Insurtech Getsafe Acquires Rival Luko’s German Clients

Insurtech Getsafe Acquires Rival Luko’s German Clients
  • Getsafe acquired Luko Insurance’s Germany-based customers.
  • The acquisition includes 50,000 policies and boosts Getsafe’s total client roster to 550,000 customers.
  • Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Germany-based Getsafe announced this week it has acquired Luko Insurance’s German customer base, which includes 50,000 policies. Terms of the deal, which was approved by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in late September, were not disclosed.

Adding Luko’s clients to its own roster, Getsafe now counts 550,000 customers across Germany, the U.K., France, and Austria. Integrating Luko’s clients, which was, as Getsafe CEO and founder explained was “as easy for us as launching a new product,” bolsters Getsafe’s European portfolio.

“Traditional insurance is broken for digitally savvy customers. They would never step into a broker’s office,” said Getsafe CEO and founder Christian Wiens. “We aim to become the go-to platform for 100 million young Europeans who will spend €300 billion on insurance in the next decade.”

Getsafe’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) model, which targets Europeans between 20 to 40 years old, offers liability, legal, drone, contents, health, dental, dog liability, pet health, private pension, and income protection insurance, as well as a children’s savings plan. This DTC model has proven compelling to users. Of the company’s customers, 35% use the app every month, an engagement rate that has resulted in strong growth. In fact, since Getsafe was founded in 2015, the company has doubled its revenue per customer every year.

“By eliminating intermediaries such as brokers and agents, we achieve much higher customer satisfaction scores than the industry average,” Wiens explained. “Additionally, our direct-to-consumer business runs with higher margins and is already operating profitably in our core markets.”

The deal comes four months after France-based Luko was bought by insurance giant Admiral Group, which acquired all but Luko’s German or Spanish operations.


Photo by Vojtech Okenka

Jumio Extends Strategic Partnership with Data Services Provider NextWealth

Jumio Extends Strategic Partnership with Data Services Provider NextWealth
  • Identity verification, risk assessment, and compliance solutions company Jumio has announced an expanded strategic partnership with NextWealth.
  • A data services provider, NextWealth will provide identity verification services and manage back office operations for Jumio.
  • A Best of Show winner and Finovate alum since 2013, Jumio has processed more than one billion transactions spanning 200+ countries and territories.

Identity verification and compliance solutions provider Jumio has expanded its strategic partnership with data services provider NextWealth. The move comes as the risk assessment company seeks to add to its ability to combat increasingly sophisticated fraud and financial crime challenges. Via the enhanced relationship, NextWealth will provide identity verification services for Jumio. This will include taking the lead role in back office operations for Jumio as the company looks to scale its business, while providing the same level of secure service.

“Now more than ever, when our automation and quality rates have reached record levels, partnering with NextWealth enables us to focus on our core business and technology objectives and support our customers wherever they do business across the globe,” Jumio Chief Technology Officer Stuart Wells explained.

NextWealth CEO Mythily Ramesh said that the expanded partnership would “further cement our position as one of the largest, pure play, AI/ML-driven data services players in the country.” Founded in 2009, the Bengaluru, India-based company serves businesses in fintech, e-commerce, healthcare, and other verticals. With seven centers in four states, NextWealth delivers more than 300 million data transactions.

A Finovate Best of Show winner and long-time alum, Jumio has processed more than one billion transactions from 200+ countries and territories. With its Jumio KYX Platform, the Sunnyvale, California-based company offers advanced identity proofing, risk signals, and compliance tools that help businesses establish and maintain customer trust. Jumio leverages a wide variety of enabling technologies – including automation, biometrics, AI, machine learning, liveness detection, and no-code orchestration – to enable its clients to better deal with the evolving nature of financial crime.

Last month, Jumio was named a Representative Vendor in the Gartner Market Guide for Identity Verification for a fifth consecutive time. Earlier this year, the company forged partnerships with Philippines-based Java developer Exist Software Labs, and composable frontend platform company Modyo.


Photo by Avinash Patel

Stockpile Taps Green Dot to Offer Debit Cards for Kids

Stockpile Taps Green Dot to Offer Debit Cards for Kids
  • Stockpile is adding a kids debit card as part of its retail investing product suite for minors.
  • The debit card will be powered by Green Dot’s banking-as-a-service tool.
  • The card will have built-in parental controls and oversight.

