Alumni News

Buy Now Pay Later Pioneer Sezzle Secures $30 Million in Funding from Discover

Buy Now Pay Later Pioneer Sezzle Secures $30 Million in Funding from Discover
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Sezzle

Days after Bloomberg News reported that Apple will add Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) functionality to Apple Pay, we learn that Buy Now Pay Later “OG” Sezzle has received an investment of $30 million from Discover. And not only will Discover make a financial commitment to the company, which most recently demonstrated its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall in 2018, Discover also entered into an agreement that will enable the card company launch a Buy Now Pay Later service on its own Discover Global Network.

“We are excited about our relationship with Discover, as we believe our mission, vision, and values align,” Sezzle CEO and Executive Chairman Charlie Youakim said. “Discover’s capabilities via their network and financial products will enhance our own offerings and provide more paths to financially empower our consumers.”

Today’s announcement is also the fruit of an agreement inked back in February that enabled Sezzle to work with selected merchants on the Discover Global Network. Discover SVP of Global Business Development and Acceptance Jason Hanson underscored the benefit that BNPL provides to its merchant partners, and also noted that the partnership would boost Sezzle’s ability to “grow its business and provide new payment opportunities.” To this end, as part of the collaboration, Sezzle also will join a dedicated referral program that will introduce Discover’s credit and debit card products to its customers.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sezzle enables consumers to make purchases at more than 34,000 participating retailers, and pay for those purchases in four, interest-free installments over six weeks. Approval decisions are available instantly, and using Sezzle has no impact on the consumer’s credit.

The explosion in interest in Buy Now Pay Later payment schemes has been a boon for companies like Sezzle that were helping consumers shop today and pay tomorrow before it was cool. Last month, Sezzle announced partnerships with Target and Barstool Sports, and the company continues to affirm its plans for an initial public offering in the U.S. – having launched publicly on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in 2019.

Sezzle began the year signing a $250 million receivable funding facility with Goldman Sachs and Bastion Funding to help fuel the company’s growth in the U.S. and Canada.

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M1 Finance Locks in $150 Million in New Funding

M1 Finance Locks in $150 Million in New Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, M1 Finance

Another day. Another new fintech unicorn.

M1 Finance, which offers a financial super app featuring automated investing, lending, and banking services, has secured $150 million in Series E funding. The round was led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 and takes the company’s total capital to more than $300 million. The Chicago, Illinois-based fintech now has a valuation of $1.6 billion, giving the firm “unicorn” status.

In its funding announcement, M1 Finance noted that the investment will help the company develop and deliver new products and features, continue to innovate on its platform, and expand its workforce. The Series E, which featured the participation of existing investors, as well, comes after a year in which the M1 Finance launched a trio of new solutions – Send Check, Custodial Accounts, and Smart Transfers – and reached more than $4.5 billion in total assets under management.

“Each funding round is proof and motivation that people believe in our mission of empowering financial well-being,” M1 Finance founder and CEO Brian Barnes said. “Financial well-being isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. Our platform helps people have more control, more freedom, and more power over their money. We experienced massive growth in the past year, and it’s extremely gratifying to see investors and clients believe in our vision and make it a reality.”

A Finovate alum since its debut at FinovateFall in 2016, M1 Finance combines the ability to build and maintain a personalized, automated investment portfolio – including access to fractional share investing – with a flexible line of credit and a digital banking service integrated into the user’s investment portfolio. M1 Finance offers both a free Basic program as well as a Plus program for $125/year (with the first year free) that has a lower borrowing rate, 1% cash back on spending, and access to Smart Transfers, Custodial Accounts, and Send Check functionality.

“M1 Finance simplifies the complex, time-consuming money management process for individuals,” SoftBank Investment Advisers Managing Partner Munish Varma said. “We believe the company is well-positioned to consolidate users’ financial lives on a one-stop super-app with its Invest, Spend, and Borrow products.”

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Pleo is Europe’s Latest Fintech Unicorn; Nigeria-based Lidya Scores $8 Million

Pleo is Europe’s Latest Fintech Unicorn; Nigeria-based Lidya Scores $8 Million
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Compass Plus, Daily news, Finovate Global, Lidya

Six years after its launch, Danish fintech Pleo has become Europe’s latest fintech unicorn.

The smart company card provider announced early this week that it had raised $150 million in Series C funding – the largest Series C round for a Danish company to date – earning a valuation of $1.7 billion in the process. The new capital, according to CEO and co-founder Jeppe Rindom, will help scale the business and “ramp up” the company’s product offering. Pleo will also look at opportunities for market expansion, both by entering new markets as well as “doubling down” on the markets that Pleo is already active in.

“While this investment round is taking Pleo to new heights,” Rindom noted in a post on the company’s blog this week, “our core mission remains the same: to make everyone feel valued at work. Since day one, we’ve been committed to creating a spending solution that encourages a work culture built on trust and transparency, instead of overwhelming control and needless bureaucracy.”

More than 17,000 companies from a variety of industries rely on Pleo’s smart company cards that automate expense reports and make company spending easier. Pleo integrates seamlessly with major accounting software packages – including Xero, Sage and Quickbooks – and features three pricing tiers, Essential, Pro, and Premium – to make its technology accessible to small companies as well as bigger firms with larger teams.

The Series C round was co-led by Bain Capital Ventures and Thrive Capital. Existing investors Creandum, Kinnevik, Founders, Stripes, and Seedcamp also contributed.

Our other international fintech funding news story centers on Finovate alum Lidya, a digital bank based in Nigeria that announced receiving an investment of $8.3 million this week. Lidya, which made its Finovate debut at our fall conference in 2016, helps small and medium-sized businesses quickly secure the financing they need in order to grow and expand.

Companies can build a profile in just five minutes, select the type of loan that works best for them, and secure financing within 24 hours. Lidya’s credit scoring technology, Sardis, leverages machine learning, a proprietary algorithmic model, and an analysis of more than 1,000 data points to build a credit profile and establish creditworthiness.

“A customer repeat rate of over 90% in Nigeria and Europe shows that we are providing the services that SMEs need,” Lidya co-founder and CEO Tunde Kehinde explained. “At the height of the pandemic, we started lending in Europe. It was an important means of financial support for multi-sectoral businesses, including care, groceries and other important sectors. Multi-sectoral businesses. When the world began to emerge from this crisis, we were innovative. We are committed to enabling a strong ecosystem of leading SMEs with our products, unlocking their potential and helping the growing economy rebuild better. “

The pre-Series B Funding round was led by Alitheia Capital (by way of the uMunthu Fund) and featured participation from Bamboo Capital Partners, Accion Venture Lab, and Flourish Ventures. Lidya has operations in Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as Nigeria, and manages a technical team in Portugal. The company has raised a total of $16.5 million.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

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LoanPro Scores $100 Million in Series A Funding

LoanPro Scores $100 Million in Series A Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, LoanPro

The tech-first alums of our FinDEVr developers conferences are often as savvy fundraisers as they are sharp technologists. This week in our Q2 Alum Funding Report, we noted that two of the quarter’s biggest fundraisings were from companies that made their Finovate debuts at FinDEVr events: Brazilian neobank NuBank, which secured $750 million in funding in June, and financial data network Plaid, which raised $425 million in funding in April.

This week, we add another FinDEVr alum to this list. LoanPro, a Farmington, Utah-based fintech that made its FinDEVr debut earlier this year, has raised $100 million in Series A funding. The growth equity investment comes courtesy of FTV Capital, and will help LoanPro add to its SaaS-based loan management, servicing, and collections platform, as well as enter new lending verticals and make investments in other “client-centric growth initiatives.”

“As founders who started out as lenders, we understand the pain points that lenders experience,” LoanPro co-founder and CEO Rhett Roberts explained. “LoanPro was built by lenders for lenders – we use a modern tech stack to simplify the user experience of managing loans – we do the hard work on the back end to make the front end clean and simple to use.”

With more than $15 billion of loans under management and 600+ clients in the U.S. and Canada, LoanPro offers a diverse range of loans types and lending programs. The company’s product suite include prime, sub-prime, and personal loan products, as well as consumer, auto, and business financing solutions. LoanPro also offers point-of-sale financing and the retail financing rage of the day – buy now pay later payment options – as well. LoanPro’s platform gives lenders an automated, configurable workflow, real-time access to data and insights, frictionless payment collections, and a flexible lending program.

In addition to the financial support, FTV Capital will use its market knowledge and strategic network to help grow LoanPro’s platform. The firm’s Robert Anderson, who led the investment, will join LoanPro’s board of directors.

“FTV Capital is excited to partner with LoanPro’s strong, passionate leadership team who have built an industry leading SaaS platform based on a deep understanding of their market and the needs of their customers,” Anderson said.

