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TheWaay, Neo Digital Banking and Serving the Mass Affluent Market

By David Penn Posted on March 24, 2020
Categories: Alumni profile, FinovateAsia 2019, The WAAY

Making banking more compatible with the everyday lives of consumers is one of the top goals of fintechs everywhere. London-based fintech startup, TheWaay, which made its Finovate debut last year in Dubai and followed that appearance with a Best of Show winning return to the Finovate stage a few months later in Singapore, has built a solution designed to do just that.

Founded in 2016, TheWaay offers a Lifestyle Banking platform that helps banks and other financial institutions better understand and meet the needs of their customers. The platform’s Lifestyle Assistant leverages deep behavioral profiling to give users personalized lifestyle advice and suggestions on financial services and banking products, as well as travel and e-commerce opportunities that might interest them. The technology helps financial services firms increase customer engagement and transaction volume, as well as grow revenue through increased up-sell activity.

“This product organically grew from inside our company for one reason,” company CEO Ivan Kochetov said during a demonstration of the company’s Digital Family Office solution at FinovateAsia. “We were sad because everybody was doing neo and digital banking for the mass market, and nobody was doing neo and digital banking for people like you and I, for the affluent market, for the premium market. Is it fair? No.”

TheWaay CEO Ivan Kochetov

For TheWaay, this neo digital banking solution for the affluent market should be about more than changing designs, Kochetov said. Instead, it should be about “new value (and) new promise.” The goal is to provide what Kochetov called “the first digital family office” for the affluent market that works within an institution’s banking app to provide a private banking level of service.

We caught up with Kirill Lisitsyn, Head of Business Development with TheWaay, who facilitated our email conversation with company CEO Ivan Kochetov earlier this year. The transcript of our exchange follows.

Finovate: Congratulations on winning Best of Show at your first Finovate event! What was your experience at FinovateAsia like?

Ivan Kochetov: Thanks a lot! Oh, that was incredible! It was our first step to test the ground in Asia and we surprisingly got the award!

Finovate: For those who are just getting to know your company, what problem does TheWaay solve?

Kochetov: We are a fintech startup aiming to shift current “old school” communications between bank and its customers to a new way of personalized non-banking communications based on customers’ lifestyle and needs. And we believe that this is the right way to support banking industry transformation in the era of the engagement economy.

Finovate: How does TheWaay solve the problem better?

Kochetov: We develop a software that is called Lifestyle Banking Platform. We help banks to understand people and become a Lifestyle Assistant for their customers to boost daily engagement, card transactions and up-sell metrics in their mobile banking app. We use over 500 attributes for each customer and a model trained with over 1 billion in transactions.

Finovate: Who are your primary customers?

Kochetov: We are a B2B2C business. Historically we have been building our expertise within banking industry, but now also see the growing interest from telco and retail industries as well. Especially accounting the trend for virtual banking, you do not need huge branches network to become a bank and serve customers. But once you are a digital-only bank you need to engage your customers in your digital channels. And here we could definitely help.

Finovate: What in your background gave you the confidence to tackle this challenge?

Kochetov: The core of our team has a well-balanced mix of background in behavioral psychology, machine learning, product development and in implementing innovative tech and consulting projects for large financial institutions.

CEO Kochetov and Head of Business Development Kirill Lisitsyn at FinovateAsia 2019 in Singapore.

Finovate: Tell us about a favorite feature of your platform.

Kochetov: Ha! You know, based on our user surveys and the metrics we track, we figured out that one of the favorite features of our Lifestyle Assistant product is the advice on how to spend one day of a weekend. Users do not have to worry about what to do on their free day; our system will suggest a set of recommendation and ideas coupled with geo-routes, all based on user’s lifestyle, interests, and preferences.

Finovate: What are some upcoming initiatives from TheWaay that we can look forward to over the next few months?

Kochetov: We plan to launch several pilot projects of our Digital Family Office product that we presented on Finovate Asia. We successfully delivered PoC projects, and now very much look forward to scaling that success. Also we have prioritized our international expansion and plan to get few international contracts within next 3-6 months.

Finovate: Where do you see TheWaay a year or two from now?

