Daily news

RightCapital’s Cash Flow Maps Bring Intuitive Visuals to Financial Planning

RightCapital’s Cash Flow Maps Bring Intuitive Visuals to Financial Planning
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, RightCapital
  • RightCapital launched its new data visualization tool, Cash Flow Maps, this week.
  • The new offering provides intuitive data visuals to illustrate cash inflows and outflows in financial plans.
  • Headquartered in Connecticut, RightCapital most recently demoed its technology at FinovateSpring in 2019.

Seeing is believing. And RightCapital is betting that its new Cash Flow Maps will make it easier for financial advisors to collaborate with their clients. The latest addition to RightCapital’s data visualization tools, Cash Flow Maps offers intuitive data visuals to illustrate cash inflows and outflows in financial plans.

“RightCapital has built its reputation on listening to advisor feedback and adding new product features at a fast clip,” co-founder and CEO of RightCapital Shuang Chen said. “The Cash Flow Maps are a good example of that.”

Cash Flow Maps present data in two different formats. The “Waterfall” format is a horizontal Sankey chart in which cash inflows and outflows move from left to right. The “Breakdown” format is a vertical flow chart that allows users to click on each item for greater detail. The new offering is available now to all RightCapital subscribers at all subscription levels. Cash Flow Maps leverage Sankey charting, which emphasizes transfers or flows within a system. Famous examples of early Sankey charts include a visualization of Napolean’s 1812 Russian Campaign created in 1869. Another famous example was the illustration of the efficiency of a steam engine back in 1898.

“My first experience seeing Sankey cash flow charts used in financial planning was in what I called the ‘Beautiful Financial Plan’ that Mike Zung, CFP, created,” Michael Kitces said. Kitces is publisher of The Kitces Report and the financial advisory industry blog, Nerd’s Eye View. “Now that RightCapital has released this new feature that automatically creates cash flow maps, the entire community of advisors can use them in their financial plans with ease,” he added.

Founded in 2015, RightCapital made its Finovate debut a year later at FinovateFall. The Shelton, Connecticut-based fintech last demoed its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateSpring 2019. RightCapital also offers Snapshot, which summarizes financial planning charts and notes into a single personalized document. The company’s Blueprint solution helps organize household financial data and goals using interactive, intuitive visuals.

Photo by Pixabay

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GoDaddy Teams with Apple to Offer Contactless Payments

GoDaddy Teams with Apple to Offer Contactless Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • GoDaddy has added a contactless payments option for its merchant clients.
  • By leveraging Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone, GoDaddy enables entrepreneurs to accept in-person, contactless payments without a card reader.
  • The transaction capabilities are powered by GoDaddy Payments, which the company launched in 2021 after acquiring Poynt.

Internet domain registrar and online business facilitator GoDaddy unveiled its latest small business tool today. The Arizona-based company is leveraging Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone to enable entrepreneurs accept in-person, contactless payments without a card reader.

Apple launched Tap to Pay in February 2022 to allow merchants to use their iPhone to accept Apple Pay, contactless payment cards, and other digital wallets by tapping it to their iPhone. “As more and more consumers are tapping to pay with digital wallets and credit cards, Tap to Pay on iPhone will provide businesses with a secure, private, and easy way to accept contactless payments and unlock new checkout experiences using the power, security, and convenience of iPhone,” Apple Vice President of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet Jennifer Bailey said at the launch.

With the integration of Apple’s Tap to Pay technology into the GoDaddy mobile app, GoDaddy said that it takes merchants just “a couple of minutes” to accept contactless payments on their phone. After downloading the GoDaddy Mobile App on their iPhone, they log in, and choose Tap to Pay on iPhone. Customers can pay using contactless debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, or other digital wallets.

“Based on our data, more than half of all in-store purchases are now contactless, making it a favorite way for consumers to make payments in-store,” said GoDaddy Commerce President Osama Bedier. “Many of our U.S. customers already have an iPhone. By adding Tap to Pay on iPhone to the GoDaddy Mobile App, we will enable millions of small businesses to accept in-person payments without having to purchase additional hardware. That matters in this climate. It’s part of GoDaddy’s mission to put merchants first by making user-friendly, connected commerce tools accessible to all businesses, no matter their size.”

The contactless transactions are powered by GoDaddy Payments, which launched in 2021 after the company acquired payment terminal operating system Poynt for $320 million. Prior to the acquisition, Poynt handled more than $16 billion in gross merchandise volume each year for its 100,000+ merchant clients.

Founded in 1997, GoDaddy is best known for its domain name registration service and website building tools. The company has slowly been expanding its expertise to better serve its small business clients, having added email and marketing tools, as well as online marketplace tools and sales dashboards. GoDaddy is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of $11.8 billion. Aman Bhutani is CEO.

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Qolo to Power Payment Solutions and Virtual Accounts for KeyBank

Qolo to Power Payment Solutions and Virtual Accounts for KeyBank
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Qolo
  • Omnichannel card and payment platform Qolo has partnered with KeyBank.
  • Via the partnership, Qolo will power KeyBank’s payment solutions and virtual accounts.
  • Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Qolo made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in September 2022.

KeyBank has selected omnichannel card and payment platform Qolo to power its API-based payment solutions and virtual accounts. The partnership will enable KeyBank customers to create advanced virtual accounts instantly. Customers also will be able to connect seamlessly to other payment modalities such as real-time payments, ACH, and wire transfers.

“Qolo’s partnership with KeyBank will bring our leading card issuing, omnichannel payments, and flexible virtual accounts to more fintechs and businesses looking to quickly launch and scale revenue-generating digital banking services,” Qolo co-founder and CEO Patricia Montesi said. “We are excited to power this intrinsic component of KeyBank’s next-generation digital offering.”

Qolo enables banks to leverage advanced digital payments functionality without having to replace their core systems. Via a single API, Qolo offers direct access to all payment rails and account types. The company’s technology also provides program management, processing, platform licensing and more. Qolo made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall last September, where it demoed its Companion Core solution.

Head of Commercial Product and Innovation at KeyBank Jon Briggs praised Qolo for its “shared commitment” to helping businesses access innovative new solutions to better serve their customers. “The integration of Qolo into KeyBank’s API is another proof point in our embedded banking strategy, allowing clients to streamline and scale their strategies by utilizing our digital payment tools to power innovation in their platforms.”

Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Qolo was founded in 2018. The company’s partnership announcement with KeyBank follows recent news that Qolo was working with global payouts firm PayQuicker. The collaboration will enable Qolo to provide unified disbursement services to PayQuicker and its customers. Qolo began the year celebrating a major milestone: processing more than $1 billion in total payouts in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Qolo has raised $19 million in equity funding. The company’s most recent fundraising was in August of 2021 when it secured $15 million in a Series A round led by The Raptor Group.

Photo by Blue Arauz

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Affirm Launches Adaptive Checkout for Canadian Stripe Users

Affirm Launches Adaptive Checkout for Canadian Stripe Users
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • BNPL company Affirm and payments infrastructure company Stripe are expanding their relationship.
  • The move will make Affirm’s Adaptive Checkout tool available to businesses using Stripe in Canada.
  • The two began working together in May of 2022, when the payments company added the Affirm’s Adaptive Checkout tool as an option for U.S. businesses.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) giant Affirm announced it is doubling down on its relationship with payments infrastructure company Stripe this week.

Under the agreement, Affirm is making its Adaptive Checkout tool available to eligible Canadian Stripe users. Launched in 2021, Adaptive Checkout offers more personalized payment options in the checkout flow. The checkout tool offers shoppers BNPL options, including four interest-free biweekly payments, monthly payments, or both.

Stripe Product Lead for Payment Methods Sophie Sakellariadis said that the addition of the tool will help Canadian businesses “continue to scale and adapt with changing consumer preferences.”

Stripe began working with Affirm in May of 2022. The payments company added the BNPL provider’s Adaptive Checkout tool as an option for U.S. business customers to add into their checkout flows. After the partnership, Stripe saw users increase their average order value by 41% when leveraging Affirm’s flexible payment plans

“Since launching in the U.S. with Stripe, we’ve helped many businesses better serve their customers and drive growth by providing transparent and flexible payment options,” said Affirm Chief Revenue Officer Wayne Pommen. “We are excited to expand our partnership and strengthen our position as one of the leading providers in Canada. By providing consumers with greater choice to select the custom payment plan that is right for them, Adaptive Checkout has been proven to increase sales and conversion, and is now available to Stripe’s Canadian users.”

A BNPL pioneer, Affirm was founded in 2012. The company now enables 240,000 merchants and platforms to offer flexible payment options. Affirm’s other Canadian partnerships include Apple, Hudson’s Bay, Browns Shoes, and Samsung. 

Founded in 2010, Stripe processes hundreds of billions of dollars each year and offers a range of products– including a suite of global payments solutions, banking-as-a-service offerings, and revenue and financial management tools. Last month, the company landed $6.5 billion in Series I funding to provide liquidity to employees and address employee equity awards withholding tax obligations. Stripe is currently valued at $50 billion, which is less than half of the company’s peak valuation of $95 billion in March of 2021.

Photo by Andre Furtado

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Twitter Taps eToro for Real-Time Stock Prices

Twitter Taps eToro for Real-Time Stock Prices
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, eToro
  • Twitter has selected eToro to provide real-time pricing data for its $Cashtags feature.
  • The $Cashtag will not only show real-time pricing data, it will also enable users to navigate to the eToro platform to view more information and make a trade.
  • The news comes about a month after Twitter CEO Elon Musk said he thinks it is possible Twitter could become “the biggest financial institution in the world.”

Social trading and investment network eToro unveiled it has partnered with Twitter. The tie-up will enable the social media platform’s $Cashtags feature to show users real-time prices for a range of stocks, crypto, and other assets.

Twitter first added pricing data on $Cashtags leveraging TradingView data late last year. However, the live pricing information was only available for select financial assets. With today’s partnership, eToro is expanding the list of assets to include more stocks, ETFs, crypto, and commodities. Moreover, Twitter users will be able to click the $Cashtag to navigate to the eToro platform, which will not only offer more information on the asset, but will also have the option to invest.

“Financial content on social media has provided education to many who have felt excluded by more traditional channels,” said eToro CEO Yoni Assia. “Twitter has become a crucial part of the retail investing community – it’s where millions of ordinary investors go every day to access financial news, share knowledge and converse. As the social investing network, eToro was built on these very principles – community, knowledge-sharing and better access to financial markets. There is power in shared knowledge and by transforming investing into a group endeavour, we can yield better results and become more successful, together.”

In piloting the launch of $Cashtag pricing data late last year, Twitter has seen widespread adoption among its users– even with the limited data. There have been more than 420 million searches for $Cashtags since the start of this year, with an average 4.7 million $Cashtag searches a day. Among the most commonly used $Cashtags are $TSLA, $SPY, and $BTC.

Today’s news comes about six months after Twitter CEO Elon Musk acquired the social media platform and declared plans to turn it into an “everything app.” At a Morgan Stanley Tech conference earlier this year, Musk specified that this vision revolved around payments. “I think it’s possible to create a very powerful finance experience,” said Musk. “Basically, I think it’s possible to become the biggest financial institution in the world, just by providing people with convenient payment options.”

Twitter’s partnership with eToro serves as the company’s first step towards becoming the “biggest financial institution in the world.” It also offers a hint into Twitter’s initial strategy when it comes to achieving that goal– as many U.S. banks have found, when it comes to rising to the top, partnerships are key.

Photo by Edgar on Unsplash

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Digital Identity Verification Specialist Socure Partners with Payments Innovator Alacriti

Digital Identity Verification Specialist Socure Partners with Payments Innovator Alacriti
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Socure
  • Socure partnered with payments company Alacriti to bring identity fraud prevention to instant payments.
  • The partnership comes as the transition toward instant payments gains steam in the U.S.
  • Socure most recently demoed its digital identity verification technology at FinovateFall 2017.

Socure and Alacriti have teamed up to bring third-party and synthetic identity fraud prevention to instant payments.

The partnership will enable financial institutions to use end-to-end, turnkey, instant payment solutions with the benefit of integrated fraud prevention. This will benefit FIs using Alacriti’s Cosmos Payments Hub, which enables institutions to offer their customers modern money movement. The partnership also supports Alacriti’s Orbipay AIQ, a cloud-based machine learning-based fraud prevention solution powered by Socure’s Sigma Fraud suite. Orbipay AIQ helps FIs manage the specific fraud and risk challenges that are associated with instant payments. The technology can be used to augment existing fraud detection systems or as a standalone solution. Orbipay AIQ works for both payment rails such as The Clearing House’s RTP network, the FedNow Service, and Visa Direct. The technology is also compatible with more conventional rails like ACH and Wires.

“Our partnership with Alacriti protects financial institutions and their account holders from predatory fraudsters, improving their trust and confidence when making faster payments transactions,” Socure VP of Business Development Evan Rabinowitz said. “The joining of a comprehensive identity verification and fraud prevention platform with the Cosmos Payments Hub helps financial institutions safely deliver payments innovation quickly and with less risk to market.”

Socure made its Finovate debut in 2013 and most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall in 2017. This year, the company teamed up with Okta to bring identity verification products to government IT solutions provider Carahsoft. Also, in March, Socure won “Best Identity Verification Solution” at the FinTech Breakthrough Awards for a second year in a row.

The company has raised more than $741 million in funding. Socure’s investors include T. Rowe Price, Accel, and Capital One Ventures. Last month, Socure announced a $95 million credit facility. J.P. Morgan, Silicon Valley Bank, and KeyBanc Capital Markets provided the financing.

“Socure is in an exceptional position to solve what organizations and government agencies need most today – accurate and inclusive real-time identity verification without costly fraud and friction within the customer experience,” Socure founder and CEO Johnny Ayers said when the credit facility was announced in March. “With this facility further strengthening our balance sheet, Socure is in a tremendous position to leave the recession much stronger than when we went into it while continuing to distance ourselves from the competition through investments in new solutions, verticals, and strategic acquisitions.”

Photo by Element5 Digital

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ID.me Raises $132 Million

ID.me Raises $132 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, ID.me
  • ID.me announced a $132 million funding round, bringing its total raised to $240 million.
  • The company has brought on Samantha Greenberg as CFO.
  • Today’s news comes a week after the company reached a major milestone– reaching 100 million registered wallets on its platform.

Digital identity network ID.me announced it closed a $132 million funding round this week. The investment boosts the Virginia-based company’s total funding to $240 million.

Viking Global Investors led the round, which also saw participation from CapitalG, Morgan Stanley Counterpoint, FTV Capital, PSP Growth, Auctus Investment Group, Moonshots Capital, and Scout Ventures. ID.me has not specified what the funds will be used for.

Along with today’s funding announcement, ID.me also revealed it has appointed Samantha Greenberg as Chief Financial Officer. Greenberg is replacing Rachael Brinker, who was temporarily filling the CFO role after the company’s former CFO Rajat Bahri vacated the position last summer.

Greenberg brings more than 20 years of experience leading financial operations, analyzing private and public technology and consumer companies, and scaling high-growth businesses. Most recently, she served as CFO of Mint House and has also held positions at Citadel, Goldman Sachs, Paulson & Co. Greenberg, and Margate Capital Management LP– which she founded.

“We are fortunate to have Samantha join our senior leadership team, given her excellent track record in growing companies to serve their customers and business partners,” said ID.me Co-founder and CEO Blake Hall. “Her expertise will support our mission to provide our more than 100 million members with a safe and secure digital identity credential facilitating access across services, benefits, healthcare and commerce without selling their personal data. Samantha is joining our team at the right time, after we closed our Series D funding and surpassed 100 million members. These are big milestones toward our vision to streamline access to benefits and services while ensuring no identity is left behind.”

ID.me was founded in 2010 to serve as a digital identity wallet that helps users prove and share their identities online without disclosing additional personal information. The company maintains a digital identity network that includes 14 federal agencies and 500+ retail brands, all of which use ID.me to verify customers’ identities and affiliations. ID.me’s ID wallet helps users prove they belong to certain affiliated groups, such as teacher, student, first responder, or military veteran. Last week, ID.me achieved a major milestone, reaching 100 million digital wallets registered on its platform.

Photo by Pixabay

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exagens and Desjardins Leverage Behavioral Banking to Boost Financial Wellness

exagens and Desjardins Leverage Behavioral Banking to Boost Financial Wellness
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Exagens
  • Behavioral banking solutions provider exagens announced its fourth consecutive multi-year agreement with Desjardins.
  • Desjardins has leveraged its relationship with exagens to bring the benefits of behavioral banking to its members.
  • Exagens made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2018. The company is based in Montreal, Canada.

Behavioral banking solutions provider exagens has renewed vows with credit union Desjardins. The two entities announced their fourth consecutive multi-year agreement this week. The news affirms a bond that extends back to 2015.

“Throughout our longstanding partnership, exagens has worked with Desjardins to address challenges like improving the financial wellness of their members, up-selling, cross-selling, reducing call center volume, and increasing digital engagement,” exagens President and CEO Michael Stojda said. “This most recent renewal again confirms our steadfast focus on community-based financial institutions, the strong relationship we’ve built with Desjardins and the ongoing value together we’ve provided to both Desjardins and their members over the past 8 years. We look forward to this exciting new chapter in our partnership.”

Desjardins is the largest credit union group in North America, with assets of more than $407 billion. Courtesy of its partnership with exagens, Desjardins has provided its members with contextual, personalized insights into their financial lives. The credit union’s Assistant AccèsD solution leverages exagens’ behavioral banking technology to proactively engage members across the entire digital banking experience. This level of engagement helps members save, spend, borrow, and invest in accordance with their goals. Since embarking on its partnership with exagens, Desjardins has seen 3.4x more savings per year per member, increased digital engagement, and reduced operational costs.

More recently, Desjardins has leveraged its relationship with exagens to address issues ranging from rapid deposit growth to the challenges of the COVID pandemic. Proactive engagement with members, according to Desjardins, also has helped significantly reduce call center volumes.

Founded in 2013, exagens is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The company made its Finovate debut in 2018 at FinovateSpring. Exagens and its solutions have earned recognition and received industry awards from EFMA, Celero, and OCTAS. Exagens was named a Cool Vendor in Banking by Gartner in 2019.

Photo by Thanh LY

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Data Security and Compliance Platform Very Good Security Introduces New CEO Chuck Yu

Data Security and Compliance Platform Very Good Security Introduces New CEO Chuck Yu
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, Very Good Security

Very Good Security (VGS) has got a brand new boss. The data security and compliance platform has appointed Chuck Yu as its Chief Executive Officer.

Vertex Ventures U.S. General Partner Jonathan Heiliger, whose firm is a major investor in VGS, praised Yu’s experience in financial services. “His deep ties in the fintech and payments space will help advance VGS’ industry leadership position as the company looks to help its clients secure critical data and streamline compliance in more powerful and progressive ways,” Heiliger said. He called Yu “a transformational force.”

Yu’s background includes executive leadership roles at Visa, Point Digital Finance, and TrialPay, where he was Chief Revenue Officer. TrialPay was acquired by Visa in 2015. While at Visa, Yu led teams in business development, sales, finance, and operations. He also helped build strategic partnerships as the head of business development for Visa’s Global Fintech team.

In a statement, Yu underscored VGS’s goal of being a powerful steward “of the world’s sensitive data.” He added, “I am eager to work closely with our talented team to forge new strategic partnerships with industry leaders, and deeper relationships with the top brands that have chosen to trust us with their critical financial data.”

In its Finovate debut last spring, VGS demonstrated its VGS Zero Data Platform. The technology collects sensitive data from end users and conducts operations on the data – including exchanging it with third parties. The platform accomplishes this without allowing the original data to come in contact with your network. This allows companies to extract business value from sensitive data without touching it. As such, by enabling businesses to “offload” their data security burdens, Very Good Security allows these companies to focus on delivering innovative solutions to their customers.

Very Good Security has raised more than $104 million in funding. The firm’s investors include Vertex Ventures, Visa Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VGS was founded in 2015.

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Digital Banking Provider Bankjoy Integrates with Fiserv Portico

Digital Banking Provider Bankjoy Integrates with Fiserv Portico
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Bankjoy, Daily news
  • Digital banking provider Bankjoy announced an integration with Fiserv Portico, a full-service account processing system.
  • The integration will enable credit unions working with Fiserv Portico to offer their members an online and mobile banking experience with a modern, intuitive UX.
  • Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, Bankjoy most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2022.

Michigan-based digital banking provider Bankjoy has integrated with Fiserv Portico, a full-service account processing system. The integration will enable credit unions using Fiserv Portico to offer an online and mobile banking experience that will attract new members and deepen current member engagement.

“Investing in a truly cutting-edge digital banking solution can seem out-of-reach for institutions without extensive engineering resources and IT budgets,” Bankjoy CEO Michael Duncan said. “Our integration with Fiserv Portico aims to solve this by giving credit unions more flexibility to roll out the digital banking features that today’s members expect in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible.”

Founded in 2015 and built by credit union executives, Bankjoy gives credit unions the ability to offer a wide range of contemporary banking services. These services include both mobile and online banking, e-statements, online account opening, online loan origination, conversational AI, and more.

“Ongoing digital transformation over the last decade has accelerated the need for financial institutions of all sizes to deliver a state-of-the-art digital banking experience,” Duncan said. “Their success as an institution depends on this.” He added that, according to research from McKinsey & Company, the top performing financial institutions receive an average of 24-28 digital banking log-ins per account holder every month. These digital banking customers are driving revenue growth by an average of 10% to 15% each year.

Bankjoy most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2022 in New York. At the conference, the company showed how its Business Banking Platform provides SMEs with a single portal for multiple business accounts, and enables them to manage multiple users, control permissions, send transfers to multiple recipients, and more.

In addition to the company’s integration with Fiserv Portico, Bankjoy has also secured out-of-the-box integrations with third-party partners ranging from Allied Payments and Savvy Money to Vertifi and UrbanFT. This week’s integration news comes a month after Bankjoy announced securing new funding in a round led by Curql Collective. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Duncan said that the capital will help the company “help more community financial institutions thrive in an increasingly competitive environment.”

Photo by Anon

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Axle Raises $4 Million for Consumer Permissioned Insurance Data

Axle Raises $4 Million for Consumer Permissioned Insurance Data
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Axle raised $4 million in a Seed round led by Gradient Ventures.
  • Today’s investment brings the Atlanta, Georgia-based company’s total funding to $4.5 million.
  • Axle is bringing consumer permissioned data to the insurance vertical.

Consumer permissioned insurance data company Axle has raised $4 million this week for a tool it calls “the Plaid for insurance.” The Seed round brings the Atlanta, Georgia-based company’s total funding to $4.5 million.

Gradient Ventures led the round, which also saw contributions from existing investor Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Contrary Capital, Rebel Fund, BLH Ventures, and others.

“Axle’s innovative approach to insurance and commitment to a personalized customer experience has already demonstrated early traction and validates their potential to make a significant impact in the market,” said Gradient Ventures Partner Wen-wen Lam. “We look forward to supporting the team and their mission to democratize access to insurance data.”

Axle was founded in 2022 to offer a universal API that allows individuals to connect their insurance account to companies seeking to verify their insurance. The tool enables rental car companies, lenders, and gig services to quickly obtain proof-of-insurance, as long as they have permission from the end user.

“We plan to use the funds to grow our team, enabling us to service new and existing demand from our fast-growing list of customers, strengthen our carrier network, and expand into new markets,” the company said in a blog post.

The company’s current carrier network includes hundreds of insurance carriers and supports policy information including term, insureds, premiums, third parties, and more.

Consumer permissioned data is widely used across the financial services industry– from credit scoring to payment processing and personalized marketing. Plaid— the company to which Axle is comparing itself– may be the most well-known fintechs facilitating consumer permissioned data. The California-based company uses consumer permissioned data to facilitate the data exchange between financial institutions and third-party applications.

Photo by Engin Akyurt

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Google Moves to Stop Predatory Lending Practices

Google Moves to Stop Predatory Lending Practices
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Google
  • Google is updating its Personal Loans policy for apps in the Google Play store.
  • The update prohibits lending apps from accessing borrower’s personal information and bans unlicensed lending apps from the Google Play Store.
  • The new rules go into effect May 31.

Google updated the Personal Loans policy for its Google Play store this week, adding a restriction to protect end users from predatory loan practices.

The update restricts lending apps from accessing sensitive user data– including photos, videos, call logs, precise location, and external data. The move comes as a response to recent unethical, predatory practices. According to TechCrunch, there have been reports of debt collectors associated with lending apps on the Google Play store that have inappropriately leveraged user data in an attempt to collect on borrowers in default.

Specifically, debt collectors in both India and Kenya have allegedly called a borrower’s friends and family to inform them of the user’s debt and have even manipulated images from the borrower’s camera roll in an attempt to intimidate them. TechCrunch reports that these moves have, in “a number” of cases, caused borrowers to take their own lives.

The update, which will be implemented on May 31, states, “Apps that provide personal loans, or have the primary purpose of facilitating access to personal loans (i.e., lead generators or facilitators), are prohibited from accessing sensitive data, such as photos and contacts.”

Google’s update this week also bans unlicensed lending apps from the Android app store. These illegitimate apps are likely some of the primary offenders in predatory practices towards borrowers.

Photo by Anete Lusina

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