Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BreachRX, Finzly, ID R&D, Kantox, Kindur, Klarna, Meniga, NDGIT, NICE Systems, Noonum, Onfido, OurCrowd, owl.co, Quadient, Terafina, VeriTran

On Finovate.com

  • BNP Paribas to Deploy Dynamic Hedging Tech from Kantox.
  • Terafina Teams Up with Alabama’s Listerhill Credit Union.

Around the web

  • Klarna deepens 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.
  • Terafina to power Listerhill Credit Union’s omnichannel sales strategy and continue its digital transformation to increase member satisfaction and deepen relationships.
  • OurCrowd expands U.S. operations, opens office in Chicago.
  • ID R&D’s IDLive 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.
  • Macrosoft joins Quadient’s Partner Advantage Program.
  • Onfido reports 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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Revolut Withdraws E-Banking License Application in Luxembourg

Revolut Withdraws E-Banking License Application in Luxembourg
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Revolut

Revolut has withdrawn its application for an e-banking license in the grand duchy in a shift towards Ireland, according to The Telegraph on Sunday, reports Sharon Kimathi of Fintech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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Artivest, BLUERUSH, ClickSWITCH, Doxo, Dwolla, Hidden Levers, Plinqit

Around the web

  • Axxcess Wealth selects HiddenLevers to build asset manager allocation workflow.
  • West Community Credit Union now offers Plinqit savings app.
  • Doxo adds National Grid as new utility on its mobile and web bill payment app.
  • KKR joins Artivest’s platform for private alternative investments.
  • BlueRush sells software assets to Broadridge for $1.7 million (C$2.3 million).
  • Clickswitch moves to new headquarters in Minneapolis’ North Loop.

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Twisto Raises $15 Million in Series B Funding

Twisto Raises $15 Million in Series B Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Twisto

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Mexican Fintech Minu Makes History; India’s Namaste Credit Becomes a Neobank

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Chatbots.Studio, Finovate Global, Namaste Credit, Tinkoff Bank

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 Credit becomes 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.
  • Nigerian fintech Carbon to expand to Kenya.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Ukraine-based Chatbots.Studio teams up with Yozobi. See Chatbots.Studio live on stage at FinovateFall this month!
  • Russia’s Tinkoff goes live with its social network for investors, Pulse.
  • Eligma, a blockchain and AI technology company based in Slovenia, announces €4 million investment from Pangea Blockchain Fund and Bitcoin.com.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) partners with KPMG to launch the Abu Dhabi Fintech Awards.
  • Egyptian peer lending and savings platform MoneyFellows raises $1 million in new funding.
  • Dubai earns #7 spot in round up of the world’s “top fintech locations of the future” according to Gulf News.

Top image designed by Freepik

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Blackhawk Network, Five Degrees, Klarna, Namaste Credit, OneSpan, Telenor banka, Twisto, Xero

On Finovate

  • Twisto Raises $15 Million in Series B Funding
  • Finovate Global: Mexican Fintech Minu Makes History; India’s Namaste Credit Becomes a Neobank.

Around the web

  • Five Degrees adds OneSpan as a new partner in its Open Banking Marketplace.
  • Axiata Group Berhad and Telenor Group end merger discussions.
  • Klarna expands existing partnership with online fashion retailer boohoo group and its four brands.
  • Xero adds 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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Chatbots.Studio Partners with Yozobi

Chatbots.Studio Partners with Yozobi
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Chatbots.Studio

Chatbot platform builder Chatbots.Studio announced 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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Credit Sesame Raises $43 Million in Advance of IPO

Credit Sesame Raises $43 Million in Advance of IPO
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Credit Sesame, Funding

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: College Aid Pro

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: College Aid Pro
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: College Aid Pro, FinovateFall 2019, FinovateFall 2019 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateFall on September 23 through 25, 2019 in New York City. Register today and save your spot.

College Aid Pro (CAP) is an innovative, college planning technology for, and supported by, an engaged community of financial advisors. CAP is changing the way America shops for college.

Features

  • Demystifies financial aid, providing accurate net cost projections at thousands of schools
  • Provides a process for guiding families to better college outcomes
  • Supported by a community of professionals

Why it’s great
There is currently no such thing as a financial advocate for Gen-X families with college bound teens. CAP is growing a movement of professionals with the tools and resources to provide that service.

Presenters

Joe Messinger, Co-Founder
Messinger has helped hundreds of Gen X families navigate the college funding maze through his RIA Capstone Wealth Partners, while training thousands of advisors to replicate his process.
LinkedIn

Matt Carpenter, Co-Founder
Carpenter is a leading expert in the opaque process of higher education funding and financial aid. His firm, College Funding Services, has helped thousands of families cut the cost of college.
LinkedIn

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Edmit

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Edmit
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Edmit, FinovateFall 2019, FinovateFall 2019 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateFall on September 23 through 25, 2019 in New York City. Register today and save your spot.

Founded by recognized university leaders, Edmit’s award-winning software provides personalized insights and advice to help families make smarter college financial decisions, leading to less debt.

Features

  • Build brand trust and provide insights and expertise in a high anxiety major investment
  • Become a “one stop shop” for holistic financial wellness
  • Introduce a differentiated college-related product

Why it’s great
Families that use Edmit make smarter college financial choices leading to less debt and better life outcomes.

Presenters

Nick Ducoff, Co-Founder and CEO
Ducoff was previously Northeastern University’s VP for New Ventures. He previously co-founded Infochimps, acquired by DXC, and was a VP at Boundless, acquired by Follett. He started his career in law.
LinkedIn

Sabrina Manville, Co-Founder
Manville was previously AVP at Southern New Hampshire University and previously worked at Pearson and Coursera. She has an MBA from Stanford and a BA in Religious Studies from Yale.
LinkedIn

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Insuritas

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Insuritas
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2019, FinovateFall 2019 Sneak Peek, Insuritas

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateFall on September 23 through 25, 2019 in New York City. Register today and save your spot.

Insuritas is debuting the world’s first end-to-end quote and buy platform for business insurance to be fully integrated via API within a digital banking ecosystem.

Features

  • Revenue from digital banking
  • Seamless insurance for small businesses
  • Fully integrated solution allowing the bank to own the customer journey

Why it’s great
iInsure for Businesses empowers banks to transform their digital banking platforms and investments into platforms that drive non-interest income, customer wallet share, and retention.

Presenter

Matt Chesky, President
Chesky was recognized by Hartford Business Journal and Connecticut Magazine in 2018 as a “40 Under 40” recipient. He graduated from Yale University in 2012 with a degree in Economics.
LinkedIn

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Andes Wealth Technologies

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Andes Wealth Technologies
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Andes Wealth Technologies, FinovateFall 2019, FinovateFall 2019 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateFall on September 23 through 25, 2019 in New York City. Register today and save your spot.

Founded by an award-winning fintech veteran, Andes Wealth Technologies offers the “Google Maps for Financial Advisors,” a set of unique, modern tools to transform the wealth management experience.

Features

  • Risk Tolerance Test: The best ever.
  • Real-Time Risk Monitor: 360° risk visualization for markets and portfolios.
  • Practical Behavioral Finance, including a special tool for baby boomers.

Why it’s great
Unique ideas and visualizations. Beautiful yet practical tools backed by rigorous research and robust data analytics. It will indeed revolutionize the advisor and client experience.

Presenter

Helen Yang, Founder and CEO
A winner of the prestigious Harry Markowitz Award in 2011, Yang has 20+ years of leadership in Fintech and holds an MBA from MIT.
LinkedIn

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook