Alumni News

Currencycloud Partners with Integrated AP/AR Platform Nook

Currencycloud Partners with Integrated AP/AR Platform Nook
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Currency Cloud, Daily news
  • Accounts payable and receivable platform Nook has partnered with Currencycloud.
  • Nook will leverage Currencycloud’s APIs to help its customers manage payments with international suppliers.
  • Currencycloud has been a Finovate alum since 2015. Visa acquired the company in 2021.

Accounts payable platform Nook announced a new partnership with Currencycloud. Nook will leverage Currencycloud’s APIs to enable its customers to manage the full-life cycle of supplier payments. This will help Nook better serve companies who must make multiple transactions and manage other inefficiencies when working with international suppliers.

“The seamless integration with Currencycloud has strengthened our value proposition as an end-to-end accounts payable solution, and has helped us to expand our addressable market to include businesses that need to pay suppliers in multiple currencies,” Nook co-founder and CEO Joe Lines explained.

Nook offers an integrated accounts payable and accounts receivable platform that enables businesses to process, approve, and pay invoices without having to login to their bank or accounting program. The platform features auditable integrated approval workflows, and payments are integrated with both the company’s bank and ledger. The company noted that its platform has enabled users to complete their accounts payable 50% faster than before using the technology.

Currencycloud Chief Revenue Officer Nick Cheetham said that the partnership with Nook was a “perfect example” of how companies can leverage innovation to thrive in the payments space. Calling the support of companies like Nook a part of Currencycloud’s identity from the beginning, Cheetham added “We are eager to see how the platform can expand their customer base and further disrupt the market by integrating our seamless cross-border payment capabilities.”

Currencycloud demoed its technology on the Finovate stage for the first time at FinovateSpring 2015. In the eight years since, the company has grown into a financial infrastructure and enterprise-class solution provider for any business that needs to move money across borders. With nearly 600 employees, Currencycloud maintains offices in New York, Amsterdam, Singapore, Cardiff, and London. The company has processed more than $75 billion in payments and transferred payments to more than 180 countries around the world.

Last month, Currencycloud announced that it was working with Australian multi-asset broker ACY Securities. Currencycloud began the year with a pair of new partnerships: teaming up with Hong Kong-based remittance company Windsor First and venture capital platform Vauban in January. Visa acquired Currencycloud in 2021 for $912 million (£700 million). Mike Laven is CEO.

Photo by Porapak Apichodilok

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Ten Alums Raised More Than $209 Million in Q2 2023

Ten Alums Raised More Than $209 Million in Q2 2023
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, David's column, Funding, Fundings, Quarterly Funding

Do any of these headlines sound familiar?

“Global fintech funding nearly halves to $23B in H1 2023”

“North American Startup Funding Fell Across All Stages in Q2”

“Most Active Investors Pare Dealmaking in First Half of 2023”

These are some of the recent headlines from sources such as Crunchbase News and S&P Global Market Intelligence. While there was some real enthusiasm around Generative AI as the summer began, the reality is that technology investors remain cautious in the face of inflationary fears, higher interest rates, and a number of high-profile blowups in some of the more speculative areas of technology. This challenge has been especially acute in fintech. Not only have concerns over COVID-era overinvestment and “malinvestment” been loud in this space, but also fintech has more direct exposure to some of the economic discontents mentioned above.

The retrenchment in fintech funding was in evidence during Q2 2023 for our Finovate alums, as well. Over the quarter, ten alums raised more than $209 million. This makes Q2 2023 one of the lowest quarters in terms of equity capital raised by our alums in many years. Note that two of the nine alums that reported receiving investment dollars in April, May, and June – Agent IQ and EverC – did not disclose the amounts of their fundings. Nevertheless, this quarter’s total is a clear reflection of the relative tepid investment climate across technology writ large.

Previous quarterly comparisons

  • Q2 2022: More than $984 million raised by eight alums
  • Q2 2021: More than $2.8 billion raised by 14 alums
  • Q2 2020: More than $975 million raised by 15 alums
  • Q2 2019: More than $1.8 billion raised by 29 alums
  • Q2 2018: More than $1.5 billion raised by 26 alums

The biggest fundraising alum of the quarter was NYMBUS. The company enables financial institutions to digitally transform their operations through a variety of solutions including SmartCore, SmartPayments, and its standalone digital bank alternative, SmartLaunch. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, NYBUS made its most recent Finovate appearance at FinovateFall 2019.

Top Equity Investments

  • NYMBUS: $70 million
  • PayNearMe: $45 million
  • BioCatch: $40 million

Other big alumni fundraisers in Q2 2023 were PayNearMe and BioCatch, which raised $45 million and $40 million, respectively. PayNearMe is a three-time Finovate Best of Show winner, making its Finovate debut back in 2010. The Santa Clara, California based fintech offers a cash payments platform that facilitates online purchases and billpay.

Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, BioCatch demoed its technology at FinovateFall in 2014. Since then, the behavioral biometrics innovator has grown into a major player in the advanced fraud protection industry. The firm continuously protects more than five billion sessions per month and serves more than 250 million users around the world. In 2022, BioCatch prevented more than $2 billion in fraud losses.

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q2 2023.

April: More than $35 million raised by three alums

  • EverC: undisclosed – post
  • Stratyfy: $10 million – post
  • Tyfone: $25 million – post

May: More than $127 million raised by five alums

  • Agent IQ: undisclosed – post
  • BioCatch: $40 million – post
  • Cable: $11 million – post
  • Kognitos: $6.75 million – post
  • NYMBUS: $70 million – post

June: More than $47 million raised by two alums

  • PayNearMe: $45 million – post
  • StockRepublic: $2.81 million – post

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the second quarter of 2023 and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at research@finovate.com. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

Photo by Reynaldo #brigworkz Brigantty

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Flywire Links Up with Tencent Financial Technology

Flywire Links Up with Tencent Financial Technology
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Flywire
  • Flywire has partnered with Tencent’s fintech arm, Tencent Financial Technology.
  • The partnership will help Chinese students pay for education abroad via Tencent-owned Weixin Pay (WeChat Pay).
  • Students will be able to pay in their own currency, while the education facility will receive funds in their local currency.

Global payments platform Flywire is teaming up with Tencent’s fintech arm, Tencent Financial Technology to help Chinese students pay for education abroad.

This week, the two announced they plan to allow Chinese students and families making education payments abroad to pay using Tencent-owned Weixin Pay (WeChat Pay). Flywire anticipates the move will further streamline education-related payments.

“This partnership ensures that for Chinese students studying internationally at institutions that use Flywire, we essentially become their ‘pay’ button, by offering localized and seamless payment capabilities, which benefit students, families and institutions alike,” said Flywire Senior Vice President of Global Payments and Payer Services Mohit Kansal. “Flywire has long offered Weixin Pay as a payment method, but the direct connection with Tencent makes the payment experience more convenient and streamlined.”

The Weixin Pay app– which allows users to chat, browse, and make payments– is one of the most popular digital wallet apps in China. By offering its cross-border education payments within Weixin Pay, Flywire is meeting consumers where they already are. The company also removes the typical friction and complications that arise from the cross-border payments experience.

Using Weixin Pay, students can pay in their own currency, while their school will receive the funds in their local currency. Students will also have access to customer support in their own language.

“We are always looking for better ways to serve our users,” said Tencent General Manager of Tencent Financial Technology Asia Pacific Wenhui Yang said. “Flywire’s existing footprint in China, impressive client roster and proven technology made this a natural partnership for us. As more Chinese students are eager to study abroad again, we’re confident that Flywire will enable our users to improve their international payment experience, and make paying for education as easy as sending a chat.”

Photo by Hai Nguyen

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Car IQ Turns to Visa to Power In-Vehicle Merchant Payments

Car IQ Turns to Visa to Power In-Vehicle Merchant Payments
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, VISA
  • Vehicle payment platform Car IQ partnered with Visa to power its in-vehicle merchant payments solution, Car IQ Pay Vehicle Wallet.
  • The partnership will enable wallet users to pay for fuel, tools, parking, insurance, service, and repairs without requiring a physical card.
  • Analysts expect the connected vehicle market to reach $600 billion by 2030.

Payment platform for vehicles, Car IQ, has partnered with Visa. The San Francisco-based company is working with the payments and credit card giant to power its in-vehicle merchant payments solution, Car IQ Pay Vehicle Wallet. The partnership will enable vehicles to transact directly with Visa’s global merchant and bank network. The Car IQ Pay Vehicle Wallet can then be used to pay for fuel, tools, parking, insurance, service, EV charging, and repairs.

“Our collaboration with Visa allows us to accelerate the adoption of vehicle payments and make them a seamless part of the fleet experience today, and the consumer experience of the future,” Car IQ CEO Sterling Pratz said. “Our vehicle wallet allows banks and merchants to trust payments from vehicles as well as any other IoT device, over the Visa network.”

The addition of vehicle data is a key component of the partnership. This data supports new contextual payment experiences including real-time offers and personalized rewards for drivers, merchants, or even entire fleets. Car IQ’s Know Your Machine technology authenticates a machine’s identity in order to enable vehicles of all types to transact directly with merchants.

A recent study from Ptolemus Consulting Group noted that the connected vehicle payment market could reach $600 billion by 2030. In a statement, Veronica Fernandez, North American Head of Visa Business Solutions, added that the total spend for commercial fleet payments is more than $80 billion. This sum includes cash, checks, ACH, as well as traditional fleet car payments. Fernandez said that the collaboration with Car IQ will help “drive growth of vehicle-based payments that allow users to take control of their fleet business through enhanced and timely data capabilities that allow for real-time business decisions.”

Car IQ is also partnering with automobile OEMs to embed payments within consumer vehicles. The company’s Car IQ Pay in-dash vehicle wallet, for example, connects to merchants on Visa’s network, enabling payments directly from the car’s infotainment system. Pratz noted that while its efforts are focused on vehicles, there’s more to the Car IQ platform than making payments from cars. “Our platform is designed to easily support any IoT device payment, and we are already seeing interest for connected ‘smart’ city applications and believe the connected home will be next,” Pratz said.

More than 25,000 fuel stations in the U.S accept the company’s Car IQ Pay solution. In June, Car IQ announced a partnership with PDI Technologies to process commercial fleet transactions. In March, the company worked with the United States Auto Club (USAC) to sponsor the “The Fab Four” racing competition for female drivers.

Founded in 2017, Car IQ has raised $42 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. In February, the company secured $15 million in an oversubscribed Series B round. Car IQ began the year teaming up with BlackBerry IVY to launch its in-dash vehicle wallet.

Photo by Pixabay

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Big Data Innovator SESAMm Integrates Generative AI to Boost ESG Risk Mitigation

Big Data Innovator SESAMm Integrates Generative AI to Boost ESG Risk Mitigation
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, SESAMm
  • Big data and AI company SESAMm announced the integration of Generative AI into its platform.
  • The integration will enable SESAMm to offer enhanced ESG risk mitigation.
  • Founded in 2014, and headquartered in Paris, France, SESAMm won Best of Show in its Finovate debut in 2022.

SESAMm, an AI company that provides investment firms with critical insights on ESG, risk controversies, and other significant events, has integrated Generative AI into its platform. The addition is designed to help financial institutions apply enhanced ESG risk mitigation. The integration also will enable the company to streamline the process with automated tools and other enabling technologies.

“With Generative AI, we are not only enhancing our internal processes but also focusing on the development of new features that redefine industry standards,” SESAMm co-founder and CEO Sylvain Forté explained. “These include intuitive dashboards, automated ESG/SDG event analysis tools, and a client interaction chatbot – all created to streamline data interaction and boost efficiency in risk management.”

SESAMm’s technology enables users to derive insights from web data on millions of companies in less than a minute. The company’s platform enables users to generate transparent, real-time ESG and SDG insights on portfolio companies, suppliers, as well as their own organization. Risk alerts and monitoring keep users abreast of potential controversies, and users can leverage the technology to build thematic strategies for ETFs and other index-related initiatives. SESAMm offers data from 20 billion articles and four million public and premium sources on five million public and private companies. More than 100+ languages are covered, as well.

This week’s announcement means quicker and more intuitive interaction with data on SESAMm’s platform. New functionality includes ESG/SDG event summarization and automatic competitor searches for both public and private companies. SESAMm announced that is will launch a suite of Generative AI-powered features in the second half of 2023. SESAMm’s Forté will host an online fireside chat on Generative AI and the Future of Finance later this month.

Founded in 2014, SESAMm won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2022. At the conference, the Paris, France-based company demoed its TextReveal solution. TextReveal is an alternative data platform that leverages NLP (Natural Language Processing) to provide daily sentiment and ESG data on public and private companies.

In May, SESAMm announced a partnership with Compass Financial Technologies. The two companies are collaborating to leverage web sentiment data to build a new cryptocurrency-based thematic index. In March, SESAMm closed a Series B2 round in March, securing $37 million. The investment took the firm’s total equity capital raised to more than $65 million (€50.5 million), according to Crunchbase. SESAMm counts Elaia, Opera Tech Ventures, and NewAlpha Asset Management among its investors.

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk

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Best of Show Winner Stratyfy Brings Next Gen Risk Decisioning to the Fight for Fair Credit

Best of Show Winner Stratyfy Brings Next Gen Risk Decisioning to the Fight for Fair Credit
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Stratyfy

A partnership between credit and risk decisions company Stratyfy and Beneficial State Foundation is designed to combat ethnic and racial disparities in lending. The partnership was formed under the auspices of the Foundation’s Underwriting for Racial Justice (URJ) program. URJ consists of a team of financial institutions and “equity champions” tasked with identifying ways to improve access to credit for underserved communities and individuals.

The partnership has kicked off a two-year pilot program that will resource capital for people of color with the goal of stimulating wealth-building in their communities. To this end, 20 lenders will use Stratyfy’s technology, including its credit risk and decision optimization solutions, to remove bias from the credit decisioning process and encourage the fairest possible outcomes. Beneficial State Foundation Executive Director and Chief Impact Officer Erin Kilmer Neel called Stratyfy a “key partner” in the effort. Stratyfy co-founder and CEO Laura Kornhauser praised the institutions who are supporting the initiative.

“The innovative lenders selected for the URJ program are redefining how people of color in their communities are able to access credit,” Kornhauser said. “And Stratyfy is the technology chosen to deliver the collective insights and recommended actions to make it happen.”

The selected lenders are:

  • Beneficial State Bank
  • Berkshire Bank
  • BetterFi
  • Chehalis Tribal Loan Fund
  • Community Vision
  • Eastern Bank
  • Enterprise Community Loan Fund (ECLF)
  • Leech Lake Financial Services
  • LISC
  • Montecito Bank & Trust
  • NBT Bank, N.A.
  • New Orleans Fireman’s Federal Credit Union
  • REDF Impact Investing Fund
  • Rivermark Community Credit Union
  • Texas National Bank
  • Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity Lending, Inc.
  • Urban Redevelopment Authority
  • Vermont Community Loan Fund
  • Working Solutions CDFI
  • Washington State Employees Credit Union

Leaders from both the Vermont Community Loan Fund and NBT Bank underscored the opportunity to work together on behalf of greater financial inclusion. “Our team looks forward to collaborating with the 20-lender cohort to enhance our individual and collective impact on racial equity in lending,” NBT EVP and Consumer Lending Executive Shauna M. Hyle said. Forbes named NBT Bank to its World’s Best Banks roster this year, making NBT Bank the highest rated bank in the state.

Founded in 2017, Stratyfy made its Finovate debut in 2018. The company won Best of Show in its return to the Finovate stage last September at FinovateFall. At the conference, the company demoed its UnBias solution. Unbias enables financial institutions and fintechs to uncover and undo bias in complex financial decisions. The API-delivered technology is one of many transparent, machine learning tools Stratyfy offers to help companies minimize bias and improve risk-adjusted returns.

New York-based Stratyfy raised more than $10 million in funding this spring. Truist Ventures and Zeal Capital Partners co-led the round.

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Women’s Mentorship Platform Penny Finance Partners With Plaid to Offer Automated Money Insights

Women’s Mentorship Platform Penny Finance Partners With Plaid to Offer Automated Money Insights
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Plaid
  • Financial mentorship platform for women, Penny Finance, has launched a new automated account integration.
  • The new offering comes courtesy of a partnership with financial data connectivity innovator Plaid.
  • Wall Street veteran Crissi Cole founded Penny Finance in 2020.

Penny Finance has added a new feature courtesy of the company’s partnership with Plaid. The financial mentorship platform for women announced the launch of a new automated account integration that will power enhanced money insights for its members. After linking their bank accounts to the Penny Finance platform, members will receive personalized, financial wellness reminders via email. Members will also get a customized version of Penny Finance’s education and mentorship guidance. This includes everything from helping members understand the differences between their various accounts, to strategies to maximize their financial opportunities. An example of the latter could be a suggestion to transition from a standard savings account to a high yield savings account.

“Managing your finances should be easy. You shouldn’t have to dig through statements, read a finance book, or ask your dad how to manage your money,” Penny Finance CEO and founder Crissi Cole said. “We are so excited to take the guesswork out of managing your money for the most high-potential group of investors out there: women.”

Cole founded Penny Finance in 2020. The company is the first personalized, tech-powered financial mentorship platform to offer real-world advice to women who lack access to a financial advisor. Earlier this year, the company earned a spot in the 2023 Techstars Future of Longevity startup accelerator in partnership with Pivotal Ventures. Penny Finance is among ten startups participating in the program.

Penny Finance began the year with the launch of an all-in-one community feature. The offering provides a welcoming space for women to come together and share advice on a variety of financial wellness topics. The Penny Finance team moderates the new feature, which hosts questions on everything from debt management to investing.

“Women are whip-smart,” Cole said when the community feature was introduced in January. “We are more educated, live longer, and yet, we typically retire with one-third of the wealth of a man. Why? The system wasn’t built for us. The world of finance is a ‘boys club’ with its own rules. But, the good news is, it’s not as complicated as they made it out to be.”

Plaid has been a Finovate alum for nearly a decade. The company introduced itself to Finovate audiences as part of our developers conference, FinDEVr SiliconValley, in 2014. In the years since, the financial data connectivity innovator has grown into a leading fintech that powers more than 7,000 apps and services with its API-first network. The company also facilitates connections to more than 12,000 financial institutions. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Plaid was founded in 2013. Zach Perret is CEO.

Photo by Christina Morillo

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Moneyhub Partners with MX, Brings Open Data to Wealth Management Solutions Provider Voyant

Moneyhub Partners with MX, Brings Open Data to Wealth Management Solutions Provider Voyant
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Moneyhub, MX
  • Open data company Moneyhub announced a pair of partnerships at the beginning of the month.
  • The Bristol-based firm forged a referral partnership with fellow Finovate alum MX.
  • Moneyhub is also working with wealth management solutions provider Voyant, leveraging open data to accelerate the fact-finding process for financial advisors.

U.K.-based open data company Moneyhub announced a number of partnerships in recent days and weeks. At the beginning of the month, the fintech forged a strategic partnership with Utah-based open finance innovator MX. Via the partnership, Moneyhub will be able to refer customers to MX for support in North America, while MX will be able to refer customers who are looking for open finance solutions in European markets to Moneyhub.

Moneyhub provides consumers with data to enhance their financial health. The firm’s technology also helps businesses gain the kind of insights that enable them to deliver personalized solutions to their customers. In addition to Moneyhub’s Personal Finance Management platform and Open Banking APIs, the company offers decisioning tools that provide data-powered affordability checks that provide a real-time view of applicant financial information.

MX’s connectivity solutions and open finance APIs enable both consumers and businesses to leverage financial data to improve outcomes. MX provides reliable connections and data verification to help firms make insightful, actionable decisions, provide superior money experiences for customers, and grow their businesses.

“MX and Moneyhub share the belief that consumer-permissioned data sharing is critical to the future of our industry and we have an inherent responsibility to improve the money experience for consumers,” Raymond den Hond, Chief Commercial Officer, Partners at MX, said in a statement. “It will allow our clients to use consent-driven data to improve their customers’ financial lives, on a global scale,” Moneyhub CEO Samantha Seaton said.

A seven-time Best of Show winner, MX most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage in 2021 for FinovateFall. The fintech has more than 13,000 connections with financial institutions and fintechs, giving the firm a combined reach of more than 200 million consumers. Founded in 2010 by Ryan Caldwell and Brandon Dewitt, MX is headquartered in Lehi, Utah. Jim Magats is CEO.

In addition to its strategic partnership with MX, Moneyhub also announced last week that it has teamed up with financial planning and wealth management solutions provider Voyant. The Austin, Texas-based company will put Moneyhub’s Open Banking and Open Finance APIs to work giving advisors instant access to their clients’ financial information, including assets and analysis of income and expenditures in real-time. The data-sharing technology is secure, GDPR-compliant, and accelerates the fact-finding process for financial advisors.

Voyant’s technology analyzes real-time client data from a wide variety of sources. These include bank accounts, credit cards, investments and pensions, as well as loans and mortgages. The analysis of this broad range of data ensures more accurate, automatic modeling. It also supports advisors Consumer Duty requirements that mandate that financial products be focused on client goals by providing more personalized, tailored financial solutions.

Voyant was founded in 2008. Today the company serves more than 20,000 financial professionals and more than 40,000 of their clients. The digital wealth solution provider includes Lloyds Bank, CIBC, and BMO Bank of Montreal among its wealth management partners.

“Consent-driven, comprehensive and real-time access to financial data is critical for advisors to support their clients in achieving their long-term aspirations,” Kim Jenkins, Managing Director of Moneyhub, API explained. “Only with this information can they advise on the right products and solutions, at the right time, to deliver on those goals.”

A Finovate alum since 2015, Moneyhub offers solutions for a range of companies in financial services – from banks and building societies to wealth managers, insurers, and lenders. The Bristol-based fintech offers seamless, single source connectivity to thousands of financial institutions in 37 countries to help businesses better understand and serve their customers.

In June, Moneyhub partnered with pension management firm Standard Life to power the company’s MoneyMindset solution. MoneyMindset gives Standard Life’s 1.5 million workplace pension scheme members real-time access to their spending and savings data across financial products. The previous month, Moneyhub announced that it had become the first third-party provider (TPP) to connect to Chase Bank in the U.K.

Photo by Barbara Bober

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FIS Sells Majority Stake in Worldpay to Private Equity Firm GTCR

FIS Sells Majority Stake in Worldpay to Private Equity Firm GTCR
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, FIS, Mergers & Acquisitions, WorldPay
  • Fintech giant FIS announced that it will sell a majority stake in Worldpay to private equity firm GTCR.
  • The move comes just over four years after FIS acquired Worldpay in a deal valued at $43 billion.
  • The transaction is the largest to date for GTCR and the biggest leveraged buyout of 2023.

Four years after acquiring payments company Worldpay, fintech titan FIS has announced plans to sell a majority stake in the firm. Private equity company GTCR is the purchaser, and will gain 55% of Worldpay, which is currently valued at $18.5 billion. Note that when FIS acquired the company in 2019, Worldpay was valued at $43 billion.

The sale is expected to close by the first quarter of 2023. Former Worldpay CEO Charles Drucker will be re-appointed as Chief Executive.

The transaction is the largest to date for the PE firm. The deal is also the largest leveraged buyout of the year. GTCR will finance half of the transaction with equity financing and the other half via borrowed capital. GTCR also has committed to an additional investment of as much as $1.25 billion in Worldpay to facilitate future acquisitions. According to Reuters, GTCR was able to outbid Advent International, a rival firm that was also interested in a major stake in Worldpay.

FIS will use the capital raised from the sale to retire debt and buy back shares from its current shareholders. The sale comes after months of strategic review and pressure from activist investors concerned with what they have referred to as “underinvestment,” “operational missteps,” and an overall “unsuccessful integration” of Worldpay into FIS. The acquisition will help Worldpay reduce its debt from $20 billion at the end of March to $10 billion when the deal closes next year. The strategic review, led by FIS CEO Stephanie Ferris, is designed to help the firm cut costs by $1.25 billion.

Sans Worldpay, FIS will continue to operate its core processing systems business for banks and FIs, as well as its capital markets division for investment firms. FIS’ capital markets business represents just under 25% of the company’s revenues. The company’s banking technology division provides 46% of revenues and its merchants business accounts representing approximately 30%.

Founded in 1968, FIS has been a Finovate alum since 2010. Worldpay is an alum of our developers conference, presenting its technology to FinDEVr audiences in 2015 and again in 2016.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

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State Employees Credit Union Turns to Apiture to Enhance Online, Mobile Banking

State Employees Credit Union Turns to Apiture to Enhance Online, Mobile Banking
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Apiture, Daily news
  • State Employees Credit Union (State ECU) has teamed up with digital banking solutions provider Apiture.
  • State ECU will leverage Apiture’s Digital Banking Platform to offer its members an enhanced online and mobile banking experience.
  • Wilmington, North Carolina-based Apiture made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall.

New Mexico-based State Employees Credit Union (State ECU) announced a partnership with digital banking solutions provider Apiture. The 65-year old financial institution will leverage the Apiture Digital Banking Platform to offer its members an enhanced online and mobile banking experience.

Headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, Apiture offers technology that helps smaller banks and credit unions compete with their larger rivals – as well as launch their own digital-only brands. State ECU will take advantage of both Apiture’s Consumer Banking and Business Banking solutions, as well as the fintech’s Data Intelligence technology. This latter solution is designed to promote digital engagement with both consumers and businesses using highly personalized offers.

“By providing a modern, fully featured consumer and business banking experience, State ECU is poised to deepen member engagement and drive significant growth,” Apiture CEO Chris Babcock said.

Apiture made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in 2022. At the event, the company demoed an embedded finance solution that enabled users to conduct basic banking tasks from within third-party software. Whether the goal is to open an account, view balances, or transfer funds, Apiture’s embedded finance technology empowers customers without requiring them to visit their bank’s website. The technology gives financial institutions a new revenue stream, and provides customers with greater convenience and an enhanced user experience.

Apiture has more than 300 community and regional financial institution clients. The firm also has partnered with 200+ fintechs. Formed as a joint venture between First Data Corporation and Live Oak Bank in 2017, Apiture has earned recognition from Celent, Javelin, and Juniper for its small business and consumer banking solutions. The company’s API-first strategy gives smaller financial institutions extensive control over the UI, as well as the ability to create unique customer experiences via Apiture’s developer portal.

With more than $1 billion in assets, State ECU is New Mexico’s fifth largest credit union. Founded in 1958, State ECU boasts more than 52,000 members.

Photo by Michael Herren

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New AI.X Technology from Daon Bolsters the Fight Against Deepfakes

New AI.X Technology from Daon Bolsters the Fight Against Deepfakes
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Daon
  • Daon is launching a new technology, AI.X, to combat new threats posed by generative AI.
  • AI.X will be added to Daon’s IdentityX identity management platform and its TrustX identity continuity platform.
  • In a recent survey of IT leaders in the U.S., 56% of respondents said that they recognize AI as a potential security threat.

Biometrics solutions company Daon unveiled its newest technology last week. The company’s new release of AI.X expands on its existing identity management platform IdentityX and identity continuity platform TrustX.

Currently, IdentityX and TrustX leverage a set of algorithms and techniques to detect fake and altered documents. Daon is adding AI.X to these products to help combat new threats posed by generative AI. Specifically, the new technology protects against deepfakes that mimic voice, face, and documents.

“These newly patented technologies deliver more sophisticated verification for businesses worldwide by improving their ability to proof, verify, authenticate, and secure customer identities across all trust points including the contact center environments,” said Daon CEO Tom Grissen. “The Artificial Intelligence revolution is in full swing, driven by the widespread availability of data, powerful GPU computing, popular Machine Learning software, and deep neural networks (DNNs).”

The demand for solutions that combat nefarious uses of AI is likely to skyrocket. Daon reported that, in a survey of IT leaders in the U.S., 56% of respondents recognized AI as a potential security threat due to recently raised concerns over the issue. In the same survey, 69% of IT leaders said their companies are getting questions or concerns about AI from enterprise customers.

“In the battle to determine what is real, we have leveraged these advances to radically improve the accuracy of proofing and authentication solutions and create new groundbreaking algorithms that ensure the security and integrity of online transactions involving individuals and documents,” added Grissen.

Daon’s identity authentication technology uses a range of biometrics, including fingerprint, face, voice, iris, keystroke, palm, or a combination. In addition to its IdentityX and TrustX products, the company also offers xAuth multifactor authentication, xFace facial authentication, xProof identity proofing, xVoice voice authentication, and VeriFLY travel document validation. Founded in 2002, Daon is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. 

Photo by Elizaveta Dushechkina

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Revolut Unveils Roboadvisor in the U.S.

Revolut Unveils Roboadvisor in the U.S.
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Revolut
  • Revolut is launching a roboadvisor in the U.S.
  • The new capability will complement Revolut’s other wealth management options, including savings and stock trading.
  • The automated investing tool will charge a 0.25% annual fee with a monthly minimum of $0.25.

Global financial services innovator Revolut has launched a roboadvisor in the U.S. The new automated investing tool manages users’ investment portfolios, and is therefore able to charge lower fees than traditional wealth management firms.

Revolut users can invest in one of five diversified portfolios based on their risk tolerance. After the client deposits funds into their portfolio, Revolut’s roboadvisor will automatically invest the money and then monitor and manage the portfolio. When necessary, the roboadvisor will automatically rebalance the portfolio to stay in-tune with the user’s risk tolerance. Revolut roboadvisor will charge a 0.25% annual fee with a monthly minimum of $0.25.

“We are excited to add a Robo-advisor to our superapp’s suite of wealth and investment products and services,” said Revolut U.S. Head of Wealth and Trading Jack Callahan. “We know that many of our customers do not have the time to manage a portfolio or invest in individual securities. Built to make investing more accessible, we want to give our customers the ability to make their money work for them in what we believe will be a tailored and stress-free way.”

Originally founded as a mobile banking and international card payments company, Revolut has recently set its sights on becoming a super app. Since it launched in 2015, Revolut has added business cards and spend mangement tools, as well as a range of solutions to fit its users’ personal financial needs.

Today’s roboadvisor launch will push Revolut further towards super app status. Additionally, the new capability will complement the company’s other wealth management tools, including its savings account, savings goals, and stock trading.

While the launch of Revolut’s roboadvisor will be a value-added product, the company may be a bit late to the game. The roboadvisor boom in fintech took place about eight years ago and it is unlikely Revolut’s roboadvisor will be the determining factor for a user to make the jump to Revolut. The new product will, however, be attractive to existing Revolut clients and may help draw in Gen Z users as they look to begin their investing journeys.

Revolut has raised around $2 billion. While the company was once considered one of Europe’s most valuable fintechs, Revolut took a hit earlier this spring when company shareholder Schroders Capital Global Innovation Trust disclosed a $5.8 million (£4.7 million) writedown, shaking the value of its stake from $12.6 million (£10.1 million) in 2021 to $6.7 million (£5.4 million) in 2022.

Photo by Digital Buggu

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