Daily news

Core Banking Provider Tuum Partners with Bank Orchestration Platform Numeral

Core Banking Provider Tuum Partners with Bank Orchestration Platform Numeral
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Numeral
  • Core banking provider Tuum and bank orchestration platform Numeral announced a new partnership this week.
  • The two companies will work together to help financial institutions and fintechs launch and grow across Europe and the U.K.
  • Paris, France-based Numeral made its Finovate debut this spring at FinovateEurope in London.

A strategic partnership between core banking provider Tuum and bank orchestration platform Numeral is designed to help both financial institutions and fintechs to launch and grow across Europe and the U.K. The combination of Numeral’s bank integrations and Tuum’s modular core banking platform will enable FIs and fintechs to access a variety of European and U.K. payment schemes – including SEPA, Bacs, FPS as indirect participants via integrations with E.U. and U.K. partner banks.

This provides access to partner banks’ local virtual IBANs – or to issuing their own local IBANs. According to research from Numeral, European consumers said they were 83% more likely to use financial services that offered local IBANs instead of foreign ones. The company’s survey also noted that a quarter of respondents said that they had experienced “IBAN discrimination” when using a foreign IBAN. The partnership between Tuum and Numeral, by facilitating local IBANs, will boost consumer trust as well as combat the issue of IBAN discrimination.

In a statement, Numeral CEO Édouard Mandon underscored the importance of scale when it comes to unit economics in fintech and financial services. “Building a pan-European payment infrastructure is critical for financial services and fintech companies to access a broader market, acquire more customers and achieve profitability,” Mandon said. He highlighted the challenge of financial institutions trying to build these solutions internally and pointed to the partnership between Tuum and Numeral as a better way. “Financial services companies should be able to build systems that correspond to their specific needs from readily available building blocks,” Mandon added.

Tuum VP of Global Partnerships Jean Souto shared Mandon’s concern about the challenges FIs face when it comes to allocating scarce resources. “Establishing operations across different countries demands substantial capital and operational expense,” Souto explained. “With Tuum and Numeral’s joint proposition, companies can now harness the power of a modular core banking platform and a pan-European bank orchestration platform.”

Headquartered in Paris, France, Numeral demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope earlier this year. At the conference, the company showed how financial institutions can leverage its technology to automatically send, receive, and reconcile SEPA payments. The company also demoed how its API platform optimizes FI payment operations by automating bank payment processing. The same month that Numeral made its Finovate debut, the firm announced that it was going live in the U.K.

Providing the payment infrastructure for European fintechs such as Swile and Spendesk, Numeral says that it is on pace to process $5.5 billion (€5 billion) in 2023. The company announced in May that it was teaming up with BNP Paribas and European Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) outfit Alma to automate payments to merchants.

Numeral has raised €13 million in funding. The company includes Balderton Capital and Kima Ventures among its investors.

Photo by cottonbro studio

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Shopify Launches Business Credit Card Powered by Stripe

Shopify Launches Business Credit Card Powered by Stripe
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Shopify is launching a business credit card.
  • The launch is among 100+ updates the company is making today as part of its summer release.
  • The new Visa-branded credit card is powered by partnerships with Stripe, which is powering the infrastructure behind the card, and Celtic Bank, which serves as the bank partner.

Shopify released 100 updates today. Out of the updates, the most interesting was the launch of a Visa credit card aimed at U.S. businesses. The card is fueled by partnerships with Stripe, which powers the infrastructure, and Celtic Bank, which serves as the issuing bank.

The card does not charge fees or interest– it is a pay-in-full card that offers business owners up to 56 days to pay for their purchases. After that point, Shopify will automatically debit any outstanding balances from the user’s designated account.

The new credit card offers businesses up to 3% cashback on eligible purchases, which include business expenses in the company’s monthly top spend category— marketing, fulfillment, or wholesale. For all other purchases, cardholders receive 1% cashback. Businesses can receive up to $100,000 in cashback, which is earned as a statement credit.

Eligibility for the credit card is based on a business’ sales performance, not an individual’s credit score. This allows the cardholder’s credit limit to increase as their business scales up.

Shopify has been offering businesses access to working capital with its commercial lending platform, Shopify Capital, since 2016. Underwriting for the loans works in the same way that the company’s credit card underwriting works. The credit offers are based on a business’ sales. In fact, the company uses more than 70 data points about a business applicant to underwrite the loan. Since launch, Shopify has distributed more than $4.5 billion in loans to its business users.

Other financial tools that Shopify offers its business users include Shopify Balance, which is a business financial management tool, and Shopify Bill Pay, a tool to help merchants manage and pay vendors.

Canada-based Shopify has been bringing ecommerce websites and tools to retailers since 2004. In the years since, millions of businesses in 175 countries have used the company’s technology to make over $700 billion in sales. Tobias Lütke is CEO.

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Grasshopper Bank Partners with Financial Crime Assurance and Testing Specialist Cable

Grasshopper Bank Partners with Financial Crime Assurance and Testing Specialist Cable
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Cable, Daily news, Women in Fintech
  • New York-based digital bank Grasshopper announced a partnership with automated financial crime assurance and testing specialist Cable.
  • The partnership will enable the bank to enhance its own compliance and risk management capabilities.
  • Cable made its Finovate debut last September at FinovateFall.

Digital bank Grasshopper has turned to Cable for its automated financial crime assurance and testing capabilities. The bank will leverage Cable’s technology to deploy next-level automation that will enhance the advanced compliance and risk management capabilities of its own compliance program.

“Cable will help us and our fintech partners take advantage of the latest automation to gain superior visibility and comprehensive compliance insights, which will enable our clients to scale more efficiently and responsibly – back by the leading advanced compliance technology,” Grasshopper Chief Compliance Officer Chris Mastrangelo said.

Cable offers a solution that enables both banks and fintechs to automate their compliance assurance and effectiveness testing. The company’s Automated Assurance offering helps institutions discover regulatory breaches and control failures when they occur, empowering compliance teams to take immediate action. Cable’s technology streamlines a variety of manual processes including operations in quality control, stakeholder reporting, and record management. The company says that businesses have achieved nearly a 6x average return on investment in their first year using Cable. Clients using Cable’s complete suite of solutions have saved an average of $440,000 a year, according to the company. Cable demoed its technology at FinovateFall last year.

Based in New York, Grasshopper is a digital bank with total assets of more than $700 million. The institution caters to the “innovation economy,” serving small businesses, startups, venture capital and private equity, as well as fintechs. The bank’s partners include a number of Finovate alums including Visa, FIS, and Alloy. Grasshopper won Best Use of Tech in Banking at the 2023 Banking Tech Awards USA sponsored by sister publication Fintech Futures.

“As one of the most innovative BaaS providers, Grasshopper demonstrates that integrating cutting-edge compliance infrastructure and automation is mission-critical to the success of the best BaaS companies in today’s banking landscape,” Cable CEO Natasha Vernier said. Grasshopper will take advantage of Cable’s Partner Hub, which provides compliance infrastructure that is specifically designed for bank-fintech relationships. This includes automated risk assessments, automated assurance, quality assurance, management information, reporting, and more.

Vernier co-founded Cable with Chief Product Officer Katie Savitz in 2020. The company raised $11 million in Series A funding in May. Stage 2 Capital and Jump Capital provided the financing, along with existing investor CRV. This year alone, Cable has partnered with digital asset custody platform Palisade, embedded banking software platform Treasury Prime, U.K. bank Griffin, and crypto payments company Ramp.

Photo by Silas Jaeger

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Embroker Partners with Password Management Provider Dashlane, Cyber Insurer Cowbell

Embroker Partners with Password Management Provider Dashlane, Cyber Insurer Cowbell
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Dashlane
  • Business insurance platform Embroker has announced strategic partnerships with Dashlane and Cowbell.
  • The partnerships are designed to help the company improve customer security and enhance liability coverage.
  • Dashlane is a password management provider. The company won Best of Show at FinovateFall in 2012. Cowbell is a cyber insurance provider for SMEs.

