Capital One

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Capital One, Discover, Revolut, Temenos, Weekly Alumni News, Weekly News

The week begins with big news on the payment cards front as Capital One announces plans to acquire Discover Financial Services in an all-stock deal valued at $35 billion. Check out what else is going on in fintech and financial services in our latest fintech weekly news rundown!

Embedded finance

German embedded finance platform Monite raises $6.5 million (€6 million) in funding.

Quaint Oak Bank selects Finzly to modernize payments and enable its embedded banking practice.

Lending

BankiFi teams up with Praetura to enhance lending to SMEs.

U.S.-based Commerce Bank deploys loan origination technology from Temenos.

CCBank selects Lendio Intelligent Lending to fuel small business funding growth.

Mortgage Cadence releases version 4.0 of its Mortgage Cadence Platform (MCP) Loan Origination System (LOS). 

Payments

Payment orchestration provider BR_DGE forges new partnership with PayPal.

Kani Payments announces strategic partnership with Brazilian core banking platform Pismo.

OpenPayd forges partnership with TrueLayer to enhance its instant payment services.Paym

Gorham Savings Bank partners with CorServ to implement modern commercial credit card program.

REPAY enhances accounts payable integration for Sage Intacct.

REPAY partners with Maxyfi to modernize the collection of payments.

FXC Intelligence signs a data and intelligence partnership with dLocal to support its expansion into the remittance segment of the cross-border payments industry.

UNIPaaS launches AI Assist solution.

Regtech / Compliance

AML compliance and fraud prevention solution provider Flagright teams up with digital transaction solution Traxion.

Napier AI lands £45 million backing from Crestline Investors.

Ncontracts and America’s Credit Unions announce alliance.

Silent Eight expands partnership with HSBC to provide transaction screening solutions.

Digital Banking

Singapore-based digital bank Tonik unveils new joint savings account for couples, Luv Stash, with a 4.5% interest rate.

Personetics appoints Udi Ziv as new CEO.

Nigerian digital bank FairMoney is considering acquiring Umba, digital bank with operations in Nigeria and Kenya, in an all stock deal valued at $20 million.

Crypto

Revolut announces plans to open an advanced cryptocurrency exchange.

RockWallet to onboard former Wyre users after acquisition of its customer base.

Mastercard and Swoo partner to offer crypto cashback on everyday purchases.

Helius raises $9.5 million in Series A funding to enhance the developer experience on Solana.

Fraud and security

U.K.-based AML platform Napier AI secures $56.8 million (£45 million) in a round led by Crestline Investors.

Featurespace appoints Dr David Sutton as Chief Innovation Officer (CINO) and Kendra Rogers as Chief Communications & Marketing Officer (CCMO).

Investing and wealth management

Revolut launches new robo-advisor service in Ireland.

Velexa introduces Fractional Bonds, democratizing investment in high-quality bonds.

TIFIN receives $10 million from SEI to power the future of wealth through artificial intelligence.

Open banking

Data intelligence platform Bud Financial is partnering with open banking company Fintech Galaxy to strengthen the open banking scene in the MENA region.

Insurtech

Insurtech Mylo selected by 1-800Accountant as digital insurance partner.

Photo by Markus Spiske

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Signifyd Collaborates with Capital One To Help Retailers Combat False Positives

Signifyd Collaborates with Capital One To Help Retailers Combat False Positives
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Capital One, Daily news, Signifyd

A new partnership between Finovate alum Signifyd and Capital One will bring the fraud prevention specialist’s Authorization Rate Optimization solution to the bank’s payment ecosystem. The integration will help boost authorization rates and reduce the number of orders on Capital One credit cards that are inaccurately declined due to suspected fraud. This will increase revenue for retailers, as well as enhance customer lifetime value. Capital One will benefit from stronger cardholder loyalty, while cardholders will enjoy a more secure, online shopping experience with less friction.

“We are so pleased to partner with Capital One to solve a strategic issue for the ecommerce world,” Signifyd CEO Ra Ramanand said. “The very largest ecommerce sites globally can work directly with issuers to optimize their auth rates, but what do other merchants do? They come to Signifyd because we can optimize payment acceptance through our deep product integrations across the financial ecosystem.”

Signifyd’s Authorization Rate Optimization technology will be integrated with Capital One’s Enhanced Decisioning Data API. This will give Capital One enhanced data and fraud insights to help establish whether or not a given transaction should be approved or declined at the bank authorization stage. The solution provides identity intelligence across the entire shopper journey, delivering instant insights from the Signifyd Commerce Network at checkout, and helping authorization rates go up and the number of false declines go down.

