Coinbase Caught Up in Bitcoin Blowout

Coinbase Caught Up in Bitcoin Blowout

What happens when you’re facilitating the trade of a product that is experiencing extreme hockey stick growth? You expand your team and operations as quickly as possible.

This is what Coinbase, an exchange platform for bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin, is experiencing. The California-based company will have plenty of war stories to tell once this season mellows out. After bitcoin blew past $16,000 earlier today*, the company tweeted:

The New York Times, in its piece Coinbase: the Heart of Bitcoin Frenzy, explained Coinbase’s popularity over other cryptocurrency trading platforms. Author Nathaniel Popper said, “Coinbase has been the dominant place that ordinary Americans go to buy and sell virtual currency. No company had made it simpler to sign up, link a bank account or debit card, and begin buying Bitcoin.”

Because of this growth, Coinbase now has more customers than E-Trade and Charles Schwab, having increased by 7.8 million accounts since January of this year. However, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong sees past the hype into a more stable future for cryptocurrency. He told the New York Times that bitcoin is “probably a little bit too focused on the price or people trying to make money.” He added, “The thing I’m passionate about with digital currency is the world having an open financial system.”

Coinbase isn’t the only one experiencing growing pains. Global banking company Revolut, which launched a cryptocurrency trading feature today, sent out this series of Tweets this morning:

Founded in 2012, Coinbase demoed Instant Exchange at FinovateSpring 2014. In August, the company became a fintech unicorn after it closed a $100 million round of Series D funding. At that point, Pitchbook estimated Coinbase’s value to be $1.6 billion.


*Note: Earlier today Bitcoin’s value spiked over $17,300 but at press time sits at $17,099.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

Around the web

  • PayNearMe helping New Yorkers pay traffic tickets using cash.
  • Coinbase cofounder and CEO Brian Armstrong reminds users to ‘invest responsibly.”

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.

Finovate Webinar: First Impressions Matter – Understand Your Customer

Finovate Webinar: First Impressions Matter – Understand Your Customer

 

The way consumers shop, buy and use financial services is changing along with ever-increasing expectations. Despite shopping online, many customers still buy financial products in the branch. Finovate and Quadient invite you to listen to this webinar to learn why an inviting onboarding process for customers is no longer optional.

During this webinar, Bob Meara, Senior Analyst at Celent will discuss:

  1. Why omni-channel customer onboarding is needed
  2. Where many onboarding processes fall short
  3. What’s a bank to do: 4 recommended steps to achieving omni-channel delivery

Focusing on Financial Institutions, Andrew Stevens, Product Marketing Manager at Quadient will discuss the importance of putting the customer at the center of your onboarding journeys in face-to-face environments, and how this method will delight your customers.

 

Bob Meara
Senior Analyst
Celent

 

 

 

Andrew Stevens
Product Marketing Manager
Quadient

 

 

 

David Penn (moderator)
Research Analyst
Finovate

 

 

REGISTER NOW >>

nanopay Launches B2B Payment Platform for International Commerce

nanopay Launches B2B Payment Platform for International Commerce

Canada-based payments platform nanopay unveiled its new B2B payments solution for international trading this week. The new platform, which is scheduled to be available to users in February and is currently in private beta, will initially support cross-border payments between the U.S. and Canada. nanopay expects to extend the service to India and China in the second quarter of 2018.

CEO and founder of nanopay Laurence Cooke pointed to the difficulty in paying and getting paid by international trading partners – as well as a lack of visibility – as the challenge the new platform solves. “Business relationships are founded on trust and the nanopay platform eliminates payment risk as an impediment to working together,” he said. “With UPS-like tracking you always know the status of your payment request.”

CEO and founder Laurence Cooke demonstrating nanopay Cross Border / B2B Portal at FinovateFall 2017.

“nanopay’s vision for simple and secure global B2B payments made it an easy choice to implement its platform,” s2H Business Information Systems CEO Sam Andary said. Crediting nanopay’s technology for helping his firm separate itself from its competition, he added, “Our customers will benefit from knowing where their money is at all times and trusting that it’ll be delivered securely – capabilities that customers are growing to expect in this digital age.”

nanopay’s B2B platform supports account-to-account payments, providing full visibility and payment context. This includes ISO 20022 metadata to provide for straight-through processing (STP), and avoids the need for transferring sensitive banking information back and forth. Payment originators will have full visibility of foreign exchange costs when invoices are paid in a different currency, and the platform will be accessible both via API as well as online as a web app.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, nanopay demonstrated its nanopay Cross Border/B2B Portal at FinovateFall 2017. Last month, the company partnered with Interac e-Transfer, providing Canadians with another real-time payment option. Also this fall, nanopay announced a pair of C-level hires, adding new Chief Revenue Officer Nilesh Dusane and a new Chief Risk Officer Amir Sunderji. With more than $10 million in total funding, nanopay includes APAGM, Rohatton, Jarnac Capital Management, and Goldman Sachs among its investors.

Kabbage: Just the Facts

Kabbage: Just the Facts

Online alternative lending company Kabbage has revealed its 2017 milestones this week. Here’s a quick, data-heavy review of the Atlanta-based company’s success:

  • Has extended $4+ billion to more than 130,000 small businesses since it was founded in 2009. This represents a 30% increase in both metrics since April 2017.
  • Has reached 1.5 million live data connections with its customers to enhance underwriting
  • Raised $250 million in 2017, bringing its total funding to more than $488 million
  • Added to its global bank partnerships with launches in France and Italy in 2017
  • Received a slew of 2017 industry awards: KPMG Fintech100, Deloitte Technology Fast 500, CB Insights Fintech 250, Kabbage co-founder and President Kathryn Petralia was named among Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women, and ranked 499 on the Inc. 5000 list.

Kabbage is also announcing today it has appointed Robert Sharpe (pictured) as Chief Operating Officer. Sharpe brings 20 years of executive leadership experience from North America, Europe and Asia, and 10 years of commercial banking and corporate finance experience. In a statement, Sharpe said that he is “excited to contribute the benefits of these experiences to Kabbage’s mission of driving small business success.”

The company recently made headlines when it brought in a $200 million credit facility. Kabbage demoed its Kabbage Card small business line of credit at FinovateSpring 2015. Check out our video interview with Kabbage’s President and Co-Founder Kathryn Petralia at FinovateFall 2017 last month.

AutoGravity Introduces Sheng Wang as New Chief Technology Officer

AutoGravity Introduces Sheng Wang as New Chief Technology Officer

AutoGravity has appointed Sheng Wang as Chief Technology Officer. The move is a promotion for Wang, who was AutoGravity’s first Director of Product and helped launch the AutoGravity platform in addition to branded platforms for Volkswagen Credit and Kia Motors Finance.

“It has been rewarding to see how AutoGravity has already changed the car financing process and I can’t wait to continue the journey to provide the best digital car buying experience to all consumers,” Wang (pictured) said in a statement. As CTO, she will be tasked with applying her more than 15 years of experience leading product development teams at eBay, Microsoft, the Walt Disney Company, and most recently, AutoGravity, to help further develop the company’s auto shopping platform.

Calling her “a true master of her trade” and a “trusted leader with the utmost command of product and engineering,” AutoGravity CEO and founder Andy Hinrichs credited Wang for the company’s “speed and success in setting the pace of digital retailing in the automotive industry.” In addition to her experience in the technology industry, Wang has a Bachelor of Science from Taiwan University and a Master of Science in Computer Engineering from Santa Clara University.

AutoGravity leverages the power and convenience of mobile devices to make shopping for and financing new and used cars easier than ever. The company partners with banks and financial service companies – as well as car dealerships – to give prospective car buyers and leasers a seamless consumer journey from initial vehicle selection and application for credit through financing and delivery.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Irvine, California, AutoGravity demonstrated its platform at FinovateFall 2016, winning Best of Show. Named to the Fintech 100 for 2017’s Emerging Stars, the company surpassed the one million user milestone last month, and in October announced a partnership with Global Lending Services to make financing offers via the AutoGravity platform. Other agreements forged in 2017 include the partnership with Hyundai Capital America launched in September and an agreement with Westlake Financial Services in March.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • AutoGravity Introduces Sheng Wang as New Chief Technology Officer.
  • nanopay Launches B2B Platform for International Commerce.

Around the web

  • Fiserv announces agreements with five credit unions to deploy its core account processing platform, DNA.
  • PNC goes live on real-time payments network via Finastra’s payment services hub.
  • Fifth Third Bank picks FIS to provide real-time payments for customers.
  • The San Diego Union-Tribune recognizes Jack Henry & Associates as a Top Workplace
  • RightCapital ends its second year reporting $20billion total assets linked to platform.
  • Wired names Meniga one of five Reykjavik startups to watch.
  • NYMBUS completes SOC 2 Type 1 Certification.
  • Avoka named in Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and joins CRN Fast50.

