Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Fintech Rundown

Explore the latest and most pertinent fintech news in our weekly digest. Stay informed as we continuously update this post with breaking news throughout the week. Check back for real-time updates on how the fintech landscape evolves this week.

Lending

Moody’s Analytics partners with Numerated to boost its lending capacity.

Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe to acquire EquiLend.

LoanDepot experiences cyberattack with 16.6 million customers’ personal information stolen.

Payments

Mastercard and The Clearing House announce an extension of their real-time payments partnership.

International payments and digital card platform BlinkSky secures $1.5 million in funding.

Bluefin announces global availability of PCI validated P2PE SmartPOS payment devices.

Thomson Reuters fronts $626 million cash bid for Pagero.

Viamericas partners with 24Xoro to expand real-time cross-border remittances to Mexico. 

Visa inks partnership with Pesaflow to offer customers in Kenya better access to digital payment solutions.

Torpago and Marqeta launch Sunwest Bank’s Visionary card program.

Chris Cordes is named Head of People at ClassWallet.

Members of Fiserv’s uChoose Rewards program can now use their card rewards balances towards fuel purchases at bp and Amoco stations.

Mondu raises additional €30 million in debt financing from German bank Vereinigte Volksbank Raiffeisenbank.

Regtech

Regtech solution provider AQMetrics partners with CMC Markets.

European digital banking provider Satchel taps regtech AMLYZE to enhance its compliance standards.

Identity management

Automated identity verification specialist Onfido launches its Compliance Suite.

Identity security platform Silverfort secures $116 million in Series D funding at a valuation “around $1 billion”.

ATB Ventures’ Oliu teams up with Flinks to deliver frictionless digital ID verification using bank connectivity.

SF Fire Credit Union deploys Illuma’s Illuma Shield voice verification technology in its call center.

Digital banking

Varo to offer free tax prep and filing.

Pinwheel adds to its direct deposit solution courtesy of a partnership with Jack Henry.

Grow Financial Federal Credit Union streamlines, enhances self-service banking through partnership with NCR Atleos.

CSI appoints Roxanne Martinez as Chief People Officer.

Jack Henry’s Banno unveils Banno Business, a business banking solution for community and regional financial institutions.

Challenger banking

Starling Bank unveils new brand platform, The Bank Built for You.

Wealth management

Personal finance hub Plannix partners with open banking solution provider Salt Edge.

Objectway acquires digital wealth solutions provider Nest Wealth.

TIFIN announces the spin-off of TIFIN AG, an AI platform to help wealth enterprises drive net new assets.

Digital investment and wealth planning firm Marstone raises an $8 million Series B financing round led by Mendon Venture Partners and South Rose Capital.

Insurtech

Ansel, the insurtech previously known as Brella, raises $20 million in funding in a round led by Portage.

Cybersecurity/Fraud Prevention

Fraud prevention and AML platform SEON introduces new Chief Technology Officer Björn Heckel.

Fenergo appoints Andrew Brandman as Chief Customer Officer.

Photo by Pixabay

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Luma Financial Technologies Taps Yieldstreet for Alternative Investments

Luma Financial Technologies Taps Yieldstreet for Alternative Investments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Luma Financial Technologies is deepening its partnership with Yieldstreet.
  • Luma Financial Technologies will bring Yieldstreet’s alternative investment offerings to Luma’s customers.
  • Yieldstreet provides access to alternative investments, including real estate, private equity, art, supply chain financing, and more.

Investment technology company Luma Financial Technologies announced it plans to deepen its partnership with alternative investments platform Yieldstreet.

Under the partnership, Luma will bring Yieldstreet’s alternative investment offerings to Luma’s customers. The move broadens the access that Luma’s RIA clients have to alternative investment products that play a role in building a diversified portfolio for end customers. Among the diversified assets Yieldstreet provides access to are real estate, private equity, art, supply chain financing, and more. The partnership will also offer Luma users educational training, post-trade advisor management, and reporting tools.

“Undoubtedly, technology stands as the pivotal factor in democratizing access to alternative investments, empowering financial advisors to construct portfolios for their clients that include a wider range of diversified solutions,” said Luma Financial Technologies CEO and President Tim Bonacci.