An increase in false declines are, in some ways, the predicable outcome of the arms race between retailers and fraudsters. As fraud becomes more sophisticated, with more attacks and intrusions taking place earlier in the transaction process, both banks and merchants have found themselves increasingly declining payment at the authorization stage. The Economist reported that up to one in eight e-commerce dollars are currently declined during payment authorization, and the Aite Group reported that 62% of the merchants it surveyed admitted that their false decline rates have gone up in the last two years.

“There is no reason (why) merchants and banks should miss the opportunity to create seamless customer experiences at checkout,” Signifyd General Manager, Payment Solutions Okan Ozaltin said. “Working directly with issuing banks such as Capital One means Signifyd can offer the kind of ecommerce protection that makes life better for merchants and their loyal customers.”

Making its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring in 2013, Signifyd has become a leading, enterprise-grade fraud prevention platform. This year, the company was recognized by G2 in its 2021 Summer Report as a leader in the space as well as being first in market presence. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Signifyd has raised $390 million in funding, including a $205 million Series E round closed in April that was led by Owl Rock Capital. In addition to its partnership with Capital One – itself an alum of Finovate’s developer conference FinDEVr – Signifyd has teamed up in recent months with B2B payments specialist Adflex and, this spring, launched its Return Abuse Prevention Solution, which helps retailers better manage the $43 billion problem of fraudsters who abuse the refund and return system.

“Unfortunately, fraudsters and a subset of consumers are becoming more aggressive and ingenious when it comes to taking advantage of return policies meant to make life easier for shoppers,” Signifyd Vice President of Product Gayathri Somanath said when the solution was introduced. “Return Abuse Prevention relies on Signifyd’s network data, machine learning models and our new Decision Center module to give retailers the tools they need to stay ahead of this increasing, revenue-crushing trend.”

Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels

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Ten Finovate Alums Join FedNow Instant Payments Pilot Program

Ten Finovate Alums Join FedNow Instant Payments Pilot Program
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Alumni News, Capital One, Citi, Daily news, Finastra, Finzly, FIS, Fiserv, Green Dot, Jack Henry, List series, Temenos

More than two years in the making, the FedNow payments initiative – launched by the U.S. Federal Reserve to accelerate payments and transfers – is picking up speed. The project currently has more than 110 banks, financial services providers, and other organizations slated to participate, and among them are ten Finovate alums.

“We’re gratified by the industry’s tremendous interest and willingness to devote time and energy to help us develop the FedNow Service,” Esther George, executive sponsor of the Federal Reserve’s payments improvement initiatives, said. George, who is also President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, added that the pilot has had to “adjust” to accommodate greater than expected interest.

The idea behind the service is to expand the reach of instant payment services offered by financial institutions and enable businesses and individuals to send and receive instant payments, with full access to their funds within seconds. The FedNow Service will leverage the Federal Reserve’s FedLine network, which connects to more than 10,000 financial institutions directly or via their agents.

The pilot program is designed to review the technology’s features and functionality, assess the user experience, and greenlight the product for further testing and eventual general availability. Participating institutions will be retained, post-launch, to provide additional review and advice with regard to issues like adoption roadmap, industry readiness, and overall payments strategy.

“The FedNow Service marks a turning point in the industry’s move to making real-time payments a reality,” Booshan Rengachari, founder and CEO of Finzly, explained. Finzly is one of Finovate’s newest alums – most recently demoing its technology at FinovateWest Digital last fall – and is one of the participants in FedNow’s pilot program.

Rengachari further suggested that this “turning point” was a moment his company had anticipated. “We created our Payment Hub specifically to help FIs prepare and go to market faster with newer RTP networks,” he said. Finzly’s CEO added that this helps “address the challenges of offering single payment API for multiple payment networks without having to run disparate payment systems from multiple vendors.”

The 10 Finovate alums participating in the FedNow project are listed below.

Photo by Inge Wallumrød from Pexels

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What’s the Fuss? Amazon Already Offers Full Suite of Banking Services [Updated]

What’s the Fuss? Amazon Already Offers Full Suite of Banking Services [Updated]
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Amazon.com, Capital One, Chase Bank, Credit/Debit Cards, Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs

Amazon made headlines around the banking/fintech world this week following a WSJ story Monday about a rumored collaboration with Chase Bank and/or Capital One. The click-bait title, Next Up for Amazon: Checking Accounts (apparently revised from the title embedded in the hyperlink, “Are You Ready for an Amazon-branded Checking”) made it go viral in the United States, at least with news organizations.

