PayPal Unveils PayPal World to Facilitate Global Payments

PayPal Unveils PayPal World to Facilitate Global Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, PayPal
  • PayPal’s new launch, PayPal World, is a new global platform designed to connect major digital wallets and payment systems.
  • The new platform will enable users to shop and send money across borders using their domestic wallets without needing international payment methods.
  • PayPal is partnering with Venmo, Mercado Pago, UPI, and Tenpay Global to create wallet interoperability for nearly two billion users and expanding cross-border capabilities for both consumers and merchants.

Fintech pioneer PayPal is unveiling PayPal World this week, a new platform that connects global payment systems and digital wallets.

At launch, PayPal is partnering with Mercado Pago, NPCI International Payments Limited (UPI), Tenpay Global, and Venmo to promote wallet interoperability for the more than two billion users of these platforms.

PayPal World aims to transform the way people send money, as well as how they shop online, in-store, and with AI agents across borders. The new capability will allow PayPal users to use their app to scan and pay when they shop across borders. With PayPal World, consumers won’t need to carry an international payment method to shop overseas. Instead, the platform will use the user’s domestic payment system or digital wallet to complete the transaction, even if the payment type at checkout is different from their home currency.

“PayPal World is a first-of-its-kind payments ecosystem that will bring together many of the world’s largest payment systems and digital wallets on a single platform. It is a testament to the passion our partners share for an inclusive, global digital economy and has the potential to revolutionize cross-border commerce,” said PayPal President and CEO Alex Chriss. “The challenge of moving money across borders is incredibly complex, and yet this platform will make it so simple for nearly two billion consumers and businesses. We believe the changes we are announcing today have the potential to be a real game changer over time. We can’t wait to welcome many more global partners, wallets, and their users soon.”

Merchants can benefit from PayPal World with no additional integration. The platform will connect millions of businesses to digital payment systems and wallet users worldwide, making it possible for businesses to automatically accept new digital payment options at checkout when more partners join the platform, expand their global client base, and increase payment options beyond online and in-store payments into AI agent payments.

PayPal is piloting the new platform through a partnership with peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app Venmo in which the two platforms will become seamlessly interoperable and expand access to global P2P payments. Under the collaboration, PayPal and Venmo users can send money to each other, regardless of geography.

While PayPal World’s wallet connectivity to PayPal and Venmo will go live this fall, Venmo users will be able to shop at millions of merchants across the globe that accept PayPal starting next year. The expanded purchasing capabilities will help merchants reach Venmo’s base of young, affluent, and digitally native consumers.

PayPal World is doing to the US what Revolut did to payments in the EU in the sense that it is breaking down borders, simplifying cross-currency transactions, and reshaping expectations around how money moves. By making digital wallets interoperable across platforms and regions, PayPal is positioning itself not just as a payment processor, but as a universal payment translator that bridges the gap between local payment habits and global commerce. As more wallets and systems join the platform, PayPal World could become a foundational layer in the next era of international payments.

PayPal’s new launch comes at a time when cross-border e-commerce is rising and consumers expect payments to be seamless. While players like Revolut, Alipay+, and Western Union have made strides in international money movement, PayPal’s scale and merchant network give it an edge in solving interoperability at both the consumer and merchant level.

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Uprise Teams Up with HoneyBook to Bring Tax Planning to Small Business Owners

Uprise Teams Up with HoneyBook to Bring Tax Planning to Small Business Owners
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Uprise
  • Embedded financial advisory platform Uprise has teamed up with business management platform HoneyBook.
  • The partnership will enable HoneyBook to offer financial and tax planning advisory to its users, which include independent creatives as well as small business owners.
  • Founded in 2021, Uprise made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023 in New York.

Uprise, a startup that offers an AI-powered platform that empowers financial services companies to embed personalized, actionable financial advisory into their products and services, has announced a new partnership. The San Francisco, California-based company has teamed up with HoneyBook to enable the firm to offer financial and tax planning advisory to its user base of independent creatives, small business owners, and more.

“Excited to announce we’ve partnered with HoneyBook to offer personalized financial and tax planning to their users,” Uprise noted on its LinkedIn page, “helping independent creatives, consultants, and business owners stay ahead of the biggest changes that impact their bottom line.”

The partnership will enable HoneyBook users to access tax and financial guidance from a Certified Financial Planner who is both a small business specialist and supported by smart technology. This helps set HoneyBook apart from traditional financial advisory services, which tend to cater to high net worth individuals, feature significant costs, and often lack small business expertise.

The announcement comes as recently passed legislation in Washington brings changes to the way that many small businesses manage their taxes and expands eligibility for a variety of programs and credits. “If your company supports small business owners and wants to help them take advantage of complex tax and legal shifts like this—let’s talk,” Uprise wrote.

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Uprise made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023 in New York. At the conference, the company demonstrated how its technology helps banks, credit unions, insurance providers, fintechs, and more embed personalized, actionable financial advisory services into their offerings. Uprise combines human financial expertise with AI to offer comprehensive financial plans and advice at a fraction of what a traditional financial advisor would cost. Jessica Chen Riolfi is Co-Founder and CEO.

HoneyBook is a business management platform for small businesses. The platform supports a wide variety of business operations including lead capture, client communication management, contract management, and payments. The solution also leverages AI—embedded throughout—that enables users to derive actionable insights and leverage automation to streamline processes. Founded in 2013, HoneyBook has powered more than 25 million client relationships and processed more than $12 billion in transactions. Earlier this month, the company announced enhancements to its client portal to provide full branding control, easier access to proposals and important sites, the ability to share client task lists, and more.

Photo by Braden Collum on Unsplash

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Japan’s Zerobank Design Factory to Power New Digital Bank for MUFG

Japan’s Zerobank Design Factory to Power New Digital Bank for MUFG
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni profile, Zero Bank Design Factory

MUFG’s new digital bank will feature the cloud-based banking system developed and operated by Zerobank Design Factory (ZDF), a subsidiary and the technological development arm of Fukuoka Financial Group (FFG). The announcement was made by Minna Bank, a fellow subsidiary of FFG that runs on ZDF’s core banking technology. In collaboration with Accenture and operating on the Google Cloud, the MUFG deployment will be the first time Zerobank Design Factory will see its solution used by an organization outside of FFG.

“Since its inception (Minna Bank) has accumulated and updated its technologies and expertise related to systems, functionalities, and design required for a digital bank,” Minna Bank and ZDF President and CEO Kenichi Nagayoshi said. “As a result, we believe that the recent first external provision of our system marks a valuable milestone. Moving forward, we hope to contribute, even if just a little, to the development of the digital banking market both domestically and internationally through the provision of this system.”

Japan’s first digital bank, Minna Bank was founded in 2021 and currently boasts 1.3 million accounts. The name means “a bank for everyone” and the institution posits that its mission is to “deliver valuable connections to everyone.” In 2022, ZDF announced that it would offer its technology to both local and international financial institutions. Non-financial organizations looking to add banking services are also eligible to deploy the system.

The MUFG deployment is designed to meet the need for faster management speed, greater efficiency, and lower costs. Banking systems that leverage multi-cloud, microservice architecture, DevSecOps, and other advanced technologies offer an effective way to meet these goals. The core banking system designed by ZDF offers a modular design capable of partial integration with existing systems to give banks, non-bank financial institutions, and non-financial entities a range of versatile applications to better serve customers and clients.

“Our collaboration with Minna Bank reinforces that cloud-based technology can deliver flexibility, speed, and reliability for core systems within global banks,” Google Cloud Global Managing Director, Regulated Industries, Toby Brown said. “Minna Bank’s use of Google Cloud’s advanced technologies—like Google Kubernetes Engine for elastic scale, Spanner for global data consistency, and Vertex AI for intelligent insights—is a blueprint for accelerating digital transformation far beyond banking, enabling industries from retail to mobility to seamlessly embed financial services and create new value for their customers.”

A wholly-owned subsidiary of FFG, ZDF is the system development company that built Minna Bank’s core system. ZDF is also a pioneer in cloud banking, having been among the first developers in Japan to build a core banking system on a public cloud. The company made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023.

The largest regional financial group in Japan, FFG was established in 2007. FFG’s network covers the entire Kyushu region, which is home to more than 10% of the country’s population and includes cities such as Fukuoka and Nagasaki.

Photo by Tayawee Supan on Unsplash

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EarnIn Helps Employees Receive Payment in Real-Time

EarnIn Helps Employees Receive Payment in Real-Time
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • EarnIn launched a new Live Pay tool and Visa card that let users access their earnings in real time as they work, up to $1,500, per pay period. with no interest and no credit check required.
  • The new earnings tool helps users align cash flow with expenses and avoid reliance on credit cards or payday loans.
  • Users who enable autopay benefit from reduced fees and may even help improve their credit score when they pay on time.

