Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Finovate’s Fintech Rundown is here with a look at some of the top fintech headlines. From startups emerging from stealth flush with capital to the launch of new AI-powered fraud fighting technologies, we’ve got you covered. Be sure to check back all week long for the latest updates.


E-commerce

E-commerce payments solution provider Klarna acquires New Zealand’s Laybuy.

Regtech

Risk and compliance company Unit21 introduces new anti-fraud technology for ACH transactions.

Payments

Uruguay-based cross-border payment platform dLocal forges strategic partnership with Uphold’s onramp service, Topper.

PayPal integrates with payroll provider UKG to offer early wage access.

Payments company D24 forges a strategic partnership with payments orchestration platform Yuno.

Nigeria-based B2B payments and liquidity platform for emerging markets businesses Waza emerges from stealth with $8 million in funding.

Identity management

Biometric authentication solutions company IDEX Biometrics names Catharina Eklof as its new CEO.

Crypto / DeFi

Romania-based AI and blockchain technology provider Humans.ai acquires TensorChain creator Starfish Technologies.

German neobank N26 expands its cryptocurrency trading product, N26 Crypto, to five new European nations: Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, and Switzerland.

Worldwide Stablecoin Payment Network (WSPN) raises $30 million in seed funding.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) risk management platform Chaos Labs secures $55 million in Series A funding.

Stablecoin-to-fiat money transfer app Sling Money locks in $15 million in funding.

Lending

ABN AMRO forges partnership with nCino to enhance its corporate lending operations.

Embedded finance fintech Amount secures $30 million to fuel its expansion into the credit union industry.

Digital banking

Challenger bank Starling Bank launches its first savings account offering 3.25% interest.

Wealth management

Cloud-based wealth management solution provider FusionIQ partners with wealthtech provider interVal to deliver new technology solutions to financial advisors.

Open banking

Open banking payments company Trustly announces strategic partnership with food delivery service company foodora.

Financial literacy

Northern Trust teams up with Greenlight Financial Technology to give its clients access to Greenlight’s finance app and debit card.

Embedded finance

Regtech Kobalt Labs joins the Treasury Prime Partner Marketplace.

Three Finovate alums – ASA Financial, Eko Investments, and upSWOTearn finalist spots in the 2024 NXTSTAGE Financial Technology Pilot Competition.

Accounting and taxes

Automated accounting and tax solution for “solopreneurs,” Lettuce, raises $15 million in Series A funding.

Fraud and financial crime prevention

Digital identity and fraud prevention innovator Mitek Systems expands its partnership with Alogent.


Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

We’re midway through August, and while everyone attempts to sneak in their final summer vacation days, the fintech news continues on. While we’ve seen a handful of acquisition news headlines so far this summer, I expect things to tick up slightly this fall.  Stay tuned throughout the week to read the latest news this week as we post updates and evolutions.

Embedded banking

ClearBank secures Dutch banking license and expands to Europe.

Fraud, security, and identity

Socure unveils selfie reverification solution with deepfake detection.

Experian acquires behavioral analytics company NeuroID for its fraud detection capabilities against AI-enabled fraud.

UFS acquires Safe Systems for undisclosed amount.

Payments

Billtrust introduces new Chief Product Officer Corrie DeCamp.

GoHenry by Acorns teams up with Google Wallet for new Fitbit Ace LTE integration.

Amazon and Barclays launch new co-branded credit card for U.K. users.

Conduit lands $6 million for cross border payments.

HPS/PayMedix acquires TempoPay to further expand and simplify healthcare payments.

Small business banking

Small business financial platform Lili announces strategic collaboration with business decisioning and analytics firm, Dun & Bradstreet.

Payroll services provider CloudPay receives $120 million in new funding.

Banking news

Scotiabank announces agreement to acquire 14.9% equity interest in KeyCorp.

Lending

Consumer lending company Selina Finance inks five-year mortgage servicing agreement with Phoebus Software.

Real estate and asset-backed lending infrastructure provider Setpoint secures $31 million in Series B funding.

Prosper reaches milestone of reaching 2 million customers.

Cryptocurrency and DeFi

SEC sues crypto firm NovaTech for fraud.

Wealth management

Digital wealth management solutions company SigFig unveils new AI capabilities for its financial advisor collaboration platform, Engage.

Wealth management solution provider FusionIQ forges strategic partnership with wealth management software company interVal.

Regtech

Third-party risk management specialist Kobalt Labs joins the NayaOne Tech Marketplace.


Photo by Anne Hoang on Unsplash

The Finovate Podcast: Best of Show Conversations with Bloom Credit and Kobalt Labs

The Finovate Podcast: Best of Show Conversations with Bloom Credit and Kobalt Labs

What better way to celebrate the start of summer than with some of the latest conversations from Greg Palmer and the Finovate Podcast!

The podcast has just kicked off its series of interviews with Best of Show winners from FinovateSpring. First, Greg Palmer talked with Christian Widhalm, CEO of Bloom Credit, about building credit and creating new lending opportunities. Episode 217.

“We are an infrastructure platform that’s really leading the modernization of credit data and credit data transmission,” Widhalm said in his Finovate Podcast conversation earlier this month. “There’s a significant amount of value to be uncovered within the ecosystem right now, specifically around credit data, and that’s what Bloom has set out to do.”

Headquartered in New York City and founded in 2016, Bloom Credit is a B2B credit data infrastructure platform. The company is building the next generation of rails for “all things credit data,” including transmission and compliant storage. Bloom’s technology helps facilitate the extension of affordable credit to the millions of consumers who are either subprime borrowers or have thin/no file with major credit agencies.

Watch Bloom Credit’s Best of Show winning demo from FinovateSpring 2024.


Most recently, Greg Palmer sat down with Kalyani Ramadurgam, CEO of Kobalt Labs, to discuss third-party regulations, the rise of AI, and the broader regulatory environment for fintechs, banks, and financial services companies. Episode 219.

“We automate all things third party diligence,” Ramadurgam explained. “When I say third party diligence that usually includes everything from vendor risk assessment all the way to monitoring, as well as partner and merchant risk assessment – whether you’re a partner bank or a fintech that’s looking to do business with new entities.”

New York City-based Kobalt Labs enables FIs to accelerate and fortify compliance operations. The company’s technology also provides automatic alignment with the latest regulations in privacy, lending, money movement, BSA/AML, ACH, and more. At FinovateSpring this year, Kobalt Labs demoed its AI-powered co-pilot that streamlines this process. The company was founded in 2023.

Watch Kobalt Labs’ Best of Show winning demo from FinovateSpring 2024.


Photo by cottonbro studio

FinovateSpring 2024 Best of Show Winners Announced

FinovateSpring 2024 Best of Show Winners Announced

The demos are done. The votes have been counted. And the people have spoken. After two days of live fintech demos here at FinovateSpring 2024, we are proud to introduce the winners of Best of Show.

Bloom Credit for its technology that helps banks and credit unions offer a deposit retention and credit building tool to their client base.

Cascading AI for its platform that improves efficiency in banks by 30x by automating rote tasks, enabling banks to leverage that step-change in efficiency to grow their top and bottom lines.

Kobalt Labs for its solution that helps fintechs and financial institutions accelerate and strengthen their third-party diligence, leading to faster and safer paths to revenue-generating partnerships and operational efficiency that doesn’t increase headcount.

QuickFi for its technology that enables banks and manufacturers to give their business customers a fully digital, self-service finance experience that’s fast, intuitive, and consistent with how modern business borrowers prefer to do business.

Remynt for its platform that helps creditors achieve higher recoveries and recapture defaulted consumers as customers when their financial position improves.

SAVVI AI for its solution that helps financial services companies step into the age of AI, with faster, more accurate forecasting, without changing their workflow or processes and using their existing teams.

A heartfelt thanks to all of our demoing companies for sharing their latest fintech innovations with our FinovateSpring audience. Be sure to check out the Finovate Podcast featuring Greg Palmer in the weeks to come as he interviews FinovateSpring 2024’s Best of Show winners.


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 three 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 2024 conferences are below:
FinovateEurope 2015
FinovateSpring 2015
FinovateFall 2015
FinovateEurope 2016
FinovateSpring 2016
FinovateFall 2016
FinovateAsia 2016
FinovateEurope 2017
FinovateSpring 2017
FinovateFall 2017
FinovateAsia 2017
FinovateMiddleEast 2018
FinovateEurope 2018
FinovateSpring 2018
FinovateFall 2018
FinovateAsia 2018
FinovateAfrica 2018
FinovateEurope 2019
FinovateSpring 2019
FinovateFall 2019
FinovateAsia 2019
FinovateMiddleEast 2019
FinovateEurope 2020
FinovateFall 2020
FinovateWest 2020
FinovateEurope 2021
FinovateSpring 2021
FinovateFall 2021
FinovateEurope 2022
FinovateSpring 2022
FinovateFall 2022
FinovateEurope 2023
FinovateSpring 2023
FinovateFall 2023
FinovateEurope 2024

FinovateSpring 2024 Sneak Peek Series: Part 9

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco on May 21 and 22. Register today using this link and save 20%.

Cascading AI

Cascading AI has created an AI Loan Assistant, called Sarah. Sarah is capable of doing the work of a 30-person lending team, guiding hundreds of small business owners through loan application processes.

Features

Game-Changer Alert: Sarah increases banker productivity by 10x and applicant conversion rates by 3x (to 67%). Put the two together for a 30x step change for the industry.

Who’s it for?

Banks, community banks, credit unions, and non-bank lenders.

CoreChain Technologies

CoreChain is like “Venmo for business.” Its solution CoreChain Pay delivers an easy-to-use digital AP payments solution enabling mid-market businesses to easily pay vendors securely and efficiently.

Features

  • Eliminate fraud risk in AP payments
  • Lower cost accounts payables
  • Simplify and digitize vendor payments

Who’s it for?

Mid-market companies with $50M to $1B revenue and a complex supply chain (500+ vendors).

Kobalt Labs

Kobalt Labs is an AI copilot, automating and strengthening third-party diligence for fintechs and financial institutions. It surfaces regulatory gaps in internal policies and third-party docs within minutes.

Features

  • Automate third-party diligence at 10x speed
  • Surface issues that become difficult to resolve when missed
  • Track each risk along with severity
  • Store vendor comms for easy future audits

Who’s it for?

Credit unions, community banks, partner banks (particularly on the fintech partner diligence side), and fintechs looking to accelerate their compliance operations.

Quinn

Quinn solves the problem of wealth advisory scalability so that all individuals and families can access a financial advisor without minimum income and asset requirements.

Features

  • Delivers a financial plan in five minutes, not five weeks
  • Offers a holistic plan that encompasses savings, retirement, debt, and investing
  • Puts the plan in action

Who’s it for?

Financial institutions, wealth advisory firms, and financial planning institutions.

TRIYO

TRIYO extracts and structures work data for end-to-end visibility, reducing operational risk and empowering AI and predictive analytics to fuel automation and drive informed decision making.

Features

  • Offers real-time monitoring, analytics, and 360° view
  • Collects work data from different systems, forms, and off-platform activity with API-first approach
  • Provides data for training internal AILLM tools

Who’s it for?

Banks, credit unions, wealth management firms, and non-banking financial institutions.

Meet the Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship Winners for FinovateSpring 2024

Meet the Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship Winners for FinovateSpring 2024

This year FinovateSpring will feature eight startups that are winners of our Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship program. The program is designed to showcase underrepresented founders and startups who are creating innovative solutions to combat climate change, promote diversity, and create financial inclusion.

To be eligible for the Finovate Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship program, fintech and technology companies must have less than $7 million in funding. There are five categories in the program: environmental, social, governance, BIPOC founded/owned, and female-founded/owned.

Here are the Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship winners for FinovateSpring 2024:

Blee – Scholarship winner in the Governance category. Headquartered in New York and founded in 2022, Blee helps organizations move to market quicker while increasing revenue and minimizing compliance risk. LinkedIn.

Endaoment – Scholarship winner in the Social category. Headquartered in San Francisco, California and founded in 2020, Endaoment empowers nonprofit organizations to accept donations in crypto and stock without having to accept the asset directly. LinkedIn.

Instarails – Scholarship winner in the Female Founded/Owned category. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia and founded in 2022, Instarails enables banks and other organizations to offer instant, inexpensive, and inclusive payments to boost revenue, generate growth, and pave the way for entry into new markets. LinkedIn.

Kobalt Labs – Scholarship winner in the Female Founded/Owned category. Headquartered in New York, NY, and founded in 2023, Kobalt Labs helps fintechs and financial institutions accelerate and strengthen third-party diligence, facilitating revenue-generating partnerships and improving operational efficiency – without increasing headcout. LinkedIn.

LiquidTrust – Scholarship winner in the Female Founded/Owned category. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and founded in 2019, LiquidTrust enables banks to offer an improved customer experience to their business customers, grow non-interest bearing deposits, and generate additional revenue. LinkedIn.

Nav.it – Scholarship winner in the Female Founded/Owned category. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded in 2019, Nav.it integrates with existing HR systems to help organizations grow their businesses by enhancing employee financial wellness. LinkedIn.

Parlay Protocol – Scholarship winner in the Female Founded/Owned category. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and founded in 2022, Parlay Protocol offers technology that boosts the odds that an applicant will secure access to small business funding while helping banks gain new customers and attract new borrowers. LinkedIn.

Remynt – Scholarship winner in the BIPOC Founded/Owned category. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and founded in 2022, Remynt helps creditors achieve higher recoveries and recapture defaulted consumers as customers as their financial position improves. LinkedIn.

FinovateSpring (May 21-23) is only a few weeks away! Take advantage of big early-bird savings on your registration when you buy your ticket by May 10.


Photo by Emily Ranquist