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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
FinovateEurope 2025 takes place in London on February 25 and 26. Register to attend and save up to £798.
We are now accepting demo applications for FinovateEurope 2025. Working on new fintech, finserv, or techfin? Read on to learn more about showcasing your innovation to 1000+ senior decision-makers and hear from companies who recently demoed.
We’ve been watching FinovateEurope for a long time. It’s a great show. It’s an opportunity where you can’t hide behind a sales slide deck. You actually have to show the quality of your product.
-Richard Weston, Sales Director @ Tuum
Finovate’s somewhere that we really come to actually show new products and developments in our technology, and we’ve got the right audience here of bankers, buyers, and actual potential tech partners.
-Ambar Vitelli, Innovation Lead @ NayaOne
On February 25, more than 35 startup, established, and public companies will take the stage. And while time on the main stage is at the crux of the demo package, the rest of the demo experience has been carefully curated to give selected companies the best ROI.
Here are key components and what our 2024 demoers think:
Influential audience – demo in front of hundreds of high-quality attendees, including FI executives, fintech and tech giants, venture capitalists, industry press and analysts, and entrepreneurs.
The reason that we wanted to be on stage at Finovate was because it’s really one of the best opportunities to speak to such a broad variety of senior leaders across banking and insurance.
-Tom Somers, UK&I Director @ SkenerioLab
7-minutes demos – get the audience’s undivided attention and show them exactly what you can do. All demos are on the main stage, and there are no other sessions competing for attention.
Seven minutes, it’s a lot. You don’t feel it when you prepare, but on stage, it is a lot of time. You can explain everything. So don’t be afraid. Seven minutes is a lot.
-Roman Zilber, Founder @ Intrepid Fox
Frequent and strategic networking breaks – capitalize on the energy and momentum generated during your demo to connect with attendees at your stand and one-to-one meetings through the networking app.
Directly after the demo, a lot of people came to our stand, asking questions, wanting to learn more about it. So it’s definitely impactful.
Plug and play stands – generate leads and meet attendees at your dedicated stand (table, monitor, power, and signage included).
Expert coaching – hear a decade’s worth of best practices and feedback on crafting your demo and messaging for Finovate’s unique audience.
The rehearsals with Greg were absolutely amazing. They really helped us to shape our presentation. So at the beginning we were super focused on the product, but by the end of the rehearsals, we really focused much, much more on the value that we’re providing to the clients and potential partners here.
-Tom Somers, UK&I Director @ SkenerioLab
Demo videos – use your professionally edited video as a unique sales and marketing tool. Plus year over year, demoing companies have told us they receive business from companies seeing their video on Finovate.com.
Fandom – stay in the news. We follow you for the rest of time and share your product launches, capital raised, awards earned, acquisitions and expansions made to our thousands of followers.
It’s fantastic. I think the amount of coverage that sort of Finovate gets, you’ve been sharing on LinkedIn, been very active. So just getting our name out there really helps. . . . And I think it really got us in front of the right stakeholders for our business.
-Rohan Regmi, Co-Founder @ Zeed
If you’re ready to jump into the Finovate spotlight and generate new leads in 2025, apply now.
France-based regtech Dotfile has secured $6.7 million (€6 million) in new funding.
The round was led by Seaya Ventures. The company’s existing investors Serena and Hexa also participated in the investment.
Dotfile made its Finovate debut earlier this year at FinovateEurope 2024 in London.
Fresh off its FinovateEurope debut earlier this year, Paris-based fintech Dotfile has raised $6.7 million (€6 million) in funding. The round was led by Seaya Ventures, and featured participation from the firm’s existing investors Serena and Hexa. In a statement, the regtech innovator indicated that the funding will power its R&D efforts as well as fuel its international expansion plans.
Dotfile leverages AI to enable banks and other financial institutions to automate customer onboarding and ensure compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. The company’s business verification platform improves upon the traditionally manual, complex, and expensive Know-Your-Business (KYB) process by aggregating dozens of different data sources to produce a comprehensive picture of a business within 10 seconds.
“More than $200 billion is invested in compliance every year, yet 2% of the world GDP is still going through the money-laundering rinse cycle, which is fueling crime,” Dotfile CEO Vasco Alexandre said. “AI could change how effective those policies are and the positive impact for our societies could be massive.”
The investment in Dotfile comes at a time of growing awareness of the importance of compliance in financial services – and the ability of technology to help banks and other institutions meet these obligations. From banks seeking to maximize opportunities in fintech partnerships to cryptocurrency platforms eager for greater clarity on digital asset regulations, institutions throughout financial services are finding themselves in an increasingly dynamic regulatory environment. To help companies better manage their compliance obligations, a new generation of fintechs such as Dotfile have emerged with tools, workflows, and other solutions–often AI-powered–to streamline and enhance verification, ensure accurate auditability, and reduce costs.
“Compliance is costing banks up to 10% of their revenue, 1 out of 4 employees work in a compliance-related position and existing systems are sometimes more than a decade old,” Alexandre said. “With the competition from fintech intensifying, a transition is bound to happen and generative AI is the tipping point.”
Dotfile made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2024 in London. At the conference, the French regtech demonstrated its end-to-end business verification platform that empowers compliance teams to streamline their operations. The company was founded in 2021 by Alexandre and Titouan Benoit, and received major support from startup studio Hexa (formerly known as eFounders). Today, Dotfile has more than 50 customers across 10 countries, including banks, private equity firms, and fintechs. Most recently, the company announced a partnership with private market investment platform Roundtable, helping the firm improve its KYC process to optimize and accelerate customer onboarding.
Xero and Klarna have partnered to allow small businesses to offer buy now, pay later (BNPL) options at checkout, giving consumers more flexible payment choices.
Under the partnership, Xero’s small business clients will have access to BNPL capabilities that may help boost revenue and enable more large-ticket sales.
This collaboration has the potential to help Xero’s small business clients maintain healthy cash flow by getting paid upfront.
Small business accounting software company Xero and global payments network and shopping platform Klarnaannounced this week that they have teamed up.
The deal is essentially a distribution partnership for Klarna, which will help Xero’s small businesses clients accept buy now, pay later (BNPL) payments from their consumers. Xero small business customers in all regions except Australia can offer Klarna at checkout as a payment option, providing a credit card alternative while still getting paid for the goods or services up front.
“We know that maintaining a healthy cash flow is critical to a successful business, and offering more ways to pay supports increased business growth and getting paid faster,” said Xero SVP Payments & Ecosystem Bharathi Ramavarjula. “In fact, our recent research report shows that if a business doesn’t offer customers their preferred way to pay, they are prepared to take their business elsewhere. By enabling our customers with more ways to pay, including Klarna, we can help them retain customers and increase their revenue.”
Klarna’s BNPL tools include a four-payment, interest-free installment plan, a 24-month financing option, and a pay-in-30 day option. Before a customer makes their purchase, Klarna verifies their eligibility and offers transparent terms of the payment. Once the purchase is made, the company follows up with reminders to help ensure that shoppers stay current on their payments. According to Klarna, 99% of the financing is repaid and 40% of orders placed are repaid early.
The partnership has the potential to provide BNPL capabilities to small businesses that would normally not be able to offer flexible payments or financing. By offering a more flexible payment option, these businesses have the potential to close more larger-ticket deals. It also has the potential to help businesses maintain healthy cashflow, as merchants using Klarna will receive the payment up front.
“This partnership brings Klarna’s flexible payment options to micro businesses of all kinds so business owners can get paid on time and their customers can choose how and when to pay,” said “Klarna Chief Commercial Officer David Sykes. “This includes businesses where gardeners and landscaping services using Xero can now offer a Klarna BNPL payment option, plumbers and heating engineers using Xero can fix their customers’ boilers and let them spread the cost while small businesses involved in the construction industry could spread the cost of smaller projects over three interest-free installments.”
Both Klarna and Xero have been in the fintech news cycle in recent months for different reasons. Last month, Klarna unveiled plans to cut its workforce in half in favor of AI-driven productivity. And earlier this month, Xero announced plans to acquire collaborative reporting tool Syft Analytics.
Voice authentication technology innovator Illuma Labs has raised $9 million in funding. The Series A round was led by LiveOak Ventures and featured participation from Forefront Ventures, Curql Fund, UsNet, Capital Factory, Connexus, and TDECU.
As the first major investment for the company, the capital will help accelerate the development of Illuma’s voice verification offerings to help banks and other institutions fight fraud, voice cloning, deep fakes, and more. Illuma Labs also plans to leverage the funding to expand its reach to more credit unions and banks across the country.
“While we are excited about the capital infusion to accelerate our development of fraud prevention and deep fake detection tools, we are equally excited about bringing in new partners to fuel Illuma’s continued commercial growth,” Illuma Co-Founder and CEO Milind Borkar said. He praised both LiveOak Ventures and Forefront Ventures for their operational expertise and industry connections and thanked investors Curql Fund, UsNet, Capital Factory, Connexus, and TDECU for their “continued support.”
Illuma Labs offers banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions the ability to replace their traditional, knowledge-based authentication protocols with a secure, real-time voice authentication solution. The company’s flagship product, Illuma Shield, delivers effortless authentication that enhances the customer experience, improves operational efficiency, and prevents fraud in contact centers.
The funding news arrives one month after the identity verification specialist inked a partnership with Americu Credit Union. The New York State-based CU added voice recognition technology to its Member Contact Center courtesy of a partnership with Illuma announced in August. Earlier this year, Illuma announced that SF Fire Credit Union was adding voice authentication technology to its call center via a collaboration between Illuma and fellow Finovate alum Glia.
Headquartered in Plano, Texas, and founded in 2016, Illuma Labs made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2019. The company most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage earlier this month at FinovateFall, winning Best of Show for its latest deepfake detection technology that helps banks fend off a new generation of AI-enabled fraudsters.
Revolut is spinning out its wealth management offering into a standalone app called Revolut Invest.
The move will allow Revolut to attract users outside of its existing bank client base.
Revolut counts 45 million users, has 3 million active traders, and 20,000 subscribers to its premium investment account.
U.K.-based fintech Revolut unveiled today that it plans to spin out its wealth management offering into a standalone app.
The new app, Revolut Invest, will feature capabilities from Revolut’s $9.5 billion (€8.5 billion) wealth management business, as well as additional functionality. At present, Revolut offers its users stock trading as well as a roboadvisor tool. The new app will offer much of the same features: access to 5,000 assets, including U.S. and European stocks, ETFs, commodities, and bonds. The app will also come with new products, such as contracts for difference (CFDs). Revolut Invest will offer the option to upgrade to Revolut’s premium subscription tier called Trading Pro that offers reduced commission fees, increased limits, and analytics.
One of the key advantages for Revolut in making its investing services a standalone tool is the ability to attract customers beyond its current user base. New investors using Revolut Invest won’t need to be existing Revolut banking clients, allowing the company to more easily expand its 3 million active traders and its 20,000 Trading Pro subscribers.
New Revolut Invest users will also be given the option to add Revolut’s banking services during the onboarding process. Conversely, Revolut’s banking clients will not need to download the new trading app, as they will still be able to conduct their investing activities within Revolut’s banking app.
Revolut is currently piloting Revolut Invest in Greece, Denmark, and the Czech Republic. The company is aiming to double the number of investments available in the app in the next three months. To fuel this growth, Revolut is scheduled to launch the investment app in other European Economic Area countries by the end of the year and also revealed plans to launch it in the U.K., U.S., Singapore, and Australia, as it already has the licensing in place in these regions.
With more than 45 million retail customers and 500,000 business customers, Revolut supports more than 25 currencies for users in more than 140 regions. The company offers current accounts, savings accounts, and debit cards that feature the ability to pay in multiple currencies. Revolut also has a credit card product in the U.S., Ireland, Lithuania, and Poland.
Last month, Revolut’s valuation was billed at $45 billion, cementing its reputation as Europe’s most valuable fintech. Earlier this summer, the company earned its banking license from the U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), adding deposit insurance for its users in the region. These two factors place Revolut in a good position to go public; and it is likely the company will favor a NASDAQ listing over listing on the London Stock Exchange.
Global analytics software company FICO has teamed up with Jersey Telecom to offer a new solution to combat Authorized Push Payment (APP) fraud.
The new offering, the FICO Customer Communications Service Scam Signal, combines real time network data with customer and payment data to identify and mitigate APP fraud as it happens.
FICO made its Finovate debut at our developers conference, FinDEVr New York, in 2016.
The solution, the FICO Customer Communications Service Scam Signal, works by identifying the most relevant telephony signals that indicate a scam is taking place. The new offering represents the first real-time combination of telephony data, customer data, and payment data to deal with the problem of Authorized Push Payment fraud.
“Authorized Push Payment fraud is where customers are tricked into sending authorized payments to scammers,” JT Head of Mobile Intelligence Solutions Clare Messenger said. “This type of fraud is growing around the world; 2023 losses in the U.K. alone reached £460 million. To protect customers from being caught by such scams, the new FICO and JT solution enables direct intervention with the customer to quickly determine if a payment should proceed.”
To achieve the new solution, Jersey Telecom worked with the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) and the U.K. Mobile Network Operators to access mobile network insights while adhering to a privacy compliance framework that protected customers’ personal information. Meanwhile, FICO uncovered strong correlations between a customer’s mobile phone behavior and the potential that an active scam is occurring. The Scam Signal leverages this combination of real-time network data, customer data, and payment data to identify and mitigate the social engineering tactics that can trick and ultimately defraud account holders.
“The integration of Scam Signal within the FICO Customer Communications Service allows banks to present customers with personalized, omni-channel, and highly contextualized messages that break the scammer’s spell for high-risk activities,” FICO VP of Product Management Adam Davies said.
“These messages can be built into conversation ‘flows’ that respond in real-time to the actions the customer takes,” Davies explained. “For example, if a customer hesitates or looks to progress a payment, additional messages can be sent, and different options offered, such as suggesting delaying the payment or offering to speak to a fraud prevention specialist.”
The new offering is currently available in the Channel Island of Jersey, the U.K., and Spain, and there are plans to eventually expand to additional markets. Nevertheless, FICO reported that “major high-street banks in the U.K.” are already deploying Scam Signal. One institution piloting the new technology said that it had reduced the number of people being scammed by 41%, lowered fraud losses from scams by 44%, and reduced the number of false positives by 55%.
Last month, Scam Signal won the Silver Medal at Datos Insights’ Fraud Impact Awards for “Best Scam and APP Fraud Prevention” solution. The technology has also been shortlisted for the “Anti-Fraud Solution of the Year” award at the 2024 U.K. Payments Awards.
FICO made its Finovate debut in 2016 at our developers conference, FinDEVr New York. Today, businesses in more than 100 countries use FICO’s technology and solutions to defend customers against fraud, advance financial inclusion, boost supply chain resiliency, and more. The company’s FICO Score has become the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the U.S., and is used by 90% of the country’s top lenders.
Founded in 1956 and headquartered in San Jose, California, FICO is publicly traded on the NYSE under the ticker FICO. The company has a market capitalization of $47 billion.
You’ve seen the hype around Generative AI (GenAI). And perhaps you even have an AI strategy in place at your organization. But because the development of AI moves faster than any enabling technology we’ve seen in banking in the past, it’s important to think ahead to the next iteration. In this case, the next evolution of GenAI is Agentic AI.
Agentic AI, also known as autonomous AI, refers to AI that can make its own decisions, form a plan, act on its own, and learn from its mistakes to achieve specified goals. Agentic AI can take a complex request and break it down into simple, achievable goals to solve complex problems.
Agentic AI has numerous possibilities for use in financial services, including:
Create a highly personalized customer experience
Agentic AI can automate routine interactions, allowing firms to launch chatbots or virtual assistants that can autonomously handle customer questions, suggest financial products based on specific preferences, and even analyze customer behavior to predict their needs.
Some of this is currently possible with GenAI, but Agentic AI will be able to handle even more complex tasks and make autonomous decisions without human intervention. Agentic AI customer service bots will also be proactive, and will be able to anticipate customer needs based on real-time data and past behaviors.
Offer autonomous roboadvisory with algorithmic trading
Roboadvisors have been popular in fintech since 2015, but Agentic AI will make it possible for firms to autonomously manage investment portfolios by analyzing market trends, risk profiles, and financial goals. The new enabling technology could also become more intelligent, providing financial institutions with scalable advisory services that make investment decisions in real time without human intervention.
Agentic AI will be able to execute algorithmic trades in real time and without human intervention by autonomously making buy or sell decisions based on market conditions, financial models, and pre-set objectives. The technology will also proactively adjust portfolios based on market trends, economic forecasts, and client life changes, continuously aligning investments with a client’s long-term goals.
Power fraud detection and risk management
While GenAI can continuously monitor transactions to detect anomalies and identify fraudulent patterns, Agentic AI can instantly flag suspicious activities, alert relevant parties, and even block transactions. This offers financial institutions an effective way to reduce fraud risks and improve compliance with regulatory requirements.
Credit scoring and underwriting
Agentic AI can autonomously assess creditworthiness by analyzing vast amounts of structured and unstructured data, such as transaction histories, social media activity, and economic conditions. The enabling technology will be able to independently decide whether to approve loans or credit lines in real-time, based on pre-determined parameters such as risk tolerance and regulatory requirements.
Compliance
With Agentic AI, firms will be able to autonomously monitor, detect, and act on compliance violations in real time. The technology will be able to autonomously make decisions– such as freezing an account or flagging a transaction– and take corrective actions. Also, as regulations change, it can adjust to rules without human intervention.
Back-office automation
Back-office automation is something that banks have been leveraging for a long time now. However, Agentic AI will be able to automate back-office functions like settlement processing, reconciliation, and financial reporting without human intervention and in real-time. Additionally, because Agentic AI can handle, complex, multi-step processes, it will be able to plan, initiate, and execute a task in a proactive manner.
Real-time risk assessment
To reduce operational risks, Agentic AI can autonomously assess the organization and market in real time. Firms with large, organized datasets may experience the most benefit, as the enabling technology will be able to make the most informed decisions based on large, clean sets of data.
These capabilities may sound equal parts idyllic and dystopian. However, it is difficult to prepare for an Agentic AI-powered future without knowing what role regulation will play. It is likely that regulators in the U.S. will mimic Europe in creating some form of AI regulation, especially for its use in financial services.
No matter what the regulatory future looks like, firms can take a handful of steps to prepare for the adoption of Agentic AI. So whether or not your organization even has an AI policy in place yet, you can start working on these things:
Create a robust data infrastructure Because Agentic AI relies on a huge amount of data, banks need to have strong data management systems that collect, store, and process both structured and unstructured data. Simultaneously, it is important that banks adhere to strong security protocols to protect consumers’ sensitive financial data.
