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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
How will disruptive technologies like Generative AI change the financial services landscape. How will these technologies impact our ability to expand financial wellness and promote financial inclusion?
The rise of disruptive technologies has created new opportunities for banks and financial services companies to bring new and better services to consumers and businesses. Here’s a look at what our fintech experts told us this year at FinovateFall about how disruptive technology will shape the future of finance.
This year at FinovateFall we heard from fintech analysts and financial services professionals on what financial institutions can and should do in order to bring better financial services to more individuals, families, communities, and businesses. Here’s a brief Streamly Snaphot sharing what our experts had to say.
Join Finovate VP and host of the Finovate Podcast Greg Palmer as he talks with the entrepreneurs whose innovative companies took home top honors at FinovateFall 2023 in New York this year.
From new tools for credit unions members to embedded micro life insurance solutions to strategies to help FIs better engage mortgage-holders, the Finovate Podcast is a great way to keep up with the trends driving fintech today.
Podcast host Greg Palmer catches up with Rachel Lauren of Debbie (demo video) to talk about consumer debt reduction and the credit union ecosystem. EP 193.
Greg Palmer chats with Alex Matjanec of Wysh(demo video) about micro life insurance, customer retention, and financial inclusion. EP 192.
Greg Palmer sits down with Chase Neinken of Chimney (demo video) to discuss strategies for productively engaging your mortgage-holding customers. EP 190.
With FinovateFall in the books, and FinovateEurope right around the corner, our Streamly Video Series is a great way to keep the conversation going between conferences!
This week, we feature three interviews from some of FinovateFall’s keynote speakers: Jacqueline Baker, Principal Consultant and Founder of Scarlet; and authors Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic; and Tommaso Di Bartolo, experts on AI and the multiverse, respectively.
Jacqueline Baker: How to Empower the Leader Within You
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic: The Human-AI Relationship of the Future
Tommaso Di Bartolo: Living La Vida Metaverse – Are You Ready to Be Immersed?
Artificial intelligence has taken the technology world by storm – and fintech is no exception. But questions remain as to how AI can be best applied in the world of fintech and financial services.
I talked with Anu Sachdeva, Global Service Line & Solutions Leader at Genpact, during the FinovateFall conference last month to discuss the role of generative AI in particular in financial services. Among the topics covered were:
How banks can realize the true value of generative AI.
What use cases banks and other financial services organizations have found for generative AI.
What are the most important considerations for financial services organizations when adopting generative AI.
If you were among our audience at FinovateFall last month, then you know what the rest of the fintech world is missing out on. Among everyone’s favorite Finovate experiences is watching the live demos.
Starting today, everyone has the ability to watch the 64 demos from FinovateFall for free. To get you started, we’re featuring a selection of the demos our audience voted Best of Show.
For those not familiar with the process, here’s how it works: companies have seven minutes on stage to demo their new technology, live in front of the audience. If the speaker runs over the seven minute time limit, a gong sounds, their mic is cut, and the MC walks on stage to thank them and introduce the next company.
Are regulators in financial services doing an effective job of protecting consumers while simultaneously fostering innovation? How can regtechs help banks better manage financial risk? Can a robust regulatory regime actually enhance the prospects for business growth?
I sat down with Shabbir M. Husain, Director of Global Sanctions Compliance at Silicon Valley Bank, to discuss these and other issues, including:
How banks can keep pace with new competition
The importance of effective risk assessment
How to foster a “culture of compliance” within an organization
FinovateFall 2023 concluded earlier this month, but that doesn’t mean that the excitement has died down. The three-day event was packed with valuable content, meaningful conversations, a reunion of familiar faces, and new connections.
And while speakers and attendees were busy talking and learning about all things fintech and banking, Finovate’s photographer was capturing the event in 1,224 pictures.
Women in Fintech panel conversation moderated by Michelle Tran with Akita Somani, Brandis DeSimone, Baanu Ratneswaran, Trish Costello, and Karen Yankovich
Investor All Stars panel, moderated by Ope Runseewe, with Lindsay Fitzgerald, Alexa von Tobel, Matt Harris, and Kabir Kumar
Of all the takes I’ve heard about open banking over the past week, here is a great one I did not hear courtesy of The Finanser’s Chris Skinner: open banking is bad branding.
The core issue is that banking and finance is being ripped open by technologies to ensure better service, data enrichment, machine learning, more knowledge … but to achieve this, the service is no longer delivered by one company: a bank. It is delivered by multiple service providers through apps, APIs and analytics. That’s what Open Banking is all about. It just has the wrong name. We don’t want Open Banking. We want Closed Banking.
A typically heterodox take from Skinner and a prompt I would have loved to put to our open banking panelists at FinovateFall last week.
As it turned out, our conversation revolved around other issues – from the role of regulation to the differences in the evolution of open banking between countries and regions. But the same issues raised by Skinner this week were not far away. See for yourself in our brief summary of the top takeaways from our FinovateFall discussion.
User Experience Matters
One area of major agreement on the panel was that user experience was an undervalued aspect of the appeal (or lack thereof) of open banking. Imran Haider, Director of Product, Intuit Data Exchange, noted that the user experience for a customer connecting to their bank via an open banking flow can vary significantly. He cited the occurrence of everything from cumbersome flows to basic performance issues as obstacles to wider acceptance of open banking. “If we really want to unlock the power of customer permissioned data sharing,” Haider said, “then we need better standards and approaches on the UX side.”
Location Shapes the Market
Appreciating the way open banking is evolving differently across geographies was another key takeaway from our conversation on open banking. Florencia Ardissone, Head of Product, Customer Insights & ChaseNet Analytics, JP Morgan Chase, led with this insight. In places like the U.K., Europe, and Australia, open banking has evolved courtesy of a highly-engaged regulatory authority. By contrast, in countries like India, market forces have tended to lead, with the drive for greater financial inclusion often fueling innovation. As such, we should expect the evolution of open banking in the U.S. – however slow and sluggish – to develop based on the unique features of the U.S. banking system – including the massive number of players.
Open Banking Demands Identity Management
Skinner’s skepticism about consumer appetites for “open” banking is also a great way to understand another key takeaway from our Open Banking conversation: the idea that open banking is integrally linked to identity management. Sasha Dobrolioubov, Head of Partnerships at Persona, made the point that it critical that those financial institutions involved in open banking – the banks, the fintechs – need to have a “strong identity presence” to foster trust between would-be open banking consumers and providers.
Regulation Defines the Opportunity
The funny thing about the evolution of Open Banking in the U.S. is that has taken both the route of market-driven innovation as well as the path laid by regulators, particularly the CFPB. Kevin Jacques, Partner at Cota Capital, noted that the access to account data component of open banking evolved ahead of regulations. Jacques cited innovators – and Finovate alums – like Plaid, MX, and Finicity as examples.
That said, with pending CFPB regulations potentially limiting and restricting collection of account data based on a narrower view on consumer consent, innovation in this aspect of open banking is likely to be impacted.
How will AI help drive fintech innovation? How can digital transformation power greater financial inclusion? Where is the smart money investing in fintech? What will be the Next Big Thing in financial services?
FinovateFall wrapped up just days ago – and much of the three days of fintech demoes, keynote addresses, and panel discussions was dedicated to providing answers to these questions.
Here we’ll reflect of those responses and highlight some of the key takeaways from our mainstage fintech experts, our innovative demoing companies, and Finovate attendees themselves.
What we learned from the experts
Our invitation-only, Leaders+ session held the evening before the conference began featured a number of insights on the present and future of fintech. The lead-off address on major fintech themes set a tone for our invitees that foreshadowed much of what the rest of our attendees would see and hear once FinovateFall got underway the following morning.
Analyst and expert Alex Johnson of Fintech Takes provided one of the more surprising insights of the night in his keynote on top trends in banking and fintech. Johnson suggested that the relatively unglamorous areas of the industry may turn out to be the “Coming Attractions” in terms of fintech innovation over the near term. Much of the fintech revolution to date, Johnson explained, involved solving consumer problems – many of them bearing an uncanny resemblance to the problems of the company founder’s themselves.
As innovation in this space runs its course, opportunities in other, neglected areas can emerge. Johnson encouraged invitees to keep an eye on “the boring stuff” like payments infrastructure and the B2B world when gauging the overall level of innovation and opportunity in the fintech and financial services industry.
Johnson also observed that we should continue to see fintech deployed to solve problems that are not necessarily considered to be financial problems. Our own Finovate research team has noted the increased news flow from companies looking to help small businesses survive supply chain financing challenges. It was heartening to hear Johnson use the example of fintechs providing financing to SMEs caught in supply chain snafus in that part of his presentation.
The other major topic of conversation in our Leaders+ session was AI and the metaverse. This was another discussion that extended over the balance of FinovateFall. The jury may still be out on the impact of the metaverse in banking. But the potential of AI in fintech and financial services seems clear.
From greater personalization of services to more efficient, more secure, and more innovative financial products, banking and financial services are ready to find roles for AI.
Start with Generative AI. One commonality between keynote speakers on AI was to compare the adoption rate of a Generative AI solution like ChatGPT to the adoption rate of previous popular technologies from the past. Think everything from Napster to LinkedIn to TikTok. GenerativeAI was clearly in a class of its own. This sentiment – that AI is here to stay – was echoed in virtually every discussion of the technology – from Leaders+ and keynote speaker Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic to Analyst All-Star Tiffani Montez of Insider Intelligence. At one point, even David Letterman’s classic skewering of the Internet in an interview with Bill Gates back in 1995 (“Does radio ring a bell?”) was deployed to remind our FinovateFall audience that we’ve underestimated innovation before.
What we learned from the innovators
There is no better way to feel the pulse of fintech innovation than by attending the Demo Days at a Finovate event. And there is no better distillation of what direction fintech innovation is going than the companies that take home Finovate Best of Show awards.
FinovateFall was no exception. Of the six companies that won Best of Show last week, we saw three companies demo solutions in areas that observers long have said are ripe for innovation. Chimney demoed a solution for homeowners that gave them actionable advice on their home’s value and equity, their borrowing power, and the availability of relevant pre-qualified offers. Trust & Will demonstrated technology that streamlines and simplifies estate planning and settlement with attorney approved, legally valid documents. Wysh, an innovator in the insurance space, demoed a deposit solution that provides micro-life insurance coverage of up to 10% of the account holders balance.
Best of Show winning companies like eSelf.ai showed fintech to be at the cutting edge of enabling technologies like AI, as well. The Israel-based company, whose founder helped launch three-time Finovate Best of Show winner Voca.ai, demoed eSelf.ai’s AI-powered client interaction solution that provides human-like conversation and engagement. Mahalo Banking, headquartered in Michigan and also winning Best of Show in its Finovate debut last week, demonstrated fintech’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity. The company leverages innovative technology to deliver online and mobile banking solutions for credit unions that help them serve neurodiverse customers with visual, cognitive, and other challenges.
And the return of Debbie to the Best of Show winner’s circle is a reminder that solutions that respond to the basics of financial wellness – saving and reducing debt – remain critical components of the fintech ecosystem. Having won Best of Show in its Finovate debut last fall, Debbie was back with new tools to help users manage debt, including a credit card refinancing marketplace for credit unions.
Where we go from here
There were a few dogs that did not bark – at least not as loudly as they once did. Cryptocurrency and digital assets, for example, did not draw as much attention this year as they have in previous years. We’ve seen more from mortgagetech, as well. It is hard not to wonder what the impact of higher interest rates will have on this industry and other consumer-facing, interest-rate sensitive sectors and services from lending to Buy Now Pay Later.
Therein lies the opportunity. The problems may seem more intractable and the solutions not as sexy as they used to be. But the eagerness of founders and financial institutions to embrace both new technologies like digitization, automation, and AI – as well as new causes like financial inclusion and sustainability – is a strong sign for the future of our industry.
They are cheering in Times Square tonight as the winners of Best of Show at FinovateFall 2023 are crowned. After two days of live fintech demos from more than 60+ innovative fintechs, our delegates have decided. Here are the winners of Best of Show for FinovateFall 2023.
Chimney for its Chimney Home solution that gives homeowners actionable advice about their home value, equity, borrowing power, and pre-qualified offers. Video.
Debbie for its rewards app for debt payout and its new credit card refinance marketplace for credit unions. Video.
eSelf.ai for its technology that delivers the next generation of client-financial institution interaction, enabling human-like conversations and efficient personalization. Video.
Mahalo Banking for its intuitive and neurodiverse-inclusive online and mobile banking solutions for credit unions with tight core integrations. Video.
Trust & Will for its technology that simplifies estate planning and settlement with attorney-approved, legally valid documents. Video.
Wysh for its innovative deposit solution called Life Benefit that provides micro-life insurance coverage up to 10% of an accountholders’s balance onto an existing deposit account. Video.
We want to thank our demoing companies, our partners, our sponsors, and – last but not least – our valued attendees whose engagement continues to make Finovate a must-attend event on the fintech conference calendar. We look forward to seeing you again next year in The City That Never Sleeps for FinovateFall 2024!
Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites during each day. At the end of the last demo, they chose their six favorites.
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: “Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed.”
4. The six companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named “Best of Show.”
5. Go here for a list of previous Best of Show winners through 2014. Best of Show winners from our 2015 through 2023 conferences are below:
Environmental, social, and governance– better known as ESG– initiatives are hot topics across the fintech and banking sectors. And as a fintech and banking conference, we’ve taken a look at our own operations to improve our environmental, social, and governance practices.
Below is a breakdown of each ESG aspect, and what we are doing at FinovateFall this year to support and promote a healthier environment.
Environmental responsibility
Reducing carbon emissions We’re reducing carbon emissions not only in the way we conduct FinovateFall, but also in how we travel to the event by carpooling and taking public transportation when possible.
Environmental sustainability content FinovateFall will host dedicated on-stage content on environmental sustainability in fintech. In addition to featuring demos from fintechs supporting sustainability, we’re hosting a keynote by Greg O’Gara, Lead Analyst, Wealth Management at Javelin Strategy & Research on Climate Change, ESG & Financial Services, What Do Wall Street & Your Customers Want?
Sustainable development
Sustainable Fintech Scholarship With our demo scholarship program, Finovate will spotlight underrepresented founders and startups tackling climate change, diversity, and financial inclusion. The program will also help us expand our demo line ups to include more voices, more perspectives, and more cutting-edge thinking within fintech.
Sustainable development goals Our aim is for FinovateFall to promote long-term sustainable development – in the way that we run the event but also in how it’s implemented in the market as a whole. We are committing to:
Using our content to support the sustainability of the fintech market
Developing close partnerships with charities, companies and associations and giving them a platform to promote their work in the field
Facilitating discussions on pertinent topics including diversity and inclusion, gender balance, sustainability trends, the impact on the environment, and more.
Governance
Operation Backpack We are supporting Operation Backpack, a Volunteers of America non-profit that provides brand new backpacks and grade-specific school supplies to children living in homeless shelters throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Please help us support this important work by making a donation. Even a small contribution will help!
Diversity and inclusion content We’re hosting a fireside chat on diversity, and one on financial inclusion. Jim Perry, Senior Strategist at Market Insights will discuss why diversity matters and Melissa Koide, CEO of FinRegLab will talk about driving purpose and profit through financial inclusion.
Startup Booster FinovateFall’s Startup Booster program offers smaller fintechs a voice in front of a large investor audience. The program is limited to fintech and tech startups who are less than five years old and have raised, at most, Seed capital. Participants will attend a 60-minute reception that will offer face time with investors, as well as a dedicated cocktail table and sign at the event.
Our driving force
Overarching all of this is our initiative called FasterForward, our parent company Informa’s program that embeds sustainability into everything we do and aims to help our customers do the same. With FasterFoward, we are striving to achieve nine specific goals:
Become carbon neutral as a business and across our products by 2025
Halve the waste generated through our products and events by 2025
Become zero waste and net zero carbon by 2030 or earlier
Embed sustainability inside 100% of our brands by2025
Help and promote the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals through our brands
Enable one million disconnected people to access networks and knowledge by 2025
Contribute $5bn per year in value for our host cities by 2025
Contribute value of at least 1% of profit before tax to community groups by 2025
