CardFlight’s New Release Adds Paper Receipt Printing, Advanced Security, and More

CardFlight’s New Release Adds Paper Receipt Printing, Advanced Security, and More
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: CardFlight

Mobile POS and payment technology company CardFlight has upgraded its flagship SwipeSimple technology, announcing version 5 of the product this week.

The new enhancements, which will be available to existing users starting next week, are aimed to offer merchants more payment acceptance capabilities. Some of the updates include:

  • Paper receipt printing
  • Discount options that allow merchants to set up dollar or percentage discounts that can be applied to either specific items or an entire transaction
  • Item categories for inventory tracking and marketing insights
  • Favorites pages on the checkout screen that show frequently used discounts and popular items
  • Item images on the checkout screen to help quickly find items for a transaction
  • SwipeSimple Virtual Terminal that helps reduce fraud using full Address Verification Service (AVS) for card not present transactions

This release comes just after CardFlight updated thousands of card readers for more than 45,000 merchants currently using SwipeSimple to enable EMV Quick Chip for faster processing times.

“At CardFlight, we continually work to make SwipeSimple the best payment acceptance technology for merchants all across the country,” said Derek Webster, CardFlight’s founder and CEO. “We know that tens of thousands of businesses rely on our technology to run and grow their businesses. Releasing Version 5.0 of SwipeSimple demonstrates our team’s dedication to putting easy to use, efficient payment acceptance tools in the hands of our users.”

Founded in 2013, CardFlight serves 10 of the top 30 merchant acquirers in the U.S., reaching tens of thousands of merchants across all 50 states. To date, more than 93% of its merchant clients are EMV-enabled. The New York-based company debuted its technology at FinovateSpring 2013, showing off the first iteration of its API/SDK. Earlier this summer, CardFlight landed a distribution partnership with BoomTown.

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Finicity Teams Up with Capsilon to Modernize Mortgage Origination

Finicity Teams Up with Capsilon to Modernize Mortgage Origination
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finicity

In its latest integration with Capsilon, real-time financial data aggregation and insights specialist Finicity is bringing mortgage origination into the 21st century – one partner at a time. An intelligent process automation software provider, Capsilon will combine Finicity’s Verification of Assets (VoA) solution with its own borrower and loan officer workspaces to automate the asset verification process.

“We’re excited to work alongside Capsilon with the shared goal of transforming the difficult manual mortgage origination processes of today into a modern and digital experience of the future,” Finicity CEO Steve Smith said. “Finicity’s VoA reports are a key part of the next-generation mortgage process.”

Capsilon COO Jim Obsitnik underscored the importance of digital transformation in the mortgage industry. “Those who invest in the right technology now will gain a competitive advantage to help them minimize risk and accelerate growth as the market changes,” Obsitnik said. He added that the partnership would “speed up the application process and deliver better borrower and loan officer experiences.”

Demonstrated live at FinovateFall last year, Finicity’s Verification of Assets (VoA) reports are part of the company’s suite of credit decisioning solutions. VoA provides bank-validated insights into the assets of prospective borrowers to enable lenders to readily identify those issues that impact the credit decisioning process. VoA reports include information on multiple financial institutions and accounts, as well as data on account types, balances, and detailed transactions. These reports, along with those from the company’s Verification of Income (VoI) solution, are delivered under the CRA framework, enabling borrowers to access information in the reports directly, as well as submit any disputes.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Finicity has spent much of 2018 in partnership mode. Last month, the company signed a secure data exchange agreement with Capital One. In July, Finicity partnered with Cre8tech Labs’ Lender Price, integrating its VoA solution into the Lender Price’s digital lending platform. Fellow Finovate alum Mortgage Cadence integrated Finicity’s VoA technology into its loan origination platform in May. This spring, the company teamed up with another fellow alum, BeSmartee, to add VoA to BeSmartee’s POS mortgage origination platform.

Finicity has raised nearly $80 million in funding, and includes Bridge Bank and Experian among its investors. The company was founded in 1999.

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Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Entersekt, Finovate Global, Infosys, Neener Analytics, Ripple

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.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Personality Biometrics Specialist Neener Analytics Partners with American Express as part of Accelerate Middle East initiative.
  • Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM) launches its digital sandbox.
  • Ithmaar Bank of Bahrain and Eazy Financial Services partner to launch biometric payment network.
  • Al Salam Bank Bahrain (ASBB) leverages technology from Clayton to launch new mobile banking solution.
  • Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank partners with Ripple for instant settlement of cross-border money transfers.

Central and South Asia

  • Infosys to Acquire Fluido for $76 Million.
  • TPS and DigInc partner to support mircofinancing in Pakistan.
  • Bengaluru’s SlicePay, which provides credit to millennial consumers, announces Series A investment led by China’s FinUp Finance Technology Group.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Argentina-based digital financial services startup MONI raises $4.5 million in funding. In Spanish.
  • Mexico’s much-anticipated Fintech Law goes live.
  • Euromoney profiles Brazilian data management fintech, Quod.

Asia-Pacific

  • Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPBank) launches its digital brand, Yolo.
  • Indonesia’s B2B marketplace Ralali raises $7 million in new funding.
  • Singapore introduces the first unified payment QR code.
  • ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN) launches its API Exchange.
  • Moka, a business payments management startup from Indonesia, picks up $24 million in round led by Sequoia India and Southeast Asia.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Jumo, a fintech startup from South Africa that helps provide financing to the underbanked, raises $52 million in round led by Goldman Sachs.
  • Central Bank of Kenya to consider new regulations for the country’s digital lenders.
  • South Africa’s Click2Sure and Finovate alum Entersekt chosen to participate in AlphaCode’s accelerator program.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Nordigen, a credit risk assessment solution provider based in Latvia, announces $800,000 in new funding.
  • Forbes looks at the collaboration between IBM, PwC, and the Czech Republic’s Blockchain Connect Association.
  • Hackernoon makes the case for “developing your fintech solution in Poland.”
  • Which Eastern European country is making the biggest strides when it comes to innovating with blockchain technology? Bitnews Today shares its review of the region.

Top image designed by Freepik

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CardFlight, Cortera, Entersekt, Finicity, iSignthis, Jack Henry, Lendio, PayNearMe, Persado, ProfitStars, TransferTo

On Finovate.com

  • Finicity Teams Up with Capsilon to Modernize Mortgage Origination.
  • CardFlight’s New Release Adds Paper Receipt Printing, Advanced Security, and More.

Around the web

  • iSignthis acquires core banking technology provider Probanx.
  • Entersekt taps Christian Ali as new country manager for Canada.
  • Jack Henry & Associates’ ProfitStars division unveils new online, anti-fraud monitoring and reporting technology.
  • Chris Savides named new global Chief Operating Officer at TransferTo.
  • Cortera announces partnership with Moody’s Analytics in new RiskCalc SMB solution.
  • PayNearMe powering Buildium’s Retail Cash Payments, a feature that allows residents to pay rent in cash.
  • Lendio Franchising has helped facilitate $16 million in financing to 500+ SMBs and reports a 111% percent increase in loans funded quarter over quarter.
  • Persado announces Persado for Salesforce on Salesforce AppExchange.

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.

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TradeIt Teams Up with TradingView to Help Retail Investors Reach Big Brokers

TradeIt Teams Up with TradingView to Help Retail Investors Reach Big Brokers
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: TradeIt

Thanks to a new partnership between TradeIt and TradingView, average retail investors and traders will be able to buy and sell with some of the biggest brokers in North America.

“There are very few tools out there that give a complete picture of the market in a way that is conducive to both beginners and more advanced traders,” Trade It CEO Nathan Richardson said. “We are excited to be working with TradingView as this partnership will power retail investing across the web, a match made in heaven.”

TradingView is the largest social networking and data analysis tool for financial markets. The Chicago, Illinois-based company aims to give non-professional traders a “Bloomberg-like experience” with free charts and analysis, as well as the ability to share and discuss their own trading and investing ideas in real-time. TradingView’s platform leverages HTML5 to relieve users of installation and setup. The technology is compatible with a variety of formats, including iPad, tablet, and smartphone.

“With millions of users around the world, our mission is to provide the trading community with a comprehensive solution for investing, from social networking to research,” TradingView CEO Denis Globa said. “The developments we’ve made in recent years have not only benefited our user base, but they’ve expanded our global reach.”

TradeIt demonstrated its platform at FinovateFall 2015. Last month, the company announced that it was partnering with IBM Cloud for Financial Services to make it easier for developers to add universal brokerage functionality to their apps and platforms. The company’s solutions include TradingTicket, which enables investors to make, retrieve, and cancel market orders; PortfolioView, which links investors’ account balances and positions for easy monitoring; and SmartAds, which delivers highly targeted financial ads to help firms further optimize the platform.

Headquartered in New York and founded in 2014, TradeIt has raised $12 million in funding. The company includes Newfund Capital and Valar Ventures among its investors.

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Getting Gritty with Fintech’s Top Trends

Getting Gritty with Fintech’s Top Trends
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2018

Have you had a chance to look through what’s ahead at FinovateFall next week? Between the live demos, keynotes, stream discussions, and summit sessions, there will be a lot of content coming your way.

The event will take place on September 24 through 26 in New York (tickets are still available). During the first two days, 80 companies will take the stage to show off their newest technologies, live in front of an audience of financial professionals. The final day we’ll host industry analysts and experts to share their knowledge of key trends, as well as hold panel discussions regarding the grittiest topics in banking.

Behind this grit are the individual trends we’ll see at this year’s event. Check out the word cloud below that depicts the biggest driving forces of new fintech in 2018:

AI

It’s not a surprise to see AI come out on top as one of the biggest themes at this year’s FinovateFall. The enabling technology is pervasive throughout fintech, making shifts in security, investing, customer relationship management, sales, and marketing. In next week’s demos, we’ll see where and how AI is being used in fintech and learn how you can leverage this powerful technology.

Data

In financial services, it’s data or die. No matter what sector of fintech you’re in, if you haven’t started leveraging your data yet, you’re behind the competition. Data is increasingly critical in credit scoring and risk underwriting for loans, personalization of banking services, analytics marketing, investing, and security. Unlocking the value of data requires not only access to large sets of consumer data but also a way to sift through and organize the data, making it useful for analysis. Next week, not a demo will go by that doesn’t use data in some way. It’s up to you to decide which use case is most valuable for your institution.

Compliance

Compliance isn’t sexy; in fact, most firms simply see it as an obligation and a stumbling block. But who says compliance can’t be fun? Many fintechs are using enabling technologies such as the blockchain and AI to create efficiencies, and some are even using gamification to boost active participation during training exercises. We’ll host a number of companies demoing compliance tools that make regulation seem more exciting than ever.

Customer engagement

There are more tools than ever to help financial services companies gain consumer interest in their products and services. From marketing campaign personalization to predictive analytics that anticipate consumers’ needs, these revenue-boosting technologies are worth implementing. We’ll host multiple demos next week that showcase the latest tools to help your organization boost sales numbers.

What are you hoping to discover at FinovateFall next week? Check out the agenda to learn more of what’s in store. Have questions? Visit our contact page to get in touch and we’ll help you out.

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Get Your VAT Back: Expensify Integrations to Streamline Reclamation

Get Your VAT Back: Expensify Integrations to Streamline Reclamation
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Expensify

Back to school season is also back to business travel season for many professionals. And this makes the news of two new integrations from expense management innovator Expensify all the more timely and welcome.

The San Francisco, California-based company announced today that it has integrated with two major value-added tax (VAT) reclamation solutions: Global VaTax and Taxback International. This will make it easier for businesses to reclaim VAT by exporting expenses directly from Expensify to one of these two services.

“Many companies don’t know that VAT reclamation exists, much less how to benefit from it,” Director of Strategy and Marketing for Expensify Ryan Schaffer said. “But with the right tools it can mean some serious money back with minimal effort upfront.”

Both Global VaTax and Taxback International help individuals and businesses maximize VAT reclamation. Once the data is extracted from Expensify, the VAT reclamation process analyzes all expenses, invoices, and VAT calculations per expense type. The company’s solutions then review all invoices for VAT refund compliance, prepare submission claims for each country and submit those claims to the relevant national authorities. VAT refunds are available anywhere from three to nine months, depending on the processing speed of government.

“Companies using Expensify can already track receipts and manage expenses in more than 160 currencies,” Schaffer said. “Now, it’s just a matter of enabling one of our partner integrations to automatically extract that expense data for easy VAT processing and a maximum refund.”

Used by more than six million people around the world, Expensify leverages technologies and features like OCR receipt tracking, corporate card reconciliation, and integrations with leading accounting software solutions to automate the complete expense reporting process. Since inception, the company has processed more than $100 billion, and topped 660 million expenses created with more than 180 million expenses created in 2017 alone.

Founded in 2008, the company demonstrated its Expensify Invoices solution at FinovateSpring 2013. More recently, Expensify announced an integration with Hotel Engine, was named Innovation Partner of the Year by Netsuite, and inked a deal with Wells Fargo to pilot the launch of its ExpensifyApproved! Banks integration program.

Expensify has raised $38.2 million in funding, and includes Redpoint Ventures, OpenView, PJC, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) among its investors. David Barrett is founder and CEO.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Compass Plus, Continuity Control, CREALOGIX, Entrust Datacard, Expensify, Mambu, SocietyOne, TradeIt, Trading Ticket

On Finovate.com

  • Getting Gritty with Fintech’s Top Trends.
  • TradeIT Teams Up with TradingView to Help Retail Investors Reach Big Brokers.
  • Get Your VAT Back: Expensify Integrations to Streamline Reclamation.

Around the web

  • Mambu extends capacity with Integration Platform as a Service.
  • Entrust Datacard and Blackboard partner to enhance the ID card issuance process.
  • Peer-to-peer lender SocietyOne hits $500 million in loans.
  • CREALOGIX reports record sales for the third time in a row.
  • Compass Plus expands its processing business with Mastercard and Visa certified UK-based processing center.
  • Continuity recipient of 2018 Marcum Tech Top 40 Award.

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.

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Infosys to Acquire Fluido for $76 Million

Infosys to Acquire Fluido for $76 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Infosys, Mergers & Acquisitions

International technology firm Infosys announced this week it has acquired cloud advisory and consulting services company Fluido for $76 million. This marks Infosys’ second acquisition this year, following its purchase of WONGDOODY in April.

Fluido’s excels as one of the largest and oldest platinum consulting partners for Salesforce in Europe and is also an authorized Salesforce training delivery partner in the Nordic region. India-based Infosys anticipates the buy will boost its reputation as a Salesforce enterprise cloud services provider.

Infosys will benefit from more than just Fluido’s Salesforce expertise, however. The company will also receive more recognition across the Nordic region, given Fluido’s offices in Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Slovakia, as well as tap into Fluido’s established client base across the region.

In the press release Ravi Kumar, president and deputy COO at Infosys, said, “Fluido will be an important addition to the Infosys family, bringing a unique combination of market presence, deep salesforce expertise, agile delivery, and training, that combined with our existing capabilities will help companies reimagine and transform their businesses. This acquisition also aligns to our efforts to invest in local capabilities in the regions in which we operate.”

Fluido’s clients will also benefit from the deal. As the company’s founder and CEO, Kai Mäkelä explained, “With Infosys we will now be able to provide truly global scalable services while maintaining the close relationship with our customers. With digital experience playing a key role in customer success, we are excited to have the opportunity to work with Infosys to help Fluido customers change the way they connect with their customers.”

The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019.

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. Last month, the Australian Military Bank became the first bank in Australia to go live with Infosys’ Finacle solution.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Avaloq, Infosys, itBit, Neener Analytics, NYMBUS, PayPal

On Finovate.com

  • Personality Biometrics Specialist Neener Analytics Partners with American Express.
  • Infosys to Acquire Fluido for $76 Million.

Around the web

  • Avaloq upgrades open software architecture designed to make banks more agile.
  • PayPal announces global launch of Checkout with Smart Payment buttons.
  • TransPecos Banks selects NYMBUS to launch BankMD.com.
  • itBit selected as a custody provider for Voyager’s new crypto-brokerage service.

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.

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Thinking Capital, National Bank Expand Funding Options for Canada’s SMEs

Thinking Capital, National Bank Expand Funding Options for Canada’s SMEs
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Thinking Capital

A strategic partnership between alternative business lender Thinking Capital and National Bank will help get more financing to more growing small businesses in Canada. National Bank, with $256 billion in assets, will leverage Thinking Capital’s technology to streamline the SME loan application process with the goal of qualifying more applicants faster and with less friction.

Stephane Achard, National Bank EVP for Commercial Banking and Insurance, highlighted the bank’s commitment to helping its SME clients “find new ways to power their ideas.” He said, “This partnership with Thinking Capital exemplifies our commitment to innovation and creating new financing options that support entrepreneurs at every stage of their company’s growth.”

For Thinking Capital, which has helped fund more than 10,000 small businesses in Canada since inception, working with National Bank provides opportunities for further growth for the Montreal-based alt lender. “National Bank of Canada broadens our reach and enables us to provide even more small businesses with fast and seamless access to capital to support their growth,” CEO and co-founder of Thinking Capital Jeff Mitelman said. “We believe fintech providers and banks can work together to close the gap between the financing small businesses need and what they have access to.”

Thinking Capital’s lending-as-a-service platform leverages artificial intelligence and proprietary algorithms to accelerate the financing process for small businesses. The company offers both fixed and flexible term loans of up to $300,000 for Canadian-based businesses that have been in operation for at least six months and have average monthly sales of at least $7,000.

Founded in 2006 and based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Thinking Capital was acquired by Purpose Investments in March in a deal valued at $200 million. This summer, the company partnered with Equifax to launch a new solution, BillMarket, that helps Canadian SMEs leverage their good credit to extend payment terms in their supply chain.

Thinking Capital participated in our developers conference, FinDEVr New York 2016. The company’s Chief Strategy Officer, Anthony Lipschitz, and Chief Technical Officer, Pat Forgione, discussed Lending as a Service, and the power of the partnership model between fintechs, banks, and other institutions.

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KPMG Takes Minority Stake in Alternative Credit Scoring Specialist AdviceRobo

KPMG Takes Minority Stake in Alternative Credit Scoring Specialist AdviceRobo
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AdviceRobo, Funding

Alternative credit scoring startup AdviceRobo announced today that KPMG has acquired a minority stake in the company. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

KPMG Head of Advisory Rob Fijneman called AdviceRobo a “front runner” in credit risk management. He added that the partnership would “enable us to add these types of AI-based predictive behavioral models to our services for lenders,” enhancing credit risk models and lowering costs. The partnership will also enable AdviceRobo to take advantage of KPMG’s expertise in a wide variety of areas including risk management, compliance and regulation, Big Data, and analytics.

AdviceRobo’s approach to credit risk management focuses on the insights available from the non-financial and behavioral data of would-be borrowers. The company’s psychographic risk scoring can be used to access the creditworthiness of applicants for products including loans, mortgages, and credit cards. The technology is especially valuable for lenders working with customers from historically underbanked communities, whose thin credit files make them poor candidates for traditional financing. AdviceRobo CEO Diederick van Thiel estimates that there are more than four billion people around the world who fall into this category and said that technology can help financial services firms reach them.

“Our software enables lenders to target these underserved customers and streamline their credit processes,” van Thiel explained. “This stimulates prosperity and the economy. Moreover, our software has the potential to accelerate credit processes and identify the key risk signals of existing clients. For instance, the software can identify vulnerable consumers who will be at risk of defaulting on loans in the future.”

AdviceRobo demonstrated its CreditRobo solution at FinovateEurope 2016. CreditRobo leverages artificial intelligence to evaluate credit risk, providing early warnings on bad debt, default, pre-payment, and outflow; real-time behavioral data on the risk profile of the customer base; and real-time credit scoring for instant onboarding, renewal, and targeting of the underbanked, whether they are millennials or SMEs.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in London, U.K., Amsterdam, and Paris, AdviceRobo serves clients in ten countries across Europe and Latin America. In April, AdviceRobo joined the BNP Paribas Plug and Play accelerator program, one month before the company was named to Insights Success’ 20 Most Innovative FinTech Solution Providers roster. Also this spring, the company announced a trio of new bank customers: Hungary’s OTP Group, Argenta of the Netherlands, and Banco Macro of Argentina.

A member of KPMG’s Fintech 100 Emerging Stars, AdviceRobo began the year with news that its Psychographic Credit Score solution would be available via Mambu’s Product Marketplace.

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