Embroker is taking two giant steps toward enhancing security and liability coverage on its business insurance platform. The San Francisco-based company has forged strategic partnerships with password management provider Dashlane and cyber insurance provider for SMEs Cowbell.

“Through Cowbell and Dashlane, we are not only able to support our customers in the event of a cyber breach, but also help them avoid one altogether,” Embroker Chief Insurance Officer David Derigiotis said. “It is services like these that are shaping the next generation of insurance, making getting coverage easier and actively beneficial to those who hold policies with us.”

Courtesy of the partnership, Embroker policyholders will be able to access Dashlane’s enterprise password management technology. Dashlane’s solution leverages zero-knowledge encryption, which stores passwords and other sensitive data in vaults that are private – even to Dashlane. The company also offers dark web monitoring to alert Embroker customers when their information may have been exposed. Dashlane CEO John Bennett called the partnership “a natural pair” due to the potential impact of breaches on policy premiums. “By aligning with a partner like Embroker, we’re helping to create safer business environments from start to finish for the startup community, holistically protecting businesses from the increasing cyber threats they face,” Bennett said.

Embroker’s partnership with Cowbell will combine the company’s Cyber Liability Product with Embroker’s own LPL solution via API. The addition gives Embroker customers broader options when it comes to bespoke coverage. Embroker announced that the combination with Cowbell has completed the company’s law bundle offering.

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in New York, Dashlane made its Finovate debut in 2012. At the conference, the company won Best of Show for its technology that enables instant checkouts and universal logins while maintaining privacy and security. In the years since, Dashlane has grown into a credential management leader that has secured more than 2.5 billion credentials and safeguarded passwords and passkeys for more than 20,000+ companies.

Dashlane’s John Bennett joined the company as CEO in February of this year. In April, the company became a board member of the FIDO Alliance. The following month, Dashlane announced a partnership with Network Communications Industries (NCI) to provide password management support to companies in Australia and New Zealand.

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American Express Introduces Commercial Partner Program

American Express Introduces Commercial Partner Program
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, American Express, Daily news
  • Credit card giant American Express launched its Sync Commercial Partner Program this week.
  • The program offers a suite of APIs that fintechs can embed into their existing B2B apps and services, including spend management, procurement, and other B2B software solutions.
  • As a result, businesses can access Amex tools and services within the fintech apps they already use.

American Express unveiled its Sync Commercial Partner Program today. The new program includes a suite of APIs that fintechs can embed into their own B2B apps, reaching business customers on the platforms they already use.

Using the Sync Commercial Partner Program, fintechs and software providers can embed Amex virtual cards into their own spend management, procurement, and other software solutions aimed at U.S. businesses. The Sync Commercial Partner Program is scalable to suit a range of fintechs’ needs; it offers robust developer tools, and comes with a dedicated Amex support contact. In a future iteration, Amex will enable fintechs to integrate virtual cards that can be added to several mobile wallets.

The card company said that it will add more B2B payment and data capabilities in the coming months.

“American Express Sync will put more B2B capabilities in the hands of fintechs and ultimately enable their customers to get more value from the platforms they use to run their businesses,” said American Express Vice President on the Global Commercial Services team Todd Manning. “Today’s announcement means that our broad base of American Express U.S. Business and Corporate customers will have more ways to pay their suppliers digitally.”

The use of embedded B2B payments has been expanding over the past few years. In 2021, the transaction value reached $700 billion in the U.S. By 2026, the value is expected to nearly quadruple to $2.6 trillion.

At launch, the Sync Commercial Partner Program has six early adopters– Centime, Eved, HQ, Melio, and PayEm. “Together, American Express and PayEm are providing customers with an intuitive way to manage payments, expenses, and cash flow by leveraging on-demand virtual Cards,” said PayEm CEO and Cofounder Itamar Jobani. “Our customers can now generate unique virtual Card numbers for specific employee requests or vendor transactions, giving them greater control, enhanced security, and streamlined reconciliation.”