The facts were less exciting than the headline. Apparently the ecommerce giant issued an RFP last year seeking suppliers of a “hybrid” checking account aimed at younger and unbanked customers (it’s unclear whether that is a single segment “young and underbanked” or two segments, “young” and/or “underbanked”). And there was no indication that any new product was coming now, or ever.

There is one thing missing in the 100+ stories that appeared in the wake of the WSJ piece:

Amazon already is a bank in everything but the name

Here’s a list of its current financial and payment offerings:

  • Amazon Pay: Used by 33 million to pay for goods at non-Amazon sites
  • Amazon Gift Cards: Available at brick & mortar retailers all over the country (I’ve bought more of those than all other gift cards combined)
  • Amazon Store Card, with financing option on qualified purchases: Issued by Synchrony Bank
  • Amazon Cash, a virtual debit card which allows cash deposits to the Amazon Pay wallet
  • Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card, an affinity card issued by Chase Bank (also Amazon Prime Rewards card; see also March 13 update below)
  • Amazon Prime Reload, which pays a 2% bonus for cash deposits into Amazon Pay
  • Amazon.com Corporate Credit Line: A way for businesses to pay for Amazon purchases via monthly consolidated billing, underwritten by Synchrony Bank
  • Amazon Lending: Which has originated $3B to smaller merchants since 2011 (cited by Bloomberg, sourced to CB Insights)
  • Credit Card Marketplace: Hadn’t seen that before, includes Amazon co-branded cards along with Discover and American Express
  • Gift Card marketplace: Hundreds of prepaid gift cards from other retailers along with restaurants, travel, and entertainment providers
  • Amazon Currency Converter: For purchasing on Amazon.com in local currency
  • Amazon Allowance: Tool for parents to enable their kids to pay directly (link was broken so not sure the status)
  • Shop with Points: A number of major banking rewards programs can shop directly at Amazon with their bank-provided points including Citibank, American Express, Chase and Discover
  • Alexa: Supports banking and payments info (aka skills) from a number of financial institutions including Capital One, US Bank, and American Express
  • Teen accounts: Amazon allows teens to set up separate logins and make purchases from an allowance amount and/or request approval directly from parents (Source: Business Intelligence).
    (Update 29 March 2018) Recent news reports imply that Amazon may be looking at creating additional teen payment options, potentially in partnership with banks

The only major retail banking service missing, a stand-alone debit card (although you can already link a debit card to your Amazon account). Which I’m guessing is the core of the RFP mentioned by the Wall Street Journal.

Update (13 Mar 2018): Bloomberg reports that Amazon is planning on launching a small business co-branded card with Chase, the issuer of Amazon’s consumer card.

Bottom line: Amazon is already deeply involved in banking and payments, as are most major retailers. Gift cards, co-branded credit cards, and SMB credit products are already being used by millions of consumers. Adding a debit card and/or “hybrid checking account” isn’t going to make them any more menacing as a competitor. The prime concern for banks is whether Amazon can move payment volume from bank-issued credit cards, where the industry enjoys healthy profit margins, to debit/ACH with narrow-to-non-existent margins.

Author: Jim Bruene (@netbanker) is Founder & Advisor at Finovate as well as Principal of BUX Certified, a financial services user-experience accreditation program. 

 

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FinDEVr APIntelligence

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: aixigo, Capital One, eSignLive, eWise, FinDEVr APIntelligence, Fiserv, Green Key Technologies, Harborx, LeanXcale, Outsystems, SoFi, Streamdata.io, Trulioo, Xero

Our first developers conference in the U.K. is just over a month away. Join us for two days of developer-focused presentations, demonstrations, and conversations at FinDEVr 2017 London, June 12 and 13. Stop by our registration page today and save your spot.

On FinDEVr.com

  • Trulioo Bolsters Regtech Solution with Mitek Partnership

Alumni updates

  • Trulioo Bolsters Regtech Solution with Mitek Partnership
  • Greenkey Technologies announces interconnection partnership with iMarket.
  • FinDEVr alum OutSystems expands to Asia with new office in Japan.
  • Ohio-based First National Bank of Pandora chooses core account processing platform from Fiserv.
  • Xero announces new partnership with Capital One to give SMEs more control over their data.

Stay current on daily news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Capital One, Fiserv, Matchi, Misys, Xero, Zopa

On Finovate.com

  • KPMG Acquires Fintech Collaboration Specialist, Matchi.

Around the web

  • Misys introduces cloud-based, retail banking platform for German market.
  • Xero announces new partnership with Capital One to give SMEs more control over their data.
  • Zopa wins full FCA authorization for P2P lending.
  • Ohio-based Apple Creek Bank chooses core account processing and back office solutions from Fiserv.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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FinDEVr APIntelligence

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Barclaycard, BBVA, Capital One, Capital One Financial Corp., Citi, Currency Cloud, Fidor Bank, FinDEVr APIntelligence, Finicity, Fiserv, FixNix, GoodData, Kabbage, MapD, MX, NuCypher, OutsideIQ, Quovo, SoFi, Symphony Software Foundation, Xero

FDNY17-Logo-RevFinDEVr New York will be here in less than one week! Check out company features and take a look at the previews from upcoming presentations. And of course, don’t forget to register today to save!

On FinDEVr.com

Alumni updates

  • Citi introduces new mobile passcode solution for its Treasury and Trade clients. See Citi at FinDEVr New York next week.
  • Putnam-Greene Financial Corporation to deploy core banking technology from Fiserv. Join Fiserv in New York next week for FinDEVr New York.
  • Capital One Financial Corporation appoints Amy Lenander as UK CEO.
  • Barclaycard adds free Uber ride as reward for loyal cardholders. See Barclaycard next week at FinDEVr New York.
  • OutsideIQ partners with SAP Ariba to help corporations quickly screen vendors for risk and regulatory compliance.
  • FinDEVr alum Capital One joins the chatbot revolution with its new SMS virtual assistant, Eno.
  • Currencycloud Collects $25 Million in New Funding.
  • BBVA Compass unveils BBVA Momentum, a seven-month accelerator for socially-minded entrepreneurs.
  • Kabbage nabs $500M for small business loans.
  • Fidor partners with Van Lanschot to create the first PSD2-inspired Payment Avenue.
  • MX to power digital money management tools for Travis CU.

Stay current on daily news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Capital One, CR2, eWise, Featurespace, ICAR, Misys, OutsideIQ, Xero

On FinDEVr.com

On Finovate.com

  • Finovate Debuts: ICAR Builds a Digital Identify Profile for Client ID Verification.
  • Spring Forward: FinovateSpring 2016 Alums Top $200 Million in Funding.
  • How Virtual Reality, Big Data, and the Blockchain Are Changing Proptech.

Around the web

  • eWise partners with TSWG to drive digital banking innovation.
  • OutsideIQ partners with SAP Ariba to help corporations quickly screen vendors for risk and regulatory compliance.
  • Featurespace to provide machine learning fraud and risk management solution to CashFlows.
  • Financial Times: Misys close to deal to combine with rival DH Corp.
  • National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) Egypt launches internet banking courtesy of CR2’s BankWorld Internet platform.
  • FinDEVr alum Capital One joins the chatbot revolution with its new SMS virtual assistant, Eno.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Mobile UX: A First Look at “Second Look” Transaction Alerts from Capital One

Mobile UX: A First Look at “Second Look” Transaction Alerts from Capital One
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Alerts & Messaging, Capital One, UX

capital-one-labs-home

A paradox of the early digital banking era (1995 to 2007) was: Why is Capital One a laggard? The new company (spun out from Signet Bank in 1994) was widely revered as a data-analytics and marketing master. But it was practically a digital no-show for more than a decade, offering just a minimum level of functionality online. As recently as 2010, Capital One was the last major bank to launch a native mobile banking app.

Fast-forward six years. Capital One owns the innovation mantle, at least in the United States. It has Capital One Labs; it runs an innovation center in the Bay Area; and it now offers the most advanced set of mobile apps in the card-issuing business.

Its latest innovation? The first proactive service from a major issuer that alerts cardholders to deviations in spending with recurring charges. It’s called Second Look, and it certainly deserves one.

I was introduced to the new feature this week when I received a notification on my iPhone alerting me to a spending increase on my power bill (screenshot 1 below). After swiping through it and logging in via TouchID, the app displayed a chart showing how much my bill had increased last month (screenshot 2). And I was asked whether I was OK with the charge or not (bottom of screenshot 2). If not, the bank provided instructions on how to dispute the charge (screenshot 3). Customers can also elect to receive the alerts through email.

Another thing I really appreciated: The bank gave me enough info in the notification to make an intelligent decision whether I even needed to log in. The bane of the mobile-user experience is dealing with (ultimately ignoring) all the false positives you get through most notification services. I clicked through the notice out of curiosity. But thanks to the detail, I already knew that the $14 increase wasn’t a major problem.

Bottom line: This is just one example of a more proactive approach to helping customers deal with day-to-day finances. It’s still a relatively manual user experience, especially if you want to dispute a charge. However, as banks layer AI on top of their data hordes, outside APIs, and location-based info, we’ll see much, much more. Kudos to Capital One for leading the way.