Kochetov: We plan continue our rapid growth which will be supported by our presence in 3-4 large international markets and focus on 2-3 industries. Also we aim to sign one or two global mutually-beneficial partnerships which could even speed-up our expansion.

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Revolut Arrives in the U.S.A.

By David Penn Posted on March 24, 2020
Categories: Revolut

Revolut, the London-based fintech and alternative bank that reached unicorn status in 2018, has finally made its move to America.

The financial services company has racked up more than 10 million customers in the U.K. and Europe since its launch in 2015. Now an option for banking customers in the United States, Revolut enables users to send free, real-time payments, and make fund transfers and exchanges at the interbank rate in 28 currencies. Customers can also use the app to manage their financial lives more efficiently with instant spending alerts, budget categorization tools, bill-splitting, round-up savings on transactions, and card controls. Those who select direct deposit can get their wages up to 48 hours in advance of their regular pay date.

“America, we come bearing good news in these uncertain times,” the company’s Head of Marketing and Communications Chad West announced on the Revolut blog this morning. “Imagine, one app to manage your entire financial life.”

The Revolut app is available for both iOS and Android. Once the user downloads the app and enters their information, the verification and approval process takes only a few minutes after which the new customer can begin making deposits and sending money.

Deposits in the U.S. are FDIC-insured up to $250,000 (thanks to a partnership with Metropolitan Commercial Bank). Revolut customers have access to more than 55,000+ ATMs in the U.S. and around the world.

“When spending or transferring money overseas, most people are unaware of the hidden fees that banks are charging them,” Revolut founder and CEO Nik Storonsky said. “The world is becoming more connected, and financial services should be supporting this notion, not hindering it.”

Last month Revolut announced a $500 million fundraising that boosted the company’s total capital to $836 million and gave the firm a valuation of $5.5 billion. Revolut recently unveiled its digital money management accounts for children (and their parents), Revolut Junior. The company, which was an early pioneer in cryptocurrency holdings, also introduced a new service this month that will enable its customers on its Premium and Metal plans to make in-app purchases of gold.

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Ripple Explains What’s Holding Back Blockchain Adoption

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on March 23, 2020
Categories: Report series, Ripple

Last fall, blockchain payments company Ripple, in conjunction with Celent, conducted a survey to better understand payment services providers’ adoption of blockchain-based payments. The findings of that study are published in a report issued by Ripple, and illustrates how far the payments industry has come with regards to blockchain adoption, and what’s needed to keep the momentum going.

The study surveyed 1,050+ payment services industry representatives across 21 countries. Overall, it found that:

35% of respondents are in production of a blockchain payments solution
27% are nearing implementation of a blockchain-based payments solution
31% say that the blockchain offers the opportunity to expand existing services into new regions
71% are “very to extremely” interested in digital assets

Ripple indicated that leveraging the blockchain for payments has gained a significant amount of momentum thanks to its fair pricing for end consumers, attractive revenue for payments providers, and the overall level of trust placed in the technology.

Now all that’s needed is to pick up the pace of adoption– but what is holding back mass adoption of the technology? Ripple’s study identifies three drivers responsible for faster blockchain adoption:

Faster implementation

Payments companies are concerned about implementing a blockchain-based payments solution because they are worried it will be expensive and difficult to integrate into their existing platform. In fact, a third of respondents to the study cited implementation as a concern of using the blockchain for payments.

Regulation

When integrating new technology into existing platforms, regulatory hurdles are almost always a concern. With blockchain technology, however, this seems to be even more true, especially with legacy financial institutions. As one would expect, regulatory concerns of digital banking providers are less acute, since they are accustomed to operating using non-traditional models.

Digital assets

One of the top perceived benefits of using the blockchain for payments is the time savings. In fact, three quarters of the survey respondents were interested in leveraging the blockchain for digital assets in cross-border money transfers. Fueling this interest is the speed at which these transactions can occur when compared to traditional payments. The study found that early adopters of blockchain technology are most interested in using digital assets.

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Lighter Capital Takes Debt Financing to Canada

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on March 23, 2020
Categories: Daily news, Lighter Capital

The physical border between the U.S. and Canada may be closed, but that’s not stopping tech startup financing provider Lighter Capital. The Seattle-based company announced today it has launched its services in Canada.

