This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.
Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Keeping up-to-date in the fintech world takes more than just reading what’s going on in the fintech news cycle. It’s important to read takes on different trends and themes from across the industry, as well. To help span this gap, we’ve brought insights from thought leaders across the industry to our Streamly videos.
Today, we’re featuring six videos recorded at FinovateEurope that showcase the expertise of some of the speakers in attendance. The first, 15-minute video highlights VC investors’ thoughts on fintech valuations, M&A activity, partnerships, and more.
The remaining videos we’re showcasing today are part of Streamly’s Fintech Founders Partnership series, a set of three-to-four minute videos that detail thought leaders’ opinions on a wide range of partnership issues.
Potential partnerships– assessing the strategic fit
Partnership goals– maintaining goal alignment
Data security & privacy– sharing sensitive financial information
Fraud and risk platform DataVisor announced a partnership with identity verification company Mitek this week.
DataVisor will integrate Mitek’s Check Fraud Defender solution into its platform to offer FIs real-time check fraud decision orchestration.
DataVisor made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall in New York. Mitek has been a Finovate alum since winning Best of Show at its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring in 2011.
AI-powered fraud and risk platform DataVisor has teamed up with identity verification innovator Mitek. Courtesy of the partnership, DataVisor will integrate Mitek’s Check Fraud Defender with its own advanced machine learning and real-time data analysis to give financial institutions comprehensive check fraud protection in a single platform. The partnership will enable financial institutions to execute real-time orchestration of check fraud decisions, minimize fraud losses, and boost operational efficiencies.
“Our vision has always been to create an end-to-end, comprehensive platform that effectively combats all types of financial fraud,” DataVisor CEO and Co-Founder Yinglian Xie said. “By joining forces with Mitek, we’re elevating our check fraud protection capabilities. It also streamlines the experience for our customers, eliminating the need to engage with multiple solutions in silo and therefore can address different fraud challenges more effectively with a centralized, holistic view.”
Mitek’s Check Fraud Defender puts AI and computer vision technology to work to visually evaluate distinct check attributes in real-time. The solution leverages a consortium model, which enables DataVisor customers to proactively flag future check deposits connected to stolen or fraudulent checks across participating institutions. Additionally, the combination of Mitek’s check image analysis and DataVisor’s analysis of check and customer lifecycle data will enable users to detect a wide variety of check fraud tactics including check kiting, remote deposit capture fraud, check washing, counterfeit checks, and identity theft.
“Together, we leverage our collective advanced technologies to safeguard financial transactions,” Mitek VP of Digital Banking Strategy Kerry Cantley said. “By combining DataVisor’s comprehensive platform with Mitek’s robust Check Fraud Defender consortium, we’ve created a top-tier solution, setting new standards in proactive fraud prevention.”
A Finovate alum since its Best of Show winning debut at FinovateSpring in 2011, Mitek has grown into a leader in digital access solutions. The company’s technology helps increase approval rates while keeping fraudsters at bay, and enables companies to meet compliance demands from AML and KYC to GDPR and PSD2. In addition to its solution for check fraud, Mitek also offers a low code identity verification solution, an biometric authentication solution MiPass, and Mobile Deposit, the company’s mobile remote deposit capture offering. Today, 99% of U.S. banks and 7,900 of the world’s largest organizations use Mitek’s technology for mobile check deposits.
Headquartered in San Diego, California, Mitek was founded in 1986. The company trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker “MITK,” and has a market capitalization of $673 million. Max Carnecchia is Chief Executive Officer.
Among Finovate’s newest alums, DataVisor made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall 2023. At the conference, the company demoed its Fraud & Risk Platform that enhances fraud detection and minimizes fraud losses via a combination of device intelligence, rules and decision engines, case management, and the ability to seamlessly integrate any data source, including third-party data.
DataVisor’s partnership with Mitek comes less than a month after the Mountain View, California-based firm launched its end-to-end anti-money laundering (AML) solution. The new offering integrates with the company’s fraud platform natively to provide additional support against emerging cybersecurity threats.
Founded in 2013, DataVisor has raised more than $94 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. The company includes TruStage Ventures and NewView Capital among its investors.
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco on May 21 and 22. Register today using this link and save 20%.
APIMatic
APIMatic’s mission is to make integrating APIs quick and straightforward for developers via automatic code generation. Customers include fintech giants Paypal, VISA, Maxio, and many others.
Features
APIMatic’s developer experience platform adds a layer of technology between fintech partners and developers to make onboarding faster and more accessible through the power of automation and GenAI.
Who’s it for?
Banks and fintechs heavily invested in API programs.
Blee
Blee helps compliance and legal teams automate the review and oversight of marketing, product, and sales materials using AI, ML, and custom automation.
Features
Centralized platform for content review and approval, powered by AI
Ongoing monitoring and oversight of websites and social media
Faster content approvals while maintaining oversights
Who’s it for?
Direct-to-consumer and direct-to-SMB regulated entities such as banks, credit unions, and fintechs.
Finalytics.ai
Finalytics.ai is a real-time data analytics platform, empowering community financial institutions with tailored customer experiences through big data and machine learning.
Features
Personalized customer journeys using a “segment-of-one” approach
Dynamic segmentation and content tailoring
Enhanced digital strategy and implementation consulting
Who’s it for?
Community financial institutions, including banks, credit unions, and potentially other payment providers seeking advanced data analytics solutions for personalized customer experiences.
TransUnion
TransUnion is a global information and insights company that makes trust possible by ensuring each person is reliably represented in the marketplace.
Features
Enhanced BreachIQ helps consumers proactively protect their identities by
Generating personalized Identity Safety Scores
Measuring incident severity via Breach Risk Scores
Tailoring Action Plans to incidents
Who’s it for?
Banks, credit unions, and fintech companies.
Winnow
Winnow AI leverages the power of LLP and NLP artificial intelligence to deliver lightning-fast answers to basic legal questions around topics that Winnow covers.
Features
Quickly answers basic legal questions
Generates responses based on Winnow’s 60,000+ attorney-reviewed legal requirements
Reduces time and effort typically spent on legal research
Santander is launching its Openbank digital banking brand in the U.S. and Mexico.
Openbank currently serves two million customers across Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Argentina, and counts $19.3 billion (€18 billion) in deposits.
Santander aims to launch in the new regions in the second half of this year.
Spain-based mega bank Santanderannounced plans to launch a new digital offering in the United States under the Openbank brand in the second half of this year.
Santander launched Openbank in 1995 as a telephone bank. The bank moved online in 1999, becoming an online broker for real-time trading in domestic and international markets. Openbank currently offers payment cards, including debit and credit cards, prepaid cards, and travel cards; personal loans and mortgages; bank deposit tools; home, life, car, and digital insurance; as well as mobile banking capabilities and PFM tools. Openbank serves two million customers across Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Argentina, and counts $19.3 billion (€18 billion) in deposits.
“Openbank is the largest digital bank in Europe by deposits with among the highest customer loyalty and satisfaction,” said Openbank Executive Chair Ana Botín. “We remain committed to growing our business in the United States, the largest financial services market in the world, leveraging our proprietary technology and global expertise to deliver a winning customer experience.”
In addition to launching Openbank in the U.S., Santander also announced it will be rolling out the digital bank to users in Mexico around the same time.
To promote the U.S. launch, Santander global ambassador and golfer Jon Rahm and his team will wear an Openbank logo on their shirts during all golf competitions, starting at the Masters in Geogria this weekend. “The golfer will help Santander and Openbank increase their visibility in North America, where Santander has a significant presence,” the bank explained.
Many non-U.S.-based digital banks have experienced difficulty launching in the U.S., citing the difficulty to obtain a banking license from the U.S. OCC. As Finovate Analyst David Penn wrote in a blog post yesterday, “…it has not been easy for financial institutions outside the U.S. to secure approval to operate within the U.S. For example, Monzo, a U.K.-based challenger bank, tried and walked away from the process in 2021 when approval seemed unlikely. Unfortunately, new U.S.-based firms looking for bank charters have only fared a little better. For every Savi Financial, there is a New Canaan Bank.” Openbank should not have the same issue, however, as the bank will likely rely on Santander’s banking license it received after buying out Sovereign Bank in 2008.
Empower announced plans to acquire Petal for an undisclosed amount.
The deal will help Empower expand into the credit card market.
Empower also announced it closed the acquisition of Philippines-based consumer credit and lending fintech Cashalo.
Empower, a fintech helping to extend credit to underserved consumers, announced plans to acquire underserved credit card provider Petal. Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close later this quarter, were not disclosed.
New York-based Petal was founded in 2018 to offer underserved consumers access to credit cards. To better help marginalized consumers access the credit they need, the company doesn’t require them to have a credit score to qualify for the card. Instead, Petal leverages users’ open banking data as underwriting data to offer them credit and help them establish a credit history. Empower anticipates integrating Petal’s technology into its own will help it broaden into the U.S credit card market.
“Safe, affordable credit is unavailable to tens of millions of consumers in the U.S. and billions worldwide. We believe that modern product design and new technologies like cash flow underwriting can be used to radically improve credit access around the world,” said Petal Co-founder Jason Rosen. “This merger brings together two of the leading innovators in this arena. Our combined product offerings, financial strength, technical capabilities, and global reach will allow us to move much faster to close the equity gap in credit.”
The news comes after Petal has been struggling with high interest rates as the cost of borrowing has increased. By June of last year, Petal had cut 20% of its staff and, though it raised $240 million in combined debt and equity funding in August, by November, rumors swirled that Petal would become insolvent if it did not find a buyer quickly.
As part of today’s news, Empower also announced it completed its acquisition of Cashalo, a Philippines-based consumer credit and lending fintech. Empower plans to combine both companies under the Empower name.
“In both companies, we found a shared commitment to harnessing technology and rich alternative data to unlock financial opportunity for more people who merit our consideration,” said Empower Co-founder and CEO Warren Hogarth. “I’m confident that by merging Petal and Cashalo into Empower, we amass new product, operational, and analytical capabilities to help alleviate the credit insecurity that billions of people around the world struggle with.”
Empower was founded in 2016 and uses its technology to underwrite consumers using real-time cash flow, other nontraditional data, and machine learning to assess credit risk. The company offers lines of credit, which are issued by FinWise Bank, and no-interest cash advances. Empower has two million active subscribers and achieved profitability in 2022.
Dutch-based digital bank bunq has secured $31 million (€29 million) in new funding.
The funding announcement came after the company reported a profit of $57 million (€53 million) for 2023.
bunq added that it will re-submit its application for a banking license in the U.S. as part of its expansion plans.
European digital bank bunq has raised $31 million (€29 million) in new funding. The capital infusion from the company’s shareholders came in the wake of bunq’s announcement that it has achieved a net profit of $57 million (€53 million) in 2023. The funds will accelerate bunq’s development strategy, as well as ensure that the company satisfies Dutch Central Bank capital requirements.
The digital bank has credited interest income for its profitability, not just in 2023, but in 2022, as well. The company reported that interest income tripled in 2023, growing from more than €41 million to more than €127 million. In addition to its profit milestone in 2023, bunq also announced that customer assets climbed from $1.9 billion (€1.8 billion) to $7.4 billion (€6.9 billion).
Bunq plans to leverage the new capital to expand more in the U.K., as well as move into the U.S. market. To this end, the institution noted that it plans to resubmit its application for a banking license with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Bunq withdrew its application earlier this year citing issues between Dutch regulators, the OCC, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). In a statement, bunq noted that it was “fully committed to resolving all the differences between De Nederlandsche Bank’s, and the FDIC’s, and OCC’s supervisory expectations.”
