Alumni News

The Closing of Mint Marks the End of an Era

The Closing of Mint Marks the End of an Era
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Credit Karma, Daily news, Mint
  • Intuit is closing down Mint, which it acquired in 2009.
  • Mint users are being directed to sign up for a Credit Karma account.
  • Founded in 2006, Mint is one of the oldest B2C fintechs.

For those of us who have grown up and grown old with fintech, January 1, 2024 will go down in history. That’s because Mint– which is arguably the first-ever direct-to-consumer fintech– is shutting its doors on that day.

Mint parent company Intuit announced earlier this week that it is folding Mint into Credit Karma and is inviting all Mint users to open an account at Credit Karma. “We know the most active Minters use Mint to monitor their cash flow and track their spending, and not only does Credit Karma offer these capabilities, but we’re able to take things even further for our members,” Intuit announced in a blog post.

As a bit of history, Intuit acquired Mint in 2009 for $170 million and purchased Credit Karma in 2020 for $4.7 billion. After acquiring Credit Karma, there was likely a bit of internal unrest at Intuit, since Mint and Credit Karma are essentially rivals. Both companies rely on advertiser spend via product referrals, and growing one brand would hurt the other.

Rolling Mint into Credit Karma will help Intuit double-down on sponsored advertisement revenue. The move will also build Credit Karma into a more robust competitor in the PFM space. Credit Karma was founded in 2007 to offer a flagship credit tracking and credit card comparison service and has since expanded to offer a tax filing service, checking account, savings account, credit-building credit card, and more.

It’s not surprising to see Mint’s demise. Intuit already started to cannibalize the brand earlier this year when it pulled Mint’s team in to build Credit Karma’s new Net Worth feature, a tool that enables users to view and track their net worth in a single place. Also, in a way, Mint died a long time ago. The company, which claimed 3.6 million monthly active users in 2021 but as of this year has had no material revenue, hasn’t released any new features or made any significant announcements in recent years. In fact, my last blog post about the company was titled, “Mint Brings User Interface into 2018.” Meanwhile, the company’s competitors in the PFM space were releasing their own banking tools, lending services, and investment tools. 

In the grand scheme of today’s fintech landscape, this announcement will have little impact. However, the news is worth noting for the sake of history. Mint– a company that at one point owned the entire fintech category– stood still while watching the entire fintech industry evolve around it. The company even demoed at the first-ever Finovate conference in 2007. Mint may have been able to keep up had it not been acquired by Intuit, but we’ll never know. Rest in peace, Mint (2006- 2023), and say hello to all of the other fintech ghosts on the other side for me.

Photo by Brett Sayles

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BNP Paribas Partners with Factoring and Asset-Based Lending Solution Provider Lenvi

BNP Paribas Partners with Factoring and Asset-Based Lending Solution Provider Lenvi
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Lenvi
  • French bank BNP Paribas announced a partnership with factoring and asset-based lending solution provider Lenvi.
  • BNP Paribas will leverage Lenvi’s Riskfactor platform to help mitigate risk and enhance operational efficiencies.
  • Lenvi made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023 in March.

BNP Paribas announced last week that it is partnering with risk management solution provider for factoring and asset-based lending Lenvi. The French bank will deploy Lenvi’s Riskfactor as part of a multi-year contract to help the financial institution mitigate risk and improve operational efficiencies.

“Riskfactor allows businesses to harmonize responses and operations across jurisdictions, resulting in significant improvement in overall operations efficiency,” Lenvi CEO Richard Carter said. “We look forward to working together with BNP Paribas to support them in optimizing their risk management capabilities, while preventing fraud and improving overall efficiency. BNP Paribas’ commitment to risk management ensures a future-proof business.”

Riskfactor’s risk metrics analyze portfolios to identify unusual behavior, enabling users to investigate and take action on the highest risk accounts. Riskfactor automates risk processes and workflows, assigns follow up tasks for further investigation, and provides schedules to facilitate managing audits, debt verification, client and debtor reviews, and more. The platform oversees $63.4 billion (€60 billion) in lending and monitors more than 60,000 accounts worldwide. With deployments in 17 territories around the world, Lenvi notes that 90% of the receivables market in the U.K. use Riskfactor. BNP Paribas stated that it will deploy the complete Riskfactor product portfolio in eight countries in Europe.

“We are confident that Riskfactor will deliver on its promise and we are happy to have Lenvi’s support in implementing the solution,” BNP Paribas Global Head of Factoring Lionel Joubaud said.

BNP Paribas was founded in 2000 as the product of a merger between Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) and Paribas. The ninth-largest banking group in the world by assets, BNP Paribas is the largest banking group in Europe. As of 2022, BNP Paribas had total assets of $2.8 trillion (€2.67 trillion).

Headquartered in Leeds, U.K. and founded in 1988, Lenvi demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope earlier this year. Last month, the company announced partnerships with financial data provider Validis and secured finance technology company Lendscape.

Photo by Paul Deetman

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Cybersecurity Firm Adlumin Raises $70 Million in Series B Funding

Cybersecurity Firm Adlumin Raises $70 Million in Series B Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Adlumin, Alumni News, Daily news, Funding
  • Cybersecurity company Adlumin has raised $70 million in Series B funding.
  • Adlumin offers a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) platform that provides enterprise-grade security to small and middle-market organizations.
  • Founded in 2016, Adlumin made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2019.

Washington, D.C.-based cybersecurity company Adlumin closed a $70 million Series B funding round last week. The company, which made its Finovate debut four years ago at FinovateFall, offers a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) platform that provides continuous threat detection and response. Adlumin’s technology also provides cybersecurity teams with the tools they need for threat hunting, incident response, vulnerability management, darknet exposure monitoring, and compliance support.

The investment was led by SYN Ventures. First In Ventures, Washington Harbour Partners, and BankTech Ventures also participated. The investment boosts Adlumin’s total equity funding raised since inception to $83 million.

Adlumin will use the capital to accelerate growth. The funding will also help the company meet the demand of the 200,000 middle market businesses in the U.S. for enterprise-grade cybersecurity technology. Adlumin enables businesses to leverage one license and one platform that serve as a command center for security operations. The platform enhances collaboration with service providers with pre-integrated solutions that augment the platform’s capabilities and enhance existing systems and processes.

Adlumin founder and CEO Robert Johnston underscored the importance of helping small and middle market organizations not just access the necessary technology, but also the necessary talent. “With a significant cybersecurity skills gap, hiring the right people is an expensive, challenging and sometimes impossible task for small and mid-sized organizations who are competing with big government and businesses for talent,” Johnston explained. “This is why empowering service providers – whose expertise can be multiplied across several organizations – will be essential to securing mid-market organizations, and why we built a platform that does exactly that.”

Adlumin’s platform also ensures visibility into the organization’s security posture. This transparency is complete and available in real-time. Adlumin’s customers can see why an alert was issued and how it was resolved; access investigation data, reporting, and threat intelligence on-demand; and more – whether they are running the platform themselves or having a third-party run it for them.

The company’s investment announcement after the launch of a pair of new security solutions for middle-market organizations. These new offerings were a subscription-based incident response service and no-cost warranty and discounted cyberinsurance policies. Earlier this month, Adlumin announced a partnership and integration with cloud native security pioneer Aqua Security. Over the summer, Adlumin announced a partnership with IT services provider MNJ Technologies.

Photo by Mark Stebnicki

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AlphaPoint Partners with Blockchain Protection Firm Coincover

AlphaPoint Partners with Blockchain Protection Firm Coincover
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AlphaPoint, Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news
  • Digital asset infrastructure platform AlphaPoint announced a partnership with Coincover.
  • A blockchain protection firm, Coincover will provide enhanced security for AlphaPoint customers.
  • AlphaPoint made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2015 and returned to the Finovate stage two years later for FinovateFall.

AlphaPoint, a digital asset infrastructure platform, has turned to blockchain protection firm Coincover to provide its customers with enhanced security. Courtesy of the partnership, AlphaPoint customers will be able to access Coincover’s Asset Protection solution which helps mitigate a variety of security threats including hacking, human error, and scams.

Coincover secures its clients against hacking and theft by proactively screening and protecting transactions. The company’s crypto threat intelligence and machine learning models continuously monitor activity across millions of digital wallets and transactions, flagging potentially malicious behavior. Coincover’s technology delivers proactive alerts that enable users to take action when abnormal patterns are spotted. The company has more than 300 partners worldwide, protects five million crypto wallets, and has checked $30 billion in transactions. David Janczewski is co-founder and CEO.

“By collaborating with Coincover, a top innovator in asset protection, we’re providing our customers with leading-edge insurance to safeguard their assets,” AlphaPoint CEO and co-founder Igor Telyatnikov said. “This partnership demonstrates our commitment to delivering complete peace of mind through institutional-grade security and infrastructure.”

AlphaPoint made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2015. The company returned to the Finovate stage two years later for FinovateFall in New York. In the years since then, AlphaPoint has grown into leading digital asset infrastructure company with more than 150 customers in 35 countries. The company’s platform supports more than 10 million registered accounts, more than one trillion in trading volume, and billions in assets. AlphaPoint counts CME Group and XP Securites among its clients. El Salvador chose AlphaPoint to operate its Chivo Bitcoin wallet in 2022 as part of the country’s experiment in mass bitcoin adoption.

Earlier this month, AlphaPoint launched AlphaPoint Labs. The new entity provides advisory, development, and implementation services for FIs, exchanges, and businesses seeking to integrate digital assets and blockchain technology. This spring, the company forged a new partnership with cryptoasset risk management company Elliptic. Over the summer, AlphaPoint teamed up with verification platform Sumsub.

AlphaPoint is headquartered in New York. The company has raised more than $23 million in funding.

Photo by Lex Photography

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Payments Platform Paysend Partners with Western Union

Payments Platform Paysend Partners with Western Union
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, PaySend, Western Union
  • Payments platform Paysend announced a partnership with Western Union this week.
  • The partnership will enable consumers to send money via Western Union directly to Visa and Mastercard debit cards.
  • Paysend made its Finovate debut in 2016 at FinovateEurope.

International payments platform Paysend inked an agreement with Western Union today. The partnership will enable consumers to send money via Western Union’s branded digital solution directly to both Visa and Mastercard debit cards. Paysend will provide a single API that ensures seamless processing of these Western Union customer payments at live FX rates, 24/7, 365 days a year.

“Paysend’s mission is to make money transfer easier for everyone,” Paysend Executive Chairman and co-founder Abdul Abdulkerimov said. “We are thrilled to join forces with Western Union, a company known for its global reach and commitment to financial inclusion. Together, we will empower millions with accessible cross-border money transfer services.”

The remittance market continues to be a major source of economic growth for communities around the world. The World Bank estimated that remittances grew 5% to more than $800 billion last year. This week’s partnership comes in the wake of a pilot program recently launched by the two companies. The program will help customers send money from the U.S. and U.K. to Pakistan, the U.K., and Spain easier -with additional locations coming soon. The news also follows strategic collaborations between Paysend and Visa and between Paysend and Mastercard that were announced last month. These partnerships are part of the company’s effort to expand its ability to improve cross-border payments for SMEs and individuals. “Our mission at Paysend is simple,” Abdulkerimov said, “to deliver the world’s simplest money transfer service.”

Founded in 1851, Western Union today serves as one of the largest money transfer businesses in the world. The company is active in more than 200 countries and territories, and facilitates fund transfers in nearly 130 currencies. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Western Union offers wire transfer, mobile money transfer, and other fund transfer services. These offerings include Western Union Connect, which facilitates fund transfers between the U.S. and China. Last week, Western Union reported Q3 results that, according to company President and Chief Executive Officer Devin McGranahan, “exceeded our expectations and demonstrate a continued positive trajectory against our ‘Evolve 2025’ goals.”

Paysend made its Finovate debut in 2016 at FinovateEurope, and returned to the Finovate stage two years later for FinovateSpring. Headquartered in London, the company this year has forged partnerships with global onboarding and payroll platform RemotePass, payroll platform Ontop, and Spanish-language content and media company, TelevisaUnivision.

Paysend has raised more than $272 million in funding. Global PayTech Ventures and InfraVia Capital Partners are among the company’s investors.

Photo by Pixabay

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Payoneer Partners with Etsy to Streamline Payments to Sellers in Emerging Markets

Payoneer Partners with Etsy to Streamline Payments to Sellers in Emerging Markets
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Payoneer
  • Payments platform Payoneer has collaborated with Etsy’s seller offering, Etsy Payments.
  • The partnership will enable Etsy to streamline payments to sellers, empowering entrepreneurs in emerging markets.
  • Payoneer made its Finovate debut ten years ago at FinovateAsia 2013.

Etsy Payments has a brand new partner. The company, the bespoke seller offering from global online marketplace Etsy, has announced a collaboration with payments platform Payoneer. The partnership will help Etsy streamline payments to sellers. It will also give entrepreneurs in emerging markets better opportunities to grow their businesses. This includes the ability to offer a broader range of services and to make payouts to sellers in their preferred currency.

The collaboration will launch in the Ukraine and Thailand initially. By the end of the year, the service will be live in India, Japan, Argentina, Chile, and Peru, as well.

“Through this partnership, we are able to leverage Payoneer’s global reach and world-class payment technology to bring efficiencies at scale and provide seamless payouts to sellers in their local markets and the currency of their preference,” Etsy VP & GM Payments and Risk, Chirag Patel said.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, Etsy launched its Etsy Payments service in 2017. The option was previously called Direct Checkout and payments were processed by PayPal rather than Etsy. Etsy Payments enables sellers on the marketplace to offer buyers a wide range of payment options. These choices include Visa, PayPal, and Mastercard, as well as ApplePay, GooglePay, and Klarna, and buyers can transact in local currencies.

“This collaboration will help create opportunities for the often-underserved sellers in emerging markets, giving them better access to global demand,” Payoneer SVP Americas Ya Wen explained.

New York-based Payoneer made its Finovate debut in 2013 at FinovateAsia. The company returned to the Finovate stage two years later to present its technology at our developers conference FinDEVrNewYork. In the years since, Payoneer has grown into an international business payments platform with millions of customers, support for 70 currencies and 22+ languages, and coverage of more than 190 countries.

Payoneer began 2023 with a new Chief Financial Officer, Bea Ordonez. A few months later, the company introduced a new Chief Executive Officer, John Caplan, as well. So far this year, Payoneer has forged partnerships with software company Zoho, remote work outsourcing platform INSIDEA, Egyptian marketing firm Stllr, and cryptocurrency startup belo. The company acquired Israel-based data platform Spott in August and, in September, expanded its long-term relationship with Airbnb.

Payoneer is a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker PAYO. It has a market capitalization of $2 billion.

Photo by Oleksandr P

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Praxent Partners with WealthBlock to Build Digital Experiences for Capital Raises

Praxent Partners with WealthBlock to Build Digital Experiences for Capital Raises
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Praxent
  • Digital design, engineering, and implementation specialist Praxent has teamed up with WealthBlock.
  • Via the partnership, the two companies will build digital experiences to facilitate capital raises for venture fund and crowdfunding managers.
  • Praxent demonstrated its technology at our developers conference, FinDEVr 2021.

A partnership between Praxent and WealthBlock will bring custom digital experiences to venture fund and crowdfunding managers to help facilitate the capital raising process.

WealthBlock offers a white label platform for private asset management firms and crowdfunding portals. The company’s technology streamlines investment presentation, investor onboarding and document e-sign, as well as investor reporting. The partnership will empower clients to build and launch customized digital journeys that will engage investors and boost conversions.

Praxent CEO and founder Tim Hamilton praised WealthBlock as an industry leader in the investor management technology space. “WealthBlock is powering the future of funding deals,” Hamilton said. “Together, we are creating and integrating bespoke, secure user experiences that drive revenue and growth for companies looking to raise capital.”

WealthBlock CEO Trilliam Jeong underscored the importance of self-service in the capital raising space, calling it critical to success. Additionally, Jeong credited Praxent’s experience in financial services – and with the company’s platform – for making Praxent “the ideal partner.” He added, “By joining forces, we enable clients to accelerate the secure launch of custom experiences that allow them to more effectively onboard and serve investors.”

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Praxent helps financial services companies develop differentiated fintech solutions that yield quantifiable results. The company has assisted more than 400 organizations as they enhanced their customer relationships via a combination of human-centered design, front-end engineering, and product integration.

Founded in 2000, Praxent made its Finovate debut at our developers conference, FinDEVr, in 2021. In August of this year, the company announced partnerships with Insurance Systems Inc. and small business lender NEWITY. In September, Praxent introduced new Chief Revenue Officer Robin Smith. Smith previously served as Vice President of North America for Finovate alum Mambu.

Photo by Scott Webb

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U.S. Bank Launches Avvance, a Point-of-Sale Lending Tool

U.S. Bank Launches Avvance, a Point-of-Sale Lending Tool
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, U.S. Bank
  • U.S. Bank launched Avvance, a point-of-sale lending tool for merchants.
  • Avvance allows merchants to offer installment loans on purchases ranging from $300 to $25,000.
  • U.S. Bank also offers a consumer-facing BNPL tool, ExtendPay, which it launched in 2021.

U.S. Bank launched an embedded point-of-sale lending solution this week. The new buy now, pay later (BNPL) tool, Avvance, helps businesses give shoppers options to finance their purchase during checkout after filling out a quick application.

Avvance is embedded into the checkout process and shows the buyer multiple personalized loan options, offering them the ability to pay over time. U.S. Bank backs the loans and doesn’t require the merchant to manage the payments after the sale is complete.

“Our point-of-sale lending product allows business owners the ability to offer affordable financing while they receive full payment at the time of sale,” said Executive Vice President of Buy Now, Pay Later and Point-of-Sale Lending at U.S. Bank and Elavon Mia Huntington. “U.S. Bank, the primary source of the consumer loans, manages all aspects from application to servicing, so business owners can focus on what they do best — running their business.”

Customers can use Avvance installment loans to finance purchases between $300 to $25,000. The financing terms range from 0% to 24.99% APR with repayment plans that range from three to 60 months. When a customer uses the tool to finance a purchase, U.S. Bank offers the merchant the full payment within 48 hours. While Avvance is free for merchants to offer, U.S. Bank charges a merchant discount rate fee for each Avvance loan that it processes. 

Avvance’s benefits are similar to those of other BNPL tools on the market. It can encourage the customer to make a purchase they otherwise would not, increase their purchase amount, and help reduce cart abandonment. “With Avvance, business owners have the ability to attract new customers while increasing their buying power, resulting in increased sales,” Huntington explained.

Interestingly, U.S. Bank is marketing Avvance as a point-of-sale financing tool, rather than a BNPL tool. This may be because it wants to target an older generation than BNPL typically reaches. Avvance also differentiates itself from typical BNPL tools when it comes to the base purchase amount required. While customers must spend at least $300 with Avvance, many BNPL tools have no minimum purchase requirement.

Avvance isn’t U.S. Bank’s first BNPL tool. The bank launched ExtendPay in 2021– the height of fintech’s BNPL craze– to offer its credit card holders a way to split purchases over $100 into a series of fixed payments ranging from three to 24 months. U.S. Bank doesn’t charge interest on ExtendPay purchases, but it does charge a fixed monthly fee.

Photo by Mikael Blomkvist

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Featurespace Launches GenAI-Powered Financial Crime Fighting Model, TallierLTM

Featurespace Launches GenAI-Powered Financial Crime Fighting Model, TallierLTM
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, Featurespace
  • Featurespace unveiled its generative AI-powered, Large Transaction Model (LTM), TallierLTM, this week.
  • The technology uncovers hidden transactional patterns typically undetected by current methods that may be indicative of criminal activity.
  • Featurespace made its Finovate debut in 2016, appearing at both FinovateEurope and FinovateFall that year.

Fraud and financial crime prevention company Featurespace unveiled its Large Transaction Model (LTM), TallierLTM, this week. A foundational technology for payments in specific and the financial services industry in general, TallierLTM is a large-scale, self-supervised, and pre-trained model built to power the next generation of AI apps to protect consumers from financial crime.

The technology marks the first time financial professionals in the fraud fighting space have been able to leverage a generative Large Transaction Model. Featurespace noted in a statement that TallierLTM has provided improvements of as much as 71% in fraud value detection compared to the industry standard.

“What OpenAI’s LLMs have done for language, TallierLTM will do for payments,” Featurespace founder David Excell said. “There is widespread concern about how deep-fakes and generative AI have been used to deceive consumers and our financial systems. We plan to reverse this trend by utilizing the power of generative AI algorithms to create solutions that protect consumers and make the world a safer place to transact.”

Connecting to FIs via its enbedding API, TallierLTM analyzes billions of transactions, identifying hidden transactional patterns that current methods often cannot detect. The technology’s insights are based on time sequencing, discovering unusual spending patterns over a short period of time, for example, or between a consumer and a merchant. This increased ability to distinguish legitimate activity from potentially criminal behavior will not only enable data scientists to improve their model’s performance faster, Featurespace Chief Innovation Officer Dr. David Sutton said. It will also allow institutions to “realize the value of machine learning investments more quickly.”

“We know that smarter technology helps financial institutions better understand their consumers,” Sutton added. “We have taken this to the next level by pairing cutting-edge generative AI algorithms with huge volumes of data, enabling a machine to efficiently comprehend the relationships between different customer transactions.”

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Cambridge, U.K., Featurespace made its Finovate debut in 2016, appearing at both FinovateEurope and FinovateFall. An innovator in adaptive behavioral analytics and automated deep behavioral networks for risk management, Featurespace serves more than 80 direct customers and 200,000 institutions. In recent months, the company announced partnerships with digital payment platform Clip and fellow Finovate alum Zeta. In August, Featurespace launched its ARIC Scam Detect solution to help protect financial services companies and their customers from scams – especially Authorized Push Payment (APP) scams – in real-time.

“As scammers become increasingly sophisticated in their tactics, with the use of Generative AI and machine learning, FIs need an adaptive solution that can protect from changing scam types in real time and monitor both inbound and outbound payments,” company Chief Product Officer Pat Hinchin said.

Featurespace has raised nearly $108 million in funding from investors including Chrysalis Investments, MissionOG, and Insight Partners.

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Switzerland’s Coop Partners with additiv to Launch New Superapp Coop Finance+

Switzerland’s Coop Partners with additiv to Launch New Superapp Coop Finance+
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news
  • Swiss retailer/wholesaler Coop has turned to embedded finance company additiv to launch its new superapp, Coop Finance+.
  • Coop Finance will go live initially with banking services, payments, and pension solutions.
  • Headquartered in Switzerland, additiv most recently demoed its technology at FinovateAsia in 2017.

One of the largest retailer/wholesaler companies in Switzerland, Coop, has turned to embedded finance company additiv to power the launch of its new app, Coop Finance+.

A financial services superapp, Coop Finance+ initially will go live with banking services, payments, and pension solutions. Hypothekarbank Lenzburg will power banking services. Vanguard, OLZ, Liberty Vorsorge and Glarner Kantonalbank will support the app’s pension solutions. App users can open accounts with debit cards, make online payments, and invest in Pillar 3a retirement programs.

“At additiv, we believe that embedding financial products into everyday consumer channels will help improve convenience and financial inclusion,” additiv founder Michael Stemmle said. Company CEO Nils Frowein, who joined additiv in June, praised the new offering as a “transformative project” that will have a “profound impact on the user experience of Coop customers.”

Coop Finance+ offers competitive terms, above-average interest rates on retirement accounts, and loyalty benefits. Additionally, the superapp provides access to free cash withdrawals at all 1,000 Coop supermarkets and Coop City warehouses. The launch of Coop Finance+ makes Coop the largest provider of free cash withdrawals in Switzerland.

“At Coop, we are committed to providing our customers with digital services that are tailored to their needs,” Coop Head of Digital/Customer Thomas Schwetje said. “With Coop Finance+, we are expanding this strategy to offer straightforward and easily accessible account and payment solutions, household budget management, and pension solutions.”

A Finovate alum since 2013, additiv most recently demoed its technology at FinovateAsia 2017 in Hong Kong. In the years since, additiv has grown from a software development firm into a major digital investment and financial solutions platform and finance-as-a-service provider. A leader in orchestrated finance, additiv has offices in Zurich, Frankfurt, Dubai, and Singapore and 300 employees worldwide.

Earlier this month, additiv announced a strategic partnership with SELISE. The collaboration will enable additiv to leverage the company’s expertise in software management to enhance its wealth platform. In June, additiv was named a leading AI innovator within AI Fintech100’s 2023 roster.

Photo by H. Emre

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Marqeta Introduces Embedded Credit Experiences

Marqeta Introduces Embedded Credit Experiences
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Marqeta
  • Marqeta launched a new credit card issuing platform to help brands offer embedded credit programs.
  • Using the new tool, fintechs and non-financial services companies can launch both consumer and commercial credit programs.
  • Marqeta’s new card program will allow brands to own the entire customer experience without having to send the customer to a bank website to access card information.

Card issuer Marqeta unveiled its new credit card issuing platform today. The new offering serves as a one-stop shop to help companies launch embedded card programs for both consumer and commercial users.

Marqeta’s new credit platform helps brands promote customer loyalty by enabling personalized rewards and can support any card type and any format. According to Marqeta CEO Simon Khalaf, the new platform will help brands “reimagine what a credit card can be” and engage with consumers “in a whole new way.”

As part of that reimagining, Marqeta’s new platform serves as a single location where fintechs and non-financial services companies can build a credit product that suits their consumers’ unique needs and embed the experiences within their existing app. Specifically, brands can own the entire customer experience and won’t need to send cardholders to a bank’s website to access card information.

The credit platform also provides a rewards engine that helps brands build reward programs that adapt to cardholder needs and preference. Additionally, Marqeta offers brands access to real-time customer data to help further customize cardholder products and– for commercial cardholders– provides a range of flexible funding models such as Net 30 Charge Cards, Receivables Purchase, and Revolving Credit.

“The possibility is huge,” Khalaf added, “but the incumbent solutions are simply not giving consumers what they need. We want our credit card platform to completely change the consumer experience and the brand loyalty equation.”

Today’s development comes courtesy of Marqeta’s January 2023 acquisition of Power Finance for $275 million. Power Finance was founded in 2021 to offer brands a credit card program management service. Power Finance’s platform allowed companies to outsource credit card management, customer experience, application decisioning, transaction processing, and more.

Founded in 2010, Marqeta enables clients to manage their own card programs and banking tools. The company offers configurable and flexible payment tools and customizes payment cards for their end customers. Marqeta is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker MQ. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion.

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ebankIT Teams Up with Finotta to Deliver Personalized Financial Guidance

ebankIT Teams Up with Finotta to Deliver Personalized Financial Guidance
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, ebankIT, Finotta
  • Embedded finance company Finotta has teamed up with banking software provider ebankIT.
  • The partnership will integrate Finotta’s Personified Personalized Financial Guidance platform with ebankIT’s digital banking solution.
  • Both Finotta and ebankIT are Finovate alums. ebankIT most recently demoed its technology at FinovateEurope in March. Finotta made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2022.

Embedded finance company Finotta has forged a new partnership with omnichannel banking software firm ebankIT. The partnership will integrate Finotta’s Personified platform with ebankIT’s digital banking solution in order to deliver better financial wellness tools and Personlized Financial Guidance (PFG) to customers worldwide.

Finotta’s Personified platform provides an automated and personalized mobile banking experience. Personified includes a financial coach, a financial health leveling system, automated financial guidance, predictive product referrals, digitized relationship building, the ability to make internal and external transfers, and more. The suite of solutions helps financial institutions address customer needs and respond to them from within the digital banking platform.

Personal finance is often treated as a local concern. However, Finotta founder and CEO Parker Graham put this week’s integration in an international context. “Financial wellness is a global imperative that transcends borders, affecting individuals and communities everywhere,” Graham said. “In partnering with ebankIT, we’re not just future-proofing financial institutions, we’re elevating the financial well-being of users and underscoring innovation as the bedrock of customer loyalty.”

ebankIT CEO Renato Oliveira said that delivering “humanized, personalized, and accessible digital experiences” is a priority for ebankIT “from day one.” He added, “At ebankIT, we recognize that the future of digital banking hinges on seamless omnichannel capabilities and enriched user experiences.” Oliveira called the partnership with Finotta “an extension of that commitment.”

Founded in 2014, ebankIT is headquartered in Portugal. The company has been a Finovate alum since winning Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2015. The company most recently demoed its technology at FinovateEurope earlier this year. At the conference, ebankIT introduced a new range of features on its digital banking platform. Among these features was a tool to help banks and credit unions better anticipate customer needs.

Over the summer, ebankIT announced a strategic partnership with digital transformation and cybersecurity consultancy, Online Business Systems. More recently, the company teamed up with Home Trust. Via the partnership, ebankIT helped the Canada-based mortgage broker launch its new digital banking platform.

Founded in 2018, Finotta is a newcomer to the Finovate stage. The Overland Park, Kansas-based company made its debut last year at FinovateFall 2022. Finotta announced in August that its Personified platform increased user engagement to an average of 13 minutes per month. Graham credited the difference between Finotta’s Personalized Financial Guidance platform and traditional personal finance management solutions.

“To better capitalize on existing digital banking investments and increase share of wallet all while lowering acquisition costs, banks need to shift their focus away from PFMs and instead embrace Personalized Financial Guidance,” Graham said. “By focusing on guiding customers through their financial journey, they increase the amount of time users spend in the app.”

Photo by Daniel Frese

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