Amex’s launch of its Sync Commercial Partner Program is the company’s latest move to boost its digital finance offerings. Last month, Amex partnered with Plaid to allow its customers to connect with Plaid’s 8,000+ connected apps without having to share their password with the third-party provider. And last spring, the card company launched American Express Global Pay, a cross-border payments tool for U.S. small businesses.

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker AXP, American Express has a market capitalization of $124 billion. Stephen Squeri is CEO.

Photo by CardMapr.nl on Unsplash

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Dutch Neobank Bunq Earns $1.8 Billion Valuation with Latest Fundraising

Dutch Neobank Bunq Earns $1.8 Billion Valuation with Latest Fundraising
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Dutch neobank bunq raised an additional $49.3 million (€44.5 million) in growth capital.
  • The investment takes the firm’s total capital raised this year to $111 million (€100 million). bunq’s valuation stands at $1.8 billion (€1.65 billion).
  • Founded in 2012, bunq has nine million customers and $5 billion (€4.5 billion) in customer deposits

Netherlands-based bunq, the second-largest neobank in the European Union, has earned a valuation of $1.8 billion (€1.65 billion). The new valuation comes as the firm locked in an additional $49.3 million (€44.5 million) in growth capital. Current investors Pollen Street Capital, bunq Chief Information Officer Raymond Kasiman, and bunq founder and CEO Ali Niknam participated in the round. bunq has secured a total of $111 million (€100 million) funding this year alone.

“It’s been a truly magical year for bunq; we’re rapidly expanding and have seen massive deposit growth,” Niknam said. “With more and more people entrusting their money to us, we’re convinced that we should double down on our momentum and cement the way forward for future growth.”

bunq was founded in 2012, and offers banking, savings, payments, cards, and other financial services. The neobank specializes in serving “digital nomads”: individuals who live and work in more than one country. This strategy has helped bunq reach nine million customers and $5 billion (€4.5 billion) in customer deposits. Compare this with 5.4 million customers and €1 billion in customer deposits just two years ago. bunq primarily serves banking customers in Europe. Nevertheless, the company has begun the process of securing a banking license in the U.S.

In 2021, bunq received an investment of $213 million (€193 million). At the time, the fundraising was the largest Series A round raised by a European fintech. In the final quarter of 2022, bunq announced its first net profit. The company expects to achieve a full year of profitability this year.

“I’m incredibly proud that, just a decade since our inception, bunq’s service-oriented business model has proven to be profitable,” Niknam said in February. “Truly aligning our user-centered philosophy with financial success, we were able to build a business that’s only successful as long as our users are happy.”

bunq also announced a set of new enhancements this month. The company now gives customers up to 2% back on card spending on public transportation. Cardholders can also take advantage of 1% cashback for purchases at restaurants and bars. Bunq now enables users to save in multiple currencies, with interest paid out weekly. And with climate change top of mind for many of its customers, bunq has added carbon footprint tracking.

Check out our conversation with bunq Chief of Staff to the CEO Bianca Zwart from earlier this year at FinovateEurope. Zwart explained the company’s origins and its unique business model. She also discussed bunq’s goal of becoming the “global neobank for digital nomads and international people and businesses.”

Photo by Marko Zirdum

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FedNow is Live: New System Brings Instant Payments to the U.S.

FedNow is Live: New System Brings Instant Payments to the U.S.
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • The Federal Reserve launched its instant payments service, FedNow, today.
  • The new service enables businesses and consumers to send and receive money in real-time, 24/7/365.
  • FedNow puts the U.S. on par with countries like the U.K., Brazil, and India, as well as the EU, which have offered real-time payments for years.

The long-awaited launch of instant payments in the U.S. is here. The Federal Reserve introduced its FedNow instant payments service today. The new system enables businesses and consumers to send and receive money in seconds. FedNow is also available 24/7/365 and recipients get full access to sent funds immediately.

Funds can be transferred from person to person, from consumers to businesses, and from businesses to each other. There are currently 35 banks and credit unions participating in the program. A growing number of fintechs have also expressed their readiness to participate in the service. These companies include Finovate alums ACI Worldwide, Aptys Solutions, Finastra, Finzly, FIS, Fiserv, Jack Henry, and Temenos.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell praised the launch of the new offering. “The Federal Reserve built the FedNow Service to help make everyday payments over the coming years faster and more convenient. Over time, as more banks choose to use this new tool, the benefits to individuals and businesses will include enabling a person to immediately receive a paycheck, or a company to instantly access funds when an invoice is paid.”

