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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Merchant acquirer Global Payments has agreed to buy issuer processor firm Total System Services (TSYS) in a $21.5 billion deal, reports Jane Connolly of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).
The two companies confirmed the deal today (May 28) in what will be the payment industry’s third “mega-merger” of 2019. The all-stock deal values TSYS at $119.86 per share, a rise of 20% since before news of the talks started to emerge.
Global Payments shareholders will own 52% of the combined company, while TSYS investors own 48%. TSYS CEO Troy Woods will become the chairman.
The combined entity will provide payment technology and software to more than 3.5 million small to medium-sized merchants and over 1,300 financial institutions worldwide.
It is expected that the deal, anticipated to close in the fourth quarter, will generate around $8.6 billion in adjusted net revenue annually plus network fees and make cost savings of $300 million.
TSYS was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. The company demonstrated its Authorization Controls solution at FinovateAsia 2013, showing how the technology enabled users to set their own default account parameters and authorization rules.
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 Eastern Europe
FintechOS of Romania raises $1.23 million (€1.1 million) in post-seed funding.
Elvira Nabiullina, head of the Central Bank of Russia, talks about the state of Russian fintech.
Lithuania’s Evarest to launch a stock trading app in the second half of the year.
Vents Magazine highlightsTrustly’sPay’N Play technology.
The 2019 Aspire Leaderboard recognizes Quadient as overall leader for CCM for the second year in a row.
Star Tribute profilesSezzle and its plans to go public in Australia later this year.
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.
Biometric authentication specialist Fortress Identity has partnered with Visa this week. Under the agreement, Visa cardholders in Latin America and the Caribbean will have their transactions protected by means of Fortress Identity’s biometric technologies.
Fortress Identity will use voice prints, phone codes, as well as active and passive biometrics to authenticate users. “We want Visa cardholders to feel absolutely confident that their funds and personal data are safe whenever and wherever they use their Visa cards,” said Fortress Identity CEO Alessandro Chiarini.
“Multi-factor user authentication is critical in today’s interconnected commerce space, and verifying the identity of people attempting to access the network is key to reducing many types of fraud, including chargebacks,” said Eduardo Perez, SVP and Risk Officer for Visa Latin America and the Caribbean.
Fortress Identity will also collaborate with Visa technology partners including YellowPepper, a payment platform provider; NovoPayment, a banking as a service platform; and HST, an EMV vendor.
Founded in 2015, Fortress Identity leverages a suite of biometrics technologies to protect users in mobile iOS and Android applications, Microsoft Active Directory environments, and Citrix applications. The Miami, Florida-based company demoed its active and passive biometrics technology earlier this month at FinovateSpring. Fortress Identity has eight employees and has raised $3 million.
Global Treasure Bank (GTB) in Myanmar has implemented Infosys Finacle’score banking solution to power its retail and corporate operations, reports Jane Connolly of Fintech Futures, Finovate’s sister publication.
Finacle is understood to have replaced the Kastle core banking system from another India-based vendor, 3i Infotech.
Since the implementation, the bank says it has signed up nearly 75,000 new accounts of various types, with each onboarding process taking just minutes. It has also seen improved control and productivity in its 163 branches, thanks to built-in workflow engines.
GTB is now processing an average 300,000 mixed transactions per day and is benefiting from the “360-degree view of customer relationships and transactions” that Finacle provides.
“For over two decades, GTB has stayed true to our mission of comprehensive economic development of Myanmar through reliable, inclusive and convenient banking services,” said U KoKo Aung, CEO of GTB. “Today, to continue to abide by this commitment in an increasingly complex regulatory and competitive environment, we felt the need for a modern platform to power our banking strategy.”
Venkatramana Gosavi, senior vice-president and global head of sales at Infosys Finacle stated that the Myanmar banking industry is undergoing a transformation.
He added, “With Finacle, GTB has gained a strong foundation to boost agility and efficiency of operations, and significantly improve customer experience across channels.”
The implementation process was aided by ACE Data Systems, Finacle’s business partner in Myanmar.
Finacle, part of EdgeVerve Systems, a subsidiary of Infosys, showcased EdgeVerve Blockchain Framework for Financial Services at FinovateEurope 2017. At the start of 2018 Infosys teamed up with Tradeshift to help clients digitize supply chain management. At the start of this year, the company partnered with Qatar National Bank.
Banking technology vendor Temenos is partnering with UBX to deliver digital banking to millions of unbanked and underserved customers in the Philippines, reports Jane Connolly of Fintech Futures, Finovate’s sister publication.
The fintech subsidiary of UnionBank of the Philippines, UBX has developed a range of plug-and-play services to help rural banks reach customers in remote communities.
These include the blockchain-based i2i turnkey solution, which connects rural banks to each other and to the Philippines’ main financial networks.
Having partnered with Temenos, UBX can now offer core banking software to its partner financial institutions, through Temenos T24 Transact.
Temenos says its cloud-native, cloud-agnostic, API-first banking software will provide greater levels of agility and scalability for rural banks, cooperatives and microfinance institutions.
“At UBX, our mission is to build platforms that bring businesses and people together,” says John Januszczak, CEO of UBX. “As part of that, we provide access to needed technology and services while connecting communities.
“The rural banking community in the Philippines has been championing financial inclusion for decades. Temenos will help us provide the most tailored, innovative and advanced core banking solution to our rural banking customers.”
The partnership aims to deliver digital banking to millions of people over the next five years.
Founded in 1993, Temenos debuted its Connect Mobile Banking application at FinovateEurope 2015 in London. With clients in 145+ countries, Temenos employs more than 4,600 people in 63 offices. The company has a market capitalization of $12.5 billion.
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.
According to financial data services innovator MX, if you’re going to bring your new, self-guided financial wellness tool in Canada, you might as well start big.
MX announced today that its Pulse solution will be available to members of Meridian, the largest credit union in Ontario, Canada, and the third largest CU in the country. The move will benefit not only Meridian members, but also those who are members of Meridian’s new digital entity, motusbank. According to the credit union, the partnership is part of its larger strategy to leverage digital technology to promote financial wellness.
“By investing in data and the latest personalized AI tools, we’re showing our members that we are serious about improving their financial health in the present and in the future,” motusbank SVP and COO David Baldarelli said. “Being able to get up and running so quickly with MX and work together as partners to customize Pulse for our members really sealed the deal.”
Pulse helps users make better financial decisions by providing AI-powered, personal, predictive, and proactive financial guidance. The solution benefits financial institutions by delivering customer engagement improvements like more logins (+60%), increased transactions per login (+32%), and an increase in NPS (+28%).
Founded more than 75 years ago, Meridian has grown into a credit union with 340,000 members and more than $21 billion in assets under management. The credit union has a network of 91 branches across Ontario, with commercial banking services available in 11 locations. Merdian launched its digital bank, motusbank, in April of this year, which offers savings and checking accounts, GICs and mortgages, as well as personal loans and lines of credit.
“We’re extremely excited about Meridian and motusbank choosing MX Pulse to provide AI-driven insights and advice to its members through online and mobile banking,” MX Chief Product Officer Brett Allred said. “This is a wonderful example of an industry leader using the power of clean data to deliver a world-class experience to its members while outpacing the competition in a rapidly evolving industry.”
The partnership news from MX is the second big fintech headline for the Utah-based fintech this month. Earlier in May, the company announced that it was teaming up with fellow Finovate alum, Kony, to bring PFM and spending categorization and classification to Kony’s digital banking solution, DBX.
MX most recently demonstrated its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall 2017. At the event, the company showed how its Discovered Accounts solution leverages enriched transaction data to help banks and credit unions build and deepen customer engagement.
Featured in PaymentsSource’s list of the Best Fintechs to Work For at the beginning of the year, MX announced a collaboration with Personetics in March that will bring AI-powered, real-time insights on customer behavior and preferences to more banks and credit unions. The company unveiledMoneyMap with Pulse, a self-guided financial wellness solution in April and, later that same month, picked up a 2019 Utah Genius award.
Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Lehi, Utah, MX has raised $75 million in funding. USAA, Digital Garage, and Commerce Ventures are among the firm’s investors. The company has partnered with 1,800+ FIs and 43 of the top 50 digital banking providers. Ryan Caldwell is CEO and founder.
Thanks to the power of mobile technology, you won’t have to leave the poolside, barbeque pit, or beach during this long Memorial Day weekend in order to enjoy your favorite demo videos from FinovateSpring.
Every demo video from our just-completed conference in San Francisco is now available for viewing – for free – in our video archives. Rewatch some of your favorites or catch-up on the demos you missed.
Here’s a sample of what’s waiting for you – courtesy of the Best of Show winners of this year’s FinovateSpring.
Enveillaunches its enhanced ZeroReveal 2.0 data-in-use security solution.
Bokuintegrates with digital payments solution Grab in order to expand payment options in Southeast Asia.
Equifax Canada announces partnership with SecureKeyTechnologies.
Artivesttaps Paul Nobile as its new Chief Marketing Officer.
Lattice80 interviews Ashish Gadnis, Co-Founder and CEO of BanQu.
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.
UK-based international payments fintech TransferWise has doubled its value to $3.5 billion after raising $292 million in secondary funding, reports Jane Connolly of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).
The Telegraph reports that the round was led by investors including Lead Edge Capital, Lone Pine Capital and Vitruvian Partners. The Sir Richard Branson-backed firm also received investment from BlackRock and existing investors Andressen Horowitz and Baillie Gifford.T
TransferWise’s strategy of providing cheap exchange rates by using two local transfers for each transaction, instead of more expensive single international payments, has attracted more than five million customers since the fintech was founded in 2011.
According to The Telegraph, TransferWise will use the funds to take on 750 more staff over the next year.
“TransferWise is experiencing phenomenal growth and this investment is testament to that,” said Kristo Käärman, chief executive and co-founder. “We don’t need to raise funds on this trajectory, but we’re humbled by the persistent level of interest.”
TransferWise handles a transaction volume of $5.1 billion across its 12 global offices every month. The company demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2013.
Financial process automation innovator Bill.com has launched its new Intelligent Business Payments platform, a solution that puts AI to work to bring end-to-end automation to financial workflows. The platform leverages its Intelligent Virtual Assistant capacities to automatically capture data from invoices and start the approval process, as well as recognize workflows, and create new business rules.
The new solution also drives payment flexibility, enabling international payments, virtual cards, and other options to accelerate the payment process; and supports auto pay for recurring bills.
“Our new intelligent platform, which is the most significant update to Bill.com since its inception, is built on ten years of experience managing business payments and hundreds of millions of bills and invoices to train the AI,” Bill.com CEO and founder Rene Lacerte said. “Increasing the speed and ease of payments will help businesses get ahead.”
The company said that customers in a recent survey reported averages weekly savings of 5.5 hours, more than 35 business days a year, using Bill.com’s process automation solution. In a statement noting that many companies spend nearly a quarter of the work day managing manual processes, Bill.com suggested there was a growing need for work flow automation technology.
“Bill.com has focused on developing new technologies that help SMBs grow,” Lacerte said. “Automating the back office is a huge industry-wide need.”
The company’s latest announcement comes a little over a month since it picked up $88 million in new funding in a round led by Franklin Templeton. The investment boosted Bill.com’s total capital to $275 million, and puts the company’s valuation above $1 billion. Also this year, Bill.com teamed up with American Express to offer a new AP solution, VendorPay for the firm’s business and corporate cardholders.
Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Bill.com demonstrated its CashView Command and Control system at FinovateSpring 2012. The technology helps businesses better manage their accounts payables and receivables, and provides online billpay, custom invoicing, unlimited document storage, collaboration tools, and mobile access.
With more than $60 billion in payments managed every year and a network of three million members, Bill.com works with 70+ of the top 100 accounting firms, as well as accounting software providers like NetSuite and fellow Finovate alum Xero. The company is also CPA.com’s preferred provider of digital payments.
