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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
While rumors have been circulating for days, Zopaconfirmed today that it has raised $182 million (£140 million) in its largest fundraising to date. The capital comes from IAG Silverstripe, the investment division of IAG Capital, and will, in the words of Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana, enable the P2P lending pioneer to fulfill the regulatory capital requirements and lift restrictions on its banking license.
“This new funding means we have concluded the fundraising phase of our bank mobilization,” Janardana said. “Definitive agreements to provide the funding have been finalized and are subject to final approvals including regulatory change of control.”
IAG Silverstripe has been an investor in Zopa since the fall of 2018, and holds a minority stake in the company. Zopa noted that its bank will operate along with its current P2P financing business (Zopa Limited) as part of the larger Zopa Group.
The funding for Zopa arrives at an opportune time for the company, which will celebrate its 15th anniversary next year. Granted an “Authorisation with Restriction” by U.K’s Financial Conduct Authority on December 4, 2018, Zopa had twelve months to meet the capital requirements that would enable the company to go ahead with a full launch. Even as the deadline drew near last week, Zopa representatives expressed confidence in the company’s ability to raise the necessary capital.
“We continue to hold our bank license with restrictions and are working closely with the regulators to gain our full license,” Janardana explained. “We are excited that, once approved, Zopa will be able to launch its bank alongside its peer-to-peer business and offer a broader set of products to our customers.”
One of Finovate’s earliest alums, the company demonstrated its P2P lending platform at FinovateSpring 2008, billing itself as the “world’s first social finance company,” In the years since its founding in 2005, Zopa has lent 5 billion pounds in unsecured personal loans to customers in the U.K. Headquartered in both New York and London, the company launched a new savings solution last month that offers a fixed-term account with 4% interest as part of its entry into the world of banking. In October, Zopa introducedBorrowing Power, a new offering that uses AI to help customers see what determines their personal borrowing power.
The financial services industry is ripe for Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Business Process Management (BPM) technologies. Organizations in this field have many tasks that can be– and even should be– automated.
Many banks already have successful implementations of these technologies in place. But with the dawn of a new decade, what’s next? We posed the question to AI Foundry’s Director of Product Management, Arvind Jagannath, who helped us uncover the future of RPA and BPM.
Finovate: What are some key developments in RPA and BPM we can look forward to in 2020?
Arvind Jagannath: RPA will play a key role in automating processes in legacy systems. It will have a lot of momentum in industries like retail and finance that are trying to achieve digital transformation because it can automate repetitive processes in their legacy applications.
Most companies view this kind of automation as a key to integrating new technologies and improving their business process. RPA will evolve into a gateway for adopting higher-level, modern technologies.
Finovate: Tell us about that evolution.
Jagannath: Finance, retail and online shopping all have processes that can be easily automated, such as data entry, button clicks, task routing, etc. For these processes, RPA can provide substantial savings in time and cost. Now, imagine you can amplify these gains by using cognitive technologies such as voice recognition, OCR, and AI…this can be a game-changer for many companies.
For example, voice recognition is now increasingly used to provide a more “conversational” flow for gathering initial caller information, just as a support person would do. All of this information can be used to drive the back-end processes that are automated by RPA, such as creating a support ticket and routing it to the right department.
In mortgages, document recognition technologies can quickly scan data from uploaded borrower documents and immediately provide feedback on the validity of the document or ask for additional information. This creates a powerful, real-time feedback loop that can cut days and possibly weeks out of the loan origination process.
Finovate: What does this mean for fintech’s strong partnership ecosystem?
Jagannath: Process automation tools are becoming more sophisticated, and traditional system integrators are taking notice. Large firms like IBM and SAP are realizing they need to partner with or acquire smaller, specialized RPA companies. So now there is an opportunity for collaborating and partnering to create a “smart” RPA eco-system.
A “smart” RPA eco-system combines process automation and AI to orchestrate the appropriate handoffs of tasks between humans and systems to automate processes across a value network.
For example, imagine automating the processing of a homeowner’s property insurance claim where the adjuster pulls data from many disparate systems to make a determination. In a smart RPA eco-system, robots can easily interweave with the adjuster to perform many tasks such as manual registering of the claim, scheduling the next available adjuster, tracking completion of the damage assessment, and proposing an equitable determination.
Finovate: What advice can you offer financial services companies looking to get started with RPA and BPA?
Jagannath: You first need to figure out how to automate your processes, and then start using cognitive technologies to get all the benefits out of RPA and higher-level cognitive AI. RPA becomes a gateway to adopting AI. So, RPA is helping build the ramp for AI to get adopted.
AI Foundry most recently appeared on the Finovate stage last year at FinovateFall. The company demonstrated its Agile Mortgages solution, which brings key efficiencies to the loan origination process.
Fenergoteams up with PwC to provide KYC compliance and client onboarding as managed services.
SumUpforges partnership with German fintech Penta which will offer the company’s card reader to its customers.
Personeticsjoins Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN) Global Startups Program.
