Alumni News

Kofax Acquires e-Invoicing Network Tungsten

Kofax Acquires e-Invoicing Network Tungsten
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Kofax, Mergers & Acquisitions

  • Kofax is acquiring B2B e-invoicing network Tungsten.
  • The combined companies will offer clients a more holistic e-invoicing approach.
  • Financial terms of the deal are undisclosed.

Intelligent automation software platform Kofax has acquired B2B e-invoicing network Tungsten for an undisclosed amount. Kofax CEO Reynolds Bish anticipates the acquisition will “provide more comprehensive and higher value invoice processing and accounts payable automation solutions” to the company’s customers.

Founded in 2000, Tungsten facilitates invoice-to-pay processes by digitalizing invoices using automation. Headquartered in London, Tungsten enables suppliers to submit tax compliant e-invoices in 54 countries. The company processes invoices for 60% of the FTSE 100 and 68% of the Fortune 500. Last year, Tungsten processed transactions worth over $270 billion for clients including Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and the U.S. Federal Government.

When combined with Kofax’s invoice processing and AP automation portfolio, the combined companies will offer a more holistic e-invoicing approach to companies across the globe. The cloud-based offering will provide solutions for direct supplier onboarding, e-invoice exchange, interoperability, scanned and OCR paper invoices, machine readable PDF invoices, PDF data extraction, and payment processing.

“Finance procurement leaders are looking beyond traditional invoice OCR and workflow capabilities to modern e-invoicing, supplier management, and value-added services – accelerating how they pay and relate with suppliers,” said Tungsten CEO Paul Cooper. “A full technology suite from Kofax will bring efficiencies to how they work with their suppliers, compliantly invoice, and focus on leveraging data to drive insights while reducing cost.”

Kofax was originally founded in 1985 and leverages robotic process automation (RPA) to automate and enhance business’ workflow. The company’s SaaS solutions automate the processing of over 60 million invoices for more than 11,000 organizations around the world. Two years after Kofax went public in 2013, the company was delisted when it was acquired by Lexmark for $1 billion. In 2017, Kofax was once again acquired, this time by private equity firm Thoma Bravo. Kofax itself has made a total of 12 acquisitions, including Tungsten.

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Anodot Helps Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier Implement Network Monitoring Solution

Anodot Helps Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier Implement Network Monitoring Solution
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Anodot, Daily news
  • Business monitoring innovator Anodot and network telemetry and analytics solutions provider BENOCS teamed up to help Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier implement a new network monitoring solution.
  • The new solution will help companies monitor a wide range of business operations.
  • Anodot made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2022 in March.

Virginia-based business monitoring company and Finovate newcomer Anodot has helped Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier implement a new and improved network monitoring solution. Deployed in partnership with Anodot and network telemetry and analytics solutions provider BENOCS, the new service monitors network data and recognizes changes in traffic behavior and flow. This helps ensure that only relevant anomaly alerts are issued and received, reducing cost and effort.

“Telco service providers must process an immense amount of data from multiple sources to ensure optimal service across their complex network environments,” Anodot CEO David Drai said. “By monitoring granular performance and fault data in real-time and providing automated insights, Anodot enables communications services providers to identify and resolve issues quicker. Alert noise will now be a thing of the past for Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier.”

Anodot offers a business monitoring platform that leverages machine learning to analyze and correlate key business parameters and provide real-time alerts and forecasts. The company reports that members of the Fortune 500 have used Anodot’s technology to reduce time-to-detection for revenue-critical issues by up to 80%. The platform monitors a wide range of business operations, including front end applications, UX, backend servers, APIs to vendors and providers, payment flows, balances, ledgers, investments, trades, and more.

“Having been a satisfied BENOCS customer for a number of years now, we decided it was time to take the next monitoring step,” Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier VP of Internet & Content Services Carsten Bruns said. “The integration of Anodot’s anomaly detection technology with BENOCS’ comprehensive Flow Analytics has already saved us valuable time in identifying irregularities and rectifying network issues.”

Founded in 2014, Anodot made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope earlier this year, demonstrating its payments monitoring tool. In the months since then, the company has forged partnerships with telecommunications service provider Altice Portugal, connectivity company Vodafone New Zealand and, most recently, technology intelligence leader Snow Software. Anodot has raised more than $64 million in funding from investors including Alicorn, Redline Capital, and Intel Capital.

Photo by Brett Sayles

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Voice Verification Solution Provider Illuma Labs Secures Investment from NYCUA and UsNet

Voice Verification Solution Provider Illuma Labs Secures Investment from NYCUA and UsNet
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Illuma Labs
  • Illuma Labs, maker of the Illuma Shield voice verification platform, raised new funding this week from NYCUA and UsNet.
  • The amount of the investment was not disclosed. The funding comes one year after Illuma Labs secured $2.5 million in funding from the Curql Fund.
  • This week’s funding comes one month after the company partnered with Posh Technologies to win the “Next Big Thing” award from NACUSO (National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations) and Co-Op Solutions.

Voice authentication innovator llluma Labs secured new funding this week. The company announced that the New York Credit Union Association (NYCUA) and its affiliate UsNet, have teamed up to invest in the Plano, Texas-based company and support further development of its flagship Illuma Shield voice verification solution.

The amount of the investment was not disclosed. The company raised $2.5 million in funding from the Curql Fund just over a year ago

A Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO), Illuma Labs considers credit unions to be its key customers, investors, and partners. The company’s Illuma Shield technology enables call centers to leverage passive voice authentication to improve the user experience, guard against fraudsters, and boost operational efficiency by reducing call handle times, hold times, and abandon rates. A cost-effective, easy to deploy, and simple to use solution for mid-size financial institution call centers, Illuma Shield analyzes the unique aspects of a speaker’s voice and their communication device to create an AudioPrint that can be used to verify identity on subsequent calls. The AudioPrint process happens in the background, during normal conversation, without requiring the speaker to answer security questions or recite passphrases.

“This technology uses state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Voice Biometrics to address three of the top concerns for credit unions today,” Illuma Shield founder and CEO Milind Borkar said. “The platform improves member experience by emulating the warm welcome of a brick-and-mortar visit while offering a very high level of protection against account takeovers. Cutting out the security Q&A process also creates operational efficiency by shortening call times. The infusion of investment from NYCUA and UsNet is highly valued since it helps us expand to serve even more credit unions.”

A Finovate alum since 2019, Illuma Labs announced a partnership with SCE Credit Union, a $1 billion institution with more than 60,000 members in Southern California and Southern Nevada, in May. Also that month, Illuma Labs and Posh Technologies collaborated to win the “Next Big Idea” award from NACUSO and Co-Op Solutions. The partnership combined the passive voice authentication of Illuma Labs’ Illuma Shield and Posh Technologies’ conversational AI IVR to help call centers cope with high call volume and talent shortages.

“Posh’s conversational AI and Illuma’s voice biometrics is a combination that makes sense,” Posh co-founder Karan Kashyap said. “As we do our parts as CUSOs to bring transformative technology to the credit union market, our partnership will enhance member security for credit unions while offering a streamlined authentication experience for the caller – a win-win. We look forward to a bright future with Illuma Labs.”

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán

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Onfido Teams Up with Bank Millennium to Bring Innovations in Identity Verification to Customer Onboarding

Onfido Teams Up with Bank Millennium to Bring Innovations in Identity Verification to Customer Onboarding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Onfido
  • Identity verification company Onfido partnered with Bank Millennium Poland to bring automated identity verification to its onboarding process.
  • Bank Millennium Poland was named “Best Digital Bank in Poland” in 2021 by Global Finance Magazine.
  • Onfido also announced that it was joining the digital ID program launched by The Investing and Savings Alliance (TISA).

Identity verification and authentication innovator Onfido bookended the weekend with two appearances in the fintech headlines. The company announced that it has teamed up with Poland’s Bank Millennium to automate the identity verification component of the bank’s customer onboarding process.

“Poland is seeing fast acceleration of the digitization of financial service offerings, and we’re very happy to be partnering with one of the most innovative banks in the Central Eastern Europe region,” SVP of EMEA at Onfido Oliver Krebs said. “We pride ourselves on delivering access to online services that both detect and prevent fraudulent attempts while enabling the business to scale and meet regulatory requirements.”

The partnership will enable Bank Millennium to enhance its online customer journey with an onboarding process that is quicker, simpler, and easier for customers. New users will be able to sign up with Bank Millennium with just a photograph of their government-issued identification document (ID) and a selfie video. Onfido’s AI-powered identity verification technology first ensures that the ID is legitimate, and then matches the image on the ID with the image in the selfie video. This makes sure that the individual is the legitimate owner of the ID and is physically present. By leveraging Onfido’s technology, the institution will enable new customers to onboard with the bank from any location, at any time via a fully-compliant digital experience.

“We wanted to make our process even more user-friendly and accessible on most devices, and that is why we choose to work with Onfido,” Director of the Electronic Banking Department at Bank Millennium Halina Karpińska said. “We based the changes on a detailed analysis of our onboarding flow, we also looked at best market standards and, as always, we took into account the opinions of users. Now new customers finish the process already logged in to the application, with an active account that they can immediately use.”

Bank Milllennium Poland was founded in 1989 as Bank Inicjatyw Gospodarczych BIG SA. Part of the Millennium Group since 2003, the institution offers a wide range of banking solutions for private customers, SMEs, and enterprises alike. Last year, the bank was named Poland’s Best Digital Bank by Global Finance Magazine.

To start this week, Onfido announced that it has signed on to a digital ID program for financial services sponsored by The Investing and Savings Alliance (TISA). The program is designed to develop digital identities for consumers that will enable them to create and reuse identities when working with financial institutions. Already signed up for the program are a variety of companies including a handful of Finovate alums such as Signicat, Daon, and MoneyHub. Also involved in the digital identity plan are Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, and Barclays

“TISA’s vision to create a resuable digital ID that meets all relevant regulatory requirements, such as know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML), and also help consumers securely prove their identity to U.K. financial services is admirable,” Onfido Global Director of Public Policy Matthew Peake said in a statement.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in London, Onfido made its Finovate debut in 2018 at FinovateEurope. The company’s technology has helped firms deliver a 12x year-over-year improvement in fully-automated performance, as well as delivered 95% of its identity verification checks in less than 10 seconds and a 10x lower false acceptance rate.

This spring, Onfido announced a partnership with Tesco Bank. Co-founder Husayn Kassai is Onfido CEO.

Photo by Jade

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MoneyGram Launches Crypto-to-Cash Service

MoneyGram Launches Crypto-to-Cash Service
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, MoneyGram
  • MoneyGram is rolling out a service that will enable users to buy cryptocurrency using cash, as well as allow them to withdraw their crypto holdings in cash, at select MoneyGram locations.
  • The new capabilities are made possible via a partnership with Stellar Development Foundation.
  • The service is currently available in the U.S., Canada, Kenya, and the Philippines.

While Western Union is taking payments digital, its competitor MoneyGram is bringing them into crypto. MoneyGram announced today it has begun to roll out a service that will enable cash users to access cryptocurrency via participating MoneyGram locations.

The new service is the result of a partnership between MoneyGram and the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), the organization behind open-source public blockchain Stellar that allows money to be tokenized and transferred globally. MoneyGram and SDF originally partnered in October of last year, when the two piloted the functionality that enabled digital wallet holders to deposit cash into their digital wallets at MoneyGram locations, send payments internationally via Stellar, and exchange Stellar for cash currency.

