Alumni News

Telesign Teams Up with PCI Pal to Help Contact Centers Fight Fraud

Telesign Teams Up with PCI Pal to Help Contact Centers Fight Fraud
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Telesign
  • Identity verification provider Telesign, a Proximus Global company, has teamed up with SaaS-based secure payments provider PCI Pal.
  • The two companies will offer a Fraud Management Suite that uses Telesign Intelligence to provide fraud teams and AI bots with real-time risk intelligence before potentially fraudulent transactions occur.
  • Headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, Telesign made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023.

A new partnership between identity verification innovator Telesign, a Proximus Global company, and SaaS-based secure payments provider PCI Pal will create a Fraud Management Suite to help international businesses leverage AI to identify fraudulent payments before they occur.

The new solution is designed to be especially effective against Card-Not-Present (CNP) attacks that are easy for fraudsters to use and difficult for fraud prevention teams to stop before they make their impact. Because fraudsters only need the expiration date and three-digit CVV number in order to assume another person’s identity over the phone and make fraudulent transactions, this type of fraud can be especially difficult for contact center workers to detect.

The new offering from Telesign and PCI Pal provides agents and AI bots with real-time risk insights before the transaction begins. This reduces chargebacks and revenue loss, but does not add friction to the customer experience. The solution leverages Telesign Intelligence, an AI-powered tool that identifies fraudulent activity by scoring the level of transaction risk associated with the phone number being used for the transaction. This score can be used to determine whether or not the transaction should be allowed to go through, blocked, or flagged for further review and additional verification.

“AI is transforming how we approach security—not just in detecting fraud, but in anticipating it,” PCI Pal CTO Mufti Monim said. “This launch lays the groundwork for a more intelligent and adaptive platform, that secures payments across all channels while enhancing both customer and agent experiences. It’s the first step in a broader roadmap to unify fraud prevention, compliance, and customer experience into one seamless, scalable platform.”

The partnership comes as Juniper Research reports that the cost of payment fraud to consumers and businesses is expected to grow from $44 billion in 2024 to $109 billion in 2029. Further, Juniper Research notes that 79% of companies reported being victims of payment fraud attacks in 2024.

“Payment card fraud is a significant challenge for contact centers, and this partnership addresses that issue by making voice-based interactions with enterprise more trusted, seamless and secure,” Proximus Global Business Lead Rajdip Gupta said. “Our work with PCI Pal aligns with our ongoing commitment to protect enterprises from evolving threats, without disrupting the customer experience.”

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, Telesign made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023. At the conference, the company introduced a new tool that depicts risks inherent in the onboarding process and showed how firms can mitigate the risk via intelligent phone number analysis and insight.

Photo by Jed Azzam

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Uptiq Announces Strategic Partnership with Broadridge

Uptiq Announces Strategic Partnership with Broadridge
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, UPTIQ
  • AI-powered financial services platform Uptiq has forged a strategic partnership with and received a minority investment from Broadridge Financial Solutions. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
  • Courtesy of the partnership, Uptiq will integrate its technology into Broadridge’s Wealth Lending Network (WLN) to give financial advisors access to AI-automated, securities-based lending workflows.
  • As Cion Digital, Uptiq made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022. The company rebranded the following year.

AI platform for financial services, Uptiq, announced a new strategic partnership with and a minority investment from Broadridge Financial Solutions. The company, which made its Finovate debut as Cion Digital at FinovateSpring 2022, will integrate its technology into Broadridge’s Wealth Lending Network (WLN). This will give financial advisors and banks working with Broadridge access to turnkey, agentic AI applications to automate securities-based lending workflows. The amount of the minority investment was not disclosed.

“Uptiq was purpose-built to remove the heavy lifting from lending,” Uptiq CEO and Founder Snehal Fulzele said. “Our AI-driven platform surfaces the most relevant loan options, actively guiding advisors so they can focus on serving clients instead of wrestling with process complexities. By connecting directly with Broadridge’s Wealth Lending Network banks, we’re making it easier than ever to provide securities-based lending as a compelling and compliant liquidity solution.”

