Daily news

Finzly Launches Account Galaxy Embedded Banking Solution

Finzly Launches Account Galaxy Embedded Banking Solution
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Finzly
  • Banking-as-a-Service provider Finzly launched Account Galaxy, a new embedded banking solution.
  • Account Galaxy allows non-banks and fintechs to launch virtual accounts with real-time transaction monitoring.
  • The virtual accounts exist alongside an organization’s current infrastructure within what Finzly calls a “sidecar core.”

Account Galaxy is the name of the newest solution from Finzly. The Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) solutions provider unveiled the new embedded banking solution in an announcement today that highlights how Account Galaxy can help banks participate in embedded banking.

Account Galaxy offers two main use cases to facilitate BaaS functionality: advanced payment processing and flexible accounting capabilities. These capabilities offer non-banks and fintechs virtual accounts where transactions can be monitored in real-time. The accounts not only provide reduced compliance risk, but also offer enhanced speed. Additionally, Account Galaxy helps small-to-mid-size banks attract commercial clients by embedding services into ERP, accounts receivables, and payables in an automated way.

“Embedded banking will have a significant impact on how banking services are provided to business and consumers,” said Datos Insights Strategic Advisor Enrico Camerinelli. “Providing tools to empower banks of all sizes to participate in this emerging industry will lead to greater innovation and ultimately better services for all.”

Account Galaxy’s virtual accounts are supported by a virtual ledger, enabling them to exist alongside an organization’s current infrastructure within what Finzly calls a “sidecar core.” This setup prevents new accounts from overburdening the organization’s existing systems.

“With Account Galaxy, banks can cost-effectively enable the integration of banking services into corporate systems and non-bank platforms, unlocking new opportunities for growth and innovation,” said Finzly founder and CEO Booshan Rengachari.

Finzly’s flagship offering, Finzly OS, enables clients to launch a modern bank from scratch. The company’s API connects to all U.S. payment rails, including Fed ACH, Fedwire, RTP, SWIFT, and FedNow.Ā Founded in 2012 under the name SwapsTech, the North Carolina-based company recently landed $10 million in funding in a Series A round led by TZP Group.

Finzly most recently demoed at FinovateSpring 2023, and has taken home Best of Show honors for its demos at FinovateFall 2020 and FinovateSpring 2020. By the way, we’re still accepting applications from companies interested in demoing at our upcoming conferece, FinovateSpring 2024. Take a look at the event and find out more about what it takes to demo.

Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash

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Quantum Metric Launches AI-Powered Session Summarization Solution Felix AI

Quantum Metric Launches AI-Powered Session Summarization Solution Felix AI
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Quantum Metric
  • Digital analytics platform Quantum Metric released its new Gen AI-powered session summarization solution, powered by Google Cloud’s Gemini Pro.
  • The new offering will help users manage customer session replays faster and more efficiently.
  • Quantum Metric won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at our all-digital FinovateEurope conference in 2021.

Digital analytics platform Quantum Metric announced the release of a suite of new solutions to help organizations better listen and respond to the needs of their customers. Chief among these new offerings is Felix AI, the company’s new Gen AI-powered session summarization solution, powered by Google Cloud’s Gemini Pro.

Session summarization helps enhance the session replay process. Session replays are a critical tool in reviewing and refining the customer experience. But they tend to be both complex and time consuming. Leveraging Gemini Pro, Felix AI summarizes sessions in seconds to capture the exact experience of the customer. The technology simplifies digital customer listening by instantly quantifying session information. Felix AI is then able to ascertain the significance of each issue, as well as its potential impact on key business metrics. The solution also enables users to examine the details of individual customer experiences by asking clarifying questions, for example, about specific campaigns the customer has participated in.

Via API, Felix AI can be directly integrated into VoC feedback received from text, email, as well as social platforms like Slack. The solution can also provide role-based summaries to help call center agents quickly understand the customer’s concern before they’ve expressed it.

“In the past, our focus was transactional. How do we help the customer to make a purchase, book a flight, or open an account,” Quantum Metric founder and CEO Mario Ciabarra said. “The relationships we build with customers today are much more complex and span an entire lifecycle. To succeed, digital organizations need tools like Felix AI to simplify how they listen to their customers, and tools like Interactions and User Analytics to listen at scale and across their entire customer lifecycle. This is the beginning of a new generation of digital analytics tools and we can’t wait to see what our digital organizations can do to further the standards for a great digital customer experience.”

