Alumni News

PwC and Microsoft Tap FintechOS for Digital Banking

PwC and Microsoft Tap FintechOS for Digital Banking
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, FintechOS, Microsoft, PwC
  • Financial services firm PwC and tech giant Microsoft are leveraging digital banking solutions provider FintechOS to create a digital banking solution.
  • The group aims to help banks adapt and modernize their operations to fit into the digital-first era.
  • “This will drive a massive improvement in time-to-value, and the extensibility of digital banking growth and expansion,” said PwC Partner Akhilesh Khera.

In the fintech industry, third party partnerships are king. So it’s not surprising to see the news that financial services firm PwC and tech giant Microsoft are tapping into the expertise of digital banking solutions provider FintechOS.

The trio announced their partnership, which will leverage FintechOS’ expertise, PwC’s digital banking prowess, and Microsoft’s Cloud for Financial Services technology to create a digital banking solution aimed at helping financial institutions adapt and modernize their operations to fit into the digital-first era.

For its part, FintechOS will be crucial in providing banking and investment, customer management, and integration and orchestration services. “We are delighted to be playing a key role in this ground-breaking initiative, as it demonstrates both the market-leading capability of our high-productivity fintech infrastructure and the strength of our relationship with PwC,” said FintechOS VP of Ecosystem Sales at EMEA Todi Pruteanu. “We are excited about the opportunity to work closely with and actively support PwC as this proposition revolutionizes banking across the globe.”

PwC Partner Akhilesh Khera said that the firm selected FintechOS for the company’s high-productivity infrastructure. “This will drive a massive improvement in time-to-value, and the extensibility of digital banking growth and expansion,” explained Khera.

U.K.-based FintechOS was founded in 2017 to help companies quickly launch and manage products and services across lending, savings, insurance, investment, and embedded finance. By helping financial services companies replace their core banking infrastructure operations, FintechOS also helps companies reduce costs, modernize operations, and deploy modern customer journeys that meet today’s standard expectations of great customer experience.

In March of this year, FintechOS launched a pair of accelerators to help financial institutions support their small business clients. Earlier this month, the company unveiled its spring release, which contained a digital retail mortgage and BNPL features. FintechOS demoed Sunglow, a banking super app at FinovateFall 2021. Teo Blidarus is co-founder and CEO.

Photo by Miriam Espacio

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Trustly to Acquire Ecospend

Trustly to Acquire Ecospend
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Trustly
  • Sweden-based account-to-account payments specialist Trustly will acquire U.K.-based open banking payments platform Ecospend.
  • Trustly anticipates the deal will help accelerate its move into the U.K. market.
  • Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Global payments fintech Trustly announced plans to acquire U.K.-based open banking payments platform Ecospend this week. Trustly anticipates that the deal, which will close for an undisclosed amount, will complement the company’s account-to-account (A2A) payments platform and accelerate its rollout in the U.K.

The U.K. is a key geographical market for Sweden-based Trustly. The company set a goal to be the market leader in the U.K., and today’s acquisition accelerates Trustly’s journey towards that target. “I am delighted to welcome Ecospend to Trustly,” said Trustly CEO Johan Tjärnberg. “This is a perfect strategic fit and I am convinced that it will enable us to deliver a market-leading product in the U.K., allowing us to capture opportunities and accelerate our current U.K. expansion.”

Ecospend was founded in 2017 and is now a regulated A2A payments provider for the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Leveraging this certification, the company seeks to power open banking payments and financial data services. In the past year, Ecospend has processed over $6.3 billion (£5 billion) in A2A payments to over two million consumers. The company connects with 80+ U.K. banks, making it a valuable asset to Trustly’s A2A payments service.

“We will continue to leverage our market-leading technology and bank connectivity in the U.K. and, together with Trustly, broaden our capabilities to stretch across Europe and further markets,” said Ecospend Founder Metin Erkman. “We are really excited to join the Trustly family.”

Trustly was founded in 2008 and offers a simple A2A payments platform that doesn’t require the user to sign up, enter their card or bank numbers, or provide any billing information. From a merchant perspective, Trustly offers a card-not-present payments experience that provides a secure way for consumers to transact using their online banking credentials. The A2A nature of the payments experience is superior to traditional card payments because it offers stronger user authentication, higher approval rates, and guarantees payments with no risk of chargebacks.

A FinovateEurope 2017 alum, Trustly works with more than 8,100 merchants, helping them connect with 525 million consumers and 6,300 banks across 30 countries.

Photo by Christina Morillo

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Plaid Teams Up with Truework to Launch Income Verification Solution

Plaid Teams Up with Truework to Launch Income Verification Solution
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Plaid
  • Plaid teamed up with Truework to launch a new income verification solution, Plaid Income.
  • The new offering will make it easier for loan applicants to share income and employment information with lenders.
  • The Truework partnership comes just days after Plaid introduced its Identity Verification and Monitoring solution, as well as its partnership with financial wellness company Current.

Income and employment verification company Truework has partnered with Plaid to help the firm launch its new Plaid Income product. Plaid Income will bring greater accuracy, security, and speed to the loan application process. Prospective borrowers will be able to share income and employment data digitally and instantly with their approved lenders. Plaid Income will provide faster approvals for loan applicants while giving lenders greater confidence that they are lending the right amounts, to the right people, at the most appropriate interest rate.

“We built Plaid Income to provide a more inclusive credit system for all,” Plaid Head of Revenue Paul Williamson explained. “Partners like Truework share our consumer-first vision to empower them with control of their own financial data. Combined with their digital approach to income verification, we’re excited that Plaid Payroll is now integrated into the Truework platforms.”

A Finovate alum since 2014, Plaid introduced itself to Finovate audiences as part of our developers conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley. In the years since, the San Francisco, California-based fintech has grown into a major force in the democratization of financial services, partnering with more than 6,000 fintechs – from Venmo to SoFi – as well as many of the world’s largest banks. The company’s network reaches 12,000 financial institutions in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Europe.

Most recently, in addition to its partnership with Truework, Plaid introduced a new verification and compliance solution, Plaid Identity Verification and Monitor, that helps reduce fraud and boost conversion rates. Launched earlier this month, the new offering features a complete verification, AML, and KYC compliance solution that serves multiple use cases including account opening and funding, trading, and lending. Also this month, U.S.-based financial wellness platform Current announced Plaid as its first partner. Current offers a platform API that helps fintechs to build embedded financial solutions.

“Our new platform API gives open banking partners the capability to embed our core banking technology,” Current CTO Trevor Marshall said. “With Plaid, our members can access experiences that can help improve their financial lives with control and security.”

Photo by Pixabay

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Finovate Best of Show Winner Chimney Inks Partnerships with a Pair of U.S. Banks

Finovate Best of Show Winner Chimney Inks Partnerships with a Pair of U.S. Banks
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Chimney, Daily news, Signal Intent
  • Chimney announced partnerships with two banks, Farmers & Merchants Bank and Northwest Bank, that will deploy Chimney’s embeddable financial tools to boost customer engagement.
  • Formerly known as Signal Intent, Chimney won Best of Show at FinovateSpring in 2021.
  • Courtesy of this week’s agreements, Chimney now boasts a total of 15 bank partnerships.

In a bid to boost customer engagement, Farmers & Merchants Bank and Northwest Bank have teamed up with Chimney and will deploy the New York-based company’s financial calculators to help their customers make better decisions about their financial futures.

“In the last two years, we’ve seen greater investments into digital experiences that put customers first,” Chimney co-founder and CEO Matthew Covi said. “Consumers no longer want to be pushed products and services; they want experiences that add value to their everyday life and improve their financial health.”

Previously known as Signal Intent – and winning a Best of Show award in its Finovate debut a year ago at the all-digital edition of FinovateSpring 2021 – Chimney offers embeddable modern financial calculators that can be launched quickly and require no coding to set up and deploy. Chimney has developed more than 35 financial calculator templates, covering a variety of financial categories. Whether a business is looking for tools to better engage homebuyers, automobile shoppers, or simply consumers looking to improve their investment portfolios or savings and budgeting habits, Chimney provides organization with the kind of embedded turnkey digital experiences that help turn website visitors into customers.

“F&M Bank has grown slowly and safely since 1907, earning its reputation as ‘California’s Strongest,'” F&M Bank CEO and board chairman Daniel K. Walker said. “We have supported the communities we call home for more than 100 years, and we aim to continue that. By working with Chimney, we will build deeper relationships with customers by transforming and personalizing their banking experience with the help of meaningful data. We believe this will be incredibly valuable to our customers.”

F&M Bank serves customers in South California and has more than $11 billion in assets. Iowa-based Northwest Bank has 70,000 customers and $2.3 billion in assets.

Chimney began 2022 with a pre-seed investment from the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator and a seed investment from Anil D. Aggarwal, founder and chairman of Fintech Meetup, as well as Fin Venture Capital and Converge. The company rebranded as Chimney in February, in a shift that Covi said reflected a commitment to move beyond “providing outstanding products and services” and toward “delivering not just the products consumers want, but the experiences they expect.”

Photo by Pixabay

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Marqeta Inks Partnership with Embedded Finance Platform Alviere

Marqeta Inks Partnership with Embedded Finance Platform Alviere
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, Marqeta

Modern card issuing platform Marqeta has come a long way since its Finovate debut in 2016. Back then, Marqeta was a six-year-old company, presenting the world’s first fully-documented, open API issuer processor platform, and emphasizing the company’s commitment to producing payments solutions that were “developer-friendly.” In fact, it was at Finovate’s developer conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley in 2016 that Marqeta led a presentation “Democratizing Issuer Payment Processing with Just-In-Time (JIT) Funding.”

In the years since then, the Oakland, California-based fintech has forged partnerships with fellow Finovate alum Token (2017); with CashFlows, Visa, and Mambu (2019), with Mastercard, Afterpay, and Uber (2020) and, last year, with companies including Bill.com, Coinbase, and Square. The company also has raised more than $530 million in funding, and launched as a public company a year ago, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker MQ.

Most recently, Marqeta returned to the fintech headlines with news of its partnership with Alviere. An embedded finance platform, Alviere is currently in the process of expanding across Europe, where it plans to operate as an Electronic Money Institution and Principal Member Card Issuer in the region. By partnering with Marqeta, Alviere will be able to issue branded cards to customers in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the U.K.

“Access to financial services is continuing to evolve, and consumers are constantly opening up to new ways of moving, storing, spending and saving money,” Alviere co-founder and CEO Yuval Brisker said. “For brands in Europe, and around the world, providing financial services means uncovering vast untapped opportunities. Embedding financial products under their existing business, products, and to their existing customer base, has quickly emerged as an important strategy for growth and customer retention.”

Marqeta’s platform supports issuance of both physical and virtual payment cards, as well as tokenization, card management, and fulfillment. Processing and settlement are also included, along with authentication and 3DS (3-D secure authentication), just-in-time (JIT) funding, and dynamic spend controls. Marqeta’s reliance on open APIs and webhooks enables institutions to create customizable card experiences, and seamless interaction with other applications, while providing visibility and transparency via notifications and card monitoring.

Alviere hopes to take advantage of what Simon Torrance forecasts to be a $7.2 trillion global opportunity in embedded finance by 2030. To empower non-financial brands with the ability to offer financial products and solutions to their customers, Alviere offers a suite of solutions including branded bank accounts and cards, global payments, payment processing, as well as crypto wallets and exchanges. The New York-based company’s partnership news with Marqeta arrives in the wake of Alviere receiving an investment of $70 million and the appointment of its first Chief Financial Officer.

“Financial services open up a new avenue of consumer engagement for brands and allow them to deepen the consumer experience massively,” Marqeta Chief Operating Officer Vidya Peters said. “We’re excited that Alviere will be able to allow its brand customers to build in new payments experiences using our platform.”

Photo by Maureen

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Temenos Serves Up ESG Investing-as-a-Service

Temenos Serves Up ESG Investing-as-a-Service
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Temenos
  • Banking technology provider Temenos is launching ESG Investing-as-a-service.
  • The tool will help banks and wealth managers offer a digital experience that allows end customers to build an investment portfolio that reflects their values.
  • The move comes amid a time of major growth for ESG investing, which is expected to exceed $53 trillion by 2025.

ESG investing has been on the rise for the past couple of years. According to Bloomberg, money held in sustainable mutual funds and ESG-focused ETFs rose by 53% in 2021 to reach $2.7 trillion and ESG assets are on track to exceed $53 trillion by 2025. Banking software provider Temenos has taken note of this and is launching a new tool to help banks and wealth managers compete in the new environment.

Temenos’ ESG Investing-as-a-service, which can be run in the cloud or on-premise, combines Temenos’ market data management and digital capabilities such as filtering, scoring, and modeling techniques with external data feeds. The company generates easy-to-understand ratings to evaluate hundreds of ESG factors such as carbon footprint, water usage, diversity and gender equality, and executive compensation.

“At Temenos, our purpose is to power a world of banking that creates opportunities for everyone,” said Temenos Product Director of Wealth Alexandre Duret. “With the new ESG Investing service, we will help private banks and wealth managers to become compliant, and their customers invest with a purpose. Available as a service on our open platform for composable banking, it provides a fast track for our banking clients to launch innovative ESG investment products underpinned by robust, compliant processes, including new MiFID rules applicable in the EU from August 2022.”

Banks and wealth managers can leverage the tool to create ESG compliant products, with a lower cost of development. Ultimately, they can offer a digital experience that allows end customers to choose investments that they feel good about and build a portfolio that reflects their values.

Temenos serves 3,000+ banking and financial institutions worldwide representing 1.2 billion end customers. The Switzerland-based company has embedded sustainability practices into its own operations with ESG governance, reporting, and measurable targets. The Carbon Disclosure Project awarded Temenos an A- rating along with platinum recognition.

Photo by Monstera

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FinovateSpring Best of Show Winner Array Teams Up with Jack Henry

FinovateSpring Best of Show Winner Array Teams Up with Jack Henry
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Array, Daily news, Jack Henry
  • Financial enablement platform Array announced a partnership with Jack Henry Associates to embed its credit management and identity protection solutions into Jack Henry’s Banno Digital Platform.
  • Among the institutions to adopt the technology is Washington-based Timberland Bank.
  • Array is a two-time Finovate Best of Show winner, earning its most recent award at FinovateSpring 2022 last week.

Array, a financial enablement platform that specializes in embeddable solutions for financial institutions, announced a partnership with fellow Finovate alum Jack Henry. The partnership will integrate Array’s credit management services, identity protection tools, and offer engine into Jack Henry’s Banno Digital Platform. The combination of technologies will give customers personalized credit and financial insights via their preferred financial institution partners.

“The financial services ecosystem exists to enable consumers to improve their financial health,” Array Director of Strategic Partnerships Jacob Bouer said. “This movement is both necessary and urgent. If financial institutions do not offer credit monitoring and identity protection products, consumers will find them elsewhere.”

By leveraging the Banno Digital Toolkit, Array has been able to help financial institutions better serve their customers and members by enabling them to securely access and monitor their credit directly from their bank or credit union. Not only does the integration give better service to customers, it also helps banks boost digital engagement, grow revenues, and expand opportunities for both new lending and credit. Among the institutions to take early advantage of Array’s technology is Timberland Bank, headquartered in Washington. The bank’s EVP and COO, Jonathan Fischer, praised the partnership for providing “the tools necessary to engage and educate customers on their credit health, which strengthens relationships and ultimately improves our community’s well-being.”

Among the solutions available to bank customers via the collaboration are customized credit score simulators, score factors, debt analysis, alerts, and more. The technology helps educate bank customers by giving them greater awareness of their credit information and history, and enables them to make better decisions on how to improve their financial lives.

Founded in 2019 and headquartered in New York, Array demoed its technology last week at FinovateSpring in San Francisco. At the conference, the company earned its second Best of Show award for its platform that democratizes data accessibility while simultaneously protecting privacy and ensuring consent. Martin Toha is founder and CEO.

Photo by DS stories

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Thought Machine Doubles Valuation to $2.7 Billion After Series D Funding Round

Thought Machine Doubles Valuation to $2.7 Billion After Series D Funding Round
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Thought Machine
  • Core banking expert Thought Machine raised $160 million in Series D funding.
  • The investment was led by Temasek and saw participation from Intesa Sanpaolo, Morgan Stanley, Eurazeo, ING, JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking Group, and SEB.
  • Thought Machine’s valuation now totals $2.7 million, double the valuation it held last fall.

Core banking innovator Thought Machine landed $160 million in a Series D funding round which values the company at $2.7 billion. This number is two times than the valuation the company received at the close of its Series C round in November of last year.

Today’s investment was led by Temasek and saw participation from Intesa Sanpaolo and Morgan Stanley, as well as existing investors Eurazeo, ING, JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking Group, and SEB. As part of today’s agreement, Lloyds Banking Group has extended its license agreement with Thought Machine until 2029.

“This new round of funding bringing Temasek, Morgan Stanley, and Intesa Sanpaolo into the business is our statement of intent: we intend to become the leader in core banking technology, and are being deployed by the biggest, most successful banks around the world,” said Thought Machine Founder and CEO Paul Taylor.

Thought Machine already operates in New York, Singapore, and Australia, and will soon be available in Latin America. The company will use the funding to fuel further global expansion into the Asia Pacific region, as well. Specifically, Thought Machine is scoping out Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

The company will also use a portion of today’s investment to expand on the capabilities of its existing core banking offering and explore new product lines. “We will use this new capital to accelerate our expansion plans, serve more clients around the world, and continuously refine the capabilities of our core banking platform and other products,” explained Taylor.

With 500 employees and $563 million in funding, U.K.-based Thought Machine has been working to transform the core banking space since 2014. Among the company’s clients are Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered, Atom bank, Monese, SEB, and JP Morgan Chase.

Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA

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Token Raises $40 Million for Open Banking

Token Raises $40 Million for Open Banking
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Token
  • Open banking expert Token landed a $40 million Series C investment.
  • The round, which was co-led by Cota Capital and TempoCap, boosted the company’s total funding to $90 million.
  • Among Token’s clients are BNP Paribas, HSBC, Mastercard, Nuvei, Paysafe, Ecommpay, Rewire, Coingate, Sonae Universo, Volt, and Vyne.

Open banking innovator Token.io closed a $40 million Series C funding round this week. The investment was co-led by Cota Capital and TempoCap and boosted Token’s total funding to $90 million.

New investors Element Ventures, MissionOG, and PostFinance also pitched in, along with existing contributors Octopus Ventures, Opera Tech Ventures, and SBI Investments. 

Token will use the capital to shift consumer habits from traditional payment methods like cards and wallets to open banking-enabled account-to-account (A2A) payments. Specifically, the company aims to enhance its APIs for Variable Recurring Payments and open finance functionality.

“With this investment, we will continue to expand open banking connectivity and push the boundaries of functionality beyond regulatory requirements to make A2A payments a mainstream payment method,” said Token CEO Todd Clyde.

Founded in 2016, Token is focused on driving the shift from traditional payment methods– such as cash and credit cards– towards bank payments. The company’s platform works towards this mission by enhancing open banking connectivity across Europe and supporting existing payment providers.

“Token’s A2A payments offering delivers faster and more secure payments than traditional methods while at a lower cost,” said TempoCap Investment Partner Adam Shepherd. “Token’s technology is enabling an impressive set of payment providers to offer seamless experiences for their merchant customers and, in turn, end users.”

Token’s client list includes BNP Paribas, HSBC, Mastercard, Nuvei, Paysafe, Ecommpay, Rewire, Coingate, Sonae Universo, Volt, and Vyne.

Photo by Tim Douglas

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Experian Acquires Majority Stake in Brazil’s MOVA

Experian Acquires Majority Stake in Brazil’s MOVA
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Experian, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Experian has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Brazil-based MOVA Sociedade de Empréstimo entre Pessoas S.A. (MOVA) for $7.89 million (R$40 million).
  • Experian will take a 51% stake in MOVA today, with the option to acquire the remainder of the company between 2026 and 2028.
  • Experian is interested in P2P lender MOVA because it has the potential to enable Experian to help Brazilian companies assess the creditworthiness of their SME clients.

Information services company Experian will acquire a 51% stake in Brazil-based MOVA Sociedade de Empréstimo entre Pessoas S.A. (MOVA) for $7.89 million (R$40 million).

Headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil, MOVA is a peer-to-peer lending platform that seeks to offer borrowers an alternative to traditional bank loans. The company also offers a range B2B tools, including a credit-assessment-as-a-service product to offer automate credit decisioning, a service to help companies register a credit request, anti-fraud tools, and more.

Experian’s interest in MOVA stems from this ability to help Brazilian companies assess the creditworthiness of their SME clients. “SMEs are underserved by affordable credit in Brazil and MOVA is tackling this issue,” Experian said in an announcement.

A full acquisition is still on the table. Experian has a call option to acquire the remaining 49% stake in MOVA between 2026 and 2028. In 2029, the deal reverts to a put option for MOVA.

Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Ireland, Experian offers a range of services for small businesses, including business credit reporting, marketing products and services, debt collection tools, and more. On the consumer-facing side, Experian offers credit reports and scores, identity theft protection, and a marketplace to compare credit card, loan, and insurance offers.

Photo by Rafaela Biazi on Unsplash

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FIS Partners with Treasury Prime to Bring Embedded Finance to Small and Mid-Sized Banks

FIS Partners with Treasury Prime to Bring Embedded Finance to Small and Mid-Sized Banks
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, FIS
  • FIS has partnered with Treasury Prime to launch a new embedded finance offering.
  • The new solution will give FIS’ banking customers additional options for managing deposits, AP, and other critical bank processes.
  • The collaboration with Treasury Prime is FIS’ second big embedded finance play of the year, having acquired embedded finance solution provider Payrix in February.

FIS has launched a new embedded finance offering, built in partnership with Treasury Prime, to help community and regional banks take advantage of the most modern digital capabilities and create new distribution channels. The new API-based solution will give FIS’ banking customers and their business clients new options when it comes to managing deposits, accounts payable, and other key banking operations.

The new offering will also enable community and regional banks to potentially create new revenue streams by expanding their client base, especially among highly digitally-active consumers.

“Embedded finance is a growing trend in the market because it allows businesses to bring innovative ideas quickly to market by combining financial services with user experiences right at the point of need,” FIS Head of Payments Kelly Beatty explained.

A leading technology solutions provider for merchants, banks, and capital markets firms – and a Finovate alum since 2010 – FIS processes more than $75 billion in transaction value for than 20,000+ clients globally. Treasury Prime offers APIs that enable companies to embed a range of banking services onto their platforms to boost revenues, increase customer loyalty, and offer rewards. Writing about the partnership on the Treasury Prime blog, Vice President of Banking Jeff Nowicki noted that the collaboration will enable banks to focus on their core strengths “rather than trying to compete with fintechs.” The partnership will also create new opportunities for business lines or revenues “(in) the same way community banks have for ages added lenders or business banking teams to target specific segments.”

The technology already has been integrated by digital commercial bank Grasshopper. The firm, in partnership with Web 3 blockchain company HUMBL, will deploy FIS’ embedded finance services across both its consumer and commercial divisions.

“Our vision has been clear from the start,” Grasshopper Chief Digital Officer Chris Tremont said,. “We wanted to better serve the needs of fintechs, small and medium-sized businesses, and the venture community. This BaaS platform and sophisticated set of APIs allows us to leverage technology and provide an enhanced banking experience for our clients.”

2022 has been a year in which FIS has paid particular attention to opportunities in embedded finance. A Finovate alum since 2010, FIS began the year with an acquisition of embedded payments solution provider Payrix. The deal will bolster FIS’ e-commerce, embedded payments, and finance experiences for small and medium-sized merchants via SaaS-based platforms.

“The acquisition of Payrix is an excellent proof point of FIS’ ability to unlock the value of our broad portfolio of solutions as companies of all sizes rely on FIS as a destination for innovation to advance how the world pays, banks, and invests,” said FIS President Stephanie Ferris.

Photo by Laker

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In a Remote World, Expensify Builds In-Person Perks

In a Remote World, Expensify Builds In-Person Perks
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Expensify

Business expense management firm Expensify is in the process of beta testing a unique new feature. Though, it’s more of a perk than a feature. The Expensify Lounge is a chic new space in the entrance to Expensify’s San Francisco office located in the heart of the financial district.

The idea for the Expensify Lounge came about pre-COVID. Much of the company’s workforce was already working remotely, and the Expensify Lounge was slowly becoming a ghost town. To maintain the vibrancy of the office, the team decided to turn the office into “best co-working cafe in the city” by launching the Expensify Lounge, a cafe-like working environment that includes great coffee, great cocktails, and great company. Now that the pandemic is waning in the U.S., the Expensify Lounge is in beta testing this spring.

“We added a ridiculously over-the-top cocktail bar like you’d find tucked away in a Tokyo high rise, and put in an espresso bar even us Portland coffee snobs can respect,” described Expensify CEO David Barrett. “Then we paired it with our integrated chat Concierge to offer to-your-seat delivery, and then turned the overall furnishings of everything else up to 11.”

The newly-renovated space functions like a high-touch version of a co-working space. Expensify customers can work from the space as often as they like, as long as they like, with wifi, complimentary drinks, and snacks. During the beta test period, there’s no membership required. The company is especially encouraging early stage companies and VCs to come in and check it out and kick the tires.

If you’re in the area and interested in visiting the Expensify Lounge during the beta period, go to https://use.expensify.com/lounges and use the password “Finovate” when you arrive. If you’re attending FinovateSpring on May 18 through May 20, you’re in luck. The Expensify Lounge is just a 10 minute walk from the event venue, the Hilton San Francisco Union Square.

The lounge is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5p.m. and is located at:

88 Kearny St., 16th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94108

After the beta period, Expensify clients can enjoy lounge access as part of their $9 per month Expensify membership. ” I guarantee it’s better than your office, or any office, and it’s designed to be a better place to work than any cafe in the city, too,” Barrett added.

A public company as of last November, Expensify is part of the fast-growing business financial management segment. The company’s flagship service is expense reporting, but it has since grown to add billpay, a travel concierge, and a corporate payment card.

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