014, Roostify also announced this week the appointment of Nadia Aziz as its new Chief Operating Officer.

A new partnership with intelligent automation solutions company Indecomm will bring automated income calculation technology to Roostify's data intelligence solution Roostify Beyond. A Finovate alum since its debut at FinovateSpring 2014, Roostify will integrate Indecomm's IncomeGenius solution, which will add to its current income calculation capabilities - especially when it comes to income calculations for self-employed borrowers.

"Improving loan assembly and processing costs, and timeframes is an imperative for all lenders in today's environment," Roostify co-founder and CEO Rajesh Bhat said. "Roostify Beyond already incorporates income calculation and analysis for the most common employment scenarios. With the…

FIS Launches Guaranteed Payments Solution for Protection Against Chargebacks

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on June 29, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, FIS, Signifyd

FIS is launching its Guaranteed Payments solution this week that boosts merchants' ecommerce transaction approval rates and guarantees protection against chargebacks. FIS is partnering with ecommerce fraud prevention company Signifyd to reduce merchant chargebacks. "With this solution, customer retention works hand in hand with fraud elimination to unlock incredible revenue growth opportunities," said Signifyd CEO and Co-founder Raj Ramanand.

Core banking expert FIS is launching a Guaranteed Payments solution this week. The new tool guarantees merchants increased ecommerce transaction approval rates and eliminates the financial liability of chargebacks resulting from fraudulent purchases.

Guaranteed Payments, which is available across the Signifyd Commerce Network and integrated into FIS' Worldpay platform, facilitates increased merchant approval rates and provides guaranteed chargeback protection. The new technology combines machine learning and transaction intelligence to analyze aspects of a consumer's purchase, including email address and payment credentials. Leveraging that information, Guaranteed Payments can instantly distinguish legitimate orders…

Best of Show: The Finovate Podcast’s Greg Palmer Chats with the Faves from FinovateSpring

By David Penn Posted on June 29, 2022
Categories: Array, Best of Show, FinGoal, FinovateSpring 2022, Horizn, Keep Financial Technology, Podcasting, QuickFi, Spave

Join Finovate VP and Host of the Finovate Podcast Greg Palmer as he shares his video conversations with companies that earned Best of Show honors at FinovateSpring in May.

Greg Palmer talks with Rob Frohwein, co-founder of Keep Financial, which won Best of Show honors at FinovateSpring 2022. Demo video.

"What Keep does is it enables employers to implement what we call 'investing cash plans' which is a new compensation technique that enables an employer to issue what's essentially a retention bonus, but that cash is provided on the front end of some period of time ... There's an ongoing obligation of the employee to stick around the company for whatever the vesting period is and, once they hit that vesting period or vesting periods along the way, that portion, or all of the debt that they owe for getting that retention bonus up front, disappears."

Greg Palmer…

PayPal Adds New Business Credit Card

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on June 28, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, PayPal

PayPal launched a small business credit card this week. The PayPal Business Cashback Mastercard is PayPal's first business credit card. PayPal also offers a range of other tools for small businesses, including working capital tools, business loans, risk management support, and more.

Small businesses in the U.S. have gained yet another credit card option this week with PayPal's launch of its its first commercial credit card.

The PayPal Business Cashback Mastercard, which is issued by WebBank, has no annual fee and offers cardholders 2% cashback on all purchases. The rewards are not subject to earning caps nor do they expire. Additionally, the card comes with free employee cards, does not charge a foreign transaction fee, and integrates with PayPal's merchant platform to facilitate access to transactions, balances, available credit, and rewards.

Once a business is approved for the card, it can immediately begin spending via a virtual card that…

Further Unveils VC Fund Investment Platform

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on June 28, 2022
Categories: Daily news

Further, a company that helps democratize investing in VC funds, is launching this week. The London-based company enables users to invest as little as £1,000 in startups that are not publicly available. The company allows anyone to invest, as long as they agree not to invest more than 10% of their net assets in shares, bonds, or funds that are not listed or sold on a stock exchange.

London-based Further is launching this week to help democratize investing in VC funds. The company enables users to invest in startups that are not publicly available.

The company's platform enables users to browse, review, and compare funds, and easily invest as little as £1,000. Once the investment is made, Further enlists U.K. fund managers to invest users' money into startups that are not generally available to everyday investors. Investors receive returns after around five to 10 years when the startup they invest…

Location Identity Leader Incognia Secures $15.5 Million to Help Fight Identity Fraud

By David Penn Posted on June 28, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Incognia

Mobile fraud prevention specialist Incognia, which made its Finovate debut in May at FinovateSpring, has raised $15.5 million in Series A funding. The capital will be used to help fuel the company's growth; Incognia currently has 200 million mobile users in more than 20 countries worldwide. Incognia leverages location and motion sensors to create a unique "location footprint" for trusted users that rivals other authentication methods in accuracy.

In a round led by Point72 Ventures, mobile identity company Incognia has secured $15.5 million in Series A funding to help fight identity fraud. The investment will help fuel the Palo Alto, California-based company's continued growth, building on the 200 million mobile users in more than 20 countries currently protected by Incognia's technology.

"Today's authentication and fraud detection solutions aren't working for the user, or for businesses, and the market is looking for more innovative technologies," Incognia founder and CEO André Ferraz…

Finovate Newcomer Lokyata Integrates its Credit Decisioning Technology with Infinity Software

By David Penn Posted on June 27, 2022
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Lokyata, Startups

Lokyata, a credit decisioning specialist, announced a partnership with Infinity Software. The integration will make Lokyata's BankAnalyze solution available to Infinity Software's financial services customers. Lokyata, founded in 2017, made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring earlier this year.

Just over a month after making its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022 in San Francisco, California, credit decision solutions provider Lokyata has announced that its real-time, automated credit decisioning tool, BankAnalyze, is now integrated with Infinity Software's loan management software platform.

Courtesy of the API-enabled integration with Lokyata, Infinity Solutions will give its customers the ability to access key loan decision information. This includes customer-permissioned bank statement analysis such as average monthly net income, minimum balance, average monthly loan payments, and insufficient funds (NSF) notification histories. The integration will also enable lenders to configure both auto-fund and auto-deny rules to bring additional streamlining to the loan decisioning experience.

"At Lokyata, we…

Digital Bank Kroo Receives Full U.K. Banking License

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on June 27, 2022
Categories: Daily news

Digital banking startup Kroo received a full banking license from the Bank of England. Kroo will use the new authorization to offer personal current accounts in the coming months. The full banking license places Kroo in competition with Monzo, Starling Bank, and Atom Bank.

Digital banking startup Kroo just received a full banking license from the Bank of England. With the new authorization, the U.K.-based bank plans to offer personal current accounts (checking accounts).

Founded in 2016, Kroo offers a prepaid Mastercard with a tandem mobile app that provides spending insights, peer-to-peer money transfers, bill-splitting capabilities, and more. The payment card, which is biodegradable, works in more than 75 countries.

Kroo will add current accounts to its product line "in the coming months." After launch, the company will offer its 23,000 customers the option to migrate to the new offering for free.

Kroo CEO Andrea De Gottardo said that the banking license represents…

Array and Alkami Technology Team Up to Help Banks Boost Digital Engagement

By David Penn Posted on June 27, 2022
Categories: Alkami Technology, Alumni News, Array, Daily news

Two Finovate alums - Alkami Technology and Array - have teamed up to help financial institutions offer credit and identity solutions to their customers. The partnership makes three of Array's signature solutions: My Credit Manager, ID Protect, and Offers Engine, available to a wider range of bank and credit union customers and members. Alkami made its Finovate debut in 2009 as iThryv. Array won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2021 and again at FinovateSpring 2022.

A new partnership has been forged between digital banking solution provider Alkami Technology and financial enablement platform Array. The collaboration will bring a range of new solutions to Alkami clients that will help their customers and members better monitor their credit, benefit from anti-fraud identity monitoring, and access actionable, credit-based offers.

"Improving the digital-first banking experience is a top priority for banks and credit unions," Alkami founder, Chief Strategy Officer, and…

Backbase Supports Fintech Innovation in Bahrain; Compass Plus Boosts Digital Payments in Nigeria

By David Penn Posted on June 24, 2022
Categories: Backbase, Compass Plus, Finovate Global

This week's edition of Finovate Global takes a look at two Finovate alums that are helping support fintech innovation in the Middle East and Africa.

First up is engagement banking platform provider Backbase. The four-time Finovate Best of Show award-winning company announced this week that it has forged a new partnership with Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB). The partnership comes under the auspices of BFB's Venture Acceleration Platform, which seeks to boost the adoption of digital banking technology in the MENA region.

Head of Partners at Backbase Middle East Mehmet Cakal said, "This new collaboration with Bahrain FinTech Bay aligns with our continuous efforts to help banks in the region with a long-term digital strategy and support them with a holistic approach towards digital transformation, to be able to meet the demands and expectations of their customers in today's age."

Backbase is no stranger to the MENA fintech and…

Raisin Bank’s Newest Acquisition Helps it Expand into Bulk Payments and Cash

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on June 24, 2022
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions

Raisin Bank has agreed to acquire the payment division of Bankhaus August Lenz. The move will help Raisin Bank diversify its revenue sources by adding payment services to its product lineup. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Banking-as-a-service player Raisin Bank is adding cash and payment services to its product lineup. This comes as the Germany-based firm has acquired the payment division of Bankhaus August Lenz, a private bank headquartered in Munich. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The move will help Raisin Bank diversify its revenue sources by adding payment services. The new capabilities enable Raisin Bank to offer customers electronic payment transactions and cash solutions. Bankhaus August Lenz's Mirko Siepmann will head up the new division, which aims to help retailers, restaurant, gas stations, and non-bank operators of ATMs, facilitate the operation of more than 4,500 ATMs in Germany.

"As a service bank, we will…