• Darlington Building Society has partnered with LexisNexis Risk Solutions to enhance its financial crime prevention strategy.
• The U.K.-based financial institution will deploy LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ RiskNarrative platform which features integrations with more than 50 third party data sources.
• Darlington Building Society was named Building Society of the Year in 2021 for its work with Finovate alum ieDigital.

U.K.-based Darlington Building Society has partnered with LexisNexis Risk Solutions to upgrade its financial crime prevention capabilities. The Society, founded more than 160 years ago, will deploy the company’s RiskNarrative platform, which will also enhance the Society’s online member portal and customer onboarding experiences.

Using a single API and integrations with more than 50 third party data sources, RiskNarrative gives companies the ability to better identify risk and detect fraudulent activity. The platform will enable Darlington Building Society to orchestrate document verification, PEP and sanctions monitoring, identity and address verification, and risk ratings of applications, as well as creating and managing internal watch lists.

“The partnership with LexisNexis Risk Solutions demonstrates the Society’s commitment to improving application processes for our members,” Darlington Building Society Chief Operating Officer Chris Hunter said. “The rollout of Digital ID&V, as part of the RiskNarrative implementation, is a step forward in simplifying customer account opening and reducing paper usage.”

Darlington Building Society will use technology from LexisNexis to digitize and streamline its onboarding journeys for both mortgage and savings applicants, Darling Building Society Chief Risk Officer David Bews added. Bews said the platform will also enable the Society to “future-proof” its financial crime prevention strategy, by helping the Society adjust its criteria to mitigate future risk as well as react to current threats.

Founded in 1856, Darlington Building Society supports nine branches across the North East, County Durham, and North Yorkshire. The Society offers savings accounts and mortgages, as well as service via its online banking resource, Darlingtononline. As a membership-owned and run mutual financial institution, Darlington Building Society turns its profits into lower mortgage rates, higher savings rates, and support for local charities. The company was named Building Society of the Year in 2021 for its work with U.K.-based digital experience platform provider – and Finovate alum – ieDigital.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions is an international data and analytics company dedicated primarily yo predictive insights and fraud prevention. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, the company serves customers in a wide range of industries including financial services and insurance, healthcare, government, and public safety.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions includes multiple Finovate alums among its recent acquisitions. The company purchased BehavioSec earlier this year, TruNarrative in 2021, Emailage in 2020 and ThreatMetrix in 2018.

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• Truist Wealth unveiled a pair of new investment solutions this week: a roboadvisor Truist Invest and a hybrid investment platform Truist Invest Pro.
• Truist Invest provides a personalized investment portfolio based on the user’s goals, risk tolerance, and current investments. Truist Invest Pro adds access to a team of financial advisors.
• Truist Wealth is a division of Truist Financial Corporation, a top ten U.S. with $545 billion in total assets.

Truist Wealth, a division of Truist Financial Corporation, announced the launch of two new investment solutions this week: roboadvisor Truist Invest and hybrid investment platform Truist Invest Pro, which blends automated investing with access to human financial advisors.

Both solutions were developed by a cross-functional team of designers, engineers, innovators, and product managers who co-created the new offerings in client journey rooms at the Truist Innovation and Technology Center. A combination of agile work strategies, direct client feedback, and iterative product design enabled the team to optimize both solutions ahead of their launch this year.

“Investors want digital solutions that are secure, intuitive to use, and able to help meet their needs whether they are a new or experienced investor,” Truist Wealth SVP of Digital Investing Kacy Howard said. “Truist Invest and Truist Invest Pro can help give clients control and confidence in their portfolio whether they choose a fully digital or hybrid solution to invest in their future.”

Truist Invest gives customers a tailored portfolio recommendation based on their goals, risk tolerance, and current investments. Truist Invest provides a daily portfolio analysis and supports both automated rebalancing and tax loss harvesting. A hybrid investment solution, Truist Invest Pro provides both the digital capabilities of Truist Invest as well as access to a team of financial advisors who can help customers build a personalized investment portfolio and provide ongoing investment advice. Accounts for both offerings can be opened with as little as $5,000. Truist Invest charges an annual fee of 0.50%, with Truist Invest Pro costing users 0.85%. Both fees are based on the assets under management, with a $90 per account annual minimum,

Truist Chief Wealth Officer Joseph M. Thompson put the new offerings in a broader context of the company’s goal of providing its customers with personalized service that maximizes the opportunity of digital technology in the investing space. “Digital investing solutions are an example of Truist’s T3 strategy which combines the client’s preferred level of personalized touch and innovative technology to create trust,” Thompson said. “Truist Invest and Truist Invest Pro provide simple and secure access to a portfolio that is purpose-built to help an investor achieve their goals and is backed by our investment expertise that can help individuals and families build better lives.”

A division of Truist Financial Corporation, Truist Wealth serves affluent, high, and ultra-high net worth individuals, families, and business owners in the U.S. and around the world. The firm’s services range from investing and retirement, trust and estate planning, and lending, to banking and risk management. Parent company Truist is a top 10 U.S. commercial bank with $545 billion in total assets, and 15 million clients across the U.S.. The bank recently announced the acquisition of Zaloni’s Arena platform, which will help Truist enhance its data governance, metadata management, advanced analytics, and AI/ML programs.

We spoke with Truist Financial’s Chief Retail & Small Business Banking Officer Dontá Wilson earlier this year at FinovateSpring about the pace of digital transformation in financial services and the importance of building a culture of innovation.

Photo courtesy of Meilleur Prêt

• Square is launching its first integration with ClearPay this week.
• Square merchants in the U.K. can now leverage Clearpay (known as Afterpay outside of the U.K.) to offer a BNPL payment option to their customers making purchases both online and in-person.
• The integration is the result of an acquisition between Square parent Block and Afterpay in January of this year for $29 billion.

Block’s Square is launching its first integration with ClearPay (also known as Afterpay) in the U.K. this week.

The move will make ClearPay’s buy now, pay later (BNPL) technology available clients making purchases at both in-person and online Square merchants. End customers will have the option to pay in four interest-free installments over the course of six weeks, while merchants will receive payment right away.

There is record demand for BNPL among U.K. consumers. The BNPL model is the region’s fastest growing online payment method. Last year, consumers spent $15 billion using BNPL on e-commerce purchases. This figure is expected to double by 2025.

“The integration across platforms furthers our goal to give sellers of all sizes omnichannel tools that help them to grow by meeting consumer shopping habits, whatever and wherever they are,” said Head of Square Alyssa Henry. “Clearpay provides our ecosystem with a new tool beyond an alternative payment method; it enables an omnichannel commerce solution that can offer true value to our sellers.”

Today’s news comes after Square’s parent company Block acquired Afterpay for $29 billion in January of this year. Outside of the U.K., Square has already seen positive results from its integration with Afterpay. The company reported that in the U.S. and Australia, the average transaction size among customers using Afterpay is three times greater than non-BNPL purchases. Across the globe, Square noted a 180% increase in new customers using Afterpay offered by Square sellers between February and March of this year.

Founded in 2009, Square is a fintech pioneer. The company was among the first to offer mobile point-of-sale payments. Today, Square offers a holistic merchant services platform and competes with some of the largest traditional players in the space, as well as newcomers including Stripe and PayPal. Earlier this year, Square teamed up with Apple to launch Tap to Pay on iPhone. The new service will offer sellers a solution to accept contactless payments with no additional hardware.

Photo by Uzunov Rostislav

• Alliant Credit Union announced a partnership with lending-as-a-service fintech Upstart.
• The agreement will make Alliant part of the Upstart Referral Network.
• Upstart SVP of Lending Partnerships Michael Lock said the move will help Alliant “grow its membership while providing greater access to affordable credit.”

Alliant Credit Union announced it has selected Upstart to help it offer customers personalized loans.

Alliant Credit Union first partnered with Upstart in May 2022. With today’s announcement, Alliant becomes part of the Upstart Referral Network. Under this agreement, Upstart offers qualified loan applicants tailored loan offers in around five minutes. When the applicant decides to pursue the loan opportunity, Upstart transitions the client from its own user interface to an Alliant-branded experience, where they finish the online member application and close the loan.

“As part of the Upstart Referral Network, Alliant will be able to grow its membership while providing greater access to affordable credit,” said Upstart SVP of Lending Partnerships Michael Lock.

With more than 650,000 members and over $15 billion in assets, Alliant Credit Union is among the top 10 U.S. credit unions. Alliant SVP, Chief Capital Markets Officer, and Head of Commercial Lending Charles Krawitz said that the company is “very particular” when it comes to selecting partners. “Our partners must embrace doing things the right way, with legal and risk compliance maturity,” said Krawitz. “We believe Upstart has invested in robust systems that ensure borrowers are well-vetted, and that they will make a strong partner for delivering value and options to our members.”

Founded in 2012, Upstart differentiates itself in the alternative lending space by partnering with banks and credit unions seeking to increase their approval rates and lower their loss rates. The company’s AI-first lending tool enables financial institutions to reach a wider variety of end customers, including those with less favorable credit files.

Upstart went public in December 2020 and was in the news headlines recently due to concerns about a drop in funding as well as a decline in earnings. Company CEO Dave Girouard said that the decline was “disappointing” and “unacceptable,” adding, “It may be natural for you to question whether Upstart’s AI-powered risk models aren’t working as designed, but we’re confident this isn’t the case, that, in fact, our models continue to improve with respect to accuracy and risk separation.”