Daily news

JP Morgan Taps Thought Machine to Replace Retail Banking Core

JP Morgan Taps Thought Machine to Replace Retail Banking Core
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, JP Morgan Chase, Thought Machine

JP Morgan Chase announced this week it will replace its U.S. core banking suite with U.K.-based Thought Machine’s Vault.

Founded in 2014, Vault is a cloud native core banking engine that leverages smart contracts to help banks and fintechs build in the cloud and avoid the constraints of legacy technology. Vault provides a full range of retail and small business banking capabilities, including checking accounts, savings, loans, credit cards, and mortgages.

In the future, Thought Machine plans to build Commercial and Private Wealth offerings into Vault, as well.

JP Morgan, which was in the headlines yesterday for its purchase of college planning platform Frank, will benefit from Vault. The technology’s cloud-based nature will decrease the siloed structure that comes with most large, legacy banks. Instead, JP Morgan will operate as a universal banking platform where all products run on a single system.

“JPMorgan Chase represents one of the most ambitious, powerful financial institutions in the world—and our joint work signals to the finance industry that cloud native core banking technology is the future for financial services,” said Thought Machine CEO and founder Paul Taylor. “We are delighted to be working with JPMorgan Chase on this project, delivering modern core technology to the bank, and powering the next generation of financial services in North America.”

Thought Machine, which raised $125 million last year, is said to be working on another $205 million funding round. The company has seen significant growth over the past year and has scaled up its clients base to include Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered, Atom bank, Monese, and SEB. Not only that, the company added 100 employees in the first half of 2020.

Photo by Sean Stratton on Unsplash

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Trustly Launches Instant Payouts for U.S. Users

Trustly Launches Instant Payouts for U.S. Users
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Trustly

Trustly, the company that helps customers pay directly from their bank account, launched Instant Payouts for U.S. users this week.

The service helps U.S. businesses provide their clients with near-instant payouts to their bank accounts. Instant Payouts in the U.S. is made possible via a partnership with Cross River Bank, which participates in The Clearing House’s (TCH) RTP network, a real-time payments rail.

Trustly’s business users can fund payments with Cross River Bank, which will send RTP payments on their behalf to their customers’ accounts at other participating RTP banks.

“The RTP network provides a platform for financial institutions and their corporate users to create innovative new payment products for their customers,” said TCH SVP of technology and Innovation Bijan Chowdhury. “Trustly’s partnership with Cross River Bank to deliver Instant Payouts to U.S. businesses and Cross River Bank’s use of the RTP network to send instant payments to the the businesses’ customers illustrates the power of the RTP network to boost innovation in the payments industry.”

Trustly was founded in 2008 and supports card-not-present payments for online merchants to offer a secure way for consumers to transact using their online banking access credentials. Last year, the company processed over $21 billion in transaction volume in its network. At FinovateEurope 2017, the company debuted Direct Debit, a payment offering that removes the pain of entering payment card information by allowing users to transact using their current account by entering their bank login credentials.

Trustly works with more than 8,100 merchants, helping them connect with 525 million consumers and 6,300 banks across 30 countries. The company has 500 employees across Europe, North America, and Latin America.

Photo by Luis Miguel P. Bonilla from Pexels

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Here’s What’s Inside PayPal’s Super App

Here’s What’s Inside PayPal’s Super App
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, PayPal

Fintech pioneer PayPal is rolling out a new mobile app today.

The company is adding a handful of features that bring it into “super app” territory, competing with the likes of WeChat, Alipay, and Paytm. PayPal’s app already offers a peer-to-peer payment tool, a mobile wallet, and a charity donation feature.

The new release, however, will offer more features and new banking capabilities. Here’s a rundown of what to expect:

  • PayPal Savings, a new, high-yield savings account provided in partnership with Synchrony Bank that pays 0.40% APY
  • In-app shopping tools that allow customers to discover and earn loyalty rewards
  • Billpay management tools that help users track, view, and pay their bills
  • A new Direct Deposit feature that fronts users their paycheck up to two days early
  • Rewards capabilities
  • Gift card management
  • Credit access
  • Buy Now, Pay Later services
  • Crypto purchasing, holding, and selling abilities

The app will show users a personalized dashboard of their account; a wallet tab to manage payments and direct deposits; a finance tab to access savings and crypto accounts; a payments tab that enables users to send and receive money, make a donation, and manage billpay; and a messaging feature built around peer-to-peer payments.

“We’re excited to introduce the first version of the new PayPal app, a one-stop destination for our customers to take charge of their everyday financial lives, with new features like access to high yield savings, in-app shopping tools for customers to find deals and earn cash back rewards, early access Direct Deposit, and bill pay,” said PayPal CEO Dan Schulman. “Our new app offers customers a simplified, secure and personalized experience that builds on our platform of trust and security and removes the complexity of having to manage multiple financial or shopping apps, remember different passwords and track loyalty rewards.”

What’s next for PayPal’s Super App? The company will add investment tools, offline QR code payments, and new shopping and deals capabilities.

PayPal is currently the closest thing the U.S. has to a super app. However, the new app is still missing some key elements that Asia’s successful super apps have, including food delivery, transportation, travel, health, insurance, government, and public services.

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Canadian Fintech Neo Secures $64 Million in Series B Funding

Canadian Fintech Neo Secures $64 Million in Series B Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding

In a round led by Valar Ventures, Neo Financial, a fintech based in Alberta, Calgary and Manitoba, Winnipeg, has raised $50 million ($64 million CAD) in new equity funding. The fresh capital takes the Canadian company’s total funding to $89 million ($114 million CAD), and will help enable the company to add talent and launch new integrated fintech partnerships with retailers.

“Reimagining the way Canadians bank is no easy feat, but it’s a challenge that our team is taking head on,” Neo co-founder and CEO Andrew Chau said. “This raise is validation of not only the problem Neo is tackling, but (also) our team’s ability to solve it.”

Going live last year, Neo offered a high-interest savings account, and a no-fee Mastercard that offers up to 6% cash back at partnering companies and at least 1% cashback across all other spending, called Neo Card. Since its 2020 launch Neo has inked partnerships with more than 4,000 retailers, including a strategic partnership with Hudson’s Bay to power the company’s new Hudson’s Bay Mastercard offering. Today’s funding announcement comes on the heels of Neo’s purchase of office space in Winnipeg’s Exchange District, enabling the company to open a second headquarters in the city.

Joining today’s Series B were new investors Greenoaks Capital – which has backed fintechs and ecommerce innovators like Robinhood and Stripe – as well as South Korean challenger bank Toss, a unicorn valued at more than $7.3 billion ($9.4 billion CAD). Other investors included Breyer Capital, Golden Ventures, Afore Capitaal, Inovia Capital, Thornvest, and Maple VC. In addition to leading Neo’s Series B round, announced today, Valar Ventures also led the company’s previous round of funding – a $19.5 million (CAD $25 million) Series A round – in December 2020.

“As one of the largest Series B raises for a Canadian fintech, this new round of funding will allow us to continue building innovative products and features for all Canadians and businesses,” Chau said. “It’s an exciting time to grow our team from both our Calgary and Winnipeg offices.”

Neo Financial was founded by two of the co-founders of SkipTheDishes, an online restaurant food delivery firm launched in 2012. SkipTheDishes was acquired by JustEast four years later for $200 million.

Photo by Mati Mango from Pexels

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Curve Launches BNPL Product

Curve Launches BNPL Product
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news

Curve, a U.K.-based payment card technology company, announced its own version of a buy now, pay later (BNPL) product this week.

The company is known for its unique payment solutions, such as its Go Back in Time feature that lets consumers switch payments from one card to another for up to 90 days after the transaction was made. Today, Curve is launching Curve Flex, a tool that builds on Go Back in Time.

Curve Flex allows consumers to convert almost any purchase from the past 12 months into an installment plan, as long as the card they used is linked in the Curve Platform. After the customer makes a purchase, all they need to do is swipe the transaction and select the number of installments. Then, Curve refunds their transaction in full almost instantly.

Unlike most BNPL tools, Curve Flex isn’t limited to specific merchants, cards, or products. It can be used on retail purchases, online orders, household bills, and more. Also unlike many BNPL tools, Curve’s offering charges interest based on the purchase amount and the number of installments.

“Curve is giving customers the unprecedented ability to convert transactions made up to a year ago into free or low-interest installment loans,” said Head of Curve Credit Paul Harrald. “Being able to Go Back in Time and Pay Later is going to forever change how U.K. customers think about managing their personal finances and cashflow.”