Yieldstreet launched its alternative investment platform in 2015 to provide access to a wide range of asset classes– including art, real estate, legal, corporates, consumer, and commercial– via single investments or funds. The company also offers short-term notes on offerings with terms between three and six months. Since launch, Yieldstreet has enabled over 450,000 members to access its alternative assets, which are traditionally accessible only to institutions and high-net-worth individuals. 

“Through the combination of Luma’s pioneering product data and analytics with Yieldstreet’s extensive array of premium private market alternative options, our users gain greater access and transparency to products that can play a key role in building multifaceted portfolios on behalf of their clients,” said Yieldstreet CEO Michael Weisz. “We’re excited to continue building upon our synergies with Yieldstreet and to take yet another step forward in making alternative investments accessible to all investors.”

Founded in 2018, Luma offers broker/dealer firms, RIA offices, and private banks access to its fintech software. The customizable technology platform helps financial teams more efficiently research, purchase, and manage alternative investments and annuities.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

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FinovateEurope Best of Show Winner Finshape Partners with Arab National Bank

FinovateEurope Best of Show Winner Finshape Partners with Arab National Bank
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Compass Plus, Finovate Global, Finshape, PayPal

Digital banking solutions provider Finshape announced a strategic collaboration with Arab National Bank (anb). The partnership will enable anb to leverage Finshape’s personalization and data analytics platform to enhance its digital banking services. The bank will also be able to take advantage of Finshape’s latest offering, Money Stories. This new solution categorizes spending and provides forecasts to help individuals better track their finances. At the same time, Money Stories empowers banks to make personalized, relevant offers to their customers.

“This collaboration reflects our commitment to speed up innovation and customer-centricity in the Middle Eastern banking scene,” Finshape Chief Growth Officer József Nyíri said. “Together with anb, we aim to transform how customers manage their finances, providing them with tailored solutions that empower them to reach their financial aspirations.”

Finshape demoed Money Stories in its Best of Show-winning debut at FinovateEurope 2022. Inspired by Instagram Stories, Finshape’s Money Stories helps banks boost engagement and enhance the customer experience. The solution highlights key financial events in the user’s life via short, seven to ten second snapshots. The shots are swipeable and easy to view and digest, providing a unique and memorable way for users to track their finances.

“(The) integration of a social media story-like format within our banking app, mark(s) a significant milestone in Saudi Arabia’s financial landscape, setting a precedent for engaging and educational digital interactions,” Arab National Bank COO Aiedh Al-Zahrani said

After winning Best of Show in 2022, Finshape returned to the Finovate stage the following year for FinovateEurope 2023. With 100+ clients in 25 countries, and more than 20 million users, Finshape ended last year with collaborating with Banca Transilvania, helping the bank launch its BT Go app. Designed to support corporate banking, BT Go offers an intuitive overview of business finances, unified card management, and automated invoicing. Within a month after launch, the solution has garnered 1,400 active users.

Finshape was founded in 2021 via the combination of Czech Banking Software Company (BSC) and Hungarian fintech W.UP.

Interested in demoing at FinovateEurope in London next month? Applications are still being accepted from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateEurope hub today to learn more.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Pontera, an Israel-based software platform for financial advisors, raised $60 million in new funding.
  • Egyptian fintech and customer loyalty app Zeal secured $4 million in funding.
  • The Central Bank of Oman granted Paymob a Payment Service Provider (PSP) license.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Kumari Bank, a commercial bank based in Nepal, partnered with Compass Plus Technologies to enhance its payments processing.
  • India’s Hitachi Payment Services launched its financial inclusion initiative Money Spot Plus.
  • Raqami Islamic Digital Bank (RIDB) forged a partnership with Euronet Pakistan to boost digital payments in the region.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Latin American embedded banking company Prometeo secured $13 million in new funding courtesy of investments from PayPal and Samsung.
  • Argentina-based payments infrastructure company Pomelo raised $40 million in Series B funding.
  • Contxto looked at the challenges Mexican fintechs are facing in meeting the standards of the country’s new fintech law, enacted in 2018.

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Romanian fintech Finqware introduced its FinqPayments solution to enhance financial services for medium-to-large businesses in Europe.
  • German challenger bank N26 launched stock and ETF trading, starting first in Austria.
  • iDenfy, an identity verification company headquartered in Lithuania, announced a partnership with Latvian online gaming company SPINS.

Photo by Alamin Prodhania

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Digital Onboarding Raises $58 Million

Digital Onboarding Raises $58 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Digital Onboarding, Funding
  • Digital Onboarding announced a $58 million growth round, boosting its total funding to $62.6 million.
  • Today’s funds come from Boston-based private equity firm Volition Capital.
  • Digital Onboarding will use today’s investment to accelerate its product roadmap, improve support for existing customers, drive awareness in new markets, and increase its headcount.

Digital Onboarding, a financial services onboarding service provider, announced a $58 million growth investment today. The funds come from Boston-based private equity firm Volition Capital and boost Digital Onboarding’s total funding to $62.6 million.

Digital Onboarding will use today’s investment to accelerate its product roadmap, improve support for existing customers, and drive awareness in new markets. The company also notes it plans to double its headcount by the end of this year.

Digital Onboarding offers a SaaS tool to help banks remove friction during the onboarding process. The company’s digital engagement platform helps financial services companies deliver compelling services that keep customers around for the long-term. The company is especially effective in helping motivate accountholders to take action because it aggregates data across banks with similar business objectives.

“Banks and credit unions are pushing further into digital maturity, with many providing online banking and developing robust campaigns for customer acquisition. However, digital transformation often stalls at the onboarding stage of the new customer or member lifecycle,” said Digital Onboarding CEO Ted Brown. “Financial institutions have a significant opportunity to make enrolling in and setting up deposit, payment, and other services simple and seamless. Making these as accessible and easy to complete as possible has a measurable positive impact on customer retention and loyalty.”

Brown founded Digital Onboarding, originally known as SalesBrief, in 2015, along with his co-founder Jonathan Crossman. The company pivoted to the financial services realm in 2017 after participating in a credit union’s fintech accelerator.

Last November, East Cambridge Savings Bank selected Digital Onboarding to increase its checking account activation rates, and Buckeye State CU tapped the Boston-based company to better inform its members and cross-sell product offers. Earlier in 2023, Digital Onboarding also signed Jack Henry, Legacy CU, and others.

Today’s announcement is part of a wave of fintech funding that has surged in the past couple of weeks.

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

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Finovate Podcast Airs Episode 200!

Finovate Podcast Airs Episode 200!
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Podcasting

Just weeks into 2024 and we’re celebrating a major new Finovate milestone: the 200th episode of the Finovate Podcast!

“I can’t believe I’ve now got 200 episodes under my belt!” Finovate VP and Podcast host Greg Palmer shared on X after the 200th episode dropped on Wednesday.

In this most recent show, Greg Palmer shares his four, big-picture takeaways from the Podcast’s first 199 episodes. Through years of conversations with fintech entrepreneurs, veteran analysts, and insightful authors, Palmer has developed a unique perspective on the trends driving innovation in fintech and financial services today.

Be sure to join Greg Palmer for the Finovate Podcast’s historic 200th episode as he reflects on fintech’s journey to the present moment, as well as where fintech is headed in the year (and years) to come.

And while you’re at it, why not browse the podcast archives and hear for yourself what listeners have enjoyed since the first episode of the podcast first dropped back in the fall of 2019.

Photo by Ann H

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U.S. Bank’s Innovation Team Unveils the Future at CES 2024

U.S. Bank’s Innovation Team Unveils the Future at CES 2024
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Interview, Speaker series

U.S. Bank’s innovation team recently attended the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week on what it called a “Future Safari.” After attending the show in 2023, the team was back on the lookout for emerging tech trends with the potential to impact the financial services industry, emphasizing AI, autonomy, embedded financial services, and the intersection of physical and digital realms.

We interviewed U.S. Bank’s innovation team to get a view of CES under a fintech lens, as well as to get a peek at U.S. Bank’s tech-forward initiatives in 2024 and beyond.

U.S. Bank’s innovation team attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. What was the team looking for?

U.S. Bank Innovation Team: We look for several things. First and foremost, we are looking for emerging tech and trends that may have an impact on the financial services industry and/or our customers.

We also look at trends and activity across several technology verticals to see if there is technology that we need to get ahead of.

Another thing we look for is specific new tech we might be able to test and pilot. And, of course, it’s great to see what other industries are doing with the technology that is coming to market.

In general, what are some fintech trends U.S. Bank is currently exploring or excited about?

U.S. Bank Innovation Team: At U.S. Bank, we cover a broad range of technologies, domains, client segments, and industries as part of how we try to develop and deliver the future now. Some of the broad trends we’re exploring at the show include AI and autonomy, of course, and how these technologies can change peoples’ lives; the embedding of financial services into all manner of products, services, experiences; how devices are proliferating and what that means for how we help people optimize their financial lives; and how the physical and digital parts of life are changing thanks to new technologies. We’re exploring dozens of trends in many sectors, but those are a few at a high-level that our Future Safari to CES helps us to gauge.

As a large bank, how does U.S. Bank make the decision whether to build or buy new technologies?

U.S. Bank Innovation Team: As a large bank, we like to focus on our core competencies and make decisions that reduce risk. Particularly in tech areas outside of our expertise (technical or business), we will look first to partner.

For example, we aren’t going to try to build our own quantum computer any time soon. We did build our award-winning mobile app, and we do build the majority of our digital customer facing experiences. Some components of those experiences may be provided by fintechs that we partner with when there is a time to market/cost/economic advantage or they have expertise outside of the banking/financial services realm that will improve our customers’ experience. At the end of the day, it is all about the customer experience.

What are some tech-forward initiatives we can expect to see U.S. Bank come out with this year?

U.S. Bank Innovation Team: While I can’t preview any planned announcements for later this year, we use Future Safaris like these to inform insights that help us create amazing experiences for our clients.

One example of how we’ve used these Future Safari insights in the past is that we were able to be the first bank to integrate with all three virtual assistants – Siri, Google, and Alexa. That work later informed the launch of our own industry-leading virtual assistant, U.S. Bank Smart Assistant, which built the foundation for when we created our Spanish Smart Assistant – the nation’s first Spanish-language voice assistant for banking. All of these were informed by early innovations in voice technology that we were seeing at CES. It gave us early signals into what would be important to people and allowed us to envision how we might integrate these kinds of emerging technologies into how we serve our clients.

What was your favorite non-fintech innovation you saw at the show?

U.S. Bank Innovation Team: We really liked the Genesis Systems WaterCube 100. It is a cube about the size of an air conditioner that pulls water from the air. It runs on low enough power to operate on solar panels and can be dropped in to emergency areas in need of clean water, or it can be used for off-grid and remote applications for both commercial and consumers.

The Federation of International Drone Soccer League out of Korea was very cool! The drone soccer league had a big space where they were demonstrating drone soccer – for Harry Potter fans, it looks a lot like quidditch. We thought it was great as it turns a fun solo activity that kids are into these days into an in-person competitive event. Also, it looks like tons of fun!

We are always amazed by the advances in big farm technology. In the John Deere booth, we saw their latest line of tractors that can be operated manually, remotely, or autonomously. They showed their custom GPS, which can get the behemoth tractors to plow and deliver seeds within one-inch accuracy.

We also noticed a trend of high-end, battery powered campers from the super-luxury concept at LG with built-in bars and entertainment, to Jackery and Goal Zero camper concepts with built-in solar batteries and rooftop tents with low-power fridges and a plethora of glamping features. Going off-grid and connecting to nature may also have plurality creature comforts in the future.

Companies and innovators are raising the bar across all industries, and we continue to push ourselves to do the same.

Group photo left to right: Todder Moning, Head of Applied Foresights; Rosa Dunn, Assistant Vice President, Digital Innovation; Cynthia A. Jackson, Vice President, Digital Innovation; Andrew Cantrell, Sr. Applied Foresights Strategist; Don Relyea, Chief Innovation Officer

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4 Game-Changing Benefits of Modernizing Your Fraud & Dispute Management

4 Game-Changing Benefits of Modernizing Your Fraud & Dispute Management
By Lili Nguyen Posted on
Categories: Finovate Webinar

Finovate webinar on demand, in collaboration with Quavo, on digitizing fraud & dispute management.

Financial institutions suffer billions in losses, expenses, and fines every year due to fraud, and the resultant impact on customer trust and loyalty presents an even bigger problem. 77% of customers say they would leave their bank if they do not receive a refund in the event of fraud yet, conversely, 80% say they would leave their bank for blocking a legitimate transaction.* Is there any way to win this battle?

Absolutely! But financial institutions must be willing to move away from antiquated systems and outdated processes that can no longer keep up with ever-evolving fraud and account holder expectations.

After nearly 20 years of working disputes at a top two bank and dealing first-hand with the challenges of outdated systems, Joseph McLean, Founder & CEO of Quavo Fraud & Disputes stepped out on his own to develop a better solution to significantly:

  • Reduce losses
  • Enhance the account holder experience
  • Improve operational efficiencies
  • Ensure regulatory and network compliance

How did he do it? What were the results? What are financial institutions saying about the AI-driven automation technology that has transformed fraud and dispute management? 

*Data sourced by Feedzai

In collaboration with

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Dynamic Planner Offers Risk Profile Mapping for Single Strategy Funds

Dynamic Planner Offers Risk Profile Mapping for Single Strategy Funds
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Dynamic Planner
  • U.K.-based financial planning software company for advisors, Dynamic Planner, launched its new risk profile mapping service this week.
  • The service brings greater clarity on potential risks when building diversified investment portfolios with single strategy funds.
  • Dynamic Planner made its Finovate debut in 2022 at FinovateEurope in London.

Dynamic Planner, a financial planning software company for advisors, unveiled its new risk profile mapping service for single strategy funds this week. The new service will help advisors create diversified portfolios with greater accuracy and insight on potential risks. This will ensure that portfolios are suitable to their specific investors and their goals.

“The new service will provide them with a level of granularity not previously possible, greater efficiency and accuracy, and all within one system with a consistent level of risk throughout,” company Chief Proposition Officer Chris Jones said. “However you organize your business and decide to meet the needs of your clients, Dynamic Planner can support you.”

The Single Strategy Mapped Service precisely maps instrument-level holdings data against Dynamic Planner’s risk factors and asset risk model. By sourcing single strategy fund holding data directly from fund providers, Dynamic Planner achieves a higher than usual level of granularity. This enables the service to provide the same accuracy and efficiency in the deployment of single strategy funds that advisors have when using multi-asset solutions.

The new service will also help fund managers better deal with compliance requirements. These include new regulations such as Consumer Duty, as well as the Product Intervention and Product Governance source book (PROD) rules that came into effect in 2018. “From a PROD and Consumer Duty perspective, the Single Strategy Mapped Service also enables the fund manager to more simply and clearly communicate whether a fund is intended to be distributed as a solution or part of a portfolio,” Jones said.

Headquartered in the U.K., and founded in 2003, Dynamic Planner made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2022. At the event, CEO Ben Goss and his team showed how the platform combined intuitive technology with an independent asset risk model to match the right investment strategy with the right investor. Geared toward asset managers that risk profile, target, or manage more than £250 billion in investments, Dynamic Planner leverages 2,400+ covariance correlations to help ensure investment suitability.

Dynamic Planner began 2024 with the launch of its new low code integration platform. The solution enables advisors to integrate Dynamic Planner with other CRM systems they currently use to better manage client relationships.

Interested in demoing at FinovateEurope in London next month? Applications are still being accepted from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateEurope hub today to learn more.

Photo by Gilly on Unsplash

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Supply Wisdom Unveils Self-Service Real-Time Risk Intelligence Platform

Supply Wisdom Unveils Self-Service Real-Time Risk Intelligence Platform
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Supply Wisdom
  • Supply Wisdom unveiled its self-service, SaaS-based model that gives organizations the ability to conduct real-time risk monitoring.
  • The new capabilities come in the wake of the firm inking partnerships with three Fortune 100 companies.
  • Supply Wisdom made its Finovate debut in 2022 at FinovateFall in New York.

Today, Supply Wisdom launched a self-service, SaaS-based model that delivers real-time risk monitoring capability to organizations. The company noted that its new offering will help organizations operationalize location-specific risk in their decision making.

Tom Thimot, Supply Wisdom CEO, explained the challenges organizations face in terms of both new regulations and growing geopolitical risk. “Firms are starting to recognize that geographic concentration is a common risk indicator raised by DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) and many other recently introduced regulations, yet they lack adequate risk intelligence and the tooling needed to operationalize risk management,” Thimot said. To this end, the new model will help organizations deal with the growing incidence of geopolitcal disruptions to business activity.

The launch news comes in the wake of Supply Wisdom adding three new customers – all members of the Fortune 100 – to its roster. Although unnamed in the company’s statement, the new clients include one of the four largest banks in the U.S., one of the top three shipping companies in the world, and a leading U.S. financial services and insurance company. These firms have used Supply Wisdom’s platform to monitor 150+ metrics across eight location risk subdomains – including ratings and event alerts – in weeks.

“The days of hiring and training scores of staff to compile and aggregate data reporting manually are over,” Thimot said this week. “As a result, we are seeing more Fortune 100 companies across industries turn to Supply Wisdom for real-time risk intelligence. Through immediate insights, businesses can respond more quickly to minimize or avoid the potential impact of global threats.”

With more than 30 years of experience in scaling SaaS-based technology companies, Thimot joined Supply Wisdom as CEO in December. Previously, he was CEO of enterprise identity authentication firm authID. Thimot also served as CEO of Finovate alum Socure. During his tenure, Socure earned a valuation of $1.3 billion. The company also became known as a leader in day zero identity verification.

Supply Wisdom made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2022. At the conference, the company showed how it leverages real-time risk intelligence and alerting help organizations modernize their risk management beyond point-in-time practices. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in New York, Supply Wisdom has raised $11.5 million funding, according to Crunchbase. The firm counts Fulcrum Equity Partners and Florida Funders among its investors.

Photo by Wallace Chuck

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Tales from the Crypto: Bitcoin ETFs, Circle’s IPO, and Why Jamie Dimon Still Hates the Space

Tales from the Crypto: Bitcoin ETFs, Circle’s IPO, and Why Jamie Dimon Still Hates the Space
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Cryptocurrency, David's column, List series

With apologies to Dr. Dre … the spot Bitcoin ETFs are here and everybody’s celebratin’!

This week on Tales from the Crypto we’re taking a look at the launch and reception of the long-awaited spot bitcoin ETFs. We’ll also learn a little more about stablecoin issuer Circle’s IPO plans, and the latest – and maybe last – from JPM Morgan Chase CEO and perennial crypto critic Jamie Dimon on what he hates – and likes – about crypto.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs Have Arrived!

Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved eleven, count ’em eleven, spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Digital asset manager CoinShares reported new inflows of more than $870 million into the new ETFs in the first three days. According to investment research firm CFRA, investors traded $4.6 billion worth of shares in these new funds on the first day.

While bitcoin ETFs have existed before 2024, the current spot bitcoin ETF fixes at least one major problem of the earlier bitcoin ETFs. In the past, bitcoin ETFs tracked bitcoin prices by holding bitcoin derivative products. Managers of these funds bought and sold bitcoin futures in order to try and copy the asset’s changes in value. This inefficient process often meant that earlier bitcoin ETFs did not always accurately reflect the actual changes in digital asset’s price.

By contrast, the current incarnation of bitcoin ETFs actually own bitcoin. This means that the newer funds are likely provide a truer exposure to the cryptocurrency.

The new bitcoin ETFs and their ticker symbols are below. Expense ratios for these funds range broadly from a low of 0.20% for the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF to a high of 1.5% for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Compare these to expense ratios for other popular ETFs such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust or SPY, which has a fee of 0.09%, and the Invesco QQQ ETF, which has an expense ratio of 0.20%.

  • Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB)
  • ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB)
  • Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC)
  • BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)
  • Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund (BRRR)
  • Vaneck Bitcoin Trust (HODL)
  • Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC)
  • WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW)
  • Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO)
  • Hasdex Bitcoin ETF (DEFI)
  • Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)

The statement announcing the SEC’s approval of the spot bitcoin ETF (the SEC uses the term “exchange-traded product” – ETP) more than reflects the agency’s ambivalence toward the new offering. “I have often said that the Commission acts within the law and how the courts interpret the law,” SEC chair Gary Gensler writes early on in a statement that details the agency’s efforts to regulate digital assets. His overall message – with its bitcoin-only caveats and his reminder that the current filings are “similar to those we have disapproved in the past”? “The Court of Appeals made us do it.”