(1) Second Look notification from Capital One
Exhibit 1: “Second Look” notification from Capital One

 

Exhibit 2: Second Look transaction analysis
Exhibit 2: Second Look’s transaction analysis

 

Exhibit 3: Second Look's taking action screen
Exhibit 3: The manual process to dispute a Second Look-flagged charge

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Email Marketing: Third-Party Offers with Deal-Killer Fine Print

Email Marketing: Third-Party Offers with Deal-Killer Fine Print
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Capital One, Credit/Debit Cards, Email Marketing, Email Samples

I’ve complained about similar offers before, but since this arrived in my inbox this morning, I figured it’s time to revisit the issue.

———

Today’s lesson is about third-party offers, where an outside company pays to get in front of your customer base. They are relatively rare in financial services these days because banks and card issuers are wary of being tarred and feathered in social media (or the CFPB) if something goes wrong or the particular marketing permissions were later shown to be lacking.

Uber offer from Capital One via email 3 Oct 2016
Uber offer from Capital One via email 3 Oct 2016

 

The offer in question is from Uber. It’s good for $5 off your first 5 rides and requires a Capital One card for payment. That’s a win-win. Uber gets a new customer and Capital One gets its card loaded into the Uber app for years to come.

The problem: It’s only for new Uber customers. I presume Capital One removes cardholders from the mailing who have charged an Uber to its card. But that doesn’t catch people who use another card in their Uber account.

So let’s break down what happens next. Capital One customers get this slick email (see above). They get excited to switch Uber payments over to their Capital One card to grab some $5-off rides. But then, after reading the fine print, or more likely clicking through the message and trying to sign up, cardholders find out they get zip from this deal. Now, they are not happy with Capital One or Uber. What a waste of time and brand loyalty.

Instead, why not give some smaller benefit to existing Uber customers willing to switch their payment card over to Capital One? Even just one $5 off coupon would suffice for most.

Bottom line: Capital One needs to earmark a portion of its commissions from Uber towards existing customers. If there isn’t enough revenue to do that, then it should stop making the offer.

——-

Related: At last mfindevr-sv16onth’s Finovate Fall, MX demo’d, and won Best of Show, for an automated solution called Power Switch to automatically enroll your customers’ cards into e-commerce sites such as Uber, Amazon, iTunes, and so on. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how MX produces its award-winning (six consecutive Best of Shows) at FinDEVr in Santa Clara 18/19 Oct 2016 (register here).

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Mobile UI: Capital One Wallet Reverts to Old-School Navigation

Mobile UI: Capital One Wallet Reverts to Old-School Navigation
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Bundle, Capital One, Key Bank, Mobile Banking, UX

hamburger-menuI am not a huge fan of the hamburger navigation menu. If you are a smartphone native, I’m sure your eyes go right to the little pack of horizontal lines in the corner. But if you got your first smartphone in your 40s, you probably could use a little more help.

So I applaud Capital One, recently named in Fast Company as one of the best-designed mobile apps (see note 1), which in a 7 September iOS update ditched the so-called hamburger menu for something that’s actually visible on the page. See Fig 1 before and Fig. 2 after. I also learned today that Key Bank made the same decision to ditch the burger, but instead of a lower nav bar, they went with the more web-centric look of a near-the-top nav (Fig 3).
(Update 29 Sep: A reader informed me many banks are ditching the hamburger menu in light of Apple’s design advice here, here and here.)

Capital One Wallet iOS Previous
Fig 1. Capital One Wallet iOS
Previous

 

Capital One Wallet iOS Current
Fig 2. Capital One Wallet iOS
Current

Unless you are Facebook, Instagram, or other apps where customers spend hours every week, you need to make it easy for infrequent users to find their way through your app. And even though mobile banking is relatively simple, many providers make it needlessly hard to navigate with cute, hidden menus.

I understand why designers minimize the navigation, mobile real estate is precious, and even a half-centimeter devoted to on-screen navigation is a lot. But what’s more important, showing more transactions on the main screen or how to actually do something meaningful?

The update also included a new restaurant finder to identify popular eating establishments based on transaction data across all Capital One cardholders (Fig 4). It’s reminiscent of the Citigroup/Microsoft/Morningstar joint venture Bundle (F10), which, not coincidentally, was acquired by Capital One four years ago.

Key Bank iOS app with top navigation
Fig 3. Key Bank iOS app with top navigation

 

capital-one-wallet-restuarant-finder
Fig 4. Restaurant Finder in Capital One Wallet (iOS)

———-

Notes:
1. Only two financial companies were named in Fast Company’s list of 100+ best-designed products or apps in the October issue. The other was RobinHood, the simple, mobile stock-trading app.

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