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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Our Streamly series of interviews continues with four more conversations from fintech and financial services professionals who spoke at FinovateSpring earlier this year.
For more from Streamly and FinovateSpring, check out our blog post from last week, AI in Financial Services: Automation, Profitability, and Fraud Prevention.
Unlocking advertising potential: Financial services on Amazon
Chief Revenue Officer at Revive Media Danielle Shamos discusses strategies to reach targeted audiences and how the effective use of data can enable even further audience growth. Shamos also talks about the uniqueness of Amazon as an advertising platform.
How can community banks gain a competitive edge through technology?
Barb MacLean, SVP and Head of Technology Operations and Implementation at Coastal Community Bank, talks about how technology can help community banks secure a competitive edge. MacLean also discusses the importance of internal innovation and the challenges of banking-as-a-service.
Reimagining community banking: How can you adapt your strategy to changing customer needs?
John Waupsh, Chief Revenue Officer of Manifest Financial, explains why it is important for community banks to define their strategic purpose at a time of increasing competition. Waupsh also discusses the importance of adapting business strategies to ever-evolving customer needs.
Credit union solutions: What’s different about this landscape?
Managing Director at TruStage Ventures Sam Das discussed the unique challenges that confront credit unions today – from membership retention to cybersecurity. Das also explains that while there is demand from credit unions for tailored fintech solutions, fintechs needs to “come prepared” if they want to successfully partner with these financial institutions.
What challenges are small and medium-sized businesses facing when it comes to getting the capital they need when they need it? What role does technology – especially enabling technologies like automation and AI – play in helping make it easier for entrepreneurs and SMBs to access critical financing?
This week, Finovate VP and host of the Finovate Podcast Greg Palmer spoke with Marius Silvasan, CEO of eCapital, to discuss these and other issues important to small businesses and the financial services companies that serve them.
“SMBs in this current market are under pressure,” Silvansan explained in his Finovate Podcast interview. “They are challenged. And the reason behind that is we’ve come from an environment in which inflation is coming down, but has been high over the last year-and-a-half. We’ve come from an environment in which borrowing costs were near zero – and they’ve increased substantially over the last several years. And the labor market has been very tight, so it’s been tough for SMBs to hire, it’s been tough for SMBs to retain qualified personnel. So that’s made the environment for SMBs quite challenging over the several years.”
Headquartered in Miami, Florida, eCapital helps small and medium-sized businesses secure the financing they need in order to grow. Founded in 2006, eCapital offers a wide range of financing solutions including freight and invoice factoring, payroll funding, asset-back lending, equipment refinancing, and lines of credit.
The question of deploying AI technology in fintech and financial services is no longer a question of “if” – or even “when.” As our recent spring fintech conference confirmed, innovators and entrepreneurs across our industry have already decided that the answer to both of those questions is “yes” and “now.”
But there are hurdles and challenges for fintechs and financial services companies as they seek to deploy AI in their products and offerings. Unlike other industries, fintechs and financial services companies operate in a high-risk environment where issues of trust, transparency, and explainability – to say nothing of regulatory oversight – are virtually existential.
Earlier this year at FinovateEurope in London, Israel-based Citrusxdemoed its platform that enables all stakeholders in the AI pipeline to remain in the loop and benefit from 100% transparency in their models.
We caught up with Citrusx’s VP of Business Development Michal Berdugo (pictured) to talk about the company, how it helps businesses effectively deploy AI technology, and what we can expect from the company in the near future.
What problem does Citrusx solve and who does it solve it for?
Michal Berdugo: In today’s data-driven world, everyone wants to adopt AI for various use cases, but they often face many roadblocks. In high-risk industries, the primary obstacles are a lack of understanding and trust. When key decision-makers can’t trust their AI systems it can lead to potential reputational and regulatory damages.
Citrusx comes in to help financial institutions and other organizations in highly regulated industries speed up their time to production while ensuring their models are accurate, robust, explainable, fair, and comply with regulatory requirements.
How does Citrusx solve this problem better than other companies or solutions?
Berdugo: High-risk sectors such as banks, loan providers, and credit unions, face unique challenges in adopting AI solutions. The lengthy production timelines and the inherent opacity of AI systems leave these companies vulnerable to liability issues. Without transparency, they are unable to fully understand or explain AI-driven decisions, heightening their exposure to legal and regulatory risks.
Citrusx’s patent-pending technology delivers real-time insights, accurate explanations, and critical validation measurements throughout the development cycle and offers proprietary monitoring and prediction methods, making it model-agnostic and resilient to feature correlation problems. Citrusx empowers businesses to build trust and deploy AI responsibly, unlocking its full potential.
Who are Citrusx’s primary customers? How do you reach them?
Berdugo: Citrusx attracts risk leaders and data science leaders who are actively seeking innovative solutions. These forward-thinkers are constantly on the lookout for ways to mitigate risks and maintain compliance with regulations. Peer recommendations validate Citrusx’s effectiveness, while articles featuring insights about us and thought leadership also spark interest.
When these leaders search for cutting-edge tools, Citrusx naturally emerges as a preferred option. Additionally, understanding the unique challenges in high-risk industries such as finance and insurance allows us to effectively address their specific pain points. To explore how Citrusx can benefit your organization, reach out to us directly via our website and book a demo.
Can you tell us about a favorite implementation or deployment of your technology?
Berdugo: One of the Big Five banks in Canada approached us because they wanted to deploy an AI model, but finding a way to make it explainable while complying with regulations was a challenge. When models become more complex, understanding their decision-making processes and fostering accountability and trust in the outcomes becomes difficult. Additionally, without any transparency of the rationale of the model, it can cause vulnerabilities and biases to slip through the cracks, which could lead to reputational and regulatory damages.
To help them combat these issues and build a robust, explainable, and fair model, we provided them with a framework to explain the inner workings of their model accurately. Using proprietary explainability methods, we gave them the tools to see the model’s results on a global and local level, yielding a full report of each sample in their dataset.
With our help, the bank achieved a deeper level of understanding of their model, giving them the trust to finally put them in deployment! All stakeholders, including those who are non-technical, were able to understand the model’s decisions, allowing them to approve it faster with confidence.
Instead of taking six to nine months to deploy their model, we cut the time in half. We also gave them the assurance that their models remained compliant with regulations.
What in your background gave you the confidence to tackle this challenge?
Berdugo: Based on my experience, I gained an understanding of the significant gap companies in the financial sector are facing. While organizations want to keep pace, they are falling behind because of regulations. On top of that, there is a lack of transparency and trust in their models. At Citrusx, we had the confidence to take on this problem because we onboarded a global bank as our first main customer. With our combined backgrounds in the financial sector, government, and AI/ML development, we had the tools to build the best solution for our clients and potential clients.
Above: Citrusx’s Michal Berdugo and Dagan Eshar, VP of Research and Development
What is the fintech ecosystem in Israel like? What is the relationship between fintechs, banks, and traditional financial services companies in the country?
Berdugo: Israel’s fintech ecosystem is thriving, boasting a high number of startups creating innovative financial solutions for a relatively small population. There are roughly 550 fintech startups in Israel, and 20 of those companies are valued at over $1 billion. This makes Israel a major player in fintech on a global scale.
The relationship between fintechs, banks, and traditional financial institutions in Israel is evolving. There’s both competition and collaboration. Banks are partnering with fintechs to improve their digital offerings and reach new customers, while fintechs benefit from the banks’ established infrastructure and customer base. This symbiotic relationship helps both sectors grow and provide better financial services in Israel.
You demoed at FinovateEurope earlier this year. How was your experience?
Berdugo: The experience was great, as it was the first conference we participated in since launching from stealth. We were excited to share more about our product and the crowd was incredibly receptive. We gained many interesting insights about what different stakeholders in the AI pipeline are focused on in the coming quarters. The Finovate team was also very helpful and gave us great feedback in preparation for the demo.
What are your goals for Citrusx? What can we expect to hear from you in the months to come?
Berdugo: We are signing new clients and working on growing and expanding our product and team in the coming year. We are working toward a time when Citrusx’s solutions will be a standard practice.
The regulatory landscape for companies innovating in fintech and financial services is complex and ever-changing. Whether a company is developing solutions in the crypto space or seeking to take advantage of the opportunities in open banking, open finance, or Banking-as-a-Service, a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory environment is critical for success.
In its latest series of video conversations from our sister publication Fintech Futures, Fintech Founders interviews six industry professionals – all Founders and Co-Founders – to hear from them what they believe will be the biggest regulatory challenges for fintech start-ups in the coming years.
Check out our conversations on compliance in fintech and financial services featuring:
Today we’re sharing our final set of conversations from our European fintech conference, FinovateEurope. This round of interviews expands beyond our recent look at embedded finance, open banking, and the customer experience in financial services to cover broader themes like AI, the intersection of geopolitics and finance, and the customer of tomorrow.
The truth about generative AI: What financial institutions really need to know about adoption
Author, Generative AI expert, and founder at Tamang Ventures, Nina Schick discusses the realities facing financial services companies when they adopt generative AI. Schick talks about lessons financial services companies can learn from early adopters of the technology in other industries, and why partnerships are the way forward for most companies in banking and finance to best take advantage of AI.
The geopolitical super cycle and what that means for financial services
CEO at London Politica, Manas Chawla talks about the geopolitical risks facing the financial services sector in 2024 – from Ukraine to Gaza to the upcoming Presidential election in the United States. Chawla also discusses the geopolitical supercycle and the challenge of “grey rhino” threats that leaders in both business and politics need to be aware of.
The blue dot consumer: What can financial services learn from Taylor Swift, Red Bull, and United Airlines
A consumer behaviouralist at The King of Customer Experience Ken Hughes introduces the concept of the blue dot consumer in his discussion of what he calls “the customer of tomorrow.” Hughes talks about the relationship between technology and the human experience, how successful brands build loyalty, and what banks and financial institutions can do to foster true loyalty.
A part of Landings Credit Union for nearly a decade, Lee has spent the last four years as CEO. He started as CFO of the Arizona-based financial institution and, before that, worked as both a regulator and in public accounting. Founded in 1953 as “Tempe Schools Credit Union,” Landings Credit Union today has more than 15,000 members and assets of more than $238 million.
Last year Landings CU received the Dementia Friendly business designation, which ensures members that credit union staff are trained to both recognize and support individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. “In Arizona we are the fastest growing state for new cases for Alzheimers,” Lee explained, “so it’s a big deal here for us.”
This year, the financial institution garnered national recognition for its commitment to financial inclusion, earning the Juntos Avanzamos designation. The designation recognizes the work done by credit unions to serve and empower Hispanic, Latino, and immigrant communities. A national network launched in 2015, the Juntos Avanzamos program has a presence in 29 states, serving more than 12 million consumers at 141+ credit unions in the U.S.
In their Finovate podcast conversation, Palmer and Lee talk about using technology to bring new projects to life in the context of these recent successful outreach efforts. “How can we comb through our data and find these new data points that we’re looking for, aggregate (them), and say ‘Let’s be the ones who are going out and reaching out to people’,” Lee explained. “Whether from our own data or community data that’s out there: how do we use that to be able to serve more people?”
Check out Episode 213 of the Finovate Podcast and the rest of Greg Palmer’s conversation with Landings Credit Union CEO Brian Lee.
Our series on conversations with fintech experts from FinovateEurope continues this week. Today we feature three interviews I conducted with fintech professionals innovating in some of the more interesting areas of our field:
a discussion with everyoneINVESTED’s Jurgen Vandenbroucke on the challenge of embedding emotion into financial technology
a conversation with BBVA’s Jose Luis Navarro on open banking and the future of financial services
an interview with Katharina Lüth, Chief Client Officer and Managing Director at Raisin, on the importance of personalization in the customer experience.
Wealthtech: bringing investment solutions to banks and customers
Jurgen Vandenbroucke, Managing Director at everyoneINVESTED, talks about the unique challenges of innovating in the wealth management and investment space. He shares his thoughts on what digital engagement really means when it comes to serving investors, and discusses what changes he sees in the regulatory landscape for investors in the U.K. and Europe.
Open banking and the future of financial services
Head of Open Banking Strategy at BBVA, Jose Luis Navarro, discusses the different approaches to open banking in Europe, North America, South America, and beyond. He covers the role of regulation, the importance of understanding third party risk, and the way customer demand is shaping the perception of open banking.
Personalization and customer engagement in an international financial services company
Chief Client Officer and Managing Director at Raisin Katharina Lüth talks about the importance of personalization and customer engagement in an international financial services company. Lüth discusses how Raisin develops personalization strategies across multiple geographies, how to manage friction in the customer experience, as well as current economic trends in the U.K., Europe, and the U.S.
Keeping up-to-date in the fintech world takes more than just reading what’s going on in the fintech news cycle. It’s important to read takes on different trends and themes from across the industry, as well. To help span this gap, we’ve brought insights from thought leaders across the industry to our Streamly videos.
Today, we’re featuring six videos recorded at FinovateEurope that showcase the expertise of some of the speakers in attendance. The first, 15-minute video highlights VC investors’ thoughts on fintech valuations, M&A activity, partnerships, and more.
The remaining videos we’re showcasing today are part of Streamly’s Fintech Founders Partnership series, a set of three-to-four minute videos that detail thought leaders’ opinions on a wide range of partnership issues.
Potential partnerships– assessing the strategic fit
Partnership goals– maintaining goal alignment
Data security & privacy– sharing sensitive financial information
Streamly’s Code & Capital series takes a next-level look at the potential for enabling technologies to transform fintech and financial services.
In today’s first conversation, Code & Capital talks with Generative AI expert and founder of Tamang Ventures Nina Schick about the way that AI could fundamentally reshape industries and economies this century the way the Internet did decades ago. Schick also discusses use cases for Generative AI in financial services and the threat posed by AI-powered deepfakes.
An author, advisor, and keynote speaker, Schick is an expert in synthetic media, deepfakes, disinformation, cybersecurity, and the geopolitics of technology. Her debut book, Deepfakes, was released in 2020 and has been translated into five languages.
Code & Capital also talked with Head of Conversational AI at Zurich Insurance Group, Indrek Vainu. In this conversation, Vainu shared some of the real-world applications of Generative AI in areas such as risk management, fraud detection, and customer service. Vainu also discussed what financial institutions need to do in order to effectively deploy AI technologies in their businesses.
Vainu co-founded AlphaChat, a chatbot startup, that was acquired by Zurich Insurance Group in 2021. At Zurich, he leads activities globally related to Generative AI and chatbots.
As part of Finovate’s commemoration of Women’s History Month, our Women in Fintech column features Laurie Winger, Chief Financial Officer with TruStage. Formerly known as CUNA Mutual Group, TruStage is a financial services company that provides insurance, investment, and fintech solutions to individuals and businesses.
Winger has been praised by colleagues as a visionary and results-oriented, cross functional leader. At TruStage, she has helped transform a decades-old insurance company into a modern, technology-driven business.
In our Women in Fintech conversation, we discuss her origins in fintech and financial services, current trends that she has her eye on, and why it’s important for financial services companies to invest both human and financial resources into the fintech space.
Tell us about your role at TruStage and your journey into the fintech space.
Laurie Winger: I started my career as an accountant at TruStage, previously CUNA Mutual Group, more than 30 years ago. I spent the first half of my career in various finance roles – Budget Manager, Vice President of Finance, etc. – and then shifted my focus to credit union market strategy in the mid-2010s. At that time, our company was seen in the marketplace as an insurance rather than a technology company. Our goal was to change that perception and the best way to do so was to get more involved in fintech. This was when I first dipped my toes into the fintech space.
One of our first investments was the creation of our Ventures Portfolio, TruStage Ventures, which funds innovators focused on improving the financial services industry. A few years later, we also acquired Compliance Systems, a fintech provider of digital and dynamic compliance documentation, and CuneXus, a consumer-facing portal featuring financial services for credit unions. As Chief Product Officer at the time, I was very involved in the strategy and the execution of that acquisition. Since then, I returned to my finance roots as Chief Financial Officer while keeping a close eye on TruStage and TruStage Venture’s fintech acquisitions and investments, as well as being a member of various fintechs’ boards.
Recently, I’ve dipped back into the fintech side of our business by overseeing our Fintech Solutions team as part of my role as CFO. This team is focused on developing and implementing our Digital Storefront e-commerce platform (based on our acquisition of CuneXus mentioned above) which provides financial institutions with the ability to lend, generate deposits, and open accounts in a fully online experience – all centered around a consumer’s individual banking needs.
It seems like you had a strong role in building TruStage’s fintech strategy. Why did you see a need to provide more holistic support to credit unions?
Winger: I’ve always been a big fan of credit unions because their mission is consistent with ours at TruStage, namely the desire to help people who would otherwise not get access to financial products. Unfortunately, in the digital era, credit unions are having a harder time than ever competing with larger financial institutions and digital banks, and many are closing their doors or are being acquired. We realized early on that if we wanted to truly help credit unions compete, we needed to provide more holistic support. By investing in and making modern, end-to-end technology solutions available to credit unions of all sizes and helping them meet their members’ needs – we are ultimately helping consumers on their buying, borrowing, and saving journeys.
What changes have you seen in the fintech space in the last couple of years and how would you advise fintechs to react to these changes?
Winger: I am learning along with our entire organization that the current fintech market is very different than it was even just a year and a half ago. The high inflation environment has caused valuations to go down, so many fintechs are struggling to attract interest and raise money from third-party investors. They need to find new ways to generate capital.
The best way to do this is to listen to credit unions’ pain points and pivot their focus and/or messaging to meet those current needs. At the moment, growing deposits, finding ways to deepen existing relationships, and acquiring new members are at the top of the priority list for most credit union leadership teams. Fintechs that are heavily promoting lending technologies are probably having a hard time finding prospects, as many credit unions are running into liquidity challenges and are not able to lend as much as before. Pivoting their focus to respond to market needs, or tweaking their messaging to better appeal to potential prospects, will help fintechs stay afloat. The key to success in this economic environment is to listen to market demand, stay flexible, and be willing to take risks.
How are you and TruStage helping advance women leaders in the fintech and credit unions spaces?
Winger: As a company, we are very proud of the TruStage Ventures Discovery Fund, which invests $5 million annually in early-stage fintech companies led by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and woman founders. We created the fund to address inequities in the financial sector and support underrepresented entrepreneurs, many of which are women. Personally, I also try to keep in touch with the female founders who have benefitted from the fund and build those relationships.
In the credit union market, I’ve also had the opportunity to be a mentor as part of the Credit Union Women’s Leadership Alliance (CUWLA) coaching program. The program pairs senior female leaders with women CEOs of credit unions with asset sizes of $300 million or less, providing a channel for support and the exchange of insights. I try to generously share my career experiences, successes, failures, and learnings with other women leaders as often as possible, as I think it is the best way to help other women advance and succeed in both the fintech and credit union industries.
Finally, as a Chief Financial Officer, why is it important to invest company resources (funds and people) into the fintech space to power future/tech-driven strategy?
Winger: Ultimately, it all comes down to remaining relevant. Financial services today operate in a fast-moving, competitive marketplace with ever-evolving consumer demands for seamless, digital-first transactions. No matter how well capitalized, any company that wishes to compete in this space must be willing to allocate investments towards innovations with the consumer expectation at the center. If they don’t, even the most venerable companies risk being passed by fintechs, start-ups, and the industry as a whole.
Have you listened to the latest episodes of the Finovate Podcast?
Over the past few weeks, Greg Palmer and the Finovate Podcast have hosted some of the most interesting innovators in fintech. Alan Bekker of eSelf on the future of AI in financial services, The Clearing House’s Jim Colassano on real-time payments, financial inclusion and wealth-building with Rodney Williams of SoLo Funds … these are just a handful of the interviews Greg Palmer and the Finovate Podcast have featured in recent weeks.
Don’t miss another conversation! Join Greg Palmer and his guests on the Finovate Podcast today!
Greg Palmer interviews Alan Bekker, co-founder and CEO of customer engagement innovator, eSelf. The two discuss the role of AI in fintech and financial services, and the future of face to “face” interactions. eSelf won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023. Episode 208.
The rise of real-time payments, especially in the U.S., is creating opportunities and challenges for fintechs and financial services companies alike. Greg Palmer sits down with Jim Colassano, SVP of Product Development and Strategy with The Clearing House, to discuss what institutions need to do in order to take advantage of one of the latest innovations in payments. Episode 207.
Greg Palmer catches up with Jack Spiers, Sales Director at Tink, to discuss the findings of a new report from the Best of Show winning company that details how to enhance affordability assessments with enriched data. Episode 206.
Dr. Adam Lowe, Chief Product & Innovation Officer with CompoSecure, talks with Finovate Podcast host Greg Palmer on how to think about fraud prevention as an asset, and the importance of balancing security and customer experience. Episode 205.
As part of the Finovate Podcast’s commemoration of Black History Month, Greg Palmer and Rodney Williams, co-founder, chairman, and President of SoLo Funds, talked about the challenges of creating wealth-building products for underserved communities. Episode 204.
Last month at FinovateEurope, I had the pleasure of conducting interviews with 14 professionals, entrepreneurs, and authors from the world of fintech and financial services. A few days ago, I shared videos of my conversations with Moneyhub’s Samantha Seaton and Finthropology’s Anette Broløs.
Today, I’m unveiling another pair of interviews from FinovateEurope. First, I sit down with Edwin Van Bommel, Head of Strategy and Innovation with ABN AMRO Bank. In his role with the bank, van Bommel is responsible for introducing new products and services to clients in the areas of artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technology.
In our conversation, van Bommel and I talk about the different ways ABN AMRO Bank is leveraging enabling technologies like embedded banking, generative AI, and distributed ledger. We also talk about the challenge of legacy systems and why they will still “play an important role in the future” of financial services.
In our second video interview, Indrek Vainu, Head of Conversational AI at Zurich Insurance Group, and I talk about the challenge and opportunity of artificial intelligence in financial services. We discussed ways that generative AI, for example, is bringing innovation to both the front and back office. Vainu also shared what he believes are the next steps in AI adoption in fintech and financial services.
In his role as Head of Conversational AI at Zurich Insurance Company, Vainu leads activities globally that are related to Generative AI and chatbots. He co-founded AlphaChat, a chatbot startup that was acquired by Zurich Insurance Group in 2021.
