Alumni News

Ant International, Standard Chartered, and Swift Build Bank-to-Wallet Payment Solution

Ant International, Standard Chartered, and Swift Build Bank-to-Wallet Payment Solution
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Standard Chartered Bank
  • Ant International, Standard Chartered, and Swift have launched a new bank-to-wallet solution linking Swift’s 11,500-institution network with Alipay+’s 1.7 billion digital wallet accounts across 36 providers.
  • The service offers faster, regulated alternatives to stablecoins, with ISO 20022 backing to ensure interoperability, compliance, and scalability for cross-border payments.
  • Beyond speed, the initiative aims to boost financial inclusion, giving underbanked consumers access to funds through wallets they already use while allowing banks to stay relevant in wallet-first markets.

Global payments and fintech provider Ant International, international banking group Standard Chartered, and provider of secure financial messaging services Swift are banding together this week to launch a bank-to-wallet payment solution.

The three are leveraging Swift’s network of over 11,500 financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories, as well as Ant International’s global wallet gateway service Alipay+. The new payment solution will connect Swift’s network to the 1.7 billion user accounts on the 36 global digital wallets in Alipay+’s ecosystem.

“We are very excited to be part of this ground-breaking multilateral collaboration with Swift, banking leaders, and Alipay+ e-wallet partners to facilitate bank-to-wallet transactions on a global scale,” said Ant International General Manager of Global Remittance Jacques Xu. “Ant International will continue to support such cross-sector collaboration with fintech innovations, to build a more connected payment and financial ecosystem for businesses and consumers with ever higher standards of transparency and security, as part of our focus on promoting global interoperability and inclusion.”

The digital wallet can also create an onramp into the traditional financial system. That’s because wallets connected to banks via Swift create a bridge that allows users to build transaction histories, potentially improving access to credit, insurance, and other financial services. Additionally, it has the potential to help unbanked and underbanked consumers because the bank-to-wallet capabilities allow them to receive money directly into a wallet they already use, circumventing the barriers to opening a bank account.

“In a world of fast-moving innovation with a growing number of ways to move value, consumers and businesses expect more choice and optionality in their international payments experience,” said Swift Chief Executive, Asia Pacific, Kevin Wong. “Swift is at the forefront of providing a best-in-class experience with greater flexibility and choice. This collaboration with Ant International and Standard Chartered reflects that strategic commitment to faster, frictionless payments across multiple networks.”

The first transactions on the new payments solution have already been successfully completed between a Standard Chartered Bank customer account and a partner e-wallet.

The launch of the new bank-to-wallet solution comes as stablecoin capabilities gain traction as an alternative for cross-border payments. However, while stablecoins promise fast, low-cost settlement, regulatory uncertainty and fragmentation have limited their adoption at scale. By contrast, today’s initiative shows how banks and fintechs can deliver many of the same benefits through established, regulated rails. Backed by the ISO 20022 messaging standard, the model also ensures interoperability and compliance with global payment systems, giving it a more durable foundation than many of today’s experimental stablecoin frameworks.

This partnership is a great example of how traditional banks and infrastructure services are collaborating with international tech players, moving from competition to interoperability. By linking Swift’s rails with Alipay+’s wallet ecosystem, the bank-to-wallet solution not only brings underbanked consumers into the financial system, but also strengthens cross-border payments. For Standard Chartered, it offers a chance to remain as a central player in markets where digital wallets dominate. The launch is also validating for fintechs that digital wallets have now gone mainstream.

“We are pleased to be the bank of choice to conceptualize, test, and deliver this innovation,” said Standard Chartered Global Head of Transaction Banking Michael Spiegel. “It is testament to the versatility of our banking platform and our strategic relationship with both Swift and Ant International. We will continue to push the boundaries of finance to shape the future of our industry, securely and in compliance with regulatory requirements.”

Photo by Sora Shimazaki

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Finshape Acquires Loyalty Platform Realtime-XLS

Finshape Acquires Loyalty Platform Realtime-XLS
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Finshape
  • Budapest, Hungary-based digital banking solutions company Finshape has completed its acquisition of loyalty platform Realtime-XLS.
  • The acquisition will enhance Finshape’s expertise in customer loyalty with the addition of 60 new specialists, as well as expand the firm’s reach geographically.
  • Finshape made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023 in London.

Digital banking solutions provider Finshape has completed its acquisition of loyalty platform Realtime-XLS. Finshape bought the company from the Collinson Group and it represents Finshape’s first acquisition of a global product company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

There’s a lot to like in the move. The acquisition will boost Finshape’s expertise in the field of customer loyalty, giving the company 60 new specialists. The deal will also enable Finshape to extend its geographic reach courtesy of new offices in France and Singapore, and bolster its relationships with major banks in the UAE, Australia, Indonesia, and Singapore. In total, Finshape will consist of nearly 600 professionals supporting millions of end users across 100 banks around the world.

“This acquisition is a strategic milestone on our mission to transform the way banks serve their customers by unlocking the full potential of people and technology,” Finshape CEO Petr Koutný said.

Integrating the Realtime-XLS solution will give Finshape’s Digital Bank Operating System (DBOS) advanced loyalty capabilities, enabling banks to reward customer behavior, boost customer engagement, and generate additional revenue via cross-sell and up-sell opportunities. This will increase customer lifetime value, help banks secure a larger share of wallet, and make growth more sustainable.

“The loyalty solution will now form an integral part of our growing, customer-centric digital banking portfolio,” Koutný added. “Seamlessly integrated into our DBOS platform, it enhances the value we deliver by enabling banks to offer hyper-personalized experiences and build deeper, more meaningful relationships with their customers.”

Headquartered in Budapest, Hungary, Finshape won Best of Show for its demo at FinovateEurope 2022. At the event, the company showed how its platform combines digital banking and deep personalization capabilities to help financial institutions boost digital engagement, loyalty, and sales—especially among their micro- and small business customers. The company was formed in 2021 when Czech Banking Software Company (BSC) merged with Hungary’s W.UP (a three-time Finovate Best of Show winner).

Jenő Nieder, Deputy CEO at PortfoLion Capital Partners, the majority owner of Finshape that helped finance the merger between BSC and W.UP, praised the transaction as “perfectly aligned with the buy-and-build strategy” conceived when Finshape was founded. “This transaction not only incorporates a new loyalty platform but also adds new capabilities and true global coverage to an already strong company,” Nieder said.

Photo by Joseph Sun on Unsplash

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Endaoment Announces Partnership with Active Cause to Help Influencers Give Back

Endaoment Announces Partnership with Active Cause to Help Influencers Give Back
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Endaoment
  • A new partnership between Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) provider Endaoment and philanthropic advisory firm Active Cause will help creatives, athletes, entertainers, and influencers make charitable donations in cash, stock, crypto, and other assets.
  • A DAF works like a charitable investment account, enabling investors to make tax-deductible contributions and to recommend charitable grant outlays from the fund, while the assets grow in value over time.
  • Founded in 2020, Endaoment made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2024 in San Francisco. Robbie Heeger is President and CEO.

Next-generation Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) provider Endaoment has teamed up with philanthropic advisory firm Active Cause. The partnership combines Endaoment’s DAF infrastructure with Active Cause’s experience in serving the philanthropic needs of athletes, creatives, entertainers, and other influencers. Active Cause clients will be able to leverage the Endaoment platform to set up their own personalized DAFs where they can make charitable donations in cash, stock, crypto, as well as other assets.

“Active Cause is leading a cultural shift in philanthropy by centering creatives, athletes, and entertainers,” Endaoment President and CEO Robbie Heeger said. “We’re proud to provide the technology and infrastructure that allows their members to give seamlessly and confidently, while tracking their impact in real time.”

A DAF is a financial vehicle that acts like a charitable investment account. Contributions to DAFs are irrevocable to the sponsoring 501(c)(3) organization, which gains legal control over the funds. And while funds cannot be withdrawn for personal use, contributors—donors—still retain advisory rights over how the funds are invested and ultimately distributed.

DAFs provide donors with immediate tax benefits, enabling them to deduct the full amount of the contribution from their tax bill. The invested assets appreciate and grow tax-free over time and donors can recommend grants from the fund to qualified charities as they deem appropriate.

The partnership will embed charitable giving options directly into Active Cause’s membership platform, empowering influencers to support the causes that matter most to them. In addition to providing streamlined, simplified philanthropic service and tax advantages for creatives with often high-but-unpredictable income streams, the personal DAFs also offer a degree of privacy to help keep charitable donations out of the headlines.

“Our partnership with Endaoment gives members access to a modern platform that makes giving easier, faster, and more transparent,” Active Cause Co-Founder and CEO Yonis said in a video statement posted on LinkedIn.

