Daily news

Hours After the GENIUS Act is Finalized, SoFi Launches Interest-Bearing Tokenized Deposit

Hours After the GENIUS Act is Finalized, SoFi Launches Interest-Bearing Tokenized Deposit
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, SoFi
  • SoFi has launched SoFi Earn (SOFIE), a bank-issued tokenized deposit that offers consumers 4.40% APY and FDIC insurance eligibility.
  • Customers can convert SOFIE deposits into SoFiUSD stablecoins at a one-to-one ratio to purchase cryptocurrency or transfer funds over blockchain networks.
  • The launch comes a day after the OCC finalized rules implementing the GENIUS Act, which restricts stablecoin issuers from paying yield, positioning tokenized deposits as an interest-bearing alternative that could help banks retain deposits.

SoFi has launched SoFi Earn (SOFIE), a bank-issued tokenized deposit for consumers. The new tokenized deposit will allow members to earn interest on their digital dollars while making them ready to use.

SoFi Earn allows customers to hold digital dollars in an interest-bearing, tokenized bank deposit that earns 4.40% APY and is eligible for FDIC insurance. When customers want to use those funds to purchase cryptocurrency or transfer money over a blockchain, they can convert their SOFIE deposits into SoFiUSD, SoFi’s stablecoin, at a one-to-one ratio. This allows customers to earn interest on their digital dollars until they’re ready to use them, combining the benefits of traditional fiat deposits with the flexibility of blockchain-based payments.

“Too much money in the digital asset ecosystem is sitting idle, leaving massive potential earnings on the table for millions of people,” said SoFi CEO Anthony Noto. “We believe your money should keep working for you until the moment you need it. SoFi Earn combines the earning power and protections of a bank deposit with the speed and utility of digital assets, giving people more value, flexibility and control over their money.”

SoFi Earn will be rolled out to SoFi Crypto members now through November. 

The launch comes just hours after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) finalized rules implementing the GENIUS Act’s prohibition on stablecoin issuers paying yield to holders. SoFi’s new tokenized deposit offers an alternative by positioning interest-bearing bank deposits as a complement to stablecoins without being subject to the same restrictions.

The GENIUS Act takes effect January 18, 2027 and has been criticized for leaving out details regarding interest payments from third-party reward programs. The law prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield to holders solely for holding a payment stablecoin, while leaving room for debate over rewards offered by exchanges and other intermediaries. Tokenized bank deposits, meanwhile, fall outside the GENIUS Act’s definition of payment stablecoins, allowing banks such as SoFi to offer interest-bearing digital dollars under existing banking regulations.

Today’s launch of SOFIE is SoFi’s fifth new crypto offering in less than a year. The company has been building out its digital money ecosystem by launching crypto trading for consumers, SoFiUSD, and Big Business Banking, a platform that gives companies a single regulated platform to manage both fiat and digital assets.

The launch raises an interesting question about the future of digital dollars: If consumers can earn interest on tokenized deposits and easily convert them into stablecoins when needed, there is limited incentive for them to hold non-interest-bearing stablecoins. SoFi’s move motivates consumers to use its bank to store their tokenized deposits.

Traditional banks, especially those concerned about losing deposits to digital assets, can take a lesson from SoFi’s launch. The move suggests that banks don’t have to choose between traditional deposits and blockchain-based payments. Connecting interest-bearing deposits with stablecoin functionality allows banks to offer consumers the best of both worlds; they get to earn interest on their money while maintaining the flexibility to transact using blockchain-based payments.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Checkout.com Expands into In-Person Payments

Checkout.com Expands into In-Person Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Checkout.com is expanding into in-person payments after 14 years of focusing exclusively on online payments, responding to growing merchant demand.
  • The company is partnering with European payments platform Mollie to combine Mollie’s payment terminals and point-of-sale technology with Checkout.com’s acquiring infrastructure.
  • Checkout.com’s new hardware-agnostic offering will initially launch in the UK and EEA, followed by the US, with additional markets and capabilities planned for 2027.

Digital payments provider Checkout.com unveiled plans to expand into in-person payments after spending 14 years solely focused on online payments.

The move comes in response to merchant demand and is made possible by a partnership with Mollie, a European payments platform with 350,000 business clients. The partnership combines Mollie’s proprietary payment terminals, point-of-sale software, and merchant relationships with Checkout.com’s acquiring infrastructure. Under the agreement, Mollie will retain control of its hardware strategy and customer experience while leveraging Checkout.com’s processing capabilities to support in-person transactions.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Amsterdam, Mollie is a European payments platform that helps businesses accept and manage payments both online and in person. The company offers payment processing, point-of-sale solutions, recurring payments, and financial management tools. Mollie aims to simplify payments and financial operations for businesses of all sizes, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.