Via its Wealth Lending Network, Broadridge provides a digital platform that connects wealth managers, financial advisors and their clients with a network of lenders that offer securities-based lines of credit. This streamlines access to securities-based lending solutions, especially for those financial advisors and wealth management firms that are not affiliated with a bank. The Uptiq integration will make it easier for financial advisors to source and compare loan options, as well as automate a range of manual tasks including referral submission, loan processing, and covenant tracking. The partnership helps financial advisors provide more credit options for clients, enhances client service and compliance, and streamlines the process of providing lending solutions to wealth management customers.

“This strategic partnership helps modernize wealth management, addressing the growing demand for artificial intelligence in financial services, as well as a need to develop a better wealth lending process that is efficient, compliant, and personalized,” Broadridge President of Wealth Management Mike Alexander said. “With Uptiq’s AI-powered tools and Broadridge’s Wealth Lending Network, we’re enabling advisors to deliver smarter lending recommendations, save time, and ultimately help their clients access the liquidity needed to achieve their financial goals. Our investment demonstrates our commitment to driving innovation in the wealth lending ecosystem.”

Broadridge serves clients in asset management, capital markets, wealth management, and related industries. The company’s technology and operations platforms process and generate more than seven billion communications a year, and support the trading of more than $10 trillion of securities internationally. Broadridge was founded in 1962 as a part of Automatic Data Processing (ADP), and was spun off as an independent company in 2007. Headquartered in Lake Success, New York, Broadridge employs more than 14,000 associates in 21 countries, and is publicly traded on the NYSE under the ticker BR. The company has a market capitalization of $31 billion.

Making its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022 as Cion Digital, Uptiq rebranded the following year in an effort to underscore the company’s commitment to serving wealth managers and financial advisors. The company’s platform combines deep domain expertise with AI to streamline operations and produce better outcomes across financial workflows. Uptiq’s agentic AI-powered apps automate lending, banking, and wealth management workflows, while the firm’s AI Workbench provides a no-code platform to facilitate both workflow deployment and future growth.

Photo by Morgan Housel on Unsplash

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Bluefin Forges Strategic Partnership with Cassa Centrale Raiffeisen, ICIT, and Worldline

Bluefin Forges Strategic Partnership with Cassa Centrale Raiffeisen, ICIT, and Worldline
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Bluefin
  • Payment and data security company Bluefin has teamed up with Cassa Centrale Raiffeisen, ICIT, and Worldline to enhance payment and data security to All-in-One (AIO) payment devices.
  • The partnership will focus initially on serving businesses in Italy’s prosperous South Tyrol region.
  • Bluefin demonstrated its technology at Finovate’s developer’s conference, FinDEVR, in 2014.

Payment and data security innovator Bluefin announced a strategic partnership with Cassa Centrale Raiffeisen, ICIT, and Worldline. The partnership is designed to deliver enhanced payment and data security to All-In-One (AIO) payment devices throughout Italy’s South Tyrol region.

“At Bluefin, we are excited to collaborate with leading players and ISVs to deliver validated P2PE solutions across Europe and all global regions,” Bluefin SVP for Europe, Cheng Chieh Chen said. “Together with Cassa Centrale Raiffeisen, ICIT, and Worldline, we are committed to transforming the payment landscape in South Tyrol by delivering payment innovation, security, and enhanced customer experiences to this vibrant market.”

South Tyrol is Italy’s northernmost province—with Austria to the north and Switzerland to the west. With an official title of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano—South Tyrol, the province has a significant degree of self-governance and is among the wealthiest provinces in the EU, to say nothing of being the wealthiest province in Italy. Located in the Italian Alps mountain range, South Tyrol is a major regional tourist destination, and its growing hospitality and retail sectors make it an increasingly compelling environment for innovative payment solutions.

“As the main provider of banking services for Raiffeisen Banks in South Tyrol and as corporate banking experts, we are constantly trying to find new products and solutions to better meet the needs and requirements of our corporate clients and to optimize their work processes,” Cassa Centrale Raiffeisen General Director Simon Ladurner said. “Thanks to our partnership with Bluefin, ICIT, and Worldline we provide innovative and state-of-the-art payment systems to gastronomic businesses in South Tyrol. Thus, we contribute to the economic development of our province.”

Cassa Centrale Raiffeisen (officially known as Cassa Centrale Raiffeisen dell’Alto Adige) is headquartered in South Tyrol’s capital, Bolzano. The organization is the central banking institute for the 39 independent cooperative banks in the South Tyrolean Raiffeisen Group. The partnership, which also includes Independent Software Vendor (ISV) ICIT and payment services giant Worldline, will not only facilitate the rollout of AIO devices, but will also support future innovation in the unattended and e-commerce payment solutions space.

“This ISV partnership, in which Worldline is providing secure and robust payment processing services, will enhance the delivery of an expanded, competitive, and innovative payment offering tailored to the Italian market,” Worldline Head of SMB Central Sales Management Julia Rachor said. “Thanks to the partner’s combined international experience and local Italian expertise, merchants are ensured to receive payment solutions that effectively meet their needs.”

Founded in 2007, Bluefin introduced itself to Finovate audiences as part of our developers conference, FinDEVr in 2014. Today, the company has a network of more than 300 partners and secures more than 2.5 billion records a year. Bluefin serves 35,000 clients in 60 countries, protecting cardholder data, personally-identifiable information, and more. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. John Perry is CEO.

Photo by Francesco Ungaro

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EverC Announces Merger with G2 Risk Solutions

EverC Announces Merger with G2 Risk Solutions
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Ever Green 3C, Mergers & Acquisitions

AI risk classification platform EverC revealed today that it is joining forces with G2 Risk Solutions (G2RS). The two are combining to pursue a collective mission to protect global digital payments and defend e-commerce from threats. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

Moving forward, the two will leverage EverC’s AI capabilities and bring G2RS’s risk and compliance capabilities to the payments risk ecosystem. When the deal is finalized, the two companies will collectively serve most major payment providers across the globe, including banks, merchant acquirers, marketplaces, and online platforms.

EverC was founded in 2015 to help marketplaces and online sellers grow by bringing trust and security to the ecommerce ecosystem. The company combines AI with its expertise in risk intelligence, data science, fintech, payments, and financial risk. In addition to its Risk Insights solution, EverC also offers two products, MerchantView, a merchant onboarding and monitoring platform; and MaketView, an automated, AI-driven solution that identifies and eliminates hazardous, counterfeit, and illicit products in online marketplaces.

G2RS offers risk and compliance management for financial institutions and online platforms. The California-based company offers a suite of solutions covering merchant risk, digital commerce monitoring, transaction laundering detection, identity verification, bankruptcy risk, and regulatory data services. Founded in 1989, G2RS leverages data, analytics, and human-curated insights to help its clients navigate evolving regulatory landscapes and complex risk challenges. Today’s deal isn’t G2RS’s only change to its operations this year. In the first quarter, the company acquired WebShield owner ZignSec AB for an undisclosed amount.

“G2RS and EverC have long traveled toward the same North Star, safeguarding digital commerce and the people who depend on it,” said G2RS CEO Brian Longe. “We move forward as one team with a shared vision to redefine what market leadership looks like in the merchant risk space. Leveraging each other’s strengths as a unified force on a singular track, we will accelerate to deliver faster, smarter business outcomes and solutions for our clients and the global digital economy. We’re poised to achieve more together than we ever could apart, aligned in our commitment to root out fraud and illegal activities and help our customers grow with confidence and integrity.”

Logistically, Longe will serve as CEO of the combined company, while EverC CEO Ariel Tiger will serve as an adviser through the end of the year as the companies transition into a single entity. Employees of both companies will continue to operate globally with offices in the US, Europe, India, and Israel.

“We share a purpose to stop the increasingly sophisticated global threats from bad actors who seek to exploit the payments ecosystem,” said Tiger. “With our two teams working together, our impact can be exponential. This elevates our game in every facet of the business, pushing the envelope technologically and setting new standards for merchant portfolio performance.”

At FinovateFall 2021, EverC demoed how MerchantView helps mitigate transaction laundering by identifying illicit activity in order to help clients reduce and avoid fines, maintain regulatory compliance, and protect their brand.

Photo by DS stories

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InvestiFi Brings Digital Investing to Illiana Financial

InvestiFi Brings Digital Investing to Illiana Financial
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, CryptoFi, InvestiFi
  • Investing platform InvestiFi has announced a partnership with Illinois-based credit union Illiana Financial.
  • The partnership will enable Illiana Financial’s 25,000 members to access InvestiFi’s digital investing offerings via Illiana Financial’s online portal.
  • Founded in 2020, InvestiFi made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2022 as CryptoFi.

Digital investing platform InvestiFi has teamed up with Illiana Financial to bring new digital investing options to the credit union’s members—from directly within the institution’s online banking portal. The partnership will enable the credit union’s 25,000 members to trade and invest in more than 8,500 stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and more than 25 cryptocurrencies. Members will also be able to use the solution to create guided investment portfolios, and take advantage of financial educational resources to help them make better decisions on their investments.

“Investing shouldn’t be intimidating or complicated. Our platform is designed to remove traditional barriers and make investing accessible, informed, and safe,” InvestiFi CEO and Co-Founder Kian Sarreshteh said. “By embedding our solution into Illiana Financial’s online banking platform, we are enabling their members to seamlessly manage their finances and investments side-by-side, creating a holistic financial experience.” Sarreshteh cited research from Cornerstone Advisors that indicated that retail investors prefer to use platforms that are integrated within their banking apps, which Sarreshteh said “reflected a strong demand for convenience and trust in a single, unified interface.”

InvestiFi’s digital investing technology integrates into existing digital banking platforms to enable investors to buy and sell stocks, ETFs, funds, and cryptocurrencies directly from their checking accounts. This helps keep deposits inside the credit union’s or community bank’s ecosystem rather than going to an external party. In this way, InvestiFi helps credit unions and community banks deepen engagement with accountholders by becoming a more integral part of members’ financial lives for years to come.

“We are committed to supporting our members at every stage of their financial journey. Integrating InvestiFi’s investing solutions is a natural progression in how we serve our community, offering safe, secure, and straightforward ways for members to engage with the market,” Illiana Financial CEO Jim Henmuller said. “With this new digital investing partnership, we are confident the credit union will continue to innovate, providing modern tools that truly empower every member to take control of their financial futures.”

Illiana Financial was organized in 1936 by a small group of Illinois Bell Telephone Company workers. Today, the institution has four locations: Calumet City, Chicago Heights, Naperville, and Bourbonnais, and more than $278 million in total assets.

Launched in 2021 as CryptoFi—an embedded crypto trading solution for credit unions and community banks—the company pivoted in 2022 to develop a stocks, ETFs, and robo advisory offering in the wake of the FTX crisis. The company rebranded as InvestiFi in 2024, going live with three credit union partners. Picking up a fourth credit union partner later that year, the company also acquired a Broker Dealer, launched a wholly owned RIA, and introduced its stocks and ETFs product.

InvestiFi’s partnership with Illiana Financial comes shortly after the Chicago, Illinois-based fintech announced that it had teamed up with Ocala Community Credit Union (OCCU) to enable its 2,900 members in Central Florida to trade and hold cryptocurrencies. Serving Ocala, Belleview, Silver Springs, Anthony, Dunnellon, Marion Oaks, Ocklawaha, and Marion County, OCCU is InvestiFi’s first partner in Florida. Established in 1953, OCCU has total assets of $51 million.

“We are thrilled to have joined forces with InvestiFi to offer our members crypto investment directly from checking,” Ocala Community Credit Union CEO Steven Nazaruk said. “We are looking forward to rolling InvestiFi’s crypto solution out to our members as an investment tool for them and a way for OCCU to attract new members.”

Photo by energepic.com

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Two-Time Best of Show Winner Array Acquires Fellow Finovate Alum MoneyKit

Two-Time Best of Show Winner Array Acquires Fellow Finovate Alum MoneyKit
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Array, Mergers & Acquisitions, MoneyKit
  • Embedded software platform company Array has acquired data aggregation specialist MoneyKit. Terms were not disclosed.
  • The partnership will enable Array’s customers to benefit from deeper connectivity that will facilitate more dynamic customer experiences including personalized credit insights and intelligent subscription management.
  • Array won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2021 and again at FinovateSpring 2022. MoneyKit made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2024.

Embedded software platform Array, which has twice won Finovate’s Best of Show award, announced its acquisition of data aggregation solutions company (and fellow Finovate alum) MoneyKit. Terms of the transaction were not immediately available.

“MoneyKit has built a trusted and secure foundation for financial connectivity in just a few years,” Array Founder and CEO Martin Toha said. “Combining their capabilities with Array’s embeddable financial security components unlocks a new era of intelligent, personalized, and privacy-first experiences for millions of consumers.”

Array offers an embeddable platform that provides fintechs, financial institutions, and digital brands with a variety of private-label fintech solutions. MoneyKit is a specialist in data aggregation and trusted financial connectivity infrastructure. Together, the two firms seek to deliver a range of secure, consumer-first financial experiences—from embedded credit monitoring to streamlined access to financial data—to help consumers improve and better manage their finances. Post-acquisition, Array customers will benefit from deeper connectivity courtesy of MoneyKit’s technology, enabling them to access more dynamic experiences including personalized credit insights, intelligent subscription management, and more.

“Joining Array allows us to scale our mission and bring powerful new capabilities to the ecosystem,” MoneyKit CTO Michael Del Monte said. “We’re excited to be a part of the next wave of tools that help consumers feel more secure, informed, and in control.”

Headquartered in New York, MoneyKit made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2024. At the conference, the company demonstrated its MoneyKit Connect solution that leverages intelligent routing to enhance bank data aggregation. The technology makes real-time routing decisions based on its unique insights into the specific institution, time of day, and data products requested to ensure that the connection goes to the best possible underlying aggregator. MoneyKit was launched in 2021 by the serial founders who started both Cash App and Quovo.

Winning Best of Show in its appearances at FinovateFall 2021 and FinovateSpring 2022, Array most recently demoed its technology at FinovateSpring 2023. The company’s platform helps financial institutions and financial service providers boost engagement and revenues by providing them with tools like anti-identity theft solution HelloPrivacy and an intelligent Subscription Manager that can be embedded in a matter of weeks.

Founded in 2020, Array is based in New York.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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Gifting Bitcoin: Fold and Blackhawk Network Launch Crypto Gift Card for Everyday Shoppers

Gifting Bitcoin: Fold and Blackhawk Network Launch Crypto Gift Card for Everyday Shoppers
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Blackhawk Network
  • Fold has partnered with Blackhawk Network (BHN) to distribute its Bitcoin Gift Card, expanding consumer access to bitcoin through BHN’s large retail gift card network.
  • The Fold Bitcoin Gift Card allows users to gift bitcoin without technical knowledge.
  • The Bitcoin Gift Cards are currently available at select online retailers and will soon be available both online and in physical retail stores.

Bitcoin personal finance app Fold announced that it is tying up with gift card and incentives platform Blackhawk Network (BHN) this week. Under the agreement, BHN will distribute the Fold Bitcoin Gift Card.

The distribution agreement is expected to increase mainstream consumers’ access to bitcoin by bringing the cryptocurrency into everyday commerce. Leveraging BHN’s retail distribution network will give Fold the opportunity to increase user and transaction growth.

“At BHN, we understand that consumers today expect more flexibility in how they give and store value, and cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are becoming part of that equation,” said BHN GVP of Global Commerce Jennifer Philo. “Fold exemplifies the kind of forward-looking partner BHN is proud to support—they are creating products that bring bitcoin into the center of how consumers engage with money and build long-term value. By bringing the Fold Bitcoin Gift Card into our expansive retail ecosystem, we’re delivering yet another practical, accessible way for shoppers nationwide to embrace cryptocurrency by helping them earn, save, and spend smarter.”

Fold opted to use BHN, a branded payments provider that was founded in 2001 and now has a global footprint of more than 400,000 consumer touchpoints, including top retailers, e-commerce platforms, loyalty programs and enterprise rewards. Fold’s launch of its Bitcoin Gift Card within this network will make it one of the most broadly distributed bitcoin gift products in the US market.

The card is already available on select online platforms, and Fold plans to add more online retailers in the coming weeks. The two are planning to make the cards available in brick-and-mortar retailer stores later this year.

Fold launched its Bitcoin Gift Card in May of 2025. The Atlanta, Georgia-based company allows consumers to gift bitcoin via gift cards, without requiring technical knowledge or a crypto wallet. Gift card recipients can redeem their gift card through the Fold App.

“Until now, bitcoin was difficult for the average person to access, let alone share,” said Fold Chairman and CEO Will Reeves. “By making bitcoin available as a gift card, we’re opening access to the millions of consumers who already buy, send, and use gift cards. This isn’t about novelty. It’s about meeting people where they are and integrating bitcoin into the financial tools and channels they already understand. We’re building infrastructure for everyday adoption. BHN gives us that path into mainstream retail, opening access to bitcoin across the $300 billion US gift card market, something the ecosystem has struggled with for over a decade.”

Photo by cottonbro studio

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SRM Teams Up with Cooperative Credit Union Association

SRM Teams Up with Cooperative Credit Union Association
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, SRM Technologies
  • Independent financial services advisory firm SRM has announced a strategic partnership with the Cooperative Credit Union Association (CCUA).
  • The partnership will enable CCUA’s member credit unions to access SRM’s complete portfolio of advisory solutions for sourcing and payments, as well as for corporate and technology strategy.
  • Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, SRM made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023 in New York.

The Cooperative Credit Union Association (CCUA) and advisory firm SRM have forged a strategic partnership that will grant CCUA member credit unions preferred access to SRM’s complete portfolio of advisory solutions.

“Our collaboration with CCUA is rooted in a common goal: driving meaningful results for credit unions through insight-led advisory and technology solutions,” SRM Chief Growth Officer Stephen Johnston said. “SRM’s expertise aims to unlock new opportunities in payments, sourcing, technology, and member experience for the CCUA’s member credit unions.”

SRM’s advisory solutions portfolio includes sourcing advisory, with analysis, benchmarking, vendor selection/RFP management, vendor contract negotiations, and other strategic sourcing plans; payments advisory, covering commercial, consumer, and instant payments, credit/debit card portfolio optimization, fraud prevention, product development, and market expansion; corporate advisory, including strategic planning, digital strategy, mergers & acquisitions, AI enablement, organizational design, compliance and risk, policy development, research, and analytics; and technology advisory, including core processing and digital banking strategy, migration and integration services, project management, and expert staff augmentation.

The company offers SRM Boost Programs that provide a strategic growth platform for onboarding new members, cross-selling and card optimization, and fueling new membership growth. As part of the strategic partnership, SRM will also facilitate seasonal roundtables for CCUA’s member organizations and will be featured at CCUA events to help credit union leaders engage with SRM’s team of experts.

“Ensuring access to SRM’s proven advisory capabilities strengthens CCUA member credit unions’ position in contract negotiations, payments innovation, and technology transformation,” CCUA EVP and Chief Operating Officer Melissa Pomeroy said. “This partnership directly supports credit unions’ commitment to deliver exceptional member service and financial performance.”

The Cooperative Credit Union Association is a leading regional trade organization representing nearly 200 credit unions across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Rhode Island. Combined, the Association’s member credit unions manage more than $75 billion in assets and serve more than five million members. Founded in 2015, the Association is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

An independent advisory company specializing in payments, sourcing, operating strategies, and technology, SRM serves clients ranging in size from credit unions and community banks to international financial services firms. Returning more than $10 billion in value to more than 1,000 clients since inception in 1992, SRM is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. The company made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023 in New York.

Photo by Gabriel Tovar on Unsplash

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Darwinium Launches AI Tools to Identify Adversarial Fraud

Darwinium Launches AI Tools to Identify Adversarial Fraud
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Darwinium, ThreatMetrix
  • Cyberfraud prevention company Darwinium launched a pair of new agentic AI solutions this week.
  • The new agents—Beagle and Copilot—enable red-teaming simulations and AI-assisted remediation to help financial companies enhance their fraud defenses.
  • Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Darwinium made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023 in London.

San Francisco, California-based security and fraud prevention firm Darwinium unveiled new tools to help organizations deal with the challenge of adversarial attacks, detect hidden vulnerabilities, and enhance overall fraud defense. This week, Darwinium launched a pair of AI agents—Beagle and Copilot—to give companies their own autonomous AI capabilities to combat those AI agents deployed by fraudsters.

“Consumers are using AI agents to shop faster. Fraudsters are using them to bypass defenses at scale,” Darwinium CEO and Co-Founder Alisdair Faulkner said. “The challenge isn’t detecting bots anymore, it’s distinguishing AI agents acting on behalf of good users versus malicious automation. Solving that problem requires a platform that speaks the same language: agentic AI.”

Beagle enables firms to conduct AI agent red-teaming to detect blind spots in their fraud defenses. Beagle simulates complex adversarial behavior, which enables fraud prevention teams to test their detection and mitigation strategies. Beagle generates realistic user profiles, spoofed devices, geolocation variance, and other tactics to emulate synthetic identities. The technology simulates a variety of attacks, including credential stuffing, behavioral mimicry, captcha solving, and more, and integrates directly into Darwinium’s architecture to provide real-time detection and responses.

Darwinium’s Copilot acts as an intelligent assistant that supports an organization’s remediation strategy, decision optimization, and platform interaction. The technology streamlines fraud team queries for different types of fraud detection circumstances such as “users who exhibit bot-like activity or are creating synthetic accounts.” Once these users are identified, Copilot can then conduct fraud investigation recommendations and offer remediation strategies. The solution automates the feedback process from detection to decisioning to business impact, making Copilot especially helpful in high-scale environments.

The new offering from Darwinium comes as fraudsters are becoming increasingly effective at exploiting AI bots for nefarious purposes. Because of this, as Faulkner noted in a recent thought leadership piece for Dark Reading, it is all the more important for security and fraud teams to focus on and discern the intent of AI agents rather than the mere presence of these entities. Legitimate agents, Faulkner explained, tend to act in ways that resemble trusted user behaviors and patterns. AI agents that are malicious, on the other hand, conduct themselves in identifiable ways—such as skipping normal browsing steps to access high-value endpoints (like login and checkout) or generating a sudden high volume of API calls. In Faulkner’s estimation, technologies such as Beagle and Copilot help institutions and their fraud teams move from “What is this AI agent doing?” to “Why is this AI agent doing this?”

Launched in 2021 by the co-founding team that built and scaled ThreatMetrix, Darwinium made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023. The company raised $18 million in funding in the fall of 2023 in a Series A round led by U.S. Venture Partners.

Photo by elnaz asadi on Unsplash

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PayPal Unveils PayPal World to Facilitate Global Payments

PayPal Unveils PayPal World to Facilitate Global Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, PayPal
  • PayPal’s new launch, PayPal World, is a new global platform designed to connect major digital wallets and payment systems.
  • The new platform will enable users to shop and send money across borders using their domestic wallets without needing international payment methods.
  • PayPal is partnering with Venmo, Mercado Pago, UPI, and Tenpay Global to create wallet interoperability for nearly two billion users and expanding cross-border capabilities for both consumers and merchants.

Fintech pioneer PayPal is unveiling PayPal World this week, a new platform that connects global payment systems and digital wallets.

At launch, PayPal is partnering with Mercado Pago, NPCI International Payments Limited (UPI), Tenpay Global, and Venmo to promote wallet interoperability for the more than two billion users of these platforms.

PayPal World aims to transform the way people send money, as well as how they shop online, in-store, and with AI agents across borders. The new capability will allow PayPal users to use their app to scan and pay when they shop across borders. With PayPal World, consumers won’t need to carry an international payment method to shop overseas. Instead, the platform will use the user’s domestic payment system or digital wallet to complete the transaction, even if the payment type at checkout is different from their home currency.

“PayPal World is a first-of-its-kind payments ecosystem that will bring together many of the world’s largest payment systems and digital wallets on a single platform. It is a testament to the passion our partners share for an inclusive, global digital economy and has the potential to revolutionize cross-border commerce,” said PayPal President and CEO Alex Chriss. “The challenge of moving money across borders is incredibly complex, and yet this platform will make it so simple for nearly two billion consumers and businesses. We believe the changes we are announcing today have the potential to be a real game changer over time. We can’t wait to welcome many more global partners, wallets, and their users soon.”

Merchants can benefit from PayPal World with no additional integration. The platform will connect millions of businesses to digital payment systems and wallet users worldwide, making it possible for businesses to automatically accept new digital payment options at checkout when more partners join the platform, expand their global client base, and increase payment options beyond online and in-store payments into AI agent payments.

PayPal is piloting the new platform through a partnership with peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app Venmo in which the two platforms will become seamlessly interoperable and expand access to global P2P payments. Under the collaboration, PayPal and Venmo users can send money to each other, regardless of geography.

While PayPal World’s wallet connectivity to PayPal and Venmo will go live this fall, Venmo users will be able to shop at millions of merchants across the globe that accept PayPal starting next year. The expanded purchasing capabilities will help merchants reach Venmo’s base of young, affluent, and digitally native consumers.

PayPal World is doing to the US what Revolut did to payments in the EU in the sense that it is breaking down borders, simplifying cross-currency transactions, and reshaping expectations around how money moves. By making digital wallets interoperable across platforms and regions, PayPal is positioning itself not just as a payment processor, but as a universal payment translator that bridges the gap between local payment habits and global commerce. As more wallets and systems join the platform, PayPal World could become a foundational layer in the next era of international payments.

PayPal’s new launch comes at a time when cross-border e-commerce is rising and consumers expect payments to be seamless. While players like Revolut, Alipay+, and Western Union have made strides in international money movement, PayPal’s scale and merchant network give it an edge in solving interoperability at both the consumer and merchant level.

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Uprise Teams Up with HoneyBook to Bring Tax Planning to Small Business Owners

Uprise Teams Up with HoneyBook to Bring Tax Planning to Small Business Owners
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Uprise
  • Embedded financial advisory platform Uprise has teamed up with business management platform HoneyBook.
  • The partnership will enable HoneyBook to offer financial and tax planning advisory to its users, which include independent creatives as well as small business owners.
  • Founded in 2021, Uprise made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023 in New York.

Uprise, a startup that offers an AI-powered platform that empowers financial services companies to embed personalized, actionable financial advisory into their products and services, has announced a new partnership. The San Francisco, California-based company has teamed up with HoneyBook to enable the firm to offer financial and tax planning advisory to its user base of independent creatives, small business owners, and more.

“Excited to announce we’ve partnered with HoneyBook to offer personalized financial and tax planning to their users,” Uprise noted on its LinkedIn page, “helping independent creatives, consultants, and business owners stay ahead of the biggest changes that impact their bottom line.”

The partnership will enable HoneyBook users to access tax and financial guidance from a Certified Financial Planner who is both a small business specialist and supported by smart technology. This helps set HoneyBook apart from traditional financial advisory services, which tend to cater to high net worth individuals, feature significant costs, and often lack small business expertise.

The announcement comes as recently passed legislation in Washington brings changes to the way that many small businesses manage their taxes and expands eligibility for a variety of programs and credits. “If your company supports small business owners and wants to help them take advantage of complex tax and legal shifts like this—let’s talk,” Uprise wrote.

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Uprise made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023 in New York. At the conference, the company demonstrated how its technology helps banks, credit unions, insurance providers, fintechs, and more embed personalized, actionable financial advisory services into their offerings. Uprise combines human financial expertise with AI to offer comprehensive financial plans and advice at a fraction of what a traditional financial advisor would cost. Jessica Chen Riolfi is Co-Founder and CEO.

HoneyBook is a business management platform for small businesses. The platform supports a wide variety of business operations including lead capture, client communication management, contract management, and payments. The solution also leverages AI—embedded throughout—that enables users to derive actionable insights and leverage automation to streamline processes. Founded in 2013, HoneyBook has powered more than 25 million client relationships and processed more than $12 billion in transactions. Earlier this month, the company announced enhancements to its client portal to provide full branding control, easier access to proposals and important sites, the ability to share client task lists, and more.

Photo by Braden Collum on Unsplash

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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

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