Active Cause has more than 20 athletes, artists, and creators who have launched funds through the company and granted more than $10 million to community organizations as of 2025. The company provides philanthropic strategy and impact monitoring on key metrics like tax savings and fund growth. Working with Active Cause streamlines philanthropic processes, cutting administrative time by up to 50%, and lowering administrative costs to as low as 1.5% for DAFs greater than $10 million.

Founded in 2020 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Endaoment made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2024. Earlier this year, the company launched its Farcaster mini-app that helps users “convert emotional resonance into immediate impact.” The app enables users to find and donate to causes directly within their social feed and to share giving opportunities with those in their network. Donations can be made in USD, USDC, or ETH.

Photo by Tara Winstead

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Electronic Payments Acquires Handpoint

Electronic Payments Acquires Handpoint
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Handpoint, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Electronic Payments is acquiring Handpoint to expand into Europe, gaining offices in the UK, Iceland, and Spain.
  • Handpoint’s tools include mobile payment acceptance, an embedded payments platform, a card-present gateway, and real-time transaction reporting.
  • The deal strengthens Electronic Payments’ mobile and embedded offerings, helping it compete with newer players like Stripe and Square.

New York-based Electronic Payments has agreed to acquire UK-based Handpoint for an undisclosed amount.

Handpoint was founded in 1999 to provide in-person payments tools. The company helps its customers accept payments on smartphones, tablets, and handhelds, and enables merchants to accept card payments securely. In addition to hardware, Handpoint also offers an embedded payments platform, a card-present gateway, and provides real-time transaction data that gives merchants in-depth reporting. Before today’s announcement, Handpoint had raised a total of $8 million, most recently pulling in $2.4 million in 2021.

Handpoint demoed at FinovateFall 2012 and FinovateEurope 2012, at the height of the mobile payment acceptance wave that Block (then Square) kicked off in 2010.

Electronic Payments was founded in 1998 and offers a network of POS value-added resellers (VARs), agent banks, sales agents, and independent sales offices (ISOs) to businesses across multiple industries. Among the company’s products are Cygma, a full-stack authorization and clearing platform; Exatouch, a full-featured point-of-sale device; and ProCharge Gateway, a virtual terminal that helps process and manage payments from one central location.

Handpoint will give Electronic Payments an immediate European presence, as Handpoint maintains offices in the UK, Iceland, and Spain, new territories for Electronic Payments. Integrating Handpoint’s tools could allow US merchants that require cross-border capabilities to tap into a single payments partner on both sides of the Atlantic. Additionally, Electronic Payments could integrate Handpoint’s embedded payments platform with its Cygma clearing system, which would facilitate a more omnichannel approach.

Purchasing Handpoint will also help Electronic Payments strengthen its mobile and embedded payments offerings. This will help it compete with the self-service model that new players, like Stripe and Square, offer.

Photo by Ivan Samkov

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Finzly Integrates with Q2’s Digital Banking Platform

Finzly Integrates with Q2’s Digital Banking Platform
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Finzly, Q2
  • Payment infrastructure provider Finzly announced an integration with Q2.
  • Finzly will bring its payment experience to Q2’s Digital Banking Platform, enabling financial institutions to offer their customers greater payments capabilities.
  • Both Finzly and Q2 won Best of Show awards at our all-digital conferences in 2020.

Finzly has announced an integration with fellow Finovate alum Q2 that will bring its payment experience to Q2’s Digital Banking Platform. This will enable financial institutions to offer their customers the ability to send and track a variety of payments, including cross-border, domestic, and instant payments—without having to leave the platform.

“In today’s connected world, businesses and consumers expect their banks to deliver seamless payment experiences. With fintechs setting new expectations for simplicity, speed, and transparency, banks and credit unions must be able to meet these demands effortlessly,” Finzly CEO and Founder Booshan Rengachari said. “By integrating Finzly’s solution into Q2’s Digital Banking Platform, we’re providing financial institutions with a simple, efficient way to offer exceptional payment experiences—including international payments—that exceed account holder expectations, without the need for a complex overhaul.”

A payments infrastructure provider for financial institutions, Finzly offers a payment experience that delivers real-time visibility, competitive FX rates, and built-in regulatory compliance and fraud monitoring. Importantly, the technology is “rail-agnostic,” supporting FedNow, RTP, Fedwire, ACH, and SWIFT. Integrated into the Q2 Digital Banking Platform, Finzly’s technology will help financial institutions expand their offerings, generate new revenues, and grow their customer base.

The integration was made possible by the Q2 Partner Accelerator Program. The program is a component of the Q2 Innovation Studio and enables in-demand financial services companies that are working with the Q2 SDK to pre-integrate their technology into the Q2 Digital Banking Platform. This makes it easy for banks and other financial institutions to collaborate with these companies, buy their solutions, and quickly deploy the technologies for their customers.

A Finovate alum since 2011, Q2 won Best of Show at our all-digital conference in 2020. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Q2 offers a Digital Banking Platform that provides a range of secure, data-driven banking and lending solutions to banks, credit unions, fintechs, and other companies in financial services. Financial institutions using the company’s platform have reported 54% higher deposit growth, 48% higher loan growth, 27% higher revenue per employee, and 13% higher return on assets compared to companies that do not use the platform. This week, the company reported that Open Payment Network (OPN) has become the first integration partner for Q2 Instant Payments Manager, a solution designed to help financial institutions manage instant payments workflows.

Finzly made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2019 and won Best of Show in its return to the Finovate stage the following year. Most recently demonstrating its technology at FinovateSpring 2022, Finzly showed how its bank operating system, FinzlyOS, can quickly launch a modern, digital bank equipped with direct connections to all the major payments networks—from ACH and wires to RTP, FedNow, and SWIFT. Earlier this month, the company announced that it is gearing up to support both stablecoin and tokenized deposits in response to a demand for these digital assets that the company described as “exponential.”

“The momentum behind stablecoins is undeniable, and we’re seeing remarkable interest from US banks who recognize this isn’t just a trend,” Rengachari said. “Financial institutions that prepare now with the right infrastructure will be positioned to capitalize on what could be a $2 trillion market by 2028, while those that wait risk being left behind in an increasingly digital financial ecosystem.”

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Finzly was founded in 2012.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

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Incode Acquires Identity Verification Company AuthenticID

Incode Acquires Identity Verification Company AuthenticID
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, authenticID, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Incode has acquired AuthenticID to combine AI-driven fraud detection with enterprise-scale expertise, aiming to become a top global identity verification provider.
  • The deal strengthens Incode’s defenses against rising AI threats like deepfakes and synthetic fraud.
  • Together, the companies serve major banks, telecoms, and neobanks worldwide.

Identity verification company AuthenticID has been acquired by biometric identity organization Incode. The acquisition will bring together Incode’s AI solutions with AuthenticID’s enterprise expertise to combat fraud. The amount of the deal is undisclosed.

Incode said that the acquisition will accelerate its growth and position it as a leader in the identity authentication market. California-based Incode has seen an 80% year-on-year organic growth rate, and with AuthenticID on board, the company aims to broaden its global reach and solidify its position as a top-tier provider of end-to-end identity verification solutions.

“In the age of synthetic fraud, AI impersonation, and Agentic AI, verifying human identity has become the foundation of digital trust. Together with AuthenticID, we’re hardening the front line against these threats, so every enterprise can trust every interaction,” said Incode Founder and CEO Ricardo Amper.

Founded in 2015, Incode offers advanced neural networks and large visual language models that help detect and prevent identity fraud in real time. AuthenticID will add its expertise in regulated environments that require a high volume of verification.

Together, Incode and AuthenticID will strengthen defenses against advanced AI-driven threats, including deepfakes, which have fueled a 300% year-over-year surge in account opening fraud, and AI agents operating without identity safeguards. Collectively, the two companies serve eight of the ten largest US banks, protect eight of the nine biggest telecom providers in North America, work with four of the top five banks in Latin America, secure three leading global neobanks, and safeguard hundreds of organizations against retail fraud.

AuthenticID was founded in 2001 and offers identity proofing, ID verification, biometric authentication, and fraud shield tools to support the fight against cybercrime. Additionally, the company’s Identity Fraud Taskforce continuously develops new algorithms to improve AuthenticID’s identity decisioning engine to help identify and stop fraud. Last June, the company launched a new solution to detect deepfake and generative AI injection attacks. 

“As AI-driven fraud becomes more sophisticated, our clients need more than just point solutions—they need a holistic AI-first approach delivered by a true strategic partner,” said AuthenticID CEO Reed Taussig. “Incode’s vision and AI technology leadership, leveraging foundational vision models, enable us to deliver an identity orchestration platform that is fast, secure, and highly adaptive across our expanded customer base.”

Today’s deal is a good example of how identity verification is a strategic pillar of digital trust. As AI-driven fraud accelerates and regulators tighten controls, financial services firms need partners that can combine speed, accuracy, and adaptability at scale. By uniting Incode’s AI-first innovation with AuthenticID’s enterprise and regulatory expertise, the acquisition signals a future where identity is more holistic.

Photo by cottonbro studio

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Wio Bank Partners with Xero to Enhance Accounting for SMEs in the UAE

Wio Bank Partners with Xero to Enhance Accounting for SMEs in the UAE
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Xero
  • Small business management platform Xero has teamed up with UAE-based digital bank Wio Bank PJSC.
  • The partnership will enable Wio Bank’s business customers to access a range of business finance management and accounting solutions.
  • Xero is headquartered in New Zealand. The company made its Finovate debut in 2011.

A newly announced partnership between UAE-based digital bank Wio Bank PJSC and small business management platform Xero will help small and medium-sized businesses in the region streamline and simplify their accounting operations. Wio Bank’s business customers will benefit from ready access to seamless bank feeds, automated reconciliation, and real-time financial insights.

The integration will help businesses working with Wio Bank to leverage automation to reduce error-prone, manual data entry. The technology will also help enhance cash flow visibility thanks to seamless invoice matching. Real-time insights ensure an accurate view of overall financial health, making it easier for business owners to make more informed decisions.

“We’re pleased to work with Xero to bring effortless accounting to UAE businesses,” Wio Bank Chief Commercial Officer Prateek Vahie said. “This integration reflects our commitment to making business banking smarter, faster, and more efficient. By automating financial workflows, we’re giving business owners more time to focus on growth.”

Xero provides small and medium-sized businesses with financial management solutions—including accounting software and invoicing technology that helps them be more efficient. With more than 4.4 million users of its solutions around the world, Xero offers flexible subscription plans for businesses ranging from solopreneurs to established enterprises. Xero’s platform features solutions that facilitate invoicing, payment acceptance, inventory management, payroll, expense management, and more.

“Our integration with Wio Bank is a significant step towards supporting more UAE businesses with better visibility of their finances, helping them spend less time on admin and more time doing what they love, growing their business,” Xero Regional Director EMEA, Colin Timmis said.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wio Bank PJSC serves individuals with a platform that helps them save, spend, borrow, manage, and invest. The institution also offers Banking-as-a-Service and embedded finance solutions to serve small and medium-sized businesses. Launched in 2022, Wio Bank is backed by shareholders including ADQ, Alpha Dhabi, e&, and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB).

Xero made its Finovate debut in 2011. The New Zealand-based company was founded in 2006. Earlier this summer, Xero announced its acquisition of SMB billpay platform Melio. Already available via the Xero App Store, the Melio platform makes payment workflows easy and flexible, providing a diverse range of payment methods to better serve customers and help vendors get paid faster.

Photo by David Rodrigo on Unsplash

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Casca Raises $29 Million Series A for AI Loan Origination

Casca Raises $29 Million Series A for AI Loan Origination
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Funding
  • Casca has raised a $29 million Series A round led by Canapi Ventures, with participation from major bank customers including Live Oak, Huntington, and Bankwell.
  • Today’s investment comes just 15 months after its pre-seed round and brings Casca’s total funding to $33 million.
  • Casca’s AI-powered loan origination platform helps smaller financial institutions compete with fintechs and large banks by accelerating loan processing, reducing costs, and keeping capital within local communities.

AI loan origination company Casca (formerly known as Cascading AI) announced a $29 million fundraising round today. The California-based company said that the round, which was led by Canapi Ventures, will help it to redefine business lending.

The company’s flagship customers, including Live Oak Bank, Huntington National Bank, and Bankwell Bank all invested in today’s round. Bankwell, Y Combinator, and Peterson Ventures multiplied their investments from the pre-seed raise. Alliance Funding Group participated as well.

“Casca simplifies and accelerates our lending processes while equipping us with the insights needed to build lasting relationships,” said Live Oak Bancshares CEO and chairman Chip Mahan. “The tangible value Casca has demonstrated gives us confidence to invest in their future.”

Today’s round comes just 15 months after Casca’s pre-seed raise and brings its total funding to $33 million. Casca said it will use the investment to scale its operations, expand its team, and accelerate go-to-market efforts and make its platform more accessible to financial institutions.

“Casca stands out in many ways,” said Canapi Ventures Co-Founder and General Partner Neil Underwood. “They’ve worked alongside top AI researchers and within banks themselves to simplify business lending using responsible AI and bank-grade underwriting. With Casca, local financial institutions become the lender of choice—offering more affordable rates and keeping capital within the community. It’s a big step for banking, and we’re proud to be part of it.”

Casca leverages AI to speed up the loan application and origination process. The company was founded in 2023 and its loan origination platform is used by leading SBA lenders and FDIC-Insured banks. At Casca’s first FinovateSpring demo in 2024, it won Best of Show honors. The company most recently demoed its technology at FinovateSpring 2025 where it showed automated document collection that can save loan officers 20 hours a week, AI that reads 10,000 pages in 5 minutes, instant pre-qualification that accepts applications after business hours, digital account opening, and a voice assistant that can intelligently discuss loan files in real-time.

“We’re driven to be a force for good, using technology to make capital more accessible to small businesses and fueling the American Dream,” said Casca CEO and CoFounder Lukas Haffer. “Partnering with the top SBA lenders and key industry players, we’ve built a platform that fully automates commercial loans in record time, setting a new industry standard. This is a game changer, and now we are ready to scale responsibly, reaching more institutions with the white-glove service our clients.”

Today’s raise is a nod to how AI is becoming standard and is now central to how banks win small business relationships. By shaving weeks off loan processing, Casca gives local banks a competitive edge in retaining small business borrowers who might otherwise turn to fintechs or big banks who can offer speed.

Photo by James Wheeler

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HSLC, Triad Bank Turn to Vine Financial to Enhance and Automate Lending

HSLC, Triad Bank Turn to Vine Financial to Enhance and Automate Lending
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Vine Financial
  • Lending platform provider Vine Financial announced partnerships with a pair of financial institutions: HSLC of Ohio and Triad Bank of Oklahoma.
  • Both institutions will deploy Vine’s platform to manage the entire commercial loan lifecycle, including document reading, financial spreading, and document generation.
  • Austin, Texas-based Vine made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2024 in New York.

AI-powered lending platform Vine Financial has announced a new partnership with HSLC, a $227 million community bank serving customers in Ohio and Kentucky. The institution will leverage Vine’s technology to eliminate manual document processing in its commercial lending, equipment financing, and agricultural lending portfolios. Integrating Vine’s lending platform will enable HSLC to boost accuracy and reduce commercial loan processing time from days to hours.

“HSLC has a true dedication to their community and especially the businesses they serve,” Vine CEO and Co-Founder David Eads said. “A big part of our mission is freeing community bankers up to do what they do best: build relationships with their customers. Chris and his team are a great example of that, and we are proud to support the banks making a difference in their local economies.”

The partnership will give HSLC a single, unified system that covers the entire commercial loan lifecycle. Vine’s platform automates document reading, financial spreading, and document generation, replacing the costly and time-consuming manual processes that continue to plague commercial lending. Vine’s technology will provide HSLC not only with greater efficiency, but also with greater accuracy, as well. The company notes that institutions using its technology have seen accuracy improvements of up to 30%.

Headquartered in Kenton, Ohio, HSLC recently opened doors on new branches in Lexington, Kentucky, where the institution does the lion’s share of its lending to businesses. Founded in 1888, HSLC’s full name is The Home Savings and Loan Company of Kenton, Ohio, and is a mutual financial institution that is owned by its customers.

“When I first heard about Vine, I knew we had an opportunity ahead of us. If there was something out there that could truly cut our loan processing time down from days to just hours, we needed that,” HSLC President, CEO, and Director Chris Jones said. “Anything that streamlines our work and makes us more efficient is a win for us and for our borrowers. We’ve had a great implementation with Vine and look forward to working with them.”

Founded in 2019, Vine Financial is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The company made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall in New York, demonstrating its comprehensive Loan Lifecycle platform that uses AI to provide document import, financial analysis, and document generation. Vine Financial notes that its technology enables credit teams to work 5x faster and with 30% greater accuracy.

Vine’s partnership news with HSLC comes just a month after the fintech reported that Oklahoma-based Triad Bank had begun using its commercial lending technology to streamline its lending workflows. Founded in 1983, Triad Bank has $224 million in assets and a pair of branches in south Tulsa, including the institution’s headquarters.

“Vine offers a highly customizable loan analysis platform, allowing us the ability to tailor data inputs, risk metrics, and report outputs to fit our specific underwriting framework and portfolio review strategy,” Triad Bank, Tulsa, SVP Melissa Patocka said. “As a community bank with a credit policy different from a larger institution, Vine was able to adapt to our workflow, making it easy to align the platform with our specific underwriting and analysis needs.”

Photo by Jeremy Doddridge on Unsplash

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Payoneer Taps Stripe to Improve Checkout for Cross-Border Merchants 

Payoneer Taps Stripe to Improve Checkout for Cross-Border Merchants 
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Payoneer
  • Payoneer has partnered with Stripe to expand its Online Checkout, giving SMBs selling cross-border direct-to-consumer access to BNPL options and digital wallets.
  • The partnership will launch in the Asia Pacific where wallets and BNPL are often preferred over credit cards.
  • Payoneer, which went public in 2021 and has a market cap of around $2.5 billion, has rapidly grown Online Checkout to nearly $1 billion in annual volume.

Global payments company Payoneer is teaming up with payments infrastructure fintech Stripe to improve the checkout experience for global merchants. The strategic partnership will enable Payoneer to expand its Online Checkout offering for merchants selling cross-border goods direct-to-consumer.

Payoneer’s new capabilities will help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) accept more payment methods at their online point of sale. Stripe will help Payoneer facilitate buy now, pay later (BNPL) options like Affirm and Klarna, as well as digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

At launch, Payoneer’s new checkout capabilities will be available in the Asia Pacific region first, including in China and Hong Kong, geographies where digital wallets and BNPL are often preferred over credit cards.

Payoneer and Stripe expect that the partnership will help merchants enhance their customer conversion rates, improve acceptance rates, reduce fraud, and expand payment acceptance options for SMBs selling to direct-to-consumers browsing their own ecommerce sites.

“We are committed to simplifying cross-border online trade for SMBs,” said Payoneer Chief Growth Officer Adam Cohen. “This partnership with Stripe is a strategic step in our journey to expand our Checkout offering and deliver a best-in-class user experience at scale. By combining Payoneer’s local market distribution and expertise with Stripe’s exceptional checkout technology, we’re combining the strengths of both companies to deliver unmatched value to our customers.”

Launching new payment methods will help Payoneer attract SMB merchants, as it can help them compete globally by offering a sophisticated checkout experience with multiple payment options that are often offered by larger retailers.

Payoneer was founded in 2005 to help SMBs transact, do business, and grow globally. The company’s global financial stack helps remove barriers and simplify cross-border commerce to make it easier for businesses to connect to the global economy, pay, get paid, manage their funds across multiple currencies, and grow their businesses.

The New York-based company launched Payoneer Checkout in 2022 and has since scaled from zero to almost $1 billion in run-rate annual volume. From June 2024 to June 2025, Payoneer generated $30 million in revenue, representing over 100% year-over-year growth.

Payoneer went public via a SPAC merger with FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. in 2021. The company listed on the NASDAQ in June of that same year under the ticker PAYO and has a current market capitalization of approximately $2.5 billion.

Photo by HT_NGUYEN

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Worldpay Taps Trulioo to Safeguard Agentic Commerce

Worldpay Taps Trulioo to Safeguard Agentic Commerce
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Trulioo, WorldPay
  • Worldpay is partnering with Trulioo to bring trust, consent, and accountability to agentic AI commerce, where AI agents shop on behalf of consumers.
  • The collaboration uses the Know Your Agent (KYA) framework, which is powered by the Digital Agent Passport, to verify agent identities, ensure code integrity, confirm user consent, and monitor agent behavior.
  • The goal of the partnership is to enable secure, transparent AI-powered transactions with smarter controls for verified agents, real-time fraud detection, and enhanced consumer and merchant confidence.

Payment technology company Worldpay announced this week that it is preparing for a future of agentic AI commerce by partnering with digital identity platform Trulioo. Worldpay selected Trulioo to bring trust, consent, and accountability to AI-powered digital payments.

Because agentic AI commerce involves AI agents that shop on behalf of consumers, it is important to verify agent identities and obtain consent from the human on the other side of the agent. Knowing exactly who is in charge of each aspect of the transaction is key to not only maintaining trust and preventing fraud, but also in staying compliant with regulatory requirements.

“Innovation in payments must always be grounded in integrity and trust,” said Worldpay Chief Product Officer Cindy Turner. “By partnering with Trulioo, we’re delivering the trust infrastructure our ecosystem needs and empowering businesses and consumers to embrace AI-powered commerce with confidence, knowing that safety and transparency are at the heart of every transaction.”

Under today’s partnership, Worldpay and Trulioo will deliver tools that follow the Know Your Agent (KYA) framework to ensure that merchants, payment providers, and consumers can trust agent-based transactions. KYA is powered by Digital Agent Passport, a secure digital ID and trust certificate for AI agents. The certificate confirms who made the agent, ensures their code hasn’t been tampered with, checks that they have user consent, and monitors their behavior continually so merchants can process agent-initiated transactions confidently.

“Agentic commerce has significant potential, but it can only scale with trust built in from the start,” said Trulioo CEO Vicky Bindra. “With Worldpay, we’re laying the foundation for a more secure and accountable digital ecosystem – one where AI agents can operate transparently, and consumers stay in control.”

Adding the new KYA framework will help merchants and platforms create new experiences at the point of sale, including smoother checkout flows and real-time fraud detection, while maintaining security. Additionally, instead of blocking AI agents by default, the partnership offers smart controls that allow verified agents to gain access, while inserting friction for unknown agents, and blocking malicious bots.

As both consumers and merchants face uncertainty in navigating the new world of agentic AI commerce, Trulioo and Worldpay aim to provide a roadmap for inserting trust into the process. By embedding identity verification, consent management, and ongoing monitoring directly into the payment process, the partnership seeks to ensure that AI agents can participate in commerce without sacrificing safety or transparency. The hope is that with a solid trust infrastructure in place, agentic AI can move from experimental novelty to a mainstream, reliable part of the digital economy.



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Minerva Brings More Control, Visibility to Sanctions Screening

Minerva Brings More Control, Visibility to Sanctions Screening
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, MinervaAI
  • Financial crime solutions provider Minerva announced two platform updates to give compliance teams more control and greater visibility when it comes to sanctions and watchlist screening.
  • The two new features are a screening analytics dashboard and a sanctions list source selection tenant configuration page.
  • Minerva made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2022 in New York. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Financial crime solutions provider Minerva recently unveiled a pair of platform updates designed to give compliance teams more control over and greater visibility into sanctions and watchlist screening operations. The company introduced a new screening analytics dashboard that gives users a view into the performance of their screening program. Additionally, Minerva launched a sanctions list source selection tenant configuration page for administrators that allows customers to customize their sanctions list coverage.

“I’m excited to share our latest product update,” Minerva Head of Product Jordan Bibla wrote on the company blog. “We released a new screening analytics dashboard to provide visibility into your screening program’s performance over time. We also rolled out sanctions list source selection to provide control over which underlying sanctions sources you screen against.”

Minerva’s new screening analytics dashboard now features a Current Snapshot view that provides point-in-time profile metrics including total profile count, monitored count, and escalation, acceptance, and rejection rates. This information will help compliance teams see exactly how well their screening program is performing. The dashboard also provides charts that show historical trends to let users see how profile statuses are changing over time. This feature enables compliance teams to more readily identify patterns and track performance.

The platform also now has a tenant configuration page to enable users with administrative access to empower customers to customize their sanctions list coverage based on their individual compliance requirements. The new page features Source Management, which enables administrative users to deselect sanctions lists that are not relevant for their screening program; Regional Filtering, which displays both active and inactive sources and can be filtered by geographic region; and Tenant-Wide Application, which enables selections to apply to the entire tenant for ongoing monitoring and risk assessment searches to provide consistency across the entire screening program.

Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Minerva made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2022 in New York. At the conference, the company demonstrated how its AI-powered AML platform provides accurate sanctions and watchlist screening, KYC, KYB, enhanced due diligence, and ongoing monitoring insights in seconds. Use cases for Minerva’s technology include not just AML compliance in banking, but also in industries such as real estate, law enforcement, cryptocurrency exchanges, payments facilitators, and more.

Minerva began the year with the news that it had partnered with financial crime and compliance automation platform Hummingbird to integrate Minerva’s screening data directly into the Hummingbird platform. This will enable Hummingbird users to access comprehensive global screening for sanctions, politically exposed persons (PEPs), open source intelligence (OSINT), and adverse media. This spring, Minerva introduced its Automated Screening Workflow solution that automates as much as 97% of screening activity.

Photo by Arturo Castaneyra on Unsplash

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