• Japanese buy now, pay later fintech Smartpay launched Smartpay Bank Direct, a tool that will enable users to pay for their purchases directly from their bank accounts.
• Prior to today’s launch, Smartpay users could only repay using a credit card.
• Smartpay is currently available in Japan, KSA, and the UAE. The company aims to expand into Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and other markets in Southeast Asia and MENA.

Japan-based Smartpay is launching Smartpay Bank Direct, a tool that offers users a new way to pay for their online installment purchases.

Starting today, Smartpay users can pay for their buy now, pay later (BNPL) purchases directly from their bank accounts. The move is made possible by Smartpay’s partnerships with 67 banks and makes Smartpay one of the first consumer finance companies to leverage Japan’s open banking ecosystem.

Smartpay markets itself as a “payments experience” company, offering consumers a BNPL tool that enables consumers to pay for their purchases in three installments over the course of two months with no fees or interest. When the company launched its BNPL tool, consumers could only repay using their credit card. Today’s launch empowers them to pay directly from their bank account.

Japan revised its open banking approach in June 2018, when it required banks to offer open APIs within two years. After the start of 2020, the deadline was extended to September 2020. By that time, 97% of banks were in compliance.

“Since the launch of Smartpay just over a year ago, as Japan’s first BNPL solution payable by credit card, we have continued to expand our partner ecosystem with new retailers and an expanding customer base with revenue growth over 200% in the last three months,” said Smartpay founder and CEO Sam Ahmed. “It’s interesting that we have lifted merchant average order value more than 30% in four different merchant categories. We attract higher value consumers for the merchant through our eKYC process.”

Smartpay was founded in 2021 and is currently focused on Japan, KSA, and UAE markets. The company aims to expand into Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and other markets in Southeast Asia and MENA “in the medium term.”

Photo by Isaque Pereira

• U.S.-based banking association and payments network operator The Clearing House appointed a new CEO this week.
• David Watson will assume the leadership position from Jim Aramanda, who will retire at the end of this month.
• Watson comes to The Clearing House from SWIFT, where he served as Chief Product Officer.

The Clearing House (TCH) is getting a new leader for the new year. The U.S.-based banking association and payments network operator appointed David Watson as its newest CEO, launching into 2023 with a fresh start.

Watson will take the reins from the company’s current President and CEO Jim Aramanda, who will retire at the end of this month. Aramanda has served as CEO of TCH for 15 years, beginning his tenure at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

“The Clearing House’s Supervisory Board is grateful for Jim Aramanda’s long-standing service to the organization, said Bank of America Chair and Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the TCH Supervisory Board Brian Moynihan. “During Jim’s tenure, TCH continued its critical role in delivering ultra-reliable payments capabilities to the U.S. financial system, but importantly, also introduced innovative new payments capabilities. This includes the RTP network, which is now delivering real-time payments capabilities.”

Watson comes to TCH from SWIFT, where he served as Chief Product Officer, assisting in product engineering, development, and innovation. Prior to that, he served in multiple roles at Deutsche Bank for 17 years. His titles included Head of Cash Management Americas and Global Head of Digital Products, Global Head of Product Development – Global Transaction Banking, and Head of Americas Product Management – Global Transaction Banking.

“David brings extensive payments experience, in-depth expertise in the field, and a strong track record of innovation,” said Moynihan. “David will continue TCH’s important work of driving adoption of real-time payments capabilities and focusing on the safety, security, reliability, and efficiency of bank-owned payment systems which are critical to the financial system.”

TCH was founded in 1853. The 170-year-old company is owned by 24 of the largest commercial banks in the U.S. and clears and settles approximately $2 trillion in bank-to-bank payments each day through wire, ACH, check image, and real-time payments. In 2017, TCH took the historically slow U.S. payments industry into the next level by launching the Real Time Payments (RTP) network, which helps clear and settle payments instantly and facilitates the real-time exchange of payments-related data.

Shortly after David Watson becomes TCH’s new CEO, the company’s RTP will gain a new rival. RTP will compete directly with FedNow, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s real-time payment system, after it launches in July of this year. FedNow creates a new rail for payments that will provide all financial institutions access to secure, instant payment services in real time.

Photo by Kaboompics .com

• St. Mary’s Bank, a credit union headquartered in New Hampshire, has teamed up with credit risk specialist AKUVO.
• The nation’s first credit union, founded in 1908, St. Mary’s Bank will deploy AKUVO’s Aperture to automate and enhance its collection operations.
• With $1.5 billion in assets, St. Mary’s Bank said goodbye to its eighth CEO in December, as CEO and President Ronald Covey announced his retirement after 14 years leading the firm.

New Hampshire-based St. Mary’s Bank has teamed up with AKUVO, a credit risk specialist headquartered in Pennsylvania. St. Mary’s Bank will deploy AKUVO’s Aperture platform to streamline and enhance its collections operations, including bankruptcy, repossession, and foreclosure.

“We are committed to providing state-of-the-art banking services,” St. Mary’s Bank EVP and Chief Lending Officer Jan Raymond said. “With the amount of automation and integration we plan to leverage in Aperture, our team will have more time and the right tools to offer a first-class member experience while also managing risk and lowering delinquency.”

AKUVO’s Aperture platform helps banks and credit unions move away from the traditionally reactive, tactical approach to managing collections. Instead of static workflows, inefficient workspaces, and little customer personalization, AKUVO’s Aperture leverages analytics and automation to give financial institutions a streamlined, cloud-based solution. Not only does Aperture make day-to-day operational tasks easier, the technology also predicts behavior and provides insights to help head off delinquencies before they occur. Aperture helps banks and credit unions manage a wide range of collection and loss mitigation operations ranging from credit disputes and debt settlement to bankruptcy, foreclosure, and repossession.

“I think all service providers feel a tremendous sense of pride when they are chosen by the nation’s first credit union, and that is certainly the case at AKUVO,” AKUVO Chief Revenue and Operating Officer Steve Castagna said. “We look forward to assisting St. Mary’s in leading the credit union movement with its superior service and commitment to innovation.”

With $1.5 billion in assets, St. Mary’s Bank has the distinction of being the nation’s first credit union. Founded in 1908 and headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire, St. Mary’s Bank is a not-for-profit, member-owned institution that offers financial products and services to both consumers and businesses. St. Mary’s Bank has eleven branch locations in Manchester, Hudson, Londonderry, Milford, Nashua, and Portsmouth, and supports a mortgage center in Concord.

St. Mary’s Bank ended 2022 with an announcement that Ronald Covey, who had served as the credit union’s president and CEO for 14 years, was retiring. Under Covey’s tenure, St. Mary’s Bank grew in membership from 60,000 to 98,000 members. Assets grew from $652 million to nearly $1.5 billion. Covey was also credited for helping the institution adapt to the “rapid technological advances in the financial services industry,” according to St. Mary’s Bank board of directors chair Steve Grzywacz.

Founded in 2020 by CEO Jay Mossman, AKUVO finished last year with a series of new partnerships. These include new pacts with Florida-based credit union FAIRWINDS and Michigan-based Financial Plus Credit Union in December; Mountain America Credit Union in November, and both CapEd Credit Union and Tucson Federal Credit Union in October. The company has raised $1.7 million in funding and announced a pair of debt financing rounds in February and May of 2022.

Photo by Scott Webb

• Multi-currency payment services company Conotoxia launched multi-currency card 2.0.
• The update enables cardholders to add users to their card.
• The multi-currency card 2.0 enables cardholders to hold accounts in 20 currencies and pay in more than 160 currencies.

Multi-currency payment services company Conotoxia is making it easier for users to share payment cards with friends, family, and employees. The new capabilities come as part of the company’s new launch, multi-currency card 2.0.

“We have been observing very strong interest in our multi-currency cards. Customers recognize their advantages and their superiority over bank debit cards,” said Conotoxia Vice President Pitor Kicinski. “The multi-currency card 2.0 and its new functionality can mean significant savings for families and businesses, as well as, for example, an interesting gift for those traveling abroad or shopping in international shops.”

Existing cardholders can share their card with new users after they register with Conotoxia. Once the new user is registered, they can begin making transactions using both physical and virtual cards. Meanwhile, the primary cardholder can view the card balance, control expenses, and set spending limits.

With the multi-currency card 2.0, cardholders can hold accounts in 20 currencies and can pay in more than 160 currencies. The tandem Conotoxia mobile app for iOS and Android enable users to view their transaction history, manage cards, and more. At the start of 2022, Conotoxia added Apple Pay as a payment option for cardholders, and contactless payments are also available with Google Pay, Fitbit Pay, and Garmin Pay.

Launched in 2014, Conotoxia offers foreign exchange and cryptocurrency trading, online payments, and online currency exchange in addition to its multi-currency cards. The company employs more than 250 people in its offices based in Poland, Illinois, and The Republic of Cyprus.

Photo by Angela Roma

• Insurtech company Oyster received $3.6 million in seed funding.
• The round was led by New Stack Ventures.
• Oyster was founded in 2021 by Blend, Stripe, and Strategy& alumni Vic Yeh, Jon Patel, and Nikhil Kansal.

Insurtech company Oyster received $3.6 million in funding this week. The Seed Round was led by New Stack Ventures with contributions from Global Founders Capital, Conversion Capital, Cambrian Ventures, SNR VC, Kearny Jackson, Valia Ventures, Interlace Ventures, V1 VC, and a group of angel investors.

Oyster a new take on insurance. It provides merchants an embedded insurance tool to integrate into their point-of-sale that offers customers insurance for a good or service they are about to purchase. Oyster will use today’s investment to fuel its point-of-sale insurance platform and add more merchant partners. The company’s list of merchant partners currently includes Bulls Bikes, Jewels by Grace, Zooz Bikes, Bario Neal, Area 13 Ebikes, and The New Wheel.

“You can buy a $5,000 ebike or engagement ring online in just a few clicks and get it delivered the next day. Want to get insurance for that purchase? Good luck! It’s an offline process that can take many days and lots of paperwork,” said Cambrian Ventures Founding Partner Rex Salisbury. “Oyster is offering embedded insurance for high growth ecommerce categories to allow consumers to seamlessly insure some of their most important possessions at point of sale in a few minutes. It’s a huge opportunity to move personal insurance into the digital age.”

Oyster differentiates itself by offering affordable insurance rates for products including bikes, ebikes, jewelry, phones, collectibles, and electronics. The company provides full coverage from theft, loss, and accidental damage– and many policies offer a zero dollar deductible.

The company was founded in 2021 by Blend, Stripe, and Strategy& alumni Vic Yeh, Jon Patel, and Nikhil Kansal. The team recognized the insurance market as one of the last financial sectors to be disrupted by the technological innovations of the past two decades. “The insurance industry is still in the early innings of digital transformation,” the company said in a blog post announcement. “As such, we’re accelerating the speed of innovation in order to provide the best-in-class products and services to our customers and partners.”

Photo by Mandy Henry on Unsplash