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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Financial document automation platform Ocrolus has proven its technology as a useful tool in the mortgage industry. The New York-based company is augmenting its reputation today, after announcing this morning it has enhanced its dashboard for mortgage lenders.
The new capability enables both wholesale and direct mortgage lenders to enhance their loan origination workflow. It also automates complex income calculations for both traditional and self-employed borrowers, including those with non-traditional employment, multiple borrowers, or several employers.
“Manual document processing and income analysis create a bottle neck in the origination process,” said Ocrolus COO Vik Dua. “With Ocrolus’ enhanced mortgage offering, we’re empowering lenders with accurate document analysis to help reduce processing time, mitigate risk, and maximize profit margin on every single loan. We provide lenders with a highly flexible and scalable back office so they can focus on their core business.”
Significant to the enhancement is the combination of three of Ocrolus’ tools: Classify, which enables lenders to speed up processing time with automated document indexing; Capture, which combines AI computer vision and human validation to extract key information from documents with over 99% accuracy; and Analyze, which enables lenders to streamline income calculation for both traditionally and self-employed borrowers with automated, transparent and flexible worksheets.
The technology also has positive implications for borrowers as it offers an objective and standardized approach to evaluating income and supports streamlined communication channels between the borrower and the lender.
Ocrolus was founded in 2014 and has gone on to raise $127 million for its AI-powered document automation platform. The company, which demoed its technology earlier this month at FinovateFall 2023 and won Best of Show honors at FinovateFall 2021, counts PayPal, Brex, SoFi, and Plaid among its clients.
MoneyGram is launching a non-custodial digital wallet.
The wallet will help users move funds from fiat to digital currency and back again.
MoneyGram is leveraging the Stellar Development Foundation’s open-source public blockchain Stellar for the launch.
When you think of the top crypto players in fintech, MoneyGram may not come to mind. However, the 83-year-old company continues to position itself at the forefront of the crypto space. As evidence of this, MoneyGram unveiled its non-custodial digital wallet today.
MoneyGram will launch the non-custodial digital wallet in the first quarter of next year. The wallet will help MoneyGram users leverage stablecoins to move funds from fiat to digital currency and back again. The new wallet will effectively serve as a bridge between international money transfers and blockchain payments.
With the non-custodial digital wallet, users will be able to cash out their digital asset holdings at physical MoneyGram locations, making their funds more liquid than before. The wallet, which will leverage MoneyGram’s compliance screening capabilities, will also offer account-to-account money transfers, allowing users to send digital assets to other users in the wallet.
The wallet leverages MoneyGram’s partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), the organization behind open-source public blockchain Stellar that allows money to be tokenized and transferred globally. MoneyGram and SDF originally partnered in October of last year, when the two piloted the cash-to-crypto functionality.
“Through the services we provide in partnership with SDF, MoneyGram has made strides to create equitable access to the global financial system, having become the single largest fiat on and off-ramp provider offering blockchain access worldwide,” said MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes.
The “non-custodial” element of MoneyGram’s wallet is notable because it will offer users control over their own private keys, which can offer more security. And because users don’t rely on a third party to manage their funds, they are less dependent on centralized institutions, which makes the wallet more decentralized, and ultimately offers a higher level of anonymity because they don’t need to provide personal information when creating or using the wallet.
After its launch, MoneyGram’s non-custodial digital wallet will be fee-free until June of 2024. The company also notes plans to expand the wallet’s capabilities with new features next year.
MoneyGram first launched its fiat on-and-off-ramp service for digital wallets in 2022 and has since expanded the service to eight digital wallets on the Stellar blockchain. Today, consumers can cash-out in 180+ countries and cash-in in 30+ countries around the world.
What is the future of open banking in the U.S.? Today, financial connectivity innovator AtomiclaunchedPayLink, a new suite of solutions that streamline payment switching for consumers.
The new offering provides for an improved user experience for financial services consumers. It is also a big step towards helping banks and other financial institutions align themselves with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s goals with regards to open banking.
We talked with Andrea Martone, Head of Product for Atomic, to learn more about PayLink, and the drive toward a more open banking system in the U.S.
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and founded in 2019, Atomic made its Finovate debut two years ago at FinovateFall 2021. Jordan Wright is co-founder and CEO.
Congratulations on the launch of PayLink. Tell us more about this new suite of products.
Andrea Martone: Thank you! We’re thrilled about the launch of PayLink. We’ve taken our expertise in building user-permissioned connectivity for sharing and updating data and expanded it to merchant accounts, streaming services, and recurring bill providers, enabling consumers to seamlessly update their payment methods on file and retrieve information on upcoming payments. Building PayLink was a natural next step on our journey towards helping consumers update their primary banking relationship as it helps overcome a major point of friction in the process. To build it, we leveraged our cutting-edge TrueAuth technology that allows users to authenticate directly on their devices, without ever sharing login credentials.
For our readers who are new to Atomic, can you tell us a little about the company?
Martone: At Atomic we believe that making it simple for consumers to access, share, and update their financial data is key to unlocking new financial opportunities. By embedding Atomic’s SDK into their online and mobile banking applications, financial institutions can enable consumers to easily update direct deposit instructions, verify income and employment, import W2s and, now, update payment methods on file with merchants without leaving their application. With our solutions, financial institutions help grow new account adoption, qualify borrowers, and streamline tax filing.
Open banking was a major topic of conversation at our FinovateFall conference a few weeks ago. What is your take on the state of open banking in the U.S.?
Martone: Open banking in the U.S. is at an interesting juncture. With the CFPB taking bold steps in their public commentary, there’s an exciting momentum building around the consumer-centric transformation of financial services. While Europe has been ahead in this race, the U.S. is catching up, and I believe we are headed for an ecosystem that allows for significant innovations to support both consumers and financial institutions.
One of the issues that came up in our discussion on open banking was the idea that open banking is integrally related to the issue of digital identity. Do you agree? Why is this so and why is it important to keep in mind?
Martone: Digital identity is the backbone of a secure open banking ecosystem. As we democratize access to financial data, establishing secure, verifiable digital identities becomes crucial. It’s not just about sharing data, but ensuring that the right data gets shared with the right entities for the right purposes – securely. Our TrueAuth technology, for example, is designed to enhance credential security while empowering consumers.
The CFPB is working on regulations that could impact personal data rights. What are your thoughts on these potential regulations and their impact on companies in the open banking space – as well as the impact on consumer adoption of open banking?
Martone: I view the CFPB’s focus on personal data rights as a necessary step toward fostering a fair, transparent financial ecosystem. Giving consumers greater portability over their financial data opens the door for increased innovation and competition in the financial services space. However, it also creates a wider surface area for exploitation and misuse of data, as well. As a result, regulations will need to set the standards that ensure consumer privacy and data security and, in turn, build consumer trust. For companies evolving into the open banking space, this is an opportunity to align their products with consumer-centric values, which I believe will accelerate consumer adoption and loyalty in the long run.
Atomic is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ve seen a surprising number of innovative fintechs headquartered in Utah. What is it like to be a tech startup in the Beehive State?
Martone: Being headquartered in Utah has been fantastic for us. The state offers a thriving tech scene, a highly skilled workforce, and a business-friendly environment. We also have a dynamic team located throughout the country, which ensures that we comprise a diverse workforce.
What can we expect to see from Atomic over the next few months and into next year?
Martone: We have a busy roadmap ahead! You can expect to see more advanced features being rolled into PayLink, further strengthening its capabilities. You will also see us double-down on our strengths in expanding connectivity where it can benefit consumers to access, share, and update data in secure, transparent, and reliable ways to expand their financial opportunities. Key to this is continuing to advance our authentication methods, including our TrueAuth technology. Additionally, we’ll be focusing on strategic partnerships to widen our reach. Our aim is to continue leading the charge in making open banking a tangible, beneficial reality for all.
Engagement banking innovator Backbase has teamed up with identity verification and fraud prevention company FrankieOne.
The strategic partnership will combine the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform with FrankieOne’s identity verification solutions.
A four-time Finovate Best of Show winner, Backbase most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2021.
Engagement banking firm Backbase has forged a strategic partnership with identity verification and fraud prevention platform FrankieOne. The two companies will work together to help banks and credit unions in Australia and New Zealand onboard customers faster and more securely. The collaboration blends Backbase’s personalized banking experience platform with FrankieOne’s identity verification solutions to make it easier for customers to seamlessly and safely access digital financial services.
Courtesy of the partnership, users of Backbase’s Engagement Banking platform will be able to access a variety of KYC, AML, biometric verification, transaction monitoring, fraud detection, and compliance capabilities from a curated roster of providers. Additionally, the recent launch of Backbase’s Engagement Banking Cloud (EBC) will give its strategic partners – like FrankieOne – a single platform that supports the full customer lifecycle.
“This partnership reinforces Backbase’s global commitment to enhancing our offering and meeting the needs of financial institutions across the region,” Backbase Director of Global Head of Fintech-As-a-Service Mayank Somaiya said. “These partnerships allow us to accelerate the integration of best-in-class capabilities into the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform.”
Backbase’s announcement comes just a few days after the company reported that it was working with Judo Bank. The Australian challenger bank, launched in 2016, selected Backbase’s Engagement Banking Platform earlier this month. In August, the Amsterdam-based fintech announced partnerships with business and IT consulting company Valleysoft and fellow Finovate alum SavvyMoney. Founded in 2003, the four-time Finovate Best of Show winner most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2021. At the conference, Backbase introduced its customer onboarding solution. This technology consolidates customer finances through direct deposit, billpay auto linking, and debit card account opening.
Onboarding and fraud platform FrankieOne was founded in 2017 by Simon Costello (CEO) and Aaron Chipper (CTO). The company leverages more than 350 data sources to enable businesses to quickly and securely onboard more customers. Headquartered in Australia, FrankieOne notes that its customers see a 11% uplift in match rates after transitioning to FrankieOne.
Credit union marketplace Union Credit has announced a collaboration with financial resource network Your Money Further.
The partnership will enable users of Your Money Further to access the Union Credit Marketplace of pre-approved financing offers.
Union Credit made its Finovate debut earlier this month at FinovateFall.
Fresh of its debut at FinovateFall in New York last week, marketplace for credit unions Union Credit has announced a collaboration with financial resource network Your Money Further.
“This collaboration with Your Money Further demonstrates our commitment to expanding our reach to communities and creating a level playing field for credit unions, while also empowering consumers to accomplish their financial goals,” Union Credit Chief Revenue Officer and co-founder Barry Kirby said.
A CU Awareness company, Your Money Further helps consumers find the credit union that best suits their needs. Courtesy of the firm’s collaboration with Union Credit, credit unions in Your Money Further’s network will be able to access the Union Credit Marketplace. This will give the more than 12 million consumers who visit Your Money Further every year access to financing options from nearly 300 credit unions that are now eligible to join.
“Union Credit’s marketplace … (provides) our users wth firm, pre-approved offers of credit,” CU Awareness Executive Director Chris Lorence said in a statement, “eliminating the hassle and guesswork that comes with applying for a loan and empowering consumers to take commands of their finances.” Lorence added that the rising interest rate environment was a challenge that was making consumers increasingly anxious about their financial decision-making.
Union Credit gives consumers access to one-click credit offers embedded in their daily activities. The company’s marketplace enables credit unions to enter new markets both at the front end of purchases as well as part of a financing experience. Additionally, the marketplace gives credit unions the opportunity to boost loan volume and brand-awareness. Your Money Further users will be able to compare and choose offers and rates for home purchasing, equity loans and personal loans, and refinancing, as well as new and used auto loans – all from local credit unions looking to serve new credit-worthy members.
“Your Money Further is dedicated to empowering consumers to make financial decisions with confidence,” Lorence said, “and we’re here to help them learn more about the unique benefits of joining a credit union.”
CU Awareness is a subsidiary of Credit Union National Association (CUNA). Recall that CUNA announced just last month that it would merge with the other major credit union organization in the U.S., the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU).
Headquartered in Santa Rosa, California and founded in 2022, Union Credit demoed its Always Approved Marketplace at FinovateFall 2023 this month. The startup has more than 130 million consumers in its publisher network and approved loan offers can be activated within 90 seconds. There is no cost to credit unions for participating in Union Credit’s marketplace. Co-founder Dave Buerger is Union Credit’s CEO.
iProov and Ping Identity announced a partnership that will bring liveness detection to Ping Identity’s DaVinci digital identity verification platform.
Liveness detection is a key component of facial biometric authentication to ensure that the person seeking access is both the right person and a real person.
Both iProov and Ping Identity are Finovate alums. iProov has won Finovate Best of Show awards on three separate occasions.
Per the partnership, iProov will deliver a DaVinci connector that integrates with its iProov Biometric Solution Suite. This will enable businesses and organizations to deploy technologies like liveness detection as part of their identity access and customer identity access management processes. Liveness detection is a key feature of facial biometric verification and authentication. It ensures that the individual seeking access is both the right person and a real person – not the product of spoofing techniques used by fraudsters and cybercriminals, techniques that range from simple photographs to deepfakes created by Generative AI.
iProov’s biometric verification solutions have been deployed by organizations from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to UBS Group AG.
“Many organizations across the globe are already using iProov facial biometric technology to verify the online identity of citizens, workforces, and customers more securely and effortlessly than ever before,” iProov Chief Product and Innovation Officer Joe Palmer said. “Partnering with Ping Identity will help us to expand our reach even further and we’re delighted to be bringing this integration to PingOne DaVinci.”
A Finovate alum since 2017, iProov has earned Finovate Best of Show awards on three separate occasions. The company most recently demoed its technology at FinovateEurope in 2021. At the conference, iProov showed how its Flexible Authentication solution combined two of the company’s innovations – Genuine Presence Assurance and Liveness Assurance – to ensure that organizations apply the appropriate level of verification for a given situation.
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Ping Identity made its Finovate debut in 2012. The company’s PingOne DaVinci solution is a vendor-agnostic, no-code, identity orchestration service. DaVinci streamlines the process of integrating and deploying identity verification solutions from a variety of vendors. The solution currently has more than 100 out-of-the-box connectors to services ranging from identity to automation.
Earlier this week, Ping Identity launched its PingOne for Customers Passwordless solution. The new offering helps companies migrate toward a secure, seamless, password-free digital experience for their customers.
Quadient has integrated REPAY’s embedded payments technology into its Accounts Payable automation solution.
The embedded payments capabilities will enable Quadient clients to pay vendor and supplier invoices using digital payment methods.
By including embedded payments in the accounts payable process, companies save time, reduce costs, and benefit from increased visibility around their expenses.
Customer experience expert Quadient has teamed up with payment processing company REPAY to create a better user experience around its Accounts Payable automation solution.
Under the partnership, REPAY’s embedded payments technology will be available to companies using Quadient’s Accounts Payable automation solution. The integration will enable Quadient clients to pay vendor and supplier invoices using digital payment methods, including virtual card, ACH, Enhanced ACH and Real-Time Payments. As a result, companies save time, reduce costs, and benefit from increased visibility around their expenses.
“Both Quadient and REPAY are committed to the ongoing evolution of embedded payment solutions that drive automation while simplifying and optimizing the accounts payable process,” said REPAY EVP, Business Payments Darin Horrocks. “We’re thrilled to join forces with Quadient and look forward to working together on new ways to optimize payments and integrate our technologies for improved cash flow, streamlined internal processes, and increased customer and vendor satisfaction.”
Quadient, formerly known as GMC Software, was founded in 1924 to offer companies mailing solutions and business supplies. Over time, the company transitioned into the digital world, and now– in addition to paper mailing solutions– offers both accounts payable and accounts receivable automation tools, as well as customer communication technologies.
Atlanta, Georgia-based REPAY was founded in 2006 and offers payment processing tools to its 24,500 clients. The company, which processes $27.2 billion each year, counts clients across a range of industries, including healthcare, banking, education, automotive, and more.
While much of the talk around embedded finance centers around the end consumer, there is a lot of room for embedded finance tools in the enterprise space. Embedded payments solutions, specifically, remove friction, speed up processes around invoice payments, and create a better overall user experience.
Temenos unveiled a new solution, based on Generative AI, that automatically classifies customers’ banking transactions.
The new offering will help banks offer more personalized insights and recommendations to their customers.
Temenos’ Generative AI solution is part of the company’s strategic AI roadmap. Other use cases for the technology include chatbots and guiding customer journeys.
How will financial services companies take advantage of Generative AI? One way, courtesy of a new solution from Temenos, will be to leverage the technology to automatically classify customers’ banking transactions. This functionality will make it easier for banks to offer personalized insights and recommendations to their customers.
While traditional AI and machine learning technologies have been deployed by financial services firms in a variety of contexts, generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) offer these companies the ability to enhance both operations and customer experiences even further. This is due to the fact that Generative AI and LLMs outperform traditional AI and machine learning approaches when it comes to understanding language, images, sound, video, and code – and then leveraging these inputs into a variety of solutions for customers.
Temenos’s new Generative AI-based offering enables banks to automatically classify and label customer transactions. The technology has a high degree of accuracy and operates in multiple languages. The automatic customer transaction capability has a number of use cases including cashflow prediction, customer attrition analysis, next best product, and more.
“We have continually invested in embedding Explainable AI and ML capabilities into our banking platform and making available all products through an easy-to-use interface or APIs,” Temenos President of Product and COO Prema Varadhan said. Varadhan referred to the new offering as part of the company’s strategic AI roadmap and underscored the value of transparency and explainability when it comes to deploying AI.
Temenos has deployed explainable AI in a wide variety of use cases ranging from wealth management, AML, credit scoring, smart money management, collection optimization, and more. However, transaction classification is the first instance of leveraging Generative AI in a Temenos product. The company said in a statement that it plans to extend the technology to chatbots and customer interfaces, as well as in guiding customer journeys and responding to customer queries.
A Finovate alum since 2013, Temenos was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The company serves 3,000 customers and its open platform enables more than 1.2 billion individuals to conduct their daily banking activities. Two-thirds of the top 1,000 banks in the world and more than 70 challenger banks in 150+ countries use Temenos’ technology. Max Chuard is CEO.
ThetaRay raised $57 million in a round led by Portage.
The funds bring the company’s total funding to $112 million.
ThetaRay will use the funds to fuel global expansion.
Financial crime fighting fintech ThetaRayannounced today it has received $57 million. The growth round, which boosts the company’s total funding to $112 million, was led by Portage, with contributions from existing investors JVP, OurCrowd and others.
Israel-based ThetaRay will use the funds to accelerate global growth. “Guided by the adept leadership of Peter Reynolds, the resolute ThetaRay team stands ready to expand its financial technology footprint across continents – spanning North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia – and venture into uncharted realms of innovation,” said ThetaRay Founder and Chairman of JVP and Chairman of ThetaRay Erel Margalit.
“Global payment infrastructure too often fails to accurately differentiate between perfectly legitimate transactions and ones from bad actors dealing with illicit funds,” said ThetaRay’s recently appointed CEO Peter Reynolds. “We’re proud to be at the forefront of the revolution to make global transactions easier, safer, and cheaper and are keenly aware of the massive vote of confidence this investment is in both our technology and our team.”
Founded in 2013, ThetaRay leverages AI to monitor 11 billion transactions valued at $15 trillion on an annual basis. The company’s AML transaction monitoring and screening solution, SONAR, helps banks and fintechs screen both cross-border and domestic payments for money laundering. When compared to rule-based systems, SONAR results in 99% fewer false positives. Among the company’s clients are ClearBank, Travelex Bank, and Santander.
Loan origination, risk management, and analytics company Baker Hill forged a new partnership with Oakworth Capital Bank.
The bank will leverage Baker Hill NextGen to enhance its loan origination and portfolio monitoring for commercial and private client lending.
Baker Hill most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall in 2021.
Carmel, Indiana-based Baker Hillannounced a new partnership with Oakworth Capital Bank this week. The partnership is the first new alliance from the mortgagetech since private equity firm Flexpoint Ford acquired the company in June. Oakworth Capital Bank will deploy Baker Hill NextGen, a unified solution for loan origination and portfolio monitoring for both commercial and private client lending.
“Our bank’s mission is focused on delivering a personalized experience for our clients, which often means challenging the status quo and reimagining how financial services are delivered,” Oakworth Capital Bank chairman and CEO Scott B. Reed said. “The team is always looking for new, better ways to help our clients achieve their financial aspirations and Baker Hill NextGen will help us continue to do that.”
The new technology will enable Oakworth Capital Bank to enhance its commercial relationships, as well as automate the entire consumer loan origination process. The bank will also leverage Baker Hill NextGen Client Portal. This solution enables clients to submit loan documents online. Applicants also can track the status of their loan all the way to closing, bringing more transparency to the origination process. Additionally, the bank will integrate TruStage (formerly Compliance Solutions) with Baker Hill NextGen in order to automate loan document preparation and ensure compliance.
“With Baker Hill NextGen, Oakworth Capital Bank can optimize their entire loan origination process and continue surpassing their clients’ expectations with a world-class borrowing experience,” Baker Hill chairman and CEO John Deignan said.
Founded in 1983, Baker Hill most recently demonstrated its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall in 2021. In the time since, the company has forged partnerships with a sizable number of banks and fintechs. These alliances include partnerships with financial institutions like Arvest Bank, Salem Five Bank, and TowneBank. Also among the company’s recent partners are tax workflow automation software company FlashSpread, and regional financial services company BOK Financial.
Digital ID verification company IDVerse will help embedded finance platform FutureBank enhance its onboarding processes with fast and secure digital identity verification (IDV). The new partnership will let FutureBank customers to use IDVerse software and also allow IDVerse customers looking for a middleware platform to connect their API credentials take advantage of FutureBank’s technology.
An integration platform for core banking providers that features embedded financial services, FutureBank operates as a middle layer between banks and third-party providers. As such, the company helps banks and fintechs launch new solutions faster, more efficiently, and more securely. IDVerse brings not only its Identity Service Provider status to FutureBank – status that comes with 20 certifications from the U.K.’s Digital Identity & Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF). The identity verification specialist also offers technology to help businesses combat the problem of deepfake accounts, a problem made all the more challenging by the way fraudsters are exploiting tools like generativeAI.
“Generative AI is breeding many different fraud types,” FutureBank CEO Sergio Barbosa said. “With ChatGPT, fraudsters can create very authentic documents and profiles for people at a low cost.” Barbosa called cybercrime “the third biggest economy in the world.”
Adding to Barbosa’s sentiments, IDVerse General Manager EMEA Russ Cohn underscored the challenge of deepfakes. Cohn agreed that “synthetic media is becoming the new tool of choice for fraudsters looking to make money” and added: “Our fully automated identity verification system can offer FutureBank customers a reliable solution to spot deepfake accounts that fraudsters are increasingly trying to create.” Cohn explained that IDVerse’s technology can detect subtle shifts and patterns in a person’s face that the unaided human eye cannot see, such as the way a person’s heartbeat slightly changes the color of their skin. These “natural yet invisible patterns,” Cohn said, enable IDVerse’s technology to distinguish real human images from deepfakes.
IDVerse’s platform also features Zero Bias AI-tested technology that leverages generative AI to train deep neutral networks to resist race, age, and gender-based discrimination.
Introducing itself to Finovate audiences in 2016 as OCR Labs Global, the company rebranded as IDVerse earlier this year. Founded in Australia in 2018, IDVerse is headquartered in London, and maintains offices in North America, Asia, and Europe. The company provides identity verification services in more than 220 countries and territories.
IDVerse has raised $45 million in funding from investors including Equable Capital and OYAK. This year, the company has forged partnerships with fellow Finovate alum Experian, bank verified digital identity service provider OneID, and cryptocurrency platform Coinmetro. John Myers is CEO.
Credit assessment platform Uplinq Financial Technologies announced a collaboration with Visa.
Visa has agreed to introduce Uplinq to key financial institutions to help them mitigate risk and expand access to credit for SMEs.
Uplinq made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall in New York.
Credit assessment platform for SME lenders, Uplinq Financial Technologies, has announced a collaboration with Visa. Via the partnership, Visa will introduce Uplinq’s API-based technology to key financial institutions to help them mitigate risk and expand access to credit to small businesses in the U.S. and Canada.
“This engagement is a testament to the promise of our technology in bridging the vast and persistent gaps that small businesses still grapple with when trying to access fair credit, especially as related to minority and all protected class segments,” Uplinq founder and CEO Ron Benegbi said. Visa Commercial Solutions Head of Small Business Matt Baker added that “fast access to working capital” was “especially vital to small businesses” which he referred to as the “backbone” of the world economy.
Uplinq leverages billions of alternative data sets from more than 150 countries, examining a wide range of factors to provide credit assessment and loan adjudication. The company’s platform features more than 10,000 direct connections into SME data sources. Designed to complement a lender’s existing credit assessment process, Uplinq’s technology has supported more than $1.4 trillion in underwritten loans globally.
Founded in 2020, Uplinq is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The company made its Finovate debut last September at FinovateFall, demoing its Credit-Assessment-as-a-Service solution. At the conference, Benegbi used the example of his immigrant father’s struggle to secure a bank loan to add color to the challenges small businesses face when it comes to financing.
“At Uplinq we don’t lend money to small businesses,” he said. “We work with small business lenders to help them say ‘yes’ a lot more often. In fact, five to fifteen times more often, while significantly increasing net income.”
In the year since its appearance on the Finovate stage, Uplinq has raised $1.25 million in funding in October in a round led by ATX Venture Partners. The company secured another $600,000 in February in the form of a strategic investment from Cambrian Ventures.
This spring, Uplinq announced a partnership with SME Finance Forum to make it easier for SMEs around the world access financing. In June, the company was awarded “Fintech Startup of the Year” in the “Lending” category of the Banking Tech Awards. Uplinq also has bolstered its advisory board ranks over the past year, adding former Scotiabank Chief Risk Officer Daniel Moore and former M&T Bank Chief Data Officer Allison Sagraves.
