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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Cardlay Payments Solutions has inked a partnership with Visa.
The collaboration combines Cardlay’s spend management technology with Visa’s payment network, data capabilities, and market position to drive innovation in spend management for commercial card issuers and their customers.
Headquartered in Denmark, Cardlay made its Finovate debut earlier this year at FinovateSpring.
Danish fintech Cardlay is collaborating with digital payments leader Visa to power innovations in the spend management space for commercial card issuers and their clients. The two companies’ new referral relationship combines Cardlay’s white label spend management platform with Visa’s market position, payment network, and data capabilities to provide fully embedded commercial cards and spend management solutions to their clients.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Visa, a highly respected leader in the digital payments industry,” Cardlay CEO Jørgen Christian Juul said. “To be able to fuel our product and commercial growth further together with Visa is great and the collaboration will help bring our vision to life: delivering fast and effortless spend management to commercial card issuers.”
Cardlay leverages the integration of virtual and plastic payment cards, card management, and expense management (including automated VAT reclaim) to help companies automate key business processes. A strategic partner to banks, fintechs, card issuers and processors, as well as other financial institutions, Cardlay also runs its own virtual card program to complement its software suite.
Cardlay’s technology enables commercial card issuers to enjoy a fast time-to-market and ROI, as well as benefit from data capabilities such as real-time virtual credit cards and Visa’s Fleet 2.0 data. These capabilities provide greater efficiency via access to data and insights, facilitate cost reduction, and help support sustainable transportation and mobility budgets.
“We’re delighted to have partnered up with Cardlay and look forward to our work together, helping to streamline financial operations for businesses, providing them with greater transparency and control over their spending,” said Helen Jones, Executive Director, Visa Commercial Solutions, Visa Europe.
Headquartered in Denmark and founded in 2020, Cardlay Payment Solutions made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring earlier this year. At the conference, the company demoed its bank-integrated, real-time expense management solution, Cardlay Expense. More than 500 companies and 5,000+ users in 10 markets around the world are taking advantage of the technology to simplify and streamline the spend management process.
Cardlay has raised more than $29 million in funding according to Crunchbase. The company’s investors include Global PayTech Ventures and SEB Venture Capital.
U.K.-based challenger bank Monzo secured an additional $190 million (£150 million) in funding this week, adding to the $426 million (£340 million) raised just a few days ago. The Series I round, totaling $616 million (£490 million) gives the digital bank a valuation of $5.2 billion (£4.1 billion) and represents one of the biggest fundraising rounds for a European fintech since 2023.
The bank’s financial backers included Hedosophia and CapitalG, Alphabet’s growth fund. CNBC’s coverage of the funding notes that Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund GIC was also a participant in the funding, but GIC has yet to confirm the report.
Monzo will use the funds both to build new products as well as move forward with its international expansion plans. Expansion to the U.S. is near the top of the company’s wish list, having resumed efforts to secure a banking license in the country after retreating from a previous attempt three years ago. Monzo hired Conor Walsh, former Head of Product for Cash App, as its U.S. CEO in 2023.
“At the heart of it, we are a mission-oriented company that’s looking to build the single place where people can meet all of their financial needs,” Monzo Co-Founder and CEO TS Anil told CNBC. “What’s exciting to me is that, as we pursue that mission of changing people’s relationship with money, we’ve built a business model that is congruent with that, as well, with this model that is built entirely around the customer.”
Founded in 2015, Monzo has more than nine million retail customers and 400,000 business customers in the U.K. The challenger bank offers current and joint accounts, as well as an app to enable customers to see all their accounts and control spending. The company launched its first business bank accounts for SMEs and self-employed workers in 2020 and, later that year, unveiled its first loan products for its personal current account customers. In 2023, Monzo announced that it had achieved profitability for the first time.
As part of its expansion plans, Monzo is looking to begin offering mortgage and pension products, with the latter being available as early as six to nine months from now. Last year, Monzo launched an investment product, giving customers the ability to invest in a trio of funds offered by BlackRock.
Banked and NAB Promote A2A Payments in Australia
A new partnership between international payments network Banked and National Australia Bank will make it easier for merchants in Australia to adopt account-to-account (A2A) payments solutions. Specifically, the two entities are seeking to encourage the adoption of Pay by Bank technology via Australian Payments Plus (AP+) services.
