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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco on May 23 and 24. Register today and save your spot.
LucinityCopilot, the ultimate tool for streamlined workflows, enhanced compliance, and personalized user experiences, empowers the fight against financial crime.
Features
Confident compliance: Safeguard against financial crime with advanced measures
Increased efficiency: Streamline processes, save time, and reduce manual effort
Tailored experience
Why it’s great
Revolutionize financial crime prevention with Lucinity Copilot, the ultimate tool for confident compliance, increased efficiency, and personalized experiences.
Presenters
Gudmundur Kristjansson, CEO & Founder Kristjansson is a tech entrepreneur, thought leader, and pioneer in compliance & risk management. As the Founder of Lucinity, he is driving social change through innovative technology solutions. LinkedIn
Finovate always goes to great lengths to scout and bring together the brightest minds for keynote presentations, showcasing the most thought-provoking ideas on the main stage.
FinovateSpring, which takes place in San Fransiscso May 23 to 25, is no different. We’re thrilled to host six keynote presentations from all-star speakers. Get ready to gain valuable insights, discover innovative strategies, and be inspired by these speakers as they delve into crucial topics shaping the future of finance and technology.
Check out our six main-stage keynotes below:
Capitalizing on Competitive Advantages, Avoiding Moat Mirages
Ben Clayman, Engineering Leader at Square, will offer his deep understanding of the fintech landscape to guide attendees through the intricacies of leveraging competitive advantages while avoiding the pitfalls of false market barriers. His insights and practical strategies will empower professionals to chart a course for sustainable success in the ever-evolving fintech industry.
The Global Economic & Geo-Political Outlook – What Next? What Are The Challenges & Hidden Icebergs Ahead?
John C. Hulsman, President & Managing Partner at John C. Hulsman Enterprises will offer up his knowledge of global economics and geopolitics. Hulsman will unravel the potential risks and opportunities that lie ahead for the fintech and financial sectors. Gain invaluable foresight into the intricate interplay of geopolitical factors and economic landscapes, which will equip you to navigate the challenges and seize emerging opportunities with confidence.
Understanding The Recent Banking Instability Through The Lens Of Geopolitical Risk – How This Impacts Central Bank Policy And What It Means For Fintechs & Financial Institutions
Manas Chawla, CEO at London Politica, will share his expertise in geopolitics and shed light on the correlation between political dynamics, central bank policies, and their impact on the stability of the banking sector, offering valuable perspectives for fintech professionals.
Quick-Fire Keynotes
Climate Change, ESG & Financial Services, What Do Wall Street & Your Customers Want? How Can Banks Avoid Greenwashing? Why Digitisation & Sustainability Go Hand In Hand
Cathryn Peirce, Founder & CEO at Carbon Zero Financial
Financial Inclusion & Financial Wellness – Harnessing Data and Segmentation To Help Your Customers To Achieve Long Term Financial Health In Tough Economic Times
Ashish Gupta, Chief Risk Officer at LendingPoint
The Intersection Of Financial Services And Commerce – How Embedded Finance Can Generate Over $100 Billion in Revenue for Banks
Sam Kilmer, Managing Director, Fintech Advisory at Cornerstone Advisers
Feedzai unveiled ScamPrevent capabilities that will help banks protect their end customers from a variety of financial scams.
The new tools will be added to Feedzai’s RiskOps platform.
The Federal Trade Commission reports that between 2021 and 2023, losses from scams increased by 30% in the U.S.
Risk management and fraud prevention tool provider Feedzai is enhancing its RiskOps platform.
The Portugal-based company announced that its new ScamPrevent capabilities will be added to the RiskOps platform. The new tools aim to help banks protect their customers from a variety of financial scams.
“In this environment of faster payments and more sophisticated scams, banks should look at proactive strategies to protect their customers from financial crime,” said Feedzai CEO Nuno Sebastiao. “We believe that banks which embrace a comprehensive RiskOps approach will outperform in customer satisfaction and retention, while minimizing losses from financial crime.”
By improving its Feedzai AI engine, the company leverages its experience across multiple geographies and financial institutions to enable improved scam detection with fewer false positives.