Canadian businesses can now take advantage of Lighter Capital’s debt financing offerings, including term loans and lines of credit, as an alternative funding source from bank loans and VC funding. Both debt financing options offer companies up to $1 million in capital.

The company’s flagship offering, Revenue Financing, will not yet be available to Canadian businesses. Lighter Capital’s Revenue Loans help borrowers access up to $3 million in loans that they repay based on their monthly cash inflow.

“With the Canadian tech industry’s continued growth, we’re seeing a correspondingly greater need among startups for access to venture capital as well as to various forms of debt financing,” said Meredith Powell, Vancouver-based venture partner at Voyager Capital, an investor in Lighter Capital. “Lighter Capital is a trailblazer in the area of debt-based financing and I have little doubt that, given the increasing demand for their services, they’re positioned for success across the nation.”

Fueling its Canadian expansion, Lighter Capital will open an office in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company is also partnering with the Canadian branch of the Founder Institute, a startup accelerator.

Founded in 2012, Lighter Capital has offered more than $200 million to 350+ U.S. startups. Of those, 20% have had successful exits.

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Cybersecurity: The Hidden Risks of Fintech Services

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on March 20, 2020
Categories: Guest Post

The following is a guest post written by Apoorv Gehlot, founder of Matellio LLC, a software engineering studio based in California.

Fintech has drastically improved the products and the services of the traditional financial services in the past few years. However, even after many financial institutions have readily adopted fintech services, there are still some hidden risks in the aforementioned industry. For instance, the integration of the fintech services in the existing banking solutions raised a severe concern for data security. Also, the rapid growth of digital platforms made the fintech industry and its customers uniquely vulnerable to various breaches in IT security networks.

Hence, it is vital to know about various hidden risks involved in the fintech services. Let’s discuss some of them here.

Trending challenges in fintech

Third-party security risks

Internal security is not always enough, especially when it comes to banks. Hence, much of the time, when banks or other financial institutions leverage a fintech service from a not-so-trusted service provider, they end up losing their data, experiencing service failures, and may even suffer a loss of reputation because of inefficient data. These types of damages occur due to third-party security risks. To eliminate third-party risks involved with fintech services, banks and financial institutions should consider the fintech relationship-related risks in their risk management assessment.

Malware Attacks

Malware attacks and hacking are the most prominent types of security issues that are prevalent in the global market. The hackers are now targeting the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) more easily. SWIFT systems are used by almost all the banks and top financial institutions to exchange vital financial information.

However, the recent cyberattack on the SWIFT infrastructure indicated the level sophistication of the hackers and malware attackers. The banks and financial institutions have vulnerabilities in their processes, and the hackers take advantage of these vulnerabilities to launch malware attacks.

Data Breaches

We all know that data plays a crucial role in every industry irrespective of their domain. And when it comes to banks and other financial institutions, data automatically becomes a matter of utmost importance. However, with the introduction of inefficient fintech systems in the finance industry, the problems of data breaches rose to a great extent.

Payment card details and user information are readily available to hackers making online transactions prone to cyber thefts. The financial institution partners with third parties, and then data losses may occur due to their inefficient fintech services.

Application Security Risk

Fintech applications are used by many banks to access the real-time financial information of their customers. They leverage this real-time information to carry out transactions and for performing other banking operations.

However, if a software application does not have foolproof security modules and efficient codes, then it automatically becomes more prone to cyber thefts. The attackers leverage the weak security of the applications to steal the customer data and other vital information. So if a person is planning to develop a fintech software solution they need to be very sure that the application has all the vital security features included in it.

Money Laundering Risk

Fintech-driven banks often use cryptocurrency for carrying out financial transactions. These cryptocurrencies are an integral part of the fintech ecosystem, and they are not formally regulated by any set of standards and global regulations.

Hence, the frequent use of non-regulated currencies results in illegal money laundering and even in terrorist funding. Since identifying the beneficiary in any fintech-enabled transactions is not possible due to fintech’s pseudonymous nature, the money laundering operations get enough support from the fintech services.

Digital Identity Risks

With the introduction of digital tools in the banking and finance industry, the use of mobile-based services that used one-time passwords and security codes increased drastically. These security codes and passwords are not as safe and can be easily accessed by a hacker.

The vital data of the banking customers could be easily accessed due to the faulty fintech system provided by some of the fintech service providers. Hence, financial institutions need to revisit their online security architecture to address these risk factors before planning for fintech implementation.

Legacy Banking Systems

Banks are struggling hard to develop and introduce advanced fintech services in their non-patched core banking systems. These traditional banking systems are very much vulnerable to all sorts of cyber thefts. And the main concern is way more than that.

When the tech-friendly fintech services integrate with the existing non-secured banking systems, there are chances that they will be at the target of attackers too. So, the first duty for any financial institution before implementing fintech in their organization is to refresh their core banking systems. That will help the company eliminate losses due to cyber thefts.

Cloud-based Security Risks

Cloud-based solutions are one of the significant aspects of the fintech industry. From payment gateways and digital wallets to secure online payments, cloud computing services offer everything in the fintech ecosystem. Maintaining the confidentiality and security of financial data is critical to banks and financial institutions.

Even though the cloud-based services are considered a secure means of storing the data, lack of adequate security measures can result in the corruption of your sensitive financial information. There are instances when the company partners with an inefficient, cloud-based solution provider and then deals with significant data losses. Therefore, stay updated and be wise while selecting your cloud-based service partner.

To conclude, we can say that, if hackers are unbeaten in their efforts to access the fintech platform with ease and efficiency, the faith of banking customers in the technology-driven fintech platform will be significantly reduced. All this will result in the slow growth of the fintech industry. Hence, balanced innovation is needed to promote the growth of the fintech industry and mitigate the hidden risks of fintech services.

Apoorv Gehlot takes a keen interest in exploring various aspects of the digital realm, and ideate solutions with his team of innovators. He believes in sharing his experience and knowledge with readers across the world to enlighten the audience through concise and meaningful write-ups.

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Why a Focus on CX is More Important Now than Ever

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on March 19, 2020
Categories: Speaker series

The past couple of years in financial services have brought a lot of discussions about the client experience. In fact, that was the topic of my interview last fall with Martin Lange, Director of Client Experience Strategy at BNY Mellon. Is the sudden focus on customer experience all hype?

“Any of us who have been in client experience for a long time would say it’s been around for awhile,” Lange said, adding, “But the industry is looking for new ways of differentiation. And new ways of differentiation– as we’ve learned from other industries– is the client experience.”

Differentiation

So why is a focus on customer experience more important now than last year, last month (or even last week)? It comes down to differentiation.

Last year we wrote about fintechs vying for customer deposits and mindshare by boosting interest rates on savings accounts up around the 3% mark. With the Federal Reserve cutting rates to near-zero, that strategy will be increasingly difficult to follow through with.

Recognizing that this is a difficult time for everyone, banks can offer consumers two simple things that may be hard to come by to improve the customer experience (and no, it’s not toilet paper).

The first is kindness. When customer service representatives have a kind and friendly disposition over the phone it can bring customers a bright spot, especially if they are in isolation from other human beings. Kind words in email and social media correspondence are also easy ways to retain consumer attention.

Financial services companies can also differentiate themselves with compassion. Waiving certain fees, especially when they are small, can be an easy way to only maintain a customer when they are struggling. Even better, banks can follow in the footsteps of Goldman Sachs, GMC, Ford, and other financial institutions by waiving payments for a month without charging interest. When the economy improves clients will remember which firms stood by them during hard times.

Challenges

When it comes to challenges in creating a stand-out client experience, Lange noted two hurdles. The first is attribution. Firms need to know that a spike in sales or client acquisition is attributed to certain actions or events, such as an improved user interface, and was not driven by other changes such as pricing or an altered service structure.

“The other challenge is a culture challenge,” said Lange. He explained that instead of structuring operations around process improvements, where employees fall into the habit of looking for the next thing to fix, firms need to be proactive and design an experience first and allow the design to follow that experience.

Leading with a design idea, Lange said, “can be emotional, and it’s based on empathy. It’s not based on Excel spreadsheets, which the industry is very used to… there are human beings that are interacting and we want to design for human beings.”

Check out the full interview with Lange below:

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Square to Launch Bank for Small Businesses

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on March 19, 2020
Categories: Daily news

Digital payments company Square announced it will launch its small business bank next year. Square’s application for the bank, Square Financial Services, has been conditionally approved for a bank charter.

Square Financial Services will operate as an independent subsidiary of Square. The new bank’s primary objectives will be to offer small business loans for Square Capital’s commercial lending business, and to offer deposit products.

“We appreciate the FDIC’s thoughtful approach to our application, and their recognition that Square Capital is uniquely positioned to build a bridge between the financial system and the underserved,” said Jacqueline Reses, Square Capital Lead and Executive Chairwoman of the board of directors for Square Financial Services. “We’re now focused on the work ahead to buildout Square Financial Services and open our bank to small business customers.”

In preparation for the launch of the new bank, Square has begun the hiring process to staff its new bank headquarters, which will be located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Square Financial Services CEO Lewis Goodwin and CFO Brandon Soto have been charged to lead the bank’s executive team.

This comes just one month after P2P lending company Lending Club announced plans to purchase Radius Bank. The move offers Lending Club users a full suite of banking tools. Square also follows in the footsteps of Varo Money, which received approval for deposit insurance from the FDIC in February.

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Six Banks Giving their Branches a Shot of Espresso

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on March 18, 2020
Categories: Innovation Series

When digital banking makes bank branches less necessary, should banks keep their branches simple and cater to those that are less technologically savvy or should they transform their branches into high tech havens with kiosks and robots? As it turns out, a handful of banks are trying something in between.

Six banks across the globe are piloting coffee shop branches. These locations not only serve as a way for folks to buy a coffee and a snack, they are also co-working spaces, meeting rooms for non-profits, a place to gain education about personal financial management and, of course, a location where customers and prospective customers can conduct banking activity and apply for a loan.

Check out each bank’s different approach:

Capital One

Capital One was the pioneer in the bank-coffee shop branch model, launching its flagship location in 2017. The bank now has 31 Capital One Cafes and has replaced its bank tellers with “ambassadors” to make banking more friendly and approachable. These locations also offer free, one-on-one money coaching sessions (that don’t apply any sales pressure) for members and non-members alike.

Capital One has partnered with Peets Coffee and offers Capital One cardholders 50% off coffee beverages.

Each cafe offers free wifi and power outlets, comfortable seating, and private community rooms that are free for nonprofit, alumni, and student group meetings and events.

Chase

Chase opened its first coffee shop branch in December of 2019. The bank teamed up with Joe Coffee for the pilot of a full service coffee shop in downtown Manhattan.

In some respects, calling Chase’s new branch a coffee shop is a bit of a longshot. It looks like the majority of bank branches I’ve walked into. Chase doesn’t even offer any differentiation on the home page of the branch.

That said, the new location has a more modern look, offers a kid’s play area, and is dog friendly. Another differentiating factor is that the branch has only one teller window and it is located in the very back of the branch.

Tangerine

Scotiabank subsidiary Tangerine has built its image around the cafe concept. As the bank’s website states, “People who know Tangerine know we’re not a typical bank. Typical banks have typical bank branches. We don’t. We have Cafés located in some of the busiest Canadian communities.”

Tangerine’s cafes have a laid back, modern atmosphere. Each location has free wifi as well as coffee and treats for sale (all proceeds go to charity).

Unlike other bank cafes, Tangerine does not offer any teller services since it is a fully digital bank. The bank offers ATMs for cash deposits and withdrawals and employs representatives (called cafe associates) for client acquisition, to upsell products, and to answer client questions.

CaxiaBank

In 2016, CaxiaBank launched imaginBank, a mobile-only bank aimed to serve millennial customers. A year later the bank opened a single physical location, ImaginCafe, to appeal to its user base.

ImaginCafe isn’t quite a bank branch, however. It’s not a place where members can deposit cash or speak with bank representatives. Instead, as CaxiaBank CMO Xavier Mas explained, the cafe is “a place where the ‘imaginBank’ brand is rendered tangible thanks to a blend of innovation, immediacy, the combination of the online and offline environments, interaction with users, and the interests of young people.”

As with many bank-cafes, this location serves as a coworking space and has private meeting rooms and spaces available to rent for meetings and events. It also has an art exhibition space, a fashion showcase room, a modern theatre, a multimedia laboratory, and a gaming area. ImaginCafe hosts multiple events each month including art expos, music discussions, shows, gaming events, and concerts.