Pay by Bank enables merchants to send PayTo Agreements to customers, and then initiate payments and refunds based on those agreements – which cover a variety of transaction experiences including online payments, and recurring payments with fixed, variable, or split payment amounts. Partnering with NAB gives Banked a partner with both an established presence in the Australian market, as well as a comprehensive knowledge of the needs of merchants in the country.
“The nascent A2A payments industry in Australia presents an incredible opportunity for Banked,” Banked CEO Brad Goodall said. “Local regulators have developed well-constructed mandates and the banking industry is primed for innovation, all of which sets the stage for rapid growth in real-time payments.”
An initial set of NAB business customers from industries such as e-commerce and retail, as well as non-bank lenders, is scheduled go live with A2A payments in the first half of 2024.
With offices in both Palo Alto, California and London, U.K., Banked was founded in 2018. Earlier this year, the company announced a partnership with FIS to promote use of Pay by Bank.
Meet FinovateSpring 2024’s International Alums
FinovateEurope typically gets top billing as our most international fintech conference. But FinovateSpring has showcased a sizable number of fintech innovators from around the world, as well. And this year’s FinovateSpring is no exception.
Here’s a look at seven companies demoing at FinovateSpring, May 21-23, that hail from outside of the United States.
There’s still time to pick up your ticket and save your spot for our annual Spring fintech conference in San Francisco, May 21-23. Visit our FinovateSpring hub to register.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Nigerian fintech and non-bank credit card issuer O3 Capital partnered with American Express to issue four new AMEX credit cards.
South African fintech Lesaka acquired South African payments company Adumo in a deal valued at $85.9 million.
SasaPay, a fintech headquartered in Kenya, announced a partnership with investments solutions provider Etica Capital.
Central and Eastern Europe
Swiss Bitcoin Pay teamed up with Lithuanian regtech iDenfy to enhance its risk management and onboarding processes.
Latvian fintech Huntli partnered with U.S.-based Payall to improve security for cross-border payments.
Lithuania-based TransferGo secured $10 million in funding from Taiwania Capital Management.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Digital payments company Wink Pay launched in Lebanon in partnership with Visa and Codebase Technologies.
Saudi Arabian insurtech Rasan to sell 30% of its stake in a Riyadh IPO.
Central and Southern Asia
Nepal Clearing House inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ant International to enable QR payments via Alipay+ for visitors to Nepal.
Finovate Best of Show winner Zetalaunched its Digital-Credit-as-a-Service solution for banks in India.
Saudi Arabia’s Alraedah Digital Solutions forged a strategic partnership with Pakistan-based fintech ABHI to launch new financial services in the kingdom.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Brazilian digital bank Nubanktops 100 million customer mark.
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco on May 21 and 22. Register today using this link and save 20%.
Cardlay Payment Solutions
Cardlay Payment Solutions’ white-label card and expense management product, Cardlay Expense, delivers an exceptional, real-time experience for card users.
Features
A fully bank-integrated, real-time product that helps banks provide corporate card clients a highly competitive user experience.
Who’s it for?
Banks, card issuers, fleets, other payment providers, and small, midsize and large corporations.
Foresight
Foresight is the operating system for the private market. Their software makes sourcing, diligence, and portfolio management data driven.
Features
Finds the right company to lend to, invest in, or buy
Makes diligence smarter and faster
Sees and models portfolios in real-time with all data integrated
Who’s it for?
Venture capital and private equity firms, commercial banks, pension funds, M&A advisors, and corporate development teams.
Transvision Solutions
Transvision Solutions is a tech firm specializing in AML solutions and analytics consulting. They offer advanced software to global financial institutions, focusing on combating financial crimes.
Features
Detects unusual activity efficiently using advanced analytics
Ensures compliance with real-time alerts and reporting
Reduces compliance costs by 30% minimum and increases efficiency
Who’s it for?
Banks, payment service providers, money service businesses, lending firms, law firms, credit unions, insurance companies, and retail organizations.
TruStage
Payment Guard by TruStage is a first-of-its-kind insurance solution built for digital lenders, designed to attract more borrowers and build more resilient loan portfolios.
Features
Attracts more borrowers
Strengthens loan portfolios
Reduces time spent on collections
Who’s it for?
Digital lenders.
ZimpleMoney
ZimpleMoney makes private lending simple between families, friends, and businesses, while empowering banks and credit unions with added visibility and control.
Features
Improves customer satisfaction
Increases account retention
Creates new channels for non-interest revenue and deposit growth
Who’s it for?
Banks, credit unions, and any business or other private party extending financing to their borrowers, customers, tenants, friends, or family.