Alumni News

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

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

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

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

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

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

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

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Clover Launches Clover PracticePay for Healthcare Providers

Clover Launches Clover PracticePay for Healthcare Providers
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Clover Network

Fiserv-owned point-of-sale (PoS) system Clover unveiled Clover PracticePay today. The new solution is an all-in-one payments platform to support small and medium-sized healthcare providers. 

To optimally tailor the tool to the healthcare field, Clover partnered with healthcare payments solutions company Rectangle Health. The new solution aims to simplify the way healthcare practices manage payments while providing them with digital tools to help enhance their practice efficiencies.

Launching in 2026, PracticePay combines Rectangle Health’s Practice Management Bridge technology with Clover’s PoS hardware and is compliant with HIPAA and PCI requirements. Designed for providers across primary care, dental, behavioral health, and other specialties, the payments solution features financing options, recurring billing, text-to-pay, QR codes, and online payment portals that can be integrated into customers’ existing practice management software.

For Clover, launching PracticePay will help it expand beyond its core verticals, which include restaurant, retail, and personal services. Adding healthcare payments will allow Clover to extend into the high-demand healthcare industry in which providers are seeking to modernize operations to meet expanding patient expectations, increasing administrative complexity, and digitization requirements. PracticePay will help Clover meet these needs while capturing a segment of the $4.5 trillion US healthcare economy.

“As we continue to evolve Clover to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, trusted partners like Rectangle Health play a critical role in delivering specialized solutions for key industries,” said Fiserv SVP, Head of Merchant FI Channels & Small Business Strategy Katie Whalen. “Healthcare is an important vertical for the banking industry, and with this new solution, we are enabling our financial institution partners to better serve a critical customer base within their communities. By uniting Clover’s leading technology with the strength and security of Rectangle Health’s purpose-built software, we are extending our reach into healthcare and enabling providers to operate more efficiently, improve payment flows, and enhance the patient experience.”

A pioneer in the payments space, Rectangle Health was founded in 1992 to create payment solutions for the healthcare industry. The company provides healthcare organizations with a suite of services that streamline payments, enhance patient relationships, and comply with regulatory standards.

“Together with Clover, we are proud to set a new standard for practice management and payment solutions in the healthcare space,” said Rectangle Health CEO Dominick Colabella. “This collaboration will enable providers to enhance their financial systems while remaining focused on what matters most—their patients.”

Clover was originally founded in 2010 to help small businesses accept payments. Today, the company serves as a one-stop shop for multiple payment needs. In addition to offering a range of payment acceptance terminals, Clover also has software to help businesses with online orders, accounting, loyalty programs, staff management, inventory, and more. Clover was acquired in 2012 by First Data, which was acquired by Fiserv in 2019.

Photo by Pixabay

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Summer Partnerships: Infinant Teams up with Vantage, Deepens Alliance with Customers

Summer Partnerships: Infinant Teams up with Vantage, Deepens Alliance with Customers
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Infinant
  • Digital banking solutions provider Infinant has partnered with Vantage Bank and announced an extension of its collaboration with Customers Bank.
  • Vantage Bank leveraged Infinant’s platform to power its embedded banking business, Vantage Collabs. Customers Bank has worked with Infinant to automate balance mirroring with its deposit partners.
  • Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and founded in 2020, Infinant made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2024.

When we last heard from digital banking solutions provider Infinant, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based fintech had just secured $15 million in Series A funding.

Six months later, we are picking up the thread with word that the company has recently inked a partnership with Vantage Bank and announced an extension of its collaboration with Customers Bank.

First, Vantage Bank has teamed up with Infinant for its Interlace Platform, which it will use to power its embedded banking business, Vantage Collabs. The bank’s new offering provides embedded banking services to fintech brands, payment infrastructure providers, and other financial institutions.

“We have seen the expansion of banks finding success in the embedded finance space to grow deposits, lending, and fee income while reducing their operating expenses driven by legacy systems,” Infinant CEO Riaz Syed said. “We are motivated about the partnership we have with Vantage Bank and our aligned strategies to advance the banking market in a responsible and sustainable manner.”

Infinant provides financial institutions with technology that enables them to launch and scale their own digital channels, embedded banking programs, and embedded payments. Infinant’s platform gives banks operational and regulatory control over their programs, enabling institutions to keep control of the ledger, operations, and compliance. The company’s APIs will facilitate fast integrations between Vantage and third-party services including Visa DPS for card issuance and processing, Sardine for KYC/KYB and AML, NICE Actimize for fraud management, and Cable for automated control testing.

“Infinant and the Interlace platform is strategic to Vantage Bank,” Vantage Bank CEO Jeff Sinnott said. “Riaz and the team at Infinant have the vision and expertise to enable Vantage to innovate to meet customer expectations.”

With $4.5 billion in assets, Vantage Bank serves businesses, families, and financial institutions in diverse communities throughout Texas. The family-owned bank is headquartered in San Antonio and maintains regional operation centers in Fort Worth and McAllen.

Second, Infinant recently reported that Customers Bank is deepening its partnership in order to automate balance mirroring with deposit partners such as Raisin US. The move will enable full, end-to-end automation, improved partner reporting, and enhanced oversight. The partnership will also help ensure that Customers Bank has technology that is flexible enough to accommodate deposit and fee income growth while also providing the necessary regulatory controls.

Founded in 2009, Pennsylvania-based Customers Bank is a self-described “super-community bank.” The institution provides banking and lending services to professionals, individuals, and families in Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Texas. Customers Bank has more than $22 billion in assets, making it one of the largest US bank holding companies.

Infinant made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2024 in New York. At the event, the company showed how its Interlace platform and launch-acceleration tools empower banks to distribute financial products via non-financial institution providers as well as products and services from fintechs through their banking channels.

Photo by Daniel Weiss on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

MDOTM Partners with WealthAI, Issues Report with EY on AI

MDOTM Partners with WealthAI, Issues Report with EY on AI
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, MDOTM Ltd, Report series

A new partnership between WealthAI and AI-driven investment solutions provider MDOTM will bring new portfolio construction, rebalancing, and automated reporting capabilities to financial advisors and wealth managers.

Courtesy of the partnership, MDOTM’s AI platform Sphere will be offered via the WealthAI Marketplace as a seamless integration into the WealthAI platform. This will enable wealth managers and financial advisors to access Sphere’s advanced AI tools for both portfolio construction and optimization from directly within their current WealthAI workflows.

“This partnership with WealthAI is a natural step in our mission to empower investment professionals with the most advanced technology available,” MDOTM Ltd. Chief Operating Officer Federico Invernizzi said. “By integrating Sphere into the WealthAI ecosystem, we are expanding access to our AI-driven investment platform, enabling a broader range of advisors and wealth managers to benefit from its capabilities. This collaboration reinforces our commitment to helping institutional clients make impactful, data-driven investment decisions at scale.”

Sphere enhances the investment process for wealth managers and financial advisors with three primary solutions. First, the platform delivers unbiased, AI-driven investment insights that transform complex market inputs into actionable ideas for portfolio and risk alignment. Second, Sphere’s Portfolio Studio offers mass customization and scalable portfolio rebalancing. Based on the manager’s or advisor’s strategies and objectives, Portfolio Studio enables users to scale the creation, personalization, and rebalancing of thousands of portfolios with controlled tracking error. Third, the platform’s StoryFolio capability allows managers and advisors to generate automated, portfolio-specific commentaries and reports that leverage Gen AI in order to turn complex information into customized investment narratives.

“We are thrilled to partner with MDOTM Ltd to bring Sphere’s powerful AI capabilities to our clients,” WealthAI Chief Executive Officer Jason Nabi said. “This partnership reinforces our commitment to providing wealth managers with the most advanced AI tools to deliver personalized, compliant, and efficient investment solutions.”

WealthAI offers an AI operating system for wealth managers, family offices, private banks, and asset managers. The company’s WealthAI Assistant is an agentic front-end that works like an intelligent co-pilot, using reasoning skills and the ability to adapt and take initiative to help relationship managers, portfolio managers, operations managers, and compliance officers become more productive and perform better. Founded in 2023, WealthAI is headquartered in London.

Based in London and maintaining offices in both New York and Milan, Italy, MDOTM made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. At the conference, the company demonstrated how Sphere enables users to access AI-driven insights and build and manage portfolios at scale. Sphere also provides personalized, easy-to-understand portfolio commentaries and reports featuring both macro and market analysis on the current financial environment.

Speaking of reports, this spring MDOTM teamed up with EY to produce a report that examined the impact and value of AI in the wealth and asset management sector. The report Artificial Intelligence: The Value is in Scale, reviews the primary use cases for AI in wealth management and highlights deployment of the technology for document analysis, back-office automation, advanced search, personalized advisory, and market forecasting.

The report notes that wealth managers and financial advisors have been slow to embrace AI. A 2024 survey by EY European Financial Services indicated that more than 40% of investment managers believed they were “lagging behind” when it came to using AI, with only 5% referring to themselves as “at the forefront” in terms of AI use in their daily operations. In response to this, the report encourages firms to move from an “experimental” approach to AI and instead embrace a “continuous learning mindset.”

“Operators must build the infrastructural foundations, AI governance, and recognition of the value generated to base their transformation journey,” EY Wealth & Asset Management Leader, Italy, Giovanni Andrea Incarnato said. “Furthermore, it is of fundamental importance to recognize the value of external partners in creating these foundations in an ecosystem logic in order to accelerate adoption and leverage the economies of scale and experience already gained, proceeding with progressive internalization.”

Interestingly, the report reinforces findings from other European experts in AI implementation in financial services. This includes the “experimentation to execution” transition many see as key to successful and evolving use of AI in wealth management specifically and in financial services in general.

Photo by Lianhao Qu on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

BioCatch Unveils Scam Detection Tool Scams360

BioCatch Unveils Scam Detection Tool Scams360
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, BioCatch
  • Financial crime prevention innovator BioCatch has launched its behavior-based scam-fighting solution, BioCatch Scams360.
  • The new offering helps financial institutions deal with social engineering-based scams such as authorized push payment (APP) fraud.
  • Founded in 2011, BioCatch made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2014 in New York.

Financial crime prevention company BioCatch recently unveiled the latest edition of its behavior-based scam-fighting solution: BioCatch Scams360. Designed especially to deal with the challenge of authorized push payment (APP) fraud, BioCatch Scams360 enables financial institutions to spot and stop most APP fraud in real time.

APP fraud leverages psychological manipulation to entice victims into transferring their funds to accounts owned by fraudsters. These sophisticated social engineering-based scams can range in tactics from romantic overtures and investment pitches to business email compromise and impersonation of friends or loved ones. To fight this, BioCatch Scams360 uses behavioral and device intelligence to give financial institutions the contextual knowledge they need to distinguish legitimate user behavior from indications that the user may be under some form of manipulation by a nefarious party.

Examples of this can include the rate of the user’s typing, the speed with which they respond to prompts, prolonged periods of in-session inactivity, and/or making a phone call during an online banking session. BioCatch is able to track up to 3,000 different behavioral and device-based datapoints to help distinguish behavior that is genuine from behavior that may be criminally manipulated.

“Already we’re seeing a 50% improvement in our ability to detect non-impersonation scams,” BioCatch Chief Product Officer Ayelet Eliezer said. “Scams360’s current alert rate—the percentage of total transactions requiring banks to intervene—is also best-in-class, helping banks deploying Scams360 to keep their operational costs low while stopping more scams in real time, before any money leaves the would-be victim’s account.”

The new offering builds on the company’s previous success in combatting impersonation-based scams; BioCatch noted that it had helped a regional bank stop $100 million in impersonation scam payments in 2024 alone. BioCatch recently teamed up with The Knoble, a Tennessee-based alliance of financial service professionals, law enforcement, and regulators dedicated to fighting crimes such as human trafficking, financial scams, child sexual exploitation, and elder exploitation. Together, the two organizations launched an anti-scam guide and cost calculator that underscores the fact that the cost of fraud often exceeds direct financial losses to include customer churn, reputational risk, compliance exposure, and more.

“We are excited to see more innovation out of BioCatch to combat the global increase in scams,” The Knoble Founder and Board Chair Ian Mitchell said. “BioCatch is leading a growing list of solution providers working to protect banking customers and communities from the increased complexity of scams.”

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in New York, BioCatch made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2014. Today, the company counts more than 250 financial institutions—including 34 of the world’s largest banks—among its customers. BioCatch’s technology analyzes 15+ billion user sessions every month, helping more than 525 million people worldwide defend themselves against fraud and cybercrime.

BioCatch’s product news comes at the same time that the firm reported topping $160 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in Q2 of this year, the best second quarter in the company’s history. In May, BioCatch announced that it was partnering with identity and fraud prevention platform provider Alloy to integrate its account opening solution into Alloy’s platform. Alloy is an alum of Finovate’s developer conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016.

Photo by Shannon Potter on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

RegTech CyberUpgrade Introduces DORA Self-Assessment Tool

RegTech CyberUpgrade Introduces DORA Self-Assessment Tool
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, CyberUpgrade
  • Lithuanian ICT security and compliance automation platform CyberUpgrade has introduced its free DORA self-assessment tool.
  • The new offering provides two ways for firms to assess their DORA readiness and make the necessary changes in order to comply with the new EU regulations on financial resilience.
  • CyberUpgrade made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025 in London.

Lithuania-based regtech CyberUpgrade recently launched a free DORA self-assessment tool designed to help fintechs meet the European Union regulatory requirements of the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). DORA is a new EU-based mandate designed to ensure the security and operational resilience of companies in the financial sector, specifically by focusing on the networks and information systems that financial operations rely on. The regulation impacts not only banks, investment companies, and insurers, but also third-party ICT providers, as well.

“DORA has introduced a complex and urgent set of requirements that many financial institutions and their third-party providers have been struggling with,” CyberUpgrade CEO and Co-Founder Aurimas Bakas said. “Our tool helps organizations get clarity on where they stand and what actions they need to prioritize—without needing prior in-depth DORA knowledge.”

DORA mandates that companies must maintain essential operations even during major disruptions; provide robust defense against fraud and cyber threats; and log, monitor, and report major ICT incidents. Although DORA was enacted in January 2023 and went into effect at the beginning of this year, only 1% of EU companies are fully DORA-compliant. Reasons for this vary from a lack of in-house expertise on regulatory requirements to simple uncertainty and confusion as to how to begin the process.

In response, CyberUpgrade DORA Self-Assessment Tool is free, anonymized, and helps everyone from technical cybersecurity and compliance specialists to executives and managers quickly assess their DORA readiness. The solution is available in two modalities: firms can choose a Fast Track Mode that provides a five-minute, high-level snapshot of their current DORA readiness status, or a Full Scope Mode that includes a 25-minute “deep dive” that spots compliance gaps and produces a detailed readiness score, along with actionable insights.

Using the tool is straightforward. Firms only need to go to the CyberUpgrade DORA Self-Assessment Tool website, select a mode (Fast Track or Full Scope), complete the assessment questionnaire, and download the resulting report that details DORA readiness, any compliance gaps, and recommended next steps. There is no sign-up required and there are no hidden fees or obligations.

“Financial institutions falling short of DORA’s standards face serious regulatory risks, including administrative fines, business restrictions, or even losing operating licenses,” CyberUpgrade General Counsel Nojus Bendoraitis wrote on the company’s blog. “The risks are even sharper for third-party ICT service providers, who are directly supervised by European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) and face strict oversight and penalties.”

CyberUpgrade made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025 in London. At the conference, the ICT security and compliance automation platform demonstrated how its AI-driven co-pilot CoreGuardian works with its vendor management solution VendorGuard to provide comprehensive cybersecurity and compliance. CoreGuardian engages workers one-on-one through channels like Slack and Teams to provide real-time education, assessment, and alerts. VendorGuard streamlines vendor management by handling risk assessments, incident planning, and prioritization.

CyberUpgrade’s technology automates up to 80% of compliance tasks, reduces compliance costs by more than €60,000 each year, and keeps companies audit-ready around the clock. Founded in 2023, CyberUpgrade is headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Photo by Vitalijs Barilo on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Embedded Finance Platform Highnote Launches Instant Payments

Embedded Finance Platform Highnote Launches Instant Payments
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Highnote
  • San Francisco, California-based embedded finance platform Highnote has launched its Instant Payments capability.
  • The new addition to its unified product platform will enable businesses to provide near real-time payments from Highnote-issued cards to eligible debit and prepaid cards.
  • Founded in 2021, Highnote made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022.

Embedded finance platform Highnote, which began the year with a $90 million Series B funding round led by Adams Street Partners, has announced the latest addition to its unified product platform. The company launched its Instant Payments capability this week to empower businesses to provide near real-time payouts from Highnote-issued cards to eligible external debit and prepaid cards.

Instant Payments enables businesses to push funds to debit and prepaid cards in the US. This not only gives users faster access to their earned wages, but also boosts liquidity and enhances payout operations. By embedding instant payments functionality directly into its product platform, Highnote believes its solution compares favorably to “stitched together” legacy infrastructures by giving users built-in access to seamless, intelligent money movement. Use cases for the technology include gig worker payouts, employee tips, insurance reimbursements, merchant settlements, refunds, and more.

“Instant Payments reflects both where our subscribers are today and where the market is headed,” Highnote CTO Kin Kee said. “By embedding on-demand disbursements directly into our issuing stack, we are helping businesses move money faster and more intelligently, all within a single, unified product experience.”

Highnote’s Instant Payments is supported by Mastercard’s portfolio of money transfer solutions, Mastercard Move, as well as by Visa Direct, and is currently available to all Highnote’s US subscribers.

Visa SVP for Money Movement North America Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore underscored the ability of the technology to help businesses “leverage Visa’s scale and robust security infrastructure to deliver faster and more reliable payouts.” Stefany Bello, SVP for Digital Partnerships, Fintech & Enablers for Mastercard, North America, highlighted the company’s “longstanding relationship with Highnote” and the importance of the collaboration in ensuring “businesses can securely access critical funds in near real-time to keep their operations up and running.”

Headquartered in San Francisco, Highnote made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022. The company offers a unified, embedded finance platform, designed for modern card issuance, acquiring, credit, and real-time money movement. The platform features built-in ledgering, integrated payment capabilities and complete program management to help fintechs, vertical SaaS providers, and businesses launch their own embedded payments experiences.

Highnote has raised more than $140 million in funding courtesy of a Seed and Series A round in 2021 and a Series B round at the beginning of 2025. John MacIlwaine is Co-Founder and CEO.

Photo by Maria Orlova

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Crux Analytics and Bankwell Forge Strategic Partnership

Crux Analytics and Bankwell Forge Strategic Partnership
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Crux Analytics
  • Small business intelligence platform Crux Analytics has forged a strategic partnership with commercial bank Bankwell.
  • The partnership will integrate Crux Analytics’ automated platform into Bankwell’s business banking services to enable the bank to provide more personalized and proactive solutions.
  • Based in New York, Crux Analytics made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2025 in San Diego.

A strategic partnership between small business intelligence platform Crux Analytics and commercial bank Bankwell will boost Bankwell’s ability to deliver personalized and proactive solutions and services to its business customers. The integration will enable Bankwell to leverage Crux Analytics’ automated platform that offers enhanced lead targeting and prioritization, as well as active relationship monitoring to spot potential business opportunities as they develop.

“Bankwell’s commitment to digital solutions that support personalized service makes them an ideal partner,” Crux Analytics Co-Founder and CEO Jacob Bennett said. “Our platform enhances the human element of banking by giving bankers tools to be a more effective partner to their business clients while helping to drive institutional growth.”

The partnership between Crux Analytics and Bankwell comes at a time when small businesses are expressing a “disconnect” between their stated level of trust in their bank, the actual services their bank offers, and some of the tools and solutions that small businesses need. In response to this challenge, recently noted in research by American Banker, Crux’s intelligence platform helps financial institutions use data to both recognize what their small business customers might need as well as provide those solutions in a personalized, tailored way.

“In today’s competitive landscape, businesses need a financial partner who understands their specific challenges and opportunities,” Bankwell Chief Innovation Officer Ryan Hildebrand said. “Crux’s technology augments our bankers’ expertise with powerful automation and business-specific intelligence, allowing them to spend more time delivering value to clients.”

Connecticut-based Bankwell is a commercial bank with more than $3 billion in assets. The institution was founded in 2002 and serves communities in Southern Connecticut from its headquarters in New Canaan. The bank’s holding company, Bankwell Financial Group, is a publicly traded firm on the NASDAQ—ticker symbol BWFG—and has a market capitalization of $300 million. Christopher Gruseke is Bankwell’s Chief Executive Officer.

Founded in 2023 and headquartered in New York, Crux Analytics made its Finovate debut earlier this year at FinovateSpring 2025 in San Diego. At the event, the company showed how its flagship platform sources, qualifies, and engages small business leads. The technology uses personalized outreach on behalf of the banker to remove many of the logistical burdens financial institutions face when forming and maintaining small business relationships.

Crux Analytics’ partnership announcement with Bankwell came at the same time that the firm reported that it would be a part of the incoming cohort for credit union collective CURQL’s accelerator program. Crux joins two fellow Finovate alums—Fingoal and Themis—as well as earned wage access specialist Reset and scam defense platform Charm Security.

Photo by Pixabay

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Signicat Acquires Digital ID Verification Company

Signicat Acquires Digital ID Verification Company
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Signicat
  • Signicat has acquired Dutch identity verification provider Inverid for an undisclosed amount.
  • Inverid’s flagship product, ReadID, uses NFC on smartphones to securely verify ID documents, making it ideal for high-assurance use cases like banking, government, and cross-border compliance.
  • The acquisition positions Signicat to meet growing regulatory and fraud prevention demands across Europe.

Fraud prevention solutions provider Signicat announced this week that it is bolstering its identity authentication and orchestration tools with the acquisition of the Netherlands-based Inverid.

Signicat is purchasing Inverid from its founders and the company’s majority shareholder, Main Capital, both of which have agreed to reinvest a portion of what they receive back into Signicat. This indicates that they believe in the potential of the combined company and want to retain a financial stake in its future.

Inverid (formerly known as InnoValor) was founded in 2013 and has a team of 75 developers working on solutions that increase digital trust. The company’s flagship solution, ReadID, helps organizations verify identity documents leveraging NFC on users’ smartphones. Inverid counts 50 clients, including Rabobank, the UK and Danish governments, and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex).

NFC-based document verification is one of the most accurate and tamper-resistant ways to validate identity documents. This is because it pulls data directly from the chip inside a passport or ID, rather than relying on OCR or a camera scan. This makes ReadID a powerful addition for high-assurance use cases like onboarding for banks, insurers, or government services.

Signicat will integrate the ReadID capabilities into its own set of solutions, which include identity proofing, trust orchestration, authentication, and electronic signing.

“By adding Inverid’s unique NFC-based solution to our platform, we can offer our customers the best possible document verification technology and unmatched identity solutions,” said Signicat CEO Asger Hattel. “This transaction demonstrates our commitment to remaining at the forefront of digital identity innovation, constantly striving to offer our customers still more effective tools to fight fraud while improving digitization journeys for their end users.”

Signicat has been in the identity industry for nearly two decades, having launched its identity verification tools in 2006. Today, the Norway-based company supports 240+ data sources to identify businesses and individuals. Signicat offers national eID and biometric verification, ID document scanning, data verification AML/KYC checks, and more. In 2019, Signicat was acquired by private equity investor Nordic Capital for an undisclosed amount.

“The acquisition of Inverid is an important step to further strengthen Signicat’s offering to deliver even better digital identity solutions to the market,” said Nordic Capital Advisors Managing Director Rolf Torsøe. “Building on a successful partnership between the companies and a strong cultural fit, this transaction will unlock immediate synergies. Nordic Capital is enthusiastic about supporting Signicat’s continued growth journey in Europe.”

This acquisition comes at a time when fraud is evolving rapidly, and governments and financial institutions across Europe are doubling down on strong identity verification. By integrating NFC-based document checks, Signicat is closing a key gap for high-assurance use cases like government onboarding and cross-border compliance. This is especially true in an era when regulations surrounding identity verification are shifting, creating a moving target for organizations.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook