• Merrill Wealth Management launched Merrill Advisor Match, a tool to connect people with the right advisor.
• Using Merrill Advisor Match, customers answer a set of questions that helps match them with a list of financial advisors.
• The launch comes at a time when one third of affluent Americans are not currently working with an advisor.

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Bank of America’s Merrill Wealth Management unveiled a new offering this week that offers a technological approach to matching consumers with financial advisors.

The tool, Merrill Advisor Match, connects people seeking financial advice with a Merrill financial advisor that suits their preferences and needs. After answering a set of questions, consumers looking to be matched with an advisor receive a personalized list of potential candidates who they can review. Once they’ve finalized their decision, they can use the tool to schedule a meeting with the advisor of their choice.

The questionnaire asks customers where they are on their financial journey, which areas of their finances they would like help with, how they prefer to spend time during their meeting, if they are a planner or are spontaneous, and more.

“We’ve combined a century of bringing Wall Street to Main Street with a personalized digital experience that takes the guesswork out of finding the right advisor,” said Merrill Wealth Management President Andy Sieg. “Merrill Advisor Match is an industry-changing innovation that reflects our modern Merrill strategy, helping to connect more investors to advice from the best advisors in the industry.”

Merrill Advisor Match partners advisors with consumers based on a number of factors, including the customer’s engagement preferences, guidance style, and personality traits. These elements are assessed in the questionnaire and are based on a Merrill study that indicated that 90% of affluent Americans prefer to work with an advisor who matches their communication style, 83% select an advisor based on their personality, and 93% choose their advisor based on whether they deliver financial results.

This digital-first approach to selecting an advisor will resonate with affluent Americans, one-third of whom are not currently working with an advisor. By leveraging matchmaking technology, Merrill Advisor Match creates a user experience similar to those used with dating and social sites that customers are accustomed to. This familiarity ultimately makes the process more approachable.

“For those who don’t have a connection in their personal network,” explained Merrill Chief Operating Officer Kirstin Hill, “Merrill Advisor Match uses research and qualitative analysis to break down barriers to professional financial advice.”

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Photo by Kindel Media

• Lemonade is expanding into the U.K. today.
• Today’s global expansion marks Lemonade’s fourth European country. In addition to the U.S. and U.K., Lemonade is also available in France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
• Lemonade entered the insurance sector with its flagship renters insurance offering in 2015 and now has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion.

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U.S. insurtech Lemonade already has notoriety among mainstream consumers in the U.S., and today, the New York-based company is once again expanding its geographic reach by launching in the U.K.

“Insurance as we know it hails from the U.K., as do I. So both professionally and personally bringing Lemonade to the U.K. is a homecoming of sorts,” said Lemonade Co-CEO and Co-founder Daniel Schreiber. “We believe the millions of local renters will appreciate what Lemonade has to offer. After all, who doesn’t want instant, transparent, personalized, and mission-driven insurance?”

Starting today, U.K. residents can sign up for Lemonade’s personal property coverage, Lemonade Contents insurance. Coverage plans start at $4.52 (£4) a month. The Contents insurance covers individual personal items of up to $2,260 (£2,000) each, and offers total coverage up to $113,000 (£100,000). Lemonade also offers add-on coverage for theft and loss-related incidents, accidental damage to mobile devices, and expert help through legal protection.

This isn’t Lemonade’s first international expansion. The company has also launched in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. For this move, however, Lemonade is relying on the U.K.’s largest insurance carrier, Aviva, which counts 18.5 million customers across the globe.

“By joining forces we can ensure compelling propositions reach a broader range of customers, including renters, an under-served yet growing segment of the U.K. insurance market,” said CEO of Aviva U.K. & Ireland General Insurance Adam Winslow. “In our 325 year history we have adapted and thrived in a changing world and our partnership with Lemonade is a marker of our intent to continue just this.”

Lemonade entered the insurance sector with its flagship renters insurance offering in 2015, when AI-driven, digital first insurance offerings were hardly commonplace. Today, the company has expanded to offer homeowners, auto, pet, and life insurance products. Lemonade went public in 2020 and now trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker LMND with a market capitalization of $1.54 billion.

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Photo by J. Kelly Brito

• A financial institution serving area creatives, Nashville, Tennessee-based Studio Bank has partnered with Corserv.
• The credit card issuing program provider will enable Studio Bank to launch a comprehensive credit card program featuring virtual cards, automated credit decisioning, and more.
• Founded in 2018, Studio Bank is the first newly chartered de novo bank to launch in Nashville in more than a decade.

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Nashville, Tennessee’s Studio Bank has turned to credit card issuing program provider Corserv to give its customers a new range of card-based payments solutions.

“We are excited to launch this next level of innovation,” Studio Bank Chief Experience Officer April Britt said. “Our clients have a unique set of credit card and payment needs as business owners, leaders, and creatives. We have been able to partner with Corserv to create a program to provide an enhanced credit card user experience with all the conveniences of the modern economy.”

A digital financial institution, Studio Bank is designed to bring banking services to Nashville area creatives. And by “creatives,” Studio Bank looks to serve a variety of creative communities: from musicians and code writers to entrepreneurs, social activists, and even parents working to build better lives for their families. Founded in 2018, Studio Bank was the first newly chartered de novo bank to launch in Nashville in more than 10 years. Reaching profitability in its second year of operation, Studio Bank has assets of more than $750 million as of the end of Q2 2022.

Studio Bank’s partnership with Corserv comes less than a month after the bank announced raising $38 million in new funding. The fresh capital includes $18 million in equity issued this spring as well as $20 million in unsecured notes issued from Studio Financial Holdings, a new holding company also announced last month. “As I have always said from the founding of Studio Bank, we offer the sophistication and capability of a large, regional bank coupled with the customer service of the very best community bank we could create,” Studio Bank CEO and President Aaron Dorn said when the funding was announced. “Our growth and expansion into key communities in Middle Tennessee show we are fulfilling that promise.”

Atlanta, Georgia-based Corserv offers a turnkey credit card issuing program that gives financial institutions the ability to offer branded credit cards to consumers, businesses, and commercial customers. The company’s program includes features such as virtual card support for ePayables, automated credit-decisioning, sales and servicing portals, transparent reporting, and hosted and secure PCI compliant software.

“Our program is designed to enable banks, like Studio Bank, to own their credit card financials without the need to add expertise, infrastructure, or staff,” Corserv CEO Jerry Craft said. “We look forward to providing Studio Bank with the tools to serve their unique customer base with innovative payment solutions for their evolving needs.”

This year, Corserv has partnered with regional financial institutions such as Massachusetts-based BayCoast Bank, Madison-based correspondent bank Bankers’ Bank, and The Bank of Missouri (TBOM). In August, the company received Visa Ready Certification for its Payment Cards as a Service APIs (PCaaSA) issuer processor program.

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Photo by Joetography

• Payroll data company Pinwheel launched a tool called the Pinwheel Earnings Stream.
• The new product offers data on past, current, and projected income.
• According to Pinwheel, the data is most useful for earned wage access (EWA) offerings, but can also be used for financial wellness tools, underwriting, and more.

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Income and employment data innovator Pinwheel announced its newest launch today. The company unveiled the Pinwheel Earnings Stream, a tool that offers up-to-date historical, current, and projected income data.

Pinwheel leverages machine learning and pay stub data to determine net earned wages for any work completed to create an accurate view of accrued and projected earnings. Earnings Stream uses analytics and intelligence to help make sense of this data.

Earnings Stream offers organizations three main benefits: accrued earnings, which shows wages a customer has earned so far in the current pay period; projected earnings, which estimates the earnings a customer will have by the end of the current pay period; and pay dates, a list of a customer’s projected pay dates.

By leveraging the projected earnings information from Earnings Stream, organizations can efficiently deploy an earned wage access (EWA) strategy. According to Pinwheel, Earnings Stream has other use cases, as well, including “financial wellness tools, educational services, cash flow underwriting, and so much more.”

“We developed Earnings Stream to support our customers’ strategies to answer the consumer demand for EWA services, while they have long wanted to offer these products, it’s been nearly impossible to execute at scale throughout the fintech industry at large,” said Pinwheel Co-Founder and CEO Kurtis Lin. “EWA is a unique product because it benefits all parties. Consumers are excited about meaningful liquidity, financial institutions are happy to acquire customers, and employers are pleased to see their workers have less financial stress. I’m proud of our team for developing what we believe will be one of the fintech industry’s keys to building truly impactful EWA products.

Founded in 2018, Pinwheel aims to create a fairer financial system with its API that connects to more than 1,600 payroll platforms and more than 40 time and attendance platforms. In all, the system covers 80% of U.S. workers and more than 1.5 million employers. 

The New York-based company aims to offer fintechs the data needed to create financial tools for underserved populations, without taking on additional risk. “Many of our customers are working on exciting use cases that we’re excited to see hit the market soon,” said Lin.

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Photo by Min An