Youth-focused brokerage company Stockpile is adding a new product to its lineup this week. The company will begin offering minors a debit card as part of its retail investing product suite.

The payment card, which will be powered by Green Dot’s banking-as-a-service, will have parental spending controls. Parents can set up debit cards for their kids, set and control the access they’d like their kids to have, and maintain oversight over their spending.

“Green Dot’s depth of experience embedding seamless, innovative and value-driven financial tools into their partner ecosystems, along with their passion for providing accessible financial services to consumers and businesses, make them a great fit for Stockpile’s long-term vision and growth trajectory,” said Stockpile CEO Victor Wang. “Partnering with Green Dot adds a new dimension to Stockpile’s hands-on financial learning and access, and will deliver a seamless and responsible debit card experience as an educational stepping stone to investing.”

Stockpile plans to add more tools and functionality to its product suite in the future. Based on competing payment tools for minors, such as Greenlight and GoHenry by Acorns, Stockpile may add budgeting tools, giving options, and a savings account.

Founded in 1999, Green Dot offers direct-to-consumer digital banking tools as well as a B2B banking-as-a-service offering. According to the release, Stockpile is among the first of Green Dot’s partners to build and operate from its cloud-native banking-as-a-service platform.

“We’re proud to partner with Stockpile to embed powerful financial tools and experiences that fuel engagement and value for their customers,” said Green Dot Head of Enterprise Business Development, Embedded Finance Simran Singh. “We’re passionate about giving people and businesses access to seamless, affordable banking and financial tools that build financial confidence and prosperity, as well as partnering with companies like Stockpile that share our values, purpose and vision.”

Notably, this announcement comes the same week that Acorns unveiled a new premium tier that includes access to GoHenry in the U.S. and two months after Greenlight launched a new solution to help teens build credit.


Photo by Blake Wisz on Unsplash

Applications Open: Demo at FinovateEurope 2024

Applications Open: Demo at FinovateEurope 2024

FinovateEurope 2024 takes place at the InterContinental O2 London over February 27 and 28.

FinovateEurope has delivered an exceptional line up of must-see demos for over 10 years. 2024 is no exception. 

With a focus on innovation, Finovate remains the primary choice for fintechs looking to establish their presence and a valuable platform for those showcasing new technology and partnerships. Whether it’s their first, second, or even fifth appearance on stage, all selected organizations are keeping the fintech industry plugged in to the latest trends and innovations.

Each event brings a new wave of demo deals and successes. Here are just a few from 2023 demo alum:

A month after FinovateEurope, London-based fintech NayaOne won tender from the Financial Conduct Authority to build a digital sandbox.

Europe alum and bank orchestration platform Numeral partnered with core banking provider Tuum to help FIs and fintechs launch and grow across Europe and the U.K.

ConnectEarth, an environmental data company, raised $5.6M in Seed funding less than two weeks after the London event.

Weeks after demoing, AutoRek, an end-to-end financial data control platform, was selected by the U.S. Federal Reserve to feature in its provider showcase.

Natural language analytics innovator and Best of Show winner SESAMm returned to the Finovate stage in March. Clearly a winner all around as they secured $37M in Series B funding that same month.

And newcomer StockRepublic raised $2.81M for its social trading platform after demoing this March.

This is your chance to join the 2024 demo lineup and add your own success story to the list. Apply by Friday, October 13 for early-bird discounts.

Digital Banking Software Provider ieDigital Acquires U.S.-Based Connect FSS

Digital Banking Software Provider ieDigital Acquires U.S.-Based Connect FSS
  • ieDigital, a digital banking software company based in the U.K., has acquired U.S.-based digital banking technology company Connect FSS.
  • Terms of the deal were not immediately available.
  • ieDigital made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in 2018.

U.K.-based digital banking software company ieDigital announced a major acquisition this week. The firm will acquire its U.S.-based counterpart, digital banking technology company, Connect FSS. Terms of the transaction were not immediately available, but the deal will make ieDigital one of the biggest digital banking software providers in the world.

The acquisition comes at the end of ieDigital’s multi-month search for a business partner that would help the company meet its growth goals, especially with regard to increasing ieDigital’s international reach. The company noted in a statement that the acquisition will bring greater scale and more resources to bear on the challenges facing business customers. The acquisition will also help accelerate innovation as teams from both companies begin to collaborate and work together to design and market new, enhanced digital solutions.

“Joining forces with Connect FSS will enable us to support a broader range of customers in different geographies that we wouldn’t have otherwise been able to reach, and strengthen our technology with insight from our new colleagues in the U.S.,” ieDigital CEO Jerry Young said. Connect FSS President and CEO Grant Parry added that the partnership with a “natural next step” in Connect FSS’s evolution. “Our joint ambition is to provide excellent customer service and tailored solutions to clients,” Parry said.

For now, both ieDigital and Connect FSS will retain their brand identities in their respective markets. The firms will sit as part of a new ieDigital Group in which ieDigital’s Young will serve as CEO while Connect FSS’s Parry will serve as EVP of Strategy.

Founded in 1984, ieDigital made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2018. At the conference, the company demoed its Money Fitness solution which helps users better manage their day-to-day finances. In the years since, the company has grown into a major fintech in the U.K. financial services ecosystem. ieDigital has partnered with four of the five largest banks in the U.K., and has provided digital software solutions to more than 50 financial services businesses.

This spring, ieDigital announced that Suffolk Building Society has chosen the company as its partner for its eSavings platform. The offering will give Society members access to online savings products and will be powered by ieDigital’s Interact software. Interact is a suite of digital services that work in concert with a financial services provider’s existing technology.


Photo by Yelena Odintsova

Genpact’s Anu Sachdeva on Applying Generative AI in Finance

Genpact’s Anu Sachdeva on Applying Generative AI in Finance

Artificial intelligence has taken the technology world by storm – and fintech is no exception. But questions remain as to how AI can be best applied in the world of fintech and financial services.

I talked with Anu Sachdeva, Global Service Line & Solutions Leader at Genpact, during the FinovateFall conference last month to discuss the role of generative AI in particular in financial services. Among the topics covered were:

  • How banks can realize the true value of generative AI.
  • What use cases banks and other financial services organizations have found for generative AI.
  • What are the most important considerations for financial services organizations when adopting generative AI.

Check out the complete conversation.

Photo by Google DeepMind

Data Modernization in Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance

Data Modernization in Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance

This is a sponsored post by Indium Software

2023 is bringing new regulations and transparency requirements to shape the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) marketplace. This guide, Navigating the Path to Data Modernization in the BFSI Industry, explores the practical steps business leaders can take to accomplish their objectives — from identifying suitable technological solutions to effectively implementing them to maximize their influence.

By following these recommendations, you as a business leader can embark on a successful journey of modernization that not only fosters growth, but also enhances the profitability of your business.

Key Highlights

  • Banking Data Modernization Challenges
  • Numbers Don’t Lie!
  • Data Modernization Isn’t a Brand-New Concept
  • Data Modernization – The Need of the Hour
  • The Journey of Data Modernization
  • First Step to Data Modernization
  • Data Modernization Roadmap: The 8 Pillars of a Winning Strategy
  • The End Objectives of Data Modernization
  • No Disruption on the Road to Digitization – Cheat Sheet: Key Tips for Next-Gen BFSI Orgs & How Can Indium Help

Read the e-book>>

The 64 FinovateFall Demo Videos are Now Available to Everyone for Free

The 64 FinovateFall Demo Videos are Now Available to Everyone for Free

If you were among our audience at FinovateFall last month, then you know what the rest of the fintech world is missing out on. Among everyone’s favorite Finovate experiences is watching the live demos.

Starting today, everyone has the ability to watch the 64 demos from FinovateFall for free. To get you started, we’re featuring a selection of the demos our audience voted Best of Show.

For those not familiar with the process, here’s how it works: companies have seven minutes on stage to demo their new technology, live in front of the audience. If the speaker runs over the seven minute time limit, a gong sounds, their mic is cut, and the MC walks on stage to thank them and introduce the next company.

Chimney

Debbie

eSelf.AI

Mahalo Banking

Trust & Will

Wysh


Photo by Terje Sollie

Vyzer Lands $6.3 Million in Seed Funding to Transform Wealth Management

Vyzer Lands $6.3 Million in Seed Funding to Transform Wealth Management
  • Vyzer has received $6.3 million in Seed funding.
  • The company will use the funds to enhance its wealth management platform and expand its reach.
  • Investors include Moneta VC, iAngels, Guy Gamzu, Jonathan Kolber, and Rafi Gidro.

Wealth management platform Vyzer unveiled today it has received $6.3 million in Seed funding. The New York-based company will use the funds to enhance its platform and expand its reach.

Vyzer was founded in 2020 to offer Limited Partnership investors and family offices with complex portfolios– including alternative assets– a single, holistic view across all of their investments. The company helps users track, analyze, and optimize their investments, view and plan their cash flow, and more. Vyzer’s peer benchmarking tool leverages AI capabilities to offer clients insights into investment strategies, fund managers, and activities of similar investors.

“The funds will enable us to enhance our platform’s AI capabilities, develop new features, and broaden our market presence,” said Vyzer Co-Founder and CEO Litan Yahav. “Our ultimate goal is to simplify and streamline complex wealth processes for our customers, equipping each member with greater insights and control. This, in turn, empowers them to maximize their investment potential and foster wealth growth.”

Today’s funding round marks the company’s first investment and includes contributions from Moneta VC, iAngels, Guy Gamzu, Jonathan Kolber, and Rafi Gidro.

Vyzer’s launch comes amid what is expected to be the largest transfer of wealth in history. Analysts expect that, in coming years, baby boomers will shift $68 trillion to their heirs. This tech-savvy group is increasingly investing in alternative assets, some of which can be difficult to digitize. Vyzer’s technology seeks to fill in that visibility gap. As iAngels Founding Partner Shelly Hod Moyal explained, “Vyzer’s solution provides investors with broad and transparent visibility into their portfolios. It allows them to capitalize on the ever-growing investment landscape by making informed and timely decisions, and it enables them to effectively scale their portfolios at an affordable cost.”


Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

Payments-as-a-Service Platform Rainforest Raises $11.75 Million in Seed Funding

Payments-as-a-Service Platform Rainforest Raises $11.75 Million in Seed Funding
  • Payments-as-a-service platform Rainforest has raised $11.75 million in seed funding.
  • The round was led by Accel, and included a $3.25 million venture debt facility courtesy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).
  • Rainforest helps software companies embed financial products into their solutions.

In a round led by Accel, payments-as-a-service platform Rainforest has secured $11.75 million in seed funding. The round also featured participation from Infinity Ventures, BoxGroup, The Fintech Fund, Tech Square Ventures, and Ardent Venture Partners, as well as strategic angel investors. The funding included $3.25 million in a venture debt facility courtesy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), making the total equity raised in the round $8.5 million.

Rainforest founder and CEO Joshua Silver referenced his own experience as founder of a healthcare software company and as a payments consultant in explaining the “why” behind Rainforest. “I personally experienced the challenges and tradeoffs associated with embedded payments,” Silver said. “I recruited former colleagues and other all-star payments and SaaS veterans, and together we built Rainforest – the embedded payments platform we always wanted but didn’t exist.”

Rainforest offers an embedded payments solution that helps software platforms monetize their money flows. By building a platform specifically for software platforms, Rainforest believes that it has an edge over most payment providers that build solutions primarily for merchants. The company is able to help software platforms deal with both the risk management and compliance issues that accompany payments, while enabling them to take advantage of the growing opportunity to embed and monetize payments.

“Not every software company wants to become a full-fledged fintech,” Silver said, “but nearly all want to embed financial services.”

Rainforest’s embedded components enable companies to build payment rails to facilitate payments from providers such as Visa and Mastercard, as well as same-day ACH and Plaid verification. Rainforest supports next-day payouts, and the company anticipates adding same-day options like RTP and push-to-card soon. The company notes that its open ecosystem encourages integration with alternative payment networks, vertical-specific ledgers, and other financial service providers. “It’s a game changer,” Rainforest VP of Engineering Chris Church said, “and I’m thrilled to see platforms’ response to it.” The company notes that it secured client commitments representing more than $500 million in processing shortly after launch. In addition to financial services, Rainforest acknowledges interest in its technology from companies in verticals ranging from healthcare and professional services to logistics and construction.

Founded in 2022, Rainforest is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company includes RoadSync, PayGround, and QuoteMachine among its clients.


Photo by zhang kaiyv

BHG Financial Turns to Cable for Financial Crime Effectiveness Testing

BHG Financial Turns to Cable for Financial Crime Effectiveness Testing
  • BHG Financial announced a partnership with financial crime effectiveness testing company Cable.
  • BHG Financial will leverage Cable’s technology to enhance its own compliance programs.
  • Founded in 2020, Cable made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall 2022.

Unsecured business and personal loan specialist BHG Financial announced a partnership with Cable this week. The company will use Cable’s financial crime effectiveness platform to improve its own compliance efforts.

Headquartered in the San Francisco, California, Cable gives banks, financial services firms, fintechs, and other organizations the tools they need to enhance their compliance programs. These tools include automated risk assessments, automated assurance, quality assurance, management information, and reporting. BHG Financial’s Director of Financial Crime & BSA Officer Bryan Holloway, stated that the partnership underscored the company’s commitment to regulatory compliance by providing “advanced tooling” for “greater efficiency, visibility, and insights across our business.”

BHG Financial has established one of the largest community bank loan and product networks in the U.S. The company has originated more than $16 billion in loan solutions since its founding in 2001.

“We’re delighted to partner with BHG Financial to bolster their automated financial crime assurance and testing capabilities,” Cable CEO Natasha Vernier said. “With increasing regulatory scrutiny on banking and fintech compliance, it’s a privilege to partner with innovative companies like BHG Financial (that are) taking compliance very seriously and embracing the best tooling available to protect their business.”

Cable made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall 2022. At the conference, the company demonstrated its Automated Assurance solution. This technology enables banks and fintechs to automate their compliance assurance and effectiveness testing. Automated Assurance also allows organizations to discover breaches and control failures in the moment. Additionally, Cable’s technology streamlines a number of manual processes including quality control, stakeholder reporting, and record management.

Founded in 2020, the company raised $11 million in Series A funding in May of this year. Stage 2 Capital and Jump Capital participated, along with existing investor CRV. More recently, Cable announced a partnership with Grasshopper Bank, joined the Banking-as-a-Service Association, and introduced new Chief Revenue Officer Candace Sjogren. Sjogren comes to Cable after serving most recently as SVP, Global Head of Sales at crypto-as-a-service provider Zero Hash.


Photo by Pixabay

Pidgin Brings Instant Payments to Exchange Bank

Pidgin Brings Instant Payments to Exchange Bank

Want to feel good about the spread of real-time payments? Alabama-based Exchange Bank, a financial institution that has been serving customers since 1909, has turned to Pidgin to bring instant payments to its account holders.

The partnership between Pidgin and Exchange Bank will give the bank’s customers the ability to access faster payments to transfer funds between accounts, as well as pay employees, vendors, and more. Direct payment routing from financial institution to financial institution means that funds are settled and available in the recipient’s account almost immediately as soon as the transaction is completed.

“Banking has changed drastically since 1909, but our long-standing history is a testament to our bank’s dedication to keeping up with our customer’s needs,” Exchange Bank chairman and CEO Ricky Ray said. Ray referred to the partnership with Pidgin as an example of the bank’s ability to evolve and offer new ways to help its customers “thrive financially.”

Added Pidgin founder and CEO Abhishek Veeraghanta: “Today’s customers are looking for instant payment options to gain more flexibility and control over their transactions. We look forward to empowering Exchange Bank and their customers with more efficient payment options.”

Pidgin leverages its status as a central connection point to the Federal Reserve’s FedNow Service as well as faster payment networks such as The Clearing House’s Real-Time Payment Network. Founded in 2022, the company made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall. At the conference, Pidgin demoed its faster payments ecosystem, which enables FIs to send and receive faster payments almost instantly, while providing greater security compared to virtual wallet alternatives.

Pidgin founder and CEO Abhishek Veeraghanta demoing the company’s faster payments technology at FinovateFall 2022.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Pidgin was among the first fintechs to secure certification for the FedNow instant payments service launched by the Federal Reserve earlier this year. Also this year, Pidgin announced a new partnership with U.S. Century Bank, a Miami-based institution with more than $2.1 billion in assets. The bank will leverage its new relationship with Pidgin to provide instant payments to its growing customer base of small business owners, professionals, and entrepreneurs based in south Florida.

Other partnerships forged this year by Pidgin include the company’s work with fraud and compliance platform Effectiv (also a Finovate alum) and Community Bankers’ Bank.


Photo by Richard Solano