The statement actually concludes with a quip about how bitcoin ETFs compare unfavorably, in Chair Gensler’s opinion, with metals ETFs. After asserting that “we’re merit neutral,” Gensler observes dryly: “Bitcoin is primarily a speculative, volatile asset that’s also used for illicit activity including ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing.”

You almost can hear the sound of the dinner plate crashing against the table as the aggrieved server finally delivers your meal and sulks away, muttering under their breath.

Circling the IPO Wagons

The arrival of the new bitcoin ETFs is not the only big news in crypto this month. Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin known colloquially as Circle, has filed a draft registration statement for a proposed initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Neither the number of shares to be offered nor the price range for the proposed offering were noted.

This week’s announcement represents Circle’s second bite at the “going public” apple. The company had planned to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) transaction in 2021. That deal would have given the company a valuation of about $9 billion. Unfortunately, the transaction did not take place. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said that the company simply failed to meet the SEC’s requirements in a timely fashion.

“We are disappointed the proposed transaction timed out,” Allaire said when the deal fell through. “However, becoming a public company remains part of Circle’s core strategy to enhance trust and transparency, which has never been more important.”

Founded in 2013, Circle is the principal operator of the U.S. stablecoin USDC. The company is licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Institutions. USDC offers instant settlement compared to legacy payments, near-zero costs, open and global access, as well as ready availability on popular exchanges and protocols, and broad and growing use in the developer community. Circle also offers products such as programmable wallets and its smart contract platform, currently in beta.

Hula Hoops, Pet Rocks, and Bitcoin?

You have to wonder if all this good news for bitcoin is getting under the skin of the digital asset’s biggest bête noire, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.

Dimon was recently interviewed on CNBC when he announced that this would be the last time he would publicly offer an opinion on bitcoin. That said, Dimon left us with plenty of anti-crypto quips to keep us company for some time to come.

Crypto use cases? “AML, fraud, sex trafficking and tax avoidance,” Dimon suggested. At the same time, he said, cryptocurrency is a “pet rock” that “does nothing.” Dimon is indifferent to what others such as Fidelity and Blackrock that have shown interest in bitcoin ETFs, saying that “I don’t want to tell you what to do. My personal advice is don’t get involved.”

Then again, there are some caveats to Dimon’s disinterest in cryptocurrencies. For one, Dimon does say that there are potentially interesting innovations with regard to non-bitcoin crypto, particularly the tokenization of real-world assets. Second, while Dimon himself may not be a fan of crypto, his firm is apparently playing a significant role in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) as an authorized participant.

Photo by Miguel Acosta

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Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alkami Technology, Alumni News, Daily news, Finzly, Revolut, Socure

Starting off the holiday-shortened week with more than a few fintech partnership announcements in payments as well as some positive funding news in the challenger bank/neobank space.

Follow this space all week long for more updates on the latest in fintech!

Payments

Localized payment solutions network Boku introduces new Chief Executive Officer Stuart Neal.

Mangopay, a payments infrastructure provider for marketplaces and platforms, teams up with Storfund.

Integrated payments and commerce technology company Shift4 teams up with mobile payment provider MobilePay.

Worldline forges strategic partnership with Google to leverage the cloud to enhance global payments orchestration.

Canadian payment solutions provider Chimoney announces a partnership with Corpay.

DailyPay closes $175 million in funding, boosts valuation by 75%.

Netherlands-based BNPL fintech Billink raises €29.5 million.

Brightwell collaborates with Visa to enable payouts to bank accounts and wallets.

Latin American payments fintech Pomelo raises $40 million.

Banking-as-a-Service

Allied Banking Corporation turns to Finastra as it migrates its core banking operations to the cloud.

High Circle, Treasury Prime, and First Bank forge strategic partnership.

Finzly announces 2023 revenue growth was double that of 2022.

Crypto

Franklin Templeton introduces its Franklin Bitcoin ETF, EZBC.

Challenger Banking

German digital bank N26 introduces in-app stock trading.

Panacea Financial raises $24.5 million in Series B funding.

