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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.
Central and Southern Asia
Indian financial services marketplace MyMoneyMantra raises $15 million in funding.
Razorpay, a payments solutions provider based in India, reports a 40% increase in the number of digital transactions in the country during the second quarter of 2019.
Credit Suisse and NASSCOM agree to promote the growth of Indian fintech startups.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Mambuforges partnership with its first Brazilian customer, Acesso.
MercadoLibre announces plan to allow users of its e-wallet in Mexico to earn interest on funds saved on the app.
Bloomberg looks at Goldman Sachs’ Special Situations Group and its pursuit of investment opportunities among Latin American fintechs.
Asia-Pacific
China Merchant Bank to deploy regulatory reporting technology from Wolters Kluwer.
Philippines Union Bank picks Refinitiv to power its electronic trading business.
Samsungpartners with a cohort of South Korean banks on a blockchain-based digital identity project.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Central Bank of Kenya reaches fintech cooperation agreement with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Standard Bank leverages mobile teller technology from Infosys Finacle.
Kenyan payment solutions provider WAPI Pay pledges to support faster adoption of Wechat Pay and Alipay across Africa.
Central and Eastern Europe
Czech Republic’s Twistoannounces plans to expand to Poland this fall, with expansion to Romania to follow.
Revolutmakes Apple Pay available to its customers in Hungary.
Austrian insurtech Bsurance and fintech Cashpresso team up to provide automatic buyer protection Cashpresso customers.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Nasdaq and Iraq Stock Exchange ink new market technology agreement.
Emirates NBD’s Liv leverages gamification to raise money for charity.
Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority issues guidelines for robo advisors operating in ADGM.
Visa will create a fully white-labelled omnichannel payment management platform for merchants and acquirers after acquiring Payworks, reports Jane Connolly of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).
The news follows a 2018 strategic partnership and investment Visa made in Payworks, a Munich-based provider of next-generation payment gateway software for point of sale (POS).
Visa will integrate its CyberSource digital payment management platform with Payworks’ cloud-based software for in-store payment processing, allowing merchants and acquirers to accept face-to-face transactions across multiple POS terminal types.
The platform will provide a unified payment experience for in-store, in-app and online purchases.
“For the past two years, we have partnered closely with Payworks to deliver cutting-edge integrated commerce solutions for CyberSource’s clients worldwide,” said Carleigh Jaques, SVP, global head of digital merchant products at Visa. “As these solutions become mainstream, aligning more closely with Payworks and combining our businesses is a natural extension of our relationship.”
Christian Deger, CEO and co-founder of Payworks, added: “Integrated commerce is an accelerating opportunity for Payworks and its clients. By combining our POS technology with CyberSource’s digital commerce capabilities, we can bring our joint solution to merchants and acquirers across the globe at an accelerated pace. We are excited about joining the Visa family and integrating our capabilities to deliver innovative, differentiated integrated-commerce solutions.”
Research has shown that creating an omnichannel fulfilment strategy is among the top priorities for 94% of retailers.
Payworks demonstrated its platform at FinovateEurope 2014. Headquartered in Munich and founded in 2012, the company began this year with the launch of the first Android-based smart terminal, which was added to its portfolio of pre-certified payment terminals on its Pulse gateway.
This April, the company extended its partnership with worldwide POS software provider Lightspeed. In May, Payworks inked a deal with Hubtel to give merchants in Ghana and Kenya broader access to Payworks’ all-in-one, Android-based smart terminals.
Digital Finance Institute featuresEthoca, Financeit, Flybits, Horizn, On Deck Canada, Salt Edge, Sensibill, and TickSmith in its look at the top fintech companies in Canada in 2019.
AdviceRobolaunches new pan-European PSD2 categorization and default prediction API for lenders, CatRobo.
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.
The new cloud service announced by Ondot this week will make it easier for the company’s 4,000 bank and credit union customers to secure faster upgrades, deploy new functionalities, and access the latest innovations designed to enhance the mobile and digital card experience. Leveraging the cloud will also help FIs lower costs associated with operations, maintenance, compliance, and monitoring.
Ondot Head of Product Prasanna Narayan pointed to the challenges that regional banks and credit unions in particular face when it comes to integrating physical data into their data centers. Making Ondot’s card controls and other solutions available via a cloud-based service, Narayan explained, can help these smaller financial institutions keep pace with their bigger rivals. “This option allows mid-sized and smaller issuers to more quickly and easily launch these services and compete with larger national banks on digital customer experience,” he said.
Enhanced security is as much a part of the new cloud service as the enhanced customer experience. Narayan highlighted Ondot’s depth of understanding the security and compliance needs of financial institutions given its eight years of experience working with banks and credit unions. A scalable and reliable AWS, and robust disaster recovery and redundancy provide consistent uptime for clients using the service.
Santa Clara, California-based Ondot demonstrated its digital card mobile app at FinovateSpring 2018. The solution supports a range of digital payment card services from new customer acquisition to instant card activation and new card provisioning. The company won a Finovate Best of Show award at our first conference in Dubai, UAE, last year, FinovateMiddleEast, where it demoed its card controls technology.