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.

Prevoty Raises $13 Million in Series B

Prevoty Raises $13 Million in Series B

Real-time app security platform Prevoty announced an investment of $13 million today. The Series B round was led by Trident Capital Cybersecurity, and featured participation from existing investors such as USVP.

“This new round of funding from Trident Capital Cybersecurity and USVP will not only help us meet the exponential growth in demand for our autonomous application security solutions, but will also support continued investment in innovation,” Prevoty CEO and co-founder Julien Bellanger said in a statement.

Calling application security “often the weakest link in a security program,” Trident Capital Cybersecurity Managing Director Sean Cunningham praised the way Prevoty gives developers the ability to deploy apps with more security, less risk, and minimal implementation impact. “Customers and prospects are validating that Prevoty’s unique approach to application security succeeds at embedding security into DevOps,” Cunningham said.

By providing visibility into the security weaknesses, he added, Prevoty “allow(s) teams to remediate underlying issues in real-time production, and accelerating application time to market.” As part of the investment, Cunningham will join Prevoty’s Board of Directors.

Prevoty CTO and co-founder Kunal Anand during his presentation “Using Runtime Visibility to Align Application Security with DevOps” at FinDEVr New York 2017.

Prevoty’s technology monitors app activity at runtime and detects attacks in production applications. The platform provides instant mitigation, including against the OWASP Top 10 Most Critical Web App Security Risks, as well as content, database, and command injections. Prevoty then issues alerts to log files and any configured SIEMs if the payload is believed to be malicious. The technology also enables seamless integration with DevOps, ensuring that app integration and app deployment is accompanied by real-time visibility and threat mitigation.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California and founded in 2013, Prevoty is an alumni of our developer’s conference, FinDEVr. This spring, the company’s CTO and co-founder Kunal Anand presented Using Runtime Visibility to Align Application Security with DevOps at FinDEVr New York, where he explained how solutions like Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP) are improving app security. Anand’s presentation won the company a Crowd Favorite award from the FinDEVr New York audience.

In November Prevoty took top honors at the SINET 16 Innovation Competition for its app security technology. And in October, the company was named Best in Data Security by Credit Donkey. A 2018 TAG Cyber Distinguished Vendor and Gold Winner of the 2017 Golden Bridge Awards for Best Application Security, Prevoty has raised a total of more than $25 million in funding. The company’s customers include Aaron’s, SpencerStuart, and Michigan State University.

Klarna to Power Invoice and Credit-Based Payments for Worldpay Clients

Klarna to Power Invoice and Credit-Based Payments for Worldpay Clients

Global payments company Worldpay and online payments innovator Klarna are joining forces this week. Starting today, Worldpay clients in Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the U.K. will be able to use Klarna’s invoice and credit-based payments.

The new capabilities will enable Worldpay’s ecommerce business clients to offer shoppers new payment options that will allow consumers to decide how and when to pay for the goods after they receive them. Consumers can manage the terms of their payment, opting for a 14-day payment by invoice, fixed, or flexible installments, or choosing to spread the cost over several months. The new checkout experience does not request payment credentials at the point of checkout, but rather requests only their email address and postal code. This offers a faster checkout experience and helps retailers improve conversion rates by 20%.

With consumers turning to online shopping to fulfill not only their gadget and clothing needs but also for daily grocery and sundry items, ecommerce is more popular than ever. And with so many players flooding the market, retailers are facing increased competition. Implementing Klarna’s fast and flexible payments options allows ecommerce players to differentiate themselves and compete on more than just free shipping.

Worldpay is one of the first companies piloting Klarna’s new payment technology. The company notes that, because there is no plug-in, the service is easy to integrate and results in faster time-to-market. Additionally, risk management is taken care of. According to Michael Rouse, Klarna’s Chief Commercial Officer, “Klarna assumes responsibility for managing credit and fraud risks, allowing companies to quickly receive payment for orders, and allowing consumers to pay only if they’re happy with their purchase.”

Dave Glaser, Chief Product Officer of Global eCom at Worldpay said that the company is “seeing increased demand from customers wishing to create more reasons to shop with them over their competitors.” Because some merchants consider accepting credit card payments “risky” and “old fashioned,” Glaser noted that “being able to adapt to new and local payment preferences is a way to rectify this.” He added, “We believe that this solution will empower companies to see a real increase in sales.”

