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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
DriveWealthteams up with SBI Thai Online Securities, bringing access to U.S. stocks to Thai investors.
Open banking platform Tinkannounces expansion to Portugal and Italy.
New partnership with Smart Pension will enable Revolut to offer its business customers the ability to automate monthly pension contributions.
Artivestannounces new partnership with Wellington Management.
Paysendintroduces worldwide money transfers to Uzbekistan.
Jumiotakes home top honors in the “Software Security Enterprise Product of the Year” category at the 2019 Best in Biz Awards.
Finastrainks deal with Pancreta Bank of Greece to deploy its Fusion Risk solution to help automate regulatory reporting.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
A partnership between digital trading technology company DriveWealth and India’s SV Capital will allow two of India’s largest stock brokers – Stockal and HDFC Securities – to offer their investors greater access to the U.S. stock market. The brokerage firms will leverage DriveWealth’s technology and brokerage execution, including its fractional share offering, to make it easier for investors in India to diversify their portfolios with investments in U.S. stocks.
“India is a very important market for us,” DriveWealth CEO Robert Cortright explained, “and this relationship has the potential to have a real impact on expanding opportunities for individuals to have straightforward, affordable online investing experiences related to brands they know and products they use on a daily basis.”
DriveWealth enables banks, wealth management firms, fintechs, consumer brands, and global businesses to build or add to their existing investment offerings. The company’s cloud-based technology powers real-time, dollar-based fractional share investing, digital roboadvisory portfolios, and features such as card-linked, round-up investing and stock-back, loyalty and rewards programs.
Importantly, for international partners, DriveWealth offers the ability for brokerages and other financial firms around the world to give their customers access to stocks, exchange-traded funds, and other assets that trade on U.S. exchanges. HDFC Securities Head of Digital Strategy and Analytics Nandkishore Purohit said that the partnership will able its Indian customers to participate in “global growth stories” and take advantage of investment opportunities outside India’s borders. Purohit also praised DriveWealth’s technology for its ease-of-use. “Being a completely digital platform,” Purohit said, “we strongly believe that customers will easily warm up to its user-friendly interfaces and will appreciate the simplicity of the investing process.”
DriveWealth has spent the year at a furious, partner-making pace. Leading up to this week’s announcement, DriveWealth has collaborated with Nigerian investment platforms, Bamboo and Chaka; partnered with Asia digital trading platform FastWealth, and teamed up with fellow Finovate alum Revolut to enable the U.K.-based fintech to offer its users commission-free trading in NYSE and NASDAQ-listed stocks. DriveWealth said that the partnership enabled it to acquire 20,000 customers in 36 hours.
DriveWealth demonstrated its technology at FinovateAsia 2016. The company, which won Best of Show, earlier that year, was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Chatham, New Jersey. Since inception, DriveWealth has raised more than $29 million in funding from investors including Route 66 Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Raptor Group, and SBI Group.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
DriveWealthpartners with Bamboo to give Nigerians real-time access to trade 3,500+ stocks listed on the U.S. stock market.
OnDeckbuilds liquidity with new $125 million securitization.
Salt Edgeteams up with Exprivia to expand access to open banking solutions.
Insuritaspartners with Security Federal Savings Bank to launch digital insurance agency platform.
Coinbaseadds five new currencies to its Coinbase Card – XRP, BAT, REP, ZRX, and XLM – as it brings its card to ten new countries.
MastercardlaunchesMastercard Accelerate, a worldwide initiative that gives fintechs access to the company’s suite of digital solutions to help differentiate their offerings.
Finastrainks partnership with UAE-based United Arab Bank, which will deploy the company’s Fusion Corporate Channels and Fusion Cash Management solutions.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Stratifydexpands workforce by 200 people, moves to a new 30,000 square-foot office.
Lendionamed to MountainWest Capital Network’s 2019 Utah 100 List.
Square leveragesDriveWealth’s trading API to compete with the likes of Robinhood.
Signicat now offers identity verification in 208 countries through identity document scanning, web-based video interviews, and NFC scanning of passports.
SpareBank1 to leverageMinna Technologies to help customers cancel their unwanted subscriptions.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Wealthtech company DriveWealth is making further inroads into Africa this week with the news that it has partnered with Chaka, a Nigeria-based trading platform.
Chaka will leverage DriveWealth’s API to offer its clients access to U.S. stocks. Citi Investment Capital Limited is a licensed Nigerian stockbroking firm and will facilitate the brokerage transactions for Chaka clients.
“Chaka has developed outstanding technology that we’ve integrated with our customizable APIs to make it easy for clients in Nigeria to participate in the U.S. stock market,” said DriveWealth CEO Robert Cortright. “At a time when many Nigerians are seeking foreign investment opportunities for diversification purposes, this partnership fulfills an important component of Chaka’s global offering with access to the largest and most liquid stock markets in the world.”
Chaka CEO Tosin Osibodu called international investing a “daunting task” for most Nigerians and praised DriveWealth for its “best-in-class” technology, highlighting how the company’s fractional share investment technology makes higher-priced stocks more affordable. “Integration of our technologies has gone very smoothly, and we see this as an important long-term partnership for Chaka,” Osibodu added.
Today’s partnership isn’t DriveWealth’s first connection to Nigeria. In July the company teamed up with Sigma Securities and Trove Technologies to launch a digital U.S. equities trading product for retail investors in Nigeria.
Since it was founded in 2012, the company has set up partnerships with firms on six continents, including Asia, where DriveWealth collaborated with Singapore-based Bambu on the launch of a white-label roboadvisory platform for U.S. wealth managers.
At FinovateAsia 2016, DriveWealth released a new API to enable partners to offer a roboadvisory product suite and a self-directed equity investing platform.
LidyaLaunches SME Lending Platforms for Poland and Czech Republic.
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TrustlylaunchesTrustly Live to bring instant cashless payments to land-based casinos and sportsbooks.
Home Bank renews relationship with Baker Hill, adding Baker Hill NextGen CECL and Baker Hill NextGen Business Loan Origination.
Salt Edge to power PSD2 API for Habib Bank AG Zurich.
Chetuearns #3 for dollar growth and #15 for percentage growth at the SFBJ technology awards 2019.
Insuritas to power bank-owned insurance agency for Signature Bank of Georgia Partners.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Alternative banking provider Revolutannounced the roll out of commission-free stock trading on its app today. Starting today Revolut Metal customers in the U.K. and Europe can buy and hold shares of 300+ stocks listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ directly from the Revolut app.
The feature is powered by DriveWealth, which is registered as a full-carrying and clearing broker-dealer and will help Revolut navigate the complexities of brokerage. New Jersey-based DriveWealth offers a suite of APIs that allow companies across the globe to help their users invest in the U.S. stock market. The firm provides digital investment products for brokerages to offer clients as well as a brokerage service offering dollar-based, real-time investing.
Overall, Revolut is making stock market investing more inclusive. Trades are free, the annual custodian fee totals 0.01% (when others in the industry charge 0.25% to 1.5%), and there are no account minimums. At launch, all fees are waived for eligible customers during the beta period. The company did not specify when it plans to implement fees but said, “These will come into effect later, and we will communicate with you in advance about when that will be.”
Revolut said it is most proud of integrating the ability to buy partial shares of stock. Fractional share investing, one of DriveWealth’s flagship features, allows users to purchase a small portion of a stock. This democratizes investing by making a stock like Amazon, which trades at almost $1,900 per share, more accessible to investors with lower capital.
Another badge of honor is that trades can be made instantly, meaning users will pay the asking price of a stock when their order hits the market. And, specific to Revolut, users can fund their trading account in multiple currencies and benefit from the interbank exchange rate.
The trading feature not only helps Revolut compete with banks, but also helps the company build its user base for its Metal account. Launched last August, the Metal account offers users 100 free trades per month, along with a host of other features, for $14.99 per month.
In the future, Revolut plans to open trading to users outside of Europe, offer ETFs and other new products, and introduce European stocks. Additionally, the company will open up free trades to Premium and Standard customers, who will be able to make 8 free trades per month and three free trades per month, respectively. This variance is representative of Revolut’s tiered pricing model, which offers free Standard accounts while charging $9.99 per month for a Premium account.
Revolut debuted at FinovateEurope 2015 in London. The company’s CEO and founder Nikolay Storonsky showed off the app’s money transfer capabilities that help users avoid banking fees without actually using a bank.
Adding Revolut as a client is another notch in the belt for DriveWealth, which last month partnered with Sigma Securities and Trove Technologies to offer digital U.S. equities trading in Nigeria. Last August, DriveWealth collaborated with fellow Finovate alum Bambu to launch a white-label roboadvisory platform for U.S. wealth managers. Other DriveWealth clients include MoneyLion, Vested Finance, and INVSTR.
At FinovateAsia 2016, DriveWealth released a new API to enable partners to offer a robo advisory product suite and a self-directed equity investing platform. Robert Cortright is CEO.
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This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.