For its new in-person payments offering, Checkout.com offers a device-agnostic approach that does not tie the payments software to a single terminal or hardware provider. Because it is modular, Checkout.com’s in-person payments platform enables merchants to connect to terminals they already use or choose hardware that best suits their operations.

Checkout.com is a global payments platform that empowers businesses to accept, process, and manage payments seamlessly. The company uses its payments network to enable organizations to accept payments locally and internationally with global acquiring capabilities. The company also offers a suite of services that allows businesses to create and manage their own payment cards, advanced risk management tools to optimize performance and reduce fraud, and treasury management services to streamline cash flow and reconciliation.

“This expansion follows our earlier announcement of sustained profitability and growing margins, giving us the capacity to invest in new technologies and segments,” said Checkout.com Chief Revenue Officer Antoine Nougué. “Our merchants know Checkout.com for our speed, reliability and pace of innovation, and they asked us to bring that to in-person payments. Our job is to go where they need us most.”

UK-based Checkout.com is on track to process $480 billion in global ecommerce payments in 2026. Checkout.com has spent years building its global payments infrastructure, connecting directly to card networks to process transactions across multiple regions in less than half a second. Over the past year, the company has launched more than 150 merchant-facing features.

Checkout.com will initially launch in-person payments in the UK and EEA, followed by the US. The company plans to launch more schemes, markets, and capabilities next year.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Cross River Acquires Accrue to Bring Loyalty to Payments

Cross River Acquires Accrue to Bring Loyalty to Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • CRB Group, the parent company of Cross River Bank, has agreed to acquire customer loyalty platform Accrue for an undisclosed amount.
  • The acquisition will integrate Accrue’s branded wallet technology into Cross River’s banking infrastructure, enabling merchants to offer payments, rewards, stored value, and loyalty capabilities in a single experience.
  • The deal reflects the growing convergence of payments and loyalty, helping brands deepen customer relationships and keep more financial activity within their own ecosystems.

The parent company of Cross River Bank, CRB Group, has agreed to acquire customer loyalty provider Accrue. While Cross River did not disclose the acquisition amount, the bank did express that the purchase will help it continue to expand its embedded finance offerings.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Founded in 2021, Accrue powers modern customer loyalty at the payment layer. Its branded wallet platform enables merchants to connect stored value, payments, rewards, and customer engagement in one experience. The New York-based company aims to turn one-time transactions into repeat business using branded debit cards, payments-led loyalty, and store credit refunds.

“I started Accrue with the belief that financial products would increasingly live inside the brands and experiences customers use every day,” said Accrue Founder and CEO Michael Hershfield. “Accrue brings that to life by embedding wallets, payments, stored value, and rewards directly into the merchant experience. Cross River shares that vision, and with its technology, scale, and global reach, we can take it much further.”

Cross River was founded in 2008 to bring scalable, embedded payments, cards, lending, and crypto solutions to businesses and consumers. The bank is known for its API-driven banking core and regulatory expertise. Because it owns its infrastructure, Cross River reduces the risk and compliance gaps that come with bringing on third-party systems. The bank anticipates that Accrue will strengthen its technology stack and enable partners to offer branded wallets and financial products to their customers. Accrue’s team, including Hershfield, will join Cross River.

“Payments and loyalty are becoming one,” said Cross River Founder and CEO Gilles Gade. “Every brand wants its own wallet, and with Accrue, all of our clients can now build one on our platform. We never stop innovating, and we are excited to work with Michael Hershfield and his team to help our clients build the financial super apps of the future.”

The next era of embedded finance will increasingly bring together payments, loyalty, and customer engagement. Integrating Accrue’s wallet technology into Cross River’s banking infrastructure will put the bank into a position to help brands move beyond simply accepting payments to building deeper, ongoing relationships with their customers. Downstream, the deal will help merchants keep more transactions, rewards, and stored value within their own ecosystems, rather than relying on third-party platforms to manage those interactions.

Photo by Ann H

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

U.S. Bank Taps Atomic to Simplify Recurring Payment Switching 

U.S. Bank Taps Atomic to Simplify Recurring Payment Switching 
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Atomic FI, Daily news, US Bank
  • U.S. Bank has launched Payment Switch, a new tool that allows customers to move recurring bill payments to their U.S. Bank debit or credit cards without updating payment information at individual merchants.
  • Available to new and existing customers, Payment Switch helps users track upcoming charges, identify changes in recurring expenses, and cancel eligible subscriptions.
  • Developed in partnership with Atomic, Payment Switch is the third component of U.S. Bank Easy Switch, helping reduce friction in switching banks and strengthening primary banking relationships.

U.S. Bank has launched a new tool called Payment Switch to help its customers organize how they pay their recurring bills.

Customers can use the Bills & Subscriptions dashboard on the U.S. Bank mobile app to switch the payment method for recurring bills such as streaming services, cell phones, and utility bills to a U.S. Bank debit or credit card without having to change the payment credentials on each individual merchant’s website or app.

“The Bills & Subscriptions dashboard shows upcoming charges, identifies spend patterns and provides insight if a recurring payment changes from prior months – helping customers catch increases, avoid surprises and decide what subscriptions they want to keep,” the company said in a press release. “By simplifying how customers see and manage their recurring payments, U.S. Bank makes it easier to stay in control of their finances.”

Payment Switch allows customers to view all of their recurring payments in one place while having visibility of upcoming charges, spot changes. The tool also allows cardholders to cancel eligible subscriptions directly within its app. Bringing account opening, direct deposit switching, and recurring payment management into a single experience allows U.S. Bank to address multiple points of friction that can prevent consumers from moving their primary banking relationship. Tools like Payment Switch help reduce that burden while giving banks an opportunity to capture a larger share of customers’ everyday financial activity.

Payment Switch is available to both new and existing U.S. Bank customers and is part of the bank’s broader Bank Smartly ecosystem that includes checking and savings accounts, credit cards, rewards, and digital money management tools. The addition shows that banks are looking beyond rates and rewards to compete and instead are adding convenience and prioritizing relationships. Payment Switch is the third component of U.S. Bank Easy Switch, the bank’s solution that helps customers move their banking relationship to U.S. Bank.

The new tool was developed in partnership with Atomic, a Utah-based company that offers banks tools for billpay, subscription management, deposit switching, authentication, and more. Today’s announcement is an extension of their existing partnership; Atomic also powers U.S. Bank’s automated direct deposit setup.

Founded in 2019, Atomic has expanded its reach through a series of partnerships this year. In August, the company teamed up with TD Bank to launch Canada’s first fully integrated, in-app payroll direct deposit switching experience. That same month, Atomic expanded its partnership with Plaid to make its PayDetect transaction intelligence tool available to financial institutions using Plaid’s existing connectivity. Earlier this year, Atomic partnered with Personetics to help banks offer contextual direct deposit and bill payment switching within their digital banking experiences. The company raised $10 million in strategic funding in 2025, bringing its total funding to nearly $79 million.

Photo by kaboompics

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Ramp Raises $1.85 Billion, Boosting Valuation to $60 Billion

Ramp Raises $1.85 Billion, Boosting Valuation to $60 Billion
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Corporate card and expense management platform Ramp raised $1.85 billion in a funding round led by Dragoneer Investment Group, boosting its valuation to $60 billion, nearly double its November 2025 valuation.
  • Ramp now serves more than 85,000 businesses, powers over $275 billion in annual purchases, and generates more than $2 billion in annualized revenue.
  • Ramp’s growing suite of AI-powered tools and roughly 30× annualized revenue multiple suggest investors are betting on its evolution from an expense management provider into a broader financial operations platform.

Corporate card and expense management platform Ramp closed a $1.85 billion funding round, boosting its valuation to $60 billion, an amount that exceeds many established fintech companies and is nearly double the company’s $32 billion valuation following its November 2025 funding round.

Dragoneer Investment Group led the round, which was co-led by Thrive Capital, Founders Fund, Sands Capital, and Avenir Growth. Additional investors, including Capital International, Fidelity Management & Research Company, T. Rowe Price, and others also contributed.

Ramp, which is used by over 85,000 businesses, was founded in 2019 and has experienced notable growth over the past few years. The company powers over $275 billion in purchases annually, expanded into Canada four months ago, and now generates more than $2 billion in annualized revenue, with positive cash flow. Additionally, the company’s revenue is growing 25% faster now than it was at the same time last year.

“We obsess over saving our customers time and money. That’s why we’re growing faster at more than twice the size we were a year ago,” said Ramp Co-CEO and Co-Founder Eric Glyman. “AI opens up much more of the work it takes to run a company. Our opportunity is to get that work done at less cost. We want to help every business run better with AI.”

Ramp’s recent product launches reflect this emphasis on AI-focused tools. The company has launched Glass, a model-agnostic, collaborative AI workspace where knowledge compounds; Ramp Accounts Receivable, which automates the work between a signed contract and collected cash; AI Token Spend Management, which gives finance and technical teams one place to understand and control AI spending; and Router.com, which cuts companies’ inference costs by routing requests based on performance and cost.

Ramp’s $60 billion valuation represents an implied revenue multiple of roughly 30× its current annualized revenue. This premium suggests that investors see the company as much more than a corporate card and expense management provider. Given this figure and Ramp’s recent launches in the AI space, investors appear to be betting on Ramp’s ability to evolve into a broader financial operations platform that extends beyond spending into accounts receivable, operating tools, and more. Ramp is positioning itself to become an increasingly central part of how businesses manage their finances.

Photo by Chris F

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Illuma Raises Funds to Bring Voice Security to Credit Unions

Illuma Raises Funds to Bring Voice Security to Credit Unions
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Illuma Labs
  • Voice security fintech Illuma has secured an undisclosed investment from existing clients Financial Plus Credit Union and Dort Financial Credit Union, along with CUSO One Washington Financial.
  • The funding will help Illuma advance its deepfake detection, fraud prevention, and adaptive authentication capabilities while expanding its reach among credit unions and community banks.
  • The investment highlights the growing importance of AI-powered fraud prevention, as financial institutions seek to strengthen security without adding friction to the customer experience.

Voice security fintech Illuma has raised an undisclosed amount to support its efforts in providing deepfake detection, fraud prevention, and adaptive authentication for credit unions and smaller banks.

The investment comes from existing Illuma clients Financial Plus Credit Union and Dort Financial Credit Union, as well as Washington-based CUSO One Washington Financial, and follows its most recent funding round since February of 2025. According to Crunchbase, Illuma has raised a total of $11.5 million in disclosed funding, with four additional rounds (including today’s’) of undisclosed amounts.

“Investment from institutions that use our technology every day is a powerful expression of confidence in what we are building,” said Illuma Founder and CEO Dr. Milind Borkar. “Financial Plus and Dort Financial understand the impact of making member interactions more secure and easier for everyone involved. Alongside One Washington Financial, they are helping us accelerate innovation and bring advanced Voice Security to more institutions as fraud threats continue to evolve.”

Founded in 2016, Illuma specializes in voice authentication solutions for credit unions and community banks. IllumaSHIELD, the company’s flagship offering, uses passive voice authentication to authenticate trusted account holders in seconds while helping credit unions and banks detect AI voice fraud, deepfakes, account takeover attempts, and other potential voice threats in real time. The company also offers advanced fraud prevention, adaptive multi-factor authentication (MFA), deepfake detection, and human-AI collaborative intelligence.

Specifically, today’s investment will help Illuma advance its deepfake detection capabilities, enhance layered security, support additional platforms, strengthen enterprise readiness and reliability, and expand its commercial reach across credit unions and banks.

Since onboarding with Illuma, client Financial Plus has experienced faster authentication, fewer escalations, and an improved ability to identify fraudulent callers. “At Financial Plus, innovation starts with finding better ways to serve and protect our members,” said Financial Plus Credit Union Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer Jessica McNier. “Illuma has proven that its technology can simplify member interactions while strengthening security. Our investment supports continued innovation to address emerging fraud threats and bring more intuitive, secure experiences to the credit union industry.”

Because the funding amount is not disclosed, the notable piece about today’s announcement is where the funding is coming from. Both Financial Plus and Dort Financial are investing in a technology provider they already use, moving beyond the traditional vendor-client relationship to take a financial stake in the development of tools that they see as increasingly critical to their operations.

Illuma’s technology is tackling the growing challenge financial institutions face as AI makes deepfakes more sophisticated and renders traditional authentication methods less reliable. Many smaller banks and credit unions, which may lack the resources to build advanced fraud detection capabilities in-house, rely on partnerships with specialized fintechs to counteract this fraud. Especially as AI-generated voices become harder to distinguish from human ones, having the ability to authenticate customers without adding friction could become a competitive advantage.

Illuma most recently demoed at FinovateSpring 2025, where it won Best of Show for its deepfake detection technology. The company has since won the Tech Titans Emerging Company Innovation Award, ranked number seven on the Fast Tech List of North Texas’s fastest-growing technology companies and has been named a finalist for “Product Innovation — Advances in AI” in the Credit Union Partners segment of the 2026 Credit Union Times Luminaries Awards.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Splitit Plans to Launch White-Label Credit Card

Splitit Plans to Launch White-Label Credit Card
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, SplitIt
  • Splitit unveiled plans for the Splitit World Mastercard, a white-label credit card that combines traditional credit card functionality with flexible installment payments.
  • The card allows consumers to automatically split purchases above a customizable spending threshold into monthly installments, with the option to adjust repayment plans.
  • The offering, expected to become available in early 2027, will help mid-sized banks and credit unions compete with BNPL providers while maintaining ownership of their customer relationships.

Georgia-based BNPL solutions provider Splitit unveiled plans for the Splitit World Mastercard, a new white-label credit card that offers the flexibility of installment plans.

Shoppers can use the new credit card to make everyday purchases and use the app to set their own spending threshold. Any purchases over that amount can be automatically split into monthly installments to repay. Throughout the month, cardholders can switch a purchase to pay-in-full or they can adjust the installment plan before the statement is due.

Splitit World Mastercard combines Mastercard’s network infrastructure with Splitit’s installment technology. Because banks bring their own customers and brand, the new card offering allows banks to expand their lending and payment offerings to provide greater choice and flexibility while maintaining ownership of the customer relationships.

“The Splitit World Mastercard is a new type of credit card built for banks and credit unions that resembles the simplicity of debit for consumers and pairs it with the flexibility of installments,” said Splitit CEO Nandan Sheth. “Banks already have the relationship, the brand and the primary account. What many of them lack is a way to offer installment plans at the point of purchase without having to build a lending business from scratch. Our white-label card gives them that, under their own name.”

Splitit plans to begin shipping its World Mastercard to financial institutions in early 2027.

Splitit was founded in 2012, went public in 2019, and went private again in 2023 after it was acquired by Motive Partners. With an overall goal to simplify flexible payments, the company launched a partner program called the Agentic Commerce Partner Program in 2025. The new initiative allows autonomous shopping agents to make payments using card-linked installments.

The launch marks an interesting evolution for Splitit, which, for 16 years, has focused on enabling installment payments using consumers’ existing credit cards rather than issuing new credit products. Bringing installment functionality directly into a white-label credit card gives mid-sized banks and credit unions a way to compete with standalone BNPL providers without building their own installment infrastructure.

Notably, the approach also allows financial institutions to retain ownership of the customer relationship rather than ceding that engagement to third-party financing providers. This ownership question has become a hot topic lately, especially as consumers have started to turn to AI tools or other third party players to address their financial needs.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

nCino Unveils Productivity Suite for Mortgage Loan Officers

nCino Unveils Productivity Suite for Mortgage Loan Officers
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, nCino
  • nCino launched its Loan Officer Productivity Suite, a set of AI-powered and automated tools designed to streamline mortgage origination workflows and improve loan officer productivity.
  • The suite includes six capabilities spanning borrower eligibility checks, underwriting summaries, pre-approvals, disclosures, and connectivity with external AI agents through MCP.
  • The launch focuses on workflow execution, potentially helping mortgage lenders increase loan volume without adding staff.

Agentic AI banking platform nCino unveiled its Loan Officer Productivity Suite today. With the new set of tools, the North Carolina-based company aims to help increase the productivity of mortgage originators by adding automated actions.

Launched inside the nCino Mortgage Solution, the new suite uses each lender’s own data, product guidelines, and workflow rules to give originators answers specific to their institution and let them take action. Among the clients already using the Loan Officer Productivity Suite is Educated Mortgage, which uses it for daily origination workflows; and Security National Financial Corporation, which uses the tool to prepare its loan officers by giving them relevant borrower information.

“We’re excited to equip our loan officers with nCino’s intelligent features so they’ll have more confidence knowing exactly what each file needs to keep moving and can trust that routine tasks and borrower questions are being handled along the way,” said Security National Financial Corporation Vice President and CIO Thayne Atkinson.

The Loan Officer Productivity Suite is launching with six major elements:

  • Mortgage Advisor for Loan Officers: Allows originators to ask questions naturally and receive plain-language answers about their pipeline, individual loan files, and GSE guidelines.
  • Loan PreCheck: Evaluates borrower eligibility against multiple guidelines and recommends the best-fit loan program before the underwriting process takes place.
  • Mortgage MCP for Loan Officers: Allows loan officers to connect their preferred AI agents directly to the nCino Mortgage Suite using an MCP connection.
  • AUS Smart Tasks: Turns underwriting findings into a plain-language summary and surfaces suggested tasks.
  • Automated Pre-approval: Unifies credit authorization, verification services, fee calculations, and dual AUS integrations into a single process.
  • Automated Disclosures: Automates Initial Disclosures and Redisclosures for standard loan templates.