The functionality of exchanging cash to cryptocurrency and back to cash again aims to offer unbanked populations access to the digital economy. The fund transfer capabilities don’t require a bank account or a credit card. Consumers that hold a digital wallet with Vibrant or LOBSTR can visit a participating MoneyGram location to load their digital wallets using cash or to cash out their digital currency holdings into cash. MoneyGram expects to collaborate with more digital wallets in the future.

To incentivize adoption of the crypto in/out feature among its 150 million customers, MoneyGram is not charging a fee for the service for the first year.

“A much-needed solution to the cash-to-crypto on/off-ramp problem is here,” said Stellar Development Foundation CEO and Executive Director Denelle Dixon. “Today, almost 2 billion people rely on cash for their livelihood, with no options to access the digital economy. At the same time, a persistent pain point for crypto-native users is off-ramping cryptocurrency quickly and reliably. The groundbreaking nature of this service is how it solves problems for a range of users with varying needs around the world.”

The service is currently available in the U.S., Canada, Kenya, and the Philippines. By the end of this month, global cash-in functionality will be available in seven more countries and cash-out functionality will be available globally (where permitted by law).

MoneyGram, an 82-year-old fintech, was acquired by private equity investment firm Madison Dearborn Partners in a $1.8 billion deal earlier this year. Alex Holmes is chairman and CEO.

Photo by MART PRODUCTION

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Backbase Secures $128 Million Investment from Motive Partners

Backbase Secures $128 Million Investment from Motive Partners
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Backbase, Daily news, Funding
  • Backbase raised $128 million (€120 million) in growth equity funding this week.
  • The round was led by private equity firm Motive Partners, and gave the company a valuation of $2.6 billion (€2.5 billion).
  • Backbase’s Engagement Banking Platform enables banks and credit unions to leverage a cloud-based platform to offer bank customers seamless digital experiences.

Engagement banking platform Backbase secured $128 million (€120 million) in growth equity funding from private equity firm Motive Partners. The investment gives the company, which made its most recent Finovate appearance at FinovateFall 2021, a valuation of $2.6 billion (€2.5 billion). The funding also marks Backbase’s first-ever funding event since its founding in 2003.

“Today is a major milestone for more than 2,000 Backbasers and 150 customers around the world, to celebrate the incredible progress we made,” Backbase founder and CEO Jouk Pleiter said in a statement. “With this partnership, we’re even better equipped to drive our Engagement Banking vision to the next level.”

The investment from the “founder-friendly” firm will enable Backbase to commit more resources to its Engagement Banking solution, helping power the company’s mission to “re-architect” banking in a customer-focused way. Backbase’s technology gives banks and credit unions the ability to move away from disconnected, point and channel solutions. Instead, with Backbase’s cloud-based platform, financial institutions can build frictionless customer journeys across all stages of the customer lifecycle from onboarding and servicing to lending and expanding wallet share.

With more than 150 financial institutions around the world using its technology, Backbase gives banks and credit unions the ability to quickly digitize and transform their customer-facing operations to meet the expectations of increasingly digitally-savvy banking customers. At its most recent Finovate appearance last fall, Backbase demonstrated a customer onboarding solution that consolidated a customer’s finances via direct deposit, billl pay auto linking, and debit card account opening. The technology showed how financial institutions can get key insights into their customers and empower them to take more control over their financial lives.

“Backbase’s proven track record of entrepreneurship and organic growth will continue,” Jouk said. “Our formula is simple: focus on the needs of our customers and empower highly skilled teams to deliver. We’re changing a big industry, which is hard work. Having critical mass and market momentum allows us to stay laser-focused. Together we’re making it happen.”

Founded in 2003, three-time Finovate Best of Show winner Backbase maintains a global headquarters in Amsterdam.