That said, it has not been easy for financial institutions outside the U.S. to secure approval to operate within the U.S. For example, Monzo, a U.K.-based challenger bank, tried and walked away from the process in 2021 when approval seemed unlikely. Unfortunately, new U.S.-based firms looking for bank charters have only fared a little better. For every Savi Financial, there is a New Canaan Bank.
Bunq raised $111 million last July, boosting the firm’s valuation to $1.8 billion. The company ended 2023 with the launch of its generative AI financial copilot Finn. Fundamentally, Finn will help replace the search function on the bunq app. But the technology will also assist users as they plan their finances, build budgets, review transactions, and more.
“Finn will wow you,” bunq founder and CEO Ali Niknam said when the product was launched. “Years of AI innovation, coupled with a laser focus on our users, allowed us to completely transform banking as you know it. Seeing Generative AI make life so much easier for our users is incredibly exciting.”
Can’t sleep? Maybe that’s because you’re among the BaaS-enabled banks worried about consent orders.
Since late 2023, the FDIC and CFPB have issued seven consent orders because of BaaS-related issues. In addition to two consent orders issued this month to Sutton Bank and Piermont Bank; Lineage Bank, Blue Ridge Bank, Cross River Bank, Green Dot, and First Fed Bank have all been hit with consent orders in recent months.
BaaS was once considered the key to having it all; banks could maintain their legacy core technology while quickly adapting to consumer trends by bolting on the newest fintech innovations. Many BaaS-enabled banks are starting to discover that using third-party technology may not be the best solution, however. As it turns out, implementing another company’s technology comes with its own set of issues.
Part of the problem stems from the fact that regulators have been eschewing formal rule-making, and have instead been making examples of particular firms by enforcing consequences in the form of consent orders.
But where are things going wrong? Below are four things banks are (or should be) worried about when it comes to using BaaS partners:
Data privacy, security
While every bank executive worries about fraud, security, and data privacy, BaaS-enabled banks face double the concern because they not only need to worry about the security of their own institution, but also that of their third party partners. That’s because BaaS involves sharing sensitive customer data with third party providers. Banks need to ensure that their partners comply with data protection regulations and stay up-to-date on regulatory changes.
Regulatory compliance and reporting
Speaking of regulations, banks that use BaaS tools need to ensure that their own organization, as well as their third party partners, are complying with all financial regulations such as AML and KYC requirements. To verify ongoing compliance, banks need to implement vendor management practices to oversee the compliance efforts of their BaaS providers and mitigate risks on both sides.
Almost as important as complying with regulations is proper reporting around activities. Banks should make sure that they can accurately report on their activities and compliance efforts, even when using BaaS tools. Banks should maintain proper records and be able to provide information to regulators upon request.
Consumer protection
Banks must not only safeguard their consumers’ data privacy, but they must also protect consumers from misinformation. Banks are responsible for ensuring their BaaS providers are relaying information regarding their products and services accurately and clearly to customers. This will both facilitate fair treatment and reduce redlining concerns.
Operational risk
Adding to the list of concerns is operational risk. When working with BaaS providers, banks are responsible for things outside of their control, including service disruptions and clunky or broken user interfaces. To reduce these issues, banks should have risk management processes in place and regularly check in with their partners.
When it comes down to it, banks can’t oversee every part of their BaaS partners’ organization. However, by conducting proper due diligence, regularly updating controls, and learning from other institutions’ mistakes, firms may find it easier to sleep at night.
Setuply and CheckmateHCM have announced a new collaboration.
Checkmate will deploy Setuply’s platform to help companies onboard new employees and enhance skill acquisition.
Setuply made its Finovate debut last May at FinovateSpring in San Francisco.
A strategic relationship between client onboarding automation specialist Setuply and human capital management solution provider CheckmateHCM will help new employees “adapt and excel in their roles swiftly,” Setuply CEO Rachel Lyubovitzky said in a statement.
“Observing our technology facilitate streamlined onboarding and creating opportunities for emerging knowledge workers is gratifying,”Lyubovitzky said. “This showcases the potential of our technology but also serves as a beacon of innovation and inspiration for the entire industry.”
Checkmate’s decision to deploy Setuply’s advanced onboarding technology comes amidst an economic backdrop of increased competition and low unemployment. This makes it a challenge for firms to hire and retain workers of all kinds, including B2B knowledge workers. Setuply’s platform not only helps bring new talent into organizations efficiently and quickly. The company’s technology also gives businesses the tools they need to close expertise gaps, provide advanced training, and accelerate skill acquisition. Using a project and template-based approach, with detailed instructions in multiple formats, the platform helps establish processes to accelerate job training that are both repeatable and testable.
“Leveraging Setuply for our client onboarding and support has transformed our approach to client onboarding and service delivery,” Checkmate CEO Josh Robinson said. “It has amplified our processes, enabling us to surpass our goals and expand our capabilities. Going beyond operational efficiency has sparked a new era of expansion for us.”
Setuply’s partnership news with Checkmate comes just weeks after the company announced the release of a suite of new features and enhancements to its platform. The updates include:
Questions functionality to centralize and streamline project communication between workflows.
User-friendly customizable data forms built natively into the product.
A secure data repository to simplify complex data management tasks.
Automated project creation to leverage comprehensive data integration to intelligently initiate new projects.
A customer engagement portal to enhance client interaction and project visibility.
“As companies navigate the complexities of digital transformation, the demand for intuitive and yet comprehensive solutions has never been higher,” Setuply Head of Product Kelly Blackledge said. “Setuply’s latest update responds to this need, providing innovative tools that streamline onboarding processes, enhance data management, and improve client interactions.”
Headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Setuply was founded in 2022. The company made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring 2023 and returned later that year to demo its technology at FinovateFall in New York.
Interested in demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May? We are happy to read applications from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateSpring hub today to learn more.
Quavo Fraud & Disputes has teamed up with Snowflake.
The partnership between Quavo and Snowflake will allow Quavo to offer its clients access to more extensive datasets, helping them manage their fraud and disputes processes.
Since it was founded in 2015, Quavo has helped recover nearly $660 million for 6+ million users
“As Quavo has continued to push the limit of automation in the payment dispute management space, data security and flexibility have become increasingly important,” said Quavo Director of Strategic Partnerships Dana Reiner. “I am excited we have formalized our relationship with Snowflake, as they have proven to be a vital part of our analytics and innovation.”
Quavo will integrate Quavo Fraud & Disputes (QFD) with Snowflake’s platform. QFD is Quavo’s SaaS platform that helps issuing financial institutions resolve fraudulent and disputed transactions. Using the tool, banks can manage the entire flow of the disputes process. By partnering with Snowflake, Quavo will be able to offer its clients access to more extensive datasets, which will help them manage their fraud and disputes processes.
Quavo was founded in 2015 to help financial institutions deal with the rising cost of fraud and payment disputes. Since then, the company has helped recover nearly $660 million for 6+ million users who have suffered financial fraud, merchant issues, and identity theft. Quavo counts KeyBank, Galileo, Green Dot, and others among its clients.
Snowflake launched its data platform in 2012 to help businesses load, integrate, analyze, and share their data, securely and at scale. While the California-based company’s solutions span many different verticals, Snowflake’s financial services use cases include quantitative research and trading, personalized investment planning, financial crime prevention, insurance underwriting tools, and more.
Snowflake’s Head of Banking & Capital Markets James McGeehan made it clear that today’s partnership is just the start of the alliance between the two companies. “We look forward to further collaboration with Quavo in an effort to advance fraud resolution capabilities for financial institutions,” McGeehan said. “Our scalable cloud data platform combined with QFD will help to arm issuers with a robust data solution for the fight against fraud, and help customers to safeguard consumers’ financial well-being.”
