Kyckr Lands Global Payment Provider Client

Kyckr Lands Global Payment Provider Client
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Kyckr

Regtech player Kyckr landed a new client today– a leading global payments provider.

Through the agreement, Kyckr will provide its Know Your Customer (KYC) onboarding services to the client, the name of which has not been disclosed “due to the critical services provided by Kyckr to [the] client for KYC on-boarding services.” Through the indefinite agreement, the client will pay an annual fee of $150k for Kyckr’s corporate customer validation and verification services, which help improve KYC compliance-related obligations.

David Cassidy, Kyckr managing director said, “Our services demonstrate the relevance of our capabilities in multiple sectors, helping improve customer on-boarding, bringing about operational efficiencies and improved KYC compliance.”

Kyckr offers traditional APIs that provide direct access to over 150 business registries which, when combined with blockchain technologies, give immutable proof of a company’s information at the time of any transaction. The API helps establish a complete KYC decision by enabling companies to perform company searches, access company profiles and filings, cross-reference searches on directors, shareholders and others.

Above: Kyckr’s Ben Cronin, Joint CEO and Director and Cian Foley, Sr. Software Engineer, presenting at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016

Founded in 2007, Kyckr’s Ben Cronin, Joint CEO and Director, and Cian Foley, Sr. Software Engineer, gave a presentation titled Corporate Identity on the Blockchain to an audience of developers at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016. Last November, Prudential Singapore selected Kyckr as one of three fintechs for its PRU Fintegrate partnership program. Earlier that month, the company was named a Hackcelerator Finalist at the Singapore FinTech Festival.

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Dynamics Leverages Sprint’s Wireless Network for New IoT Connected Card

Dynamics Leverages Sprint’s Wireless Network for New IoT Connected Card
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Dynamics

Next-generation payment card company Dynamics announced this week it has teamed up with Sprint, a subsidiary of SoftBank, to launch the Wallet Card, a battery-powered, connected payment card.

The Wallet Card, Dynamics’ first IoT-powered card, will leverage Sprint’s network for wireless data transfers. The card, which is around the same size and shape as a normal credit card, contains almost 200 internal components. Users can access debit, credit, pre-paid, multi-currency, one-time use, and loyalty cards from a single card.

Sprint, which is powering the IoT technology behind the card, is helping Dynamics differentiate this card from the company’s previous offerings. Specifically, the new Wallet Card contains:

  • Cell phone chip and cell phone antenna for data transfer
  • Battery and recharging chip– the card charges itself through normal operation.
  • Re-writable magnetic stripe, EMV chip, and contactless chip that allows users to download new card information to the card.
  • 65,000 pixel display and UI that enables cardholders to select different cards and informational screens.

With these new capabilities, card issuers can immediately rescind compromised card numbers and re-issue a new card number in real time.

The Wallet Card, which was debuted at the CES tradeshow in Las Vegas, received four CES Innovation awards, including the Best of Innovation Award for Security Technologies. It was an honoree for Computers, Embedded Technologies and Technologies for a Better World. “This is just the beginning,” said Jeff Mullen, CEO of Dynamics,”Wallet Card is poised to redefine the way consumers and businesses think of credit cards and enable a close, more secure connection.”

Jan Geldmacher, president of Sprint Business said that the Wallet Card is an example of “how important converged networks and advanced integrated technology will be for the lives of everyday people across the globe.”

Also today, Dynamics announced it has teamed with India-based IndusInd Bank who will bring Dynamics’ multi-account, powered card– a product the company debuted in 2010– to the Indian market.

Founded in 2007, Dynamics most recently presented at FinovateFall 2017. The company, which has raised over $110 million in funding from investors including Mastercard, CIBC, Adams Capital Management, and Bain Capital Ventures, is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with office locations in Singapore, Sao Paulo, and New York.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Baker Hill, Dynamics, eToro, Kapitall, Klarna, Kyckr, Motif Investing, Narrative Science, Taulia

On Finovate.com

  • Dynamics Leverages Sprint’s Wireless Network for New IoT Connected Card.
  • Kyckr Lands Global Payment Provider Client.

