Webinar: Turning Identity Verification Into a Competitive Advantage

Webinar: Turning Identity Verification Into a Competitive Advantage

The digital lending and finance sector has grown dramatically in the last few years but traditional banks still dominate lending and the financial services space, while digital-first challengers and fintechs are still facing an uphill battle to capture customers and take advantage of the opportunity the digital transformation has provided.

Customers are taking notice of these newcomers though, and efficient onboarding using digitized workflows, such as digital identity verification technology, are being used by both new entrants and incumbents to boost competitiveness in an era where many consumers are increasingly shifting from being digital-first to digital-only.

Watch this Finovate webinar to learn from leading experts in the digital space who will delve into how digital lenders, fintechs, and even incumbents can leverage digital to ward off inefficiency, drive the best possible customer experience, and enhance the speed and cost-effectiveness of the onboarding process.

Our experts will be covering topics including:

  • The landscape for digital lenders in Europe: Explore the rapidly-expanding digital landscape and what digital lenders are competing with incumbents.
  • The need for increased security: See methods for mitigating fraud and risk posed by financial transactions in the online world where face-to-face or traditional ways of verification aren’t possible.
  • Seamless user experience: Learn how leading companies are leveraging digital ID verification to bring on more customers, more quickly.
  • Cutting compliance costs while boosting efficiency: See how, in a supposedly digital world, mandatory KYC and AML checks are still all too often a largely manual process. Digital processes have the potential to help to reduce KYC and AML compliance costs by up to 70% – and could improve the speed of these checks by up to 80%.

Featuring:

Lex Sokolin
Global Director Fintech Strategy, Partner
Autonomous Research

Sokolin is a futurist and entrepreneur focused on the next generation of financial services. He directs Fintech Strategy at Autonomous Research, a global research firm for the financial sector, helping clients understand and leverage innovation. Covered themes include roboadvice, blockchain and cryptoeconomy, artificial intelligence, chatbots, neobanks, and banks-as-a-platform, insurtech, and regtech.

Joe Bloemendaal
VP of Identity, EMEA
Mitek

Bloemendaal has long been actively involved in online identity and risk management, with 15+ years of experience in entrepreneurship, international sales and marketing in the field of internet technology, and SAAS. In his career, Bloemendaal has successfully founded and managed two businesses which still exist to this day. As VP of Identity for EU for Mitek, Bloemendaal is responsible for setting the strategy and continually driving growth for Mitek in digital identity verification across Europe.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

Around the web

  • Jack Henry & Associates named a top workplace by The San Diego Union-Tribune.
  • Raketech partners with Trustly for in-banner Pay N Play technology.
  • First Data launches Clover Mini and Clover Flex in Argentina.
  • Banco Original chooses FICO to launch digital platform.

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.

Poland’s Braintri Merges with iCompass

Poland’s Braintri Merges with iCompass

A pair of Polish fintechs – Braintri and iCompass – have announced a merger plan that will enable both firms to grow their businesses and expand internationally. Braintri COO Wojciech Zatorski highlighted the opportunity for growth, and pointed specifically to the potential in markets in the EU, the Middle East, Asia, and the U.S. “The partnership is a step forward in Braintri’s strategy to enter global markets,” he said.

Both companies will operate under their existing brands until the merger is completed, after which there will be a rebranding.

Providing mobile banking apps for some of the largest banks in Poland, Braintri has partnered with FTSE large cap banking giant PKO BP, as well as fellow Finovate alum, mBank. The company also worked to help establish Poland’s non-card payment standard, BLIK, currently used by 94% of the country’s population. Braintri is also the developer of Jiffee, a token-based, Bluetooth-powered, mobile payment technology the company demonstrated at FinovateEurope earlier this year.

In a press release, Braintri said it will focus on three main product lines post-merger: mobile applications, big data solutions, and payments. The company also pledged to “further develop its insurtech competence.”

Braintri’s partner, iCompass, is a software provider for major European banks and global payment companies like Mastercard Payment Transaction Services. The firm is a technology provider for Poland’s first mPOS platform, and developed the universal payment gateway, Octopus Payment Hub.

Founded in 2013, Braintri demonstrated its Jiffee payments solution at FinovateFall 2017, winning Best of Show. Headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, the company was awarded the Polish Innovation Award 2018 for both Jiffee and its core banking systems offloading engine, Biffee.

Launchfire Launches StepDemo to Enhance Employee Training

Launchfire Launches StepDemo to Enhance Employee Training

Gamification expert Launchfire released a new feature this week. The new addition, StepDemo, is aimed to enhance Launchfire’s digital transformation product, Lemonade.

In the press release, Launchfire CEO John Findlay said, “With StepDemo, our clients can easily create as many product simulations as they need, and pipe them out to customers or employees — and it’s all included as part of Lemonade.”

Using StepDemo, administrators can use Lemonade’s author portal to create an unlimited number of product simulations and add them to employee training courses. With StepDemo, trainees can opt between two hands-on modes– Play and Guided Practice. The former allows users to explore the new product with guided practice while the latter is a way for them to test their understanding of the product.

Findlay said he didn’t want to create a product simulation that doesn’t stick. “It’s like when you’re driving a friend home and they give you directions — the next time you have to get there on your own, you can’t. You didn’t learn the route; you just followed instructions,” he described. StepDemo’s Play and Guided Practice modes combat that by making sure the users actually learn and are comfortable with the product.

Launchfire showcased Lemonade at FinovateFall earlier this year in a demo that is as entertaining as the product itself. Headquartered in Canada and founded in 1999, the company was honored on the 2018 Training Industry Top 20 Gamification List last month.

FinovateAfrica Sneak Peek: Topicus.Finance

FinovateAfrica Sneak Peek: Topicus.Finance

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateAfrica on November 27 and 28, 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa. Register today and save your spot.

Fyndoo, powered by Topicus, unlocks financing for the agricultural sector with automated lending processes combined with satellites providing real-time insight into crop development.

Features

  • Lending processes are accessible, efficient, and transparent
  • Investment progress can be monitored in real-time
  • Automated loan management varies with progress and quality of the crops

Why it’s great
Fyndoo bridges the financing gap for entrepreneurs as well as farmers in developing countries by combining state-of-the-art business lending technology with the ability to monitor crop progress real-time.

Presenters

Jamie Burink, Head of Business Lending
Burink is head of business lending at fintech company Topicus.Finance. He has roots in business administration and a strong passion for making banking simple, social, and transparent.
LinkedIn

Johan Stokking, Tech Lead and Co-Founder
Stokking is tech lead and co-founder of The Things Network: an open, crowdsourced, and decentralized internet of things data network. He also serves as CTO of The Things Industries.
LinkedIn

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Check out a sneak peek of Topicus.Finance’s upcoming demo at FinovateAfrica.
  • Launchfire Launches StepDemo to Enhance Employee Training.
  • Poland’s Braintri Merges with iCompass.

Around the web

  • Xero teams up with Absa Bank to improve access to financing for South African SMEs.
  • TransferWise opens its API.
  • Fenergo introduces new Client Lifecycle Management: Front to Middle Office Transformation app on Salesforce AppExchange.
  • Mortgage Cadence adds to its Enterprise Lending Center loan origination platform courtesy of a partnership with MGIC.
  • Tinkoff Bank enables its iOS-using customers to buy concert and theatre tickets via its mobile app.
  • ThetaRay CEO Mark Gazit appointed to the International Technology Advisory Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
  • Klarna forges partnership with weighted blanket developer, Gravity Blanket.
  • Temenos announces Technology Partner Agreement with distributed SQL database provider, NuoDB.
  • Aqubix, Behaviosec, CustomerXPS, ElectronicID, GreenKey, IdentityMind, Jumio, NICE, Onfido, Payfone, SecuredTouch, Sedicii, Trulioo, and Trunomi honored on RegTech 100 list.

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.

Sezzle’s $100 Million Line of Credit to Fuel Delayed Payment Tool

Sezzle’s $100 Million Line of Credit to Fuel Delayed Payment Tool

Alternative ecommerce payment system Sezzle announced last week it pulled in a $100 million line of credit. The new round multiplies the Minnesota-based company’s existing funding by almost 10x, bringing its total raised to just shy of $111 million.

The funding, which comes from Connecticut-based investment firm Bastion, is being used to fuel Sezzle’s new pay-in-2019 initiative with online retailer Tobi. The promotion, which will be available throughout the holidays, gives Tobi.com shoppers interest-free purchase financing. After paying 25% of the purchase price at checkout, shoppers can wait to pay the remaining three-quarters of the purchase, interest-free, until after January 2, 2019, at which point they pay in three equal installments.

Tobi’s target market is focused on young females– a demographic which typically either has no credit or thin credit files. “Because these young consumers are credit-starved, they tend to abandon their online shopping cart instead of clicking through to purchase,” Sezzle CEO Charlie Youakim said. “With our option, those shoppers are more likely to convert to a sale. We even see them spending more and shopping more frequently.”

The pay-in-2019 payment model is a departure from Sezzle’s existing buy now, pay later offering, which typically allows users to spread the repayment of the purchase price across 6 weeks of financing. If the trial with Tobi yields increased sales results, Sezzle plans to move forward with the new financing model with other retailers, as well.

Founded in 2016, Sezzle demoed its alternative payment platform at FinovateFall earlier this year. Last month, the company teamed up with Priority Payment Systems which will offer Sezzle as an option to its merchant clients.

Five Degrees Teams Up with ieDigital to Launch Digital Banking Portfolio

Five Degrees Teams Up with ieDigital to Launch Digital Banking Portfolio

A new partnership between U.K.-based ieDigital and Dutch fintech Five Degrees will pave the way for the launch of a new premier digital banking portfolio. The new solution marries ieDigital’s Interact digital engagement platform with Five Degrees’ digital core banking platform, Matrix, to help FIs develop end-to-end banking products that will help them spot and capitalize on revenue-generating opportunities.

“Our joint partnership strengthens the ability to help financial institutions transform progressively in order to meet future market needs, while ensuring a superior customer experience,” ieDigital CEO Jerry Young said. He called the collaboration with Five Degrees both “strategic and timely” and pointed to potential opportunities to help banks in Europe and around the world successfully execute their digital transformations.

Young joined the company as CEO at the beginning of the year. He brings more than 20 years of experience to ieDigital, including a tenure as VP of EMEA at Fiserv, and time spent as head of retail banking and insurance at Oracle.

Five Degrees CEO Martijn Hohmann said that the joint venture “provides financial institutions with the tools to offer a better experience for consumers when managing their finances on a daily basis.” He added that the partnership would add “world-class consumer oriented solutions” to its platform and help the company fulfill its goal of making it easier and more convenient for consumers to choose and interact with financial products.

In their press release, ieDigital and Five Degrees cited a Forrester study that indicated that too many financial services firms are focusing on making changes to their digital front end without paying similar attention to the core system. Referring to this as the “Potemkin Effect,” the companies noted that by offering a solution that combines the core with the engagement platform resolves this problem by providing a “seamless, digital, end-to-end experience that customers require.”

Founded in 1984, ieDigital demonstrated its Money Fitness solution at FinovateFall 2018. Money Fitness is a personalized, forward-looking PFM tool that helps consumers make better financial decisions while helping credit unions build their brands and strengthen their presence in their local communities. Formerly known as Intelligent Environments, ieDigital has partnered with four of the five largest banks in the U.K. and has deployed its Interact customer engagement platform in more than 28 countries.

With more than $11.4 million (€10 million) in funding, Five Degrees made its most recent Finovate appearance earlier this year at FinovateEurope. At the conference, the company demonstrated an implementation of its Matrix core banking technology with the wealth management platform, Prospery, developed by ABN AMRO.

Since then, Five Degrees purchased core banking IT systems provider, Libra, and teamed up with international business payments specialist, BillPro, to launch a new European cross-border banking service. The company was founded in 2009, and is headquartered in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, the Netherlands.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Five Degrees Teams Up with ieDigital to Launch Digital Banking Portfolio.
  • Sezzle’s $100 Million Line of Credit to Fuel Delayed Payment Tool.

Around the web

  • LoanScorecard unveils SimpleCECL, its solution for loan-level analyses for Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL).
  • Onfido wins 7th place in Deloitte’s 11 fastest growing tech companies in the U.K. roster.
  • OutSystems earns recognition in two categories of the 2018 Gartner Peer Insights Customers Choice reviews: Mobile App Development Platforms and Enterprise High-Productivity Application Platform as a Service (HPaPaaS).
  • Payment Ninja introduces new invoice management feature of its platform.
  • Diebold Nixdorf inks Memorandum of Understanding with Europol to boost cybersecurity knowledge sharing.
  • Entersekt announces plans to expand to Nordic region.
  • RightCapital partners with Commonwealth.
  • Onfido, Azimo, TransferWise, and Kantox earn spots on Deloitte U.K.’s Fast 50.

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.

SuperMoney Launches Student Loan Refinancing Marketplace

SuperMoney Launches Student Loan Refinancing Marketplace

Financial services comparison site SuperMoney is venturing into new territory this week with the launch of its student loan refinancing comparison marketplace. And since student loans are the largest source of unsecured debt in the U.S., with outstanding loan amounts totaling $1.53 trillion, now is as good a time as ever for the new endeavor.

The new marketplace aims to help students make smarter decisions when refinancing their existing student loans. By submitting a single application, users can receive actual rate quotes in real time from multiple lenders, including LendKey, CommonBond, and SoFi. Each offer transparently shows users a breakdown of monthly costs, payments, and fees so that they can make the best decision based on their circumstances.

The free process takes seconds and won’t hurt applicants’ credit scores. And unlike other loan offer aggregation sites, SuperMoney doesn’t harvest and sell applicant information.

Founded in 2013, SuperMoney offers a range of widgets to help users find the right tools to achieve their financial goals. Users can compare mortgage offers, credit cards, loan offers, and annual percentage yields on savings and checking accounts. The company’s CEO, Miron Lulic, recently showcased at FinovateSpring 2018, where he demoed SuperMoney’s No-Fee Financing Platform that offers merchants access to turnkey financing that can help save them up to 10% on discount rate fees.

Today’s announcement comes just a couple of months after SuperMoney’s last product launch— an auto loan comparison engine. The tools allow prospective borrowers to use a single platform to compare between secured and unsecured loans, refinancing, and private party auto loans. Also this fall, the company announced it has surpassed $1 billion in financing requests to lenders via its platform.

MaxMyInterest Brings Intelligent Cash Management to Radius Bank

MaxMyInterest Brings Intelligent Cash Management to Radius Bank

Radius Bank has teamed up with MaxMyInterest. The pioneering virtual bank has joined the intelligent cash management platform to offer a new account, Radius Max Savings, that currently earns 2.06% APY and is available exclusively on the MaxMyInterest platform.

“Working closely with Radius Bank, an innovator in online banking, we have streamlined the account opening process to less than one minute,” Gary Zimmerman, founder and CEO of MaxMyInterest said. “As a result of this collaboration, which leverages our patent-pending Max Common Application technology, Max members can now earn higher yield on their cash in just a few clicks, without switching banks.”

MaxMyInterest’s platform enables high net worth depositors to seamlessly and automatically transfer cash balances among multiple accounts in order to secure the highest yields. Max members enjoy aggregate FDIC insurance coverage on their deposits, as well as consolidated tax reporting.

“From quickly opening an account to maximizing their return on deposit balances, the Radius Max Savings accounts on the MaxMyInterest platform is a big step forward in enhancing the banking experience for your clients,” President and CEO of Radius Bank, Mike Butler said. He called the partnership with Max “an industry differentiator.”

A community bank with assets of $1.2 billion, Radius Bank serves individuals, SMEs, unions, government entities and non-profits. The bank offers check deposit, billpay, P2P payments and card management for personal clients, and provides services including advanced treasury management and loan payment solutions for business customers.

MaxMyInterest demonstrated its automated cash management technology at FinovateFall 2014. Over the summer, the company teamed up with Dynasty Financial Partners, which added Max as a cash option for its network of more than 45 wealth management companies. MaxMyInterest added former TD Ameritrade executive Tom Bradley to its advisory board this spring. And near the beginning of the year, CNBC quoted the company’s head of business development and partnerships, Michael Halloran, on cash strategies for investors during times of market volatility.

Operated by Six Trees Capital, MaxMyInterest was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in New York City.

Revolut Readies for $500 Million Series D

Revolut Readies for $500 Million Series D

Revolut, the multi-functional cross-border card and app, is planning a $500 million Series D investment round, potentially enlisting tech giants like Softbank to its roster of investors, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

According to City AM, the fintech has aggressive plans for expansions, with plans to launch in the U.S. after the investment round. Revolut has seen major regulatory shortcoming preventing it from starting operations there.

Australia and Japan are also on Revolut’s radar.

The round, set to take place early next year, would give the fintech the necessary boost to enter the U.S. market, a particularly difficult geography to crack.

This comes after the firm’s last funding, which had the shocking figure of $250 million.

The unicorn, which has already surpassed the $1.7 billion valuation, has grown fivefold in the past year, despite reporting annual losses.

It is not known whether Revolut’s previous backers, which include Index Ventures, Draper Esprit and DST Global, will sign on to its next round.

Earlier this year, Softbank said it planned to invest around $200 million into fintech, from its $100 billion Vision Fund.

Founded in 2013, London-based Revolut demonstrated its multi-currency card at FinovateEurope 2015. Nikolay Storonsky is founder and CEO.