Earnings management company EarnIn is changing the game when it comes to payday. The California-based company recently announced the launch of Live Pay, a tool that lets workers get paid continuously.

While most earned wage access tools allow workers to receive a portion of their paycheck a few days early, EarnIn’s Live Pay allows users to gain access to their earned funds as they work. Live Pay provides a real-time earnings stream that grows when the user works.

Live Pay is available to users through the new EarnIn Card, which is available to the public starting this month. The EarnIn Card works everywhere Visa is accepted. Live Pay enables cardholders to redeem up to $1,500 per pay period. Because EarnIn reports account activity to credit bureaus, users who make on-time payments may be able to boost their credit scores. Users who set up autopay not only support their credit health but also benefit from reduced fees, an incentive that EarnIn offers to promote consistent repayment habits.

Live Pay is available to US workers who receive a W-2 tax statement. By enabling real-time access to earnings, EarnIn helps users better align income with expenses, reducing reliance on credit cards, payday loans, or overdraft fees.

“The natural evolution of any batch-based system is continuous—and payroll is no different,” said EarnIn Founder and CEO Ram Palaniappan. “Earned wage access was a step in that direction, but it was inevitable that pay would move like everything else in your life—in real time. We stream music, entertainment, news, sports, and more whenever we want—now, with EarnIn Card and Live Pay, you can stream your pay too. It’s a system that’s always on, always working. Live Pay gives workers access to money they’ve already earned, putting them back in control of their financial timing. It’s a long-overdue upgrade to how we get paid.”

The EarnIn Card comes with no interest on transactions and no credit check requirement. Instead, it uses a flat fee structure that varies based on user behavior:

  • One-time Processing Fee: Users pay a $5 fee when requesting their first card, which covers production and shipping. This fee is waived entirely for users who enroll in autopay.
  • Monthly Access Fee: The standard monthly fee is $12.99, but it drops to just $2.99 when autopay is enabled for the full month. This fee is charged as a transaction on the EarnIn Card and collected during the repayment process.
  • ATM Fee: Withdrawing cash from an ATM using the EarnIn Card incurs a $2.99 charge per transaction, not including any third-party ATM operator fees.
  • Penalty APR: If a user is more than 365 days late on a required payment and receives advance notice, a small penalty APR of 0.001% may be applied to the overdue balance until it is fully repaid.

Behind the scenes, Live Pay is made possible through EarnIn’s partnerships with BaaS providers like Evolve Bank & Trust and Lead Bank, and by leveraging real-time payment infrastructure that enables the fast, reliable delivery of funds.

EarnIn was founded in 2012 when it launched Cash Out, an earned wage access tool that allows customers to access their entire paycheck up to two days early. The company also offer other banking tools in addition to earned wage access tools, including credit monitoring, savings tools, and overdraft protection.

Photo by Valeria Boltneva

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Meet the Headliners at FinovateFall 2025

Meet the Headliners at FinovateFall 2025
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2025, Marketing

As summer winds down, it’s a good time to start looking ahead to FinovateFall. This year’s conference returns to the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York, from September 8 through 10 (register early to save!). With the event just over a month away, now is the time to lock in your travel plans and start mapping out your agenda.

Financial services continues to evolve rapidly, and this year’s keynote lineup reflects that urgency. From AI and customer experience to stablecoins and lending, these speakers will offer insights into where the industry is headed and how to stay ahead. Here’s a look at some of the voices you’ll hear on stage.

General session

Beth Haddock, Board Member and Global Policy Lead, Stablecoin Standard

Beth Haddock will take the stage at 4:20 PM on Monday, September 8 to explore how stablecoins are moving from the regulatory fringe to the strategic foundation of modern banking. With the GENIUS Act poised to redefine digital dollar issuance, Haddock will break down the operational, compliance, and competitive pressures facing banks and trust companies. From payments and custody to customer expectations, this session will spotlight what leaders need to know now as stablecoins become embedded in the financial ecosystem.

Jon Lakefish, Founder of the Lakefish Group

On Wednesday, September 10 at 9:45 AM, Jon Lakefish will examine how financial institutions can use AI to build customer trust and loyalty. In a world where technology drives personalization, Lakefish will share how banks can design AI-powered customer experiences that feel authentic and deliver long-term value.

Ben Feller, Partner at the Maslansky Partners

Also on Wednesday at 3:10 PM, Ben Feller, Partner at Maslansky + Partners and former Chief White House Correspondent for the Associated Press, will share his front-row view of presidential leadership and media. Drawing on six years covering Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Feller will offer a candid, behind-the-scenes look at high-stakes decision-making, communication strategy, and the power of narrative in moments that shaped history.

Industry Stage sessions

Yury Pukha, CEO of Intelligent Edge Consulting

At 10:50 AM on Wednesday, September 10, Yury Pukha will lead the AI industry stage with a deep dive into the current landscape of artificial intelligence in financial services. Drawing on insights from large-scale implementations, Pukha will explore what’s working, what’s not, and the critical lessons financial institutions must understand to scale AI successfully.

Stephanie Miracle, FedNow Client Specialist, Federal Reserve Financial Services

Also at 10:50 AM on Wednesday, September 10, on the Payments stage, Stephanie Miracle will tackle the evolution of real-time payments. As RTP and FedNow gain momentum, Miracle will discuss whether faster is always better and will also consider the challenges institutions face when building products on top of these instant payment rails.

Jason Mikula, Publisher, Fintech Business Weekly

On the Lending industry stage at 10:50 AM on Wednesday, September 10, Jason Mikula will share his perspective on the growing opportunity in small business lending. With demand for capital on the rise, Mikula will outline how financial institutions can effectively tap this market and deliver products that resonate with small business owners.

Nick Fok, Managing Partner, Erez Capital

At 12:05 PM on Wednesday, September 10, on the AI stage, Nick Fok will explore the rise of agentic AI and its potential to reshape financial services. As models become more autonomous and capable of making decisions, Fok will discuss what this shift means for innovation, risk, and the future of financial institutions.

Sarah Welch, Managing Director at Curinos

Also at 12:05 PM on Wednesday, September 10, Sarah Welch will join the Customer Experience industry stage to examine the power of brand distinctiveness. In a crowded marketplace, Welch will highlight how bold, differentiated branding is becoming a key driver of customer growth, and what it takes to stand out.

Ryan Miller, Vice President and Senior Counsel at the American Bankers Association

Rounding off the list, Ryan Miller will speak on the Open Banking stage at 12:05 PM on Wednesday, September 10. Miller will explore how open data could reshape the US banking landscape, what regulatory and strategic shifts are on the horizon, and why early movers stand to benefit the most.

These keynote and industry stage sessions offer timely insights from leaders at the forefront of innovation. Whether you’re focused on AI, payments, customer experience, or regulation, FinovateFall’s agenda is packed with ideas to inform your strategy and spark new thinking. Registration is now open! We look forward to seeing you in New York this September.

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Sage Acquires Expense Management Platform Fyle

Sage Acquires Expense Management Platform Fyle
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Fyle, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Finance ERP provider Sage has acquired Delaware-based expense management platform Fyle. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
  • Fyle’s technology will enable Sage to offer additional tools that leverage AI to automate workflows in accounting, finance, human resources, and payroll operations.
  • Founded in 2016, Fyle made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023 in New York.

Expense management platform Fyle has agreed to be acquired by finance ERP provider Sage. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“Our mission has always been to make expense management intuitive—so that our users never have to actively think about the task in any meaningful way, and so that their finance departments have the data transparency and assurance they need during close,” Fyle CEO and Co-Founder Yashwanth Madhusudan said. “As a longtime partner of Sage, we know the company shares our focus on delivering great software experiences, and we are excited about the collective impact we can have.”

The acquisition will enable Sage to add further AI-powered tools to simplify and automate financial workflows in accounting, finance, HR, and payroll operations. Fyle provides accounting and finance teams with real-time notifications on transaction data and enables end users to submit and reconcile expenses with a simple text. With more than 150 employees, the Delaware-based company has 1,600 direct customers in the US and thousands more via white-label agreements.

Post-acquisition, Fyle will continue to integrate with third-party accounting and financial systems. The technology is already integrated with Sage Intacct and Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate, with a broader rollout throughout North America “and beyond” to follow.

“In 2025, financial leaders are expected to play much more strategic roles than ever before and are looking for every way to get a high-performance edge. We know expense management is a key workflow for finance. Fyle streamlines and automates the entire process, further simplifying SMB finances with AI. I look forward to working as one team to create real and immediate impact for our customers,” Sage EVP Financials and ERP, Dan Miller said.

UK-based Sage provides software and services to help small and medium-sized companies conduct and enhance their payroll, human resources, and financial operations. Among the company’s flagship solutions, its Sage Intacct solution provides cloud accounting and financial software management for medium-sized businesses, while the company’s Sage 50 Accounts provides similar accounting, inventory, and payments management for smaller firms.

Founded in 2016, Fyle made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023. At the conference, the company demonstrated how its technology integrates with text messaging, email (including Gmail and Outlook), and meeting platforms like Slack and MS Teams to give companies and employees a unique and user-friendly way to submit and manage expenses. The technology instantly codes and categorizes expense data and syncs the data with commonly used ERPs such as Sage Intacct, NetSuite, QuickBooks Online, and Xero.

Photo by Paulina S. on Unsplash

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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: 10x Banking, Fintech Rundown, Intuit, MasterCard, Nubank

The first month of Q3 is in the books, “Crypto Week” was declared in the US last week, and corporate earnings reports are dominating the conversation on Wall Street.

To start off the week of fintech news here on Finovate’s Fintech Rundown, we have word of new C-suite appointments, collaborations in payments and fraud prevention, as well as new solutions for identity protection.

Fraud prevention

Risk management company EverC announces collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Appdome launches customer identity protection solution for mobile apps, IDAnchor.

Mastercard introduces A2A Protect in the UK to help defend consumers against account-to-account payment fraud.

Digital banking

Finovate Best of Show winner 10x Banking introduces new Chief Revenue Officer Tom Bentley.

Nubank appoints Ethan Eismann as its first Chief Design Officer.

Crypto

Blockchain startup Bitzero secures $25 million for its sustainable blockchain and HighPerformance Compute (HPC) data centers.

African paytech Peach Payments and South African crypto payments solution provider MoneyBadger team up to bring crypto payments to South African merchants.

Cyber risk management firm DynaRisk secures $4.7 million in funding.

FIS partners with Circle to unlock stablecoin money movement functionality for financial institution customers.

Payments

dLocal and RizRemit partner to enhance the cross-border remittance process across both Africa and Asia.

Deutsche Bank’s Merchant Solutions business to integrate Wero as a payments option.

Square launches data driven cash advances in the UK.

Lending

iBusiness Funding announces expanded collaboration with Intuit to expand SBA loan access through QuickBooks Capital.

Digital identity

authID launched its digital identity platform, Identity Exchange (IDX), in partnership with NEC Networks and System Integration Corporation.

Photo by Tunafish on Unsplash

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Streamly Snapshot: From Data to Dollars—Cash Management and Liquidity Insights

Streamly Snapshot: From Data to Dollars—Cash Management and Liquidity Insights
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2025, Interview, Speaker series, Streamly

High-growth companies like those involved in cutting-edge technologies face a wide range of challenges. Effective cash management is one of them. From the appearance of cash flow gaps between cash collection and realizing revenues to the necessity of making significant initial capital outlays for operations, infrastructure, and talent before revenues catch up, high-growth companies often have banking needs that many financial institutions struggle to respond to.

This week, our Streamly Series interview features Christopher Hollins, Global Head of Product Sales and Design at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank. Hollins outlines some of the tactics high-growth companies can rely on in order to better manage cash and make the most of technologies like automation. Hollins also explains how solutions like SVB Go offer these businesses essential insights and streamline cash forecasting and management.

“The challenge is that innovators, entrepreneurs want to do what makes them passionate. And for most people, just like in high school and college, accounting, cash management, managing finances … not exactly the oversubscribed classes. In all seriousness, what companies need to do as they are growing very fast, they’re very focused on revenue-generation, satisfying clients, etc. But in doing that, two other things are happening: cash is moving in and out, and some of that cash could be better used in a number of different circumstances, maybe it could be invested in a different way. There is a lot of ‘lack of discipline,’ but I wouldn’t say that’s because people are purposely trying to do that. They are focused on running their businesses.”

Silicon Valley Bank brings more than 40 years of experience as a financial partner for the innovation economy. The company serves innovation economy companies and investors with business banking, liquidity management, global business solutions, and fund banking. With deep sector expertise in enterprise software, frontier tech, cleantech and sustainability, as well as fintech, SVB counts 60% of all fintechs on the 2025 Forbes fintech list and 40% of the Forbes 2025 AI list among its clients.