Founded in 1989, Worldpay presented at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016 about the payment journey. The company offers payment products and services to a client base of 400,000. Worldpay’s technology can process payments from 146 countries and 126 currencies, enabling customers to accept more than 300 different payment types. Earlier in the fall, the company built an SDK for IoT shopping and this summer Worldpay agreed to merge with U.S. credit card processor Vantiv in a $10 billion deal.

Klarna demonstrated its online payment-processing service at FinovateSpring 2012. In August, the company launched a free P2P payments service called Wavy. Earlier this year, Klarna acquired online payment provider BillPay from Wonga for $75 million.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Klarna to Power Invoice and Credit-Based Payments for Worldpay Clients.
  • Prevoty Raises $13 Million in Series B.

Around the web

  • Fiserv partners with Boiling Springs Savings Bank and North Shore Trust and Savings to Provide End-to-End Debit and Card Solutions.
  • Global Debt Registry joins the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance.
  • Latin America’s largest bank, Itau Unibanco chooses WealthSuite from Temenos for its international private banking operations.
  • Token pledges to connect banks, merchants, and third party providers to any EU bank for PSD2 payments and data.

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.

Finovate Webinar: Solving the ‘identity problem’ for PSD2 and GDPR

Finovate Webinar: Solving the ‘identity problem’ for PSD2 and GDPR

The Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) mandates banks across the European Union to add two-factor Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) and Strong Customer Identity Verification (SCeID) on all remote access to customer accounts.

Both SCA and SCeID are mandated by PSD2, although the latter is not well understood. And failure to implement these capabilities exposes banks to penalties up to 2% of global annual turnover under GDPR.

The aim of this webinar is to examine the links between SCeID and SCA in the context of PSD2 and GDPR, sharing insight into how legislation mandates regulated firms to digitally verify customer identity and what technology helps to achieve this objective.

This Finovate webinar, in association with Jumio, hears from Jumio, Consult Hyperion and leading FinTech businesses to discuss the challenges – and opportunities – of SCA and SCeID. During an interactive panel discussion, the speakers will address a number of key questions, including:

  • How are SCeID and SCA connected?
  • How are the various regulatory mandates which require secure authentication and verification, such as PSD2 and GDPR, similar, and how do they differ?
  • What are the pitfalls to avoid when implementing SCeID and SCA?
  • Why does the reset process become so critical – and how can banks make sure they have robust protections in place around reset?
  • What technology solutions can banks leverage to meet their obligations around security and identification?

Speakers

Moderator: Ruth Wandhöfer
Global Head of Regulatory & Market Strategy
Citi

 

 

 

Gordon Harrison
Business Development Manager
Jumio

 

 

 

Tim Richards
Principal Consultant
Consult Hyperion

 

 

 

Pascale-Marie Brien
Senior Policy Adviser
European Banking Federation

 

Payoneer Lands Funding from China Broadband Capital

Payoneer Lands Funding from China Broadband Capital

Cross-border payments company Payoneer announced today it has received funding from China Broadband Capital (CBC). While the amount of funding was undisclosed, the company specified that this week’s Series E-1 round follows the $220+ million Series E round received last year. This adds to the company’s total funding amount, which previously stood at $270 million.

This marks the second China-based investor for Payoneer, which picked up an investment from PingAn in 2014. Scott Galit, CEO of Payoneer, referred to CBC as “one of the most prestigious and respected investors” and noted that the investor’s knowledge of the China market align them very well.

The company, which facilitates mass payouts for businesses looking to transfer money internationally, will use the funds to strengthen its global partner program and to bolster investment in its China operations. Edward Tina, Chairman of CBC said, “Payoneer is positioned better than any other payments company to help Chinese companies grow globally, as well as help non-Chinese companies sell into China.” He added, “Payoneer’s global footprint, banking ecosystem, and proprietary compliance infrastructure will position Payoneer as the preeminent solution to help companies of all sizes grow internationally.”

At FinovateAsia 2013, Payoneer launched a commercial account that offers businesses the ability to receive funds from a global network. Payoneer’s money-transfer solutions enable millions of businesses from more than 200 countries to reach new audiences by facilitating cross-border payments. The technology supports companies such as Newegg, Airbnb, and Fiverr; as well as Amazon, Google, Airbnb, and Getty Images, who use Payoneer’s mass payout services.

Earlier this fall, Payoneer ranked 1,912 on the Inc. 5,000 list, making the company a five-time Inc. 5,000 honoree. In June, Payoneer opened offices in the U.K. to take advantage of the Brexit opportunity, and in March the company earned a spot on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list.