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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateMiddleEast on November 20 and 21, 2019 in Dubai. Register today and save your spot.
In a complex, post-pension world, Kindur’s signature retirement paycheck helps modern retirees simplify managing retirement income and helps make their savings last longer.
Features
Analyze customers’ financial pictures
Use proprietary technology to build a personalized retirement paycheck
Sequence retirement income withdrawals to lower taxes
Why it’s great Based on your retirement needs and goals, Kindur builds you a retirement paycheck- the ultimate simplification of managing retirement income- so your savings last longer.
Presenter
Rhian Horgan, CEO Horgan is the CEO of Kindur and a financial industry veteran. She is on a mission to eliminate modern retirees’ number one fear– running out of money. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateMiddleEast on November 20 and 21, 2019 in Dubai. Register today and save your spot.
Meniga is a global leader in digital banking solutions working with some of the largest banks in the world to improve customer engagement and develop new business models.
Features
SaaS banking data consolidation, enrichment, and categorization
Personalized rewards and offers for banking customers
Social responsibility by helping the planet
Why it’s great Banking data can help save the planet.
Presenters
Ólafur Óskar Egilsson, VP of Product Egilsson has been instrumental in leading Meniga’s product team for three years. He has extensive experience in working in fintech and banking. LinkedIn
Isabel Moratiel, Business Development Manager Moratiel has experience in diverse areas of fintech, SME lending, international credit scoring, and digital banking. She has been at Meniga for over three years working in business development. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateMiddleEast on November 20 and 21, 2019 in Dubai. Register today and save your spot.
Owl.co is a customer insight engine bringing external attributes for better decision making. In just one year, Owl is working with 10 of the largest financial institutions in North America.
Features
Derives customer insight from thousands of databases in real time
Takes a fully modular approach to fit within enterprise processes
Surpasses regulation requirements with end-to-end encryption
Why it’s great Owl.co offers enhanced personalized onboarding, enhanced customer due diligence, and fraud detection. All of this is available on a zero-knowledge platform where nobody but the intended party can see the data.
Presenter Vahid Mirjalili, Co-founder and COO Formerly at BCG, Mirjalili led a multi-million dollar digital transformation of financial institutions in Canada and the U.S. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateMiddleEast on November 20 and 21, 2019 in Dubai. Register today and save your spot.
VeriTran’sLow-Code Platform streamlines the creation, development ,and roll-out of digital business applications in record time with a visual and intuitive model and drag-and-drop interface. Creating an app with its Low-Code Platform is simple and does not require technical expertise in programming, security, graphic design, or UX to put world-class apps at an end user’s fingertips.
Why it’s great Clients can execute in months what often takes years. A project that takes upwards of twenty-four months can be created with VeriTran in just six months.
Omar Arab, VP Corporate Business Development – U.S. Market Arab combines advisory, creative, and technological capabilities with an innovation culture and specialist knowledge of the financial sector. LinkedIn
Greynier Fuentes, Solutions Manager Fuentes has 15 plus years of achievement leading areas of solutions development for financial services. He is entrepreneurial and innovative by nature. LinkedIn
Klarnadeepens ties with H&M to enable customers to shop now and pay later using the H&M app.
NICE’s AML and fraud SaaS solutions to power financial crime strategy for both anti-money laundering compliance and enterprise fraud protections.
Terafinato power Listerhill Credit Union’s omnichannel sales strategy and continue its digital transformation to increase member satisfaction and deepen relationships.
OurCrowdexpands U.S. operations, opens office in Chicago.
ID R&D’sIDLive Face to power remote customer account openings and digital ID verification for Innov8tif’s EMAS eKYC.
ndgit and Synpulse launch international fintech marketplace in Switzerland.
Onfidoreports strong revenue growth momentum for Q2 2019; earns recognition from The Sunday Times as one of the fastest growing private companies in the U.K.
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.