“Loan officers are being asked to handle more work without sacrificing responsiveness to borrowers,” said nCino General Manager of Global Mortgage Casey Williams. “The Loan Officer Productivity Suite helps create that capacity by taking routine work off originators’ plates and putting answers and next steps at their fingertips, so they can stay responsive and competitive without adding more hours to the day.”

Since it was founded in 2012, nCino has shifted from a cloud banking tool provider to providing more agentic-focused tools that help clients execute workflows. Because mortgage originators spend a significant amount of time navigating disconnected systems, reviewing borrower information, and completing administrative tasks, shifting to more automated execution could help increase loan volume without adding staff. Additionally, nCino’s support for MCP opens the door for lenders to use external AI agents to interact with their mortgage technology, which could change how loan officers work with their existing systems.

Photo by RDNE Stock project

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Backbase Moves Beyond Banking Chatbots with AI Agents That Take Action

Backbase Moves Beyond Banking Chatbots with AI Agents That Take Action
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Backbase, Daily news
  • Backbase launched Conversational Banking, an agentic AI solution that allows banks to move beyond answering customer questions to executing banking tasks within predefined permissions and controls.
  • More than 10 banks are already using the solution, with one major South African bank increasing self-service containment from 20% to 70% across 22 million customer interactions.
  • The launch highlights a broader shift toward AI-powered execution in banking, raising questions about whether banks will prioritize cost savings or leverage AI to deliver more personalized customer experiences.

Engagement banking solutions provider Backbase is launching Conversational Banking this week to bring agentic AI into the customer and employee experiences.

The launch comes 18 months after Backbase unveiled its new AI-powered banking platform that sought to improve customer engagement with AI-powered self-service and real-time support. Conversational Banking, which runs on Backbase’s AI-native Banking OS, takes that a step further by allowing the AI agent to actually execute appropriate banking actions on the behalf of consumers and employees, given that they fall within pre-defined permissions, policies, and approvals as set by the bank.

The Conversational Banking tool works alongside existing digital banking stacks and allows customers to use natural language prompts to have their lost payment card blocked and replaced, check a payment, or progress a service request. By leveraging customer context, permissions, and connected banking systems, AI agents can carry out specific, permitted tasks on customers’ behalf. For requests that require further investigation or human judgment, employees can pick up where the agent left off by examining an overview of the work the agent has already completed.

“Digital banking put the bank in the customer’s pocket. The next step is to let customers say what they need done and have the bank’s agents act on it intelligently,” said Backbase Founder and CEO Jouk Pleiter. “That future has now arrived early: one where agents do the work, and banks stay in control. It completely changes both the customer experience and the economics of serving them.”

Backbase anticipates that by allowing AI agents to carry out tasks on behalf of consumers and employees, banks can scale and increase their service capacity. In fact, according to a report by McKinsey & Company, agentic AI could cut banks’ operating costs by 15% to 20%, as the automation frees up employee time for advice, exceptions, and complex needs.

Currently, 10+ banks have already started using Backbase’s new Conversational Banking and have reported positive feedback. One of the four largest South African banks has so far supported 22 million customer interactions, while improving self-service containment from 20% to 70%.

Backbase’s launch shows that banks are beginning to shift from AI-powered tools to AI-powered execution. Chatbots have historically been limited to providing information and directing customers to the appropriate resources. By handing tasks over to agentic AI, banks can automate the steps required to resolve customer requests. This transforms AI from a customer service tool into a functional layer of the banking experience. With its background in compliance, Backbase is in a great position to add reliable governance and permissions into the agentic process, addressing one of the key hurdles preventing banks from putting agentic AI into production.

The bigger question, however, is whether banks will use these agentic capabilities primarily to reduce operating costs or to meaningfully improve the customer experience. Automating routine service requests can certainly improve efficiency, but the longer-term opportunity may lie in using AI to deliver more proactive, personalized banking services.