The potential impact of FedNow on businesses and consumers is significant. Not only will the everyday business of payments become faster and more streamlined, but also the rise of just-in-time access to paychecks and invoices will benefit both workers and small businesses. The service also helps smaller banks and financial institutions, enabling them to access and offer real-time payments without having to partner with larger, competing FIs for the service.

Check out our conversation from last fall with Bernadette Ksepka. Ksepka is Assistant Vice President and Deputy Head of Product Development with the FedNow Service.

Photo by Phil

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CRIF and Know Your Customer Team Up with Ping An OneConnect Bank to Boost Digital Onboarding for SMEs

CRIF and Know Your Customer Team Up with Ping An OneConnect Bank to Boost Digital Onboarding for SMEs
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, CRIF, Daily news
  • CRIF and Know Your Customer will help Ping An OneConnect (Hong Kong) Limited enhance digital onboarding for its SME customers.
  • CRIF and Know Your Customer have collaborated since forging a global commercial partnership in 2021.
  • Headquartered in Bologna, Italy, CRIF made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2014.

Banking credit information provider CRIF and regtech Know Your Customer have partnered to help Ping An OneConnect Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (“PAOB”) improve the digital onboarding process for its SME customers.

CRIF and Know Your Customer have developed a new system that uses real-time registry connections to automatically retrieve documents and map shareholders. The solution provides a centralized place to integrate data from multiple official sources which enables PAOB to streamline the onboarding process for its clients. In addition to leveraging automation to lower costs and reduce the amount of manual labor involved, the new offering supports on-going monitoring requirements, as well. Both CRIF and Know Your Customer offer a wide range of compliance solutions: CRIF provides a portfolio of business data and intelligence, including credit and ESG data. Know Your Customer provides real-time registry connections, Ultimate Beneficial Owner mapping across borders, and modular workflow capabilities.

Ivan Chow, Head of Strategy & Partnerships at PAOB highlighted the challenges facing regional SMEs in the immediate, post-COVID economic environment. Chow noted that the re-opening of places like Hong Kong is not only likely to feature increased business activity, but also increased demand for operating capital financing. “The partnership with CRIF and Know Your Customer will further enhance our customer-centric experience to the SME customers,” Chow said.

The partnership between CRIF and Know Your Customer extends back to 2021. The two companies announced a global commercial partnership in August of that year to help financial institutions pursue their digital transformation objectives. The alliance will combine CRIF’s KYC data offering with Know Your Customer’s platform to facilitate digital corporate onboarding for financial institutions. The agreement also featured a strategic financial investment in Know Your Customer. The amount of the investment was not disclosed. The company said the capital will help it further develop the AI and automation features of its technology.

Founded in 1988, CRIF is headquartered in Bologna, Italy. The company operates in more than 40 countries and includes more than 10,000 financial institutions and 600+ insurance companies among its customers. CRIF made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2014.

Photo by Jimmy Chan

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Linqto Rebrands, Now Allows Investors to Buy and Sell Holdings

Linqto Rebrands, Now Allows Investors to Buy and Sell Holdings
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Linqto
  • Linqto has revamped its brand identity and has rolled out new capabilities to enable investors to buy and sell their holdings in real time.
  • The new feature comes after a recent bill passed by the House Financial Services Committee revamped the list of accredited investor certifications.
  • This marks the company’s second rebrand, after it first pivoted in 2020 to serve individual investors.

Investment platform Linqto has rolled out a two-fold announcement today. Not only has the California-based company has revamped its brand, but it has also added new capabilities to enable investors to buy and sell their holdings.

At its core, Linqto helps accredited users invest in unicorns before they go public. The platform opens up a ground floor opportunity, with the minimum investment starting at $5,000. The expanded capabilities launched today transforms Linqto into a more holistic platform, allowing users to control and manage their assets in real-time.

“The first generation of Linqto’s platform made private equity investing simple and accessible for accredited investors, and we are now entering a new phase which also makes these investments liquid,” said Linqto Chief Product Officer Patty Brewer. “The expanded platform allows accredited investors to cost-effectively build and manage their own diversified portfolio of private equity investments. Linqto is demystifying the private markets by providing endless opportunities to achieve financial goals.”

Today’s announcement comes after a recent bill passed by the House Financial Services Committee revamped the list of accredited investor certifications. The update further democratizes access to the private market.

“Now we’re doubling down on our core mission of helping accredited investors identify the private companies and industries they’re most interested in and providing real-time liquidity as a bonus,” said Linqto CEO Bill Sarris.

The rebrand marks the second change in the company’s brand identity since it was founded in 2010 as a digital banking technology company that provided software-as-a-service to fintechs. In 2020, two years after Linqto acquired investment trading platform PrimaryMarkets for $33 million, the company pivoted to serve as a direct-to-consumer investment platform.

Since then, Linqto has amassed 150,000 members across 110 countries and has facilitated $220 million in investments across almost 50+ portfolio companies.

Photo by Leif Bergerson

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PayNearMe Natively Integrates with Block’s Cash App

PayNearMe Natively Integrates with Block’s Cash App
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, PayNearMe
  • PayNearMe has integrated Cash App Pay into its app.
  • The move allows PayNearMe’s end users to pay their bills using their Cash App accounts.
  • The native integration helps users make payments within the app without having to manually re-enter their card or bank details.

Cash payments platform PayNearMe announced it is adding more payment options today by natively integrating with Cash App Pay. The California-based company is leveraging Block-owned Cash App Pay’s technology to allow its users to pay their bills using their Cash App accounts.

“We are excited to be early to market with Cash App Pay, a payment type that is growing in popularity,” said PayNearMe Chief Product Officer John Minor. “By offering Cash App Pay, we’re enabling our clients to provide their customers with more payment options and greater convenience.”

By natively integrating Cash App Pay, PayNearMe’s end users can make payments within the app without having to manually re-enter their card or bank details. The seamless user experience keeps users’ sensitive information secure while enabling them to complete transactions in a few taps. Payments made using Cash App Pay are saved alongside all of the user’s other transactions in a single ledger.

Cash App was founded in 2013 as a peer-to-peer-payment platform. The company has since become a more robust, banking-like platform that enables users to hold funds, spend their money using a QR code or cash, invest, manage their Bitcoin, and file their taxes. It has built up its user base to 53 million monthly active users.

PayNearMe focuses on serving un-and-underbanked populations with its cash-based billpay tools. The company partners with more than 40,000 retail stores, including 7-Eleven, Walmart, and Family Dollar, to allow businesses to offer their users cash payment options.

PayNearMe launched a product called MoneyLine in 2021. MoneyLine allows gaming and sports betting operators to offer a payment gateway, hold deposits, make payouts, and more. Including a fresh $45 million round earlier this year, PayNearMe has raised $118 million in funding since it was founded in 2009.

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Currencycloud Partners with Integrated AP/AR Platform Nook

Currencycloud Partners with Integrated AP/AR Platform Nook
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Currency Cloud, Daily news
  • Accounts payable and receivable platform Nook has partnered with Currencycloud.
  • Nook will leverage Currencycloud’s APIs to help its customers manage payments with international suppliers.
  • Currencycloud has been a Finovate alum since 2015. Visa acquired the company in 2021.

Accounts payable platform Nook announced a new partnership with Currencycloud. Nook will leverage Currencycloud’s APIs to enable its customers to manage the full-life cycle of supplier payments. This will help Nook better serve companies who must make multiple transactions and manage other inefficiencies when working with international suppliers.

“The seamless integration with Currencycloud has strengthened our value proposition as an end-to-end accounts payable solution, and has helped us to expand our addressable market to include businesses that need to pay suppliers in multiple currencies,” Nook co-founder and CEO Joe Lines explained.

Nook offers an integrated accounts payable and accounts receivable platform that enables businesses to process, approve, and pay invoices without having to login to their bank or accounting program. The platform features auditable integrated approval workflows, and payments are integrated with both the company’s bank and ledger. The company noted that its platform has enabled users to complete their accounts payable 50% faster than before using the technology.

Currencycloud Chief Revenue Officer Nick Cheetham said that the partnership with Nook was a “perfect example” of how companies can leverage innovation to thrive in the payments space. Calling the support of companies like Nook a part of Currencycloud’s identity from the beginning, Cheetham added “We are eager to see how the platform can expand their customer base and further disrupt the market by integrating our seamless cross-border payment capabilities.”

Currencycloud demoed its technology on the Finovate stage for the first time at FinovateSpring 2015. In the eight years since, the company has grown into a financial infrastructure and enterprise-class solution provider for any business that needs to move money across borders. With nearly 600 employees, Currencycloud maintains offices in New York, Amsterdam, Singapore, Cardiff, and London. The company has processed more than $75 billion in payments and transferred payments to more than 180 countries around the world.

Last month, Currencycloud announced that it was working with Australian multi-asset broker ACY Securities. Currencycloud began the year with a pair of new partnerships: teaming up with Hong Kong-based remittance company Windsor First and venture capital platform Vauban in January. Visa acquired Currencycloud in 2021 for $912 million (£700 million). Mike Laven is CEO.

Photo by Porapak Apichodilok

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Earnest and Nova Credit Partner to Offer Student Loans for International Students

Earnest and Nova Credit Partner to Offer Student Loans for International Students
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Earnest and Nova Credit are partnering to launch International Private Student Loans.
  • Earnest is tapping Nova Credit’s Credit Passport to leverage consumer-permissioned, cross-border credit data.
  • The solution is currently available to international students from India, Mexico, Canada, and South Korea.

Student loan refinancing site Earnest has teamed up with Nova Credit to launch International Private Student Loans. The new tool enables select international students to access flexible loan options, competitive interest rates, and personalized repayment terms tailored to their needs.

Offered by Earnest, International Private Student Loans will leverage Nova Credit’s Credit Passport solution that taps into consumer-permissioned, cross-border credit data. With Credit Passport, borrowers can share their credit information from their home country when they apply for a loan. Nova Credit will share the borrower’s credit history with Earnest and offer a relevant score corresponding to that history.

“We believe that access to credit should be borderless, and financial barriers should never hinder someone’s pursuit of education or opportunity,” said Nova Credit CEO Misha Esipov. “The U.S. is home to nearly one million international students who not only fill our universities with the brightest minds from around the globe but also bring those lessons to accelerate our economy for generations. By partnering with Earnest, we can provide more students the financial access they need to arrive and thrive.”

International borrowers that are eligible will have access to Earnest’s loans without needing a cosigner on the loan. Currently, the International Private Student Loans product is available to international students from India, Mexico, Canada, and South Korea pursuing a Master in Business Administration, Master of Laws/Juris Doctorate, or Master of Science in Engineering program at select schools. The loans can be used for tuition, housing, living expenses, and other education-related costs.

Nova Credit was founded in 2016 with an aim to extend credit to an entirely new set of potential borrowers– immigrants. In addition to the company’s Credit Passport solution, Nova Credit offers Cash Atlas, a tool that analyzes bank transaction data to provide lenders with a Fair Credit Reporting Act consumer report and generates a borrower risk profile to assess their affordability and ability to pay.

Nova Credit also offers a direct-to-consumer tool that provides new-to-country borrowers access to a marketplace where they can browse and apply for credit cards, phone plans, and loans using their foreign credit history.

San Francisco-based Earnest was founded in 2013 and offers student loans, personal loans, student loan refinancing, and marketplaces for tuition insurance, student credit cards, and home equity lines of credit.

Today’s news isn’t the only development in the international student lending space this month. Last week, global payments platform Flywire announced it had teamed up with Tencent’s fintech arm, Tencent Financial Technology, to help Chinese students pay for education abroad.

Photo by Vasily Koloda on Unsplash

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