Revolut and Jabil team up to scale development of Revolut’s mobile payment POS solution, Revolut Reader.

Identity Management

U.K.-based fintech ZORRZ teams up with identity verification platform provider IDnow.

KYC profiles provider Encompass Corporation acquires CoorpID and Blacksmith KYC from ING.

Socure launches its integrated, identity fraud solutions suite, Sigma Identity Fraud V4.

U.K.-based rent data company CreditLadder adds new reporting functionality to its digital identity app, Digital ID Connect.

Digital Banking

Colorado-based Elevations Credit Union partners with digital banking platform provider Alkami.

Co-op Credit Union extends its partnership with MDT, a CUSO that hosts the Symitar core processing system from Jack Henry, and adds digital and data capabilities.

Tandem unveils Goals feature set, announces $3.7 million in seed funding.

Pinwheel collaborates with Jack Henry to streamline access to direct deposit switching solution

Mortgagetech

Obligo teams up with BNY Mellon to digitize the rental process for property managers.

Credit Risk & Analytics

Collections and credit risk specialist Akuvo announces that 21 new financial institutions have signed up for its delinquency management platform.

Insurtech

Qover launches its automobile insurance solution in the U.K.

Trust & Will announces strategic investment from Erie Strategic Ventures

Regtech

UK-based Regtech eflow Global announces global expansion plans, appoints senior hires in the U.S.

Lending

Nav introduces next best option to help SMBs that are declined for funding.

DMI acquires ZestMoney platform and will be a preferred lender on the Zest platform.

Photo by Obsahovka Obsahovka

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TreviPay Launches Universal Acceptance Solution in Partnership with Mastercard

TreviPay Launches Universal Acceptance Solution in Partnership with Mastercard
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, TreviPay
  • B2B payments and invoicing network TreviPay launched its Universal Acceptance solution.
  • The technology will enable suppliers to offer trade credit financing to qualified buyers.
  • TreviPay made its Finovate debut two years ago at FinovateFall.

Courtesy of a partnership with Mastercard, B2B payments and invoicing network TreviPay launched its Universal Acceptance solution this week. The new offering will enable suppliers who accept Mastercard to extend net terms, or trade credit financing, as well as provide SKU-level invoicing to business customers.

TreviPay CEO Brandon Spear called the launch of the Universal Acceptance solution “an industry milestone.” According to Spear, the solution eliminates much of the complexity of B2B purchasing by taking a “consumer-like” approach to the buying experience. Research commissioned by the company revealed inefficient processes, incorrect invoicing, and slow onboarding as three key pain points for international business buyers. This research also indicated that trade credit was a leading payment option among these same buyers.

To this end, TreviPay’s Universal Acceptance solution enables suppliers who accept credit cards to offer net-terms financing to qualified buyers. TreviPay automates onboarding, financing, and accounts receivable to enhance efficiency and streamline the process. The platform also automatically sends invoices to the merchant’s buyer. This means that suppliers don’t have to worry about the cost and time spent pursuing outstanding or late payments. TreviPay assumes all risks relating to collection and guaranteeing settlement to merchants upfront.

TreviPay’s platform can be implemented in its original API integration directly into the seller’s point of acceptance. Users can also deploy the platform without API integration, relying on Mastercard’s global acceptance network instead.

Rebecca Meeker, SVP, Global Partnerships and Segments, Mastercard, praised TreviPay and Mastercard’s “shared vision to bring consumer-grade convenience to B2B transactions.” Meeker underscored the “seamless invoice reconciliation and faster settlement” made possible via the partnership.

Founded in 1980, TreviPay is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. The company made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2022. At the conference, TreviPay’s Rissi Lovern and Max Almerico demoed TreviPay’s Small Business Supplier Payments Network (SBSN). The network enables banks to offer a wide range of products to their small business customers via access to the small business B2B trade credit market.

Last fall, TreviPay launched its Financial Partner Gateway. A new suite of APIs, the Financial Partner Gateway enables banks to deliver solutions including automated accounts receivable, underwriting, and trade credit management. The Gateway gives banks new revenue opportunities while helping TreviPay expand internationally. In August, the company introduced its support for cross-currency, B2B sales.

Photo by Luciann Photography

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