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Finovate Showcases Asian American and Pacific Islander Fintech Voices

By David Penn Posted on May 14, 2026
Categories: Diversity in Fintech, FinovateSpring 2026, Speaker series

We recently commemorated Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a feature highlighting the Asian American and Pacific Islander fintech innovators that introduced their companies to our FinovateSpring 2026 audience.

Today, as part of our continued commemoration, we turn our attention—and our thanks—to the Asian American and Pacific Islander mainstage speakers and panelists who shared their insights and experiences with us at last week's event in San Diego.

Theodora (Theo) Lau, Founder, Unconventional Ventures & Author

Theodora Lau is the founder of boutique consulting firm, Unconventional Ventures. She is a public speaker, an advisor, the author of Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence (2025), and co-author of The Metaverse Economy (2023) and Beyond Good (2021). Lau also hosts One Vision, a podcast on fintech and innovation.

At FinovateSpring this year, Lau participated in a number of executive briefings and power panels on AI in financial services.

Kristie Han, Principal, Canapi Ventures

…

Apex Fintech Solutions Forges Partnership with Plaid to Streamline Account Transfers

By David Penn Posted on May 13, 2026
Categories: Alumni News, Apex Clearing Corporation, Plaid

Apex Fintech Solutions and Plaid have teamed up to streamline account transfers and boost digital capabilities for brokerage firms.

The partnership combines Plaid's secure connectivity and data validation with Apex Fintech Solutions' ACATS infrastructure and risk engine to bring greater efficiency to the fund transfer process.

Apex Fintech Solutions' subsidiary Apex Clearing made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2015. Plaid has been a Finovate alum since 2014.

A new partnership between Apex Fintech Solutions and Plaid will enable Apex to offer Plaid's suite of financial data products to streamline account transfers and help brokerage firms improve their digital capabilities. The partnership combines Plaid's secure connectivity and data validation with Apex's ACATS infrastructure and risk engine to reduce the number of errors and delays in the fund transfer process while also boosting efficiency for brokerages and their customers.

ACATS stands for Automated Customer Account Transfer Service, a system managed by the…

FinovateSpring Celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage

By David Penn Posted on May 12, 2026
Categories: Diversity in Fintech, FinovateSpring 2026

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. May was officially established as "Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month" by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, expanding on a joint resolution signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978 that had designated the week of May 4-10 as "Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week." The name of the commemoration was changed to "Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage Month" in 1997 in an effort to make the occasion both more accurate and inclusive.

Here at Finovate, we are happy to celebrate the achievements of our alums who share Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage. Today, we highlight six of these fintech leaders whose companies made their Finovate debuts last month at FinovateSpring 2026.

Anna Joo Fee, Founder/CEO, Goodfin

Goodfin is an AI-native wealth platform that unlocks access to private market investing and accelerates wealth for a new generation of investors. Goodfin's AI delivers…

Kraken Parent Company Payward Seeks National Trust Charter

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on May 12, 2026
Categories: Daily news

Kraken parent company Payward has applied for a national trust charter from the OCC to launch a federally regulated digital asset custody entity called Payward National Trust Company (PNTC).

The move would help Payward expand its institutional business by offering bank-level custody and trust services to clients that require a regulated qualified custodian.

The company also announced plans to raise funds at a reported $20 billion valuation.

Kraken parent company Payward is seeking a national trust charter from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). If approved, Payward would be able to establish the Payward National Trust Company (PNTC), which would offer custody and related services for digital assets.

With PNTC, Payward plans to serve institutional clients and individual customers seeking regulated, bank-level custody and trust services for digital assets. The charter will leverage Payward’s existing infrastructure, risk management, compliance programs, and subsidiaries to establish a federally…

Boku Goes Live with Popular Payment Option Pix in Brazil

By David Penn Posted on May 12, 2026
Categories: Alumni News, Boku

Global paytech Boku announced that it is live and transacting with Pix in Brazil.

Pix is Brazil's default payment method with more than 150 million Brazilians—approximately 70% of the population—using the technology. Boku was granted its payment institution license from the Brazilian central bank in April 2025, becoming a Regulated Pix Participant.

Headquartered in London, Boku made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2011. Stuart Neal is CEO.

International local payments partner Boku announced this week that it is live and transacting with Pix in Brazil. Boku secured its payment institution license from the Central Bank of Brazil last spring, allowing the company to enable merchants to access local payments. The default payment method for more than 150 million Brazilians, Pix is used by 70% of the Brazilian population and processes more transactions in the country than both Visa and Mastercard combined.

"Boku is now live and open for…

Credit Karma Opens Platform to America’s “Credit Invisibles”

By David Penn Posted on May 11, 2026
Categories: Alumni News, Credit Karma

Credit tracking platform Credit Karma will offer memberships to credit invisible or "thin file" customers, a new policy from the financial wellness firm.

In a statement, the company highlighted a number of solutions on its platform that will help these thin file customers build their credit and boost their financial literacy, including its Credit Spark and Credit Builder tools.

Acquired by Intuit in 2020, Credit Karma won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2008. The company was founded in 2007.

Financial wellness and credit tracking platform Credit Karma has announced that it is offering memberships to the 17 million Americans who do not have a credit score. These "credit invisible" or "thin file" adults have been unable to open a Credit Karma account up until now. A newly announced reversal of this policy will now enable these individuals to sign up for an account and take advantage of Credit Karma's tools…

Circle Raises $222 Million in New Token Presale

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on May 11, 2026
Categories: Daily news

Circle launched Arc, a new blockchain network and native token designed specifically for institutional finance.

Arc, which aims to provide banks, corporations, and treasury teams with faster settlement, raised $222 million in a presale led by Andreessen Horowitz.

Alongside Arc, Circle introduced its new Agent Stack tools.

Stablecoin issuer and infrastructure company Circle launched a presale of a new token this week that raised $222 million. The new token, Arc, is the native token of Circle's newest blockchain and the 10 billion tokens released give Arc a network valuation of $3 billion.

Andreessen Horowitz was the lead investor in the round, contributing $75 million. Other investors include BlackRock, Apollo Funds, Intercontinental Exchange, SBI Group, Janus Henderson Investors, Standard Chartered Ventures, General Catalyst, Marshall Wace, ARK Invest, IDG Capital, Haun Ventures and CoinDesk owner Bullish.

Circle holds 25% of the initial Arc tokens released, while 60% of the tokens will be distributed to users…

FIS to Streamline Reconciliations for Australia’s CommBank

By David Penn Posted on May 11, 2026
Categories: Alumni News, FIS

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) announced a new partnership with FIS.

The Sydney-based financial institution will use FIS Data Integrity Manager to enhance its reconciliation operations.

FIS Data Integrity Manager processes more than 150 million transactions per day, and uses real-time visibility and insights to improve decision-making and deliver automated alerts to resolve issues in minutes rather than hours.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank) has turned to FIS to enhance its reconciliation operations. The institution, working with FIS, will leverage the fintech's FIS Data Integrity Manager to consolidate and automate reconciliation across the bank.

"By bringing reconciliation onto a single, intelligent platform, we are enabling CommBank to unlock seamless integration and operational efficiency while ensuring the stability, security, and compliance essential to supporting Australia's largest bank," said FIS President of Capital Markets Andrés Choussy. Choussy referred to the technology as a "cutting-edge reconciliation solution that meets the demands of…

What I Heard Between the Sessions at FinovateSpring 2026

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on May 11, 2026
Categories: FinovateSpring 2026, Julie's Column, Thought Leadership

FinovateSpring wrapped up last week, and with content running Monday through Thursday, there was a lot to take in. Because I spent the majority of the time running from microphone to microphone, from stage to camera, I missed many of the key demos and presentations.

I did, however, have time for a lot of quality conversations (both on and off stage). Here are some of the insights from the event.

Lines are blurring

It is clear that the world of fintech and banking we had from 2010 to 2023 is slowly fading away. Conversations with multiple people, especially my on-stage breaking news analysis session with Jim Perry, solidified this sea change.

As an industry, we are no longer talking about banks vs. fintechs or banks partnering with fintechs. Instead, the lines are blurring between what is a bank and what is a fintech as fintechs shift to becoming infrastructure providers.…

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on May 11, 2026
Categories: 10x Banking, Diebold, Experian, Fintech Rundown, Tweezr, Wise

It's the Monday after FinovateSpring, which means there are plenty of new ideas about the future of banking and fintech to talk about. Meanwhile, the news keeps flowing. Here are the top fintech news highlights from the week. We’ll continue to add more announcements as the week progresses.

AI tools

Nscale secures $790 million in financing to support AI infrastructure buildout in Norway.

Experian launches its "Know Your Agent" service, Experian Agent Trust.

Payments

Wise debuts US listing on Nasdaq.

Paymentology raises $175 million.

AdvicePay celebrates its 10-year anniversary.

Global Payments unveils AI-first handheld built for the future of commerce.

Loyalty and rewards

Ualett launches Ualett Rewards to give back to gig workers.

Digital banking

A pair of Finovate Best of Show winners—core banking platform 10x Banking and provider of deterministic AI for legacy system understanding Tweezr—announce a partnership to make core transformation easier.

Fintech startup Parker …

FinovateSpring 2026 Best of Show Winners Announced!

By David Penn Posted on May 6, 2026
Categories: Best of Show, Clockout, Cobalt, Crebit Pay, Finalytics.ai, Zengines

Congratulations to the winners of FinovateSpring 2026's Best of Show awards!

From solutions that help banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions deliver new, innovative products and services to their customers and members to novel uses of enabling technologies like AI and stablecoins, the companies that won Best of Show at this year's FinovateSpring reflect many of the most important trends in fintech and financial services today.

This week marks the second time that we've brought our annual spring fintech conference to sunny San Diego. And given the success we've had, we're looking forward to bringing the show back to the city affectionately known by some as "Silicon Beach" next year. We want to thank our demoing companies, our sponsors and partners, our outstanding AV team, our staff of conference day assistants, and—of course—our wonderful attendees for their enthusiasm and support.

Next stop? FinovateFall 2026 in Times Square, New York.…