Revolut has withdrawn its application for an e-banking license in the grand duchy in a shift towards Ireland, according to The Telegraph on Sunday, reports Sharon Kimathi of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).
The news outlet notes that Revolut stopped its Luxembourg application after questions about its compliance systems were raised in the Chamber of Deputies by the MP Laurent Mosar (CSV) in April, which Revolut has refuted.
Without citing any company names, Moser stated in a parliamentary question to the finance minister, Pierre Gramegna (DP), that: “Fintech companies are subject to a host of national and international rules. However, it would seem that these rules are not always respected by fintech companies, so that some of them get their approval, even though they do not meet financial and banking regulatory requirements. According to my information, at least one major company that has recently applied for approval, would be flagged in its country of origin for non-compliance with existing regulations as well as for non-transparency.”
Mosar asked Gramegna what the finance ministry was doing to ensure compliance with fintech rules. Gramegna responded that the Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (CSSF) and not the finance ministry oversaw regulating financial institutions.
The Telegraph reported that the CSSF began conducting spot checks on financial technology firms headquartered in the country earlier this year to verify that board and staff members were truly located in the grand duchy.
The neobank needs regulatory approval from one of the EU27 in order to maintain its access to the single European market after Brexit.
Revolut told news outlets that it did not withdrawal its application due to questions about its compliance technology. Rather it took a “strategic decision” to focus on its license application in Ireland. A spokesman said the firm “had a very positive and open dialogue” with the CSSF, as well as the promotion body Luxembourg for Finance.
Founded in 2013, Revolut demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2015. Nikolay Storonsky is CEO.
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.
William Reeve, a co-founder of LOVEFiLM and Secret Escapes, is the latest investor in Czech payments innovator Twisto. Tech.eu reports that the company has raised $15 million (€14 million) in capital as a follow-on to the Series B that it completed in this spring. The company is also looking to bringing an additional $33 million to $44 million (€30 million to 40 million) in senior and venture debt financing to support expansion.
Twisto will use the funds to further build out its platform and to develop what it calls the first universal “debit-credit payment app.” The company’s goal is to have two million, “full-account” customers within the next five years.
Speaking of Reeve, Twisto CEO and founder Michal Smida called his fintech experience “an invaluable resource” and said Twisto would work closely with Reeve on “key strategic initiatives” including M&A and entry into new markets.
Founded in 2013, Twisto has grown into a major Central European fintech with more than 275,000 customers and more than 500,000 monthly visits. The company’s Nikita risk engine applies machine learning to non-traditional data to provide a credit assessment based on more than 400 data points per transaction – all in milliseconds.
Twisto demonstrated its Twisto Card at FinovateEurope 2018. The card, designed to support all of the daily financing needs of its users, provides access instant credit and notifications, a favorable foreign exchange rate, cashback and UNIQA insurance. The card also features a “Buy Now. Pay Later” solution that provides one-click instant financing. Twisto offers three tiers, including a free online version that includes many of the platforms key features including cashback from online purchases and Twisto Snap, which lets users pay bills and invoices by photo or email.
Headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, Twisto announced in July that it was opening an office in Poland, with an expansion into Romania expected soon. The company began the year with news that Wirecard would facilitate the integration of Apple Pay for users of Twisto’s digital Mastercard.
Join us in October as our annual Asia-Pacific fintech conference returns to Singapore! FinovateAsia is one of the best ways for fintech startups and innovative industry veterans from the region and around the world to showcase their latest technologies before an audience of C-level decision-makers, venture capitalists, all-star analysts, and more.
For information on how to participate in FinovateAsia as a demoing company, partner, or sponsor, send us an e-mail and we’ll tell you everything you need to know.
Central and Southern Asia
Indian online lending marketplace Namaste Creditbecomes neobank for micro, small, and medium sized businesses (MSMEs).
Forbes profiles social entrepreneur and co-founder of Pakistan’s Tez Financial Services, Nauren Hyat.
India-based digital-only neobank YeLo picks up seed funding from Matrix Partners India, Omidyar Network India, Flourish, and Better Capital.
Latin America and the Caribbean
In one of the largest seed rounds in Mexico to date, a company called minu that provides Mexican workers with instant, 24/7 access to earned wages Mexican workers, has raised $6.5 million.
Wayra Peru, the open innovation hub of Telefonica, and Peruvian investment group, The Board, to invest in Colombian fintech, IMIX.
Ecuadorian-Colombian digital payments platform Kushki Pagos acquires Chilean fintech QVO.
Asia-Pacific
Financial Services Authority for Indonesia (OJK) introduces online registry to spur fintech development.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) adjusts credit risk management guidelines to accommodate use of big data analysis.
Indonesian digital credit platform, Kredivo, secures $20 million line of credit.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Chipper Cash, a San Francisco, California-based cross-border payment startup with offices in Ghana and Kenya, begins operations in Nigeria.
South Africa’s AlphaCode invests $1.5 million in a trio of local fintechs: Bright On Capital, Zande Africa, and Livestock Wealth.
Finovate Global: Mexican Fintech Minu Makes History; India’s Namaste Credit Becomes a Neobank.
Around the web
Five DegreesaddsOneSpan as a new partner in its Open Banking Marketplace.
Axiata Group Berhad and Telenor Groupend merger discussions.
Klarnaexpands existing partnership with online fashion retailer boohoo group and its four brands.
Xeroadds BP as latest partner for its Xero Connect e-invoicing solution.
Authority Magazine interviews Talbott Roche, CEO and president of Blackhawk Network.
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.
Chatbot platform builder Chatbots.Studioannounced this week it teamed up with Yozobi (pronounced YOU-zo-bee) to become the U.K.-based company’s technical partner and advisor.
In what Chatbots.Studio is calling a “mutually beneficial partnership,” Yozobi will leverage Chatbots.Studio’s engineering and technological expertise. In turn, Chatbots.Studio will tap Yozobi’s experience with business development and sales, as well as gain a fiduciary U.K. partner.
Headquartered in Ukraine, Chatbots.Studio helps businesses digitize client communications. Businesses can leverage the company’s commercial bot templates for a range of online messaging platforms, including Viber, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp.
Earlier this year, Chatbots.Studio unveiled a partnership with Visa in which Chatbots.Studio will leverage Visa’s payments rails to help SMBs increase their non-cash payments. Two successful projects have been launched in Kazakhstan and the platform is in beta-testing in Dnipro and Kyiv.
Chatbots.Studio will demo its latest technology at FinovateFall later this month in New York. Register today to see the demo live and meet with the company in person.
Credit score and loan management platform, Credit Sesame, has raised $43 million so far in its latest funding round, which is likely to be the last before the firm goes public, writes Jane Connolly of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).
The round, led by ATW Partners with participation from previous investors, has not yet closed. TechCrunch reports CEO and founder, Adrian Nazari, believes the company is on track to achieve a $1 billion valuation when the round does close.
The funding is a combination of equity and debt for the profitable company, which has seen 90% annual revenue growth for the last five years. It will be spent on business expansion and developing Credit Sesame’s RoboCredit artificial intelligence algorithms, which enable consumers to see what actions they can take to improve their credit scores.
Nazari said this is likely to be the last funding round before launching an IPO and the company has no plans to look at mergers or acquisitions until after it goes public.
“Credit Sesame is revolutionizing how consumers manage their credit,” said Kerry Propper, co-founder and managing partner of ATW Partners. “What once was a mystery and black box is now distilled by Credit Sesame’s PCM platform into easy to digest actionable insights that can effortlessly and meaningfully change a consumer’s credit and financial health.”
Users of Credit Sesame, which coined the term “Personal Credit Management,” can check their initial credit score and look at debt rebalancing options for free, but pay fees to take up products referred through the engine.
Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, Credit Sesame demonstrated its credit-based PFM for a co-branded environment at FinovateSpring 2015.