2018 was a big year for the company. Back in November, Ondot introduced a new, end-to-end digital card services platform for banks in the Asia-Pacific region. Last summer, the company announced a partnership with PSCU, the premier payments credit union service organization, that will enable credit unions to integrate Ondot’s card alerts and controls technology into their mobile and online account management apps – or have them delivered directly via PSCU’s digital platform.
Founded in 2011, Ondot has raised $51 million in funding. Vaduvur Bharghavan is co-founder and CEO.
Fintech solution provider Urban FT has bought Minneapolis, Minnesota-based remote deposit capture (RDC) specialist CFC Technology Group.
The purchase, the Urban FT said in a statement today, will further support its position as a leading digital banking and payments provider – particularly for the community banks and credit unions that represent a sizable portion of its customer base. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“Urban FT is focused on tilting the playing field for community-based financial institutions,” said company CEO Richard Steggall, “which is representative in our growth as revolutionary pioneers, empowering institutions that choose to give a damn about the people and the communities they serve.” Steggall added that the acquisition marked Urban FT’s expansion into merchant-based banking territory, and bolstered its “ability to provide end-to-end digital payment solutions.”
Since inception in 1998, CFC Technology has worked with more than 800 institutions and thousands of merchant customers. A specialist in remote deposit capture, mobile banking, and business continuity solutions, CFC Technology is a frequent partner of community banks and credit unions, providing services in more than 25 states.
Headquartered in New York City, Urban FT demonstrated its Urban FT Workshop, a real-time, multi-tier mobile app management platform for the financial services industry, at FinovateFall 2016. Founded in 2012, the company now has more than $3 billion in annualized processing volume and 700+ clients.
Earlier this year, the Urban FT launched its agent bank program Community Access. The program provides financial and mobile banking tools for the retail and commercial customers of community banks. Last fall, the company’s co-founder Mark Kilpatrick was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30.
Urban FT has raised $3 million in funding. CFC Technology represents the company’s latest acquisition, having purchased fellow Finovate alum Wipit in 2015 and iParse in 2017. Urban FT inked an agreement last year in which Digiliti Money – a subsidiary of Digiliti Money Group (formerly Cachet Financial Solutions) – would merge into Urban FT’s affiliate, FinTech Imaging Solutions.
TransUnionlaunches its consumer data mapping solution, TrueVision.
Coinbase to offer exclusive trading data to all customers.
Plaidunveils its Liabilities endpoint to support development of apps to help combat student loan debt.
Signifydannounces general availability of its Signifyd INR Protection add-on, bringing coverage of item-not-received (INR) chargebacks to its fraud protection solution.
Klarnapartners with Superdry to enable the company’s customers in the U.K. to pay later or pay in three installments.
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.
Explainable AI – which enables human analysts who aren’t data scientists to understand how artificial intelligence-based solutions reach their conclusions – is at the center of the prize that is Temenos’ acquisition of explainable AI innovator Logical Glue. Temenos announced today that it will integrate the Logical Glue XAI platform into its cloud-native, cloud-agnostic banking solution, and will be available with all Temenos products.
Many view Explainable AI as a critical component in making artificial intelligence work in heavily-regulated industries like banking and finance. Temenos CEO Max Chuard called the technology “a game changer” for customers, adding: “It will give them greater transparency and explainability of AI automated decisions and recommendations helping them harness AI technology to create seamless customer journeys and automate manual processes while meeting the growing regulatory demands.”
Logical Glue provides a purpose-built, Machine Learning as a Service platform that does the work of data scientists at speed and scale. The company’s technology, demonstrated live at FinovateEurope 2016, enables users to leverage raw data to build highly accurate predictive models, see how those models can be applied to real-world business challenges, and then apply those models to the new data in real-time.
“With our patented, cutting-edge XAI platform and our highly experienced machine learning experts, we are helping financial institutions harness the explosive power of XAI and helping them master AI decision-making,” said Logical Glue co-founder and Chief Science Officer Hani Hagras.
Founded in 2012, Logical Glue is headquartered in London, U.K. In May, Logical Glue announced a partnership with managing digital agent Azur to help the company improve its risk analysis. Two years ago, Logical Glue secured an investment from U.K. entrepreneur Tom Singh, founder of fashion retailer New Look. “Logical Glue provides a straightforward and accessible machine learning platform for lenders and insurance providers,” Singh said in a statement when the investment was announced. “(The technology delivers) faster and more accurate decisions that will underpin increased productivity and profitability.”
Temenos demonstrated its Connect Mobile Banking solution at FinovateEurope 2015. The company is also an alum of our developers conference, presenting its B2B Financial Apps Marketplace at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2015. Based in Geneva, Switzerland and founded in 1993, Temenos notes that more than 3,000 firms around the world – including 41 of the top 50 banks – are daily users of its banking, payments, fund, and wealth management solutions.