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Open Finance Platform Moneyhub Secures $18 Million to Fuel Expansion

Open Finance Platform Moneyhub Secures $18 Million to Fuel Expansion
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, Funding, Moneyhub

In its biggest investment round to date, U.K.-based Open Finance platform Moneyhub has secured $18 million in funding to support its expansion into new markets. The round was led by Sir Peter Wood, founder of Direct Line and Esure, via his new investment vehicle, SPWOne.

“It is incredibly rewarding to be able to deliver results to both investors and clients in this truly transformational landscape,” Moneyhub CEO Samantha Seaton said. “It is a fantastic vote of confidence from Sir Peter and his team, who are renowned for foreseeing game-changing growth opportunities – and a ringing endorsement of our team and our strategy for applying new technology where the rules of engagement have been turned upside down.”

A Finovate alum for more than four years, Moneyhub demoed the SmartAsset feature of its solution at FinovateEurope 2017. At the event, the company showed how SmartAsset’s AI-driven, intelligent messaging functionality helps users better manage their finances. In the years since, Moneyhub has grown into a leading open finance and data intelligence platform that offers both API and white label solutions to help businesses leverage personalization to enhance the customer experience. In the U.K., Moneyhub currently provides customer-permissioned financial data access to more than 200 financial services providers via 584 connections with an additional 3,500 connections in Europe.

Moneyhub’s funding announcement comes on the heels of a new partnership with Triodos Bank, a sustainable bank that supports working toward positive social, environmental, and cultural change. Founded in 1980, Triodos Bank serves more than 700,000 banking customers in the U.K., Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The bank has lent more than £8 billion to support projects around the world that are dedicated toward “benefitting the people and (the) planet.” Triodos Bank also co-founded the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV), a 63-bank network designed to promote sustainable banking.

“We are pleased that our customers will now be able to integrate their everyday banking with Moneyhub’s app and enjoy the many benefits of Open Banking, such as helping them to easily track spending and set budgets to help manage money,” Triodos Bank U.K. head of retail banking Gareth Griffiths said.

In addition to its partnership with Triodos Bank, Moneyhub teamed up with mortgage market insights and intelligence firm Hometrack, shared branch banking innovator OneBanks, and adtech specialist Zedosh this summer; partnered with financial health platform Level Financial Technology and charitable fundraising app Kynder this spring; and began the year collaborating with professional services company Aon and ESG investment platform The Big Exchange.

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Human Resources Management Innovator Gusto Teams Up with Xendoo

Human Resources Management Innovator Gusto Teams Up with Xendoo
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Gusto

Cloud-based payroll benefits and human resource management innovator Gusto announced a partnership with online accounting and bookkeeping firm Xendoo to help launch Xendoo Payroll. Gusto Head of Partnerships Somrat Nyogi described the partnership as part of an overall trend toward digitization of key business operations. “Through our partnership, Xendoo is combining payroll and bookkeeping services to deliver financial peace of mind to small business owners,” Nyogi said.

Not only is this week’s partnership announcement part of a relationship between the two companies that goes back “for years,” but the collaboration, according to Xendoo CEO and founder Lil Roberts, also anticipates the beginning of a “long-term deeper tech partnership” between the two firms.

“Partnering with Gusto was a natural decision as we both strive for the same outcome: taking the stress out of finances for small business owners so they can focus on what matters most – growing their businesses,” Roberts explained. “Integrating Gusto’s embedded payroll into our new Xendoo Payroll solution will allow us to better serve our customers and expand our offering to create an all-in-one-place solution for the SMB community.” 

Available via API, Gusto Embedded Payroll enables developers to embed and customize payroll functionality into their platforms. In addition to Xendoo’s launch, Gusto reported that “more than a dozen” companies already have begun to deploy the new payroll solution. Moreover, these firms will be able to leverage their new payroll functionality to gain deeper insights into their customers and discover opportunities to provide additional services. Among those first out-of-the-gate with Gusto Embedded Payroll is SMB banking platform Novo, which will become one of the first platforms of its kind to offer integrated payroll services.

“Payroll is one of the biggest expenses for small businesses, and being able to integrate it more deeply into the whole financial picture opens up many opportunities to optimize cash flow and operations,” Novo VP of Product Matt Hamilton said. “We’re excited about working with Gusto to provide the most flexible payroll experience to our businesses.”

Making its Finovate debut as ZenPayroll in 2014, Gusto was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. From its origins as a payroll services startup, Gusto has grown into a small business human resources management platform that helps companies with employee onboarding, benefits, insurance, and other HR operations. Plans start as low as $45/month and more than 100,000 businesses are on the Gusto platform.

Gusto has raised more than $516 million in funding, and includes Fidelity Management and Research Company, and Generation Investment Management among its most recent investors. Earlier this month, the company announced its first acquisition, a startup called Ardius that automates tax compliance for companies with R&D tax credits. Joshua Reeves is Gusto CEO.

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Investment App Stash Grabs Financial Literacy Platform PayGrade

Investment App Stash Grabs Financial Literacy Platform PayGrade
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Stash

Along with the fanfare surrounding so-called meme stocks and the “power of the individual trader” last year, there was a dark side. Investing and trading platforms that had embraced gamification were being accused of not fully preparing their customers for the dangers involved in stock trading – especially in volatile, illiquid stocks. Critics demanded that these platforms spend more time – and money, if necessary – educating their customers for their own benefit as well as for the good of the investing and trading industry, which has recovered impressively since the dot.com bust 20 years ago.

This is the spirit in which we take the news that Stash, a New York-based, mobile-first investment platform that made its Finovate debut in 2017, has acquired financial literacy platform PayGrade. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition marks Stash’s first acquisition and its biggest fintech news headline since a whopping $125 million Series G fundraising back in February.

Brandon Kreig, CEO and co-founder of Stash said that the acquisition was an example of the company’s mission to “empower everyday Americans to invest for the future.” He noted that personal finance education is not emphasized in American schools – with 43 out of 50 states not requiring coursework in personal financial management – and that an overwhelming number of American adults – as much as 80% – live “paycheck to paycheck.”

“With PayGrade,” Kreig explained, “Stash will provide teachers, parents, and children with interactive tools to learn effective money management skills that will last a lifetime.”

Stash enables users to begin investing on its platform with as little as $1 a month. The company’s “Stash Beginner” program allows investing – including fractional share investing – as well as banking, portfolio recommendations, savings strategies, and a Stock-Back card that helps users earn stock every time they use the card for shopping. Stash also offers Growth and Plus plans that add features such as portfolios for children, premium research, and enhanced bonuses for using the Stash Stock-Back card.

Purchasing PayGrade is not the only way that Stash will support the cause of financial literacy this year. Stash’s acquisition news arrived just a few days before the company announced that it was partnering with the Suh Family Foundation and the Big Yard Foundation to launch a financial literacy program over the summer. Dubbed the Stash101 Summer School, the program will be conducted in partnership with Portland Public Schools and will give 160 middle school students an introduction to vital money management and wealth building.

“From investing and banking to education and retirement planning, we believe everyone has the power to achieve greater financial freedom—one step at a time.” Krieg said. “We’re thrilled to deepen our commitment to childhood education through Stash101 and this special summer school program in Portland with the Suhs and Big Yard. It’s going to be a tremendous four weeks for the kids.”

Stash101 is part of the Portland Interscholastic League Trajectory Math Program, which provides additional learning resources for historically underserved students. The course will include a simulated economy experience in which the students will complete tasks like renting desks, while earning a salary and learning about the difference between savings and credit. The classes will be held between July 6 and July 27 at a pair of schools in the Portland School system.

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Partner Power: Interface.ai Brings Intelligent Virtual Assistants to Dover FCU

Partner Power: Interface.ai Brings Intelligent Virtual Assistants to Dover FCU
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Interface.ai, Partnership Outlook

The 43,000+ members of Dover Federal Credit Union (DFCU) are the latest beneficiaries of the marriage between AI and customer care that has been a growing feature of the customer experience in financial services. The Delaware-based institution, with more than $600 million in assets, has teamed up with interface.ai to leverage the company’s Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) in its call center operations initially, before expanding the technology to DFCU’s website, online, and banking services.

“The IVA will enable us to create a seamless experience for members across all of our contact channels,” DFCU VP of Marketing & Digital Experience Tyler Kuhn said. “It will also help to continue to create efficiencies across the organization. With the ability of the technology to continuously learn and improve, we will be able to adapt to new member needs and evolve. Working with interface.ai also allows us to retain our personal touch in every conversation through their neutral voice-enabled system that makes every voice-interaction with the IVA, human-like.”

In the partnership announcement, Kuhn recalled pandemic-era call center volumes that were twice as large as usual and had a major impact on DFCU’s ability to serve its members at a time of crisis. Finding no traditional solution to the challenge, Kuhn said that interface.ai’s IVA had a number of key features that DFCU needed in order to effectively respond to its members. Focusing on these critical issues – eliminating support bottlenecks, improving operational efficiencies, and enhancing the overall member experience – according to Kuhn, is what led DFCU to interface.ai.

“In our search, we discovered that interface.ai’s IVA would enable us to instantly respond to member inquiries around the clock, while maintaining high service levels – ultimately leading to enhanced member experiences and further optimizing our operational costs by creating efficiencies across the organization,” Kuhn explained.

Interface.ai won Best of Show in its Finovate debut last year, demonstrating its out-of-the-box, “personal teller” that uses human-level, natural language to enable call centers to automate 60% of their calls in 60 days. Since then, interface.ai has forged a number of partnerships with banks and credit unions including collaborations with Pasadena Service Federal Credit Union in May, with America’s Credit Union based in Washington State in April and, in December, with Dallas, Texas-based Neighborhood Credit Union.

Founded in 2018, interface.ai is headquartered in San Mateo, California. Srinivas Njay is founder and CEO.

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Illuma Labs Secures Funding to Fuel Innovation in Voice Authentication

Illuma Labs Secures Funding to Fuel Innovation in Voice Authentication
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Illuma Labs

An investment of $2.5 million from Curql Fund will help Illuma Labs further innovate in the field of voice authentication for credit union call centers. The company will use the capital to enable new anti-fraud features as well as new platform integrations to ensure its technology is accessible to a wide range of credit unions.

Illuma Labs flagship product, demonstrated at the company’s most recent Finovate appearance at FinovateFall last year, is Illuma Shield. The solution leverages real-time voice authentication rather than traditional, knowledge-based authentication techniques to combat fraud, improve efficiency, and enhance the overall member experience.

“This technology uses state of the art Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and voice biometrics to address three of the top concerns for credit unions,” Illuma Labs founder and CEO Milind Borkar explained. “Improving member experience by emulating the warm welcome of a brick-and-mortar visit, creating operational efficiency by shortening call times, and increasing security to prevent account takeovers.”

“The infusion of investment from Curql is very timely for expanding this solution to the entire credit union community,” Borkar added.

Earlier this year, Illuma Labs announced a partnership with TDECU (Texas Dow Employees Credit Union) which deployed Illuma Labs’ voice authentication technology in its Member Contact Center. With more than 354,000 members and more than $4 billion in assets, TDECU is a not-for-profit financial cooperative that offers a full range of deposit products as well as online and mobile banking, and lending solutions.

“Our top priority is to keep members connected to their money in a way that is not only safe and secure, but also easily accessible,” TDECU Chief Growth, Strategy & Marketing Officer Alex De La Cruz said. “We look to fintech as a solution through our partnership with Illuma Labs to provide added security and a best-in-class Member experience.”

Also this spring, Illuma Labs teamed up with Wisconsin-based Connexus Credit Union ($3.3 billion in assets; 382,000 members). Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Illuma Labs was founded in 2016.

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SmartAsset Secures Unicorn Status with $110 Million Investment

SmartAsset Secures Unicorn Status with $110 Million Investment
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, SmartAsset

SmartAsset, a fintech that helps individuals connect with qualified financial advisors and improve their overall financial health, announced a major fundraising this week. The company secured a $110 million investment in a Series D round led by TTV Capital that takes SmartAsset’s valuation to more than $1 billion.

“Our mission is to help people get better financial advice,” SmartAsset founder and CEO Michael Carvin said. “With this additional capital we are going to make further investments in building the web’s best personal finance resource and enhancing our ability to connect consumers to financial advisors across the U.S.” Specifically, SmartAsset noted in its funding announcement that it will invest in new product offerings, technology infrastructure, and data partnerships. The company also pointed to the growth it has experienced since its last major funding in 2018 – growing revenues by 10x and nearing $100 million in annual recurring revenue – to support its goal of “aggressively” adding to its workforce. With 202 full-time employees currently on board, SmartAsset is seeking to expand its workforce by more than 75% this year.

“SmartAsset is quickly expanding its lead in one of the largest markets in the U.S. by providing an incredibly valuable resource for both consumers and financial advisors alike,” TTV Capital Partner Mark Johnson said. “The company helps millions of people make better financial decisions while simultaneously enabling advisors to grow their business.”

Also participating in the round were Javelin Venture Partners, Contour, Citi Ventures, New York Life Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners, and CMFG Ventures.

More than 100 million consumers access SmartAsset’s personal finance content, tools, and other resources each month. Named one of America’s Best Startup Employers in 2020 by Forbes, the company announced recently that LPL Financial had selected SmartAsset for its Vendor Affinity Program, giving 18,000+ independent financial advisors access to SmartAsset’s SmartAdvisor platform.

“SmartAsset gives (advisors) a new way to connect with investors across the country digitally, while also freeing up time to spend with their existing clientele,” Rob Pettman, LPL Financial EVP for Wealth Management Solutions, said. “It also provides advisors more choice in solutions they can leverage to grow their business.”

SmartAsset began the year by announcing Firoze Lafeer as its new Chief Technology Officer. The company made another addition to its C-suite in April when it hired James Kennedy as its Chief Compliance Officer and Director of Legal. SmartAsset made its Finovate debut in 2014 at FinovateSpring.

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Ping Identity Acquires Fraud Detection Firm SecuredTouch

Ping Identity Acquires Fraud Detection Firm SecuredTouch
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Ping Identity, SecuredTouch

A pair of Finovate alums have announced plans to “tie the knot” this week. Intelligent Identity solution provider Ping Identity has agreed to acquire fraud and bot detection and mitigation specialist SecuredTouch. Terms of the transaction were not immediately available.

By leveraging a variety of enabling technologies – including machine learning, AI, behavioral biometrics, and deep learning – SecuredTouch’s technology empowers fraud and risk teams to identify suspicious and potentially malicious behavior across all digital entities. The acquisition will integrate SecuredTouch with Ping Identity’s PingOne Cloud Platform, giving business customers the ability to better understand and prevent malicious activity. Customers will have the option of using SecuredTouch as a standalone solution or as part of the PingOne platform.

Ping Identity founder and CEO Andre Durand said that the acquisition “accelerates” the company’s mission to provide cloud-based identity and anti-fraud solutions to businesses to help them fight a wide range of cyberthreats ranging from emulators to account takeover.

“Identity isn’t just about knowing who your customers are, it’s about knowing when someone is pretending to be a customer,” Durand explained. “As companies undergo massive digital transformation initiatives, the need for seamless, frictionless, and secure identity solutions to confidently understand both those situations is imperative.”

Ping Identity made its Finovate debut at our first European fintech conference in 2012. In the years since, the Denver, Colorado-based company has become the identity management solution provider of choice for 60% of the Fortune 100 and forged partnerships with technology companies like Microsoft and Amazon. Most recently, Ping Identity collaborated with ProofID to enhance identity security for Tesco Bank, the banking division of Tesco, the largest supermarket retail chain in the U.K.

Headquartered in Ramat Gan, Israel, SecuredTouch demonstrated its behavioral biometrics technology at FinovateFall 2018. The company’s solution analyzes more than 100 different behavioral behaviors – from scroll velocity to touch pressure – to create a unique user profile that benefits from continuous verification. Winner of Best Product at the Loyalty Security Association Lion’s Den event this spring, SecuredTouch earned a patent for its continuous use authentication in 2019.

“This is a defining moment for our industry as identity security and fraud come together,” SecuredTouch CEO Alasdair Rambaud said of this week’s acquisition news. “Ping Identity’s enterprise proven and robust platform provides the perfect foundation for SecuredTouch’s advanced fraud detection capabilities.”

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Power to the Partners! A Look at Who’s Teaming Up to Tackle Banking’s Biggest Challenges

Power to the Partners! A Look at Who’s Teaming Up to Tackle Banking’s Biggest Challenges
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Partnership Outlook

While cryptocurrencies and IPOs often grab the biggest headlines in fintech, much of the critical work of forging partnerships and innovating collaboratively between fintechs and financial institutions often goes, if not unnoticed, then at least a little underrecognized and underappreciated.

With this in mind, we’re starting off each week with a reminder that, when it comes to getting technology from idea to implementation, partnerships and collaborations are often the primary vehicle to getting it done. No man – or woman – is an island. And the same is true for any technology company or financial institution interested in making a meaningful impact in the lives of their customers and members.

Here’s a look at some of the more recent partnerships and collaborations between banks, credit unions, fintechs, and other players in the financial services space. Boldface indicates the company has demoed its technology at a Finovate and/or FinDEVr conference.

Banks and Credit Unions

Payments

  • Cloud payments and financial messaging specialist Volante Technologies announced an instant payments partnership with European payment services company SIA.

Security, Fraud Prevention, and Digital Identity

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