This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.
Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Anti-scam solution provider Scamnetic has unveiled the latest edition of its flagship KnowScam 2.0 fraud protection solution.
KnowScam 2.0 features a variety of enhancements including a new Auto Scan feature and deepfake detection.
Founded in 2023 and headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Scamnetic made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2024 in New York. The company returned to the Finovate stage last week for FinovateFall 2025.
Scam protection and digital identity verification company Scamneticrecently introduced its new KnowScam 2.0 offering. The latest edition of the firm’s flagship solution features significant upgrades, including a new three-point scoring system, an Auto Scan feature for Microsoft Outlook and Android RCS, and new deepfake detection and ID verification functionality.
Offering holistic scam-detection, KnowScam 2.0 consists of four major components. Scan & Score automatically scans email and text messages—including QR codes, links, and images—to assess the level of risk from incoming communication. IDeveryone provides defense against dating scams, Facebook marketing scams, crypto scams, and more by identifying the identity of any counterparty whether the interaction is via video, audio, or text. KnowScam 2.0’s Scam Intervention feature helps restore assets and support scam victims as they re-establish their digital security. Lastly, Scam Education provides users with the latest tips and resources on how to protect themselves from scams.
“KnowScam 2.0 marks a major leap forward in proactive scam protection by combining broader platform coverage, automated detection, and instant identity verification—features not offered together by any other consumer-facing anti-scam solution. KnowScam 2.0 advances our goal to provide the most trusted, consumer-first platform for scam detection and digital identity verification, and our mission to make digital interactions safe and secure, providing peace of mind in an increasingly complex digital world,” Scamnetic Chief Operating Officer John Evans said.
KnowScam 2.0 features built-in explainability to inform users of the factors used to produce a scam score and provides highly tailored recommendations based on the type of scam and the overall risk level of the threat. The solution leverages automation and customized machine learning to both remove the potential for human error, as well as avoid relying on third-party LLMs. KnowScam 2.0 instead leverages its own customized machine learning and proprietary technology to spot nine out of every 10 scams.
Headquartered in Tampa, Florida and founded in 2023, Scamnetic made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall 2024 in New York. At the conference, the company showed how its technology enables consumers to detect all types of scams in real-time. Scamnetic’s technology can be integrated directly into enterprise platforms, empowering service providers to take a greater role in helping their customers avoid scams. The company returned to the Finovate stage last week for FinovateFall 2025.
Scamnetic’s product update comes at the same time that the company announced that it had been selected to participate in Mastercard’s StartPath Security Solutions program, along with four other security-based startups including fellow Finovate alum OneID. The first cohort of Mastercard’s new security-oriented startup engagement program, Scamnetic, OneID, and three other fintechs will gain access to Mastercard’s network, resources, and market experience. The startups will also benefit from the program’s partnership with organizations such as the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) which raises awareness and provides enabling tools for both consumers and law enforcement to help facilitate knowledge sharing and the development of best practices against scams and their perpetrators around the world.
PayNearMe raises $50 million in Series E funding, bringing its total funding to $168 million since its founding in 2009.
The company is rebranding its platform as PayXM, signaling a shift from payment processing to Payment Experience Management.
The shift shows PayNearMe’s focus on the customer experience in which it aims to make payments seamless, strategic, and embedded across industries.
Payments innovator PayNearMe is raking in $50 million in Series E funding from Atlantic Vantage Point (AVP). The investment brings PayNearMe’s total raised to $168 million since it was founded in 2009.
The California-based company will use today’s funds to expand into new markets and fuel its product offerings. As part of this, PayNearMe is renaming its platform PayXM, recognizing its product evolution in what it calls Payment Experience Management. The company aims to use PayXM to enable businesses to manage the entire payment journey with a single platform and integration.
“PayNearMe has redefined what it means to deliver a modern payment experience. The company is uniquely positioned to solve challenges in a space long underserved and overlooked,” said AVP General Partner and Head of Growth Fund, North America Elizabeth de Saint-Aignan. “PayNearMe’s vision and proven execution are changing how non-commerce businesses approach payments, and we’re excited to support them in this next stage of growth.”
PayNearMe was founded in 2009 to enable unbanked individuals to transact online by paying with cash at brick-and-mortar retailers. Today, the California-based company offers payment processing, exception management, and diverse payment options for banks, toll companies, mortgage servicing companies, online gaming, auto lenders, and buy here pay here payment collectors.
The move from a pure payments processor to a Payment Experience Management provider reflects PayNearMe’s effort to position its payments offering as a strategic driver of customer experience, not just a back-office function.
“For too long, payments have been treated only as a cost of doing business,” said PayNearMe CEO Danny Shader. “We see improving payments as a powerful opportunity to help businesses differentiate, drive customer satisfaction, and improve business results. AVP’s funding will allow us to deliver the benefits of Payment Experience Management to more clients and in new markets.”
Today’s $50 million investment shows that investors see opportunity in rethinking payments not as plumbing, but as an experience. In launching PayXM, PayNearMe is betting that the next wave of fintech will come from embedding payments to make them invisible, seamless, and integrated into the customer experience.
Updated: This post previously stated that the renewed data sharing agreement does not cover account access for payments, which was incorrect. Plaid has clarified that the data sharing agreement covers all types of data sharing, including payments.
Late yesterday, JPMorgan Chase and Plaidannounced that they have mutually agreed to renew their data access agreement that dictates how Plaid is able to pull data on their shared customers from JPMC.
The renewed agreement’s most notable feature is a new pricing structure. Plaid will now pay JPMC to facilitate data access for its fintech clients. Aside from the financial terms, the deal also sets commitments from both sides to ensure consumers can access their data securely. Additionally, the firms have pledged joint investment in innovation and technology to make data sharing faster, safer, and more efficient.
Plaid’s take
Since JPMC initially signaled in July that it plans to charge aggregators to access consumer data, there have been many conversations on both sides of the debate regarding why or why not banks should charge for data access. Given the multiple stakeholders involved, including banks, fintechs, aggregators (like Plaid), and end consumers, there are multiple viewpoints on what charging for data access should look like.
As a central player in this debate, Plaid has a lot to lose (or win) depending on how fees are assessed. To that end, Plaid COO Eric Sager emphasized the firm’s willingness to collaborate with JPMC to preserve the consumer experience: “We have always believed consumers should have the right to access and share their own financial data, and JPMorganChase has been a partner in that effort,” said Sager. “This extended agreement ensures ongoing access for the millions of Chase customers who rely on Plaid every day to connect with the products and services they trust.”
To back up those assurances, Plaid outlined three key takeaways from the renewed agreement:
Continuity is guaranteed Plaid says existing JPMC customers can keep accessing fintech services without disruption.
No pricing changes for now Current contracts and customer fees remain unchanged.
Advocacy continues Plaid will keep pushing for consumer data rights in the CFPB’s 1033 rulemaking.
This agreement is likely to set a precedent in future cases with other large banks and aggregators, shaping not only how data is shared but also how payments are initiated and monetized. As more institutions move to formalize similar arrangements, the industry will be watching to see whether these pricing structures trickle down to smaller players and, ultimately, to consumers. With the CFPB’s 1033 rulemaking still in flux, JPMC and Plaid’s renewed deal may serve as both a template and a test case for the next phase of open banking in the US.
UK-based Starling Bank is bringing its SaaS banking platform, Engine, to North America with a $50 million investment, a new New York headquarters, and new leadership under Jody Bhagat.
With 4,000+ US banks and credit unions weighed down by legacy cores, Engine aims to deliver modular, API-based, cloud-native tech proven in Europe and Australia.
Starling’s move positions it not just as a digital bank, but as a banking technology competitor to legacy core providers.
UK-based Starling Bankannounced last week that it is bringing its digital banking platform, Engine by Starling, to North America. The move marks the next step in Starling’s transformation from a digital bank into a global technology provider.
Starling launched Engine in 2022 to take its technology stack that powered Starling’s own growth in the UK and package it as a SaaS solution for other financial institutions. Expanding into North America signals Starling’s ambition to compete in one of the world’s most crowded banking technology markets.
Behind the launch are both a new regional headquarters in New York and a new leader. Starling appointed former Personetics President of Global Banking Jody Bhagat to bring Engine into the new region.Bhagat now serves as President of North America for Engine by Starling, and has been tasked with building a team to bring Engine to North American financial institutions. The company sees the move as a natural addition, given the new market opportunities with the region’s 4,000+ mid-tier banks and credit unions.
“The North American market is highly competitive, and many banks and credit unions feel constrained by legacy technology,” said Bhagat. “Digital-forward financial institutions are seeking a partner that can deliver technology transformation that drives real business results. Tried and tested in Europe and Australia, Engine by Starling has strong proof points demonstrating how the platform helps banks better acquire and serve customers. I’m incredibly excited by the opportunity to bring Engine’s proven, cloud-based banking tech to North America. Progressive mid-tier banks and credit unions are seeking ways to operate more efficiently, to serve their customers digitally in a more intuitive way, and to innovate more rapidly. Engine’s distinctive platform and capabilities will enable them to do just that.”
Starling is fueling the move into North America by investing $50+ million in its North American footprint, including its New York office, local hires, employees brought in from Starling’s UK-based team, and a Toronto-based Canadian team.
The move into New York isn’t Starling’s only new office supporting Engine this month. The bank also opened offices in Dubai, UAE, and Sydney, Australia to work with the digital banking tool’s international clients and partners
Starling was founded in 2014 and launched Engine to bring Starling’s tech stack to financial institutions overseas. Engine provides SaaS banking technology to bring modern banking to banks around the world in a modular, API-based, cloud-native, and scalable way. In 2024, the company’s first customer, Salt Bank, became Romania’s first digital-native bank and has since captured 4% of the country’s banking market.
Starling’s push into North America highlights the rise of banks evolving into technology providers. By turning its in-house tech into a SaaS platform, Starling is positioning itself not just as a challenger bank, but as a challenger to the core banking vendors that dominate the US market. For mid-tier banks and credit unions struggling with legacy cores, the arrival of Engine creates both pressure and opportunity to modernize quickly.
At a time of uncertainty in both politics and policy, an entreaty to think about “what’s possible” might sound naive—if not terrifying.
Yet, at the onset of FinovateFall 2025, which just wrapped up last week, thinking about “what’s possible” was the challenge laid down by Finovate VP and Master of Ceremonies Greg Palmer. And to the delight of our FinovateFall audience, it was a challenge that our demoing companies, keynote speakers, and insightful panelists were more than ready to accept.
What we heard from the experts
What’s possible … AI as a tool to empower and augment human action was an especially persistent theme over the three days of FinovateFall. In fact, even our pre-conference, invitation-only, Leaders+ event on Sunday evening featured a reminder that AI was increasingly the tool of choice for those under 30 when it came to a range of financial tasks from establishing a budget to making better credit decisions. Crucially, as J.D. Power’s Jennifer White pointed out, Gen Z is using AI for answers to more immediate questions, not exclusively for long-term planning. For them, AI is a co-pilot rather than a forecasting or projecting tool.
This sentiment was elaborated on by Alex Johnson of Fintech Takes in his Analyst All Stars presentation Tuesday morning. Johnson took on the notion of AI as a tool for automation, suggesting instead that AI—and Large Language Models (LLMs) more specifically—be thought of as ways to augment human activity rather than replace it outright. Johnson underscored LLMs as “probabilistic guessing machines” rather than “determinist systems,” and explained that to the extent that the latter is what’s required in financial services, LLMs alone can fall short.
That said, Johnson noted that by applying LLMs in ways that maximize what they are good at, financial institutions can leverage processes like mortgage servicing to better understand the diverse and even niche preferences of their customers. This data can be used not only to introduce new products and services, but also to scale up entire new businesses built around these edge cases.
No conversation about AI at FinovateFall would be complete without a reference to Jon Lakefish’s return to the Finovate stage for another mind-bending conversation on the latest AI tools. His Wednesday morning keynote—Creating Trust and Loyalty through AI-Enhanced CX—helped attendees understand the powerful resources available to not only build new products, but also to discover what new solutions are possible given a deeper, AI-enabled analysis of a business, its customers, and goals. In less than five minutes, Lakefish showed how a variety of readily available AI tools could enable, say, a Finovate sponsor, to uncover and pursue a new niche product line. From the latest innovations in ChatGPT—”the LLM platform for almost everything”—to Manus.AI, the first publicly available Agentic AI platform Lakefish has felt comfortable showcasing, the message was clear: the world of what’s possible is becoming larger every day and AI is a primary resource for navigating and creating within it.
One telling insight shared during our Investor All Star panel at the end of Day Three underscored the power and potential for AI when it comes to emerging fintechs, in particular. During a discussion on which trends investors were most drawn to, our panelists cited fraud prevention and compliance technology among the most attractive areas for investment, with personal finance management (PFM)-related solutions increasingly less so. Nevertheless, panelist Lindsey Fitzgerald of Vesey Ventures noted that even within this group, it was possible for truly innovative startups to stand out if they are able to deploy enabling technologies like AI in new and novel ways. “AI changes the possibility of a startup being 10x better (than its rivals) in any category,” she explained.
What we saw from the innovators
I have long contended that the roster of companies that win Best of Show at Finovate conferences in any given year is as good a heat check on the state of fintech innovation as you’re likely to find. This year’s batch of FinovateFall Best of Show winners was no exception.
By theme, FinovateFall attendees were impressed by innovations in a wide range of areas. Nevertheless companies innovating in the fraud prevention space probably experienced the greatest amount of on-stage competition—a point I’ll return to. Kudos to Casap for standing out from an impressive pack with its technology that helps combat fraud, including an especially pernicious form of e-commerce crime called “first-party fraud.” Founded in 2023 and headquartered in New York, Casap recently raised $25 million in Series A funding for its payment dispute resolution solution.
Arguably the most compelling case for financial institutions to offer services like investments came from Eko CEO Mart Vos. His company, now a two-time Finovate Best of Show winner, provides a solution that enables financial institutions to integrate digital investing functionality directly into their platforms. Vos warned banks and credit unions not to be complacent as their customers open investment accounts with innovative brokerages like Robinhood. While mere brokerages today, many of these firms are looking at ways of expanding their banking offerings, or obtaining banking licenses outright. By integrating investment services into their platforms and making them seamlessly accessible, financial institutions incentivize customers and members to keep their funds “at home.”
Enabling more qualified borrowers to secure funding is a cause championed by many innovative fintechs and it is no surprise to see two such companies among this year’s Best of Show winners. This year at FinovateFall, New York-based Krida demonstrated its AI intelligence layer for business lending. The company’s solution leverages AI to provide bankers with automated workflows for document collection, lead tracking, and data management. This enables new bankers to be more effective sooner and empowers all bankers to spend more time with their client relationships and less time with paperwork. Hailing from the other side of the country, Irvine, California-based LendAPI is a super orchestration platform that enables CTOs, CROs, and CCOs to work together to build enterprise platforms. At FinovateFall, LendAPI CEO Timothy Li demonstrated how to use the technology to launch a 1003 mortgage application in minutes. Both Krida and LendAPI are newcomers to the Finovate stage.
Another Finovate newcomer to take home Best of Show honors from FinovateFall last week was VerticeAI. The Atlanta, Georgia-based fintech provides credit unions and community banks with tools for predictive analytics, AI-powered marketing content, and targeted customer acquisition. The company began the year announcing new partnerships with Texas-based Education Credit Union and North Carolina-based Duke University Federal Credit Union.
Last but certainly not least, it was great to see the positive impression LemonadeLXP made on our FinovateFall audience last week. A Finovate alum since 2022 and, like Eko, now a two-time Best of Show winner, LemonadeLXP offers a learning experience and digital adoption platform for both the staff and customers of financial institutions. At the conference, the Ottawa, Canada-based company demoed its InsightAI solution which enables firms to develop and deploy their own employee training programs.
Where we go from here
This year I was struck by the number and quality of solutions on display that were dedicated to fighting fraud and dealing with related concerns like dispute management and chargebacks.
Fraud prevention may not be the most glamorous corner of fintech. Fraud in the digital space is a persistent, if not growing, threat to all of us; someone very close to me lost their life savings in a phishing scam earlier this year. But it’s not something that we like to talk about very much. Victims feel shame. Institutions suffer reputational damage. Providers scramble to offer their own proprietary solutions. The fraud lifecycle, so to speak, is silent and siloed. And this makes fraud harder to fight.
Perhaps this is why some of the most novel technology innovations and business strategies are found among those engaged in the fight against fraud. Consider the aggressive deployment of AI to combat deepfakes or the increasingly common collaborations between institutions—particularly credit unions and community banks—to share best practices to keep their members and customers safe. At a time when personal security concerns are paramount—in financial services and beyond—it is heartening to know that so many of fintech’s best and brightest are on the case.
Quinte Financial Technologies launched its dispute and fraud case management platform CaseHUB this week.
The new offering is built for banks, credit unions, fintechs, and credit union service organizations (CUSOs) to help them manage more cases faster and more accurately.
Founded in 2019, Quinte Financial Technologies made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2025 in San Diego, California.
New York-based Quinte Financial Technologieshas unveiled its next-generation fraud and dispute management solution, CaseHUB. Designed for financial institutions ranging from banks and fintechs to credit unions and credit union service organizations (CUSOs), CaseHUB combines data, workflows, and analytics into a single intelligence interface to help FIs manage more cases faster and more accurately.
CaseHUB empowers financial institutions with pre-built workflows and built-in compliance features that help them avoid repetitive, manual tasks as well as ensure adherence to shifting regulatory policies and mandates. With pragmatic AI, configurable processes, and end-to-end auditability, the platform accelerates dispute resolution via an auto-decisioning capability and leverages alert signals and adaptive analytics to identify fraud patterns. Built-in workflows and compliance rules make case management seamless across payments, channels, and functions, enabling fraud and dispute management teams to work more efficiently.
“Financial institutions are under growing pressure to respond to disputes and fraud cases swiftly, without sacrificing accuracy,” Quinte Financial Technologies President Sriram Natarajan said. “With CaseHUB, we are giving them a smarter, more scalable way to manage risk and build trust with accountholders.”
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in New York, Quinte Financial Technologies made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2025 in San Diego, California. At the conference, the company demonstrated its Advanced Dispute Manager (ADM), which provides a comprehensive dispute resolution approach that automates the management of customer and merchant disputes across ACH, POS, ATM, checks, wire transfers, and Zelle. With seamless case documentation and communication to ensure full Reg E compliance, ADM lowers risk, limits losses, boosts productivity, and streamlines operations.
This month, Quinte Financial Technologies has announced partnerships with OrboGraph to modernize check fraud detection and case management for financial institutions, and with Mountain America Credit Union to “transform fraud prevention and (the) member experience.” With more than 1.2 million members, Mountain America Credit Union has 100+ branches across five states and is recognized as the eighth largest credit union in the US.
FinovateFall may have wrapped up last week, but the fintech news cycle continues to roll on. Check out the latest happenings in banking and fintech below. We’ll continue adding news to this post throughout the week, so stay tuned!
Crypto and DeFi
Stablecore, which enables community financial institutions and credit unions to offer stablecoins and other digital assets, secures $20 million in funding.
Congratulations to the six companies that won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2025 this week!
This year’s roster of FinovateFall Best of Show winners includes proven veterans that have earned Best of Show awards from Finovate audiences in the past, as well as companies new to Finovate who impressed our attendees with their live demonstrations of problem-solving innovations in fields ranging from digital banking and wealth management to financial education and AI-enabled data management.
Please join us in congratulating all of the companies that demoed their latest fintech innovations at FinovateFall this week. And with that, meet the winners of Best of Show for FinovateFall 2025!
Casap for its technology that helps financial institutions and fintechs lower operational costs and lift, curb fraud-related losses, accelerate resolution times, and strengthen customer relationships at scale.
Eko for its solution that enables clients to increase logins into digital banking by 4x and bank deposits by 11%, while reducing the likelihood of customers leaving their financial institution by 6x.
Krida for its technology that reduces cycle times, manual tasks, and borrower drop-off, giving banks a faster path to funded loans, higher throughput, and stronger community relationships.
LemonadeLXP for its InsightAI that improves staff and customer education and access to knowledge while driving significant operational efficiencies.
LendAPI for its cross-organizational collaboration tool where CTOs, CROs, and CCOs can all build an enterprise platform together.
Vertice AI for its innovation that leverages AI to translate data into personalized product and service recommendations, helping teams boost engagement, acquisition, and retention through smarter, hyper-targeted outreach.
We’d like to thank everyone who made FinovateFall 2025 such a great success: our sponsors, speakers and delegates who continue to make Finovate conferences must-attend events on the fintech calendar.
The next stop on the Finovate tour is sunny San Diego for FinovateSpring 2026. We look forward to seeing you there!
Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites during each day. At the end of the last demo, they chose their three favorites.
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: “Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed.”
4. The six companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named “Best of Show.”
5. Go here for a list of previous Best of Show winners through 2014. Best of Show winners from our 2015 through 2025 conferences are below:
We are thrilled to unveil the winners of the 2025 Finovate Awards! This is our opportunity to recognize companies driving fintech innovation forward and individuals bringing new ideas to life across 26 categories.
The finalists
This year’s Finovate Awards brought together leading banks, fintech firms, and individuals across 26 categories. After reviewing hundreds of applications, we first announced our finalists last month. Now, after weeks of deliberation, our expert judging panel has selected the winners.
The judges
Our awards are meaningful because they are decided by a panel of industry experts, representing a diverse range of perspectives across banking, fintech, investing, and technology. This group of fintech experts has had the difficult task of selecting the final winners, and their work is now complete.
The winners
Without further ado, here are the 26 winning companies of the 2025 Finovate Awards. Congratulations to all! These companies and leaders represent the best of fintech innovation today. Which winner are you most excited about? Join the conversation and share your thoughts on social.
Eleven of the more than 60 companies that will be demoing their latest fintech innovations live on stage at FinovateFall next week are headquartered in countries other than the US.
This week’s edition of Finovate Global highlights these fintechs from the Middle East, Western and Central Europe, Canada, India, the UK, and Ireland. With innovations in fields ranging from wealth management and digital banking to fraud prevention and lending, this year’s roster of international alums is a reminder of the robustness of fintech innovation around the world.
FinovateFall 2025 comes to the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square, September 8 through September 19. Tickets are still available. Visit our FinovateFall hub and save your spot today!
Founded in 2022, Aurem offers an intelligent operating system for retirement and wealth providers. Their platform helps institutions unify and optimize their products, processes, and data and deliver them globally in days.
Founded in 2020, Dimply enables organizations to optimize operations, enhance customer engagement, uncover growth opportunities, and accelerate digital transformation.
Founded in 2014, ebankIT empowers financial institutions to innovate quickly, reduce costs, and deliver personalized services across all channels, accelerating growth and future-proofing their digital strategy.
Founded in 2017, FintechOS enables banks and credit unions to launch any product faster, modernize customer experiences, and adapt quickly to market and regulatory changes—without replacing their core systems.
Founded in 2019, Keyless replaces outdated MFA with biometrics, improving UX and saving millions. One bank saved $3.5 million by eliminating call centers for OTP-based recovery.
Founded in 2018, LemonadeLXP’s InsightAI improves staff and customer education and access to knowledge, while driving significant operational efficiencies.
Founded in 2021, MoneyPlanned empowers institutions to offer intelligent, automated financial planning—boosting advisor efficiency, reducing cost-to-serve, and delivering personalized client experiences at scale.
Founded in 2015, OPL’s cash-flow-based lending helps banks transform their operations through agile lending, AI-driven insights, and intelligent credit underwriting—expanding credit access to SMEs.
Founded in 2019, R34DY helps organizations transform their business by taking the pain out of integrations and making it easy for business owners to create use cases and reduce time to market.
Founded in 2013, Sequretek provides AI-powered, continuous threat exposure management ensuring compliance, governance, and holistic threat visibility across cloud and on-premises systems.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Mexico-based SME platform Kapital doubled its valuation to $1.3 billion upon securing up to $100 million in Series C funding.
Latin America’s largest insurtech, 180 Seguros, raised $9 million in funding.
Evertec acquired 75% stake in Brazilian fintech Tecnobank.
Asia-Pacific
Hong Kong-based stablecoin-powered cross-border payments infrastructure provider Obita announced $10 million in new funding.
International payment solutions provider dtcpay inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the People’s Committee of Da Nang during Vietnam Blockchain Day.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Tanzania-based fintech NALA expanded into Kenya courtesy of a partnership with Equity Bank and Pesalink.
Ripplepartnered with Chipper Cash, VALR, and Yellow Card to make its USD-backed stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD) available to institutions in Africa.
Congolese fintech Maishapay earned a spot in Visa’s Africa Fintech Accelerator program.
Central and Eastern Europe
JPMorgan Chase announced plans to launch a digital bank in Germany.
Payments network TrueLayer went live in Poland this week.
Tietoevry Banking signed a SaaS agreement with IC Cash Services, its first foray into the German ATM market.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Israel-based fraud prevention innovator BioCatch and Nasdaq Verafin partnered to fight payment fraud.
Mastercard and Zain Cash teamed up to advance digital payments in Jordan.
Egyptian cross-border digital solutions provider Munify raised $3 million in seed funding.
ID.me raised $340 million in a Series E investment plus a credit facility, which boosts its valuation to over $2 billion and brings its total funding to $1.1 billion.
The funding will accelerate secure, reusable digital identity solutions and combat AI-driven fraud, which cost the US up to $521 billion annually.
ID.me now counts 152 million users, totaling 60% of US adults, with adoption across 20 federal agencies, 45 states, and 600+ brands.
Digital identity network ID.merevealed this week that it has raised $340 million in a Series E financing round plus a credit facility. The round values ID.me at more than $2 billion.
Ribbit Capital led the investment, while existing investors Ares Credit Funds and Moonshots Capital, as well as new investors, including Positive Sum, also participated. ID.me will use the funding to accelerate its mission to expand access to secure, reusable digital identity and to stop AI-driven fraud.
The funds, which bring ID.me’s total raised to $1.1 billion, come at a time of rising fraud across the globe. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the US government lost up to $521 billion annually to fraud between 2018 and 2022. The increase in fraud is fueled by stolen identities and deepfakes, both of which are increasing vulnerabilities faster than ever.
“Fraud is evolving at the speed of AI—and so are we,” said ID.me Founder and CEO Blake Hall. “Secure identity is foundational to AI ecosystems that will depend on memory, context, and authentication, and ID.me is leading the charge. This funding strengthens our ability to expand secure digital access, protect privacy, and innovate faster to stay ahead of criminal networks.”
ID.me was founded in 2010 to serve as a digital identity wallet that helps users prove and share their identities online without disclosing additional personal information. The company maintains a digital identity network that includes 20 federal agencies, 45 state agencies, and 600+ retail brands, all of which use ID.me to verify customers’ identities and affiliations. ID.me’s ID wallet helps users prove they belong to certain affiliated groups, such as teachers, students, first responders, or military veterans.
Last year, ID.me added 20.4 million new wallets, which breaks down to over 55,000 each day. That same year, it also powered more than 409 million successful logins, representing a 44% increase year-over-year. In total, ID.me counts 152 million users, representing nearly 60% of adults in the US.
“We believe the AI revolution will reshape the global economy, and identity will be its foundation,” said Ribbit Capital General Partner Justin Saslaw. “As AI agents become ubiquitous, trusted identity tokens will enable secure, seamless interactions between people, organizations, and machines. ID.me has built one of the most advanced and widely adopted digital identity wallets in the world, giving it a durable advantage in creating and scaling the identity tokens that will power this new era. We’re excited to partner with Blake and the ID.me team as they expand their leadership in the token-driven AI economy.”
Banking solutions provider nCino announced the general availability of ProBanker by FullCircl.
The new offering, developed in partnership with Experian, gives banks and other financial institutions visibility into credit status, affordability, and liquidity.
nCino was founded in 2012. The company acquired FullCircl in October 2024.
Less than a year after acquiring Client Lifecycle Intelligence platform FullCircl, banking solutions provider nCino has announced the general availability of ProBanker by FullCircl. Developed in collaboration with fellow Finovate alum Experian and part of a suite of Smart Solutions, ProBanker provides near real-time visibility into commercial credit status, affordability, and liquidity across the UK lending landscape. This enables banks and other financial institutions to follow and observe potential opportunities and risks at both the portfolio and individual level.
“This isn’t theoretical—it’s about solving the fundamental problem every commercial lender faces: How do you assess true customer risk and identify opportunity when you only see part of their financial picture?” nCino Associate Director, Product Management, Immy Tugcu said. “ProBanker represents a timely and transformational capability for both traditional and alternative funding providers looking to improve portfolio performance, retain market share, and meet growing expectations around speed, compliance, and customer experience.”
ProBanker leverages a rich dataset of approximately 18 million UK commercial credit accounts, as well as business current account data beyond the mandated Competition and Markets Authority 9 (CMA9) banks. The solution empowers lenders with a multi-bank, total market view of a customer’s credit exposure, and enables them to track both affordability and liquidity in near real-time. ProBanker helps strengthen portfolio health by spotting early warning signs of financial distress, and enhances customer outcomes through proactive engagement and personalized outreach.
In a statement, nCino noted that, in an initial pilot with a major UK bank, the financial institution observed that ProBanker helped them identify potential credit risks six months earlier on average compared to its current processes. The bank also said ProBanker helped them support customers who were eligible for extended or new funding products.
“In today’s fast-paced and increasingly complex lending environment, real-time, high-quality data and insight are the bedrock of being able to make confident, informed decisions at speed,” said David Gallihawk, Experian UK&I Chief Product Officer, Business Information Services. “ProBanker delivers exactly that. Our collaboration with nCino will bring greater transparency and help modernize lending opportunities, allowing clients to unlock deeper value from their portfolios.”
Founded in 2012, nCino made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2017 in London. The company’s ProBanker with FullCircl launch comes a little over a month after the company announced that Japanese bank group SBI Credit Guarantee Co., Ltd. had gone live with nCino as the platform for its mortgage guarantee business. In May, nCino unveiled a range of new platform enhancements designed to help banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions secure a competitive advantage via intelligence-driven automation.