Head of Global Product Sales and Delivery at Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank, Christopher Hollins has played a key role in transforming the platform’s solution delivery model to ensure that SVB’s Commercial Bank Innovation economy clients have access to the best partners and solutions to solve business challenges and have optimal banking relationships along their journey. Hollins has been a part of SVB since 2021.

Photo by Will Francis on Unsplash

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Addition Wealth Launches AI-Powered Financial Wellness Platform

Addition Wealth Launches AI-Powered Financial Wellness Platform
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Addition Wealth, Alumni News
  • Financial wellness firm Addition Wealth has launched its B2B financial wellness platform for enterprises.
  • Available as either a white-label or co-branded solution, the new offering combines expert human guidance, AI-powered personalization, and intelligent financial tools to enable businesses to provide financial wellness experiences to their employees.
  • Addition Wealth made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall 2024 in New York.

Financial wellness specialist Addition Wealth has unveiled its B2B financial wellness platform for large businesses. The offering, fully customized and powered by AI, empowers enterprises to provide financial wellness experiences at scale.

Available as a white-label or co-branded solution, Addition Wealth’s platform helps financial services companies such as insurance providers, asset managers, retirement companies, private equity firms and others provide financial wellness experiences that are based on their specific business objectives.

“One of my core beliefs is that everyone should have access to the tools and support they need to feel confident about their finances,” Addition Wealth Founder and CEO Ana Mahony wrote on her LinkedIn page. “That’s why I’m incredibly excited to share something we’ve quietly been building for the last few years: Addition Wealth’s B2B financial wellness platform. While it’s not a brand-new product, this is the first time we’re publicly announcing it, and we couldn’t be more proud of what it’s become.”

Already live with financial institutions in the Fortune 500, Addition Wealth’s platform combines expert human guidance, AI-powered personalization, and intelligent financial tools. The platform enables businesses to support their employees through a number of financial decision-points from budgeting and paying down debt to retirement planning, buying a home and more. Addition Wealth leverages AI to help employees explore financial topics, learn more about managing their money, and get real-time, actionable insights to improve their financial wellbeing.

The technology supports the integration of financial solutions including student loan assistance, emergency savings, and tax filing services. Enterprise users of the platform can deploy their own financial wellness products, content, and advisors, or rely on those from Addition Wealth.

“By partnering with organizations with significant distribution, we’re able to reach, impact, and improve the lives of millions of individuals,” Mahony said in a statement. “Our AI-powered platform is flexible and configured to each business and user, delivering dynamic, tailored financial guidance, matching each person’s unique situation and goals with the tools and insights they need, whether planning for retirement, having a baby, or paying off student debt.”

Headquartered in New York and founded in 2021, Addition Wealth made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2024 in New York. At the conference, Addition Wealth’s Mahony and VP of Marketing Hally Peck showed how the company’s Financial Wellness Platform helps employees make smarter decisions about their money. The platform leverages a hybrid strategy toward financial wellness, deploying both human experts as well as digital tools, resources, and content that provides a stronger foundation than either an all-human or all-digital approaches alone.

Photo by Kindel Media

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Quavo Fraud & Disputes Locks in $300 Million in Funding

Quavo Fraud & Disputes Locks in $300 Million in Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Funding, Quavo Fraud & Disputes
  • Fraud and dispute process management innovator Quavo Fraud & Disputes has raised $300 million in funding from Spectrum Equity.
  • Quavo said it will use the capital to support further investment in the company, drive innovation, and create value for its customers.
  • Quavo Fraud & Disputes most recently demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2025 in San Diego.

Quavo Fraud & Disputes has announced a $300 million investment from growth equity investment firm Spectrum Equity. Quavo, which provides cloud-based solutions to enable financial institutions to automate and manage fraud and dispute processes, will use the capital to accelerate investments throughout the business, drive innovation, and create even greater value for customers.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Spectrum Equity on the next chapter of growth at Quavo,” company Co-Founder and CEO Joseph McLean said. “With this new investment, we intend to accelerate our AI-led product development initiatives and expand our go-to-market and client success teams to meet growing market demand and drive exceptional client outcomes. Our vision to restore financial trust and simplify fraud and disputes is unwavering, and this partnership allows us to achieve these goals faster and at even greater scale.”

Quavo’s technology empowers financial institutions—from large banks to credit unions—to better manage the consumer transaction dispute process. The company’s flagship offering, QFD, automates intake, investigation, chargeback, recovery, and client communications workflows across all payment and dispute types. Financial institutions using Quavo’s technology have been able to automate as much as 80% of the tasks involved in resolving typical consumer disputes, and recapture 85% of potentially lost funds. The average Quavo customer has experienced a reduction of 37% in write-offs and was able to reduce the time it took to issue consumer credit from 11 days to one day.

“Fraud and dispute management is a massive business-as-usual problem for financial institutions and fintechs alike, and we believe that Quavo is uniquely positioned to drive automation benefits and better outcomes in this space,” Spectrum Equity Managing Director Adam Margolin said. “Quavo’s highly configurable platform, scaled transaction data powering its decisioning engine, and mission-driven approach to solving costly and time-consuming problems for its clients set the company apart.”

As part of the transaction, existing investor FINTOP Capital will sell its ownership stake in the company. Quavo’s co-founder and strategic investor and technology partner Pegasystems will continue as significant shareholders.

Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, Quavo has recovered more than $1.4 billion for 10.8+ million victims. The company has grown revenues 60% annually since 2022 and today automates more than 12.5 million consumers disputes a year. Quavo serves a broad range of financial institutions, from global issuers and fintechs to regional banks and credit unions. Founded in 2016, Quavo Fraud & Disputes made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2024 in New York and returned to the Finovate stage the following year for FinovateSpring in San Diego.

Earlier this year, Quavo published a report showing the impact of fraud resolution on customer loyalty. Quavo’s Q4 2024 Consumer Survey analyzed feedback from 1,000 recent victims of credit card fraud to learn about their experiences and how their experiences may have impacted their sense of trust and brand loyalty. The survey revealed that the quality of the fraud resolution process had a greater impact on trust than the actual fraud itself, and that the fraud resolution experience has a ripple effect on customer trust in other banking services.

“Trust is a bank’s most valuable asset, and fraud resolution is a defining moment in the customer relationship,” McLean said. “Our research proves that a seamless, transparent, and timely fraud resolution process isn’t just about compliance; it’s about building trust that strengthens long-term customer relationships.”

Photo by Andre Ellis Mack

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PNC Teams with Coinbase to Offer Digital Asset Solutions

PNC Teams with Coinbase to Offer Digital Asset Solutions
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Coinbase, Daily news
  • PNC Bank has partnered with Coinbase to offer crypto services to its banking clients, institutional investors, and corporate treasurers, using Coinbase’s Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform.
  • The collaboration enables PNC clients to securely buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies while Coinbase gains access to PNC’s banking services.
  • The partnership follows the passage of the GENIUS Act, which brings regulatory clarity to stablecoins and is prompting traditional banks like PNC and JPMorgan to explore crypto-powered financial products.

PNC Bank announced it has teamed up with crypto exchange platform and wallet Coinbase to expand access to digital asset solutions for its banking clients, institutional investors, and corporate treasurers exploring onchain settlement.

Under the agreement, PNC will also provide banking services to Coinbase. The $557 billion bank will leverage Coinbase’s Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform to offer secure, scalable crypto access for its clients. With CaaS, Coinbase provides the underlying crypto infrastructure while allowing PNC to maintain full control over the client experience, brand, and compliance framework. At launch, PNC’s new crypto offering will allow clients to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies.

“PNC is a market leader in delivering best-in-class products for their clients,” said Head of Coinbase Institutional Brett Tejpaul. “We’re thrilled to support their entry into the digital asset market with our leading Crypto-as-a-Service platform, which provides PNC with a powerful set of tools to develop a scalable, high-growth business, built on a foundation of uncompromising security.”

Coinbase was founded in 2012 and has proved resilient in offering crypto capabilities that make it easy for people to engage with crypto assets by trading, staking, safekeeping, spending, and making global transfers. The company provides infrastructure for onchain activity and seeks to support builders who want to build onchain.

“Partnering with Coinbase accelerates our ability to bring innovative, crypto financial solutions to our clients,” said PNC Chairman and CEO William S. Demchak. “We will also provide PNC’s best-in-class banking services to Coinbase. This collaboration enables us to meet growing demand for secure and streamlined access to digital assets on PNC’s trusted platform.”