Cloud-based cybersecurity innovator DefenseStormclosed a $15 million equity funding round this week. The Series A was led by Georgian Partners, a growth equity firm with an emphasis on companies that leverage applied and conversational artificial intelligence. In addition to the new capital, which takes DefenseStorm’s total funding to more than $29 million, the company will collaborate with the Georgian Impact team to accelerate the adoption of these technologies.
“DefenseStorm is growing rapidly, and our primary goal is not only to ensure that we take care of both our current and potential customers, but also that we invest in our employees and the innovation they continue to bring to the table,” DefenseStorm CEO Harold Brewer said. “We are thrilled to have the support of the Georgian Impact team and look forward to a lasting partnership benefitting the entire cybersecurity community.”
As part of the investment, Georgian Partners Managing Partner Justin LaFayette will join DefenseStorm’s board of directors. Chief Technology Officer for Georgian Partners Mads Mihailescu praised DefenseStorm’s “deep domain expertise” and noted that the partnership has “already identified a number of opportunities to further accelerate new product capabilities.”
DefenseStorm demonstrated its PatternScout anomaly detection engine at FinovateSpring 2017. The technology uses advanced machine learning to identify suspicious behavior patterns, and provides automated alerts to enable administrators to stop cyberattacks before they spread.
The company is also an alum of our developers conference, having presented a discussion on best practices for fintechs in securing the cloud, Cloud Security Fundamentals, at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016.
Named a Top 40 Innovative Technology Company by the Technology Association of Georgia at the beginning of the year, DefenseStorm announced a partnership with Heritage Trust Federal Credit Union in April. Per the agreement, DefenseStorm provided the Charleston, South Carolina-area credit union with a strategic technology platform to enable it to proactively manage cyberexposure and risk. Other recent partnerships announced by DefenseStorm include a collaboration with Alogent and a preferred partner pact with NAFCU.
Non-agency automated underwriting systems (AUS) provider LoanScorecard announced its latest partnership this week. The company is teaming up with Nations Direct Mortgage (NDM) to power its loan pricing and scenario solution, DirectQual.
Calling broker education on non-qualified mortgage products a major challenge for wholesale lenders like Nations Direct Mortgage, LoanScorecard Executive Director Ben Wu highlighted why NDM’s new tool will be part of the solution. “DirectQual allows brokers who work with or are considering working with NDM to not only see products and pricing, but also determine borrower eligibility – so they can accelerate the Non-QM origination process and provide a better borrower experience,” Wu said.
Driven by LoanScorecard’s Portfolio Underwriter technology, DirectQual will enable brokers to import loan scenarios and assess eligibility for Nations Direct Mortgage’s Non-QM loan programs. The solution both simplifies the process and makes it easier for brokers to match the right program with the right borrower.
Director of Lending for NDM Martin Warren called the technology “a tremendous tool for our brokers to simplify the pre-qual process and get results for their Non-QM borrowers – consistently and quickly.” He listed broader engagement with more brokers, better broker education on Non-QM products, and the ability to deliver quick pre-qualifications among the bigger benefits of the platform.
A wholesale mortgage lender founded in 2007, Nations Direct Mortgage originates and purchases residential mortgage loans, including FHA, Conventional, VA, USDA, and Jumbo products. The Santa Ana, California-based company also offers three Non-QM loan products: Income Direct, Credit Direct, and Investor Direct.
LoanScorecard demonstrated its Portfolio Underwriter technology at FinovateFall 2018. Portfolio Underwriter is an agency-agnostic, underwriting engine that gives capital market investors, banks, and credit unions the ability to quickly analyze loan information based on their own unique offerings and specifications. The solution makes it easier to deploy capital most effectively, is more efficient and consistent than manual underwriting, and helps ensure that mortgage operations comply with fair lending regulations.
Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Irvine, California, the company has been on a strong partner-making pace of late. Last month, LoanScorecard announced it would power the new automated underwriting system Acorn from Sprouts Mortgage. In May, the company integrated Calyx Software’s Path LOS into its SimpleCECL solution to make it easier for FIs to conduct loan level current expected credit loss (CECL) analysis.
RAccount holders should be able to trust their bank or credit union to protect their valuable financial data. However, the human presence within complex networks inherently creates privacy and governance vulnerabilities, particularly in the visibility, control, and protection over how, when, and where data is made available to the people who use it every day.
Though modern cybersecurity is inherently multi-layered, the deepest layer must include modern data security governance that protects against privileged access and human error.
Watch on-demand to hear Lou Senko, CIO of Q2, and Doug Wick, VP of Product and Marketing for ALTR, explore how a large, publicly traded financial experience (FinX) company is using innovative solutions to provide the ultimate failsafe to its customers, as well as:
• Best practices for keeping sensitive financial data safe • How to gain transparent visibility and control over your data • How blockchain technology can support the restoration of digital trust.
Entrepreneur.com featuresXero in its round up of solutions to help companies better control their business expenses.
SaaS banking engine Mambuinks deal with its first Brazilian client, Acesso.
Worldpay to deployUP eCommerce Payments solution from ACI Worldwide as part of new international partnership.
Czech Republic’s Twistoannounces plans to expand to Poland this fall, with expansion to Romania to follow.
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.