Photo by SevenStorm JUHASZIMRUS

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SocietyOne Adds Digital Bank Accounts

SocietyOne Adds Digital Bank Accounts
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, SocietyOne
  • Australia digital finance platform SocietyOne is adding new checking and savings accounts, SpendOne and SaveOne.
  • SocietyOne is leveraging Westpac’s banking-as-a-service platform to offer the new accounts.
  • Today’s news comes three months after SocietyOne was acquired by alternative lender MONEYME.

It’s 2022 and digital banking is in the air. P2P lending platform SocietyOne is among the many fintechs that have added checking and savings accounts to compete with this decade’s new crop of challenger banks.

The Australia-based company recently unveiled it has tapped its long-time investor Westpac to add these new checking and savings accounts, SpendOne and SaveOne. Westpac’s banking-as-a-service platform will fuel the new accounts, which will work in conjunction with SocietyOne’s fixed rate secured and unsecured personal loans, as well as its free credit score product.

SpendOne and SaveOne can be accessed via SocietyOne’s new mobile app, which offers customers visibility of their transactions and allows them to take out a SocietyOne loan, set up automatic repayments, and access their credit score.

Today’s news comes three months after SocietyOne was acquired by alternative lender MONEYME. According to the press release, the launch of SpendOne and SaveOne “is aimed to fast-track the MONEYME Group’s goal of becoming Australia’s largest non-bank credit provider.” Once the acquisition closed in March of this year, combining the companies significantly increased MONEYME’s customer base and created a $1.2 billion loan book.

“The launch strongly aligns with MONEYME’s diversification strategy and our focus on delivering leading digital-first experiences to empower Generation Now,” said MONEYME CEO and Managing Director Clayton Howes. “The SpendOne and SaveOne accounts are designed to automate good financial habits, giving customers more freedom, flexibility, and a one-stop shop to manage their money.”

Marketed as a transaction account, SpendOne will not charge transaction or account fees. The account comes with many of the features users would expect from a large bank, including a debit card, account-to-account transfer capabilities, and ATM cash withdrawals. Additionally, SpendOne has a round-up feature that lets customers opt to round up their everyday transactions to a select amount, sending the balance to their SaveOne account.

The SaveOne account comes with an interest rate of 1% per year. In addition to the roundup feature mentioned above, SaveOne also helps users save with an autosave option that allows a percentage of customers’ deposits to be automatically transferred to their SaveOne account.

“Adding these products creates a frictionless experience for SocietyOne customers, who can now monitor and manage everyday transactions, savings, SocietyOne personal loans, and their credit score, all in one app,” said MONEYME COO Jonathan Chan. “With easy oversight and automated features to help customers save more, it provides increased control over their finances.”

SocietyOne was founded in 2012. Since then, the company’s platform has matched investors’ funds with over 35,000 customers and, last January, surpassed $1 billion in lending. SocietyOne is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MONEYME, which is listed on the ASX under the ticker MME and has a market capitalization of $220 million.

Photo by Christina Morillo

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 Eltropy Acquires Video Banking Startup POPi/o

 Eltropy Acquires Video Banking Startup POPi/o
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Eltropy, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Digital communications platform Eltropy has acquired video banking company POPi/o.
  • Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
  • With today’s acquisition, Eltropy now helps more than 400 Credit Unions reach their members via digital channels.

Digital communications platform Eltropy announced it has acquired video banking expert POPi/o. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Eltropy expects the purchase will strengthen its digital communications platform which enables financial institutions to engage in digital channels, such as social media, in a compliant manner. Today’s acquisition adds 100 credit union clients to Eltropy’s roster. The company now helps more than 400 credit unions reach their members via digital channels.

POPi/o offers banks a range of communication technologies ranging from high-tech to high-touch. The Utah-based company offers automated chatbot technology, video support from an in-branch specialist, and collaboration tools such as co-browse, video check deposit, identity verification, document sharing, and e-sign.

“By joining forces with POPi/o, we’re empowering credit unions to build robust virtual branch capabilities and serve members anytime, anywhere, in the channel of their choice,” Eltropy Co-Founder and CEO Ashish Garg. “Our world-class digital communications platform helps credit unions deliver on the promise of digital transformation — improving online and in-branch experiences for members and allowing for more rapid expansion in new markets without the need for a physical presence.”

Founded in 2013, Eltropy offers credit unions to help them reach their customers where they are. Leveraging POPi/o’s technology, Eltropy will offer clients automated, AI-driven text messaging, video banking, secure chat and chatbots, co-browsing, screen sharing, video check deposit, and more. In addition to providing compliance in these digital capabilities, Eltropy also offers communication analytics that provide insights into member engagement.

“Throughout my career, I have been focused on the consumer experience while creating enormous value to financial institutions,” said POPi/o Founder and Chairman Gene Pranger. “Through the merger of POPio’s Video Banking and Eltropy’s sophisticated digital communications platform, we will be able to fulfill both objectives.”

Earlier this spring, Eltropy celebrated the milestone of partnering with more than 300 credit unions across the U.S. And in April, Eltropy integrated with financial services software provider MeridianLink to help the company provide text messaging capabilities, secure document collection and sync, and instant notifications from within its platform. Eltropy most recently demoed at FinovateSpring 2018.

Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

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Suze Orman’s New Startup SecureSave Raises $11 Million for its Workplace Emergency Savings Account

Suze Orman’s New Startup SecureSave Raises $11 Million for its Workplace Emergency Savings Account
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Secure
  • SecureSave raised $11 million in strategic funding this week, taking its total capital raised to $14.7 million.
  • The Kirkland, Washington-based company offers workplace-based emergency savings accounts.
  • SecureSave made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring.

SecureSave, a new workplace savings program provider that made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring 2021, has secured $11 million in a strategic funding round led by Truist Ventures. Truist Ventures is the venture capital division of Truist Financial. Also participating in the round were Stearns Financial Services Inc. and cryptocurrency platform FTX.

The investment brings SecureSave’s total capital to $14.7 million. The new capital will be used to support partnership expansion as well as further development of the company’s flagship emergency savings solution.

“This new investment is a reflection of the rapid adoption and incredible customer demand we’re seeing for SecureSave’s unique emergency savings platform and underscores the industry and investor confidence in our vision,” SecureSave CEO and co-founder Devin Miller said. “Amidst the economic uncertainty over the last two years, companies both large and small recognize (that) an ESA is as critical as an 401(k) or an HSA and not just for retention or for recruiting, but also because poor financial health is impacting companies’ bottom line.”

Headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, and founded in 2020, SecureSave offers a new type of workplace savings program that helps workers build and maintain an emergency savings account. Emergency savings accounts are funded automatically through regular payroll deductions – as well as matching contributions from the employer – and ESA holders can instantly access their funds at any time. SecureSave’s ESA also offers bonuses to accountholders for reaching financial goals and savings targets. The company reported that the average SecureSave accountholder saves $103 per month in their account and tops $400 in savings within the first four month of opening their ESA.

“While the pandemic demonstrated why an emergency savings account was a necessity, the impact of the current inflationary environment is having on employees is bringing home this point even more,” SecureSave Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder Suze Orman said. “I could not be more proud for SecureSave to better meet the needs of those in financial distress by offering an employer matched emergency savings account.”

Photo by Joslyn Pickens

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ACI Worldwide Unveils Mobile Engagement Platform to Empower Shopping-on-the-Go

ACI Worldwide Unveils Mobile Engagement Platform to Empower Shopping-on-the-Go
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news
  • ACI Worldwide unveiled its mobile engagement platform ACI Smart Engage this week.
  • The new solution relies on location, voice, and image recognition to enable consumers to purchase goods and services remotely with a single click.
  • The launch of ACI Smart Engage comes at the same time that ACI Worldwide announced a divestment of its business banking unit, ACI Digital Business Banking.

Real-time payments software company ACI Worldwide launched its mobile engagement platform ACI Smart Engage today. The solution leverages location, voice, and image recognition technology to enable merchants to offer their entire inventory of products and services directly to consumers’ smartphones. ACI Smart Engage combines geolocation with scannable media and audio tags inside a range of media types – including TV, print and radio advertisements, posters, magazines, catalogs, window displays, and more. Consumers can use the solution to instantly purchase products and services on-the-go with a single click.

“With ACI Smart Engage, merchants can reach consumers through their smartphones no matter where they are and turn every interaction into an opportunity to sell,” ACI Worldwide head of merchant Debbie Guerra said. “ACI Smart Engage combines the in-store and online experience for consumers by reaching them on their smartphones through various media, including supermarket labels, restaurant menus, or window displays, and driving true mCommerce sales through embedded one-click payments. With ACI Smart Engage, merchants can make ‘window shopping’ a reality.”

Merchants can integrate ACI Smart Engage into their existing mobile apps using Smart Engage SDK APIs. The technology is a part of ACI Omni-Commerce, a secure omni-channel payment processing platform that supports the in-store, online, and mobile needs of modern merchants. ACI Omni-Commerce also offers consumers more of the kind of purchasing experiences they are looking for.

“Consumers are reaching for their smartphones to make informed buying decisions more than ever before,” Guerra added. “With Smart Engage, we enable merchants to reach those consumers at the right time, when they are most likely to make a purchase and then help them complete the purchase with a single click. It fosters direct engagement between merchants and their customers.”

ACI Worldwide’s launch of ACI Smart Engage comes as the company announced a decision to divest its corporate online banking solutions to middle market private equity firm, One Equity Partners. The move is part of ACI Worldwide’s “three-pillar strategy” which is designed to support value creation for shareholders via a focus on growth.

“Our efforts to accelerate organic growth are firmly on track, and we are now making progress on the third pillar, step-change value creation through M&A,” ACI Worldwide president and CEO Odilon Almeida said. “The divestment is in line with our commitment to continually review the company’s portfolio to maximize shareholder value.”

The transaction for ACI Digital Business Banking, as the technology is called, has been valued at $100 million. The deal is expected to close in Q3 of 2022.

A veteran of both Finovate and our developers conference FinDEVr, ACI Worldwide offers real-time payment solutions to help corporations process digital payments, enable omni-commerce, and manage fraud and risk. Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Miami, Florida, ACI Worldwide is partnered with 19 of the top 20 banks around the world, and works with 80,000 merchants directly and through PSPs. The company’s technology facilitates more than 225 billion consumer transactions a year.

With 2021 revenues of $1.4 billion, ACI Worldwide is a publicly-traded company (NASDAQ: ACIW) with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

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Aiia Launches New Payment Feature, Pay By Link

Aiia Launches New Payment Feature, Pay By Link
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Aiia, Alumni News, Daily news
  • Finovate newcomer Aiia launched its new payment technology, Pay by Link.
  • The new offering empowers businesses to make payments using a wide variety of common communication channels including email, PDF, SMS, and chat.
  • Aiia was acquired by Mastercard in the fall of 2021.

Leading Northern European open banking platform Aiia unveiled its new payment feature, Pay by Link. The new offering enables seamless payments for both businesses and consumers, using whatever channel they choose. These options include email, PDF, SMS, social media chat, and more.

“We’re in the process of transforming the entire way of paying bills,” Aiia CEO and co-founder Rune Mai said. “With a simple link, we make it effortlessly easy and secure to pay a bill on the go with a bank account without having to enter or remember payment details.”

Using the solution is straightforward: businesses provide Aiia with the necessary invoice information for a given payment and Aiia ensures that all vital information is visible on both the sender and receiver accounts. This lets businesses automate the payment reconciliation process, if they need to. Any company can issue a payment link for an invoice using customer-facing channels such as email, SMS, or even a physical letter.

“With Pay by Link, we give businesses the opportunity to accept and receive payments anywhere and reduce friction in the entire payment flow,” Mai added. “The new feature is bridging the opportunity gap between open banking and a wide range of businesses.”

Aiia’s open banking platform enables businesses to connect their applications to more than 3,000 banks in Europe to access financial data and offer seamless payments. The company made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateEurope 2021, demoing its technology that allows any company to make easy and cost-effective account-to-account payments with just a few lines of code. Since then, Aiia has forged partnerships with Swiss PFM startup keycount, Denmark-based IT services firm Netcompany, and Danske Bank U.K. Last fall, Mastercard announced that it had completed its acquisition of Aiia, a deal that was first reported in September.

Photo by Giallo

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Klarna Partners with Marqeta to Launch its New Card

Klarna Partners with Marqeta to Launch its New Card
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Klarna, Marqeta
  • Marqeta announced a collaboration with fellow Finovate alum Klarna to power the company’s new payment card.
  • The new card will enable Klarna customers to use the company’s Pay in 4 payment option in physical stores.
  • This week’s partnership builds upon a relationship the two companies have enjoyed since 2018.

A pair of Finovate alums have teamed up to offer a new transparent alternative to traditional credit cards.

Modern card issuing platform Marqeta reported this week that it is working with banking, payments, and ecommerce platform Klarna to power Klarna’s new payment card. The card will bring Klarna’s Pay in 4 service to a physical Visa card, and builds on a payment card partnership between the two companies that extends back to 2018. Marqeta currently enables the creation of one-time cards on Klarna’s app. The new Klarna Card will give customers the same control, convenience, and flexibility when shopping in physical stores that they currently enjoy when using Klarna’s Pay in 4 at the point of sale or via the Klarna app.

“Our U.S. customer base is growing rapidly and we’ve seen tremendous demand for our new Klarna Card offering,” Klarna Chief Commercial Officer David Sykes said. “By expanding our partnership with Marqeta, we’re leveraging their payments expertise to provide our customers with an unmatched user experience that will ultimately help our business grow.”

This latest collaboration comes just months after the two companies expanded their partnership into 13 new European markets. Klarna will leverage Marqeta’s Just-in-Time Funding functionality to gain control over the full transaction flow, and use Marqeta’s technology and 300+ open APIs to deliver customizable experiences and support Klarna’s international expansion.

“Marqeta’s continued partnership with Klarna is a testament to all the payment experiences that our modern card issuing platform can enable,” said Marqeta CEO and founder Jason Gardner. “We’re proud to offer a flexible, scalable card platform that can meet the demands of such a rapidly-growing and innovative company like Klarna.

A Finovate alum since 2012, Klarna now has more than 147 total active customers – 25 million in the U.S. – is active in 45 countries and facilitates two million transactions a day. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, the company began the year with the launch of a physical payment card in the U.K. and, in March, announced the completion of its acquisition of comparison shopping service company PriceRunner. Sebastian Siemiatkowski is CEO.

Based in Oakland, California, Marqeta made its Finovate debut at our developers conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley, in 2016. In the years since, Marqeta has issued more than 500 million cards via its platform and processed more than $110 billion in volume in 2021. In addition to its partnership with Klarna, Marqeta also announced this week that it was joining Mastercard’s Network Enablement Partners Program in the Asia Pacific. The move will enhance Marqeta’s ability to offer its APAC customers a faster path to live issuance.

“As one of Mastercard’s first Network Enablement Partners to be onboarded in the Asia Pacific region, Marqeta is well-equipped to deliver card issuances in record time, and to help their fintech customers scale at speed across multiple geographies,” Mastercard SVP of Digital Customer Solutions APAC Ben Gilbey said.

Photo by Olya Kobruseva

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