Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Switzerland’s CREALOGIX Gets SaaSy.
  • King Klarna: New Investment Boosts Valuation to $5.5 Billion.
  • LendingClub Unveils Select Plus for Sophisticated Investors.

Around the web

  • Israel’s third largest bank Mizrahi-Tefahot to deploy core banking technology from Temenos.
  • Experian reports surging interest in Open Banking, with the number of API requests made in the U.K. growing by more than 2x since February.
  • Russia’s Tinkoff Bank to sell the speech recognition technology behind its Oleg chatbot to corporate customers.
  • LeapXpert earns spot in 2019 FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific.
  • Mortgage Cadence enhances data verification, fraud prevention and compliance with integration of DataVerify to its Enterprise Lending Center.
  • AT&T launches new bug bounty program in partnership with HackerOne.
  • Jumio takes gold in the Security Software category of the 2019 IT World Awards.
  • Lendio tops $1.5 billion in small business loans financed.
  • Ondot introduces Transaction Intelligence to make it easier for consumers to recognize purchases.

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.

PayPal in Argentina; Temenos Backs African Challenger Bank

Finovate Global is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • PayPal invests $750 million in Argentina-based e-commerce company MercadoLibre.
  • First Data to acquire Brazilian electronic funds transfer (EFT) solution provider Software Express.
  • NCR, Bluefin, and Powertranz team up to support POS card processing for Caribbean quick serve restaurants.
  • BlueRush deploys its Individeo platform with a large Colombian bank courtesy of a partnership with Bee Concept.
  • The Wall Street Journal looks at how global FIs are gaining interest in the Latin American alternative lending market.

Asia-Pacific

  • Experian launches Singapore-based incubator, Experian X Labs.
  • South Korean crypto company Kakao raises $90 million via private coin offering.
  • Thai Stock Exchange to launch a digital asset exchange next year.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Front office and core banking technology from Temenos to drive digital revamp for African challenger bank, Vista Bank.
  • Financial Software and Systems takes 46% stake in South Africa’s Ecentric Payment Systems.
  • South Africa’s second largest retail bank, Capitec, extends its partnership with ACI Worldwide.
  • ThreatMetrix teams up with Blue Turtle Technologies to help market its fraud prevention solution to customers in Africa.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Tinkoff Bank reports 2018 highlights including launch of new mortgage app, a joint P2P money transfer offering with Sberbank, and more than 2.7 million new active credit customers.
  • iSignthis Inks Banking and Payments Deal with Ibanera.
  • Bulgaria-based Software Group scores €18 million loan from Europe Investment Bank.
  • EU Startups features lending platform Inlock its look at 10 Hungarian startups to look out for in 2019.
  • Bulgaria’s Municipal Bank to deploy new core and payments solutions from Oracle.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) launches $10 million fund for fintech startups in the MENA region.
  • Commercial Bank of Qatar joins R3.
  • Credit scoring solution provider Creditinfo opens regional hub in Muscat following new strategic partnership with the Central Bank of Oman.

Central and South Asia

  • ArthaYantra wins Fintech of the Year (India) at The Asset Triple A Digital Awards.
  • Africa’s Naspers plans to spend $1 billion on investments in Indian fintechs.
  • Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures division to launch digital platform for Indian SMEs.

Top image designed by Freepik

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • PayActiv and Visa Help Workers Access Earned Wages Earlier.
  • Temenos Drives Digital Transformation for Africa’s Vista Bank.
  • iSignthis Inks Banking and Payments Deal with Ibanera.

Around the web

  • BioCatch adds touchscreen pressure as a new behavioral biometric value.
  • NCR, Bluefin, and Powertranz team up to support POS card processing for Caribbean quick serve restaurants.
  • Experian launches Singapore-based incubator, Experian X Labs.
  • ETFLogic unveils ETFLogic Pages, a new platform for analyzing exchange-traded funds.
  • Minna Technologies and Exate earn spots in the fourth edition of ING’s FinTech Village.
  • BlueRush deploys its Individeo platform with a large Colombian bank courtesy of a partnership with Bee Concept.
  • Inspire Federal Credit Union goes live with NYMBUS.

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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Thoma Bravo to Acquire Ellie Mae in $3.7 Billion Deal.
  • Welcome to Day Four of FinovateEurope.

Around the web

  • ACH Alert unveils its latest Payment Data Xchange (PDX) service module within its flagship Fraud Prevention HQ platform.
  • Fidor Bank launches chatbot powered by Best of Show winner, Finn AI.
  • Paysend to offer money transfers to bank accounts in 34 European countries.
  • Zopa introduces new chairman Gordon McCallum, who will take over from co-founder Giles Andrew.
  • Kentucky-based Forcht Bank partners with Fiserv to upgrade its credit card program.
  • Finastra appoints Siobhan Byron as SVP and Head of Technology Enabled Managed Services (TEMS).
  • Aire inks reseller agreement with Experian.

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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Finovate Alums Raise More Than $4 Billion in 2018; $802 Million in Q4.

Around the web

  • Symbiont closes $20 million Series B in round led by Nasdaq Ventures.
  • New partnership helps Moven grow in MENA.
  • UNPay founder Zhang Zhenghua named as 2018 Golden Shell Award’s inaugural “Payment Industry Pioneer.”
  • Envestnet|Yodlee acquires Abe AI to drive Yodlee’s latest conversational AI solution.
  • Experian unveils first affordability check for gaming websites.

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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Citi Forges Strategic Partnership with Feedzai.

Around the web

  • Clinc Brings Conversational AI to Turkey’s Isbank.
  • FinTech Futures sits down with TransferWise’s Stuart Gregory to talk about the power of partnerships.
  • Intelligent CIO looks at the merger of Polish fintechs, Braintri and iCompass.
  • Experian launches Experian Boost, an online platform that enables consumers to instantly improve their credit scores by providing additional financial information.
  • Envestnet president Bill Crager is featured in Financial Planning’s 19 People Who Will Change Wealth Management in 2019.

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.

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Brazil’s Nubank announces debit options for its digital savings account.
  • Infocorp spinoff Bankingly raises $5.25 million in Series A funding in round led by Elevar Equity.
  • Vocalink to modernize Peru’s electronic payments infrastructure courtesy of new deal with the company’s automated clearinghouse, Cámara de Compensación Electrónica (CCE).

Asia-Pacific

  • UNPay expands QR code payments.
  • Indonesian lending and payments firm, Pohon Dana, picks up investment from Mayapada Group.
  • PaySend launches transfers to bank accounts and Napas cards in Vietnam.
  • Fenergo wins Fintech Exporter of the Year award from Asia Matters.
  • Juvo expands across Asia with regional headquarters in Singapore.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Experian purchases South African credit information and analytics firm Compuscan for $263 million.
  • Ecobank partners with MFS Africa to offer cross-platform digital payments to customers.
  • Emergent Technology acquires Ghana-based Interpay Africa.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Sberbank offers clients new strategies for investment life insurance.
  • Finastra opens new offices in Romania.
  • Backbase powers omni-channel digital services for Poland’s BGŻ BNP Paribas bank.
  • International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) to deploy technology from FICO to fight money laundering.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • UAE and Saudi Arabia launch blockchain-powered, cross-border payments proof of concept.
  • Temenos announces partnership with Tunisia’s Banque de l’Habitat.
  • Token brings open banking to MENA region.

Central and South Asia

  • James Finance, Ocrolus, Hydrogen, and iProov shortlisted for India FinTech Awards 2018.
  • Currencies Direct taps Ripple’s xCurrent for real-time remittances to India.
  • Fintech News Singapore features BankBazaar in its round up of 10 Hot Fintech Startups from India to Watch Closely.

Top image designed by Freepik

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Temenos Acquires Avoka in $245 Million Deal.
  • More Than $400 Million Raised by 19 Alums in Q3 2018.
  • ShopKeep Closes $65 Million to Boost Small Business Financing Tool.

Around the web

  • The Open Bank Project wins Best Technology Provider for Open API Standards at Global Open Banking Awards.
  • InComm partners with Revolut to offer their prepaid cards at U.K. retail chain wilko.
  • U.K.’s Experian to buy Africa’s Compuscan.
  • First Data and China CITIC Bank International to join forces with launch of new merchant acquiring solutions.
  • PayPal launches Xoom International money transfer in Canada.
  • Docutech and Tavant integrate for digitally-focused loan origination process.

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.

Finovate Alumni News

Around the web

  • Xero announces API integration partnerships with OCBC and NETS.
  • Exate Technology named “One to Watch” for data privacy technology at the Regulation Asia Awards for Excellence 2018.
  • Yoyo Wallet inks deal with coffee chain, easyCoffee.
  • Experian launches a pair of new advanced Open Banking services: Affordability Check and Tennant Vetting Service.
  • New biometric capabilities powered by iProov enable secure enrollment onto U.K. Home Office services via smartphone app.

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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • CardFlight Aligns with Payscape to Expand Merchant Base.

Around the web

  • PaySimple announces latest payment integration with MarketSharp’s CRM software.
  • Equifax selects Experian to provide customers free credit monitoring through its TrustedID Premier service.
  • QuotePro and Fiserv partner to speed credit for cash payments at self-service kiosks.
  • Singapore-based WeInvest expands to UAE.
  • PYMNTS: OnDeck loan origination volume increased double digits YoY and sequentially, the volume up 22% from the 2017 third quarter
  • Mitek appoints Max Carnecchia as CEO.

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.

Experian Unveils New Credit Assessment Solution, Experian Credit 3D 

Experian Unveils New Credit Assessment Solution, Experian Credit 3D 

Experian is launching a new range of consumer credit assessment products for lenders, Experian Credit 3D, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

The product offers a multi-dimensional view of a borrower’s financial health, instead of a consumer’s credit information at a single point in time. The firm aims to deliver “a more granular and predictive insight into a consumer’s payment behavior”.

Business will be able to combine rental, utilities, council tax, property and mobile data, to provide a view of predictive behaviour and affordability.

“A customer’s current credit position only ever tells part of the story. People’s financial circumstances are multidimensional and unique,” said Tom Blacksell, managing director of B2B at Experian. “We are supporting our customers as they look to keep up with a diverse and ever-changing global population.”

The firm that said that moving away from traditional risk scores by augmenting them with a view of detailed consumer behaviors over time is particularly valuable in making decisions on applications which are currently on the margins.

Alternative non-credit data, including subscriptions and utilities data, can support the approval of applications from consumers with ‘thin’ credit files.

Blacksell added: “By combining all this with our global market leading decisioning capabilities in PowerCurve, and our soon-to-be-announced investments in SaaS deployment, we’ll be able to support customers of all sizes to make intelligent decisions in frictionless, digital environments.”

Recently, Experian, FICO and Finicity joined to create a new type of score, named the UltraFICO score. Designed to specifically help serve thin-file customers, the UltraFICO score focuses on how consumers actually manage their personal finances rather than repayment data from previous credit usage.

Experian demonstrated its cloud-based decisioning platform at FinovateFall 2018. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, Experian was named one of the top most innovative companies in the world by Forbes magazine for five years in a row.

Experian, FICO, and Finicity Launch the UltraFICO Score

Experian, FICO, and Finicity Launch the UltraFICO Score

Three fintechs joined forces today to create a new credit scoring technology designed for thin-file customers. Experian, FICO, and Finicity are the triumvirate behind the new score, named the UltraFICO score.

The UltraFICO score leverages consumer-permissioned account data aggregated and distributed by Experian and Finicity. Unlike the traditional FICO score, which relies heavily on repayment data from users’ previous credit usage, UltraFICO looks at how responsibly consumers manage their finances. After gaining the user’s permission to access their bank statements, Finicity’s technology pulls consumer-contributed data from their checking, savings, and money market accounts, examining the length of time accounts have been open, frequency of activity, and saving data.

For its part, Experian pulls the consumer’s credit information and will integrate the new model into lenders’ existing operational workflow. Alex Lintner, president of Experian’s Consumer Information Services, said that this project has offered the company “a new way to use consumer-permissioned data that allows lenders to make better decisions and helps consumers gain access to credit.”

Accessing the additional data not only offers lenders a more complete picture of the prospective borrower’s ability to repay, it also improves access to credit for Americans who are typically below lenders’ preferred credit score threshold. This especially applies to thin-file borrowers and those working on rebuilding their score after a financial crisis.

Jim Wehmann, FICO EVP of Scores, said that UltraFICO “empowers consumers to have greater control over the information that is being used in making credit risk decisions.” He added, “It also enables a deeper dialogue between the consumer and lenders to help both parties make better financial decisions.”

UltraFICO will be piloted in 2019 to test the new model and determine consumers’ willingness to share their financial data. The group plans to make the new model generally available to lenders in mid-2019.

Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Experian most recently demoed its decisioning platform at FinovateFall 2018. The cloud-based platform enables organizations to combine data and analytics to improve the accuracy of their customer lending decisions. Earlier this year, Experian acquired U.K.-based ClearScore for $385 million.

Founded in 1956 as Fair Isaac Corporation, FICO presented “Rapidly Deliver Contextually-Powered Stream Processing” at FinDEVr New York 2016. Earlier this month, the company announced it will provide KYC and onboarding solutions for Belarus-based lender, Belgazprombank.

Utah-based Finicity demoed at FinovateFall 2017 where the company’s Co-founder and President of Data Services, Nick Thomas, showed how the company simplified access to its Verification of Income and Verification of Assets reports. Frequently in the headlines, Finicity announced last week it was selected as third-party service provider for Freddie Mac’s automated income and asset assessment solution, Loan Product Advisor. In September, the company aligned with intelligent process automation software provider Capsilon to modernize the mortgage origination process.