Curve Flex, which has been in beta for a year, already has 1,600 users that have opted to pay later on 7,000 transactions worth over $1.4 million (£1 million).

Photo by Jacob Kiesow on Unsplash

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SellersFunding Lands $166 Million

SellersFunding Lands $166 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding

SellersFunding landed $166.5 million in Series A debt and equity funding this week. The company, which provides working capital to ecommerce marketplaces, now has almost $275 million in total debt and equity funding.

The investment was led by Northzone with additional investments from Endeavor Catalyst and Fasanara.

Founded in 2017, SellersFunding offers working capital solutions, payments tools, and analytics to help online marketplace sellers unlock capital, access invoice payments faster, collect payments, manage taxes, and more.

The New York-based company will use the financing to enhance its technology and payments platforms, grow its team, boost sales and marketing efforts, and fuel both domestic and international expansion. SellersFunding plans to gain more clients not only in the U.S. but also in the U.K., Europe, and Australia.

“We are thrilled to complete our capital raise and have Northzone and Endeavor joining our company, and to see the renewed commitment of Fasanara in supporting the expansion of our portfolio,” said SellersFunding CEO Ricardo Pero. “This underscores our dedication to providing world-class financial solutions for our clients and partners and is a testament to the overall growth of the global ecommerce space.”

Photo by Jill Heyer on Unsplash

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TransUnion to Acquire Neustar for $3.1 Billion

TransUnion to Acquire Neustar for $3.1 Billion
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Neustar, TransUnion

Credit and risk underwriting firm TransUnion announced plans today to acquire digital identity solutions company Neustar. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year for $3.1 billion.

“The credit information and analytics that TransUnion provides make trust possible between consumers and businesses,” said TransUnion President and CEO Chris Cartwright. “As digital commerce continues to grow globally, TransUnion’s powerful digital identity assets, enhanced by Neustar’s distinctive data and digital resolution capabilities, will enable safer and more personalized online experiences for consumers and businesses.”

With the addition of Neustar’s data and analytics to enable consumers and businesses to transact online with greater confidence, TransUnion expects the purchase will expand its digital identity capabilities.

Specifically, TransUnion’s acquisition is expected to help the company break out of the traditional credit scoring space by leveraging Neustar’s OneID platform, which will help TransUnion unify its digital identity capabilities. This includes TLO data assets and fusion platform, the iovation device reputation network, and the digital marketing capabilities of Tru Optik.

As part of the purchase, TransUnion will acquire Neustar’s employees, data, and products.

Photo by Robert Zunikoff on Unsplash

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Mastercard Acquires CipherTrace to Sharpen Security Around Digital Assets

Mastercard Acquires CipherTrace to Sharpen Security Around Digital Assets
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, MasterCard, Mergers & Acquisitions

Mastercard has agreed to acquire cryptocurrency intelligence company CipherTrace for an undisclosed amount.

Founded in 2015, CipherTrace offers security and fraud monitoring activities for clients’ crypto-related programs. As CipherTrace CEO Dave Jevans states it, the company helps “banks or cryptocurrency exchanges, government regulators or law enforcement to keep the crypto economy safe.”

Mastercard will combine CipherTrace, which offers insights into more than 900 cryptocurrencies, with its own cyber security solutions to provide customers “the same trust and peace of mind that consumers currently experience with more traditional payment methods.”

CipherTrace’s solutions will help Mastercard differentiate its card and payments offerings and help the company’s clients protect their own clients, comply with regulations, and build their own digital asset products. Additionally, Mastercard’s purchase will help the payments company increase its presence with new clients such as fintechs, crypto-wallet providers, and governments.

“Digital assets have the potential to reimagine commerce, from everyday acts like paying and getting paid to transforming economies, making them more inclusive and efficient,” said Mastercard President of Cyber & Intelligence Ajay Bhalla. “With the rapid growth of the digital asset ecosystem comes the need to ensure it is trusted and safe. Our aim is to build upon the complementary capabilities of Mastercard and CipherTrace to do just this.”

Today’s move isn’t Mastercard’s first foray into the crypto realm. The New York-based company already holds partnerships with Uphold, Gemini, and BitPay to create crypto cards; has created tools support CBDCs; and has launched programs to support blockchain technology, NFTs, and stablecoins on its network.

Photo by Free Creative Stuff from Pexels

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Better.com Acquires U.K.-Based Property Partner

Better.com Acquires U.K.-Based Property Partner
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions

Mortgagetech company Better.com announced today it has acquired Property Partner, a U.K.-based property investment company, for an undisclosed amount.

Property Partner is a property crowdfunding investment platform that offers users fractional ownership of rental property homes. The company’s investors can select a diversified portfolio of properties to own and receive monthly rental income from those properties that is paid out as a dividend. Since it was founded in 2014, Property Partner has raised $35.2 million and accumulated $194 million (£140 million) in assets under management from its 9,000 users.

“Combining Property Partner’s unique residential property investment platform with Better’s arsenal of homeownership products and services changes the game for the future of real estate investment,” said Better Founder and CEO Vishal Garg. “We’re turning residential real estate into a liquid asset class and changing how families can grow their wealth. Together, we will lower costs, improve convenience, and deliver huge value to all real estate market participants.”

This marks the second U.K.-based company that Better has acquired this summer. In July, the New York-based company bought Trussle, a digital mortgage brokerage company based in London. Both of these moves hint at Better’s potential plans for international expansion. The company currently offers mortgages in 46 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.

Today’s deal comes ahead of the company’s planned SPAC merger, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, with Aurora Acquisitions Corporation. The deal will value Better at $7.7 billion.

Founded in 2016, Better offers mortgages for home purchases and refinances, real estate agents, title insurance, and mortgage insurance. The company has funded $30.9 billion in home loans and provided over $7 billion in coverage through its insurance products.

Last month, Better launched a cash offer program that allows a customer to buy a home using cash. Better purchases the home on a customer’s behalf, then finalizes the customer’s mortgage after the deal has closed. The buyer can move in as soon as Better finalizes the purchase, but pays Better prorated daily rent until their mortgage is approved and they buy back the home from Better.

Photo by Bethany Opler on Unsplash

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MX Inks Partnership with Payveris

MX Inks Partnership with Payveris
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, MX, Partnership Outlook

Financial data platform and connectivity leader MX is teaming up with integrated money movement platform Payveris to enable financial services and fintechs to offer low-cost, low-risk money movement via enhanced account connectivity.

“We respect Payveris as a leader in the money movement space and we’re excited about this partnership because it will help our joint customers have full control over almost every aspect of the experience for money movement,” MX co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Brandon Dewitt said. “Payveris has a long track record of strength, security, and reliability in lowering the friction to the user experience, significantly reducing operating costs, and future-proofing their IT investment.”

The integration, announced this week, will enable organizations to offer intelligent digital payment and money movement services, as well as use Payveris’ MoveMoney platform and suite of open APIs, SDK widgets, and SSO products – all embedded into an integrated money movement offering.

Payveris VP of Product Management Chirag Patel said that the partnership was a response to growing demand from financial institutions for automation in billpay and money movement. Patel noted that this challenge was especially acute for banks and credit unions that are facing new competition from technology companies and retailers that are offering banking services. “Banks and credit unions are looking to have a major role in delivering the best experience possible for their users,” Patel said. “With MX’s industry-leading financial data platform and modern connectivity, we’re making the payment experience seamless – the way consumers move and manage money – and simpler than ever.”

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Cromwell, Connecticut, Payveris was acquired by cloud-based billpay technology company Paymentus last month for $152.2 million. In July, Payveris announced that it had optimized the P2P functionality on its MoveMoney platform, enabling users to send money to anyone with a U.S. bank or credit union account using only the recipient’s mobile phone number of email address. In May, the company reported that its MoveMoney platform supported a total of more than 225 credit unions, including 27 CUs added in the past year alone.

Named to the Forbes Cloud 100 last month, Lehi, Utah-based MX includes partnerships with finance platform and “virtual goal mall” Goalry, credit union giant BECU, and fellow Finovate alum Dwolla among its more recent collaborations. The company connects more than 16,000 financial institutions and fintechs with its data connectivity network, and powers 85% of digital banking providers – in addition to thousands of banks, credit unions, and fintechs. Be sure to check out the latest from MX as the multiple-time Best of Show winner returns to the Finovate stage next week for FinovateFall 2021.

Photo by Darrel Und from Pexels

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PayPal to Acquire BNPL Player Paidy for $2.7 Billion

PayPal to Acquire BNPL Player Paidy for $2.7 Billion
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, PayPal

PayPal announced plans today to acquire Japan-based Paidy, a payments company with a buy now, pay later (BNPL) offering that facilitates transactions for both merchants and consumers. The deal is expected to close for $27 billion (¥300 billion) in the fourth quarter of this year.

PayPal’s purchase will work alongside its existing ecommerce business in Japan, which is the third largest ecommerce market in the world. Paidy will also expand PayPal’s capabilities, relevancy, and distribution in Japan’s domestic payments market.

“Paidy pioneered buy now, pay later solutions tailored to the Japanese market and quickly grew to become the leading service, developing a sizable two-sided platform of consumers and merchants,” said VP and Head of Japan at PayPal, Peter Kenevan. “Combining Paidy’s brand, capabilities, and talented team with PayPal’s expertise, resources, and global scale will create a strong foundation to accelerate our momentum in this strategically important market.”

Paidy was founded in 2008 and enables its six million registered users to make purchases online without the use of a debit or credit card. Instead, Paidy operates on a BNPL model by billing customers for all purchases at the end of each month. Payments can be made via bank transfer or in-person using cash at a convenience store.

This model works not only for ecommerce purchases, but also for brick-and-mortar transactions. The company’s Paidy Link tool was launched earlier this year and allows customers to link digital wallets, including PayPal, to make purchases using the digital wallet but make payment via Paidy. For PayPal, Paidy’s model that circumvents credit and debit card rails is a good thing. It enables PayPal to own the payment flow (and the revenue that comes with it).

“Paidy is just at the beginning of our journey and joining PayPal will accelerate our plans to expand beyond ecommerce and build unique services as the new shopping standard,” said Paidy President and CEO Riku Sugie. “PayPal was a founding partner for Paidy Link and we look forward to working together to create even more value.”

Sugie, along with Paidy Founder and Executive Chairman Russell Cummer, will continue to lead Paidy, which will continue to operate and maintain the brand.

Paidy marks PayPal’s 23rd acquisition, following Honey in 2019 and Curv and Happy Returns in 2021. The purchase of Paidy, with its BNPL capabilities, hints at PayPal’s evolution into becoming more of a holistic shopping platform.

Photo by Brett Jordan from Pexels

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Ryd Lands $11.9 Million for In-Car Payments

Ryd Lands $11.9 Million for In-Car Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding

Germany-based Ryd announced this week it has received $11.9 million (€10 million) in funding for its technology that allows users to pay for vehicle fuel via their mobile app.

The investment, which marks the first time Ryd has received funding, comes from BP Ventures, the investment arm of British Petroleum. As part of today’s announcement, BP Ventures’ Managing Partner Daniela Proske will join the Ryd board.

Ryd offers a digital payment solution that enables drivers to pay for fuel, electric vehicle charging, and car washes without leaving their vehicle by using the company’s mobile app or with an integration with smart car systems. “This new payment form is much faster, easier, and more comfortable,” said Ryd Founder and Chairman Oliver Goetz, “Ryd is on its way to lead this movement in Europe.”

Goetz called BP “the perfect addition” to the company’s existing network of service stations and added that it completes Ryd’s ecosystem with strategic partners in finance, automotive, and energy sectors.

Ryd plans to use the funding to fuel expansion and deliver digital payment options for BP customers across Europe. The company’s payment technology is currently accepted at 3,000 service stations across seven countries in Europe.

BP will use the strategic relationship to expand its BPme digital fuel payment app into more European countries. The app currently works in the U.K. and the Netherlands. “In-car digital payments are an integral part of the seamless and convenient experience that customers increasingly expect at our retail sites,” said BP SVP of Mobility and Convenience for Europe and Southern Africa Alex Jensen. “Ryd’s technology can help deliver just that, and for an increasing range of services. Our investment and partnership will help BP provide these digital services more widely across Europe, making our customers’ experience easier and more enjoyable.”

The first BP filling stations are expected to go live with Ryd in the fourth quarter of this year.

Photo by Alejandro Barba on Unsplash

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