Until recently, Coinbase was under fire from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for allegedly operating as an unregistered securities exchange. The company fired back, engaging in a legal battle by suing the SEC and FDIC over the need for more regulatory transparency in crypto. In February, Coinbase and the SEC jointly filed to dismiss the enforcement action and end the lawsuit. The lawsuit with the FDIC, however, is still ongoing, as the FDIC is still refusing to fully comply with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests concerning “pause letters” sent to banks.

Despite historical and present legal battles, Coinbase’s tenacity may soon pay off. The company will likely see a boost from the recently passed GENIUS Act as it creates regulatory clarity and certainty around stablecoins. The Act will even go as far as allowing Coinbase to apply for a banking license, which would enable Coinbase to obtain Fed master accounts and connect directly to Fedwire.

Notably, PNC isn’t the first traditional bank to make moves in the crypto segment after the passage of the GENIUS Act last week. The Financial Times reported this morning that JPMorgan is considering offering loans backed by clients’ Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings. If JPMorgan follows through, its clients could leverage their crypto holdings as collateral for cash loans, which would offer them liquidity without requiring them to sell their digital assets. The GENIUS Act’s clear federal framework for stablecoins may be giving traditional banks like PNC and JPMorgan new confidence to enter the crypto arena with clarity on compliance and risk boundaries.

Photo by RDNE Stock project

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Blee Teams Up with Public to Ensure Compliant Communications with Customers

Blee Teams Up with Public to Ensure Compliant Communications with Customers
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Blee
  • Regtech Blee has teamed up with New York-based multi-asset investing platform Public.
  • Public will embed Blee’s AI-powered review engine directly into its marketing workflows to ensure that all customer-facing messaging and communication meets regulatory compliance standards.
  • Founded in 2022, Blee made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2024. Guy Shahar is Founder and CEO.

New York-based regtech Blee has announced a partnership with multi-asset investing platform Public. The company will leverage Blee’s AI-powered compliance platform to enhance and streamline its marketing review process as it scales its offering.

“Public is a platform for long term investors looking to build a diversified portfolio. We’re focused on creating a multi-asset platform that’s transparent and built to support informed decision-making,” Public Chief Compliance Officer Emily Verlinde said. “As we scale how we connect with current and prospective members, partnering with Blee helps us move quickly while ensuring everything we share meets the highest regulatory standards.”

Public enables investors to create portfolios using stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), cryptocurrencies, options, and bonds, as well as contribute to retirement accounts. In teaming up with Blee, Public will embed the company’s AI-powered review engine directly into its marketing workflows. This will enable real-time risk detection for content across all asset classes and establish approval flows for different products. The technology also provides a complete audit trail for every review to help ensure compliance.

“This customer announcement is very special to me,” Blee Founder and CEO Guy Shahar wrote on the company’s LinkedIn page. “I’ve been a huge fan of Public’s mission. They’re not just building a product; they’re changing the culture of investing.”

Shahar noted that companies like Public face significant challenges when it comes to offering such a wide range of investment products. Chief among them is a need to communicate clearly and fairly to customers about the products they offer—including the risks involved—and to ensure that those communications meet regulatory standards.

“We’re proud to be the compliance infrastructure that will help the Public team continue to meet this challenge head-on,” Shahar added. “Our platform will provide the guardrails that enable them to educate their members and grow their offerings with confidence and speed.”

New York-based Public offers a multi-asset investment platform for investors in stocks, options, bonds, digital assets, and more. In addition to its investment tools, Public also offers a proprietary AI layer, Alpha, that gives investors fundamental data and custom analysis to guide their investment decisions. Founded in 2019, the company has raised more than $300 million from investors including Accel, Tiger Global, and Will Smith’s Dreamers VC.

Founded in 2022, Blee made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2024. At the conference, Shahar showed how Blee’s AI-powered marketing compliance review technology automatically identifies and flags potential compliance issues and risks before they reach customers.

Blee’s partnership with Public comes a month after the regtech announced that it was working with fellow Finovate alum, Marqeta. Marqeta will integrate Blee’s real-time risk detection, configurable approval flows, and monitoring capabilities into its internal go-to-market process. The company will also use the risk detection technology to support third parties and partners in its ecosystem.

“Our customers are building what’s next in financial services, and trust is at the core of that work,” Marqeta Marketing Compliance Officer Annia Prado said. “With Blee as our compliance partner for marketing reviews, we’re able to share new programs fast—and stay true to the standards that matter.”

Photo by Tyler Prahm on Unsplash

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