ScamPrevent includes other customizable capabilities, as well. Firms can add bank-specific scam detection rules and thresholds, leverage features that help banks identify signals from pre-transaction patterns such as behavioral biometrics that indicate a customer could be a scam victim before they authorize the payment, add customizable scam classification, view performance metrics, and generate reports.
The Federal Trade Commission reports that between 2021 and 2023, losses from scams increased by 30% in the U.S. According to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), this percentage may be an underestimate, as only 7% of scams losses are reported across the globe.
“The human impact of scams is particularly high as scammers tend to target vulnerable groups – the elderly, the economically disadvantaged, immigrant communities, and youth,” said Feedzai Chief Product Officer Pedro Barata. “As it becomes faster and easier to make payments, there is a growing need for new solutions that enable scams to be detected and intercepted before any money moves. With our new ScamProtect™ features, Feedzai delivers the industry’s most comprehensive approach to scam prevention.”
Feedzai was founded in 2011 and helps companies fight fraud in more than 190 countries. The company has raised more than $277 million, having pulled in its largest round of $200 million in 2021 that valued Feedzai at more than one billion dollars.
U.K.-based renttech company Goodlord announced a partnership with open banking platform Tink this week.
Goodlord will leverage Tink Income Check to help landlords enhance their reference checking process.
Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Tink is a two-time Finovate Best of Show winner.
Goodlord, a renttech platform based in the U.K., has announced a partnership with open banking platform Tink. Goodlord will use Tink Income Check as part of its effort to modernize its tenant application process. The technology will also help Goodlord enhance its fraud protection for both agents and landlords.
Tink Income Check will enable Goodlord to bring real-time data directly from tenant bank accounts to its reference checking processes. With the consent of the renter, landlords will be able to verify income from salaries, pensions, and more going back 12 months or longer. Tink Income Check also optimizes approval rates and reduces both fraud and application abandonment. The technology serves as an alternative to the standard affordability check.
“We’re very pleased to be partnering with Tink on our open banking capabilities,” Goodlord Referencing Operations Manager Nicola Harding said. “We’ve long been advocates of open banking technology. It plays a crucial role in both modernizing the process for tenants, while also protecting agents and their landlords from fraud.”
Founded in 2017, Goodlord was launched to help smooth the process of renting properties – for all parties involved. By 2020, the company had processed one billion pounds via its platform. A year later, Goodlord announced that it had 1,000 agency customers. The company’s technology works along with the landlord’s or agency’s CRM to manage the entire tenancy process – from offer letter to rent collection.
“In the current climate, it’s more critical than ever to have an up-to-date and comprehensive view of tenants’ finances, to know they can comfortably afford the rent,” Tink’s U.K. Banking & Lending Director Tasha Chouhan said. “It also ensures those renters whose income payments are irregular, such as the self-employed or those working in the gig economy, have a fairer chance to secure a rental property.”
A two-time Finovate Best of Show award winner, Tink most recently demoed its technology at FinovateEurope 2019. This year alone, the Stockholm, Sweden-based fintech has announced partnerships with credit provider Younited, Italian fintech ConTe.it Prestiti, and Finland-based Multitude Bank.
Open Banking infrastructure company Axway has acquired Belgium-based e-invoicing specialist AdValvas.
The acquisition brings new invoicing and compliance capabilities to Arizona-based Axway.
Axway made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring in San Francisco.
Open Banking infrastructure company Axway has made an overseas acquisition. The Arizona-based fintech acquired AdValvas, a Belgium-based e-invoicing processes specialist. The purchase underscores Axway’s status as a leader in B2B integration and EDI and brings new invoicing and compliance capabilities to the firm. These new capabilities include embedded support for Peppol and French VAT reform – as well as other B2G (business-to-goverment) and B2B e-invoicing mandates around the world.
Neither Axway nor AdValvas disclosed the amount of the transaction.
The acquisition comes at a time of greater regulatory interest in e-invoicing. Regulators are debating new requirements for B2B invoicing in France. In the EU overall, B2G e-invoicing is currently mandatory for all public procurements. The trend toward Continuous Transaction Control provides additional impetus for firms to embrace e-invoicing.
“AdValvas has been at the forefront of Peppol and e-invoicing for the past decade, helping steer the direction of invoice compliance around the globe,” Axway CEO Patrick Donovan said. “We are thrilled to welcome AdValvas and look forward to leveraging their deep expertise to help our customers navigate the delicate compliance waters ahead.”
Michel Gillis, formerly CEO of AdValvas, will serve as VP of e-invoicing with Axway. He called the acquisition a “significant milestone” in AdValvas’ “growth journey.” Going forward, AdValvas will operate as an Axway subsidiary. The company’s products and services will be integrated into Axway’s B2B Integration platform.
Axway made its Finovate debut a year ago at FinovateSpring in San Francisco. At the conference, the company demoed how its Open Banking technology enabled the secure sharing of financial data across digital ecosystems. Axway offers configured open banking APIs; an intuitive, collaboration-friendly developer experience; and pre-configured consent management integration to minimize risk.
Digital asset trading platform Bittrex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Bittrex Global will not be impacted by the change.
Today’s news comes three weeks after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Bittrex and its former CEO William Shihara for operating an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency.
U.S. digital asset trading platform Bittrexfiled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday. The company’s international operation, Bittrex Global, will not be impacted by the change.
Seattle-based Bittrex shut down in the U.S. on April 30, but has asked the bankruptcy court to allow it to re-open temporarily so that it can return crypto assets to U.S. customers who were unable to withdraw their funds prior to the April 30 closure.
Today’s bankruptcy filing comes after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Bittrex and its former CEO William Shihara for operating an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency on April 17. Specifically, the agency alleged that Shihara encouraged crypto asset issuers to delete public statements that could lead regulators to investigate those token offerings as securities.
Bittrex has denied the SEC’s allegations that its digital assets are securities or investment contracts.
Unfortunately for the crypto world, the news of a digital asset trading platform shutting down in the U.S. is not shocking. Bittrex’s U.S. shutdown and bankruptcy follow the demise of FTX, Celsius, Voyager, and BlockFi– all of which have taken place in the past year. One reason decentralized finance (DeFi) companies operating in the U.S. are becoming an endangered species is because of the ambiguous regulatory environment in the U.S.
The SEC has not firmly laid out rules for crypto companies and, based on the fines it has issued, is making it clear that crypto firms are not as welcome in the U.S. as they are in other geographies.
Teslar Software and First National Bank of Oklahoma announced a new partnership this week. The bank will leverage Teslar Software’s technology to streamline its lending processes. The partnership will also enable First National Bank of Oklahoma to better track exceptions and manage documentation.
First National Bank of Oklahoma president and CEO Mel Martin called Teslar Software a “natural fit to partner”. The relationship between the two entities goes back to the pandemic days when First National Bank of Oklahoma used the fintech’s PPP solution. “We experienced firsthand that they’re a nimble, dependable organization that truly understands and cares about community banks,” Martin said. He added that the technology from Teslar will not only help the bank become more efficient, “it will also help us better manage risk in our portfolio.”
Headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, and founded in 2008, Teslar Software made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2015 as 3E Software. The company returned to the Finovate stage last year for FinovateFall. At the conference, Teslar demoed its technology that simplifies, digitizes, and automates the indirect lending process for community financial institutions.
“How can it be that a bank has a great relationship with a small business?” Teslar Software founder and CEO Joe Ehrhardt asked during his company’s live demo last fall. “How is it that they are financing them, but they fail to finance that business’ end user?” Teslar Software’s Indirect Lending product helps community financial institutions grow their customer base by teaming up with local businesses to provide financing for purchases of items like power tools, outdoor equipment, and furniture. As Erhardt explained, financing for these purchases is often cumbersome and inefficient for consumers. Facilitating partnerships between community financial institutions and local small businesses in the community is how Indirect Lending solves the problem.
With $750 million in assets, First National Bank of Oklahoma maintains offices in Oklahoma City, Ponca City, Tonkawa, and Tulsa. The bank was chartered in 1917, and recently celebrated its 105th anniversary. First National Bank of Oklahoma is only the most recent financial institution to partner with Teslar. The company teamed up with Ohio’s Merchants National Bank in March and announced a collaboration with Mississippi-based Magnolia State Bank in April.
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco on May 23 and 24. Register today and save your spot.
Illuma’s Shield Voice Authentication is now integrated with Glia’s Digital Customer Service Platform for frictionless yet secure voice engagements.
Features
Better customer experience with frictionless account access
Improved operational efficiency by cutting minutes from each phone call
Better security with biometric voice authentication
Why it’s great
The Illuma Shield voice authentication integration with Glia improves operational efficiency, security, and customer experience for community banks and credit unions.
Presenters
Milind Borkar, Founder & CEO Borkar brings a background in R&D and more than 50 successful product launches to his role as Founder and CEO of Illuma Labs. LinkedIn
Greg Cummings, Director, Global ISV Partners Cummings has over 20 years of experience in the customer engagement space and currently serves as the Director of Global ISV Partnerships at Glia. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco on May 23 and 24. Register today and save your spot.
Wink’s revolutionary biometric payments and identity platform eliminates passwords and fraudulent activities utilizing advanced AI/Machine Learning, cutting-edge face, and voice recognition for unparalleled authentication.
Features
Goodbye passwords, fraud, and compliance costs with multi-factor biometric authentication
Full-service payment orchestration delivers secure payment experiences with failover protection
Guest checkout elimination simplifies checkout
Why it’s great
Wink enables any institution to offer simpler and superior identity and payments experiences through biometrics that ensures full privacy protection that cannot be decrypted.
Presenters
Deepak Jain, CEO & Founder With multiple patents in payment and security technologies, Jain has built transformational businesses and products in the NFC payments, neobanking, blockchain and cross-border payment spaces. LinkedIn
Gary Bender, CBO Bender brings a depth of experience with technology, payments, banking, fintech, and a track record for team building, refining strategies, and focused execution. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco on May 23 and 24. Register today and save your spot.
Pave.dev helps credit teams reduce risk and identify healthy borrowers. By unifying banking, credit, and proprietary performance data, their Scores & Attributes predict borrower behavior.
Features
Supplement credit report data with real-time cashflow to identify healthy borrowers
Dynamically adjust credit limits
Personalize payment plans to improve collections success
Why it’s great
With new data comes new risk – credit risk teams can’t keep up with the explosion of consumer permissioned data. Pave gives credit risk teams the best tools to power credit decisions with cashflow intelligence.
Presenter
Raymond Rouf, CEO & Co-Founder Rouf is a 3x analytics founder with over 15 years of experience building and growing analytics products. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco on May 23 and 24. Register today and save your spot.
upSWOT enhances FI relationships with business clients by offering real-time, actionable insights, personalized suggestions, and relevant financing at the right time during the customer’s journey.
Features
Provides real-time actionable insights
Offers SMB underwriting data
Includes comprehensive health indicators for business clients
Why it’s great
Embedding upSWOT insights will improve outcomes and profitability for both the FI and the SMB.
Presenter
Adam Dolby, SVP Partnerships & Alliances Dolby has been in the global fintech space for 20+ years and has worked to deliver solutions in partnership with industry leaders, such as Q2, Alkami, NCR, FIS, Fiserv, Jack Henry, and others. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco on May 23 and 24. Register today and save your spot.
Front Financial is a modern embedded infrastructure with transfer and execution capabilities across 300+ financial institutions, exchanges, wallets, and brokerages.
Features
One click asset transfer to exchanges and wallets
Read, write, and transfer capabilities
Account aggregation across asset classes
Why it’s great
Front Financial offers embedded experience to their clients across asset classes and financial operations with their read, write, and transfer integrations.
Presenters
Bam Azizi, Co-Founder & CEO Azizi is a serial tech entrepreneur and an API integration expert. At his previous startup, his team built over 2000 integrations with third-party apps. LinkedIn
Rani Nagpal, VP Marketing Nagpal is an innovative, tech-centric senior leader with deep operations and marketing experience and a background in economics. LinkedIn