Upgrade IT infrastructure and cloud capabilities Banks may need to move more of their operations to the cloud to free up computing power and storage facilities, both of which Agentic AI demands. Edge computing may be a solution to help reduce latency for AI applications, such as algorithmic trading, that require quick responses.
Build AI literacy into your culture Firms should consider investing in their workforce by offering AI training programs. This will help employees work with AI efficiently and creatively. AI education will also help keep employee AI usage compliant by setting boundaries, maintaining transparency, and ensuring ethical use.
Create an ethics and compliance framework Because Agentic AI has the ability to make autonomous decisions, it is essential that those decisions are based on ethical and regulatory compliant standards. Consider creating an AI ethics committee that is able to monitor and oversee AI decision-making. The committee can continuously ensure that the AI usage is not biased and will not harm customers, employees, or the organization.
Foster bank-fintech partnerships If not doing so already, banks should consider partnering with fintechs and AI technology providers to accelerate the adoption of Agentic AI. By collaboarting with third parties, banks can benefit from AI systems that leverage a broader ecosystem of services.
Begin using a different form of AI To prepare for the future of AI, one of the best things firms can do is to begin piloting AI in targeted, high-impact areas such as customer service or portfolio management.
Summer’s officially over. But you’ve still got plenty of time to catch up on episodes of the Finovate Podcast that you might have missed while on vacation or just taking a break from the fintech buzz.
EverBank is a nationwide specialty bank that serves both consumer and commercial clients. A pioneer in online banking, EverBank is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
Fintech Sandbox offers entrepreneurs free access to data and resources in order to build their early-stage fintech solutions via its Data Access Residency program. Fryer is Executive Director.
Finovate Podcast host Greg Palmer interviews Jeff Trammell of Merchants & Marine Bank on the issue of cannabis banking and community banks. As a COO, Trammell offers his perspective on implementing new programs. Ep 225.
Headquartered in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Merchants & Marine Bank is a community bank that has served customers in the Gulf Coast region of the U.S. for more than 120 years.
Author of Web3 in Financial Services, Martins’ book examines the transformative potential of Web3 in the financial services space.
Alex Harris of Fiat Ventures shared his 2024 mid-year review this summer. In this podcast conversation with host Greg Palmer, Harris handed out a few tips for founders and gave his prediction for what’s next for the fintech industry. Ep 223.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Fiat Ventures is an emerging VC focused on supporting the next generation of market-leading, early-stage fintech companies. Harris is Co-Founder and General Partner.
PNC and Plaid have partnered to allow PNC customers to connect to and share their financial data with third party financial applications.
Plaid will help connect PNC customers to apps, while PNC’s API provider Akoya will ensure that PNC’s customer data is securely shared with third party apps powered by Plaid.
Today’s announcement comes five years after PNC blocked multiple data aggregators, including Plaid, claiming they circumvented PNC’s security protocol.
Getting a head start on Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform, PNC Financial Services Group announced recently that it has partnered with financial data access company Plaid. The two have signed a data access agreement to enable PNC customers to connect and share their financial data with third party financial applications through Plaid.
PNC will also leverage its API service provider Akoya. Through this partnership, Plaid will help connect PNC customers to apps, while as the API provider, Akoya will ensure that PNC’s customer data is securely shared with third party apps powered by Plaid, without needing to share login credentials.
The collaboration among the three players will ultimately offer a better user experience. That’s because Plaid will help to increase security by eliminating screen scraping and other fraud-prone data collection techniques. The partnership will also allow consumers to access their financial data without having to share their credentials with the third parties themselves. Additionally, Plaid will offer the customer control of their own data, allowing them to determine which third party apps may have access to their data.
“Through this new partnership with Plaid, PNC customers will be able to achieve greater data security, privacy, and control while using the third-party financial apps and services they enjoy,” said PNC Executive Vice President, Digital and Payments Natalie Talpas. “PNC’s use of its Akoya-provided API allows for all data recipients, including Plaid, to get connected fast, while also enabling customers to reliably control what financial data they are permissioning without having to share their login credentials with third parties.”
This partnership is notable not just for PNC and its customers, but also for bank customers across the U.S. That’s because PNC’s partnership with Plaid indicates a positive change in attitude toward open banking in the U.S. In the past, PNC has notoriously held a stance against open banking. The bank not only prevented its customers from accessing Venmo in 2019, it also blocked multiple data aggregators, including Plaid, claiming they circumvented PNC’s security protocol.
With today’s partnership, however, the two now appear to be on good terms. “We are pleased to have reached a data access agreement with PNC that further supports their customers securely connecting to applications and services powered by Plaid,” said Plaid Head of Open Finance Partnerships Christy Sunquist. “Moving the industry away from credential-based access is a top priority for Plaid, and our alignment on key principles around security, access and control played a definitive role in establishing this partnership. We look forward to future collaboration for many years to come.”
Fall is officially here! A favorite season for many, autumn also marks a likely acceleration in fintech and financial services news and activity. Be sure to check Finovate’s Fintech Rundown all week long for the latest in headlines and news updates!
Nasdaq Verafin announces enhancements to its Targeted Typology Analytics suite to add detection capabilities for terrorist financing and drug trafficking activity.
This week, we turn to Uzbekistan, a Central Asian nation and former Soviet republic with a population of just over 37 million. The doubly-landlocked country (one of only two in the world) has been transitioning toward a market economy for years and has been credited by the Brookings Institution for its high economic growth and low public debt. A major producer and exporter of cotton, Uzbekistan has leveraged major natural gas supplies to be one of the largest electricity producers in the region. HSBC has predicted that the country will have one of the fastest-growing economies in the next few decades.
We interviewed Oliver Hughes, former CEO of Tinkoff and current Head of International Business for TBC Bank Group – which recently expanded to Uzbekistan. In our extended conversation, we discussed TBC’s goals in Uzbekistan, nature of banking in Central Asia, what key financial services are in the most demand, as well as how enabling technologies are helping financial institutions in the region better serve their customers.
You joined TBC a few years after the bank expanded to Uzbekistan. First, what drew you to TBC?
Oliver Hughes: Joining TBC in Uzbekistan was a great opportunity for two reasons. First, the market itself is full of potential and ripe for disruption. A young, growing population of 37 million people, of which 59% are under the age of 30, economic reforms and liberalization, a favorable macroeconomic environment and an under-penetrated digital banking market create huge demand for world-class online banking services, so I could see a clear path to success.
Second, I knew that TBC Uzbekistan would be a great place to work and an environment that would allow me to make an impact. Since coming to Uzbekistan in 2019, TBC has built a world-class team, secured a banking license, reached profitability within two years, and outlined a vision that aligns with my previous experience of building and scaling a best-in-class, profitable digital banking ecosystem.
Uzbekistan was TBC’s first international market outside of its native Georgia. Why Uzbekistan?
Hughes: Uzbekistan is a hidden gem, previously largely overlooked by the international investment community, but slowly getting on the radar of investors and fintech heavyweights. It is Central Asia’s largest country by population, which is young and getting younger each year. This supports demand for modern digital financial services. The country has also embarked on a large-scale program of economic reform and liberalization, empowering the private sector and starting to attract more international investment.
TBC Uzbekistan is part of London-listed TBC Bank Group and we are proud to play our part in attracting major global investors to the country. Through TBC, large global investment funds like Fidelity, JPMorgan Asset Management, Schroder, BlackRock and Vanguard have been investing in Uzbekistan, and more investors are coming in every month.
The macroeconomic picture is strong, with GDP expanding at an average annual rate of around 6% for the past decade and forecast to almost double to $160 billion between 2023 and 2030.
In addition, Uzbekistan has a deep tech talent base. It’s both because of its highly educated domestic workforce – a product of a strong education system, and also because Uzbekistan is benefiting from an influx of returning expats and a broad range of international tech specialists from neighboring countries.
What does the financial services ecosystem look like in Uzbekistan? What is the level of interest in fintech innovation there?
Hughes: The financial services sector is still largely dominated by major state banks, which command around 70% of the market. However, competition is increasing as the government continues its drive for privatization and other reforms. A recent example of this was with Hungary’s OTP, which in June 2023 became the first international player to participate in the privatization of the Uzbek banking sector, acquiring former state-owned Ipoteka Bank. And recently, Kaspi announced its intention to participate in the privatization of Humo, Uzbekistan’s second largest open-loop domestic payment system.
TBC Uzbekistan is part of London-listed TBC Bank Group PLC, which also operates Georgia’s leading tech-enabled commercial bank. Despite being part of a multinational group, we consider ourselves to be a local player because we operate as a standalone company in Uzbekistan with a separate tech stack and separate team purpose-built for this country.
In terms of the ecosystem as a whole, it is a mix of state banks, international operators, and local Uzbek players, as well as a developing fintech scene covering everything from payments to crypto.
The level of innovation in the local fintech market is very advanced, thanks to open banking. The key development, which has not yet been replicated in developed markets, is the full banking interoperability that open banking enables in Uzbekistan. In practice, it allows customers to seamlessly interact with multiple financial institutions.
For instance, when a customer of one bank opens an account with another institution, the new bank gains visibility into the customer’s transaction history and account balances from their original bank, while the new bank is also able to initiate fund transfers or debit transactions from the customer’s account at the original institution. This helped TBC enter the market in 2019 via the acquisition of the leading P2P payments app Payme to quickly achieve profitable growth and access to a huge customer base.
Let’s talk a little more specifically about TBC Uzbekistan. How is it structured? What is its mission?
Hughes: Our mission is simple – to make people’s lives easier. As I described earlier, the financial services sector has been and is still to some extent dominated by state institutions that operate in a traditional fashion. We see that there is demand for modern, digital banks that provide a great, convenient user experience and that is what we are building.
At present, there are three components to TBC Uzbekistan: TBC Bank Uzbekistan (TBC UZ), a mobile-only bank; Payme, a digital payments app for individuals and small businesses; and Payme nasiya (Payme instalments), an installment credit business. London-listed TBC Group owns 100% of both Payme and Payme nasiya and is the major shareholder of TBC UZ, with a 60% stake. The other 40% stake in TBC UZ is split between two institutional investors: the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group.
What are some of the biggest areas of opportunity in your opinion?
Hughes: We see some really exciting opportunities in Uzbekistan. At present, we are focused on consumers and specifically consumer lending. Despite over 45 million cards in circulation across the country, product offerings remain limited and retail lending is especially underdeveloped, representing just 12% of GDP.
Demand from consumers for financial services is already significant and continuing to grow, with point-of-sale (POS) digital payment volumes tripling to over $22 billion in the three years ending in 2023, with the number of POS terminals and bank cards in circulation doubling over the same time period.
There are interesting opportunities in other areas as well, including a new, product-rich debit card, financial services for SMEs, insurance and brokerage, with the latter two being at a fairly nascent stage of development in Uzbekistan. So, we plan to leverage those as well in the future.
TBC Uzbekistan recently raised a significant amount of capital. How will the new funding help the bank?
Hughes: Our business in Uzbekistan is scaling rapidly, but there is still significant potential for further growth, including through diversifying our offering to address market demand. The recent funding is being used to increase our loan book — which we are currently doubling year-on-year — advance financial inclusion, and accelerate our progress in launching new product lines.
In addition to powering our growth, new funds help us to continue to diversify our funding base.
What are some things about Uzbekistan that those of us on the outside may be surprised to learn?
Hughes: Uzbekistan is a country that largely exists outside the mainstream consciousness in the West. Some people might have their preconceptions, and would be surprised to learn about the advanced state of open banking in the country. Building on that, the level of innovation in financial services is pretty impressive in Uzbekistan. The fintech sector is thriving and strongly supported by the government and the wider ecosystem that is fueled by local and international tech talent.
In terms of other things that may surprise you about Uzbekistan, it’s the food scene. The food here is incredible, so I urge everyone to come over and try it!
There is a lot of talk about enabling technologies such as AI. Are any of these major areas of innovation in Uzbekistan’s fintech scene?
Hughes: Artificial Intelligence is a key innovation area and one that I am proud to say that TBC is leading among peers by integrating AI into our services.
Our plans are ambitious. We are building an AI Virtual Assistant that takes customer service to the next level. The most common customer service solution right now is chatbots, but we’re skipping that stage and going straight to an interactive voice assistant. What’s more, we’re enabling functionality in the Uzbek language and, in the future, in other local languages such as Tajik and Karakalpak, which tend to get overlooked by major tech giants.
We ultimately envision this Virtual Assistant being able to guide our users across all of our product offerings within TBC Uzbekistan, including the ones we plan to launch in the future, such as insurance, brokerage, travel and ticketing.
How do you see TBC Uzbekistan growing over the next two-to-three years?
Hughes: Since launching in 2019, TBC Uzbekistan has scaled significantly and established itself as a leading player in the market. As disclosed in our recent half-year results, we have grown our user base to 16 million unique registered users and achieved an operating profit of $61 million, up 87% year-on-year, with TBC Uzbekistan accounting for 7% of total profit for the group, as well as 13% of revenue and 44% of consumer loans on the group level. This is a very significant contribution, which is set to expand further.
We plan to continue to grow rapidly over the next 2-3 years, launching new product lines and gaining an increased percentage of market share. This is reflected in the guidance we have issued to the market: a net profit for TBC Uzbekistan of $75 million for the full year of 2025, with 30% of the Group’s loan book coming from TBC’s operations in Uzbekistan.
Where might TBC expand next? Are there any areas of special interest?
Hughes: We’re not yet at the stage where we can point to a specific market. However, I can tell you the types of markets we are considering. Our attention is on emerging markets with a population of around 30 to 70 million people, scope for growth and other favorable characteristics. For now, we still have a lot of exciting things to do in Uzbekistan.
Here is our look at fintech headlines around the world.
Sub-Saharan Africa
South African fintech Happy Pay locked in $1.8 million in pre-seed funding in a round co-led by E4E Africa and 4Di Capital.
Ghanaian crypto platform, Mybitstore, went live in Nigeria this week.
Nigerian fraud detection company Regfyl raised $1.1 million in funding.
Central and Eastern Europe
Germany’s Commerzbank partnered with Deutsche Börse subsidiary, Crypto Finance.
Instanbul, Turkey-based fintech Colenda AI launched new AI solution to help financial institutions enhance decision-making and boost loan performance.
Bulgaria-based Paynetics teamed up with tell.money to launch its Confirmation of Payee (CoP) service.
Middle East and Northern Africa
UAE-based B2B payments platform Xpence teamed up with Egypt-based Paymob to enhance digital payments in the region.
Egyptian fintech SETTLE raised $2 million in pre-seed funding.
Mesh integrated with digital asset trading platform CoinMENA FZE to enhance crypto transfers and account management for customers in the MENA region.
Central and Southern Asia
India-based insurtech Onsurity raised $21 million to power expansion plans.
ZaakPay, the payment gateway arm of India’s MobiKwik, partnered with Meta to provide an embedded payment option via WhatsApp.
Indian financial services platform Kaleidofin secured $13.8 million in funding.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Uruguay-based MercadoLibre secured $250 million in financing from JPMorgan.
JMM Group and Liberty Latin America launched microlending service MYNE Lend for Jamaican customers.
dLocal, a cross-border payments platform based in Uruguay, forged a partnership with MoneyGram.
Asia-Pacific
Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MSB) teamed up with TerraPay.
Paysend launched instant cross-border payouts to China UnionPay cards for enterprise customers.
Walmart is partnering with Fiserv to enable pay-by-bank payments for online purchases starting in 2025.
Benefits to Walmart include lower transaction costs, faster settlement, reduced fraud, and fewer payment declines, while customers can avoid stacked pending transactions.
Consumers may face challenges like added friction and lost credit card rewards, but early pilot results have exceeded Walmart’s expectations for pay-by-bank adoption.
Walmart made its latest move in the fintech space this week after announcing it has partnered with Fiserv to offer pay-by-bank for online purchases.
Bloomberg unveiled this week that, while the retailer has offered pay-by-bank via Walmart Pay for a few months now, the payments were routed through ACH payment rails and still took days to clear. Beginning in 2025, however, Walmart will leverage Fiserv’s NOW Network, which will route the payments through The Clearing House’s Real Time Payments network and the Federal Reserve’s FedNow. Launched in 2014, Fiserv’s NOW Network aims to reach as many banks as possible to provide consumers and businesses the ability to send, receive, and access funds immediately while supporting credit push payments.
Starting next year, customers will be able to make online purchases using pay-by-bank by connecting their bank account through Fiserv’s AllData platform. The platform will facilitate authentication and securely link bank accounts. This will be done through integrations with Plaid, MX, Akoya, and Finicity, ensuring a seamless and secure connection to customer accounts.
Leveraging Fiserv to power real time payments is an important move for Walmart as it enters the pay-by-bank game. As Fiserv Head of Digital Payments Matt Wilcox told Bloomberg, “As an industry we believe we need to create this connectivity. FedNow and RTP, they don’t necessarily talk to one another. The NOW Network can play that role in the industry of bringing all these networks together to enable applications like pay-by-bank.”
Walmart stands to receive multiple benefits when consumers choose to pay-by-bank. The retailer will face lower transaction costs by bypassing credit card networks; increased cash flow, since bank transfers settle faster than card transactions; reduced fraud and fewer declines, since the pay-by-bank payments offers direct access to and will authenticate a customer’s bank account; and the potential to reach more consumers who may not have a credit or debit card.
From a consumer perspective, the benefits of pay-by-bank are more difficult to find. Unlike the merchant, they don’t experience any cost savings for opting for pay-by-bank, there is added friction involved in connecting their bank account to Walmart’s platform, they lose out on credit card rewards, and in the event their account is hacked, fraudsters will have the option to make purchases directly from their account, instead of on a credit card that would offer an extra layer of protection while the customer disputes the transaction.
That said, Walmart is touting the ability for pay-by-bank to help consumers avoid stacked pending transactions. “When the transaction processes as a real time payment, customers get immediate access to see that payment come through, I see it hit my account and I can properly budget,” said Walmart Vice President of Emerging Payments Jamie Henry. “It’s not as if I’ve got this phantom payment out there that’s going to take place a couple days down the road.”
And while I remain skeptical on the mass consumer adoption of pay-by-bank, perhaps Walmart’s customer base is more well suited for these types of transactions. Henry said that the initial pilot of pay-by-bank was surprising. “It’s certainly surpassed our expectations of the amount of customers that have registered and actually use the payment type,” he said.
