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The Clearing House Gains a Fresh Start to the New Year, Names David Watson CEO

The Clearing House Gains a Fresh Start to the New Year, Names David Watson CEO
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • U.S.-based banking association and payments network operator The Clearing House appointed a new CEO this week.
  • David Watson will assume the leadership position from Jim Aramanda, who will retire at the end of this month.
  • Watson comes to The Clearing House from SWIFT, where he served as Chief Product Officer.

The Clearing House (TCH) is getting a new leader for the new year. The U.S.-based banking association and payments network operator appointed David Watson as its newest CEO, launching into 2023 with a fresh start.

Watson will take the reins from the company’s current President and CEO Jim Aramanda, who will retire at the end of this month. Aramanda has served as CEO of TCH for 15 years, beginning his tenure at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

“The Clearing House’s Supervisory Board is grateful for Jim Aramanda’s long-standing service to the organization, said Bank of America Chair and Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the TCH Supervisory Board Brian Moynihan. “During Jim’s tenure, TCH continued its critical role in delivering ultra-reliable payments capabilities to the U.S. financial system, but importantly, also introduced innovative new payments capabilities. This includes the RTP network, which is now delivering real-time payments capabilities.”

Watson comes to TCH from SWIFT, where he served as Chief Product Officer, assisting in product engineering, development, and innovation. Prior to that, he served in multiple roles at Deutsche Bank for 17 years. His titles included Head of Cash Management Americas and Global Head of Digital Products, Global Head of Product Development – Global Transaction Banking, and Head of Americas Product Management – Global Transaction Banking.

“David brings extensive payments experience, in-depth expertise in the field, and a strong track record of innovation,” said Moynihan. “David will continue TCH’s important work of driving adoption of real-time payments capabilities and focusing on the safety, security, reliability, and efficiency of bank-owned payment systems which are critical to the financial system.”

TCH was founded in 1853. The 170-year-old company is owned by 24 of the largest commercial banks in the U.S. and clears and settles approximately $2 trillion in bank-to-bank payments each day through wire, ACH, check image, and real-time payments. In 2017, TCH took the historically slow U.S. payments industry into the next level by launching the Real Time Payments (RTP) network, which helps clear and settle payments instantly and facilitates the real-time exchange of payments-related data.

Shortly after David Watson becomes TCH’s new CEO, the company’s RTP will gain a new rival. RTP will compete directly with FedNow, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s real-time payment system, after it launches in July of this year. FedNow creates a new rail for payments that will provide all financial institutions access to secure, instant payment services in real time.

Photo by Kaboompics .com

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FinovateEurope’s Alumni Alley Showcases Fintech’s Pioneers

FinovateEurope’s Alumni Alley Showcases Fintech’s Pioneers
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni profile, FinovateEurope 2023

To close out 2022, we highlighted our upcoming FinovateEurope Alumni Alley showcase. This event, part of FinovateEurope in London, March 13 through 14, will feature the companies that made their Finovate debuts at our annual European conference. Find out more about Alumni Alley and how you and your company can take advantage of this unique opportunity.

We commemorated the announcement of Alumni Alley with this multi-part look back at some of FinovateEurope’s earliest alums. Click the image to enjoy a little stroll down fintech’s memory lane.

Featuring Cardlytics, D3 Technology (formerly Lodo Software), and AcceptEasy (formerly AcceptEmail)

Featuring Xero, Tilte (formerly known as Striata), and DirectID (formerly miiCard)

Featuring Finantix, BusinessForensics, and StockTwits

Featuring Backbase, Boku, and SecureKey.

Featuring Meniga, Linxo, and eToro

Photo by Peter Spencer | Additional art credits in the original articles

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St. Mary’s Bank Inks Partnership with AKUVO to Automate Collections

St. Mary’s Bank Inks Partnership with AKUVO to Automate Collections
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • St. Mary’s Bank, a credit union headquartered in New Hampshire, has teamed up with credit risk specialist AKUVO.
  • The nation’s first credit union, founded in 1908, St. Mary’s Bank will deploy AKUVO’s Aperture to automate and enhance its collection operations.
  • With $1.5 billion in assets, St. Mary’s Bank said goodbye to its eighth CEO in December, as CEO and President Ronald Covey announced his retirement after 14 years leading the firm.

New Hampshire-based St. Mary’s Bank has teamed up with AKUVO, a credit risk specialist headquartered in Pennsylvania. St. Mary’s Bank will deploy AKUVO’s Aperture platform to streamline and enhance its collections operations, including bankruptcy, repossession, and foreclosure.

“We are committed to providing state-of-the-art banking services,” St. Mary’s Bank EVP and Chief Lending Officer Jan Raymond said. “With the amount of automation and integration we plan to leverage in Aperture, our team will have more time and the right tools to offer a first-class member experience while also managing risk and lowering delinquency.”

AKUVO’s Aperture platform helps banks and credit unions move away from the traditionally reactive, tactical approach to managing collections. Instead of static workflows, inefficient workspaces, and little customer personalization, AKUVO’s Aperture leverages analytics and automation to give financial institutions a streamlined, cloud-based solution. Not only does Aperture make day-to-day operational tasks easier, the technology also predicts behavior and provides insights to help head off delinquencies before they occur. Aperture helps banks and credit unions manage a wide range of collection and loss mitigation operations ranging from credit disputes and debt settlement to bankruptcy, foreclosure, and repossession.

“I think all service providers feel a tremendous sense of pride when they are chosen by the nation’s first credit union, and that is certainly the case at AKUVO,” AKUVO Chief Revenue and Operating Officer Steve Castagna said. “We look forward to assisting St. Mary’s in leading the credit union movement with its superior service and commitment to innovation.”

With $1.5 billion in assets, St. Mary’s Bank has the distinction of being the nation’s first credit union. Founded in 1908 and headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire, St. Mary’s Bank is a not-for-profit, member-owned institution that offers financial products and services to both consumers and businesses. St. Mary’s Bank has eleven branch locations in Manchester, Hudson, Londonderry, Milford, Nashua, and Portsmouth, and supports a mortgage center in Concord.

St. Mary’s Bank ended 2022 with an announcement that Ronald Covey, who had served as the credit union’s president and CEO for 14 years, was retiring. Under Covey’s tenure, St. Mary’s Bank grew in membership from 60,000 to 98,000 members. Assets grew from $652 million to nearly $1.5 billion. Covey was also credited for helping the institution adapt to the “rapid technological advances in the financial services industry,” according to St. Mary’s Bank board of directors chair Steve Grzywacz.

Founded in 2020 by CEO Jay Mossman, AKUVO finished last year with a series of new partnerships. These include new pacts with Florida-based credit union FAIRWINDS and Michigan-based Financial Plus Credit Union in December; Mountain America Credit Union in November, and both CapEd Credit Union and Tucson Federal Credit Union in October. The company has raised $1.7 million in funding and announced a pair of debt financing rounds in February and May of 2022.

Photo by Scott Webb

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The Best of Finovate Global 2022: Embedded Finance, the Data Economy, and Open Banking

The Best of Finovate Global 2022: Embedded Finance, the Data Economy, and Open Banking
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Finovate Global

This week’s edition of Finovate Global showcases some of the fintech founders and CEOs we’ve had the good fortune to interview this year. From embedded finance to the emerging data economy to the connection between open banking and serving the world’s un- and underbanked, fintech innovators in developing economies continue to deliver for both their local communities as well as for consumers around the world.

Finovate Global Egypt: Cartona CEO and Co-founder Mahmoud Talaat

Cartona embraces the vision of a cashless society, investing in embedded finance and payments. We offer pay after four days or pay in four equal installments every 7-10 days. We have made sure our product is easy to use and seamlessly integrated into the ‘check-out’ section for ordering, with collection being all digital or through our supplier network.

Providing retailers with this technology-integrated financial solution not only boosts financial inclusion but also enables them to grow their business and provide customers with essential products at affordable prices. To supplement our core ordering business, embedded finance is what we believe is a key challenge and we see a clear need for it by retailers in the industry.

Read the rest of our interview with Mahmoud Talaat of Cartona.

Finovate Global Finland: Building a Strong Data Economy with ReceiptHero’s Chris Moore

We are surrounded by data in our daily lives, most of it is unstructured and in hard to reach places. Receipts printed on paper are just that: unstructured and, as a customer, it’s hard to apply that purchase data to good use. Part of my opening remarks at FinovateEurope was that we are showered by amazing digital payment innovations and sadly the post purchase experience has mainly been left to stay in the analog world.

Purchase data is core to building a strong data economy, as this data has so far been siloed and in a format that is hard to receive in real-time. It’s not really been leveraged or valued as it should be. ReceiptHero is breaking down those silos and enabling a world where a consumer can have this data instantly in their banking app or in an approved service where the data is used to better the customer experience. 

Read the rest of our conversation with Chris Moore of ReceiptHero.

Finovate Global UAE: Abdulla Almoayed of Tarabut Gateway on Open Banking in the MENA Region

MENA’s young and tech-savvy population is still underbanked, and a driving factor behind Open Banking’s growth are companies and regulators who are keen to facilitate this huge opportunity in a responsible manner.

Moreover, banks in the region understand the benefits that Open Banking brings to their institutions. Open Banking enables them to stay relevant and to compete in today’s banking sector by providing enhanced digital offerings and customer-centricity.

Tarabut Gateway acts as the matchmaker between service providers and customers, creating a competitive fintech ecosystem where users receive the best, personalized products, and services.