Umpqua

Umpqua bank calls its branch locations “stores” and incorporates retail and hotel-like amenities into the locations to make them more welcoming.

EVP of Umpqua Bank Brian Read explained that factors contributing to the uniqueness of the stores include free Umpqua-branded coffee, a dog-friendly environment, and community spaces that host yoga classes and non-profit meetings.

Santander

Santander has eight Work Cafes across the globe. These locations look like traditional coffee houses and aim to make visiting a bank something that consumers want to do, not an obligation.

As with many other banks’ concept branches, Santander’s locations offer spaces where events, conferences, and classes are hosted. These cafes are also geared toward offering entrepreneurs a co-working space and offers advertising opportunities for small businesses.

These concept branches have been successful for the Spain-based bank, which reports that anywhere from 2x to 4x more accounts are opened at Work Cafes than at its traditional branches. Additionally, at the bank’s Spain location the number of customers is increasing by 11% per year and new loan production has been boosted by 73%.

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Fiserv Buys Bypass Mobile for CX Improvements

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on March 18, 2020
Categories: Daily news, Fiserv, Mergers & Acquisitions

Financial services firm Fiserv made its 32nd acquisition today. The Wisconsin-based company purchased Bypass Mobile, a company that specializes in software and POS systems. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition is expected to help Fiserv support its clients in creating a seamless customer experience across physical and digital channels. By integrating with Fiserv’s universal commerce platform, Bypass will offer businesses a single point of contact. As a result, businesses will benefit from increased operational efficiency, enhanced security, and a more complete picture of customer interaction.

“Adding Bypass to our portfolio will make it easier for our clients to realize their digital transformation strategy, delivering interactions their customers are demanding,” said Fiserv Senior Group President of Global Business Solutions Devin McGranahan. “With this combination, we will improve the omni-commerce experience for businesses and their customers, making it easier and more efficient to pay for goods and services.”

Specifically, Bypass will enable secure Fiserv clients to accept payments in a secure environment across multiple devices. “In combination with Fiserv, we will help businesses accept payments efficiently while continuing to meet customer expectations by providing a variety of payment options,” explained Bypass CEO Brandon Lloyd.

Fiserv was founded in 1984. While the company’s most recent purchase was Merchant Pro Express earlier this month, its most notorious one in recent memory was the acquisition of First Data in January of last year. That deal closed for $22 billion.

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Digital Banking Startup One Raises $17 Million in Series A

By David Penn Posted on March 18, 2020
Categories: Daily news

Are middle class banking customers a silent majority that can be successfully marketed to as a cohort of their own?

That’s the wager of former PayPal and Intuit CEO Bill Harris, whose digital bank for middle class Americans, One, has just raised $17 million in funding. The capital infusion brings the San Francisco, California-based firm’s total capital to $26 million.

“Middle-class American families are being left out, and we built One specifically for them,” Harris said. “One will combine the technology and convenience of challenger banks with a full-suite of products that traditional banks offer.”

The Series A round featured participation by Foundation Capital, Core Innovation Capital, and Obvious Ventures. Harris initiated the round last year in partnership with One CEO Brian Hamilton, formerly the CEO of Azlo. The digital bank is in private beta now and is slated for a launch this summer. One will offer competitive rates for savers, and combine debit and credit into a single account with one card.

“The current financial system breaks up the money people earn into silos, making it hard for busy families to stay on top of their banking and credit accounts,” Hamilton explained. “Most people have a balance in their checking account that earns nothing and outstanding debt on their credit card that costs too much.”

One accountholders earn 3% APY on their balances when saved via One’s Auto-Save feature (1% APY on other saved balances), and can borrow at a monthly rate that is as low as 1%. No interest is charged on funds repaid within the borrowing month, and accountholders can increase their credit limit by setting up direct deposit.

One also supports shared “pockets” for saving, spending, and borrowing, to make it easier to share funds with family members, roommates, team members, and others. The digital bank charges no overdraft or cash advance fees, does not require a minimum balance, and provides access to more than 55,000 ATMs.

“One is designed to maximize a family’s hard-earned paycheck by unifying saving, spending, and borrowing into one account,” Hamilton said. “When this money is being managed from one place, people save more, are charged less, and gain control.”

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How to Spy on Your Neighbor’s Financial Status

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on March 17, 2020
Categories: Alumni profile, Status Money

Status is something we’ve become accustomed to in the social media era. On Facebook, we update our status to let our friends know how fun our vacation was. On Instagram we brag about our financial status, on Twitter we show off our social status, and on LinkedIn we boast about our professional status.

Comparisons

There’s one fintech in particular that understands this. Aptly named Status, the New York-based company helps users compare themselves with others– though not via pictures, memes, or self-aggrandizing updates. Status takes a user’s financial snapshot by aggregating all of their accounts and anonymously compares a range of metrics with the national average and different groups, including others with similar demographics, people in the user’s geographical location, those that are in the user’s income range, and of the same age.

What exactly are they comparing? Users can analyze their spending, income, debt, assets, net worth, and credit score and compare each figure against those of different groups. Specifically, users can see how much others in their geographical area spend on groceries, how their credit score compares to the national average, how their net worth compares with others in their same age group, how much folks in their same income range spend on housing, etc.

Business model

Because users are motivated to share as much financial data as they can to see how they compare with their peers, Status has excellent insight into which products and services will be most enticing. If Status sees a consumer has a lot of liquid cash, they might show them an ad for a high-interest savings account. Or maybe the user’s vehicle is 15 years old– in that case Status may show them new vehicle financing offers.

Some of Status’ partners include Airbnb, AllState, Liberty Mutual, Betterment, VSP, and Haven Life. Status makes money when it makes a successful referral. This is a common model with B2C fintechs who want to offer their services for free to end consumers.

Personal experience

I have to admit, I’ve enjoyed the comparison capabilities more than I thought I would. My competitive side loves comparing every aspect of my financial standing with others. However, I found it more difficult than I expected to aggregate my entire financial life to gain an accurate comparison. I linked my everyday accounts but there are multiple investment accounts and crypto holdings still outstanding. Additionally, I never found a good way to account for my investment property.

As for the referrals, I was impressed. The offers listed were much more relevant than the offers my bank (which keeps trying to get me to refinance a vehicle loan that I don’t have) usually presents.

Overall, I think I’ll be back. As with all PFM platforms, it is difficult to get a clear picture since transaction categories are often muddled. However, it is still a nice way to not only view my own financial standing, but also compare it with my neighbors.

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Microsoft-backed Digital Asset Company Bakkt Raises $300 Million

By David Penn Posted on March 17, 2020
Categories: Daily news

With the support of PayU and Microsoft’s venture capital division M12, digital assets startup Bakkt has picked up a whopping $300 million in Series B funding. The round, which closed last Friday, also featured participation from Boston Consulting Group, Goldfinch Partners, CMT Digital, Pantera Capital, and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Bakkt’s parent company.

“Bakkt launched two years ago with the vision of building trust in and unlocking the value of digital assets for institutions and consumers alike,” company CEO Mike Blandina wrote in a blog post earlier this week. He pointed to the company’s launch last year of its end-to-end regulated market for bitcoin, as well as its institutional bitcoin custody offering, as examples of how the Atlanta, Georgia-based startup has been “focused on delivering that vision.”

These examples will soon also include a new app, slated for a summer launch, that will enable users to maximize the value of a widening variety of digital assets – from loyalty and rewards points to cryptocurrencies.

“Bakkt gives users control over their digital assets,” Blandina wrote. “Whether it’s miles from your favorite airline, loyalty points from the local grocery store, or bitcoin you’ve purchased, the Bakkt app enables you to aggregate all of these assets into a single digital wallet.”

The funding takes the company’s total capital to more than $482 million, and adds to its more than $1 billion valuation. Proceeds from the Series B will be used to help fund parent company ICE’s acquisition of loyalty solutions provider Bridge2 Solutions. Bakkt will leverage Bridge2 Solutions’ partnership network, and its Loyalty Pay offering, to help build and launch products of its own.

Powering more than 4,500 loyalty and incentive programs, including programs for seven out of the top ten financial institutions and two of the largest U.S. airlines, Bakkt was founded in 2018.

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