Photo by Ant Rozetsky on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

TrueLayer Raises $27 Million to Expand Pay-by-Bank

TrueLayer Raises $27 Million to Expand Pay-by-Bank
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • UK-based open banking platform TrueLayer raised $27 million in a funding round led by CDP Venture Capital, bringing its total funding to $348.8 million.
  • TrueLayer is expanding beyond one-time pay-by-bank payments with recurring payment capabilities and its acquisition of BNPL provider in3, positioning itself to compete more directly with traditional card networks.
  • The investment reflects Europe’s push for greater financial sovereignty, supporting the development of European-owned payment infrastructure as pay-by-bank adoption grows across the region.

UK open banking platform TrueLayer has brought in $27 million in a funding round this week led by Italy-based CDP Venture Capital with additional contributions from existing and new investors. The investment adds to the $321.8 million already raised and brings TrueLayer’s total raised to $348.8 million.

“We started TrueLayer with a simple belief: Europe deserves payment infrastructure built in Europe. Having Italy back that belief means a great deal to us personally, especially to our talented team in Milan, who work hard every day to build the future of European payments,” said TrueLayer Co-Founder and CEO Francesco Simoneschi.

Founded in 2016, TrueLayer powers $150 billion each year in online pay-by-bank payments for more than 30 million consumers in 22 countries. The company provides the connectivity and commercial payment experience that make payment rails accessible to businesses. By cutting out the middlemen involved in the payments stack, TrueLayer’s pay-by-bank tools help merchants lower payment costs by up to 40%, increase average order value by 20%, and reduce fraud by eliminating the need for payment cards. Among TrueLayer’s competitors are Trustly, Visa-owned Tink, and Volt.

Earlier this year, TrueLayer announced support for recurring payments and acquired Dutch buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider in3. The move adds a financing component to an offering historically focused on immediate bank payments. These two developments show that TrueLayer is seeking to compete beyond the pay-by-bank space. The company is slowly shifting its focus to compete with card payments at ecommerce checkout, replace card-on-file for subscriptions and repeat purchases, support merchant refunds and instant disbursements, and offer purchase financing without depending on traditional card rails.

While pay-by-bank has seen limited growth in the US, its usage is growing in Europe. In July of this year, the UK’s open banking ecosystem reached two major milestones, reaching more than one billion open banking payments and 100 billion API calls recorded across the CMA9 banks since the launch of open banking started more than eight years ago.

As European policymakers and investors increasingly emphasize financial sovereignty, TrueLayer offers an opportunity to build an alternative to payment infrastructure dominated by US-based companies such as Visa and Mastercard. CDP Venture Capital’s investment underscores that ambition, positioning pay-by-bank as both a lower-cost payment option and a strategic component of Europe’s financial infrastructure.

“Europe needs payment infrastructure it owns and controls, and we are investing across the continent to help build it,” said Mario Branciforti of CDP Venture Capital. “TrueLayer is a clear example of what that looks like in practice, with a network already operating at scale in 22 countries. 

Photo by Pixabay

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Gusto Helps Accountants Put AI Agents to Work with New Platform Updates

Gusto Helps Accountants Put AI Agents to Work with New Platform Updates
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Gusto
  • Gusto unveiled three updates for its 23,000+ accounting firm customers: a rebuilt Gusto Pro, a multi-client Model Context Protocol (MCP), and an expanded Gusto Partner Program.
  • The new tools use AI to help accountants scale their practices, automating payroll preparation and reporting while allowing accountants to retain control over approvals and focus on higher-value advisory work.
  • The company’s multi-client MCP brings its payroll data into accountants’ preferred LLMs, signaling a shift in which financial software can remain the underlying system of record even when an AI assistant becomes the primary interface.

Payroll, benefits, and HR management solutions company Gusto is shipping three new updates to help its more than 23,000 accounting firm customers serve their small business clients. The California-based company is adding a rebuilt Gusto Pro, a new multi-client Model Context Protocol (MCP), and an expanded Partner Program.

The new capabilities let firms put AI agents to work on payroll prep while staying in control of approvals. Gusto aims to empower its accountant clients to better serve their own customers while scaling their practices.

Gusto Pro, the company’s accountant payroll software, has been updated to include new AI-assisted workflows, an AI assistant with visibility into multiple clients, automated reporting, and a simplified dashboard built to free up accountants from manual tasks. While the updated platform is now available to eligible clients, the company is planning to make the updates generally available later this year.

“Gusto Pro provides advisory forward-thinking insights and tools,” said Wyatt Kneaper, founder and CEO of The Lighthouse Group, an accounting firm based in Eureka, California. “When a client is engaged, we can surface insights based on Gusto Pro to say, hey, let’s have a conversation. What are your goals? What direction do you want to head in the next two to five years? There’s a huge door that potentially opens.”

Additionally, the company now offers accountants a multi-client MCP that brings Gusto’s business context directly into the accountant’s preferred LLM. Because the MCP is multi-client, accountants can use their LLM to ask questions across their book of business without having to log in multiple times or set up multiple different windows for conversations.

Finally, Gusto has upgraded its Partner Program to help accountants grow their firms and receive more revenue share when they serve more clients on Gusto.

The Gusto Partner Program incentivizes firms to grow their practices by offering rewards. When accountants serve more clients on Gusto, they receive more revenue share as well as increased strategic support to invest back into their firms. Gusto offers marketing support, development funds, access to a consultant network, and the use of AI agents to help firms win new clients and deepen advisory revenue.

These updates show that fintechs are responding to their clients’ interests in leveraging AI to better serve their end customers. In Gusto’s case, the fintech is using AI agents to take over more of the preparation itself, leaving accountants to review and approve the work and spend more time on higher-value advisory services. Additionally, the multi-client MCP allows accountants to access Gusto data and prepare payroll from the LLMs where they already work.

In the broader fintech context, the MCP connection may be the most interesting piece of today’s announcement, as it shows that Gusto is acknowledging that the primary interface for financial software isn’t necessarily its own platform but rather the customer’s LLM. Gusto will remain the system where payroll data lives and transactions ultimately take place, while accountants choose to interact with that data through their AI assistant.

Photo by kaboompics

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Experian Unveils New Consumer Reporting Agency for Cashflow Underwriting 

Experian Unveils New Consumer Reporting Agency for Cashflow Underwriting 
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Experian
  • Experian launched the Cashflow Data Bureau, a new FCRA-regulated consumer reporting agency that uses consumer-permissioned cash flow data to support lending decisions.
  • The new bureau will serve as the foundation for Experian’s broader cash flow ecosystem, combining bank account data with existing tools such as Cashflow Attributes and Cashflow Score.
  • The launch puts Experian into closer competition with Plaid and other cash flow underwriting providers as lenders increasingly use banking activity alongside traditional credit data to assess borrowers.

Data analytics and consumer credit reporting company Experian is launching a new consumer reporting agency (CRA) called the Experian Cashflow Data Bureau. The new CRA’s goal is to help banks leverage consumer-permissioned cash flow insights to support underwriting decisions.

The Experian Cashflow Data Bureau, which operates under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), aims to help the nearly one-in-five consumers that lack access to credit or have damaged credit. Experian found that 60% of consumers who have either been denied credit or received less-than-favorable terms believe that the outcome of their application would have been different if the lender would have used cashflow underwriting, taking into account the borrower’s recent income and banking activity along with their credit history.

With the new Cashflow Data Bureau, Experian is creating an FCRA-regulated foundation for its broader cash flow decisioning ecosystem. The new platform leverages consumer-permissioned bank account data aggregation and report generation to help financial institutions bring cashflow insights into their existing decision-making process.

“We’ve spent decades building the trusted data, analytics, technology, and expertise financial institutions depend on every day,” said Experian North America CEO Jeff Softley. “With Experian Cashflow Data Bureau, we’re applying that experience to cash flow and making it easier for our clients to adopt these insights with confidence and at scale. By helping lenders understand a more complete picture of consumers’ financial lives, we can power more-informed decisions and ultimately help more consumers access the financial products and services they need, when they need them.”

The new Cashflow Data Bureau will serve as the foundation for Experian’s broader cash flow ecosystem, bringing together existing cash flow products such as Cashflow Attributes and Cashflow Score with capabilities for consumer consent, data aggregation, standardized reporting, analytics, and decisioning. The launch essentially brings cash flow data into a bureau-like framework, allowing lenders to incorporate consumer-permissioned banking activity into underwriting alongside traditional credit bureau data.

Cashflow underwriting is becoming increasingly popular in the lending sphere as it can help lenders better understand applicants’ day-to-day finances instead of just offering a snapshot in time. Experian’s analysis shows that the insights can help lenders increase approvals by up to 25% without adjusting their risk tolerance.

Today’s launch puts Experian into closer competition with open banking providers such as Plaid, which has expanded beyond account connectivity into FCRA-compliant consumer reports, cash flow analytics, and underwriting scores through its Plaid Check subsidiary. Interestingly, Experian also partners with Plaid to access consumer-permissioned cash flow data, making the two companies both partners and competitors in the space. Other competitors include Prism Data, Mastercard (Finicity), and Nova Credit.

Photo by kaboompics.com

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook