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

  • Interactions Partners with Next Caller for Phone-Based Threat Assessment.
  • BioCatch Brings Behavioral Biometrics to ACI Worldwide.

Around the web

  • Token to support PSD2 compliance and open banking capabilities for U.K.’s thinkmoney.
  • SafeAmericaCU’s switch to AI-powered technology from Bankjoy helps the $433 million asset FI to earn “Best Practices” honors from CU Journal.
  • TransferWise secures £65 million syndicated debt facility with NatWest, JP Morgan, and LHV Bank.
  • iSignthis plans for Australian neobanking license in 2019.
  • PayNearMe’s electronic payment volume grew by more than 25% month-over-month in the past year.
  • Klarna joins Shopify Plus Partner program to power merchants.
  • TrueAccord wins a Healthy Mothers Workplace Award.
  • Passport recognized as one of Charlotte’s fastest growing companies.
  • Launchfire wins gold Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Award.
  • Bill.com selects Comdata as Virtual Credit Card Provider for B2B Payments.
  • TopTracker partners with Payoneer to allows free payments between companies and freelancers.

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

  • Boku Acquires Mobile ID and Authentication Company Danal

Around the web

  • CU Broadcast interviews Larky CEO Gregg Hammerman on what credit union CEOs are prioritizing for their members’ engagement today.
  • IdentityMind protects FIs with virtual currency risk assessment.
  • 32 fintechs graduate from Envestnet | Yodlee’s incubator.
  • Token brings Open Banking to Mena region.
  • Coinbase continues to explore support for new digital assets.
  • The city of Rye, NY partners with Passport to manage parking.
  • Mortgage Cadence integrates Radian’s mortgage insurance service into its Enterprise Lending Center solution.
  • The CX Show interviews SaleMove co-founder and CEO Dan Michaeli about creating contact center leaders.
  • TechCrunch interviews Transferwise cofounder and CEO Kristo Käärman on growing money transfers despite global turbulence.
  • Pendo Systems partners with Azimuth GRC and Global Comply.

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

  • Starling, Anorak Merge Insurtech with Mobile-Only Banking.

Around the web

  • Fiserv to power Philippine Veterans Bank’s digital transformation.
  • Token.io announced using public bank APIs to conduct end-to-end payments for U.K. banking group, CMA9, the first PISP to do so.
  • Housing Wire profiles Mortgage Cadence‘s LOS, Borrower Center.
  • Thomson Reuters launches new targeted reporting solution, RTS 27, for newly-registered MiFID II Systematic Internalisers.
  • NICE provides its Desktop Automation solution to Latin American CRM and BPO solution provider, Liq.
  • Tinkoff Bank enables movie ticket booking on the iOS version of its mobile app.
  • NCR releases managed services bundle for Community Financial Institutions (CFIs) to NCR channel partners.
  • WePay appoints Jennifer Parker as Chief Revenue Officer.
  • Neustar and Thunder join forces to deliver better customer experiences.
  • BanQu launches partnership with Anheuser-Busch InBev to revolutionize supply chain transparency in Zambia.

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.

Asia-Pacific

  • Chinese fintech solutions provider Pintec files $70 million IPO.
  • Shwe Rural and Urban Development Bank in Myanmar partners with JMR Infotech to better scale its online services.
  • Hong Kong banks team up to launch blockchain-based trade finance platform.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • The Fintech Association of Nigeria celebrates its first anniversary.
  • Disrupt Africa looks at a pair of investments in Nigerian fintechs: CowryWise and Bitcoin Africa.
  • SophiaTX and South Africa’s ArkTree announce new strategic alliance to expand the global reach of blockchain technology

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Hungarian bank MKB, the fourth largest commercial bank in the country, deploys Oracle Flexcube to streamline operations.
  • Open banking platform innovator Token announces that its technology has been implemented by Sberbank in Slovenia.
  • Israel-based cashless payments solution and management platform Nayax opens office in Lithuania.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Jihad Azour, Director of IMF Middle East and Central Asia, delivers a speech at the Arab Economic Forum in Lebanon: Promoting the Inclusive Growth Agenda in the Arab Region.
  • Saudi Arabia grants its first set of fintech licenses to a pair of Saudi crowdfunding platforms, Manafa Capital and Scopeer.
  • Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) notes a strong start in 2018 with the number of active registered companies climbing by 8%.

Central and South Asia

  • Study from JP Morgan looks at the untapped opportunities in the Indian fintech space.
  • FSS introduces FSS eFinclusiv, a financial inclusion solution geared toward serving the underbanked in India.
  • Russia’s National Settlement Depository to connect Kyrgyzstan’s Bank of Asia to SWIFT.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • El Cronista interviews Rafael Hernandez, senior partner of fintech at Village Capital, on business opportunities in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In Spanish.
  • Brazilian online broker Toro Investmentos begins operation this week.
  • Bank of Asia goes live as the first digital bank in the British Virgin Islands.

Top image designed by Freepik

Sberbank in Slovenia Partners with Open Banking Platform Provider Token

Sberbank in Slovenia Partners with Open Banking Platform Provider Token

By partnering with Token.io, the open banking platform provider based in San Francisco, California, Sberbank in Slovenia is signaling more than just its compliance with PSD2. Instead Slovenia’s seventh largest bank seeks to move beyond PSD2 compliance and toward a full embrace of open banking.

“Our choice to work with Token reflects our commitment to shaping a new era of banking and payments,” Aleš Zajc, Deputy CEO in charge of retail banking for Sberbank in Slovenia, said. Zajc added that the technology would enable the bank to provide customers with a better, safer experience. “With Token’s frictionless authentication programmed into each transaction,” Zajc said, “we will be able to increase payment speed and convenience without ever compromising on security.”

Token enables banks to issue and redeem payment and account data authorizations as programmable smart tokens. Smart tokens are unique to the transactions they represent, and because account information is never transmitted beyond the bank, the technology helps minimize security risks. Not only does this make Token’s technology an ideal deployment for banks looking to meet PSD2 requirements, smart tokens can also serve as the basis for faster, more secure online transactions for customers.

“Token offers the industry’s simplest and most secure transaction-based open banking API, which will provide Sberbank Slovenia quicker data aggregation and direct payments driven by Smart Token technology,” Token CEO and founder Steve Kirsch explained. “Crucially, our cloud-based platform will give Sberbank both flexibility and scalability when creating and handling transactions.”

Token’s news comes one month after the company announced that it would facilitate direct payments for cross border payments platform and fellow Finovate alum, Caxton. Also last month, the company completed the first Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP) to complete an end-to-end payment via a public bank API. In May, Token was granted FCA authorization for open banking payment and information services, and partnered with Paymentworld Europe to enable direct payments for the Malta-based electronic money institution.

Founded in 2015, Token demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2017. With $18.5 million in funding, the company includes EQT Ventures, OP Financial Group, Octopus Ventures, and Plug and Play among its investors. Check out our conversation on open banking and PSD2 with Token’s VP of Marketing, Marten Nelson, from earlier this year.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Sberbank in Slovenia Partners with Open Banking Platform Provider Token.
  • Equifax Acquires DataX to Promote Financial Inclusion.

Around the web

  • Wirecard and Mastercard collaborate to make contactless payments using wearable technology more accessible.
  • Roostify expands leadership ranks with new Chief Customer Officer, new VP of Sales, and new General Counsel.
  • VyStar Credit Union ($7.6 billion in assets) to upgrade core banking solution with technology from FIS.
  • Hyperwallet to provide mass payment distribution for content processing platform, Wordapp.com.
  • Premier America Credit Union ($2.5 billion in assets) to deploy core processing technology from Jack Henry & Associates.
  • Santander integrates nCino’s Bank Operating System.
  • Carte Wealth Management to launch advisor engagement platform powered by DigitalReach from BlueRush.
  • TechCrunch reports: Coinbase Reportedly Gets Approval from US regulators to Start Listing Tokenized Securities.
  • Ephesoft releases new Swagger/OpenAPI-web services for Ephesoft Transact.

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

  • iProov Wins Contract with U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
  • iSignthis Unveils B2B Transactional Banking Service, Partnership with Gobbill.
  • LendStreet Raises Additional $117 Million for Debt Restructuring.
  • DarcMatter Partners with Crypto Fund #Hashed.

Around the web

  • Trulioo’s AML/KYC identity verification now covers Romania.
  • MicroStrategy wins 2018 NetworkWorld Asia Information Management Award.
  • Token completes PISP open banking transaction.
  • Actiance and Smarsh update executive leadership team in wake of merger.
  • Investor Junkie takes 401(k) roboadvisor Blooom for a test drive.

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.

Token Facilitates Direct Payments for Caxton FX

Token Facilitates Direct Payments for Caxton FX

Cross-border payments platform Caxton is piloting a new direct payments solution for clients of its multi-currency prepaid MasterCard. The new capabilities come courtesy of a partnership with open banking champion Token.

The integration allows Caxton clients to use the Caxton mobile app to load their prepaid cards directly from their bank account. By leveraging Token’s open banking expertise, Caxton is able to remove friction, lower costs, and benefit from instant money movement.

The company facilitates this direct connection by forgoing debit card rails and instead routing customer payment information using a Smart Token, which transmits only a representation of cardholder data and not the data itself. Token is integrated with Caxton’s existing infrastructure to offer the company direct access to their clients’ banks, given their permission.

In the press release, Marten Nelson, co-founder and CMO of Token said, “Our partnership with Caxton reinforces our commitment to all players in the digital ecosystem; we exist to help them lower costs and deliver an amazing, market-differentiating experience to their customers, through a rich, yet simple integration.”

Caxton has 750,000 private and business customers who processed 7.3 million transactions last year using its multi-currency cards and international bank transfer services. The company plans to begin the rollout of the new service in the third quarter of this year.

Founded in 2003, Caxton leverages the blockchain to help users send cross-border money transfers with less friction and at a lower cost than with traditional banks. At FinovateEurope 2017, the company demoed its Firebird Payment Engine, a private blockchain ledger that facilitates payments without the need for an API. Last June, Caxton debuted multi-currency accounts for SMEs.

Headquartered in California, Token offers banks, payment service providers, developers, and merchants access to the benefits of open banking. The company helps organizations securely connect to their customers’ bank account information in a secure and compliant manner using its Smart Token technology. The company showcased its PSD2 compliant solution at FinovateEurope 2017 in London. Last month, the FCA granted Token authorization for open banking payment and information services.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Gusto Launching its Own Yelp for Accountants.
  • Fintonic Bolsters Platform’s Loan Options with BBVA Partnership.

Around the web

  • Multiple-time Best of Show winner Ondot Systems launches its digital card services platform.
  • Thomson Reuters and ICAP announce five-year extension of their partnership.
  • TransferWise lands its first big European bank customer with new agreement with France’s BPCE Group.
  • NY Times features Unison’s approach to shared equity home ownership investment
  • Taulia has record $4.5bn First Quarter.
  • Cardlytics refinances credit facilities with Square 1 Bank.
  • Ripple to give $50 million to universities including Princeton, MIT, and UCL for blockchain research.
  • Foothills Credit Union selects Digital Onboarding for new member onboarding technology.

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

  • InComm launches health plan-sponsored first years wellness card to support babies’ well being.
  • Payworks introduces P2PE component services for payment providers.
  • Coinone Transfer joins Ripple’s RippleNet to enhance cross-border payments.
  • Navigant and Ayasdi collaborate to deploy machine intelligence to effectively and efficiently detect and deter financial crime.
  • INV Fintech collaborates with the Open Bank Project to offer sandbox APIs.
  • Lendio announces franchise in Broomfield, Colorado.
  • Token granted FCA authorization for open banking payment and information services.

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

  • New Investment Helps Power Canadian Expansion for Financial Data Platform Quovo.

Around the web

  • HTC Global Services joins Quadient Partner Advantage Program.
  • Token Granted FCA Authorisation For Open Banking Payment & Information Services.
  • Erste Bank Hungary Readies for Immediate Payments and Open Banking Era with ACI Worldwide.
  • NICE’s Cognitive Robotic Automation Platform allows Amazon Lex’s conversational chatbot to fulfill more customer requests in real-time.
  • Salt Edge supports Account Information Services flows authorized under PSD2 Third Party Providers.
  • Sensibill powers receipt management for Quontic Bank.
  • Digital Onboarding to enhance Belmont Savings Bank’s customer engagement by increasing new checking account activation rates.

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.