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Companies around the world are facing increased pressure to ensure they’re monitoring and screening new and existing customers against applicable sanctions lists. While having a comprehensive screening program is nothing new for regulated companies, the current regulatory climate has demonstrated that companies need to be prepared to balance the need for increased speed and thorough compliance.
Real-time payments software company ACI Worldwide launched its mobile engagement platform ACI Smart Engage today. The solution leverages location, voice, and image recognition technology to enable merchants to offer their entire inventory of products and services directly to consumers' smartphones. ACI Smart Engage combines geolocation with scannable media and audio tags inside a range of media types - including TV, print and radio advertisements, posters, magazines, catalogs, window displays, and more. Consumers can use the solution to instantly purchase products and services on-the-go with a single click.
"With…
Often ignored as a boring fintech subsector, insurtech is in the midst of reinventing itself to fit into today's digital-first era. Straits Research expects the global insurtech market to reach a valuation of more than $114 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 46.10% from now until that time.
We've rounded up a handful of insurtechs whose new innovations in the space are contributing to this growth.
InShareInShare was founded in 2019 by a group of Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb alums to deliver insurance solutions to meet the unique needs of sharing economy platforms such as rideshare, delivery, homeshare, and eMobility markets.
"We have an expert team of gig insiders across all facets of insurance that are working closely with brokers who specialize in the on-demand economy,” said InShare VP Gary Lovelace. "We’re making the buying experience straightforward, flexible and frictionless for brokers and customers. More fundamentally, we’re…
Leading Northern European open banking platform Aiia unveiled its new payment feature, Pay by Link. The new offering enables seamless payments for both businesses and consumers, using whatever channel they choose. These options include email, PDF, SMS, social media chat, and more.
"We're in the process of transforming the entire way of paying bills," Aiia CEO and co-founder Rune Mai said. "With a simple link, we make it effortlessly easy and secure to pay a bill on the go with a bank account without having to enter or remember payment details."
Using the solution is straightforward: businesses provide Aiia with the necessary invoice information for…
China tech giant Ant Group announced the launch of its own digital bank, ANEXT Bank, in Singapore.
ANEXT Bank is a digital wholesale bank focused on serving micro businesses and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, ANEXT will focus on facilitating cross-border operations for growth and global expansion.
The ANEXT business account, which will be available to SMEs in the third quarter of this year, will offer a dual-currency deposit account with remote onboarding, daily interest, and other features. The bank is soliciting ideas for other features from the public. "We believe in building solutions around your needs," the company said on its…
European investment and savings platform Trade Republic has topped up its 2021 Series C round with an investment of €250 million led by the Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan. The funding gives Trade Republic a valuation of more than $5 billion (€5 billion), and will enable the company to "double down" on its product.
"We are amid a transformation of pension systems in Europe," Trade Republic co-founder Christian Hecker said. "The financing will help us to invest strongly into product innovation to empower millions of Europeans to put their money to work. Improving our valuation in the light of the current market environment is the true testament to our progress in the last twelve months and the large potential ahead."
Trade Republic enables its more than one million European customers to invest in equities, cryptocurrencies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as well as fractional savings plans. With more than six billion euros in…
The fintech industry talks a lot about bank-fintech and fintech-bank relationships. Everyone in this industry will proudly declare how essential these partnerships are for everyone in the value chain. However, the recent introduction of crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) is complicating things. How can a traditional financial (TradFi*) institution like a bank align itself with a DeFi startup or get involved in crypto?
For insight, we spoke with Sila CEO and Founder Shamir Karkal. Karkal co-founded Simple, one of the first digital banks, in 2009 and sold the company to BBVA in 2017. The following year, Karkal founded Sila, a company that offers banking, digital wallet, and ACH payments APIs to help companies integrate with the U.S. banking system and blockchain quickly, securely, and in compliance.
In our conversation, Karkal highlights the intersection between TradFi and DeFi and examines ways the two can work together while still regarding necessary compliance…
A pair of Finovate alums have teamed up to offer a new transparent alternative to traditional credit cards.
Modern card issuing platform Marqeta reported this week that it is working with banking, payments, and ecommerce platform Klarna to power Klarna's new payment card. The card will bring Klarna's Pay in 4 service to a physical Visa card, and builds on a payment card partnership between the two companies that extends back to 2018. Marqeta currently enables the creation of one-time cards on Klarna's app. The new Klarna Card will give customers the same control, convenience, and flexibility when shopping in…
Bruised but not broken, the cryptocurrency market has taken more than a few blows as the prices of leading digital assets - from Bitcoin to Ethereum - have declined significantly in recent months. This may have taken some of the steam out of many cryptocurrency ventures. But there is no sign that interest in cryptocurrencies has been lost in any critical way. Here are three headlines from this week's news that remind us that, despite its recent fortunes, crypto remains a key part of innovation in fintech.
Leading digital asset exchange Binance announced the closure of a $500 million venture fund for investing in Web3 and blockchain-based technologies this week. The fund will be led by the company's venture capital arm Binance and features the support of a number of global investors including DST Global Partners and Breyer Capital.
"In a Web3 environment, the connection between values, people, and economies,…
June is National Pride Month, a time to honor and celebrate the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community. Many of the contributions to fintech and financial services from members of the LGBTQ community go unnoticed. But what can no longer be overlooked is the growing number of resources in the financial services industry that are designed to serve the unique needs of LGBTQ financial services consumers. To this end, we're taking a look at three companies that are dedicated to making banking and financial wellness easier for those in the LGBTQ community.
DaylightCalling itself "banking for you and your chosen familly," Daylight may be the pre-eminent, dedicated banking solution provider for the LGBTQ community. Founded in 2020, by "queer millennials" Rob Curtis (CEO), Billie Simmons (COO), and Paul Barnes-Hoggett (CTO), Daylight enables individuals and families to access a range of key banking services without worrying about supporting…
In the U.K., open banking is the rule, rather than the exception. So today's partnership between open banking platform TrueLayer and cross-border payments company Thunes is targeting the right geography. Through today's partnership, the two firms aim to streamline and improve the payment experience of consumers in the U.K. and Europe.
"Open banking payments are gaining momentum not only in the U.K. but also in the rest of Europe, and we really believe that this strong partnership with TrueLayer, a leader in the field, will help to move forward and make this new definition of smart payment a reality for all," said…
In the fintech industry, third party partnerships are king. So it's not surprising to see the news that financial services firm PwC and tech giant Microsoft are tapping into the expertise of digital banking solutions provider FintechOS.
The trio announced their partnership, which will leverage FintechOS' expertise, PwC's digital banking prowess, and Microsoft's Cloud for Financial Services technology to create a digital banking solution aimed at helping financial institutions adapt and modernize their operations to fit into the digital-first era.
For its part, FintechOS will be crucial in providing…