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ID.me Powering Single-Sign On for VFW’s Digital Platforms

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 11, 2018
Categories: ID.me

Identity management platform ID.me has landed a new client this week. Veterans for Foreign Wars of the U.S. (VFW) can now offer its members a more streamlined and secure online experience with ID.me’s single-sign on capabilities.

After VFW members sign up for an account at ID.me, the Virginia-based company issues them a single username and password. Members use these credentials to log in to the VFW Online Membership System, access VA benefits on Vets.gov, and gain access to military discounts from 200+ retailers.

This is a sizable win for ID.me, whose founder and CEO Blake Hall is a third generation soldier, former Army Ranger, and graduate of West Point. With this new client, the company has access to VFW’s 1.7 million members, all of whom stand to benefit from a simplified sign in process and secure way to prove their veteran status. The announcement of this client comes just a month after the company teamed with General Motors to support its military discount program.

“Trying to remember the login information for several different online accounts is difficult, and further, verifying your identity online can be a cumbersome process,” said VFW National Commander Keith Harman. “So we’re glad to be able to provide our members with a simple solution.”

At FinovateSpring 2017, Hall showcased how ID.me streamlines account opening, regulatory compliance, and customer support for banks and fintechs using identity that is accredited by the federal government. Last month ID.me surpassed 5 million users and in October, the company partnered with Finovate alum ThreatMetrix to deliver ID verification for government and commercial digital services. The company has raised a total of $45.8 million.

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Gusto Partners with Accounting Platform Aplos

By David Penn Posted on January 11, 2018
Categories: Gusto

Accounting software provider Aplos has teamed up with payroll processing specialist Gusto to offer an integrated, back office financial and HR solution for Aplos’s nonprofit and faith-based organization client base.

“We are thrilled to expand our support of nonprofits by partnering with Aplos,” Gusto Head of Partnership Development Mike Triantos said. “Gusto and Aplos share the same vision by making it simpler to manage nonprofits and churches so they can focus on their core mission.”

The strategic partnership between the two companies will enable Aplos customers to import Gusto payroll runs into their accounting without requiring a manual export/import process. The cloud-based solution calculates, pays, and files federal, state and local payroll taxes, and manages W2, 1099, and new hire forms. In a statement, Aplos CEO Tim Goetz pointed out that Gusto was even able to factor in pastoral housing allowances and other more esoteric church financing arrangements

“When you are trying to change the world you don’t want to get stuck doing paperwork,” Goetz said. “This partnership with Gusto eliminates countless hours of administrative time.” He added that nine out of ten Aplos customers preferred Gusto over other payroll solutions. “I truly believe our nonprofit and church customers will feel this partnership makes their jobs easier so they can put their focus back on their mission.”

Founded in 2011 as ZenPayroll, the company demonstrated its payroll processing technology at FinovateSpring 2014. Rebranding as Gusto a year later, the San Francisco, California-based fintech has since partnered with firms like Capital One, raised more than $176 million in funding, and now serves more than 40,000 companies across the U.S. Gusto was named to CB Insights’ Fintech 250 list in June, and was featured in Business Insider as one of “3 startups to bet your careers on in 2017” last January.

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Alfa-Bank Collaborates with HashCash to Bring Domestic Payments to the Blockchain

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 11, 2018
Categories: Alfa-Bank

Russia’s largest commercial bank is making bitcoin waves today. Alfa-Bank announced that it has initiated a collaboration with HashCash, a private, permissionless, digital cash system.

Through the partnership, HashCash will create a payment router and clearing house where all transactions are sent to Alfa-Bank on the blockchain. Alfa-Bank will clear transactions, forward them to the receiving bank in real-time, and log supporting documents. The transfers will operate on the Open Source Blockchain, HC NET, which uses fiat currencies for settlement.

Raj Chowdhury, Managing Director of HashCash Consultants said that the implementation “creates a clearing house solution that combines the liquidity efficiency of a netting system and the intra-day finality of a real time gross settlement system.” He added, “The result is a safe, secure, reliable, fast and final payment system for all transacting parties.”

This isn’t Alfa-Bank’s first foray into the blockchain. Last year, the bank partnered with S7 Airlines for blockchain-based ticket payments. It also collaborated with Sberbank on Russia’s first Blockchain Payment.

At FinovateFall 2015, Alfa-Bank debuted Sense, a predictive marketing solutions product for financial institutions.

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Ripple Launches Trial with MoneyGram

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 11, 2018
Categories: Ripple

Blockchain solutions innovator Ripple announced plans to team up with remittance services company MoneyGram.

This announcement comes at a time when both Ripple and MoneyGram have been in the news headlines. Many outlets have reported on Ripple for the volatility of XRP, its digital currency (and for the rumored rise of its founder, Chris Larsen, as one of the richest persons in the world). And last week, an attempted purchase of MoneyGram by Chinese firm Ant Financial was blocked by the U.S. government.

As a part of the partnership, MoneyGram will use XRP through Ripple’s xRapid, a service that aims to provide liquidity to financial institutions. Touting the practicality of leveraging XRP for remittances, Ripple noted that transactions can be made for fractions of a penny and in two-to-three seconds. This is favorable compared to Bitcoin’s fees of $30 per transactions and wait times of up to an hour.

Through agreement, the companies will also explore MoneyGram’s integration into Ripple’s xVia, an API for businesses, payment providers and banks to send payments across various networks using a standard interface.

MoneyGram’s current model requires the sender’s account to be pre-funded before they are able to send currency. Leveraging blockchain technology, MoneyGram can simplify cross-border transfers, making them more efficient. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said, “Money transfer companies are incredibly important because they help people get money to their friends and loved ones…. By using a digital asset like XRP that settles in three seconds or less, they can now move money as quickly as information.”

MoneyGram is the second largest money transfer company in the world, competing not only with traditional companies such as Western Union, but also with the likes of fintechs such as Azimo, TransferWise, and CurrencyCloud. Leveraging the blockchain for cross-border remittances and transactions is not new to fintech. At FinovateFall last year, we saw nanopay demo its cross-border payments platform that enables the banks to provide instant fund transfers, without intermediaries, at a 60% cost reduction. Similarly, in 2015 CoinJar showcased its platform that lets users buy, sell, send, receive, and spend digital and traditional forms of currency using the blockchain.

Ripple has offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney, and counts more than 100 customers across the globe. At FinovateSpring 2013, company co-founder Chris Larsen debuted Ripple (originally known as OpenCoin). Last fall, Ripple teamed with AmEx and Santander to support blockchain-powered international B2B payments. And in December of last year, the company’s XRP currency reached a milestone, boasting availability on 50 exchanges worldwide.

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Kreditech Leverages Mambu’s Banking Technology for Expansion to Indian Market

By David Penn Posted on January 11, 2018
Categories: Kreditech, Mambu

Kreditech has selected Mambu’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) banking engine for its push into India’s lending market, reports Antony Peyton of Banking Technology (Finovate’s sister publication.)

The firm currently operates in Europe and Latin America and said it will expand into the sub-continent in early 2018, together with its partner PayU, a payments provider and a Mambu client in Latin America.

The engine will let Kreditech launch a short-term lending product tailored to local consumer and regulatory needs.

Alexander Graubner-Müller, CEO of Kreditech, said by using “alternative data and self-learning algorithms, we are able to evaluate consumers whose credit history is difficult for banks to gauge” – and it offers them “access to loans and thereby help them to gain economic independence”.

He added that Mambu’s cloud-native solution “easily integrates into our architecture, allowing us to quickly scale and adapt to market and consumer demands”.

The loan product is expected to go live in the first quarter of 2018, all data will be hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) India.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, Kreditech covers more than five markets, including Russia, Mexico, Spain and Poland. Up until now, the company says it has processed more than five million loan applications through its subsidiaries. Kreditech demonstrated its the effectiveness of its Kreditech algorithm that assesses client creditworthiness in less than a minute at FinovateSpring 2014.

A FinovateAsia alum, Mambu demonstrated its native cloud Saas banking application at our Singapore conference in 2013. Based in Berlin and founded in 2011, Mambu has forged partnerships with a number of FIs and fintechs in recent months including a deal with ABN Amro’s new fintech firm, New10 in October, and a deployment with German challenger bank, N26 announced in September.

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Scalable Capital Launches in Switzerland

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 11, 2018
Categories: Scalable Capital

Scalable Capital is saying, “Gruetzi mittenand” to Switzerland today. The U.K.-based robo advisor has launched its services in Switzerland, the fourth country to which Scalable Capital has expanded, following launches in U.K., Germany, and Austria.

Describing Switzerland as “an interesting market for every wealth manager,” Scalable Capital Co-founder Simon Miller said that the company made the move knowing it could offer real value to Swiss retail investors. Miller added, “We are the only independent robo-advisor in Europe using three key building blocks to build a truly customer-centric product: professional risk management for every individual portfolio, low cost, and a comprehensive digital service with unparalleled transparency.”

With a Swiss customer phone hotline, as well as a website aimed specifically to serve Swiss customers, the startup has an E.U.-wide approval and can offer its services across the E.U. without having to go through additional application processes. Scalable Capital’s German custodian bank partner, Baader Bank AG, will provide tax reporting and will serve as the custodian bank for all Swiss customers, managing their portfolios in euros.

Scalable Capital was founded in 2014 and now serves more than 20,000 clients with $810 million (£600 million) assets under management. The company holds partnerships with BlackRock, Siemens Private Finance, and Germany’s third-largest retail bank, ING-DiBa.

Scalable Capital most recently presented at FinovateEurope 2016. The company has 70 employees and has raised $49 million. Last spring, Scalable Capital was the only European startup to be recognized on CNBC’s Upstart 25 list.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on January 11, 2018
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Alfa-Bank, Featurespace, Gusto, ID.me, identitii, Klarna, PayStand, Realty Mogul, Ripple, Roostify, Scalable Capital, Truphone

On the web

Scalable Capital Launches in Switzerland.

Ripple Launches Trial with MoneyGram.

Gusto Partners with Accounting Platform Aplos.

Alfa-Bank Collaborates with HashCash to Bring Domestic Payments to the Blockchain.

ID.me Powering Single-Sign On for VFW’s Digital Platforms

Around the web

ACI Worldwide announces its UP Merchant Payments solution now available as a cloud-based service.

Truphone, Featurespace and PayStand win spots on The Silicon Review’s 50 Smartest Companies list for 2017.

Bank Info Security features Nick Armstrong, CEO and founder of identitii.

Walmart Labs veteran Adnan Habib joins Roostify as VP of Engineering.

Realty Mogul appoints interim Chief Investment Officer Chris Fraley as its official CIO.

Klarna extends its partnership with ACI Worldwide.

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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Dream Payments Integrates with QuickBooks and First Data’s Clover

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 10, 2018
Categories: Dream Payments, First Data, Intuit

Cloud-based payment platform Dream Payments has teamed up with Quickbooks, and First Data’s Clover to bring QuickBooks capabilities to U.S. merchants this week.

This comes three months after Dream Payments first initiated a partnership with First Data last year, launching the Dream Payments POS for merchants using First Data’s Clover. It also follows Dream Payments’ successful pilot of a QuickBooks integration in Canada.

The partnership will allow Dream Payments’ business clients using any POS device in Clover’s line to sync with QuickBooks. After a purchase, QuickBooks will automatically and in real time record the sale, update inventory, collect and close invoices, and import sales tax.

CEO of Dream Payments Brent Ho-Young said that the integration will help businesses succeed. He added that, by combining QuickBooks and Clover in the Dream Payments POS, “we’re unlocking the cloud and simplifying the most complex aspects of running a successful business — customer experience, payments and accounting. Now businesses of any size can access a powerful commerce platform that traditionally only the largest retailers could afford.”

Founded in 2014 and with operations in Stamford, Connecticut, Dream Payments helps small businesses accept all payments, including chip cards, contactless cards, and mobile wallets. In addition to ties with Quickbooks and First Data, the company also counts TD Merchant Solutions and Chase Paymentech in its partnership ecosystem.

At FinovateSpring 2015, Dream Payments debuted its mobile POS device. Last fall, the company partnered with IBM to leverage its cloud and security capabilities. Dream Payments has raised $14.9 million. Brent Ho-Young is CEO.

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New Year. New Venue. New Format. New FinovateSpring.

By Heather Stowell Posted on January 10, 2018
Categories: Finovate Marketing, FinovateSpring 2018

2018. Santa Clara. 4 days of demos & discussions.

Less than two weeks into 2018, most of us are already running to catch up. But there are a couple deadlines you should not let pass you by: demo application deadline this Friday, January 12 and ticket deadline next Friday, January 19 ($800 savings).

With its expansion to four days this year, FinovateSpring moves to the Santa Clara Convention Center on May 8-11. The first two days will continue featuring Finovate’s signature single-track demo format, while the next two days will focus on deeper dives and insights from keynotes, panels, breakout sessions and more. All the fintech bang for your buck consolidated into just four days.

Companies selected to demo on May 8-9 will receive 7 minutes on stage to demo their latest fintech innovation, a booth in the exhibition area, ability to connect with 1,500+ C-level financial execs, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and influential press, analysts, and bloggers, plus many other perks.

If you’re thinking about applying to demo, now is the time. Earlier applicants may receive faster selection and are also eligible for lower pricing. This next deadline, which guarantees you the lower cost, is this Friday, January 12. More information on demoing is available here.

And if you would rather check out the event with an eye towards applying next year, get your ticket before Friday, January 19 and save $800.

Send questions to spring@finovate.com.

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TransferWise Brings New Multi-Currency Borderless Accounts with Debit Cards to Public

By David Penn Posted on January 10, 2018
Categories: TransferWise

TransferWise announced that the new multi-currency account it initially introduced to businesses last year will be rolled out to consumers in the first quarter of 2018. The borderless accounts enable users to hold and convert up to 28 currencies at the real exchange rate; get bank details instantly from the U.K., E.U., Australia, and the U.S.; and to receive money transferred from abroad in GBP, EUR, AUD, and USD for free.

They are also free to open and do not require an overseas address. New users get a British account number and sort code, a European IBAN, an Australian account number and BSB code, and an American account number and routing number. There is a small fee for converting across currencies and for cash withdrawals, but there are no charges for monthly setup or receiving fees.

“Multi-currency accounts have been available from banks at extortionate prices for years, but for the first time we’re bringing true, multi-country banking – with real bank details in key currencies – to any one who needs it,” said TransferWise co-founder and chairman Taavet Hinrikus.

TransferWise made borderless accounts available to business customers as of May of last year, but did not come with the debit card the 2018 offering will have. The company told TechCrunch that the accounts are best thought of as a “companion account that solves a couple of different but fundamental problems.” Business Insider suggested that the account and debit card combo from TransferWise will help the company serve what it called the “competitive travel money market” as well as a counter to the challenge of fintechs like Revolut and its low-fee foreign exchange card.

The news from TransferWise comes just a few months after the company’s successful $280 million Series E round led by Old Mutual Global Investors. This added to the company’s valuation, last reported at $1.1 billion in 2017. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in London, U.K., TransferWise demonstrated its platform at FinovateEurope 2013. The company was named to the European Fintech 100 in September, along with several of its fellow Finovate alums, and earned a spot on CB Insights Fintech 250 list. In July, TransferWise announced that co-founder Kristo Kaarmann would take over as CEO from Taavet Hinrikus, who transitioned to the role of chairman.

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Intelligent Environments Appoints New CEO

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 10, 2018
Categories: Intelligent Environments

Mobile financial solutions company Intelligent Environments has appointed a new CEO this week. Effective immediately, Jeremy Young will take the seat of David Webber, the company’s previous CEO.

Young comes to Intelligent Environments with 20 years of experience in financial services and software. He most recently served as VP of EMEA at Fiserv. Prior to that, Young was head of retail banking and insurance at Oracle.

Young said that joining Intelligent Environments is a “tremendously exciting prospect.” He added, “With the company at the forefront of digital innovation in the financial services sector, leading its future growth and development is an immense opportunity.”

Founded in 1985, Intelligent Environments aims to help financial services organizations improve the customer experience. Among the company’s clients are Lloyds, HSBC, Sainsbury’s Bank, Argos, House of Fraser, and Toyota Financial Services.

Intelligent Environments demoed AppSensorFS at FinovateEurope 2015. AppSensorFS deploys sensors to detect potential security threats and makes decisions in real time to deploy the appropriate defense responses. The U.K.-based company was recently recognized as one of the world’s “most significant providers” in Forrester Wave’s Q3 2017 report on Digital Banking Engagement Platforms.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 10, 2018
Categories: AutoGravity, Bluefin Payment Systems, Dream Payments, Expensify, Intelligent Environments, Meniga, Privakey, Symphony Software Foundation, TransferWise

On Finovate.com

Intelligent Environments Appoints New CEO.

TransferWise Brings New Multi-Currency, Borderless Accounts with Debit Cards to Public.

Dream Payments Integrates with QuickBooks and First Data’s Clover.

Around the web

Meniga announced as FStech Awards 2018 finalist for ‘Challenges’ financial fitness.

Foundr Magazine interviews Expensify CEO David Barrett.

The Asian Review features Financial data and chat startup Symphony Software Foundation.

Forbes highlights AutoGravity’s take on lending.

Privakey is the latest fintech to join the FIDO Alliance.

Bluefin Payment Systems partners with Choice Ticketing to support PCI-validated ticketing payments.

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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