Read the rest of our interview with Abdulla Almoayed of Tarabut Gateway.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Ghana-based fintech Bezo Money raised $750,000 in new funding.
  • TechCabal featured an interview with Ibrahima Kourouma, co-founder of Paylia and payments platform for African merchants and consumers.
  • The first graduates the new fintech-focused journalism training program sponsored by pan-African banking organization Ecobank Group and AMA Academy were announced this week.

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Egyptian fintech PayMint teamed up with Egypt’s Commodities Exchange
  • The central bank of the UAE announced plans to launch an Instant Payment Platform in 2023.
  • Israel-based fintech Nilus that helps companies better monitor their payment data raised $8.6 million in seed funding.

Central and Southern Asia

  • India’s Cashfree Payments launched its Buy Now, Pay Later offering.
  • Akhtar Fuiou Technologies (AFT), a fintech headquartered in Pakistan, secured approval from the country’s central bank to begin pilot operations for an Electronic Money Institution license.
  • J.P. Morgan made a strategic investment in India-based payment solutions provider, In-Solutions Global (ISG).

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • TechCrunch profiled Mexican lending startup Aviva.
  • Chilean fintech Destacame secured $10 million in Series B funding.
  • Crypto.com became the first cryptocurrency exchange to be granted a Payment Institution License from Brazil’s central bank.

Asia-Pacific

Photo by Valentin Antonucci

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How Financial Services Firms Can Set Themselves Up for Innovation Success

How Financial Services Firms Can Set Themselves Up for Innovation Success
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: InterSystems, Sponsored

This is a sponsored post from Tim FitzGerald, EMEA Financial Services Sales Manager, InterSystems.

Innovation undoubtably will help firms keep up with market volatility, changing customer demands, and the competition – not just today, but in the future. This is reflected in the thoughts of financial services leaders themselves as almost three-quarters (73%) believe innovation is vital to their survival as a business. Yet, despite widespread recognition of the critical nature of innovation, financial services firms are facing difficulties in successfully executing their innovation initiatives.

In particular, firms cite skills gaps and integrating disparate data sets as significant barriers to innovation. With the uncertainty and upheaval of the last few years showing no signs of slowing down as we head into 2023, finding ways to better leverage their people and data to further innovation, therefore, must be front of mind.

Obtaining a 360-degree view

Data has a vital role to play in innovation initiatives. Being able to access and use accurate, real-time data from all business units to obtain a holistic 360-degree view of the enterprise and its customers will enable firms to better identify and respond to growth opportunities, address challenges in an agile manner, and make more informed, in the moment decisions. This requires firms to address the data integration challenges they are currently facing and connect their myriad data and application silos.

One way of doing this is by adopting a smart data fabric which accesses, transforms, and harmonizes data from multiple sources, on demand, to make it usable and actionable for a wide variety of business applications. Ideal for complex data environments, the smart data fabric eliminates delays which lead to errors, missed opportunities, and decisions based on stale or incomplete data.

This approach allows existing legacy applications and data to remain in place, thereby enabling firms to maximize the value from their previous technology investments, including existing data lakes and data warehouses, without having to “rip-and-replace” any of their existing technology.

By obtaining this instant insight into their organization and customers, financial services firms will be able to make better, more accurate decisions to drive innovation, improve customer experiences, and get ahead of the curve.

Power to the people

Implementing new technology alone is not enough to help firms overcome the barriers that are currently standing in the way of successful innovation. People also have a significant part to play in innovation initiatives, so giving them the capabilities to conquer current skills gaps and to use data effectively to drive innovation are also key. Firms can achieve this by implementing a holistic innovation strategy which brings together all the critical elements required for successful innovation – people, processes, and technology – and identifies how to empower business users with data.

By putting data directly into the hands of business users, firms will be able to mitigate some of the impacts of skills gaps and help people to actively contribute to innovation initiatives. Self-service analytics capabilities embedded within smart data fabrics will provide immense value here. These capabilities will enable business users to freely explore the data, ask ad hoc questions, and drill down via additional queries based on initial findings.

In doing so, not only will firms be able to leverage their data more fully, but also they will be able to mitigate the impact of skills gaps by empowering employees to read and interpret data and make the data-driven decisions needed for successful innovation. This also will reduce reliance on IT teams to surface and interpret data, while avoiding the need for business users to learn a whole host of new skills and tools.

New year, new approach

As firms look to 2023, likely with a mix of excitement and trepidation about what the year may bring, ensuring they address the barriers currently standing in the way of innovation success is essential to help them respond to whatever comes next. By addressing issues with data integration and skills gaps head on, financial services organizations will be able to make more effective use of both their data and people to drive forward innovation initiatives.

Arming themselves with a clear innovation strategy and a team of empowered and data-enabled employees will give firms the capabilities overcome any challenges that may arise, but also critically, to grow their offering, future-proof their organization, and meet changing customer demand. Ultimately, adopting this approach will help firms to set themselves up for long-term innovation success, not just for 2023, but beyond.

Photo by Pixabay

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FinovateEurope’s Alumni Alley: Relevant Rewards, Data Driven Banking, and Innovations in Digital Billpay

FinovateEurope’s Alumni Alley: Relevant Rewards, Data Driven Banking, and Innovations in Digital Billpay
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AcceptEmail, Alumni News, Cardlytics, D3 Banking, FinovateEurope 2023, Lodo Software

Many of Finovate’s most storied alumni made their Finovate debuts at our European conference, FinovateEurope. Next year at FinovateEurope (March 14 through 15) we will feature the event’s alums in a special showcase called Alumni Alley. For those companies that first demoed their innovations at FinovateEurope, Alumni Alley is a great opportunity to show the world their latest innovations and accomplishments.

Is Alumni Alley for you? Visit our Alumni Alley hub today and find out!

This week, we shine a light on another set of three companies that made their first Finovate appearances at our first FinovateEurope conference in 2011: a digital advertising platform for banks, an innovator in data-driven digital banking, and an e-billing/billpay pioneer.

Cardlytics Delivering Relevant Rewards Before it was Cool

Cardlytics was a young company when it made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in London in 2011. The Atlanta, Georgia-based firm already had gained significant traction for its technology: a transaction marketing platform that helped banks and retailers offer rewards to customers based on their individual buying behavior. During its demo, Cardlytics noted that its technology reached tens of millions of consumers via hundreds of retailers in the U.S. who were leveraging the platform to deliver what have now become table stakes in the loyalty and rewards business: precise targeting and highly relevant offers. Cardlytics returned to the FinovateEurope stage a year later, earning a Best of Show award for its latest loyalty management solution.

From a company with 100 employees and more than $27 million in funding in 2011, Cardlytics has grown into a leading advertising platform for banks and other financial institutions. The company boasts more than 184 million bank customers on its platform and more than $650 million in customer rewards paid. Cardlytics went public in 2018, and currently trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker CDLX. The company has a market capitalization of more than $169 million.

Scott Grimes and Lynne Laube, Cardlytics’ first and second CEOs, demonstrating the company’s technology at FinovateEurope.

“We delivered solid double-digit growth despite the serious challenges present in the economy,” Cardlytics CEO Karim Temsamani said in November when the company shared Q3 financials. “While the economy may be uncertain, I believe there is inherent resiliency in platforms that prove return on ad spend, and I am positive we can grow profitably.” Temsamani joined the company as CEO this summer, taking over from co-founder Lynne Laube who is retiring from the leadership post. Temsamani comes to Cardlytics from Stripe, where he worked as Head of Global Partnerships and, before that, Head of Banking and Financial Products.

Lodo Software, D3 Technology, and the Road from PFM to Data Driven Digital Banking

These days, the idea of fintechs coming from places other than Silicon Valley is increasingly commonplace. But in 2011, there was something more than a little novel about the fintech innovation that was coming out of places like Omaha, Nebraska – courtesy of startups like Lodo Software.

Making its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2011, Lodo Software demoed a cross-selling solution that helped banks leverage the data gathered by the PFM component of the platform to personalize offers and marketing campaigns. The product, OurCashFlow, organized and analyzed customer data to ensure that financial institutions are sending the right messages to the right customers at the right time. The platform’s messages and notifications are scheduled within the platform and are delivered to customers via their PFM dashboard.

D3 Technology CEO Mark Vipond demoing the company’s technology at FinovateEurope 2011 in London.

Lodo Software rebranded as D3 Technology in 2014 in a move that CEO Mark Vipond said reflected “the company’s evolution from a personal financial management software provider to the creator of one of the market’s only true omnichannel, data driven digital banking solution.” The company created D3 Banking to help financial institutions deliver a consistent, personalized, banking experience anywhere, at any time, and on any device. Five years later, in the summer of 2019 , fellow Finovate alum NCR announced that it would acquire the company.

“NCR is a great fit for D3 and the timing is right for us to combine forces to create a powerful digital transformation platform for large financial institutions,” Vipond said when the acquisition was announced. “This transaction enables us to capitalize on new market opportunities and bring top-tier capabilities to our mutual and future clients.”

AcceptEasy: A Pioneer in E-Billing and Billpay via Email

Enabling secure and straightforward e-billing and payments via email was the innovation championed by Netherlands-based fintech AcceptEmail at FinovateEurope in 2011. Founded in 2006 and launching its solution less than a year later, AcceptEmail offered a three-click process for customers to pay bills directly from their email accounts without requiring manual data entry and re(entry). The company’s technology brings convenience to the billpay process for consumers and helps billers realize lower DSO (days sales outstanding) due to more customers paying their bills faster as well as less collection activity. The platform also supports credit management (notifications and reminders) as well as smart SEPA Direct Debit notifications.

AcceptEmail (now AcceptEasy) CEO Peter Kwakernaak introducing his company to Finovate audiences at FinovateEurope 2011.

The company was acquired by Serrala in February 2020 for an undisclosed amount and announced a rebrand to AcceptEasy. The rebranding was designed to reflect the fact that the company had evolved beyond email to become a bill service provider that enables payments in all digital channels. “The flexibility and architecture of our technology is perfect for all sorts of transactional messaging,” AcceptEasy CEO Peter Kwakernaak explained. “The payment moment is becoming a personalized and interactive contact moment .. (it) is one of the most important steps in the customer journey.” He added, “Our services make it possible for enterprises to provide consumers and small businesses an optimized brand experience and save costs in the process.

Photo by Nikita Khandelwal

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Green Dot and Wealthfront Extend Relationship

Green Dot and Wealthfront Extend Relationship
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Green Dot, Wealthfront

Wealth management provider Wealthfront is extending its relationship with digital bank and banking-as-a-service provider Green Dot this week.

Wealthfront originally tapped Green Dot in 2020 to use the company’s banking-as-a-service tools to offer its Cash Account clients access to checking features. Today, the two announced they are continuing the relationship.

Wealthfront’s Cash Account leverages Green Dot to offer features competitive with other digital banks, including the ability to receive direct deposits up to two days early, pay bills, send and deposit checks, and use a debit card to access cash at ATMs. The account requires a $1 initial deposit, offers unlimited free transfers, automated savings features, near-instant transfers into Wealthfront’s Investment Accounts, and more.

Additionally, Wealthfront’s Cash Accounts pay a 3.80% APY, a huge improvement over what most firms were offering during the recent near-zero interest rate environment. The competition among digital banking providers has intensified, and competing on interest rates will be a good way for these newcomers to gain new customers and increased deposits. That’s because many large traditional banks are paying an average of just 0.24% APY.

Other players in the wealth management space are also currently offering high interest rates on their checking accounts. Personal Capital just announced it will pay 3.85% and Betterment is paying 3.75% on its high-yield account.

“Today’s investors want smart saving and investing products that help them build wealth in all market conditions, which is why we’re proud to offer the Cash Account to help our clients earn more on their uninvested savings,” said Wealthfront VP of Product Dave Myszewski. “With one of the highest rates on the market plus checking features powered by Green Dot, we’re able to provide a best-in-class Cash Account that is far superior to what a traditional bank can offer, so our clients can grow their long-term wealth easily and conveniently.”

Wealthfront had a hopeful start to 2022 when UBS agreed to acquire the California-based company for $1.4 billion in January. Nine months later, however, UBS called off the agreement because of “unspecified regulatory concerns.” Along with the termination, UBS gave Wealthfront $70 million in financing at a $1.4 billion valuation. “With this fresh round of funding under our belt along with the ability to begin self-funding the business, we are committed to building a lasting company that positively impacts the lives of our clients for decades to come,” said Wealthfront Chief Executive Officer David Fortunato.

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Moneyhub Raises $18.2 Million, Completing $66.8 Million Funding Round

Moneyhub Raises $18.2 Million, Completing $66.8 Million Funding Round
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Moneyhub
  • Moneyhub raised an additional $18.2 million (£15 million) from savings and retirement business Phoenix Group.
  • The investment is the second part of a 48.6 million (£40 million) Moneyhub received in October, and brings the company’s total funds to $81.6 million.
  • Phoenix Group’s Standard Life is a long-standing client of Moneyhub.

Open finance solutions company Moneyhub announced it received an additional $18.2 million (£15 million) investment. Today’s funds come from savings and retirement business Phoenix Group.

The funding round is a follow-on to the recent $48.6 million (£40 million) Moneyhub received in October. Legal & General and Lloyds Banking Group led that round, contributing $42.4 million (£35 million), and Shawbrook Bank provided an additional $6 million (£5 million) in debt funding. Moneyhub’s total funding now adds up to $81.6 million.

Moneyhub was founded in 2014 and creates software for open banking, open finance, and open data applications. Organizations leverage these tools to add data aggregation, insights, and payment systems to their applications in order to create a more personalized digital experience for their end users. U.K.-based Moneyhub plans to use the investment to develop its solutions and expand globally. The company currently counts more than 100 organizations, including more than 30 high-profile enterprise firms, as clients.

Phoenix Group’s Standard Life is a long-standing client of Moneyhub. The firm leverages Moneyhub’s Open Finance platform to create Money Mindset, a financial wellness proposition for workplace pension customers.

“We are delighted that Phoenix Group has chosen to go even further by investing in the business,” said Moneyhub CEO Samantha Seaton. “With Consumer Duty and Pensions Dashboard driving the need to focus on consumer outcomes, the only answer is to work in a trusted data sharing approach with your customers.”

Photo by Jill Burrow

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Conotoxia Launches Fresh Version of Multi-Currency Card

Conotoxia Launches Fresh Version of Multi-Currency Card
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Multi-currency payment services company Conotoxia launched multi-currency card 2.0.
  • The update enables cardholders to add users to their card.
  • The multi-currency card 2.0 enables cardholders to hold accounts in 20 currencies and pay in more than 160 currencies.

Multi-currency payment services company Conotoxia is making it easier for users to share payment cards with friends, family, and employees. The new capabilities come as part of the company’s new launch, multi-currency card 2.0.

“We have been observing very strong interest in our multi-currency cards. Customers recognize their advantages and their superiority over bank debit cards,” said Conotoxia Vice President Pitor Kicinski. “The multi-currency card 2.0 and its new functionality can mean significant savings for families and businesses, as well as, for example, an interesting gift for those traveling abroad or shopping in international shops.”

Existing cardholders can share their card with new users after they register with Conotoxia. Once the new user is registered, they can begin making transactions using both physical and virtual cards. Meanwhile, the primary cardholder can view the card balance, control expenses, and set spending limits.

With the multi-currency card 2.0, cardholders can hold accounts in 20 currencies and can pay in more than 160 currencies. The tandem Conotoxia mobile app for iOS and Android enable users to view their transaction history, manage cards, and more. At the start of 2022, Conotoxia added Apple Pay as a payment option for cardholders, and contactless payments are also available with Google Pay, Fitbit Pay, and Garmin Pay.

Launched in 2014, Conotoxia offers foreign exchange and cryptocurrency trading, online payments, and online currency exchange in addition to its multi-currency cards. The company employs more than 250 people in its offices based in Poland, Illinois, and The Republic of Cyprus.

Photo by Angela Roma

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Verification Platform Sumsub Partners with French Money Transfer Firm Tempo

Verification Platform Sumsub Partners with French Money Transfer Firm Tempo
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Sumsub
  • London-based regtech Sumsub has partnered with Paris-based money transfer company Tempo.
  • The partnership will help Tempo enhance its user identity verification operations and reduce fraud in line with French regulations.
  • Sumsub made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin, Germany.

London-based regtech Sumsub – which stands for Sum & Substance – has teamed up with Paris-based money transfer company Tempo. The partnership will enable the French fintech to leverage Sumsub’s technology to verify user identities and secure customer data in line with KYC and AML regulations. Tempo will benefit from access to a range of KYC services and the partnership already has enabled Tempo to meet AML compliance requirements as established by French regulators.

“We are glad to offer our all-in-one verification platform to global digital payments providers like Tempo, making money transfers more accessible to people worldwide,” Sumsub CEO and co-founder Andrew Sever said. “With Sumsub’s KYC. KYB, transaction monitoring and AML solutions, it’s easier for businesses to expand to international markets and increase their client base while staying fully compliant with regulations and ensuring bulletproof fraud protection.”

Sumsub made its Finovate debut two years ago at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin, Germany. At the conference, the company demoed its KYC/AML Checks and Risk Management Toolkit, which enables businesses to accelerate verification, and lower costs by as much as 6x, as well as detect and eliminate digital fraud. The company offers global coverage of more than 200 markets and combines best-in-class technology with human legal expertise to enable Sumsub to help companies in diverse regulatory regimes.

In a statement, Tempo France CEO Alla Zhedik highlighted the fact that Tempo is licensed by the Bank of France. “This imposes strict compliance obligations,” Zhedik said. “And that is where KYC plays a great role and is also why the joint project with Sumsub is so important for us.” Zhedik added that the partnership not only helped minimize fraud and money laundering risks, but also gives Tempo “access to the most advanced customer data processing solutions.”

With more than 2,000 customers in verticals ranging from fintech and digital assets to transportation and gaming, Sumsub claims to have achieved some of the highest conversion rates in the industry, reaching more than 91% in the U.S., and more than 95% in the U.K. The company said that is is able to verify users in less than 50 seconds on average.

Sumsub’s partnership news comes one month after the company announced that it was joining Brazilian fintech association, ABFintechs. Also in November, Sumsub reported that Markor Technology, provider of B2B and B2C technology solutions for iGaming operators, had selected Sumsub to provide enhanced verification and fraud protection.

Photo by Elina Sazonova

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Glia Partners with Jack Henry to Bring Innovations in Digital Customer Service to Banks and Credit Unions

Glia Partners with Jack Henry to Bring Innovations in Digital Customer Service to Banks and Credit Unions
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Glia, Jack Henry
  • Glia and Jack Henry announced a partnership this week that will integrate Glia’s Digital Customer Service into Jack Henry’s Banno digital banking platform.
  • The integration will enable a wider number of banks and credit unions to interact with their customers via digital channels such as voice and video banking.
  • Glia and Jack Henry are both Finovate alums. Jack Henry made its Finovate debut in 2010. Glia has won Best of Show at Finovate conferences six times.

A newly announced partnership between a pair Finovate alums will bring some of the latest innovations in digital customer service to more bank and credit union customers. Digital Customer Service specialist Glia announced this week that its technology is now available via Jack Henry’s Banno Digital Platform.

The integration will give financial institutions using the platform the ability to engage customers across all digital channels – from SMS and chat to voice and video banking. Glia’s acquisition of fellow Finovate alum Finn AI in June adds innovative virtual assistance technology to Glia’s offering – technology that will now be available to banks and credit unions on Jack Henry’s platform. The integration was facilitated by the Banno Digital Toolkit, which uses the same set of APIs upon which the Banno Digital Platform is built.

“Glia is making Digital Customer Service accessible to a growing number of banks and credit unions, empowering them with powerful tools to digitalize and transform customer service,” Glia SVP of Alliances Steve Kaish said. “Our integration with Jack Henry accelerates that mission, allowing more institutions to facilitate digital-first engagements within the digital domain.”

A six-time Finovate Best of Show winner, Glia most recently demoed its Digital Customer Service technology at FinovateSpring last year. At the conference, Glia showed how its latest innovation automatically connects customer inbound calls to the customer’s associated online browsing sessions to give customer service representatives context when handling the customer query. This helps improve the quality of the session, making it easy for the representative to collaborate online with the caller via features like co-browsing, screensharing, and one- or two-way video. This, according to Kaish, will help “community institutions create competitive advantage” versus their national and international rivals.

Founded in 2012, Glia is headquartered in New York City. Daniel Michaeli is CEO and co-founder.

With more than 9,000 customers in the U.S., Jack Henry offers banks and credit unions an ecosystem of innovative financial services solutions, as well as the ability to integrate with leading fintechs. Headquartered in Monett, Missouri, and founded in 1976, the company made its Finovate debut in 2010 and has since grown into a major technology and payment services company with $1.7 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021. Jack Henry is a publicly traded entity on the Nasdaq under the ticker “JKHY,” and has a market capitalization of $13 billion.

A Finovate alum since 2010, Jack Henry & Associates was featured in Computerworld’s “Best Places to Work in IT” list for 2023. This week, the company announced that it was adding automated policy management technology to its Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Suite. David Foss is President and CEO.

Photo by Yan Krukov

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Bridging the Empathy Gap with Human-Centered AI: Our Conversation with Uday Akkaraju, CEO of BOND.AI

Bridging the Empathy Gap with Human-Centered AI: Our Conversation with Uday Akkaraju, CEO of BOND.AI
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Bond.AI, CEO Interview, Speaker series

One of the more compelling presentations at FinovateFall this year was the keynote address from BOND.AI CEO Uday Akkaraju. Titled “Why the Future of Finance is Beyond Finance, And How to Get There,” Akkaraju’s discussion looked at the wave of digital transformation in financial services and asked “is there a radically smarter path to profitability while staying relevant to customer expectations?”

We pick up on this conversation in today’s extended interview with the BOND.AI CEO. Akkaraju has leveraged his background in interaction design and cognitive science to help make machine intelligence more empathetic and human-oriented. The result is the world’s first Empathy Engine for finance – a technology that helps bridge the gap between consumers struggling to meet their financial needs and banks that are eager to engage these consumers with new technologies that offer greater personalization and effectiveness.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, BOND.AI won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2018. We talked with the company’s CEO about the how the company is helping financial institutions better serve their customers, as well as what to expect from BOND.AI in 2023.

You recently spoke at FinovateFall on Why the Future of Finance is Beyond Finance. Can you tell us a little bit about what you shared with our audience in that keynote?

Uday Akkaraju: It was my pleasure to be asked to speak again at FinovateFall this year. A lot has changed since I spoke last time in 2018! And a lot has changed for the better in terms of banking.

The pandemic spurred investments in technology and digital channels to reach customers—a benefit for the banking and fintech industry. However, we must now utilize opportunities accelerated by the pandemic to create a future of better financial health for everyone.

I wanted to use my keynote speech to highlight the “Empathy Gap” between what customers need and what banks can offer today, especially given the fast-changing economic environment. For me, it’s essential we discuss how fintech can help bridge the communication gap between banks and customers. Banks need to strategically implement discourse analysis tools with measurable KPIs to ensure they don’t return to past mistakes.

That’s where human-centered AI comes in. In this case, AI is our chatbot-powered Empathy Engine that can converse with customers via an app to get a deeper understanding of their needs. Through conversation, banks can grow their revenue using customers’ contextual information. With more customer data, individual banks can meet and even predict an individual’s needs, improving financial health as they tailor their products and services as a result. Of course, conversational data is only a part of it. You still need the bank data – otherwise, you only get half the truth.

BOND.AI won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2018 with a live demo of its Empathy Engine. You’ve also talked about something you call the “Empathy Gap.” For the uninitiated, what does the “empathy gap” mean?

Akkaraju: The Empathy Engine is our main vehicle for closing the gap between customer needs and a bank’s inability to meet those needs, which we’ve labeled the “Empathy Gap.” We quantify this gap between what banks offer and what individuals need to be worth roughly $34.2 trillion. I like to say the only thing that changes faster than technology is consumer expectations. Unfortunately, banks’ inability to keep up with those expectations leaves them with a lot of money left on the table for them and a lot of lost opportunities for consumers.

The Empathy Engine helps banks to better communicate with and service consumers to close this “Empathy Gap.” We use its ability to talk directly to customers and deliver personalized service at scale. This aids banks in seeing a holistic picture of each individual and better meeting their financial needs.

The main point of my presentation, though, was to make it clear it’s not going to be possible for one fintech or financial institution to close that gap alone. That’s why we created The BOND Network, to connect banks, employers, and fintechs and make it a true network—not just a marketplace—to balance the needs of all three stakeholders.

How does BOND.AI’s Empathy Engine flow from this?

Akkaraju: We launched the world’s first Empathy Engine for finance in 2018. It’s designed to bridge what the consumer needs against what the bank can offer to give a holistic view of customers, including their needs, strengths, weaknesses, and potential.

Right now, for customer segmentation, banks only consider financial data, and that information remains too broad. It fails to keep up with fast-changing consumer expectations or recognize an individual’s circumstantial information. Segmentation should consider both financial and non-financial data to be effective and offer a hyper-personalized approach that talks directly to the customer.

The BOND.AI Empathy Engine was developed in response to this insight. Instead of considering massive amounts of data with lots of noise, the engine moves to a small-data approach, where segmentation happens based on actual and observed behavior rather than traditional correlations and predictors.

Who is BOND.AI’s primary market and how do those customers use your technology?

Akkaraju: Our primary market is currently made up of financial institutions to whom we provide a white-label solution for insights, analytics, and customer communication. These are our core customers, and they are also members and contributors to The BOND Network.

We also have employers on the network who provide our mobile app to their employees as a financial benefit. At this point, we have 28 employers bringing about 300,000 employees into the network, which is set to grow next year.

What makes BOND.AI’s technology unique in the way it solves problems for your customers?

Akkaraju: Our Empathy Engine is the first-of-our-kind, human-centered technology focused on increasing the financial health of institutions and individual consumers. It also powers The BOND Network, which nurtures an ecosystem of financial institutions, fintechs, employers, and employees that all benefit. The engine identifies stakeholder needs and connects the dots to fulfill those needs, thus making this a network rather than a marketplace.

This is how our efforts move ‘beyond finance’. We believe to bridge the Empathy Gap it will take collaborative action to understand people as more than just transactional data and talk to them instead to establish their needs and situational context. With AI tools, we can speak directly to customers from the comfort of their own home or on the go with our mobile app. This intimacy builds trust and strengthens the customer’s relationship with their bank, so people feel able to share their problems.

The best part? Insights are there for everyone across the network to see how they can further close the Empathy Gap.

I think some would be surprised to learn that BOND.AI has headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. What does Little Rock offer a company like BOND.AI?

Akkaraju: There’s a lot we feel Little Rock can offer us, which is why we moved here! We were previously based in New York but chose Little Rock strategically for both the company and our employees. The work-life balance is good here. There’s also barely any commute considering most places can be reached in 20 minutes. That’s ideal for a fast-growing start-up where time is money.

There has been a move away from the coast, but tier-two cities are also getting a little cramped. People are happy to explore other options at this point, and Little Rock is an interesting place where both company and employee dollars stretch further.

There are also a lot of possibilities here for us as a start-up looking to connect with employers and their workers. Walmart’s headquarters is here, and many of its vendors are nearby. You don’t need to move to the city to find talent and opportunity. The next thing we’d like to do is start consciously investing in the local talent we think is out there to really prove that to people.

What can we expect from BOND.AI in 2023?

Akkaraju: In 2023 we’re excited for our app to be going direct-to-consumer via employers and expanding our partnerships for The BOND Network. We’ll be using these acquisitions to grow the company organically. These developments will also aid us in our mission to give the power of data back to the consumer and show banks what types of data they can leverage more effectively.

We want to focus on alternative wealth building, giving more people the tools they need to take control of their finances confidently. Budgeting is good, but it doesn’t fix the bottom line and, in many cases, more support is needed. We want to extend the possibilities of financial inclusion by giving everyone access to the tools used by high-net-worth individuals and sharing guidance on how to use them.

Photo by Tara Winstead

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