In addition to Felix AI, Quantum Metric also announced three other components of its spring release. These solutions are Interactions, which provides tools to help marketers and UX professional optimize page layout and content, and a pair of analytics solutions: User Analytics and Lightning Analytics. User Analytics provides new data visualizations such as retention and churn to interpret user behavior over time. Lightning Analytics lets users monitor, diagnose, and optimize workflows and apps built on Salesforce Lightning.

Founded in 2015, Quantum Metric is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at our all-digital European fintech conference in 2021. Quantum Metric returned later that year to demo its technology at our all-digital FinovateSpring event. The company has raised $251 million in funding according to Crunchbase. Uncorrelated Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst are among the firm’s investors.

Photo by Markus Winkler

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Nuvei Acquired by Private Equity Firm

Nuvei Acquired by Private Equity Firm
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Nuvei has agreed to be acquired by Advent International, which plans to take Nuvei private in an all-cash deal valued at around $6.3 billion.
  • Nuvei originally went public in 2020 and has a current market capitalization of $6.08 billion.
  • The deal is expected to close in late 2024 or early 2025.

Payment acceptance technology provider Nuvei announced this week it has agreed to go private via an acquisition by private equity firm Advent International. The all-cash deal values Nuvei at around $6.3 billion.

Canada-based Nuvei offers global card acquiring services, alternative payment acceptance methods, crypto payments, fraud and risk management, analytics and more. The company offers serves businesses across a range of industries in more than 200 global markets, facilitating 150 currencies via 600 payment methods. Nuvei’s customers include large brands such as New Balance, Shein, and Microsoft.

“This transaction marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Nuvei, and we are glad to partner with Advent to continue to deliver for our customers and employees and capitalize on the significant opportunities that this investment provides,” said Nuvei Chair and CEO Philip Fayer. “Our strategic initiatives have always focused on accelerating our customers revenue, driving innovation across our technology, and developing our people. Bringing in a partner with such extensive experience in the payments sector will continue to support our development.”

Fayer will continue to serve as Nuvei’s Chair and CEO and will lead business operations. The company’s current leadership team will also remain in place once the deal is closed.

Nuvei went public in 2020 and now has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion. The company anticipates that operating under Advent, which has been investing in the payments space since 1984, will offer it resources, operational and sector expertise, and the capacity for investment.

“Our deep expertise and experience in payments give us conviction in the opportunity to support Nuvei as it continues to scale from its base in Canada as a global player in the space,” said Advent Managing Director Bo Huang. “We look forward to collaborating closely with Nuvei to capitalize on emerging opportunities to help shape the future of the payments industry.”

The deal is expected to close in late 2024 or early 2025.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

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Visa Unveils New Subscription Management Solution

Visa Unveils New Subscription Management Solution
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, VISA
  • Payments leader Visa launched its Subscription Manager service this week.
  • The new offering enables financial institutions to give Visa cardholders an easy way to track and manage their subscriptions.
  • Visa made its first Finovate appearance at FinovateSpring in 2010.

Expected to reach $406 billion by 2025, the international subscription economy has been an increasingly attractive opportunity for fintechs and financial services companies alike. The growth of the subscription economy has meant a surge in demand for solutions to help consumers deal with their ever-growing reliance on subscription services. Among Finovate alums alone, firms from Minna Technologies to Subaio have demonstrated leadership in this “subscription management” space.

As such, it is little surprise to learn that global payments leader Visa is getting into the game. The company announced the launch of its Subscription Manager service this week. The new offering will enable financial institutions to provide Visa cardholders with an easy way to track and manage their subscriptions.

“Managing subscriptions can often feel like a maze, with consumers sometimes feeling trapped in a cycle of confusing charges,” Visa Global Head of Issuing Solutions Kathleen Pierce-Gilmore said. “Our goal is to make this process simpler and ensure cardholders know exactly where their money is going, and when.”

Visa’s Subscription Manager streamlines information on recurring payments, locating that data in one place to make it easy for cardholders to see where their card details are stored, view the recurring payments that are on each card, and to stop recurring payments where services are no longer wanted. Whether the subscription type is a streaming service, a gym membership, or a utilities payment, Visa’s Subscription Manager gives its cardholders a new level of convenience and control when it comes to ensuring that they are only subscribed to the actual services they want and use.

Currently available as a pilot project in select regions, Subscription Manager is the latest addition to Visa’s Digital Enablement product suite. The suite includes a set of tools and solutions designed to enable issuers to offer better digital experiences for their cardholders.

Visa has been a Finovate alum since its debut at FinovateSpring in 2010. A leader in digital payments, Visa facilitates transactions across more than 200 countries and territories. The company is publicly traded on the NYSE under the ticker “V” and has a market capitalization of $556 billion. Ryan McInerney was appointed CEO in February 2023.

Interested in demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May? We are happy to read applications from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show.Ā Visit ourĀ FinovateSpring hubĀ today to learn more.

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Treasury Prime Taps Narmi to Offer Instant Payments

Treasury Prime Taps Narmi to Offer Instant Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Embedded banking software provider Treasury Prime partnered with digital banking solutions company Narmi.
  • Banks in the Treasury Prime network will be able to offer their BaaS clients access to a real-time payment platform via Narmi’s FedNow service.
  • Under the agreement, Narmi will act as the service provider for FedNow.

Embedded banking software provider Treasury Prime announced today it has partnered with digital banking solutions company Narmi. As a result of the agreement, Treasury Prime will be able to offer its banking customers the ability to send and receive money through FedNow.

Banks in the Treasury Prime network can offer their BaaS clients a real-time payments platform via Narmiā€™s FedNow service. Narmi supports all of the FedNow offerings, including the ability to receive funds, send money to linked and external accounts, and request for payment (RFP). By adding real time payment capabilities to their BaaS capabilities, banks can help their fintech clients remain competitive, drive engagement, and increase revenue streams.

“Narmiā€™s FedNow Service Provider capabilities combined with Treasury Primeā€™s embedded banking platform creates a unique and powerful offering,” said Treasury Prime Chief Platform Officer Mark Vermeersch. “We are excited to partner with Narmi to streamline the integration of FedNow for our financial institution customers, allowing them to stay at the forefront of real-time payments and fintech services.”

To keep things simple for banks, Narmi will act as the service provider for FedNow, handling complex tasks such as connecting directly to the Federal Reserve, posting transactions to the core banking system, and facilitating compliance and operational requirements.

Founded in 2017, Treasury Prime helps banks become partner banks by building an embedded banking platform. The San Francisco-based company helps its bank clients build and deploy a wide range of financial products, including business bank accounts, payment processing, and lending solutions, all integrated with their existing systems.

New York-based Narmi was founded in 2016 to offer banks the digital banking tools they need to increase profitability, deposits, and accounts. In addition to the company’s FedNow service, it also offers commercial and retail digital banking tools, digital account opening capabilities, analytics, and an administrative portal.

“Narmi and Treasury Prime share a common vision to better serve the needs of small to mid-sized financial institutions,” said Narmi Co-Founder Chris Griffin. “This partnership with Treasury Prime represents a significant leap forward for these banks, opening doors to new revenue streams and enabling them to meet the ever-increasing demand for real-time payment solutions in the modern financial landscape.”

Photo by Pixabay

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Apiture to Power Online and Mobile Banking for New Washington State Bank

Apiture to Power Online and Mobile Banking for New Washington State Bank
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Apiture, Daily news
  • Indiana-based New Washington State Bank (NWSB) has selected Apiture’s Digital Banking Platform to power its online and mobile banking solutions.
  • The community bank will also deploy Apiture’s Account Opening and Data Intelligence solutions to onboard customers faster and to offer tailored campaigns.
  • Apiture made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2022. The company is headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina.

New Washington State Bank (NWSB), a community financial institution serving Southern Indiana for 116 years, has partnered with Apiture to power its online and mobile banking offerings. The bank will deploy Apiture’s Digital Banking Platform, and implement the fintech’s Consumer Banking, Business Banking, Account Opening, and Data Intelligence solutions.

“With integrations to more than 200 best-of-breed fintech partners and an API-first approach that enables rapid innovation, the Apiture Digital Banking Platform will empower NWSB to provide the unified, intuitive banking experience today’s technologically savvy customers expect,” Apiture CEO Chris Babcock said.

The partnership follows the bank’s decision to migrate from a multi-vendor strategy to a single platform for both its online and mobile banking operations. NWSB Chief Strategy Officer Chris Bottorff said that providing a “cohesive and consistent digital experience” is a priority for the institution as it seeks “to improve the financial lives of those living and working in the communities we serve.” Bottorff praised Apiture as a partner that will help the Indiana-based bank better engage its existing customers as well as attract new ones.

To this point, NWSB underscored its readiness to take advantage of two of Apiture’s solutions in particular: Account Opening and Data Intelligence. The former enables customers to open and fund accounts in minutes. The latter provides tools to build personalized campaigns to better engage both individuals and businesses.

Headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, Apiture made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2022 and returned the following year to demo at FinovateFall 2023. At the conference, Apiture showed how its AI-based solution, Sensei, provides a real-time assessment of an individual’s finances. The technology analyzes a variety of data sources, including account balances and transaction histories, to provide proactive insights into the ways the individual can improve their financial wellness.

Apiture’s partnership news with NWSB comes just a few weeks after the fintech reported that Edwards Federal Credit Union (Edwards FCU) of California had selected its Consumer Banking solution. Like NWSB, Edwards FCU will also deploy Apiture’s Data Intelligence solution as part of its data strategy. Apiture began 2024 by teaming up with Redwood Capital Bank, which chose Apiture’s Digital Banking Platform to power its online and mobile banking operations.

Apiture has raised $69 million in funding. The company includes T. Rowe Price and Live Oak Bank among its investors.

Photo by Corbin Mathias on Unsplash

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Visa and Mastercard Settle Swipe Fee Lawsuit

Visa and Mastercard Settle Swipe Fee Lawsuit
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, MasterCard, VISA
  • Visa and Mastercard have reached a settlement that will lower interchange fess for U.S. merchants.
  • The settlement, which still must be approved by the court, calls for a five-year reduction in fees as well as changes that will enable greater optionality for merchants when it comes to credit card transaction surcharging.
  • U.S. merchants stand to save more than $29 billion over the next five years due to the settlement.

Chalk one up for U.S. merchants.

There are many factors that drive innovation in financial services: technological change, competition, regulatory adjustments … this week, recalled a fourth, less common method: the lawsuit.

Visa and Mastercard announced that they have reached a major settlement with merchants in the U.S. that will see interchange fees both lowered and capped. The settlement is the end result of a lawsuit that extends back to 2005. The lawsuit alleges that merchants paid excessive fees to accept Visa and Mastercard credit card transactions. Further, the suit claims that both companies and their member banks were in violation of antitrust laws in doing so.

Per the settlement, these interchange fees – also known as swipe fees – will be lowered and capped until 2030. Hilliard Shadowen, the law firm that represented the merchants in the case, estimates that U.S. merchants will save more than $29 billion over the next five years. Additionally, the settlement will also mark the end of “anti-steering restrictions” and potentially pave the way for more competitive pricing with regards to swipe fees.

Steve Shadowen, founding partner at Hilliard Shadowen, said the settlement represented “comprehensive market-based solutions to too-high swipe fees” as well as “immediate fee relief to merchants as they make these new competitive tools work for them.”

Looking under the hood, the settlement calls for a reduction in swipe fees of at least four basis points (0.04 percentage points) for three years. At the same time, these fees must be at least seven basis points below the current average for the next five years. These changes are still subject to court approval, and Mastercard has suggested that, once approved, they still would not go into effect until late this year or early next.

“This agreement brings closure to a long-standing dispute by delivering substantial certainty and value to business owners, including flexibility in how they manage acceptance of card programs,” Mastercard Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Head of Global Policy Rob Beard said.

“We are making these concessions while also maintaining the safety, security, innovation, and protections, rewards, and access to credit that are so important to millions of Americans and to our economy,” Kim Lawrence, President, North America, Visa, said in a statement.

The actual impact of these changes on consumers using credit cards is uncertain. The settlement will enable merchants to add surcharges to cards with higher swipe fees. This could discourage the use of some premium cards that are attractive to consumers because of their robust rewards, but can be costly to merchants, who may pay swipe fees of as much as 4% per transaction according to the National Retail Federation. Swipe fees currently average approximately 2% per transaction. Merchants will also be able to offer incentives and discounts to encourage consumers to use credit cards with less expensive fees.

Additionally, the settlement includes an allocation of $15 million for an independent merchant education program. Available for free, the program will help ensure that all merchants are aware of new changes.

Photo by Pixabay

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Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Alkami Technology, Alto Solutions, Alumni News, Arroweye Solutions, Baker Hill, BlueVine, Chimney, Daily news, Fintech Rundown, ieDigital, iProov, nCino, Q2, VISA

The first week of April begins with a resolution in the Sam Bankman-Fried saga as the former FTX founder and infamous crypto entrepreneur receives a sentence of 25 years in prison.

Crypto

Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for its role in the FTX scandal.

Web3 payment solution provider Alchemy Pay announces investment in LaPay.

Issuer-processor Paymentology partners with Web3 and digital asset corporate spend management platform Rain.

Lending

Loan origination specialist Baker Hill implements CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform.

Financial wellness

Financial guidance specialist Chimney announces that it now has 30 banks on its client roster.

Payments

BankPro Limited, a subsidiary of FxPro Group, partners with just-in-time payment card provider Arroweye Solutions.

Visa launches Subscription Manager to help consumers track subscriptions and recurring payments.

Canada-based payments company Nuvei agrees to be acquired by Advent for $6.3 billion.

Versapay taps Gaby Kozakov as its new Chief Technology Officer.

All-in-one payments platform ConnexPay introduces new CEO Ben Peters.

Modern Treasury launches new Professional Services offering.

MENA-based fintech Valu partners with noon Payments.

Arab Financial Services teams up with ACI Worldwide to promote payment modernization.

Brim Financial secures $85 million in Series C funding to fuel global expansion.

Trustly and Cross River Bank pioneer FedNow transactions.

Check to power Waveā€™s expanded payroll offering.

Credit Reporting

FinDoc, a fintech based in Malaysia, announces a strategic collaboration with credit reporting agency CTOS Data Systems.

Wealth Management

Clearwater Analytics acquires risk and performance analytics solutions from global financial services firm Wilshire Advisors.

JPMorgan Chase reports major adoption of its Wealth Plan digital money coach, with a million personalized plans created in the year after launch.

Alternative asset platform Alto appoints CEO Scott Harrigan as President and Beth Bellon as SVP of Operations.

Digital Banking

Bluevine introduces a trio of new business checking plans.

Ally Financial introduces new CEO Michael Rhodes.

Digital banking solutions provider Alkami partners with SWIVEL to give its clients access to new loan payment capabilities.

nCino unveils new upgrades to its Consumer Banking Solution.

Q2 appoints Katharine Briggs as Chief Product Officer.

Swedish-based cloud core banking platform provider Vilja partners with U.K.-based mortgage origination partner Mast.

ieDigital, Connect FSS, and ABAKA announce appointment of Rami Cassis as CEO.

Procure-to-pay software provider PairSoft acquires APRO Software Solutions. 

First State Bank selects Jack Henry to revamp its banking experience.

Regtech

Risk management solutions provider Abrigo acquires TPG Software.

Identity management

Biometric identity solutions provider iProov appoints Peter James as its Chief Product Officer.

Insurtech

Enterprise insurance management platform Novidea introduces new Chief Revenue Officer Jeff Heine.

Photo by Thought Catalog

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DataVisor Unveils its AI-Powered End-to-End AML Compliance Solution

DataVisor Unveils its AI-Powered End-to-End AML Compliance Solution
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, DataVisor
  • Fraud and risk platform DataVisor launched its anti-money laundering (AML) solution this week.
  • The new offering combines fraud fighting and anti-money laundering operations in a unified, approach that helps institutions better deal with emerging threats and evolving regulations.
  • DataVisor made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall last September.

AI-powered fraud and risk platform DataVisor launched its end-to-end anti-money laundering (AML) solution this week. The technology leverages sophisticated machine learning and AI to cover the entire AML process without disrupting the customer’s existing workflows.

Natively integrating with DataVisor’s fraud platform, the new offering enables a unified fraud and anti-money laundering (FRAML) strategy. This enhances defense against new financial crime threats and helps institutions align themselves with the trend toward combining fraud fighting and AML operations. DataVisor’s AML technology is customizable, supports a wide range of AML risk profiles and programs, and improves efficiency by reducing the number of false positives.

More specifically, DataVisor’s new AML solution provides:

  • Comprehensive end-to-end functionality: including customer risk rating, CDD, EDD, sanction/watchlist screening, transaction monitoring, case management, and automated SAR filing.
  • Enhanced detection and reduced false positives: leveraging robust data orchestration to provide a holistic view of customer profiles for more effective risk assessment.
  • Increased operational efficiency and reduced costs: courtesy of Generative AI-powered automation which triages alerts and automates manual processes.
  • Centralized insights and monitoring: using enhanced task prioritization to deliver insights into AML alerts, case statuses, and the progress of review teams.
  • Fast and flexible integration: via a cloud-based solution that integrates with existing fraud workflows for fast implementation.

“The substantial interest we’ve seen from financial institutions highlights the imperative need to address the challenges posed by outdated, legacy AML technology,” DataVisor co-founder and Chief Product Officer Fang Yu said. “FIs partnering with DataVisor are already witnessing the benefits of our industry-leading FRAML solution. Our focus on continued innovation ensures that we not only meet the current compliance demand but also remain agile to anticipate and counteract future financial crimes.”

Headquartered in Mountain View, California, DataVisor made its Finovate debut last September at FinovateFall. At the conference, the company showed how its platform provides a comprehensive, AI-powered fraud and risk platform for the entire fraud workflow in a single, self-serve solution. DataVisor demonstrated the platform’s ability to integrate any data source – including third party data sources – and apply its rules engine, device intelligence, decision engine, and case management to improve fraud detection.

Founded in 2013, DataVisor began this year with an announcement that the company’s platform had secured PCI compliance. A month later, the company unveiled a new solution to give sponsor banks better ability to monitor and manage Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) compliance and transaction fraud patterns. The solution also enables institutions to conduct a comprehensive customer risk assessment in partnership with fintechs.

According to Crunchbase, DataVisor has raised more than $94 million in funding. The company includes TruStage Ventures and NewView Capital among its investors. Co-founder Yinglian Xie is CEO.

Photo by Markus Spiske

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Feedzai Powers Push Payment Fraud Prevention Solution for A2A Platform Form3

Feedzai Powers Push Payment Fraud Prevention Solution for A2A Platform Form3
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Feedzai
  • Anti-fraud platform Feedzai has teamed up with account-to-account (A2A) platform Form3.
  • Courtesy of the partnership, Feedzai will power Form3’s new authorized push payment fraud (APP) fraud prevention solution.
  • Founded in 2011, Feedzai made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2014.

Anti-fraud and financial crime software company Feedzai will power the new authorized push payment fraud (APP fraud) prevention solution from account-to-account (A2A) platform Form3. Built with supervised machine learning, the new offering from Form3 takes advantage of collaborative intelligence to determine the risk of a payment in real-time by understanding the behavior of both the sender and the recipient.

The technology acknowledges that understanding the recipient of a payment is just as important as understanding the sender when it comes to preventing fraud, particularly APP fraud. This is because APP fraud involves fraudsters tricking legitimate accountholders into sending payments to illegitimate accounts owned or accessed by the fraudster.

Feedzai CPO Pedro Barata explained that both regulation and emergent fraud threats are driving innovation in the payment fraud space. Barata noted in particular new regulations later this year that will mandate reimbursement for victims of APP fraud. He underscored that this would provide additional incentive for banks to embrace new anti-fraud technologies. “By combining the expertise of Feedzai and Form3, we can drastically reduce the level of vulnerability in the payment process and give our customers the real-time intelligence that they need to stop fraudsters in their tracks.”

The innovations in fraud prevention are also being driven by positive developments in fintech like real-time payments. As more fraudsters see real-time payments as a potential way to target consumers, businesses need to respond with technologies and anti-fraud solutions that close security gaps and respond to emerging threats like APP fraud.

“The best way to tackle the rise of APP fraud is the use of collaborative intelligence and cutting edge technologies that allow the real-time identification of scams within the payment message,” Form3 CEO Mike Walters said.

A Finovate alum since its debut at FinovateEurope in 2014, Feedzai today counts 80% of the world’s Fortune 500 among its customers. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in San Mateo, California, Feedzai now has more than 600 employees, maintains 10 offices around the world, and supports operations in 190 countries. The risk management tool provider has raised more than $277 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. Nuno Sebastiao is CEO.

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Econans and SkenarioLabs Team Up to Give Banks New Green Finance Options

Econans and SkenarioLabs Team Up to Give Banks New Green Finance Options
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, Econans, SkenarioLabs
  • Finland-based SkenarioLabs and Sweden’s Econans announced a collaboration this week.
  • The partnership will provide financial institutions with a number of new green finance tools.
  • SkenarioLabs made its Finovate debut earlier this year at FinovateEurope. Econans demoed its technology at our online European fintech conference in 2021.

SkenarioLabs, a predictive data analytics solution provider for the real estate industry, has announced a new partnership with fellow Finovate alum, Econans. The collaboration between SkenarioLabs and the Swedish financial advisory platform will give banks a range of new green finance tools.

The joint venture between the two companies will help financial institutions navigate regulatory trends based on concerns over climate change. These trends include the EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) – among others. The partnership between Skenario Labs and Econans will provide institutions with a future-proof, end-to-end solution that helps them meet reporting obligations and supports building energy transition.

“We’re thrilled to announced our partnership with Econans – Energy Transition Unlocked – a pioneering Swedish finance advisory platform,” SkenarioLabs shared in a post at LinkedIn. “Together, we strive to pave the way for a more resilient future in real estate – exciting times ahead!”

Founded in Finland in 2015, SkenarioLabs made its Finovate debut earlier this year at FinovateEurope 2024 in London. At the conference, the company demoed two solutions. The first was its green finance offering that analyzes the potential for enhancing energy performance. The solution then recommends financing options that help reduce carbon emissions. The company also demoed its climate resilience solution. This technology helps institutions understand and manage the impact of climate change – as well as emerging laws and regulations – on their real estate portfolios.

Econans made its Finovate debut three years ago at our online European fintech conference in 2021. The company, founded in Sweden in 2018, offers digital simulation and automated advice to help people better manage their personal finance journey through major life events such as buying a home, having children, and planning for retirement. Econans’ technology helps boost consumer’s confidence in their financial services partner and delivers higher conversion rates for banks and real estate companies. The firm’s white label solutions are easy to integrate and currently have more than 500,000 end users per month in Sweden.

Photo by Mihis Alex

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Digital Identity Solutions Provider Signicat Acquires SmartWorks

Digital Identity Solutions Provider Signicat Acquires SmartWorks
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Signicat
  • Digital identity solutions provider Signicat has acquired fraud prevention firm SmartWorks. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
  • The acquisition expands Signicat’s presence and reach in Iceland, where SmartWorks is headquartered.
  • Signicat made its Finovate debut in 2017 at FinovateEurope.

Digital identity solutions provider Signicat announced its sixth strategic acquisition since 2019 this week. The Norway-based company has acquired fraud prevention innovator SmartWorks. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Iceland, SmartWorks is the largest provider of e-signatures and anti-fraud solutions in the country. The company’s customers include ƍslandsbanki, Brimborg, and the City of Reykjavik – where SmartWorks was founded in 2016.

“Electronic signatures are widely adopted and already a business standard in Iceland. However, trust services extend far beyond signatures with authentications, identity proofing, validations, trust orchestration and many other related services,” SmartWorks CEO and founder Olafur Pall Einarsson said. “This union puts us in the position to shape the future of digital identity in Iceland and to partner with all key stakeholders to define how the market will evolve.”

Signicat plans to leverage the acquisition to expand its presence in Iceland. The company is particularly eager to market its Dokobit by Signicat solution in the country. Secured via an acquisition in 2021, Dokobit provided cross-border signing capabilities and gave Signicat the ability to expand into the Baltic markets, including Lithuania where Dokobit was founded in 2008.

As part of this week’s acquisition, the entire SmartWorks team will join Signicat. SmartWorks’ Einarsson will continue on as Signicat Country Manager Iceland.

“We are highly enthusiastic about this acquisition as SmartWorks is the market leader in Iceland when it comes to fraud and digital identity,” Signicat CEO Asger Hattel said. “We can now further leverage SmartWorks’ expertise and resources to sell our portfolio of digital identity solutions across the Icelandic market.”

Norway-based Signicat has more than 13,000 customers in 44 countries, representing organizations in payments, digital wallets, and insurance, as well as in government entities. The company’s technology supports more than 130 data verification sources – including national eIDs – to identity both businesses and individuals. Signicat also enables companies to securely scan international identity documents using video-based verification for AML, KYC checks, and more.

Signicat finished 2023 topping the NOK 1 billion ($93 million) mark in revenue and more than one billion transactions. The transactions number represented a gain of more than 25% over 2022.

Photo by Nextvoyage

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