Around the web

  • Taulia announces milestone, accelerating $1 billion in invoices in a single day.
  • Klarna extends partnership with ACI Worldwide, now reaching 10 major markets including the U.S. and U.K.
  • Marquette Bank ($1.6 billion in assets) builds on existing relationship with Baker Hill by adding risk management, loan origination and other solutions.
  • Datanami highlights Narrative Science’s natural language processing tech.
  • Disruptor Daily names eToro, Motif, Kapitall among 9 companies to watch in 2018.

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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Fintech News from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Fintech News from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateMiddleEast 2018


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As Finovate prepares for its first conference in the Middle East, here’s a round up of recent fintech news and need-to-knows from the MENA region. Learn more about how to join us in Dubai in February for FinovateMiddleEast.

  • Jordan’s first bank, Jordan Ahli Bank launches beta version of chatbot service.
  • Alrajih Islamic Bank for Investment and Financing selects Path Solutions’ Islamic core banking system, iMAL.
  • Mortgagetech Meets Crypto Assets: New Sharia-compliant crypto currency for purchasing property slated for June launch in Dubai.

MENA Fintech Fact: 86% of MENA area adults do not have access to a bank account. But the number of startups in the MENA region doubled from 46 to 105 from 2012 to 2015.

  • Crowdfunding platform for farmers, BOOSTani wins first prize at Startup Weekend Bekaa in Lebanon.
  • Egyptian payments firm Fawry announces plans to expand nationwide in 2018.
  • ACI Worldwide partners with HyperPay to bring real-time fraud prevention solutions to ecommerce merchants in the MENA region.

Thought Leadership Fintech – 6 disrupters facing the Middle East – Mossadiq Ali Ghanghro, Middle East Director in Transaction Services for PwC, writes about top themes in fintech in the MENA region.

  • Bahrain Middle East Bank to deploy OneSumX from Wolters Kluwer for core banking and reporting.
  • NCR to introduce bitcoin-enabled ATMS in the UAE. Join Finovate in Dubai in March for FinovateMiddleEast.
  • Moneyfellows wins MetLife Foundation Inclusion Plus competition in Egypt and Lebanon.

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Finova Financial’s New Fundraising Process Leverages Cryptocurrency to Serve Non-Accredited Investors

Finova Financial’s New Fundraising Process Leverages Cryptocurrency to Serve Non-Accredited Investors
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Finova Financial

Alternative lender Finova Financial introduced a new product this week that will offer non-accredited investors access to regulated public securities offerings.

The new offering is called the JOBS Crypto Offering (JCO) and will allow investors to use cryptocurrency to invest in equity ownership of previously privately-held companies. The JCO is a type of initial coin offering (ICO) in which tokens that represent ownership shares of capital stock are tracked on a blockchain and are sold according to either a registration statement filed under the Securities Act or a transaction that’s exempt from registration under the Securities Act.

“I liked the idea of the ICOs when they were first introduced as they looked like an exciting way for startups to raise funds from small investors, but I had concerns about regulatory compliance practices, especially for tokens that are clearly securities,” said Finova CEO and brainchild of the JCO, Gregory Keough. He said that he created the JCO “to open the doors of opportunity for the small investor.”

Here’s how JCOs work– companies in search of financing issue securities to the general public in exchange for cryptocurrency or other funds. Ownership of these securities is represented by tokens, or blockchain entries. As for what’s next, Keough described his vision for JCOs saying, “I envision the Tokens sold in JCOs being listed on an Alternative Trading System, creating a liquid security and providing companies with an alternative to a traditional initial public offering.”

Currently, there is no word on an expected launch date for the JCO.

Finova Financial was founded in 2015. At FinovateSpring 2016, Keough debuted Finova’s Car Equity Line of Credit (C-LOC), a product that enables consumers to take loans from the equity in their car. Later that year, the company raised $52.5 million in combined equity and debt.

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Insuritas Launches i-Insure Platform with 42 P&C Carriers

Insuritas Launches i-Insure Platform with 42 P&C Carriers
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Insuritas

When you are a company like Insuritas it can be a challenge to make a big news splash. A frequent deal-maker, the insurtech headlines are filled with news of financial institutions that Insuritas has partnered with, enabling them to market and sell insurance products to their customers as easily as their own banking products.

