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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
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.
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
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
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
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
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.
Trulioo presents EmbedID, a fast and simple way for startups and developers to verify customers across borders while supporting AML/KYC compliance requirements.
Features
Integrate and test Trulioo’s identity verification API in minutes
Fully customize onboarding fields and forms
Verify customers in real time
Why it’s great With only a snippet of code embedded into any website, Trulioo’s EmbedID enables organizations to verify over 5 billion identities worldwide.
Presenters
Anatoly Kvitnitsky Kvitnitsky has a wealth of experience working in fintech and identity markets, and is committed to helping solve identity challenges that organizations face in scaling their products for global use. LinkedIn
Marat Asadurian A software engineering manager at Trulioo, Asadurian enjoys building new products as well as new teams. In his current role, he is managing a team that generates new business lines for GlobalGateway. LinkedIn
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.
JSOL Corporation provides IT consulting and digital transformation related services to clients from various industries by leveraging its technology and know-how developed over the years.
Features
Predict growth/deterioration of business partners
Visualize transactional networks of businesses and assess spillover effects
Monitor/analyze up-to-date financial conditions of business partners
Why it’s great Use JSOL Corporation’s tool to gain insight into your business partners’ projected financial performance and to make informed financing decisions.
Presenters
Kimitaka Honma, Deputy Unit Director Honma is a Deputy Unit Director of the Digital Innovation Business Unit and has ample experience assisting financial institutions with their digital transformation efforts.
Andrew Ogata, Sales and Strategic Partnerships Ogata is a sales specialist in the Digital Innovation Business Unit and focuses on domestic/overseas sales and strategic partnerships.
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.
The StreetShares platform provides “Lending-as-a-Service” technology to community banks and credit unions, empowering them to offer fully-digital small business loans… up and running in 30 days.
Features
Ability to grow and retain small business customers
Fully-digital borrower onboarding and management with no core software integration
Precision, 100% digital underwriting at the industry’s leading loss rates
Why it’s great Community banks and credit unions struggle to make small business loans due to costly underwriting and core software integration. StreetShares Lending-as-a-Service technology solves this problem.
Presenters
Mark Rockefeller, CEO Rockefeller leads the StreetShares team in its mission to help community banks and credit unions offer fully-digital small business loans to America’s main street businesses. LinkedIn
Sanjay Bhaskar, Vice President, Development and Partnerships Bhaskar focuses on identifying opportunities for community banks and credit unions to use StreetShares Lending-as-a-Service technology to offer fully digital small business loans. LinkedIn
Indian online lending marketplace Namaste Credit announced it is becoming a “fully-fledged digital-only bank” for micro small and medium businesses (MSMEs), reports Ruby Hinchliffe of Fintech Futures, Finovate’s sister publication.
The neobank will have a “foundational software-as-a-service (SaaS) play” and aims to offer the first one-stop-shop for MSMEs. It will include automated credit, banking, and accounting solutions.
The soon-to-be-launched app, dubbed Namaste Biz, will centralize MSME’s cash flow, banking applications, and credit management tools.
“Our transition to a neobank will not only help the start-up get a firmer grip into the banking and non-banking financial company (NBFC) ecosystem but also balance revenues with customer acquisition costs to maintain a profitable growth path,” said Namaste Credit’s co-founder and director, Lucas Bianchi.
He added, “We believe a technology-based integrated platform that can bring together banks, NBFCs and other stakeholders can completely transform the financial services industry, specially from a B2B perspective.”
The company is confident the conversion will give them a “substantial competitive advantage.” Fellow co-founder and director Gaurav Anand said the newly-turned neobank will “accelerate customer and channel acquisition,” “reduce operational costs significantly,” and allow them “to expand quickly to global markets.”
At its core, Namaste Credit serves as an online marketplace for small business loans. The service connects borrowers with relevant lenders to help them find the loan that best suits their circumstance. The company also offers robotic process automation to help underwriters accurately assess risk. Namaste Credit demoed at FinovateFall 2018.
Credit SesameRaises $43 Million in Advance of IPO.
Around the web
Salt Edgemarks 400+ integrations with open banking APIs.
Payfoneteams up with Digital Matrix Systems to help companies fight fraud.
Fenergoappoints Louise O’Connell to the newly created role of Chief Customer Officer.
StrategyCorpsbrings on former Geezeo executive, Bryan Clagett.
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.
