Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • eToro Launches GoodDollar to Reduce Income Inequality.
  • Zopa Seals Series G Investment En Route to Bank Launch.

Around the web

  • Privakey partners with FIDO board member Raonsecure to deliver joint solution to North America.
  • Green Dot reports record Q3 revenue of $230.6 million, up 14% from $201.6 million in Q3 2017.
  • Cardlytics expands U.S. Travel and Entertainment division with new appointment.
  • UOB’s Digital Bank advances customer-centric data solutions with Meniga.
  • Avaloq appoints Martin Greweldinger as Group Chief Product Officer.
  • LENDindex adds Centre’s USDC digital currency to its SME loan portfolio.
  • TransferWise secures £65 million syndicated debt facility with NatWest, JP Morgan, and LHV Bank.

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.

TransferWise Teams Up with Dutch Digital Bank bunq

TransferWise Teams Up with Dutch Digital Bank bunq

TransferWise has bunq in the trunk.

International money transfer specialist has a new partner in Dutch challenger bank bunq, which announced today that it is integrating with TransferWise’s API to enable its customers to send money in up to 15 different currencies directly from the bunq app.

“Our mission is to free our users from borders and barriers in traditional banking, such as hidden fees,” bunq CEO Ali Niknam said. “We think TransferWise is a valuable addition to solidify that mission.” Founded in 2015, bunq is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Bunq users will also benefit from access to real exchange rates, TransferWise’s transparent and competitive fees, and fast transfer speeds – the latter courtesy of the instant SEPA payment system that shortens the time it takes EUR to GBR transfers, for example, from days to minutes. “In the future,” TransferWise noted in a blog post announcing the partnership news, “it should only take a few seconds.”

bunq is the second challenger bank that TransferWise has teamed up with this year. In June, the company partnered with Monzo, powering international money transfers for the digital bank’s 750,000 customers. And just weeks before announcing the Monzo partnership, TransferWise reported that it was working with Groupe BPCE, providing money transfer services to the French banking group’s 15 million retail customers.

TransferWise demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2013. Earlier this fall, the company announced its second profitable year and annual revenue growth of 75%. This summer, TransferWise announced the opening of an office in Hong Kong as part of its expansion into Asia. With more than $396 million in funding, TransferWise is one of fintech’s “unicorns” with a valuation in excess of $1.6 billion. The company has more than three million users, and facilitates the transfer of more than $2.65 billion a month. TransferWise was founded by Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Kaarmann (CEO) in 2011.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • CredoLab, GoBear Launch Credit Solution for the Underbanked.
  • Meniga Lands $3.4 Million from Íslandsbanki.
  • TransferWise Teams Up with Dutch Digital Bank bunq.

Around the web

  • Jack Henry’s Symitar Credit Unions expand outsourcing initiatives.
  • Trulioo expands European operations with new presence in Dublin.
  • Arab Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade (Al Masraf) licenses Temenos‘ Learning Community Engine.
  • Fenergo expands into private banking and wealth management.
  • AlphaPoint integrates stablecoin TrueUSD into its exchange network.

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.

What’s Driving the Fintech Ecosystem?

The fintech space is filled with new players bringing to market new innovations and solutions to old business and consumer problems, as well as traditional businesses looking to develop in-house innovation teams and partner with start-ups. But what they both have in common is a desire to meet and exceed changing customer demands, make financial services more accessible and user-friendly, and keep up with the fast-paced technological advances. During FinovateFall, we sat down with the experts on the ground to ask them about what’s driving the fintech ecosystem where they work.

Andrew Boyajian, Head of Banking, North America, Transferwise on overcoming regulatory challenges to launch a global product.

Neeraj Arora, Global Head of Decision Science and Data Automation – Personal Insurance at AIG on the importance of an innovation branch in the business and why they should work hand-in-hand with start-ups.

David Snitkof, Head of Data Integration & Insights at Kabbage discusses leveraging data and why it should be more than just plugging in some numbers to get an output.

Christian Zimmerman, Co-founder & CEO, Qoins on the pain points which lead him to Qoins and what the future has in-store for crowd-funding to pay back loans.

Alyson Clarke, Principal Analyst, Forrester on the three components for a quality customer experience.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Chain Rebrands to Interstellar Following Acquisition.
  • Kasasa Unveils New Compliance Solution, RegGen.

Around the web

  • GreenKey and IPC add new co-development agreement to their partnership.
  • TransferWise announces its second profitable year amid annual revenue growth of more than 75%.
  • Praxia Bank of Greece to leverage TemenosT24 core banking system to support its SME lending business.
  • TechCrunch: LendingTree is the secret success story of fintech.
  • Zopa listed for 5th consecutive year in The Sunday Times Tech Track 100.

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

  • Brazilian card processor Conductor to deploy 3D Secure authentication technology from TAS Group later this fall.
  • Distributed check capture specialist Panini and technology distributor J. Fleischman team up to bring check truncation to Paraguay.
  • Visa introduces loyalty program available to issuing banks in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Asia-Pacific

  • TransferWise opens office in Hong Kong as part of expansion into Asia.
  • AsiaCollect, a credit management services provider based in Singapore, raises $4.5 million in funding.
  • Foreign exchange and international payments company, Frontierpay, opens Asian headquarters in Singapore.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • South African fintech walletdoc partners with EasyPay to make it easier for consumer to pay monthly subscriptions and utilities.
  • Western Union opens office in Ivory Coast.
  • Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Procurement introduces eGovernment Procurement System.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Albania’s Raiffeisen Bank Shqipëri partners with NF Innova to deploy digital self-service kiosks.
  • Efigence provides UI/UX design, development and implementation for new investment platform from Polish home equities broker, CDM Pekao.
  • Russian SME crowdfunding platform SimplyFi partners with Tochka Bank to offer direct lending to the bank’s business customers.
  • Sberbank introduces support for Google Pay.
  • Western Union partners with Russia’s Post Bank, enabling money transfers via Post Bank’s mobile app.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Kuwait Finance House (KFH) to use VISA’s token service for its mobile wallet.
  • Saudi Arabia-based Maalem Financing to deploy Islamic core banking technology from Path Solutions.
  • Turkish government launches fintech task force to improve fintech ecosystem locally.

Central and South Asia

  • The Economic Times looks at the role of bankers in India’s “coming fintech revolution.”
  • RBS India, the innovation hub of the Royal Bank of Scotland, to launch forum on disability inclusion.
  • PaySend joins Astana International Finance Centre (AIFC), a central Asian fintech hub based in Kazakhstan.

Top image designed by Freepik

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Aixigo Relaunches Digital Portfolio Management System.
  • BeSmartee and LoanFuel Help Make Mortgage Lending Mobile.

Around the web

  • Albania’s Raiffeisen Bank Shqipëri partners with NF Innova to deploy digital self-service kiosks.
  • TransferWise opens office in Hong Kong as part of expansion into Asia.
  • Equifax teams up with digital consent management platform Consents Online to support open banking.
  • Nomis Solutions picks Melbourne as site of new regional headquarters.
  • Efigence provides UI/UX design, development and implementation for new investment platform from Polish home equities broker, CDM Pekao.
  • Braintri discusses the commercialization of its contactless payment technology, Jiffee, at SelectUSA Investment Summit 2018.

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.

TransferWise Helps Monzo Clients Send Money Abroad

TransferWise Helps Monzo Clients Send Money Abroad

Foreign currency exchange platform TransferWise just landed a new partnership with challenger bank Monzo. This agreement marks the fintech’s first U.K. bank client to go live and comes just weeks after the company announced a similar partnership with France’s BPCE Group.

Through today’s agreement, TransferWise will power international money transfers for Monzo’s 750,000 users. Starting today, Monzo has integrated with TransferWise’s API to allow its users to send money from their Monzo checking account in 16 currencies. The bank is working to add more currencies in the near future.

Monzo opted to leverage TransferWise for international money transfers because of the positive user experience co-founder Tom Blomfield has had with TransferWise in the past. Blomfield told TechCrunch in an interview, “I’ve personally been a TransferWise customer for five or six years and the service is amazing. Compared to my old bank, it’s really, really transparent, the fees are really fair, and they’re continually working on bringing fees down and to make transfers more instantaneous. So I can’t think of a better partner to do foreign transfers with than TransferWise.”

Many Monzo clients already use TransferWise, but for those who do not, TransferWise will automatically set up an account for them when they initiate their first bank transfer. For all users, the international transfers will be syndicated across both their Monzo and TransferWise accounts.

With more than 3 million users, TransferWise facilitates the movement of more than $2.65 billion each month. Today’s partnership marks TransferWise’s first U.K. bank client to go live, adding to the fintech’s other bank partnerships, including N26 and LHV. TransferWise had– at one point– announced an integration with Starling Bank in the U.K., but the partnership was never finalized and fell through.

TransferWise does not charge users to sign up and there are no monthly fees. By leveraging the ability to transfer money within its network of banks, the company makes sending money abroad up to 7x cheaper than using a bank account. The company was founded in 2010 and showcased its P2P currency exchange services at FinovateEurope 2013. TransferWise recently launched in Argentina to allow Argentinians to move money to and from more than 60 countries.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • TransferWise Helps Monzo Clients Send Money Abroad.
  • Hydrogen Takes Top Honors at Fintech Awards Luxembourg 2018.
  • Gusto Launches Flexible Pay, Turning Payday into Any Day.

Around the web

  • The Paypers interviews Comarch product development manager Bartłomiej Wójtowicz.
  • ACI Worldwide VP of Merchant Payments for Europe Andy McDonald discusses the future of real-time payments.
  • PYMNTS.com takes a look at PayPal’s acquisition of Hyperwallet.
  • Quadient announces availability of Quadient Inspire R12.
  • Passport powers mobile parking app for University of Illinois.
  • Finastra to sell its Collateral Management Corporation (CMS) business to Teranet.

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

  • Baker Hill Brings its Cloud-Based Loan Origination Solution to First Bank.

Around the web

  • Online banking innovator Dollar Bank to upgrade its digital offerings with technology from Fiserv.
  • Brazil’s Nubank reaches milestone of 1.5 million digital account openings in six months.
  • Aire, Onfido, Trunomi, TransferWise, YoYo Wallet and Revolut earn finalist spots in TechCrunch Europas Awards.
  • Emailage announces expansion across APAC and plans to double the size of its Phoenix, Arizona office.

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.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Revolut announces recruitment initiative in Kraków, Poland to hire 100 new workers in a single day employment in its offices in Eastern Europe.
  • Forbes features Tinkoff Bank in look at Russia’s efforts to develop its digital economy.
  • Polish financial group Aforti Holdings to launch non-bank lender for SMEs and startups in Romania.

Asia

  • Banks in South Korea to introduce blockchain based identity verification for mobile and online logins. The technology is reportedly built on a private blockchain system developed by Samsung SDS.
  • Daon Partners with Tradelink to Bring Biometrics to Dah Sing Bank.
  • Bank of Thailand is developing and testing blockchain apps in its regulatory sandbox.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Financial technology services firm, One Global, discusses plans for expansion into Egyptian market.
  • ADGM Reglab reports record number of fintech applications for its third cohort.
  • Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange turns to Equifax for advice on development of new technologies to improve operational efficiency.

Africa

  • TransferTo, Orange Money Botswana, and EcoCash partner to support digital money transfers between Zimbabwe and Botswana.
  • IMF review of South Africa suggests “increased focus on the role fintech …” could access to credit for SMEs and promotion broader financial inclusion.
  • Nigerian startup, Piggybank.ng, raises $1.1 million to further develop its online savings platform.

Latin America

  • Diario Financiero interviews Ángel Sierra, executive director of La Asociación Fintech Chile, on digital innovation (video in Spanish).
  • TransferWise initiates service in Argentina.
  • PayU goes live in Colombia with its PayU te fía (PayU You Trust) solution that enables borrowers to extend repayment terms (in Spanish).

Top image designed by Freepik

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.