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco on May 21 and 22. Register today using this link and save 20%.
Borealis Global Analytics
Borealis Global Analytics introduces an AI-powered virtual global equity analyst, streamlining workflows for investment professionals with cost and time efficiency.
Features
Reduces exorbitant research costs
Reduces time from ideation to investment theme execution
Offers a virtual global equity analyst
Who’s it for?
Global allocation specialists, RIAs, institutional money managers, global equity analysts, ETF sponsors, financial services companies, and robo-advisors.
Candour Oy
Candour ID by Candour Oy introduces breakthrough technology in biometric verification, featuring advanced anti-spoofing and facial recognition for the highest accuracy and efficiency in the market.
Features
Offers frictionless user experience with passive ID check for onboarding
Delivers fastest biometric authentication in the market
Provides anti-fraud capability with high security measures
Who’s it for?
Banks, credit unions, insurance companies, betting/gambling organizations, health businesses, and more.
Method Financial
Method Financial is a liability account connectivity API for lenders, fintechs, and financial institutions.
Features
Connects to users’ liabilities with consent, not credentials
Nav.it improves financial literacy and behaviors, empowering users to understand cash flow better, worry less about money, and significantly improve their overall quality of life.
Features
Enhances financial literacy for better cash flow management
Available through employers, making financial wellness accessible
Improves overall quality of life through smart financial habits
Who’s it for?
Banks, credit unions, businesses, forward-thinking employers, and HR platforms seeking to enhance employee benefits with financial wellness solutions.
Stock Unlock
Stock Unlock is an AI-assisted stock analysis and portfolio tracking platform that empowers investors to make smarter decisions in less time.
Features
Delivers AI-assisted stock reports for unbiased, in-depth analysis
Offers comprehensive stock screening and portfolio tracking tools
Provides power tools for all investor skill types to find, analyze, and track investments
Who’s it for?
Individual investors, both new and experienced, who want to harness the power of AI to optimize their stock research and portfolio management.
Regtech innovator Lucinity is starting to draw attention.
The company, headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland, made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring in San Francisco. At the conference, Lucinity demonstrated its AI-enabled copilot, Luci, which enhances financial crime compliance via insight generation, report writing, and automation. The solution uses GenAI to streamline tasks for compliance professionals, enabling them to make informed, data-driven decisions and to address higher order challenges directly. The technology performs internet searches, background checks, fraud detection, sanctions screening, and more.
As the team explained at FinovateSpring last year, financial crime fighters spend a significant amount of their time reviewing fraud alerts to determine whether or not they are significant. A major challenge lies in the fact that accurately evaluating the risk of a given alert requires understanding a great deal about the context in which the alert occurred. Compounding this challenge is the reality that much of the information required to do this can be scattered across multiple systems, making the process both more complicated and more time-consuming. Lucinity’s technology helps financial crime professionals simplify and understand the data quickly; a tier 1 bank estimated that Luci could save them $100 million a year by slashing alert review times from an average of 2.5 hours to 25 minutes.
“What we are doing with Lucinity is taking different transactions, KYC information, etc. and creating a picture or story of what the possible financial crime could look like,” Lucinity Co-founder and CEO Gudmundur Kristjansson explained during the company’s demo. “And with that story, we’re enabling the financial crime investigators to take the investigation time from hours to minutes.”
The company’s innovations have been noticed. Just last month, Lucinity secured the Chartis Research Award for Workflow Automation. The honor recognizes the way the company’s technology leverages AI and automation to enhance compliance processes and remove inefficiencies. Lucinity was also named to Chartis Research’s top 50 Financial Crime and Compliance Companies (FCC50) for 2024.
“Through our focus on workflow automation, Lucinty is able to save thousands of hours from the investigation process, drastically reducing the cost of compliance for financial institutions,” Kristjansson said. “This means that banks can then shift resources to revenue-generating areas of the business, rather than pouring more resources into compliance.”
Lucinity enters 2024 with a host of new partnerships. Icelandic neobank indó, financial crime fighting platform Neterium, and fellow Finovate alum Trustly were among the firms Lucinity joined forces with in 2023. This year, in addition to the accolades mentioned above, the company announced the appointment of Theresa Bercich as Chief Product Officer and recognition of her as a Co-Founder. In a statement, Kristjansson credited Bercich for her work on Luci and for her contributions to the company as a whole. “Her journey from a data scientist to VP of Product, and now to CPO and Co-founder, mirrors the growth and dynamic evolution of Lucinity itself,” Kristjansson said.
Lucinity has raised more than $25 million in funding. The company’s total includes an investment of $17 million it raised in 2022. Keen Venture Partners led that Series B round.
Interested in demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May? We are happy to read applications from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateSpring hub today to learn more.
YCombinator (YC) recently wrapped up its three-month winter tech accelerator program, holding its demo day last week. This program, which is one of two the accelerator hosts each year, comprised of 21 fintech companies. The fintech graduates from YC’s winter program can be broken down into six main categories: asset management, banking and exchange, credit and lending, insurance, payments, and other.
The recent batch of YCombinator fintech graduates showcases a variety of trends and innovations in the industry. There are three main themes that pulse throughout this year’s cohorts. First– and not surprisingly– many are leveraging AI to create efficiencies and enhance existing operations. Additionally, several startups are focusing on providing specialized banking solutions tailored to specific needs. This includes offshore banking for international contractors, banking platforms for nonprofits and cross-border businesses, and white-label bonding solutions for insurance agents. Perhaps most notably, there is a strong focus on innovation in the payments space, with multiple startups offering solutions to help businesses go international more easily, providing instant international payments, and facilitating the launch of card programs and financial products in emerging markets.
Check out this year’s YC winter fintech graduates below:
Asset management
Powder leverages AI to help wealth advisors create sales proposals personalized for each prospective client.
Centauri offers an AI-powered data platform for financial analysts.
Double aims to offer a smarter investing account by allowing users to build custom direct index strategies while automating things like tax loss harvesting and dollar cost averaging.
Banking and exchange
Numo is an offshore bank for international contractors.
GoldenBasis leverages AI to automate back-office workflows for brokerages.
Givefront offers a banking platform tailored for nonprofits.
Credit and lending
Corefin provides open-source lending software that allows tech companies to build and launch lending products.
Rove leverages a cash-flow algorithm for underwriting to offer a no-annual-fee travel card that allows average spenders to earn a free trip each year.
Yenmo offers India-based investors access to cash locked up in illiquid investments without having to liquidate their current investments.
Insurance
Healia’s platform allows employers to help their employees find the best health insurance plan by leveraging their spouse’s healthcare plan to lower costs.
Blume Benefits helps health insurance brokers reduce manual data entry by streamlining insurance quoting, renewal, and revenue operations processes.
BondCenter is a white-label, automated bonding solution for insurance agents that allows them to help businesses apply for surety bonds and receive affordable quotes online in minutes.
Payments
xPay offers a payment gateway orchestrator coupled with a managed gateway solution to help businesses in India and Southeast Asia can go international more easily.
Infinity is a banking and payments platform for cross-border businesses in India.
Swift is building instant international payments to replace the archaic correspondent banking infrastructure.
Other
NowHouse’s post-trade processing suite offers brokerage trading ops teams near-instant trade settlement capabilities, helping them to intelligently reconcile trades and corporate actions.
Miden helps facilitate the launch of card programs and various financial products for businesses in Sub-Sahran Africa.
Cleva enables African freelancers and businesses to receive international payments while protecting themselves from currency volatility.
TokenOwl helps active memecoin and crypto traders calculate taxes with greater accuracy and generate AI-powered insights about their portfolio.
Greenboard is leveraging AI to manage financial firms’ compliance programs and back office processes.
GovernGPT is an AI-based database that pre-populates due diligence questionnaires with recent and trusted data.