Temenosinks partnership with Egyptian National Post Organization.
Maybank Group, the fourth largest bank by assets in Southeast Asia, goes live with Avaloq’s banking suite.
Installment payment specialist Splititpartners with smart bed solution provider ReST.
SoFiscores New York BitLicense, which will permit the company to offer crytocurrency trading services in the state.
Jack Henry to provide a comprehensive technology upgrade, including deployment of its SilverLake core system, for Parkside Financial Bank & Trust.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
One of the largest insurance groups in Asia, Sompo Holdings, is turning to AI to help its field sales teams spend less time consulting and updating customer information on databases, and more time building relationships with actual customers.
The Japan-based insurer announced that it has partnered with Vymo to use the company’s AI-powered, mobile-first sales assistant technology to boost the efficiency and productivity of its agents. The agreement follows a successful pilot project between the two companies that was launched in September.
Vymo demonstrated its Intelligent Personal Sales Assistant technology at FinovateAsia 2018. The app uses contextual intelligence and proactive sales coaching to automatically detect the sales representative’s actions and provide guidance on the optimal next steps to improve outcomes. In addition to leveraging dialler and client integrations and geo-intelligence to automatically log sales activity such as calls, emails, and meetings, Vymo learns from the success of the best performing sales professionals to help others on the platform determine how to better prioritize leads and best engage customers.
“At a leadership level , Vymo enables decision-makers to understand where should the sales and development efforts be,” Anurag Srivastava, Vymo VP-APAC explained last year during his FinovateAsia technology demonstration. At a manager level, he added, the technology solution helps them understand what the sales people are doing on a daily basis, as well as how they can constructively intervene to help them to become better. Srivastava noted that the solution also makes life easier for sales professionals, helping them meet their numbers and “gain predictability into what they are doing.”
Vymo earned a finalist spot in the India FinTech Forum’s IFTA 2019 awards last month. This fall, the company partnered with ABeam Consulting in a move that will help Vymo further expand into Asia-Pacific and Japanese markets. Also this fall, Vymo teamed up with FE Credit, the consumer lending arm of VP Bank to help the Vietnam-based financial institution improve customer acquisition, lead generation, and onboarding. Vymo raised $18 million in funding earlier this year, taking its total capital to $22 million
More than 100,000 sales professionals in 50+ businesses use Vymo’s Intelligent Personal Sales Assistant technology. The company notes that its solution has helped sales teams experience a nearly 2x increase in productivity and sales gains of 30%-50% within the first three months of deployment.
Yamini Bhat is Vymo co-founder and CEO. Founded in 2013, the company is headquartered in New York City.
Having already worked with Amazon in the past, Swedish banking firm Klarna has reinforced its reliance on Amazon Web Services (AWS) to increase redundancy and fault tolerance as it aims to scale its business, reports Alex Hamilton of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).
The company also plans to follow up the launches of its cloud-based Open Banking platform and customer authentication platform with additional on-demand products using AWS.
“Together with AWS we share a relentless focus on providing choices to consumers, so they no longer have to settle for the status quo,” said Koen Koppen, chief technology officer at Klarna.
“Our collaboration with AWS has helped us to rapidly innovate and create new services and applications that customers want, in a secure and seamless way.”
Andy Isherwood, managing director for AWS EMEA, added that Klarna is going to “change the world” with cloud technology.
“We have worked with Klarna for over a decade and it has been inspiring to see them grow from a Swedish startup to a global financial services powerhouse, using the secure, proven infrastructure of AWS,” Isherwood said.
The company demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2012. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and founded in 2005, Klarna has 80 million shoppers on its platform and partnerships with 190,000 retailers around the world. Company co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski is CEO.
VymoBrings AI-Powered Sales Coaching to Insurance Giant Sompo
KlarnaPicks Amazon Web Services as Preferred Cloud Partner
Around the web
Trusted digital identity specialist Signicatpartners with payment information service SurePay.
24sessionsopens doors at its first regional office in Paris, France.
Revolutfor Businessintroduces support for GBP Direct Debits.
eXatejoins the first cohort of the Velocity Birmingham Fintech Hub.
Temenosappoints Michelle Tea as Managing Director for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific islands.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Financial services vendor FIS has announced that it has integrated IBM’sSafer Payments solution within its peer-to-peer (P2P) services to aid in the prevention of fraud, reports Alex Hamilton of Fintech Futures, Finovate’ sister publication.
With the IBM solution integrated, FIS believes its P2P services will be able to monitor high volumes of transactions and provide “real-time detection and decisioning” using artificial intelligence.
The vendor claims that since it first installed IBM’s solution it has seen a “significant” reduction in attempted and completed fraudulent transactions.
“Criminals are growing ever-more sophisticated in their methods for conducting payments fraud and they are increasingly targeting P2P services due to the growth in this market,” said Jim Johnson, head of Americas payments and wealth at FIS.
“FIS is excited to incorporate IBM Safer Payments to provide the highest level of fraud protection to our U.S. clients and their customers who rely on P2P services for fast, convenient payments.”
According to a 2018 PwC report, 53% of US companies were hit by fraud between 2016 and 2018, while 37% of companies reported losing more than $1 million as a result of it.
“FIS is taking aggressive steps to protect its clients against new and evolving threats in the industry,” said Michael Curry, vice president at IBM RegTech. “IBM Safer Payments uses artificial intelligence designed to deliver insights and to quickly adapt to a changing threat landscape. This technology is yielding successful results for FIS and some of the world’s largest and most complex payment portfolios.”
FIS most recently demoed at FinovateFall 2016. The company debuted its Cardless Cash solution that provides fast, secure options for sending and picking up cash at any ATM. Headquartered in Florida, FIS’ solutions move $9 trillion each year for 20,000 clients in 130 countries.
IBM’s IBM Trusteer demoed its new account fraud solution at FinovateEurope 2018.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
It’s the season of giving thanks in the U.S., and what better way to celebrate than to reflect on why I’m thankful for fintech. As it turns out, there are a lot of reasons. Not only does fintech impact how I transact every day, the fintech industry is also responsible for some great friendships I’ve made over the past ten years working in the space.
Great friends aside, here are the top 5 reasons I’m thankful for our growing industry:
1) I don’t need to use cash
This is a simple one. As a typical millennial, I rarely carry cash and I only use my checkbook a couple of times a year to pay contractors. Using a debit card protects me from losing cash (which happens to me all the time), makes in-person transactions faster, makes online transactions possible, and helps me track where my money goes each month… which leads me to reason number two.
2) Puts me more in control of my finances
PFM has been around since the dawn of fintech, but that doesn’t make it any less useful. As with most banks these days, my bank leverages my transaction data to show me a breakdown of my actual spending habits. This means that instead of looking at a hand-drawn budget to determine where every paycheck goes, I’m able to see at a glance how I spend my money.
3) Helps plan for the future
Planning for retirement is intimidating, especially when you don’t have a personal financial advisor to consult. This is why I’m so thankful for roboadvisory tools that create inexpensive and easy-to-use investing strategies. These platforms offer boosted confidence as well as increased returns.
4) Keeps my money and identity secure
There are a lot of fintech companies working in the security space these days– and for good reason. It’s difficult to keep clients’ money out of a cyber criminal’s reach, especially when their nefarious strategies are continuously evolving. And while fintechs that don’t hold their clients’ financial assets may not have this issue, they certainly have the responsibility to protect their client’s personal information. It’s good to know there are very smart people creating complex solutions that minimize the chances of getting hacked.
5) Offers alternative investments
You know the widely held belief that millennials don’t trust the stock market? It holds true for me. I graduated from college in 2012 at the height of the recession. Two weeks before receiving my diploma my only job offer was a ranch hand on Ted Turner’s bison ranch just south of Bozeman, Montana (don’t worry, the Boeing company came through a week later with a formal job offer). So though I certainly have a fair amount of money in the stock market, I also rely on alternative investments such as real estate to carry me through when the market tanks again.
Online visual customer engagement platform Glance announced today it partnered with Axos Bank, a digital bank with $11+ billion in assets.
Glance will help Axos Bank offer its commercial and retail clients real-time visual engagement sessions that deliver a more personalized customer experience. Specifically, Axos will use Glance to navigate the online interface, pay bills, transfer funds, and apply for new banking products.
“Financial services organizations are looking to maximize the benefits of digital banking without losing the human-to-human connection of traditional brick-and-mortar customer interactions,” said Glance CEO Tom Martin. “Glance is perfectly positioned to satisfy this critical requirement. We have successfully integrated real human connections in the digital space, giving banks and other providers a viable tool to enhance customer service while optimizing the efficiencies garnered through digital technology.”
Glance’s cloud-based platform integrates with existing CRM and contact center platforms. In addition to creating a more interactive experience with a human touch, Glance helps organizations comply with security and privacy requirements. Among the company’s clients are Intuit, Constant Contact, and StarTribune.
“The solution is already making an impact in our customer service operations,” said Jonathan Crane, senior vice president of Axos Bank’s Centers of Excellence. “We’re seeing a significant uptick in a number of performance metrics, and our bankers and customers consistently rave about the technology and its ability to help our team become more responsive. It is the perfect solution for combining human insight with the efficiency of digital banking.”
Glance demoed at FinovateFall 2019 in New York. Headquartered in Massachusetts, Glance has raised $6.2 million since it was founded in 2000. Rich Baker is CEO.
GlancePowers Visual Customer Engagement for Axos Bank.
Around the web
Klarnaadded 60,000 new merchants in 2019,a group which now totals 190,000+.
Australia-based Heritage Bank signs 5-year services agreement with Diebold Nixdorf.
FIS integratesIBM’s Safer Payments solution with its P2P services to help prevent fraud.
Onfidopartners with online currency exchange company b-sharpe to provide a better sign up experience using Onfido’s AI-powered identity verification.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
