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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
FINRA stated that around 1,700 influencers posted content, some of which was unfair and contained exaggerated, unwarranted, promissory, or misleading claims.
The offending posts occurred because M1 Finance did not review or approve the influencers’ content before they posted it.
Investing and banking tools fintech M1 Finance has been hit with a fee this week. FINRA, a U.S. regulatory body overseeing securities law, fined M1 $850,000.
FINRA said it imposed the fine because social media influencers acting on M1’s behalf posted content that FINRA deemed as unfair and containing exaggerated, unwarranted, promissory, or misleading claims. Some of the posts violated FINRA Rules 2210 (Communications with the Public) and 2010 (Standards of Commercial Honor and Principles of Trade). For example, an influencer advertising M1 Finance’s margin lending program said that customers could “pay [margin loans] back at any given time . . . there is no set time period,” when, in fact, M1 can increase the maintenance margin requirement on customer accounts at any time, force a sale of securities in their accounts, and choose which securities to sell, if a margin call occurs.
Between January 2020 and April 2023, around 1,700 influencers posted content that included a unique link to M1’s website where new customers could open and fund an M1 brokerage account. The company paid influencers a flat fee for every new account that was opened and funded. In the end, the influencer content resulted in more than 39,400 new accounts.
“As investors increasingly use social media to inform their financial decisions, FINRA’s rules on communicating with the public are especially critical,” said FINRA EVP and Head of Enforcement Bill St. Louis. “FINRA will continue to consider whether firms are using practices and maintaining supervisory systems that are reasonably designed to address the risks related to social media influencer programs.”
While hindsight is 20/20, it is clear that increased supervision over the influencer posts and a system of procedures for control would have prevented the fine. While M1 Finance provided influencers with a guide that described the company’s services and features, the company did not review or approve the content within the influencers’ posts. This lack of oversight violated more FINRA Rules, including 2210, 2010, and 3110 (Supervision) and 4511 (General Requirements-Books and Records). It also violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Exchange Act Rules.
M1 has consented to FINRA’s findings and has agreed to certify that it has fixed the issues. Ultimately, the $850,000 fine only amounts to just over $20 per new account M1 received as a result of the influencer posts.
Using social media influencers can be a powerful marketing tool, but it comes with risks, as demonstrated by FINRA’s recent fine against M1 Finance. Financial services firms must use caution when using influencers to promote their products, and employ supervisory efforts to ensure that all content is compliant with regulatory standards. This also serves as a reminder that whenever firms leverage third-party services, such as banking-as-a-service providers, there are additional risk factors that firms must carefully manage. When selecting a third party provider, firms should thoroughly evaluate their partners and implement oversight and compliance processes to mitigate potential risks.
Data intelligence business Curinos and mortgage pricing technology provider Lender Price announced a new partnership this week.
The partnership will integrate Curinos’ LendersBenchmark Analyzer and pricing analytics into Lender Price’s Enterprise Pricing Engine.
Curinos made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring 2023 in San Francisco.
Data intelligence business Curinos and mortgage pricing technology provider Lender Price have announced a strategic partnership this week. Per the agreement, Lender Price will incorporate Curinos’ LendersBenchmark Analyzer solution and pricing analytics into its Enterprise Pricing Engine. This will enable Lender Price to offer actionable insights to mortgage lenders that will positively impact margin management and help them gain market share.
Lender Price CEO Dawar Alimi underscored the competitive challenges of the modern mortgage environment, an environment characterized by, among other things, elevated interest rates. “Partnering with Curinos, known for their intelligent technology, enables lenders to assess their competitive stance accurately and make profitable, data-driven decisions,” Alimi said. “This collaboration will assist lenders in managing their margins effectively, ensuring not a single basis point is overlooked.”
The integration will make it easier for community banks, credit unions, and mortgage lenders to give borrowers accurate rate information and superior pricing. During times of uncertain interest rates, growing competition among lenders, and a shortage of homes, solutions that help financial institutions manage their margins can be crucial. These solutions not only boost business but also attract and retain customers, leading to positive and profitable relationships.
“In today’s landscape, lenders’ focus should be on optimizing margins by using granular pricing strategies,” Curinos Director of Real Estate Lending Rich Martin said. “We’re delighted to secure this partnership with Lender Price, enabling its customers to more effectively price products through use of our data and analytics.”
Founded in 2021, Curinos was born out of the merger of Novantas and Informa’s FBX business. The goal was to bring the two entities’ combined expertise and innovation to deposits, lending, and digital experiences in financial services writ large. Headquartered in New York, the company made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring in San Francisco, California. At the conference, Curinos demoed its Amplero Personalization Optimizer, a solution designed to facilitate high-impact banking use cases. The solution leverages machine learning and patented marketing automation to empower teams to deliver hyper-personalized, omnichannel, digital experiences in minutes rather than months. The company notes that the Amplero Personalization Optimizer has enabled marketing teams to realize thousands of incremental dollars in customer lifetime value.
Curinos’ partnership news with LenderPrice comes just days after Curinos announced that Achieva Credit Union will be the first customer for its Deposit Optimizer Essentials system. This technology helps credit unions and community banks manage member and customer deposits more efficiently by leveraging state of the art analytics to reach funding targets.
Specifically, Curinos’ Deposit Optimizer Essentials gives early warning indicators and alerts to help community banks and credit unions secure higher deposit growth at lower marginal costs by enabling them to diagnose deposit performance and optimize product strategies and pricing levels. “As rates shift, we needed a robust, easy-to-navigate solution, enabling us to react quickly and efficiently to changing market conditions,” Achieva Product Development Manager Veronica Schornheuser said.
Interested in demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May? We are happy to read applications from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateSpring hub today to learn more.
Cloud banking company nCino has agreed to acquire automated onboarding specialist DocFox. Terms were not disclosed.
DocFox’s technology will add advanced document analysis to nCino’s platform, accelerating the onboarding process for nCino’s FI clients.
DocFox made its Finovate debut at FinovateAfrica 2018. nCino has been a Finovate alum since its appearance at FinovateEurope in 2017.
Cloud banking innovator nCino has inked an agreement to acquire fellow Finovate alum DocFox. Miami, Florida-based DocFox specializes in providing automated onboarding solutions for both commercial and business banking. Terms of the transaction were not immediately available. The acquisition is expected to close in March of this year.
The integration of DocFox’s technology will enable nCino’s financial institution clients to manage the entire customer lifecycle – from information intake and document collection to due diligence – on a single platform. Relying on rules set by company compliance teams, DocFox analyzes any document for any financial institution, regardless of size, to automate the process of opening business accounts. DocFox gives business customers an account opening experience that is fast and intuitive. Internal teams benefit from configurable workflows to help them review information more efficiently.
“The acquisition of DocFox extends our existing functionality and will deliver a modern experience to an area of commercial and business banking that has lagged in innovation due to its complexity,” nCino CEO and Chairman of the Board Pierre Naudé. “We are excited to further extend our single platform vision and look forward to delivering this differentiating solution to financial institutions seeking to optimize onboarding and account opening processes.”
Making its Finovate debut at our fintech conference in Cape Town, FinovateAfrica 2018, DocFox last demoed its technology at FinovateSpring 2022 in San Francisco. The company has more than 450 customers on three continents, most recently partnering with Pennsylvania-based Customers Bank, a super-community bank with more than $20 billion in assets. DocFox also announced late last year that its account opening solution was now part of Fiserv’s AppMarket. CEO Ryan Canin co-founded DocFox in 2016.
“Our leading onboarding and account opening solution will complement and extend nCino’s single platform to create even greater value for financial institutions seeking to automate and digitize experiences they provide to employees and clients,” Canin said.
Wilmington, North Carolina-based nCino made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2017. Founded in 2012, nCino today has more than 1,800 financial institution partners who leverage its SaaS platform to serve corporate, commercial, small business, consumer, and mortgage customers. nCino’s acquisition news follows a handful of partnership announcements including its partnership extension announcement with Vermont-based The Bank of Bennington, and new collaborations with Australia’s Summerland Bank and Japan’s The Saikyo Bank.
Shift4partners with Atlante to provide payments solution for electric vehicle charging.
Cryptocurrency / Blockchain
African-based blockchain payments network Zoneraises $8.5 million in seed funding.
Figure TechnologiesunveilsFigure Markets, a single platform where investors can trade a wide range of blockchain-native assets from crypto to stocks to alternative investments.
Financial inclusion
Building society Nationwideintroduces new digital service using British Sign Language (BSL) for deaf and hearing-challenged customers.
Insurtech
iPipeline, a digital solutions provider for the insurance industry, launched its OneView solution that tracks the progress and status of annuity orders in real-time.
Taxation / Accounting
Free Agentexpands its smart tax calculation functionality to all NatWest Group customers via their business banking app.
This week’s edition of Finovate Global takes a look at recent fintech developments and news from Sweden. Over the years, Finovate has been proud to showcase a number of fintechs from Sweden, a country with a population of more than 10.5 million and the twelfth largest economy as measured by GDP.
Last month at FinovateEurope, we introduced Swedish embedded banking and payments company Visualizy to our audiences. Founded in 2022, the company offers a multi-bank platform that helps businesses lower costs, reduce errors, and boost security in their financial and payment operations.
Other recent Finovate alums headquartered in Sweden include StockRepublic (FinovateEurope 2023), Econans (FinovateEurope 2021), Minna Technologies (FinovateEurope 2019), and Trustly (FinovateEurope 2013. This week’s Finovate Global will include news from two older Finovate alums hailing from Sweden: Tink – which won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2014 – and Klarna, a Finovate alum since 2012.
Klarna rolls out open banking-powered settlements in the U.K.
Swedish payments network and shopping assistant Klarnahas begun to introduce open banking-powered settlements in the U.K. This means that consumers in the U.K will be able to pay Klarna directly from their bank account rather than a debit card. It also means that the company is making good on its objective of building a payments network outside the traditional card networks.
“Open banking offers a huge opportunity for Klarna to reduce the cost of payments to society by cutting out the established card payment networks, and using up-to-date bank account data to make ever better lending decisions,” Klarna VP, Open Banking, Wilko Klaassen said. “This new launch builds on the success we have seen in 10 countries across Europe and will give U.K. open banking a major boost.”
Ease of use is one major advantage open banking settlements provide consumers. For example, there is no need to enter personal payment details into the website of retailer that the consumer might not know very well. Instead, all a consumer needs to do is click on the “Pay by bank” option. This delivers the consumer to their mobile banking app where they can complete their transaction quickly and securely.
Launching the service in the U.K. is expected to be a major boon for Klarna; approximately five million U.K. consumers currently use open banking payment each month. Outside of the U.K., Klarna’s “Pay by bank” solution is currently live in 10 countries. More than 20 million consumers each month are taking advantage of the technology.
Tink adds to U.K. leadership team
Speaking of open banking, Swedish open banking platform Tink announced this week that it is bolstering its leadership ranks. The company – which won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2014 – has appointed Ian Morrin as Head of Payments & Platforms, Andrew Boyajian as Head of Products for Payments & CX, and Jack Spiers as Banking and Lending Director.
Of the three new hires, Jack Spiers may ring a bell with Finovate audiences. Spiers was a recent speaker at FinovateEurope, where he provided a Special Address on “Transforming Lending in the Cost of Living Crisis.” In his presentation, Spiers – whose ten years of fintech experience include tenures at both Klarna and Clearpay – discussed how traditional methods are falling short in their ability to accurately assess creditworthiness. Instead, he pointed to new research from Tink that showed how data-enriched affordability checks can do better.
The new hires come just days after Tink announced a partnership with German railway company Deutsche Bahn. Via the new agreement, Tink will offer Deutsche Bahn customers optimized direct debit setups. This will enable customers to use Deutsche Bahn’s modern mobility-sharing systems, which are run by Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Connect. The railway company will also leverage Tink’s Account Check technology for its car-sharing and bike-sharing networks, Flinkster and Call a Bike.
Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Tink most recently demoed its technology at FinovateEurope 2019. A two-time Finovate Best of Show winner, Tink was acquired by Visa in 2022 for $2 billion.
Swedish Central Bank looks to defend cash
If the Swedish Central Bank is for cash, then who can be against it?
That’s one of the questions the nation’s central bank is asking in the wake of 2023 survey that indicated that half of the survey’s respondents had run into circumstances in which they wanted to pay with cash, but merchant would not accept it. According to a report issued by Sweden’s Riksbank that is based on those results, this number was only 37% a year ago.
The report indicates that the supply of cash services in Sweden is decreasing and has been since at least 2016. Cash services refer to those locations for cash withdrawals, deposits of daily takings, as well as over-the-counter payments. This decline has slowed somewhat in the past five years, as new regulations have insisted that banks share the responsibility of providing cash services with other non-bank institutions. But the downward trend is clear.
“Payments must work for everyone, Riksbank governor and chairman of the executive board Erik Thedéen said in a press release. “In the longer term, all payments may be digital – but until then, cash plays an important role. We need legislation to ensure that cash can be used to pay. Banks must also ensure that more customers have access to payment accounts.”
To this end, in addition to calling for further research and study, the Swedish central bank proposed, for example, that banks should ensure that cash can be transferred to and from retail outlets at reasonable prices. At present, only one private company does this. Another proposal suggests that banks be obligated to accept banknote and coin deposits from private individuals. As noted above, there is not a current requirement for banks to do so.
These changes, along with others to help more individuals secure payment accounts, are likely to help Sweden increase financial inclusion as the country continues the rapid digitalization of its payment market. There will be no retreat from this drive for “faster, smoother, and more efficient payments.” But ensuring the availability and utility of cash, at least in the meantime, will both support that transition as well as ensure fewer Swedes are left behind on the way.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Sub-Saharan Africa
U.K.-based fintech Unlimit secured a license from the Bank of Tanzania to do operate as a payments service provider (PSP) in the country.
African fintech PalmPay launched a pair of new products in Nigeria: Unlimited Free Transfer and Target Savings.
Mastercard and South African fintech SAVA teamed up to bring innovative payment options – including digital bank accounts and accounting integration tools – to small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs).
Central and Eastern Europe
Berlin, Germany-based brokerage-as-a-service platform lemon.markets launched this week in partnership with Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, and Tradegate.
The Hungarian Ministry of the Economy has suggested new rules to codify the use of digital assets in the country.
German fintech Naro emerged from stealth this week with $3 million in pre-seed funding.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Israel-based fintech Nayaz shared its plans for expansion in Latin America following its acquisition of Brazil’s VMtecnologia.
Dunes Financial, headquartered in the UAE, agreed to acquire the technology assets of Be Mobile Africa.
The Financial Brand profiled former Bank Leumi CEO Rakefet Russak-Aminoach.
Central and Southern Asia
India’s UPI linked with Nepal’s largest payment network, Fonepay.
Writing in IBA.org, Sahar Iqbal assessed the current fintech landscape of Pakistan.
Courtesy of a partnership with Mastercard, India’s IndusInd Bank will launch an tokenizable wearable solution called Indus PayWear.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Aquis Technologies secured a contract to support the operation of the Central Bank of Colombia, Banco de la República.
Mexican challenger bank Fondeadora turned to MeaWallet for tokenization services.
Banco do Brasil teamed up with Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) to test offline payments for its CBDC project.
Asia-Pacific
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad (Bank Muamalat) forged a multi-year collaboration with Google Cloud en route to its transformation into a digital Islamic bank.
Philippines-based Metropolitan Bank & Trust (Metrobank) partnered with Temenos to enhance its wealth management offerings.
Australian regulators are looking to regulate Buy Now Pay Later products under the nation’s Credit Act.
Payments technology company Icon Solutions has secured a strategic minority investment from NatWest. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
The funding follows a December investment Icon Solutions secured from Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS).
NatWest integrated Icon Solutions’ Icon Payment Framework in September as part of its payments modernization strategy.
Payments technology company Icon Solutions has secured a strategic minority investment from NatWest. The amount of the investment was not immediately disclosed. The funding is the second for Icon Solutions in the past four months; the company announced in December that it had received an investment from Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS), a division of Citi’s Services organization. The amount of that investment was similarly undisclosed.
In both instances, Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions and NatWest have integrated or further integrated Icon Solutions’ Icon Payments Framework (IPF) as part of their investments. Citi TTS will expand its use of IPF to enhance its micro-services orchestration architecture. NatWest announced its plan to integrate IPF as part of its payments modernization efforts in September.
Icon Payments Framework is a low-code payment framework that enables business payments professionals to build payment workflows and empowers bank software engineering teams to create customizable integrations into their existing systems. Both NatWest and Citi TTS noted that the technology will help them build on current relationships as well as enhance their ability to keep pace with changes in payments technology.
“Overcoming vendor lock in and powering in-house builds with the Icon Payments Framework (IPF), NatWest can now drive change from within,” Icon Solutions co-founder and Director Tom Kelleher said. “Building new revenue streams, anticipating regulatory change, responding to market changes or competitive pressures. Today’s investment is much more than an investment, it’s a commitment to a future where payments are safe, immediate, and flexible.”
Icon Solutions made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2017. In addition to its partnership announcements, the company in recent months secured “Qualified Software” status from Amazon Web Services (AWS). “Qualified Software” status is granted to technologies validated as meeting AWS cloud infrastructure’s performance, security, and reliability standards.
Icon Solutions also recently launched a FedNow scheme pack for IPF. This will help banks negotiate the balance between “near-term requirements like FedNow compliance and ISO2022” and their “longer-term strategies around driving innovation, improving CX and reducing costs,” Icon Solutions CTO Donal Fleming explained.
Tuum received a strategic investment from Citi Ventures in a Series B follow-on round.
The amount of today’s installment was undisclosed, and boosts the company’s total funds to more than $49 million (€45 million).
Citi Ventures plans to introduce Tuum to key stakeholders within Citibank and gauge interest in commercialization opportunities.
API-based core banking provider Tuumannounced today that it has secured additional funding as part of its Series B round. This strategic investment from Citi Ventures, the amount of which was undisclosed, brings the company’s total funding to over $49 million (€45 million).
Tuum, which won Best of Show honors at last month’s FinovateEurope event, received $27 million (€25 million) in funding at the start of February in a Series B round led by CommerzVentures. Tuum plans to use the funds to fuel product and market development and to expand its international presence into the DACH region, Southern Europe, and the Middle East.
As part of Citi Ventures’ role as strategic investor, the firm plans to introduce Tuum to key stakeholders within Citibank and gauge interest in commercialization opportunities.
“At Citi Ventures, we have been tracking the modernization of core banking tech stacks for years,” said the firm’s Managing Director responsible for fintech investments globally Luis Valdich. “After exploring numerous opportunities to invest in next-gen core banking providers, we are excited to invest in Tuum, whose API-first, cloud-agnostic and modular platform promises to strike an optimal balance between no-code hyper-configurability and total cost of ownership that can help accelerate this long overdue transformation across the industry.”
Estonia-based Tuum was launched under the name Modularbank in 2019. With 100 employees, the company aims to help banks replace their legacy systems, reduce spending on maintenance, and quickly adapt to changing trends. Tuum’s technology extends beyond core replacement to help banks add accounts, lending, payments, and card offerings. In addition, the company offers customers access to range of third-party tools through its partner marketplace, which includes solutions from AMLYZE, SaltEdge, NTT Data, Entersekt, and others .
Tuum’s clients come from a range of 10 countries, but primarily hail from the U.K. and the Nordic region. The company launched just in time to leverage the digital transformation frenzy that took place in 2020. Since that time, Tuum’s revenue has more than doubled each year on average over a three-year period, resulting in an overall revenue increase of more than 2.5 times.
The video of Tuum’s demo from FinovateEurope will be available in the coming days.
Taulia has partnered with Visa to embed Visa’s digital payments technology into its Virtual Cards offering.
Taulia will leverage Visa’s APIs to embed business’ virtual payment credentials, acceptance, and enablement solutions to work natively across SAP business applications.
Integrating Visa’s digital payments technology into Taulia’s Virtual Cards will simplify the business-to-business payments process, especially for organizations using SAP’s ERP solutions.
SAP-owned supply chain finance fintech Taulia has partnered with Visa this week to embed Visa’s digital payments technology into Taulia’s Virtual Cards offering.
The partnership will leverage Visa’s APIs to embed business’ virtual payment credentials, acceptance, and enablement solutions to work natively across SAP business applications. Embedding finance capabilities within SAP’s applications reinforce the bank’s role as an issuer and solidify the ERP relationship to the corporate client.
“By partnering with Taulia, we create synergies in working capital management and the enablement of a world class ERP provider,” said Visa SVP, Global Head of Large, Middle Market Segments and Working Capital SolutionsAlan Koenigsberg. “We believe that we are creating a best-in-class payments automation experience for buyers and suppliers alike, while removing cumbersome processes that take time away from the most strategic work that drives growth.”
The companies anticipate that the solution will help CFOs, procurement, and accounts payable teams automate payments to suppliers. This can be useful for businesses who pay one-time suppliers because it eliminates the need to create full master data in the system. Embedded virtual payments will also improve cash flow for businesses, offer enhanced payments visibility, and reduce friction in B2B transactions.
Overall, the partnership represents a step towards a more accessible digital payments ecosystem for businesses worldwide. Integrating Visa’s digital payments technology into Taulia’s Virtual Cards will simplify the business-to-business payments process, especially for corporate buyers and suppliers using SAP’s ERP solutions.
Taulia was founded in 2009 to help companies make use of cash tied up in their payables, receivables, and inventory. The company maintains a network of 3+ million businesses to fuel its clients with more working capital. In fact, Taulia has provided more than $250 billion in accelerated early payments to clients, including Airbus, AstraZeneca, and Nissan.
SAP acquired Taulia in 2022 for an undisclosed amount.
Verification provider Sumsub announced a partnership with blockchain data platform Chainalysis this week.
The integration will bring automated crypto transaction monitoring and secure data storage, as well as ensure regulatory compliance.
Sumsub made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin, Germany.
Full-cycle verification provider and FinovateEurope alum Sumsubannounced an integration with blockchain data platform Chainalysis this week. The partnership brings Sumsub’s Transaction Monitoring and Travel Rule solutions to the Chainalysis platform. This will enhance regulatory compliance and secure data storage, as well as provide automated crypto transaction monitoring for Chainalysis’ clients.
In a statement, the companies suggested that the partnership will help encourage greater digital compliance for businesses in the crypto space with functionality like unified workflows and automated transaction monitoring. Sumsub’s Transaction Monitoring solution is designed to help firms deal with the estimated $48+ billion in total fraud losses last year alone. The solution gives fraud and risk teams a single tool to manage the transaction monitoring process with provides fewer false positives and more efficient case management.
Additionally, the technology enables real-time fraud detection, and users can connect KYC, AML, and KYB verification with transaction monitoring for further vigilance against suspicious activity. With Travel Rule, Sumsub automates data transfers with counterparties to make sure firms remain compliant with regulatory obligations in different jurisdictions around the world.
“This partnership enables us to offer access to over one billion mapped addressses across multiple blockchains to those customers who use Sumsub’s Transaction Monitoring and Chainalysis crypto risk solutions,” Sumsub co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Jacob Sever explained. “Sumsub’s solution’s enhanced capabilities, integrated with Chainalysis’ analytics and key management model, are reshaping the landscape of crypto compliance and security in the digital realm.”
Sumsub made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin, Germany. The company currently has more than 2,000 clients in fintech, crypto, e-commerce, transportation, gaming, and more. Businesses working with Sumsub have experienced 2.4x return on investment (ROI), $3.2+ million in net present value (NPV), and a payback period of less than six months.
So far in 2024, Sumsub has forged partnerships with B2B Gaming Services and embedded finance integrator AAZZUR. The company began the year teaming up with digital banking technology firm Plumery. In February, Sumsub launched its deepfake detection solution for video identification, an industry-first, and made its non-doc verification solution available in the U.S.
Headquartered in London, Sumsub – which stands for “Sum & Substance” – was founded in 2015. Co-founder Andrew Sever is CEO.
The Harbor Bank of Maryland has partnered with digital account onboarding specialist Prelim.
Courtesy of the partnership, the Baltimore, Maryland-based financial institution will leverage Prelim’s technology and expertise to enhance its account opening services.
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Prelim made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022.
Digital account onboarding specialist Prelim and the Harbor Bank of Maryland have teamed up to bring digital account opening services to the customers of the Baltimore, Maryland-based financial institution.
Founded in 1982 with $2.1 million in assets, Harbor Bank of Maryland serves the Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area with seven branch locations and a loan office in Silver Spring, Maryland. The bank offers a wide variety of banking services, including checking, savings, time deposits, credit and debit cards, and commercial real estate, as well as personal, home improvement, and other installment and term loans. With total assets of $377 million, Harbor Bank of Maryland is a designated Minority Depository Institution (MDI) and the first community bank in the U.S. to have an investment subsidiary, Harbor Financial Services.
San Francisco, California-based Prelim made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring in 2022 and returned again the following year for FinovateSpring 2023. Co-founded in 2017 by Heang Chan (CEO) and Chris Blaser (CTO), Prelim offers a white-label platform that empowers banks to digitize their business banking operations. Via API, Prelim enables financial institutions to automate their business account onboarding, as well as connect to third party providers to meet AML, BSA, and CIP requirements. The platform also helps FIs launch other financial services and banking products from lending to merchant services.
In addition to its partnership with the Harbor Bank of Maryland, Prelim last month announced a collaboration with Movement Bank. Headquartered in Danville, Virginia, Movement Bank was launched in 1919 by a team of African American doctors, teachers, farmers, and preachers. From humble origins in a church basement and $6,500 in capital, the financial institution has grown into a major community resource. The bank was among the first to reopen during the Great Depression after banks were forced to close. The institution was also one of the first banks in Virginia to issue Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans back in 1934. Movement Bank currently has $150 million in total assets.
Interested in demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May? We are happy to read applications from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateSpring hub today to learn more.
A pair of Canada-based Finovate alums – Coconut Software and PayTic – have earned spots in the first cohort of the UK Fintech CTA program. The program runs for eight-weeks, much of it conducted online, and includes a needs assessment and company analysis, participation in the Innovate Finance Global Summit, virtual market briefings, mentor-matching and coaching, as well as strategic business-to-business introductions.
In addition to the digital sessions, participants in the program will be invited to attend local events in the U.K. that will help the firms build and grow their in-market presence and their network. This will enable them to introduce their value proposition to key market participants, investors, as well as potential customers.
Joining Coconut Software and PayTic are a number of other Canadian startups including Symend, OneVest, VoPay, Four Eyes Financial, Octav, and Sibli.
“We are so excited to be selected for the first cohort of the UK Fintech CTA, proudly representing our country’s growing payments landscape as we expand our efforts in the U.K.,” PayTic noted on LinkedIn last week. “Thank you Canadian Technology Accelerators | Accélerateurs technologiques canadiens for this recognition and opportunity to scale!”
Headquartered in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, PayTic made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring. The company offers a SaaS solution that manages all of the significant aspects of program management for card issuers and BIN sponsors in a single interface. PayTic’s technology serves as a central hub within the payments ecosystem, enabling users to automate reconciliation, network report generation, dispute submission, fraud detection, network fee analysis, and robust business intelligence.
At FinovateSpring, PayTic founder and CEO Imad Boumahdi and Director of Product Kate Firuz demoed how PayTic’s platform can help banks, card issuers, BIN sponsors, and fintechs save significant amounts of money by analyzing and optimizing network fees against program activity. The technology enables users to instantly reconcile data across the payments ecosystem from the program and account level to the transaction level. This empowers users to identify exceptions in real-time, generate accurate reports, and remain compliant.
Founded in 2020, PayTic has raised $4 million in funding. Visa Accelerator and Outlierz Ventures are among the firm’s investors.
More than 4,000 kilometers to the west via the Trans-Canada Highway (44 hours if you’re driving), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Coconut Software is the other Finovate alum that will be joining PayTic as part of the UK Fintech CTA program. Founded in 2007, Coconut Software offers a customer engagement platform to help financial institutions better schedule, manage, and measure customer, prospect, and employee interactions.
Coconut Software made its Finovate debut as part of our special all-digital FinovateSpring conference in 2021. At the event, Senior Solutions Engineer Andre Doucette demoed enhancements to the firm’s appointment scheduling and lobby management technology. These upgrades improved the platform’s online queuing and lobby management capabilities.
Named to the 2023 Technology Fast 50, Coconut Software counts a number of North American financial institutions among its customers, including RBC, Arvest Bank, Vancity, and Rogue Credit Union. The company has raised more than $35 million in funding from investors including Klass Capital and Information Venture Partners. Katherine Regnier is founder and CEO.
Interested in demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May? We are happy to read applications from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateSpring hub today to learn more.
Funding search engine Fundica announced a collaboration with Visa last week.
The partnership will make it easier for entrepreneurs to access government funding.
Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Fundica made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring 2023.
A newly announced collaboration between North American funding search engine Fundica and Visa will democratize the process of securing government funding for SMEs, especially those founded and led by members of underrepresented communities. Together Fundica and Visa will offer an intelligent solution that helps SMEs and entrepreneurs find relevant government funding and private sector grants based on their individual business’ needs and goals.
“We are thrilled to be working with Visa to further democratize access to government funding for small businesses across North America,” Fundica co-founder and CEO Mike Lee said. “Visa and Fundica are both deeply committed to fostering accessibility and inclusion in business communities – making this collaboration a great fit.”
Fundica’s platform enables small businesses to identify and apply for relevant government and private sector funding, while giving financial institutions the ability to promote inclusion and serve as a more comprehensive financial advisor to its SME clients. The technology aggregates data from tens of thousands of funding programs, leveraging strategies from discovery and tracking bots to funders, collaboration partners, and its own internal research team.
The search experience for the business customer is straightforward; companies enter basic information about their business and Fundica displays appropriate funding options in order of relevance. The solution presents each opportunity in a detailed, one-page summary, making it easy for business customers to confirm their suitability for the funding and to begin the application process. Funding sources include grants, tax credits, government loans and loan guarantees from federal, state, provincial, and municipal entities – as well as the private sector.
On the backend, FIs can see the profiles of the companies looking for funding and make informed connections with qualified leads and clients. The platform also enables institutions to identify key business behavioral trends. Some of the largest FIs in North America license Fundica’s AI-powered funding search engine to help them acquire and retain business customers.
Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and founded in 2017, Fundica made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2023. At the conference, Fundica’s Lee demonstrated new enhancements to the platform’s front- and back-ends. These enhancements included a traffic augmentation solution, improved traffic conversion, and improved user engagement.
A Finovate alum for more than a decade, Visa made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2010 in San Francisco. The company is also an alum of our developers conference, participating in FinDEVr Silicon Valley in 2014.
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