And that makes today’s news that much more special. Insurtias has announced today that it has successfully launched its i-Insure platform with 42 of the leading auto and home insurance carriers in the U.S.

“We have built powerful, trusted partnerships with the nation’s leading auto & home insurance carriers, and have emerged as one of the fastest growing insurance distributors in the country with our third consecutive year of 40%+ growth in profitable premium,” Insuritas CEO Jeff Chesky said.

i-Insure enables property & casualty carriers to access more than 180 fields of data to deliver bindable rates within the firm’s virtual agency platform that reaches more than nine million retail households. The technology gives carriers the ability to drive and promote specific innovations and products to customers and is integrated with Insuritas’ partner bank and credit union loan origination and online banking platforms.

“As our bank and credit union partners deploy our virtual insurance agency platforms deeper inside their ecosystems, and leverage their trusted customer and member relationships, we can now further refine personalized insurance shopping and buying to the over 9 million customers in our addressable market,” Chesky explained.

A popular choice for banks and credit unions looking to add insurance services to their offerings, Insuritas has teamed up with FIs from across the country including Indiana’s Owen County State Bank ($201 million in assets), Michigan’s Marshall Community Credit Union, and Ohio’s Independent Bank ($2.6 billion in assets) in the second half of 2017 alone. The company’s platform leverages data analytics, robotic process automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence to help insurance carrier’s “further refine their products, pricing, and conversation rates,” said Insuritas CTO Tracy O’Brien. “A year in the making in collaboration with our carrier partners,” O’Brien said, “i-Insure is a unique, agnostic multichannel middleware that allows our carrier partners to deploy their innovations in real-time.”

Founded in 1998, Insuritas demonstrated its SmartCART technology at FinovateSpring 2014. The SmartCART platform enables online banking customers to shop for financial products inside a bank or credit union’s online ecosystem, giving consumers an Amazon.com-like shopping, single-click checkout, and after-sale online account management experience. The company, which is headquartered in East Windsor, Connecticut, has raised more than $10 million in funding.

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Credit Karma Teams with American Express to Offer Advance Tax Refund

Credit Karma Teams with American Express to Offer Advance Tax Refund
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Credit Karma

With the new GOP tax law in place, Americans have begun thinking about April 15– the tax filing deadline. Taking advantage of this new awareness, consumer credit monitoring and financial health startup Credit Karma has made a move to attract users to its new tax filing service with the launch of Earlybird Advance.

Earlybird Advance is a no-fee, no-interest loan from MetaBank that allows users who file through Credit Karma to claim from $500 to $1,000 of their tax refund as soon as 24 hours after the IRS accepts their tax return. This is a step up from the three-to-four week time period it generally takes for taxpayers to receive their funds.

“Because filing taxes with Credit Karma Tax is completely free, not only can Americans keep their entire refund, Earlybird Advance can also help them get some money sooner,” said Jagjit Chawla, Credit Karma Tax General Manager. “It’s our way of helping people who can’t wait weeks for their refund.”

Users will receive their advanced funds on an American Express Serve Prepaid Card. The card has no monthly fees and allows users to withdraw their funds for free at more than 24,000 ATMs nationwide. As soon as mid-January, users can apply online in less than two minutes to qualify for the loan.

California-based Credit Karma launched its tax service in December of 2016. The product allows users to prepare and file their taxes for free with a simple process that offers insights to make their taxes easier and more accurate.

Since launching in 2007, Credit Karma has raised $368 million. After its last fundraising in 2015, the company was valued at $3.5 billion. At FinovateSpring 2009, Credit Karma CEO and founder Ken Lin demonstrated the company’s platform, which offers free credit reports from Equifax and Transunion, and seeks to serve as a hub for users to monitor their financial health.

Last summer, the company launched Credit Karma Mortgage, a tool that helps homeowners discover savings opportunities available through refinancing. And in the fall of 2017, Credit Karma unveiled Online Vehicle Center, an automotive information center that serves as a one-stop shop to help consumers manage and organize their vehicle-related finances and information.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Bill.com, BlueVine, BRIDGEi2i, Cardlytics, Credit Karma, Finova Financial, Global Debt Registry, Insuritas, Kabbage, Moven, Quid

On Finovate.com

  • Credit Karma Teams with American Express to Offer Advance Tax Refund.
  • Insuritas Launches i-Insure Platform with 42 P&C Carriers.
  • Finova Financial’s New Fundraising Process Leverages Cryptocurrency to Serve Non-Accredited Investors.

Around the web

  • Superbcrew.com interviews BRIDGEi2i Analytics Co-founder and CTO Pritam Kanti Paul.
  • Entrepreneur names Kabbage, Cardlytics, BlueVine among top 360 best entrepreneurial companies in America.
  • Bill.com launches Accountant Partner Program.
  • Global Debt Registry earns spot in IBM mentoring program for blockchain app developers.
  • Moven founder and CEO Brett King discusses the AI race between China and the U.S. on CNBC’s Closing Bell.
  • Wall Street Journal leverages Quid to spot fraudulent entries on FCC website during net neutrality debate.

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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Wealthfront Rakes in $75 Million

Wealthfront Rakes in $75 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Wealthfront

Here’s a little-known fact about wealth tech player Wealthfront— the company debuted as KaChing in 2009, then changed its name and relaunched in 2011 as Wealthfront. Another fact about Wealthfront– the California-based company raised $75 million this week.

The financing was led by Tiger Global Management with participation from existing investors Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Greylock Partners, Index Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Social Capital, and Spark Capital. Wealthfront’s total funding now sits at $205 million. While the company has not disclosed its valuation, CB Insights valued it at $700 million in 2014.

In a blog post, Wealthfront founder and CEO Andy Rachleff said that the company will use the financing to help “pursue an even more aggressive push into software-based financial planning and financial services.” He added, “It will also allow us to accelerate our investment in our brokerage infrastructure which should enable us to build and launch new services even more quickly than the accelerated rate at which we did in 2017.”

Among Wealthfront’s new, 2017 offerings was Path, an automated financial planning solution. Path offers an interactive experience that allows users to explore different scenarios that may help them reach their goals. For example, users can input different decisions about their plans for their home once they retire– opting to stay put, downsize, or move to a more expensive home. “We started with retirement planning,” said Rachleff, “because there really aren’t any great options to forecast your financial future outside of basic ‘retirement calculators’ that require a lot of guesswork.”

Similar to Betterment and Personal Capital, Wealthfront offers an automated investment approach. However, the company differentiates itself in a couple of key ways. First, Wealthfront does not offer a hybrid wealth management product– that is, the company does not sell a tiered offering with access to certified financial advisors. Personal Capital has always offered this “high-touch” approach, and Betterment augmented its certified financial advisor offerings last summer. Second, Wealthfront has bundled fintech services by launching a Portfolio Line of Credit product– something unique among the top automated investment services.

Wealthfront allows users to invest up to $10,000 for free and currently manages $9.5 billion in assets for users across the U.S. Last June, the company was named in CB Insights’ Fintech 250 list.

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Daon Forges Strategic Partnership with North African Technology Innovator GEMADEC

Daon Forges Strategic Partnership with North African Technology Innovator GEMADEC
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daon

A new strategic partnership agreement has been signed between biometric authentication and identity assurance innovator Daon and GEMADEC. The partnership will enable GEMADEC, a North African security and document dematerialization firm to extend its services to customers in North Africa and French-speaking African countries.

“GEMADEC is already working in the field of security and biometrics, supporting the Postal organizations as a trusted third-party in the implementation of a legally valid electronic certificate (PKI) production platform and also offers electronic signature solutions,” GEMADEC CEO Touhami Rabii explained.

Daon CEO Tom Grissen praised GEMADEC’s “long-standing experience and demonstrated success internationally,” and sees the potential for the partnership to make a “significant impact in the financial and public sectors.” Founded in 1977, GEMADEC currently operates in 22 countries and serves as a world reference in hybrid mail for postal organizations looking to modernize their operations. The company has also provided security, biometrics, and digital identity services for public institutions in North African nations such as Gabon, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and in Djibouti.

Headquartered in Reston, Virginia and founded in 2002, Daon demonstrated IdentityX, its universal mobile biometric authentication platform at FinovateFall 2016. Daon provides multi-channel, biometric authentication and identity management solutions that leverage technologies such as device-binding, geolocation, and liveness detection. The company’s offerings have been deployed in a number of verticals including digital banking and payments verification, border management and employee credentialing, and national ID and cloud authentication.

In October, Daon teamed up with fellow Finovate alum Kony, bringing a suite of authentication tools to Kony’s digital banking platform. The company added Eyeprint ID to its platform in June, courtesy of a partnership with another Finovate alum, EyeVerify. This spring, Daon announced an integration with Experian’s fraud and identity platform, CrossCore.

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Ghana Government to Leverage Entrust Datacard to Issue National ID Cards

Ghana Government to Leverage Entrust Datacard to Issue National ID Cards
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Entrust Datacard

Identity and transaction technology solutions company Entrust Datacard has agreed to team up with the government of Ghana this week. Through a partnership with Identity Management Systems, a subsidiary of Margins Group, Entrust will help the Ghana government issue national identity cards to its citizens in real time.

The new GhanaCard meets all international requirements, including chip-embedded technology and biometric capabilities. Starting this month, the government will begin issuing the ID to 16 million citizens.

The distribution of the cards relies on Entrust Datacard’s instant issuance technology. The real-time issuance of the cards saves Ghanian citizens from having to pick up their ID in person. Furthermore, it saves the government from the administrative hassle of dealing with cards that were never picked up.

“Identity Management Systems designed a custom solution that fits Ghana’s economic and social needs, utilizing Entrust Datacard printers,” said Xavier Coemelck, regional VP for Entrust Datacard EMEA. “Entrust Datacard technologies will enable the government of Ghana to improve service to its citizens and help ensure secure access to rights and services. This project demonstrates our ability to customize our solutions to fit all customer requirements.”

Entrust Datacard was founded in 1969 and presented at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016. Jason Soroko, Security Technologies Manager, and Matt Rose, Technical Sales Consultant, spoke to the audience of developers on Safeguarding Your Banking Applications. Headquartered in Shakopee, Minnesota, Entrust Datacard has 2,000 colleagues working around the globe to serve customers in 150 countries.

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Akamai Appoints Former Verizon CIO as Chief Information Officer

Akamai Appoints Former Verizon CIO as Chief Information Officer
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Akamai

Web and mobile security company Akamai is bolstering its workforce today with the appointment of a new Chief Information Officer. Starting today, Fari Ebrahimi (pictured) will take on the role, combined with the duties and title of Senior Vice President. Ebrahimi succeeds Kumud Kalia, who will remain with Akamai in an advisory role over the next two months.

Ebrahimi will be responsible for global strategy, development, app operations, and IT infrastructure for Akamai’s customers, employees, and partners. In a press release, Ebrahimi said his goal is to “drive and scale end-to-end digital transformation across all business processes to maximize and secure our customer, partner, and employee experiences, while optimizing operations leveraging Akamai’s world-class solutions.”

Ebrahimi most recently served as SVP and Global CIO of Avaya, a California-based mobile network operator. Prior to that appointment, he spent 13 years working in multiple capacities at Verizon, including as President of Verizon Information Technologies, and as SVP and CIO of Verizon Services Operations, where he was in charge of leading a workforce of almost 4,000.

Discussing Ebrahimi’s strong background, Akamai CEO Dr. Tom Leighton said Ebrahimi “has demonstrated both significant results and cost savings in leading complex enterprise transformations, especially in the areas of cloud, mobile and security. We look forward to combining his talents with our existing strong IT team.”

Akamai was founded in 1998 and most recently presented at FinovateEurope 2015 in London where it debuted Client Reputation Service. The solution helps FIs forecast security issues and protect against DDoS attacks, web attackers, screen scrapers, and scanning tools. In November of last year, the Massachusetts-based company acquired Nominum, a DNS security solutions company. And in October, Akamai teamed up with Bell to offer a suite of web security and performance solutions for Canadian businesses.

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